Finally, a gigantic knitting update
And we're talking gigantic!

I'm just going to blast you with images and very brief details... these days, all of the specs like pattern, needle size, yarn used are well taken care of on Ravelry. My knitting friends can view them there, and my non knitting friends don't need to be bored by having to look at the details here.

First up, a zig zaggy scarf with a pattern name of Isobel:


Next up, a couple of pairs of felted clogs - the nicer looking pair went to my sister for Christmas, and the lamer pair was made of leftovers from various Christmas knitting projects. They look a bit weird, but they are warm and cozy and remind me of the other projects I made with the yarn:





Next is actually a crochet pattern; it is a baby blanket for my future nephew. My grandmother supplied the yarn, and I supplied the obsessively fast crocheting. My grandma was the one who taught me how to crochet when I was young, so this was an appropriate gift from the both of us:


Next, Christmas stockings for my brother, his wife, and the new baby. After all, it would seem weird for them to have stockings with their names on them, they HAVE to say "mom" and "dad", right?


Here is another crocheted project, the One Skein Scarf, made from leftovers:

And here is a lovely scarf knitted from Malabrigo Lace yarn, the pattern is the Plum Lotus Scarf pattern:


Next up, is the Arbor Sweater, which I knit over the Christmas vacation. It has an I-cord bindoff at the neck, which makes the neckline very stable, rather than stretchy or droopy... a lot of scoop necks tend to sag all over the place, but not this one:


I don't know why I'm burying them way down here in the post, because I'm quite proud of these socks - I knit them with yarn I spun myself:


These next three sweaters were finished a little while ago, but I got my sister to take pictures of me wearing them, rather than me taking a picture of the sweater lying on the floor, as is my custom:




And finally, a groovy pair of socks that I initially wanted to knit for my sister for her birthday, but that never quite worked out... so I gave them to her as a 'just because' over Christmas.



Whew. I hope you enjoyed the parade of knitting pictures. I already have another project to photograph and yet another that I'm currently working on... we'll see how I do about getting them up here on the ol' blog!

Resolutions, past and present

In 2008, I was able to make my first resolution that I've ever kept throughout a whole year: to reduce my plastic bag usage. I would rate my efforts as quite successful, actually! I made the following changes:

1. Got and used reusable shopping bags, for groceries, the mall, whatever... at first, I would sometimes forget the bags, but now, it is totally an ingrained habit, and I pretty much always grab a shopping bag before leaving the house.

2. Made reusable produce bags for fruits/ vegetables - I made the bags out of nylon mesh, with drawstrings, and have been using them all year quite successfully. They have weathered the washing machine quite nicely, as well.

3. Carried a giant purse/bag/satchel thingy - for when I forget the shopping bags.

4. Separated wet garbage from dry garbage - dry garbage can be collected in a separate container and emptied into the dumpster; the container can be reused. Wet garbage still needs a plastic bag, though.

So, a simple success that I will certainly continue over the coming years. I even gave reusable produce bags to a couple of people for Christmas - spread the reusable joy!


So. What about this year? This year, I don't have any original ideas... so I am defaulting to an old tried and true resolution: to spend less money and reduce my debts. The problem? The monthly bill total is painfully close to my monthly income... a typical problem, I'm sure! So, how to pay off more debt (mortgage and student loan being the chief offenders) without getting... *shudder* a second job!!!! (retch, moan, blarf)

Here is what I have already done:
1. Quit the gym. I got funny looks going in 2 days after New Years asking to QUIT the gym - it was hilarious!
2. Decrease my cable package. This one is going to be painful. No more DVR, no more fancy channels. Basic network channels ONLY now. *sob*
3. Decrease Netflix package.
4. Fortunately, my monthly escrow payment for my real estate tax actually went down this year. Whew.
5. Decrease my cell phone package.

Here is what I plan to do:
1. Write down everything I spend.
2. Review my automobile and homeowner's insurance packages - perhaps a bit of fat can be trimmed there?
3. Brainstorm other non-spending ideas... beg blog readers for help? (ideas that do not include stealing ketchup packets from restaurants, if you please)

I thought about adding in money making schemes, like increasing jewelry sales, or selling more doll clothes (sewn and knitted), but if the past few years have taught me anything, it is that I love making stuff, but really HATE the marketing and selling aspects, so I wanted to shy away from that as much as possible.

Check this out - with the changes listed above, I have already shaved about $260 off my monthly bills, which will add up to $3120 by the end of the year. Amazing! I could use it to pay off more debt, or could put some away for a new water heater... a new mattress... a new CAR! :)

And, with just those changes, I will have paid $12,480 LESS in monthly bills by my 40th birthday - which is the date by which I hope to buy said new car. MMMMm.... new carrrrrr...

One reason to dislike the snow

In general, I like snow. It is pretty, and the whole 'winter wonderland' thing is pretty appealing to me. The main issue I have with it is its ability to bring modern transportation to its knees. It is not quite so bad now that I work somewhere that frequently is closed when the snow is really bad... but the worst part is this: people who are unable to get to their families for special occasions, like, say, Christmas.

For instance, my brother and his wife are going to miss Christmas with us this year. They are snowed in and there is no chance that they will make it here. I am going to guess that it would have been the last Christmas for a while that we'd see them - once their baby is born, I would assume that they would want to stay closer to home and celebrate as a family, much as we did when I was a kid. I'm at least glad that they have each other to be with... and with modern technology, we can take lots of pictures, and maybe even chat by webcam and such.... but still.

I don't always like the snow.

We made it to the 21st!

Yep, the days are going to start getting longer now. Most excellent!

So, this past Friday, they called off school in anticipation of a big old grody snowstorm. Right on cue, it started snowing within 20 minutes of when it was predicted by forecasters... next time, try to be more accurate, willya? Sheesh.

Anyway, it snowed Friday. It snowed lightly all day Saturday. And, it snowed all day today - the weather just reported that we got 13 inches here! Dude! I did bundle up and wander outside this afternoon, and snapped a couple of pictures. By the way, one of the most useful Christmas gifts I ever got was a pair of gaiters - my shoes and lower pants region remain nice and dry and snow free - and I can happily hop into (and through) snowdrifts without worrying about frosty ankles. They are the best; observe:


Looky those gaiters - I highly recommend gettin' some for general snow-traipsing purposes, not to mention snowshoeing or cross country skiing. Or looking totally awesome. As an aside, I was sorta falling over while taking that picture - I lifted my leg up in the air to get a good angle, and was sorta teeeeetering over while the camera snapped. What I won't do for a good shot!

Here are a few more pictures I took, starting with a street shot. I imagine that this is about what it would look like 100 years ago - not a car in sight, and the reproduction gas lamps give it an old timey flair... whaddya think? I mean, you have to ignore the parking meters, but...


Here's another festive street shot:



Some pointy snow:



No, thanks, I think I'll stand:



Toot, toot!



Can you see me?



How about now?



You can't tell in the picture, except maybe on my chin, that my face is all wet with melty snow. Also, I took my hood down for the pic, which is why my head is not all snowy. Observe the scarf... that is how snowy I'm sure my head would have been otherwise. :) It's not the most glamorous shot, but it's hard to be glamorous in a driving snowstorm! Under the circumstances, I think I look damn good. (Like that snowflake in front of my eye? That was a lucky shot!)

But speaking of looks, check it out... my age is starting to show... I spy a frowny wrinkle between my eyebrows! I will wear it with pride... my face wrinkles are going to all be related to smiling or making funny faces, which I consider to be a reflection of my personality. I'm sure there are some excellent eyebrow raising related wrinkles beginning to form under the brim of that hat, too! And I'm not ashamed to admit that the ones between my eyebrows are quite pronounced when i wake up in the morning, from my face being all relaxed all night or something. I assume that happens to other people, too, but I don't generally see people immediately after they get up in the morning, so have no frame of reference. Or, is it just a phenomenon that happens to stomach sleepers and side sleepers? Maybe it doesn't happen to people sleeping on their backs! Something to think about... maybe they get mega wrinkles on the backs of their heads instead! hahaha!

A Wintry Update

So, I have been quite lax in bloggifying, haven't I? Part of it is because much of my knitting has been sooper sekrit lately, and part of it is because we are now down to 9 hours of daylight per day, which means very little photography time every day. I'm hoping I'll be able to get some good pictures of the secret knitting next week, once the cat's out of the bag.

So yes, we are now at the time of year when the days are their shortest. Every fall/ winter, I look forward to December 21, the day when the days finally start getting longer, slowly but surely. It is fairly depressing to only be able to enjoy 45 minutes of daylight every day! It's not quite so horrible this year, since my office has a window that looks into the hallway, and there is a skylight in the hallway. I can't see outside, but I can see evidence of daylight. Someday, I will either live or work SOMEWHERE I can see the ground or the sky or something!

This part of the world has been experiencing some terribly icy weather. Tens of thousands of people are still without power since last Thursday, and we had more windy, icy weather today. It took me 30 minutes to chip the ice off of my windows after work today - my entire car was encased in almost 1/4 inch of ice! If it weren't so annoying, it would have been pretty amazing. I don't know if I've ever had THAT much ice on my car!

To make matters worse, we are expecting more snow on Friday, possibly 6+ inches. That is not such terrible news for me personally, but for people who still don't have power, the inclement weather just slows down the progress of the power line workers.

Anyway, I have been knitting and crocheting like a crazy woman - I have completed 7-8 projects (or so) since Thanksgiving, only one of which was a one-night type of project. I will share pictures when I can!

Black Friday

Have any of you ever gotten up EARLY on the Friday after Thanksgiving to take advantage of the Black Friday sales? I never had, until this year. There were a few items I found in the sales circulars that were such good deals, it made me believe that perhaps 4 AM was a perfectly reasonable time to go to the mall!

I accidentally woke up at 3 AM and couldn't fall back asleep, partly because I had to take a visit to the lavatory, and partly because I am very, very sensitive and my body was all out of whack - my home is very warm, and I'm used to sleeping in a pretty warm environment. My parents' house is much cooler, and all day Thursday and Friday, I was hotcoldhotcoldhotcold.

I tossed and turned until about 4:30, when I decided to get up and go to Bon Ton, which is similar to Macy's, I suppose. They had this great Pyrex set for 75% off the regular price. I arrived at quarter to 5, which was 45 minutes after they opened, which was evidently too late to get the set - all sold out! Jeesh! It was just as well, because there were lines 50 people deep ALL OVER the store. It was amazing.

So, I drove around to the other side of the mall to Sears, and waited outside in line for 15 minutes, until they opened at 5 AM. When the doors opened, I walked in, grabbed the microwave I wanted (60% off regular price with sale + rebate), paid right away, and walked right out. Easy peasy.

Then, off to Target across the street. They didn't open until 6, so I waited in line outside for 45 minutes. I was definitely starting to get cold by the end of that time. It was amazing how long the line was behind me! Again, I walked in, grabbed the item I wanted (GPS $100 off regular price), paid, and walked right out, as people were still in line pouring into the store. I was the first person to leave, and they hadn't even unlocked the exit doors yet!

THEN, (whew, getting tired) I went to the Verizon store - sale on phones. New phone, free after rebate. Cheaper plan than before. Score!

Finally, Joann Fabrics for some cheap flannel.

I got home around 8 AM, I think. I was very tired. I took a nap, during which I got really cold, and I yelled out, "MOOOOOMMMMMMMM!" She came to the rescue with a heated up rice bag and a blankie... I live by myself, so it is definitely nice to have someone to take care of me when I am cold and sad. Thanks, Mom!

The only downside to the day is that when I went to go fill out the rebate papers, I realized that the doofus at Sears had printed out my receipt and about 14,000 coupon offers, but not the rebate slip! Dagnabbit! I will definitely have to call and see what can be done about that. I want my rebate!

Would I do it again? Well, considering I got $400 worth of stuff for $167 (not including the savings of a cheaper phone contract), yes. I would. Lessons learned: wear long underwear, get to the store before it opens and stand in line, and have only one or two items in mind per store for easy in, easy out access. Between now and Christmas, I hope to not have to enter any stores, and to be able to do my shopping online. Wish me luck, and happy shopping and happy holidays to all of you, too!

A Tiny Bit of Knitting

I can't really post a lot of my recent knitting, as it will be gifted to some very lucky recipients for Christmas. However, I did some miniature knitting for a Secret Santa dolly swap, and since the gift has already arrived to its destination, I can share a picture. The hats, sweater, and scarf were made by me:


Cute, right? I am the most proud of the hat on the right... I came up with the knitting pattern on my own, and made up the crocheted flower without a pattern, and I am NOT the best of crocheters out there! Despite my relative lack of crocheting prowess, I also crocheted a brimmed beanie from a pattern by Amanda of CreativeBlythe.


It would probably look cute with a little crocheted flower, or a button or something... I used some leftover yarn from a super-secret Christmas project. These quickie projects are perfect ways to use up leftover yarn, and they are also very satisfying to make after finishing a long project.

ANYway... that's all I can share right now yarn-wise. I do have a little recap of my shopping experiences from Black Friday, but perhaps I'll share that in a day or two - I need to spread out my blogging a little, since I have been so lax in writing recently!

Vote, vote, vote, like a baby stoat!

That is what Cute Overload told me this morning when I got up earlier than usual, to try and vote before work. I had previously been unaware that baby stoats voted, but I suppose I stand corrected!

I basically rolled out of bed into some jeans, a jacket and a hat (to cover the hair) and stumbled over to my voting location, which is quite close by. Some mouthwash was also involved. I got there right at 7, but the line was long and slow moving. Additionally, it appeared that 3 wards were voting in the same place, but only MY ward had a line out the door. And of course, the ladies thumbing through the books of names and addresses were... doing so quite slowly. So slowly, in fact, that only 2-3 out of perhaps 20 booths were ever filled at one time. AHHHHH! I flew back home afterward and managed to get to work on time... just barely.

But the upshot is, people are coming out in record numbers this year, and I, too, tossed my vote on in there. I'll be going to a friend's house this evening to follow the results as they come in!

Dolly Fever

All summer, I was feeling a little guilty about my dolls. I own several dolls *ahem*. However, over the summer, they were literally collecting dust! I was wondering if the interest was a fleeting thing, and prepared myself to start selling some of them.

However, the cooler weather arrived, and suddenly, I was ALL about the dolls again. Making little clothes, pulling open their heads and changing their eye colors, and even... buying more dolls! I did end up selling a few of them in order to fund the new ones. I also customized one of them with the hopes of selling her to make some money, but she was just so cute that I HAD to keep her. There is NO WAY I could send her away!

Here is what she looked like before:


Initially, I wanted to dye her hair bright red and give her bangs, but that was an experiment that did NOT turn out the way I had wanted it to... AT ALL. So, I decided to go crazy with the experimentation, and started carving her lips. I then took a blank scalp and rooted it with mohair, changed her eye colors, and gave her new makeup. She now looks totally different! Looking back at old pics like the one above sometimes makes me sorry I no longer have the pinkish haired girl... but the new one is ssoooooo cute.

I did a silly photo shoot the other day. Her new name is "Apple".

First, she climbed a tree:


Then, she hid out in the bushes:



Next, she decided to kick some leaves...


"Apple! Where are your shoes???"
"I don't KNOW... they could be anywhere, really!"


"Um, you're supposed to be looking for your shoes..."
"I AM... OBVIOUSLY!"


Apple insisted on pushing the elevator button on the way home. She said it was because she KNEW I would do it WRONG.


It was fun to give her such a giant makeover, and I enjoy doing silly photostories every once in a while. Now, I am waiting for one of my 'dream dollies' in the mail... a couple of other Blythe collectors and I went in on a yahoo japan auction for 3 used dolls... evidently, Japanese collectors are not too keen on used dolls, so we got them for a steal!

When will I stop being cool?

I thought about this today, particularly in relation to my job. Currently, I have a nice balance with the kids I work with: I can comfortably joke that I am old and uncool, but the kids still like me and say I'm nice and whatnot. One of them saw me in the hallway today, and darted back and forth in front of me as if to fake like she wasn't going to let me pass. That type of sense of humor is right up my alley, so I darted back and forth, too, and said, "no way, you are never getting past me!" she laughed, and of course I let her 'win'.

Will there be a time when I'm too old for that stuff? When the kids will stop relating to me like that? Or, will it just shift to something that's still good, but different? With what I do at work, it is SO IMPORTANT for the kids to see me as someone they can relate to on some level. Will 45 be too old? 55? 65? Oh, jeesh, I hope I am not doing this at 65!

Already, I notice that I don't know all of the singers/ bands/ music they listen to any more. I actually blame that on my short commute - I used to do 'research' to and from work when I lived far away... 1 1/2 hours a day of listening to current pop music kept me in the know! I even liked some of it! I still do like some of it, but never listen to it any more. Hmmmm....

I guess maybe I'm leaning toward the idea that it might not be QUITE the same, the joking around might change tone as my skin wrinkles and my hair starts to require color-related intervention, but I'm assuming that my openness and my sense of humor will remain, and maybe the wisdom I earn every year of being on this earth will just add something good to the mix.

A Chill in the Air

I haven't written lately, have I! I have had every good intention of taking some photos of the knitting I have been working on, as well as of some of the jewelry I have made lately, but... as my 7th grade teacher told me, "the road to hell is paved with good intentions". I remember being horrified that my 7th grade teacher said "hell" to me... despite what my parents might tell you, I was a very good little girl back then!

I sometimes think about what I was like back then, compared to the middle school kids I work with now. I mean, I think the first time I ever said an actual swear in front of my parents, I was over 18. I did my homework, came home within 15 minutes of when my parents told me to, I even did my own laundry by age 12. Not so with a lot of the kids I now know. They are having such a different life experience than I did!

Anyway, I am getting off track. The title of this post is referring to the onset of Fall. There have already been a few mornings where I have been able to see my breath on the way to my car, and although my window is still open, I did need to pull a blanket up over my sheet in bed a few times. Flip flops are really not an option any more. I know soon enough that my car window will stop rolling down until perhaps March, and that I'll have to start doing the 'penguin walk' down the icy sidewalks to keep from slipping and falling.

I don't always mind the cold weather... if you're dressed for it, it's not really that big a deal. It's the precipitation that annoys me the most; it makes things slippery, makes roads impassable, that sort of thing. Sure, when it is only 4 degrees and windy, I hate the cold for sure... but anything around 30 or above is really no biggie.

I hate it when people say, "well, if you don't like the weather, move!" It is such an ignorant oversimplification of why people choose to live where they do. And really - is there anywhere in the world where I would like the weather every single day of the year? Most likely, no. In warm places, it gets waaaay too hot in the summer. Or rains too much. Or has earthquakes. Or devastating hurricanes. Or major political unrest. You get the idea.

The reason I live where I do has much more to do with the culture, the history, proximity to friends and family, etc. than it has to do with the weather. I LIKE where I live. I have my own place in an interesting, vibrant city, and have made lots of friends here. I live within an hour of my parents and grandmother. I have a good job that I like. New England is a gorgeous part of the world. In the grand scheme of things, it is quite safe and clean, and I have all of the freedoms I could wish to have.

Anyway, a big pooh to those who have chosen to oversimplify things so erroneously. And a cheerful welcome to Fall - I like YOU a lot! It's winter that I frequently feel somewhat ambivalent about!

(Insert string of profanities here)

ARRRRGHHHHH! On Talk Like A Pirate Day, I ought to be happy and shivering me timbers. But instead, I am cursing my inconsiderate neighbors and their slovenly laundry habits... once again! I thought for certain that 3 pm on a Friday afternoon would be a nice, quiet time to do laundry, but noooOOOooooo. Every single working washer and dryer were full with abandoned laundry, including one washer that had the same moldy clothes in it as last Sunday! Disgusting! I pulled wet laundry out of two of the washers, and crossed my fingers that that person wouldn't show up to the dryers before i got back. They got back like TWO MINUTES before my laundry was done washing! Makes me SO MAD. People need to f-ing learn how to tell d@mn time.

I called the plumber. It's getting to the point that I'd rather put the cost of laundry hookup on my credit card than put up with idiot neighbors any longer.

The laundry room now sounds like sour, moldy laundry, and my desire to rip others' laundry apart with my teeth is at an all time high.

Photos - where are they?

Many apologies to those of you who visit hoping to see pictures of projects I've been working on - I have been quite lax in that arena. I can tell you that I started (and abandoned for the moment) a lovely lace scarf, Started and finished a silk tank top, and am getting toward the end of a blue cardigan. The silk tank top has even been worn in public, and the verdict was that it was flattering, particularly in the boobular region. Success! Too bad the verdict was passed along by a gal pal, rather than, say, a smolderingly sexy, single, heterosexual, emotionally stable, tall, employed and housed, man. But whatever... maybe next time!

However, now that I'm back at work, I get home when the light is poor in my apartment, and can think of all kinds of things to do other than photographing my knitting! So, my humblest of apologies. Just think, though... when I finally get around to taking pictures, there will be MEEEELIONS of them, each more yarny than the next!

*Sniff*

You know what I hate? Being sick all weekend! What is THAT all about! Poor planning, indeed. Many Kleenexes gave their lives to the cause. I just couldn't use a handkerchief this weekend; they are not designed to sustain such abuse.

To make matters worse, I had no groceries, so I HAD to leave the house on Saturday. I'm sure people steered clear of me - I feel like I must have just looked extra germy to the world.

I'm feeling better today, which is good. However, it is so extremely muggy out today, and, mysteriously enough, is also extremely muggy INSIDE work, as well. Not an ideal setup, really.

I did get a fair bit of knitting done over the weekend while watching Netflix movies (and movies on TV once the Netflix ones were viewed), which was nice, and I also cooked a bunch of food for the week last night: teriyaki quinoa with tofu, lentils with rice, and some egg salad. I also bought popsicles, and I have a feeling I'll be looking forward to one at the end of the day today. Yum.

Yet Another Impulsive Idea

So, you all may remember how I took some tap dancing lessons this spring and summer - I decided to do so quite impulsively, and had a great time!

This time, I know perfectly well that I am not going to have a great time...


I signed up for a twice a week boot camp style workout class. Squats, pushups, jumping rope, more pushups, running, crunches, you get the idea. And today, it was raining. We had to lie down outside on the grass in the rain...

My hope is that six weeks from now, it will not suck quite as badly as it did today! Oof!

300 posts! plus one!

Okay, so I missed announcing that my last post was the 300th. And I certainly never remember my blogiversary... it was two years in March. I did think that it was cool to note that I had 300 things that I wanted to write down for the public to have access to, should they choose to.

Blogging is really weird that way... people post things about themselves that we would never have dreamed of sharing with the world 20 years ago. Of course, the internet changed all of that. It is now easier to keep in touch with friends, 'chat' online, see pictures of what our pals have been up to, and even make friends with people whom we have never met, and may never meet!

It's all pretty cool to me... I hope this internet thingy sticks around for a while!

Laundry Room Woes

One would think that people who were well-off enough to own a condo would behave in a civilized manner in the communal laundry room. Well, you would be wrong.

For a while, we had the renegade 'dryer opener', who would sneak in and open your dryer, leaving your clothes damp and sad.

Then, there are people who leave their items in the washer/ dryer for days, apparently unable to keep track of the time so conveniently displayed in glowy green numbers atop the machines.

Sometimes, those people leave angry notes if you take their clothes out of the machine, evidently feeling that a communal washer is the PERFECT place to store clothing... who needs dressers and wardrobes when you've got your clothes wadded up in a wet ball at the bottom of a washing machine?

Today was extra special. I am a conscientious laundry room user - I set an alarm so that I can get down to keep my laundry moving quickly, in case anyone else needs to do laundry. Today, I got down several minutes before the dryers were scheduled to be done, and all of my laundry was out of the dryer, and someone else's laundry was running on my quarter! Even worse, a bunch of my shirts were still damp. It irks me to no end! It's invasive: touching my undies without a good reason. It's rude and it's stealing: I put those quarters in there to dry MY clothes, not someone else's!

I left a polite yet FIRM note sharing my opinion on the situation. And yes, I signed it. I know just who did it, too. Grrrrr.

Well, thanks for letting me vent. I frequently think about having a washer/dryer installed, but I am very pressed for space, and anywhere appropriate to put a dryer is really far away from anywhere that it could vent to the outside. Plus, any time I think about putting a washer/dryer into the bathroom, I then start thinking about how crummy the ripped-up linoleum looks, and how much I hate my wobbly toilet and cheap-looking sink and shower.

Grumble grumble.

oooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooo....

I am making some mittens. For a long time now, I have been admiring stranded mittens of various styles... traditional Norwegian, Latvian, what have you. So finally, I went ahead and decided to make the Rosebord mittens; I got the pattern and the yarn from Nordic Fiber Arts. As an aside, Nordic Fiber Arts has excellent customer service... they had a question about my order, contacted me about it by telephone, and the package was waiting for me at my home less than 24 hours later! It does help that they are within a couple of hours' driving distance, I suppose... they do not have a physical store, much to the benefit of my credit card balance, I'm sure!

Anyway, back to the mittens. It took me maybe halfway through the mitten to kind of get my groove with the two color knitting; I was carrying the inactive yarns sort of tightly behind the knitted fabric. I carry both colors in my right hand... one on my index finger, and one on my middle finger. It works pretty well for me. I'd take a picture if I had three hands, but I do not, so I will not.

Here is the back of the hand... I just LOVE these flowers! I really do. I find them to be a bit more round and soft than some of the patterns that I've seen, maybe even a little art deco-ish?


Here is the palm - I love that the pattern on the palm is different, and even the pattern on the thumb is different!


Here are a couple of flower close-ups:




I will definitely not be losing steam on this project... I'm considering whether or not I'll line them, either with some sort of fabric, or with a second knitted layer... perhaps cashmere? Yummmm.

Relative Success!

So, yesterday was orientation day for the teachers in my building. Last Thursday afternoon, my boss asked me if I could put together some information to review with the teachers about Second Step (the violence prevention program that is used in our building), avoiding burnout, and child development. She then told me I had 25 minutes in which to do it. Um, 25 minutes??? They dedicate full year college courses to child development alone! *boggle*

So, I decided to cheat just a little and talk mainly about avoiding teacher burnout, while adding in a little splash of child development for good measure. So, the good news is that the teachers didn't scorn me out of the room, and some of them asked good questions, and showed lukewarm interest in the workshop series I'll be presenting. (hey, on orientation day, lukewarm is about as toasty as we get!) AND, both yesterday and today, several teachers approached me to talk a bit more about what I had presented, making comments and saying that they had thought more about what we had talked about. I was quite pleased!

So, the next steps are to finish organizing the workshops, and to try and schedule them on days/ times that the teachers would actually be able to attend. I guess we'll see what happens! One thing I'm more than a little worried about is one teacher who is quite excited to attend, but is disturbingly free of any concern around social appropriateness or social cues. She is also a serious blabbermouth. She will talk and talk and talk and talk and talk... even if you turn around and walk away and are not talking to her any more, (after the appropriate "okay, I have to go now, goodbye") she will continue to chase after you and keep talking. She has followed teachers into the bathroom. She has chased people out of the building to their cars. The thought of having to control her during a workshop is definitely daunting! I will have to try and establish some sort of stern, battleaxe persona with her prior to the workshops, so she is a little scared of me. Hmmmm.

Back To School

Yep, mid-August means back to school for me... I've been back since Monday. Now, sure, it's a bit depressing to have to go back to work during the first week of rain-free weather we've had all summer, but... there are some positives, too.

No, really! Stop laughing and pointing!

Being the only social worker in a school like mine can be challenging for a whole bunch of reasons. We have students from all over the world, with varying backgrounds and histories, many of whom lug some pretty serious baggage along to school with them every day. As the only social worker, I'm the only person in the whole building who "speaks my language"... no one else has received the type of education and training I've gotten, particularly around issues of how trauma, learning disabilities, emotional issues and so on can affect a child's ability to cope and learn in a school environment.

Now that I've been where I am for a couple of years, I decided to make an effort to share what I know with the rest of the building. At the end of last year, I approached my school's principal with an outline for a series of workshops I wanted to run for the teachers. I'd cover topics like bullying, teacher burnout, managing aggressive students, dealing with resistant parents, the effects of emotional issues on a child's behavior/ ability to learn, and so on.

Well, it looks like it's all systems go. I cleared the idea with my principal, and also with the powers that be in the school department... it sounds like I'll be able to get participants some necessary 'professional development points', and will even get a small amount of compensation for the extra work/ hours. (Not a whole lot, but some!) The head honcho in the professional development office even commented that if this year goes well, I might want to consider teaching the workshops in the new teacher's academy!

Of course, I'm proud of myself for coming up with the idea, and for taking some initiative - it's definitely going above and beyond my basic job requirements. However, I'm also very nervous... will the teachers be interested? Willing to open their minds and look at things from a fresh (and totally different) perspective? Are they already too burned out to give me a chance? Will they say, "what do YOU know about teaching... you're not a teacher!" or, "you have only been in the schools for 6 years... get back to us when you've been here for 30 years... THEN you might be able to say you know something!"

Ahhhh, the what if's are killing me here! And to add a bit more pressure, my principal wants me to cover two of those topics (teacher burnout/ self care AND adolescent psychosocial development) in TWENTY FIVE minutes... ON MONDAY! WHaaaaaa? Entire college courses are taught on child development! I am going to go ahead and do my own thing... offer a teaser amount of info and try to drum up interest for the workshops.

Jeesh. That'll teach ME to show initiative.

Cross your fingers for me, will ya?

Back to the Grind... with bug bites!

Well, my summer is now over... I am back at school as of today. My coworkers who are back (administration only until next week) are all savagely tan (and wrinkly, ha ha on them), and we spent the first hour of the day sharing stories of what we did on our summer vacations.

It's all good, except for one thing: my feet feel like I am wearing bags of fire ants on them. A few days ago, my feet got eaten alive at an evening party, which was held outside under a tent. The bites have swollen into sausages covered in white welts with little blisters on top. Each step (or blow of the fan) is an exercise in itchy insanity! I somehow managed to put on some flip flops and hobble down the hallway to get to work, but ran back, and plastered the tops of my feet with bandages and medical tape. I also took an antihistamine, and I somehow made it to work. I will hopefully survive the day, and I am crossing my fingers that no one gives me a hard time about walking around barefoot.

The bites hurt too much for me to want to scratch them.

If you were here, I would whine a lot to you. Lucky for you that you are somewhere else.

In other news, I have finished a whole lot of knitting (and a little crocheting). I have finished the February Lady Sweater, Rusted Root (short sleeve sweater), a scarf, a neckwarmer, some slippers, and some hats. I will share pictures soon!

I am a vampire.

Well, sort of.

I am a pretty fair skinned individual. Additionally, I burn really fast - I have been known to start burning within 10-15 minutes, actually. I really have to plan ahead when I might be caught outdoors for a while, because I have to put sunblock on BEFORE getting in the sun... after all, it takes 20 minutes for sunblock to soak in, which is already too late. Lobsterface.

Anyway, I do not like the beach, unless I can be in the shade... it's all hot, and trying to manage sunblock in between dips in the ocean, with some sand mixed in... without shade, it is just not bearable or enjoyable to me.

Case in point: not wanting to go all the way to the beach given my pasty disposition, I went to Walden Pond today. It was gorgeous out today - sunny, light breeze, perfect, really. I even found a shady spot in the sand, spread out my towel, and laid down.

Fifteen minutes later, the sun had shifted and I was in full on sun. There was nowhere else to move to, because it was quite crowded, so I tried to get comfortable. I shifted and squirmed, tried covering my face with a towel, flipped from front to side to back to other side, but it just wasn't working. I was caught in the sun, and was squirming like a vampire turning to dust... it burnsssss, it BURNNNSSSSSS!

I was proud of myself... I lasted an hour. I really enjoyed the shady moment, and I also enjoyed the Bomb Pop I got before I left. Mmmmm. Red flavor. White flavor. Blue flavor!

Handspun One Row Scarf

How is it that I never posted this entry? I wrote it on July 24! I have no idea if this is a repeat because I'm too lazy to check.

I finally knitted up the merino from the Tour de Fleece:




Yay, pretty! I love how the stripes are all random and stuff. I like that it is both ridgy and nubbly. Hooray! I didn't make it quite as long as I could have, though, because I wanted to save some of the yarn to pat and look at.

I used this One Row Scarf pattern by the Yarn Harlot. I used the size needles she suggested. I cast one four fewer stitches.

Ooh, also, I SPUN SOCK WEIGHT SOCK YARN! And, it is even SUPERWASH and there is actually enough of it to make a pair of socks with! I used fiber from Pigeonroofstudios, which can sometimes be hard to get, because people stalk her store and buy it as soon as it is listed! The braids of roving I've gotten have been all stealth and stalk-y. Even worse, she lives on the West Coast and is a bit of a night owl, so she frequently updates her shop at midnight her time, 3 AM my time! But it is lovely fiber. Looky!


I am quite pleased. there is more yardage than in lightweight Socks that rock, so there will be plenty of yarn for some sockies. I'm not sure what I'll do with this... maybe just simple k3,p1 ribbed socks. I like those. How to decide!

Too Cool!

So, I love Ravelry. I mean, don't we all, really? One of the features I find to be very fun is browsing patterns. One day, I might want to look at hundreds of sock patterns, the next day, perhaps I'm perusing crocheted caps. Another way to find beautiful patterns is to take a look at the projects that one's friends have favorited. If I remember correctly, that is how I came across this Hawaiian Flowers Lap Blanket: (Ravelry link)


It's bright and pretty and definitely a departure from the typical "Granny Square" blanket. However, the owner/ creator of this blanket made it a long time ago and has no idea where the pattern is.

Coincidentally, I also found another crocheter on Ravelry who has a blog; her name is Sarah London. She makes beautiful crocheted items, and just yesterday, she had a blog entry where she shared a cool design tip for one of her readers. So, on a whim, I left a comment giving her another challenge: to try and recreate the above blanket. Guess what - she took up the challenge! Check out her blog here - she's going for it! I'll be looking forward to the results.

Let's Get Some Shews!

In case you don't get the reference, you may wish to watch this video on youtube.

Anyway, as Kelly says, "these shews RULE!"

First up, some schmexy shoes from Franko Sarto in black and ivory:


And then some equally schmexy shoes from Anne Klein:


I was at Marshall's and tried on like 50 pairs of shoes, and these two pairs both scored the 'good shoes' trifecta: they were cute, reasonably comfortable (for heels), and were on sale. What more can a gal ask for, except, perhaps, for equally schmexy outfits to go with said shoes? The first pair will go nicely with this ivory lace blouse I have (and either black pants or black skirt), and I suppose the pewter ones would go with a pair of jeans and pretty much any top I wanted to put with it. Pewter is a neutral, right???

Anyway, feel free to invite me to an event where heels would be appropriate, particularly if there is no walking and very little standing involved.

That would be great.

Neti Pot

So, my nose sometimes gives me problems. I have some allergies, and my nose tends to always be runny, but also dry. I won't go into further details. You may thank me now.

Anyway, when I first got interested in yoga, I got a few books, and one of them described using a Neti Pot. The one in the yoga book looked kinda like this one:


What the heck is that for, you might wonder? Well, you put warmish water in it, add non iodized salt, and pour it into your nose. Yeah, sounds gross. I know. You do it while your head is tilted forward, and your sinuses fill up with water, and then it pours out the other nostril. Then, switch nostrils and repeat.

Why would you do that? Well, it is meant to flush icky stuff out of your nose, including allergens and excessive mucous and also germies. The neti pot is gaining popularity; you can even buy them at Wal Mart now. If you would like to watch an educational video from the good people at NeilMed about how to use the Neti Pot, CLICK HERE. If you do NOT want to see that video, then for goodness sake, don't click there! Do not!

Anyway, I bought one. I flushed out my nose. Initially, you get that tangy 'water up the nose' sensation, and then it is kinda weird. And then it is even weirder. And then water starts pouring out of your other nostril. And then your eyes might water just because it is so weird. Not because it hurts or anything, because it doesn't. (Just make sure to add the non iodized salt, cuz otherwise, it stings a lot, evidently)

Afterwards, it did feel nice and clear up there. I will see over time if it helps with allergies, colds, and dry/ drippy nose issues. And will report back if you like. Note: you will all be pleased to know that I will NOT be taking any pictures or videos of the process. That would just be inappropriate.

Whew.

Well, that was quite a weekend. The Folk Festival seemed to have record numbers of visitors - downtown was jam packed with festival goers! Art in the Courtyard was a smashing success, with loads of people browsing the arts/ crafts, and pulling out their credit cards so that they could take a little piece of Lowell home with them.

I was under a big tent with Liz, Candace, and a few others... Liz and Candace were great to share tent space with - we could watch each other's tables when the other had to run out and do other stuff, and our work is different enough to draw in a wide variety of shoppers - it was great!

We ALMOST made it through the weekend without having to deal with the rain... but about 45 minutes before the weekend was over, the skies opened up and gave us downpours and claps of thunder. I got a phone call from a friend about 5 minutes before the rain hit, telling me "Pack now, or you're gonna get wet!" It gave us enough of a head start that we could make sure that none of our important stuff got wet. Thank goodness!

I'm taking today to recover and collect myself to get back to enjoying the summer - it is zipping by so quickly!

Lowell Folk Festival

This weekend is the Lowell Folk Festival, and I have been selling jewelry through Art in the Courtyard. It has been a busy weekend so far - my theory is that people are going crazy and are all happy and doing fun stuff after so many rainy, thundery, floody, yicky days.

I'm sharing a tent with my friend Liz of Made in Lowell , which has been great - she makes beautiful felted and polymer clay items (jewelry, pins, hair accessories, beads, polymer clay covered eggs). It's always nice to share space with someone - it's an extra set of eyes, someone to chat with when things get quiet, it's all good, really!

Anyway, if you are interested, I did some number crunching. These numbers will be more interesting to you if you also sell at craft shows, or if you run a retail-type small business of some sort. (If numbers and stats and stuff like that are not interesting to you, now is where you should go check out another blog on your list - see you soon!)

For a couple of years, I did not accept credit cards - I did not know that such a capability was accessible to me at a reasonable price, and I wasn't sure if the cost would be outweighed by the benefit. Well, through Propay , I think that it has indeed proven to be worth the cost.

Check it out - here are some stats from the first two days:

My number of cash sales and credit card sales were 1:1. HOWEVER, the average cash purchase was about $21, whereas the average credit card purchase was $51! Even when I take into account the credit card fees for these purchases, the average is still $49.30. My conclusion? People spend more money with credit cards than they do with cash, and the fees are worth it. I think that this is probably particularly true at craft shows/ fairs/ festivals, where a lot of vendors don't accept cash, so people become more miserly as the day goes on... they have to save the cash for food vendors, for parking, and other costs where they can't use a credit card.

Anyway, we really lucked out over the past two days - the weather has been lovely, and people have been out in droves. Unfortunately, the weather forecast for tomorrow is less than optimal, but I guess we'll see what happens. Wish me luck, if you get a chance!

Habu Textiles

For EVER now, I have wanted to visit the Habu Textiles yarn store in NYC. However, it has never quite come to pass. So, when I heard that they'd be at the Knit and Crochet Show in Manchester NH this weekend, I squeezed it into my already full weekend schedule - how could I not! Sure, I need to go set up my jewelry in less than an hour, and will be at "Art in the Courtyard" downtown as part of the Lowell Folk Festival... but the trip up north was worth getting up early for, because I just loved the Habu booth!

What makes them so alluring to me? They use very unusual fibers in their yarn... paper, fiber from strange plants, stainless steel, and of course some of the more expected ones... cotton, wool, silk, bamboo, linen... just fascinating! The shopping experience was nice because everything was well marked, and there were a lot of knitted swatches to look at, which was definitely helpful while shopping.



The green one: fiber from a pineapple plant! (Yes, I have a few ideas)
The purple one: cotton, but feels like paper.
The silvery gray one: undyed linen.
The bronze one: 100% sil.
The navy one: silk and... stainless steel!
The tealy blue one: 100% cotton, but feels sooooo soft... how did they do that?
The cranberry one: bamboo

I am just thrilled. Sadly, I must leave my new yarns and go sit outside, hoping people buy my stuff. ;-)

Berry Picking

I have been slacking on my blog posting. Sorry about that.

Last week, I went raspberry picking. (I know... yum, right?) It was a hot, sunny day, so after I slathered up with sunblock, I drove to the farm. I picked a row, and the bushes were just huge! There weren't really any berries at 'normal person height', but there were tons about 7 feet in the air, which is great for me, really. Just look at these huge bushes, taken from my eye level:


The berries were really big, too - this one wasn't even abnormal compared to the others!


Here was a mutant berry:


Here was its skeleton... after I ate the good part:


AND..... I SAW A UNICORN!


Okay, it's really just a goat that lost a horn. Thanks for RUINING EVERYTHING.

Harrumph.

Making Laundry Detergent

Yes. I made my own laundry detergent. Why, you ask, would I do that? Well, commercially made detergents have a lot of fillers in them, and the home made stuff I was buying online was nice, but kinda pricey. I did some research, found a few recipes for laundry powder, and went to town. Here are the groovy, old timey ingredients:


Recipe: 1 cup grated Fels Naptha soap
1/2 cup 20 Mule Team Borax
1/2 cup Arm & Hammer washing soda

I had to chop up the soap:


Grate it - that was loud and fun! (I then chopped it further with the choppy blade)


Here it is, all mixed together:


There was a little soap leftover, and of course, a ton of the other stuff. You only need a tablespoon of it, and it's about 3 cents per load.

I tried it right away, of course. I was a little nervous, because the Fels Naptha soap had a horrible perfumey odor to it. Just awful. But you know what? My laundry came out smelling like warm, fresh fabric, instead of perfume. Even better than commercial detergents!

So, I am pleased.

This little exercise also kinda fits into my New Year's resolution of being more environmentally conscientious... none of the ingredients are yicky in that environmenty way.

I have been knitting....

.... not that you'd know it from looking here!

First off, some successes, starting with "Shrug This, Me Size".


The original pattern garnered a lot of comments about how it fit perfectly... if you were a 7 year old girl! So, I started by casting on more stitches, and continued the raglan increases for much longer than suggested, until things seemed to fit my frame. The pattern was only 30 inches around... who is 30 inches around???

Anyway, I also lengthened the pattern. It has already gotten good use - I just toss it on over a tank top if there is a bit of a chill in the air, and it is just perfect!

Project Details:

Pattern: Shrug This by Toni Kayser Weiner
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton Ease, 4 skeins, used doubled
Needles: Denise Interchangeables, size 10 1/2 US
Modifications: I cast on eight extra stitches to start out, and did 16 raglan increases instead of the prescribed 12. I then knit 10 inches of body, then did the ribbing and cast off. Had I not done any addition to the body, the shrug would have ended mid boob - and considering my modest bust, this is surely saying something!

Comments: I'm REALLY not sure what adult human the original pattern would fit. There were women who said that they usually buy XS shirts, and this shrug was too small. Additionally, the pattern is only made in one size. However, despite these things, I definitely like the construction and design of this item. It was just the thing I needed to keep away the chill during early summer mornings or late evenings.

Next up, a duo of Noro hats. I acquired a couple of skeins of Noro from friends, and found this groovy pattern on Ravelry for the Noro Spiral One-Skein Hat by Manuele Ducret.



Project Details:
Pattern: Noro Spiral One-Skein Hat by Manuele Ducret
Needles: Denise Interchangeables size 8, magic looped
Yarn: Noro Kureyon, colorways # 138 (the bright one) and 116 (the black and grey one)
Modifications: I got a gauge of 4 stitches to the inch, and cast on 88 stitches. I knit the straight part of the hat for 5 1/2 inches before decreasing.
Notes: I like this pattern! It is simple to memorize, the pattern shows up against the Noro but doesn't take away from the color changes.

I've also been spinning! Here was the fiber I chose; it's from Woolytreasures , and is about 5 oz of merino.


Here are the spun singles. I felt that the fiber was a bit clumped together, maybe even a little felted at spots, but with a lot of predrafting, things turned out very well. I did feel that the colors were very vibrant and well saturated - there were no undyed spots or faint spots.



And here it is, all plied up! My urge is to underply, so I plied it MORE than I thought I ought to, and I think it turned out quite well! There are about 280 yards of worsted weight yarn here, and I'm not sure what to do with it. It's not totally even, there are thick and thin spots, so it couldn't be anything that required a precise, crisp look. There's enough for like 4 hats, certainly enough for a scarf of some sort. I just don't know yet!


I have serious startitis lately. The problem is this: every project I start, I manage to totally screw up somehow, and have to do some major ripping/ restarting. I don't know what the deal is! The Rusted Root WAS finished, but I decided it was too short and have unraveled the bottom ribbing, but don't feel like finishing it. Plus, I have now decided that I don't like the ribbing I did around the neck and sleeves, either. I started the February Lady Sweater, knit to below the armpits, and then decided I really needed to do the next size up. Then, I completed the main part and got maybe 7 inches into one sleeve, then suddenly realized I had knit the sleeve onto the wrong side of the sweater. Rrrrrrrrrrip. Then, I started a toe up sock and I think that I have made the foot part too long.

So, what next? Will I run away from all of these projects, or will I belly up to the bar and actually finish something? All of these projects look like they are going to be really great - both sweaters look like they fit very nicely, and will therefore be faves to wear. but, um, not in their unfinished forms! Aggggh! I even made two hats out of handspun yarn, and had to restart one of them, too! (the crocheted one had to be redone... luckily, it was a VERY quick knit). I'm wondering if I need to do some sort of two hour SUPER EASY project that will be like a reparative experience for me. Or is that just the startitis talking!

Tour de.... Fleece?

Today was the first day of the Tour de France, as well as the Tour de Fleece! Internet savvy knitters and spinners are always dreaming up timely knitting/ spinning challenges, and the latest is the Tour de Fleece.

The idea is to spin along with the cyclists, but on our spinning wheels instead of on bicycles. So, I spread out my stash and surveyed the scenery, to decide which fiber to start with:


Yeah... there are a lot of options there! I decided upon a gorgeous 5 ounce braid of merino from Wooly Treasures on Etsy.

Now, it appears as though most participants are just going to spin like crazy, but my goal is going to be a little different - my goal is to both spin AND knit this up into something, since I've already spun a bunch of yarn and haven't managed to actually KNIT any of it! I think that this is because I'm sort of afraid that the yarn will be inferior and will fall apart as soon as I start to knit it or something! I hope I'm wrong! :)

I started spinning this morning along with the riders. At first, I was all confused and upset, because I could swear that today was Day 1, but it was called "Stage 1" instead of the "Prologue". Where was the prologue? Where did it go? When was it? Fortunately, I figured out that I did not miss out on anything, there was no Prologue this year.

I didn't take pictures of my spinning from today, but will update as I go along.

Jeans!

I am always in search of the perfect pair of jeans. My long legs immediately render most pants of any type completely unwearable. I have no sympathy whatsoever for short people who whine about having to hem pants - at least you have that option! There is no option to lengthen jeans, my short legged friends. Even a lot of 'long' pants only have a 34 inch inseam, which is juuuuust a bit too short for me. Bummer, right?

My second problem is that even when I DO find a pair of jeans that are long enough, chances are they have a too-short inseam or are too boxy in fit, so that the hips are tight, but the waist area is several inches too big. Once again, it is not possible to lengthen an inseam, people!

Now that I am done whining, I will note that a LOT of people have a hard time finding that perfect pair of jeans. Enter the solution: you can MAKE YOUR OWN JEANS! At this website, you select a type of denim, you enter certain measurements, pick a cut (boot cut, baggy, skinny, etc) choose any add ons you like (various pocket designs), and add in any other specifics... and presto! Perfect jeans! Including shipping (from India), most jeans are about $65, which is certainly cheaper than a lot of jeans out there. I am absolutely going to try this. If it works out, I truly may never try on a pair of jeans in a store again. They even have a maternity option, and they even offer a Brazilian cut jean. I have always wanted Brazilian jeans, because they accentuate the posterior, while offering enough seat coverage to avoid 'plumber's butt'. However, they are not made in sizes appropriate for a woman with Amazonian proportions! :)

Now, who says that late night web surfing doesn't pay off! My only problem now is to decide which jeans I want. They have a page of customer appreciation shots, and it certainly does look as though the 'customer is king'... there is one dude who appears to enjoy a TWO INCH FRONT INSEAM (that particular photo is not for the faint of heart), and presto... he gets what he wants! They will make ANY waist size, although the cost goes by waist circumference... there is even an option for a waist size above 68.1 inches.

I am beside myself with delight. I really hope this works out!