Jenni P McD's Life Less Blordinary

It's a Mickey Mouse World

2010-06-23T15:04:00.000-05:00

There's not much to say. I think the video speaks for itself.

Forgive Me, Readers, For I Have Sinned.

2010-06-21T14:14:00.000-05:00

It has been 6 months since my last blog post.

I have wonderful intentions of keeping this updated, but I seem to fall short on delivery. Here is time 47 (it seems) of my keeping up appearances.

I don't have a planned post for today, but since I was thinking about it, I decided to leave you with a little fun, courtesy of Snoop Dogg and the HBO True Blood series.

A New Leaf

2010-01-01T19:29:00.002-05:00

Today, the family and I took the opportunity to get out and get a little fresh air and exercise. We live 10 minutes from Lake Thurmond, one of the major reservoirs on the Savannah River by the Army Corp of Engineers. We actually used to spend a good bit of time in the area, but 2009 was a really stressful and full year for us. Necropolis and I decided today was as good a time as any to make a change.

Necropolis, Things 1 and 2, Pearly Sue and I all trecked out to the Bartram Trail along Lake Thurmond and walked and looked.

We saw a LOT of pine trees, fallen leaves, and small granite outcroppings. Lake Thurmond is actually along the path of the granite vein that also created Stone Mountain, more than 120 miles away.

Unfortunately, we didn't have the foresight to bring trashbags. There was litter everywhere, and some of it too big to move, like this bouy.

While we were hiking I kept my eyes open for mushrooms, to share with my friend lisascenic. I had about given up on seeing any, and as we were almost back to the truck, I spotted these. I have no idea what they are, but I'm hoping Lisa will chime in here and let us know.

A Blaze of Glory

2010-01-01T01:31:00.001-05:00

Just some New Year's photos to share. Blessings to you all.

A Final First

2009-12-30T15:56:00.004-05:00

When Nec and I were very brand new parents, we probably behaved like most first timers. Okay, yeah, we were convinced our progeny was the brightest, most beautiful, wonderful child ever conceived in humankind. We meticulously chronicled every small detail of every minor milestone and major achievement Thing 1 could manage. And, in some ways, we were justified. Thing 1 was a quick study, even as a newborn and achieved the usual baby milestones much more quickly that most in his peer group.

By the time Thing 1 was 15 months, however, we discovered there would soon be a Thing 2, and priorities shifted. We still reveled in the minutiae of Thing 1’s seemingly miraculous abilities, but our attention was now divided. Whereas before we had only 1 small, perfect being to focus on, we now had to start over and record each detail of the newest member of our family.

As most parents of multiple children close in age will tell you, at times, your survival mode it to keep your head down and take each day as it comes. Somewhere in our total brilliance, we thought it was a good idea to have 2 children less than 2 years apart. 2 babies in diapers. Yes, I was obviously suffering from a strange and inventive form of parental senility.

At any rate, we did record, and I can remember, most of the biggest, important milestones in Thing 2’s infanthood. I also know that while he could sit up, crawl and walk more quickly that most, he didn’t cut his first tooth until he was almost 17 months old, almost a full year past the time the majority of babies will cut a first tooth.

The Things continued to get older, as children will do, and I noticed a disturbing trend of diminishing milestones. These had altered and changed over time, to where it’s not based on physical and motor development, but more on societal achievements, such as a first day of school or a first sleepover. The physical measures became less and less frequent, and more difficult to define. It’s tricky to see how quickly a child grows from day to day or week to week. Every once in a while, however, there are some exceptionally stellar moments that remind a parent of the joy and wonder that is raising a child.

Last month, Thing 2 finally lost his first tooth. He’s now 8, and will turn 9 in a couple of months. Developmentally, he is years behind most of his peer group. Most children lose their first tooth towards the end of year 5 or during year 6. This is, unless they manage to knock out their front teeth by diving into playground landscaping when they’re 3. But, that’s a story of a different Thing altogether.

Thing 2 lost his first tooth, and while I was genuinely excited and happy for him, I was starkly reminded that my children are quickly growing up, becoming their own person, and leaving their father and I behind in the dust.

I don’t think I’d have it any other way.

Why, yes. Yes I am....

2009-12-24T17:00:00.002-05:00

...watching the Crab Show Marathon on Discovery, or TLC, or whatever channel.

At least I'm not overly emotional.

And, to make it even better, Necropolis is making his award-winning (really!) chili. It's really, really good.

If I might, I would like to offer this advice.

2009-12-23T17:54:00.004-05:00

It has been found, in the McD household, it would be ill-advised for me to watch a movie with racial and political themes based on actual events while suffering from a severe cold, being heavily medicated, delirious from lack of sleep and very probably premenstrual.

I'm just saying.

The movie in question was "Rosewood" which I had never seen before. It's actually a very wonderfully powerful movie, but I should probably stick to romantic comedies and Musicals (just watched My Fair Lady, too) while I'm in this condition.

An Open Letter To Mike Helton

2009-11-02T19:08:00.003-05:00

This email was sent to the only address I had for contacting NASCAR on November 2, 2009. Mike Helton is the President of NASCAR.

Dear Mr. Helton,

I write to you today as a lifelong fan of NASCAR. I have watched and listened, cheered and heckled, supported and bemoaned, throughout the years. I have watched decisions such as restrictor plates, radial tires, COT, deletions of Rockingham and other longtime tracks, decisions I don’t necessarily agree with, but see the necessity for continued growth of the sport. As a fan, I am aware I cannot know or understand every decision, recommendation or debate within the NASCAR Corporation. However, I agree change is inevitable and preferable to stagnation. I have to believe the changes in NASCAR, regardless of my personal opinion (which is wide and legion), are made with the interest of the owners, drivers and teams, and, hopefully, the fans.

That said, I was appalled and thoroughly disgusted with the race at Talladega on Sunday. It is my understanding that just before the race, in the drivers’ meeting, the gentlemen were warned and strongly admonished to cease or severely curtail the use of the bump draft and other ‘reckless’ driving practices, with the added threat of severe penalties and disciplinary measures. Since I did not personally witness the drivers’ meeting, I can not speak to the issues addressed. I did, however, clearly witness the results. At least three-fourths of the race saw in-line driving, which was more like watching a caravan than a stock car race. It was not that drivers were incapable of more competitive efforts, but rather the results of extreme caution on their parts. Drivers were shown on the televised production to admitting to boredom and voicing concerns of engine damage while driving at half throttle. I can assure you, this is a first for me as a NASCAR fan. I do not believe I have ever witnessed a race where drivers drove with extreme caution for 170 laps and race for 20. When the drivers did feel free to race, chaos ensued. Without the normal attrition, shuffling and weeding out of various cars associated with a ‘normal’ race, here were an unusually large number of cars involved in a 195 mile an hour rush hour scenario. This resulted in two wrecks within 5 laps, where cars were airborne from air under the tail – another alarming occurrence. I am sure I am not accounting anything you did not witness yourself. However, I cannot express my disgust and frustration strongly enough. I feel, based on my observations of the post-race interviews, many drivers share, in part, my feelings. While no driver I witnessed expressly said as much, it was written clearly in their facial expressions and demeanor.

My disgruntlement is one of a TV viewer, and I cannot fathom the anger I would have experienced if I had put down my hard-earned money for a ticket. I have attended races, and I realized for many fans, the entire weekend experience is a large part of the enjoyment. Personally, no amount of camping, tailgating, camaraderie, or restrooms on every corner would overcome my repugnance. Had I attended, I am sure I would have felt ready to demand a refund at the conclusion of Sunday’s race.

I do want to offer my admiration for the safety features of the COT. It is those very features, which often impacts race car performance, which allowed Ryan Newman and Mark Martin to walk away from their cars. I am willing to see the sacrifice of speed and handling for the drivers’ safety. Racing is most definitely a dangerous sport, regardless of the numerous safety features and regulations. But, at its heart, stock car racing is about putting one car against another to see who can best drive the wheels off the thing. It is about speed, finesse, love, hate, pounding hearts, blood, sweat and tears. Racing should be a pure a sport as possible, giving all allowance to the necessity of safety. The drivers of these cars know the risk and their abilities, but thinly veiled treats in the drivers’ meeting is micromanaging at the least, not to mention an insult to the professionalism of your drivers.

Mr. Helton, I am a fan and an adult. I realize sacrifices must be made for the greater good, whether it’s for reasons of safety or profit. I also realize it is not a perfect world in motorsports, or anywhere else, for that matter. However, I firmly believe an apology is due to the fans, drivers and race teams for the travesty that was this past Sunday’s race. It is an insult to assume your drivers cannot do their job to the best of their ability or that the fans would willingly pay to see the sub-par racing. Being a privately held company, you are reliant on fan support for your continuance. I would like to believe the fans are at the heart of most your decisions. I suppose there will always be someone willing to race and someone willing to watch, regardless of the quality, but please do not insult the intelligence or sophistication of those of us who know the difference.

Regardless, I will most likely find myself in front of my television next weekend. I will be there to watch and cheer on ‘the boys’. I truly hope it will be worth my time and money.

My best to you in your endeavors,

Are You Lonesome Tonight?

2009-10-31T19:36:00.008-05:00

I'm a terrible blogger.

Or, perhaps I should say I'm not a very faithful blogger.

There's plenty going on in the McD house that might qualify as blog fodder, but I've either not had access to a computer (thanks, Things), or I've been too exhausted to put together two thoughts to prepare a blog entry. But, once again, I'm going to attempt to be a more faithful and creative thinker.

Maybe.

At any rate, tonight was the big Trick-or-Treat pilgrimage. Personally, Trick-or-Treating falls into the realm of parental responsibilities and less into the fun catagory. I feel more a member of the Donner Party and have less Halloween spirit than the rest of the McD house. It's the costuming. The Things don't allow me much in the way of creativity anymore. I think next year, I am going to insist on something more interesting than the latest movie character.

Now, I'm off to work on some of the ferocious knitting I have to complete before December 25. I always promise myself that I'll start the gift knitting early, but as Mary Poppins says, it's a pie crust promise.

And, I have somewhere in the neighborhood of 250 pictures to download from the camera.

I suppose it's a good thing I get an extra hour tonight. I'm going to need it.

Because....well, Just Because...

2009-07-23T21:17:00.004-05:00

Sometimes, it's the little, bizarre things in life that make you smile.

While putzing around on the web a couple of days ago, I ran across some photos that defy even my pontifical efforts.

What you have just seen is an example of guerrilla knitting. A short and sweet definition would be creating knitted art by public means. Love it or hate it, this artwork definitely grabs your attention. The group responsible for the above artwork is known as Knit the City and hails from London, England.

Somehow, I think Dr. Who would be right at home.

Knit the Planet!

All approprite permissions for the above photos have been granted by the lovely ladies of Knit the City.

Crossroads seem to come and go

2009-06-16T13:43:00.003-05:00

Yet again, I find I have taken a longer hiatus than I planned.

The Old Man is still with me. Every day is an education, a struggle, a labor of love, a day filled with moments of second guessing. It's been a journey I would never have imagined.

The Things are out of school, and we're trying to enjoy the summer while adjusting to the needs and requirements of The Old Man. It's a work in progress.

Perhaps the biggest news is I scored 25 free Jacob sheep fleece. I'm now learning all there is to know about cleaning a fleece for processing. More on this in the future.

Oh, and I learned about a month ago that I have a "large, buldging herniated disc between L1 and L2". Apparently this is unusual in 'people my age'. These herination tend to happen in lower discs.

So, I am alive, and hopefully, I can make the blog a more interesting place this summer.

It's all about the journey, right?

Wild Blue Yonder

2009-04-01T12:31:00.005-05:00

I haven't posted in ages. I feel like a total slacker when compared to my friend lisascenic, who chronicled her and her husband's story in detail, while I can't manage to post over a couple of months. However, The Man (my father) is doing well, has been discharged into my care, and we're learning together how to live as a recovering stroke patient. He's ready to live life as his former self. I know the reality.

My sister and I try to mitigate as much of the daily routine as possible, as much to keep him from getting bored as anything else (like burning down my house). One of these activities was to take him to Bristol, TN to a NASCAR stock car race a couple of weekends ago. We had a blast. However, we had a special incentive as well.

Thing 2's class has a project they participate in about a character called Flat Stanley. Flat gets flattened by a bulletin board at school one day, and is fine with the exception of be really, really flat. Flat decides to use this to his advantage and mails himself places to have exciting adventures. Thing 2 had already mailed his "Flats", but I contacted his teacher and told her where we were going and if it would be okay to take a Flat. She thought is was a great idea. So, there were the four of us at Bristol Speedway. Sweet Soul Sister, The Man, me, and Flat. We had a great time.

We Can Rebuild Him; We Have the Technology.

2009-01-19T22:10:00.008-05:00

Most of this blog has been dedicated to the ephemera of my life. And the banal. It was never my intention to use the blog to discuss more personal things or discuss 'real life', but there was a major change recently that has taken over my existence to some extent. And, by the same token, it will in some way be reflected in some of the posts on this blog.

My father had a stroke on January 3.

He has no siblings or close family, and as my parents are no longer together, it fell to my brother, sister and I to become his caregivers and advocates as we navigated the world of hospitals and rehabilitation facilities. Being the oldest of the siblings, I, somewhat by default, became the 'child in charge'. We three siblings make the decisions together, with input from my father, but ultimately, The Triumvirate are the ones who have the power, with me being the legal representative.

When it came time to make the decision to place Daddy in a rehabilitation facility, I didn't hesitate. I live in one of the largest medical communities in the state and have one of the best rehabilitation facilities in our area. I made the call, and really didn't give any other options. The Triumvirate live in various parts of the state, but being the only one who actually lived within a strong medical community made the decision even easier. So, when Daddy was released from the hospital, we loaded him into my vehicle and drove him 3 hours across the state to "rehab boot camp" as the intake nurse called it. (Don't ask about why we actually had to do the transport. I've decided the private medical thing is a racket!)

Daddy's therapy is very, very intense. He has at least 3 hours daily, of a combination of physical, occupational and speech/cognitive therapy. Today was a school holiday for me, and I had the opportunity to actually observe him during his day. To say I was impressed is putting it mildly. To say I hope I never need intensive rehabilitation is an understatement. It was brutal. It is not a reflection on the therapists themselves. They were wonderful, encouraging and delightful people who made difficult tasks humorous and engaging. We laughed and joked constantly. But, despite its jovial wrappings, it was hard, grueling work. Daddy was highly motivated, never complained, worked through each and every exercise, and never asked for a break. I think he would have continued working if the therapists would have allowed it, even though they and I both could see he was at his physical limits and exhausted.

The most fascinating part of the day was spent in OT. The rehabilitation hospital has the Bioness equipment, and Daddy is using the Ness H200 for hand rehabilitation. It's the most amazing machine. It allows his left hand, incapacitated by the stroke, to open and close through electrical stimulation. With this device, his hand muscles and nerves are retrained, and the theory is, the pathways to the brain will be reformed, allowing him to eventually move the hand on his own. I told Daddy he was lucky I wasn't his occupational therapist, because we'd be playing with the toy EVERY session. It was just the coolest thing. I also told him he was starting to look like the 6 Million Dollar Man. When I told him we could rebuild him, we had the technology, I got the truest laugh of the day.

Some times, it's just the little things.

Do You Know Where You're Going To.....

2009-01-09T21:57:00.001-05:00

When I was in elementary school, one of my favorite playthings was a white suitcase. That old, beat up suitcase was my childhood version of having a fairy godmother. Open the top, and Bibbidy, Bobbidy, Boo, I became a grownup. Inside were old dresses, hats and purses of my Granny’s. My sister and I (and my brother at infrequent, reluctant intervals) dressed as Grand Dames in these clothes. There were our Haute Couture, refinement, and most of all, the epitome of adulthood.

As I made my obligatory awkward trip through adolescence and into my later teens, I’m sure I thought more than once, “I can’t wait to grow up.” But, what does that mean, “Grow up” or to be a grown up? At high school graduation, I wondered if that was the moment. The moment when I completed my metamorphosis from being a child to the mythological grown up. I waiting all summer before my first semester of college, but I never did feel that difference inside, an indefinable change or state of being that says to myself and the world, “I no longer think or feel or act as of old. As of this moment, I act with a new mature purpose.”

College came, and stayed and lasted for several really fun years. However, I never really felt essentially older inside. I had reached yet another milestone of life. I did what I thought 20-somethings with new college degrees were supposed to do. I got a job. But, I still didn’t feel grown up.

At an impasse, I asked The Mother once when would I feel grown up. Her reply, “When you have children.”

So, I continued to click off the major life milestones that were supposed to make me a mature grown up. I married and at thirty, had the first of my two children. Somehow, astonishingly, despite all the stress and crisis of Thing 1’s birth, I still didn’t feel a member of the grown up club. Yes, I had diplomas, paid my taxed, went to work, had stretch marks, and C-section scars, but I hadn’t crossed that important line in the sand.

Maybe, I thought, it was because I didn’t have a house and a mortgage. I know the illogical nature of this thought, just as I know the whole idea of “becoming a grown up” is somehow inane. Had I reduced it to a date on the calendar? “This is the day I got married, this is the day I had my first child, and this is the day I became a grown up.” It sounds ridiculous. Wondering what defining action will transform me into adulthood is overly simplistic as well. Perhaps I should make it clear that it’s not necessarily that I was so enamored of being a grown up, per se. It is more a sense of it being a failing of character or completion. Being a ‘grown up’ is what we’re taught, as children, we’re to strive to become: to literally grow up from childhood. Somehow, internally, I seemed to be stuck.

I’ve spent the better part of twenty years feeling like the same basic messed up teenager inside. She’s complex and worldly and yes, difficult, as she’s had the benefit of 20 years of experience. At heart, she’s that hormonal, mixed up, crazy chick that has been going through my life living as best she can and bluffing when she doesn’t know what else to do.

No, the mortgage did not magically grant me entry into grownup-hood.

Yes, there’s now a date on the calendar. January, 6, 2009. That is the day a grown up entered my psyche after twenty years of teenage bluffing.

Tuesday, January 6 is the date where I went from being the child of a parent to being the caregiver and decision maker for a parent. Luckily for me, this is a journey and responsibility I do not have to undertake alone. The prognosis appears very good that my siblings and I will not have these additional tasks for the long term.

But, for today, as I am tired, stressed, worried, angered, bewildered, exhausted, and frustrated, I finally feel like a grown up.

And, now that I know that feeling? If this is what being a grown up is about, I’ll take that messed-up, blustering, bluffing, no-holds-barred teenager any day.

I miss her.

"They're here already! You're next!"

2009-01-03T18:31:00.008-05:00

I've become a pod person.

Despite using the famous last line from the movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers, I'm not referring to that kind of pod.

I mean a iPod and listening to podcasts type of person.

Necropolis gifted me with an iPod Shuffle this holiday season, and I've been using this past week with a frequency bordering on obsession. Music is okay, but the podcasts have become my particular manna. I started with knitting and crafting podcasts. Some are better than others, but I've not really found my niche there. Yknit and StashandBurn seem to be the ones I go back to listen to past podcasts more regularly.

When I started browsing further on iTunes, I discovered some of my Saturday NPR favorites, and I have listened to every available episode of Michael Feldman's What do you know and Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me. Now, one of my personal goals is to have Carl Kassel's voice on my answering machine.

Then, I found my holy grail of podcasts: CraftLit. CraftLit is hosted by Heather, a former High School literature teacher. In her own words, she says:

I wanted to welcome you all to CraftLit, a Podcast for Crafters. I imagine you’re here because you like to work with your hands, but you also like to read. If so, this is the place for you! Our program will follow a similar pattern every week. After some introductory comments, a web, magazine, or book review, and perhaps a song, I will include a chapter or two from a book. We will listen to that book until we’re done with it. And because I’m a former English teacher, I’ll give you some things to listen for in the chapters we hear--just to give you something else to do while you’re knitting, spinning, crocheting, weaving, or sewing. Any painters?

As she was on hiatus during the holidays, I went back and listened to sets of older podcasts/books. Her first selection was Austen's Pride and Prejudice. I knew this was going to be a match made in heaven! I finished that series of podcasts (about 20) in less than 3 days, and now have moved on to the set of Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. Oh, and she's also begun her newest set, Robert Lewis Stevenson's Jekyll and Hyde. Fun! Fun! Fun! I can listen to great books and knit or spin at the same time!

All CraftLit's books come from Librivox. LibriVox provides free audiobooks from the public domain and has 2000 books in its library. LibriVox volunteers record chapters of books in the public domain and release the audio files back onto the net. Their goal is to make all public domain books available as free audio books.

If you have any bit of bibliophile in your soul, I suggest you join us.

You're next.

It's Too Late, Baby

2008-12-29T19:09:00.010-05:00

Remember The Crab Show?

Well, if the man in your life doesn't get enough Crab Show in his life, there's now a remedy for that (not TiVo).

Battle 40-foot waves, storms, ice and a nearly 100 percent crew member injury rate in the dangerous hunt for undersea riches on the Bering Sea with the new video game Deadliest Catch Alaskan Storm, to be launched on the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PC.
The game was inspired by Sig, Edgar and Norman Hansen -- three brothers who have made their living crab fishing on the Bering Sea aboard their family's fishing vessel, the Northwestern. The Hansen brothers started game development with Liquid Dragon Studios in October 2005. Deadliest Catch Alaskan Storm lets gamers captain their own boat in the frenzied search for an undersea jackpot. Gamers select one of five real crab boats, including the Northwestern, Cornelia Marie and Sea Star '' all featured on the series, or create and customize their own boat. Gamers then recruit and lead their own crew from a roster of 20 real crab fishermen.
Selecting the wrong boat or recruiting the wrong crew member can mean the difference between landing a Bering Sea jackpot or disaster. Lead your fatigued, hungry and hardworking crew in the strategic search for king crab and opilio crab, while battling to secure your catch and livelihood before other captains and crews get to the crab first.
Authenticity and realism were critical to the Hansen brothers. The game features four real Bering Sea harbors and 34,000 miles of Bering Sea coastline created from the United States Geological Survey. In addition, Deadliest Catch Alaskan Storm is the first video game to feature United States Coast Guard vessels and helicopters.

No kidding. Despite my very imaginative and creative brain, I dropped the ball on this one. I could have made a MINT if I had thought of it.

If you need more verification, go check it out for yourself at Discovery Channel.

Take It On The Run

2008-12-26T18:05:00.003-05:00

You take it on the run baby

If that's the way you want it baby

Then I don't want you around

I don't believe it

Not for a minute

You're under the gun so you take it on the run

--- REO Speedwagon

On the way to and from the In Laws, we always pass this little place that has the most amazing horses. This year on the way home, I asked Necropolis to make a stop and let me take some photos.

After a moment of taking photos from the truck and through the fence, I decided to get a little closer and see what I could capture. Necropolis wasn't happy. I'm not sure what he would thought the little horses would do, exactly. There were only about a half a dozen, and they were all small Mustang or Mustang type breeds. In short, gorgeous.

I'm chatting away, cooing to the horses, who are paying no mind and chomping away, while Necropolis is yelling at me from truck. After a moment, I notice I have captured the attention of one of the geldings.

He was a sweetheart and saunders up to the fence. He blows a bit, but then snuffles and sniffs and is ready to be petted. This really set Necropolis off, so I took a couple more photos and tramped back to the truck.

Sometimes I really miss owing a horse.

The stall mucking, not so much.

All I'm Saying Is....

2008-12-12T23:13:00.001-05:00

Check it out. It's free.

Register on ArtFire.com

And, yes, I have Six Degrees Arts shop on there.

O Tannenbaum! O Tannenbaum!

2008-12-08T20:32:00.005-05:00

This past weekend was Tree Day, otherwise known as "The Third Time of the Holiday Season JPMcD Loses Her Freakin' ........."

It starts with finding the tree. We go live, and The Things think that means they go wild (as in zoo). This year, for some reason, I was really put out with Necropolis and The Things, so we grabbed the first halfway decent tree and brought it home. It wasn't until it was in the living room that I realized we had a mutant tree with antennae.

Now comes the part that no one else in the house can seem to do but me. That would be the lights. We have them on an old cable spool, and I roll them out on the floor, plug them in, replacing any dead bulbs or deleting any dead strings and put the things on the tree. In past years, I would carefully wind the lights around branches and such, having anywhere between 8 to 10 strands, somewhere in the neighborhood of 800 to 1000 lights.

This year, I couldn't find the replacement bulbs I kept (I'm blaming the move), and I had no energy to wind and check and carefully light the tree. I just smooshed (that's a technical design term) the lights up on the tree, trying to hide the cabling as best I could. I was still a strand short.

After the lights comes The Great Decanting. Half a dozen huge and heavy plastic containers filled to overflowing with gee-gaws and doo-dads and all kinds of Christmas regalia are released by The Things. It's almost like watching the little old ladies in their fur coats getting out of their chauffeur-driven Cadillacs at the Day After Christmas sale at Fine's on Broughton in Savannah (that's another story all together).

There's a good side to that, though. I'm so glad The Things old enough to decorate the tree now, I don't even care that most of the decorations are on the bottom half of the tree. All I know is, I don't have to do it.

JenniPMcGyver's Amazing Cotton Spindle

2008-12-06T00:13:00.003-05:00

If it can be done, I'm going to figure out a way to do it.

If I'm told it can't be done, I'm going to figure out a way to do it.

If I'm told it's impossible and beyond the realm of plausibility, I will take it as a personal mission to figure out a way to do it.

Behold my latest figuring.

It all started with a cotton plant.

These sorry things show up in elementary schools about this time of year, as the classroom teachers incorporate 'real world' into their lessons. Today, as the unsightly, dead shrub is lying in the back of my co-worker's classroom, I decide all I can really do in this instance is waste some time and dig out some seeds for The Things. I set about my little personal mission, much to the somewhat bizarre amazement of the 5th graders in the classroom.

As I go about picking out the seeds my teacher friend, Ms. E, mentions to the class that I have the ability to spin the cotton into yarn. Okay, this is true in theory, but 1) I have only spun cotton (pencil roving) once, and 2) I wasn't sure it was even possible to spin straight from the boll.

The students, being unconvinced that thread or yarn could POSSIBLY come from that little bit of fluff ("I mean, it's, like, what you clean your ears with"), I take it as a personal mission to prove them wrong. Just to make my day. I'm like that.

There's just one small, inconvenient issue. I have no spindle or spinning appliances with me at school at the time. Never fear, I am a Master at creating something out of nothing. So, I set about on my scavenger hunt. An old rhythm stick (it's good to be the music teacher), a bobbin of jewelry filament (it's good to be friends with the art teacher) and a push pin. And Scotch tape. Lots of Scotch tape.

5 minutes later, I had a working, if slightly unbalanced, spindle.

Now, came the tricky part. Spinning the 1/2 inch cotton fibers into singles. Cotton has its own issues for spinning because of the fiber length. They're just so short, they require lots of twist and some quick finger work to make the fibers stick together. My original plan was to create a supported spindle, but I couldn't work out the weight issues and get a good spin, so I settled on a drop spindle and hoped I could get enough spin to allow me to draft the cotton.

I did.

Of course, I did.

Just call me McGyver.

All I Want for Christmas....

2008-12-04T17:27:00.007-05:00

My last post gave the not so subtle suggestion to resist the urge to buy gifts for the holiday season, and instead, to try your hand at a self-created gift. It occurred to me that some people, while otherwise intelligent and brilliant in their own way, irons on the head not withstanding, may not have any idea where to start to even begin to have a glimmer of a suggestion for a handmade gift. So, I did the search work for you.

I found a couple of really nice, informative and quite groovy cool sites out in the ether that may be of benefit to those whos artsy-cratftiness may need some small assistance.

The first is Go Make Something. Not only is this site well designed and easy to follow, but the suggested crafts are fun, useful, artistic, beautiful and generally made with 'stuff' you may have on hand. If you already have a craft drawer (or several rubbermaid containers. Or a whole room), here's your chance to drag out all that stuff you bought but never used, and can now put it to good use, making thoughtful and smart gifts for your friends and family. My personal favorite from this site is the altered books. If you're not familiar with an altered book, take a gander at this:

Another site is Craftster.org. This site is able to be a little more personalized, and you can log in, go to the groups/forums/etc. But, if you putz around, you can really find some neat ideas.

However, if you're still afraid you'll burn your palms or somehow crush every toe you have, then I suggest you do the next best thing: Give to a charity. Buy local. Buy simple. Or Buy Handmade. You can do the last by checking out those of us who sell our handmade items on Etsy.

Happy Holidays.

So This Is Christmas...

2008-11-29T11:58:00.007-05:00

So this is Christmas

And what have you done

Another year over

And a new one just begun

~~ John Lennon

While checking through some of my online friends' blogs, I ran across Lisa and Robb's. They have an amazing story all in themselves, but I particularly admire Lisa for her convictions as well as her ability to take some really amazing photographs.

In one of her most recent posts, she had the image you see to your left, and I have to admit, it struck a really chord with me.

I am one for handmade gifts, have been known to buy brown craft paper and create my own wrapping paper (kids hands are great and FREE!), have given to charities in others names as gifts, and just generally disdain what I often refer to as conspicuous consumerism. Don't get me started about Necropolis' absolutely necessary trip to Hot-lanta last year for Black Friday (I spent most of it in the car). And, this year, I read where a Wal-Mart employee was trampled to death by Black Friday shoppers. Is this really the image we want for Christmas? I definitely know this isn't the value system I want imparted on my children.

So I checked out buynothingchristmas.org. I encourage you to do so as well. Even if you can't do all your gifts in this manner, think about what you can do.

Seven Bridges Road

2008-11-28T21:27:00.002-05:00

One of the many reasons we enjoy our new neighborhood. Hopefully, I will soon have the appropriate equipment to take this picture at night, instead of just at dusk.

To Market, To Market

2008-11-17T11:16:00.005-05:00

New items listed in the Etsy Shop. Here's a small preview.

When You're a Jet, You're a Jet

2008-11-13T18:11:00.004-05:00

I’ve always known I’m a bit of a geeky nerd. Okay, I’m a LOT of a geeky nerd. And, I’m totally okay with that. My car radio is tuned to NPR. I like to create historic garb. I know what lapidary is, and I enjoy sitting and sweating in the Georgia July sun to take butterfly pictures. I find the gossipy history of musicians totally fascinating (check out Gesualdo) and once considered becoming a musicologist.

In the fibery world, I’m geeky as well. I knit at the pool and the beach. I know the difference between Lord Raglan and Lord Cardigan. I have a spinning wheel and spindle. I even have geeky fibery friends. One of those friends knitted a bicycle helment cover based on this little creature:

It’s a nudibranch, a lovely little sea creature, but I’m just enthralled that someone would knit this.

I also dye fiber and yarn, and have begun the geeky nerdy process of experimenting with my dyeing solutions and processes. No household product is safe. Today, I discovered I am a novice in the world of geeky nerdy fiberhood. On Ravelry, a question was asked about why a particular yellow dye solution wouldn’t stay dissolved, and reverted to a state somewhat consistent to Egg Drop Soup.

All of a sudden, my new friend Brewergnome was possessed. He gave a Chemistry lesson on hydrophobic dye, blah, blah, blah. You can read his ‘findings’ at his blog. It’s actually interesting reading if you’re into it, and has pictures and everything.

All hail, King of the Nerds!

Good Knitting Gone Bad

2008-10-28T19:48:00.008-05:00

Remember this?

It was a lovely little sweater. It was lovingly hand dyed, and Thing 2 was so involved in the process. He chose the colors and helped with the dyeing. He decided the order of the stripes and chose his own buttons. He was incredibly patient when I would yell in the middle of cartoons, "Hey MUC, come try this on for me!"

A couple of weekends ago, Necropolis decided to do so laundry. Yeah....I think you know what's coming:

You'll have to excuse the Joker looking expression on MUC. I made him stand in the last of the afternoon direct sunlight. At any rate, with regard to the sweater, I think it might fit my 2 year old niece about now. We're still deciding what to do. We may have another Tomten in the making (it was really a quick knit), or MUC may choose a different pattern. Oh well, easy come, easy go.

On other fronts, the holiday knitting frenzy has commenced. Here are some of the various pieces. I'm not going to tell too much, should one of the recipients happen to read this post. After the holidays, I'll be sure to be more detailed about the projects.

And, no, I still don't know what's up with the photos, but I think I have a solution figured out. I'm just too tired and lazy to change the ginormus pics at the moment.

Cuttin' Up

2008-10-26T10:26:00.005-05:00

After searching for pumpkins, The Things bugged Necropolis and I to carve the things. I managed to keep it to a low amount of pumpkin touching by being the one to witness through a camera lens. The Things had a great time, but it was one messy proposition.

Yes Letterboxers, that is my stamp carving lino cutter. It worked beautifully, so next year, I know we'll be doing more elaborate pumpkins.

The end results. We went rather traditional on the Jack 'O Lanterns this year, but the Things had a great time, and I had pumpkin seeds to roast.

Pick-a, PIck-a Pumpkin

2008-10-25T10:55:00.005-05:00

This morning, we braved the cold drizzle to get our pumpkins for Halloween. The Things were not dressed for the weather, so the pictures that include them show that they're not really happy campers. So, it was a quick trip, but I did get some pictures.

I have no idea why this pictures turned out so freakin' huge. However, I'm too lazy to fix them today. I'll see what Blogger has done to change their setting and adjust later.

Because I'm a sucker.... (and a dork)

2008-10-13T17:34:00.004-05:00

There's a gal out in cyberland who has created a knit-a-long where by you have to solve clues to get the URL for the various pdfs for the pattern and charts. It's called the da Vinci Knit A Long, and I had planned to check it out when I hear about it a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, I forgot that the closing date of the clues is TOMORROW, and I've spent the better part of my day hunting down various bits and pieces of extraneous information to see if I could get to the pattern and charts. Luckily, and with quite a bit of reading other people's hints and suggestions on Ravelry, I managed to get all the information printed out.

Now I just have to knit the stinkin' thing.

Jolly Goode Tyme

2008-10-12T15:41:00.007-05:00

We made our annual pilgrimage to the Carolina Renaissance Festival this weekend. We took a couple of added kiddos, the offspring of long-time friends who are going through some very difficult medical issues. The Contessa and Danielson are just young enough that I've forgotten somewhat it's like to have ones that need help eating/dressing/bathrooming/car-ride entertaining, so there was a small relearning curve of Necropolis and me. After that, the day, while long, went smoothly and a good time was had by all. I took the camera and got a lot of good shots.

Some of the more amusing and/or those with better composition:

Friends in Low Places

2008-10-03T10:05:00.004-05:00

Last weekend, while we were enjoying laziness to its full potential, The Shedder (otherwise know as our dog) decided to release her full psychosis at our kitchen window. Necropolis finally got tired of listening to The Shedder and after yelling at her to shut her trap (completely ineffective) and fearing a citation for breaking local noise ordinances, he got up to see what was cause of all the anxiety.

When he told me, I think I became more excited than the dog.

Yes, he was that day-glow orange in person as well. That was part of the reason I took so many pictures, but I'll spare you the slide show and just share a few.

I did move Toby (yes, I temporarily named the turtle) back to the Primordium (aka our backyard) so he'd have a decent chance to get away before The Shedder's next outdoor run. Toby was successful, as the dog didn't seem to notice anything on her late afternoon poop trip.

I'll miss Toby.

A-Maze-ing Challenge

2008-09-19T12:23:00.008-05:00

As one who can never turn away a challenge, I find myself embroiled in yet another one. A few posts ago, I mentioned being a member of Knitting 20th Century Novels on Ravelry, and this ‘round’ we’re reading Umberto Eco’s Name of the Rose. Also part of this group is to knit an accompanying work, if so desired.

Already, very early in the reading (by the first chapter), a labyrinth is featuring prominently in the reading. There’s constant reference to the idea of the monastery library being a labyrinth (more a maze really, but the theory is the same in this case). Discussion on the project board centered at first on some brave soul who wondered aloud on how to incorporate semiotics into her knitting. Semiotic is, in really, really, really shorthand terms the study of signs and symbols, a huge sub-plot of the book and is, in fact, Eco’s area of expertise in the collegiate world.

From this first brave (in my opinion) board post, discussion gradually moved to the idea of creating an afghan or blanket based on a labyrinth, and me being me, I had to add my two cents about Latin text and hidden meanings. Now, the project is blooming into a life of its own.

Further discussion and research had one member discover Eco actually based the library labyrinth from the maze on the floor of Rheims Cathedral in France (1211 destroyed 1779).

Conveniently, it has places to place some secret symbols, and my imagination is going full throttle.
At this point, everything is still in my head, but I do have plans to put it in ‘fit for public consumption form’. I hope. I’ve already resigned myself that this is not a project that will be completed upon the specified time limit of the book group. However, I’m not deterred. I thought there might be some here who were interested in watching this unfold.

Did Tina Fey Out-Palin Palin?

2008-09-14T17:55:00.002-05:00

If you have to ask, you haven't watched the SNL opening skit from last night (9/13).

HIL-F*@&ING-ARIOUS!

I happened to find the whole skit at the Chicago Tribune. Even if you don't like politics, or Palin, or Clinton, or whatever, it's still a freakin' funny skit.

Coming to a Theater Near You

2008-09-13T16:41:00.010-05:00

As often happens in a house where the adults are true Gen-X’ers, conversations are often peppered with cultural references and many video, movie and television quotes. Today, for some strange reason, conversation revolved (as it often does when Necropolis is involved) to matters of….how shall I say….adult humor (not strange), when I came back with a line from a movie I haven’t thought of in years (the strange part).

During our college tenure, we watched some of the most eclectic movies and videos I’ve ever seen, and that’s saying something. And, no, I’m not referring to porn. This particular reference was to a Troma movie known as Redneck Zombies. I could probably go all into the plot, subplot, etc of this movie, but from Wikipedia (and yes, I was more than a little startled to see that RZ had its own wiki entry):

The film is set in rural Maryland, where a 50 gallon drum of radioactive waste, misplaced by the military, is discovered by a group of rednecks who decide to use it as part of their new moonshine still. The resulting toxic mixture turns the simple townsfolk into ravenous zombies, who attack a passing group of nearby campers.

No, Citizen Kane, it ain’t.

Funny? Oh, yeah.

What’s also funny are the reviews on Amazon. For whatever reason, Nec and I found ourselves on there and just about messed ourselves laughing at some of the reviews. Some of our favorites (with errors):

FOR THE PEOPLE WHO ARE INTERESTED IN WATCHING THIS MOVIE, GET REALLY HIGH OR DO SOME KIND OF DRUG BEFORE YOU WATCH IT

One of the greats of all time; look for Ferd Murtz, Elly Mae, Perky the Pig, and the two guys sitting on the couch waiting for their moonshine shipment. Sample dialogue: "I'm a-goin' fishin'." "Have ya got worms?" "Yeah, but I'm a-goin' anyway." Must be seen to be appreciated (and believed). Great theme song by "The Poison Squirrels from Hell".

Ok ill keep this short dont buy this peice of crap go and spend your hard earnd
money on 13 $1.00 hookers. The herpes you contract is fare more pleasant than
this hunk of dirt farming inbred trailer park trash movie.

If you hate yourself, I recommend you watch this movie.

And, my personal favorite:

If you like bad acting combined with a whole lot of chicken blood, this movie is for you! THIS NEXT LINE WILL CONVINCE YOU TO SEE THIS MOVIE: You get to see a guy get stabbed in the eye with a corncob.

If you’re interested in what weirdness entertains the adults in the McD home, you can go to YouTube for a RZ trailer. Warning this trailer contains graphic violence and should not be watched by people under the age of 18 or with a weak stomach.

Might Not Be Bartlett's, but the Point's the Same...

2008-09-12T10:45:00.001-05:00

I'm not really a political person. At least, not in the way it seems to be some type of homecoming pep rally. I supposed I just have a different view of government and service. I have my beliefs and others are free to have theirs which I'll defend to the death for them to have (this IS America, after all), but I'm not so interested in hashing them out.

I've been asking myself a question lately, though. Because I have a vagina, does one of the major political parties really believe one is as good as another and I'll vote for any? What kind of election whore does that make me? Is that *really* what they think of us? How totally insulting and degrading is this?

So I've tried not to fall into the obvious trap and to be open minded and fair. I've tried to listen to positions and issues on both sides. But so far, all I've heard is Side 1: Change (which, admittedly, is a position albeit a rather broad and nonspecific one), and Side 2: The Change Side 1 is talking about isn't a position on the issues.

I have tried to get the substitute vagina thing. So far, all I've heard is lipstick, pit bulls, and The Bridge on the River Kwai Too Far to Nowhere. Of course, this is also the same person who said if the Pledge of Allegiance was good enough for the Founding Fathers it was good enough for her. Makes it a tough call.

This morning, I listened to the news on the radio, and as I listened to what was said by the candidate in question (who never did really answer the questions, now that I think about it) all I could do was shake my head and be reminded of the following quote:

You know, Ms. Gibbs, growing up in the rural part of Georgia, I've been around
compost all my life. I've seen it loaded onto wagons and tilled, hoed and spread
across fields far and wide. But until today, I must say, I've never seen it tied
up and gift wrapped in quite so neat and tidy and 'pretty' a package.
Congratulations. You're a very clever girl. But it's still compost. Now if
you'll excuse me, I leave you to dig your way out. You do know how to dig, don't
you? You just get down on your hands and knees, and shovel.

Thank you, Julia Sugarbaker.

BTW: I promise to get back to yarn, knitting, butterflies or stupid family stuff very soon.

Edited to add this Julia quote, because I forgot about this episode, but it applies somewhat as well, and Julia's always good for a harangue. From "The Candidate":

I do not think everyone in America is ignorant! Far from it! But we
are today, probably, the most uneducated, under read, and illiterate nation in
the western hemisphere. Which makes it all the more puzzling to me why the
biggest question on your small mind is whether or not little Johnny is gonna
recite the Pledge of Allegiance every morning! I'll tell you something else, Mr.
Brickett. I have had it up to here with you and your phony issues and your
Yankee Doodle yakking! If you like reciting the Pledge of Allegiance everyday
then I think you should do it! In the car! In the shower! Wherever the mood
strikes you! But don't try to tell me when or where I have to say or do or
salute anything, because I am an American too, and that is what being an
American is all about! And another thing, I am sick and tired of being made to
feel that if I am not a member of a little family with 2.4 children who goes
just to Jerry Fallwell's church and puts their hands over their hearts every
morning that I am unreligious, unpatriotic, and un-American! Because I've got
news for you, Mr. Brickett. All liberals are not kooks, anymore than all
conservatives are fascists! And the last time I checked, God was neither a
Democratic nor a Republican! And just for your information, yes I am a liberal,
but I am also a Christian. And I get down on my knees and pray everyday - on my
own turf - on my own time. One of the things that I pray for, Mr. Brickett is
that people with power will get good sense, and that people with good sense will
get power... and that the rest of us will be blessed with the patience and the
strength to survive the people like you in the meantime!

Take a Sad Song and Make It Better

2008-09-10T09:53:00.002-05:00

Every so often, the future of our youth doesn’t depress me.

Being a teacher in the elementary grades, I see things that would make a lesser person weep. The way adults treat their progeny often is criminal, not to mention the state of education. Why are children being left behind? Because first graders are doing algebra, but can’t do basic addition, 4th grade science lessons on sound is material I learned in a college level physics class, and I, the educator with a Masters Degree, have to go to teachers I know to get assistance with my elementary children’s homework.

But that’s not the point of this post.

Being a music teacher, a lot of what I see is children so burnt out on school by second grade, they can’t concentrate on the music education I’m contracted to deliver to them 30 minutes once a week. So, I somewhat circumvent the system. I teach the standards, but I do it my way. We may be working on beat, but we use Tooty Ta and Cha Cha Slide to do it. Bottom line, I don’t think there’s any reason for the kids to be stressed about music as well as academics in elementary school. But, this, too, is another post.

Last spring, as I got a little bored and ready for summer, I pulled out some of my lighter materials. Amongst and amid was a kids’ arrangement of The Beatles’ I Want to Hold Your Hand. Being a major Beatles fan, I brought out some other things I had, including an old video of Bobby McFerrin doing Blackbird. I also took out one other song for the kids to learn. I wanted something from a different Beatles’ era, but something a little different and something they may not have heard (unless their parents were like me, and listened to Beatles A LOT). I chose Hey, Jude.

All my 2nd through 5th graders loved it. It didn’t matter if they were from upwardly mobile suburbans or subsidized housing apartments, the kids repeatedly asked for Hey Jude long after the lessons were over, and well to the end of school. The favorite part? Where the actual lyrics end and the “Na-Na, Hey, Jude” begins. Good Lord, those kids were loud.

So, now I’ve started a new school year, and on the first week of school, without fail, the song I was most often asked about? You guessed it…Hey, Jude.

Now the key to this story is that I only taught this lesson to the older grades, students in 2nd through 5th grades. At the end of last week, a new 2nd grader (who was in 1st grade last year), asked, "When are we going to 'do the Beatles’."

Long live The Beatles.

A Novel Without A Hero

2008-09-07T17:25:00.011-05:00

Once Upon A Time there was a blog entitled Knitting the Classics. It's now defunct, but it's purpose (at the time) was to read some great books and knit inspiring piece of works based on said book. Unfortunately for me, I discovered this little gem too late.

Being the voracious reader I am, I have no lack of books in my dining room/studio that have been sacrificed at the altar of my literary muse this summer. Perhaps my greatest accomplishment was in reading the Diana Gabaldon Outlander series. Yes, I read all 6 book, incompassing some 6800 pages, in less than two weeks. And, I broke up the monotony of Claire and Jamie's story with Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series. I was a busy girl.

The trouble, if you want to call it that, is that I read for myself, but generally have no avenue of discourse regarding these books. I read, digest and internalize these books. Most often, this isn't an issue. My ideas would probably set people's backs up and frighten small children. But, every so often, I have the desire to read, discuss and exchange.

A book club doesn't really appeal, and isn't all that conducive to my life, given The Things. If I want to have a discussion about The Spiderwick Chronicles, I suppose I'm set. But, if I want to talk Pride and Prejudice, I'm a little short on method and opportunity, despite the motive.

Enter Knit the Classics. It would have been the perfect balance and compromise. If it still existed. Luckily for me, there's a fair compromise. On Ravelry, there are two groups, Knitting 19th Century Novels and Knitting 20th Century Novels which hold basically the same function as KTC: Read a major work every two month (and discuss in the forums) and knit a project inspired by the novel.

I've picked up my first two novels, Vanity Fair by Willam Makepeace Thackery, and The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. I'm reading along and already have the beginnings of knitting inspiration for Name of the Rose, as you can see by the photo below. I'm thinking ideas along rose windows. Not sure how, exactly I'm going to pull this off yet, though.

So, now I can discuss and talk, as time allows, and not worry that my ideas are strange or weird or whatever. I have the time to really think about what I say before I type my ideas out, and I can pose these theories in the best light. Right?

Well, you would think so, but apparently, I'm just that much of a freak. When I brought forth a point in Vanity Fair, where one of the characters is labeled a misanthrope (a word that's popped up repeatedly for me this summer), I somewhat challenged it. I asked what others thought. And only one person replied with a sort of wishy-washy response.

Maybe I'll just go back to lurking and keep my mouth shut.

It's 90 Degrees and I'm Knitting With Wool!

2008-09-06T21:37:00.007-05:00

Yes, I'm still a knitting fiend.

I've been knitting around the house and everywhere else I go. Not to mention, as I unpack boxes and run across various works-in-progress, I've been doing my best to wrap them up. Of course, that doesn't stop me from starting something new.

Out with the old:

I finished the stole for DT. I'm pleased with it, and she loved it. It's in her classroom right now. She wears it around the school when the A/C is cranking at meat locker levels.

I ran across the Blue Jean Lace Leaf Shawl I was planning to give to the Mother-In-Law for last Christmas. Obviously, I didn't finish, and I didn't give it to her. However, I may do that this year, since it's now complete. It's made of Handmaiden's Sea Silk yarn, so it's really, really yummy.

I did finish the Alpaca Sox that I was working on. Now I can't find them. When I do, I'll take the requisite photo.

The new:

I've been watching an obscene amount of Firefly and Serenity lately. I think it appeals to the absurd in me. At any rate, I was inspired by one of the characters, River Tam, to design a pair of socks. I'm still in the knitting/figuring it out stage, but so far, so good. The red thread is to denote where I plan to put an afterthought heel. I didn't want to have to worry with carrying a pattern and working a short row heel at the same time.

Here's the beginnings of "Hey, Teach!" from Knitty.com. I've just started, but I had some CashSoft in the stash, so my sweater isn't going to be the right weight. But, the yarn is so soft, and so light, I think it will be a good sweater for the area.

So, that's the current in progress. Of course, there's the "projects that may spontaneously begin at any moment", and I have been fondling yarn all weekend. Not to mention, there are a couple of special upcoming projects in the works.

It's amazing I ever get anything completed.

Today's Visitor

2008-09-06T15:16:00.003-05:00

Look who's visiting today!

A friend who's into beasties and such says she thinks it's a yellow garden spider. What I know? It's freakin' HUGE! It must be at least three and a half inches long, and it's spun an incredibly large web on my front porch. She's not bothering anyone, and The Things think she's pretty cool, but she's still a bit unsettling.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation, Sweetie Dahling

2008-08-21T15:33:00.006-05:00

I realized I've been neglectful on updating the blog again. This past summer was mainly spent keeping The Things entertained or carting them to their various tutoring/therapies. If not that, then I was involved in some house related activity, such as: pretending to unpack, looking at the furniture that I can't move without help, cursing at the animals (feline and canine) for dragging packing material around, etc. When life got a little too realistic, I managed to find some things to occupy my time, if not my mind.

We ferret-sat for DT (MUC's reading tutor, and a colleague of mine) for a month. Phoebe is a classroom ferret, and she's one of the coolest, most laid back ferrets I've ever encountered. Necropolis complained about the smell the entire time, but we had a good time with her. Phoebe's back at school now, entertaining her 8th class of 1st graders.

Of course, I took more photos of butterflies and skippers as long as the lantana held out. I think the heat finally got to the plants, so I haven't see as many lately.

I decided to try my hand at vermiculture. My expert opinion on this is: do not attempt this in Georgia in the middle of July during a heat wave (worm funeral). I'm going to give it another shot in about another month once it cools off a bit, and I can find a better place for the bin.

I also waged the Slug Wars against the buggers that thought my new hydrangea bush was a tasty delicacy. Me, a jar top, and the little bit left at the bottom of a bottle of beer (after drinking it, of course). Repeat as needed. Problem solved.

During some of the tutoring/therapy sessions, I and whichever Thing was odd man out would investigate some of the area cemeteries. One area cemetery in particular has more Victorian influences, and as such, more iron work. Very interesting stuff.

I also had what some might call an important birthday. It's just another birthday to me, but only easier to recall my exact age since there's a zero involved. I did get a pretty cool cake, though. I also got an awesome present.

I'd been coveting the Ab Fab collection since I'd discovered it was available in all its dysfunctional glory. It's now all mine, Sweetie Dahling!

Yes, I know this isn't my best arranged blog page. School always totally kick my ass the first couple of weeks. Hopefully, I'll feel better soon. More updates should be in the works.

But Are You Knitting?

2008-06-28T15:06:00.005-05:00

I could answer with some quippy cliche' about the Pope or bears in the woods, but the short answer is yes. At any given time, there are about a half a dozen projects 'on the needles' in and around my house. Most of them, right now, are in a box somewhere. That being the case, I'm a little low on gratuitous fiber shots, but I am getting a lot done on the projects I am working on.

Project 1 is a lace stole for DT, a teacher friend who is tutoring MUC in reading over the summer. This stole isn't anything fancy in the way of technique or design. I chose the pattern out of Treasury of Knitting Patterns, VL. 1 because it was mind-numbingly easy, making this a great travel project. The yarn is Knit Picks Bare, and I dyed it with some not-quite exhausted blue, but I did this sort of paint on thing. The yarn came out with this distressed denim type effect, which actually works, since the yarn is already starting to get a bit fuzzy from the stitch work. By the time I get this thing all sized and pinned out, it should be a really relazed, but comfy casual stole, which fits DT perfectly. The big news from this project is the Addi Turbo Lace circulars. Boy do they make all the difference in the world. I really recommend these needles if you're working with laceweight yarns or complicated stitchwork. The sharper points work so much easily than traditional Addis.

Project 2 is a rescue of some Alpaca Sox yarn sock I started some time ago and forgot. I ran across them in The Great Unpacking and decided to frog some unsightly patterning that just wasn't working and go for plain 'ol socks. They're not the fanciest in the world, but they are some kind of warm and fuzzy. They're going to make great Birk socks.

And, there's no picture, but I always have some kind of cotton project going, like market bags or dishcloths, which I generally work while at the pool with the kids. Yes, I even knit at the pool. And the movies. And while waiting for the doctor in the exam room. What can I say?

Small Post Script: Spoke to Dr. Lucy at length today. She is doing well, other than the 2 shots she must give herself each day. Fortunately, those end soon. Thank you for your kind thoughts for my friend.

Eat, Pray, Love - This Is the Meaning of Life?

2008-06-27T15:54:00.003-05:00

First, let me say I consider myself a fairly intelligent individual. It's not that I'm arrogant or superior about my acumen. I don't claim to have any ability equivalent to Stephen Hawking or Einstein. I'm no dummy either.

Secondly, I'm a voracious reader. There are always a few books I'm in the process of reading at any given time. Currently, I'm in the middle of one of the Florence King essay compilations, a biography of Abigail Adams, the letters of Abigail Adams and John Adams (I'm working on those concurrently), as well as a couple of pulp novels that have no particular literary value at all. I just use them as void fillers. In the past two and a half months, I've also read Jane Austen's Emma, three other Florence King books, both The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns (by the same author and I recommed them highly), The Red Tent, a Christopher Moore book (whose title escapes me at the moment), The Count of Monte Christo ( for the innumerable time), Friday Night Knitting Club, a collection of O Henry stories (again), and several others, including the latest Laurell K Hamilton.

I recently read Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat Pray Love, which is unusual for me for a couple of reasons. I don't really care what everyone else is reading, and I don't follow the best sellers as a matter of course. Also, I'm not into the whole self-help, 'here's the way to find yourself' thing. Why I actually picked this book up is a mystery. Maybe it has something to do with WHERE she went as opposed to WHY. Her travels took her to Italy, India and Bali, places I happen to find fascinating, and perhaps that is what lead to my interest. At any rate, I picked it up, plunked down my money and bought it. Once purchased, I slogged my way through it, regardless of whether I liked it or not. Rare is it for me to put a book down in total disgust before reading it through. I gave this book the same courtesy. I read it, and I did enjoy reading it, although it did get a bit tedious at times. It was a nice little book about one woman's personal journey to self-discovery.

Do I find it revolutionary and groundbreaking?

No.

This is where I'm having such difficulty. This book has becoming some sort of textbook on how to discover yourself. The author has been on Oprah where much to-do was made, there are reading group guides, the reviews tend to be over the top and I just don't get it. There's just not that much there. It's not an instruction manual. It's not even really a "how-to". It's more of a "year in the life".

Let me back-track a bit here and say, I do understand, fully, a person's need to search for personal or higher awareness. I totally 'get' what Gilbert was about and what she was doing. I don't necessarily agree with her methodology, but I understand the exercise. But, I (and from what I understand, she, too) feel that the journey for this self discovery, or discovery of a higher power, is so totally personal, there's no way to to emulate her journey. Every journey is unique and must follow a unique path.

Besides, we know the answer is 42. However, if you have any ideas that may enlighten me, feel free to post them.

One more small, totally unrelated note. I received word that two people important to me and mine are very sick. Dr. Lucy, whom I've referred to in this blog before has some bizarre, weird thing that I don't understand at the moment, since I haven't talked to her directly as of yet. All I know is she went to the hospital, where it was discovered there were blood clots in her lungs. She's now at home on bed rest. Secondly, The Things' Assistant Principal gave birth to a baby boy earlier in the week. The baby is healthy and fine. After delivery, something happened, and Parks had a heart attack, necessitating open heart surgery and a triple-bypass. For a while, she was being kept in a drug-induced coma, but the latest I heard just this afternoon was she is to be moved to a private room next week. This is really good news for both of my friends, but they are not out of the woods yet, so to speak. So, if you could keep these people in your thoughts and prayers, it would be much appreciated.

These butterflies are the Gulf Fritillary and the Black Swallowtail, both in my yard over the past week.

The Parental HALO Is Slipping

2008-06-23T20:41:00.003-05:00

It appears Necropolis and I aren't going to be in line for any parental awards anytime soon.

Over the past weekend, Nec rediscovered an interest in his Playstation 2 and has the machine set up on the TV. I don't usually bother with the thing and have little or no interest in what happens. The Things have a couple of games for it, but have seemed to prefer the computer. Until now.

This weekend, the boys, the grown one and Things, have been playing HALO 2. In short, it's a sci-fi, shoot-em-up type game. It has a multitude of player options, but generally the boys have been either playing against each other (find your opponent and shoot them) or as a team against the game.

Yes, I know there are a lot of people who would take exception to letting a 7- and 9-year-old play a game of this nature. It may really seem as if we're not being very discriminating parents here. And, I might agree with you, except there's a method to our madness. We never just 'let' The Things win.

Somewhere along the line, we decided that good sportsmanship and developing real creative thinking skills were more important than the current pervasive parenting idea of letting kids win to improve their self-esteem. And, we don't play Candyland or Operation around here. The Thing's first 'real' game was Perfection. It was quickly followed by Trouble and Sorry, both of which were quickly grasped. We still play these as a family, but more advanced games became required. We brought out Chess and Pente. So, MUC has never won a chess match, poor kid. Pente is usually a best of 5 tournament, as that's all either kid can take before they blow. I'm eagerly awaiting for them to grow up a bit, so I can drag out my very old and very well used Scrabble. It'll be a while.

When The Things got decks of UNO cards for their last birthday, I showed them how to play with one hand, and after that, it was all or nothing. I was willing to bow out and 'assist' each boy, but MUC insisted on continuing play until he finally beat me. It took 7 times (and about a hour and a half of continuous play), but he finally did it on his own. That one win was more important to him than any of the previous 6 losses. Now, I'm as likely to lose as to win to either Thing. The Things are well on their way to becoming sharp, critical, analytical thinkers. And, there's ain't nothing wrong with their self-esteem either.

As to HALO, as they navigate the worlds, they have to remember where they are, where they've been and where they're going. They have to complete missions, make decisions and think critically. Then, they get to shoot and blow things up.

I can live with that. If that makes my parenting dubious, I can live with that too.

Support Your Local Lepidopterist

2008-06-20T20:17:00.003-05:00

Our new home has something I consider to be of an added benefit: an established Southern yard. This was, to me, one of the selling points. The yards came complete with huge, old azaleas, a gardenia shrub, large trees and shrubs of various varieties and, in the front yard, two planned flower/shrub beds. While this is a good start, there is work to be done. Little or nothing has been done to the yard in any real fashion for the past couple of years. And, to quote one of my colleagues, the yard's a hot mess.

I'm one of those obsessive types that can't stand the idea of the yard looking so unkept. It's more than just the grass being mowed (which I've also done several times), but also the beds and shrubs just look pitiful. Even though we are essentially still walking around and amongst boxes in the house, every few days I feel the compulsion to do some landscaping.

The first major project was a bed of lantana. "My" lantana is the ornamental, hybrid type with the yellow flower clusters that can (thankfully) have the wood cut back when the foliage dies away in the fall. Of course, in late May when the flowers should have started their leafing, they looked scraggly and awful. Frankly, the whole bed was one long and tiresome exploration in Southern gardening gone wrong. The end of the bed closest to the street is anchored by a Sago palm (apparently expensive, definitely unsightly), the end farthest by a pine tree and some odd crepe myrtle trees I've never encountered before (and that's saying something). Around the bed are about a dozen lantana plants. None of this had been cared for. All needed pruning, shaping, fertilizing, mulching and whatever else I could think to throw at it. That would be after I raked out all of the pine straw and cones, not to mention the old pine bark used as mulch and bedding in a former life. So, I got to work. Raking was my first task.

After raking out the mounds and pounds of straw, cones and bark (not to mention screaming like a girly girl on more than one occasion when accosted by gargantuan palmetto bugs - this is why everyone should use cedar mulch), I had what resembled a clean bed. This is also when I discovered that my lantana bed was so much more. It was also an Iris bed (at least, that was my thought at the time). And, too, it was a daylily bed. And, it was where someone decided that a few clumps of random liriope should go. I'm still not sure what the thought process was here. These others are INSIDE the bed, and when the lantana is at full-steam-ahead strength, you wouldn't really be able to see them. But, before I just started randomly pulling out plants, I decided to let sleeping dogs, and all that. I'll give everything a season to change my mind, and then I'll do the random ripping (with the exception of the Asiatic lillies by the mailbox, but that another story).

At any rate, I trimmed up the myrtles, cut away as much of the deadwood on the lantanas as possible and, resisting my inner 5-year-old, left the Irises and liriope alone (even though the Irises have YET to show bloom stalks!). As for the daylillies, I decided to make that one work for me. I went and purchased another 6 or 8 more, and created a decided daylily area. I gave everything a good dose of mushroom compost, laid the cedar mulch, and left well enough alone. Okay, I do water a couple of times a week with the soaker hose. But other than deadheading the daylillies, I don't do anything.

The lantana have freakin' exploded all over the bed.

Now I have some guests of the pleasant variety. Butterflies. It's actually rather cool. It all began with a Tiger Swallowtail. I didn't get a picture, as I wasn't expecting to notice anything like that, but after it dive bombed me as I was walking past the bed, I ran inside for the camera. By the time I got back, the Swallowtail was gone, but it started my slow decline into Lepidoptery obsession. I spend several times a day circling the bed taking shots of the various butterflies that hit the lantana for their daily nectar fix. I'm sure I'm creating a lot of gossip for the neighbors. "There she is again, Ed. Out there with that camera, shooting pictures of that lantana bed, or at least, I think it's a lantana bed, since I can't see around that Sago palm. What can one woman want with so many pictures of lantana anyway?"

While on my search to identify my first true, recordable sighting, I discovered that not only are there butterflies, but also skippers and moth-butterflies (not to be confused with moths). This led to another round of shutter snapper about the bed.

Identifying these critters is an Herculean task. I've got a website or two that I'm using at the moment, and I've ordered a couple of field guides to help, but goodness, it's a complicated process. Sometimes, it's not what you see on the 'color' (or dorsal) side, but what's on the 'under' (or ventral) side. Which means, I'm trying to time two different shots: one with the wings open, and one with the wings closed. These are also usually two different angles that I'm trying to get before the thing decides to take off and land again. I'm definitely learning patience, perseverance and frustration management.

Part of the this is illustrated by my new least favorite game, a rather weird nature version of hide and seek. The butterfly flies away from the lantana, I do my best to visually follow it and watch it land whereby I try (usually in vain) to get my camera to figure out what it is, exactly, I want the thing to focus on. Yes, I know I could use manual focus, but by that time, the thing wouldn be not just gone, but dead. Frankly, that's just beyond the ability of my skills at the moment. Not only that, but for every one decent photo I get, there are the 10 I delete as total ca-ca. It's a good thing I have a digital camera. Film would be totally cost prohibitive at the rate I take crappy photos.

And, in the vein of frustration management, here's a photo of a longtailed skipper that I ALMOST got in frame in flight. Almost.

Other than the unidentified insect at the top and the bumblebee, the critters are, from top to bottom, the Common Buckeye, the Pearl Crescent, and the American Lady (dorsal and ventral). The bottom photo is of a Longtailed Skipper, which I did get while feeding. It has a really cool blue body. You can check it out on my Flickr photostream along with some of the other skippers I photographed.

It's June in Georgia - A Great Time to Think Sweaters!

2008-06-18T14:54:00.007-05:00

Now that the move is settling out a little, I have some time to actually look at some of my in progress projects. One of the major ones is the sweater for Necropolis I agreed to make after his post Christmas pronouncement of "You never knit anything for me."

Well, this is true. I never really considered it as 1) Nec's tastes in clothing are almost as particular as mine and B) I figured it was a waste of good yarn to make the effort. However, with his whiny-butt statement, I set off on the unenviable task of trying to find something I thought I would find remotely interesting to knit, and he would agree to wear. Eventually, I stumbled on one of Brooklyn Tweed's submissions to Interweave Knits in the Fall '07 issue. It's called Cobblestone, and it just a basic sweater. Now, Nec's not generally a sweater type of guy. And, I was very upfront with him (ad nauseum) that if I took the time to do this, I would be expecting more than the occasional wear. He agreed, and I set off to find the right yarn.

This proved to be a challenge of epic proportions.

We live, basically, on the line that equatorially bisects the state, affectionately referred to by all Georgia History students as "The Fall Line". Last winter, I wore my wool coat a grand total of twice, and only because I wore a lighter weight dress than the temperature required. We haven't had anything resembling real snow or ice since MUC was an infant (he's now 7). And, even I don't wear pullover style sweaters unless it is COLD (re: not in a very long time). So, if I expect the sweater to see some wear time, the yarn would have to be a special blend. I was thinking something like a lighter weight wool, but with some of the same warm/cool properties of a silk blend as well. Try finding that in a commercial yarn. It was either near impossible or prohibitively expensive.

Which lead to my chatting it up on Ravelry on one of the boards. I ran across someone who actually does the washing/dying/carding/combing/blending, and better yet, she was a dream to work with. I gave her my less than specific, obtusely general ideas, and she turned it into a roving that was just wonderful. I spun it into a yarn, and checked to see if the gauge was at least in the ballpark, and we were cooking with gas! (By the way, I really can't say enough wonderful things about Julie and her fiber, so if you're looking for something of that nature, I really suggest you check out her Etsy Store ).

I've spun a specific amount of the fiber, to check my yards/oz, and then we'll determine the exact amount I'll need for the entire project. This is something I'm really looking forward to seeing to the end result.

Been a Long Time Since I Rock-n-Rolled

2008-06-17T19:37:00.005-05:00

I knew it had been a while since I had posted anything on the blog, but I really hadn't realized quite how long until I finally got around to putting up a new post tonight. I can blame some of it on the move (we moved into a new house...have I mentioned that?), as we went for quite a spell without TV, cable, internet or house phone service. We still had our cell phones, but as for the house number, it hadn't transferred. The whole house transaction happened from start - Nec and I decided we would look for a house to purchase - to finish - signing the contracts, mortgage papers, papers that say we are who we say we are and all possible aliases we might potentially use - within 3 weeks. Therefore, by the time we knew where we were going, it took a while to contact the utilities. And, they were in NO hurry to switch services.

Now, services are up and running, and the household, while not unpacked, is at least moderately functioning. With school now out, I spend a large portion of my day entertaining The Things while pretending I'm unpacking. When we all get cabin fever, we go outside (in the extreme heat) and work in the yard. Frankly, we have more fun there. Unfortunately, it's just too hot to do too much. Like most kids, MUC can create fun. Here's a shot of Sprinkler Kung Fu.

I also caught a pair of cardinals bathing themselves on the soaker hose in one of the flower beds. These pictures aren't the best, as it was late in the day, but the birds were really fun to watch.

It's been mentioned to me that pictures of MUC tend to feature more prominently in this blog than those of GLB. It's not an intentional thing. It's rather more a difference of personality and age. I can get decent photos with The Things, as you can see.

However, photos of GLB on his own tend to go something like this.

If you hit the link, you see what I mean.

Crazy Train

2008-04-24T17:56:00.003-05:00

Hey y’all.

I know it’s been forever since I posted, but I promise, I am still here! My family decided that, along with the general craziness that is my life, it would be a good time to buy a house! We’re packing like mad, since we started the process some time during Spring Break (about April 6), and are aiming for a closing date of May 1. So, yeppers, we’re trying to buy a house in 3 weeks.

Insane, I tell ya!

AND, just to make my life just a little more wacky, I thought it would be a good time to open an (very new, and not very full) Etsy shop. (Think eBay for the self-enterprising smaller-scale artist) You can check it out here, but I promise this is not a shameless plug. What I’d really like is your kind thoughts and support. Those mean more to me. However, if you ever do see something you like, let me know! If you don’t see something, but have a request, let me know that too!

But, most of all, just keep me and the business in your prayers. This is part of my evil plan to hopefully begin to make the move from the daily grind to a more artistic one.

Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?

2008-03-18T18:44:00.009-05:00

A recent conversation between MUC and The Mother (his Nana) led me to overhear the following: "...well, we went to church. And then we came home and changed clothes. And then we went back to church and took pictures of the waterfall. And then we went to the cemetery and took some more pictures..."

I suppose it might seems strange, my fascination with monuments to the dead. It may be doubly strange that I would take my child to the cemetery for such an excursion, when I won't take them to familial funerals. I've taken a lot of flack from certain members of the family for not exposing my children to the trial that is a family death trial. But I digress. I was talking about my fascination with cemeteries and the oddity in that. Then again, those that know me might say that there's no end to what I might find fascinating, and therefore, I'm just strange, period. At any rate, the monuments the living resurrect to the dead always fascinate me. Those they resurrect to themselves can be fascinating as well. However, today, we're talking about the deceased.

Augusta, Georgia being a good, historical type city, has its share of really good mementos and monuments to the dearly departed. Some of the best of them are in Magnolia Cemetery, probably the oldest, most well know of the cemeteries in the area. It doesn't have the age or cache' that some of the Savannah sites have, or to be blunt, the artistry, but it does have some really nice quality work displayed. What's left of it, that is.

MUC and I made a trek down to Magnolia Cemetery on Sunday, and this is the first time in the 12+ years I've lived here I've really looked at the monuments. My original intent was to shoot pictures of whatever interested me. I would take pictures of monuments that spoke to me, or that offered some visual interest. What caught my attention wasn't artistry or workmanship or even a touching moment. It was decay. What is touted as the city's grand dame of cemeteries is crumbling around her knees. It's heartbreaking. There is evidence of thought, money and effort people spent to physically eulogize and remember their loved ones, and time has not been kind to many.

As a result, MUC and I spent most of our time looking and shooting what he came to call the "broken" ones. As we parked, we immediately found the first victim, Mr. Philipp. Obviously, someone tried to assist, and the epoxy used did, indeed, reattach the broken portion of the stone. Unfortunately, it wasn't cleaned in any manner. It also obliterates an entire line of beautiful Hebrew on back side of the marker. Truthfully, I'm not sure how I feel about this. Was t his some well meaning, but obviously misinformed worker? A family member? Is the badly repaired stone really any of my business? Given the number of broken and uncared for stones I found later in my walk, it's obvious this stone was cared for by someone. Perhaps it's best that the stone and its deceased owner has someone who still cares enough to offer a repair job, even a poor one.

From here, much of the cemetery is as you might expect. But, much of it is not.

And, even given the sad state of the markers, there's something even more pitiful in this cemetery. Magnolia's version of Potter's Field. Here rest those who have no one. In this plot of land lies one small grave that just pulls at something tangible inside me every time I see it. It's visceral the maternal tug I get when I see this. She obviously touched someone else, as her grave has a layer of oyster shells that the other graves close to her don't have. She has a purchased marble marker, also something the other closer graves don't have. For a long time, I thought maybe she was an abandoned baby from the medical college to which the nurses and doctors had developed an attachment. But something pulled at me to find out the real story. And I went digging, which was pitifully easy on the new online grave records. This is what I found.

Infant Jane was stillborn in November of 1993. The records of the cemetery say this:

BURIED IN 43" LONG & 18" WIDE CASKET ON COUNCIL GROUNDS -
S. OF 9TH ST. & E. OF ESTES AVE. (S. OF JOSEPH IANNTUANNA & 2ND SPACE S.
OF COLETTE SMITH ( BOTH CREMATED). INFANT FOUND IN N. AUGUSTA, S.C. RECYCING
CENTER; AUGUSTA SANITATION TRUCK DEPOSITED THE INFANT AT THE CENTER ALONG WITH
TRASH PICKED UP IN AUGUSTA'S HILL AREA " SUMMERVILLE".

Someone placed this child in the trash. I'm so conflicted I don't know what to think. On one side, I can't think of anything awful enough to call them. I can't think of anything horrid enough to wish upon someone who could leave a child in the trash. But then I know I should think more charitably towards the unfortunate soul who found themselves alone with a stillborn child. Going through childbirth alone, being scared, only to find the baby dead upon its arrival. I know would be. And through it all, a lost little girl has nothing. Not name, no home, no life, no one to mourn her, claim her, grieve for her in public. For me, it pushes every maternal buttons I have.

Do I have answers or plans or a conclusion to this? Not really. But Baby Jane is talking very loudly to me. I'm just not sure what she's trying to tell me.

Resuming the Resume'

2008-03-13T18:34:00.002-05:00

Today, I did something I haven't done in over 12 years.

I actively updated my resume, printed it out, wrote a cover letter, all with the idea of actually sending it to someone for the opportunity of another employment position.

There's nothing really *wrong* with the position I have. It's perfectly adequate. It's neither difficult or overly demanding. The pay is sufficient, and I am not asked to do any life threatening work (occasional days with 1st grade classes aside).

But, I need a new challenge. I need something different to look at every morning. So, I'm sending out one resume'. There's one place that has a potential job that I might be willing to consider leaving the known for the unknown. I'm such a terrible creature of habit. I don't want to go out of my comfort zone if I don't have to. But, if this works out, it will be worth it. A lot of things will change. There will be some drastic changes in the McD home as well. But I think we'll all be a bit happier.

I know I will.

So, on that note, I'll leave you will a poorly taken photo with the NEW camera. And, yes, Cory, I KNOW it's a forsythia, not an azalea.

The Definition of Hell on Earth

2008-03-10T22:08:00.005-05:00

Being in a 1st grade classroom with 22 6-year-olds all day.

When I recover from the experience, I'll tell you the story. Bring lots of fermented beverages. It makes the reliving much more enjoyable.

P.S. I got a "real" camera, too! As soon as I figure out how to work the thing, I'll show what a truly poor photographer I am!

Reason #473,259 Why I Love My Kids

2008-02-24T19:48:00.004-05:00

Last night, the kids and I had a movie night. We watched several movies, one of them being the new Transformers movie for what seems like the 435th time since Christmas, when MUC received it as a gift. I have to admit a secret attraction to the movie, which is actually well done, despite the subject matter and its boy-friendly nature. As we're watching the movie, I off-handedly comment that I used to have a car very similar to Bumblebee.

In the first half of the movie, Bumblebee's "alter ego" is as a late-70's model Chevy Camaro. As you can see in the pictures, it's a rusted, busted piece of junk. Well, frankly, so was mine. Only, mine was a burgundy rusted, busted piece of junk, and I told the kids that. The conversation went something like this:

Me: Hey, guys, I used to have a car like that.

GLB (never looking from the TV): Like Bumblebee?

Me: Yeah, like Bumblebee. I had a Camaro, just like Bumblebee, except mine wasn't yellow, it was burgundy, which is kind of like a dark red.

MUC (with a studious, considering look): So, which robot did you have?

The New Man in My Life

2008-01-30T21:24:00.000-05:00

I have a new love in my life. He's unfinished, rough around the edges, stubborn, infuriating, migraine inducing, and my latest obsession. I've loved him from the moment I found him, and that love only grew when he showed up on my doorstep.

Meet Karl, my new love.

So, okay, there are no actual Y chromosomes involved in this, but still, he's so much fun. This was my Christmas present this year. I convinced Necropolis that all I really wanted was either a wheel or a really good camera, and since the wheel was the lesser of two bank account evils, that's the one I received.

Karl is an Ashford Kiwi model, double treadle (that means it has two pedals, Dr. Lucy) with scotch tension. Karl came in a box, dismantled, and MUC and I had a great time putting him together. Dispite a slight mishap with a flathead screwdriver and my left thumbnail, we all arrived at the finish line with no major difficulties. I immediately began to figure out the whole spinning phenomonnon, and promptly decided my wheel was definately a man in a former life. Oy vey!

Ashford is based in New Zealand, and the only New Zealander male I could think of at the time was Karl Urban, the actor (probably best known as Eomer from Lord of the Rings). Hence, the wheel was christened Karl. The more I thought about it, the more I decided it was appropriately named. Karl Urban has this sort of unfinished, rough look going, and so does the wheel. It's kismet.

And, I've actually somewhat conquered the mechanics of spinning. I'm not fantastic, but I can produce useable yarn. Here are some of my first attempts.

And, Lucy, you can stop humming Gretchen am Spinnrade now.

Lucy Manette Was a Fool, and I Need Instant Gratification

2008-01-17T11:02:00.000-05:00

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way --

Despite my best efforts, I've spent much of the last couple of weeks feeling like a character in a Dickensian novel. I can't blame anyone. I know I have much for which to be thankful, just as I am aware life could be much, much worse for me and is for many.
After all, I could live in Iraq, Darfur, Kenya, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Pakistan, and a long laundry list of places where the human condition doesn't even afford basic necessities of survival, much less a semblance of human or civil rights. Does that make me feel more like Madame Defarge than Lucy Manette? Well, yeah, but it still doesn't make me feel better about my personal situation.

I've been doing my best Madame Defarge impersonations lately. Snarly, snappy and somewhat upkept -- yes, that would be me. Poor Necropolis is usually the recipient of my ill temper. The things I say make so much sense in my head, but when the words come out of my mouth, and I hear them, I can't believe what I'm saying. I don't know if it's venting, or if my 'consider others' feelings' filter has been broken, but I've been more than a little acerbic and blunt. And, no Madame Defarge impersonation would be complete without needles. Never forget the needles.

Here's where the instant gratification kicks in. I can't hold my concentration for shit these days. Dr. Manette's got nothing on me for absent mindedness or the just plain crazies. Everything literally floats in and out, and I needed a project I knew I could see the end even before beginning, much less see through. I made dishcloths.

All three were knitted with 100% cotton. I couldn't tell you the colorways to save my life. This stuff has been in the stash so long, I have no idea where the ball bands are. The blue is done in the blockweave I used for the kid's Principal's Scarf. It's incomplete in the photo, but is long since completed by now. The green and blue variegated is a simple K2 P2 rib. The purple and white is very similar to that found in the Mason-Dixon knitting book. I would venture a guess it's probably almost exactly the same pattern, but I can't say that with 100% certainty. I found an example somewhere and counted up the rows/stitches, and did the math really quickly.

So, stay tuned for my next installment, where I redeem myself with my selfless good works.

It is a far, far better thing I do than I have ever done, it is a far, far
better rest I go to than I have ever known.

All quotes and characters in this posts are taken from A Tale of Two Cities, my personal favorite of the Charles Dickens' novels. Personal redemption, the power to reclaim self worth, is a powerful thing. Not to mention, more than once I have had to wonder at the intelligence of a woman who has a man profess to her, "You have been the last dream of my soul [....] You kindled me, heap of ashes that I am, into fire," only to choose the other guy. What's wrong with that chick?

It's a Gift

2008-01-06T18:56:00.000-05:00

I know it's been a while. I have several items I can share now that the holidays are over. Most of these were gifted to family members, so I had to wait until after the holidays.

This is a shawl I made for The Mother. It was from Victorian Lace Today and is called Ruby Scarf. I used 1 skein (about 440 yrds) of Handmaiden's Sea Silk in Mermaid and used all but about 5 yards of the stuff. It was a really lovely and drapey shawl look. The final blocked measurements were 13.5" x 75". It was one big scarf....more like a stole, really. Despite the apparent details of the pattern, it was actually a rather easy knit. The 'problem', if you want to call it that, was the yarn. It's very 'slippery', and I spent a lot of time keeping the yarn from sliding off the bamboo needles.

Next items are the hat, scarf and fingerless gloves I made for the sister. I found a pattern for a Hurry Up Scarf on Spindle and Wheel, and I incorporated the lace pattern into the hat and gloves. The yarn is my favorite, Blue Sky Alpaca Silk, in black. I think the three items took a total of 3.5 skeins (about 500 yrds).

The last item today is the Noro Hat I made for The Sister's boyfriend. I didn't follow the pattern, exactly. I sort of saw one and figured out the design before I knew there was a genuine pattern. So, I'm linking to the pattern, but it's not exactly the same as how I knit the hat. It took a little over a skein of Noro, and I can't remember at the moment which colorway it was. Noro has all those numbers anyway, and I bought several at one time.

The new item on the needles for me at the moment is a group knit I'm doing with some folks on Ravelry. I'm designing and leading a group knitting a mandala. It's a circular knit, and right now, all I've completed (and completed designing) is the center, but it's a start. It's been a tricky balance, as I didn't want the knit to be too boring, but it needed to be simple enough to practice mindfulness or meditation while knitting (the purpose of the group and the group knit). I've gotten a lot of positive remarks from the group, and that's been very reassuring that I'm going in the right direction. Now, to implement the second phase, which is the outer spiral.

Scarf It Up

2007-12-20T23:57:00.000-05:00

In a fit of total insanity, I decided some time in November it would be a good idea to give fiber gifts. I have a lot to show, but until the gifts are actually distributed, I have to piece and parcel out the FO. So, here are the six scarves I created for The Things' teachers and principals.

I made two Kata Felicity Scarves from Mindful Knits. The burgundy one was made of 1.5 skeins of Blue Sky Alpaca Sport on size 8 needles. The blue one is made of a half a skein of Knit Picks Merino/Silk fingering weight and was hand dyed. I used size 8 needles on that too. I was afraid the Merino Silk would roll if I made the scarf by the pattern, so I did this one in garter stitch.

The dropped stitch scarf is made of 1 skein of hand dyed Patons Merino Wool with size 9 needles. The thing really grew during the washing and blocking. It wound up being 8" x 70".

The Fern Bank scarf was basically lifted straight off the pages on Barbara Walker's Treasury, vl. 1. It's also made of 1.5 skeins of Blue Sky Alpaca Sport on size 8 needles. Yes, I have a love affair with that yarn.

Branching Out from Knitty. Also of BSA sport, in charcoal. Took about 2 skeins for this one, on size 8 needles. I decided to make two sides and graft at the center so the vines would travel up on both sides. I liked the symmetry.

And, basic block weave pattern in 2.5 skeins of ONline Linie 157 Tessa. It's a superwash, and not the softest yarn I've ever worked with, but it blocked up rather nicely.

And, there's still more to be shown, after the gifting is over.

Note to self: start the fiber gifts earlier next time....like December 26.

One Tough Cookie

2007-12-17T12:24:00.000-05:00

It's been a while, and it's not all my lazy fault....REALLY! I have a lot of fiber stuff to talk about, actually, but that's not the main topic of conversation at the McD house these days. Tonight, MUC has his Cub Scouts banquet, and Necropolis informed me earlier in the week that I was volunteered to create 4 trophy style awards. I have to ruminate on these kinds of things, so while I was ruminate and marinating ideas, Necropolis decided to up the chaos factor a bit.

That, my friends, is what was, until Wednesday morning, Necropolis' mode of transportation. Now, it's an expensive piece of twisted metal. Luckily for everyone concerned, Necropolis had no life threatening injuries. He did get a trip to the ER, and he's still got some nagging spinal, knee and kidney issues. He thinks he's going to work tomorrow. I think he's scrambled his brains in the wreck. He couldn't even tolerate an hour at church yesterday, and he thinks he'll manage at work?

So, here it is the day before the banquet, and I finally get an idea.

The Cookies and neckerchief are made of polymer clay and painted with acrylics. The 'chips' are formed a la Van Gogh, with a little impasto technique, straight from the tube.

If I'm Talking, You Should Be Taking Notes.

2007-12-04T10:27:00.000-05:00

On Ravelry, I started a group called Into the Labyrknit. It's short description says: Do you use labyrinths, candles, prayer beads, and of course, knitting or crocheting as tools for meditation and spiritual enlightenment? Share your ways to find peace and mindfulness in the journey. Primarily a Christian group, all faiths are welcome.

At any rate, there hasn't been a lot of chatter in the group, so it's mostly been me posting things. The other day, I got a request from one of the members of the group (CoffeeYarn) if I minded being quoted in her blog. I told her, have at it, and I was glad that someone was enjoying what I posted. Truthfully, at this point, what I'm posting is more what I like, since I'm not really getting a lot of feedback. Apparently, my post about Advent hit home with a her though.
In my mind, and I posted some of this yesterday, Advent is about waiting. One of my posts to the group said this.
In my life, Advent is the perfect example of being mindful and
meditating.
We are expected to wait and prepare. We reflect and open our
hearts.

What can you hear if you listen with your
heart?

I then realized that I spend a lot of time on the group talking about being mindful, which is really a Buddhist concept. That doesn't mean it can't have applications elsewhere, and I wondered if the group really knew what I was talking about, so I posted this for the next day's meditation (liberally lifted from beliefnet.com).

To understand mindfulness, imagine yourself doing something very simple,
something that doesn't arouse a compelling interest--like, say, eating an apple.
You probably eat your apple not paying attention to how it smells, how it
tastes, or how it feels in your hand. Because of the ways we're conditioned, we
don't usually notice the quality of our attention. Done this way, eating the
apple is not a fulfilling experience.

So you blame the apple. You might think, if only I had a banana, I'd be
happy. So you get a banana, but eat it the same way, and still there's not a
lot of fulfillment. And then you think, if only I had a mango--and go to
great expense and some difficulty getting a mango. But it's the same thing
all over again. We don't pay attention to what we have or what we're doing.
As a result, we seek more and more intensity of stimulation to try to
rectify what seems unfulfilling.

So, are you being mindful of YOUR
apple?

The last thing I did was to challenge the group. I challenged them to bring some mindfulness to their knitting/crocheting/spinning (after all, it is a fiber site). I gave them some loose instructions to do the following on Monday afternoon:
I've spent a good deal of time considering the season of Advent, which is big on reflection and anticipation. So, I've come up with an easy, short term project that I want everyone to experiment with, no matter what you're working on.

Here's the plan. We're all going to continue working on whatever projects we currently have going. Work at your
normal pace, doing your normal fiber thing. The only "new" thing you're going to add is a couple of mantra type words.

For any knit stitches, the word you use, either mentally or verbally, if you like, is
"wait". If you crochet, I think a single crochet should work for this.

For any purl stitches, the word is "listen". If you crochet, perhaps double crochet may work for this.

For spinners. If you single treadle, use "wait". If you double treadle, use "listen".

Do this for some time. When you feel so led, come back here and let us know how this worked for you. Tell us how you used it, how you learned, what you learned, how it guided you, etc. Also, good and/or not-so-good responses are acceptable. The whole point of this is to see what works and what doesn't.

I haven't heard any responses from the group just yet, but it's early. I can tell you what I've found so far. I almost get hypnotised saying "wait". That is until one of The Things come tearing through the room wanting something. But still, there does seem to be some basis to this. So, if you're reading this, I challenge you as well. If you don't have fiber or knitting or whatever, choose a really mundane chore...washing the dishes, sweeping, mopping..something with repetitive movement like that. See if it keeps you centered and in the moment as well.

A Little Fiber Is Good for You

2007-12-03T13:00:00.000-05:00

I've been knitting relentlessly. Ceaselessly. Tirelessly.

Okay, not so much the last one. I still need copious amounts of sleep. But I have been knitting a lot, when I haven't been playing with my brand new toy. (No, it's NOT a personal product, Dr. Lucy.) I'll show you more of the toy on another post. Today is for fiber.

I knitted these Noro hats some time ago, but just got around to washing and blocking.

Because knitting and washing and blocking is infinitely more enjoyable than spending the day after Thanksgiving in Atlanta with Necropolis and The Things doing Christmas shopping. You can not imagine the horror that was my life that day. All I can say was by the end, on the ride home, I could do a very lifelike and realistic version of Madeline Khan from Clue. "Yes, I did it, I killed Yvette. I hated her, so much... That... it... it... flam - flames. Flames, on the side of my face, heathing... breathle - , heathing breaths. Heathing breath... "

So, unless it's online, it won't be bought by me, except for some toy purchases for The Things as it gets closer to Christmas. We've (read: I) have also decided that we're actually going to observe Advent as it is intended this year. That means Christmas will be observed, well, on Christmas. Not before. No rushing around. We will take our time getting there. We will reflect and enjoy the journey. And, to be even more off the beaten path, we're forgoing traditional ornaments. I'll putting the lights on the tree to night, but after that, every night, after lighting the advent wreath, The Things will put a few origami peace cranes on the tree each night. We may string some popcorn as well. I'll put up the nativity, but that's about it. At Christmas, that is, December 25...THAT'S when we'll celebrate. And, we'll get 12 Days of it, all the way to Epiphany.

This is a shot of our Advent wreath we made a church yesterday.

Eat Me!

2007-11-20T11:55:00.001-05:00

Eat us, hey, it's Thanksgiving day

Eat us, we make a nice buffet

We lost the race with Farmer Ed

Eat us 'cause we're good and dead

White man or red man

From East, North, or South

Chop off our legs And put 'em in your mouth

Eat me!

Sauteed or barbecued

Eat me!

We once were pets, but now we're food

We won't stay fresh for very long

So eat us before we finish this song

Eat us before we finish this song

- lyrics from Addams Family Values

Just a brief sharing of my weird and demented sense of humor. It’s one of my favorite parts of the movie, second only to Joan Cusack’s evil villain monologue at the end of the movie (My parents, Sharon and Dave. Generous, doting, or were they? All I ever wanted was a Ballerina Barbie. In her pretty pink tutu. My Birthday: I was 10, and do you know what they got me? MALIBU. Barbie.)

Anyway Turkey Day is fast approaching, and I’m still knitting like a freakin’ fiend. I’m actually making decent progress, but I’m waiting on the blocking wires I purchased to arrive before I take pictures. So, I’ll leave you with the Things latest offering. The art teacher at one of my schools was doing this with one of the grade levels, and I thought it was just too cute. She was gracious enough to send home some clay with me and let me bring them back to be fired in the kiln. I think the boys did a great job. And, yeah, since I'm basically an art geek, I made one, too.

It figures.

2007-11-19T13:55:00.000-05:00

I saw this test, and thought I'd take it to see what happened. Here's the result.

What kind of yarn are you?

You are Dishcloth Cotton.You are a very hard worker, most at home when you're at home. You are thrifty and seemingly born to clean. You are considered to be a Plain Jane, but you are too practical to notice.
Take this quiz!

Wild Horses Couldn’t Drag Me Away

2007-11-15T11:29:00.000-05:00

That’s my favorite Rolling Stones song. What does it have to do with the post? Not a lot. I heard the song on the radio, and it’s in my head now.

I am around. I’m knitting like a fiend for the holidays. Chances are, if you’re friend or family expecting a gift from me, it’s probably going to be something knitted, assuming I don’t run out of time. I’ve gotten quite a bit done, and I’ll be taking better photos and showing them here. Some are of my own design, some are patterns. The pictures shown are of the scarf pattern “Branching Out” from knitty.com. It’s fairly safe to show on the blog, since it’s probably going to Things 1 and 2’s teachers.

Hopefully, I’ll get more done over the weekend. Look for more progress.

NaNoBlah Blah Blah

2007-11-05T15:11:00.000-05:00

I don’t know why I thought doing NaNoBloMo was a good move for me. Who am I kidding. I can’t half remember what day it is, and before I know it, the day is gone and the last think I want to do is get up just to post to the blog. And, for me, it would be more NaNoBlahBlahBlahMo, since the pressure of daily posts makes everything but total inanities run fleeing from my brain. Of course, the argument could be made that what I write in here is total inanities anyway. Can’t argue with that.

At any rate, I thought I’d devote this to why I need a better camera. Or, more correctly, just imagine what I could do with the proper equipment (and training, but that’s another issue).

Recently, our fair Garden City had an airshow, and part of MUC’s scout stuff was to attend this. We decided to make it a family day, and all of us tagged along. GLB and I just roamed around and took pictures when the scouting got too tedious.

We also have a much older digital point and shoot that sucks all the energy from 2 AA batteries in about 10 pictures, and MUC has claimed it as his own. He thought he was just too much, being there with his own camera. He took some photos of his own, and I loaded them to Flickr for the sake of argument. He thinks he’s hot stuff now. These are his.

This one is my favorite. I know it's probably a fluke that GLB's in the pic at the far left, but I think it's just a really cool shot.

An Evening With Harry and Jack

2007-11-03T23:17:00.000-05:00

Halloween has come and gone, and the boys (all three of them) had a jolly good time. In some ways, I miss the days when I decided the costumes the boys, yet it's always fun with my kids. This year, they were pretty 'normal' in their choices, but we did it our way. GLB decided to be Harry Potter, and he's complete with a 2/3rds complete scarf. There's some interesting pinning going on under that scarf. If it weren't such a dull knit, I probably would have finished. Or maybe not.

MUC has talked about Captain Jack Sparrow for months now. He stuck it through, and we did it our way, complete with beard and drawn-on mustache. And khol around the eyes. He enjoyed it so much, I found him in front of the bathroom mirror tonight, reapplying his facial hair with my good eye pencils.

Necropolis enjoys scaring the snot out of the neighborhood children, so he gets candy duty while I tour the neighborhood with the boys. We made it a quick night, all in all, but have a boatload of candy that will probably last us until next summer.

NaNoBloMo and Me

2007-11-02T09:21:00.000-05:00

NaNoBloMo is a challenge to blog every day for the month of November. Somewhere, somehow, in some maggoty part of my brain, I thought this was a good idea.

I signed up.

And, I missed blogging on the very 1st day.

So goes Jenni P McD and Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

Kermit had it right....

2007-10-30T11:55:00.000-05:00

It's not that easy being green;

Having to spend each day the color of the leaves.

When I think it could be nicer being red, or yellow or gold...

or something much more colorful like that.

It's not easy being green.

It seems you blend in with so many other ord'nary things.

And people tend to pass you over 'cause

not standing out like flashy sparkles in the water or stars in the sky.

But green's the color of Spring.

And green can be cool and friendly-like.

And green can be big like an ocean, or important like a mountain,

or tall like a tree.

When green is all there is to be

It could make you wonder why, but why wonder why?

Wonder, I am green and it'll do fine, it's beautiful!

And I think it's what I want to be.

Kermit had it right….

It’s not easy being green.

This past weekend, MUC and I got back into the swing of the letterboxing gig. It was really great to get out and see folks at the “It’s Not Easy Being Green” event at Folly Beach, SC. Drgdlg put on a really nice, low key event with plenty of boxes to keep us busy.

Personally, I’m still a bit of a mixed bag regarding my feelings for the whole thing. Not because of the event, but due to my own abilities and performances. It was a real testament to what I *can’t* do right now. My mind was no where near being able to focus enough to sort the boxes by geographical area, much less work on any codes (there were a couple of those). If it weren’t for the very uncharacteristic laidback graces of Eidolon, I don’t know if we’d have boxed at all.

MUC and I have boxed quite a bit with Eidolon, Artemis and the Hitchhiker puppies, and we know what we’re getting into. It usually involves moving at the crack of dawn, hustling all day long, solving issues and clues on the fly, debating and re-debating, no eating (unless it’s along on the trail), and ends with a flashlight at the last boxes. We’re exhausted, filthy, inky messes with lots of stamps to show for our efforts.

This weekend, either Eidolon was in a particularly gracious mood or was ill, because we were practically sedate and leisurely all day long. MUC and I didn’t get there until almost noon, and basically announced to Eidolon we were going to ride his coattails. And we did. After lunch. I think that’s the first time that’s ever happened. We also stopped and let the puppies play at the dog park (which was freakin’ huge, by the way).

We did a little boxing after dark, but it was a guided tour type thing by drgdlg, with Paw Paw and Granny, hawkeye and Jdog, as well as Buttercup and Johnny Quest along for the journey. Other than a brief encounter with an after hours park nazi and MUC’s momentary scary spill, the evening was tame as well.

Most stayed for the weekend, but MUC and I came on home, getting back to Chez McD by about 2 a.m. And, yeah, we were exhausted, inky messes, but not quite so many stamps as I’m used to having at the end of the day.

The day after was rather unpleasant, but Dr. Rheumo finally came over with some pain meds, so it was at least tolerable. It’s also what prompted my late night trip home. We had considered staying the night, but after deciding my pain threshold was just too unpredictable these days, I didn’t want to be away from home if I really needed to medicate myself.

All this, and I forgot my POS camera. So, I’ll leave you with this image instead.

Namaste

2007-10-24T08:06:00.000-05:00

Namaste ( pronounced nah-mah-STAY) is the word used at the end of each yoga lesson. It’s a benediction of sorts, and roughly translates to “the divine in me recognizes the divine in you”. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not so much into what Necropolis calls the “woo-woo” of yoga, but I like saying that word at the end of each class with my fellow students. It has sort of a binding moment that is difficult to explain. When I made my newest pattern, a yoga mat bag, it seemed right, somehow, to name it Namaste. So I did. Mine is a bit unusual, in that I purposefully made the stretch of the lattice work for me, so the bag is actually smaller than the mat. It stretches to its correct size quite easily. That also means that it takes less yarn to make that the other mat bag patterns I’ve seen. I made mine in Noro Kureon, with which I have sort of a love/hate thing going. I do love the colors. I’m not so crazy about the sticks, stems and leaves I have to clean out of the stuff. You can find the pattern for Namaste Yoga Mat Bag on my Six Degrees site and listed on Ravelry, as well as my Easy Peasy yoga socks.

Now….back to all that knitting I put off, not to mention the long list of Christmas knitting (ARGH!)

Why My Kids Are the Most Awesome On the Planet

2007-10-19T21:00:00.000-05:00

Necropolis and I have always encouraged our children to be themselves and have not restricted them to gender stereotypes. If one of our children chose to take ballet or said they wanted to study fashion, we would encourage and support them.

Our children, however, have other ideas.

They are two of the roughest, tumblest, dirtiest boys imaginable. They are of the scraped knees, frogs in the pocket, swinging from the rafters variety. And, that's quite alright as well. Hard on the washing machine, but quite okay.

It's the time of year when the toy commercials are really hitting hard, and GLB and MUC are starting to really sit up and take notice. It's strange how they focus on this, since Santa is quite selective in what he brings, and we tell family and friends to go light on the toys. Our children are very fortunate in what they have, so we don't encourage excess. At any rate, while watching these commercials, the boys often gag and vehemently disdain any "girl" toys. My Little Pony, Barbies, Bratz (which, quite frankly, scare me), and others of that ilk are very like to provoke a resounding "OH, GROSS!" from the kid quarter. I feel it is my obligation and duty as parent to tease them unmercifully. I still have a couple of my childhood Barbies, a carry case, as well as several outfits. They've been in the garage, in storage all this time, but I keep threatening to get them out for the boys to play with every time they start gagging at a Barbie commercial. Tonight, MUC called my bluff.

And, I called his.

I went, at great risk of life and limb, and found the case, cleaned it off, and offered it (with a strong admonition that it was OLD) to the boys. They DOVE into it. And hour and a half later, I'm typing this blog entry, and they're still playing with the dolls. I know this is probably a one time event. They'll lose interest, and I'll put the Barbies back. But, it does my heart proud to know my kids just don't care. Just like they don't care about color, or gender, or how much money some one's parents have.

Oh, and someday, when they bring home a date, I've got proof of this night.

Build a Better Mousetrap

2007-10-17T08:00:00.000-05:00

I’ve never been one to go with the status quo, just because. Of course, I don’t feel a need to reinvent the wheel, just because, either. I do feel a driving need to create items or complete tasks with the most efficiency and most direct method of completion to a goal with the smallest chance of error or failure. I’ve discovered most people don’t feel this way.

The pondering of this came about while working on my various incarnations of yoga socks. How I got from one point to the other may seem a bit of a stretch, but I got there. The short version: I couldn’t find what I wanted, so I went about determining what would be required to create what I needed. I determined the efficiency, the most effective method of getting there, the possibilities of error, and set my course. As a result, I now have 3 variations of socks, one complete (Easy Peasy over on Six Degrees), and two in the works. I even have a tutorial over on Six Degrees for working part of one of the socks. The other two socks should be finished fairly soon, ready for their unveiling.

What I’ve discovered, in my very direct method of creating my path to efficiency is that many people perceive me as being negative. I’ve been accused of not being a team player, of not supporting the group, of not being ‘happy’, of being a spoil sport. I often play Devil’s advocate in a situation, find the holes, the errors, the mistakes. I see the whole picture instead of just the steps, and I often say what I mean and mean what I say.

I’m not a yes woman. If asked, I will give my honest opinion. If I don’t know, I say so. If it’s not strictly positive, I’m very likely to offer some suggestions for improvement or ways that might make the plan more effective. I think in the long term, not in the now.

I tend to not be a very popular person in a work environment, especially education, which is currently driven by No Child Left Behind (thanks, George W) and test scores.

When I find a true kindred spirit, who enjoys collaboration as much as I do, the results are wondrous. The art teacher at one of my schools and I often collaborate. We have several art/music projects across grade levels and throughout the school year. We work together with several school programs, where we always receive tons of compliments for our work. We have written and received grants. The one we’re most proud of involved assisting our students in creating bags of art and music goodies for children who might not have things at the battered women’s shelter and the Children’s Hospital.

Why did I feel the need to write this all based on some yoga socks? I don’t know. At times, I suppose, despite how self sufficient I tend to be and how resilient I am (not to mention how right I am about the whole thing, but that’s another post), it’s still a sore spot.

Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Taking a Different Tack

2007-10-15T20:10:00.001-05:00

Just a short note here about a digression in the venture.

I decided not to clutter this particular blog with the patterns and such I intend to create and make available online. As a result, I determined the best course of action was to create a second blog, Six Degrees Arts, that will contain that type of information. Life Less Blordinary will continue to be the primary blog for my general rambling and photo publishing and talking about not much at all. And, I'll announce here when I have released new patterns on the second blog. Over on the righthand side, at the top, is a quick link to the Six Degrees blog, where you can find any patterns I might have available.

At this point, there's only one: my Easy Peasy Yoga - Pilates Socks. If you go there, you'll find the pattern, and it's also listed on Ravelry.

Keep your eyes peeled for more!

I Touch Myself

2007-10-15T12:20:00.001-05:00

Last week, I had another appointment with my rheumatologist. All I can say is, it was a little bit better than the last visit, no thanks to Dr. Rheumo. The real thanks goes to the cute, young Dr. Peter that was following her around. I go to a teaching medical hospital, so I see lots of medical students, interns and residents. I don’t mind. I figure they have to learn somewhere, and they might someday discover the cure for cancer or Alzheimer’s. At any rate, cute, young Dr. Peter came into my exam room and asked if he could ask some questions. Basically, he asked me my medical history, so he got the full story, complete with depression history, my two C-sections, prolonged, induced first labor, and everything leading up to my current state. We were in there about 45 minutes talking, and he really was sweet and incredibly, terribly earnest. Bless his heart.

So, while talking, I mentioned that often, I feel a lot like I used to after REALLY overdoing it at the gym (back in the Stone Age when I was rather fit and did this on a regular basis), where I didn’t want to move, and I didn’t want anyone to touch me. Of course, that feeling would pass in a day or two, and I’d be better. The trouble now is that the feeling never passes; it just stays there, or gets worse. The pain and discomfort grinds on you, not just physically (which can be difficult), but emotionally and psychologically. In my head, I KNOW there’s so much dog hair on the carpet you can no longer tell what color it really is, but I also know that using the vacuum cleaner, even for that little bit, could cause untold agony the next day. So, I have to weigh the pros and cons for everything I do. I told cute, young, earnest Dr. Peter that my family was really understanding at first, but now, it looks like I’m just lazy, since I don’t LOOK sick. It often appears to others that I have plenty of energy to do the ‘fun’ things, but no energy to do the work type things. In some ways, that’s true, since I often try to balance a certain amount of activities, like this past weekend’s trip to the Ren Fest, for my children’s benefit against how desperately the compulsive need to load the dishwasher hits.

I also told him that I got the feeling, right or wrong, that the doctors were thinking it was all in my head. I was trying to do my part, losing weight gradually (the scales backed me up on that one), slowly increasing my exercising (a delicate balance, to be sure), but when I needed the help to get there, namely pain management, I felt like I was getting the run around, being prescribed the baby aspirin of pain meds.

Like a good little student/intern, cute, young, earnest Dr. Peter ran and tattled to Dr. Rheumo. So, when she came in the room, practically the first words out of her mouth were, “We don’t think it’s all in your head, and we do believe you.” Then she gave me a prescript for some better pain meds. They don’t work great, but she also gave me the nurse’s number and her email address. I feel more like she’s with me now than before.

While visiting Dr. Rheumo, she and cute, young, earnest Dr. Peter threw out a new word – polymyalgia. Apparently, this is different than fibromyalgia. And after looking it up online, I have to agree that my symptoms do more closely align with poly. The part that’s hard to swallow? The average onset age of polymyalgia is 70. It’s unheard of in anyone under the age of 50. Necropolis says that’s because I’m aging in dog years. This brings me to something the online research suggested. Yoga.

If you had told me even 6 months ago that I’d be in a yoga class, I’m sure I would have laughed at the idea. However, even with my limited experience, I have to admit it’s been a real turning point. I haven't really bought into the whole meditation thing yet, but I do give it an honest attempt while I’m in the class. What I can’t dispute, however, is how much more loose, less tense, less stressful, just….less….I feel when I leave. It’s been amazing. I’m sure I’ll be writing about this more as time goes on and I get more involved in this. I’ve actually bought my own mat and a DVD of easy beginner stuff to do at home on the days I don’t have class. I bought a pair of yoga pants. And, I’ve knitted some yoga socks. Yeah, my feet get cold. I’ll probably knit fingerless gloves too, since my hands get cold too. Anyway, back to the socks. I looked around, and all the socks I saw looked okay, but I thought I could do better, so I came up with my own design. I have an easy-peasy version, and a more fitted version (which I prefer). I plan to put them here on the blog to share very soon. Once I actually get the second fitted sock finished. Hopefully tomorrow.

Blog entry title courtesy of The Devinyls

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme

2007-10-13T20:29:00.000-05:00

Today, we took a family road trip up above Charlotte to the Carolina Renaissance Festival. It's a rather laid back festival, and more people in street clothes than playtrons, but the boys enjoy it, so we go and play tourist as well.

There was a huge, old kaleidoscope outside of one of the shops. I took a couple of macro shots of the outer color wheel.

My big pleasure of the day is a stop at the Henna Tent.

The boys thought it was BIG TIME today, since I let them get a small henna design today as well. They were too proud.

MUC says next year, he wants to "dress up".

I Just Want To Bang On The Drums All Day.

2007-10-08T17:04:00.001-05:00

MUC's Tomten Jacket is complete. Well, complete with the exception of needing buttons. But, otherwise, it's complete. So, after I picked up the Things from school today, I dragged MUC out into the backyard for a little photo session. While yes, we do live in Georgia, and yes, it did get to 90 today, no, my son was not sweating as a result of my forcing him to wear a wool sweater in 85 degree heat and 70 percent humidity. He was sweaty when I picked him up from school. That's my story anyway.

The coolest part of this sweater, in my opinion, is the yarn. I had 3 skeins of plain, old natural colored Paton's wool. MUC and I decided that we would see what damage we could do to it, and the green, blue and rust color are what he, I and some Wilton's dye came up with. I purchased the charcoal gray Cascade 220 to bring it all together (and since I knew I was going to need another skein of yarn). The Tomten is an Elizabeth (The Most Holy One) Zimmermann pattern and is really an easy knit. I have one planned for GLB as well, but he wanted something more simple, so no dyeing of yarn for that one.

It's Too Late, Baby

2007-10-05T00:39:00.000-05:00

After a mad dash to the first of October, a moderately insane moment where I trusted Necropolis with my pinking shears, and copious amounts of muttering and cursing, my latest Italian Ren garb is featured in the Italian Showcase on Bella's site. You can check it out here. All in all, I'm please with how the gown itself turned out. How it looks on me? Not so much. Frankly, the thing hangs like a sack of potatos, since I've lost weight (take THAT, Dr. Rheumo!), and I didn't have time to do a complete remake. Even if I had the time, I don't think I would have done a complete remake. But, it's done and over, and now I have another gown from the 1490s to complete by November 1st. I love stress.

GLB decided he wanted to be Harry Potter for Halloween, so I'm in the process of knitting a Gryffindor house scarf for him. And, it's in the yuckiest, scratchiest Red Heart acrylic yarn ever made. I must really love my children.

I haven't mentioned this before, but I've been playing around on Ravelry, a new knitting/crocheting community. Let me tell you, if you do yarn work, GET ON THE LIST. This place is amazing for the pattern search alone. You can see what other people have done with a particular pattern, what issues they might have had, what yarn they used...it's totally amazing.

I've also added a ton of photos to my Flickr account, so you can see what passes for my attempts at photography with my POS camera. Necropolis keeps hinting that Santa may be nice to me this year. One can only hope!

More knitting on the way, but I don't have a lot of photos of the works in progress. And, the photo issue I mentioned before seems to have resolved itself. Good thing. My resolutions would have probably resulted in a subdural hematoma (how's that, Lucy?).

Spinning Wheel

2007-09-29T19:11:00.000-05:00

One of my newer fiber hobbies is handspinning. I've been playing with it more than really producing anything useful, but it's been fun. And, once again, it's a testament to the power of the internet. After some searching around online, I found a 'viral video on YouTube from Abby at Abby's Yarns. (I've also purchased very dreamy fiber from her, but that's another post.) She shows how to start and handle a drop spindle, and it completely opened a whole new level of fiber obsession. I had been playing around with a student grade spindle I bought at Wild Fibre during my beach trip in Savannah. I also found something online about creating a drop spindle with a dowel and a CD and played around with that too. Then, I discovered Spinsanity's store on Etsy.com. And, now that I have a grown-up, real spindle, life will never be the same. It's loverly. It has a flower on it. It spins like a dream. Yes, it's my pressscccciooouuussss.

Now I want a kick spindle.

By the way, I notice my blog seems to be having some photo issues. I'm not sure why that is, but I'll get to working on that after I finish getting the garb done....like tomorrow.

Dancing with Myself

2007-09-26T11:54:00.000-05:00

Every so often, I get in a weird place, where I just want have to back away and sort of crawl into myself. It’s a combination of avoidance and self-preservation, I think. I’m not a huge believer in astrology or that kind of thing, but my birth sign is Cancer, the crab.

Exactly.

So, apparently, I’m allowing my more social personality to venture forth. And, truthfully, getting back into the swing of work has been tough, as well as dealing with the current health issues. But, enough of that. Today is for fiber.

I’ve been knitting like a fiend in my spare time. Here are the fruits of my labors.

Mananita Magic. Pattern from Shawls and Scarves: The Best of Knitter's Magazine. I did it on sz 9 needles with a lace weight yarn (most of a 900 yrd skein) by The Plucky Knitter I got from The Loopy Ewe. It's a colorway called Wuthering Heights, a fabulous burgundy with some dark grays throughout. It turned out rather well, and was an easy knit. I added an additional row at the bottom, and I did a different border than the one called for in the pattern.

Black Water Socks. Pattern is my own. It's a generic toe-up pattern with the waterfall lace pattern chosen from Barbara Walker's Treasury of Knitting Patterns Vl. 1, with some slight alterations to accommodate knitting in the round and the look of the sock. Yarn was most of 1 skein of Lorna's Laces sock yarn in the Black Watch colorway (hence the name). Again, a totally easy knit. Pardon the dangly in the above pict. MUC took these photos for me. Not bad for a 6 year old.

The HUGE bag I knitted with idea of felting it. It's supposed to be a messenger style bag. It felted nicely, by the way. I knitted it on a sz. 8 in stockinette. Looking at the kids with the bag makes me laugh, because it really was a freaking huge bag before I threw it in the washer. I'll have to get a pic of it all nice and felted. Knitted with Lion Brand Wool.

Shawl knit on No. 9 needles out of a mohair/wool blend that I found at my LYS. I can't remember the name at the moment, but I do remember there are about 400 yrds in the shawl. The pattern is my own, something I kind of made up as I went on, in keeping with Aunt Dion's Shawl, since I'm still working on making something out of that, eventually. The last photo is the truest to the colors. They really are that vibrant, and that's what drew me to the yarn in the first place.

And, this is just what I had pics of. I still have 2 socks on needles, completed a Baby Surprise Jacket that I forgot to take pics of, have since completed another BSJ and it's awaiting buttons, with no less than a more BSJs on the needles. I have an Elizabeth Zimmerman Tomten Jacket on the needles for MUC, another planned for GLB, a Shapely T on the needles, and a mitered square blanket on the needles.

Those are just the projects I can think of off the top of my head. I'm sure there are more. Oh, and I have a 2 garb projects coming up at the end of the month as well.

In the arms of an Angel

2007-09-24T08:30:00.000-05:00

I am trying to get back to regular posting. I have a ton of fiber stuff coming up. In the meantime, while getting rid of the multitude of junk I accumulate on my desktop, I ran across these photos I took at Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah while I was there. If you've read before, you know my camera woes, so they're not the great. I was also in a hurry, and the battery was threatening to die at any moment. I have plans to go back when I can really spend the time and take better, more careful pictures.

In the arms of an angel

Fly away from here

From this dark cold hotel room

And the endlessness that you fear

You are pulled from the wreckage

Of your silent reverie

You’re in the arms of the angel

May you find some comfort there

You’re in the arms of the angel

May you find some comfort here

Dropping the F-Bomb

2007-09-23T20:17:00.001-05:00

It has been brought to my attention recently, that I left my faithful readers hanging as to the state of my health. Rest assured, I'm still alive. I have no life-threatening conditions, and I'm not in any imminent danger of contracting some weird flesh eating virus.

To describe the process that lead me to this point would take more time than I want to spend reliving it. But, the Reader's Digest abridged version is I have had some times of chronic, non-specific pain, insomnia, migraines, fatigue and several other symptoms. I have seen a sleep specialist (and have the CPAP machine to prove it), 4 general practitioners, and a couple of specialists with no real diagnosis or relief from the symptoms. I finally got one.

The word of the moment is fibromyalgia.

I've learned a lot about it over the past month and a half, and it's been an interesting read, to say the least. After several appointments with my internist (who is quite nice), I was referred to a rheumatologist. After being poked, prodded and bent in several positions that would make a master yogi proud, I was pronounced as having fibro. I then received some of the most condescending advice I have ever received from a physician. I was told, in a nutshell, to lose weight, get some exercise, see a counselor and come back in two months.

I don't know about you, but I don't need to pay someone to tell me I'm a fat-assed, out of shape hypochondriac. Frankly, that was a lot of what I have been thinking about myself for the past couple of years, given the number of doctors, appointments and medications I have taken. To say I was insulted is putting it mildly. Actually, at first, I was totally shocked at what I was hearing. Then, I was very upset at the fact that I now had a 'word', but no real assistance, medical or otherwise, was being offered. Then, I got really angry and began to educate myself about what fibromyalgia is and isn't. It *is* real, and it's *not* in my head.

I go back to the rheumo in about two weeks, and I'll be loaded with a ream of information.

To quote a famous Savannahian, "Don't mess with The Doll, sugar."

Still here....

2007-08-19T18:34:00.000-05:00

I'm here, and hope to get some things ready to post very soon. School has started, and the first week back is always crazy for me and my family, so we're still adjusting back to the routine. Keep on the lookout for posts, because my therapy for stress lately has been 'idiot knitting', and I've been doing that a LOT. Several FO ready to be photographed and displayed. Also have Doctor news, but I can't really discuss that without getting totally ticked off yet, so that will have to wait as well.

See you soon!

I'm Not Crazy, I"m Just a Little Unwell

2007-08-05T18:03:00.000-05:00

Blogs are a strange beast. As you type out your thoughts and then press the 'publish' button, you put yourself out there for the whole world to see. As a result, I don't really put a bunch of personal information in my blog. First, it's not really my style, and two, I can't get past feeling I'll divulge some salient personal point will come back to haunt me some day. And yet, there are times when reality creeps into the realm of blogsphere to such a point that they cannot be separated.

This is one of those times.

I originally set up this blog to be the way I share some of my hobbies and interests. Fiber, letterboxing, general interests, travel and whatever else I decided would merit worthiness. And, over the past couple of months, I've found no lack of things the talk about, which is really no surprise. I have no lack of things to talk about now. What I lack is the energy and motivation.

For the past couple of years, I have been plagued by some mysterious illness that apparently is nameless and doesn't show itself on any tests. I've been to half a dozen doctors, been subject to sleep studies (oy vey), physical therapy, x-rays, MRIs, have given what seems like gallons of blood, all to be told that everything seems 'normal'. That there's no discernible reason for the pain, fatigue and headaches I've been experiencing. I endure as much as I can, but some times, it's too much, even for me. This is one of those times.

So, that brings me to the blog. There just isn't much interesting going on in my hobby world at the moment. But, as weird as it may sound, I am knitting compulsively. It helps to take my mind off of some of the discomfort and to distract me. However, it doesn't make for interesting knitting, since I can't concentrate on patterns or charts. As a result, The Stoli has been sidelined. My EZ Pi shawl is sideline, as it's in the middle of a pattern. I am knitting a generic pair of sock with an easy repeat pattern as well as a huge messenger-style bag that requires only endless stockinette at this point. I'm also working on a mitered square blanket, but I find myself frogging about every other square when I miscount and mess up the miter.

Not only that, but I start work on Tuesday. This isn't inspiring the usual enthusiasm. I'm doing the doctor rounds again, in the hope that something, anything, will show up. It would be easier knowing what direction to take than just wondering what the hell is wrong with me.

Title taken from the lyric of Unwell by Match Box Twenty

Give A Little Bit

2007-07-30T13:36:00.000-05:00

So give a little bit
Give a little bit of my life for you
So give a little bit
Give a little bit of your time to me
Now’s the time that we need to share
So send a smile, we’re on our way back home

-- Give a Little Bit by Supertramp

I'm a sucker for children's charities.

Actually, I'm pretty much a sucker for charities in general. I suppose I know how very lucky I have it. And, I know how very lucky my children have it. I watch movies like Hotel Rwanda, The Constant Gardener, and Blood Diamond in absolute horror. I can't imagine, in even my darkest moments, what the quality of life must be like for the people who live in these conditions. As a result, I'm often lead to action. If I were single and childless, I'd probably BE a relief worker. Perhaps in another incarnation later in life, I will be. At this time, I have responsibilities to the children I brought into the world, but I can't live in denial of what happens in other places.

There are a lot of very worthy charities out there, but I seem to be drawn to those that help children. Save the Children is a personal favorite of mine. They have a nice balance of political action with service that I like. Earlier in the year, I was involved in the Caps to the Capital campaign, and I knitted several and donated them in honor of my children's teachers and various family members. As a matter of fact, that was one of the gifts given during the Christmas season.

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about what more I could do right now. And, with the opening of my Etsy shop, I decided that I would donate a portion of the profits to Save the Children. I don't know how much, at this point. I've been thinking in the 25% range. That seems fair, and allows me to have some money to reinvest in materials. I may up the percentage later, depending on how that works.

I went to Six Degrees.org (nice tie in, no?) which is Kevin Bacon's site partnered with Network for Good and set up my badge. You can see it to the right. You can donate directly by clicking on the donate button. One of the things I like about this, in particular, is you can use Paypal, but add the processing fee, so the charity gets the full amount of your donation. When I donated the first $10, one of the pages asked if I would like to pay the processing fee. It was 47 cents. I added the 47 cents to my 'bill', so Save the Children got all of my 10 bucks. You can also donate with a credit card. You can do a one time donation, or set up a series of donations. You can even set up your own charity badge.

So, I challenge you. If you don't wish to donate to my selected charity, that's fine. Go to Network for Good and check out their list. I know there's got to be at least ONE charity you're interested in. Donate.

Give a little bit.

First Impression, Part 2

2007-07-29T17:17:00.000-05:00

Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends

We're so glad you could attend

Come inside! come inside!

- Emerson, Lake and Palmer; Karn Evil 9

The Shawl was a big hit. Dion was most pleased, and immediately began wearing it. Like many elderly, Dion is often cold and she was most happy to have something, even inside on a hot and muggy day in July.

Lot of 'ooohs' and 'ahs' were to be heard. I now have several offers for my next projects, should I need ~~victims~~ volunteers. Which leads me to the next thing on the plate.

There are many, many times I make things not for my own use, but just to see if I can do it. Every so often, Nec asks me if I'm going to sell it, and I usually flinch when he does. Letting go of art, even a small little booklet or a carved stamp for letterboxing, is very difficult for me. It's very much like letting go of a child or a limb. It's difficult to let the things I create go out of the door. As a result, I've collected quite a collection of handmade things for which I have no audience. I decided to bite the bullet and join Etsy.com and list my things. Etsy's a little like eBay, but also different. It's a commerce listing site, like eBay, but unlike eBay, it's more about handmade items, arts, crafts and the like. Non artists are encouraged (highly!) to visit and buy, but the listings are of a particular vein.

My particular "shop" is called SixDegreesArts, and you can find the my shop here. I also have a banner over on the right that you can click on as well. Right now, there's only a few things, but I'll continue to list over time. It will be ever-changing and quite the eclectic group of items in one place.

Summertime, and the livin' is easy

2007-07-27T20:47:00.000-05:00

Summertime and the livin’ is easy

Fish are jumpin’ and the cotton is high

Oh your daddy’s rich and your ma is good lookin’

So hush little baby, don’t you cry

One of these mornings

You’re goin’ to rise up singing

Then you’ll spread your wings And you’ll take the sky

But till that morning There’s a nothin’ can harm you

With daddy and mammy standin’ by

Crossroads

2007-07-27T16:43:00.000-05:00

Dion's shawl is washed, blocked and set out to dry. It took two and a piece of a skein (about 330 yards) of Blue Sky Alpaca and silk. The knitting gauge was about 5 stitches per inch on stockinette, but I haven't measured the blocked shawl, except to know it's roughly 65 inches across at the top. Here are some photos of the completed shawl in various stages.

Unblocked.

Wet, and ready for blocking.

Blocked.

If this post seems less than my normal verbose self, you'd be right. There are a couple of reasons for that. The first is, I've had about 4 hours sleep in the last 36 hours. I'm beat. I got the shawl finished, washed, blocked out and completed at about 6 a.m. this morning, just about the time Nec was getting up to go to work.

The second reason for the more somber mood is nostalgia. While knitting madly on the shawl, I sat in our computer room and listened to playlists of songs I created ages ago. These are the tunes that keep me company while painting, sewing, or whatever creative process I might be involved with in our bonus room. While knitting along, "Melissa", by The Allman Brothers started playing. I couldn't help by be swamped with memories of a friend of mine, Ron, who died last October of cancer. Ron was a friend and a musician, and there are certain songs that remind me of him so strongly, at times I can't separate the original version of the song from the version Ron sang. Steppenwolf's "Magic Carpet Ride", Pure Prairie League's "Amie", and several others, including an unlikely but very endearing rendition of "Rainbow Connection", which Ron would segue into Drivin' and Cryin's "Straight to Hell". When Ron sang these songs, he lived them. You believed him while he sang. "Melissa" was also one of those songs, probably in no small part due to his wife being named Melissa as well.

I think I'm going to keep tweaking this shawl. I may even actually make a pattern for it. I plan to name it "Sweet Melissa".

Crossroads, seem to come and go, yeah.
The gypsy flies from coast to coast

Knowing many, loving none,
Bearing sorrow havin fun,
But back home he"ll always run
To sweet Melissa... mmm...

Freight train, each car looks the same, all the same.
And no one knows the gypsy's name
No one hears his lonely sigh,
There are no blankets where he lies.
In all his deepest dreams the gypsy flies
With sweet Melissa... mmm...

Again the mornings come,
Again he's on the run,
Sunbeams shining through his hair,
Appearing not to have a care.
Well, pick up your gear and gypsy roll on, roll on.

Crossroads, will you ever let him go? (lord, lord)
Will you hide the dead man's ghost,
Or will he lie, beneath the clay,
Or will his spirit roll away?

But I know that he won't stay without Melissa.

Yes I know that he won't stay without Melissa.

Suicide is Painless

2007-07-26T20:43:00.000-05:00

Attention all personnel!

At 2:30 a.m., after posting about the shawl for Dion, I decided I really didn't like it. Actually, I decided it was quite ugly, and I didn't want to knit another stitch of it. By the light of late night TV, I frogged and began reknitting in a slightly different configuration. I was up until 5, when my eyelids refused to cooperate any further.

Lucked out at the LYS, where they had some of the Blue Sky Alpaca and Silk in the same dye lot as the skein I have. Someone up there is looking out for me.

It's 9:45 p.m., and I will NOT go to sleep until this thing is complete. Tomorrow is reserved for soaking and blocking.

More details and photos tomorrow, if all goes well.

That is all.

The Tide Is High, but I'm Holding On (barely)

2007-07-25T23:38:00.000-05:00

Saturday, we have to go down south a bit. Nec's family is having a birthday celebration for his Aunt Dion. I can't remember right now which birthday this is for her, exactly, but I seem to remember something in the neighborhood of 80. I'll have to clarify at a later point. At any rate, I have been busy cleaning and getting a few projects of my own ready, knowing we had this upcoming event, and Necropolis had his own idea of what he wanted to do regarding a gift. That left me off the hook, and truthfully, I haven't thought another thing about it. Tonight, when he arrived home from work, I was informed this idea had fallen through, and I'm asked, "So, can you KNIT a shawl or something?"

Of course, I think. I'll just wiggle my nose and presto, a beautiful cobweb shawl will magically appear.

Where has this man been while I've been cursing and complaining and generally being maniacal about The Stoli? Is this the same man who complains, LOUDLY, every morning about the ~~two~~ dozen tote bags around my side of the bed, each containing a different knitting project? These things take TIME, people, not to mention it's been well documented over the past couple of weeks I am unable to knit complicated patterns and mother at the same time. I'm unable to knit complicated patterns and BREATHE at the same time. And, he wants, "...a shawl or something."

I can the sarcasm (barely) and give the honest response: I truly don't think I have enough of the appropriate yarn in my stash to complete a last minute project for someone of Dion's maturity and sensibilities. My response was met with the 9 most beautiful word in the English language to a fiber-holic:

"You can go to the yarn store right now."

I kid you not. The man who, in the past, couldn't understand what I could possibly need with so much yarn at one time (and believe me, my stash is really small) was actually asking about yarn and even offered me a "Go to the Yarn Store Free" card. Naturally, given my luck, this conversation took place more than 2 hours *after* my LYS had closed for the day.

Did I cave and start knitting something for this?

Yes.

I'm a total sucker.

I did have one lone skein of Blue Sky Alpaca and Silk in ecru. I started knitting up a generic type shawl, and I figure I can pick up another couple of skeins tomorrow. It's ecru, so hopefully, color lots won't matter too terribly much. I finished the one skein in about three and a half hours, which included one false start and necessary frogging at about 10 rows and various stop-and-starts due to Things 1 and 2. Here are a couple of pictures. Given I can't really spread this one out at this point, you'll have to use your imagination a little.

Because it usually looks like this: Blue Sky Ramen

I had some company while I was knitting. She didn't make a sound and didn't say I was singing Blondie or Cake too loudly (unlike Things 1 and 2). Good thing her coat is white. It blends right in with the shawl while I knit.

Oh, and that cleaning I was doing. Totally necessary. Really.

Splendor in the Grass

2007-07-24T17:34:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I decided the grass MUST be cut. Immediately. Do not stop, do not pass go, do not collect $200. Why, you ask? Here's a representative photo of MUC assisting. I think you'll understand my reasoning when you see it.

I know what you're thinking. You're saying to yourself, "yeah, but he's a little kid." Here's a shot of the adult, grown-up, DC-10 style push mower we use. In the grass. That came to my waist.

In our defense, only one section of the backyard grows like this, and the front has seen some blade action recently. All our vacation going has made cutting the back yard fall far down on the priority list, you know, past sleeping, and knitting, and watching Pirates of the Caribbean for the sixty ga-jillionth time.

Any way, it didn't take long before MUC complained of boredom. I gave him permission to take the POS camera (if he drops it, I get a *new* one....a *better* one) and shoot pictures while we were outside. I had no idea what he took pictures of until I downloaded my photos for my post on The Legacy. There were some headless bodies, weird angles and blurry shots, but he also got some pretty clear shots at times. So, here's my backyard through MUC's eyes. The bluebird box, the birdbath (notice the pine straw in it) and the dog. All fairly normal shots for a kid with a camera, I'd say.

But then, the kid gets avant-garde on me. Check out these that followed in fairly rapid succession.

'Cause even weeds need love.

Run, GLB, Run

Pancake fungi

And, my favorite of the bunch: Shoes.

The Legacy

2007-07-24T11:45:00.000-05:00

I come from a long line of fiber crafts females.

My paternal grandmother was a big afghan crochet artist. To my knowledge, she only made them for family, and they all follow the same basic pattern. Memories of huge piles of fugly Red Heart acrylic yarn and my Grandmama sitting in her recliner crocheting while watching Lawrence Welk or Hee Haw are a small part of my childhood fiber memories. At one point, I asked Grandmama to teach me, and she somewhat did. I could make a single crochet like no one's business, and if there were a need for said creation, I could have made a fortune. Ask me to actually crochet through the loops and MAKE something? Abysmal. It didn't take long for me to tire of the failure, and all I have of this part of my childhood are a couple of the afghans and a lone picture of me crocheting on the sofa at Grandmama's house. And the hair? It was Beauty Parlor day, and I got to tag along. I'll spare you the details.

The multi-colored afghan was given to me, personally. It's smaller, but much loved. You can see where some poorly constructed surgery was performed as the yarn gave and started to unravel. This piece of history stays in a Rubbermaid container these days. I can't bring myself to actually use or display it. Things 1 and 2 would have it in a pile of recycled yarn in 4.269 seconds flat.

The brown afghan is more in keeping with what I remember her working on. I have this one as well, but I'm not sure who its intended recipient was. It is in much better shape than the multi, but also spends most of its time in the Rubbermaid.

On the maternal side of my family, the family myths and legends abound. I distinctly remember stories of one of my great-grandmothers crocheting (or knitting) through The Depression. The story goes that she would knit table runners and doilies from string saved from wrapped meats from the local butcher. At this point, it's all hearsay, and there is no one still living to validate it. I do have something from this era though, whether by accident or design. The Mother (that would be mine) has some of this family fiber history, and I have this:

I thought, for a time, that it might be part of the family history, but I'm not so sure any longer. Better knowledge of the construction of fiber crafts as well as the sewn on fringe on this piece lead me to believe that this may be a hand made item, but not of the era I'm thinking. I'll have to confer with The Mother on this at some point.

The Mother, while never learning to crochet or knit, is an accomplished crossstitcher. I have some of her things in my home, and every time she visits, she tells me how poorly they look and I need to have them re-blocked. Never mind. Another topic for another post.

Which brings me to The Legacy. Granny (The Mother's mother) is a crocheter and tatter from WAY back. I don't know that I ever watched her create anything, but there was always something lying around half completed in a mirage of colors. I remember, during the Avocado appliance era (I know...I'm dating myself here), delicate tatting in shades of mint and lemon not found in nature. The Mother probably has some of this as well. I should ask.

Granny, however, is definitely her own person. I could fill this blog with the various stories that include Granny that have nothing to do with fiber. Dr. Lucy's favorite story is Granny arriving at my Bridesmaid luncheon, nearly parking the front of her Toyota in an old pine, Old Fashioned glass filled to the brim on the dash and not spilling a drop. It's Dr. Lucy's favorite because she witnessed it. I couldn't make this stuff up. Granny also worked crossword puzzles in ink. My departed Grandfather used to refer to it as 'the height of conceit'. I could go on, but I think you've probably clued in at this point. Granny does things her way and isn't exactly what I would refer to as maternal or interested in family heritage. Unfortunately, time and arthritis have take away Granny's ability to hold a crochet needle. And, Granny has no interest in passing on the knowledge or doing much of anything these days. Of course, she's older than Iraq (I"m not kidding...check the dates. And we want a sovereign, democratic Iraq?) and has somewhat earned the right to sit in a wheelchair and soil herself in a fit a pique (can't make that one up either).

So, Enter The Legacy. The Legacy is a afghan composed of crocheted granny squares (Hah! I couldn't invent a pun that ironic!) loosely stitched together. I had thought, when The Mother bestowed The Legacy upon me, that it was an incomplete afghan. My original understanding was the afghan needed to be completed. I was a bit intimidated by the whole thing, so The Legacy stayed in its plastic zippered bag that once contained The Mother's Croscill sheets while I ~~worked up the courage~~ determined a potential plan of completion.

Today was the day for the unbagging. I was wrong, oh so wrong, about the needs of The Legacy. It's coming apart, it's filthy, I don't know how to crochet, and it's been given to me.

My initial instinct is to take the thing apart, square by square, and wash the squares carefully. Some of them have 'stuff' on them. (Granny isn't known for her housekeeping abilities) 'Stuff' of a color and consistancy I haven't witnessed since my children were eating strained peas at the table of Gerber. 'Stuff' I couldn't, in good conscience, post a picture of on this page. And, if that were all there were to this, I'd do it. I'd take it apart, hand wash the squares, and stitch it back together. But no, it could not be that simple of a project for me.

Some of the squares are beginning to unravel. I have NO idea how to fix this and there is no spare yarn. Matching yarn, at this point, would very likely be impossible. I have no idea how old the yarn is, but it's very likely to be as old, if not older than me (which would be older than...say....Aerosmith).

Here lies my fiber legacy.

And as you pray in your darkness
For wings to set you free
You are bound to your silent legacy

Silent Legacy by Melissa Etheridge

On Becoming The Stoli Svengali

2007-07-22T11:56:00.000-05:00

When we last left our intrepid heroine, she was have a slight difference of opinion with The Stoli. Never one to let something as inconsequential as string get the better of her, our heroine regrouped, formed a new plan of attack (very similar to Napoleon’s famed three pronged attack at Waterloo), and began her assault on Clue 3. I am happy to report it was a success. Sorry, the picture isn't better. We all know my camera woes.

I finally decided that I have to knit The Stoli my way. I still follow the pattern and all that, but I came to realized that like most things in my life, I process knitting charts differently. Working it row by row is a recipe for ~~disaster~~ tinking. I have to break it down into more reasonable mathematical components to make sense. This isn’t unusual for me. I’ve always been a whole to part thinker. Here’s what I did:

Divide each row into 5 parts. The two border sections have 21 stitches in them, leaving 57 stitches in the middle portion. Generally, this wouldn’t be a problem, except this particular portion of the pattern is symmetrical. That means you knit 28 stitches, hit the middle stitch, then knit the remaining 28 stitches in the reverse of the pattern for the first 28. Are you totally confused yet? Yeah, it was having that effect on me as well, and I decided that trying to think in 57 stitches, much less a whole row of 99 stitches, was beyond what my logical sequential brain could handle. So, I broke it up into 5 portions. The two 21 stitch edges, the two 28 stitch ‘innards’ and the 1 middle stitch.

R21 + R28 + M1 + L28 + L21 = 99 Total

Works for me.

I put stitch markers on the needles in the appropriate places.

Yes, that means I do have one stitch with a stitch marker on either side in the middle of the work. And, yes, it means there’s some fiddling with the markers when I have to do a K2tog or S1 K2tog PSSO in the middle. But, the number of stitches stay consistent. I double check my numbers when I’m doing the wrong side purl stitches.

I also put in life lines (dental floss, in this case) every 25 rows. I leave them in until I complete the clue to ensure I’ve gotten the pattern correct.

Once I’m sure I’ve completed the clue correctly, I slide the life lines out, place a new one at the beginning of the new clue and as EZ would say, “Knit on”. The rest of chart 3 was completed with little bloodshed.

As for the chart, I’ve OCD’ed it as well. With 3 different colored highlight markers by my side, I color the bead stitches pink, the row to be knitted yellow, and as I complete it, I mark it off in green. I've used a red Sharpie to draw vertical lines for my 5 sections. You can also see my own writing where I write in the number of knit stitches. This may seem like a lot of work up front, but I'm knitting much faster and with fewer mistakes, so it can't be all bad.

I have to say, with this more OCD defined system, I’ve been less likely to make mistakes, and the ones I have made (usually a missed or dropped yarn over), I can pick up much more quickly. At this point, I’ve not had to tink back at all, but could correct my mistakes when knitting the WS row.

I also made some executive decisions about some things on the needles. I had an EZ Pi shawl I was almost ready to knit the edge on, and decided I didn’t like it. I had made a ton of mistakes while knitting it, and knitted with doubled yarn at first, only to decide about 1/3 of the way through I didn’t like that and abandoned it for single strand. The patterns were off, I’m not sure there were the right number of stitches, and I had no plan while I was knitting it. As a result, it was a truly fugly piece of work. The only thing I did like about it was the yarn and colorway, which was Ironstone flake cotton. I decided to start over.

The Pi Jellyfish and Pi, unblocked and waiting to be frogged

MUC assist with the frogging

And, Frog Pi.

And, now on to something completely different....Friday was my birthday. We'll not discuss the year. I'd just as soon not bother, but it's important to Things 1 and 2. Here are a few of the things I received, and yes, I'm that weird that these are all things that I enjoy. And, yeah, Dr. Lucy, I got my urine colored roses.

I’m a Hurdy-Gurdy Girl in a Crab Show World

2007-07-19T11:25:00.000-05:00

Apparently, I’ve angered the lace knitting gods. The Stoli**, my knitting, the chart pattern, the mathematics, the placement of the stars, Uranus in retrograde and I are no longer in sync. Okay, forget about my anus. But still, I can’t get past the first 4 lines of the chart for clue 3. I started last night while the kids were playing before bed. I was alone, I was uninterrupted, I was appropriately caffeinated, and I couldn’t make the stitches and numbers work. After 2 and a half hours of knitting, tinking*, knitting, cursing, tinking, counting, cursing some more, recounting, tinking, double-checking my math, taking deep breathing, and knitting, I was only on the third line of the chart, and I was ready to commit hari-kari or throw the knitting at the wall. I opted instead to go read some email.

I’m glad I did.

I received an email from Dr. Lucy, who told me she was reading the blog, but for the life of her couldn’t figure out the hurdy gurdy I made. I about peed my pants from laughing so hard, and woke up Thing 2 (MUC) in the process. The really sad part is I didn’t have to think for an instant what she was talking about. I knew immediately she was referring to this. As I giggled and chuckled my way through some surfing, I started thinking about the language my family and friends use, and the way we process. Maybe everyone does this, and I don’t know it, or maybe me and mine are just a bunch of weirdos. My family and friends have an alarming tendency to use euphemisms that are incomprehensible to the outside world.

Case in point #1: The Chicken Store

My kids have an exceptional gift for understatement. There was a time when I was going through a bad patch, Nec was working at lot, and the kids still required feeding. Enter Zaxby’s, which was ridiculously close to my house. The food is good, you can get extra fries, and I like their honey mustard sauce, so it was a winner all around. So, there was a time when we were eating Zaxby’s two or three times a week. In front of our local store is a sign that looks like this:

My kids have never been inside, since there is a ‘drive-thru’ type feature, but they knew the building and the sign. I knew it was time to find a new place to eat when I hear from the backseat, “But, Mommie, we don’t want Chicken Store tonight.”

After that night, every time we would drive by and the kids would see the sign (or a Zaxs sign anywhere), the kids would yell, “There’s a Chicken Store.”

Thus, it’s been “The Chicken Store” in this house ever since.

Case in point #2: The Crab Show.

Dr Lucy, on some occasion that probably included copious amounts of alcohol, asked Sarge and me if our respective spouses watched “The Crab Show”. Without thinking, blinking or nodding, both of us answered with a resounding, “Hell, yes!” What, you may ask, is “The Crab Show”? It’s a Discovery Channel show whose ‘real’ title is The Deadliest Catch. It’s all about crab fishing off the Alaskan coast. Total man show, and apparently very popular with the husband crowd. Dr. Lucy swears she has witnessed man-tears from Mahcus over The Crab Show, and I can say with all authority that Necropolis can tell you the names of all the ~~boats~~ ships as well as which ~~hairy, unwashed dude~~ captain goes with.

In conversation on the way to the mountains, I relayed Dr. Lucy’s new term to Necropolis, at which he burst out laughing. I really gave it no more thought, since it was more a mention in passing than a discussion and dissection. One evening later in the week, Nec’s playing some computer game, I’m knitting The Stoli (successfully at this point), the kids are all nestled, and the TV is on as background noise. Suddenly, Nec pops up.

“Turn the channel.”

Me: “To what? I’m watching Law and Order, Criminal Intent.”

“You’ve seen this one. I’ve seen this one. Ice Truckers is on.”

“Ice Truckers? You’ve GOT to be kidding me. I’m watching Chris Noth here.”

“Nope, it’s about these truckers who drive over iced-over lakes in Canada. It’s not as good as “The Crab Show” though.”

I about choked when I heard that, and promptly got online to email Dr. Lucy about her influence.

Just to let you know....your influence is far and wide.

Nec now refers to 'that program' as The Crab Show in conversation.

The response I received:

Yay! Don't feel left out - we had The Chicken Store for dinner last week.

* Tinking - Tink is "knit" backwards and also the sound the needles make clicking against each other as you take out your knitting one stitch at a time.

** The Stoli – my MS3 thus christened, since it’s takes a liberal pour in my OJ to keep from throwing the thing in the trash.

It's all about the shoes

2007-07-18T16:18:00.000-05:00

Let me make a couple of facts very plain: I'm no fashionista, nor do I care to follow fashion trends. Oh, there was a time in my past when I may have perused a copy of Vogue or Harper's Bazaar with a critical eye, and I still enjoy reading Go Fug Yourself, more for the occasional laugh than the fashion critique. Enter infants of the male persuasion with raging cases of GERD, not to mention teaching the under 10-crowd, and my take on clothing has quickly become a case study in form following function. There's also the fact that I can't bring myself to spend $50 on something that will eventually get contaminated with one of the 4 B's (barf, blood, bones or bathroom functions. It's just a factual hazard of having and working with children. It's not a matter of if it happens, it's just a matter of when.) As a result, my fashion sense has gravitated towards Wally-World/Second Hand store, with a dash of Old Navy thrown in there when I'm feeling a bit of the fashion bug.

Not only has my fashion sense gone in the toilet, but enter an overly healthy sense of individualism mixed with a dash of I-don't-care, and you know I do/wear what I like when I like as long as it's comfortable for me. Even in my fashion mag days and in college, I was never really one to follow the latest fashion. I will admit to twist-a-bead necklaces and other similar fashion trend disasters in my distant past (read: high school), but generally, they were the exception, not the rule.

While at the mountains, we were ~~wearing out the kids~~ checking out the sights and visited the Old Sautee Store. It has a really fascinating and interesting area where there are all kinds of clothing, farm implements, instruments, turn of the century (19th) canned good, and my kids' favorite, an old flip tin style moving picture machine that you can still watch for 5 cents. Me, I was interested in the shoes. They were fascinating.

I snapped several pictures, getting as close as I could, and still not managing to really get the shots I wanted. After several attempts in the dark and (obviously) dusty corner, I moved into the retail section to revisit the store of my youth. I was strangely disappointed. When I was younger, this store was an interesting combination of old world, Scandinavian style wool works and Appalachian crafts. This version of Old Sautee had little of that, and a lot of the new. T shirts, hiking gear, Life is Good miscellanea, and various styles of river shoes, flip flops and such.
Then, I saw them and inexplicably fell in love. I have eschewed these in the past, thinking them flat out ugly, uncomfortable looking, all the while speculating how much sweat they could produce. They looked like they would rub blisters at the drop of a hat and were the total antithesis of my idea of comfortable footwear. They were a repellent shade of pink, they were in a Mary Jane style, they were on sale (1/3 off), and they were going to be mine.

They are Crocs, they are hideous, and I love them.

Note: Apparently, there's quite the controversy regarding these shoes, both pro and con. I have no strong feelings one way or another about shoes. I *do* have strong feelings about the environment, the war in Iraq, the crisis in Darfur, conspicuous consumerism, rights of the individual and a host of other things. You see which made the blog, so, please don't make more of this than is intended.

A Nodding Acquaintance

2007-07-16T20:38:00.000-05:00

With all the dying and playing with spinning I've been doing lately, I've become remarkably knowledgeable about things I never knew existed, like a Niddy Noddy and what one does with said contraption. Once I had seen one, I knew I must have one. However, the list of priorities reared its financial head, and I kept thinking about the kick spindle I want so much. That lead me on a wild Google chase to see what I could find that would be an acceptable and financially feasible substitute, when I ran across this.

I can do this! I MUST do this. The only thing that would make this more Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor would be if duct tape were somehow involved. Off I go intent on procuring my list of materials from my local super mega hardware supply store (which I justify with the idea that I have to go buy a new mailbox anyway - but that's another story). A half hour and less than 6 bucks later, I have the raw materials.

I got a 5 ft length of 1/2 inch cold water PVC pipe, two T-joints and 4 end caps. The PVC pipe was just the cheapest. It's not as rigid as some might be, but for my purposes and at less than $1.30 how could I complain? The end caps are a total luxury item. A little elbow grease and some sand paper and the sharp edges would be taken care of. I think the end caps just make it easier, not to mention adding a little added slippage protection. You can probably get the hardware guys to snip the pipe into the appropriate lengths for you (I have before), but I was in a hurry and have the hacksaw at home. I've done surgery on PVC before.

Measure out the lengths: one 18" and four 6" lengths. With the 18" cut, cap each end with the T-joints. I didn't even bother sanding, since the ends were going to be covered by the joint. Once that's complete, it's just a matter of cutting the 6" lengths, and inserting into the crossbar portion of the T-joints.

Now, all that's left is to add the endcaps or sand the edges, whichever you prefer. Since I was a dope and bought 3 of the wrong kind of endcap, I covered them with packing tape for the time being (couldn't find any duct tape). I even had an 18.5" length of pipe left over, and I cut a 12" length which I can swap out with the other when I wish.

With a twist to put the two T-bars perpendicular, I had a lightweight and incredibly inexpensive but durable Niddy Noddy. Below you can see it 'naked' and with some yarn wrapped on it. I'm finding the 18" length to be a bit unwieldy for my short arms. It's mega convenient, since I can wrap, count the loops and multiply by 2 to get the yardage. It's not that the 12" would be hard to do the same, just more math. More math may be worth it if it's a bit easier to use.

Building a Mystery

2007-07-16T11:16:00.000-05:00

You're so beautiful

With an edge and charm

but so careful

When I'm in your arms

Cause you're working

Building a mystery

Holding on and holding it in

Yeah you're working

Building a mystery

And choosing so carefully.

-- Building a Mystery by Sarah McLachlan

I've been living these lyrics for the past few evenings, and finally completed Clue 2 on the MS3. I have to wait until Things 1 & 2 are either in bed or doing something with Necropolis, because I really have to concentrate and count on this thing. With this past clue, I got stuck at line 139 (of 150) and couldn't resolve it, so this one spent some time in the bag while I came back from frustration land and could sit down with fresh eyes. I finally had to frog about 10 rows and re knit from where I *knew* I was correct. I should have just done that from the beginning, because after I did that, the thing knitted up fairly easily. In the next couple of days, I'll pick up Clue 3 and hopefully I'll be finished by Friday and on track when Clue 4 comes out.

But because it's NEVER enough, late last night after finishing Clue 2, I picked up some crochet cotton and started trying my hand at center knit whitework. I'm not really using any particular pattern, but I found some old style things here, and I'm working on piecing some of them together like Frankenstein's monster. The problem is the notations are majorly strange. I don't know if it's me or the pattern, but after a dozen mis-starts, I finally just decided to use the pattern as a guide and do what works for me. So far, that seems to be working. Here's the current project.

And, all that whining I did in my last post about lack of fiber? Oh ye of little faith. This was waiting from The Jolly Postman when I returned home from the mountains.

Wouldn't It Be Loverly?

2007-07-13T23:00:00.000-05:00

All I want is a room somewhere,
Far away from the cold night air.
With one enormous chair,
Aow, wouldn't it be loverly?

-- Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady

I often feel like Eliza.

Without the flowers. Or Cockney accent. Or Victorian street urchin couture.

But I understand the sentiment.

All I want is a really awesome local yarn shop (LYS).

That's not to say that my current LYS isn't a really nice place. It is. And the ladies there are really awesome about helping me out, or making suggestions or offering assistance. They will special order. They have all the current 'stuff' you might see in a knitting magazine. It's a really nice knitting shop.

When we were vacationing at the beach, I went into town and found a LYS that was a good bit closer to my vibe. Wild Fibre carried the yarns you might expect, but they also carried a large assortment of organic yarns, as well as spinning fibers (woo!). The fact that they sell to SCAD students (who are almost notoriously in-your-face cutting edge) may have a lot to do with the inventory. But, it makes me bemoan the fact I can't find something similar in my area.

While we ventured up into the mountains, I though, "Hey, it's an arts and crafts area. Lots of local craftspeople are there. There is bound to be a really cool yarn/fiber store."

If there is one, I haven't found it.

I have several packages waiting for me when I return home. I bought some fiber and yarn off of Esty, and I'll have plenty to keep me busy, not to mention keeping up with the Mystery Shawl. However, buying online doesn't have the same sensory satisfaction that buying from a shop does. There's something almost mystical about touching and choosing the fibers, knowing it will become something functional and beautiful (eventually).

Me and Eliza.

Wouldn't it be loverly?

Dying of Boredom

2007-07-10T22:24:00.000-05:00

This is what happens when I get bored or my letterboxing trip gets rained out.

I had the yarn (some Lions Brand off white wool, nothing major), the unsweetened Kool-Aid (Grape, Cherry and Strawberry) and an internet connection. The rest was a piece of cake. Or, a skein of yarn, if you like. This was shamefully easy, despite the slight learning curve. I can see this becoming another obsession

Necropolis thinks I've lost my mind.

I already knew that.

That's How I Roll, OCD Style

2007-07-06T19:43:00.000-05:00

Recently, Necropolis was given the task of shopping without my supervision. This does occasionally occur, and usually with satisfactory results. Careful lists are scribed and cell phones are distributed along with instructions to call if there are any questions or uncertainties. After our recent beach trip, I didn't want a lengthy and expensive trip to the grocery store, as we were planning another lengthy vacation soon. So, with an abbreviated list and sketchy instructions, my intrepid shopper set off to hunt and gather for a few necessities.

He returned just a little too pleased with himself, which is a sterling sign that there was a completely useless and totally unnecessary item (or several) purchased on his watch. I didn't ask, preferring to go with the "Ignorance is Bliss" philosophy. Necropolis, being the type of individual he is, couldn't stand not sharing, so he showed me what he purchased, and I made the appropriate wifely noises of appreciation and quickly returned my attention to whatever it was I was doing at the time.

A day or two later, something began to nag at me about that item. I only got a brief glance and didn't really pay too close attention to it, so I wasn't sure if I was imagining it or if I did, indeed, see what I believed I did. So, tonight, I asked Nec to show me the shirt again, and yes, I was right!

The roll of toilet paper is backwards!!! WHY?

Let's completely ignore the fact that my husband bought an item of clothing with a roll of toilet paper on it. If you knew Nec, it wouldn't seem so far fetched why this was attractive to him. What nagged at the back of my mind for the better part of a week, and what I can't get over now is the roll is backwards. Yes, as weird and obsessive as this is, it completely bugs the crap out of me.

Nec tells me that I'm missing the point. The roll is 'backwards on purpose'. It's some weird philosophical man statement.

I say, the point would have been made just as well if the damn thing was facing the right way.