Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Goodbye 2014

Phew. I'm so glad 2014 is over. I think I said that about 2013 too. Both 2013 and 2014 have brought me an incredible amount of challenge. So much that I'm a little leery about being excited about 2015 and what it may bring.

There are so many deeply personal things that have happened but I'm still here. I don't know if that means I'm a survivor or just too stupid to figure another way out of where I am. I'm trying to get my house ready to be sold. I've been in the process of downsizing my yarn stash. I've sold a lot of it but I still have more to go. 2015 will bring a simpler life for me. It's easy to get caught up in all the social media that's out there... Facebook, texting, FaceTime, Ravelry, e-mail.... connect - connect - connect. I gave it a lot of thought but I got rid of Ravelry. It was too much of a time suck and it made it difficult for me to get rid of a lot of my yarn. I would look at stuff on Ravelry and look at yarn in a bin and think, "Oh! That yarn is perfect for this project. I guess I have to keep the yarn!" Well, now that there is no Ravelry, there will be no more conflict in viewing what yarn I really want to keep. After I move I may reconsider reconnecting with Ravelry with a new fresh account and a much smaller yarn and fiber stash.

I've decided to utilize my blog a lot more in 2015. It will allow me to keep connected to any of my knitting friends that still read this. If nothing else, it will be a cathartic place for me to be.

Happy 2015 to anyone who is still out there in the Blogosphere! Hoping for a happy and peaceful year for everyone. Including me!

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Despair No More

I finally finished these socks. I had one completely done only to realize I needed to increase the top of the sock to fit better. So I completed the 2nd sock and then ripped the other sick back down to increase it like the other. The fit is perfect. This is knit from a sock blank dyed in the colorist Despair from Fat Cat Knits. Meow.

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Ten on Tuesday but on Thursday

I just realized that it's Thursday and I somehow skipped Tuesday. What happened on Tuesday? I have no clue.

So - here's my Ten on Tuesday but on Thursday.

Ten things I do for my cat and things she does for me and things about her you didn't know.....

1. I put up with her incessant licking. She licks and licks and licks. No amount of scolding or reprimanding helps. Her favorite? Licking my feet and ankles when stepping out of the shower. She waits for me to get out and then follows me and waits while I stand there drying my hair.
2. I talk to her. Sometimes we get quite a conversation going.
3. Of course the important things need to get in here...... feeding her, keeping the litterbox clean, and the fresh water. Let's discuss the fresh water for a minute, shall we? The bowl is a clean one fresh from the dishwasher and filled with the freshest of fresh water and sometimes even an ice cube or two. She proceeds to dip her paw in the water and drink the water fron her paw. After a few rounds of this she discovers a fine film of black fur floating on the surface of the water. Suddenly it's no longer "fresh" and one must dump it and refill it.
4. She ignores me when I get home even though I try to pick her up to give her some kitty love. I sit down in the evening to knit and she sits beside me and seems quite happy. It isn't until I go to bed with the door shut (the other 2 cats can't come into the bedroom) that she suddenly feels the urgent need to be with me. I get out of bed, let her in, get comfy in bed again only to be meowed at to be let back out again. :sigh:
5. On a daily basis I tell her how cute she is, especially when she's belly up. She is rather :ahem: rotund so sometimes when she's on her back she has to wiggle her hind legs to gain a little momentum to help her roll back over on her side. It is pitifully cute.
6. Yearly (about this time of year) just as the SF Giants season is beginning to start, I take the annual portrait of her in her Giants sweater I made her. I realize she doesn't like it but I consider it a small payback for items #1-5 above. So, I suppose this could be qualified and something she does for me. She is a black cat and she goes with every color!
7. When I've had a very bad day, she is there for me. She senses my sadness and she's immediately there for me. When I had surgery several years ago she could smell that I was somehow different and was the most attentive nurse anyone could ever have.
8. I think she's addicted to Cheetos Puffs. Not the crunchy ones - the puffs. She found one about 6 months ago and I caught her licking it while it scooted on the hardwood floors down the hall way, trying to fit the whole thing in her mouth. At the time I didn't know what it was she had so I picked her up. She sheepishly looked at me and with the cheese powder on her face and whiskers and it was impossible to not laugh. She just looked at me and then licked her chops.
9. Meems can open the screen door by herself. She has discovered that if she puts her claws in the screen and pulls, she can open it enough to go outside. When child #3 discovered that a dowel high up on the door would stop that from happening it would frustrate her. ha ha
10. Even though she's a solid black cat, when she is taking a sun bath you can see that her fur is actually a deep dark gorgeous brown black.


Okay - there you go. 10 things you probably didn't care to know.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Tuesday, March 04, 2014

Long Forgotten Favorite Socks

These socks were found way in the back of my drawer. Wool sock season is just about over and I found them just in time to wear them once this year. These are the first socks I've made from hand spun. I got the roving from Fat Cat Knits and can't remember the color way name. It's a blend of wool and bamboo.

They make my feet happy!!

Ten on Tuesday

This week's post is ten thoughts on the Oscars. Some years I watch it and some years I don't. This year? I watched. Why?

1. I watched it because Ellen was the host. I thought she did a great job. She seemed relaxed and involved the audience - she bought them pizza!
2. Watching the Oscars is fun because I want to see what everyone is wearing. I prefer the classy elegant look.
3. I wanted to see if Jennifer Lawrence tripped on her way up to accept her Oscar this year.
4. It was great to see Judy Garland's children and the tribute to the Wizard of Oz - one of my most favorite films ever. I think Pink sang Over The Rainbow beautifully.
5. Jared Leto's acceptance speech was perfect.
6. Lupita Nyong'os acceptance speech was heartfelt and inspiring.
7. Speaking of Lupita, I thought her dress was amazing. The color was perfect for her, classy, and elegant - however, I think I would have changed the low cut front to be a tad more modest.
8. I thought it was funny that when the pizza was delivered the guy thought he was delivering to some writers. He had no clue he would end up on stage. Ellen had him on her show the next day and gave him $1000 - $600 came from donations from Oscars night and were collected in Pharrell's hat. Ellen gave him $400 extra to make it an even grand.
9. I'm glad that no political and/or religious rants happened - at least from what I saw. I wasn't able to see every minute of the Oscars. There are those of us who do have to get up early and go to work. :-)
10. I thought the picture Ellen took and tweeted was cute but it has now become way overrated.



Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Ten on Tuesday

I'm jumping on the bandwagon here and I've signed up for Ten on Tuesday. This week will be: Write ten sentences that begin with "I feel..."

1. I feel I need a vacation.
2. I feel I have way too much yarn.
3. I feel the millions of $ spent on different venues for the Olympics is a waste of money. Not saying that the Olympics is a waste of money. I think there needs to be a more fiscally responsible way to do this.
4. I feel I have the best knitting buddies in the world!
5. I feel that sometimes I don't realize I have so much and I need to be more thankful.
6. I feel I spend way too much time on Facebook.
7. I feel I have the sweetest cat in the world.
8. I feel I need to blog more, more time on Ravelry, and less time on Facebook.
9. I feel I need to knit and spin more.
10. I feel I won't have enough time for #8 and #9.






Monday, February 24, 2014

Stitches West

Here are a few things from Stitches West that made me LOL.

Sochi 2014 Olympics

I started my Winter Olympics sweater and so far have gone about 6 inches into it. That's kind of where it is. I've never been able to knit a whole item during the Winter Olympics. If I had chosen socks - perhaps.