Auntie Em Knits

Updating

2010-06-21T14:35:00.001-06:00

I'm working on updating the blog and fixing things. Not that anyone is reading.

Favorite Color Swap

2008-03-15T09:47:00.002-06:00

Favorite Color Swap Questionnaire

1. What are your top three favorite colors? Red, Purple and I guess pink

2. What crafts do you really enjoy? knitting, crochet, stamping, scrapbooking

3. What products do you really covet? ball winder and swift, harmony needles from knit picks, Lorna's Laces sockyarn in Red Rover

4. What other activities do you enjoy besides your favorite crafty things? I read a lot, we camp and we also like to go to antique stores

5. Is there anything you collect? Anchor Hawking Early American Presscut Glass in the starburst pattern, Stephen King original hardcover, Hard Rock Cafe pins and glassware

6. What is your zodiac sign and/or Chinese zodiac symbol? I'm a scorpio and I think I'm a rabbit

7.What are your favorite…

…scents/smells? Lavender, Vanilla, Gardenia

…types of music and/or bands? classic rock, 80's, Rush, lots of independent artists

…authors? Stephen King, Patricia Cornwell, anything from the Regency period

…animals? I love monkeys

…places to shop? Good Fibrations yarn shop, Michaels, Target

…season? Spring

…yarn/fabric/paper/other craft supplies? LOVE sock yarn, I'm not a yarn snob so I don't mind acrylic as long as it's soft - like Caron Simply Soft, I love Lorna's Laces sock yarn and Jitterbug sock yarn, I use mostly Stampin' Up and Creative Memories for stamping and scrapbooking. I like bambook straight needles, for DPN's and Circulars I prefer bamboo except for sock needles and I like metal for that, anything with a good sharp point

…candies or goodies? I love chocolate and mint

8. Do you have any wish lists? I don't think so anymore

9. Are you allergic to anything? Yes, I am horribly allergic to pine and most grass/tree type additives in products (juniper, lemongrass, etc)

10. Do you have any pets? What are they? 1 snake named Isis, dog named Velvet, 3 cats - Gryffin, Lupin and Alister

11. Please include anything else you would like your secret pal to know about you- anything that would be helpful in finding you little gifts that you will really enjoy. Also, if you have a Ravelry ID, please include it here. Please nothing religious-themed. My Ravelry ID is AuntieEmKnits

So this is what a nervous breakdown feels like.

2008-03-10T22:18:00.001-06:00

So far this semester, I've read 15,000 pages of test, taken two tests and written 15 papers. So goes the life of an English/Sociology double major. I'm working on a literature review for my sociology honors class. It's due tomorrow and I never met a deadline I didn't feel the need to procrastinate. I'm feeling just a little overwhelmed. I have 4 papers due this week. 2 are done, one of those is turned in. I also need to find a job because I got the great news last week that as of Friday I don't have a job. Because what I really needed right now was to have to run around campus and find a job.

I spent about 45 minutes crying to Michael. He convinced me that I am a good writer, I can do this. I know this, but it felt good to hear. I wish he was here to reassure me. But tonight's it's just me, precious (my beautiful red laptop), Billy Joel's greatest, a lot of caffeine and the cursed Girl Scout cookies. Oh and Benadryl because I'm allergic to dirt and everything that grows in it and it's Spring here in the desert.

Spring Break starts Friday at 5. I intend to sleep all day Saturday. Next weekend I'm cleaning house and organizing it, getting ahead in my readings, research, and with any kind of luck, some reading for fun and knitting. Thank god for knitting tomorrow night.

A Girl Can't Get a Break

2008-02-28T19:01:00.002-07:00

So I'm supposed to be writing a paper, but it's early in the evening and I've got plenty of time before this project truly becomes "last minute" so I thought I'd take a moment to start updating the blog.

Note to guys at bus stop, I'm not interested.

So on Tuesday morning I walked to the bus stop for my daily experience with really bad bus drivers and there's a guy there waiting. I've seen him before. He says good morning, I say good morning, we chit chat about being in college, majors, etc. I mention something about my husband and he sayd, "Oh, you're married?" The inner smart-ass in me wanted to comment on the obviousness of that question but I said yes. He said, "oh, I thought I noticed a ring the last time I saw you but I wasn't sure." I have had it confirmed that guys only look at girls hands if they are interested. ACK. Then he says, "I like your hair, what color is it?" Ok, it was bright out, does he not know his colors and what the hell with the complimenting my hair? Even I know that guys only comment on your hair if they are a)hoping for a hook up, b) your husband and they know they should or c) gay. I'd ruled out gay based on other evidence. So I said Red and quickly pulled out a text book to start reading. The bus came, thank goddess, and I sat where he couldn't sit near me. Sometime during our converstaion it had come out that I am from Missouri. So as he's getting off the bus, again with the goddess thanking not at my stop, he says, "By Missouri, it was nice meeting you."

I. was. freaked. out.

That afternoon he was on the bus coming home and I quickly called Michael so that I would be unavailable to talk. And now I walk with my headphones on, music off, to discourage people.

I'm not sure why this freaked me out. Except, Michael is currently in St. Louis so I am alone with Alex. I walk, alone, to the bus stop and home every day. I don't have a car. I'm not used to being hit on. I'm a married woman.

Ninja Jehovah's Witness

Then Wednesday I'm sitting on the bus stop bench reading for school and this nicely dressed older lady suddeny appears. I swear, I have no idea where she came from. She says good morning. I say good morning. She says, "looks like you have something important to read there" Thank you captain obvious. I just nodded. Now, I know I should have better manners, but I'm naturally very shy, I'm not a morning person, I hadn't had caffeine yet and I was trying to read. So I just said, "yeah." She asked if she could give me a "bible-based religious magazine" to read and i could tell it was the Watch Tower. I very politiely (because I'm scared my gramma would rise from the dead and kick my ass for being rude to an older person) told her no thank you and poof, she was gone. I swear. I have no idea where she went. I got accousted by a ninja Jehovah's Witness.

Which then got me to thinking about how all religions are cult-like, even early Christianity was considered a "Jesus Cult" and how most of that is now mainstream, recognized and organized religion. That got me to thinking, what's the difference between a cult, and a recognized religion? And I've got the answer and it's profound. Ya'll ready?

The difference is the kool-aid.

I'm Famous!

2007-12-02T21:36:00.000-07:00

For those that don't know. I also stamp and scrapbook. My plot to get everyone stamping has taken firm hold, and I retire from that mission, it is safe in Anne's hands. Now to get knitters...

Anyway, I taught Anne how to stamp about, 6 years ago or so and she's become an amazing stamper. Go check out her blog and yours truly...Her projects ROCK so check them out!

http://www.stampingwithbluemooncreations.com/my_weblog/featured-artistemilee-how.html

It's been how long?

2007-11-25T14:10:00.001-07:00

Forgive me readers, for I have sinned. It's been a long-ass time since my last post. No excuse, it's just been insane here. Let's see. Here's a very long update.

1. Finally got our mail key and our mail. About a month after we got it all straightened out the postman left some mail that had been held and not picked up. Rubber banded to it was something we weren't supposed to see. It was a "Handle With Extreme Caustion" postcard. Seriously. That's what it said. It was notes about our situation and warning the postman to not fuck up. I found that rather funny
2. School started. I love school. I am having a blast and getting A's in all of my classes. My major is English - emphasis in technical writing and editing, minor in Sociology
3. I've been knitting and crocheting non-stop. I've been working on Solstice presents since August and I only have 9 things left to finish. Everyone is getting handmade gifts this year because we're saving the money to hopefully make it back to Missouri for the holidays. I miss my family terribly, I haven't seen them in a year and a half
4. We got married!!! We got married October 11th in a very small ceremony in the mountains. it was us, the kiddo, a minister friend of ours and our dear friends Jamie and John. It was lovely and perfect. Here's some pictures for you.

Wedding

I promise to do better about updating this and I will get some knitting related photos up, but not until after Christmas because I can't show those yet

Update to the Postal Rant

2007-08-03T13:46:00.000-06:00

Sorry I went *postal,* get it? Anyway, I did fail to mention the most heinous postal insult of all. I graduated, "With Highest Honors" which means I worked my ass off to have straight A's back in April. It took me a long time to get there. Years of moving, no support from the ex, yadda yadda. So I was proud. I was extatic. I nearly killed someone when I found my diploma, carefully encased in a nice sturdy cardboard envelope, clearly marked "DO NOT BEND" creased down the middle and shoved in the box. I think they heard me in Santa Fe. I called and complained.

Fortunately, only one little edge was creased, and I think I can dry-iron it out, then mat it and frame it, but dammit, I worked hard for that.

So they finally found our mail. Seems our postal person has more people with hold mail than he has slots. So he double slotted them. And Scott, who I just might name my first born after, agreed to take the mail out to KM even though it was after hours. But he couldn't find my package. And there was no unemployment check. BUT, when we got home, KB had seen the guy and grabbed our stuff, including my package and KM's check. KB tried to get the mail yesterday but the guy told him that it was held and he didn't have it. So it appears to be working.

And Meg, PAYING to have the mail forwarded? That sucks. Here it's free, first class forwards for a year, I think everything else after that is 6 months (junk mail, etc).

Open letter to the Post Master General

2007-07-31T11:55:00.000-06:00

Dear Sir or Madam,

In the 7 years I have lived here in Albuquerque(not counting the "dark year") I have had more than my fair share of postal mishaps. I love the post office. They bring me lovely packages from friends and family. They bring me wonderful circulars. I don't even mind the occasional bill. But really, my experiences here have SUCKED.

First, when I moved here I lived in an apartment, and changed units in the same complex. Now, my former married name was a common name with a different spelling. When we changed units, I did the change of address form that your office so courteously hands out. Wouldn't you know it, there was another guy in the complex with the same last name (different spelling) and the same first initial as dumb ass. So we started getting his mail. Now obviously, this isn't your fault, who am I to assume that if two guys have completely different FIRST names and same last names but different spellings that their mail would NOT be confused. So I straightened that out. Then we bought the house. Damn mail followed me there. So I went TO the post office and got it fixed. No more problem, right? Wrong, because some of his mail had "address correction requested" on it, the senders got our address. So we were getting his mail at our house. Then we moved to Chicago, fucking followed us there, too. Poor guy probably had his cell phone turned off and credit cards declined since in your infinite wisdom you decided that Bill Smith and Bob Smythe (not real names) were obviously the same person. I could see how you could be confused, what with the different spellings and all.

Then we move back and things seem to be ok.

Then I divorce. I very clearly fill out the INDIVIDUAL change of address form. I start getting my mail and dumbasses as the new place. Again, obviously, it is asking too much for me to assume that your fine devilvery people can tell the difference between Emilee FAMILYNAME TAKENBACK and Bob Smythe. So I write, "Forward order was for FIRSTNAME LASTNAME ONLY! Please read forward order and return this mail to dumbassesnameathisaddress." That seemed to get my point across.

Then I moved. Clearly, the problem is mine. For surely if I didn't move so often this wouldn't happen.

The previous tenants of our house did their forward order, and fortunately for them and us, there names are in no way similar to mine and KM's. Not even the same initials. This forward order worked great. Except on Fridays on Saturday when apparently your fine delivery person felt it was better to knock the route short in order to get home. So their mail NEVER forwarded on Fridays and Saturdays. Because of my great frustration, I chose NOT to go to the post office and inquire as to when you would be having the cranial rectal reversal you so desperately need. Instead, I wrote, "NO LONGER LIVES HERE, PLEASE READ FORWARD ORDER." Please note, this was all first class mail that should have been forwarded as it had not been a year since their departure.

Then we moved again and things seemed to be ok. Although often on Fridays and Saturdays we wouldn't get mail. But I thought that maybe the poor post man needed a break which is why he spent 3 hours at the corner convenience store reading the paper. It must be tiring riding around in a little jeep all day and taking 3 hour lunches. Yes, I timed it.

Then we moved. Again, I apologize because obviously me filling out new key requests TWICE and "PLEASE HOLD MAIL" requests THREE GOD DAMN FUCKING TIMES is not enough for you to get the point.

That's right sir (or madam). I called to find out what I needed to do. The nice person on the phone at the post office for my zip code assured me that HE would fill out the hold order and put in the key request. So I, silly me, trusted the USPS. Obviously, my mistake.

I went to pick up the mail last week and there were a few things. Apparently me picking up vital mail, like KM's unemployment check, threw the whole system off. So when I went this weekend, there was no mail. Or the package I am expecting that says on the USPS system is SITTING at the post office. The woman tells me to fill out another hold request. So I do.

I go there yesterday. Guess what. Your great staff has managed to lose not only my SECOND hold request, but also my new key request. So I fill out both, again.

So today I call to find out if these things are being taken care of. Your fine "Hi, thanks for calling the Postal Service Annex, where customer service comes first, this is xxxxx how can I help you??" person answers. I explain the situation. He tells me that the PERSON who changes the locks has been on vacation for 2 weeks. Now, I don't mean to tell you how to do your job, but have you considered having a back-up? I'm not allowed to leave for 2 weeks without a backup. But mister-customer-service-comes-first tells me he's not sure what the status is, but he'll call me back in 15 minutes. That was an hour ago.

So, now, you get to deal with my husband when he comes in to HOPEFULLY pick up his unemployment check. If it's not there and the delivery person is carrying it around for the hell of it, please know that we may not have gas or food. But hey, as long as you guys get your 3 hour lunch break and early days, no big deal, right?

I know this is all my fault, because after all, if I didn't move so much and make your post offices work so much harder, this wouldn't be happening. And who am I to expect the postman to be LITERATE and actually do their job.

And for this, you want to keep raising postal rates. Perhaps if you worked smarter and not make your customers do your job for you, you could save a few pennies.

That is all. Sincerely, Emilee, an extremely pissed off postal patron who is waiting for not only vital money to feed her family but also a fun secret pal box.

*Please note, I don't hate all postmen or even the postal service. I apologize to any readers who are or are related to postal people. But I've had it with the illiterate numb nuts out here.

Bad Blogger, No Doughnut

2007-07-30T22:47:00.000-06:00

Hey Peeps, as my good friend Jenny would say. I've been bad. But it's been insane. Due to property mismanagement, being at our old place was miserable. The air conditioner was shot, and the property people weren't doing anything about it. So we need to find a place, and fast. So we found a place on the 15th and started moving on the 21st. We finally finished in the wee hours of Thursday the 26th.

So imagine this: We've been moving for days. Our stuff is breeding in the night. We finally have the last load, a few odds and ends, Isis in her terrarium, Lupin in the cat carrier and Gryffindork in my lap, it's 2:30 AM. We pull out of the drive and I hear a weird noise, but I figure it's my car hitting since my shocks are shot. But as we go to pull forward, we realize we have a flat. So we pull over and KM proceeds to remove everything from the trunk to get to the spare, and then fortunately the jack had been in the last load. I don't have the Honda jack since the fine Toyota dealership where I bought it didn't give it to me. Fortunately we had the tire iron. So KM proceeds to try and find a location to jack the car. I proceed to have an allergy attack. I'm allergic to cats. My cats don't bother me as long as I don't have them in my face a lot. But I'd been holding and loving on Gryffin for a while and it wasn't going well for me. My cat allergy is all contact, and all in my eyes. So my eyes are itching and burning and watering. I decide to take Gryffin back over to the house and lock her up while we change the tire. We change the tire and try to reload the trunk. But because the flat is bigger than the spare not everything will fit in the trunk now. So we use bungee cords to close it. There was a lot of cussing from KM. There was much sneezing and eye watering from me. I was ready to tear my eyes out. We go to the house to wash up and get Gryffin, get back to the car. Please note that in our infinite wisdom, we had the headlights on to aid in changing of said piece of shit tire.

Click.Click.Click.

Dead battery.

More cussing from KM, Gryffin and Lupin. More itching from me. I mainly just sat there and cried.

So we called my great brother-in-law Luke to come down and help. But he thought we were at the new place and went there first. Finally gets to us. It is 4:30 AM. It takes a bit to get the right cables on the right car parts and a while to get it jumped. Finally we're rolling. Luke follows us home to make sure we make it ok, because at this point, anything was possible. I was actually expecting another flat tire since the house of doom had lots of construction debris in the yard.

We got to the new place at 5:30. Luke helps KM unload while I shower and try to wash off 8 pounds of cat hair. Gryffin becomes porcupine cat when she's nervous and sheds A LOT. She also farts.

I took benadryl and I don't know what to stop it and fell in to bed at 6, where I barely slept, got up at 7 to go in to work for a bit.

Left work at 10 to go the Darth House and meet the mismanagement lady, who was a biotch. Look lady, not my fault the support beams in the crawl space are breaking and the walls of the house are separating from each other. Also not my fault your electrician couldn't fix the house. Also not my fault that your contractor smokes crack and did a quarter-ass (not even good enough for half-ass) job. They actually laid the carpet down over the existing flooring/construction debris/somebody's lunch. You could feel the lumps. But more upsetting was the occasional hole you discovered. Then there were the holes in the sheet rock that they actually painted AROUND! And don't get me started on the spider infestation. So we'll see how badly we get charged for cleaning or whatever.

After that came home for a bit of a laydown while KM got the last of the stuff from the little shed. Then I ran to work for more stuff to do, took KB to his grandparents and came home. KM had a meeting and I slept. Got up and made it to my knitting night with my good friend. It was good to finally work on something.

We did pick up our copy of Harry Potter 7 during the move. KM stayed up all night to read it, but I just didn't have it in me. Between Shithole Manor and then the move, the fibromyalgia has been flaring. DO NOT post about plot details, who dies, etc. I will curse you. I am a witch. Don't try it. KB hasn't read it but his grandma told him stuff. I told him if he uttered a peep I would cancel Christmas for the next 10 years.

KB's birthday was this last weekend, so we celebrated that and did lots of unpacking. We're still unpacking. We moved to a smaller place, but it's cheaper and the landlords take care of things.

Best news of all. I am retiring in 9 days. I will be full time at UNM this fall. I am so excited I can hardly stand it. I love back to school time. I think I am going to buy myself some crayons just so I can sniff them. What? They smell good.

Hopefully soon I will have knitting content. I'm on the second sock out of Trekking XXL for me. I didn't do so well on the Tour de France knit-a-long, what with the move and all, but I'm continuing to work on Amy's blanket.

That's all folks.

Independence Day

2007-07-04T09:56:00.000-06:00

"We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home," Edward R. Murrow.

Happy 4th of July to the Americans. Today is the day we take a day off from work, blow things up and pretend to care about our Independence. I say pretend because in the last 6 years, Americans have looked the other way while the shrub has stomped on our civil rights repeatedly, all in the name of "national security." Do you feel more secure? I don't. I know how easy it would be for someone to take another plane. I was married to an air Marshall. We aren't any safer, it is an illusion. Look at the UK, they are fighting terrorist attacks that appear to be planned by people who were thoroughly background checked and were doctors. On September 11, 2001, we said it would never happen again. We would lock down our borders, secure our airlines and make sure that no one could do that again. We said something similar once before, I believe the date was December 7, 1941. We had lived nearly 60 years in relative safety. No one had attacked us, on our soil. We watched with indifference as the rest of the world continued to fight, Israel vs the Palestinians, the IRA vs England, the genocides in Rwanda, and Bosnia.

I have always considered myself a patriot. My family is very patriotic, my mother wears red, white and blue nearly every day. My grandfather served, as did my 3 uncles, my parents were to young to have served, having come of age just before the fall of Saigon. I nearly joined the Marines. But the events of the last 6 years have changed me. I love this country, I hate what it has become at the hands of the current regime. My ancestors were among the first whites to settle this land, my direct ancestor was a Quaker, perhaps that's where I get it.

I am so tired of being told by the conservatives and the religious wrong that I am unAmerican because I don't believe we are doing the right thing in Iraq. I would like to remind them that in the 1700's another group of "dissenters" stood up and said no more. Today we call them patriots and we call them our founding fathers.

Before we invaded Iraq, there was no tie between Hussein and Al Qaeda. Today, as a result of our activities over there, Al Qaeda has infiltrated the country. We have made that situation worse. They didn't want us over there. They didn't want our "help." Our help has created a civil war where thousands of Iraqis are dieing every week, along with our soldiers. Does any one remember that country called Afghanistan? You know, the one that actually DID harbor Al Qaeda. That's right, what are we doing there? Every so often the media throws us a little bone about some small victory. Perhaps so we don't question it too much.

So, what's my point today? I sort of have one. I love this country. I love what the Constitution stands for. I am appalled at what has happened. I am appalled that my fellow countrymen have stuck their heads in the sand while the current administration decides that it's perfectly OK to trample the Constitution, it's just a piece of paper, right? I am patriotic. Dissent is patriotic, it's been said before, ad nauseum, but love of this country and our freedoms have prompted this country to do amazing and brave things. "We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. When the loyal opposition dies, I think the soul of America dies with it," Edward R. Murrow. Invading a country with no ties to the people who attacked us is not brave or amazing. I encourage you all to pay attention. Don't let them think it is OK to remove our rights. By doing nothing, by saying nothing, we are allowing that to happen. Get involved. Their are a bunch of organizations, MoveOn is just one. Help support a candidate who believes what you believe. Join their campaign. Volunteer with a campaign or with an organization. Write your congress person. Don't sit idly by and watch our civil rights disappear. If we don't raise our voices, those in power think we're OK with it. I am NOT.

Happy 4th of July, defend this country against its own leaders. If you want to see the special commentary on the eve of the 4th, go check out Keith Olbermann. This country needs more journalist, both in print and broadcast, who are willing to speak the truths that no one really wants to hear. Edward R. Murrow would be proud.

Sorry for the kind of rambling post. Knitting content soon. Here's a small snippet, Tofutsies sock yarn ROCKS. It's even softer after washing. I am working on Yule presents. yes that's right, I'm attempting to get ahead for this holiday season. I'd prefer to NOT stay up until 4 in the morning. We'll see how it goes.

7 Random Things About Me

2007-06-12T20:24:00.001-06:00

I got this off of Shelby's blog, so here you go. If you read this, consider yourself tagged.

1. I am a feminist but I full expect KM to hold the door open for me and to kill spiders.

2. I am naturally very shy. This is why I love knitting, if I do it in public, people come up to ME and that is better for me.

3. All of my movie star crushes are European, save one, John Cusack. I love John Cusack and I think I spelled his name wrong. But my other loves are Hugh Jackman, Gerard Butler, Ioan Gruffudd, Hugh Grant and Colin Firth. I love those guys, but Hugh J and John are my faves. I'd watch those guys read the phonebook. Have you seen Gerard Butler in a KILT? It is my belief that he should never wear anything else, unless of course he wears NOTHING. Apparently there is a petition out there to have him play the role of Jamie in the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.

4. I keep changing my major. Well, sort of. I am redistributing it. I was looking at Political Science/Sociology, but now I'm looking at a Sociology/Relgion double major with a poli sci minor.

5. I prefer to knit socks with DPNs. I've tried 2 circs but just couldn't get in to it.

6. We had to change the wedding date because of the flooding in the midwest. It's my hometown that got hit with the flooding and I was afraid it wouldn't go away and my parents wouldn't be able to make it. So we postponed it. We're looking at doing it in the fall in Missouri.

7. I am absolutely neurotic about going in store doors. I can not go in the out door, the entire order of the universe hinges on people reading the damn sign and going in the correct door.

And now for something completely different

2007-06-12T19:44:00.000-06:00

At last, knitting content. It's been a busy few months. The purpleupagus is done. Thank Goddess. I really wasn't thrilled with that project. Two reasons, one, I don't *get* shrugs, two, I really don't like fun fur and there is no other name for something called Chinchilla. But, the person who commissioned it loved it and I guess that's all that matters. Here ya' go. I promised I wouldn't show her face.

Then, I made socks for my sister-in-law, Deb. Deb is vegan, doesn't eat meat and won't wear/use anything that came from animals. This includes wool. But trying to find vegan sock yarn can be tough because of the elasticity issues. But I found some nice yarn that knit up sooo soft. For her next pair I'm going to give Panda Cotton a try. Showing here:

Then, I made another pair of socks for me out of that great Sol Joy from Catalina. I made them short because I wasn't sure I had enough, but I had plenty left over, so yeah, more socks for me.

Continuing on that theme, I knit some great socks for me, and for the first time EVER, I did cables! Much easier than I thought it would be. So easy, I could even do them in the car. Yarn is Wilde Foot in Blueblood Red. Pattern calls for 8 inches from cuff to heal flap, but I don't like long socks. I wore them today and I love them.

And last, yarn porn. This is KnitPicks Wool of the Andes in Amethyst Heather, which of course is much prettier in real life. My camera SUCKS. It is going to be the Sweater for Arwen from the Winter IK. I'd show you, but I've only been working on the back and it's all boring stockinette.

I did finally finish KM's black dress socks that I started before Christmas. I didn't get a photo so I'll have to do that. He loves them and shows them off and the guys at the pipe shop want to pay me to knit them socks. Not sure how I feel about that, but I'm giving it some thought.

Other things on the needles: Socks for ME in Tofutsies. I am in love with this yarn and bought more in a great blue color, baby blanket (crochet) for my friend's little girl - I'm catching up on 5 babies born without my knowledge, an afghan for my friend Amy that I promised her when she married in October of 2005. I suck, I was going to start it, then she got pregnant and I needed to make a baby blanket for Miss Elisa, who is undoubtadly one of the prettiest babies I've ever seen. Amy and I've been friends since college, when we were both journalism majors (she finished her degree), we were roommates, we both married guys we met there, then later divorced them (good thing all around) and then she moved to South America and we lost touch. Shortly after I moved back to Albuquerque she found me. In 2005 when I was planning to go home for my birthday she and her new husband Wil were coming here for their honeymoon, so I finally got to see her after 3 years! Wil is a great guy and he adores her, I'm so very happy for her. In 2006 when I went home to Missouri Elisa was kind enough to be born while I was home so I got to give her the blanket in person and meet her and smell her baby goodness.

Let's see, what else, I have yarn to make myself a shawl. I've been wanting one for a while, but didn't feel like tackling lace quite yet, but I found lovely pattern to try with DK weight and no lace knitting. Maybe next year. And I'm getting ready to cast on some more socks for KM. He is quite pleased to have 3 pairs now. And there is yarn coming for some kilt hose.

I went to the Pins and Needles exhibit in Santa Fe this past weekend at the Folk Art Museum. Very nice. Then I hit 2 Santa Fe yarn shops and came home with sock yarn, of course. It's the only stash I have.

I'm getting ready for school to start in the fall. I'm so excited, I can hardly stand it.

That's it. Later peeps as Jenny would say.

Celtic Family

2007-06-12T19:17:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago we gathered our water, our hats and 10 gallons of sunblock and headed off to the Celtic Festival and Highland Games. It's a great festival here in Albuquerque featuring my 2 favorite things, men in kilts and pipe bands. FKM is no longer FKM, he now has a kilt, so he is KB - Kilted Boy. But he was a little shy about going "regimental" or "commando" as he calls it, so he wore underpants. There were some great tents with jewlery, bags, kilts, etc. A few of our friends even bought themselves kilts. I mostly sat in the shade listening to the bands and knitting on a sock. The sun is not so good for me, it apparently now gives me a rash, which isn't quite so fun. I live in the desert Southwest. But here, for your viewing pleasure is a picture of my fine Scottish Lads and one of all 3 of us. Oh, and KM entered a "Bonny Knees" contest, but lost. I think he had the better knees and calves, but ultimately, the crowd went for the Converse sneakers. KM's knees are the ones under the purple and blue kilt.

Animals

2007-06-12T18:58:00.000-06:00

So here I am, finally. After many computer problems (don't ask) I'm going to give you a LOT of updates. But, I'll do it in installments. This post will be about the zoo I live with. First we have Lupin in nap mode. He is so cute when he does this. He is a flame point Simese. Then we have Gryffin looking out the window. My cats are strictly indoor. In the desert outdoor kitties become coyote food. Both cats love to sit in the window and look out. Gryffin has apparently been doing a lot of crack and has taken to being affectionate AND sociable. Then we have a bad photo of me trying to get Velvet to wear my tiara. I have 3 tiaras, I love them. I wear them to combat the testosterone in my house.

And last, after 20 months of being with KM, I finally held Isis. Having a snake in the house isn't so bad. I got use to it because I use to stay with KM before we moved in together. Lots of people can't believe I'm ok with her. She use to live in our bedroom. But because this house is so bloody cold in the winter, she lives in the office where it's much warmer. I sometimes will bring her "takeout" otherwise known as live rats. But this bothers me, I feel incredibly guilty, so I don't do that often and I can't be in the room at feeding time. But I finally held her. She is nothing like I thought. I expected scaley and slimey. She is cool, smooth and dry. Oh, and she's a ball python for those interested.

Just for Fun

2007-05-27T13:47:00.000-06:00

I swear on a stack of knitting magazines that I will provide all kinds of updates and photos this evening. But it is daylight and it's perfect for working on KM's black socks. Those stitches are a bitch in the evening hours. So for now, here's a fun little thing for you.

Mark with bold the things you have ever knit, with italics the ones you plan to do sometime, and leave the rest.

Afghan – actually crochet
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl- crochet
Stockinette stitch-
Socks: top-down-
Socks: toe-up- I’d like to learn this
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat-
Knitting with silk – KM’s socks are a merino silk blend
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL- the Harry Potter KAL
Sweater- baby sweaters, - maybe someday
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn – I have a thrift store sweater sitting in the closet
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting (=modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn – perfect yarn for my Vegan sister-in-law
Two end knitting
Charity knitting Dulaan
Knitting with soy yarn – currently Tofutsies for me
Cardigan – the Something Red, and now, Sweater for Arwen for ME
Toy/doll clothing - Barbie clothes for my MIL
Knitting with circular needles
Baby items – haven’t had a baby in my world yet to knit for, but I’ve crocheted lots of afghans
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Continental knitting- learned this when I was doing something with seed stitch, now I can’t imagine doing it the other way, since I crochet it just makes more sense
Designing knitted garments-
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)- getting ready to start socks for me, and the front part of the Sweater for Arwen
Lace patterns- I keep trying to resist, but apparently that is futile
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf – a few basic ones
Teaching a child to knit- the FKM
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental) – It’s how I learned
Knitting to make money- Doesn’t everyone want to do this?
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dying with plant colours
Knitting items for a wedding – I’m thinking I need a shawl for the wedding
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cosies...)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items)on two circulars – I tried, I didn’t like it
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone else's handspun yarn
Knitting with dpns
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit – maybe KM
Bobbles
Knitting for a living – sounds like heaven
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn-
Steeks
Knitting art
Knitting two socks on two circulars simultaneously – again, tried it, didn’t like it Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching - I've learned my lesson
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting-
Knitting with self patterning/self striping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Baby items
Knitting with cashmere
Darning - Not by choice, FKM has put holes in BOTH pairs of socks
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern-
Gloves
Intarsia-
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mits/armwarmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
RugKnitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

Why I Care

2007-05-08T10:53:00.000-06:00

This is a response to a thinly veiled personal attack in a recent email exchange. I am anti-diamond. I have been this way for a very long time. I was anti-diamond long before “Blood Diamond” hit the theatres. And contrary to what some people think, I “cared” about this issue long before it was the new in thing to “care” about. I’ve known for years that the diamond market in Africa funds genocide, ethnic cleansing campaigns, refugee cultures and the wholesale rape and mutilation and slaughter of hundreds of thousands of women and children.

I believe in thinking globally and acting locally—I do not buy diamonds—KM knows this and won’t buy them either. I know that I’m not going to be able to take on the DeBeers diamond empire all by myself and win, but I know I’m not the only person who feels this way and perhaps if enough of us take action our government will make policy changes for the greater good.

But really, taking on DeBeers isn’t what this is about—this is about following my heart because I know it’s the right thing to do. I know that the genocide taking place in Africa isn’t going to stop because I didn’t buy that pretty diamond pendant at the mega-low mart. But I do know that the genocide isn’t being fought with bullets bought with my money—that’s important to me. I know that my money isn’t going to Janjaweed militia to rape and torture women in Darfur. I know that it’s not my money that bought the AK-47 that’s been put in the hands of 10-year-old boys. It really is thinking globally and acting locally. I know that not everyone thinks like I do. I'm ok with that. I realize that everyone must decide for themselves what is acceptable. That is what I'm ranting about.

For those who use my views on the global diamond trade to deride my values, I ask you this, are you more than just an armchair activist who claims to care about a few causes, but then does nothing to support them? I am sick of the hypocrisy. I am sick of people telling me that we shouldn’t support xyz company, unless of course they make something just totally adorable that we can’t live with out.

So, don’t tell me that what I do doesn’t matter because it won’t change things. At least I’m doing SOMETHING and not just sitting around and talking about it and railing about it. Don’t use the damned circular argument that if we’re going to boycott this thing because they have abusive mining processes then we have to ban electricity because coalmines are unsafe. If that were truly the case, why bother? Why boycott anything? What’s the point? To follow your logic, we shouldn’t attempt to do anything. Let’s all just accept the world as it is, let them use 6 year olds to make Nike, let coal miners die, let Africans be raped in Darfur and let’s close down all local stores and everyone has a Wal-Mart. That’s what comes from following your illogical logic. I can’t change ALL of these issues, but like everyone else, I must decide which ones are important for ME and go with my conscience. There are enough activists in this world to cover the issues, none of us can care about all of them, even if we had unlimited resources and time. We each must decide, for US, what is important, what is worth risking, what is worth not buying.

Regarding the belief that a variety of causes only get attention as they become the thing to “care” about, I say GOOD. The more publicity you get for an issue is a good thing. As the PR people say, there is no bad press. Where would the environmental cause be without big name people with celebrity status talking about it? Would most Americans really understand environmental issues without “An Inconvenient Truth?” Would the average American take the time to read the scientific journals that have been talking about this for decades? Hell no they wouldn’t, which is why movies are being made. If you can’t get them to read the journals, make it available to them in the simplest way possible, a movie. Would those same Americans be demanding more fuel-efficient cars without people with a big name telling them to? NO. What about everyone’s favorite lingerie company? Victoria’s Secret annually mails 395 million catalogs printed predominately on virgin paper from North America's Boreal Forest as well as other endangered forests. So, exactly what are you doing to protect the environment? What are YOU doing to reduce the effect of greenhouse gasses? People can call themselves independent thinkers all they want, but the fact is, we follow the herd.

And on another topic, I am sick of the materialism in this country. I spent nearly 11 years with a materialistic bastard. That wasn’t me. I could care less if my clothes come from a thrift store or Dillard’s. It sickens me how materialistic this country has become. There are things I like, things I wouldn’t mind having, but I spent 11 years with a man who constantly needed fulfillment from “stuff.” To the tune of $50,000 in credit card debt. And after all of the high-tech gadgets and brand names things were there, he still wasn’t happy. I don’t have everything the public tells me I need. I have clothes that fit, food in my cabinets and a roof over my head. When I left dickhead, I left with my personal belongings, a desk, a chair, an entertainment center, and a few bookcases. No bed, no dresser. My freedom was worth so much more. People love to brag about how independent they are, they don’t follow what is hip or fashionable, while they buy the biggest, newest, flashiest, whatever. Don’t tell me how x-company is bad but you just had to have their xyz product because it was so cute and you just can’t care about ALL of the issues while you boycott Nike because they use child labor but jump MY SHIT for not buying diamonds for the same damned reason. The hypocrisy sickens me. In then end, it won’t matter if I had Victoria’s Secret underwear and Gap jeans. It will matter that I did what I could in my small corner of the universe.

The things I care about: women’s rights INTERNATIONALLY, healthcare for everyone, safe working environments. What do I do? I try my damndest not to purchase items from companies that don’t support these views. Right now, due to seriously lacking funds, I shop at Wal-Mart. It kills me every time I go in there. They have ruined small-town America; they have made their employees dependent on federal assistance and have had an enormous negative impact on the international scene by having their products made in Asia by workers who are required to live in barracks that would be condemned in this country. As soon as the budget eases up, I’m done. I shop locally as much as possible. I won’t support companies who KNOWINGLY use slave labor and keep their workers in a constant state of poverty. THAT is why I don’t buy diamonds. There are diamonds out there that could be classified as “conflict-free.” Great. Are they ethical? No. People who are forced to work in the fields for substandard wages under the worst working conditions ever mine them. Children aren’t allowed to attend school to be educated and better their life; they are working the mines, also.

What have you done? Have you attended a rally? Have you spoken to your councilperson, representative or senator (state and federal)? Have you written your representatives to tell them how you feel about local issues? Have you volunteered with local agencies that provide the services for the causes you supposedly support? Activism is free. It costs you nothing to write a letter, send an email, give a call. Maybe it costs you the price of the call or the stamp. Money better spent there than increasing the materialism of this country.

Sorry for the long rant. But I’ve had it. I’m done with the hypocrisy and armchair activism. You don’t like something, then DO something. Don’t just talk about what needs to be done, talk to the people who can make it happen. Better yet, BECOME one of the people that can make it happen. There’s a reason I’m a poli-sci major folks, as things have changed in my life, I realize that I am meant for the non-profit, activist culture, that’s where I’m headed.

I promise there will be knitting content soon. Brief update, purpleupagus is finished, red socks finished, one sock finished for KM. Working on crochet top for me, socks for the sister-in-law and KM’s other sock.

FINALS!!

2007-04-20T09:16:00.000-06:00

Sorry I haven't posted. I'm in the middle of finals. I graduate tonight, then take finals on Monday and Tuesday. I promise to write when that's all done, I have FOs to show and all kinds of great things.

On the needles when I should be studying, socks for KM, socks for me.

Please Help Me

2007-04-06T21:50:00.000-06:00

Ok, I'm apparently a little slow. I am desperate to have buttons on my blog. I can NOT figure out how the fuck to do it. You can see the buttons, but if you click, it takes you to my photobucket page, not the page for the site I'm trying to promote. So can someone please explain to me, using small words and big pictures, how the fuck I do this in blogger? I'm trying to jazz this place up a bit.

More Barbie

2007-04-04T21:37:00.000-06:00

So here's the last of the photos of "Stitch N' Bitch Barbie" with apologies to Mattel, Barbie and Deb Stoller. My MIL is also a knitter, so she loved this. To Sharon, yep, she takes them out of the box, even the fancy ones she has. This one was a $10 "big massive retailer" special. These were a lot of fun to make, I have to admit. The striped dress is from left-over Knit Picks sock yarn, I had to add a bit of a crochet border on the top because she was having a wardrobe malfunction. KM did the box, the back says, "Barbie and her friend Summer aren't at the beach this year. They've jointed countless other women in the coffee houses and yarn stores with a pair of needles and an urge to Bitch! Summer loves to knit and her line of hand-knit garments have hit the fashion runways of Paris, London and New York. But her real passion is for hand-knit socks and a good back rub." He made that up all by himself. That's what I love about him, he pays attention to what I say and what I'm interested in.

Other knitting news, I'm to the heel flap on FKM's second sock, I have about 2 inches on the shrug and no more progress on my Sol Joy Socks. I'm off to sit in our "library" and knit. Our house is typical North Valley old home that's been added to over the years. We have 4 bedrooms and on the East side of the house we have a long, fairly wide room where we have a sofa, a chair, some nice reading lamps and all of our bookshelves and piles of books waiting for shelves. The guys are watching a movie and I just feel like being a slug for a while, so I'm going to listen to the MP3 player and work on the shrug.

Purpleupagus and Itty Bitty Knitting

2007-04-03T01:08:00.000-06:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a bit. I've been hard at work making clothes for the fashion maven herself, Barbie.

My mother-in-law collects Barbie, so I decided to use up some leftover sock yarn and make some clothes. Talk about fun, in a few hours, you can say you've finished a sweater. True, it's only 3 inches big, but it's a sweater. Oh if only big people sweaters went that fast. KM and I decided to take it a bit further and make a SNB Barbie, I don't have those photos yet, but I promise to post them.

In other knitting news, I've been working on the purpleupagus shrug for Jamie, showing here. It's actually purple, a rich royal purple with a celery colored trim, digital camera = pure shit. I'm at the front ribbing, have about 3 more inches, then the ribbing on the "sleeves" then seem it up and it's done. It sheds like you wouldn't believe.

I've been working on socks for FKM, have one sock done and almost all of the cuff done on the second, a pair of socks for me (almost to the toe decrease on #1) and socks for KM.

Tomorrow's a busy day. I took a day off to get my thyroid sono done, meet with UNM admissions and a bunch of other stuff. I did get accepted into UNM, YEAH!!! But they aren't wanting to take all of my credits as the general ed requirements, so I need to talk to them, wish me luck. I'll also be submitting my graduation packet tomorrow to Central NM Community College. I am graduating on April 20th with my Associates of Arts in Liberal Arts. Pardon me while I pat my own back, but I'm graduating with highest honors (4.0 GPA), a member of Phi Theta Kappa (honor society for community colleges) and as a member of the National Dean's List. I'm pretty stoked. Since I figure I'll be waiting around a bunch of places, I'll be taking knitting with me, probably my socks and FKM's socks.

That's all for now.

Happy Birthday My Love

2007-03-28T00:40:00.000-06:00

So today, the 28th, is KM's birthday. I won't tell how old he is, but he's older than me, hehe. I have a little giftee for him, but not much since funds are a little scarce around here. So, I thought I would tell all 2 of my fan club how much and why I love this man. Last year for Valentine's Day we decided no gifts since we were moving in together and handfasting and needed the money for that. So I did what I do best and made him something. I made him a little scrapbook of the reasons I love him. I'm kind of shy about giving a guy a scrapbook for a gift because the last time I did it the dickhead (NOT KM) looked at it like it was doggy-doo and commented he'd rather have had the new Star Wars computer game. So anyway, like I was saying, I made him a scrapbook and I was SOOOOO nervous about it. I sweated for weeks after I made it (yep, made it early, aren't you amazed) and almost didn't give it to him. But the ego won out and I gave it to him. He was thrilled. He showed people, he talked about it for weeks, it was what all of us handmade gifters long for, APPRECIATE FOR ITS BEAUTY. So it was sappy and all of that with just 3 months of photos in it.

But now, I've been with this wonderful guy 1 year, 5 months and 7 days. And I love him more and more every day. In just 12 weeks and 5 days, we're getting married! So here, in no particular order are reasons I love him:

1. He's good in bed

2. He supports my hobbies

3. He listens to me

4. He likes my family

5. He takes care of me when I'm sick

6. He wears my hand-knit socks and brags about them

7. He doesn't try to change me

8. He calls me beautiful and/or gorgeous every single day

9. He's affectionate

10.He's happy to see me

11. He views our relationship as a partnership where we are both equal

12. He gives great hugs and kisses

13. He cooks

14. He looks really cute in a kilt

15. He buys me yarn

16. He knows the meaning of the terms: knit, purl, frog, tink, increase, gauge

17. He's a great father

18. He's got a great sense of humor and makes me laugh with his REALLY GREAT impersonations

19. He's liberal

20. He'll give a homeless guy money and/or food

21. He takes good care of our family

22. He's a musician

23. He's an artist

24. He introduces me to new things but understands that nothing he could do could ever convince me to eat peas

25. Understands or at least tolerates my love of shoes and handbags

26. Won't let me be too hard on myself

27. He's Pagan

28. He'll kill spiders and not tease me with the dead wiggling carcass

29. Makes me feel important every single minute of every single day.

30. And finally, Loves me, just loves me.

Happy Birthday Sweetie, here's to many, many more.

WOOHOO for FOs

2007-03-21T22:40:00.000-06:00

So I finally finished Alex's Drive-Thru Sweater. It was a super fast, super easy and super cheap thing to make. I used acrylic, Caron Super Soft. I know how most knitters feel about the dreaded "A" word, but having done his laundry for a year now, everything must be easily washable. He gets EVERYTHING on himself, like the day he decided it would be a good idea to sharpen a red pen. Here is striking a couple of poses for me. I hope he gets some use out of it before he outgrows it. He may stay skinny enough, but it could be short sleeve pretty soon. Enjoy.

Knitters Treat

2007-03-16T12:21:00.000-06:00

Swaps are fun:

Knitters Treat Exchange Questionnaire

1. What's your favourite type of yarn? Sock yarn. I love knitting socks. Second, I would really like to try alpaca, everyone I know just loves it and I've only fondled it.

2. What's your least favourite type of yarn? Fun fur

3. What's the first thing you do when you visit a new yarn shop? Go straight to the sock yarn

4. What other crafts do you do / would like to do? I also crochet, rubber stamp, scrapbook and sometimes embroider, but it's rare that I embroider, my grandmother taught me and I haven't been able to bring myself to do it since she died.

5. What magazines do you currently subscribe to? None, I used to have one to IK, but it expired and I haven't been able to renew

6. Put this type of magazine in order of preference:Knitting / Crochet / Other Craft / Food / Home / Fashion / Celebrity Gossip / Garden

Let's see, Knitting/Crochet/Stamping/Scrapping/Celebrity Gossip

7. What items do you like to knit / crochet? I love to knit socks and sweaters done in the round. I crochet mainly blankets although I've done a scarf out of "Happy Hooker" that I really liked, I've also done a few totes

8. Are you allergic to anything? Cigarette smoke, pine, I have bad seasonal allergies so anything that has essential oils of pine, grass, etc are very bad for me.

9. What do you like to* smell of?(*This is not a typo. The question is: What do you like to smell of) Hmmm, baby powder, I love that scent, also Lavender.

10. What's your favourite way to relax? Watch CSI or Law and Order and knit

11. You're stood in front of a Victorian style sweetshop, an Italian cafe, an old fashioned bakery and a dainty tea room. Where do you go first? The bakery

12. What do you come out with? Bread

13. Where do you go next? Tea Room

14. Any other words of wisdom for your pal? I am not Christian, so please no Christian themed things. Other than that, I'm pretty easy to please, you can read the blog for other information or feel free to email me with questions.

Random Things

2007-03-14T22:19:00.000-06:00

Read this on another blog, and if you're reading this (I don't think I have any fans) you have to do it now, too.

TEN random things you might not know about me
1. I'm naturally very shy
2. I'm not a natural red head
3. I heart Alton Brown
4. Almost all of my movie star crushes are foreign, except John Cusack
5. I don't think crochet is inferior to knitting
6. I practiced really hard to lose my Southern drawl, but sometimes it creeps back
7. I put way too much pressure on myself to have all A's
8. I love tiaras, I own 3 and I'll buy a new one for the wedding
9. I really like ball point pens in blue, medium point
10. I will hunt down the person who steels my stapler, kind of like that guy on "Office Space"

NINE places I have visited
1. Chicago
2. Lincoln, Nebraska
3. Black Hills, South Dakota
4. Cheyenne Wyoming
5. Las Vegas
6. Irving, California
7. Disney World
8. Arches National Park
9. Corpus Christi

EIGHT ways to win my heart
1. Tell me I'm beautiful
2. Play with my hair
3. Make me dinner
4. Compliment my knitting
5. Wear things I make
6. Brag about me when I'm not there
7. Hold the door for me
8. Tell me your Liberal

SEVEN things I want to do before I die
1. Learn to knit lace
2. See New York
3. See a space shuttle lunch
4. Have a baby
5. Finish my degree
6. Swim with dolphins
7. go to Scotland

SIX things I don’t like
1. Fundies
2. Bad table manners
3. My ex-husband
4. His mother
5. Fun fur
6. Peas

FIVE things I’m afraid of
1. The dark
2. Spiders
3. Bugs
4. Dieing young
5. losing Michael

FOUR ways to turn me off
1. Bad table manners
2. Tell me your a republican fundie
3. Be lousy in bed
4. Not know the meaning of foreplay

THREE things I do every day
1. Brush my teeth
2. Knit
3. Hug and kiss the guys

TWO things that make me happy
1. Michael
2. Alex

ONE thing on my mind right now
Going in to snuggle with KM, watch "Dead Man's Chest" and knit.

Favorite Color Swap

2007-03-09T18:55:00.000-07:00

I've had a very long day. Ended up in a meeting I didn't know about for 3 hours!!!! Then I stayed until 6 to get some stuff done since the boss-man will be out next week and I needed some things taken care of. So I finally got home to this:

It was my package from my favorite color secret pal, Shelby. Red is my favorite color. She sent me some fiber wash in a flora scent, some beautiful stitch markers, some Ghirardelli, a tin of cocoa (smells yummy - I'll reuse the tin too, because it's pretty), a handmade card, and then some wonderful Knit Picks Essential sock yarn in Burgundy. Love it. And then some wonderful Sol Joy by Catalina yarns in great red and burgundy colors. I can't wait to try it. I really want to cast on for some socks for ME, but alas, I must finish sweater for boy and shrug for Jamie. But that Catalina is NEXT on the needles. I need to find a good sock pattern to really show it off. Any suggestions? Thank you Shelby, you rock.

Coincidentally, my oldest niece is Shellbie. She's 15. She was born during my Sophomore year of high school. She now has her learners permit. I'm sure there are laws against me having a niece old enough to drive.

So tonight I'm going to do some knitting. Speed knitting maybe so I can get to that yarn. It's calling me, can't you hear it? I may lose sleep until I can cast on.

Tomorrow I'm going wedding dress shopping, woohoo. I shall post photos of our shenanigans.

Whenever Pal

2007-03-08T22:05:00.000-07:00

Here is my swap from my awesome Whenever List pal, Rachel. It was all inside this ginormous lime green bag from her LYS, the name of the store is Naked Sheep Yarn Shop. Isn't that clever? Insider there was some tea, some jelly bellies in a Mary Engelbreit box, some peanut butter Hershey's Kisses, a tea shop mystery novel, a cute charm bracelet with a fall theme (I think I'll turn the beads into stitch markers), and 3 skeins of Wildflower DK by Plymouth Yarn, a box of treats for Velvet, a pretty little knit purse and a packet of vanilla milk bath stuff. Yummy. I'm seeing a nice long soak this weekend with a book and a cup of tea. Thank you so much Rachel. I know my package made it to my pal (love delivery confirmation) but I haven't heard if she likes it or not.

In Allergy news I saw the doctor on Wednesday and as always, I have a sinus infection and tonsillitis. This was common when I was a kid. I'd have bad allergies in the fall, I'd be dieing for months, then we'd have a hard freeze and the next week I'd have a sinus infection. So they gave me an antibiotic, Flonase (best stuff EVER) and a prescription for Allegra. But my damn insurance doesn't want to pay for the Allegra and it was going to be $50 to pick it up. So I needed to call the insurance and the doctor to see what can be done. I hate that they made Claritin OTC because now insurance companies don't want to pay for the prescription meds. I've tried probably every OTC allergy med out there and they just don't work for me. I have very severe allergies. But I'm feeling much better now and the Flonase is pretty awesome.

In knitting news the sweater for FKM is coming along nicely. I'm half done on the second sleeve, then I hook those on to the body and finish knitting it. His socks are coming along too. KM's socks are making good progress. The shrug is really coming along. Although KM thinks it looks like I'm knitting a Muppet, so we've named it the Purpleupagus. I'll post photos tomorrow.

This weekend I'm going wedding dress shopping!! I've found the dress I want online. It's EXACTLY what I wanted. I wore this fabulous purple gown in December to a holiday party and it was very flattering on me, so I wanted to find it with a little bit of a train and sleeves because I hate my arms. I FOUND IT!!! On eBay!! So this weekend I'll be going to bridal shops for the experience. I plan to try on silly dresses and have fun because I didn't get that the first time around. There's a bridal shop here in Albuquerque that does custom work so I'm going to take the pictures to them and see what they will charge me.

That's all, I'm off to watch "Beowulf and Grendel" with KM. It has Gerard Butler, yummy. Sometime I shall post about all of my movie star crushes are foreign.

PRICELESS

2007-03-05T15:26:00.001-07:00

As you can see, my teeth were pretty bad. First, there was just no room for everything. I even had all 4 wisdom teeth removed when I was 19 and it made absolutely NO difference in my teeth. Then add in there 20 years of flute playing that probably affected the bite. I had wanted braces for years because I was very self-conscious about my smile. My family could not afford them when I was a child. In February of 2004 I finally went to see an orthodontist. After looking at my financing options and talking about the treatment, I decided to do it. The ex dickhead didn't really like it, but oh well! So in May of 2004 I had my braces put on. I was only wired on the bottom, but had brackets on the top, they just weren't connected. In June of 2004 I had the Rex put in on the top. The rex was a really painful device that made me talk very funny. It spanned my pallet. It did nothing for 3 months while I waited for a surgery date. On August 22nd I had my first surgery. The first surgery was the rapid pallet expansion where the surgeon went in and surgically broke my pallet. I then had to turn the rex every day to slowly expand the pallet. If you are young, they can do this without surgery as your pallet is still soft tissue. But when you're in your late 20's, it has to be done surgically.

I hated the braces. They were annoying, the rex made it difficult to talk and the surgery was so painful. I was in tears the first night because I hurt, my nose was bleeding and the dickhead wouldn't do anything to help me.

In January of 2006 I had the final surgery. In this surgery they broke the upper pallet, again, but in 3 places to bring it forward, out and down, this is held in place with 8 titanium plates and 32 screws. The lower jaw was broken in 2 places (one one each side) to bring the lower jaw out, this is held in with 4 plates and 16 screws. This surgery was the worst of all. But fortunately I had KM who took VERY good care of me. It was a test of sorts to see how he'd do. He was great, assuring me that it would all be worth it, blending my food, trying to find things I could eat, etc.

Last fall I was getting discouraged because it didn't feel like I would EVER get out of braces. And I'd look at myself and think that I didn't like how my new smile looked and that I wasn't going to be happy with it and it would have all been for nothing. KM kept assuring me that I would like it and I would have a beautiful smile.

In December of 2006 the orthodontist said that they would come off in February. I refused to believe it. I remember that when I was first in braces I was at the orthodontists for a checkup and the girl next to me was crying because she was supposed to get hers off that day but he wanted to wait another few months. I remember thinking, "jeez girl, it's just a few months, get over it." Now I knew that if he did that to me, I would cry. So I just assumed that he would tell me no. I did tell them they had to be off by June 24th (wedding day) or I was taking them off myself.

So on February 16th I went in and he confirmed they were coming off!!! It hurt like hell, it feels a bit like you're getting your teeth pulled. And when they were all of my teeth felt slimy because they were smooth, LOL. But when I looked in the mirror, they looked ginormous to me. But I've gotten used to my new, wider, straighter smile. I can honestly say it was worth it, every adjustment, every power chain, TP bar, rex, surgery, wax, rubber band. Worth it. Totally and completely worth it. Now I want to bleach them and make them whiter. So here is the AFTER photo. Not the best photo of me, but it will do.

The 800 pound gorilla

2007-03-03T15:08:00.000-07:00

So here it is in all it's knitted glory. The "Something Red" from Knit and Tonic. It was created for my co-worker Stacy who is modeling it. It was done in Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Coal color. I'm quite pleased. It came out like it was supposed to, it fit and she likes it. I got many compliments on it, too. One of my other co-workers wants me to make her one but I told her I'm retired from commission knitting. As soon as I finish the shrug for Jamie and her socks, no more commission knitting.

Things that make me crazy

2007-02-28T19:00:00.000-07:00

So, I've been thinking a lot lately about some things that piss me off, make me crazy or just leave me scratching my head and saying "huh?" In no particular order.

1. Women who wear lip liner 15 shades darker than both their natural lip color and their lipstick. Did they miss the Oprah/Sally/Phil/What Not to Wear episode when this was addressed. It's suppose to match your lipstick. If your lipstick wears off, leaving said liner, reapply.

2. Drawn on eyebrows. More specifically, eyebrows drawn on in the WRONG location. I truly don't get this. They shave/wax/pluck them all off. Then draw them on. But a lot of people I see, look startled, all the time. Makes me want to check over my shoulder, make sure there isn't something hurtling at me. One time I saw a woman at Subway who had drawn them on in the right location, but then on closer expansion I realized they expanded on to her temple in a curly-q design. There's one woman, I swear, if they had been any higher they would have been in her hairline.

3. Skater shoes. Really hate those because it seems that wearing them makes it completely impossible for the wearer to PICK UP THEIR FEET. The FKM had a pair for a while, but after watching him walk on the backs of them I decided no more of that.

4. Heelies. Are we so lazy now that we must wheel everywhere? I want to clothesline the kids coming at me in the grocery store.

5. Skinny girl clothes in big girls sizes. Now I am overweight. I know this. But there are some things that should not be made in plus sizes. Spandex comes to mind.

6. Super low rise jeans. It makes everyone, even the skinny girls, look like they have a bicycle tire around their waist.

7. People who are waiting for an elevator and try to jump in as I'm trying to get out. Here's a little physics lesson. You and I can not occupy the same space at the same time. Therefor, I must get OUT of the elevator before you can get IN. One of these days I'm going to stand at the doors and as they open I'm going to yell "bugga bugga."

8. People who let their kids run around the restaurant. This makes me nuts because they invariably almost knock over the staff, or poor little old ladies with walkers. People please, restaurants can be dangerous and if your "darling" tot manages to run into a waiter with a full tray who can't see them, I don't feel bad for the kid when they end up wearing somebodies dinner.

9. People who assume I'm Christian, then when finding out I'm not, try to convince me I'm wrong. Fortunately this doesn't happen often.

10. Related to #9, people who make broad general statements assuming everyone in the room is Christian. News flash, your negative comments about Samhain (Halloween) show you to be a narrow-minded bigot.

11. Certain ex-friends who think it's perfectly OK to make excuses for my abusive ex. He is a shit and no matter how much you blame me for the divorce, he's still a shit. Maybe when his second wife leaves him you'll figure it out.

Sorry for the rant. My allergies are kicking my ass. I have had allergies all my life and I took shots for a while and that helped. But the immunity has worn off and I'm miserable because god damn everything is blooming and we're having wind storms. For those interested, I'm allergic to dirt and everything that grows in it.

Knitting news, the 800 pound gorilla is gone. I redid the band, sewed on the button, sewed on my "From the Needles of Emilee" and took it to work. Stacy should come by soon to get it. It's officially off of my list. Now I'm working on Jamie's Shrug, FKM's sweater, KM's socks, FKM's socks and a tote bag. When those are done, I'm knitting nothing but socks for ME.

Later, gotta find some more allergy meds.

Laundry Day

2007-02-25T23:07:00.000-07:00

So I am afraid that I am not nearly as clever as some of the other blog authors that I read. So I figure to help with my uncreative writing, I'll write about laundry day. Laundry day is full of true stories that I couldn't make up, if I tried.

A little background. When I first met KM I lived in an apartment with a laundry room for the residents. Then I met KM and discovered that he did his laundry at Harold's, which wins lots of awards from The Alibi for being the "Best in 'Burque." Harold's is located near-ish to the university and is open 24-hours. KM and I would go there and do our laundry on a Sunday night after FKM was asleep, so, around 10 pm or so. It was insane, but it was our "date." It was there that we first started talking about moving in together. One of the most memorable characters is the cross-dressing man. Now, he was not an attractive man, and unfortunately, made an even uglier woman. He would wear Daisy Dukes, but, er, he hadn't had any operations and it was kind of scary. And there were the crop tops that exposed a hair chest, the bad die job, the GINORMOUS glasses and the 5 o'clock shadow. He was entertaining.

Then KM and I moved in together and we had a washer and dryer in our place. But we moved over Christmas (don't EVER do that) and now I'm back to carting the laundry up to Harold's. Here, in no particular order, are the things I've seen the last 9 weeks.

1. The woman who apparently only does laundry once a quarter. She was using nearly every machine. She lived nearby because she would use the laundry carts to wheel her clean laundry across the street to her apartment, then come back for more. There was a lot of laundry.

2. One Sweater Girl: This is the girl who came in to dry just one sweater. That's all she had.

3. Scary parking lot guy. This guy is this weeks edition. He pulled in after I did and sat in his truck while I sat in my car eating my snack. He crawls out of his truck and I'm treated to a good 5 inches of ass-crack. Nice. Then I notice that he is dumping all of his laundry on to the ground on the passenger side. I start taking my laundry in and he asks if I need help. I assure him I'm fine and continue bringing in my stuff. Note to guys: don't ask strange women if they want help with their laundry. We will think you odd and that you only want to steal our panties. So I go about my business doing laundry. He positions his laundry so he can stare at me, creepy. So then I'm drying and sitting at a table and I knock a paper off, it wasn't mine, but he jumps up to pick it up for me. He sits at the computer desk the whole time staring at me. By this time I was sufficiently creeped out. He then selects the folding table NEXT to mine to fold his stuff. I was never so glad to get out of there.

4. Then there is Emo guy. I wasn't sure what to call him, but KM thinks he sounds Emo. I admit, I don't really understand Emo. But the guy had a dozen pairs of pants, all the same style, in wild shades. They are the pants from the 70's that are back. His were orange, turquoise and I think I saw a red pair.

5. Last week we had rude laundry people. These are the people who think that the entire laundry mat is for them and they can hog all of the machines and leave their baskets in the middle of the path.

So, there you have it. Laundry day. Tune in next week (or not) for the next addition.

Oh, knitting content. Well, I frogged the collar of the 800 pound gorilla and have redone it. Worked much better this time. I have maybe 2 more rows and it will be done, again. Then I can sew on my label and the button and get it out of here. I did get some work done on my FCSP's tote bag, it's crocheted.

That's it.

Gauge!

2007-02-22T22:59:00.000-07:00

Or how Emilee got her knitting ego kicked.

So last summer a co-worker bought me some yarn to make the Something Red sweater for another co-worker of ours, Stacy. Stacy is this cute little petite thing who would wear horrible boxy 80's era suit jackets when she was cold. So I began working on it. Here at the left you see attempt number 1. Stacy is small, so that's the size I made. As you can see I got to just below the sleeve stitches when I decided to try it on her. It was WAY too small. So we decided I should make the large and I ordered a few more balls of yarn.

It is important to note that I was pretty cocky at this point and thus far everything I had made had fit the intended recipient. Here we have attempt #2 I decided it didn't look much bigger than the last version, so I decided AFTER I had knit to the separating of sleeve stitches to check gauge. It was off, WAY the fuck off. I'm an idiot. So I changed to a bigger needle, did a gauge swatch and found that that worked. So I started over, again. Now, I did not frog either of these mistakes. Instead, I just started with a new ball of yarn. I figured I would frog when I needed the yarn, that way I would be nearly finished and it wouldn't be nearly as traumatic. I was correct.

I finished the sweater the night of the Grammy's. It's been blocked, but I don't like the way the collar is behaving, so I'm going to redo that part, probably this weekend.

Now Wendy gave it the ever-so-clever name of "Something Red" but I have renamed it: "The 800-pound Gorilla in My Knitting Bag."

I will be so glad to get this out of the house and off the to-do list.

Favorite Color Swap

2007-02-07T17:53:00.000-07:00

Favorite Color Swap Questionnaire

So I was in the first Favorite Color swap and my pal was awesome. It was so cool opening a sea of purple. I decided to join again. Sorry I'm such a bad blogger, I'm really going to try and do better. Here's my questionnaire.

1. What are your top three favorite colors? Red is my all time favorite color, I own a lot of clothing, etc. Purple is a very close second. Then, hmmm, maybe pink.

2. What crafts do you really enjoy? Knitting is my top favorite. I love to knit and I knit socks. I've been knitting for 2 years, I'm not afraid to try new techniques, stitches. I'm almost done with the "Something Red" from Knit and tonic. I also crochet (learned to do that first, about 20 years ago), stamping and scrapbooking.

3. What products do you really covet? Hmm, I really want Lorna's Laces sock yarn in Red Rover. Ultimate dream would be to have a ball winder, LOL. I have sensational knitted socks and knitting vintage socks, but I'd like other sock knitting books, I hear Queen Kahuna's is really good as well as Kat Bhodi (not sure I spelled that right). I've also been looking for the sock yarn that has aloe in it, my LYS has ugly colors, LOL.

4. What other activities do you enjoy besides your favorite crafty things? Reading, watching drama shows on TV (Law and Order, CSI), hanging out with my guys.

5. Is there anything you collect? Anchor Hawking Press-Cut glass in starburst, Curious George (I LOVE monkeys), sock yarn, rubber stamps, Hard Rock Cafe hat pins and glasses

6. What is your zodiac sign and/or Chinese zodiac symbol? I'm a Scorpio

7.What are your favorite……
scents/smells?… Lavender and lilac are my favorite
types of music and/or bands?…VERY eclectic, I like classic rock, 80's pop, Celtic, classical, jazz, blues
authors?…Patricia Cornwell, Nora Roberts, Stephen King
animals?…Monkeys
places to shop?…Barns and Noble, Village Wools (local yarn store), Craft stores like Michaels or Hobby Lobby
season?…Spring and fall
yarn/fabric/paper/other craft supplies?…I use Stampin' Up? stamps, Creative Memories scrap supplies. I'm not a yarn snob except no fun fur, I really don't like fun fur, makes me itch, but an acrylic that is soft or a blend is ok, I have sensitive skin, so as long as it's soft, it's good.
candies or goodies? I am a total chocoholic

8. Do you have any wish lists? I had one on KnitPicks, but I'm not sure it's still there

9. Are you allergic to anything? I have bad seasonal allergies, so things scented with those oils are bad, especially pine, it's bad, no grass smells either

10. Do you have any pets? What are they? I have a dog named Velvet, 2 cats named Gryffin and Lupin (yep, I'm a Harry Potter fan) and a snake named Isis.

11. Please include anything else you would like your secret pal to know about you- anything that would be helpful in finding you little gifts that you will really enjoy. I really don't like things that are rose scented. I am also not Christian so please no Christian themed things.

Long time, no blog

2006-09-14T11:53:00.000-06:00

Sorry guys. Things have been crazy busy here. First, we finally got a digital camera, so now I can post my WIP and hopefully my FO's here. The first picture is my wonderful Favorite Color Swap package. My pal rocked. Sorry, haven't figured out how to do links yet. She went with my second favorite color, purple. I have 2 cakes of Lorna's Laces in Blackwatch, Knitpicks Essential in African Violet, some great Lavendar bath stuff, dark chocolate kisses, notepads, a pencil case (great for DPNs) and their was a purple pen I was using and forgot to put in the picture.

The next 2 pictures are of the cats. Sorry, that's all that is at the house with me today to get it's picture taken. The black and white is Gryffin, the Flame-Point Siamese is Lupin, he's my wild child.

Today we leave for Austin for the Austin City Limits Music Festival. I'm so excited. I get to see Willie Nelson!!! Woot!! Brings out my redneck roots. Van Morrison will be there, Tom Petty, John Mayer, and tons of others. It's 3 days of hanging with my guys and knitting. I'm taking a LOT of projects with me. I always overestimate my productivity. I'm taking BBS (Big Black Socks for my charity knitting, Socks For Soldiers), Jaywalker socks for me in Trekking XL, yarn to start Jamie's fingerless gloves, my co-workers Something Red cardigan, some more sock yarn for me and a scarf I'm working on for Jamie. In a perfect world I'll come home with all of it done, LOL.

I will update more later.

Em

One Sock, Two Sock, Red-yellow&Blue Sock

2006-07-26T10:54:00.000-06:00

Here they are. The socks for my friend Jamie. I finished the second sock about 1 in the morning. I'm going to pay for that today in a nice little Lupus flare, but I was DETERMINED to finish them. I started the first sock on July 6th and finished the pair in the wee hours this morning. I started the second sock last Thursday, but I didn't knit at all on Saturday, so it took me 4 days to knit the second sock. I am geting MUCH faster at this. I am so excited.

Now I can cast on for my co-workers "Something Red" cardigan from Knit and Tonic as soon as I get my needles bought. But I have to wait until payday, sigh. So tonight I'm going to finally cast on my trekking socks. I'm going to try a sock with a pattern this time, I'm doing "Jaywalkers." Should be fun and a learning experience.

OTN: Blue and tan scarf for Jamie.

Favorite Color Swap

2006-07-23T12:34:00.000-06:00

I joined the Favorie Color Swap. I'm super Excited! I still need to set up a secret email so I can email my pal. But here's the answer to the questionnaire.

1. What are your top three favorite colors? Red is my number one favorite color, followed by purple. After that, pink I guess

2. What crafts do you really enjoy? Knitting, rubber stamping, scrapbooking and crochet, I don't do a lot of crochet, mainly I only crochet baby blankets, everything else is knit.

3. What products do you really covet? Oh man, Lorna's Laces sock yarn in any colorway but I really want blackwatch (there is a great seller on ebay that sells 2 hanks for uber cheap, and you need 2 hanks to make socks, it's $17 for 2 hanks!!), the new Knit Picks double pointed needles and the interchangeable set, "The Happy Hooker" crochet book by Debbie Stoller, Mason Dixon Knitting, Sensational Knitted Socks

4. What other activities do you enjoy besides your favorite crafty things? Reading, watching movies, playing my flute, listening to music, hanging with my guys

5. Is there anything you collect? Sock yarn, rubber stamps, Anchor Hawking Press Cut Glass in the Starburst pattern

6. What is your zodiac sign and/or Chinese zodiac symbol? I'm a Scorpio

7.What are your favorite……

scents/smells?… Lavendar, I love lavendar and also Lilac. I detest rose scented things. Nothing pine scented either as I'm allergic

types of music and/or bands?… Oh man, classic rock, I love Rush, I love the Dixie Chicks, I like John Mayer, I have VERy ecclectic music taste.

authors?… Patricia Cornwell, Stephen King, J.K. Rowling

animals?… MONKEYS. I LOVE MONKEYS

places to shop?… Target, bookstores of all kinds, stamp stores, fiber stores (But I hate my local fiber Store, they are rude)

season?… Spring and Fall, the weather is perfect here in the desert

yarn/fabric/paper/other craft supplies?… Sock yarn I love Lorna's Laces, Opal and Trekking, Stamps I prefer Stampin Up, Knitting Needles I prefer bamboo or other natural woods but would like to try the Knit Picks, Scrapbooking I use mostly Creative Memories

candies or goodies? M&M's are my all time favorite

8. Do you have any wish lists? Yes, on Knit Picks and I need to get one on Amazon, ask me later, I'll try to remember

9. Are you allergic to anything? Yes, I have really bad seasonal allergies. This carries into anything pine scented i can not tolerate because they tend to use essential oils. nothing grass scented either.

10. Do you have any pets? What are they? Dog named Velvet, Cats named Gryffin and Lupin (from Harry Potter), snake named Isis and a Gecko named Gex. The snake is my fiance's and the gecko is my step-sons.

11. Please include anything else you would like your secret pal to know about you- anything that would be helpful in finding you little gifts that you will really enjoy. I'm not hard to please and will be happy with whatever you send me. I am not Christian so anything Judeo/Christian wouldn't be appropriate for me. I like little gadgety types of things, ie stitch markers, interesting embossing powders, etc.

Feel free to leave comments with more questions.

Come back and I'll taunt you a second time...

2006-07-20T17:12:00.000-06:00

So, this is for you Jamie. Here is sock number one for my friend Jamie. I just finished it this afternoon and have about an inch done on the second sock. I'm hoping to get the second sock done by the end of this weekend so I can give them to her and I can start Alex's socks. Done with Knitpicks simple stripes sock yarn using a basic stockinette sock pattern from the "More Than Just Socks" book.

Oh, and in a previous post I said I was trying to learn 2 socks on 2 circs, but I just didn't have the patience. Maybe someday I'll learn it. But so far I don't have a problem with second sock syndrome, ladders between DPNs or getting the 2nd sock to match. So I think I'll stick to my DPNs.

KM says I am getting much faster with sock knitting.

OTN: Second sock, obviously, tan and blue scarf for Jamie. Wait a minute, why are both of my OTN projects for Jamie?

At long last, Jamie's Socks

2006-06-30T10:37:00.000-06:00

Here they are. I'm trying to learn 2 socks on 2 circs for these. I'll let you know how it goes. I actually have to change out the purple needle. I'm a crack head. Both circs are US 2's, but the purple is a quarter of a milimeter smaller. So I have another US 2/3.00 mm circ to switch out. These are for my friend Jamie. These are knitpicks sock yarn, can't remember the colorway, LOL.

More FO's

2006-06-30T10:31:00.000-06:00

I may figure this out yet. Here is a picture of the finished baby blanket. It is a crocheted item, I LOVE this pattern and will use it for future projects. It looks lacy, but isn't hard and goes together really quickly. I'm hoping to see my friend this next week while I'm back home in Missouri and give it to her. She may have the baby before then, which would be convenient. Next you see pictures of some stamped altered journals I did for my 3 friends and myself. All were done with the "composition notebooks." Stamps were, well, I can't remember. Cardstock and ink is Stampin Up. One stamps says, "Remember, Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, but she did it backwards and in heels." The other says, "Here's to great women, may we be them, may we know them, may we raise them." There's also some music note stuff on there. the tag has our names spelled out. Pens are made to match.

My socks

2006-06-30T10:26:00.000-06:00

Ok, so, um, I can't figure out how to put more than one picture in a post and I'm way too tired to figure it out. So here you have my finished sock, made out of Opal, don't remember which colorway. You see the finished sock and the 2nd sock on the needles. I'm almost to the heel turn, now.

Picture Day

2006-06-30T10:22:00.000-06:00

So, I finally borrowed my friends camera and got some pictures. For your viewing pleasure:

First, my first pair of socks. KM was the recipient of these. These are done in Lion Brand Magic Stripes. Doesn't he have the cutest feet?

These were my learnin pair and I think I did a good job. The gusset increases were a little loose, I fixed those by using some yarn to sew in those spots. He wears them often. And he even shows people!!! Of course, after seeing these, FKM wants a pair and keeps asking when he will get his.

They'll take away my knitting license

2006-06-08T22:11:00.000-06:00

Tonight I decided to do a bit of craft closet organizing since my guys are watching an anime movie. I don't really "get" anime. But the guys like it and they don't insist that I watch it, so I decided to do other stuff. KM, FKM and I all moved into this place at the beginning of March. Two weeks after that was the handfasting. So we unpacked rather fast and a lot of our stuff has never made it out of the boxes. So we've all been slowly working on it the last few weeks, FKM is down to just a box or two left in his room, and KM just has a few odds and ends in a few boxes in the hallway. I've discovered I didn't like how things were arranged originally, so I've been working on that.

Anyway. I was going through my yarn and pulling out the left over balls of things to send to someone who teaches kids how to knit. And I decided to tally up my "stash." Well, I don't they they'll let me play anymore because I don't really have a stash. How sad. I have: 23 balls of kitchen cotton, 2 balls of Red Heart red yarn that I use for Raggedy Anne and Andy hair (I make these for my nieces), 2 skeins of Mandarin Petit 100% cotton that I have no idea why I bought them and 12 skeins of sock yarn, but 8 of those belong to my friend Jamie who I am knitting socks and fingerless gloves for. And by the way Jamie, I'll cast on for your socks just as soon as I can catch you to try on my sock to see if it fits.

So there you have it. I don't have a yarn stash. There's a reason, you see. I've been scrapbooking for 8 years. About 4 years ago I got into all of the really trendy stuff, buying brads, eyelets, ribbon, charms, all kinds of things. Then I realized, I NEVER used it. So I sold almost all of it and went back to the very basic Creative Memories products. I use their stuff almost exclusively. So I decided then and there to not keep a stash of stuff for just in case. That has followed into this knitting obsession. I don't buy yarn just because it's pretty, as much as I would like to. One, I don't have that kind of money, and two, I don't have that kind of storage space. The exception could be sock yarn, I love sock yarn, and I know what I will do with it, I'll make socks. And I love the kitchen cotton, I make face cloths/dish cloths with it and a few of those balls are to make some reusable grocery bags.

I may see Jamie this weekend and if I do, I plan to take some FOs over to use her digital camera and load some pictures on to my blog.

OTN: Second sock for me, Gryffindor scarf for FKM, crochet baby blanket for my friend Amy, I only have 18 more rows to go and it's done, then I can mail it off. Need to finish it this weekend as she is due in July.

On Being Type A

2006-05-30T16:06:00.000-06:00

So I admit I'm a little (shut up KM) Type A and a bit (shut up) of a control freak. I'm the oldest child, I like things to go my way. I like having answers. I like know what's going on. I like having a path established to what I need to accomplish.

A little background. I've mentioned that at 24 I had brain surgery. I had bilateral opthalmic artery aneurysms. That means I had an aneurysm on each opthalmic artery. As soon as I heard the news from my doctor, I excused myself from my desk and went and cried in the ladies room. For 5 minutes. Then I wiped my face, and said, "what's next." And I contacted the neurosurgeon and a week and a half later, I had both aneurysms clipped. Part of that response is that my now-ex-husband was a total basket case and I had to comfort HIM. Rediculous, I know. But the other part of the response is that is how I am. I confront a problem head on and look for a way to solve it.

But now, now my careful planning is being fucked with. In the beginning of March I developed a rash. I figured it was just some allergy or something and it went away. It came back in April. And that time it was EVERYWHERE. But it didn't itch or hurt. So I went to my doctor and she ordered some blood work.

I figured it would all be fine and it was a reaction to soap or shampoo or something. I did some research on things it could be, but really assumed it was nothing.

She called a week and a half ago and my ANA which tests for autoimmune antibodies had a slight positive. She was willing to wait 6 months and retest, I am not. So I have an appointment with a Lupus Clinic because I have other symptoms, most noticeably, the wonderful butterfly rash on my cheeks and nose. Then there is the brain numbing exhaustion that I haven't been able to kick.

To say I'm scared would be an understatement. I'm more scared that I'll go to my appointment, they'll do the 50-bazillion tests, and I still won't have answers. I don't like not having answers. I want to know what is going on with my body. Today I nearly had a breakdown because I am so exhausted and I don't know why and it's making me crazy.

Fortunately, I have wonderful, supportive friends and the love and support of KM. KM is being wonderful through this and listening to me go on and on about stuff and my total freak outs about the rash on my back.

With any kind of luck, this type-a gal will have some answers next week. Even if they say, "well, maybe" that is at least an answer of sorts and I can deal with that.

In knitting news, I finished sock #1 for the pair I'm making for myself and I cast on sock #2 during lunch. I am over half done on the baby blanket I'm making for my friend. No new status on the other projects.

Good friends help you move...

2006-05-16T16:19:00.000-06:00

Great friends help you move bodies.

Or at least help you move 1,500 pounds in books, 500 bras, 600 pair of underwear and a LOT of shoes.

I got back from California on Sunday. I helped my friend Jamie move here to the Land of Enchantment. California was pretty, it was overcast on Thursday so my beach pictures should be interesting. I had a good time being with Jamie, we spent a lot of time in the car, which was good to just girl-talk and I got to meet some of her California friends, who were all very nice and welcoming. Her friend Tammy may have the cutest 2 year old, ever. He decided to rename me Nina, we don't know why.

The trip from California to New Mexico was challenging. It took us MUCH longer to load the SUV then we had planned. We were supposed to have a mini-van but ended up with a Jeep Laredo. If we'd had a mini van we wouldn't have had the challenges we had. We finally got everything loaded into the Jeep around 7:30 pm on Friday evening. We were scheduled to leave around noon that day. We had TONS of stuff piled on the top of the car too, 2 canvas car-top carriers, 6 boxes, 2 file boxes and a suitcase. ALL BUNGEE CORDED TO THE TOP. We finally hit the road around 9 pm that night. We were supposed to make it to Williams, Arizona. But around the Arizona state line I told Jamie that I could NOT do another 2 hours and she was having a hard time staying awake too. So we decided to stop in Kingman. Now, it should be noted that when we left Irvine I told Jamie that we couldn't go through drive-thrus or anything because of the stuff on the roof. This is important information. We get off the highway in Kingman and pull into a Motel 6. It's 3 am. I'm REALLY tired because we'd been pulling late nights every night. I completely missed the 6 foot low clearance sign. That's right, I drove the cargo into the motel awning. Then I had to back up. And I ran over a box. I went in to get the room. When I cam back out Jamie told me that one of the car top carriers had torn when it came off the roof. It was still hanging on. Nothing actually came off except one box. I did bungee it really well. So we kind of shoved things back up, grabbed our overnight bag and went to the room. It should be noted that I was nearly hysterical at this point. Jamie was calm. She kept assuring me it was ok. We had no idea what we were going to do. So I made the decision to call KM and have him drive to Kingman to rescue us.

Now KM and I do this silly little thing where we "argue" over who loves who more. He wins. He drove 7 hours to Kingman for me. Hands down, he wins.

So we slept for a bit, got up, called KM and made those arrangements. We knew it would be a while before he could get there so Jamie paid for another night in the hotel. We got the stuff off of the roof and went to get lunch, aloe vera sunburn jell for me and a few other necessities. KM and FKM got there about 12:30 am Jamie and I loaded the stuff from the roof of the jeep into my car and crashed. We got up at 6 and hauled butt back to Albuquerque. After banging on some doors, we were able to get Jamie in to sign her lease and unload the Jeep and return it.

Jamie's container of stuff should arrive on Wednesday and we can unload that. We're both REALLY glad that the ordeal is over.

I got a bad sunburn on Friday while loading up the Jeep. It STILL hurts.

I spent my first Mother's Day on the road, but I did get to see my guys who I missed a whole lot. KM got me a magnetic hematite necklace/bracelet and FKM made me something in school.

I did get to buy 2 skeins of sock yarn at Yarn Lady in California.

OTN: Socks for me, have turned the heel and done gusset decreases on the first sock. Harry Potter scarf for FKM, scarf for Jamie, and a crochet baby blanket for a friend of mine.

California Dreamin'

2006-05-09T14:58:00.000-06:00

“I'd be safe and warm
If I was in L.A.
California dreamin'
On such a winter's day”

This song by The Mamas and The Papas brings back memories of high school pep band. Go Trojan basketball. Yes, we really were the Trojans, and our rival, the Spartans. Really.

But today, today that song makes me think of beaches and oceans. Tomorrow I fly to California to help my friend Jamie move to Albuquerque. Woohoo!! I’ve never been to California. The furthest west I’ve been is Las Vegas. I fly in on Wednesday and we have to get her moving container packed and ready for the moving company to pick it up. Then on Thursday we are doing a lot of site seeing. I forget what all we’re doing. I remember something about Crystal Cove State Park, and Laguna, and a place called Ruby’s.

We head back to Albuquerque later in the week. We’re planning a stop at the Grand Canyon, too. My mom is a little worried about the two of us loose in California. She knows us well. Jamie and I had always talked about a road trip. Now we’re doing it.

I’m so excited I can hardly stand it. I have my directions printed and my packing list. Camera is ready.

And just so you don’t think this is a completely knit-free post here’s a little update. KM wears his knitted socks every week. He swears he loves them and wants me to make him more. This guy is a keeper. Jamie and I are planning to hit Fiber Lady in Laguna and Unravel in Flagstaff. I’m buying sock yarn so I can make California Dreamin’ socks and Arizona socks. I was telling a friend my plan and she asked why didn’t I just buy some socks. She really doesn’t get it, LOL. I bought myself this cute little purse kind of thing that has a drawstring at the thrift store. The plan is to put sock yarn and the current sock project in it, I can hang the drawstring on my wrist and then I can knit while waiting in line. I’m pretty clever sometimes, I saw them for sale in Knitpicks but was sure I could make it cheaper. Then I found that little bag for a $1. SCORE!

OTN: Socks for me in yarn by Opal, a scarf in blue and tan for Jamie, a Gryffindor scarf for FKM for Solstice this year and also a crochet baby blanket for my friend Amy who is having a baby in July.

And now I leave you with The Mamas and The Papas

California Dreamin’ by The Mamas and The Papas

All the leaves are brown
And the sky is gray
I've been for a walk
On a winter's day

I'd be safe and warm
If I was in L.A.
California dreamin'
On such a winter's day

Stopped into a church
I passed along the way
Oh, I got down on my knees
And I pretend to pray

You know the preacher likes the cold
He knows I'm gonna stay
California dreamin'
On such a winter's day

All the leaves are brown
And the sky is gray
I've been for a walk
On a winter's day

If I didn’t tell her
I could leave today
California dreamin'
On such a winter's day(California dreamin')On such a winter's day(California dreamin')On such a winter's day

On Knitting

2006-04-19T10:44:00.000-06:00

So I decided that since this blog is SUPPOSED to be about knitting and I have that handy Pagan Knitters ring I joined and if I EVER figure out how to post the Pagan Knitters button I should have an entry about knitting. So here goes...

I learned to knit January 18, 2005. My friend Jamie, who I knew from scrapbooking, had decided to start a SNB group. She said she was willing to teach people too. And I figured since she used to teach kindergarten, she'd be a good teacher. So I bought my "I Taught Myself to Knit" book and a skein of Red Hart. That night she taught me and another friend. I picked it up quite easily because I learned to crochet when I was about 10, which was, uh hem, 20 years ago. So it came rather naturally to me. I still have my first practice piece.

Once I got the hang of it, I decided to make a dishclothe. And I started acquiring lots of kitchen cotton. Last year I mainly made dishcloths because I was crocheting like a woman possessed. I was in one of those cycles every woman has where everyone around her is having babies. Last year there were 9 births and one adoption in my circle of friends. I made 5 baby blankets. I have 4 more to make for 2 of my friends that I didn't know about at the time. Of those 9 births, there was 1 set of triplets.

Then I got divorced and I started knitting a lot more. And I decided I wanted to do more than knit scarves and dishclothes. So my friend Jamie once again put on her teaching hat and taught me to knit socks. OH MY GODDESS. I love to knit socks. I've only finished one pair, but I loved it. And I love sock yarn. I don't have a yarn stash. No, really. Except for kitchen cotton, and a FEW skeins of sock yarn. I do have 8 skeins of KnitPicks that my other friend named Jamie bought for me to make her socks and fingerless gloves. That's right, I got someone else to supply my habit, LOL.

My first pair of socks went to KM who swears he loves them. I was really nervouse about giving them to him. But he's worn them twice and showed them off at work. So I guess he must really love them. KM is a great supporter of my hobbies and tells me how (honestly) how things look. I made some cards a few weeks ago (I stamp, too) and he said it wasn't my best work, and I have to admit, it really wasn't.

Anyway, I love to knit. I think about knitting. I look for patterns online. I drool over yarn I can't afford. I sit and stare, mouth hanging open, at the stashes of other knitters.

For Easter I got the Knitter's Tote that Michael's sells. I love it. And I recently bought the "Knitting Vintage Socks" book.

My knitting goals for this year include, knit myself a pair of socks, make the socks and fingerless gloves for my friend, knit myself a sweater from Knit and Tonic, make KM a sweater (now that we're engaged, I can do this) and maybe some other gifts for Yule this year. I also need to crochet a few blankets. I have another friend having a baby this year.

There will be more knitting related posts, I promise. And as soon as I get a digital camera, there will be photos. But I have to figure out how to post those. And I need to figure out how to post buttons.

On the needles:
Socks for me
Harry Potter scarf for FKM
Scarf for my other friend named Jamie

On my short lived single life

2006-03-30T10:40:00.000-07:00

So in August of last year I divorced my husband of 9 years. We were together a few weeks shy of being together 11. WOW! That's a lot of time. Won't go into all of the dirty details but we'll leave it at he was a self-absorbed, narcissitic, emotionally abusive twit. But it took me a while to see that. You could say love is blind, and I guess in the beginning that was true.

It wasn't all bad, I guess. He did move me here to wonderful Albuquerque. I lived 24 years in Missouri. Albuquerque is home. There were some good times, but they were quickly over-shadowed by the bad.

So I got my own apartment in August. I was so excited. I had never lived on my own, having gone from my parents house to college with roomates, to living with the ex. So it was exciting to decorate it my way. And if there was a mess in the sink, it was MY mess.

I enjoyed my single life. I enjoyed the quiet and the solititude. After living with someone for so long who is very loud and very active, it was very nice to just have the quiet.

I would go home, go to the fitness center for a quick walk on the treadmill. Go home, make myself a little dinner, then curl up in my 1 chair for a little knitting and tv. And I'd go to bed early. It was nice. It was calm. It was centering. It was exactly what I needed at that point in my life.

And I wasn't lonely. I tend to be a loner in some way. I've never been a big party animal or the social butterfly.

But the thing that really sucked about being single? Having to kill my own spiders. So there I was in my apartment, doing my thing, talking to the cats when I realize, they aren't paying attention. This isn't unusual. My cats are self-centered. But then I realize what has their attention. A BIG FUCKING SPIDER. I scream, cats run. AND. NO. ONE. COMES. TO. HELP. ME. That was the moment I truly realized I was single. So I get out my swiffer (great tool for killing spiders on the ceiling, by the way). And I killed it. And I left its carcass on the wall. Yes, I know its bad luck to kill a spider. I'm a bad witch and I'll go to bad witch hell or something for killing a spider. But I really don't like them. I REALLY DON'T.

So now I live with two guys. Fortunately for me, KM will take the spider outside and relocate it. If it's really big and nasty, he has to kill it.

So, there you have it. The absolutely worst part of being single, LOL. Killing your own spiders.

But just 7 months after having my own place, I move in with KM and FKM. I enjoyed my time in my own place. It was good to know that I could do it. I proved it to myself.

And now I can get on with the fabulous joy of being with KM and FKM.

Here's little knitting update:
On the needles: Socks, scarf, and a baby blanket I'm going to frog and find a crochet pattern for instead.

100Things about Emilee Volume

2006-03-27T19:36:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I hate finding an interesting blog and then not knowing the person and getting confused about the posts. So I thought I would start out my blog with a little FYI on yours truly.

1. My middle name is Jean; I was named after my Aunt Evelyn

2. My name is spelled Emilee because I'm named after my Uncle Bob whose middle name is Lee. Seriously.

3. I'm from a small midwestern town. I hated it growing up, but now I can appreciate my roots. My family still lives there.

4. One of my very dearest, bestest friends I have known since the first day of kindergarten, 25 years ago this fall. We're getting tattoos this fall to celebrate our silver anniversary.

5. I LOVE to read and often have several books going at once. I'll read anything, cereal boxes, instruction manuals, shampoo bottles.

6. My favorite fiction is mystery.

7. I love monkeys

8. I really am an Auntie Em. I have 3 blood nieces, Amity, Kallen and Emilia, 2 nieces and one nephew by marriage, Shellbie, Madilyn and Dillon, (my step-sister’s kids) and then I have the honor of being an Auntie to my friends kids which includes, Hui Ling, Jordan, Sid, Calvin, Will, and Parker.

9. I'm engaged (actually handfasted) to a wonderful man.

10. My wonderful man has an equally wonderful son that we have custody of.

11. I am Wiccan. I've been on the path for a little over a year but curious for longer. My betrothed is also Wiccan.

12. I have a thing for men in kilts. I LOVE men in kilts. In fact, that's how I found my love. He's a man in a kilt.

13. I knit. I love to knit. I learn more about knitting every day.

14. I haven't really met a craft I haven't tried, loved, and bought too many supplies for. You should see my stamping and scrapping supplies.

15. I work for a non-profit that provides programs for the disabled.

16. I wear braces. I have had them on almost 2 years. I have, HOPEFULLY, 6 months left.

17. As part of the orthodontia, I paid people to break my jaw. Upper in 3 places to pull the upper jaw out, forward and down, and the lower in 2 places to bring it forward. It hurt like hell.

18. I had brain surgery to clip 2 aneurysms in 1999, I was 24.

19. I have been married once before. I was married for 9 years. Most of it unhappy. Divorce was the best decision I've ever made.

20. I am still working on my degree and hope to one day have my bachelor's in History and Ancient Religions, with advanced degrees in the same.

21. I'm a liberal. Extremely Liberal.

22. I always vowed that my next husband would cook. Fortunately for me, KM (that stands for Kilted Man) is a wonderful cook. Took classes and everything.

23. My family never called me Em. Only my closest friends and KM call me Em.

24. I hate it when complete strangers call me Em.

25. I regretted changing my name when I married the first time. After the divorce I took my family name back and have vowed to never lose it again. Hyphens are my friend.

26. I am not a picky eater. However, my food cannot touch and I must eat one thing at a time. Meat is always last.

27. I eat my sandwiches in a circle.

28. I really hate peas because my dad always made me eat them.

29. The man I call dad is actually my step-dad. He married my mom when I was 2.

30. My favorite color is red.

31. My first major in college was journalism. I wanted to be a war photojournalist.

32. My sister named her youngest daughter after me, our grandmother and her friend, Emilia Margaret Sue

33. My grandmother died last May and I miss her every single day.

34. My favorite band is Rush

35. I play the flute and piccolo. 20 years this fall.

36. My grandma taught me to embroidery when I was about 6 years old.

37. I use to make my own Barbie clothes because we couldn’t afford tons of Barbie accessories.

38. My favorite childhood movie is “The Wizard of Oz.”

39. My favorite childhood book is “The Diary of Anne Franke.”

40. My all-time favorite Christmas story is “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”

41. I love the animated and the Jim Carry version of Grinch.

42. I hated the Mike Meyers version of “The Cat in the Hat.”

43. I love Hugh Jackman and would watch the man read the phone book.

44. I have seen “The Phantom of the Opera” live on stage.

45. I still enjoyed the movie version.

46. I developed a serious case of lust after seeing Gerard Butler play Phantom. He’s a highlander, and you guessed it, wears a kilt.

47. I use to have a thing for men in uniform, I gave that up after the divorce, ex was a cop.

48. I really did go to band camp.

49. I didn’t take my flute, I was a drum major. Pervert.

50. I love dogs and cats.

51. I have 2 cats named for Harry Potter Characters, Gryffin and Lupin.

52. I gained a dog when I moved in with KM.

53. I also gained a snake and a Gecko.

54. The snake and I have an agreement, she stays in her terrarium, and I don’t freak out.

55. I have 2 sisters, one 14 months older (she’s my step-sister) and one 3 and a half years younger.

56. I always wanted an older brother and when I was little I didn’t understand why that couldn’t happen.

57. I am one of the last kids in my family to have kids. All but 2 or 3 other cousins have kids.

58. I have 22 first cousins.

59. My favorite classes in high school were, yearbook, English, History, Band and Sociology.

60. My favorite college classes have been, Astronomy and Ancient World Religions.

61. I don’t really collect anything knick-knacky. I collect books and craft supplies.

62. I am very organized. My mom swears I didn’t get it from her.

63. My favorite cake is Red Velvet and Carrot.

64. I can’t choose just one favorite food. I have favorites in several ethnic food types.

65. My KM has introduced me to Vietnamese, Thai, Indian and Sushi.

66. I tried Sushi for the first time last week. It’s not my favorite, but I don’t hate it either. I would eat it again if KM really wanted to go there, but I wouldn’t choose it for myself.

67. I love tequila. I can hold my own with hard liquor. But one glass of wine and I’m tipsy.

68. I love to take pictures.

69. I’m perverted enough to chuckle when I typed 69.

70. I don’t like mushrooms. But KM puts them in things in really small bites so I don’t notice.

71. KM tells me everyday how beautiful I am and how much he loves me.

72. I could never be a vegetarian because I grew up in the Midwest where meat is a big part of our world.

73. I have eaten and liked a lot of wild game; dear, squirrel, and rabbit.

74. I have been struggling with my weight for the better part of 10 years. I lost 40 pounds after my surgery so I’m working on losing more.

75. I really hate it when people ask me when I’m going to get pregnant and have kids. It’s none of their business.

76. I really don’t like George W. Bush.

77. I would seriously consider moving to Europe and becoming an ex-patriot if the Supreme Court overturns some very key decisions.

78. All of my extended family would disown me if I became an ex-pat.

79. I considered joining the Marine Corps after high school graduation. But I just really wanted to go to college.

80. I joined an Internet dating site for 3 days. Then I met KM through a different site and I deleted my profile.

81. I am 5’8” and I have always liked being tall.

82. Except for the fact that it’s hard to find jeans to fit my long legs and small waist.

83. I love shoes. The higher the heel, the better.

84. I won’t spend more than $35 for tennis shoes, but I have no problem spending $80 for a great pair of pumps.

85. I prefer white gold to yellow.

86. I love opals.

87. I will probably elope when it is time for KM and I to tie the knot.

88. I converted to Catholicism when I married my first husband.

89. I have never agreed with the Catholic Church on most issues.

90. My favorite TV shows are, ER, West Wing, Law and Order (all of them), Crossing Jordan.

91. I really hate clutter.

92. I can’t ever have just one craft project going at a time. I always have several different projects.

93. After my divorce I was ok with the fact that I might not remarry. I knew that if by the time I was 36 I hadn’t met someone I would just be artificially inseminated because I knew I wanted at least one child.

94. My first daughter will be named Olivia after my grandfather.

95. I love living in New Mexico.

96. I can’t speak Spanish and I don’t want to learn. I know how silly that is considering I live in the Southwest.

97. I’d like to learn Arabic and American Sign Language.

98. I hate roses and rose scented things. I’d rather be given a pretty spring bouquet than roses.

99. I hate gardening. My allergies are too bad and it’s just not fun.

100.I know my 30’s are going to be MUCH better than my 20’s.

This is a test

2006-03-23T13:23:00.000-07:00

to see if it works.