Well is a very deep subject.

Sometimes you realize that the harder you try to catch up with yourself, the more yourself becomes extremely elusive. I can barely see myself on the horizon at this rate!

In the world of knitting, I only have about four more rows to knit on my Mystery Stole. But that's 8 rows of knit and purl and with every row, I gain another two stitches and it has gotten so that it takes over an hour to knit and another to purl back and I feel a little like Sisyphus, pushing that big rock up the hill, only to have to chase it as it rolls back down again. Gyah, and there it goes again! It's enough to make me cry!

And then going to Utah. How do I manage to have more and more stuff to bring with every trip? And in an attempt to keep healthy, I have cut up about five pounds of fruit and realized that this will probably give us all massive diarrhea. Well, I guess I got some more pills to pack.

Anyways, I have a few more links to share with the rest of you:

Chore Wars: The premise is to get us off our lazy tushes, abandon our wireless and push a mop around for 'XP' and gold that can be traded in. This works well if you're a World of Warcraft junkie (like about 10% of the people in my ward, though I think a few of 'em are keeping mum on that). I signed up for Lime & Violet's Knit Wars so that with everything I knit, I get points. It, uh, doesn't always work for me, though. I knit alright but I don't remember to document. Heh.

bubble.us: If you're a writer and you prefer to brainstorm, this is fantastic. It keeps track of all the meanderings that your mind takes that you bother to write down. I actually prefer to work in the form of an outline if I'm doing an official paper but this is good for story-writing.

Bloglines: There might be one or two of you who don't use this tool. If you have lots of friends who own blogs but don't want to check all your bookmarks to see who has updated and who hasn't, this keeps track. Well, most of the time it keeps track. Google Reader does the same thing but I kind of got used to Bloglines.

Well, have an awesome weekend and send me some good travel karma. I'm praying for low traffic, particularly through the mountains (we've missed most of the back-to-school/home-from-vacation rush but there might be some left), overcast but storm-free skies, and happy visits from inspired muses like Writos, Knitous, and Drawrius.

I'm still busy!

It's just not necessarily knitting. And, uh, they'll be wearing clothes soon. Maybe. I don't draw smut anyways so don't worry.

What can I say? I go where my muses take me.

Why do you do what you do?

Why does the Kit knit?

It started with LPN school. My hands were constantly busy writing, inserting catheters, typing out notes, scrubbing up, donning gloves and so on. But things got a little overwhelming, I needed something that kept my hands in motion as they had gotten used to but gave my brain just a little break.

Now, I still knit. It's no longer simple stockinette, true, but it is still something nice to keep my brain moving but without overwhelming it. I love cables and lace, I love trying something new and the interesting people I meet through it.

Of course, I don't only knit, I'm not so two-dimensional. Those who know me may know that I also write. For the past few months, my goal has been to be 875 words a day, which isn't that bad until you start getting behind and it ends up being 1750 words a day or more. And sometimes my brain is not so imaginative but that's fine.

I also used to draw. Well, I still draw from time to time (like Gambit and his prize-winning crotch*, er, it's not as bad as it sounds, listen to Lime & Violet, episode #42), which I have done since I was really young but I haven't kept up with. *shrug*

So how about you guys? What else do you do besides knit? And why?


*yes, he has terrible anatomy, I'm not great at drawing guys yet, okay? tchah!

Will not be trained

In my college days (halcyon days), I took a few Psychology classes. Quite a few, to be exact, a nurse needs to understand crazy and trust me, I do. But there was a story from one of those classes about a certain professor. And as all professors do, he did a bit of pacing as he taught his class. Now, the further he paced from the exit, the students in a particular class lapsed in attention. They pulled out papers, fell asleep, played with the cellphones, etc. But the closer he moved to the door, the more the students paid attention. They sat upright, made eye-contact, and interacted more. By the end of the semester, that professor was lecturing from outside the classroom.

Or so the story goes.

This has a point. I notice that the more frequently I post, the more people I lose per subscribers on Bloglines. I realize there are also a few of you who have me on your Google Readers. You're awesome but I don't know how to keep track of how many of you are out there so cheers. But I am not wholly concerned with readership. This is a knitting (and stuff) blog. I will continue to post about knitting (and stuff) whether people read it or not. In fact, it would tickle me immensely if I lost all readership to this blog. But I'm kind of a mad scientist like that.

I do wonder what it is that makes people stop reading. Is it that I'm about as interesting as a blank screen? Do I have all the appeal of a white wall? Am I boring as all get-out? No idea. I do promise that I bathe so it's not my hygiene anyways.

But enough of that. Yesterday was links day which I didn't do because I was having a welcome-home party for my drawing muse. I'll post the drawing once it's done. But she's still asleep, hung-over from all the effort it took for me to put down my Mystery Stole (done with Clue 6, by the way. Only 39 more eternal rows to go). So, links!

Zen Habits: This guy might be a vegetarian but he's also got his head on pretty straight and has some great insight on life and how to deal with it. Check out his Archive, sign up for his Forum, and Get Involved. He's no religious leader, but he's a guru of Common Sense.

Cute Overload.com: I was having a stressful day at the mental hospital when I came across this website. Within fifteen minutes, the stress was gone and I had the biggest ol' sappy grin on my face. You just can't go wrong with tiny or furry or impish. The only time I ever actually disagreed that something was 'cute' was when they published the tick 'tocks. A tick is a tick and his buttocks hold no appeal to me, mister. Nuh uh.

TV Links: Nothing on TV sound good? Go here and check out their wide selection of movies, tv shows, animes, sport vids and music vids. Not all of it is exactly 'legal' (notice some movies there that are still out in theaters? Yeah.) but you aren't downloading any of it, it's just out there on the internet and you have the choice of not watching if you want. Personally, I like the anime section. Mushishi is perfect for relaxing and if I'm knitting lace, a few of those animes are dubbed so I don't have to read subtitles. Perfect!

Well, I'm in for a semi-busy weekend. It'll be gloriously cool (finally!) and there will be plenty of socializing.

See You Monday!

The Devil Made Texas

...and the rest of the midwest along with it. It has been mad-hot here. For the past two weeks it's been hovering over the 100 mark and top that with humidity and I feel tender-baked. You could cut me with a fork. I go delicious with a red-wine vinaigrette. Or something like that.

However, our under-sized, over-worked air-conditioner has done its best to keep up and it's done quite a decent job. And to help matters, it should drop about ten degrees tomorrow. I was enjoying a nice nor'westerly breeze as I walked Daisy this morning so I feel a change coming.

And with the help of that lovely air-conditioning, I've managed to almost catch up:


The Mystery Stole #3 is coming along nicely and unlike a few people who have whined about the asymmetry of the wing on one side and the design on the end, I have found myself intrigued and delighted by it. Sure, it won't look the same on both sides but why should it? It doesn't have to be, not precisely.

Anyways, short entry but I am behind in a few other chores today. One last peek on how far my stole has come:

Bewbs! Titties! Brestses!

Dear Christina,

I wasn't kidding.

BWAHAHAHA!

-Kit

Where do you go?

Ever come across sites that wow you? Either they're time-sinks or they're incredibly informative but mostly they just grab your attention?

Well, I've found a few.

Hungry Girl
Now, it's no secret that I'm trying to lose weight and this site is an awesome reference for food that is hawt, food that is not, and everything good or bad in between. The Food Fights are really fun (Reddi-Whip or Cool Whip? Skinny Cow or Weight Watchers?), the Q&As are always informative and there tend to be frequent coupons for good food. The recipe alternatives are also really good, too.

Have you checked out iGoogle yet? It's like Google's version of My Yahoo but for some reason, I like this better. You can add games, comics, news, weather, and you can alter the top theme (mine is set to Tea House because I like the Asian theme and the little fox is way too cute, and it changes ever two hours, corresponding with the time of day...he's eating lunch right now, I ought to do the same).

And speaking of iGoogle, I have added WikiHow to it. From how to taste dark chocolate and give a hickey (I looked it up, I've never done it before, how excitingly delicious!) to more technical and important things like how to get a copy of a birth certificate and prevent your car from being stolen. I could possibly spend hours on this site.

So what sites have caught YOUR attention?

Sorry So Late!

There have been some exciting events here, Bloglines!


Starting off, my brother has come home after being gone for two whole years. He's gotten so thin from one meal a day of rice and beans. He's been drinking milk like mad. Normally we go through a gallon in about ten days but it's gone in two to three days now. At least he's staying away from my soy milk for my oatmeal! That's mine and it's not very tasty on its own anyways, so I'm not too worried. And root beer, the kid's been dying for a taste of root beer. And you just can't tear him away from video games, well, he's left Brazil and jumped right back into the States with both feet.



Then my Sockapalooza package came in!!! My dear new friend Beth has been so generous, she sent me such wonderful pair of socks, a cute little Ugly doll, some chocolate that was attempting a gaseous state so I had to toss it quickly into the fridge, and an awesome card. Very cute, I love love love the socks! So pretty, thank you again, Beth!



And finally I got around to photographing my socks. I had the Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn around for ages, half knit-up. I wasn't happy with the first socks but I grabbed the Monkey Pattern and now they really look like Northern Lights as opposed to a mess of blacks and purples and greens and reds. I'm really quite pleased with these socks. And they feel quite nice, too. I'll definitely look into more CTH yarn as I can get my hands on it.

Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill - Northern Lights.
Needles: US #2 24" circulars by Susan Bates
Time: Approximately two weeks, I'm terribly slow.
Mods: I prefer using the short row heels when knitting with the Magic Loop method.



And that's all I got. I'm not even done with Clue 5 for the Mystery Stole #3 so no photos yet!

No Preemptive Shopping Here

Because there's a sale over at Stitch Diva Studios, I finally broke down and bought the two patterns that have been screaming my name ever since I saw them: Sahara and Simple Knitted Bodice. If you want it for cheap, today's the last day.

I've decided that there are two Victorian fashions that I want to come back into popularity.

The first are shawls and stoles. Like someone else once said, it's like carrying a blanket with you everywhere and yet far fancier, prettier, and elegant. Can you imagine being in a room where the air-conditioning is overly aggressive? Just wrap yourself in a lovely alpaca stole like the one I'm working on and voila! Warm!

The second is the shade umbrella. I like to walk the dog but the sun is oppressive by the time I can get out to do it. So I bring a little rice-paper umbrella that I had bought at the Renaissance Festival a while back. It's the perfect thing to keep my fair skin fair (tans are so over-rated) and it even slows down traffic as people rubber-neck the freak novel idea.

I'd like to implement the fold-up fan, too but people don't find those strange so much as highly clever when I bring one out of my purse. Yes, I'm so forward-thinking!