Kit Knits

How I spent the last two hours at work.

2012-01-14T10:17:00.003-07:00

Now, I'm not a lazy nurse, I'd prefer to call myself an efficient nurse. Which means that by 10pm at the nursing home, meds are done which includes all the signing off of meds and narcotics that I've passed, all the treatments are done, all the tube feedings, all the nurses' notes, the call lights are answered, everything is...quiet. Or mostly quiet, depending on how well those narcotics worked.

And I am left to my own devices. Now, I'm not sure what Teri or Patty do when it's quiet for them, but for me, I grab my knitting and now that I have it, my Kindle. I used to scoff at those who had one. I know, I'm a guilty one, but you just can't beat the feel of the paper, the inexhaustible battery life, the reliability of a good old fashioned book. But a Kindle is light, portable, doesn't need to be held open, and always opens to where you last left off. Convenient!

And then there's my knitting project. I had a case of startitis but most of those projects landed in the frog pond as soon as I cast on and checked gauge. Sometimes that happens. But one that endured is the Spectra scarf.

I had no idea how much straight knitting it includes. It's a garter scarf, pretty much, with panels of stockinette and a little bit of short row action just to keep the knitter from going utterly comatose. The yarn is from Studio June, called Star Struck due to the sparkly bits of silver woven throughout (antibacterial!) in the color Bright Copper Kettle. The panels are Jojoland's Melody, cleverly named MS08. Clearly these people don't work for Crayola.

The nice bit about both Kindle and Spectra is that I can put both aside immediately in the case of a call light or bed alarm going off. The joys of being a nurse in a rehab facility, eh?

WIP Wednesday: January 4

2012-01-04T12:01:00.002-07:00

Before I go into the featured Work In Progress, there is something that needs mentioning.

Sometimes life happens. Sometimes someone's mother has a brain tumor and the only thing that springs to mind is the thought that her last days would be spent in comfort if she had a little something from her own mother to keep her. Except that the only thing she got to keep from her mother is a sweater's worth of old, scratchy mohair. And the only one that someone knows who could turn that mohair into something worth enjoying is that someone's niece.

Enter the Scarf.

I knew just what to do with this yarn as soon as I got it. Three skeins of Bernat mohair plus and it would be a Simple Lace Scarf (Ravelry Link) on US#13 needles.

Now most people ought to know that I am an 85% selfish knitter. Sure, I'll knit for others if I know them and I like them and can be assured that my knits will be well received, which is why this scarf is a bit of a hit-or-miss. I don't know my Aunt Lea's mom. I don't know Aunt Lea's grandmom. But here I am, knitting up scratchy mohair that, to be honest, is just a shade softer than twine. I wondered why. Why would I do this for a total stranger?

Because I love Aunt Lea. Sure, my other aunts are great but when I had flubbed my clinicals for RN school, she was the one who was able to get my mind off of things by talking with me until the wee hours of the morning. She is the only one that I've honestly been able to connect with. I've seen her home and the incredible amount of books everywhere, books that I have read, books that I plan to read, books that sounded like I would love if I could remember the title and author. She has opened up to me and I to her and I realized that if she is this cool, her mother could only be just as awesome, if not more.

And to be honest, if my mom had a brain tumor and wanted, maybe, a hot tub installed in her bathroom or something else that I couldn't do and I knew someone who could do it, absolutely I would ask them to do it for me. Well, for compensation but hey, hopefully at a discount because it's family and they love me.

Either way, that picture was taken at 11am and right now I've finished up the second skein, the scarf is about 3 feet, and I'm about done. One more day.

You could call this your obligatory New Year's post

2012-01-01T22:40:00.002-07:00

...and you'd be right.

My NYE wasn't much to really hoot about. Old people don't party and frown upon loud noises and wild celebrating after 8pm. But that's okay, because I got my long-awaited Chinese food and even longer awaited fortune cookie.

The cookie itself was, well, an ordinary cookie but the fortune inside, it sure was something else.

How's that for exciting? And just earlier that day, I had found that a local university was offering an LPN to RN transition program starting fall 2012. If I could get in, I might just start school again. I just hope I can find a way to pay for it all somehow.

So, much like almost every other knitter, I started a project for good luck. I had two skeins of Manos del Uruguay Wool Clasica that came home with me at the Three Wishes moving sale:

And yesterday I put two ends together, made a slipknot and did a long-tail cast on with both ends, casting on 200 stitches with a #10.5 US size set of circulars. I'm pretty pleased with the results so far, I did a bit of good work on it during church, which was handy because we start at 9am now and I was up till 1:30am the night before, showering so I didn't have to battle for it in the morning.

It's a really nice stitch, the linen stitch and the two yarns really are working nicely together for now, though we had to sit and discuss whether they would be a brioche scarf (never done brioche before!) or the linen stitch scarf or something else altogether. I think I made a good decision, though. This looks nice.

As I didn't get to do very much partying on NYE, we had a little party tonight instead. Sis brought Ticket To Ride and we had a pretty hilarious time trying to beat each other out.

I came in a close third, my sister in second and my brother in law wiping the floors with us way in front. I can't wait to do it again! I'll cream them all next time, bwahaha!

I will leave you all with a picture of pooped puppies. Because who doesn't love a pair of pooped pups?

Dad took them on an 8 mile walk so they're all tuckered. :D I hope you all had a great New Year's Day and I hope that you manage to fulfill all of your resolutions!

You can come out of the corner now.

2011-12-29T20:28:00.002-07:00

There are many things I tend to put in "time-out" just to ruminate on them a bit.

Schooling, for one. I'm doing okay as an LPN but would like to become and RN if I can only just find some way to do it that would be free or at least cheaper than what I bring in on a monthly basis. This does not exist so right now, that dream is in time out.

My sketchbooks are another, a pasttime that used to bring me much relaxation and a zen-like state that I can't really reach any other way, not even by knitting. I pick it up every season or so, draw a little something and then set it aside again, promising that I will be more faithful. And then...I don't.

But of all the things in time out, this blog has been the second longest in such a place (schooling being #1). And so I am bringing it out, dusting it off, challenging my laconic tendencies and making an attempt to share with you a little bit more of myself.

Though the blog has been idle, these hands have not. Allow me to feature some things from the past year that I have knit:

In January I joined the Harry Potter Knit and Crochet...group. Forgive me, I can't remember the whole name. But in an effort to keep up with the 'classes', I knit a pair of fingerless gloves in honor of a book series I had just finished: Hunger Games.

In February, I made a pair of eye-shades for someone who needed them at the time.

Then came March and Sock Madness. Here are my "Support Hos":

April showed a few Dangerous Curves:

May brought me one of my favorite pair of socks:

June was when I went to visit my BFF in Northern California and I brought my Rock Island to work on. It's finished but I don't have a picture of it! I need to do that, pronto!

July gave me Francie, my other favorite pair of socks.

I think I slept through August. Or maybe I just didn't finish this guy then, though heaven knew I was working hard enough on him:

I finished this one in September for my sister's Christmas present...then realized that the colors were inverted. Well, she got my hat, I kept hers, I'm the odder one out anyways. ;)

Aaand I can't find what I knit on during October and November besides the Everlasting LinenScarfstopper.

But this past month, I rolled out a few things. My favorite goes out to Briana, a pair of Swirling Gauntlets made out of handspun, just for her:

That's love, y'all. Hours and hours went into the yarn alone.

So I resolve from now on to post a bit more often. Weekly, at least. I hope those of you left to read this will support this resolution. I'll try to be funny or at least interesting and I will definitely post more pictures.

Unlikely hero

2010-12-28T17:23:00.003-07:00

This is what happens when I leave my camera behind at my sister's.

| |

You should thank me, Christina, I did not decide to save and upload the picture of the very intimate aspect of your sinuses. Lucky you!

So, hey, it was Christmas! Who doesn't love Christmas? Shut it, Scrooge! I love Christmas. Well, except when Mom is in Holland and the rest of us are here in Utah, coughing up snow balls and desperately trying to find whether we're driving on government mandated roads or just someone else's roof.

Okay, perhaps I'm overreacting. Just a touch. Or you would THINK until we lost the dog.

(Goodbye, Daisy. Goodbye forever.)

Well, even without Mom, I did my best to make Christmas warm and welcoming. I made Almond Chocolate Toffee Crunch, chocolate chip cookies, and for breakfast, there was coffee cake that was just divine.

And look, no mess! Well, okay, nothing I have to actually scrub with soap and water.

Everything looked so nice, so pretty, it was almost like Mom was there with us anyways.

| |

Christmas morning, my brother, dad and I went to Christina's to watch the kids open presents while we Skyped with mom. She is out in Holland being with my Oma so that she doesn't have to be alone for Christmas. My Opa is in a nursing home on comfort measures and he is having good and bad days. I don't know how long to expect him to live but he has been on the mend since mom has been there. Anyways, the kids really tore into their presents. I don't think that Kade was really thrilled with the crocheted hat I made him (he ripped it off when it was put on his head and threw it on the floor) but I gave everyone plush puppies with their hats to sweeten the deal a bit. Some kids aren't going to adore handmade lovelies when there is Star Wars action figures to play with instead. Weirdos!

After that, the boys and I headed back home where we had our coffee cake breakfast with lavender rooibos tea and then opened presents.

BOOKS! Lots of books. And an Ott light so I don't go blind while knitting, and some awesome movies (Don got me Prince of Smexia after some heavy prompting and Dad got me Excalibur). My Oma gave me some tea-pot shaped dirty spoon-holders (well, I think that's what they are) and they're so lovely, very Dutch.

In the news of knitting, I'm nearly done with sock 1 of Cookie A's Vilai.

I also joined Ravelry's Harry Potter Knitting and Crochet group. I was not intending to actually join it but then I realized that there was so much more to it than just being a fan of Harry Potter. It has groups and projects, challenges and homework. And the interaction just seems so intense, I will be looking forward to what the group brings and what I can bring to the group.

Pictures to come, the ones I took did not come out very well.

By the way, Daisy made it back, annoyed that I expected her to make her way successfully in chest high snow. Hmmph, how could I think she'd want to go anywhere without her comfy bed, her lovely mattress and her twice daily glucophage and aspirin? The nerve.

Stage Tour

2010-12-06T11:36:00.003-07:00

I love Utah. I really do. I have so many more friends here, I love the weather better, and I'm closer to my beloved family here.

On that note, I have to say that I resent that there seem to be fewer nearby yarn stores. But hey, if you can't get yarn, you make yarn!

Roving

Back during the great Yarn Quest of 2010 where Briana came to visit, I bought some roving in Gothic Punk. I've gotten so sick of knitting and crocheting that I picked up spinning again. And it's really a nice relaxing hobby until my back protests from sitting up so much.

That's about a third of it right there.

It's Merino & Tussah Silk and it really is as soft as it sounds. In fact, it's almost as fun prepping the roving as it is spinning it up.

But I just couldn't stop with that stuff. So Etsy had a few sellers offering Blue-Faced Leicester for cheap and since I had never worked with that before but it seemed so very soft, I bought a couple 4ozers of the stuff.

Plum Dandy by Blue Mountain Handcrafts

Wooly Cupcakes by Stefknits

Gorgeous, huh? I don't think I'll go through it too fast but that's fine, I just like the pretties.

Knitting

I finished my third Edith The Hat (Ravelry Link). And I have to say, they have been so fun to knit and quite popular as well.

It's so easy to spot my Mom in a crowd with that hat.

Of course, the third has gone off to Mrs. Brooke.

Cute colors, no? I love them! :D

And finally, a little secret project for our hosts over at Jaxies:

Roger and Dee have been so kind to us and so gracious to let us come and use their establishment for our knitting group that I thought to make up a few ornaments for their all-year tree. :D I have a mitten and a pair of socks already. And they're so cute and made out of leftover sock yarn and patterns are just off the top of my wee head.

Then Marudesigns needed test knitters for her socks so I volunteered. Her pattern is lovely and I finished the socks on Saturday before work and photographed them yesterday.

She's named them Galaxy Socks and you can search for them on Ravelry soon.

I used leftover KnitPicks Gloss and needle size US#1.

And that's about it. So much for being a selfish knitter, eh? I guess that's why I bought the buttons. ;)

28 days later...

2010-10-30T10:22:00.002-07:00

...is what I'm watching on TV. It's not so much *scary* as it is just gorey. And it has my favorite Doctor Who, Christopher Eccleston! Granted, he plays a skeevy military man but still, he's my Doctor!

Y'know, Mrs. Brooke is a real witch. She insisted that I updated and threatened to put a hex on me if I didn't.

From Friends

See? Evidence!

Actually, I haven't updated since July, I suppose it's about time I do a bit, eh? ;)

She and I headed to Witchapalooza on the 23rd after I managed to get the day off at work and really, it's the most fun I've had for Halloween that didn't involve an outrageous sugar rush. It was so nice to be out with a friend who wasn't so self-conscious that she couldn't laugh and enjoy at the dinner entertainment with me:

From Friends

or enjoy the fantastic dinner (the pumpkin pie cake was amazing):

From Friends

There were fantastic costumes everywhere. I was taken by all the creative and exciting witches hats (there was even a White Witch Of Narnia who I didn't capture on camera, alas):

From Friends

And basically it was a great time, I really enjoyed myself and I definitely want to do this again NEXT year! With Cara and whoever else wants to come, it is SO worth it.

I also had a Murder Mystery Party with my Writing Group where I dressed up as Kitan, my Mary Sue-ish half dragon/half fairy:

From Cere-knitty

You can almost see the teensy dragon wings I had pinned to my back.

It took one piece of very stiff light orange felt and some yarn to make the elf ears and wings. I was rather chuffed at my inventiveness.

And to top off the Halloween celebrations, my Daisy Pumpkin:

From Cere-knitty

It doesn't resemble the true article by half but it's the best pumpkin I may have ever carved.

Then my friends were having a Not Dead Day. Last year they had a VERY close call with death by Carbon Monoxide that had to do with improperly updated heating vents. Had they stayed another five minutes or so, I would not have partied with them last night. So, to celebrate their first anniversary of cheating Death, I made them little mementos:

From Cere-knitty

Yes, 1-up Mario Mushrooms

Pam and Laren were delighted, of course. :D

There are a few others things I've worked on, such as a hat:

From Cere-knitty

And other things of which there are either no pictures or is relatively secret (don't you love this time of year?). I promise to update more, but NaNoWriMo *is* coming up on Monday, I will be preoccupied with that.

Tour De Fleece

2010-07-25T08:07:00.003-07:00

The reason for my silence would be a rather mad bout of spinning. Lots of spinning of Miss Babs merino/bamboo/tussah silk roving. Drop spindle spinning. I did a lot more of Parking And Drafting than actual Dropping and Spinning but that's fine. And the spinning was portable. Quite portable.

Spinning at work. This is what I'm paid for? ;)

I'm not as even as I would like to be but I'm far more even a spinner than I was when I first started.

Purple truly is my favorite color.

I have to admit that my spinning has only generated mild interest, it's not like knitting where there's a mystery to others as to what it will be. It's fleece. It turns into yarn. The end.

Daisy is one of the least interested in my crafting but she puts up with me anyways.

It helps to have something to watch/do while spinning:

One of the most delightfully gorey animes I've ever watched, I love it!

And when the spindle was full, it went on the niddy noddy.

Not exactly the most exciting chore in the world.

And now it's ready to ply! Hopefully I'll get the other half done today, I did half on Friday and yesterday was far too busy between a potluck lunch and work to even touch the spinning.

But to be honest, it's not all I've done. For example, here's a little sneak preview:

Softest sleeve in the world

And I went on a Yarn Quest with my friend from LA, Briana. It was a great way to see all of SLC and to just go out and bleach my hair and tan my left arm. And talk, of course. But it wasn't just a total gas suck, I happened to win a little something.

Yarn complements of Kamille's and picture taken by Verla Younker of Unravelled Sheep

10 skeins of Feza Silk in a perfect orange to bring out my blue eyes.

Long post is long.

"What are we looking at and why are we looking at it?" - MST3k

2010-06-30T16:18:00.002-07:00

Mom had no idea what to get me for my birthday. The items on my Amazon wish list were all "too small" to get me, she wanted to get me Something Good. So I racked my brain and I remembered something I saw while at the last visit to IKEA. I told her about it and she was thrilled. So yesterday, we ran to IKEA and with our hulking muscles, we hefted the 90lb bookcase, four wicker baskets, a closet shoe organizer, and a 6-pack of cinnamon buns into the mini van. The buns were so hard to say 'no' to but I managed to only eat one half. The rest went to sis and her babies. Thank you! I hate temptation.

So, with a hammer and my BoHo Pandora station, mom and I put together my latest bit of gorgeous furniture. And here it is:

Gorgeous, no? I've already filled those baskets with yarn according by weight and importance and now my closet looks a lot more bare. Awesome.

The day before, we made Daisy's day and took her to Petsmart.

She's sooo excited to be there!

Oh yes, here's what we came for. A new chain to replace the one that got misplaced.

But what's this? A stand off by the cat-adoption area? Those dogs look pretty worrisome.

Aww, nevermind, they're a trio of lambs with a thirst for headscritches. Everyone was quite polite as far as dogs can be polite.

Daw, happy ending, no one went home with bite marks or hurt feelings from silent snarls. Isn't it wonderful?

It's the Rail Trassah!!!

2010-06-29T10:45:00.004-07:00

Saturday was the day for our new tradition of summer Heber Creeping. There's a train in Heber that goes along the Provo River and then back up it again. It's a fun ride, takes about 30 minutes or so to go down to the park where we had a small picnic and then hopped back on to go back up.

The kids seemed to have fun. Actually, they did, I caught them in a bored/serious/unfocused/unposed moment.

See? It wasn't so bad. I think that's a smile.

Nothing better than screaming or shouting at the birds/horses/shrubbery/cars.

And blackening the hands and knees by crawling all over the train and playing/drinking with the sippy cup.

It was fun to snatch at the leaves until the conductor told us to stop because it might tear up our hands (and hurt the trees though he didn't mention that bit).

We saw what looks like a bald eagle nesting though there are alternate reports that it might be a buzzard. Well, I'll call it a bald eagle and get Coolness Points.

Speaking of coolness, have some videos. Here's the brother just enjoying the ride:

And a real hijack of the Heber Creeper!

Pretty fun day, I didn't even get sunburned, hooray for sunblock!

Hanging out

2010-06-25T16:14:00.003-07:00

So, I had just about the best birthday present ever. My sister saw an ad for a site for Tandem Paragliding and decided that it was just the thing for me to celebrate my 32nd birthday. So she and my brother got together and paid for me to be airborne for thirty minutes.

If this was some attempt at trying to get my stuff, the joke is on them, I don't HAVE a will yet, nyah! ;D Just kidding.

It was so very exciting though, I loved it!

Classes start at the bottom of the hill.

We didn't go so high but that doesn't matter, we flew and flew.

Eagle Mountain looks pretty good from here.

The grin didn't leave my face all day.

And at the end of the morning, we all had breakfast at McDonald's. The kids loved it. :D

And back

2010-06-21T12:46:00.002-07:00

Not that I was really ever gone but I thought I would update this.

Ah summer, bright, comfortable, and a perfect time for construction.

Mom had been watching the grandma of our neighbors on both sides of the fence putting clothes up along the back fence to dry and realized that she missed doing the same with her own clothes. So she bought herself an eco-dryer of her own:

There's something meditative and comforting in putting clothes up to dry. And sunlight is sterilizing, not to mention a great bleaching agent. And it smells fantastic.

Anyways, my birthday is coming up and despite the fact that I don't get along with the figures of authority, I did happen to get a rather nice present:

Isn't it pretty?

I loved the orange colors.

But enough for the flower porn. I just love flowers. But there are other plans for my birthday that my sister and brother have in store. I won't reveal it yet, but it's safe to say that I'm incredibly excited. And a little scared. ;)

I have been knitting, of course. I attended WWKIP on June 12 at the Farmer's Market with a few other fellow Utahns, Lis, Kim, Sam, and her mother Libby.

It was cold and a bit muggy but we had plenty to keep us warm and cozy.

We had plenty of visitors and passed out fliers about where and when we meet to knit and hopefully we wind up with a few new knitters and even more hopefully, they'll look as good as us!

And I finally finished a project!

There we go, updated!

Where I Stood

2010-05-06T22:44:00.003-07:00

People are strange. Sometimes you think you know a person. Sometimes you hope you know a person well enough to deal with things in a mature manner. But then they disappoint you, act immaturely, deny that they've done anything wrong and turn around and accuse you of being nasty, uncaring, dishonest, and "mature" (I don't get that one at all, or any of the others for that matter). And worst of all, you find that they've complained to mutual friends.

Well, whaddaya do but move on? It's not the first time and it won't be the last.

In the meantime, I work, I read, I knit, I get ready for birthdays and such. I find other friends, the sort that laugh with me, don't mind when I get a little dirty-minded, understand my enjoyment of anime, knitting, and being strange. Who don't judge me for the clothes I wear or friends I have.

And in the end, it's a relief. I'm sad. I'm angry. But I'm cooling off and moving on.

om nom yum

2010-04-06T22:20:00.004-07:00

When we go to the grocery store, Daisy insists on going. I think that she just loves to go out but the ice cream is a nice bonus. Mmmm.

Tomorrow signifies the 9th anniversary of my second kidney transplant. I don't know what I'll do special to celebrate but definitely something.

Embiggening |_0$3R

2010-03-13T13:27:00.002-07:00

So mom and I are throwing our own mini weight-loss competition. We both have a strong sense of competitiveness and we both are trying to lose weight for our health so it only makes sense that we face-off against each other. My dad also joined but I think it was mainly for the opportunity to cry big crocodile tears when mom and I vote him off the RanCH. *snort*

Sock Madness has begun and I have been using the All-Things-Heather yarn that I received in a swap to make some Simple Side-to-Side Socks (sorry, Ravelry Link only). . I've finished one sock and found it tight and a bit too long (all those people with non-Tinkerbell-feet can just...stub their toes or something).

I've finished a few other projects, in particular for Olympics. Well, okay, just one and I had to rip it out and put it back together again but at least it's done!

this is before I fixed it.

I'm waiting for time and a nice day to actually get a good picture of the nice, fixed version.
Yarn: Elann Peruvian Sierra Aran, 8 balls used.
Needles: Size 10 US
Time: Uh, 3 weeks?
Revisions - Just gotta do things in different order. Band first, top second, bottom last which will help in keeping things oriented.

I'm still working on this shawl:

It's coming along slowly but surely! I just didn't finish it before I had to start Sock Madness.

Rant:

Trident Layers commercial. Anyone else freaked out by the fact that the babysitter is all alone with two CREEPY children and when the parents arrive, it's revealed that not only is there a spooky chimney sweep present, but also a rather blank-faced gardener (oh he *tries* to smile but it really comes off looking like he can't, super scary) and an electrician with very sharp ears and a sense of victimization.

Dear Trident Layers - get a new commercial and stop making me look at every gardener, chimney sweep, and electrician cross-eyed.

No love,
me.

Let the morning come

2010-03-03T10:45:00.002-07:00

This is one of the most fantastic music videos I've yet to ever see.

This Too Shall Pass
-OK Go

Funny enough, there was a New Moon calendar on the wall behind him.

2010-03-01T16:42:00.001-07:00

I was getting labs done today and as I sat in the oversized seat, the guy drawing my blood asked where I was from. "Spanish Fork, but previously from Kansas."
"What? Why'd you move here?" he asked. What a question.
"Pfft, because it's Kansas!" I said and he just began laughing.
"That's the best answer I've ever heard." Obviously, he's been there.

FYI

2010-02-16T12:09:00.003-07:00

Since Haloscan is going down, I will be losing comments. I'm very sorry, your comments have been read, I just haven't responded to them yet.

-The Kit Maintenance Crew (I'm a one-woman show here)

Welcome to Kit's Winter Ravelympics 2010

2010-02-15T19:15:00.002-07:00

Today was cold but rainy, I was fairly certain that much work would commence today. I did not foresee the hurdle that a particular TGIO Valentine's Party would create. Not only did I forget to pack a washcloth for the facials (and had already put on my warrior paint that I did not wish to remove) but I had already disposed of any old bras that would have made good kindling (not really) for the fire we had. Alas.

As I work on my Corsica, I reflect on my training that has gotten me thus far.

I have most recently finished a Newsy Cabled Cap for a good friend of mine who had pointed out a similar hat found on Amazon but for $30. I knew I could finish it for less money, if one did not count man hours on it and I accomplished just that:

I also trained for my Lace Luge event by whipping up a pair of Magic Mirror Socks .

As I forge on forward, I anticipating finishing both Corsica and Aeolian, the lace project that has been sitting in hibernation since July. But that means less talk, more knit.

blech

2010-01-21T23:01:00.003-07:00

I'm so sweaty from running. I enjoy it but at night I am not a bit queasier than I am in the morning. Durn water and heavy stomachs.

But yes, I had finished the Radiance Cabled Jacket but, well, it lacks a button band. And putting in a crocheted edge just causes an unfortunate series of gaps. So, after consulting with Libilou at the knitting group at our new and beautiful place, the Chocolate (and Dessert) Cafe in Orem, I have decided to just unravel the row, add a few yarn overs and some more rows and voila! button band.

The Magic Mirror socks are coming along but I've been busy and I've been lazy and I've been doing other things. Such is life.

I started reading Trader by Charles deLint and though heaven spare me from wanting to strangle him when yet another character sings the praises of Saint Jilly (she is in nearly EVERY DANG BOOK and she is always soooo marvelous and everyone loooves her and everyone's so curious about her dark and mysterious past that she refuses to acknowledge ever with her unfailing cheeriness--HEY CHUCKY, EVER HEAR OF A MARY SUE???) it still seems interesting, about a couple of guys who somehow trade bodies. Knowing deLint, this won't be some goofy sweet Freaky Friday but something very spiritual. There might even be some tribal mythology. I am very rarely disappointed with deLint, which is why Jilly probably ticks me off so very badly. It's just a stupid Mary Sue that he's so attached to when he has so many other, more enchanting characters.

Finally, I want to share an earworm.

Coin Operated Boy

Best wishes on your engagement to Neil Gaiman, Amanda Palmer!

Happiness

2010-01-20T21:32:00.002-07:00

I remember reading Julie of the Wolves and something that forever stuck with me was the idea that if you're not happy, to change what you're doing. I should take that advice a LOT more often.

Yesterday mom and I were discussing the bill for yet another semester at Excelsior Online. Now, I was trying to psych myself up to take the Clinicals again to get my RN but not only was I hesitant to go through the whole emotional trauma but I also didn't want to have to pay $2k on top of the price of traveling and staying at a hotel. So mom and I discussed it and we both decided, it was time to quit. Time to walk away.

But that doesn't mean that I'm walking away from my dreams. There is a good university nearby with a good nursing program with an option to stop once I got my associates. However, I think I will go straight for my Bachelor's.

And I am incredibly thrilled for it.

Haiti

2010-01-13T12:20:00.003-07:00

Prayers have been said and it seems already that many have been answered. But what really impresses me is that so much help is already there.

I think I need to increase my fast offering.

2010!!!

2010-01-11T13:59:00.004-07:00

It's always the first week of the new year where I am really jazzed up. I expect a lot out of this year but I'm wise enough to realize that if I want anything out of this year, I have to put a lot more into it.

For one, I want to be more social. So I went to ward prayer and socialized. I went to the ice-skating rink and socialized. I went to church and ~~didn't get a new calling~~ socialized. Yeah, go me!

I also want to run another 5k. The Santa Run was incredibly exciting and it was such a rush. So now I'm resolved to walk and run every day excepting weekends on my treadmill. I haven't decided what my first 5k of 2010 will be, but I do know that I want to run it straight, no walking. So, I'm planning on maybe April to do that? Perhaps May. As long as it's not too cold.

I have no weight-loss goals. Numbers don't work on me, I don't really care about pounds or sizes. My body seems to have settled where it is and that's fine by me.

I do intend on eating better, though. More fiber, more fruits, more veggies, less crap. Not doing so well with that at the moment. It has to do with Christmas leftovers but eh, Christmas/New Year's comes once a year. Why not live a little?

I did quite a bit of crafting for people for Christmas this year. I crocheted a cloche for one friend and an amigurumi for another...actually, if I'm going to break down what I knitted for others, I might as well make it a good list:

Salto - These are for my aunt and I haven't given them to her yet. But they were a good knit.

Then, a pair of Marquis Gauntlets but I didn't manage to get them finished before Laura went off to Armenia (where the trees are made of wood!).

Then I made a pair of Fox-Faces Socks (Ravelry Link) for my sister:

And my bro needed a Manly Motorcycle Scarf (pdf link):

Mom got a beautiful Damson made with Mean Girl Yarn in Heartless Tart:

My niece, Jordyn, got a pair of Angel Socks:

My friend Kristy got an Argent amigurumi:

And then I made a Cloche (Ravelry Link) for my friend Melanie:

And finally I thought I ought to make something for Emily so I whipped up a pair of Queen City Mitts:

I've been busy and I'm happy to just work on my own things. For now.

Get up

2009-11-15T11:02:00.003-07:00

Excuse me if I'm a little laconic, I'm getting over catching the Norovirus from a friend. Yeah. I was losing substances from both ends Thursday night/Friday morning. I had chills so bad that I couldn't get warm until I got into a tub of hot water and soaked for an hour. Yeah, that was really bad, I hadn't been that sick since my sis got married and I came down with bronchitis. Bleah.

However, I did get things done before I got sick.

I finished my brother's scarf:

It's the Merci scarf which was easy as pie to actually put together. I even worked on it in the dark while watching DeathNote Halloween Eve with friends. And it's very manly as you can see.

that's been about all the knitting I've done lately, it took about 2 weeks and now I'm working on a few more Christmas Gifts.

I've been looking for skirts or possibly dresses appropriate for winter, of course, and that came up with a rather strange gem. Melanie was the one who pointed it out and I was the one who remembered to bring a camera to document it:

I apologize for the blurriness, I was trying to photograph it on the sly. But yes, it has a thong. There is velcro at the crotch. Melanie believes that it's to keep the shirt tucked at all times and that makes sense but man it's bizarre.

Well, my heart is pounding. I think I should lay down and changing the tv channel every time yet another materialistic commercial with Winter Holiday (TM) music. Don't call it "Christmas" music. It's not. It's raucous, it's obnoxious, and it was old by the time I was FIVE. I'm done with Christmas. Bah Humbug. Besides, don't tell me there's anything cheery where THIS character is involved:

Yeah, watch your naughty, kids. This snowman will be WATCHING.

Things that get under my skin

2009-10-19T18:55:00.003-07:00

1. People who live in Utah that complain about all those dang Mormons around. That's like going to Canada and saying "Yeah, it's a nice place but there are these dang CANADIANS everywhere! What's up with that?" FUF, we moved here first, we have dibs. You don't like it, GIT OUT!

2. I am a RealWoman TM, so bridal shops were going to charge a small fortune for “special sizes.”
Last time I checked, there are no FakeWomen (TM). Women come in all shapes and sizes. Call them thin, call them fat (OH NOES NOT THE "F" WORD!) but please don't insinuate that a woman is more real than others based on size. Honestly, just DON'T.

3. My stomach giving me crap (oh yes, literally) and I have a party to go to. Seriously, I don't get out enough and then my stomach hits me with this.

Oh well, at least Monty Python And The Search For The Holy Grail is on.

Mary Poppins had it right.

2009-10-08T12:47:00.002-07:00

I have a lot of things to do in life that are not fun. I have realized a while ago that unless it's 'fun', it's not going to happen. If knitting isn't fun, then I'm not going to knit. If writing isn't fun, I'm not going to write.

If working as a nurse doesn't have moments of fun, I'm NOT going to continue doing it. So, the challenge is, how do you make things fun? How do you make your chores fun? How do you derive satisfaction from doing things you don't necessarily like to do? Should you find reward in the doing and getting it done? Or should you reward yourself once it's finished? Which is easier?

What do you think?

The Yellow Brick Road goes to Kansas but the Red Brick Road leads to...

2009-09-29T22:01:00.007-07:00

...well. You know.

My parents and I went back to visit Lawrence. Our trip in took two days and with everyone driving their share, the trip wasn't too terribly tedious. Listening to Harry Potter helped, too. And as soon as we rolled into Lawrence, we couldn't help but stop in our old field, the one that we always walked Daisy in. Fortunately, they still hadn't started any sort of developing but you never know when they'll start. Probably when the economy swings back up.
Mom and I demanded to go to The Half Price Bookstore since they don't have one in Utah (grr) and I spent a lot of money there. I tried to be careful because I knew I had to save something for the KC Ren Fest but hey, sometimes there's no saying 'no' to a load of good books for relatively cheap. Man, I missed this town. I missed the beautiful sunsets, the fact that you could talk openly to just about anyone and they were perfectly friendly, even if you didn't always see eye-to-eye. And the driving! People drive so WELL here! Utah drivers, you could so learn a thing or ten-thousand from these people. I'm just saying.
As expected, I loved the Renaissance Festival. I didn't dress up but it was so cool to see so many other people arriving in costume. And no one minded how we looked, the point was to just let loose and have a good time. And I so did. Daisy was an attraction unto herself. The picture to the left is Evil, who was cooing over Daisy, which he had renamed "Bloodlust". "Ohhh, who's a good Bloodlust? How many children have you eaten today? Awww..." Daisy ate it up because Evil was giving her the most amazing massage with his long, pointed finger gauntlets. I was tempted to get a bunch myself for her, but I don't think it would be as appreciated. After all, I'm short, blond, and a girl. Daisy prefers tall, dark, and handsome. So many people came up to pet her, I was tempted to put a sign on her "Pet the dog, $1. Licks and tail wags $0.50 extra". That would have paid for the Cinnamon Roasted Almonds at least.

While in Lawrence, I also got to see Mary and Celia which were both fantastic visits. I learned so much from them both and I am sorry that my own shyness with my camera kept me from getting pictures taken with them.

In the meantime, I did get some knitting done. Not a ton but the Foxface socks are finished. Mom enjoyed wearing the one as soon as I had finished with it and moved on to the next. It was a little chilly in the car and the wool sock made the travel home far better.

Not much else, it was quite a trip and I found that though I missed Lawrence like I missed a best friend, I am happy to move on.

School days, fool days

2009-09-08T12:45:00.002-07:00

For many, school has already started. For others, it starts today. I remember elementary school, somewhat. I remember it being a day of excitement, of dread, of anticipation. I always liked the blank pages of notebooks, the fresh pencils, the new seating arrangements, the feeling of the world on the brink of autumn. There were lunchboxes and new shoes. Hair done just so, school buses and Curtis and Joel. Good times.

I'm thinking that once I finish with my Associates RN, I would like to sign up to get my Bachelors, which would open up an entire range of options for me. Also the idea of going back to REAL school, not this online crap which I will never ever do again. Up yours, Excelsior.

So, everyone please enjoy school because a career isn't always what one dreams it would be and it's a time you can never get back.

P.S. I finished the Salto Socks and the gauntlets. Pictures and details coming once they are dry enough for me to photograph.

a triangle trying to squeeze through a circle

2009-08-27T18:34:00.002-07:00

It's been a long while since I've blogged and since I've had at least two rather broad hints that perhaps I should catch you up, I thought I would do so.

First, the not so exciting parts:

On The Needles:
It's getting to be about Christmas Time I suppose and so though I was working on the Aeolian Shawl using Malabrigo Lace in a rather brick red (and so incredibly soft)-

I got a case of the OMGCHRISTMAS and began working on Salto Socks for one of my aunts who was particularly insistent that she get some of the Famous Kit Socks like mom got for her chemo. So, why not? Here is most of one:

It's since been the rest of that sock and most of the next so it's been at least a week since I took that picture and I worked hard on it.

Current Life Sitches
Of most importance, I have a new job. I am working every Friday and Saturday at a nursing home. I find myself feeling a little under-challenged. Not in the way of boredom, there is plenty to do. But there's no excitement of recovery of these people. They're really just here to die more than anything. But there's also no calculating, no Chemistry, no Microbiology. Some days I wish I had actually managed to be well enough to pass Medical Technology rather than flunking out due to a dying kidney. At least then it would be kind of exciting to discover if someone has a parasite or infection and what sort. Instead, it's passing pills, changing dressings, and far too much paperwork. The closest I get to what I miss is taking blood sugars.

It was a wet June, more wet than I hear Utah gets, though I can't say for certain. I turned 31 while enjoying some of my favorite weather and my friend Melanie, the brilliantly talented and resourceful one, made me a cake:

For those who are fans of Cake Wrecks may recognize the naked mohawk babies riding carrots. Well, not all of them were mohawk babies so she made me the Four Naked Mohawk Babies Riding Carrots Of The Apocalypse. I think that was pretty much the best birthday cake I have EVER had. No, really, it was. I laughed so hard and it went well with the Rifftrax Night we had. Great party. :D

I'm doing well in Utah. I'm not missing Kansas much, particularly this summer. I have NO A/C in my car and that was definitely missed but it was nice to be able to let the sweat drying on my face cool me rather than just doing nothing at all or making me even more damp like Kansas would do. I do miss my friend Mary and I miss downtown Lawrence and I miss the knitting group that met in the Merc. Fortunately, I will be visiting briefly. I think the plan is that I will come by from 9/17 - 9/23. We'll be going to the Ren Fest of course and that will be so awesome.

Speaking of Fests, I'm going to see if I can sneak off to the Great Basin Fiber Arts Fair. The classes I want to take require me to have a spinning wheel and I don't plan on actually buying one (really, aren't my hobbies expensive enough?). I know how to ply, I know how to knit, I know how to crochet, I think I'm pretty set there. But the vendors excite me and I think I'll just have to go to visit with my knitting friends and paint the Fest red. ;)

That's all i have for now. Not much that all 2 of you have missed out on, but I suppose it makes for something to blog about after a while. :)

Choices.

2009-04-29T12:03:00.003-07:00

"No one can make us inferior without our consent." - Eleanor Roosevelt

Interesting quote, that one. It's almost as if we have the CHOICE to feel inferior. Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me unless I choose to let them.

There is so much power when one realizes that we have choices. I made the choice when I was young, perhaps about seven or eight, to be a nurse. I have come a LONG way from that little girl who saw her favorite nurse skillfully work with the sick and healthy, who understood that a sickness does not just affect the patient but the entire family and social network. But that was a choice I made and I have never left off of it and now look where I am.

I made the choice last winter to study daily in my textbook. I've not missed many days (though I allow myself a little slack when I'm knitting like mad for Sock Madness 3) and I have gone through 2 and a half text books. Some days that choice is harder to make than others but I'm still making it and it gets easier.

Life is all about choices. We have the power. No one can make us do anything we don't want. There is always an either/or.

What choices are you making?

I know I left everyone hanging with that picture of Edward Elric. I apologize, I wanted to wait until I gave the birthday girl her present and I was a little late in doing it. But I am free to show you all now:

He looks like he's dancing, doesn't he? I love him. I am glad I found those gold buttons for his eyes, they look far better than the attempt I made at embroidering eyes on him.

He has a sculpey arm which took 3 attempts to get right. I think it's adorable. I should also mention that I probably relied a little too heavily on the powers of the hot glue gun, it doesn't look quite right but the belt buckle is still pretty cute in my opinion. Along with everything else of course.

And, of course, the insignia of the Alchemist on the back. I've not read/watched Full Metal Alchemist recently so I've forgotten the name of it, but it's essential to the outfit.

Melanie loved it, Kristy wants one too (birthday birthday who's got a birthday) and I find that I'll have to make a little guy with a hat or bandana next time so I don't have to mess as much with that dang "hair". *fistshake*

For those who are curious, you can find the pattern for the basic hyooman and his hair here at Geek Central Station.

Finally, for those of you scared to death of swineflu (oh yeah, I'm sure you all are), allow me to share with you some tips:

WASH YOUR HANDS! Seriously. Walked into the bathroom? If it was even just to blow your nose, WASH YOUR HANDS. In fact, any time you touch your face, wash your hands. Shake hands with someone else, wash your hands. And by wash your hands, either soap and water and a 20 second scrub or a hearty scrub with the antispeptic gel.

Cover your mouth/nose when you cough or sneeze. Don't be crude and just cough into the surrounding air. If it catches you by surprise, sneeze into your shoulder. And then, WASH YOUR HANDS.

Feeling under the weather? Stay home. Can't? Then please warn your coworkers and try to isolate yourself as much as possible. Don't lunch with everyone else, either eat at your desk or after everyone's gone off to eat.

Bugs are like secrets. Keep them to yourself.

DC out.

Oh craft

2009-04-14T10:33:00.001-07:00

I can't say too much about what I'm working on but it has to do with this guy:

Shh.

Put a fork in it...

2009-04-08T23:42:00.002-07:00

Done!!!

Let me tell you, colorwork goes fast when you learn how to knit Continental. I'm still working out the details on keeping tension properly but I think I'm converted now. I am glad, too, since I have some books that have colorwork patterns in them and now I can give them a shot! :D

And I am still in the running in Sock Madness. I admit that I took my sweet time on this, not finishing the toe until I was comfy in front of the tv tonight (well, okay, maybe it came with me to Mimi's Cafe, too, but the cute, flirting waiter was far too distracting to work on it with any sort of dedication).

New socks, yay!

Party of 4 rocking it for the 8th year

2009-04-07T08:00:00.000-07:00

Imagine my insides like that. Only with another "TRANSPLANTED KIDNEY" on the other side, too. Oh yeah, and the original kidneys are like little raisins. And possibly the third looks like a fig. When they stop working, the body efficiently gets rid of them so it's not like it's really crowded in here.

Did you know that your kidneys are like the brain's brain? We all know it's like the coffee filter of the body but it also regulates various hormones that control blood pressure, calcitrol for calcium absorption, and stimulates the making of red blood cells in your bone marrow. Pretty awesome because the brain takes its cues on how the body is doing from the kidney.

And I know how it feels when it goes wrong. It isn't pretty. It's cold. It's like a constant bad flu with lack of any sort of appetite, always nauseated, always tired. Going through that for a few years was very hard, I'm so very glad I got my kidney. And 8 years later, I'm doing incredibly fantastic.

Cheers all, have some cranberry juice! On me!

Wait and Hope

2009-03-30T14:36:00.003-07:00

Last night as I drove my brother home and we were talking about how life is going, where life is going, I realized that I'm ready. I'm ready to step back into the turbulence of preparing for my clinicals again. I'm emotionally biting at the bit. I don't think I would have gotten here if I hadn't been studying my textbooks, quietly, subtly reassuring myself that this is already in my head, I just needed to put it all back in my heart.

Defeat can crush a person. It's crushed me. But I heal, eventually. It takes time and it takes care. It takes a lot of faith to get back to where I am feeling confident again.

So here I am, realizing that I'll have to stuff my plastic wound with Puffs instead of medical gauze, realizing that I will have to invade friends' bubbles so I can figure out the proper place to stick a needle (without actually doing so, I'm not a sadist) for various injections, realizing that I'll need to find a good place to hang up that practice IV so I can calculate drip rates again.

And in the end, be the nurse that has always been inside.

In the meantime, I'm playing in Sock Madness again. Here's the result of Round One:

Mom is modeling them because they never come out *my* size. They may also wind up in the frog pond so I can have that Dream In Color back. ;) Hey, never said anything I knit was permanent and frogging is the poor girl's stash enhancement.

Happy Monday all!

P.S. here's that Cranberry Orange Muffin recipe I made the other day. It is molto bueno.

The egg

2009-03-18T17:07:00.002-07:00

Tomorrow is Sock Madness. Knitting will increase and so will silences so I better come up with this now while I can.

What is up with the hair/makeup trend? At first I thought the Progressive Insurance girl was just an attempt to look like the Esurance cartoon chick with the outrageous eye-makeup, the bubble hair, the brilliant red lipstick. I didn't realize that this was actually the introduction to a new trend.

Girls, why do we try to make a farce of ourselves? Make-up should be used to simply enhance our own true beauty. It should be subtle, not overly done. We should look like women, not cartoon heroines.

After all, don't you remember the 50s and 60s? Do we really want to go back to that again?

I didn't think so.

I am all about makeup and looking nice. But I take my makeup tips from Carmindy, not Wonder Woman.

Just a thought.

The Egg is what I call that outrageous pouch in the back of some ladies' heads that are supposed to make the hair higher or something. I keep expecting an alien to pop out and wink at everyone.

How not to lose weight.

2009-03-16T16:10:00.004-07:00

Yesterday our church had a rather competitive Linger Longer, pitching the girls vs. the boys in a bake-off. I had signed up and thought I started off thinking I would make my tried and true Cinnamon Popcorn recipe. But that's kind of dull and who would really eat it? (Well, Melanie would, I know that much, she loves it as much as I do.)

So then I was perusing a few blogs and came across the Meanest Mom's Kitty Litter Cake. AWESOME! After all, who wouldn't consider that just too cool to eat? Or, maybe, too disgusting after I showed off the idea to some family and friends and got the general face-of-displeasure - a wrinkled nose and a gaggy tongue face.

Fine. And after someone mentioned that Girl Scout Cookies are out and that they refused to buy them because they are 1) way expensive and 2) don't benefit much from the sales *anyways*, I thought "Hey! I'll make my own favorite sort of GSCs, Samoas!" You know, the kind that are shortbread with caramel/coconut on top, chocolate bottom and lovely chocolate drizzled all over? Yeah, THOSE. Mmmm. Well, come to find out, the recipe is right HERE. Or rather, the bars are there, I didn't want to get all fussy with actually making cookies.

A few notes:
- unwrapping caramels is a good way to pass the time while toasting the coconut.
- The shortbread is very crumbly (or maybe it needed to be cooked longer/needed more egg).
- It still tastes absolutely fantastic.

Sadly, I was beat out by several other dishes, one of them being a brownie with Caramel Ghiradelli chocolates, pudding, whipped cream, and crumbled Heath bars on top. Just describing it makes my teeth ache, good gravy. And since there were no prizes, there were no hard feelings. And I didn't bring home any leftovers either, which is a win right there.

But maybe next time I'll make the kitty litter cake after all. If I can't win best-of-taste, I'll win the most-disgusting award.

Enjoy the recipes!

Image not copyrighted to me at all, I'm sorry, I'm bad but unrepentant.

Copy & Paste

2009-03-04T23:26:00.002-07:00

Because I'm lazy and I write better in my LiveJournal than my Blogger, I'm just transferring my thoughts from there to here.

---
After filling out all those Craigslist ads and realizing that instead of a nurse, they wanted an envelope licker and whatever else they wanted for WorkFromHome, I started getting spam emails. That's fine, I can always set a filter on the ones that get past the Gmail Spam Ninjas but now I'm starting to get Mystery Phone Calls. Those are harder to ignore, especially when I'm waiting for people to ask me to work for them. One was from area code 303 but hung up on me when I answered the phone. The other was "Restricted". They both get the finger.

In other news, my sis sent to my mom who forwarded to me a link to The Meanest Mom. Who has this Youtube Video in one of her posts but I'm eager to show you all NOW:

Finally, last night I headed out to Borders to meet some of the smartest, wittiest, loveliest group of people I have ever had the honor to meet, RUBBERNECKERS:

We offended some Borders customers with our flagrant touching, grasping, and groping of balls (of yarn) and other such inappropriate behavior and conversation. It was awesome. Definitely going back again. And yes, we broke the record of number of attendants to the Utah Knitters Knit Night ever.

About love.

2009-02-13T19:28:00.001-07:00

Back in the day when my ancestors wore kilts and ran into battle naked, it was noised about by cousin clans that you do not dally with the R--- clan. They were friends of fairies and dabbled in witchery. Of course, now-a-days we suffer from depression, bipolarism, and in some extreme cases, schizoid paranoia. We also Do Not Talk About These Things. Which is why I do. HEY LOOK, THERE'S AN ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM!

What we DO talk about are things like "Why does Kirstin remain single while her cousins all have marriages and lots and lots of babies?" because that's somehow more relevant than mental illnesses that can be passed down to those lots and lots of babies. But I'm a patient girl. I don't mind answering this question but I doubt it will be of any help to anyone.

Why Kirstin is still single, by Kirstin.

1. She might not have been! Oooh! But she was unwilling to submit to a ~~man~~ ~~slobbering pygmy neanderthal~~ boy shorter than her with the delusion that all women are to submit to their men and have no opinion or will of their own but instead, wake up at 5:30am every morning to chat online when she is dying of kidney failure and going to medical school and could use every precious moment of sleep available. No, it sure didn't sound like the ideal life to me. The end.

2. She doesn't go out much. Kirstin is an admitted introvert, preferring to chat online with her best friend than go out somewhere. Not always, of course. She does go out to things and has fun but then her company is 99.999% of the time of the feminine persuasion (all heterosexual, all single, fyi). Seeing point 1, you can see why she prefers feminine company.

3. She has seen the menu and doesn't really prefer anything on it. And if she does see a tasty morsel, it's usually snatched up by someone prettier, more talented, and faster than she is.

4. Men seem hopelessly unable to see her. She suspects that if she had larger boobs, a tinier waist, and a finer @$$, that her invisibility would drop like a pair of much-too-large trousers but she finds having to fit a mold distasteful. She has not met a man whose ideal she fits and she is more willing to wait for a complement to her personality rather than try to become one for someone and make the both of them unhappy.

5. It just hasn't happened yet. Wrong place, wrong time, wrong channel. The stars have just not properly aligned for her. Cupid is still looking. Her prince is in another castle.

6. And finally, I'm waiting for The Best. Not Second-Best. Not Well, He's Available. I won't settle or anything other than Best.

I'll tell you how school is going in the next entry.

2009-01-31T23:32:00.002-07:00

I'm still here.

I just wish I could figure out where 'here' was. My psyche is acting a little like my dog. She sits down, looks around my room and says brightly "This is great! But when are we going home?" And I calmly tell her that we *are* home. It's different, but it's home now. And she gives me a blank stare, tilts her head and goes "But when do we get to go *home*?".

Pardon me. It's not been easy. It wasn't easy last time either, I'll have to be completely honest. But at that time, I knew that my uncle's place was temporary, that I still had a home back in Kansas. That I could still go back.

And it's not that I had all too much to miss. I had become a rather faded wallflower to most of the people of my church. I didn't have a lot of friends ('cept for you, disillusioned). Perhaps I should have gone out more, talked more, but that's just not how I roll. But I do miss trees. I miss rolling hills. I miss the open sky and horizons. I miss all those awesome indie shops with their "smoking accessories" (trans. bongs but don't tell the police) tucked away upstairs behind dark counters. I miss driving to Kansas City.

But it's not that I don't like it here. The people here are more outgoing and they seem friendlier (EXCEPT WHEN THEY'RE IN THEIR CAR). The mountains are amazing and even more so now that I can see them thanks to my optometrist who is the son-in-law to the doctor who delivered me. I also get meds from the pharmacist who gave prescribed meds to my parents before I was even conceived. I see a dentist who used to play with my aunts and uncles when they were kids. I mean, the connections to everyone here are overwhelming!

I think I'll have to wait a little longer for my psyche to finish turning in circles in my room and finally settle down comfortably. It'll happen. Eventually.

The arrogance of man

2009-01-10T16:44:00.002-07:00

Anybody can do just about anything with himself that he really wants to and makes up his mind to do. We are capable of greater than we realize.
- Norman Vincent Peale

Someone on my LJ was talking about a man who was promoting his book on NPR called Five Lessons a Millionaire Taught Me for Women. She said, "He said that there's been a shift in society recently and that the majority of the purse strings of the nation are currently held by women, and [they] haven't been prepared for it. He's doing a series of seminars for women about money and how to use it".

The arrogance of it all nearly caused me to stick my eyes in a permanent roll. You know who has ALWAYS been in charge of the finances in my family? My mother. You know who wound up being in majority when it came to watching finances in most of my friends' families? THE WOMEN.

Why is it that we must tell ourselves that we can't or shouldn't?

Why did my friend recently make a most startling discovery that the math she was told all of her life would be too hard for to do WASN'T HARD AT ALL?

Why did I take College Prep Calculus in high school VOLUNTARILY?

Because it's not hard. In fact, math is terribly straightforward. I love doing calculations in my head, figuring out how much something costs on sale at some random number like 16%. I love figuring out how many cups I'm drinking if I'm taking in 2.4 liters. And converting milligrams to ounces or grains to cups. I do that naturally as a nurse!

If women can be nurses and teachers, psychiatrists and mothers, why can't they also manage finances? In fact, they can.

Don't let these noisome thoughts that say "You caaan't. You're not smaaart. It's too haaard" fill your head. It's a pack of awful lies. Really, it is. Anyone can do whatever they put their mind to and I know you can do it. I know I can do it.

*steps down off her soapbox*

Life, The Universe, and Knitting.

2009-01-07T23:28:00.002-07:00

I'm doing several things in a day that take up my time.

- I look for a job.
- I run Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.
- I read two chapters in my Nursing Text Book.
- I try to take over the world (28 and 30, to be specific).
- And sometimes I even knit:

Duncan is showing off the rolly bit that will someday grow up to be a Gathered Pullover.

And someday I might even show my niece how to do the same. She's professed interest, so perhaps someday. :)

Goodbye 2008

2008-12-31T12:02:00.002-07:00

The one thing I love about New Year's Eve is that it's the last day of the year. Time to reset, refresh, renew. Of course, every evening is like that, too. I always set new goals for the new day but this is a little different. For one thing, I get to use a new planner:

From Drop Box

I have two because, um, I have split personalities and each prefers one charity over the other. And they're both so pretty and Borders had a sale and . . .

Anyways, it's been a huge year for me.

- I went to Texas to take the most intense exam I have EVER taken in my life. I mean, who goes out of state just to take an exam? I do!

- I went to California for the first time to see a friend. No, going when I was 4 does not count because I do not remember it.

- I moved to Utah and am closer with my friends, even though they don't knit (though one of them makes the most awesome comic called Bishie Hotline and the other makes the most amazing jewelry and Invader Zim things and so on over here at The Thorn And Rose and there are several others who might not make things but are still awesome in their own special way). I'm also closer with family and none of THEM knit either. Oh well, I'm sure they're special in their own way. Somehow. Nooo, don't hit me at the reunion!

- I wrote another novel, this one 75,000 words, which translates into 199 pages and I hated it at the end but I finished anyways and I may never publish because the market really really REALLY doesn't need another vampire book, as ironic and tongue-in-cheek as this one is.

- I lost 12 pounds this year.

And that's about the biggest things I can really think of. As for this coming year, I have a few plans.

- I'd like to pass that exam once and for all.
- I'd like to reach my weight goal.
- I'd like to run a 5k (dream big).
- I'd like to hang-glide, as long as it doesn't cost too much.
- I'd like to knit myself TWO sweaters.
- And I'd like to start learning how to get along better with myself and others.

Oh yes, 2009 is going to be monumental. And I'm putting the 'mental' in it.

P.S. Before I knit anything, maybe I should fix this:

From Drop Box

P.S.S. And not to be an ungrateful wretch, I did get a present from my Rubberswapper friend, ElizabethSABLE:

From Drop Box

See the ad for the Sow's Ear above the yarn? Knitting Cafe. I think I might start one out here. ;) Utah could use more places to knit and spill drinks. XD

I keep trying for these things.

2008-12-12T23:38:00.003-07:00

I've tried out for a Berroco gift basket. Cirilia's is the one I really have my eye on (so hands off!). Heh, just kidding. Anyways, I don't normally win these sort of things but hey, if I didn't try, I'd DEFINITELY never win anything! :D

And, of course, to keep you up to date as to what my un-idle hands have been doing, check this out:

The scarf and hat are made of Malabrigo Chunky, color Jacinto. The pattern is the Rib Scarf, same as the other one I made before because it's simple, it's versatile, and it's interesting. It really blocked well, too. Anyways, the friend is a sweet kid who has been with me since I broke up with a very close friend. She has a LOT of medical problems, least of which are both retinas 99% detached (she\ can still see well enough to play WoW at least), frequent recurring migraines, and Trigeminal Neuralgia. This girl could USE some Malabrigo in the worst way, don't you think?

Anyways, I think that's about it for my Christmas knitting. Maybe I'm fickle but I just don't know very many people who would go nuts for something I might make. So I keep it in the family of me, myself, and I.

Ah well, here's a little something on my playlist for all of you:

Enjoy!

Christmas Meme

2008-12-09T22:17:00.002-07:00

It's been a while since I updated. News: I have unpacked about 90% of the stuff for my room, plus put up a bunch of IKEA bookshelves. I'm still missing a good deal, like my alarm clock and the cable to attach my printer to an outlet (not that I really want to keep the printer, bleh. So big and the scanner SUCKS). But I'm feeling more at home here. I had friends over the other night for games and tv-watching and it felt rather natural. It's hard to leave behind the old but I'm embracing the new.

So, my friend disillusioned has a fun meme, I thought I'd copy and do it, too:

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I'm not good at wrapping but gift bags are expensive so I'm going with option C, aluminum foil. Crimp it and you're done!

2.Real tree or artificial? Bonsai trees. Cute, compact, and so little space under the tree that you don't have to spend hardly any money for presents. Or, you can go the other way around and say that the only presents that fit is expensive jewelry, ah ha!

3.When do you put up the tree? If you never take it down, you never have to put it up! Saves time and it feels festive year round.

4.When do you take the tree down? Why take it down when you can keep it up? Classy, economical, environmentally friendly!

5.Do you like Eggnog? Those who don't have no souls. I look forward to Eggnog every year, though I have to sip at it carefully because it's not so great for the waistline.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? My sister's PlaySkool Kitchen.

7. Hardest person to buy for? Myself. I have some very expensive taste and I demand only the best. But I am always so grateful for what I get so it's all worth it.

8. Easiest person to buy for? My friends. They're grateful just to have me around, I don't have to get them anything, I just show up for presents!

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Speaking of, I saw an outdoor one where there were five stars over the fond plastic couple with their acrylic child. I wonder how the shepherds ever found their way.

10.Mail or email Christmas cards? I'm a terrible slacker and yet somehow I buy cards every year. Why? I don't get myself sometimes.

11.Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I don't recall any, really. I'm sure I've given some pretty crappy gifts, even though I do tend to put thought into them. But really, sometimes I don't know the people I shop for very well.

12. Favorite Christmas movie? It's not a Christmas movie but I love watching it during Christmas and that's Little Women.

13.When do you start shopping for Christmas? Um, Christmas Eve? Battling elbow-to-elbow with all the other bachelor uncles and aunts for the last Hillshire Farms Sausage thinger.

14.Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I might have.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? German Lebkuchen. The best stuff in the WORLD.

16. Lights on the tree? There sure are!

17 .Favorite Christmas song? Anything on Loreena McKennitt's To Drive The Cold Winter Away album.

18 .Travel at Christmas or stay home? I don't really need to travel anymore, do I? Ahh, laziness.

19.Can you name all Santa's reindeer? I could cheat but that would mean that I care.

20. Angel on the tree top or Star? A rather tipsy angel that won't light. It's like she's been in the eggnog but not enough to really be lit.

21.Open presents Christmas Eve or morning? It's always teaser present on Christmas Eve and then mass chaos in the morning.

22.Most annoying thing about this time of year? From the people kvetching about how no one has the ba--spine to say "Merry Christmas" anymore to the broken-record songs about reindeer, Santa, Frosty, and winter playing non-stop over the speakers at every store (I want to hack in and get the stores to play Handel's Messiah and see how many people wet themselves over the lack of PC-ness of it all) to the repetitive claymation movies and the whole attempt to sell Santa as the replacement Christ, there's a lot of stuff that reeeeally gets under my skin. But I figure *I* can tell people Merry Christmas, I can wear my iPod to the store, I can choose to change the channel, I don't *have* to be annoyed.

23. Favorite ornament? The silver glass one with the nativity scene on it. I loved it ever since I was a girl because of the donkey on it. It has such a sweet face.

24. Favorite Christmas dinner? If it could be my choice? It'd be mom's Black Bean stew or Swedish Meatballs. But the spiral-cut ham is also fantastic. Mm. With stuffing, a veggie tray, maybe even cranberry sauce even though that's kind of a Thanksgiving thing. But I welcome cranberries to my table at ANY time. :d

25. Favorite Christmas drink? I still have some decaf chai, that's perfect for Christmas. Hot chocolate is also just the thing. Mmm.

26.What do you want for Christmas this year? I'm tapping into What I Will Never Get But Always Sort Of Wanted - Lasix eye surgery, my car - but totally fixed of every last issue (even the rusty paint) so that it'll run for another 13 years, a gym pass + personal trainer, a wardrobe/face/hair makeover ala What Not To Wear, and a job at Charm City Cakes.

27.What don't you want for Christmas this year? Tears and drama. Oh, and extra pounds. You can keep those, I don't want them.

28. What is something you have never done that you want to do for Christmas? Go ice skating outdoors!

How about you?

Happy Gratitude Day!

2008-11-27T11:42:00.002-07:00

I'm typing with gloves on to help with the outrageous rash on my hands so please forgive my typoes. They wouldn't normally be there, it's the vinyl and steroid cream.

But we all know that this is the time to be thankful and I got a list. I have so many things to be grateful for so I will keep it short. Ish. Maybe.

I am thankful for:

1. living in Utah where I have all these friends and have already made more.
2. National Novel Writing Month where there was bad book bashing, good book praising, Brandon Sanderson guest-speaking (ever read the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan? He's writing the last one at the request of the widow since Mr. Jordan passed on) and I made new friends, one of whom lives a block away.
3. Mystery Science Theater 3000 streaming on WinAmp. <3
4. My new home where my room is almost twice as big as it once was and with a walk-in closet, too.
5. living close to temples! I don't have to drive 4 hours anymore.
6. My little brother who is smart, eager to please, and funny as hell.
7. my little sister who is such a clever and loving mom and has the patience of Job. 3 kids and 4 on the way, that's crazy awesome, lass.
8. smart doctors who are willing to go out on a limb to help me fix this rash I have on my hands, legs, and neck (it's chapped and overly dry skin, I'm pretty sure of it).
9. living close enough to an IKEA that I can get an awesome bookcase for all the books I want to collect.
10. being blessed with kidney problems that have helped me to grow and learn. I would not wish it on anyone, I can sympathize with people with AIDS because my own immune system is in the crapper thanks to the pills I take to keep my transplanted kidney with me, but I have also grown as a person in ways that I would not wish back ever.
11. Malabrigo. Mmm. I have never knit with it before but I am now and I think I have found a favorite yarn.
12. friends who are more than happy to put up with my strange ways. They are good to me and I love them.
13. the ability to laugh.
14. the discoveries I make about myself every day.
15. professionals who sacrifice their times to help others.
16. my mother who sacrificed so much for me and who has become one of my very best friends as I have grown into adulthood.
17. my father who is still terribly but charmingly protective of me.
18. art.
19. science.
20. the resilience of humankind.

And I am thankful for all of you who read this. This is a day of love and joy. Remember why it is you smile and give thanks silently and verbally because when you give thanks, it comes back to help you grow.

she who dares to stand where I stood

2008-11-18T01:19:00.002-07:00

I heard this on the radio tonight and it made me so happy. I got to see Missy Higgins in concert with one of my close friends, the one who introduced me to her and it was incredible. Even though I was footsore already and still reeling from side effects of narsty flu shots, Missy made me forget for a moment. And as Emily used me as a prop and the two of us swayed, she serenaded us from a piano that I couldn't see and I listened to Emily sing along.

I just thought I'd share.

Sure, I've been knitting.

2008-11-13T18:43:00.004-07:00

When I packed, I brought a lot of yarn, thinking Sure! I'll have so much time that I'll probably be able to make a ton of socks! I'll just bring these ten skeins of yarn...

Yeah, I didn't knit much. I'm sure you could have predicted that, Kit the Knitter from the land of Slow. But I did recently complete a project, if you can believe that.

From Cere-knitty

It's in progress but you can see the true colors here.

From Cere-knitty

And here's she is finished. Not very long but it's a nice enough scarf for the oncoming cold.

From Cere-knitty

And snow.

From Cere-knitty

Now I'm making mom one because she wasn't too keen on something as opened and hole-y as the Clap. *snort*

Now leave me alone while I drool over the latest Twist Collective patterns.

Not busy, just distracted.

2008-11-10T08:49:00.002-07:00

National Novel Writing Month is upon us again. Some of the more knitterly of you may know it as NaKniSweMo or NaBloWriMo or whatever else. I'm not knitting, I'm not blogging, I'm writing. And I'm aiming for 75,000 words as opposed to the "official" 50,000 words. Already I'm at 25,000 and oh yeah, did I mention that I'm writing a vampire book? Well, sort of, it's my take on vampires. It's dumb, full of flash backs and side tracks but if you're interested, I may make it available to read. There's a vampire sheep, that might keep your interest. But yes, being in the valley of Twilight fever, I thought I'd make the worst of it and compound the problem, harr harr.

Today is the official day that we close on our house out in SF (no, not San Francisco or SciFi--though that might not be far off). When everything is said and done, I'll be out of here by Friday and into my new home. I'll be living in the basement because that's where all the bedrooms that are not the master bedroom are. Oh, I know the whole stigma of being my age and still living with parents and in their basement. Whatever. No one's bothered me about it and I'm not bothered about it either. And I've already picked a lovely shade of sage green to paint the walls. I'm tired of looking at white walls and if I can have my way, they'll also sport dragons. Ha!

But man, am I ever glad that the elections are over. Maybe I'll be able to talk to a few of my friends again. Or rather, maybe they'll talk to *me* again. Talk about a bunch of stuffed shirts who need to unclench to remove rods from uncomfortable anatomical regions on EITHER side of the fence. I should have worn a sign that said "GET OVER IT" the entire time. In fact, I still *do* need to wear that sign in some areas. Really. But I won't get into it. There are enough people who are saying what I would merely echo and as Florence Nightingale put it: You ask me why I do not write something.... I think one's feelings waste themselves in words, they ought all to be distilled into actions and into actions which bring results. Isn't that a lovely quote? I find that despite the fact that I just realized that I don't like nurses, I think she's a wonderful inspiration.

As for knitting, well, I do have pictures of it but they're on my camera and I can never get up the energy to upload them. Besides, who wants to see pictures of knitting? Especially when I could show you my little brother's Halloween outfit:

From Misc

He dressed up as Doctor Steel who is very similar to Dr. Horrible to the point that some say that Dr. Horrible is a rip off of Doctor Steel. I can see it but I find them both marvelous and can't complain.

And yes, he shaved his head to do it.

Anyways, I'm going back to my clapotis (shut up, you know I had to make one SOME time) and writing about vampires and their sheep.

Why I don't watch the news.

2008-10-23T19:50:00.002-07:00

This is an article that was published by Orson Scott Card (loved his Ender's Game, not a huge fan of much else but the man clearly has a good head on his shoulders). I thought I'd post this with a very loud and resounding "HELL YES AMEN" and hope a few of you might think the same.

Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights?

And now I'm going back to watching Ace of Cakes. No bull there.

Same people, new scenery

2008-10-21T20:44:00.002-07:00

Well, I've been in Utah with my parents for over a week. We got in the Sunday before last and we took off looking for houses the very next day. Mom and I looked at about six a day and it was an eye-opener. Many of the people would have messy homes, which really put me off. Also, many people refused to leave the house while we looked through and when you have a buyer look through your home, you really don't want to hear them comment on how small the bathrooms are or how dark the basement. And they don't want to have to tip-toe around you.

By Thursday, we finally decided on 4 houses to show Dad, who is gone all day at work and couldn't come with us. On Friday, he came with us and we all decided that the house we liked best was the one that had never been lived in before:

It's still under construction and when it's done, it'll have grass in front and back, sprinkler systems and two trees as sanctioned by the city.

It has a study just off the entrance:

And a powder room:

The basement, where I'll be living, is immense. I could upgrade from a twin to a full or even queen-sized bed with plenty of room left over. Not that I will, I am used to my twin. Every room has a walk-in closet, so nice. The master bath even has a separate closet for the toilet, keeping the rest of the bathroom hygienic. This made me so happy, I don't understand or approve why people have to put a toilet beside the bathtub. Ew.

Anyways, there is clearly a lot of work to be done but we've been promised that the home will be finished within 2 weeks. In the meantime, we're all living in a La Quinta Inn, which is nice and has a tremendous view of Utah Lake but just isn't home, even WITH the free breakfast (waffles every morning if I want, not that I really want, but the option is there). But I share my Daisy's sentiment, I just want to go 'home'. *sigh*

In the meantime, I have been having the best time hanging out with my siblings and seeing my niece and nephews. My sister still looks lovely and slender from the back but she's got a lovely baby bump in front. And my brother and I have been having an awesome time just hanging out, talking, and even going to Borders and the mall today. I forgot how much I missed my siblings, I love them so much.

And then there's my friends. I went to Thanksgiving Point with a bunch of them to wander aimlessly through a corn "maize" (hurrhurrwhatever) dressed in a kimono that I borrowed from my friend Melanie and cheap long-haired black wig, sort of like the girl from The Ring except she wasn't wearing a kimono, but whatever. It got the effect I was looking for. It was fun for the first half hour, but when the 'clues' led us nowhere and the rough terrain was hurting us all, we started looking for a way out in earnest and within another half hour or so, we got out. There were cookies and hot chocolate awaiting us. Ahh, so nice and really, so much fun. My friends here are very down-to-earth, goofy, single people who are comfortable with who they are. They make me feel grounded and strong. I love them and I look forward to making more friends. :)

I still miss Lawrence, though.

learn about me

2008-10-15T19:04:00.001-07:00

Your result for Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz...

You Are an Audrey!

You are an Audrey -- "I am at peace"

Audreys are receptive, good-natured, and supportive. They seek union with others and the world around them.

How to Get Along with Me

* If you want me to do something, how you ask is important. I especially don't like expectations or pressure

* I like to listen and to be of service, but don't take advantage of this

* Listen until I finish speaking, even though I meander a bit

* Give me time to finish things and make decisions. It's OK to nudge me gently and nonjudgmentally

* Ask me questions to help me get clear

* Tell me when you like how I look. I'm not averse to flattery

* Hug me, show physical affection. It opens me up to my feelings

* I like a good discussion but not a confrontation

* Let me know you like what I've done or said

* Laugh with me and share in my enjoyment of life

What I Like About Being an Audrey

* being nonjudgmental and accepting

* caring for and being concerned about others

* being able to relax and have a good time

* knowing that most people enjoy my company; I'm easy to be around

* my ability to see many different sides of an issue and to be a good mediator and facilitator

* my heightened awareness of sensations, aesthetics, and the here and now

* being able to go with the flow and feel one with the universe

What's Hard About Being an Audrey

* being judged and misunderstood for being placid and/or indecisive

* being critical of myself for lacking initiative and discipline

* being too sensitive to criticism; taking every raised eyebrow and twitch of the mouth personally

* being confused about what I really want

* caring too much about what others will think of me

* not being listened to or taken seriously

Audreys as Children Often

* feel ignored and that their wants, opinions, and feelings are unimportant

* tune out a lot, especially when others argue

* are "good" children: deny anger or keep it to themselves

Audreys as Parents

* are supportive, kind, and warm

* are sometimes overly permissive or nondirective

Take Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz at HelloQuizzy

No time for many words, just pictures.

2008-10-09T22:16:00.002-07:00

Christina, remember this?

er, and then Picasa broke. Dangit. Oh well, eating badly, living out of a suitcase, trying to keep the dog from barking at things no one can help in the middle of the night, and knitting socks. That's my life, baby! :D We're on the road tomorrow, hopefully there's internet wherever we stop. Later!

I've been doing stuff, really!

2008-10-05T14:09:00.002-07:00

I was totally productive on Friday:

With a burst of productivity, I vacuumed the car. Now, this doesn't seem like a big deal until you realize that I have a pup that is a lot German Shepherd and if there's one thing you must know about GSes is that they explode fur. There was a thick, embedded layer of dog fur in the back seat of my Honda Civic. It was also on the floor, in between the front seats, everywhere. So I took my dad's shop vac and scratched and scrubbed at the hair until it finally went away.

From Misc

Eeeww. Left side is clean, right side is covered in dog. Stupid Daisy.

So I worked really hard on that, cleaned the windows, scrubbed at the plasticky bits using the Armor-All cloths and sprayed some Bounce perfume stuff on the back seats so they don't smell so musty.

And then late that night, mom and I took Daisy and headed out to pick Dad up from the airport so we have his help in moving and getting the vehicles headed out West. Daisy was the most exuberant of the bunch:

There is seriously no better welcome than a dog so happy, she can't even gain traction on the floor. I love my dog.

And walk away. Just walk away.

2008-10-01T18:22:00.005-07:00

Ever had one of those projects where just thinking about it made you wish it was already over or even never begun? That the knitting of it is not a pleasure but a pain and gives you anxiety? What do you do about it?

It was the Belle Cardigan (Ravelry link) knit on size 17 and 19 US needles and for someone who hasn't knitted on anything bigger than a size 4 needle for a while, it was BIG. Broomsticks and rope, my friends. That's what it felt like. So I finally put it away. Just stuck it in one of my under-the-bed containers and shoved it out of sight. What a relief! It's gone!

I also put away my lace. Sorry, no Mystery Stole this year, I can't stand it. Maybe later.

Then I needed something to keep my little fingers busy.

It's the Viking Socks and if you're a Danish speaker, it's even better but she does have them in English if you want them. I call them my Money socks because they are nice and green and may bring me to my next job.

Oh! So today I hung out with my fellow Rubbernecker, CeliaAnne! She is a real doll and I wish I had gotten to know her sooner. It just figures, right? Anyways, she gave me a going-away present of an African Butterfly clip. Now, I used to have thick, coarse hair that went all the way to my hips and lower and I just left it because there was never much to DO with it. And now that I'm off cyclosporine, my hair has gotten silky and pretty thin and I still don't know what to do with it. Alligator clips are awkward and ponytails are old. But I have never seen or worked with an African Butterfly clip before and seriously, it's amazing. My hair doesn't slip out (well, other than the hair that frames the face because it's ornery like that), it doesn't go anywhere, it *stays*! I kept poking at it and then grinning and going "This is sooo neat!". You're right, Celia. I *will* be poking you for more (and paying, of course). It's the best thing ever!

And that's it for today, y'all. Ha, I went to Applebees and our waiter must have just learned how to say "y'all" because he kept using it. Interesting note: "y'all" is meant to be singular or refer to particular people within a group. "All y'all" refers to the entire group. Personally, I don't use 'y'all' too much, I was raised a bit too European to be intimately comfortable with it. Maybe if I'm lazy typing. Which I'm clearly not today.

One last picture:

That's right, it's official now. Sorry to all my midwest friends. :/ I'll miss you.

Mein Hut, er hat kein Ecken

2008-09-29T20:07:00.002-07:00

So, I do have a few things that just flew off the needles. Nothing easier in the world than...HATS! I love a good hat. Un fortunately, I frequently do not look good in hats. Like berets. I couldn't figure out how to look good in a beret but I bet my weight loss makes it work a little better now. Check this out:

A hat for my friend, disillusioned made out Handpaintedyarn.com. It was fun to take a pattern and kind of make my own based off it.

And then I made one of my own out of some KnitPicks Alpaca Silk in Lettuce:

Cute, huh? And nice and warm, too. And just in time because it's about to cool off around here.

There's only ten days left here. Today Daisy and I startled a group of Canadian Geese and they flew off, automatically getting into formation as they cleared the trees to go to another spot to rest and I realized that I don't think Utah has Canadian Geese. Ahh well, they don't have Canadian Geese poop all over the road either. Heh.

What's changing where you're at?

I forbid you maidens all to wear gold in your hair

2008-09-27T21:32:00.002-07:00

There is no argument that I need to update this blog a lot more frequently, despite the fact that I lose readers when I do. Aw well, who cares, people need to know what's going on! I love the rest of you. :D

So, here's where I am with knitting. I want to knit but it's kind of a vague, half-heated desire. I've created a few things but there's no passion. I think I might need to use up my sock yarn but yeah, like I need more socks right? I could use a scarf, some mittens, another sweater but socks? Pssht. Well, okay, some of my socks are in a sad state and could use replacing. Hmm. Do I *feel* like socks? No, not really.

You know, though--I think this lack of wanting to knit anything is related to the fact that I've been without a job for a while. I quit Hy-Vee when my skin started tearing itself up (and no, it hasn't gotten better) and I haven't been employed since because that was right when I was going to Utah and LA and when I got back, I felt that I should distinctly not find one again. There was the whole move looming overhead and it was a good decision, but one that has left me feeling a little despondent. And if I did what I knew was good for me, I wouldn't be left feeling like this. But sometimes I give myself very good advice that I never take.

So. Moving to Utah. This means I'll be applying for my nursing license out there and then getting a job. More than likely, I'll go back to working part time for the USH ~~mental hospital~~. We don't call it a "mental hospital" but dang it, that's what it is. You don't go there for busted limbs, you go there for busted minds and please don't call me on being politically incorrect. Sometimes I am. And sometimes, the sky is blue, sometimes a dog's poop stinks.

For now, I'm waiting.

Think it before you speak it

2008-09-19T13:31:00.002-07:00

This one goes out to a good friend of mine.

Sometimes even I say the "R" word. I don't say it to be hurtful but it still is and I've gotten a lot more careful.

Grown-up words do not always mean the four-letter words that we should not say. Grown-up words are the ones we use to be mature, reasonable, respectful people.

beauty

2008-09-17T15:38:00.002-07:00

If you haven't figured it out yet, I am shedding Kansas for Utah. Yes, shedding. I've been here for so long, all wrapped up in memories both good and bad and yes, even ugly that I feel like I am ready to leave it all behind. In fact, I felt like that once before and it was good to leave, to start over elsewhere. I made friends and I discovered new facets to myself that I knew I had but didn't dare explore. I grew up a little. But then I came back. And it was right that I did, because my mother needed me and I needed to be here one last time. But now we're all going and if we look back, it's not with regret but with fondness.

In the meantime, Kansas has been giving us something to remember her by:

From Misc

I apologize for the quality, the light wasn't fantastic and it's REALLY hard to photograph a rainbow. But yes, it was that gold pink outside with shades of turquoise, like a Turkish bath house. And that rainbow had two echoes of itself that you can't quite see.

Mom and I have been trying to take daily long evening strolls. We go through the Fall Creek neighborhood, a very posh and upscale area where the houses are fantastic:

From Misc

and the hills provide a proper workout (phew!):

From Misc

I'll miss Kansas. I'll miss the crazy storms where the sky and air turns pea-soup green and the lightning and thunder recreate wars in the heavens. I'll miss the Renaissance Festival every fall. I'll miss the winter storms that cover everything in ice, turning the world into an intricate crystal wonderland that no sculptor could ever recreate. I'll miss the sunsets. I'll miss my friends. I'll miss seeing hawks and bald eagles while walking out in the fields. I'll miss downtown Lawrence and the nonchalance everyone there possesses. I'll miss KU campus.

But I have those memories neatly packed away, freely accessible and now I'm off to make new memories. Thank you, Kansas. It's been good, it's been awful, it's been a growing experience. I won't forget.

From Misc

No, not ever.

P.S. This one's for you, Abby!

From Misc

EMMETT I KNOW IT WAS YOU. I CAN READ MINDS OKAY??? I HATE TO QUESTION YOUR INTELLIGENCE, BUT I MUST.

2008-09-01T22:31:00.002-07:00

Copied flagrantly from Cookie, WITHOUT HER PERMISSION! Ohnoes&shi~nola.

1. My uncle once gave me his copies of the best sci-fi radio show ever, Searcher and Stallion. <3

2. Never in my life have I impressed people when I tried. I've given up and life is so much better.

3. When I was five, I got a third kidney.

4. High school was a hazy dream. Let's keep it that way.

5. I will never feel comfortable among people talking politics.

6. Once I met my knitting and blogging friends, I was happy to find that they're just as extraordinary as me.

7. There’s this boy I know but not in the Biblical sense.

8. Once, at a bar, I had German food and listened to German drunks singing German songs. It was awesome.

9. By noon, I have exercised, had breakfast, showered, and walked the dog. Don't judge me.

10. Last night, I wound the lace yarn for Mystery Stole 4.

11. If only I had the courage to stop people from abusing me and taking me for granted.

12. Next time I go to church I'll be fasting for a fast sell and a smooth move.

13. What worries me most are things I can't do anything about anyways.

14. When I turn my head left I see the future, hazy and impenetrable.

15. When I turn my head right I see the past, a guideline for the future but a hazard if one stares too long.

16. You know I’m lying when I use my sarcastic voice.

17. What I miss most about the Eighties was living in Germany and being a crazy kid who didn't worry about make-up or what people thought about me.

18. If I were a character in Shakespeare I’d be Beatrice.

19. By this time next year, I might have passed my CPNE. Positive thinking, go!

20. A better name for me would be spoken in awe by the people on the ground as I fly by in spandex.

21. I have a hard time understanding why people buy the phony 'sweetness' act. I don't.

22. If I ever go back to school, I’ll get my Bachelors in Nursing, I guess.

23. You know I like you if I engage in an actually conversation with you.

24. If I ever won an award, the first person I would thank would be: me. I worked darn hard for that award, I deserve a little accolade for myself.

25. Take my advice: don't bother asking me, go see a dang doctor already.

26. My ideal breakfast is flavored instant oatmeal. Sorry, Alton Brown, but I love it.

27. A song I love but do not have is: hard to find. *coff*

28. If you visit my hometown, I suggest you lose yourself downtown for a week.

29. Why won’t people shut their yaps for a moment and actually comprehensively listen? Take a few moments, consider what the person is trying to actually say, THEN respond.

30. If you spend a night at my house, bring your own coffee.

31. I’d stop my wedding for an act of God, like a tornado or lightning in the sky spelling ~~Surrender Dorothy~~ "DON'T DO IT".

32. The world could do without chiggers, lousy pestilences of the Universe with no real reason to exist.

33. I’d rather lick the belly of a cockroach than take up smoking.

34. My favorite blondie is canine (I love Goldies).

35. Paper clips are more useful than a horde of handsome men holding papers together in bundles, but not as attractive!

36. If I do anything well, it's obviously due to me being fabulous.

37. I can’t help but cry when I'm angry. Ugh.

38. I usually cry when I'm PMSing.

39. My advice to my nephew/niece: be true to who you really are inside. Follow the herd only if they're going your way.

40. And by the way, my milkshake brings all the boys to the yard. ;)

A wiener is me!

2008-08-24T18:25:00.003-07:00

Well now, what with the advent of the Olympics ending (don't spoil it for me, I'm going to watch it while running tomorrow!), I am going to show off what I finished knitting last night:

It's the BONSAI TUNIC OF RAVELYMPIC GLORY, YAAAAAY!

It took two weeks and I made the second size up (38.5" bust one). It's a little snug but I believe I'll still lose more weight and I'll eventually fit it better. To celebrate 2008 and the Olympic Spirit, I ordered a Bobicus Maximus pin.

Bewbies. U kno u liek thems.

And thus I finish the Ravelympics with a new top and a sense of style. Yaaay!

Now onto the next project. ;3

Ravelympics - Days 1 & 2. Subtitle: Gauge swatching can kiss my ---

2008-08-09T21:58:00.001-07:00

You would never know it, but this Cotolino hates me. Let me share my woes.

Day before yesterday: knitted a few gauge swatches. It was knitting up to about 22 stitches over 4 inches and the pattern I wanted required 24st/4". Fine. I went down a few needle sizes.

Yesterday: began the Josephine top (under "Projects", 5th one down on the gaunt model that it doesn't really fit). I knitted and knitted and watched LOST and knitted and watched the Opening of the Olympics and knitted some more until I had 4 inches of knitted garment where it said I was to measure and decrease. Dimensions were supposed to be 21.75" wide. My piece of smirking smugness? More along 30". Let's just say that I was not thinking charitable thoughts on the lying piece of lying crap!

So, last night, I began knitting swatches again. I dug out all my smaller circulars and began swatching on 3s. 22 st/ 4". WHAT. Fine. 2s. 23 st/4". This was ridiculous. Okay, let's see what the US#1s could do! ...

23 st/4".

ARRRGH!

Fine. This morning I decided to suck it up and started knitting all over on the 2s, working on the smaller pattern for people with chestes to the tune of 36.5" (in my dreams). I stopped after the first full working of the lace chart and measured. What was supposed to be 19 was...25". An improvement. What would fit an elephant before would now comfortably fit a horse instead. Niiice.

I woefully reported to Team Rubberneck that I was out of the Olympics before I even really started until several people told me that people with Dr. Horrible Ravatars were not allowed to throw in the towel and to pick something else out. I had already done that since I figured that the Josephine Top would just have to wait (and I wanted to throttle those who did make one with Cotolino because they must have done it while dancing naked around a bonfire during the rising of a blood moon while sucking down the tears of a prom queen virgin using those nifty beer-can-holding-hats...I want one--for water, of course).

I had gone through my Ravelry queue and after dismissing sweater pattern after sweater pattern (wrong gauge, wrong yarn, not enough, would look like a McD*n*lds paper sack after a month of blowing around on I-70), I settled on the Bonsai Tunic (second verse same as the first). It fit my gauge, it also used a plant fiber (I don't know how much cotton/linen differs from bamboo but they're both flammable and made from stuff that eats poo and turns green, why not?). But that was not the end of this Cotolino's tricks!

Because though it fit the gauge, it would not behave. After a full 2" in, I decided to measure. It was supposed to be 19" wide. It was 23". It took incredible self-control as well as the consideration of how long it took chemically burning my wrists in hot dishwater and factory soap to earn enough to buy the friggin' yarn to keep me from tossing it all in a pile and lighting it.

I took a deep breath. I went down a needle size. I watched some anime. I measured. It is behaving itself. For now.

Judge

2008-08-08T12:06:00.002-07:00

I got a hair up my --- and it won't let me stay quiet.

You know, I may have been really naive for a lot longer than most kids but I didn't realize that people judged me by my differences until 6th grade. Yup, that's when it really struck me. I mean, I made friends with the kids no one else would sit with, not realizing that then others would associate me with the outcast rather than bringing the outcast in. But I think it's time I set the record straight.

I'm not blind. I can see when people make up their minds about me within 5 minutes of getting to know me. Or that they stick me in a slot that doesn't fit me because they know members of my family or friends or rumors. So I think I need to open some eyes here.

- I'm short, but that does not make me cute or young or willing to put up with your patronizing behavior.

- I'm blond but that does not make me a ditz, a moron, or a sheep following the bottle-blond herd.

- I've got blue eyes too. See above.

- I'm overweight. This does not make me lazy, greedy, or selfish.

- Sometimes I wear my hair curly. This does not make me silly.

- Sometimes I wear my hair straight. This does not make me sophisticated.

- I love anime, Renaissance Festivals, Mystery Science Theater 3000, and fantasy. This does not make me a dork or a geek.

- I'm a nurse but that doesn't mean I am going to diagnose the rash on your ---. Or anything else. See a doctor.

- I'm still single. That doesn't mean I want or need or deserve your pity, advice, or yenta-ism.

- I'm still a virgin. Do I seem naive, ignorant, prudish, or lonely to you?

- I have learned to want what I have and budget to afford what I don't have yet. Does that make me a rich snob?

- I'm LDS/Mormon. This does not mean I want a lot of children, that I never swear or drink caffeine, or will share my husband with other women.

Basically, I really don't fit your mold. Don't expect me to, I never will. No one ever really expects what I eventually reveal. I've surprised people with my appreciation of rock music, books thicker than my wrist, and knitting. Sometimes I don't mind, but sometimes I get so dang tired of the same old bias.

Break down your walls. Get to really know people around you. And get the hell off my lawn!

2008-08-07T14:52:00.003-07:00

Hey, how about a Catching-Up post? We all love those.

1. HomesteadMom is still hoping to hit her $5k goal for her 3-Day Breast Cancer March. Click to donate and leave identifying info in case you win...a Wii Fit! I'd love a Wii Fit but her raffle tickets are 1 for $20 and 3 for $50 and I don't have that kind of money. Heh.

2.

There was spinning! I finished it all up and here is a little collage so you can see the process and the product:

I even made a funny, though it didn't really wind up being all that funny:

Click to Embiggen.

It was a real challenge and I have to admit that at the end, I was overwhelmingly sick of fiber and spinning and fleece. But now that I'm not spinning constantly, I'm thinking, "Gee, that was a nice respite from knitting!" but it's back into the fray becaaause--

3.
I joined Ravelympics! I'm in Team Rubberneckers because, well, I could. I'm planning on making the Johanna Top from the Interweave Knits Summer 2007 issue, a cap-sleeved sort of top made of DK weight cotton of which I have scads in a deep deep blue. I decided on it when I looked at the Ravelry Projects page and saw how it looked when appropriately filled out by actual people with breasts and curves. The model in the magazine does not do the poor top justice.

In the meantime, the lace design I'm making is coming slowly. It should look awesome but I'm not a fast knitter and now it's going to have to wait stoically again as I race through top-knitting. Fortunately, it's not going to be all that long, I only have so much cotton. ;)

Save The Tatas!

2008-07-26T21:37:00.007-07:00

Okay, I'm not doing anything too interesting so I'm going to highlight someone who is. Over on Ravelry Rubberneckers, our very own blogless HomesteadMom is off to walk for 3 days at the Philadelphia Breast Cancer 3-day (go ahead, click it, it's harmless!). And if you're a yarnophile, you can even get signed up for some marvelous prizes and I'm just going to copy and paste from the Ravelry page:

The deadline for entering my Bewby Raffle is July 31st, only eight days away! If you have not yet had a chance to do so, please visit my 3-Day page to read about what my mom and I are doing this October, and to make a donation.

Again, here are the terms: For every $5 you donate, your name will be entered one time. So if you donate $25, you will be entered 5 times. $50, ten times. Etc. One prize per person.

And here are the prizes:

PRIZE 1

KnottyLa, aka La of the JenLa duo has donated a skein of her hand-dyed sock yarn. As her store’s not due to open until later this year, the winner will own exclusive Dizzy Blonde Studios yarn before the rest of the world can. And if that’s not exclusive enough…

The colorway is “Mae”, and it’s a one-off colorway, meaning that it will not be repeated. Only 4 more skeins remain, and then it’s gone forever.

The Dizzy Blonde Studios store is scheduled to open 08/08/08

PRIZE 2

This skein of Rock Creek Yarn’s Simply Sock Yarn was generously donated by threeteens. The yarn is 100% superwash merino wool, fingering weight, approx. 400 yards. Colorway is Cherry Blossom Just gorgeous!

PRIZES 3,4, & 5

Those of you who have tried to find Yarntini recently know that this yarn is very hard to come by. I am offering these three skeins from my private stash. From top to bottom: Pomtini, Ice Blue, and Twistini. Yarn is 100% superwash merino wool, sport weight, approx. 260 yards per skein. (One skein makes a pair of socks.)

PRIZE 6

Three skeins of Malabrigo lace weight, color tuareg. This is a very pretty blue, and so soft and silky! 100% baby merino wool, approx, 470 yards/skein.

PRIZE 7

Last but not least, I am offering a BRAND NEW Ravelry Logo Tote. Great for toting and storing knitting projects! You can read more about this bag at the Ravelry Mini Mart.

So, there's the fun and the good times. I'll be over here. Plying. And chewing all skin and possibly flesh off my lips in concentration.

Tour de Fleece

2008-07-11T19:01:00.006-07:00

First off, apologies for having two blog posts so close together. I know I lose more readers that way but, well, get over it. I have.

I have actually really gotten into my spinning as you saw in my previous post. But drop spindling takes a good long time, so it's not like you can see whole skeins just falling from some imaginary wheel that I do not have like I've seen on the Ravelry boards (jealous much? Oh yes, yes I am). But I still can't say that I regret the time spent in quiet enjoyment, making a thing spin and creating yarn from fluff. It makes me look at clouds in a whole new light. Mmhmm. But I realize that I need to document this a little better. So here we go, playing catch up.

Day 5
I had already had to empty the spindle once as it got overloaded and there is about 120-some yards on my niddy noddy. And then I got all this spun up:

Day 6
There was a good deal more spinning yesterday and before retiring to bed, this is what I had on the spindle:

It's been a lot of fun. I found Heroes Season 2 to watch while I spin and that really makes it enjoyable.

You know, I needed something to do while summer made things hot and sticky and knitting, even if it was lace, just didn't seem to be the thing. But this has been a lot of fun and I look forward to finishing up all that fiber by the end of the Tour. And maybe as a reward, I'll buy some of Tracy Bunker's hand-dyed fiber to spin up for the NEXT Tour de Fleece.

And finally, I have some exciting news! I'm moving back to Utah, this time with my parents and Daisy. Dad got a job in Dugway and this will be a good opportunity for me to get back to Utah, conquer my CPNE fears, finish my RN and start my career where I had always wanted to in the first place. I look forward to it. In fact, when mom told me, I burst into tears. :D Now, I know some people aren't really down with Utah (not just you, Mary, there are lots of people who don't like it) but I gotta say, the place is what you make it. I love Kansas. I'll miss the green and the indie shops and dressing like a hippie and the Honk For Hemp guy along with the friends I've made here. But I look forward to Utah and my friends with their anime/MST3K nights and that when I sweat, it actually *evaporates* and I feel cool in a breeze, instead of just slightly less miserable. And people smile in Utah. Not that they don't smile in Kansas, it's just that when I'm walking and make eye-contact with a person in Kansas, the eyes do the slide-away and there's no acknowledgment that you even exist where people *do* smile when they see you in Utah.

But that's just me. :)

Boom de ya da

2008-07-10T22:20:00.001-07:00

I didn't exercise today. I walked for 10 minutes when I took the dog for her morning toileting but otherwise, I stayed where it was shady and cool. I even slept in, though doing so caused me to dream strange dreams. Ah well, that's the price paid for doing so.

I have a routine, though. I write it up on my whiteboard before I go to bed and then as I do those things on the list, I erase them with a finger. It works well that way. But I find I can't alternate writing with spinning. I end up getting distracted by the spinning and don't get my wordcount in with my writing. And it's not like the story is boring, though I want to get to a part I haven't rewritten five different times before, that would be nice.

Mom's home from Corpus Christi tomorrow and Auntie Flo is beating me with her energy sapping stick. I try to defy her but every time, she lays me out flat so let's see how much I can get cooked/cleaned up before mom gets home before I pass out or cry.

Oh yes, and check out yesterday's fog:

If it's so humid that you can't see down the street, it's way too humid to run. And it was 70 degrees. I was already feeling damp as soon as I stepped outside. No thank you. XP

Also, if you want to check out what I'm spinning:
This is what I intend to have all spun up for Tour de Fleece. I'm sure it's a tencel merino but it must not have come with a label because I wouldn't have just tossed something like that. Or would I? Sometimes I'm a real moron. But I got it from the Renaissance Festival.

And this is an artsy photo what I had to unload off my full spindle:

It's not very even, I'm still such a n00b at spinning but I like it and I find that park'n'draft works a lot better for me than just letting it drop. Ah well.

Yes, I shamelessly copied and pasted from my LJ.

Un-lighted States

2008-07-04T22:17:00.008-07:00

I can't say much about the Fourth Of July. I mean, go us, we were awesome 232 years ago. We thumbed our nose at British oppression, decided we'd make a stand, told them we didn't need their stinkin' tea or their stinkin' religion and they couldn't say anything about it.

And now, we're robbing ourselves of everything we'd fought for so long ago. Think about it.

Anyways, I've been quiet on *this* blog. Heh, what can I say? Most of my life-stuff gets posted over on LJ. But other than running and seeing the scorched imprint of a foot on the ground (yeah, THAT was a quick trip to the ER, I betcha) and nearly getting bit by the same dang dog that bit me 7 years ago (and I was ready to release some Tae Kwon Do whoop-bottom on that hound, let me tell you and nevermind the bleeding heart who'd be ticked that I kicked their stinking dog into a coma - DO NOT MESS WITH ME), there's little going on. So I shall share some photos instead. :)

I made dinner the other night (English Muffin pizzas, yummy and only 3 points or so for 3 halves) and for dessert, Tad's Sno Cones! Mom got the Sunrise and she was very happy about it.

And as I was walking to Hy-Vee for said pizzas, I saw a fellow knitter and her truck!

The night before I attended a boozeless booze party for a person who was turning 21. We were playing poker and I had far too many Jello Shots.

Fourth of July was pretty cool, they brought out a horse, who wasn't too impressed by the skeet shooting (this was out in the country, y'all). I took a picture of its eye. So artsy.

And we done blowed stuff up:

I hope everyone else made Big Boom in a safe environment where no scorched imprints of your stupidity are left on the concrete for a good three months.

Now I need to get a picture of *that*.

New news

2008-06-24T14:29:00.002-07:00

A few things have happened since Father's Day.

For one, I attained the long-awaited status of leaving the world of the 20-somethings. I have turned 30 and as much as it's JUST a number, I feel like I'm more of an adult now. I really can't say much more about being 30, except that I am yet another year closer to my dreams, my hopes, and my death. Not to be morbid, but I always grew up with a very intimate knowledge of my mortality. Anyways, I was wished a happy birthday by more people than have ever wished me such before and it really was quite a happy birthday, though I would like to have a few words with the owner of the restaurant my mother and I visited for lunch. I would like to also offer them the loan of How Clean Is Your House, open to the page about cleaning the grill. Nasty. But I got quite a few nice things, including a new camera and a book from my sister (Twilight by Stephanie Meyer, if you're curious). A friend sent me a large package with plentiful goodies. All in all, a very good day.

And then, fun and interest, I changed the colors of my blog. Now it's all purple and the little girl up on the bubbles is a little more appropriately dressed. I didn't realize that the fleshy part was not a blouse, it was her flesh. No, I'm not always very sharp. So I raised the collar, added a sleeve, and tried to fix her hair and face just a little. I may not have been too successful. Please don't look too closely.

I don't have pictures at the moment so instead, I offer a YouTube. Don't pay so much to the Kingdom Hearts II, it's the song that I love, performed by Moosebutter out of Utah. A good friend of mine has a brother in that group.

I dare you not to get this song stuck in your head for days after.

Father's Day

2008-06-15T07:56:00.003-07:00

I won't make another rant, I'll just say that how I feel about Mother's Day is how I feel about Father's Day.

But I will say that my dad has always been a really good one. He always says that he's glad that I "came to his house", grateful that I was born to him and that has always stuck with me, even during the most troubled of times when I've seriously questioned my self-worth.

Being only human, we don't always get along, but I never question the fact that he loves me. To have a dad like him makes me one of the luckiest people in the world.

10 Ways the World Has Changed Since You’ve Been in School

2008-06-03T11:46:00.003-07:00

1. Internet! When I started college, I got an email account on KU Telnet. It was kind of awesome and exciting and I had to use mom's office to access it.

2. Cellphones - I never had one until after my second kidney transplant. I had a pager up until before then and I would set it on vibrate and when it would go off, I'd always squeak because it felt just like a hamster digging in my pocket.

3. iPods - I had a tape player in high school, a CD player in college and then a MP3 CD player for a good while. I loved them all but my iPod has been the most awesome thing in the world. :D

4. TV - It used to be local channels. Then it was cable. Now it's satellite and flat-screens.

5. Grocery stores - Is it me or do most every one of them have a health food department now? Full of stuff made of soy and oatmeal and raisins and fake chocolate. I check it out for the sake of the tea.

6. Animated movies - I guess it's all CG'd now. Not that I dislike CG but there's something I like about cels and such.

7. Media in general - Increased violence and sexuality. I am pretty dang desensitized but even I get sick of seeing bedroom eyes and blood everywhere.

8. Kitchens - Flat top stoves SUCK. They just don't get hot enough. I like the ol' gas stoves. And then so many gizmos and gadgets! There's no room for half of these things I'm supposed to have to live day to day.

9. Health - It's all about being slender and no one thinks about the consequences of all these diet fads and how some of them just tear your body apart. Anything for the sake of "looking good", right? WRONG! Seriously, what on earth is up with this destructive attitude?

10. Cars - They're getting smaller and sleeker and give off water for exhaust. Neat!

What am I missing?

Love is...

2008-05-28T20:46:00.005-07:00

...a friend who is willing to make sure your house doesn't burn to the ground/fly away to land on a witch while you're away. Thanks, Mary! You have no idea how often I will have little daymares of coming home and there's nothing left but smoke, sheetrock, and detritus. Or a pair of curled up stripey-socked feet under a corner, ew.

It's also--
A near-completed set of socks the day before the new and final Sock Madness sock pattern comes in. Ooh, Entrelac. P.S. Renji likes to snatch my knitting at times and work on it when I get lazy. He disapproves of projects going stale. I guess he's one for project monogamy. He does not approve of my other projects currently hibernating until Sock Madness II ends. But then again, he doesn't approve of much. Anyways, since it's gotten hotter, I have had less and less desire to actually knit. IN fact, I haven't been doing much other than running early in the morning, then studying my Continuing Education so I can renew my nursing license so I can get a job as a nurse again. I'll have to see if ol' Pioneer Ridge will take me back again. It wasn't a bad job and I liked the people, even if some of them got a little crazy-paranoid at the end. It was the management, though, that I took issue with. Like how the med-aides complained to me about someone making med-errors left and right with the narcs (it was just paper-errors, they were getting to the right people at the right time at the right dose and so on, it just wasn't getting documented properly). So I let my 'boss' know and she said I would have to address it with the person making the errors. I looked at her funny and said "But, isn't that *your* department?" Nope. I guess it was up to me to take this woman with a HUGE FRIGGIN' CHIP ON HER SHOULDER aside and tell her she needs to document her meds properly. Oh man, that was a drama. But she did straighten up on her narcs. Some people's children, though. Oy.

Oh yes, the other socks. The ones that I haven't Ravelried or documented.

There's the Hippy Dippy whateveritis socks that were done in STR Lightweight - Olive Garden and as I was knitting them IN CHURCH (hahaha I'm going to hell), I noticed something.

Yeah, how on earth did I manage to coordinate my church skirt with my socks? WEIRD!

Shh, they are hiding!

And finally, the pretty leafy-type socks that got named Everything But The Kitchen Sink because it included many different techniques, including an afterthought heel, which I thought was quite clever and will have to use again. But there are no pictures because I used the wrong program to resize and pretty up the pictures and they went poof.

Darn.

Ten Things On Tuesday

2008-05-27T15:01:00.003-07:00

I was posting these on my Facebook but realized that this blog is getting dusty so I might as well enlighten you all as to the Marvel behind the Mask:

10 Favorite Time Wasters

1. Roleplaying with Briana. I could and have done it for hours and hours.

2. Knitting. Though I can't knit into the night, my attention span and focus slip away.

3. Reading manga online. Yes, I'm an anime/manga geek. Too bad.

4. Watching stuff. I found streaming MST3K, I'll watch that for a while. Or anime online because it's there. Or YouTube, or rain or Deadliest Catch or Iron Chef. Just...watching.

5. DeviantArt. I love seeing everyone else's talent unfold.

6. Facebook. Yup.

7. Writing, though I need to get back in the habit.

8. Reading - as I told Briana, I read like the books have an expiration date (though if they're library books, they actually do).

9. Messing with my hand/finger blisters. They're not zits but they're not burn blisters and I like to poke them because they itch.

10. Drawing. I forgot I do that, too. Hee.

What about you?

A Day

2008-05-11T10:52:00.001-07:00

I have something to say and it may offend. So for those who are easily offended, you might just want to browse away. Try CuteOverload.com.

So where was I? Oh yeah.

Mother's day. What a crap holiday. There, I said it. I mean, seriously, here's Mom who decided to dedicate the rest of her life to raising us. And let's face it, we're not always grateful. My mom gave me a kidney. I can't pay that back, not really, not ever. But even if she hadn't, I still wouldn't be able to pay her back for the endless hours she spent raising me, teaching me to dress myself, speak properly, behave in a civilized manner, drying my tears, laughing with me, sharing my indignities, going to battle for me, and the list goes on. I don't think any of us can. And what does she get in return?

A DAY.

Excuse me for saying so but if that's not just insulting, I don't know what is. It's even more disgusting than Valentine's day! "Thanks for wiping my butt when I messed all over myself. Have a day." Right. Whatever.

I love my mom every day, not just today. She's shown me much and she's become one of my closest friends. I confide to her like I confide to my best friend. That's a privilege. No one else is that close to me.

So to you mothers out there, have more than a day. And remember that your children, even at their worst and most ungrateful, still love you.

The Haircut

2008-05-08T18:23:00.001-07:00

My little brother clearly did not bother to find a place to get a haircut while out at BYU. So Saturday night when I came home from work, it was a shock to see a tall version of Frodo Baggins.

Yesterday, Don and I headed downtown and that's when he got The Shearing:

Starting out, here we go. Check out that curly hair, he hasn't lost those curls since he was a baby and everyone mistook him for a girl. Not so charming, 20 years later:

So, a good deal of heckling and joshing was due and then he sat in the chair to get a proper shearing.

I wanted him to stop here so Don could stay with the Mixed Up Zombies haircut.

Check out that great collection of hair that just fell onto his lap! And that's not the extent of it!

There! Better!

This week in review

2008-05-02T21:18:00.002-07:00

1. I gave my 2 week notice at work because I couldn't stand watching the skin deteriorating on my hands anymore. This is going to take quite some time to heal.

2. I slowed way the heck down on my knitting. There's just so many socks I can take and I don't want to takes it no more!

3. I worked on cleaning up Darken Tides with my friend Briana (it's online but you have to know the Super Sekrit Handshake and be a part of the Member's Only Club and own a Sekrit Decoder Ring...in other words, you gotta ask and we gotta trust you to not rip us off before we can get this to editors and publishers).

4. I finally watched Eragon but only with the help of RiffTrax. You would think a dragon movie would be just up my alley but there was no way. Too hokey and pukey.

5. I discovered a cavity and it's going to get fixed next Monday. Uuuugh.

6. And then there was Life Drawing class and storms that caused things to be displaced and running and knitting and old pictures of me being pudgy and wearing a bad bra but mostly that's just average, every-day stuff.

And tomorrow my brother comes home! I'm so excited!

Inspired by the TCM channel

2008-04-17T08:02:00.003-07:00

The General was on last night, followed by Our Hospitality, both silent films featuring the brilliant Buster Keaton. It had me looking up YouTube videos and I found a few fantastic ones set to more modern music.

This one's my favorite though I have yet to see Steamboat Jr. (I guess it's time for a trip to the library, they've got a really impressive collection of Buster Keaton flicks):

And ten points if you get the music. :D

P.S. Did you know that Buster Keaton did all of his own stunts? Engineered them, too! And that Jackie Chan cites Mr. Keaton as one of his biggest inspirations? It's easy to see, really.

No good deed goes unpunished?

2008-04-15T20:18:00.003-07:00

It's been quiet here as madness sets in. Sock Madness. Round 3 just finished with two strands of lace yarn held together (Knit Picks Shadow in Jewel and Lost Lake) and as I finished up at 3 in the morning, I took the frantic picture, sent it off to the lovely ladies and went to bed.

Then I got up in the morning, went for my run, got my brain moving. Something seemed wrong. I kept thinking of the toes of the pattern. You see, I couldn't figure out the toes properly, with my sleepless, befuddled mind. I thought it was some fancy incorporation to do with the slipped stitches and I wanted a normal patternless toe. But now I was awake, I had adrenaline running through me, and I realized that I had decreased improperly, making the toe shorter than the pattern specified.

Drat!

Now I know the rules and making the socks shorter than specified is definitely cheating. It took me a little time to make up my mind to notify the mods and I must admit, it was with a heavy heart, I didn't want to be disqualified. But I am a grown-up after all and just because I was out of the running, I could still knit along and cheer on the others.

Now, one might think that is the end of the story. Oh, the mods thanked me for my honesty and posted on the blog about how they would take the next person in the Tennessee Twisted Knitters division who was finished with their socks properly to take my spot. I must admit that the comments to that post made me blush but then something a bit unexpected happened.

About ten after 9 o'clock, I got an email from the mods. Apparently no one ever stepped up to take my spot. Either no one was finished OR...no one wanted to take my spot. I don't know which, I don't know why but tell you what--

I'm back in and I love my fellow competitors, all those still in and those cheering us all on.

Puppy wub.

2008-03-18T12:09:00.003-07:00

When I first saw this commercial, I got a little bit sniffly:

But I couldn't help but giggle when I saw the second part months and months later:

Daisy was kind of a similar case. Someone must have thought that they couldn't care for her very well, perhaps someone who was expecting a much smaller dog and within a year, realized that the girl was going to be quite large. So they dropped her off the side of some gravel road and drove off without her. Daisy is pretty resourceful, she made herself at home at a nearby farm where six other dogs were already at home. Dad was there one day with his Scouts, doing some fun boy thing or other when the farmer approached him and offered "Ralph" (hoping that boy dogs go faster than girl dogs, the farmer gave her a boy's name) to him. It didn't take much talking at all, we brought her home.

That's a recent picture, actually. She used to be a bit smaller, thinner, and her ears flopped over at the ends when we got her. She's also well-mannered and a bit of a drama queen. But that's alright, there are enough girls in this family that we all know how to handle drama queens. ;)

Sock Madness has started and I have never knitted a sock so fast. Thursday is generally a busy day and not only did I have Institute but I was scheduled to work that night. The announcement came out that the pattern would be coming out between noon and 5pm EST. I knew I would be lingering around the computer but since I'm a good girl, I went to Institute anyways (a religion class). I tried hard not to think about the socks but when class let out, I was gone!

I managed to at least grab the mail before I ran in and checked my email. ahh, the pattern had arrived--an hour ago! Well, I cast on like a maniac and knitted for the three and a half hours I had until work. Then I knit during my break. Then I knit after I got home and into the wee hours of the morning. Friday at 10, my first sock was done. And strangely enough, the day followed just as the day before had and by Saturday morning, I had two socks finished, off the needles, and snugly on my feet.

They're very nice and I love the construction of the heel, very well thought-out. And I'm in the running for Round 2, yay!

And that's all for now. I feel a little under the weather, most likely due to some bug I picked up. Everyone's sick, my dad was sick this weekend and my coworker has the most alarming cough (though she's finished her antibiotics). But I'm surprised I haven't picked up anything earlier. I must be quite healthy not to get that sick this year.

Keep on rocking in Midgar

2008-03-09T17:26:00.005-07:00

I am all out of stuff to put on my needles. Oh, I suppose I could cast on something more but I'll tell you, what with Sock Madness 2 coming up tomorrow, I really don't know if I want to. I could write or draw or something like that instead. My brain is still trying to make sense of the shift, however. Write? Draw? Who has time? Oh, wait, I do now. Ha. What to write? What to draw? I should have planned this better but who plans when under such duress?

Anyways, I had mentioned in my previous post that I would be stopping by MisKnits and The Studio. I never did get farther than MisKnits, however. I went in and wandered around and then realized that they had Dream In Color Smooshy! I never thought I'd see that stuff in person! So as I was crooning over all the colors, I chatted with the owner. Oh if only I lived in Kansas City! She has a knitting night on Wednesdays and an impromptu "Hooky" club on Fridays for all those who decide to skip out on work early and come over to knit. Awesome! But yes, the reason I didn't actually go to The Studio is because I spent plenty at Misknits:

Some Dream In Color Smooshy in Wisterious! So pretty, like the colors of the sunset after the sun is well below the horizon.

This is Trekking Handpaint in Brazil. I had to buy it for both the name and the brilliant spring/summer green. Like a lovely garden.

These will join the other yarn on its way here to help me out during Sock Madness 2. I have some Socks That Rock coming and then I'll be ready.

Polishing

2008-03-05T08:53:00.004-07:00

I had quite the weekend. Those who should know already do but yeah, there was no passing when it came to my Clinicals. I did 90% of my sobbing-until-I-hyperventilated-and-
saw-galaxies-before-my-eyes in the bathroom across from the elevators that took us up to our Patient Care Situations. I was not a happy camper but then my dad whisked me away to my uncle and aunt and cousin out near Austin and I had a very good cheering-up.

I have to say that this was a good learning experience, as all experiences generally are. I'm thinking that I'll be looking into some sort of anti-anxiety drugs before I try this again and I will continue studying. And out of sheer coincidence, THIS article happened to pop up on Zen Habits. Of course, I've done all that already, but always good to have the reminder. But thanks to all for prayers and happy thoughts, they did work.

And now I'm in Kansas City waiting for the doctor to come by and tell me I'm still healthy. Gee, I could have saved the trip and called in to say as much but at least I can hit up Misknits and The Studio while I'm here. They're a sneeze away!

Only a week left before I leave

2008-02-21T13:46:00.004-07:00

I finally had a nightmare about my clinicals. I dreamed that Dad and I were driving when I spazzed out. "OH NO! I left my business-casual wear behind!" Dad gave me one of his exasperated looks and we pulled off to turn and drive back the two hours we'd already driven out.

I am, however, only a little freaked out. Considering how extreme this exam is and how vital it is that I pass it to finally taste freedom, I am pretty dang chill. However, this doesn't mean that everything I've knit hasn't been tossed blithely into the frog pond. Pomatomus out of the All-Things Heather? Toss! I keep tormenting the ATH yarn, actually, because it's all sorts of cheerful pink and orange and yellow but I just can't think of what to use it for and I am wondering if it won't come in handy during Sock Madness or SKP2008 (see both buttons on the left-hand column, there are links). I actually wound the double-stranded lace-weight yarn for the SM challenge. I got a 7-8 st/inch on that so I think it will work out for the intended challenge.

And if it starts on March 1, well, I will have to default because Hello, Clinicals. Hopefully not though. March 15 is what it looks like.

Anyways, in all the ruckus, I am pausing in my studies to catch up on a few memes. Christina tagged me for the What's In My Purse meme.

This is my purse. It's an old leather purse I got last year(?) at JCPenney's and it needs replacing, clearly.

This is what's in the front pocket with the exception of the iPod itself which was being used while I walked and I hadn't put it back in the purse. The iPod/transmitter is a lifesaver at work in the ~~morgue~~ salad prep room where I can blast whatever the heck I want and no one has yet to complain...out loud.

(Why yes, those ARE two Pamprin. Shut up.)

And this is what's in the main compartment. The Palm Pilot is marvelous for church. It has scriptures, The Ensign, hymns, General Conference and most importantly, Monopoly. Also, can you tell I go to WW? :P

What's in YOUR purse?

Then on my friend's blog is the ABC meme.

A--Attached or single? Merrily single for now!
B--BestFriend? I have a few. :)
C--Cake or Pie Mmm, Pye (sorry, that's a little Harry Potter RP funniness slipping in). I won't say no to either.
D--Day of Choice Spass Am Dienstag! Remember that one, Christina?
E--Essential Item *shame* Um, my iPod. ^^;
F--Favorite Color Burgundy, purple, green.
G--Gummy Bears or Worms The ORIGINAL bears, no substitutions.
H--Hometown Can't really claim one but I've lived here long enough I guess.
I--Favorite Indulgence Cherry Cordial Kisses.
J--January or July June, you jokers!!!
K--Kids? Darling little bacteria bombs.
L--Life isn't complete without? Hope. Where is life without hope?
M--Marriage date Some warm day in October with a cool breeze and the leaves turning red. Mmm.
N--Number of brothers and sisters? 1 of each just to be fair.
O--Oranges or apples? Fuji Apples, sooo good.
P--Phobias and Fears I still have the ridiculous one of ending credits. No joking.
R--Reason to smile? Briana said she was drawing Evan and Kitan. :DDD
S--Season of choice? Spring or Fall, the transitional days when it's not too hot and not too cold.
T--Tag 3 people You, you, oh and you too. :P
U--Unknown fact about me? Other than I'm freaked out by ending credits? Um, I really can NOT stand WW2 movies. They break my heart before they even get anywhere. I end up having to leave.
V--Vegetable Carrots and squash, mm.
W--Worst habit I'm a terrible potty mouth.
X-ray or Ultrasound Done both. I prefer X-ray because Ultrasound is squishy and goopy and cold.
Y-Your favorite food? Sushi and chocolate.
Z--Zodiac Sign Totally a Cancer.

Still knitting, still studying, not going crazy anymore.

2008-02-02T12:44:00.001-07:00

After a marvelously restful, refreshing and rather revolutionary Sunday (alliteration! Alton Brown would be proud), I have regained my perspective and I'm feeling as if I could pass my CPNE (just call it Clinicals, sis - that's what they be). Just that feeling that if I humbly continue to study to the best of my abilities, I will muddle through somehow.

In the meantime, I took a quiz:

Take the Quiz here!

You are Elinor Dashwood of Sense & Sensibility! You are practical, circumspect, and discreet. Though you are tremendously sensible and allow your head to rule, you have a deep, emotional side that few people often see.

Ah, that does make a good deal of sense (and I'm played by Emma Thompson, there's no one better!).

I'm still knitting but I think the sleeve I finished last week will have to be frogged and reknitted, the tension on it is outstandingly tight. Considering that week, it makes all too much sense. This second sleeve is far looser.

I've also been doing a good deal of reading. My sister invited me to GoodReads.com and I've already invited a few people. Of course, all of my books tend to nest in the bathroom. With the medication I'm on, it's one of the few places I tend to linger in, other than my room at my desk, trying to coax my flash-cards into permanent spot in my slow-moving head. But I go through them (the books) pretty fast that way. If you're interested in signing up, please do! And then add me. :)

My yarn came in from The Sheep's Tale, by the way. It was in marvelous condition, took less than a week and is cheap. If you're interested, head on over. There is a lot of good quality yarn and at discount prices.

That's it for an update. Now go clean your screen. It's dirty.

I give myself an allowance.

2008-01-21T22:41:00.000-07:00

I bought some yarn.

Over here.

I'll let you know how it goes, but let me just say that even with shipping, it was $4 less than if I were to buy it at a local yarn shop.

*rubs hands with anticipation*

Heart sick

2008-01-19T12:23:00.000-07:00

The last time I got a Valentine was back in elementary school where I got one for every one that I gave and they had conversation hearts and cute pictures on them and scrawled handwriting. I miss those.

These days I go to work and am bombarded by pinks and reds. Valentine's isn't really more than a day in a sea of days, but you know what? I still want a Valentine.

Yeah, that'd make me all weak in the knees. Mmm...

What's on my needles Wednesday

2008-01-16T23:07:00.000-07:00

So I say it won't be all about knitting and then post about my knitting. I'm a genius. But hey, I can study flashcards while I knit, it's marvelous! I feel so very efficient.

Anyways, I've been working on the Simple Knitted Bodice for about a week now. It's not anything complicated, pretty dang straightforward but I did rebel and decide that rather than use $28/skein silk yarn (drat you, Tili Tomas, you and your yarn and your high-rise condo fund), I'm using some discount Cascade 220 yarn. Sure, it won't be just like in the pictures but it will be nice and elastic.

I had a hard time getting gauge with the alternate needles. Nothing I had would knit the Cascade 220 at 28st/4". I got somewhat close with #3s but it just wasn't cutting it and I couldn't find long enough #3s (16"? Oh, I don't THINK so, I am NOT knitting a hat here). Oh well, my #4s will do, the waist just won't be as small and defined. :P

And then my Esther Socks are coming along SOOO slowly, it's ridiculous. I'm finding that I'm just not as crazy about Trekking XXL as I was about the color (such lovely burgundy). I've been wearing my RPM made with Socks That Rock and I keep wishing I had more socks just like them. I need more Socks That Rock. :d Such delicious yarn. And that Covelite looks very pretty, too. But do I want to go with lightweight or mediumweight? Why is there less yardage on lightweight? That just seems stupid. But the mediumweight is so...thick. Hmm.

Anyways, here's a peek at the Esther Socks:

Gorgeous color, no? And that pattern, very sweet. Pretty easy, too. Sock 2 is has the twists going the other way so they're symmetrical. :D

Gosh it's late, I'm off to bed to dream of nice yarn.

A Sick Cookie

2008-01-14T13:14:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite shorts from one of my favorite shows ever, Mr. B Natural!

And part 2:

Let me warn you, it does deal with gender-bending but that's MST3K for you, nothing's all that sacred.

Manifesto

2008-01-12T21:40:00.000-07:00

I realized why I had stopped updating this blog so frequently. Want to know why?

Because it's boring. I am bored with it. I mean, knitting. Unless I were designing something, how very interesting would it be? I have been far more regular with my weight-loss/health-gain blog, Losing It In Kansas. Because that's interesting. I am making progress and going forward, yay me! But as for knitting? Well, I have two projects in the works. A pair of socks and a sweater/bodice. Yawn.

And I am so much more than my knitting. I have opinions, radical opinions (House said as he interviewed this 'dude' for Cameron's position with Wilson that if he really wanted to be a rebel, to wear a tie and a pocket protector like 'that guy') and woes and loves and laughs. I have interests that far extend knitting.

Did you know I'm going to take a life-drawing class this year?

So I thought I would re-invent this blog. Make it new and interesting and far more than just a knitting blog, though knitting content will still, of course, be available.

This blog will not be just about knitting.
This blog will not be just about me.
This blog will not be updated regularly.
This blog will be about my world as I see it.
This blog will be about who I have always been.
This blog will offend you. Maybe not you, but certainly you.
This blog will be about getting over it.
This blog will have some content that is unsuitable for children (but there will always be warnings).
This blog will change a little bit of your thinking.

Thank you and Happy New Year's Revolution.

Narnia dropped by...

2007-12-13T18:17:00.000-07:00

If you have never lived in the midwest, then you don't realize that yes, it's humid in the summer and yes, we don't get good snow in the winter. All I ever knew of Kansas before I moved here was that it was the beginning setting of The Wizard of Oz and I didn't like that movie.

But Kansas is like me in many ways. Brutal, soft, harsh, and somehow even more appreciably beautiful after something ugly.

It was the first day of sun for almost two weeks. I was still recovering from a stomach thing but the sunlight was such a draw that Daisy and I couldn't be held back (indeed, the darling nearly bullied me right out the door. If she could have opened the door herself and left me in the proverbial dust, she would have).

There was an interesting sound as we walked out. Crashing that made Daisy jump frequently. But it was pretty self-explanatory, at least to me. The sun was melting the ice right off the limbs and it was falling and crashing to the ground. But how do you explain this to a dog?

The ice was on everything and the trees were heavy with it, I knew that I would only have a brief moment to capture this glass-like fairyland.

It's like lace made with ice.

Not that it wasn't without its hazards, as noted by the falling ice in the upper right corner. I did get some in the eye but I'm okay. A little bruised but I can see just fine.

But the best part of the day was getting back inside, back in the warmth and out of the way of hazards from above.

Merry Christmas...if that's okay

2007-12-11T21:13:00.001-07:00

Because everyone's been getting their panties in a knot once again this holiday season, I think I will let MST3K say it all (if you are subscribing via Bloglines, you'll have to just click over to the blog to see the video).

Holiday Music

2007-12-06T16:09:00.000-07:00

I am working on a Christmas Mix for people on the Lime & Violet MB and in search of a blank CD, I found another CD mix. Unmarked so I had no idea it was full of music I hadn't heard for ages. VAST, Ivoux, Afro-Celt, various things I'd collected here and there. It brought vague impressions of lots of driving since I made most of my CD mixes while in LPN school in a desperate attempt to not have to listen to 45 minutes of radio twice a day.

Funny how memories always shine brighter and look better after a dusting of time.

For instance, last year, mom was hit with breast cancer and we spent Christmas Day at a friend's because mom had no strength to do much, sick with an infection from her lumpectomy. But it was a good Christmas, leaning on the friendship of others as we recovered from the shock of it all. And I remember not getting quite all I wanted for Christmas but not caring. What I really wanted was for my mom to get better. Thank goodness the wish was granted, my mother's recovered and she still wears the socks I knit her in fond memory of the care of everyone as she went through dark times.

No Christmas is perfect, pine needles fall, the constant ringing of those stupid bells in front of every business is enough to make me want to hit them repeatedly with their own bucket, and I'm tired of Silent Night and whether it's Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays, but there is always peaceful silence somewhere, even if it's deep down inside, miracles still happen and there are still bells that even I don't mind hearing, tolling out their messages.

Not messing around.

2007-11-30T14:09:00.000-07:00

I felt kind of ooky on Thanksgiving, felt like a fevered jelly lump on Friday, felt somewhat better on the drive home from Utah on Saturday and on Sunday, I decided I wasn't going to screw around anymore. I called for antibiotics and got me a Z-pack. Yeah, when your immune system is being held at bay, you really don't want to mess around with trying to muddle through a whatever-it-is. And I feel better for the most part. There's a bit of a cough and my right ear has not quite decided to unplug and there's still mucus but it's clear (yeah, you wanted to hear about my snot, didn't you? Mmm) and I'm doing far better. I even went to work on Wednesday, which was nice. Somehow a chilled salad bar prep area did more good than laying around for ages.

I love Thanksgiving though. It's the one holiday that does not really give into the hype. No one pays attention to Thanksgiving. After Halloween, it's all Christmas all the time. So there aren't obnoxious punch-out Thanksgiving cards, no specialty cranberry-flavored Hershey Kisses, no Hallmark Movies about believing in The Turkey. Just a day of gathering together with family and friends, making and eating more food in a day than you would reasonably make and eat in a year (unless you have a huge family like I do and then it's an assigned potluck and you don't end up with much in the way of leftovers) and just realizing how good you have it, even if it's not all that great for some. Still.

But with that cold and watching Hogfather on ION (talk about your secular bull but eh, it's Terry Pratchett, he's worth a laugh), things feel more acceptably Christmas-y. It's time for Good Eats Fudge, Cinnamon Popcorn, Highlander Radio's Streaming Celtic Christmas and knitting. Oh no no no, I have sworn off knitting for Christmas. Even my best friend is getting yarn and needles, I'm not making her anything (oh alright, I did make a Jayne hat for a friend but that was in October).

I don't mind Christmas. I miss the old times, though, back when I lived in Germany. There was the Christmas Market full of hand-crafted things and food that I would snatch up in a moment if I were back there. There weren't a lot of bell ringers, the music was not overwhelming and because there was no cable, television was not on so frequently and I wasn't bombarded with movies asking where My Faith In Santa Claus was. Dear New-Media, I hate to break it to you but SANTA CLAUS AIN'T REAL. Really, it's like the New God these days. Baaah. If I want something on my wish list, I ask my parents and what isn't under the tree I budget for or pray about.

Anyways, I have about 1000 words left before I win at the NaNoWriMo and it feels as willing to come out as a healthy adult molar. Which is why I'm posting now.

I'm procrastinating.

Dear Bloglines, Kit went outside today.

2007-11-16T22:56:00.000-07:00

Image heavy.

Daisy came too, of course.

I love Autumn. Can you tell?

It's all I seem to do...

2007-11-08T11:43:00.001-07:00

I've been severely absent on my knitting blog. My apologies, there's a good reason, though.

For one, I'm NaNoWriMo-ing. Again. It's a pirate story and if you're super mega interested and I can trust you not to totally rip off my story and post it on a Norwegian site that is funded by that country and getting prizes for it (oh yes, it's happened, grr!) or something shifty like that, you could email me. tobutakai at the gmail.com site.

For another:

Yup, my clinical skills practice kit came in. That there is a rubber wound. The label on the package says "Humerus" but what I find funny is how shiny it is. Eww, it's all squishy and damp and stuff, grody! Well, not really, it's just shiny. But that's exactly the same wound they'll be using at my clinical exam and it seemed worth the cash. I also got some IV stuff so I can water my Lucky Bamboo by drip. Well, maybe not, I don't think Lucky Bamboo likes normal saline. Whatever.

And finally, I have no knitting. Everything I start seems to slip from my fingers and straight into that frog pond. Everything. It's really frustrating at times. Ah well, that's how it goes sometimes. I'm working with some Misti Alpaca Sport and turning it into a scarf. I haven't frogged it in disgust yet, so hopefully that's a good thing. Pictures when I get to them. :P

Charity!Heroes

2007-10-25T13:58:00.000-07:00

Tina Turner said it best when she said "We don't need another hero". I have a friend out in Lancaster and as nasty as the fires are, they are not as bad as they seem on television. And as lovely and sweet and marvelous as blankets are, it's not necessary to make one for every disaster that occurs.

What we do need is a moment to send our prayers over there. We need to open our homes and hearts and wallets. If you want to send money, send these people essentials. Money for clean food and water. Offer your friends and family a place to stay. Offer prayers.

Just my two-cents. Keep your yarn for your Christmas knitting.

I might get sick of this song fast

2007-10-21T00:05:00.001-07:00

But for now, I love it like crazy. I first heard it while on my own, cleaning up the salad bar prep room and I was shaking my money maker as if it were actually making me real money (well, it kind of was, I was on the clock). I need to be careful about that, I've been caught getting my groove on by a store manager showing some new hires around. Oooops. But hey, you try to sit still while you listen to this YouTube video (I don't recommend watching it, it kind of skews the song, at least for me. But you can browse other tabs and listen and try not to tap your feet):

Eh oh eh oh ehhh ohhh eh...

You may want to look away

2007-10-20T14:42:00.000-07:00

One of the incomplete projects that I had sitting around were some unequal socks. In that, I had to bind off the second sock far shorter than the first. Thank goodness the pattern was toe-up. But there were a few steps I had to go through to fix.

Here are the socks. As you can see, the one's far larger than the other.

So I lined 'em up.

Gave the big 'un a good snippity snip.

Picked out all the little bits and pieces and threw the extra all in the trash (oh, what was I going to do with it, keep it as a swatch? Get over it).

Then I start unravelling. Aww, me and my stumpy hands.

And, of course, kept unraveling until it was as short as I wanted.

And with one last row unraveled, stitch-by-stitch so I can put it on needles, I am set to finish up the sock for the right size.

Fun stuff! And it's not the only sock I'm working on. After realizing that my collection of nice warm socks is--well--rather small, I have started a new pair of Pomatomus with some STR Puck's Mischief.

It may end up being a little bit too muddy, we'll see.

2007-10-10T06:30:00.000-07:00

Mom and I went swimming again for the first time in about a year. I've missed it because it was a time to bond and exercise at the same time. I'm really excited to start doing it again. I've forgotten, however, how much it really requires you to use those deltoids and pectorals. Phew!

I finished the Breton Jacket but I have to knit/crochet the belt that goes with it and that may take a little time because I don't have the right crochet hook, nor do I want to mess with it either. I think knitting a belt using the linen stitch will be more effective, though it requires you to use a buckle. Pfft, I don't need no stinkin' buckle. I'll tie it like I tied all my Tae Kwon Do belts, the same ones that stayed in place just fine while I was taking the class.

But that does mean pictures will be delayed.

However, when pictures ARE forthcoming, I will show you something truly horrifying and suitable for Halloween.

WooOOOoooo!

A few things

2007-10-02T16:10:00.000-07:00

So, how was the Ren Fest part 2?

Fantastic! (For those on Bloglines, I have some videos here you might want to click over to my post to see.)

And then some! All the walking around and so on has helped me drop an extra pound which I definitely did not mind.

I've been knitting, trust me. But I've also been doing many other things. My new job at the grocery store is pretty nice, it's great to go in and not have to get pills ready and there's that pressure that wow, if I screw up, someone might get really sick or really dead. The worst that will happen is that I forget to put garbanzo beans on the palate for tomorrow's salad. Oooops! At least it's not like someone's very important cardiac med! And everyone's been really tolerant of my mad-capped behavior (like pretending to vomit when throwing out the cream of potato soup. Though I've worn out that joke. After two times no one thinks it's funny anymore) and highly friendly.

I've also discovered Knitmap.com and added my own comments as well as a yarn store that I particularly disliked (the ones I did like were already on the map). I think it's a fantastic resource, though I hope more people comment because otherwise it's no different from searching for yarn stores in a certain area on Google Maps.

Kansas is still holding firmly onto summer around here. The high is about 90+ today and I am dying for some cooler weather to motivate me to finish this sweater. After two more inches of yoke knitting, I will only have to sew in the sleeves and crochet a belt. Yes, I can crochet, no problem. It'll probably take me another week.

As for school, I'm about to call and see where my application went because they have been sitting on it for far too long. I know they got it, though, because they took the money out of the credit card already (expensive, whew!) and now I am waiting for an appointment.

And for some final news, I am now officially a columnist on Lime & Violet's Daily Chum. I'm very excited about this, I have some interesting ideas coming up. I'll be posting Saturday so keep your eyes open!

Ninjas in Kilts?

2007-09-24T13:59:00.000-07:00

I went to the Renaissance Festival the other day with Mary and her niece and nephew, two kids who are almost as cute as my own niece and nephews (what can I say? I'm slightly biased) and made the Ren Fest quite amusing. It was the Kilt-ic weekend but strangely enough, I didn't see a whole lot in the way of kilts. What I did see? Ninjas. Ninjas wearing Naruto Headbands. Talk about your double-takes, Anime Banzai was haunting me all the way from Salt Lake City!

Anyways, I didn't buy any yarn, do any knitting, or craft at all. But if you'd like, my best bud, Briana sent me a link to a fun little dragon you could put together for yourself: 3D Dragon Guy. Warning, it opens to a .pdf file!

I did, however, buy a copy of Tartanic's UnStoppable CD. Listen to some of those files, they're definitely outrageous. And they're also still together despite rumors to the contrary (Marc, you are in so much trouble).

And I'm still hacking away on Breton's sleeves, trying to get them done before I have to linger too long in the over-cold salad department at HyVee, my new place of employ. I'm trying to get over my embarrassment of working there but sometimes I am very glad that I'm going to be in the back most of the time where I don't have to risk being spotted by nursing colleagues, shh.

Ah, sweater weather. Wait...

2007-09-17T15:47:00.000-07:00

Well, we had a couple of days where there was a chill in the wind. I spent yesterday snuggling in my stole after I got home from church but Kansas summer has said "Ha, suckers, I'm not done YET!" and thrown us all a curve ball. Huh, thaaanks.

But that hasn't stopped me! I am determined to have at least ONE handmade wooly garment ready for when Kansas autumn defeats Kansas summer in one mighty blow of rain and cold. So I pulled up my Ravelry, did a little perusing through some sweaters and jackets, added a few things to my queue and realized that one jacket in particular stood out and was already in my grasp:

Interweave Knit Fall 2006's Breton Jacket.

I'm not sure if anyone will recognize the purple yarn there, but it's had other incarnations as a Rogue and as a Nantucket Jacket. Sometimes a yarn needs several tries before it finally feels comfortable as something and as for me, well, it's all about the process, isn't it Margene? Heh. I don't mind knitting and re-knitting something, though I was impatient for a lovely purple sweater. Now, it seems, I'll be getting one!

So, I finished the back in four days:

Now, I don't know how sharp your eyes are, but do you notice something, well, wrong with the back?

While you mull that one over, I have a blog meme I picked up from Mary:

Your Five Factor Personality Profile

Extroversion:

You have low extroversion.
You are quiet and reserved in most social situations.
A low key, laid back lifestyle is important to you.
You tend to bond slowly, over time, with one or two people.

Conscientiousness:

You have medium conscientiousness.
You're generally good at balancing work and play.
When you need to buckle down, you can usually get tasks done.
But you've been known to goof off when you know you can get away with it.

Agreeableness:

You have high agreeableness.
You are easy to get along with, and you value harmony highly.
Helpful and generous, you are willing to compromise with almost anyone.
You give people the benefit of the doubt and don't mind giving someone a second chance.

Neuroticism:

You have medium neuroticism.
You're generally cool and collected, but sometimes you do panic.
Little worries or problems can consume you, draining your energy.
Your life is pretty smooth, but there's a few emotional bumps you'd like to get rid of.

Openness to experience:

Your openness to new experiences is medium.
You are generally broad minded when it come to new things.
But if something crosses a moral line, there's no way you'll approve of it.
You are suspicious of anything too wacky, though you do still consider creativity a virtue.

The Five Factor Personality Test

Now who is surprised at that one?