Knitting...Impossible!

You know, when I started out with the Mystery Stole #3, I thought I would use this yarn:



But on the only lace-knitting needles not holding a project (US #3, bamboo), it was just too large. Of course, I find THIS out when I try to actually start Clue #1. Not to mention the beads were the wrong size and any smaller and the %$#*-ing crochet hook wouldn't fit (anyone need a size 10 crochet hook? You could make a doily out of sewing thread).

Then I had a really bright idea! How about I use THIS yarn?



It just needs a little love. Yuh huh. Maybe I'll work on it for a year and then it'll be ready.

So finally I decided on what has been lovingly termed as the "lint-colored" yarn.



I also went to Hobby Lobby, got proper sized beads and a size 14 crochet needle, which you could use to fertilize ova under a microscope.

So far, so good.

And now for the news. And that was the news.

Who hasn't gotten on their soapbox about free-speech on the internet?

Just recently I posted a harsh 'letter' addressed to the Lawrence Yarn Barn (that I did not send). And I got a bit of feedback and it seems that I'm not alone in having had past negative experiences. But some people might say that I was engaging in potentially harmful actions, that the Yarn Barn will suffer, that they could sue for libel, etc. Or perhaps I'm being paranoid.

Let me say that as people with thinking minds, we have the freedom to our opinions. But with freedom comes responsibility or however Peter Parker's uncle put it (maybe he said 'power' instead of freedom, I'm not sure, I've only seen the movie twice). We have the freedom to say that something sucks, that someone treated us unfairly, that we disliked this, that, or the other. But we should realize that with the freedom to have opinions, we must take responsibility. Like owning dogs, you must keep them on leashes around people even if they are sweet and loving and only wish to thoroughly wash your face, hands, and sniff your crotch. Because you never know when the person you and the dog may encounter might be someone who is offended by your dog.

My point being, we don't have to talk nice if we don't want to. We don't HAVE to be all kissy-faced and brown-nosed towards everyone. But we do have to realize that this is public domain (particularly because we can't lock our posts behind friends-filters like on LiveJournal) and anyone can and will possibly read this and there will be consequences, good or bad. We lit the fire, we have to make sure people don't get burned.

I still think the Yarn Harlot has some nerve telling everyone to 'play nice', this is not preschool. I'm sure she understands my resentment and I don't hold much else against her (except for this unreasonable fear of mathematics. Honestly! Numbers do not bite, math symbols do not sting, conversions do not kill).

And I still think that the Yarn Barn sucks and I will only endure their non-existent service under extreme duress.

And...much love!

So, last Saturday was my birthday and I got some marvelous gifts, like handmade strawberry jam from an old friend, some books I found at The Dusty Bookshelf for practically free since I have a store account there (for the record, it was this one in paperback and this one, which came with a printout of the painting of the Dancing Muses. I saw it as a sign) and a new CD Alarm Clock from mom to replace the old one that no longer played CDs and ran fifteen minutes faster with every month. Don't ask me where those fifteen minutes went, it was bad enough that I had to reset the time on the clock every month. And finally, a Palm Pilot from dad, slightly used as it spent time showing off in a tradeshow. It has all sorts of things but what I like most is the task list. And the potential to put a Davis Drug Guide on it in the future, when I can save up for it. The Nurse's Cheat Device. I better remember to never put it in a pocket where it might fall into a toilet, though. Things have a tendency to jump into toilets when you're wearing scrubs, it's happened enough times to me and coworkers. It's really bad when it's a cellphone or something like that.

Anyways, another gift I got was the time to free a sock from its needles. And so I give you MY Bayerische, part I.



And from the top:



You know, the tip to getting the right sort of picture to show off your FO is to take a lot, take them near light, and try not to use flash if you can avoid it. Flash totally flattens a photo, you just can't see texture. I say this because I was looking at some other pictures of Bayerische done by other people and some of them have obviously used flash. You just can't see the texture and the yarn kind of glows. And then they try to fix it using the 'sharp' function in Photoshop. I've learned that that tends to make a bad situation worse. I prefer playing with the 'levels' or the brightness & contrast functions. Sometimes I work a little with the hues too because with my camera, it tends to add a lot of blue to an image. The socks above are a far more wine color, like their colorway name "Wineberry". It's not really that grape-colored.

Well, back to the second sock, I cast it on just last night! So it's not even past the cuff yet (yes, I'm slow).

No love

Dear Yarn Barn

I love your store. I love that you have Claudia Handpaint now and cover so many bases when it comes to fiber. You even have musk ox, both to spin and to knit with.

But you totally ignored me when I came in. I could have filled my big ol' tote bag that I use for bringing back library books with yarn and you would not have noticed, you were focusing so hard on Not-Noticing me. I made eye-contact and you looked away. I tried to strike a conversation with someone (another customer? Staff? I couldn't figure it out!) and the lady ran off. Seriously, way to make me feel like an uninvited guest.

What's up? Did you get a chewing out for being overly helpful with someone else ages ago? Was taking inventory so fascinating that you couldn't see me poking at the Bonkers fiber?

Screw you guys, I'm taking my business over to The Loopy Ewe, Etsy, and all the other lovely yarn places on the internet and Kansas City.

NO LOVE. AT ALL.
-Kit

Presents!

So, my HSKS pal Tasha's package finally made it in! It's so cute, I put up a picture on Flickr...hold on, let me find it...*rummages* Ah ha! Here!



Cute, isn't it? Look at the owl! And the Bertie Botts Every Flavor Bean! And the gorgeous Louet Gems! And the fantastic felted bag! It's so lovely! Thank you with many exclamation marks, Tasha! :D

And here's a funny little link: Tips to cure Internet ADD.

I only wish this came in pill form.

But I can't be the only one, right? Who sits around on the computer and uses it as her radio/television/notebook/communication hub/entertainment center?

On the other hand, wouldn't it be nice to just take a vacation from it all? Kind of take a break and reset a little.

Hmm, I should consider this.

Welcome to Friday, Bloglines.

So, I kind of slacked off in writing. I know, bad blogger but don't you dare deny me my cookies'n'cream Weight Watchers bars. I'll bite your hand for it, see that I don't!

...

Anyways, so I've not been knitting much since it's been HOT and so fate or serendipity has given me a pass to get onto Ravelry. If you want to say hi, I'm DragonCelt. I've already been added by a lot of people, I kind of feel a little popular, heh.

But some of you aren't able to access Ravelry. I promise that you will see nothing there that I won't put up here. Like my current WIP:



Am I not merciful generous? I wouldn't leave you guys out like that.

But now I am tired from over 2 hours hanging out with the missionaries in a car with no a/c. Bummer. So later. :3

Whoooops, I almost forgot

HSKS trivia!


"Greatness inspires envy, envy engenders spite, spite spawns lies.You must know this, Dumbledore."

Who says this?

- Lord Voldemort

Something exciting, Bloglines!

Back in 2005, I joined the first Mystery Stole but didn't finish. 2006, it totally flew right over my head. But this year, I managed to catch it on the LiveJournal knitting community:

The Third Mystery Stole-Along

So sign into your Yahoo! account, go through your stash and join along!

It's called Green Hawaiian, Bloglines.

So, I'm jumping on the bandwagon and letting Blogline's web-crawler pick up my post. Clever me, right? Um, not really.

It's 90 or so outside and so I decided I'd take advantage of my car's dying air-conditioning and head out to pick up some applications. I should not have bothered. Did you know that every place I poked my nose in told me to check out the intarwebz? Soon I'll have a job where I'll have to do nothing but sit on my big butt and fill out surveys. It took me two hours to fill out B@rders awful application (how many times can they ask me how strongly I agree or disagree that I get along with people? FIVE, Bloglines. Five. Graaaaghhh! I get along fine with people, it's redundant application questions that drive me batty!)

Oh well, I did decide to treat myself to a snow cone (I wonder if I could apply for a job there. I wonder if they have a website where I can fill out an application?) called Green Hawaiian. It's the most lovely Kelly Green and it's got a nice after-taste of coconut.

Anyways, it seems that I have swayed no one with my pictures of the side and back of my head (yes yes, shut up, Kit, your hair looks FINE) I thought I'd try to photograph the front today. But then I took a nap and I'm kind of smooshed on one side. What I'm trying to say is that I will always find an excuse so, uh, imagine me looking like a Pre-Raphaelite princess and all will be good. ;) Besides, I look down right tooth-achingly cute here and I had bangs. I just need the 'tude (and waistline) back to wear 'em. By the way, I had to hair-dry the life out of my hair to get it straight like that. That is cowed hair right there.

Well, there's no knitting today so other than a picture of myself 6 years ago, how about a bit of artsy fartsy?



My roses are a little feral from neglect so they have no more than four - five petals per flower. Funny things.

Time to return to my studies. Bother.

Is it really Monday again? It was Monday yesterday.

I did try. I tried hard to get a decent picture of my hair. I got it from the side and the back but the front had a picture of my face being all floppy and "I only got 5 hours of sleep last night because Dad has a cough" looking. Which makes me look like a fat 60-year old smoker. It does so much good to my ego, y'know. And I only look like it on film, though I noticed that I may have been a little haggard when in the mirror. Hmm. Well, anyways, you do not get to see me looking exhausted. So there. Here are other views, though:



So, um, that's my hair. It's really shiny thanks to the biosilk stuff.

Also, I have been knitting! I got around to actually photographing it, too.



Needles: US #2 circular 24"
Yarn: KnitPicks Sock Garden in Geranium / Koigu in Red
Method: Magic Loop
Pattern: Sensational Knitted Socks - Oblique Openwork (pg. 55).
Size: for a 9" length foot (about size 6.5 - 7 shoe).

It went pretty fast and man are these things nice and snuggly. I'm jealous of my Sockapalooza partner, she's got some nice socks heading her way in August!

And that's it for now. I have a little teaser of things to come:
this + this = ???