Thursday, October 30, 2008

I cannot be held responsible for my actions











































It was the wool fumes. And she was a knitter. I was doomed from the start. I fell off the stash wagon right into her hands and dropped my money like it was going out of style. More like yarn was a limited commodity. Like the sheep had stopped producing.
But in my defense, it was all 50% off. I swear, I never had a chance.
Owner of the Yarn Garage went out of business and was selling her stash/store. All enourmously wonderful yarn at 50% off. I asked if I could write a check. they said yes, "if you spend more than X amount of money" um... got that covered in the first 5 min thank you very much.
Again, to be fair, none of the yarn I got have I found anywhere else. I only bought the most superfabulous yarn and I did buy in large quantities (umm.... that was supposed to be in my defense). Sweater quantities.... yea, sweaters.
Seriously though, I got all the yarn in the pics for the freaktastic price of only $130. Seriously. You all know yarn, this is alpaca, silk, cashmere, llama, and wool. none of that acrylic stuff. Even Itchy likes it all. I spread it all on the floor and he immediately decided the 100% llama was his favorite and took a big nap in the middle of it. No, I did not try to move him.

Monday, October 27, 2008

850 mini socks

A friend over on Knittinghelp.com has commissioned her fellow knitters (including me-I'm a sucker) to help knit 850 mini socks for the troops for xmas. I started my first one. I might need some backup. Wanna knit a mini sock? leave me a comment and I will email you the details.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

I think I have too many ideas

Besotted is done. Done I say! Even though there is about 20 yards of the Malabrigo left, I cast of, wove in ends, and she is done. She argued too much about whether she would knit right towards the end, so she's done.
Now I'm a bit at loose ends. I cast on for those socks with the yarn that Cindy sent me, got to the gusset and got bored. I cast on for a lovely and if-it-works-out will be my favorite sweater ever.
Monkey socks are still on the ribbing for sock #2. But I have yarn for a great scarf/hat/mitten set I want to start on. Also still want to chug on the afghan that has idled for about a year. And Mom is bringing me the afghan she started that was supposed to be a birthday present but it still just yarn and is going to teach me hairpin lace. ( wow, is that a theme? yarn that was supposed to be a present but is still just yarn? I guess I inherited a lot). hmm..
Is it the weather? Do knitters instinctively want to cast on tons of stuff in the winter so they'll be surrounded by wooly warm goodness? Do we automatically revert to hat/scarf/mitten/sweater sets at this time of year because we want to already be wearing them? Do I want to knit an afghan because the one I have right now isn't warm enough? Of course, that's not considering that by the time I have an afghan done it will be 2 years from now and probably summer.

Friday, October 24, 2008

Itchy needs a tooth removed

Argh! Itchy went to vet today, I KNOW he has tooth problems. But today it was worse. His tooth is being reabsorbed into his gums and needs to be removed. And cats don't have single teeth like we do. they have root system. so it's about 3 teeth in a root system that has to come out. Apparently this is common in cats. Ugh. It's an enzyme thing. Ugh.
Fortunately, for the first time ever, DH said that he would be around to help with the transfer of said demon seed. I think it's because it's "his" cat. I also think he didn't second guess the diagnosis because it's "his" cat. Remember the bickering when Mulder had pancreatitis and I had xrays and such done and he "mentioned" that the cost was a bit high and I was doing a lot for the cat? I do. No such "mentioning" this time.
That's the only comment I will make on that.
I am just happy that he made the effort to try to help with the transfer of spawn of satan to evil vet of doom. You should have heard the howl that came out of that boy when the lovely (I sincerely love the CRAP out of our vet and ask for her by name) vet came in and asked "how is Itchy?" OH my. she was nice though and polite, and just remarked that he was "vocalizing". Notice I am using a lot of quote marks for this post.
Lets just say that the vets office shouldn't LEAD the exam with a rectal temp. Maybe leave that for last. I'd be a bit pissed too and so would you.

On other lovely notes, I am raging away on my knitting. Besotted scarf is almost done, I am swearing to finish the ball of yarn even if my fingers and the needles resist. Cindy sent me some of the most lovely handspun for socks, and when I remarked that it was softer that anything else I've gotten she said it was because she spun in some extra soft stuff she had leftover. Smart smart girl. Oddball blankets are coming along. I'm on 2 groups right now, the midwest oddball baby blankets and the Pet snuggle project. Loving them both. The firl that runs the midwest babies seemed a bit overwhelmed, and I have more than my fair share of extra yarn, so I started my own blankie for the group, "it's not easy being green". I bought myself a stitch pattern book last week, and am having so much fun playing with the stitches and my extra yarn. I could seriously fill a few hospitals with blankies just with my yarn. The pet snuggles are awesome as well, and have a great special huge place in my heart. I can't adopt every kitty that needs love, either thru abandonment, illness, or other such heartbreaking issues, but with our blankies we are donating a bit of snuggle to each of them. Not just kitties, I know, but I like to think that if Mulder hadn't been found that evil wretched day and had to spend a day in the shelter, he would have had a blankie to snuggle/chew/pee on/ lay on/etc. So we are having fun.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Gutters done

Today was a busy day. It might not have been if my neighbors had not been busy, but they motivated me to get outside and get some stuff done. Raked the whole yard and learned that using a shovel to put the leaves in the garbage bag rocks. Got the gutters on the garage cleaned. Who knew that there was an entire ecosystem living in gutters? Whole trees with root systems were starting to grow! Could've planted those suckers. And it's disgusting. and smelly. Yuck. But it's done for now. Got about 15 bags full of yard crap out back now. I'm pooped. Just waiting for my pajamas to be done in the dryer and I will conk out on the couch with my knitting and a movie. I am on the second skein of Malabrigo for the besotted scarf. this scarf is awesome, but takes a lot of yarn because of the cables. Glad I'm using my most favorite yarn in the whole world, because that might suck if I wasn't. I'm not even close to bored with the scarf because the yarn is that awesome. The color is "sealing wax". If you've never knit with Malabrigo, really, come to my house. I have a whole section in my craft room just for my Malabrigo stash. You can feel it and be addicted. It is my favorite gift to give knitters. Hint hint.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Last day of vacation


Yes, I know it's weird to go back to work after vacation for only 2.5 more days until the weekend, but it just worked out that way.

Got the outside lights installed. Took the guys 4 hrs on the front light and 1 hr on the back. Why? Some weird electrical stuff that I don't understand, but they had to run a line up from the basement for the front. Apparently "dead" wiring and such. Eric asked but I had no idea really, and he seemed perterbed that I didn't. I hired the guys for that. BECAUSE I have no idea. I thought it was better that way. And the lights work. Both of them. One guy just turned the front off and on a bunch with a grin. Seriously.

One thing about having workers at your house is they are loud, they go in and out (especially when working on lights where the wiring is inside and the light is outside, go figure) they track in stuff, and they make you worry about using your own bathroom because it doesn't have a lock. And they freak the CRAP out of the cats. So when they said they might have to come back to finish the back I said no way, you finish torture now, now I say! no more coming back to refresh torture! Well, I didn't say that. But it was clear. And the guys cell phone played Kung Fu Fighting. And it rang all the freaking time. I had a headache, I can at least say that.

I did get a ton knit on my Besotted scarf, see pic. That's the thing about workers in your house. You can't hover, but you don't want to leave or go do something far away. Especially when one guy walks through your living room with a huge metal pole aiming straight for the gazillion and a half dollar tv. Nope. Stayed put and knit. Which made for a decent, if somewhat tense, day.

All in all I think vacation accomplishments went well. The fence isn't fixed and the garage gutters aren't cleaned, but now I feel ok doing that on a weekend. Dang it, the cat needs more syringes. Don't let me forget to pick up more needles!

Monday, October 13, 2008

day 5

Today it rained a lot. All day. Wet and chilly. No outside work done. Did hire guy to install lights, will be done on tuesday. Got 2 last porch curtains and 1 curtain for Nicole done.
Word to the wise: trying to explain to hungry cats that you have to go to the store to get their food and continuously clawing at you doesn't help, doesn't work. You would have thought the darn things were starving. Came home w/ food, they ate, then promptly took a nap for 6 hrs. Buggers.
Tomorrow we get the lights done. I'm not going for much more than that as it is my lasdt day off. I have a movie to watch, knitting, and some good food around here still. Besides, I got way more accomplished in these last days than in the last year I think. Fence still isn't fixed though.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Day 4

Took day 4 off. It is a sunday after all. Watched some movies and knit on my besotted scarf. After a few errors that only I can see, I am getting the hang of the pattern. Which is good, because the scarf will take forever to make. Tomorrow I work on sewing. The rest of the porch curtains need done, and Nicole from work gave me a curtain she needs hemmed. Also want to throw in some cat toys while I'm at it.
finished The Hunger Games, was a very good read. gave to amy to read next. hope she likes it.
Picked up The Reincarnationist and a knitting stitch dictionary today. The dictionary is for all the oddball blankets I'm working on. I have a lot of little dictionaries in all of the books I have, but not one big one. This one looked the best, and I had a 15% off and my 10% off barnes and noble membership. Seriously, for only $20 a year, this is the only membership I've found worth keeping. And if you know someone that doesn't have it, give it as a gift. You get 10% off everything, even sale stuff, all the time, even online. And you always get these coupons in the email/mail. Way worth it. I swear!

Saturday, October 11, 2008

day 3 & don't touch spazzy cat


Day 3 was awesome. Me and Amy hit the Crafting together sale in white bear lake, and while neither of us bought anything there, we did hit it big around the cute little town. Bought some yarn (rule in yarn buying is to buy what you can't find somewhere else), wonderful chocolates at a candy store, great beads at a full on bead store, had a great lunch outside (it was 70 degrees or more, lovely day) and generally wandered and had a great time. The highlight of the day was driving into town Amy pointed out a "polar bear" statue outside a car dealership. about 2 min down the road she says "oh, duh, it's white bear, as in white bear lake." I laughed for about 5 min. I had just accepted that there was a polar bear. Why, I have no idea, but I didn't think anything of a polar bear at a car dealership.

In other news, when your cat really doesn't want to be kicked out of the bedroom at night, and goes to hide under the bed, don't pick him up. See picture. Let's just say Itchy still has a bit of the feral cat in him. The scratches actually go all the way around the arm and up the hand. And it bled. yes, i hit it with neosporin, but today am letting it dry out a bit.

Friday, October 10, 2008

day 2


Slept in again until 10:30. Got the target shopping done, finished a puzzle, and laid the tread on the basement stairs. Yes, the stairs are dirty. but they're basement stairs. All in all pretty good. Still shopping around for someone to install outside lights. Tomorrow me and Amy head out to Crafted Together in white bear lake.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Day 1


First day off, slept until 11am. Went grocery shopping, took out loads of trash and made pie. Yummy apple pie, me and Mom's traditional recipie. 6 cups of apples chunky, not sliced like these weird Minnesotan's do, sugar, flour, cinnamon, and some nutmeg. The only thing I measure are the apples and sugar. Everything else to taste/sight. more flour if the apples are super juicy. I still haven't figured out how to tell if the pie is done on the bottom crust yet, but she's hot and gooey, and smells heavenly. Tomorrow is day 2. Probably put the treads on the basement stairs.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

I get some days off

I like my job. I swear. I even got another degree so I could do my job better. But I need some days off. Seriously. My boss (everloving sweetheart that she is) just took of a week and a half to move. Meaning I got to play boss. (ie: Gretchen isn't here. ask later) So I need a vacation. insert STAYCATION. I am taking off 4 full work days to get some stuff done before the snow flies and I go berserkershit out of my mind. I will be attempting to install outside motion lights, put tracking on the basement stairs, grocery shop, and maybe fix the fence. Oh. and I may nap a bit and knit and spin. I haven't done any spinning (as noticed by Cindy) in a while, because I've been on xmas knitting speed. But I had a thought. What if what I spun was part of xmas? Like, ha, here I spun this try to make something from it? Still working on that plan.
If you get random bits of yarn that have a gift tag from me, I spun it. Try to knit with it. Tell me it rocks.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Addendum to turtleneck of doom

Apparently I am too good of a seamer for my own good. Turtleneck of doom was knit in 4 pieces, all seamed toghether. in order to frog, must un seam. Um, who would like to come to my house and help me figure out just what all those strands of yarn were for? And the knots? I am apparently the knotting queen. All I can say is that hopefully none of my other gifted knits will ever come unravelled with the apparent mastery of seaming and knotting I have.
I am seriously thinking about giving up. I have a lot of hours, about 4, into the frogging, and about 1 skein of yarn to show for it. Thats a lot of time > output. Thoughts are welcome.
I also rediscovered my love of reading. I can't believe it but really, I used to read every waking moment, and I haven't really completed a book that I LOVED in a long time, at least a year. The Twilight series, if nothing else, re-inspired me to find obsession-worthy books. I am currently reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Another teen book, but I like it because it is kinda Lord of the Flies meets survivor. The main character is quite a smart chicky. Another book on my list is The Reincarnationist by MJ Rose. From everything I've read, this will be right up my alley.
So, How exactly do I store the enourmojumbous amount of books and yarn I have? Ideas? (I already have one whole room, and DH has said we need a bathroom so I can't make that a closet)