Creation station

My little sis said I need to post more often. Okay okay, you twisted my arm. Tsk, such abuse. ;)

I don't like to lounge when I knit. Couch? No thank you. Recliner? Ugh. Bed? Ow. No, I prefer a nice chair with good support where I can sit up and multitask. I like having things where I can see them rather than falling or slipping away from me. And so, upon the prompting of Crazy Aunt Purl, here is My Knitting Spot:



I think my favorite thing on that desk other than the computer is the ballwinder. I believe I've mentioned it before. I bought it off of eBay for $15 and it came with a piece missing. And that piece would be the cone. I didn't know those things came off and certainly couldn't find any sort of place that sold parts of their ballwinder so I could replace mine. So I did the next best thing. I cut up a toilet paper roll, glued it together, and then hot-glued it to the base. It took a few times to actually make it so that it stayed and initially I tried taping it down. The tape laughed at me, by the way. Cheeky thing.

Anyways, it occasionally needs re-glueing but it still makes beautiful skeins of yarn.

Also, you can see my kissy dragon mug. You drink through his mouth like a straw, I love him. Also, there's the stockinette sock sitting up there. You know, I really like this desk.

Also, you can catch a glimpse of the Baltic Sea Stole hanging out on my chair. I've been embarassed to post about it because when I blocked it, I didn't have enough pins. I've since gotten some lovely blocking wires so I can fix the edges properly but I've been feeling under the weather and don't really want to be all innovative and figure out how to best block the silly thing. Obviously another bath and wet-block is out of the question, it'd be messy putting all the wires in after it was all wet. But I'll figure that out after I get over...

Shingles! Yes, darlings, I went to the kidney doctors today. I've had this patch behind my left armpit (behind, not in) that has been itching and I was sure it must have been a case of the chiggers. So I showed it to the doctor. He glanced at it and said "No, that's not chiggers, I think it might be shingles. Hold on, I'll get someone else to give you a second opinion." So he pulled in the nurse who looked at it and immediately said "Shingles". Well, last time I had shingles, I was 11 and they put me in isolation in a room no bigger than a bathroom. No call light, no interaction, bars on the window, my only interaction with people outside my family was a kid who had an adjacent room and had a window that looked into my room. We both had stuffed animals and we'd put interact by putting up plays between them. That was entertainment. Whee. But my shingles were worse then with the open sores. This is just a rash and I'm on acyclovir, it'll clear up within a week.

And so until I feel like going out and buying a few spritz bottles and pinning the BSS onto the carpet in the basement, I'll just be slowly working on Rogue. Pictures forthcoming, of course.

By the way, anyone interested in some yarn? I don't remember what I was going to do with it and I'm not crazy about the color either.

Later!

So, it's been a week.

Here was one of my favorite parts of yesterday.



Paying homage to my ancestors, the Scots, is Tartanic! This guy was awesome and because I was so effin' perky at 10:30 am, listening to blasting pipe music, he gave me a hug. Sadly, he could not come home with me. Nor could this guy:



This was taken at the end of the Festival during the Gypsy Revelry where I barely had energy left to clap along to the music and he's bouncing all over the place with all sorts of ladies. He was so cute that I wanted to collect a hug from him, too. And take him home. I mean, look at that hair. Not every guy can get away with hair that nice! Also, it was really hard to get a picture of him because he was flying all over the courtyard with all sorts of ladies. Mmmph!

So, anyways, how's the knitting been for you guys. Pretty good? Let me tell you, over in my little tiny room, the knitting has been FLYING. Don't believe me? Take a look:



I cast that puppy on Saturday night, as in not last Saturday but the Saturday before. That's a full 7 days of crazy knitting! And I'm astonished, I tend to not be that quick with knitting. But because all I do is sit and study and my hands just don't like to sit still, I knit. And I knit like a crazy person. Phew. I'm on the front part of the neck of Rogue. I'm hoping to have it finished before Socktoberfest because then I will only concentrate on socks and I want a nice warm sweater before November.

And now onto some more fun stuff. I'm sure a lot of people have heard of the people I'm going to link, but because they are awesome and deserve a little light from this little firefly, I'll post them up here anyways. And Scout said five, so I'll try to limit it to that.

First up, A Waste Of Valuable Server Space which it most certainly is NOT. Her pictures are lovely, she's succinct and interesting and most of all, um, that is all. But seeing as how I'm an opinionated person (no really, I am) and know my own mind, I do know that this is a person well worth a peek. And I found her through person #2:

Katydid Knits. For one, I'm in love with her layout and want to figure out how she got two bars on her page because one sidebar really limits me to content and I want one devoted JUST to all the people I subscribe to on Bloglines. I just noticed her countdown ticker. Hahaha, brilliant, what a way to get the heart racing, no? Hurry hurry or your cousin's wife's aunt's dog may not get that sweatervest it never wanted! *snerk* Anyways, Katy is totally cute and fun and I always browse her extensive list of links when I get bored and want a new knitblogger to stalk. However, her list is not how I met...

Celtic Memory Yarns aka Jo who lives over in Ireland and is absolutely amazing. I met her either through her comments on Yarn Harlot's blog or maybe Scout's blog. Either way, I read a little of her archive and felt that this lady is someone I would really like to get to know. She's a craftswoman not only with yarns but with words and imagery. It's like being one step closer to my dream of visiting the Isles. She has a gentle way about her that I really enjoy and I encourage all to visit her.

Next is Chef Messy, one of the few Utah bloggers that I don't believe I ever met in person but who is just really friendly and has actually commented on my blog once or twice. She's gorgeous and she's passed it onto her boy. She also occasionally posts wonderful recipes and has lovely pictures that she posts frequently.

And last of five though hardly least, The knitty professor, a Utah knitblogger that I HAVE met and who I really do like. Not that I didn't like all the Utah knitbloggers that I met. I just figured I should point her out. She has made the most adorable little donkey jacket and I can't wait until she gets around to posting it.

Well, that was fun! I may do a spotlight on all sorts of new knitting blogs that I find. New as in, I never read them before, not new as in just-come-on-the-scene. Though that may happen.

Anyways, have an awesome week, I will be here, studying, knitting, and breathing.

What's on Kit's Needles?

Socks. The end, thank you everyone, have a nice day!





Ha, just kidding. You wanna see, right?

So first off, the No-Thought-Process-Involved socks. Aka the Monster socks because I've been watching lots of Monster and since it's Japanese with subtitles, I need something to knit that doesn't require me to tear myself away from a crazy bipolar homicidal orphan Russian guy and the hot doctor hunting him down. I can't do that!



They're toe up because I have little feet and a lot of yarn and I just wanted to see how far this yarn could go. Sock one? Stops JUST under my knee. Oh yeah, knee-socks, baby. Love that.

And then project #2: Hedera for mum. Yes, I have been working on them forever, thank you for caring enough to remember!



Yup, one sock down, one to go. Oh, and that basket looks a little odd without a whole load of purple lurking in it. Because...I finished the Baltic Sea Stole! But I'll post about that later.

By the way:


Looks like autumn's finally starting to touch Kansas. That is a Red Dwarf bush, by the way, or at least I think that's what it's called. They turn brilliantly scarlet in the autumn, I love it.

Also, I was downtown today, hitting Hobbs real quick before Borders. I love ivy and people seem to feel the same way about it as I do. Let it grow.

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Sorry about the awkward angle in that second photo, I wasn't thinking about composition so much as 'Look at the brilliant curly ivy, woa!'. ;)

So, everyone have a good weekend! I'm going to the Ren Fest and enjoying myself. I deserve it because I PASSED MY NURSING CONCEPTS 3 EXAM!!! I have one last Concepts exam to pass (6) and then it's the clinicals and the NCLEX, which means nothing to the non-nursy sort but hey, just dance with me. It is a very big victory.

Remember, remember

We all deal with pain in many different ways. Some of us think it appropriate to lay the blame on the people in charge. But I believe that there wasn't ever and never would be a president who could have dealt with this crisis in any way to make ANYone happy.

You know, I hadn't even started knitting when this happened. I just remember posting on my livejournal about this, my mother calling everyone she knew even if no one we knew lived in the region. It was horrific. But the more poignant memory was a year later. I was in LPN school, in clinicals, at a retirement home. Ginny, my professor, gathered us all into the meeting room where we had a silent moment and she played a song on a CD player for us. I can't remember what song, I just remember weeping.

I don't thing the world has ever been in a darker place than it is now. We have come together in crisis but the aftermath has left us bitter, angry, hateful. And I can't see how being angry helps. There is nothing to be done with it. Anger does not change things for the better. Anger does not solve our problems. It does not help us hope, it does not help us love. Anger destroys.

All we can do to truly combat this anger, this pain is to hope and to love. I hope today is spent in quiet contemplation of how we might turn this dark world around and back into light. Pray, meditate, light candles, listen to gentle music, and definitely find someone to give your love to today. There will be more troubles, but if we can hold firm and refuse to abandon hope and love, then those troubles will break like ocean waves on stone cliffs.

Renaissance Festival!

I haven't had the chance to make a lot of new friends here yet and the old ones haven't had the time to get back to me yet, at least the ones I don't see at church. Laura was very happy to see me, however, and though Karina and I were estranged, that didn't stop us from going to see an AFI concert and still hanging out every so often. I still feel very cautious around her, old wounds heal slow, but I'm able to laugh around her, something I didn't think would ever happen. Good times, my friends.

Speaking of good times, Karina, Laura, and I went to the Renaissance Festival yesterday! It was the Piratical weekend and we were hoofing it for a good four hours or so, wandering around taking pictures of people, interesting things that caught our eye (like the above pirate sign), elephants, and so on. Laura was even offered a marriage...



...to the dung shoveller! So romantic! As usual, I gave my regards to George and that poor dragon who looks very affronted at finding a human on his back giving him a most unwelcome tickle with his spear:



And I bought a little fiber to spin. I didn't take a picture because I was a silly muffin-head and just didn't. It's merino-tencel though and kind of a muted rainbow-color.

Today I went for a little ride. It was quiet out on the roads so I was able to safely take photos from my car (yes, I stopped my car to take pictures, I'm not daft):



Nope, not autumn yet, though man it FEELS like it. Yummy weather hanging just under 80 degrees out here.