snow finally? maybe we won't get hosed

I need a new journal. Like, a paper one.
I want thick pages.
I want it to lie flat. Spiral maybe?
oh, and of course it needs to magically appear on my doorstep*.
:/

*which it will... my friend cory is sending me some of his slightly used journals to finish/modify/incorporate into something new for me.

actually, I'm being gnawed on by the bug to create one for myself.
If only I could settle on a binding. I'm hoping to spend more time on non-digital pursuits in 2007.. and spend more time writing. We'll see how that goes.


also. this new post xmas verizon commerical cracks me up.
dad in his robe, two kids with their snazzy new phones.
dad:"you got the blah blah blah"
dad: "you got the blah bleh blah blah"
dad: "and what did dad get?"
daughter: "aftershave?"
dad: "no, dad got hosed"

maybe i just like commercials where people say they got hosed.
like that clay mountain dew one with davey.

its snowing little ice balls outside. its about time. really.
5-8" they say.
did I mention, about freakin' time?

the birth of one legend, the death of another

When you're the best friend of someone who is a popular public figure (if you're in the right niche anyway) lots of aspects of your life become show fodder. Its been something I'm still adjusting to.

Before I turned into wonder gimp, I had a super surreal weekend where three randoms approached me and asked me about something that had happened with a knitting project. Aside from being a little weird (I'm remarkably reclusive) I was out of the loop and had no idea what they were talking about.

One further downside of the whole internet whatnot, and being all broke down.. I'm way behind in my podcast downloading. So uhm.. hopefully I'll get a memo so I can stay abreast of these things.

This morning when I sat down on the couch, the right knee of my infamous and oft- mentioned, diabolical penguin jammie pants, suffered a fatal rupture.

As you may know, I purchased these pants from the Old Navy store, two years ago when the Sprout was having surgery on her hip. In the times before my mother knew of the now infamous tattoo swirling around my left forearm.

(We won't even get into the time I had a hennaed right arm sleeve of bats.. and when my aunt freaked I explained it was henna, then she freaked again a month later when she realized both arms weren't washing off)

I've been sleeping in my satin-y zebra jammies, which is a nightie and therefore not the same at all. Also, that's a whole 'nother story that we so aren't getting into here. It involves pajama parties, girlie sleepovers, pillow fights, boobs on the back, a webcam, creepy drunks, a (dead)prostitute, a pancake,leopard headband, purple passion, gin- lots of gin, joy division, bauhaus, Alan Eppley and Jaime saving my ass- or defending her property- yet again.

Back to my pants. They were my favorite. Its been a good two years my friend. I'm not sure whether to save a scrap for posterity, or to burn them like one would a retired flag.



as a side note
the purchase of said pants.. and the related hospital stay..
correlated to me meeting E. Can you believe its only been two years?

they don't swivel like Elvis's, but they don't hurt anymore

So, its kinda, sorta been awhile. My last couple of posts were rather sparsely worded, and they've been far and few between. Then again, y'all know I've had stuff.

At a time frame of nearly two weeks ago, Sprout finally underwent a procedure on her bothersome right hip. I spent the summer waiting for test results hoping for an option aside from cutting the top of her femur off. No, really. Such a procedure would leave her unable to assist in transfers or dressing, and unable to toilet. I'm assuming you see the problems with this.

We ended up going to St. Elizabeth's Hospital to have a Shriner's procedure (they came down here to do some things). They poked her in the thigh with one needle to give her a local, then slid a gigantic needle in, alongside her femur.. I watched it live on the screen behind her head. It was creepy to see all of the hardware in there twisting around while they rotated the joint to get to the sweet spot. Once in, her hip was loaded up with steroids and painkillers.

She's been having a marked (and amazing) decrease in pain since the procedure. Hopefully we can use this to buy some time (like say.. until she's 22 and has stopped growing) until she can possibly be considered for hip replacement.

Yay for Sprout's hip.

little rays of hope

Cross your fingers suckahs.
I can't tell you why, as that will surely jinx it.
Just make with some crossin'

like now.

Expect some follow up later.

home again, but not exactly

I live.

Only in return, I have descended into my own personal hell.

No, really.

Which includes, but is not limited to- the fact that I'm not at my own house.. and still no legit internet access. Blegh. Luckily I'm sweet enough that I hoarde these things up to post a bunch all at once when I can. Hopefully things will start looking up soon. Until then.. meds and sleep.

However, Sarah, Jaime and Jeremiah are keen. Visits, illicit sammiches, lots of driving, loitering whilst I was unconcious.. prescriptions and snacks on the way home. Love love love love you.

welcome to the pleasuredome

buh bye all, see you in a few days, and don't do anything too crazy while i'm gone.

i'm hoping the next 48-72 hours make this stupid back pain go away.
it's prlly hoping too much that they take the numbness away with them.

bergan, for you localies that were askin'

deja vu

I don't think the word phrase "deja vu" was utilized even once in the film DejaVu.

My man Jim Caveziel was steamy as always. Actually maybe moreso- he rocks the slightly crazed look in his eye somethin' fierce.

Long over due Sockret Pal love

I'm a thousand years behind in posting about my Sockret Pal.

This is quite simply a super awesome package. Mail does have a snazzy way of brightening things up when life is feeling dreary. A couple of items are not pictured. ut Bosley filled in and modeled his new polar fleece puppy jacket. My pal sent the Interweave knits holiday issue, that was in my knitting bag during photo time, as well as some knit picks dpns that were there as well. She even sent treats for the Sprout!

Spruce is a completely gorgeous colourway of one of my favorite yarns on the planet (Bearfoot by Mountain Colors). I'm so smitten with its smushiness and the gentle gradiations in colour that I'm envisioning crafting myself some mitts from it instead of socks.

The button she sent was perfect. MMMM sour candy. The Sprout was so excited by the hot chocolates "oooooooooo faaaaancy" that she said she is going to save them for "a perfectly cozy mommy and me night" once we return home on our own. She also assured me that something so beautiful (the packets are pretty swank looking) clearly need to be used in the "good" mugs and not her plastic white tiger cocoa mug. She also commandeered the kitty magnet.

The knitpicks needles are so nice to work with, I'm looking forward to casting on my next socks and putting those shiny bits to work. As for the IWK Holiday issue? Fabulous. I read through it the first night, and there are a couple of patterns in there I would like to try. So long as I am on muscle relaxers, I'm not going to be doing anything lacy or charted.. I seem to keep losing my place and had to put one pair of socks I've been working on down.

However, the morning after I received the package, I was reaching the button hole thumb on the knitty Voodoo's I had been working on (in Mountain Colors Twizzle).. when I realized it was a buttonhole thumb, and not really what I wanted. I ended up using the thumb gusset on the "cornflower mitts" in the magazine, and adding a few other modifications to come up with a design that made my mitts everything I'd been hoping for. Talk about perfect timing. The mitts are now all finished up and can be seen in the next post down.

color me gromit

I had to have some more tests, and wait for some decisions to be made. Apparently I don't just have disc problems, there is a problem with some of my vertebrae. Leave it to me to go all out. I have surgery scheduled for next week. I've been making fairly extensive efforts to find new home health care providers. I'm going stir crazy between being broken, and being trapped in my mother's house. I'm too young for one, and too old for other.

In the knitting and fiber world...


behold some bits for frosty paws. Black men's Knucks in Coal merino style (100% merino), black women's knucks in coal KP elegance (70% baby alpaca, 30% silk). Child sized fingerless mitts also in KP merino style (iris) and 'manda sized in Mountain Colors Twizzle (85% Merino Wool, 15% Silk). The fingerless mitts are the knitty voodoo, bastardized into a 'manda pattern, 2x2 rib with the thumb gusset snagged from the mitts pattern in the IW Holiday Knits issue.

On the needles I have

Striped scarf in Coal and Cloud KP Panache (40% Baby Alpaca, 20% Cashmere, 20% Silk, 20% Extrafine Merino), Grey-brown with burgandy and blue hand spun scarf on gigantor needles and crocheted scarf and matching (and in need of frogging and reknitting) hat in LB Jiffy (tis for a toddler and my hands have gotten so yarn snobby they can barely handle it). The lower right corner also has a sneaky hint of where I'm going with this toddler project.

And still to come...


Gorgeous sari silk from Mantofev, two balls of lovely domestic and tencil handspun that will become more fingerless mitts and more merino style, this time in dusk, for yet another pair of knucks.

I have my work cut out for me.

guys dig chicks with scars

Guess who's going to get her back slit open... again.

It's truly a good thing that I never fell for a tramp stamp.. er.. low back tattoo.
(not to imply that i'm ink-free... far from it)
I'm going to stick with my theory though, while some guys find those to be hot
I'm certain the one for me will agree that a big ol' surgical scar is better.

If we're never together, If I'm never back again.

I'm leaving in a few minutes for an appointment with my neurosurgeon. Those steroid shots aren't helping and I'm most likely looking at more surgery. I havn't been online because we've been shacking up at my mother's while I've been injured and I have to "borrow" a wireless connection from the neighbor. So expect to see lots of posts appearing all at once as I have to "save them up".

Regardless, this is something I've been dwelling on for a few days now. In several of the online forums I'm involved with, the topic of favorite "drinking songs" has come up. Fine good. I'm a reformed drinker, tis true. Anyway, here's where I'm going with this...

On many (I'm surprised by how many) occasions one of the songs named as a favorite drinking song, is Pints of Guiness Make You Stronger by Against Me! Whilst I love the song (I love Against Me!) and like many AM! songs its got a fairly "rallying" sing along lilt to it on the choruses.. I've never considered it as a "drinking" song. Its about a recovering alcoholic being heart broken by the death of her lover and wishing she'd died.

So tell me
Where's the "Heck yah let's go get our booze one" in this one?

########

Evelyn sits by the elevator doors
It's been 37 years since James died on St. Patrick's Day in 1964
But she could not hold it against him
There were times when there was nothing she could do
But lie in bed all day beside a picture of them together
A picture of better days

And just like James, I'll be drinking irish tonight
and the memory of his last work week will be gone forever
Evelyn I'm not coming home tonight!
If we're never together
If I'm never back again
Well I swear to God that I'll love you forever
Evelyn I'm not coming home tonight!

In all the years that went by she said
She'd always love him
and from the day that he died
She never loved again

And in his wallet she kept in her nightstand
an a.a. card and a lock of red hair
she kept secrets of pride locked so tight in her heart
it killed a part of her before the rest was gone.

She said, "If I would have known just how things would have ended up I just would have let myself die."

And just like james, I'll be drinking irish tonight
and the memory of his last work week will be gone forever
Evelyn I'm not coming home tonight!
If we're never together
If I'm never back again
Well I swear to God that I'll love you forever
Evelyn I'm not coming home tonight!

now for a crazy lady rant

this one has been sitting in my head for over a month now.. and it resurfaced after reading Jake's blog today.

nothing in recent history has made me want to become a card-carrying-smash-the-state-anarchist more than watching 'Insane Celebrity Yachts' and 'Insane Celebrity Entourages' back to back.

seriously.

additionally, a few weeks ago, i had several people call me and tell me to quick!quick!turnonmytv!! that homemakeover show was on. the one with the guy who's in the commercial for my cell phone (if i didnt love my phone, id chuck it at him).

anyway, they were making over a house for a family with a 12yr old boy with cerebral palsy. this kid was clearly more afflicted than mine. but apparently all of my acquaintences (and a couple of friends) felt i needed to see this. so they jack up their double wide and move it for some habitat for humanity thing and build them one from scratch on the same site. they spare no expense. this family got every frill. every piece of high tech, high end adaptive equipment was included. shit they bought the teenage daughter a new wardrobe.

this show.
pissed.
me.
off.

its great they could do so much for this family. however. i think of myself. i think of all the families i know that have kids with issues.. that struggle. shit, my insurance won't even cover the lift to get the Sprout out of bed and into her chair or onto the toilet.

if they had just given that family "nice" stuff. maybe a fancy lift in lieu of a track system that would suspend the kid from the ceiling thoughout the house? a damn sauna in his bedroom? those things are all very nice, but they are so very over the top. if they gave the remaining money to help other families.. they easily could have hooked up twenty families with what they did for this one. I don't begrudge the family. It just feels dirty to me.

thats the kind of gift giving that makes the giver feel good. they should feel good, they did a good thing. but its all show and flash. they can now pop their buttons about how much they gave. its not the kind of giving that actually does good. its a publicity stunt that managed to help *one* family, and grab a crap ton of advertising dollars for the broadcasting company.

Where oh where can my baby be....

Dearest Blogling,
Please excuse me for not visiting your pages and gracing you with text sooner, I know I had said in my last post that I most assuredly had not forsaken you.. but then I went and left you all by your lonesome again. By now I'm sure you've noticed my long absence.

I havnt been online for a couple of weeks, and it was definitely not at my choosing. I think the last time I wrote, I was excited that October was ending and my life was about to slow down a bit. I was *wrong* about that.

Ive been battling severe back issues for the last year (being a single mom of a sprout that doesnt walk has been hard on my back). At the Sprout's halloween party, my back went completely out, and we had to relocate to my mom's house for a few days. I found myself spending a lot of time laying down flat, and the computer chair was no place for me.

While this was happening, a dear friend of mine was involved in a a very serious accident, and shortly thereafter she passed on. I'm still overwhelmed that her life took a turn the way that it did, and now she's gone. While the loss still leaves parts of me feeling a bit raw. I find myself looking at my arm a lot- my permanent visual reminder of the principles of the transference of energy. I am infinite. We all are.

The day after the funeral, my back was still giving me trouble- I spent three days having random spasms that if I treated, meant I was sleeping. eek. Finally, my back reached a point where the medications were no longer working and the pain and spasms were out of control.

Sprout went to Gramma's.. I went to the hospital. When I left the s hospital, it was to report to Gramma's. This past Wednesday I recieved a cortisone laudal epidural. I don't know that its helped much. I'm still having a lot of problems and can't drive with my medications. Medications I'd hoped would not be necessary after the injection (my second). Some days are better than others. Yesterday was alright. Today a little worse.. and this evening the spasms are back with a vengeance. I'm scheduled with my neurosurgeon next week, and we will probably be shacking up here until at least then.

Sprout and I were scheduled to attend thanksgiving festivities with a friend's family. Due to my flare up this evening, its going to be near impossible for me to assist in Sprout-care tomorrow, so we've re-evaluated our plan and are now going to be attending a family function. So long as I can find something without dead animal in it or on it, I'm good. Oh, and a flat place to lay down with my heating pad as needed.

Hope you all have a great day, and have something in your lives to be thankful for.
Peace be with you.

october means birthday presents (but not for me)

Things havc been busy, busy around these parts. October has always been ridiculously busy and this year surely wasn't cutting me a break.

One of the things that makes it hectic is the fact that my mother and sister have birthdays six days apart the last week of the month- the same time I'm usually trying to put together the Sprout's class "harvest" party and prep her for halloween goodness.

I had to put my socktoberfest sockling aside to focus on getting some gifts made. Behold, five dish cloths for my momma and a scarf for my sister that I knit up with hand spun/ hand dyed domestic wool top. Both gifts were "successful."

oh blogger, i have not forsaken thee

One of my secret pals (how many swaps am I in these days anyway) jolted me into realizing my little blogling is neglected. October is a historically busy month in our family. Multitudes of birthday, combined with one of the busiest months of the year at the Sprout's school.

One of those events that took up a large junk of our time was the carnival. Over the weekend Sprout's elementary school had their annual carnival. She and I ran one of the games for the first portion of the evening (basketball throw). Then we bought some game tickets, $5 worth of basket raffle tickets (each grade donated items along certain themes to raffle off) and had some carnival snacks. We put in for our raffles and Sprout wheeled off with some friends to win herself some prize tickets.

And win she did. Sprout came back to me heavily laden with prize tickets. In the library she exchanged them for a disco light- much like this one, only not exactly. Hers is a tad flashier. Its just the super gaudy thing an eleven year old girl needs for her bedroom.

This morning while dropping her off at school, it seems that our $5 investment paid off. We won the "movie night" basket.
Our booty includes:

• a lovely 15" wide hexagon shaped wicker basket (I am thinking perfect container to store puppy toys)
• a small wooden snack/ popcorn bowl
• two fall themed mugs
• one box of swiss miss hot cocoa mix
• one pound of sour skittles
• movie theatre sized boxes of:
  
• Milk duds
• twizzler twists
• nerds
• dots
• mike n' ikes
  
• skittles
• nine packages of microwave popcorn
• and ten dvds:
• chicken run
• because of winn-dixie
• the adventures of milo and otis
• the princess diaries
• jumanji
• annie
• alvin & the chipmunks "trick or treason"
• matilda
• my little pony: the princess promenade (which we will be gifting to the neighbor's 4yr old daughter).
  
• A DVD player

I felt justified in spending the $5 on the raffle. Even if we didn't win anything, the money was going to a good cause. As it is, my investment (I'll even go so far as to say our entire $15 carnival expenditure + the 2 hours of my life I lost shagging basketballs and annoying my back) were totally worth our win. We have a fresh crop of DVDs to add to our small pile of them (we're still largely a VHS family) for roadtrips. Like the one we have in two weeks- back to Minnesota to see the Shriners.

I promise a follow up post is in the very near future with some knitting bits. Because let's face it, any of my "free" moments have involved me knitting furiously in an effort to finish up some birthday gift items or working with Bosley on his puppy school progress.

heck freakin' yeah!!!

061502 dvd/cd

Seattle, Washington: The Showbox. June 15, 2002. Botch's final live performance. Possibly the tightest, hottest, sweetest show ever. All your favorite jams (fourteen in all); all those unstoppable riffs, all that blood, sweat and fear. See it for the first time all over again, under the white-hot blaze of the worklights, complete with pant-pissing bonus commentary and an audio CD of the complete performance. Plus a video for "St. Matthew Returns to the Womb." Plus a bunch of other cool shit that you'll have to discover for yourself.

out 12.05.06 on Hydrahead

:(

Chubbz, my wee dumbo ratty, died this morning.

She was nearly four, which is exceptionally old for a ratty. She lived a long, happy, chubby little rat life.

She will be missed.

the daily 'scope

Try not to make more of this than there really is. It's very easy to get caught up in a 'The sky is falling!' mentality, but that doesn't help anything in the end. Feel the panic, let it pass, then get down to business.


fitting as usual.

questionaires, KALS and stupid needle sizing

I cast on for my Soctoberfest project today. I'll hopefully post a pic tomorrow, and I'll toss in some more details about what it is exactly that I've got cooking. I've been knitting a bit lately in my downtime. I'm lacking FOs though due to pesky things like.. 'finishing'.

I've also been pawing through things looking for the 'perfect' sock pattern for the yarn I elected to use for Soctoberfest (a gorgeous bearfoote colourway that I picked up in Montana last August). I think I've found the pattern of my soctoberfest dreams, but I may need to make some adjustments needlewise.

I have three different sets of size two DPNs, and each one has its own size in metric. Guess I'm a fool for thinking that a size two.. was a size two. How did I get three sizes of size twos. dangit.

I'm sure I'm not the only one- a whole lot of these things are kicking off at once it seems. However, it feels pretty silly to be posting so many swap questionaires with mostly the same data on all of them. I think I'm good for at least a wee bit for now though.

Next order of business will be checking up to make sure I'm on top of all of my incoming and outgoing swap related email.

Secret Pal 9 Questionaire

What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with?

Targhee! (that’s Montana pride right there), alpaca, wool, merino. Rowan, mountain colors, trekking and Lisa Souza. I'm also beginning to be a big fan of KnitPicks.

What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?

Anything scratchy and unflexible. I am not cute when I am itching.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?

I keep my needles in an old oatmeal container.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?

Two years knitting and spinning. Crocheting for three years continuously- but my Grammy taught me to crochet decades ago. I just took a break from it and started coming back to craftiness a few years ago. I’d call myself intermediate.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
I have two! An Amazon Wishlist, and one of yarn/knitting stuffs.

5. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products, etc.)

I love spicy and sweet scents. "Light floral" isn't really my speed. Burts Bees Milk and Honey lotion is about the most divine smell in skin care. Warm vanilla sugar. Yum. This time of year is the best to find things that are “fall” smelling.. apple cider, pumpkin spice candles.. rawr.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?

sour! I love sour things... like lemon and any of those "sour" candies. And, I feel chocolate is only useful when wrapped around peanut butter or caramel. Mmm caramel.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?

I spin on a drop spindle, and have dyed my own rovings. I like to make hand bound books and block prints.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s?

I listen to music. A lot. Hardcore, Indie, largely non- mainstream. I think Steve Albini is a god among mortals. Big Black and Shellac are definitely high on my list. Pleasure Forever and Queens of the Stoneage. Afghan Whigs, Mark Lanegan. I tend to tell people I like “dirty, hedonistic death rock” and “psycho stalker love songs”. I don’t care much for country, unless it pre-mid 70s. I also enjoy learning/ experiencing new music.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?

Pinks, oranges, Blues, purples, cranberry reds, jewel tones? I can see even the most obnoxious colours as fun accent/ accessories. Ex- I mainly wear black, grey and denim. BUT bright pumpkin orange and hot pink are two of my favorite accent colours. However, yellow and I do not agree with each other on much.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?

Me and the Sprout! Pets, lots! One rat, three cats and a pup!

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?

I wear super long >7’ scarves and hats in winter. I’m more of a glove girl than a mitten girl, and I don’t wear ponchos.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?

Lately it seems all I am making are knucks and socks.

13. What are you knitting right now?

Presently I have one pair of knucks on needles (and two pair awaiting “finishing”) a stripey cashmere/alpaca scarf, a dishcloth, and I just cast on Cascading Leaves for my Soctoberfest project.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?

I should hope so! I make them for friends and family all the time!

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?

Yes! I think each of them can be useful in their own right. My favorites are my Birch Brittany-s. Depending on the stickiness of yarn I’m using, I go back and forth between them and metal. My glass namaste’s were the best at cotton. As for dircs vs. straights, it depends on the project, mostly straights since that’s what I have. I tell myself I’m going to learn magic loop on circs, but I havn’t quite gotten there yet.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?

I own neither a winder nor swift.

17. How old is your oldest UFO?

Four months.

18. What is your favorite holiday?

Halloween, yom kippur and rosh hashana

19. Is there anything that you collect?

Godzilla! Garden gnomes! (I have thirteen) Smooshed pennies! Cavaleras (Mexican day of the dead skulls/ skeletons). Bats. (of the mammal variety) and rocks. I love funky, native rocks and bring them home from every place I travel.

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?

I don’t have any subscriptions, but I tend to pick up vogue knitting. As for the rest, I have a whole slew of them, and I’ve got books on the Amazon list, and yarn/needles and patterns on my crafty bit list.(as seen in item #4)

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?

I want to learn the two socks at a time via double knitting. Magic loop and two at a time toe up are also on my agenda. You know, when I can get around to it.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?

I had my trial by fire this summer in socks. My blog follows my progression. I went from swearing I’d never make a sock “I could buy one cheaper- It would take too long- No patience- tiny needles” I had every excuse. Then, I got roped into the trek-along-knit along by a friend and spent three months creating a toe up, thigh high socks as my very first pair. Now, I’m mildly sock obsessed.

Because this information is potentially traumatic, I’m going to preface it with. I’m sorry. I’m 6’2” tall. My feets, are not wee. *takes deep breath* My shoe size is. *ahem* 11.5 (us) I bet you can now see why I *heart* toe ups. If ya really want to know, I’ll take a measurement and get back to you. (I have no idea where my tape is at the moment)

23. When is your birthday? (mm/dd)

March 20. Yep, Pisces/ Aries cusp, Gemini moon, Gemini rising. I’m pretty sure that all means that I can’t help but be half-crazy ;)

dish cloth woot.

I'm taking part in the DishCloth Knit Along.. So far, I've manged to knit up two in a fairly basic pattern. In August there were a couple of handknit dish cloths in the kitchen at the cabin. Mom had made a comment about how I should be knitting "some of these". Little did she know I had already been acquiring the yarn to make some for her. I made note of the cloths at the cabin, not realizing they are apparently the most common pattern out there. (I just thought they looked easy) No surprise there, found all over the place as "Grandma's Favorite" or some variation of those words, its also in the Idiot's Guide to Knitting..



So here are my first two dish cloths.. the idiot cloth.. as seen in a lime and yellow sugar 'n cream yarn and a pink and lavender hand dyed cotton.

wanna play catch (up)?

Between being sick (can I say "sick" if its a pain thing, as opposed to a volatile illness thing? who cares. I'm gonna.) and having eighteen shades of camera woes these past few weeks, I've been mighty crappy about posting. How could my life get in the way of me documenting... my life?

Anyway, I digress. Also, I blame any incoherence on the fact that I'm still under medication and whatnot... and will be for the forseeable future.

A couple of weeks ago, my Sprout, embarked on an overnight camping trip for school. The students went out to a 4-H camp to experience ecology in action. It was rainy, but there were s'mores and campfires. It all came out in the wash.

Sprout and Bosley the wee pup, getting ready to leave for the camping trip.

Please note in the above image, both Sprout and Pup were in need of a trim. About a week ago, Bosley went in for baby's first hair cut. We went from super scruffy, to super sleek.

However, the wee pup is not the only one who got a trim, Sprout's bangs were out of control and she was long overdue for a trim. We had an appointment set for Friday afternoon. Thursday night there was a bit on the news regarding a local 7yr old girl who is battling her 3rd bout with cancer. Sprout had asked me a few questions about why the little girl was bald, the scars on her head, and why her mommy was crying. Being as graceful as possible, yet not sugar coating it, I gave the kid an overview.

Sprout has had two major haircuts in her life. When she started kindergarten we took her mid-back hair and cut it into a chin length bob. Her hair grew back and in the third grade, we cut her waist-length hair to about her shoulder blades. On both occasions we donated her hair to Locks of Love. I reminded her of this while discussing the bald headed girl on tv.

One of her day camp teachers has spent the last few years battling cancer. Her hair is growing back now, and she's cancer-free. Mary is a survivor. I know that right now, there is a lot of Breast Cancer awareness in the media. A couple of years ago, I helped one of my best friends, as best I could, as she cared for her father when he was diagnosed with aggressive brain cancer in April and dead by August. This past year, a dear friend's husband battled a brain tumor, he is winning. Last week, the same friend's aunt died from one. Words like "cancer" and "tumor" are ones the Sprout has heard a lot. Its a tough world and she knows it. Her problems aren't fatal, but she isn't new to hospitals or medically fragile kiddos.

Over the summer we'd been kicking around the idea of cutting her hair back again. Did I mention we have unnaturally thick hair? It has grown back with a vengeance, and she could sit on it when it was unfurled. Braided up, it was still ridiculously long.

The 'before' shot

She kept backing down at the last minute, saying she wasn't ready. Friday morning her mind had changed. No longer was she going in for a bang trimming. She decided to lop it off. Eighteen inches later, with her hair en route to the folks at Locks of Love, she's still adorable, and loves saying "watch me!" as she shakes her hair like she's in a Breck commercial.

The "after"

Sock-ret Pal Questionaire!

The basics:

How long have you been knitting?
Two years. Crocheting for three years continuously- but my Grammy taught me to crochet decades ago. I just took a break from it and started coming back to craftiness a few years ago.

Do you consider yourself a beginning sock knitter, an intermediate, or have you been doing this so long you could probably knit a pair in your sleep?
I’m an... advanced beginner? I had my trial by fire this summer in socks. My blog follows my progression. I went from swearing I’d never make a sock “I could buy one cheaper- It would take too long- No patience- tiny needles” I had every excuse. Then, I got roped into the trek-along-knit along by a friend and spent three months creating a toe up, thigh high socks as my very first pair. Now, I’m mildly sock obsessed.

The measurements:

While your pal may ask for some additional info to ensure a great fit, please provide your shoe size, or any other fitting related info you think is pertinent. Because this information is potentially traumatic, I’m going to preface it with. I’m sorry. I’m 6’2” tall. My feets, are not wee. *takes deep breath* My shoe size is. *ahem* 11.5 (us) I bet you can now see why I <3>

(fiber related) Favorites:

What colors do you love?
Pinks, oranges, Blues, purples, cranberry reds, jewel tones?

Do you prefer solids or variegated?
Depends on which works best with the pattern, generally I prefer my variations to be subtle unless youre dealing in self-patterning/ striping yarns.

What fibers do you most love to knit with?
Targhee! (that’s Montana pride right there), Alpaca, wool, merino.

Who do you consider your favorite yarn vendors?
Mountain colors, trekking and Lisa Souza. I'm also beginning to be a big fan of KnitPicks (I’m not opposed, but have not yet used some of the more common brands like Regia- its actually on my ‘to-do’ list)

What projects do you most enjoy knitting?
Gloves and arm warmers. I’ve got a laundry list of things to make for others, then I get to start on a couple of sweaters for myself.

(fiber related) Dislikes:

What fibers can you not stand to knit with? To wear?
Anything scratchy and unflexible.

What colors would you never wear?
I can see even the most obnoxious colours as fun accent/ accessories. Ex- I mainly wear black, grey and denim. BUT bright pumpkin orange and hot pink are two of my favorite accent colours. However, yellow and I do not agree with each other on much.

The Tools:

Plastic or Metal? Bamboo or wood?
Yes! I think each of them can be useful in their own right. My favorites are my Birch Brittany-s. Depending on the stickiness of yarn I’m using, I go back and forth between them and metal. My glass namaste’s were the best at cotton.

Circs or Straights?
Depends on the project, mostly straights since that’s what I have. I tell myself I’m going to learn magic loop on circs, but I havn’t quite gotten there yet.

DPNs or Magic Loop?
DPNs fo’ sho’. See above. All that loopy stuff scares/ confuses me. How can I be so smart, and so inept?

Are there any knitting accessories you don't have in your collection but would like?
More stitch markers, something fancier (more attractive) than a rubber band to hold my dpns together. A stitch/ row counter would be nice. Heck, I keep my needles in an old oatmeal container.

The Extras:

Do you have a wish list? If so, please share the link!
I have two! An Amazon Wishlist, and one of yarn/knitting stuffs.

Do you like sweet, sour or salty?
sour! I love sour things... like lemon and any of those "sour" candies. And, I feel chocolate is only useful when wrapped around peanut butter or caramel. Mmm caramel.

Do you have any allergies your pal should know about?
I’m all good on the allergy front- Unless you plan on mailing me a ferret. You can have one, you just can’t mail him/ her to me, even if I beg you to. I love ferrets, unfortunately I break out in hives and my eyes itch and swell shut.

Favorite scents? Scents you can't stand?
I love spicy scents. Burts Bees Milk and Honey lotion is about the most divine smell in skin care. Pine scents make me nauseous (unless its real, live standing in a pine forest air smell.) and... I don’t care for anything in the ‘gardenia’ vein. My sister calls them “old lady flowers smells” or patchouli, that one isn't my friend either.

Do you collect anything?
Godzilla! Garden gnomes! (I have thirteen) Smooshed pennies! Cavaleras (Mexican day of the dead skulls/ skeletons). Bats. (of the mammal variety) and rocks. I love funky, native rocks and bring them home from every place I travel.

When is your birthday?
March 20. Yep, Pisces/ Aries cusp, Gemini moon, Gemini rising. I’m pretty sure that all means that I can’t help but be half-crazy ;)

Do you spin? Dye your own yarn?
I spin on a drop spindle, and have dyed my own rovings, but not naked, already spun yarn. Of course, I’d be willing to give it a go!

Your favorite author/band/vacation spot, anything you think will help your pal know you better...
I’m obsessed with episodes of the classic twilight zone. My friends are smart enough not to disturb me during Dead Like Me, LOST, Prison Break, The 4400, the “new” Dr. Who and Grey’s Anatomy.

I listen to music. A lot. Hardcore, Indie, largely non- mainstream. I think Steve Albini is a god among mortals. Big Black and Shellac are definitely high on my list. Pleasure Forever and Queens of the Stoneage. Afghan Whigs, Mark Lanegan. I tend to tell people I like “dirty, hedonistic death rock” and “psycho stalker love songs”. I also enjoy learning/ experiencing new music.

My favorite fiction is “The Velveteen Rabbit” and “Swan Song” by Robert R McCammon. I enjoy Caitlin R. Kiernan and Poppy Z Brite. I tend to mostly read non-fiction though these days, and its usually some sort of tale regarding people going out into the wild and either surviving, dying or learning some great truth to share. (John Muir, Luna Leopold, Everett Ruess, Chris McCandless, William Bonney )

Obviously, I talk a lot. If I missed anything, or you want more details. Smack me with a comment. I’ll go on and on and on…

addendum

As soon as I get this camera thing straightened out- I'll be posting some fiber/ knitting/ swap posts... pictures make everything better.

While I'm at it...

two more things that annoy me.


- the scissor sisters.
holy freakin' just die already

- those pepto bismol break dancers

see.
this is why i *don't* watch tv.

ok, this and reality tv.
ugh.

horrible woman

sweet karst on a cracker!!

lots of my friends think rachel ray is all kinds of awesome.

she has some new show now, and i woke up with the tv on this channel after last night's alias fiasco. (im still annoyed btw)

anyway, she is prattling on about gift giving and apparently for no brainer guy gifts she gives things like high ball glasses and "natural coasters". She waves it in the air and says "natural coasters are great. i dunno what its made of.. rock... wood.. i dunno? anyway, petrified something or other.." and moves on.

petrified something or other?

ITS AGATE.

maybe i'm still annoyed about my lack of alias. I need to know what happened after last week's episode. akdh; hvch !!

/ geologic rant

also
agate is montana's state rock. if this woman didn't grate on my nerves before, she sure as heck would now.

sometimes, i watch television

I have a fabulous, set, sunday night ritual.
1030-1130 is CSI, the vegas one.
1130-1230 is Alias.. I'm catching up on all the ones I missed. I'm a loser that only saw like three episodes until I started watching halfway through season four. Right now, I'm in the midst of the storyline about Julia Thorne and Sid's missing two years. And, apparently the hand belongs to the allegedly slain diplomat. damnit.

NEITHER FUCKING ONE IS ON
CSI MIAMI?
MISSING?

WHAT THE SAM BEAN FLUFF THIS SHIT IS RIDIC

ratty mcbratty

My little Chubbz has gone from being a fatty... to being a 3.5ish year old skinny. Further inspection with the assistance of Alicia, shows that she does in fact, have a cut on her neck, and a tumor growing in her left hind leg. Based on her age, she prlly wouldn't survive surgery. The plan is to keep her neck from getting infected, and to spoil her rotten until she begins to suffer (which is questionable.. she has started to make a terrible noise when she breathes while sleeping. like snoring but.. not)

Needless to say, I think sweet, friendly little Chubbz won't be with us much longer. She's lived a long, happy life. The rest of it is going to be as happy and painless as I can make it. As much as I know she's lived a good life, I still wish it wasn't drawing to a close now, when I'm feeling pretty much less than awesome about a lot of things.

we's bein tornado'd!

from an actual text message:
"get your braided kid and your dog in the basket and hide"

"I just didn't want you to be in a real emergency and not have time to snatch the kid even if you had to yank her by the braids and hide in the closet with the wee shoe chewer"

aaaaaand
eliza (moderngypsy) called and sang the lollypop guild song into my voice mail.

you betcher ass I saved it.

aim convo:
amanda (9:32:15 PM): eliza called and left me a voicemail 'we represent the lollipop guild, the lollypop guild.." so on and so forth
jaime (9:32:38 PM): I am saying you got the bike, the kid with the braids, and the woofer

if rainy days could always mean boxes of yarn in the mail

I had not one, but two boxes arrive this week from KnitPicks. Oh glorious day!

One, is a box I've been waiting for somewhat impatiently. I opted to ship my package to work, instead of home. Of course in doing so I was sloppy with the postal code and my box went on a circuitous route only to end up back at KnitPicks instead of here waiting for me to fondle its contents. Unfortunately for me (and my secret pal) that MIA box contained the two key components in my Whose Lace is it Anyway? swap. Tis my first swap and I boogered it up. Go Me!!

Well its here now, although already packed along with some other items and prepared to hit the post on Monday, and its lovely! Aside from my missing swap components, the box contained Merino Style that I want to use for a pair of Knucks (for a birthday that is now in.. 15 days, halfway across the country) and Swish superwash for a pair of Pedicure socks. I have determined that I am a fan of the Alpaca Cloud (for my swappee), and the pattern I ordered for her. It was really hard for me to package them up and prepare them for travel.

It's ok though. I think I am going to survive. I opened box number two... three skeins of Alpaca Cloud.. in Tidepool.. WHICH IS FREAKIN' LOVELY AND AMAZING AS ALL HELL!! and... one of those new super fantastic looking chart keepers that snaps up like an easel!! Seems my incoming swap pal is from Australia (still don't know who she is) and she sent *me* some KnitPick spoilings as well! She warned me to be on the lookout for a second package coming from across the sea as well. I'm wicked excited for all of this. I love my loot so far, and I hope my pal loves her loot as well. Its a first-time swap for the both of us.

It's a pretty sad state of affairs though, that with all of this yarny goodness, my card reader is no where to be seen. Of course, its cord is hanging out of the back of my computer. Which means one of two things, but most likely a combination.

My puppy ate it. Or my stash did. I think it might have fallen into the living room stash, as I can't find it, I believe Prof. Bosley may have liberated it for his own utilization. (he made off with it once before, going so far as to gnaw on the card that was in the slot).

Pictures will follow. I assure you.

last week, in knitting

I managed to finish sock #1, of my trek-a-long, knit-a-long, toe up, thigh high. First sock ever! and done almost entirely without a legit pattern. I spent a lot of quality time with a measuring tape, and more time frogging than I'd like to admit. But, I did it. Which makes victory even sweeter. I made it. I am pleased with myself, and have done the appropriate "superior dance" (how's that for an oooooold SNL reference?).

In other knitting news, I'm nearing completion on my first set of Knucks. These are a commision for a friend who bought all the supplies. I just need to finish them, and embroider them once he determines the text.




And finally, even though its not it's turn yet, I broke down and started swatching for my Voodoos.. in the Twizzle yarn, by Mountain Colors, that I brought back from Montana with me. I reaaaaalllly want to start playing with my Montana yarn.

an alaskan volcano erupts

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060607.html


An Alaskan Volcano Erupts
Credit: J. N. Williams, International Space Station 13 Crew, NASA

Explanation: What is happening to that volcano? It's erupting! The first person to note that the Aleutian Cleveland Volcano was spewing ash was astronaut Jeffrey N. Williams aboard the International Space Station. Looking down on the Alaskan Aleutian Islands two weeks ago, Williams noted, photographed, and reported a spectacular ash plume emanating from the Cleveland Volcano. Starting just before this image was taken, the Cleveland Volcano underwent a short eruption lasting only about two hours. The Cleveland stratovolcano is one of the most active in the Aleutian Island chain. The volcano is fueled by magma displaced by the subduction of the northwest-moving tectonic Pacific Plate under the tectonic North America Plate.

This is a spectacular photograph.

RIP Steve Irwin

Anyone else remember his fedex commercial?

Hthe gets bit by a snake that he had just proclaimed as highly venomous, and says its ok because fedex brought his anti-venom all the way from america..

because "if youre not sure, youre dead!"

Then off set you hear someone say its not there, they used a different carrier...

Irwin who says "crikey" then drops dead?

One of the funniest commercials i've ever seen.

then the man dies of typically non-lethal venom because it nailed him right in the heart.

Irwin's Commercial

He was a crazy bastard, but died doing what he loved.

Yarn/ Fiber Related Wish List

For assorted reasons (swaps, pressing family and friends) I have been called on to make a list of some knitting things I'm after, yet aren't available for posting on my Amazon list (like yarn). So, here ya are, if'n you're interested.

Patterns
Anna over at My Fashionable Life has created some nifty patterns. Among them are a pack of three sock patterns. I'm plotting the Badcaul. I may even be fiending. She has it combined with two other patterns- Nautilus and Giotto, both are lovely and I think all three are something like $8 american.

Lisa Souza Sock Yarns!
Paint: slate, graphite, mars quake, limenviolet
Heathered Solid: black/purple

Trekking XXL (which can be found in many LYS or "snobby yarn stores")
colours 105, 102, 104, 109

Mountain Colors (which can be found in many LYS or "snobby yarn stores") Mountain Goat- 1- granite, 1- crazy woman
Bearfoot- 1- huckleberry

Brittany Birch DPNs
(sets of five)
sizes:
2, 3, 5, 7, 9


KnitPicks
Sells all sorts of wonderful goodness for super prices. Needles and yarn oh my!

Nickle DPNs
sizes:
0,1

swish superwash
1- ballerina
1- bordeaux
1- dark navy
1- baby blue

Merino Style
2- Hollyberry
2- Storm

Essential
2- Ash
2- Dusk

Memories
2- Yukon


wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

humping, henry rollins

Bosley, now 8 weeks of age has begun to develop unattractive habits.

This morning, he attempted to hump my foot and my arm on two seperate occasions.

Additionally, while I too would like to chew on Henry Rollins, he has taken a firm liking to The Portable Henry Rollins. Which I am attempting to re-read. Boz has found it on at least three occasions in the last week.





Its a good thing he's so cute, lest I'd be forced to murderize him.



I mean, he looks remorseful, doesn't he?

A warning to video game geeks, an amusing story for those who mock them

I was already sickly amused, when I learned that my friend Jimmy, broke his knee during a drunken game of Guitar Hero.

I am even more so sickly amused, by the website he has created while suffering/ recuperating from the following surgery.

So, all you game geeks

I present to you

Guitar Hero Broke My Knee. Com

John Muir is love

While on vacation, I had intended to post a quote by John Muir, that I was having a hard time peeling from my brain on my quiet, mountainside mornings alone. As you can see, I never actually did it. I was reading a friend's blog this morning, and she had mentioned feeling comforted by the feeling that the minutae of her day actually connected her to something bigger than she thought possible.

It reminded me that I wanted to get this in here.

"When we try to pick out anything by itself we find that it is bound fast by a thousand invisible cords that cannot be broken, to everything in the universe. "
- naturalist John Muir in his book My First Summer in the Sierras

(originally posted 16 august 06)

a trekking post.. sockie went a trekkin' and she did ride mmhmm

we're into August already, and I think most everyone seems to be finished or finishing their projects. Then there's me. The first time sock knitter, with the toe-up thigh highs (did y'all forget that I'm 6'2"?) correction. thigh high. two weeks left in the knit-a-long and I'm working on the ribbing of sock one. Forget the dreaded second sock curse I've heard so much about. I feel like I've been ribbing forever. I'll definitely finish the pair, eventually, but I'm trying to get through the one, so that I can maybe touch one of the other projects I've been holding off on.

But here's an update, long overdue. I took my sock with me to Montana. My trekking sock has now officially been worked on in seven states: Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, Wyoming, Minnesota, Montana and Idaho. No, really. Unfortunately, I didn't take nearly as many pictures as I should have- mostly because it got to where I was feeling like there would have been no noticeable progress *shrug* but alas! Here is some yarny goodness from my trip...

On our way across I90, we had to make an obligatory stop in Reed Point. Let me guess, you've never heard of it. Well you should. I mean, its only home of the Great Montana Sheep Drive.... a Running of the Sheep. Yes, you read correctly. The Running of the Sheep. Its like the 'running of the bulls' only with sheep.

The 'Great Montana Sheep Drive' features hundreds of sturdy Montana bred woolies charging down the six blocks of the main street. Now, we were not there for the event mind you- that is still some three weeks away, but.. they have signs that must be photographed:




Our cabin was located approximately 27 miles up the Gallatin Canyon, a place where I spent a signifigant portion of my childhood. (the canyon, not the cabin). This is from where hwy 191 goes into the canyon-


OUr cabin had three decks, each facing east. This is where I spent my late-july wee morning hours drinking coffee and knitting, while able to see my breath.


And then, onto my sock! The day I took photos, was on a picnic drive. I took my daughter, sister, brother in law and nephew out to explore the Gallatin Canyon and find a decent enough trail access to get my daughter over to the river in her wheelchair.

Our cabin was directly beneath Storm Castle Peak-

from the north, taken from the bridge to Storm Castle turn off, which leads to the ranger station helipad and the road the founders into a glorified deer path to Spire Rock campground, Rat Lake and Garnet Mountain.


from highway 191 in front of the Montana Whitewater, Gallatin office.

We actually found "the spot" by going over the Storm Castle turn off, and heading towards the campground Near an old baptist church camp, we were able to park and make our way to the point where Storm Castle Creek meets the Gallatin River. You can see a sliver of the creek behind Cait, as she models a river rock



while we were hanging out on the shore, about ten white water rafts came by, but these two managed to get spun around by the current, and it was pretty amusing to watch them try and get turned back around



so, I let them see my sock in progress...


after hanging out at the river, we continued up the drive until it got so shoddy there was no way in heck we could do it in the present vehicle, or hike it with the present company.


storm castle creek, about four miles in, rat lake and garnet mountain are up the logging road on the horizon, the photo was taken from behind storm castle peak.


so that..
is my sock, trekking.

i brought back more than yarn and wool

for those of you wondering what all the fuss has been about..
I present Bosley Montana, as modeled by Cait, on our way back from Montana.

rockford coffee, main street, bozeman

So, I'm at the Rockford Coffee shop on Main Street in Bozeman, MT.

They have free wireless and a lovely granita. The good news is, since my last post, I got a card reader. The bad news is, I left my wireless card in my other bag, up the canyon.

soooo instead of super awesome post, Ive checked my email, and now I'm posting the pics I've taken in the last ten minutes. You'll get the report on what I've done so far, when I can actually give you the whole thing.

So far, my dad has come down, I've been through three forest fires, almost lynched my sister and watched a geyser blow its load.

oh, and my cabin kicks all motherfucking kinds of ass

I seriously, do not want to come home.

my only complaint thusfar, is the changes in bozeman. Missoula was always pretty granola, but Bozeman was cowboy. Now mainstreet is lined with stores selling 120$ tshirts and cookie cutter subdivisions are flying up... a cheap house now runs $250k minimum. Yikes.

onto the photos

these are on my way into bozeman from the south..


bridgers



gallatin


bridgers



bridgers


bridgers


This is the rush hour traffic I faced to get in tonight..
note 1= theres hardly anyone there
note 2= with a view like that. who minds waiting?


this is the house i lived in for two years when i was small. now its a realty office, its also two doors down from where i am sitting right now.

finally
this is the yarn and wool i got today.. mountain colours and some locally raised/ harvested and then hand dyed targhee top



I've gots me a canyon to drive up.
I'll post more Saturday from the hotel, if not sooner
(Im assuming they have internet)


<3
amanda

PS
did i mention that i dont want to ever come back?
PS2
did i mention how glad i am that i came?

more trip prep

This morning I was taking Cait to the other end of the Universe, West O, extreme West O to get some emergency repairs made to her chair. It had a massive meltdown, four days prior to departure. I spoke with her case manager at the insurance company this morning afterward, and she is going to push through the approval for the work... today. Thank you Universe. I just have to pay the extra for overnight shipping. Hopefully it all comes together ok.

Second, I took the van in for repairs. Guess who needs front brakes and tires all the way around. Its there now, while I'm here working.
Ugh. SIx stories, then I'm freeeeeee. Oh wait, I still have that grant to finish up.

In the midst of working (ew) I started peeping at fiber/ yarn opportunities while on my trip. The store I wanted to hit up in Livingston... moved to Helena the "second week in July". Gee, thanks guys. However, the store in Bozeman with a website looks like it might be *the* spot. The Yarn Shop and Fiber Company is located fairly centrally, not that its a big city or anything. They stock Mountain Colors, which are made/ dyed etc right there in the Bitteroots. *DING DING* I hope their selection is fully stocked. They are pricey, but there are some definite things on my wishlist there.

As it happens I will be there for their SnB type thing: UFO Night- Bring your UnFinished Object for a night of camaraderie and support as we encourage each other to finish projects. Mark the first Friday of each month as UFO night at The Yarn Shop. Bring yourself, your project, a snack; we'll convene from 6 to 8:30.

I just might need to hit that up. We shall see. I'm also interested in hearing more about their 'Project of the Month Kits- The Small Project of the Month (quick-to-knit gift ideas)"

We are going to be traveling home across Wyoming and staying overnight in Jackson. I found Knit on Pearl who has a website, with no content. Any one been there? Is it worth my while- outside of just going in and petting some yarn? Or The Fiber House in Sheridan, Wyoming (on the way up)? Their site says they are opening in March of 2006.

I actually just commented on the SwankyHanks blog because they had done a trip of fiber shops.. and posted about their exploits. Hopefully they will have some more insight.

Speaking of, Eliza have you seen this: The Knitters and Crocheters and Weavers and Spinners Travel Guide 2006



My trekking sock is still not done. However, I am ready to start increasing for the knee. I must have three socks worth of knitting into this bad boy already. I wanted to cast on sock #2 on my way out of town... I've told myself that as I just need to finish it before I cross into Wyoming. That gives me until about 11am Saturday (which is really noon in Omaha! Crossing the time line thingie in Murdo, SD is buying me an extra hour! woot).

attack of the ball winder

I was reading one of the comms I'm in, and I'm sharing this as my defense
and I'm looking at you moderngypsy

it seems every time I touch a ballwinder.. or, at least *her* ballwinder (and the only one i've ever touched)

this happens to me

apparently I'm not the only one.

stitching.. and bitching..

In knitting news, I am still swimming in fiber. I can't remember if I actually, technically signed up for the Tour de Fleece. In fact, I'm pretty sure I meant to, and didn't. However, in spirit, I still plan to loosely participate and paw my way through my intended pile. Maybe in the next few days I will get a chance to post pix of the amazing fiber stash I've amassed in the last... month. I think I'm sitting on about twenty pounds. Oh my.

Provided my back starts cooperating.

I'm making decent progress on my trekking sock, I'm into the calf increases, and pleased to realize I'm using a handy geologic slope formula to compute my increases. Rise over run indeed. I'm hoping to be at the knee by Thursday's stitch and bitch, I refuse to call it "sit and knit". Stupid people and their stupid attempts at hogging copyrights on things that they don't have copywritten.

Of course, on the 4th (hope you had a good one) I had to rip out ~ six inches of sock. That's approximately sixty rows... of precious calf. I thought by putting my increases on the back, I would create a 'seam'. What I created was a pouch, ideal for a heel growing out of my calf, or a place to squirrel away change. Basically, I find neither of those options to be suitable. Additionally, it was turning my rows into chevrons in the back of my sock. I was not amused.. so frog... frog... frog... and now I'm back at it, spacing my increases about, and hoping to get caught back up. I frogged it back to the bold yellow stripe near the shin there. Ideally I would like to have this puppy finished in about twelve days. This picture was taken about three inches before I decided the frogging was necessary. I should have taken one of the pouch before I killed it off.



I used a figure 8 toe up cast on, that is slightly goobered, on my trekker. We like to refer to it affectionately as a resevoir tip. Thursday we are having a class on the figure 8 toe up, so I think whether I've finished sock #1 or not, I am going to go ahead and cast on #2, just to hopefully get a nicer start on it.

When I finish these pups up... my next knitting project is most likely going to be the ballet sweater from the July Magnits

Knitty has a few patterns calling my name as well. I am all about this "extremities" issue. Some of those mitts, example- the knucks, have the potential to be some serious stash busters.

I also just bought a skein of my friend PippiKneeSocks's hand dyed sock yarn in a faboo colourway called "Lilly Pond" I plan on eventually turning that into a pair of knee highs for my eleven year old. Pippi, as a matter of fact, was just published in the new issue of Knitty regarding her amazing hand spun, hand coiled yarns.

So that, for now, is my knitting news. I plan on taking the trekker out into the wild tomorrow. Which will probably be my last effort to get outdoors for a few days, highs will reach the upper 90s and are to be into the low 100s (plus our nasty 90% humidity) for the next week or so. Ugh, I can't wait to get back to the mountains.

stabby stab!

In other news, J got his first puncture wound last night after stepping on one of my size two, steel, double pointed needles.

It was driven in approximately two inches.. and at a fairly good angle. I admit, I lied to him and told him it wasn't in very far, and that it must be the angle giving him trouble to remove it. But truthfully, it was far enough that he couldn't pull it out. In fact, he had to brace himeself while I did.

When my first two, firm yet polite tugs yielded no fruit (or pinkish silver dpn), I nearly thought we should maybe leave it in, and hit the ER. I was concerned that at that depth, maybe the needle plugging that hole could be a good thing. He wanted it out, and the third time it came (completely unwillingly).

On the bad side (BAD AMANDA!) I was filled with a mixture of concern and laughter. If it had been my foot, pictures would have been taken before withdrawal of the needle.

Not a lot of blood, but a pretty good sized hole. I slapped some bag balm on it and gave him a clean cotton hiking (arch supported) sock. (Notice how that keeps in the theme with my trekking yarn and my trek-a-long, knit-a-long sock). I told him to soak it in epsom salts. Today he is supposed to be investigating getting a tetnus shot.

After a bit of the pain subsided, he began to freak out, worried that he had wrecked my sock- he thought it was a needle that had been carrying stitches, but it was the fifth needle that had been poking out of the ball of trekking.

One more adventure in my trek-a-long, knit-a-long sock.

Use this story as a warning. I reminded him to remember this, the next time he annoyed me and I threatened to stab him with one of my double pointed sticks of doom.

that darn cat

This week has been a whirlwind of medical stuff, with doc appointments literally every day. Wednesday even had two. I had an ultrasound of my kidneys this morning. Whee. Back to the doc on Tuesday, then again a week from Wednesday and another the next day. That's all I have, that I know of, for now.

This morning we were up wicked early to get Elvis to the vet on time. The kitties didn't want me to get any sleep last night- they were standing on me, staring at me, demanding to know why their dishes were empty. Sad state of affairs when the trio is subject to the diet restrictions of the little patient. As soon as Elvis was crated this morning, Alex and Spooky were ready to dine.

As for my little man, he and his inflated ear were delivered to Dr. Tracy's office at 7:20 this morning. He should be in surgery now, with them calling me in the 1300-1400 range for an update, its fairly likely he will need to spend the night. Cait is terribly worried about him, and I guess I am too. No one wants to hear things like 'infectious' and 'potentially gangrenous' in relation to their baby, (even if the baby is cat-shaped).

Cait is off on a day camp field trip to the Rose theatre to see a production of 101 Dalmations, followed by a picnic. She wanted me to leave her at the vet's this morning with Elvis. eek.

Fireworks tonight for Papillion Days, should be a good time. I love me some fireworks. We had plans of coffee and hitting Simon Joyner and Ted Stevens at an art opening downtown, but its just too much after such a long day. We should be at Sunday coffee for sure.

From my apartment, to the vet, to the day camp and downtown to Creighton Med Center... all by 0810 and with a nearly two year old in tow.

I am so ready for a nap, just need to stop fretting about the darn cat.

home again

Elvis is home, repaired, and looking beat down. His ear is shaved, he has one of those cone dealies and last but not least.. hot pink stitches.
My punk li'l babe.



He is sore, tired.. and pissed.

more kitty woe

Thursday at the vet was rather eventful.

While Elvis was mite- free, he did have a bacterial infection in both ears. They think after we mite- treated him in December (and cleaned his grubby ears) apparently down deep there was some gunk left over. Gunk is infected.

My lovely boy, from shaking and scratching his ears, did a lovely combination of seperating the two layers of skin on his little ear, and burst the blood vessels contained therein. His swollen ear was not from pus or something ick, but backed up blood. They lanced his ear to drain the blood, shot it full of steroids in an effort to convince the layers to reattach and sent me home with a sad kitty, some ear washing gunk, and some antibiotic drops.

If luck was with us, this would solve the problem.

Unfortunately, its not looking to be the case. Friday evening his ear started to swell again.. its been swelling more each day- its refilling with blood. Elvis is going to need surgery to drain it and properly tend to his ear. Freaking lovely.

I need to be a little less broke, so that I won't have that guilty feeling- the one associated with me having to pause and figure out financing, and lamenting my cat's wounds because of how they affect *my* life. our first visit cost the gas and electric bills. This next one is looking to be like, half my rent.

Crap.

A week of trekking a long

Last Thursday was the kick off of the Trek-a-long, knit-a-long. I am pretty excited, having this be my first foray into socks. I've been playing with random yarns on DPNs for the last week or so, trying to get comfortable with the technique and ready for this endeavor.

My first trip into the wild with my trekking yarn, was at the Fontenelle Forest. On this particular visit, I went on the one mile riverview boardwalk trail. Its a great trail for those are easing their way into hiking, or those with small children or disabilities. As it happens, I went with my daughter (in a wheelchair), my two year old nephew (in a stroller) and my friends James. There are no stairs along this route and there are rails located throughout this trail. While there are some steeper grades, they are broken up with switchbacks and many benches and resting areas can be found along the trail. (perfect for sitting down and enjoying the wild with some knitting).

Trekking XXL in colourway #123

as modeled with two size 2DPNs and a couple of rows of my 'DPN practice'

Throughout the week, I spent some frenzied and frazzled time working on my first sock ever, a toe up thigh high number. Let's just say I made some mistakes. I kept chalking them up as "don't stress out, its your first sock." For about the first twenty mini mistakes (including too many rows on the toe cast resulting in a 'resevoir tip') this theory worked, finally as I neared the end of the in-step, i dropped/unraveled about ten stitches in an altercation with one of my cats. Needless to say I took this as the impetus to frog the darn thing and start (nearly) anew- going back to the first couple of rows of the initial toe casting.

Nearly all of the knitting has taken place out doors.. the park, the field... not exactly on the trail, but I'm making a concentrated effort to get as much "trail time" as possible, and do the rest "out doors". I hope everyone else in the trek-a-long has gotten off to a great start!



So this is where she sits now. I am really happy with the way the patten of the yarn is coming through. I think this sock is going to be really fun. (just don't ask me how I'm feeling when its time for me to turn my first heel).