Wild hairs are NOT to be left unattended to.

So last night I was washing the dishes (um, yeah, my dishwasher is my two hands), and I got this wild hair to start knitting Noah a sweater. I'd been planning on designing him one after working the sampler from The Sweater Workshop, but since I haven't had time to read it yet I decided that I could work on a design later and that designing one for Malachi would probably be a better idea seeing as he is smaller. So I remembered a sweater I'd seen in The Natural Knitter called the Stone Sweater and decided to start that one. I even liked the Wedgewood blue it was shown in and Noah had been asking that his next sweater be blue. So I put the next sink full in the hot, soapy water and set off for the only place open at ten o'clock on a Sunday night that carries good wool, Meijer. I bought four skeins of Patons Classic in New Denim. It looks very little like denim and very much like Wedgewood. In fact, it's the exact same shade as the one in the book. So I cast it on. I finished the dishes first though. I made it through the first five rows before realizing that I was eleven stitches short of the 128 I needed to make the 8-10 size. Now I already knit smaller than gauge, and I was counting on this b/c my kid is tall and skinny. I can always lengthen it but honestly, he swims in most stuff. His favorite accesory is belts, otherwise his pants would always be at his ankles. So I was counting on my usual tighter gauge to bring in the width a touch but eleven stitches equals a little over two inches too small and that would be a little too small. So, of course, I ripped it out and cast on again. It was one in the morning before I got back to the same place I'd been when I'd ripped. My hands hurt. My wrists hurt and my contacts were sticking to my eyeballs. I'd spent most of the day working on my Travelers socks (and realizing that the socks are Lime and Violet, how weird is that considering that I'd bought the yarn before I'd started listening to LnV?) Anyways, so now I'm working on the Stone Sweater and here's my current sweater cue in order of when to be knit:

• Noah
• Dad
• Sean
• Jayden
• Shawna
• Kate
• Chris
• Me

Yeah, I'm going to be making sweaters til Christmas, yeowch.

When I first was taught to spin, my spinning instructor, the almighty Arlene of Fiberworks, told me that it would be better for me to spin for just five or ten minutes every day than to spin for two hours once a week. I understood her logic and still do. The problem is that it's much easier for me to carve out an hour or two once a week than five to ten minutes every day. That is, until this semester is over. So tonight I'd had about all the separation from Ashley that I could stand and just had to spin. I pulled Ashley out, pulled out the Mardi Gras from Lisa Souza and set about continuing to fill my first bobbin with what is to be sock yarn. I've found that I have a knack for this spinning fine thang. Oh,wait, that's right, it's probably because I've been practicing. *duh* but in all seriousness, I love that when I test the twist it shows me an almost perfect sock yarn weight which means that it will untwist a little during plying and then fluff up a little during washing into perfect sock yarn! And then I've got lot's more fiber to spin. Some things I do need to remind myself though: when my back is practically spasming from the act of spinning it's time to take a break, walking away from the wheel is sometimes good for our working relationship and our friendship, and always remember to never fear what you have not yet attempted and never regret what you have already accomplished. Life is a journey so take the high road, it's not easy but you'll get where you need to go and the scenery is much better.

It's not the end of the tunnel, but I can see it from here.

The research paper of doom is now happily in the mailbox of my instructor. And I am NEVER going to take a course like this again. Only two more weeks and the whole quarter is over. Thank God!

Randomness

Well, tonight I will be working on the Research paper of doom and so right now I'm getting all the playing around done that I can. I've downloaded some more songs and played with my new myspace page a bit. It's been a relaxing, non-productive day and I'm okay with that. I'm only going to work on the paper a little b/c I have some spinning that I want to get done.
I posted on the LnV message boards about my new Different Kind of Yarn Diet. Instead of preventing myself from buying any more yarn, instead my plan is to reward my weight loss with yarn and projects. I'm making a list of the projects and yarns I want and as I reach specific goals I will purchase those yarns and projects. I plan to accomplish most of my loss over the course of the next year but I plan to squirrel away the money over the summer when my hours are at their highest and so I'll have a little extra to spare. My goal is not so much a certain amount of weight, although I do have an actual goal established, but more a specific body composition. Exercise is a big part of my plan. Well, off to the books.

Whining, and blubbering. Probably ought to turn away now.

Ever have those days when losing all sense of control and committing unspeakable acts of horror upon your co-workers seems like the swell thing to do? Me neither, just checking. But if I was to think about it today would be the day. I can't stand my office. I loathe my job and I despise my co-workers. Honestly if it weren't for the insane amount of loyalty shown to me by my boss, I would have left after the first week. I've been there two and a half years now. You'd think after two and a half years that the vipers I work with would have gotten tired of their insidious games. Nope, not these women. They are still at it. If I talk about school, I'm "pretentious and trying to sound smart/ make them sound stupid" ( like I'm physically forcing their vocal cords to spew out their ridiculousness), and if I mind my own business like I have been for the last month or so then I'm "pretentious, arrogant, and thinks she's too good to talk to us." My boss is so tired of their whining and she knows that it's pushing me to find another position sooner than we'd originally planned. She knows that once I start clinicals that I'll be working somewhere I can get on third shift or second shift. Probably back at one of the area hospitals, but this is making me re-evaluate my decision to wait to the end of summer.
What exactly is SO horrible about me that I can't seem to make friends with a majority of women? I have exactly 5 female friends that can truly be described as friends. I've asked them all and they have no clue. They think I'm an excellent friend. I've asked if I'm too bossy. The unanimous answer is no. Am I too smart? Again, no (but I do tend to use works they aren't accustomed to hearing on a regular basis). Am I ugly? Despite what my online pictures display, I'm actually not bad looking. OK then, what the hell is it? Too needy? Too distant? Too raunchy? Not raunchy enough? Too christian? Not christian enough? Too out-there? What!?!
Yeah, they couldn't help me. My husband says I'm just a "unique" personality. I know I'm stubborn, bull-headed, sarcastic, and some times I do boost my ego by using big words, but I'm also kind, patient, loving, always there to give hugs, and the kind of person who will stop what they're doing to come help you out of a jam. I frequently show my love with hand knitted items and baked goods. I cry all the time (especially around my cycle). I love every kind of creature there is and I try REALLY hard not to judge anyone, even after I get to know them. I adore people more creative than myself (hence my love/stalking of Lime and Violet) and I envy people who can just walk into a room light it up. I'm told that when I'm in a good mood I am super hilarious and I love to make people feel comfortable and welcome around me. I really are about my patients and I get really upset when my co-workers talk bad about them. I get irritated when people around me are judged by someone for the way they look or believe. I would never set myself apart from anyone because our views on politics or religion dissented. Overall I think I'm pretty decent. I know I can be bitchy and I'm sorry but for goodness sake, cut me some slack. I work two jobs and go to school full-time. I don't to see my kids, knit or spin even a tenth as much as I'd like too and all I want to do is my part to heal the wounded both physically and emotionally. Boy, it's a good thing nobody reads this blog because I'm seriously being a whiner. I know, I know, I'll suck it up.

Obligatorty Mindbabble by the Queen of Procrastination

So I skipped my architectural history class tonight in order to prepare for the research paper that I'll be writing over the next week. I was a good girl and went to the library and not the student union. And I got NOTHING done! I have, in true Lime and Violet fashion, named this paper the Research Paper of Dooooom. I have to write a ten page research paper,( not including cover page, pictures, footnotes or bibliography) about the history of Ohio's courthouses. That being said I think all will agree that my teacher is, in fact, one of the lesser demons of hell and out to destroy GPA. This is an ELECTIVE class! It's not required for ANY major! What the !@#$%. Ow, ow, ow, my head hurts.
Moving on, I finished my Jaywalkers in the Interlacements Tiny Toes Carbon Dioxide colorway and they are gorgeous! The pattern is nice but these would have rocked in a plain vanilla sock pattern. I love this yarn. I'll get pictures soon. I was a little dissappointed when I had a little bit of dye come out in the first wash (I did a gentle handwash with Kookaburra), but the color hasn't been too noticably affected. I'm now working on the Traveler's Stockings from Knitting on the Road by Nancy Bush. I'm using Jojoland in a pretty blue/green/purple colorway that I thought wasn't superwash but I found out that the Jojoland Melody colorways with a 'J' in front of the 'Y' of the color are actually superwashes. I'm still only going to handwash all my knitted socks but it's nice to know that if the husband accidentally gets ahold of them, they'll be okay. I've been doing a lot of spinning over the past few days after taking a brief hiatus d/t the folks being in town. I've been spinning the Mardis Gras Superfine/Superwash Merino from Lisa Souza and it's so pretty I can hardly wait to get it all spun and plied up. I'm spinning it pretty thin so it can be sock weight and I must say I'm impressing myself with how consistent it's spinning up, but then again when you start with a fantastic product you tend to get better results. Since I'm restricted from puchasing any new yarn or fiber until after school is out I'm lusting over quite a few now. As soon as I can I'm heading over to Happy Fuzzy Yarn and getting some of their BFL and then popping over to a great little spot called Kendig Cottage. I'm also going to try and score some Lime and Violet stuff if it's not sold out before my embargo is lifted. And as for yarn, Knitting Notions is my first stop. I met the owner at the Upper Valley Fiber Arts Festival two weeks ago and she is the sweetest gal. Catherine Harrison is her name and I would have purchased from her that day except she was the last booth I stopped by and, well, I was broke by then. But she had the PRETTIEST yarn! I asked about her dyeing technique and she gave me a tutorial on space dyeing right there and then! Now that's the kind of person I want to keep in buisness, someone who'd rather pass on the knowledge to keep the art alive rather that miser it away out of greed and fear of competition like some others I've asked about dyeing. So anyway that's about it. I'm doing a little reading now too. I bought the book America Knits awhile back and I'm reading through it one designer at a time. I also got the book The Natural Knitter about the same time and I'm slowly going through that as well. I've been told I should work as a knitting/spinning trendcaster because it seems to those around me in my fiber circles that I'm ahead of my time on picking up the books/yarns/projects that end up becoming popular. I told my mom this and she, of course, balked at the idea. "Medical school is where you're going, not Knitting school." I informed her that I was aware of this and in no way intending on discontinuing my medical studies to pursue a career in fibercasting, but that if I could make some money on the side to help pay for medical school, well, what would be the harm in that? She responded by picking up the sweater she's been knitting for dad and asked,"So, do you think this color was a good choice?"

Is there really anything better?

Every morning my little ones get up early and crawl into bed with me. They snuggle in close and we get to cuddle for about twenty minutes before I have to get up and get going. This is my favorite part of the day, yes I love it even more than knitting or spinning. I could live without my yarn, my needles, my fiber or even a handspindle, but without my babies life just isn't worth it. They really are what life is all about and those who do not hold them to the highest honors don't deserve them. Nuff said.

Brain is Mush, Send Yarn.

Ok.....took my first exam in History of Am.Architecture and now my brain is mush. Actually about halfway through the six short essay questions I had to answer, my brain started to cry and beg for mercy, by the end it was just a wimpering, quivering blob huddled in one corner of my head whispering things about Latrobe's biggest commission being the Capitol building and not "some church." I'm pretty sure it was also mumbling something about the Early Georgian and Federal styles being too similar and that it was a trick question. And now I'm trying to coax it into studying Organic Chemistry for my test tomorrow...... it just yelped and ran away. Damn! I've lost my mind now, now what am I going to do? Maybe a beer, or better yet, I've got Captain Morgans in the fridge. WooHoo! Good times. Oh...I made a mistake in the fiber content of the Rasberry Fudge from this weekend, it's angora not alpaca. I was filing away the receipt this morn and saw it. It's super fun anyways I can't wait to play with it. At the festival I was walking around with it in the booth before I bought it and, naturally, I was petting it. Some lady said I should make it my pet roving. Funny. I laughed so hard I didn't.

Testing

let's give it a try...holy mary it WORKED! I'm ecstatic! Wow, so we're back... at least for now right?
Cool, well for those that haven't made it over to As the Whorl Turns (and cue music) this weekend I went to the Upper Valley Fiber Arts Festival. I scored big. We're talking alpaca/silk/merino/polwarth blend in Rasberry Fudge, pure alpaca in wild colors, baby camel down/tussah silk that looks good enough to eat, and last but not least (since Monday of last week was my b-day and essentially the whole week sucked) an ounce of dove grey cashmere!!!!! .... And then I was promptly overcome with buyers remorse. OH, I also bought an additional bobbin for my Ashford Joy DT ( i only had the three that came with it and I want to try 3-plys) and a one ounce Ashford drop spindle to carry in my knitting bag. So now I'm not allowing myself to purchase any yarn or fiber (at least in very limited ) quantities until after school is out and I'm back to working forty hours b/c right now my budget is really tight and, well, you know what the Harlot says..... you can't eat cashmere!Along with the no-buying, i'm also limiting my knitting and spinning until I can get cought up with the schoolwork. I fell a little behind and now am cramming for two tests this week whilst trying to start churning out the draft on the ten page research paper on Courthouses in Ohio for my History of American Architecture class (I repeat Glenn Harper is a slave driver). And look at me, all excited and I've gone and spent too much time hear when I need to be studying the intricate differences btw Colonial/Georgian/Federal/Greek Revival/Egyptian Revival/Gothic/Victorian Gothic and Italianate Styles of architecture.(whatever)

Blogger help Helped!

Finally figured out what the problem is.... we think. Will experiment more when I get home. Until finished for certain will continue to blog at http://asthewhorlturns.inthesphere.com which is my new blog site that I created prior to Bloggers latest attempt to help. Will probably continue blogging here temporarily until I get the new blog going for awhile and then will phase out Blogger. Sampa is just so much easier to use! If you're interested try it at www.sampa.com

Ok, I was going to post Merino Lace pics but they just aren't clear enough since I reduced the file size so I'm not going to. But they came out perfect. I used CTH Supersock in Martha's Vineyard. I'm almost done with the leg on the first Tofutsies Jaywalker. I've comtemplated a few times frogging it and making them in a better yarn but decided instead that I wouldn't let this beat me so I'm going to make these stinking (literally, what's up with the smell thing anyway?) socks if it kills me. The bonus is they're going really quickly so it shouldn't be too long before they're done and I can move on to more enjoyable socks. I'm thinking of making a pair of Roza's in my Lisa Souza Sock! Merino Joseph's Coat. I'm still waiting for my latest order from Lisa. I ordered almost TWO WEEKS ago and still haven't received an email saying it's on it's way. She let me know almost immediately that she had to do a run of one of the colors I ordered but in the first email she said she would be running it first thing the next week, and when I wrote for an update over a week later she told me the exact same thing. So...... It's two weeks later and here I sit. I ordered three skeins of Sock! and 4oz of Superwash roving. If I don't hear from her in the next day or so, I'm going to cancel my order. I know it sounds cranky of me and she's doing her own dyeing, but I've had a rough couple of weeks and I need pretty yarn to play with, NOW! Every now and then, I'm allowed to be demanding and bitchy for a couple of weeks. It's been about a year since my last pryncess tantrum so I guess I'm due. In all reality I'm not going to cancel the order, but I am going to bitch about it. Oh, speaking of throwing tantrums, my husband went to court this morning with my stepson's mom b/c she's trying to get him held in contempt for failure to pay his support. Now to be honest he only didn't pay for about a year and only b/c his boss gave him crap about doing the paperwork to withhold it from his check AND the mom hasn't let us see him since Malachi was about three months old when our stepson told us some very disturbing things and we had her investigated by childrens' services. She decided to throw a tantrum and has been withholding visitation for nearly three and a half years despite repeated attempts by Chris to get to see his son. Legally she is contempt of the visitation order but we don't have the money to hire a lawyer to go to court on it and she knows it. That, however, worked against her this morning when she went into the courtroom and faced the same judge that ruled on the case originally. Back then he actually told her, " Young lady, you need to grow up." She wasn't to happy to see him again. He asked my husband why he didn't pay his support for that period of time (he's been having taken out for six weeks now) and my husband answered, "Sir, it would probably help my case more to simply answer 'lack of responsibility' but the truth is I haven't been motivated b/c I haven't been allowed to see my son." The judge's whole demeanor changed and he turned to the mom and said," This is ridiculous. I'm not ruling on this today. I want to see you both back in five months and when I see support has been consistently paid for this period of time, I WILL dismiss this case." You should have seen her face! It was priceless! TADOW! I can't wait until I'm a doctor and we take full custody of my stepson. Then we'll move to Wyoming and SHE can see what it's like to not see him. Oh, I'm not going to deny visitation... she'll just have to get her fat butt out to Wy every two weeks and every wednesday night! I love it I love it I love it. .... Man, I'm going straight to hell.

I AM the MFing Pryncess and a review of Tofutsies.

I had my yearly evaluation at work today and my boss nearly had to deflate my head so that I could get out the door after she finished telling me what an asset I am and how she's one of my biggest fans!Then she asked about what upset me last week and I let it all out. I told her about the gossipping about my "mistake", she agreed it was silly and I wasn't in the wrong at all. I also got a couple of other things off my chest that also regarded the same person who was a major instigator in the gossiping buisness and at the end she was laughing but then she sighed and said. " I think it may be time for someone to leave. I wish it didn't have to come down to that...etc." She'd already told me earlier last week that I was a key player in the office and that I was higher on the totem pole than most of the gals giving me trouble. So even if that person isn't let go, at least I know that the boss is on MY side and all's well that ends well! Plus... I might get a bigger raise b/c Dr. Boyles has been talking me up big time! That would rock! So yes.... I am the pryncess! Now.... on to my review of the SWTC Tofutsies sock yarn. I have color #728. I call it Tequila Sunrise. I'm using it to do my first pair of Jaywalkers. Now, the yarn is beautiful and soft to the touch..... in a ball. It's 50% Superwash Wool, 25% Soysilk Fibers, 22.5% Cotton, and 2.5% Chitin (ground up crab shell). It has a gentle sheen to it and looks very much like Trekking only, ... it's no where near as nice. It knits like it's all cotton. There is very little sproing, ok, there's none. And maybe it's just me, but it has a smell when you knit with it. I can't quite describe it. It almost smells like it's burning. Very weird.


I shot this against some white paper so you could see the colors better but the pic isn't nearly as clear when it's posted as on my screen. Oh well. It has lovely colors and I will finish the socks b/c I'm sure it will wear just fine once it's done. And I'm sure they'll look great in my new shoes!

Aren't they pretty?! They are my fourth pair of Danskos. I absolutely love Dansko shoes. I buy one pair a year when I can. These are my favorites. I have a pair of classic black Professionals. Two pairs of Casey, one white pair for work and one brown pair for casual wear. And these are the Marcelle. Gorgeous! I also finished my Merino Lace socks from the new Interweave 25 Timeless Socks. I had some pictures uploaded but I accidently erased them and now my stupid internet connection is deciding to be a dick and not let me re-load them. I load them tomorrow.

In all honesty.... sometimes it just sucks to be a mom. Like last night, I'm parked a mere thirty meters from the entrance of the building where my Architechtural History class is held. It's raining. Just a light rain. Now, b/c it was supposed to rain all day and I knew I would be able to park close to said class, I left the umbrella with my husband to go get the kids from the sitters without getting wet. As I'm exiting my vehicle to head into class the rain starts to get worse. In about two minutes it went from light rain to monsoon. And I know monsoons, I lived in Panama for six years! By the time I hit the door of the building I am soaked down to the bone. I was wearing the new Baudelairs too. Needless to say I thought it my duty to endure the soaking for the benefit of my children. That was, at least, until this morning when Malachi said to me, "Mom you're fat. I want you to stay home with me. You never stay home with me. You're fat." ............. Damned ingrates.

Beautiful But Boring Blue Baudelaires

Okay, so I finally finished the Baudelaires and now I can do the second Merino Lace sock. I never thought I'd get bitten by the SSS bug but I had a serious case of it with these two pairs of socks. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that neither pattern is easily memorized and therefore I can't just pick them up, nonchalantly knit a row and then go back and do something else. I have to sit down with pattern at my tips and work on them for awhile. They are both very lovely patterns and make very lovely socks however. So here are the pics of my B5s. :



























































Sorry about the casper-like legs..... is o'erinn me (I am of Ireland). One battle with skin cancer is quite enough thank you. On a lighter note... I got my first letter from my Knitterly Letter Swap pal. Her name is Catherine and she's in Colorado Springs. So far, I think we're gonna get along just great. I bought some pretty stationary last week and I'll be sending out a lettert to Catherine and also to my downstream pal Kelly. Kelly's in Florida. So between the three of us, we span the country! It's pretty cool. Ok, and I sound like a complete geek. I'm not. Really. New subject. Welll I'm still the talk 'o the town at work. Ya know, if it wasn't gettin to be "that time" of the month, this crap wouldn't be so upsetting. As it is, I'm getting real sick and tired of being gossiped about for weeks on end whenever I mess up at all (be it a real mess up or just something that's personal like this latest thing). Ok, that's enough for now about that. On a happier note, I've been on a spinning kick lately. I'm finding a lot of comfort in the process and I've been experimenting with different breeds. So far I've spun Romney, Merino, Corriedale, and Blue Face Leicester. Today I picked up Morit Shetland, Jacob, and Merino/Tussah (in the most droolworthy blues ever!) I plan to order some Wensleydale and and maybe some Coopworth or Polworth if I can. I don't have any particular project in mind for the handspun right now. I'm just trying some different drafting and spinning techniques and getting a feel for what I'd like to work with most. Mostly....... I just like pretty wool in pretty colors and as long as I can get my wheel out and going the world is okay, at least for a little while.

Mother Nature likes to @#$% with Ohio

I'm serious. It's friggin snowing outside. In April. If that's not an in-your-face then I don't know what one is. I've never liked Ohio weather but, as the saying goes, if you don't like the weather in Ohio wait five minutes..... it'll change. The first year I was moved (and by moved I mean dragged) here it was October of 1992 and we found ourselves hip-deep in snow. Not too pleasant to a country girl from southwestern Georgia. In my short lifetime I've lived in: Panama (the country, not the city beach), Georgia (twice, and it's still my favorite), North Carolina (comes in very close to Georgia for tops), and Missouri. Do you notice a pattern? Yes, that's right, other than an occasional venture to South Bend, IN to visit the family I had never lived above the Mason-Dixon until my dad moved us here. I had seen snow, but never had to actually deal with it until the blizzard we were moved into. I've long since become used to the snow and since I learned to knit last year I actually have a new appreciation for cooler/cold weather, but I doubt I'll ever be able to get used to freak snowstorms in spring.At least Malachi got to use his Sherwood sweater a couple of times. Actually, I had to pull it off of him to wash it. Am I rambling? I have a migraine right now and I'm starving. Quiesiera pedir un bocadillo y necessito una cerveza. Por favor. Gracias. Okay, I'm done digressing into Spanish. So anyway, to ramble some more, I was listening to LnV and driving to class the other morning and it got to the part where they discussing the roving Lime got called Sweet Alex. It was a Kleenex moment and once they started crying, so did I. It's just been that kind of week at work. I feel so much empathy for Miss Lime. I have literally had to be talked down from resigning at least three times this week. My second job is looking for two full-time people and have been feeling me out to see if I want to come over to them full-time. Honestly, I'm considering it. If I wasn't due to begin my clinicals in the fall (fingers crossed!) I'd be over there in two seconds. See, here's my problem at work. I work in an office full of petty, selfish, insecure, immature women. On top of that, my boss actually LIKES me. She doesn't show me any favoritism, but she doesn't hide that she really does like me. This doesn't sit well with some co-workers. Another point of contention among them is that I don't commiserate with them about how "hard" working in the office is. Because.....well....it isn't. It is by far the easiest job I've had so far. It is physically undemanding and only mildly challenging mentally. Most of them time these women are making mountains out of mouse poop. It's, frankly, ridiculous and I refuse to engage in similar conversation so instead I get the "looks". I also get the looks b/c I: don't talk about my co-workers to my other co-workers (aka, Slumber Party Syndrome), don't talk personally about my patients ( can we say HIPAA violation?), and the worst of all..... I'm usually in a good mood so I don't spend the day whining. (My dad always told me, "Beck, you can't alway change your situation but you can always change your attitude about your situation.") This week it was really hard to keep my chin up. All I wanted to do was cry, or pummel somebody (two specific bodies actually and I'm not quite past that feeling yet so it's good they're not around right now). But,.... it's Good Friday and I do remember the reason for the rememberance of this day and of Easter. I'm no where close to being like Jesus, but at least he loves me and that's good enough for me to not pummel anyone. And now it's time for some pictures!

Today was quite possibly the most beautiful day I've seen in the past six months. Though it rained briefly this morning, once we walked out of church the sun was shining, the wind was gently blowing and the sky was the purest shade of robin's egg that I've ever seen. My husband, my children, and I went to the grocery then after dropping the groceries at home, we all went to the salon where Malachi and I got our hair cuts. My husband was not pleased with my choice of cut but then again, it's not his hair. Usually I have wavy/curly blonde hair down almost to my (large) butt. Now..... I have the same hair that Meg Ryan was sporting in City of Angels. It looks great on me and I might stick with it permanently. He'll get used to it. After the hair cuts we took the boys to the park in town and they played whiled I knitted on Malachi's sweater (which btw, will be done tomorrow...I'll post pictures). When we were finally able to wrench the children away from the playground, we stopped at the local fascist discount store( jk, it was Wal-Mart) where I picked up flower seeds (sweet pea, nasturtium, oriental poppy, and shasta daisies) to start my garden this year. Now, I have to be honest, this will be my very first attempt at a garden b/c I have never been inclined to garden before. I don't know if it was the weather, but some how I got bit by the flower bug this year and I just have to grow something.
Wish me luck, I feel that I'll need it. Now, onto yarn pron:

Puck's Mischief and Fire on the Mountain, STR.

STR, Interlacements Tiny Toes in CO2 & Vegas Brights, and J.Knits in N.Carolina.


My devils, I mean angels. Noah on the left, Malachi on the right (this is before the haircut.)

Another picture of the STR. And last but not least......

My new haircut on my ugly mug. Yes I wear contacts, no they don't change my eyecolor. Those blues are a family trait. So is the hair. Sorry about the close up but honestly, my lips really are that big. I also picked up a couple of new books. I got Cables Untangled, Inspirational Cable Knits, Dyeing to Knit, Color in Spinning, Fabulous Knitting (actually I think the title is slightly different but I don't have the book right in front of me so.... whatever), Stitchionary 2: Cables, and BW Second Treasury. I also finally bought the Rogue pattern and the Twisted Flower pattern. The Rogue will be my reward for getting rid of all the excess fat I'm totin. Ok, well, I think that's enough for now. I have spinning and knitting to do.

I gotta tell you....Lime 'N Violet ought to have a Surgeon Generals Warning on their podcast. First of all, they are about the funniest gals casting right now. If they were close to me, I'd be up their butts all the time. They are the kind of girls I actually LIKE to hang around with. I really love them. The danger in LnV is, however, their love 'o yarn pron. I just got an influx of the orders that I'd placed with BMFA, Loopy Ewe, and Lisa Souza. I laid all my loveliness out on my kitchen table and just oohed and aaahed over it. If I was more emotional I'd probably have cried. I got Fire on the Mountain and Puck's Mischief in lightweight STR, Las Vegas Brights and Carbon Dioxide in Tiny Toes from Sheri, N. Carolina in J.Knits from Sheri, Joseph's Coat in Sock! from Lisa and four oz of Mardi Gras in Superfine/Superwash from Lisa. And I noticed something when I had them all laid out together...... there's a theme in the colors........ why am I seeing so many pinks? And MAN do I like BRIGHT colors! Now, Puck's Mischief isn't bright, but it's the only one out of this batch that isn't. I LOVE me some bright-ass colors! Oh well, can't be all serious and dark all the time anyway. (BTW this is just going to kind of ramble along aimlessly 'cause I'm REALLY tired this week from adjusting to my new school schedule.) I was super impressed with Sheri from the Loopy Ewe. I got my order so stinking fast I couldn't even email her back right away and give thanks! Lisa, equally as impressive, emailed me right away after I placed my order and let me know that she'd pulled my yarn and would be dying my roving in the next few days. How cool was that?! I didn't hear from Blue Moon and my order from them took the longest comparatively but no complaints here b/c I know how stinking busy they are. Needless to say, I'm having a hard time deciding what to cast on. I still need to make sock two of my Baudelaires and I'm one and two- thirds of a sleeve away from finishing Malachi's Sherwood sweater. I've gotten two-thirds of one Merino Lace sock from Interweaves new sock book done, in Martha's Vineyard CTH supersock. I really should be knitting right now but at the moment am in class. I need chocolate and french fries. MMMMMMM.

Whiskey & Whiskers

Word to the wise: If your best friend brings over her boyfriend and said boyfriend happens to be a police officer on you local police force...do NOT drink whiskey around him. Especially on St.Patricks Day. Because when you do, you forget that said boyfriend does not yet know ALL about your best friend's less than spotless past. Like the wild summer you spent completely inebriated before you got your shit together. Telling said boyfriend all about this wild past of your best friends may lead said boyfriend to grin evilly at said best friend and who knows what ensues after they leave but said best friend may just want to kill you. You can't really blame me though. She brought the whiskey after all, and it WAS St.Pats day and I am of Irish descent. You mix Irish blood with Irish whiskey and it's ALL coming out. I can not be held responsible for whatever gets said. The boyfriend thought it was all very endearing btw(he's so in love with her I could have said she liked to hack people up and eat them and he would have thought it was cute) see:This is how they ALWAYS look. OK, you can usually see her eyes though. She always looks like she's squinting in pictures, it's just b/c her smile is so big! I can't wait until they get married. Not that he's asked but hey, it's coming eventually. For now, she can just play with my kitty. I mean my cat...my four-legged cat. See, I can see this requires and explanation.

My cat:

This is what she does for fun. I had some BFL in this bag. I had to get it away from her before it became a future hairball. The biggest problem with the adorable little gal is she howls ALL NIGHT LONG. See, we have this cat problem in my neighborhood. We have a LOT of stray male cats who love to go around flirting with all the little girl cats in the plat. The problem with this is that they send the ones who aren't fixed (see cat above) into heat and as a result my husband, myself, and to some extent my children, get no sleep. So Milo is going to live with her Aunt Kate and Mommy will come visit her. My father is ecstatic about her going and is now discussing, with quite a degree of seriousness, buying my boys a dog. As long as it's a big dog I'm OK with that idea. We really are dog people anyway. Rottweiler and German Shepherd people really. And Dobermans. Ooh, and wolfhounds. Really, any dog that can double as a horse.

I need a Guiness

For real though. Finals will be over for me after I take my Stats final tonight and I'm ready to collapse. I've been staying up WAY too late and quite frankly the only things keeping me sane are Sherwood and Baudelaire. Finally got to see the husband in the sweater. Take a gander below:



Isn't he hot?! Yeah, it's even better when he's naked! Oh, here's a close-up:


For some reason, neither picture looks like it's very sharp even though it was perfect when I uploaded them. Oh, well. Go figure. That's what I get for giving into the digital camera craze. My husband just asked me the other day why I haven't been taking pictures with my "real" camera/s. By "real" he means the one/s I actually do all the work myself. My wicked expensive Canon EOS and my Minolta. They are what I use for doing my photography work. I just use my digital for snapshooting and knitting related photos. I should upload my portfolio from last year. I'm so proud of it. Especially since most of the shots were taken in below zero weather and/or hip deep snow. It is an exquisite gathering. I'll have to dig out my cd-rom with the scanned in pics out of my gig bag. New subject. I want to kill my child. No seriously, (man I've been listening to LNV way too much) the kid is driving me crazy. Yesterday I got a call from his teacher telling me that he got in trouble YET AGAIN and almost got sent to the principals office again. Now, every night I ask him about his day and ask how he did at school and every day he tells me about his day and he tells me he behaved well. HE LIED. I was so pissed that if I hadn't been planning on heading to Fiberworks already, I would have ended up there anyway. I decided to wait until after playing in fiber before telling my husband. It usually goes better for Noah if I'm calm when I tell his dad these things. If I'm not calm then my husbands response is multiplied ten-fold. So six ounces of Corriedale and eight ounces of Blue-Faced Leicester later, I was telling my husband. Even with me calm he didn't take it well. If I hadn't been there to prevent it, I'm pretty sure his head would have exploded. But, I promised sex in exchange for the life of my child and that cooled him down. And I was fine once I got my hands in wool. I am all but finished with the first Beaudalaire. I have six more rounds of ribbing and it's weaving time. In a few rounds I'll be ready to separate Malachi's Sherwood sweater into front and back. He's excited:



Kids. You gotta love 'em. New subject. So I'm totally in LOVE with the Lime and Violet Podcast. If you haven't heard it you absolutely HAVE to! They are the funniest gals ever! Go to limenviolet.blogspot.com and check them out. They will have you laughing so hard you'll be peeing your pants. On a more somber note. Miss Violet is currently battling a boob rock and if you can donate to the Boob Rock Fund, there would be few better places to put your money. Rest assured that she'll be seeing my name up on the donation page soon. What's even better is that Miss Violet and Miss Lime will be in lil ole Ohio soon! They'll be at Knitters Connection and that's barely an hour and a half away from me! I would SO be feeding them and laying yarn at their feet in reverance! Well, St. Patricks Day is the day after tomorrow so I'd better get back to drinking! Note to self: Once a surgeon, remember to take generous leave beginning at least two days before and ending at least two days after St. Patricks Day.

WIP it, WIP it good.

This past week really sucked and I felt liked I dropped off the proverbially planet. Seriously. I had SO much going on at school that I just NOW got caught up on my knitting crack fix (otherwise known as the Lime 'N Violet podcast) and I'm almost done with my Widdershins socks. As predicted the notes on the sock heel that I got from the designers website did in fact solve my frustrating heel dilema and all proceeded beautifully after that. I am now convinced that the thousands of other folks who've knitted these have in fact been correct in saying this is the best toe-up sock EVER. (At least for your basic construction and the sweet cable version. No offense to the all-powerful, ever magical Cookie A.)I'm doing them in Plymouth Sockotta. Okay, now I have yet to run into a true "crap" sock yarn, and this is not crap yarn, but it's not my fav. I think it's the cotton. I just think it feels a little rougher than say, a plain wool/nylon blend. Right now my favorite remains to be decided. I have Wildfoote, Lorna's Laces, Cherry Tree Hill, Ditto, Jojoland, all waiting to be. And on top of that I want to order some Socks That Rock (just to see what all the fuss is about) and some Tofoosties (that crab stuff is pronounced kite-ton). And let's face it, with all the wonderfull sock yarns out there can there really be only one? Plus, I want to eventually spin and dye my own. And speaking of spinning. Annnie, I will be mailing out your Merino Pimp THIS VERY WEEK!!!!!!!!! I'm so sorry it's taken so long, but I wanted to have it as perfect as I could possible get it and I've been doing it in small segments to avoid sloppy spinning. Please forgive me! I'm also including some other goodies but you'll just have to wait anxiously for those! Well, back to work. Oh and I've lost six pounds! Yay!!!!! I'm back on track with my exercise program and we've crawled back on the wagon for six days now and haven't had ANY junk food what so ever! New bikini here I come!!!!

So Glad I Didn't Shoot Myself

Ok. The sinus infection is backing off. It's day five of the anitbiotic onslaught and I think the little boogers are calling for a retreat. I finally finished my husbands stupid sweater and if I never see it again I couldn't care less. I'm so sick of that stupid sweater and that crappy yarn. I will never knit another sweater out of crap yarn even if a nuclear disaster occurs and no sheep survive it. I would rather knit grass and cotton. I HATE crap yarn! I never jumped on the novelty yarn bandwagon, even when I first started knitting a year ago. I've only ever made a couple of scarves from novelty stuff and it was barely considered a novelty yarn. Anyway, I hate crap yarn. Nuff said. So today I worked on the Widdershins socks and was going along just fine until I hit the heel turn. I fiddled with that sucker FOREVER and finally gave up in disgust(with myself, not the pattern, as I know thousands of knitters have made these socks without difficulty so it MUST BE ME). Then I went online to the designers website and wouldn't ya know it...... she has notes on her site about the heel turn and I THINK I've got what I need to fix it. Also, I printed off the charts for Malachi's Sherwood and though I'll need to write them all out by hand b/c I'm really not a chart gal, I'm sure it's going to be a lovely project. And I've got good yarn so all's well. Back to jammin with LimeWire!

Put a Bullet in my Brain

Seriously. I am miserable. I am not a fun sick person. I have been battling an oncoming illness for two days now. I did the sinus rinses. I upped the Vit C. I took my Allegra-D. AND I took Advil(the smallest dose of course). And what do I get today.......????? A full blown SINUS INFECTION!!!!! ARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I HATE BEING SICK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I really hate it. My sinuses were limping along this morning with the help of the Advil and Allegra-D. Then I was at lunch and tried to sniff and, Oh. The. Pain. Yup, I ran through the mental s/s. Rinsed out HUGE green chunk this morning, fever, focal pain, sinus pressure so bad it's making my teeth hurt, and ear pain............differential dx...... right maxillary sinus infection. I drug myself reluctantly before Dr. Boyles who gave me that, "You should have known better," look and took me to the room where we keep the abx samples. From under a cabinet he pulled out an entire sample bag of Levaquin 750. Wow. That's a massive dose. Usually we just write for 500mg. He tells me to only take it for six days and then re-evaluate my symptoms. If I'm symptom free I can stop, otherwise I should take it for two more days. IF I'm symptom free? Is there really any possibility that I will have symptoms after this massive onslaught of antibiotics? Is there really any bacteria that can survive this massacre? If there is it doesn't deserve to die. It deserves a place of honor at the CDC. The worst thing about this illness is it's impecable timing. I'm scheduled for a test in Stastistics tonight and we didn't meet on Tuesday d/t the snow. So we really didn't get to review and I feel horrible on top of feeling unprepared. Just.Shoot.Me.Now.

Look What Annie Sent Me!

These were in my latest package from Annie. That cream colored yarn is the yarn I made! Isn't it awesome?!?

Look! Don't they look fabulous on me?

Here's the total package. I haven't tried the cherries yet but only b/c I wanted to get this post up first (after I emailed Annie to let her know it arrived safely, more on that in a minute).
Mmmmmm cherries and chocolate.

Aside from the totally GORGEOUS yarn she spun me (the color on the monitor does it little justice. It's the most beautiful shade of deep green), do you see the Pink Hot Chocolate?! How cool is Pink Hot Chocolate!?! And hot chocolate couldn't be a more appropriate gift given that we woke up to ass-deep snow this morning. I honestly didn't really expect the weather guys to be correct about this storm but alas, they were. Yesterday everyone at work, patients and employees, were belly-aching about the snow and how it was going to shut us down. I can't stand whining, so I commented that it would be great if we made all this fuss about nothing. Well, serves me right. To top it off I was ON MY WAY to work when I got the call from work that we were closed. I just grumbled all the way back home about how they could have at least let me know before I got out of bed. *sigh* Oh well, at least I'm getting a good bit of work done on my husband's stupid sweater. Then I'm going to work on the Merino Pimp for a while too. I can't wait to ship it to Annie and see what she makes with it! Okay, I've taken a sufficient break from my knitting now so I'm ready to get back to work on this stupid sweater and get it done. I'm on the sixth raglan decrease row so things are starting to progess more quickly now. Hopefully it will be done in time for my trip to Chicago to visit my parents this weekend. Noah's birthday is Monday and ever since my parents moved to Chicago two years ago, it's become our tradition to go visit them on the kids' birthdays and at one of the holidays. Since Noah's birthday is in February and Malachi's is in September that means we head up there about every six months or so. They visit us on the flip side so we get to see each other about every two to three months and so far that's working for me. I've never been close with my extended family because being raised in the military we moved around a lot and didn't make it "home" much for get-togethers. My parents and my brother were all I had and it was really hard when they moved away. I have my kids and my husband, but I miss my mom and dad. We have high hopes that when I'm done with nursing school we can all be closer again. Although dad says that means I'll have to go to an East Coast medical school since he plans on transferring to Florida. He'll never give up on trying to get me to go to Duke or Harvard or the like. I told him I never will. Those are research schools and I don't want to do research. I want to do surgery. I'll keep my options open though.Of course my dream is pretty silly to most wannabe surgeons. My dream is be a surgeon at a nice hospital out in Wyoming or Montana where my husband can have his cattle farm and I can have my horses and sheep. That would also be a nice central location to hop back and forth to wool festivals! Ah, well, a girl can dream can't she?

I'm a fiber WHORE and Merino is my Pimp

This is my Pimp. Do you see why I'm powerless?No?

How about now? Show me more you say?

These are the first singles I spun from it.

Yes, that's right, give in to it. Feel the power of the Merino Pimp.
It is strong, no? What? What did you say? I've gotta go....the Pimp is calling me to work.

I'm DONE knitting for my husband.

Seriously. After I finish his sweater I am NEVER knitting another thing for him. I don't care if he begs. I am so tired of all his backhanded comments about my knitting and spinning. And then I go and practically give myself a case of carpal tunnel knitting him a custom balaclava this past weekend b/c he was working in sub-zero temperatures and I knit it using Fisherman wool from LionBrand b/c it has that nice water resitant lanolin in it, and it was on size 3 needles! After I stayed up to one in the morning three nights in a row working on this thing instead of studying or writing a paper that was due yesterday, he wore it for about two or three hours and then took it off b/c the mouth covering was wet and it "was uncomfortable." WELL I NEVER! He ASKED for no mouth opening b/c (and I quote), "I want as much skin covered as possible." Now my beautiful handiwork lies in his Jeep unloved, unworn, and above all UNAPPRECIATED. I'm finishing this sweater and that's it! I had comtemplated not finishing the sweater and just casting on for Malachi's Sherwood sweater but I decided that if he doesn't appreciate this sweater.....I'LL WEAR IT DAMN IT! It'll be really baggy but what the hell...I've put a LOT of time into this thing and SOMEONE IS GOING TO APPRECIATE IT!!!

Some Pictures

Here is what I have done so far on Chris' sweater. One sleeve = 22" long. One body = 19" long. One very long husband = check. Having a really handsome sweater for my construction worker/future farmer that actually fits him and didn't cost a hundred dollars = priceless. The second sleeve is casted on and about 1/4 done. I am SO ready for this sweater to be done. I am even skipping Stats class tonight in an effort to get most of the second sleeve done. Ok....and because I just can't do it tonight. Ok, Ok, I'll go. But I'll not be happy about it.

Look what Annie sent me!

Do you see this beautiful camel down? What about that hook?! Is it not so very awesome?

What about these stitch markers? She made them herself! What can I say? I have the BEST pal ever!

Incogknitters, Knitter You Are Beautiful, and I'm So OVER MySpace.

Incogknitters. They're everywhere. You know who they are. They keep looking at you when you kip. Not the often seen, "what a dork, doesn't she know that's for old people?" No. These are the envious looks of those who so recently held their beloved fiber in their hands and only put it down out of fear of the above mentioned looks. These are the ones who will casually ask, "What are you working on?" and then actually listen when you launch into the tale of the pattern, the yarn and the intended recipient. They hang on every word as if somehow listening to you and sitting near you will fufill their own need to knit. My heart aches for them. I long to hand them some needles and open my knitting bag with extra skeins and say," Go ahead and knit yourself something." (That is, afterall, my motto.) But I know that this would only be received with frightened looks and shaking heads. Poor souls. I never have been one of them. From my first dance with wool I was too in love to hide it. I didn't care if it launched another Hatfield-McCoy saga. I was a Knitter and I was proud.

Knitters, You ARE Beautiful. If you ever doubt that, read this again. Knitters are not your average kind. In fact there is NO average knitter. Knitters are young, older, and much older. Knitters are artistic types, crunchy granola types, academics, hip, and in need of hip-replacements. Knitters do not need to be defined by categories or boundaries as most people do. A knitter may want to knit with wool today and cotton tomorrow. A knitter (with very few exceptions) will stop what he/she is doing to help another knitter in need and when called upon rarely fails to step up to the plate. Knitters care little for political affilitation, religious preference, sexual preference, or geographic location. No, in our world we are just who we are and that is good enough. We share this common bond that is beyond description, though many have tried.
The saying, "It takes one to know one," has probably never fit so well. So I say it again, Knitters You ARE Beautiful.

My last comments are about how I am so OVER MySpace. I was really into it when it first came out but over the last year I've come to realize that very little is to be gained by keeping my account open. It really boils down to nothing more than a computerized, world-wide version of a popularity contest. Who has the most "Friends" and who get the most comments/hits. It's ridiculous. Okay, maybe it's not ridiculous to a lot of folks who have a lot of fun on MySpace. Those people are probably using it as it was intended, as a means of meeting and keeping in touch with others. In my area though, it's a way for my high school to keep dibs on each other and keep the social classes organized. So, just like High School, I'm tired of this crap and I'm outta here. I f I wanted to stay in High School I wouldn't have left.

First of all a VERY Happy Birthday to my googliebear, Chris. He's a whopping 29 years old today! I finished my Trekking socks today. In a rather unconventional way too. You see, usually I reward myself AFTER knitting, but today knitting WAS my reward....for studying. During school terms I get so little knitting time and it's a constant battle for me to get my studies done. This quarter so far has been especially hard due to the BORING content of my classes. I'm sorry, I know there are folks out there who get really excited about Politics and Math and Philosophy, but I'm just not one of them. I'm passionate about my political views but I never discuss them with anyone other than my family and I have very little ability to read about politics for twenty to fourty pages at a time. So I read five pages, knit five row, read three pages, knit three rows, etc. It works out better if my project is bigger. Tonight I've definitely spent more time reading but later on and tomorrow I'll be working on Chris' Christmas Sweater so it'll be worth the reading time put it. I have so much to knit if I want to get my man into this marvelous sweater by V-Day.And thanks to his change in eating habits, he's gonna look even more studly wearing it. I think he finally learned that getting excited about my knitting (even if it's BS) is a good way to score! Well, tomorrow I'll get a lot of work done on the sweater b/c I'll be accompanying my hunny to his mothers house (rather begrudgingly I might add) for a family get together. Knitting has saved my sanity and my marriage on more than one of these occasions so sticks don't let me down! I really adore my STK pal, Annie. She sent me the most lovely stuff and I'm really having a ball spinning hers! Her package has been delayed until Friday d/t the need for package procurement of the non-baked kind (don't worry, I'll come through).

On a more wandering note (more wandering you say? but how can this be?) I've been thinking a lot lately about how I don't have anyone my age who really gets this whole "knitting thing" I get weird looks from all the "trendy" girls at church(who btw haven't changed at all since we were in high school together) when I pull out the needles. Look, I'm not shallow, or at least I try not to be, but I'm lonely for knitting pals. I've checked out my local knitting meetings and met some really great ladies that I'm so in love with, but I'm the youngest there by about twenty years in most cases. I just wish I could find some gals who'd like to join me on my adventures in the fiber world. I just know if they fell through this rabbithole with me they'd never want to leave our Woolly Wonderland. *sigh* Alas, I'm sure the day will come.

Annie

Can I just say that those of you who never made commo with your STK pals...you REALLY screwed the pooch. Annie sent me a package that is to DIE for. Two balls of merino/sari(pretty cool huh?) and some camel and merino/tencel to spin and some GORGEOUS stitch markers that she made herself and this absolutely beautiful hook that I have a few ideas about how to use but I asked Annie what her intended use for it was just so I don't screw it up! I have a package ready to go for her that she probably won't get nearly as excited about but just you wait until I'm done spinning her special stuff. She'll die. She'll absoulutely die! And my gifts ALWAYS come with chocolate and other goodies unless there is some slim chance that someone is allergic to chocolate ( a death sentence in my book) so I hope she has fun with it! Like I told Annie, I'm from the Midwest, we say thanks with baked goods!

Tonight I Knit

Yes. Tonight I will knit. Having not knitted more than a row or two in the last week and a half is taking it's toll on me. I cannot lift heavy books to study tonight as Dr. Ratcliff dx me with Bicipital Tendonitis this afternoon and I'm on lifting restrictions for the next week. He said if I'm not better after a week of not lifting, sleeping on my back, and taking Mobic twice a day, I have to have a cortisone injection. Ouch! NO WAY! So I will knit. I'll take any excuse these days to knit. Since my time is limited I only get to spin a little and knit a little. No way I'm gonna finish Chris' sweater by Saturday. Maybe by the end of the month...... Oh well. Tonight I will finish the second sock in my pair of Trekking socks. I will wear them tomorrow as it is finally cold enough for me to have NO excuse NOT to wear LOTS and LOTS of wool!

What do I look like?

I swear, if one more kid at this University calls me m'am I will hit him/her. Why is it that when I come to school I am so very often mistaken for a teacher? I am only 27. My husband has brought it to my attention that it may have something to do with the way I dress. My typical garb is my scrubs under a three-quarter length double-breasted black wool peacoat, leather gloves and black laptop briefcase, oh, and my black leather handbag. Ok, I can see how this is different than the ripped jeans and sweatshirt of my fellow classmates. Fine. You should see me at home though. Jeans, tshirts and cowboy boots. And a ponytail. And some sort of fiber in or at least near me. Boy would they be shocked! At least I got my computer. Yvonne say hi, *hello*. She's a beautiful Sony Vaio and she has two friends. Digi my digital camera and Polly, my iPod. All are happily playing with me on a regular basis and I couldn't be more thrilled. Now I get to introduce Ashley and Ben to them.!YaY!

Silence

Still no reply from my Spin-to-Knit exchange pal. I emailed her almost two weeks ago! Annie tells me she hasn't heard from hers either and even though she emailed the head dudes she still hasn't heard...from either one! How Rude! Oh well, I'm not sending her the yarn I've spent SO much time on until she at least acknowledges that she's received my email. I know it's kind of harsh, especially coming from someone who just wants to wrap the world in wool but...c'mon, we had the option to quit and obviously she confirmed. Denise...if you're out there......drop me a line! Oh, and I'll be posting some pictures from my October trip to Hilton Head and Savannah in a few days(really whenever I can.) There are dolphins involved and a GLORIOUS sunset that makes me SO glad I paid attention during composition class!

SPIN ON SISTERS!

Schools In

So I started back to school today and boy will I be glad when this quarter is over! I have Political Science, Philosophy, and Statistics. The last three classes I needed to satisfy my general education requirements for my bachelors degree. I'm so bored already! At least I have a long break on Tuesday and Thursdays. I packed Benjamin in my backpack with some fiber to keep him company. I can take him out during the break and feed the monkey. People give me the strangest looks though....I can't figure out WHAT is so unusual about a girl spinning in the middle of a large university campus. I mean really, have they never seen it before?

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!