chrismoose & mismatched socks

Ohhhhh, I have been wanting one of these forever....


Well ok, what I really wanted was a deer (I have a special place in my heart for deer), and this is not a deer. It's a moose. A ChrisMoose. Heh. But I still love him so.
I found this guy last year, about a week after the holiday season during the last of the clearance sales. He was originally eighty bucks, and I got him for 75% off. Score!!! I loooove him. His head moves around and all that. Might need to knit him a scarf. ;-) The tree in front of my house needs one of those tree sweaters, too. Must get knitting.

In other knitting news, I made a really great beret out of more of that big fat yarn. I knit it up in gray, and I sewed on a smattering of these lovely black glass vintage buttons. The very first day I wore it, MyFavoriteKid was messing around with it, dropped it, and one of the buttons shattered. Now I'm kinda thinking that the beret could have a bit more slouch to it, so I think I might rip it out and re-do it. Seriously no sweat though. The yarn is so giant, the hat only took like a day to knit up.

I also working on a shawl right now, and I have finished some socks.

mismatched, I know....but I only wear one at a time anyhow ;-)

Karen's Sugar Free Socks
My Ravelry Project Page ~ Ravelry Pattern Link ~ Direct Link to Pattern

These were for the Sock Knitters Anonymous October challenge. This fit in the "Socks For a Cause" category because the designer donated a portion of the pattern sales to the American Diabetes Association.

I had Oct-Nov to complete them, and I went right to the wire,just finishing them today. I dug this yarn out of my stash and there wasn't enough to do a full pair in one color. To be considered for the raffle held by the group, you do have to complete a full pair, but it was okay that they were mismatched. These socks are thicker, more like house socks. Slipper socks. Damn cozy. Can't really go wrong with wool and cashmere ;-)

I had until today to cast on for the November challenge, which I am now obviously very behind on, but I started it up anyhow because there was a Mystery Sock with a techinique I haven't used much, so off I go! I have until the end of December to finish them, and maybe now that NaBloPoMo is over, I might actually get them done!



Will be back soon.
Maybe sooner than you think!

almost there....

While I'm still in the same season, let me show you what the KnittingLadies of the convalescent hospital and I cooked up as a little fall project to decorate the door to the diningroom:


I bought a foam core thingy, and then gave the ladies small balls of wool (Lamb's Pride Wortsed) that I had left over from other projects...and I told them to just knit a square. Or a rectangle. Or a strip. Whatever they wanted, in whatever stitch pattern they wanted, and mistakes no problem (because we'd cover it with other decorations and pixie dust, if need be).

This worked out great, because lemme tell ya'....TheLadies are all over the map in terms of their ability and/or attention spans. We worked on the squares for a couple of sessions together over tea and cookies, and then the final week we took turns tacking the knitting onto the wreath using floral greening pins. Then we added some fake leaves from the craft store, some ribbon, and a little scarecrow guy...and tadaaaaa! We had a holiday decoration ;-)


I, in fact, did very little of the knitting for this. I started a square to fill in the remaining gap, and actually one of the ladies finished it off for me while I was helping with the tacking and whatnot. It truly was a group project for them, and they were very proud of it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just today and tomorrow...and then November (and NaBloPoMo) is over.
ahhhhhhh.....

snaps on saturday (with some haiku for good measure)

out of the window
fall leaves yellow and decay
Buddha sits within

it's becoming a tradition

Seems like every year now, the day after Thanksgiving is reserved for a trip to Theatre of Dreams. My mom and I are the driving force (meaning we'd go even if nobody else wanted to join us), but usually it's a family affair.

Such a magical little shop, in this very removed little town...



...with all these wonderful creations made out of vintage materials.


I purchased a few little lovely mirrored items to hang in the den. When I get them up and the light is good, I will take a photo.

happy thanksgiving :-)

just in case you see me at the zen center with a dumbassed look on my face

I've had a few different teachers pass along meditation instruction over the years, and no matter the school or style, the general gist for what to do when thoughts arise has been pretty much the same across the board:

notice it, then come back

Okay. I can practice that.
Except that for the past few weeks, when I notice the thoughts doing their thing, and I practice "coming back", I am actually hearing the words "come back" SPOKEN inside my head, but in the voice of that creepy lady at the end of the Haunted Mansion Ride at Disneyland!



Sometimes it weirds me out....but mostly I have to try real hard not to giggle.

look on the bright side: it's shiny and gay

Punchy. Pissy. Full o' piss and vinegar. Crabcake.

In the last few days: many bad decisions made, many things are going wrong, are broken, need adjusting, are bearing down on me, etc.

The only great thing to come out of today was to find out (a couple of weeks late albeit, but hey--better late than never, lemme tell ya'!) that Fernando & Greg are back on the air with their morning radio show (someone quick! hand me my party horn!!!! *tatadaaaaa!!!*).

Kids, my tomorrow should definitely be improved. These guys make me laugh so hard it slaps the poopymood right outta me.
I have missed them so.

questions! answered!

In addition to not knowing how to use the publish/save function on Blogger, I've also been absolutely horrid about replying to comments. Today I went back to the beginning of the month and replied to all of them. I know most of you don't go back into the comeents to read those, and why bother...the posts are plenty 'nuff!! But if you had asked me a question in the comments and have been wondering if I am ignoring you or that I'm such a "beeyatch" for not answering? That might just be where you'd find the answer.

Going back through the comments though, I thought I'd stick a few of them up here directly in this a post.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jenna and Jodie asked about persimmons.
There are basically two kinds.


What is on our tree is the "haychia" (pictured, left). Hachiyas are acorn shaped, and when they are ripe and ready to eat, they are so squishy they are almost gelatinous. It should be so squishy that you could poke a hole in it and pretty much slurp out the insides. If you bite into one of these babies when they are hard, you will suffer a most unpleasant experience. It will feel like someone coated your mouth with wallpaper paste or something. When it is truly ripe and the center is almost jelly-like, it is wonderful. It's perfect for baking something like a persimmon bread (like how you'd use ripe smooshed bananas in a banana bread). I also love putting it just as is over ice cream. It would also be great over a pound cake or in a trifle or something like that. I'm sure there are other uses, but that's about as far as I get with it as I'm not much the baker.

The other kind, which is actually my favorite species, is the "fuyu" persimmon (on the right). These are shaped more like a tomato. These you want to eat hard. I've been that told you can eat them when they are squishy, but I've never found that to be an enjoyable experience. MyFavoriteKid and I love these so much that sometimes we just bite right into them like an apple. We usually take a minute to cut them into thin slices though. They would layer nicely in a tart or something I'm sure (again, I'm not the baker), but they are just awesome raw in a salad with some spiced nuts or something (say, as a substitue for salads that have sliced pears).

Hope that helps. I would love to hear from other folks about how they use them!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Reaching back into October's comments, Bev asked about "the incentive dress".

No. I never got into it. I lost about 15 lbs, and then just got stuck. I kept at what I was doing food-wise, but my weight just sort of plateaued. I knew that I needed to increase my physical activity if I wanted to see more change. I'm still trying to figure out what to do about that. It's sort of complicated. Well, at least I make it so. It's mostly all in my head, where that complication happens. But I am working on it. Meanwhile, I should probably reset the goal for fitting into the dress for the spring!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jodi wondered if I really needed a big fat scarf here in California.

YAH!!!! Cold here in Northern California!! Not as cold as where you are from, I am sure. We don't get snow here. But in the mornings when I run MyFk to the bus stop, it's in the low to mid-30's (farenheit) right now and....brrrr!! I'm just loooooving having big fat scarf around my neck to take the chill off!
(oh, and hey Jodi...was that an invitation to visit?!)

Jodi also commented about the greenery here, and how it isn't yellow. Well, some the seasonal trees in the neighborhood (and in my yard) are yellow. And the vineyards are totally golden right now. But the hills, are a beautiful green right now, and so are all the crawling plants. Here with the hills things look mostly green, but it's in the late spring as the hills begin to dry that they go yellow/brown (maybe you should come visit and see it).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


That's all for tonight ;-)

slop

I'm getting quite sloppy with my daily blogging skillz thang, apparently.

I do this thing with my bloglines where when I have a topic I want to post about or a link I'd like to share, I slap it into the body of a post, and then save it so it's in my drafts. That's the only way I've found to remember it (ask me how often I check my drafts though, LOL).

Somewhere earlier in the month, I found out that there was going to be something going on this month like NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month), except it was to inspire the readers to comment. Maybe it was called NaBloCoMo or something, I dunoo (except that I think it was just for a one week, not a whole month). I could swear it was supposed to be near the end of the month, and I was just certain that I had saved the link to it in a drafted blogpost (of course not, though)....and I was going to ask you guys to all participate (so selfish me wouldn't feel like she's blogging into outerspace...I get so lonely).

So I go to my list of posts sitting in drafts this morning, and of course I cannot find the NaBlCoWhatever we are calling it thing I was sure I had saved....but sure as shit, there is my post from Thursday (which was done on Thursday, please pat me on the back) sitting there in drafts, un-posted....just like I did earlier in the month.
Like I said.
Loss of skillz.

Now, to my credit, Thursday was the day I spent in Urgent Care after several hours of vomitting, and by the time I came home to write that post, I had been injected with a few funny little things to make the pain go away (apparently I now have a migraine issue). So it's amazing to me that I even took a photo of the meds and uploaded it and typed something before plopping into bed. Just too bad I didnt hit "publish post" instead of "save now". So lame.


Anyhow. I am off to spinning class this not-so-bright morning. Something about cashmere and angora, if I recall. MyFavoriteKid spent the night at a buddy's house and then they are going to the younger bro's birthday/bowling party....and TheMostImportantGuy is finishing up a 2-day retreat at the Zen Center. I've had a lot of time alone. It's funny. When I'm busy? I wish for time alone to do things with myself that nobody else wants to do. When I have the time alone? I wish I wasn't.
I need to ponder that.

snaps on saturday

~ persimmon~
~ from the garden ~ softball sized ~ one of many ~

I love it when things don't go as planned but still turn out interesting.

Today was the beginning of a 3-day retreat at the zen center I have been starting to go to. I'm no where near ready for that long a period of practice, but there are several breaks during the day where you can come and go. Since I have been going on Friday mornings for an hour and a half, I had discussed with the monk the option of my going to just the first four hours of this retreat.

Well, I woke up today, and I felt extremely "dull" and "flat". And I had some residual tension behind my right eyeball that I was worried might blow up into something bigger. I also was not feeling particularly interested in food, and this is a big deal, because at the zendo, one of the practices at a retreat is to do "eating meditation". Apparently this includes eating every single thing in the bowl whether you like it or not, and I just was not sure I could commit to that (on top of four hours of meditation: bowing, sitting, walking, sitting, walking, sitting).

Instead I ended up going to MyFavoriteKid's "Awards Assembly" for the first trimester. No less easy to sit through, lemme tell ya' (loud kids, plus the band performed), but at least I knew that I could duck out if I needed to. Now, this is one of these events that MyFK says I should not come to because, "it's not really for the parents, mom....," and then I get there and there are 50+ parents there. LOL. Whatever, kid.

So what happens is that they call out all the names of the kids that acheived Honor Roll (I'm not exactly clear on the criteria for that...3.5 gpa maybe?), and then all the kids that Principal's Honor Roll (4.0). Then they do a few awards for each grade level for citizenship type stuff. In between all these, as the kids are shifting around, the band or the choir performs.

MyFK plays clarinet in the band, so that was fun. And he also got honor roll. He's one "A" away from a 4.0 which is completely driving him bananas. Last year, he got all A's and one B for both the first and second trimester, but he did get straight A's for the third trimester---of which they hold no awards ceremony because the grades are completed after school is out....hahahahaha (sorry, it's kinda funy to me in a Murphy's Law sort of way). And now here we are again, first trimester of the new school year, and he still just barely missed it.

Now, I'm not pushing the kid for straight A's, let's be clear about that. I encourage it and support it, but this straight A thing is his goal, not mine. Now the funny bit was that he has developed a bit of a crush on a girl at school (plays flute in the band), and she landed the 4.0 Principal's Honor Roll, and when her name was called for it, his mouth flopped open, and then he sort of clenched his jaw a bit...hahahaha! What was even funnier to ME about that little moment, was I got to see the girl he has been crushing on (I knew here name, so I knew it was her when her name was called and she stood up)....and she looks like ME !! I nearly fell over. I took a picture of her because I honestly could not believe what I was seeing. She has long straight brown hair, and she has the same exact birthmark that I have, in the same exact spot on the cheek.

Now, I don't feel good about posting a stranger-kid's photo all over internet, but this is me as a kid:


...and she looks exactly like that.
Sans dorky headband, of course.
I think her teeth are probably straighter, too. LOL


In other good news, one of MyFK's closest buddies also got Honor Roll. This is super great, because he is one really smart kid, but this kid seemed to spend far more time last year being interested in how cool his clothes looked than his schoolwork, and it resulted in his going from really good grades down to D's and F's. The fact that he pulled himself up to Honor Roll again (and still looks cool, I might add), is really fantastic, so I took both kids out for a celebratory dinner. Which of course, was also a treat for me, 'cuz I didn't need to cook dinner (yay).



It rained here today, but tomorrow is supposed to be sunny.
I'm thinking it's gonna be lovely :-)

whole day a wash

Woke up with a splitting headache. Then started getting lightheaded if I moved too quickly. Then queasy. Then tossin' my cookies for a few hours. Then the doctor's office. And new migraine meds, plus some stuff for vomiting and pain. Ugh.
What a waste of a day.

all i haz is a picture today.

a tangle of vines outside a coffee house this morning

too tired for anything more tonight :-(

six years...

...and still totally bananas about You :-)

very special gift from TheMostImportantGuy
given within the first few months we were together

so now let's try part 2

Alrighty. I'm going to dive into Part 2 of the knitting retreat here, and guess what? It's actually more back story!!...hahahaha (man, do I love to ramble my way through a story). Ok. If you need it, here's a link to Part 1....and now, off we go!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So about a month or so before the retreat, I was clicking around on Ravelry and I somehow stumbled across the fact there was a group of folks called "Sock Knitters Anonymous". Turns out that in the month of September, they were going to be hosting a "Mystery KAL" (KnitALong), and the designer of the sock pattern was none other than Nancy Bush herself, who was one of the teachers on my upcoming retreat. Very cool. So I decided to knit the socks to keep me entertained until the retreat! Here they are:

Fox Faces Socks
~ Ravelry Link ~ Link to My Project Page ~
(the pattern is currently unavailable, but should be up again soon on Nancy Bush's website)

So the deal with this KAL was that everyone was to knit their socks in yellow. The yarn I used was naturally dyed with weld by A Verb for Keeping Warm. The pattern was released in weekly increments in 4 parts. I learned something new in every single segment, which made it totally exciting.

The first week was the cuff of the sock, and it included an Estonian Cast-On and a sideways/lateral braid called a vikkel-braid.

Love that little sideways braid. And it was stretchy!! I might be adding vikkel braids all over the place now.

The second week we did the leg of the sock, and first there was a traditional technique of ribbing just the back upper portion of the sock so it wouldn't slouch. There was also a new-to-me lace pattern that Nancy thought looked like little Fox Faces...


....although as I was knitting, I always saw the logo for the "Transformers".


The third week we did the heel, and I learned how to do a "Dutch Heel", plus a new-to-me heel stitch pattern that worked up like a honeycomb.


The final week we did the foot and the toe, and the toe was also new to me...it was a more rounded "French Toe".


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This now concludes Part 2 of the retreat (without having yet really talked at all about the retreat itself--ha!). Stay tuned.

niiiiiiiice weekend :-)

Recap!

So Friday night My FavoirteKid had a school dance; meanwhile, I went to play Bunko at the clubhouse (the TheMIG joined us mid-round after his evening commute). Once the game was over and I had picked MyFK up from the dance, TheEx showed up to pick up MyFK for their weekend together. This was an unusual arrangement. See, normally when MyFK goes to his dad's for the weekend, the swap happens at 930am or so on the Saturday. TheEx has band practice on Friday nights, and (up until now) it just seemed too late at night to make the switch. So MyFK is with his dad every other week from Satuday mornings until Sunday just after dinner. Not quite a full weekend.

As MyFK gets older though, he's staying up on Friday nights late anyhow! He's allowed to watch a moive or play games or have a friend over. So even though 1030pm seems kind of late to make the switch, we tried it....and I think it worked.

I'm going to push for it to beceome a more reguar thing. The issue is that I realllllly would like to go to a zen center on Saturday mornings, but for some reason zen things usually start quite early. Early, as in, I would need to get up and be on the road by 6am or so. Now, MyFK is getting old enough where I can leave him alone at home for a couple of hours at home, but I am not at all ready to leave him alone in the house while he is still sleeping (I would never forgive myself if something bad happened here while he was alone and sleeping), and I'm also not going to wake him up at 5:30 on a friggin' Saturday.

So this whole Ex taking the kiddo on Friday nights at 1030-ish....well, it's late. True. But it gave me a more full weekend, and more importantly, it gets me a shot twice a month at getting to the zen center. Finally.

Ok, so the rest of the weekend!!

Yah, well, so Saturday....TheMIG and I went to the zen center and then out to breakfast with the group. We took the dog to the park for awhile and I read and knit. TheMIG went clothes shopping with me so I could find a dress to wear to his company holiday party (that was kinda sad--it took me 2 hours and maybe 20+ dresses to find something just so-so), and then we went to see the Michael Jackson movie.

Somewhere during the course of the day, there were several events that sadly let up to my having a relatively good sized post-traumatic stress anxiety attack. I dont want to get into all the details, but if you've been reading along let me just say that at the zendo I had a interview with the monk and ended up needing to retell some of the details of the accident in order to answer his question, then that night when we were driving to the mall I almost hit a deer (deer=big mojo sign in my life story), and then on the way home we passed by the scene of a fatal car accident. It was not at all good for my head.
I'm doing much better today, thankfully.

Ok so today we slept in a bit, TheMIG let me go hook up with a new knitting group up in Napa that has just formed on Sundays. The we went to our very favorite restaurant for lunch....


...which included several courses of decadance, plus dessert....

...mmmmm....for me, fancy hot chocolate "shot" and cardamom donut holes.

We came home and cuddled and took a couple hour nap (ahhhh the luxury).

Then we went out to dinner at this family owned/local institution/hole in the wall-ish sort of mexican joint in Berkeley that we love to go to when we can. We used to eat there LOTS when we first started going out, so it was the perfect warm fuzzy way to end our weekend together.

TheMIG headed home, and I headed out to see one of my dancer colleagues perform in a collaborative show....so I got to see a few other friends there (ie I de-hermitized for a change) and also got witness some wonderful art/movement work.

Really. Nice. Weekend. :-)


Tomorrow: part 2 of the retreat. xo!

snaps on saturday

Taken on a walk after going to the zendo and out to breakfast this morning.
Not cropped or shopped in any way. Just as it was :-)

let's try this: part 1

**written: Fri the 13th; posted?: Sat the 14th. 'Cuz I clicked "save now" instead of "publish post" ...what a putz.**

I have been sitting here staring at the computer screen for quite some time figuring out how I'm going to capture this knitting retreat when I really have no time today (what else is new). Today was busy and I have to head out shortly to drop MyFavoriteKid off at the middle school dance, and then I am supposed to be up at the neighborhood clubhouse in 30 mintues for a round (or three) of Bunko. Then I need to go to bed as early as I can afterwards because I am going to go to the buddhist zendo at the butt-crack-o'dawn.

SO. Here's what I'm thinking. I'm breaking this up in nice manageable parts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part 1.

It's probably worth mentioning how I ended up even knowing about this retreat.

I learned to knit as a little kid, then picked it up for a few years again in my 20's. I didn't dive into knitting headlong though until about 5-ish years ago when I picked up the needles again as physical therapy for my very broken arm.

I was wanting to try out new things and needed some help, and that is when I discoverd that my LYS (local yarn store) offered a few different times each week where knitters could come and sit around a big table and chat and knit and also get help on their projects from the yarn owner. This was perfect for me, because in addition to needing help, I also really needed to get out and be social.

The local yarn store was Skein Lane. The brick and mortar shop is now closed, but the owner, Carolyn still leads the knitting workshops out of her house. She also had been offering an annual retreat for quite some time, which still continues. I had always wanted to attend but could never make it work out. This year was my first year, and part of what inspired me to really get it together to be able to do it was who the line-up was for teachers:

here's Carolyn with this year's instructors: Nancy Bush & Sally Melville

Okay, so that's what got me there, which I understand isn't really a post about the retreat. It's the backstory. But it feels to me like it's a part of what I'll say next, so there you are. Part 2 coming. TheMostImportantGuy are doing a little anniversary celebrating this weekend, so I will either pick it up again Sunday or Monday :-)

another in my cast of characters

Ohhhhhh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!

It's 11:44pm, I just got home and am settling down after dance class...and I don't have a blogpost done for today (and there is no way I am going to get the retreat post done at this hour--I've blown it again). And I reallllly want to go to bed.

Lemme do this much.
Let me introduce you to one of the ladies from the knitting circle at the convalescent hospital that I volunteer at.

I'm going to introduce you to Marie. Marie is always cold and is usually buried under several blankets. She doesn't knit, but she almost always comes to our group and joins us at the table. She loves to look at what people are working on and what I've knit that I might be wearing. I bring magazines that she will flip through, and the activities director often brings us tea and cookies to share. She usually falls asleep sometime mid-cookie.

After a couple months of coming, Marie showed up saying she'd like to try to knit. I was very excited! I whipped out some supplies and cast-on and knit a row for her. I sat behind her/next to her and I helped her through her first few stitches. I left her to work on it for just a minute while I helped someone else at the table untangle a mess, and when I turned back to her to see how she was doing.......



Ok. There's your bedtime story ;-)
And now *I* go to bed!!

This isn't the knitting retreat post, I know, I know.
I haven't quite adjusted to daily posting yet, 11 days into the month. I'll get the hang of it right around day 28, knowing me.


I lieu of that, I'd like to direct you to Bodies In Urban Spaces.
Here's a taste, but do click through on the above link, because the rest are really neato ;-)


Inspires me. Big time.

...as snow

Alrighty. I finally slapped on some lip gloss in the light of day, and took some photos of the big white yarn-y thing.

If you recall, it started off like this:

That's a really big coffee mug, and that makes it really big yarn.

Jodie asked if it was pencil roving, and it's not billed as such, but I'd say it's pretty darned close. It's actually Cascade Magnum, which is big, fat, Dr.Seuss-ish, 100% wool, low twist single.

Here's what I did with it:

"...as snow"

the pattern is Envy by John Brinegar
my ravelry project page ~ ravelry pattern link

Yarn: about 3/4 of a skein of Cascade Magnum in 10-Ecru
Needles: US 17
Start: Nov 7
Finish: Nov 9
(really though, I cast-on very late on the 7th and finished knitting on the 8th, but I didn't sew the buttons on 'til the next day--it really was quickie 1 day project)

I love this thing. It is squishy and warm and wonderful. It keeps my neck and chest toasty, but it's also wide enough that it cover that part of the upper back that my t-shirt neckline never manages to cover.
And it makes me feel fancy ;-)
And it also allowed me to finally make use of a few vintage lucite buttons that have been languishing in my stash waiting for just the perfect project.




I see more stuff like this on my horizon. I have been totally inspired by some fashion magazines, and I'm on a mission. I mean, I'm still knitting some socks and lace at the moment, but what I really want to be wearing right now is big fat chunky knits in neutral colors....so I must knit it! Let's see how many pieces I can crank out before I get sick of the look! ;-)

Shouldn't be too hard to bang out a few, though.
Yarn this big knits up FAST!

where has all the daylight gone...

...when will I ever learn?
(let's see how many of you are old enough to get that one! ha!)

Holy crap the days are shorter! By the time I had makeup on and a free moment to shoot pics of the (now finished) big white yarn-y thing, the daylight was gone! I will get it tomorrow. Promise.

Meanwhile, here is something else I knit recently that I haven't shared here on the blog yet.

Damson
from Whimsical Little Knits-2 by Ysolda Teague
My Ravelry Project Page ~ Ravelry Pattern Link ~ Pattern on Web

Yarn: less than a skein of Malabrigo Sock, Tiziano Red
Needles: US 6

Start: Sept 25th
Finish: Oct 21st
(it was actually a fairly quick knit, but I put it down to work on other projects...and to spin!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay. So tomorrow. Big white project thing. And the day after, I'm going to finally go back and tell y'all about that retreat with Nancy Bush and Sally Melville. Hold me to it.

and then bam! all of the sudden it's bedtime.

It feels like bedtime has sorta snuck up on me here, so I'm going just recap my day and leave it at that.

The morning was a bit of a blur, but somewhere in there I fed everyone, meditated with TheMostImportantGuy, and I think I may have helped MyFavoriteKid stay on track with homework.

I went to the spinning dream team class at A Verb for Keeping Warm.


Today we spun superfine merino wool 4-ways. A woolen 2-ply and 3-ply, and then a worsted 2-ply and 3-ply. Fun times.

I came home and I think there was something about roasting up several rounds of winter vegetables, putting away all the halloween decorations, cooking dinner, doing laundry, more homework encouragement, and then I finished knitting that over-sized white fluffy thing (more on that tomorrow,it's too dark now to take pics).



Most days it feels like I should be doing more.
Then I make a list like that.
Not bad for a Sunday, actually.

snaps on saturday

That mug is big and chunky.

Really. Big. Knitting.

Last night TheMostImportantGuy and I went to see one of my all time favorite bands in concert:

Múm
photo filched from their MySpace page
yo' my knitterly peeps! lookie!
not only do they make great music,
but they have awesome sweaters (the band is from Iceland)
AND they know how to hang with fiber producing animals!

I've seen the band perform before. Last night was no exception--they were totally amazing. Their music strikes such a chord with me that seeing it live just deepens my love for them. There's something about their music that just...well, let me just say that my eyes welled up with happy-tears no less than four times.

As I left the concert, I knew that I was going to want to blog about the show, but then I realized that I was going to have a really tough time trying to put it all into words.

I mean, they look like this:


...but they feel like this:

those last two shots taken by me
San Francisco '09 Independent

...and they sound like this:



When I came out of the show, the best I could come up with as a description was, "And then! And then! And then! There was a teeeeeny plastic piano...and it had a straw you blow through! And then the Ukelele Pixie and the Cello Fairy came and they danced! And it's like there is pixie dust! And then! And then! They all play kazooooos!!"

TheMIG just said, "Twinkly." Which he then amended to, "Plinky".

He's always more succinct.


Okay, well....if you liked the music, here's another one to send you off to sleep with :-)
G'night.

I Can't Feel My Hand Any More, It's Alright, Sleep Still.

Gang, thanks again for the mojo for Donna.
She sends her thanks, too (she's left comments on the last 2 previous posts for y'all).
Great job, too...'cuz apparently things are in motion!
~~~~~~~~~~~~

Over the years I have written about some of my very kooky neighbors and the things they put up their yards (obstructing-view tents or trampolines, anyone?!).

But I have another neighbor that I've never told you about before. Across the street and two houses down.

Yup. That's right.
That's an observatory.
IN my neighbors backyard!

Last night MyFavoriteKid and I were invited over to take a look at Jupiter.




How cool is THAT?!
I got lucky this time. Much better deal. ;-)

wee little friend

Many many many MANY thanks for all your well wishes yesterday/today. Good job, peeps!!

As for me today? I'm beat. Still sick. Still feeling run down.
Instead of whining, I offer you cuteness.

Oh, how I loooooove MyFavoriteKid's orthodontist!
You bring in your Halloween candy...

...and he trades it for "orthobucks".

That was 6 pounds of candy, guys (and that wasn't even all of it)...and MyFK got $30 Orthobucks (he also earns them by being on time for appointment and not breaking appliances and whatnot). MyFK saves up the bucks to purchase things from their little store. Stuff like giftcards for iTunes or video games, for example.

I'm thrilled that MyFK isn't going to be digging in to that much candy of course, but I'm really tickled that he let it go because I was starting to pick over his stash myself! Gah!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ok, onto the next thing:

Ladies and gentleman! Today I recieved a special request from my friend Donna (of the Chaos). She has asked for some good vibes to be sent her way, and not just from me. She asked me to post it to my blog.

Now, quite frankly, I'm not even sure who's out there reading this blog anymore...but if y'all are out there, and if you've been coming here for any amount of time, then you know how I feel about "The Mojo".

I don't care whatcha call it. Sending good vibes, visualizing, setting intentions, prayer, positive thinking, chanting, voodoo...whatever. They are all paths to the same point in my mind. And if any of you out there practice some version of this? Well, this is a request to roll up yer sleeves and move some energy around.

Donna has asked for me to "mojo-ize" (tm) (hahahaha) two things. I'm gonna toss in a third thing she aint even askin' for (directly), but let's address her stated requests first.

The first thing she's working on is improving the school situation for her teenage son. He is one very smart (and very cool) kid. The current school situation is not serving him well at all. The classes and the classroom support he needs no longer exist. There are also safety issues (incidents included) in getting him too and from the school. I'll keep it general, but let's just say it's been scary. Scary enough for Donna to ask for you all to help, and scary enough for me to do it. Donna is being a true MamaBear, and she is "on it" and doing all the legwork. She and her son have done all of the beuracratic hoop jumping required to get him into a better situation, but as of today (they just interviewed at the new school), they are now in the waiting game phase while their request is being decided upon.
Mojo-ize!

The second thing she nees help with is an employment situation. She'd been let go from her job earlier in the year, and is now working with someone very close to her to help them start up a new company. Problem there? The new company is stuck in it's beuracratic bullshit, as well....and if licenses don't get approved and things don't get rubber stamped pretty quickly, the new company is not going to make it. Donna seems more worried about the company and it's founder than her position, but I vote we do mojo for both.
Mojo-ize!

I guess really we could all just keep it sort of global. Just imagine everything getting approved. There. That oughta do it.

Okay, and now the third request. From me. She has not asked for help on this one, but she's not really the type to ask for things for herself. Donna's a knitter who is not knitting!!! Her wrist is hurting. I can't remember what caused it (sorry, Donna)...but she did make a couple of humungous Tunisian Crochet comforters recently (out of acrylic yarn), and well....maybe that didn't help much LOL. Whatever caused it, I dunno...but all fiberistas need their creative outlet, especially in trying times. I vote we visualize Donna knitting, pain free.
Mojo-ize!
(you sick of that yet??)


Anyhow. You can do this little favor in just a snap of your fingers, and you can do it quiet-like, or you can leave a note here, or on her blog if you want...or not. Just vibe it!! And thank you so much for chipping in. Thank you thank you. She's good peeps, and she's a bit overdue in the receiving of goodness department.
Besides, when you send it out, all comes back anyhow, ya' know? ;-)

a lil' weekend overview

This past weekend my friend TheBon of CatharticInk & Hubby rolled into town for a little visit. Friday night TheMostImportantGuy and I met with them in San Francisco to see this dude.


Great fun.
It was a bit epic getting to and from the show, however. Up until this morning, one of the primary bridges in and out of San Francisco had been closed due to damage (6-7 days of commuter hell, basically).

The next morning, we regrouped at my house for a day of lounging and visiting and lots of noshing. I don't know how I managed to not get one single picture of us folk (actually, I do know how....I've been sick since the middle of last week, and I was tired from the show and busy cooking)...but I mean, I even had the camera out for crying out loud! Look! I managed to snap a pic of the bread TheBon+Hubby had brought back for us from their visit to Boudin Bakery.


Somewhere around dusk MyFavoriteKid readied himself to go over to his buddy's and partake in a little trick-o-treatin':


Kinda creeps me out, really. Not sure if it shows up well here, but the red-eye reduction didn't work, so it's even freakier.

Sunday was breakfast before TheBon+Hubby headed back home, and then I was off to Part 2 of a weaving class that I took at A Verb For Keeping Warm.


We had warped the looms to produce a fabric long enough to be a scarf, but because I was so sick during the week, I failed to complete my homework for second class where we learned how to finish it all off. So instead of a scarf, I have a swatch. Or maybe I'll cut it in half and add some bias tape to make a couple of coasters LOL. I enjoyed the weaving, but I don't own a loom. Yet.

After the class, TheMIG and I headed back over to the city again (still the long route, due to the bridge closure) to see an electronic industrial band we really dig called Skinny Puppy (<--I wouldn't click through on that unless you are a bit of a freak, like me). Just look at the creepy dark photo I took instead.

Super great show. Except at one point I ventured out of my wheelchair and onto my crutches to get a closer look, and immediately proceeded to slip in a puddle of spilled cocktails, giving myself a nice black-purple-green kneecap. Yay, me. I sat back in the gimp section with an ice pack staring at this guy's head for the rest of the night.

Kinda Dr.Seuss-ish, don't you think?


K, so...that was my weekend. Friends, fun, food, tissues and cough drops, more fun, traffic inconveniences, fiber, injuries....nice and well rounded, no?

Now, how was your weekend?