Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Is it really to much to ask??

A sweater. How can a sweater mock me so?

Sweaters I have cast on: 43
Sweaters complete: 0

You see the score. It is no secret that the sweater wins. 43 to 0 is kind of a dead give away, no?

But here I am, more than a foot into another sweater. The wool is lovely, the pattern is lovely (of course, it is from my head), and I have no plans to frog.

I will let you know how the frogging goes.

I will also post a blog about how you can be as optimistic as me some day.

Actually, the odds are that I won't do either.

Friday, August 19, 2011

Today I am a mom

and if I am honest, I am 30 seconds from being the mother to one less. I have a two year old, and she is, well, two. I have to watch little Miss like a hawk watches a fluffy bunny. If she is silent I know she is getting into something that ought not to be gotten into. She is a destroyer, and makes the terminator look rather tame.

This morning I had an appointment. I got to go without my children. I hate to say that I look forward to my MRI appointments, but I do. A little quiet time. A bit of a nap. The perfect way to spend an hour. This morning was one such morning. I got the children up, and ready for the day. I dressed them, and fed them waffles. I even took a picture of little Miss in her quirky outfit, and promptly posted it on facebook. "Isn't she brilliant?"
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(This is actually the second picture I took, and is not as good as the first, but the floor was so filthy in the first that I couldn't post it.)

So after our morning I kiss each precious child good bye, and head out the door. I know instantly that i am in trouble. Little Miss has gotten her shoes, and is trying to follow me out the door. I explain to her that i can't take her this time but that I will be home soon. I am pretty sure that this is when, through her mass of screaming a tears, she makes a plan. A plan of revenge and severe punishment.

I was gone for one hour and forty minutes. I came home to find:

1. My hand spun yarn in shambles, utterly destroyed. She has taken the low blow and gone directly for the heart. Touche. You win.

2. She has opened the box of diapers, pulled out 14 and urinated in each and every one. Every. Single. One.

3. She got into my make up. The evidence? Mascara everywhere.

4. She went into the babies room, which is where we keep all of her clothing and toys, because she has this nasty habit of dumping them all into a not so tidy pile when she wants revenge. Check. Everything dumped.

I discovered all of this with in ten minutes of walking in the door. I am not sure where else her path of destruction leads, and I am almost too afraid to search.

I calmly fed the little doll spaghetti-o's for lunch, and put her down for a nap. A nice long nap I hope.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

I knit a sock

I know, that in itself is not shocking. What is shocking is that I knit it while waiting with my good friend Shawna for a mechanic to "just really quickly fix a sensor. It should only take a second" in Shawna's vehicle.

Now I can understand why the non-knitter would be entirely displeased with a several hour wait, when they were told it would take about two minutes. That is why I love knitting. That and about 400 other reasons. I had the best time sitting, knitting, and visiting with Shawna. I hate to admit it, but it was pretty close to my dream afternoon. My darling teen daughter kept the kids home while we went, so there were no short people to chase. It was a lovely outing. I broke out the Harmony's and the Zauberball and had the time of my life. I finished most of the leg while waiting.

Then Shawna and I had an excellent lunch, where I continued to knit.

Then tonight I went to a Fiber Arts guild meeting, where I did not knit. I carded some wool that I have been processing. . After the meeting I stopped at Starbucks for a Venti. Which was lovely too. And free. Yes, they gave it to me free. I love me some Starbucks. I love free Starbucks even more. This Starbucks was purely medicinal though. I am fighting a nasty cold. At least that is what I am telling my husband. Purely medicinal. I should go get another.

So all in all, today was a good day.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

All I want for my birthday is

a crib.

Those are the words that my husband has been saying. Of course he doesn't really mean that is all he wants, but it is at the top of his list. Apparently he is ready for our sweet, cuddly baby to give his own room a try. The baby is (only) 15 months. I figure we still have awhile before we need to purchase a crib. I say we save the money to get one of the other items on his little list. Maybe the nice basketball shoes? The TV? The blue ray player?

Anything you want for your birthday honey. As long as it makes me equally happy. Because I am generous and giving like that.

Good thing we still have over a month to decide.

PS In all fairness I really am fine with buying my husband a crib, even if it is only so that I can say that I bought my husband a crib for his birthday. I am also fine with having the baby start the night in his own bed, then moving to ours when he wakes. I think we are both in agreement with this. Now there shall be no flaming.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

I socked the Summit

and it was 4 days of fiber high inducing goodness. I can't say enough about this event, but I will say a lot.

I had a class on sock darning. It was exactly what I needed to save all of the hand knit goodness that has been stashed in the bottom of my sock drawer for far to long, not because of the unsightly holes, but because I have feared that I would cause more damage to the precious little guys.

I watched as the fastest knitter was found. The fastest! I dreamed that it could be me. It can't, because I am not so fast, but I will be practicing for next sock summit. FIFTY-SEVEN stitches per minute. You hear that? That is some fast knitting.

I watched as fleece became foot wear. They had the dear sheep right there watching as their beloved wool became something to keep humans warm, instead of something that kept them warm in the middle of summer, and held all of their little droppings a bit too close to home.

I drooled over several different vendors. I am proud, or maybe ashamed actually, to say that I stuck to my budget. I wanted to buy every little thing in White Lies Design. Really bad. I also wanted a set of Signature needles. Really, really bad. I stuck to my guns though. No peer pressure was going to take me out.

I plan to order off of their websites now that I am home and can say that I made it through sock summit on a budget.

I went on a tour of Lantern Moon. It wasn't really part of Sock Summit, but it is all rolled into one perfect little fiber high package for me. I set up a dealership, and will now be rolling in all that is good and kind at Lantern Moon. I am proud to say that I am a dealer. A dealer of the good stuff.

We found out that we can still party like it is 1989 at the 1980's sock hop. Can, not should. And I can still hula hoop. Again, Can, not should. I am telling myself that it is talent, and not just very large hips.
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My handsome date for the evening. He will probably disown me for this in a few years.
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I met Lucy Neatby. OH MY GOSH! She is crazy amazing. And she has a rooster purse named Earnest. What isn't to love???

I also met THE Yarn Harlot. THE very one that I have been stalking and dreaming of for ages. AND we talked about breasts. I think that means we are like **THIS** now.

But the best part? That part that still makes my heart race, and makes me feel a little dizzy??

I MET THE GENIUS THAT IS COOKIE A!!!! I met her FACE to FACE! I touched her hand. (If I didn't have two toddlers I totally would never wash my hands again) I spoke to her OUT LOUD!! Granted, I did not make sense to myself let alone those not living in my head, but still... I totally met Cookie A. I have pictures. And a book. A book that says my name. In Cookie A's hand writing. I have it right here. Right here in this very room.

So now let's talk about the ugly. It is called the Rodeway Inn. We were going to stay with a friend, but at the last minute we decided to book a hotel on line. Not something I suggest when there are about 8,000 people coming to the same city for the same thing. We were rather surprised when we got such an awesome deal on out hotel. $240 for 5 nights. How fabulous! And it was. In theory. Reality? Not so great. We pulled up to the hotel, and before we could notice how incredibly frightening the hotel itself was the strip joint in the parking lot reached out and slapped us. Really? A strip joint? Maybe, just maybe I won't have to stick to such a tight budget at sock summit. YAY! So we checked in. Why? Not sure. Thirty minutes later we checked out. Yes, it was THAT bad. No locks on the doors. No sprinklers over head. Something large and black in the bathtub. Hair in the sink. Smoke so thick it hurt to breathe. The final straw?? An over-whelming smell of human body odor in one corner of the room. No thanks, I think we will camp out under the stars.
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So we got lucky. Not at the strip joint, no. We got lucky after calling about ten other hotels. I spoke to a man who became my hero at "Yes, we actually have one room. It is the honeymoon suite, but better than nothing." Yes. Much better than nothing. We checked into our lovely Jacuzzi Suite room. It was oh so very nice. I smelled no dead bodies. The doors locked. There was nothing dead in the bath tub. This was home. Or home for the next week anyway. All went well until Jeannette went to make up the sofa bed. It was 11:00 PM by now. We are old people, so this is very late. We were dog tired (what does that even mean??) and as the couch cushions were tossed to the floor, and our bodies were ready to hit the beds we see a glimmer. A bright glimmer. What is that? Well let me tell you. Drugs. Am I kidding? No, no I am not. A pipe, a thing of Meth, and a lighter. Awesome. Another way to blow off that Sock Summit budget. If only we were not good, up-standing citizens. And if we didn't have my 15 month old staying in the room with us. And as stated above, if we weren't old. Ahhh, to be young and stupid again. Honestly, we were laughing so hard at how great our luck had been that evening that I did not even think to get our room free. Curse my sense of humor.
But here are pictures for your enjoyment. Or education.
Yes, at first we thought it was something else you just might find in a honeymoon suite...
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Other things I learned?
Portlanders do it differently. Go green!
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Stephanie Pearl Mcphee is a nerd. I love her just a little more now.
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Oh, and Walgreens still carries blue eye liner, and very blue eye shadow. (See 80's pictures above for proof) I also lost my knitting necklace there, so if anyone happens to go into a really scary Walgreens with no decent street entrance and finds it, please return it ASAP. It is missed dearly. Enough that I may have to go buy another one tomorrow.

All in all though? I give it 10 stars. Only because I can't legally give it 11.