Favorite things

Y'know what I love doing? I talk with my closest friend (the idea of Best Friend kind of died about, oh, 3 years ago? May 2002. Yeah.) Briana--well, more like we write stories together and talk about whatever comes to mind as we write. Never at a loss for things to say because once the chitchat's over, we're off using our imaginations--and I knit. And every so often I make some Rooibos tea to chase the chills away or some hot chocolate if I need something to sit a bit more solidly in the stomach. My favorite is Stephen's Irish Creme or Italian Amaretto. That constitutes as an evening well spent.

Lately I've been catching up on Crazy Aunt Purl. I love how she's so frank. She also has a marvelous sense of humor. Why did no one shove me at her blog earlier? Oh well, it doesn't matter, she has inspired me to be more open. I like that.

So, I have a bit of something to confess. I am NOT a very good girl. Oh, I try, heaven knows that I do. The Lord and I, we have kind of a rapport and I KNOW He laughs at me at times and shakes his head and goes "C'mon, Kit, you know better than that!" and I smile and look sheepish and go "Yeah...I do." But hey, being human means that I'm learning. Which means I'm not always an A+ student. Never was. I have a small habit of swearing every so often (my favorite is actually not applicable in American, it's for you British. And that would be "OH BU**ER!" and that's not 'butter' there. I only recently learned what it meant and now I know I really should stop but it's not easy). I also kind of laugh at inappropriate things that should really shock a fine, well-bred lady. And have a taste for violent movies that might be, well, R-rated. And I am not a caffeine person, but I do like Green Tea when my pills are hammering at my GI tract again. I also realized lately that I am a little TOO fond of rum-flavoring. Like in Eggnog and Chocolate Rum Icecream like they have at Skoops-Gelato in the Provo Townie Centree mall. They called me the Wild Mormon at the Assisted Living place back in Kansas. Because I'm not your Utah Mormon.

Oh yeah, I was BORN in Utah. But it's been 20 years since I left there and then came back. I've seen the world since then and being LDS is not the same in Germany or Kansas as it is here. People here seem to be more lukewarm here whereas there you either are or you aren't. And I never came into strong anti-Mormon sentiments until I came here. Whoooa nelly, you don't like the LDS, you don't have to BE here. Seriously. There are other places to be that pay more and cost less. I suggest Lawrence in Kansas. Nice place, very granola, very open-minded. Blue as my own two astigmatic eyes.

Anyways, I have to hold back because I have relatives that might read this. Hi Sis! Hey Aunts, Uncles, Cousins who have floated over from Sis's blog! It's amusing because most of my life I was this chubby shy kid that you've all come to know and tolerate and maybe like lots. You don't realize that then, College happened. Ohhh college. KU. Kit found her feet and her spine at KU. But that was just the start. Since then, Kit's gone to Nursing School, aka the Gauntlet. Kit's Moved Out. Kit's had to be a bit more self-reliant. And Kit has started to live in the Real World. Now, don't get me wrong, I haven't lost my sense of manners and respect, but I have lost a lot of timidity.

But all that aside, this is a Knitting Blog. The real life blog is on LiveJournal and I may someday show you which one is mine, but not right now. I like being a bit hermetic.

Now for Knitting. I've started up the Corset again for lack of anything else to knit (argh! Must knit something, anything, what can I knit, I have Second FingerlessGloveWithHoodie Syndrome!) and had to start it all over because I stopped mid row and heaven help me but I just couldn't figure it out. Whatever, I will stay in the groove this time.

And congratulations to anyone who read all this sh...tuff. See? See? Swearing. On a Sunday. I'm a Work In Progress. Can't wait till I'm my own FO*.

*Finished Object, yannow.

Heeeey, so THAT'S where that big bag of Cinnamon Almonds went...!

Ina, Dad, remember when I couldn't find them? Figured they were lost forever in the fourth or fifth dimension of the minivan? Yeah. They're a little stale but I haven't: a) died b) broken out in some terrible rash c) made a dash to worship that white idol, the Porcelain God. They *are* a little stale. This, you notice, has not stopped me at all. Whatsoever.

I haven't blogged here for a bit. Life and Parents Being Here* (seriously, I was thrilled, it was SO fun) kind of stole me away. Since I last posted I:

*have not bought a drop spindle. It's like they're too expensive (I say this when I ALMOST bought a $70 framed bit of art at BB&B today...then bought a Salt City Christmas Eve candle instead). Maybe I'm afraaaaid. Maybe I need to find a good reason for buying one (okay! Plan: Buy drop spindle when Nursing Concepts 6 is passed. Okay. Good!)

*HAVE finished my scarf. And verily I did block it and it DID NOT STAY UNCURLED! Arrgh! *insert several expletives here* I haven't woven in ends, I haven't put in the fringe but I did block it and it's not stayed blocked!!! Stress! Bite! Oh, okay, I won't bite the scarf, but that's because I'm only a little crazy, not a lot crazy.

*have made...wait, let's do this right. Mom, sis, niece, and I went out for shoppings today. Yeah yeah, I'm not like all the other cool kids and I participated in the rabid shark pond of consumerism. And I brought some knitting with me. Anyways, mom got some Nifty Foundation, the powder sort and got some really cool free stuff and it all came in a silvery bag. She tried to shove it off on my niece, but my niece would have nothing to do with it. So I said I'd take it. And whaddaya know it holds my stuff! In this case, that would be a fingerless-glove-that-may-also-have-a-mitten-hoodie. I finished it not long after my parents, trying to beat the OZ (pronounced "snowstorm") to Kansas, ran away. If they'd stayed through one more episode of Good Eats (the cheesecake one where I suddenly gain five pounds just watching it) they'd have Lived Long And Prospered. Wait...that sounds so not good. Ina, Dad, drive SAFE, don't give in to large trucks driving too fast while carrying TN-freakin'-T. Don't spin out into snowy medians and kill innocent signs that our taxpayers have put up to slow down big minivans like yours. And PLEASE LIVE LONG AND PROSPER ANYWAYS. And move out here so you don't have to go back to Kansas all the time. Kansas is for sucks. Utah is much prettier, you can see STARS...at least, when it's not Inversion, which is a big word for poetic and foggy mountains in the distance. Pretty.

*have not cleaned up since the Major Clean Up that I attempted before my parents came over. I prayed they wouldn't use the little bathroom where I kept the cleaning supplies and that big hiking boot that killed Shelob (*shudders*) and the strange and mysterious green goo that lives in the caulking around the toilet. But they did. First thing mom does after bringing stuff down into the family room? No, not unpack, clean that STUPID BATHROOM! Why? But at least they weren't as squicked out about the Fuzzy Air Grate above the bathtub and mom cleaned the Green Toilet (except it's green again, mom says it's not mold but I disagree).

And anyways, it was a great week except for when it wasn't but that was very small compared to when it was.

Oh yes, really cool trick. If you hit the Shift Key while clicking on any link, it opens up the link in A NEW WINDOW! Huzzah! God save the King! Now I don't have to put 'target="new"' in my links! Please turn your pop-up-blocker off when you do that though. Or hold the CTRL key down, too. So, Shift-CTRL-*click* or something like that for new windows.

Peace Out.

*Mom knits, YAAAY! And that's just how Dad watches every movie. I'm not kidding. Unless he paid for the theater, but I don't know, may be does sleep at the theater. He sleeps at church. *tattle tattle*

shut down in 3...2...1...

At a certain point at night, my brain goes "nitting iz hrd" and I end up having to tink more than I knit. Lousy scarf.

Sinner

For being a naughty recipient of SP6 love by not posting and thanking my sweet SP sistah (no, really, her email calls her KnitSista), I have had suffered retribution by nasty cold. It came at me Monday and hit me with a 2x4. A 2x4 with a rusty nail that set my sinuses and throat aflame. I'm glad I didn't schedule work because I'm telling you, hell hath no fury like a cold scorned. But she was so kind, I love her little knitted bag with the soap in it (nice!) and the fun knitting cards. The chocolate and tea were very welcome at this point ('specially the tea).

I am, however, feeling better. I had the sinus and throat thing on Monday, felt better but exhausted yesterday, overexerted myself by inviting friends to share in some restorative sushi and miso soup at Demae and then too much chocolate brownie and Fruits Basket (an anime, one that my little blog button is from incidently). This morning, my throat is thinking things it shouldn't be thinking (how wicked!), my nose has become Mucus Central, but I feel stronger. Which is a good thing, or rather, better be a good thing, I have a lot to do today. After all, my parents are coming over and they're staying in the basement family room that still needs sweeping and vaccuuming, if I can get over my fear of black widows (it's cold enough for them all to be dead and gone, right? Right? Woes!).

Okay, and now for something actually related to this blog:

I want to start spinning. Oh heavens, another something for me to dabble in! I don't even know what I'd spin or why, it's just something I want to learn to do! Anyways, I was perusing eBay for a proper drop spindle and there were a whole heck of a lot. I became rather fond of the Rapunzel one. It looks so neat! But I don't know if I'd get terribly serious about this. Ah well, if I wasn't crazy about it, I could always re-sell it, right? What's your opinion? I already have some gorgeous merino roving that I don't know if I dare to spin. It's too pretty. Alas.

I'm on the last half of the last repeat before the tapered end on my Faina scarf. It's not very long and it's rather wide. But I think it will fast become my favorite scarf. It's always special to wear things you've made. I wear my Rogue on a regular basis. It makes me so happy.

Ah, for the love of knitting.

Getting It Together

I know better. I do. Making To-Do lists at 2am? Madness. My brain starts going "Oh yes and don't forget...and that too". Look at that. Can you imagine the amount of lazy I've been struck with to have let it all build up like that? And those 20 pages, ohhh, they're killer. They take me over 2 hours to do because I am Queen of ADD when it's something I'm not fond of doing. I could knit for hours. I canNOT type from textbooks with obscure answers to all my workbook's questions for hours straight. My brain starts wandering.

Also, 2am is not the time to be relying my brain for rational thought. I have some bizarre things on that to-do list.

I will still go to SOAR tomorrow. I just hope Margene left a *little* yarn for this cookie monster.

not SOARing

I thought I'd hit up SOAR today. It sounded fun, Lawrence's Yarn Barn was representing (YO MIDWEST, WASSUP!) and it was fun to see on the market-list that after everyone had their little blurb of what they would be bringing to the market, Yarn Barn added their own touch of "onery-ness" to their wares. I never knew that was marketable. I bet I got enough to sell to keep me warm all winter.

However, I am about 80 pages behind when it comes to my workbook. So instead of happily perusing fine wares, fibers, and selections of onery-ness, I am studying up on various STDs (apologies to any genteel family members who may be reading this, nursing isn't always a pretty profession).

However, Saturday evening looks promising. Which is hopeful since I tend not to have anything to do ever on Saturday evenings.

In knitting news, the scarf is progressing nicely, thank you for wondering. I am going to do an official Kittyville 62 hat for a friend for Christmas but I need appropriate DPNs, which I...do not have. I shall have to go scrounge up some nice Boye needles for that.

Anyways, back to the studying. I can't wait till this is all over.

Angels Never Would Fall

It's been a rough bunch of weeks. It may be the weather, lots of rain and gloom (though I tend to LOVE rain and gloom, we had more than enough to love in Germany). It may be that Kit has been in decafe withdrawal. I certainly don't see my friends as much anymore, as much as I try to seduce invite them over to hang out in my basement (it's a wonderful place to hang, the black widows are very friendly). Or perhaps, and this is most likely, a certain non-knitter in Oklahoma has been keeping me up WAY too late. I tend not to have a problem with this because the longer I'm conscious, the more I knit on my scarf. And since I just got a haircut like the sweet anime ladies in my button, I am cold. Soo cold. I'm getting to dread hairdressers, they just seem to be a bit crazy with those twitches in their eyes and just a little TOO happy with the scissors. Scary. But, coming back from that sidetrack, when the cousins awake at around 7 in the morning, there is no rest for the wicked weary. No offense to them or my uncle and aunt (if you're reading this, I really love you tons and I understand that mornings are very hectic).

Either way, I did spend a few soppy days at home. And one evening of transforming into the human hosepipe. But I am better now! And I have more scarf to show for it. The problem with not posting images the day I take them is that knitting continues on. My scarf is already a full repeat beyond what you see in the pictures. Alas, but at least here you can see it.



Gorgeous, isn't it? Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Wild Raspberry, going to Obsidian and then back to the Wild Raspberry because, um, I was 100 yards short of the Wild Raspberry. This way, I'll have enough for the scarf and possibly some mitten/fingerless glove dealies. Those are really cool and I want a pair.

Oh, I would have draped it artfully on a tree, but when I did...the little fragile limb snapped. I figure, it wouldn't have survived a good snowfall anyways and I really didn't want my scarf to be the Destroyer of more trees, so I left it in the little Lantern Moon basket I've been using. That basket is so cool, too. It smells like green tea. Mmm.

And, since everyone else is doing it, I have my own Autumn pictures.


Have an awesome day all!