Shanny Knits!

2008-06-18T20:46:00.001-05:00

I've had this ol' knitting blog for two years now, and I have come to an end there for two reasons:

1) I am a lazy lazy knitter. I am appauled at fine gauge knits. I can do socks, oh yes, but an entire tunic on size 4s? There is a category in my knitter's journey entitled "Not in This Lifetime." Don't get me wrong. I appreciate, I value this kind of knitting. A whole garment knit on teeny weeny 0s drapes so beautifully and feels so wonderful, but me? I am a lazy, distracted woman, and I can go so far as to knit socks on any size, but a tunic, no. I think I might invest in a bunch of bulky, washable yarn and knit interesting dish cloths for everyone. (OK, maybe not this far, but...) So an entire blog about knitting doesn't work for me. I don't knit enough variety or detail. And sometimes, like lately, I don't knit enough.

2)I am starting over. My life has just been blessed to overflowing lately, and I am running with it -- starting everything anew. I have a new city, a new job, a new cell phone number; why not have a new blog? A fresh place to record these new adventures in my life!

So please: come one, come all, to my new life. It's well, ahem, "shantastic"!

And I'll continue to post all purely knitting related posts here, just for fun... :-)

Why I Love Poetry

2008-04-09T19:46:00.002-05:00

Because, even when you are horrible and have forgotten the important outfit and had to go back home and you forgot to shower today and are sure that, indeed, you are going to be late to your mother's house and wake the puppies and cause far too much commotion, you can turn on National Public Radio and hear this: "Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,/ the world offers itself to your imagination" and know that you are okay.

(That's from "Wild Geese" by Mary Oliver, and maybe this post should really be called "Why I Love National Public Radio")

My Poor Little Carpal Tunnels

2008-03-20T18:25:00.003-05:00

A few months ago, after my big post about knitting for myself, I was planning to announce my big sweater project, but it's on hold for now. As is pretty much every knitting project.

These are hard times. I've got a steady job, a great little home, Internet access, a working computer, a fabulous dog who loves me... but I cannot knit.

Well I can knit. But not for very long. Typing, too, is a problem. You see, I've got carpal tunnel syndrome. Not too bad, as yet, and I can knit for a bit, especially on something small and non-heavy, like socks. But, only for a little while.

After sitting on the couch and crying one evening, I have embraced a few solutions:

1. I have BRACES. My friend says they look a bit awkward, and they are hard to knit with, but if I wear them after knitting they do help.

2. I got a split keyboard at work. And an automatic hole punch. Laugh away, but medical records requires a lot of paper-punching.

3. Also, I've begun to quilt again. It's much easier on my wrists to quilt. I can wear one brace on my left wrist, which is the worst one. I'm working on a baby blanket. I'm considering moving my mother's machine back to my home and creating some gigantic project to hang behind the tv.

So, this is why I have been absent so much from the blog. The blog may have to expand and not be about knitting for a while. Please bear with me...

Four Things

2008-01-10T21:19:00.000-06:00

1. My resolution this year is to knit myself something. I am knitting a couple of rows every couple of days on my Daisy Stitch Handwarmers from Purl Bee. I have chosen a yarn that I got from my sister and brother-in-law for Christmas in purple and pink and green and coordinating yarns: lime green, pink, and white. It disturbs me that these colors are the same as my matching Monday scrubs (the top is hot pink, the pants lime green) because I hate them. I match everyone, and it's just a bit too bright. But, provided I finish knitting an object this year, I will have coordinating gloves. I refuse to give them away. I am knitting something for ME.

2. I am a vegetarian again, like I was from the time I was eleven until I was twenty-one. I took a couple of years off, to see if I was a vegetarian for the right reasons. I have determined I am not a vegetarian for the right reasons, but I feel better not eating meat, and it's a crucial part of my identity. It's interesting that I forgot the "other people" factor of being a vegetarian, as in the way that "other people" are constantly asking "why." Maybe this isn't true everywhere, but there are many cattle farmers here, and many people that are relatives of cattle farmers, including myself. I am not a vegetarian to be a personal affront to anyone. At all. I am a vegetarian because my diet is an inseparable part of who I am and I am not a meat-eater. There. But, I am telling my co-workers this: "Oh, there are lots of boring reasons, you know. I want to be healthier." This, I think, will mean to them that it is a diet, and while vegetarianism is NOT an acceptable thing amoung these women, dieting is. (Case in point: Coworker upon finding out my diet: "Oh, Shannah, I have a deer in the back of my truck I'm going to butcher." Me: "Ah. Well, you know I grew up on a goat farm." Nothing disgusts me. It's not their death that bothers me, or the fact that you're eating them, it's the way... well, I didn't go into it with her and I'm not going to here.)

3. I miss my friends. Everyone is either living somewhere far away and more exciting, working evenings, having babies, or redoing their bathroom. This leaves me with Roxie. She is a good dog, but not a brilliant conversationalist. Perhaps I should invest in cable.

4. I am taking medical terminology on-line. This has nothing to do with creative writing or special ed, but does give me a brighter future in medical records.

In Search of the Lentil

2008-01-02T23:05:00.000-06:00

I thought the lentil was an ordinary bean, a yummy main dish, a vegetarian staple.

But here, in God's armpit (this is a loving term for west Texas) they no longer sell the little beans, apparently.

I was at the specialty grocery store this evening, stocking up on vegetarian dishes, and there were several other people there at 9:30: a gay couple, an Indian man, a local tattoo artist and his girlfriend, and a handful of female college students. Not a busy evening.

I went down every isle. This is my second grocery store. I was disappointed by two things: 1) no lentils (how do you not have a little bag of beans?!) 2) no 6-pack of eggs (I will not eat 12 before they expire).

(This post is dying slowly, so I stop here... this is what has happened to me now, that my friends have all officially graduated and moved away, gotten married, or had babies: I buy expensive food. I sit at home and write the strangest poetry yet. I consider Iowa caucuses and Annie Lammott's books. I engage others at work only because they ask about my dog. I worry about the state of West Texas because of its lack of lentils until it is way past my bedtime and write about it on my knitting blog. But there are vegetarian knitters out there, right? There are other lentil eaters? What, oh what, am I going to do with all my stewed tomatoes without any lentils?)

Aaaaaaaaaaargh!

2007-12-23T17:57:00.000-06:00

(I've looked and looked, but CANNOT find the author for this)

Knitter's Night Before Christmas

'Twas the night before Christmas and all around me
There was unfinished knitting not under the tree,
The stockings weren't hung by the chimney with care
'Cause the heels and the toes had not a stitch there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
But I had not finished the caps for their heads.
Dad was asleep---he was no help at all.
And the sweater for him was 6" too small.
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I put down my needles to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash.
Tripped over my yarn and fell down in my stash.
The tangle of yarn that lay deep as the snow
Reminded me how far I still had to go.

When out on the lawn I heard such a noise,
I was sure it would wake up both Dad and the boys.
And although I was tired--my brain a bit thick,
I knew in a moment that it must be St Nick.

Yet what I heard left me very perplex-ed
For nothing I heard was what I expect-ed.
"Move Rowan! Move Patons! Move Koigu and Clover!
Move Shelridge! Move Starmore! Move Spinrite!
Move over!

Lopi, don't circle around, just stand there in line.
Pay attention you sheep and you'll work out just fine!
I know this is hard as it's just your first year
But I'd hate to go back to 8 tiny reindeer."

I peered over the sill. What I saw was amazing:
Eight wooly sheep on my lawn all a-grazing!
And then in a twinkle, I heard at the door
Santa's big boots stomping on the porch floor.

I rose from my knees and got back on my feet.
As I turned around, St Nick I did meet.
He was dressed all in wool from his heat to his toe
And his clothes were hand knit from above to below.

A bright Fair Isle sweater he wore on his back.
And his toys were all stuffed in an Aran knit sack.
His hat was a wonder of bobbles and lace
A beautiful frame for his rosey red face.

The scarf on his neck could have stretched for a mile,
And the socks peeking over his boots were Argyle.
On the back of his mitts was an intricate cable.
And suddenly on one I spotted a small label:

"S.C." in duplicate on the cuff.
So I asked, "Hey, Nick, did YOU knit all this stuff?"
He proudly replied, "Ho, ho, ho, yes I did.
I learned how to knit when I was just a kid."

He was chubby and plump, a well dressed old man,
And I laughed to myself, for I'd thought up a plan.
I flashed him a grin and jumped up in the air,
And the next thing he knew, he was tied to a chair.

He spoke not a word, but looked down in his lap
Where I had laid my needles and yarn for a cap.
He began then to knit, first one cap then 2--
For the first time I thought I might really get through.

He put heels in the stockings and toes in some socks,
While I sat back drinking a scotch on the rocks.
Quickly like magic his needles they flew,
Good Grief! He was finished by two!

He sprang for his sleigh when I let him go free,
And over his shoulder he looked back at me.
I heard him explain as he sailed past the moon,
"Next year, start your knitting sometime around JUNE!"

I've been tagged!

2007-12-04T17:07:00.001-06:00

(The rules are that you can't insult yourself or be obvious, but you must go through the alphabet and put a creative word that describes you for each letter.)

A-Abby tagged me!
B-Babysat the best baby Sunday night!
C-Chocoholic
D-Dog lover
E-Exercising (going on two days!)
F-"Fabulous" (a Favorite word)
G-Goofy
H-Howdy! (My Texas greeting)
I-Insomniac
J-Junk (I own a lot)
K-Knitter
L-Lens wearer (bad eyesight!)
M-Medical Records (what I do all day)
N-National Public Radio (what I listen to all day)
O-Old glasses (my frames are from the 70s)
P-Peace (what I want for Christmas)
Q-Questioning (always good)
R-Ravelry (I'm Shantastic)
S-Sarah (who I'm tagging)
T-Totally obsessed with dogs and/or knitting.
U-Underdressed (my office is cold)
V-Vacant (my brain)
W-Writing poetry and fiction
X-X-actly right all the time
Y-Yearning for good books
Z-Zounds! It's done!

Mosaic Knitting

2007-11-29T20:48:00.000-06:00

Last night at knitting my friend J brought some of the Mosaic knitting she had done a while back--it was really cool, and she showed me how and let me borrow some of her Barbara Walker books.

This was in the front of Charted Knitting Designs:

To all dispersed sorts of ARTS and TRADES,
I writ the needles prayse (that never fades)
So long as children shall be got or borne,
So long as garments shall be made or worne,
So long as Hemp or Flax or Sheep shall bear
Their linnen woollen fleeces yeare by yeare:
So long as Silk-wormes, with exhausted spoile,
Of their own Entrailes for mans gaine shall toyle:
Yea till the world be quite dissolv'd and past;
So long at least, the Needles use shall last.
--John Taylor, The Praise of the Needle, London, 1640

It appeals to my English-majorness and my craftiness. Very cool.

Finished Object

2007-11-21T23:21:00.000-06:00

Stats:
We Call Them Pirates hat by Hello Yarn, in Diakeito Diatasmanianmerino colors 729 and 727 (100% wool, 40g/130 yds) from the local ys. It took one ball of each color, with plenty left over.

Mods:
I didn't swatch first (ahem), which made the hat a little tight around the brim and (more than) a little short, so I added another row of skulls before decreasing, and instead of lining the hat I made a 1" 2x2 ribbing (my friend wanted to be able to pull the hat down around his ears). This helped with the tightness, too.

I like the finished product, especially since it's my very first two-color project. I did take pictures of this one before I gave it away.

Obligatory Pictures:

Relief!

2007-11-17T22:08:00.000-06:00

After that last post I went back to knitting, and I began to panic. Each stitch made me panic more and I wondered if I was doing exactly what the Yarn Harlot is always warning us about--knitting even in the face of a horrible horrible ending full of frogging and cursing and tears...

So I put the hat on some spare yarn and tried it on:

At least it goes around the big ol' noggin! I'm not sure how that compares to my friend's head, but the panic has subsided. It might just work.

Whew! Thank you knitting gods!

Saturday Happenings

2007-11-17T20:35:00.000-06:00

All day knitting today on this:

It's the We Call Them Pirates hat in Diakeito Diatasmanianmerino on 3s. I have a confession about this hat that makes me very very nervous. I didn't swatch. Not at all. I just cast on and knit. It is a bit tight for the gauge, I think, and I know that this means danger ahead, but I am knitting on irregardless. I am being stupid. I have this hope that I can stretch it out a bit. So... I'm going to knit another row of skulls and then measure. Just for, um, practice. I'll let you know how this turns out. Pray to the knitting gods for me, and don't make me think about the truth for a while.

And, another warning. Don't spend all day chasing squirrels, or this could happen to you, too:

The Capture of Happiness

2007-11-15T22:04:00.000-06:00

Roxie at my feet (with bone).

Wool in my lap.

Heater on my wall.

Ahhh.

Flu Shot

2007-11-13T11:35:00.000-06:00

I am at lunch. I ache. I'm cold. I want to go to bed. Stupid stupid only-3-absences-until-you-get-warned-and-7-you-get-fired policy. :-(

Why do I live so far away from my mother? Why did she require I get the flu shot this year, and then not be here while I'm sick? (Please don't mention that I am too old to complain about this.)

K at work brought her crocheted things to work today. Everyone oohed and ahhed. I am considering bring some knitting, but I have a serious lack of finished objects... Post Christmas I am making myself something. I've pretty much given away everything I've ever made. This makes the showing off hard.

I am two months behind on my knitting schedule (or more). It does make my wrists hurt to knit, and I have been packing and moving and spending time thinking, so I am very behind. It is a bit overwhelming, and it is hard to know where to start. But, (positive thinking!) I am starting! Don't worry, dear friends, you will get your presents!

(I almost signed this posting, like a letter. That shows you that I am really not quite up to snuff.)

Report

2007-11-09T16:28:00.001-06:00

Several things to report today, so I resort to the numbered list and do not use connecting language (bad, bad former English major).

1) WORK LIFE: Hooray I am hired! I "officially" start Monday in the position that I have been filling for five months as a temp. FIVE MONTHS AS A TEMP. I am far too exhilerated by my official status. The job is ho-hum, but now I earn seventy-five cents more per hour for my ho-hum job and get health insurance (it has crossed my mind that health insurance might cost at least seventy-five cents per hour and thus cancel out my raise, but I am setting this aside as depressing thinking and imagining those cents adding up into extra skeins of expensive yarn instead). I got my nametag today, my new position under my name announced: "clerical" in all caps.

2) HOME LIFE: The kitchen is put up and clean. My living room is livable; the yarn box is open by the coffee table and there are two pictures hung. The bedroom... well there's a functioning bed in there behind the boxes. It's easy to find, too, since Roxie lounges on it most of the time. Roxie seems happy. In addition to the bed, she has many many squirrels that keep her busy and fresh dirt to dig in.

3) DATE LIFE: I'm going to bed early tonight. (Ha ha, got you excited there...)

4) KNIT LIFE: I went to knitting on Wednesday, having been gone for many weeks. I don't know why I missed so many. I was so happy to see everyone, to feel their warm prayer shawls, to help bless... it was WONDERFUL! I also discovered that Jenny had bought a mosaic knitting book she'll let me look at if I "come regularly" (incentive indeed!) and that there was a basket of donated needles with multiple sets of dpns that I may borrow. I will be back for mosaic and needles. (Oh, and to see everyone, too... that part was the best.)

And to close, I went to my employee health meeting on Wednesday and they did these little stretching tests. I learned that I have the beginnings of carpal tunnel syndrome and may have to start wearing braces when I knit and type. Ugh. I am too young for this. Braces aren't cool. But braces are better than pain I suppose. Bleh. I blame work, not knitting.

A Longing Post

2007-11-02T22:20:00.000-05:00

I miss school. Rather desperately.

I was putting away my books tonight, and I realized that no one but a truly snobby academically-inclined person would have my library. I want to be writing about old and middle english again.

I don't want to be entering data every day.

I miss my books.

I hate my job.

Moved.

2007-10-27T22:59:00.000-05:00

Whew! All night and all day and everything fits snugly in my little backhouse, including the dog. She's zonked out on the couch at my feet (the visit from her aunt-dog while my family helped me move proved a bit exhausting for her; it's hard to entertain that long AND chase squirrels AND make sure the people in the ally know there's a dog guarding the place).

Now, I'm unpacking and have come across the yarn box. Very tempted to start a new project. Someone tell me no. Someone tell me just to content myself with the house. That's got to be project enough.

Passing OVER The Knit

2007-10-23T12:07:00.000-05:00

I have been a bit bad lately on many many levels:

1) I GOT SOCKS!!! Fabulous, fabulous socks. A long long time ago.
My first Sockapalooza pal couldn't make it, so I got a "sock savior"! She was fabulous. Just look:

All kinds of goodies! And all purple! I got some StitchKeepers (I've never seen these before, and I am very excited), a book for keeping my sock "Knit Notes" in, Soak for handwashing, a keychain sock blocker sock (How very cool!!! Now, something to do with all of that scrap sock yarn I've been saving--keychain socks!), fancy yummy chocolate, and a 110 gram skein of absolutely purple "florentine" colinette sock yarn (never used this before either)! All of this, for me! I was on the phone with a non-yarn friend when the package came, and I think I may have made him deaf with my exclamations.

MY socks are the Baudelair pattern from knitty, a pattern I've drooled over lots but never cast on for. And they are made out of KOIGU! They are really wonderful, and I feel so special every time I put them on. I can't thank Jenny enough! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

2) I haven't finished anything except, well, for ONE sock. It will have a mate soon! I'll post pictures when they are both done.

3) I forgot my camera when I went to Lubbock's "Knit Out" this Saturday, but I won a beautiful handknit sweater and got some yummy Japanese boucle that will become a scarf for someone this Christmas. The knit out was lots of fun, and I had a great time hangin' out with some of the people from Shaggy Sheep. However, the discussion turned toward their in-stock yarn and I am afraid I am in grave danger of spending more money. I am SO excited that Lubbock's fiber community is growing.

4) My life is in disarray. I am moving. The yarn isn't packed. I think I'm in denial.

Well, enough confessions for now. More soon.

I will post, I will post, I will post!

Pass the Knit Along!

2007-10-02T21:02:00.000-05:00

This weekend I got to spend time teaching my mom to knit.

How cool, to pass this gift on. How cool, to give it to my mom. She's knitting her first prayer shawl, and I hope she finds the peace that I do in knitting for someone else.

Way to knit, Mom!

Happy Birthday, My Little M&M

2007-09-25T19:59:00.001-05:00

I got to experience the beginning of a new life today. Little M&M was born by cesarian to one of my best friends around noon, weighing in at over 8 pounds and 21 inches (I'm off, I know... he was bigger than both of those... forgive me!).

We're so excited to see him. We've been waiting so long.

These are the moments that life is about, the moments that keep us alive. The utter joy on my friends' faces as they held their baby was almost too much to bear. I love them both, and the love that they have for their child is amazing. How do we do this? How do we hold such a capacity to love?

I think about my parents, about being a parent. There is such risk involved. And the world is really such a crappy little place. Even as M&M was born today, I hear on the radio about the government in Burma preparing to "deal with" the protests of the peaceful buddhist monks. The unbalanced state of healthcare in this country (lucky for Milo he wasn't born too poor). The inmates claiming that lethal injection is "cruel and unusual." These things, too, occupy my thoughts, alongside M&M's appearance.

And yet, I can't bring myself to agree with friends that have said it's irresponsible to bring a child into this world. I can't quite believe that we are that far gone.

I stood outside this evening and I thought about us humans. I thought about little M&M and the power in the choice his parents made to bring him into this world. I thought about the beautiful weather today. I considered this birth of a million opportunities.

It doesn't really matter, I think, the way things turn out. It's not worth worrying about because we do have these things: we have birth, we have beauty, we have absolute truths, and we have love. I believe that life is worth living anyway, despite the shitty bits. It's hard to defend this position. It's hard to say oh well, and live.

But there is so much beauty to be had. There is so much joy to share. I saw it all in the faces of my friends as they held their new child, and I was reminded again to get up, to go on, to embrace the future.

Thanks, little M&M. We all owe you so much already, after your very few hours here with us.

Where I've Been (A Vacation of Sorts)

2007-09-21T12:06:00.000-05:00

Last weekend I went to the Monolith Festival in Red Rocks, Colorado. I saw tons and tons of great bands, and had a fabulous time with my friend R and her boyfriend.

I did knit, too. (What is vacation without a knitting bag?) I took a sock:

I think my friends thought it was a bit odd to be sitting in the parking lot before a festival knitting. But there were a lot of odd people there anyway. (After all, there was a Flaming Lips concert.)

Inspired by the Yarn Harlot, the sock and I went camping and I took a sock picture:

And just to share with the world the reason I don't usually photograph myself camping:

Fun is not always beautiful.

Hmmm....

2007-09-11T21:02:00.000-05:00

What do you think?

I have been wanting a new tattoo... :-)

Skull

2007-09-09T22:22:00.000-05:00

I finished my first crocheted object this morning (up to this point, it's just been embellishments)!

I'm sorry it's so blurry, but it was very very hard to photograph. It's very small, maybe a couple of inches from cap to jawbone... Yes, it's a skull. Why not? I'm calling him Yorick (cliche, yes, but fun nevertheless).

If you want to make one, go here, where the creator posted her pattern. Hers looks way better than mine. And the photo is not blurry. Here is one spinning in 3D. I really like the giant skull crocheted out of nautical rope on the right, too.

(And coming soon, very soon.... socks!)

As I lay here...

2007-09-07T20:42:00.000-05:00

I have just finished with a long hot bath. I have worked a lot of hours this week. I will work a lot of hours next week.

I am knitting a familiar sock pattern in bright colors. I am wearing handknit socks and striped pajama pants. I am reading a book about a class full of special needs children.

I am eating leftovers.

I am alone, except for the dog and cats.

I am happy.

Why do I try so hard when this is all it takes?

Looky What I Got!

2007-09-06T22:15:00.000-05:00

I had a terrible weekend, despite the fact that I had one of my best friends visiting and everyone came back into town. I had a migraine Friday and missed work, thereby getting even more behind (who knew it was possible?), then I was just Ms. Bad Mood Saturday and Sunday. I picked fights, I cried, I slept too much.

THEN, Sunday night I remembered that it was Labor Day (!) and I didn't have to go to work on Monday. This perked me up a bit. I knit. I read. I pet the dog, despite her decision to eat another pillow. Saturday night four of us went to the drive-in and sat in the back of my car while eating terrible fried food.

I knew life was okay again because I heard Bob Dylan sing "Lay, Lady, Lay" on my way home. This, to me, is a sign of good things.

I had a wonderful time with my dearest F all weekend, and was sad to see her leave Monday afternoon.

And THEN, and THEN... I walked in Monday evening and there was a package for me! I hadn't looked in the mailbox all weekend, but there was a box addressed to me. And inside?

Yay! Hogwarts socks! Thanks so much, Gina! I love my new socks. They fit perfectly:

They are very comfy. I wore them to work on Wednesday with my purple scrubs and I was very happy. I even showed them off to my co-workers, who were also very impressed. I love the mismatched heels and toes! I feel very honored to have received such a fantastic package, which was so well put together. In addition to socks to showcase my "house pride," it had fun Hogwarts candy "from the trolly," stitch markers "designed by goblins" (I can't wait to use them on my first lace project...), and TWO sets of Clover Takumi Bamboo premium double-pointed-needles "bewitched with a special kitchener charm"! Yay!!! I'm so excited... now I can cast on for more socks (oh dear, say my family and friends).

I really am so thankful to Gina for the great pick-up she gave me with this wonderful package. I am smiling now as I look at my socks...clean again. My first sock swap... what a great experience!

Sobering Thought

2007-08-23T12:17:00.000-05:00

I am only twenty-three, but I have come to the realization today that I will never, ever, be able to knit everything that I want too.

This makes me very very very sad.

Pillow Casualty

2007-08-16T11:38:00.000-05:00

Over a year since Roxie last ate a pillow!!! A whole YEAR... I've been bragging on her.

But yeterday I was neglectful. Yesterday she was alone for a long long long time. And she ate one of the designer pillows off of my bed. Not the $2 pillow I sleep on. The designer one. The PURPLE one. Sigh.

But the creative part of me is considering what I could make to fill with the stuffing...

Hogwarts Socks Received

2007-08-15T17:49:00.000-05:00

I'm SO glad that my pal Tammy finally got her socks!!!

I was very tardy on these, but I did send them, and you can see the finished project on Tammy's blog.

I'm going to Prayer Shawl Ministry tonight! Hooray for knit-night!

Family Visit

2007-08-09T01:05:00.000-05:00

I had a visit from the family last weekend. There are a few updates:

My brother's hair is as long as mine.

We get along the same as ever.

And my dad sent pics of the new puppies my sister's dog, Angel had (ten purebred beaglies!)

Christmas: Four Months, Seventeen Days

2007-08-07T17:54:00.000-05:00

It's been so long since I bought yarn aimlessly. So long. I was in the yarn store just the other day, but I was on a mission to purchase yarn for my Hogwarts Sock Swap pal (I was embarrassingly late on the mailing-out end, but she's only on book six and says she'll wear the socks to read the last one... nice pal!) and only searched through the diakeito.

But my heart aches for something new for the stash. Something...special... Something laceweight? To make my first complicated lace shawl? To give my mother for Christmas? Hm....

I wonder how many years it will be before my family and friends start to open my gifts at Christmas and are no longer excited at the prospect of knitting. Well, until then, I realize that four months ahead of Christmas means that I have to start planning. Not everyone will get a sweater this year. So I've made a list. I had to share this progress, because lists are always progress. Right?

And lists mean planning, and planning means new projects and new projects mean... NEW YARN!!! Yay! More reasons to touch wooly things and dream a bit before really settling down to a project.

(No I'm not posting the list here!!! Christmas is a surprise!)

Sheep Shoes!

2007-08-06T19:28:00.000-05:00

Golly-gee I've been a BAD blogger!!!

Please forgive the long absence of posts oh web-rings and sock-swappers and those non-knitting friends who stop by occaisionally... you see I have been hard at work adjusting to the regular ol' 8-5 (or 7-4, as it is in my case) again and the knitting blog just... slipped by...

But not the knitting! Oh no, please forgive the last post. I have finished a couple of pairs of socks. I have made another stripe or two on Milo's baby blanket. And other creative pursuits have also born fruit. There's another dog painting on the cusp of being finished. I made my first stitch markers!

And, of course, there are NO pictures because the camera is being bitchy again. I think there must be some sort of short in it or something because a pair of new batteries only lasts the camera about a day before it decides that the world is just too big to take pictures of. I embarked on a picture-taking journey this evening, with a series of things to photograph, but I only got a few shots of one thing before the camera gave up.

And that one thing? Actually that one PAIR of things? Why, only the new shoes I bought yesterday... the new sheep shoes!

I was casually walking through the shoe store yesterday and heard an announcement about the huge sale they were having on Chuck Taylor's. Thinking about the two pairs of truly stinky sneakers I have at home, I went to look at this sale. And there they were--pink sheep! What was a (not-so) fashionable knitter to do? Why buy them, of course, at great discount!

And I am very proud of my little sheepies. Makes me feel like... buying more wool... (I guess this could potentially be a problem...)

Lots of THINKING, Not Much Knitting

2007-06-28T22:21:00.000-05:00

(I am REALLY bad at titles for posts. I am really bad, actually, at titles for anything... This is an odd thing for a story writer to be bad at, huh?)

I've been thinking and thinking about the problem of not finishing projects and the prospect of either locking down and knitting it all in the manner of a work deadline (Not fun at all, and knitting is supposed to be fun, right? Tell me it is supposed to be fun...didn't someone say it would be fun?) OR setting the projects aside indefinitely and just telling the recipients too bad, I just don't feel like knitting on that right now (this seems much, much worse, and potentially hurtful to some non-knitting audience members, who don't understand the organic nature of making knitting fun). And the more I thought about this problem, the more I felt like the Universe is really like the end of Dogma when God is asked the meaning of life and she smiles, pushes the nose of the main character and says, "Boop!"

So maybe I was being a teeeeeeeensy bit melodramatic there, but it bothers me sometimes, my non-completing nature, and it embarrasses me to post that I've spent all day on a bracelet for me when, say, there's a red shrug that's been on the needles for gosh, how long has it been my friend? Almost a year? A simple red SHRUG? That the recipient PURCHASED the yarn for? That is embarrassing. WAY embarrassing, and it makes me feel a bit like a schmuck. And that makes me feel bad for blogging, for sleeping, for eating, for going to work, for doing anything but knitting on the damn shrug. And this is not a good mood for knitting... not a good mood for anything at all...

BUT THEN, just now, on a fellow knitter's blog, I saw something. Go back, click on it, now look at the left side... Do you see it, the section marked "On Hold For Now"? Why, that is non-threatening! Look, there's even a little thing that shows how far she's gotten on each of them. Why, she is close to finishing some of them, LIKE ME! But does she stress? Oh no. Does she worry about the non-knitting public criticizing her for her lack of productivity? No. Does she feel like God is touching her nose and saying "Boop!"? Why, NO. (Actually I don't know this for sure, but it makes me feel better to think that way, so, that's how I'll think until I'm told otherwise. And, according to her blog she is working on stash projects, which makes my point a bit moot, but let's not get hung up on details in my moment of enlightenment.) What she does is file the little (big) projects away, not under "In Progress" which would give the false impression that they are under production, but under "On Hold For Now" where she is still thinking about them, they are still there, but they are being filed for a little while while they move from being not-really-in-the-mood-for-this to now-I'm-fun-again. I like it.

So, after that rant, I am adding a new little section (it's on the right over there now, go ahead and look), and proudly announcing that I have started a NEW PROJECT!!! I am making my first two-color-knitting thingies. They are Knitty's Manly Mitts and they are for the manly man whose black cable socks I still haven't finished even though his birthday was many many weeks ago (so maybe they count as knitting from the stash? Not sure... but I think it makes them more fun). SO I am embarking on this journey guilt-free (maybe) and fun-filled (double maybe).

And if you have a project that I am, ahem, supposed to be finishing that isn't on the "On Hold For Now" list and you are concerned, just let me know. I'll add it to the list and we'll just go along happy together until I decide to put away a few files. Boop!

Wristlets, Shrugs, Blankets, and... beautiful collarbones?

2007-06-24T15:17:00.000-05:00

I have been at work these last two weeks, but (here's the usual gripe) the camera isn't working again. It eats through batteries like I knit through sock yarn, and I can't photograph. It makes me very sad to post progress without pictures, but I miss writing, so I will.

I made Knitty's Perdita in the Bluebell variation yesterday, though. I used what I had, tan cotton crochet thread, instead of embroidery floss and made crocheted buttons to close it. I'm proud of myself - my first beaded project (and first successful crochet)! Plus, now I can wear it with my scrubs and not just be blase every day... I finally made myself something, too (also a first). I do plan to make several more in all three variations, though, and distribute them amongst friends. :-)

And I FINALLY got the package in the mail and received by my friend that I mentioned over a month ago. Here's what was inside, as modeled by its recipient (her camera WORKS):
(from the front)

(and from the side/back)

The back is folded under a bit, but you get the idea. It is "Shrug It Off," a pattern written by Carlyn at the LYS. Pretty easy knitting, but it wasn't mindless - I kept having to rip back because my yarn-overs didn't line up. I felt so silly. It is beautiful, though, even if a bit big on my friend. (Doesn't she have beautiful collar bones? I've never noticed, but with her head cropped off that way, the collarbones are fabulous! How do you complement someone on their collar bones?) Anyhow, I'm glad she liked it. She's away for the summer and I miss her dearly.

Perhaps soon I will be able to post more pictures of the bracelets and everything. I've been inspired by the little bit of crocheting that I've done, and I remember the joy I used to get (and still do) when we open up my mother's Christmas ornament box and find the delicately crocheted snowflake ornaments that someone made for her. They are so beautiful, and I was always so taken aback by the fact that someone made them. No one in my family crocheted or knitted (I'm changing this--hang in there Mom, you'll get it!). I want to make those ornaments, too, and send them to friends every year in Christmas cards. I've been searching for a pattern on-line and I found THIS. WOW!!! Every snowflake you could EVER want to create! So I'm off to explore the patterns, see if I can master crochet, and put in a few more rows on the baby blanket for one of my best friend's baby-boy-to-be-born, Milo. (The blanket is growing much slower than he is; keep praying with me that it'll be done by September!)

Knitty is Up!!!

2007-06-11T13:01:00.000-05:00

Yay for Summer Knitty!!! I'm totally making these.

And now I'm headed back to work (lunchbreak post).

Call For Prayer Shawls

2007-06-06T20:49:00.000-05:00

I got this e-mail from my dad today. He ran into a friend of his that needs help collecting a few prayer shawls.

If you read this and think you can help, please let ME know by commenting on this post, or directly contact Barbara as listed. (Though I really would like to see that you helped, too... so if you contact Barbara you could, you know, tell me anyhow...)

I'm going to paste what she said here, since she has so elequently described what exactly she needs:

-----------------------------------
From: Dunlap-Berg, Barbara
Sent: Wed 6/6/2007 11:28 AM
To: Nashville
Subject: Love to knit, crochet, do a not-so-random act of kindness?

If you knit or crochet, I would love to draft you for a prayer-shawl project related to the Bishops’ Katrina Church Recovery Appeal! The Gulf Coast annual conferences will host a celebration Sept. 6-7 in New Orleans. As part of this event, Mississippi Area Bishop Hope Morgan Ward wants to present prayer shawls to 200 of the top post-hurricane volunteers. Several of us at United Methodist Communications are working with the conferences to prepare for the observance.

One of my tasks is to get 200 prayer shawls. I contacted United Methodist churches featured in a Tennessean article about prayer-shawl ministries, plus several other churches recommended to me, and I put an article on the Tennessee Annual Conference Web site (that article will be repeated). I currently have commitments for about 125 prayer shawls.

A few UMCom staff—Jackie Vaughan, Tracy Wood and Bridget Worden—are involved in the project, knitting or crocheting as quickly as their little fingers will fly, and I am inviting others to participate as well.

My deadline is Aug. 1. I will attach a fact sheet that answers 99 percent of the questions.

Please let me know if you can help! Thanks so much.

--Barbara Dunlap-Berg, Creative Resources Editor, Connectional Giving Team

And here's that fact sheet:

Fact Sheet: Prayer Shawls for Katrina Volunteer Celebration
1. Why is United Methodist Communications involved in this effort?
Ever since Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast nearly two years ago, United Methodist Communications has worked with the conferences in that region to raise funds, recruit volunteers and share stories of the church in action and response.
2. Why are prayer shawls needed?
Bishop Hope Morgan Ward of the Mississippi Area wants to honor approximately 200 special volunteers from across the connection—persons who have given greatly of their time and talents to the recovery effort. Reflecting on the Isaiah 61:3 reference to “mantles of praise,” she—and her colleague bishops—would like to present each volunteer with a prayer shawl.
3. When and where will the prayer shawls be presented?
A celebration is slated for Sept. 6-7 in New Orleans to mark the second anniversary of the hurricanes and—more importantly—to thank volunteers who sacrificed time and money to make a difference; recruit additional volunteers, particularly skilled laborers; establish partnerships between Gulf Coast churches and congregations across the United Methodist connection; and raise funds for the Bishops’ Katrina Church Recovery Appeal.
4. Who will provide the prayer shawls?
The challenge now is to find individuals and church groups willing to knit or crochet prayer shawls for this celebration. Barbara Dunlap-Berg, creative resources editor for United Methodist Communications’ Connectional Giving Team, is spearheading the prayer-shawl drive. If you can provide prayer shawls for this celebration, Barbara would love to hear from you.
5. Are the prayer shawls for men or for women? Should they be knitted or crocheted? Are they to be one color or multi-colored? Are patterns available?
Katrina volunteers come in all shapes and sizes and are men, women and youth. That means the prayer shawls can be varied sizes. Both knitted and crocheted prayer shawls will be appreciated. No specific color is requested, so if you are part of a prayer-shawl ministry that already has completed shawls, they will be perfect! If you are purchasing yarn for this project, green for new life and blue for water are symbolic. Multi-colored prayer shawls are fine as well. They may have fringe, but that is not essential. Several patterns may be found online. [Shannah says: Our church's prayer shawl ministry uses the pattern found at http://www.shawlministry.com and there is also lots of great information about the Prayer Shawl Ministry there as well.] Prayer shawls should be at least 50 inches long.
6. How many prayer shawls do you want from one individual or church?
Two hundred shawls are needed, so donations of one, 25, 50 or more will be warmly received. If you can commit to a certain quantity, it would be very helpful if you would contact Barbara in advance, (615) 742-5489, bdunlap-berg@umcom.org to tell her how many you think you can contribute.
7. What is the deadline for completing the prayer shawls?
The prayer shawls are needed by Aug. 1. However, you can deliver or send them before that date, if you wish.
8. Must I deliver the prayer shawls to you or can you pick them up?
Barbara will be happy to pick up prayer shawls within a 50-mile radius of Nashville. Prayer shawls also may be brought or shipped to her at United Methodist Communications, 810 12th Ave. S., Nashville, TN 37203-4744.
9. Can we tell the recipient a little about our prayer-shawl ministry?
Of course! Perhaps you already have an enclosure to include with your prayer shawls. If not, please pin a note to each prayer shawl to let the recipient know about you and your ministry.

If you have questions that weren’t addressed here, please contact Barbara Dunlap-Berg. She will gladly respond. Thank you very much! For more information about the Bishops’ Katrina Church Recovery Appeal, please go online to www.umc.org.

Medical Receptionist

2007-06-06T07:25:00.000-05:00

And so I return to the same company that I left a year ago, but this time in a job that actually involves insurance. Bleh. But it's a job, and I need to eat, and so... if you live near me and are having surgery, look forward to a call about your insurance co-payment and my cheery little voice on the other end.

I refuse to let my arts suffer in the face of this new job. I am not in school so that I can do my art; I am NOT going to give up art for a little job.

This is my resolution. (But how many writers are medical receptionists? Not many...)

A Fine Line

2007-06-01T14:05:00.000-05:00

There are many fine lines, as we all know, many of which are encompassed in my life: the fine line between being completely insane and only being a bit off your rocker, the fine line between enjoying time with someone and obsessively calling them, the fine line between loving your dog and actually beginning to take on the qualities OF your dog...

It's that last one that's given me pause today. I see myself becoming more animalistic the longer I have a dog, the more time that we spend together. And then, today:

Roxie was sitting on the couch, on her butt, like a human. I begin to worry about scary Animal Farm tendencies arrising in our home. The cats have been friendlier than usual today, the rats more intent at breaking out of their aquarium with the assistance of their water bottle. And Roxie, sitting, looking at me like I am the dog.

(Note the knitting around her... the moment she picks up those needles I'm outta here.)

Man in the Maze

2007-05-30T13:10:00.000-05:00

My roommate got back from Santa Fe, New Mexico on Monday and she brought me two beautiful things.

The first:

A postcard of one of Georgia O'Keefe's purple petunias.

And the second was a small black stone with a labyrinth on it. (The camera's still not working, so you get an image from the web.)

The symbol is "the man in the maze" and this is the first time I've seen it, but I am no stranger to labyrinths. They are one of the central images in my life and are very important to me. I love how true they are to life, how the path turns and twists ridiculously, but alway the center is there, is constant. In this little rough patch I'm having, I wanted to burst into tears and thank my friend for thinking of me, for knowing that what I need most right now is a small stone to hold on to, to remind me of the center that is hope, that is peace, that is always there even when I am turned around. I just need to keep walking. God is there.

I am a man in the maze, but I have the prayer shawl that was crocheted for me to bind myself up in and a small stone to hold close to my heart. I want to keep these little reminders with me always. They help me feel safe in this out of control world. They remind me that there is a pattern and a center and real, tangible, love.

Sleep

2007-05-30T03:59:00.000-05:00

Some days sleeping is underrated.

Insomnia attack this evening, and so I sit up late knitting on the baby blanket. I taught myself how to purl continental style as opposed to the English style that I usually use (check out which hand the yarn is in, that's the difference). I was ridiculously proud of myself for this. Maybe I'll show off tomorrow at knitting.

On my "insomnia": it tends to hit the most on days that were not particularly good. I wonder if it's some kind of protection for the next day; maybe if I stay up late I'll sleep in and miss most of a bad day tomorrow. Maybe it's just that bad days create panic and panic makes me tense and tension keeps me from sleeping.

At any rate, "Murphy Brown" is on the television, which tells me it must be very late indeed and Roxie has gone to bed on her own. It's actually Wednesday. I am going to go sleep a bit, if I can. Maybe I can miss most of tomorrow. :-) (No knitting until 6:30!)

I am reminded of the line of poetry that has stuck with me the longest. I don't even remember what poem it is from, but we read it in my first "Intro to Poetry" class. The line, which in and of itself is perhaps short of brilliant, comes up all the time in my head. This is a reflection on me, I'm sure. It was in a poem about the beauty of spending a day in a hammock. The poem seemed joyful and then we get to the last line, where the poet should reflect on the beauty of the ocean, or the way the wind whips across his face, but instead: "I have wasted my life."

Indeed. I hope to waste mine, too, if only sleep would come. (Maybe if I had a hammock?)

Hopeful Memorial Day to You

2007-05-28T14:45:00.000-05:00

In light of recent news, I just can't bring myself to post a "Happy Memorial Day" message. But I'm not giving up to despair and sadness today, either, as I look pictures and listen to the stories of those who have died. So, I'm trying to stick to my guns and be hopeful, because hope is all we have.

In honor of today, I'm doing a blog first and posting a personal poem that I wrote a week ago today. It has knitting and soldiers in it, so I feel it's appropriate for the blog and for this thoughtful day.

And if you get a chance today, stop by National Public Radio's The Toll of War page to get some perspective on this war.

----------

Pacifism

he said:
“and there is war everywhere anyway, why worry about it. It’s so far away, Sweetheart.”

as i sit and knit i am connected (through my tiny needles,
my even stitches)
to my spirit-grandmothers
they were handed spun cotton,
asked to knit it together into strips
so that wounds could be bound
bleeding stopped
men healed
but i knit alone
i knit warm socks in hot weather
(they will stay here
wrap around feet
wear through and get thrown away
they won’t heal)
i knit for frivolity
they knit with purpose

and what is this war anyway
i read the news 39 minutes ago
7 US Soldiers Killed
but what do i know of them
they hurt
not me
and like he said
the war is everywhere

he said
it doesn’t matter
what will your pain do
what a useless thing to be
a Pacifist
how stupid
we all fight wars
if a man broke into my house, he said
I’d kill him dead
I’d shoot him
(he keeps a gun under the mattress, just within reach)
i sat quiet.

i just knit.

but what is dead
isn’t it important?
7 men gone
their bodies cold and turning grey
and me
here knitting

not even a sock could warm them
not even a bandage could fix them now

Sunday's Post is for Poetry

2007-05-27T21:14:00.000-05:00

I'm going to memorize a poem a week, starting now. I think that we don't have enough poetry in our society, and the best poetry is poetry that is known by heart. For this first week, a poem by Mary Oliver from her book Dream Work published by Atlantic Monthly Press:

Wild Geese

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting —
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

In a Funk (and teeny-tiny needles)

2007-05-26T13:47:00.000-05:00

I'm in a funk today... just kind of angry at the world in general, I think, and at the lack of interviews in my unnecessarily slow-going job search in particular and also the fact that there are people dying across the world and I'm upset by nothing really important... and so I sat down to get a little stress-release knitting in. This is not the right time to work on the sweater for my pregnant friend or even the cable socks that are now late for another friend's birthday. There is a time for stress-full knitting, but this is not it.

But I surprised myself with the kind of knitting that I wanted to do. I pulled a little ball of left-over sock yarn out of the stash, grabbed some #2s and cast on for a 3 by 3 cable. I think it might turn into a wrist bracelet or somesuch if I can find pretty buttons. I am just really shocked that my stressed state lent itself toward teeny yarn and teeny needles and a cable, not toward big yarn, big needles, and garter stitch. Am I becoming more tightly wound myself?

Or maybe I just wanted something that wasn't so... simple. Life is too complicated. Let's throw in some tight knitting and straighten things out a bit.

Kiwi!

2007-05-22T23:05:00.000-05:00

This is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen:

(And I know, three posts in one day after a week and a half of NOTHING!)

Radio Stations

2007-05-22T22:18:00.000-05:00

On a non-knitting note:

I changed the #3 radio station today, and it seemed like it might be a bit significant.

#1 is National Public Radio. But only in the mornings and the evenings. During the day it's the local college's classical music station. I like classical, but it's not really driving-around-the-town type music. So from 7-8 in the morning and 4-6 at night and sometimes on Saturday, this is my first choice.

#2, #4, #5 are all oldies stations. I flip through them depending on the song. There's nothing like groovin' to sixties music with the windows down or having rock blaring over my little Focus speakers and turning heads (inside, I have exhibitionist tendencies...).

#6 is my one "modern" station, for those weak moments when I succumb to the pop culture. I tend not to blare that one.

But #3, this was the loner Christian station that I listened to. Christian rock. Or it used to be. I liked it, it was fun to occaissionally jam along. But not so much anymore. It seems that they are constantly on pledge drive, and a few months ago I heard the host say "if you want God to bless your life, you've got to send us your money" or something along those lines and I haven't been able to turn on the channel since. I felt betrayed, used, for my faith. I don't believe that my not pledging to the station will keep God from "blessing my life." Now I know that this is not what the man said, but it's the other side of the coin and it is just close enough to give me pause. I felt guilty about changing the station, though, felt as if I was abandoning my always-a-bit-unsteady faith (let's be honest here) and kept thinking maybe I could return to the joyful days when I could listen to one or two songs at a time happily before changing the station for something a little less saccharine. But no, not so much. It just sat there, and the poor button never got pushed.

So today, I changed it. The local college has an alternative radio station that plays all kinds of music-- weird, interesting music that I hadn't given a chance to until recently. But I like it. It makes me laugh sometimes, and almost always makes me think, even if it is a bit odd.

And to me, my faith is about thinking. So I am not feeling guilty for changing my station. I am branching out, thinking more, and just wanted to explore here the difference in where a button takes you can make. #3, welcome back.

Knit Wit

2007-05-22T19:38:00.000-05:00

I was called this today by a friend. Funnily enough, I wasn't insulted...

Here's a little update on a few of my projects. My camera is TOTALLY irritating, and won't let me take more than a few pictures before it says it's out of battery (I don't believe it; I just put in a new battery...), so here are the few I squeezed out before it quit on me:

First, the "Random Hearts" sweater revisited as a shrug (sometimes things just aren't meant to be).

Then, a newly cast-on baby-blanket in blue and brown boucle.

The first HP sock is finished, and the second is started. (I know I need a higher contrast background, but now the camera won't turn on. Sorry.)

And a FINISHED OBJECT on the way to its new owner. I'll write all about it when it gets there and gets opened.

There is another pair of socks on the needles that are being finished as quickly as possible for a friend's birthday this Thursday (I'm sure I won't make it, but maybe by next week). They are my first men's socks. The camera went kaput before I got to these.

I have painted, too:

So that's my little update. I'm out looking for jobs. Maybe when I find one I'll have more time to post (ha).

Thanks, Moms

2007-05-14T12:31:00.000-05:00

I wanted to be sure and express here my gratitude to my two moms.

The first, for giving me life and always always being on my side. My mother, whom I love oh-so-dearly and who is always there. I thank you for loving-me-no-matter-what and for helping with all those papers and for letting me call you at 4 a.m. and for calling me at 7 to make sure I'm awake and for all the little things that you did like making me breakfast every morning and tickling my toes to get me out of bed and for sitting outside in the garden reading books to me. Thanks for teaching me about books and the importance of staying grounded.

The second, for marrying my dad even though he had two little girls. My step-mother, whom I love oh-so-dearly and who is always there, too. I thank you for loving-me-no-matter-what (really) and for baking cookies with me and for telling me it's ok to cry even when you don't know why and for taking me to all the exciting places I never would have known about and for teaching me to love animals and for giving me the right to call myself your daughter even though you didn't have to. Thanks for teaching me about dreams and the importance of taking off with my wings.

I owe myself to these two strong women. I couldn't have picked better. I am so lucky.

Updates again

2007-05-10T03:43:00.000-05:00

I need to work on my titles... lack of creativity there.

Here are the start of the socks for my Hogwarts Swap friend. I reallly like them, and it's going fast. You should see the color! (Sorry I can't show you, I'm keeping that yarn secret...)

And I also finished this self-portrait today:

Socks for Others Update

2007-05-08T18:27:00.000-05:00

1. Hogwarts Sock Swap: I've picked my yarn AND my pattern. Whoo-hoo!
Yarn: Can't tell you, sorry. Well, I've told my secret pal, and I don't want her to accidently stumble upon my blog. But I will say that it is in a bag adrift somewhere and it upsets me quite a lot that I am missing two pairs of socks-in-progress and their yarn, two skeins of this mystery yarn, and my sketchbook. I'm stifling the panic because I really don't feel good and I don't think that I can extend the energy to turn the house upside down right now. It has to be somewhere. Has to be.
Pattern: Hello Yarn's Cable Twist Socks. I'm excited.

2. Sockapalooza: My PP (palooza pal) likes lots of color, so I am in search of a fancy yarn. I saw the comment that Jayne left on my blog yesterday about her Etsy Shop and there are somethings over there that I'm interested in... (Hi Jayne! Thanks for the comment with your shameless plug! *wink*) And I do have a pattern chosen, too. Razor Shell Socks from the Mimknits.com Online Store. I was impressed by a fellow Hogwart's Swap friend, Blackrayne, and her beautiful rendition of this pattern. This is her first sock!!! My first socks were, well, they went to my mom, so it doesn't really matter how they were, but they were definitely not this beautiful! Blackrayne has dyed the yarn herself and these are for her swap partner. But then, I also might make these Lacy Scallops socks. What do you all think? Which is better?

3. And I wanted to share a little listing of my fave sock pattern sites. Here, here and here are some great pattern directories. And a few of my favorite patterns-to-try from my bookmark list: Mirabella socks, Eyelet Cable Socks, Lombard Street Socks, Aran Braid Socks, Basic Cabled Socks and Twinkle Toes.

Now I'm off to find an antihistamine/decongestant before my head explodes.

Hooray for Loozers!

2007-05-08T17:08:00.000-05:00

Thanks for all the comments!

I'm glad I was right about the "secretness." I thought this, but I kept seeing everyone's comments and I just wondered... I, too, have a "secret identity" where I have already e-mailed by paloozerpal (PP?). I still haven't heard from mine, though. I hope she likes purple, because I REALLY REALLY do.

:-D

Question for my Fellow Sock-a-pa-loozers

2007-05-08T01:11:00.000-05:00

So after we broke blogger together my sockapalooza friends and I are now doing something I don't fully understand called the knit pligg where we can post urls and talk to each other.

(Hello!)

SO, I'm giving it a try with this little shout out. Forgive me if I am a bit odd... this is my first.

But I did have a question, too. We are supposed to be secret pals, right? Just checking. Secret was my understanding, but I'm not always the brightest crayon in the box, so, yeah...

I'm excited about my pal and her preferences (which just aren't too confining, really) and I'm going to run on now and find some exciting yarn and a pattern. She likes "colorful socks." Hmmm... I like colorful...

If you are a pa-loozer, stop for a sec and say hi. I'd love to meet you. If you're a friend and you're confused by this entry, say hi, too. I'm always a glutton for comments.

:-D

Sock Monkey

2007-05-07T23:16:00.000-05:00

I am going to make a sock monkey for my friend's little monkey that's due in September. I was doing some researching tonight, and I found two sites with free patterns: The original - a vintage sock monkey pattern, and an exciting modern one. (They're pretty much the same.) And then there's the Crocheted Sock Monkey Bookmark and Sock Monkey Hat. I'm especially intrigued by the hat. I can see the whole family in one: sock monkey mom, sock monkey dad, sock monkey baby... How cute is that?

My friend, an interior designer, is making her entire baby room a sock monkey theme. I'm so excited to see it and the art that she is creating for the walls. I have to finish that dog painting so I can get into the "monkey business," too. (I know, I know, that was TERRIBLE.)

I'm watching two dogs tonight, a doberdog (not my doberdog) and a greyhound. It's thunderstorming outside and the doberdog is neurotic, so I actually have her in my lap right now. She's shaking, poor thing. The thunder seems to be subsiding though, so maybe she'll be able to relax soon.

So after my proclamation earlier today that I had too many projects, here is my happy announcement that I'm about to start another. But it's sewing not knitting... that's different, right?

Another thing about this baby being a boy. We've been discussing the lack of creative boy clothing. Why is that? My new mission is to clothe my friend's baby in just as adorable a way as any foofy pink girl. Off to investigate...

(Mom if you're reading this, get off the computer and go see if the record player works. I WAAAAAAAANNNNNNNT it! Simon and Garfunkle are calling to me from their album cases. They need me. I need them. I need a working record player.)

Pictures!

2007-05-07T15:48:00.000-05:00

I've been so upset because my camera didn't work that I haven't been posting. But here, at last, I turned it on and it worked! Lest I lose the moment, I dragged my rear off the couch (to the kitchen, grabbing a snack on the way...) and took some photos.

I was inspired by Julia's honesty yesterday about her varied knitting projects, and I decided to post a few of the "closet projects" myself. The stash secrets. So here they are.

First, "Shrug It Off," a set of, well basically, sleeves, that my friend Rebecca commissioned. The pattern was designed by Carlynn at Shaggy Sheep, and it's fun and easy and repetitive and I'm embarrassed by the number of times I've had to rip simply because I miscounted:

It's almost completely done. Don't know why I never listed it as "on the needles" except that I'm embarrassed by the sheer number of projects I have going on right now. Here it is again, with my feet in the picture. I'm in my pajamas at 3:30 in the afternoon because I am SICK SICK SICK with a sinus infection.

And I'm not the only one. Here is Roxie:

What you can't see in the pic is that she is chewing a hole in her leg. That's right. A hole. In her leg. She chewed. Created it herself, actually. Apparently she might be a disturbed doggy. She has a vet appointment in about 30 minutes. Because she's OCD and there's nothing wrong with her but her own insanity. Much like me. She might have to get doggy antidepressants.

But back to the projects. Here's another:

It's an afghan for my friend who's getting married soon. Hopefully it will be finished before her first anniversary. There are going to be 36 squares, arranged in a not-so-random pattern. Now there are 1.5 squares. It's my mindless knitting project.

And a finished object! The Mason-Dixon Dishcloth. It was fun and simple and finished quickly. Made me feel productive (a dangerous thing).

And the most embarrassing thing ever? Here is my project for the Red Sweater Knit-Along. TV decoration:

Good thing there's no time limit, eh? I'm still frustrated with having to rip half of it out. Is it wrong to carry this sort of grudge against your knitting?

The worst part about this whole thing was having to pull all of this knitting out, and not finding it all. I am now missing my sketchbook and two sock projects, and I am highly HIGHLY distressed about it. So there should be more pictures, and there are not. I'm going to ransack the house as soon as I am feeling better.

On the art front, I am making some progress on Gracie's brother's painting. Bailey:

So those are my confessions for the day. Hope you enjoy!

I promise not to take so long to post anymore. (OK, I can't promise, but I'll try.)

An apology for varied oopses.

2007-04-29T15:15:00.000-05:00

1) Sorry that I haven't been posting. I have been "out in the country" watching a friend's animals since Wednesday.

2) Sorry if I stole your bandwidth. I just found out last week about bandwidth theft and am afraid I have been a guilty party. But I changed all of my images over to my own server today, and I am proudly going to display this:

Please, if you've done this accidentally, fix it, too. It was a pain, but I feel better about myself now.

3) Sorry this is the end of this post. I actually *have* been doing some knitting, and I will post more on THAT later. ;-)

That is sweet earth you might say...

2007-04-22T02:40:00.000-05:00

In honor of Earth Day, I want to suggest that we knitters look to alternative yarn sources, like old sweaters.

I went to an art show yesterday, and there was a recycle booth. All day today I'm going to try and think of other cool and unique things to knit with, and let you know what I think of by late this evening. If we're going to call ourselves "fiber artists," we've got to look outside the box! And helping reduce trash is always a good thing.

I'd love to hear if anybody has any cool suggestions...

Something Meaningful

2007-04-19T00:32:00.000-05:00

Continuing on with the poetry theme:

Keep walking, though there's no place to get to.
Don't try to see through the distances. That's not for human beings.
Move within, but don't move the way fear makes you move.
Today, like every day, we wake up empty and frightened.
Don't open the door to the study
and begin reading. Take down a musical instrument.

Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.

-Rumi

Unproductive is My Name

2007-04-18T23:28:00.000-05:00

I haven't been posting, because I kept hoping for more productivity to post. But then today I realized that my camera is out of batteries, so even if I was productive, there would be nothing to post.

SO. A short haiku poem on the joys of unproductivity:
Lying on the couch,
Feels so nice to be useless
'Til I head to bed.

Now, I think I'm a-gonna paint. Or knit. Or something. Maybe it's time for bed again?

Wedding Weekend

2007-04-15T23:41:00.000-05:00

And after being a bossy maid of honor (I'm in the middle):

I'm exhausted.

More tomorrow.

No Knitting Today

2007-04-11T23:50:00.000-05:00

*gasp*

But I was so dizzy that I spent most of the day flat on my back. I didn't know that a little earwax could completely knock me over. I've never felt like that before. The doctor seemed to think I was being a bit silly by coming in and he just gave me some pills for dizziness. But truly, it was a totally frightening and new experience to stand up and just fall back over.

I leiu of knitting, I signed up for the Sockapalooza. So now there's more knitting to do. Happy thought. :-D

New Header Banner

2007-04-10T16:51:00.000-05:00

I created this today:

The picture is my first prayer shawl, though technically it's a "lap blanket." I made it about two years ago. I was going through a very self-centered time in my life, having just gone through a very painful ending in a relationship. The church had just started a "Prayer Shawl Ministry" and I needed something to do with myself to fill up empty moments. I knew how to knit (though was only very much a beginner--I knit my stitches through the back), and so I joined. I couldn't even think of anyone to knit for, I was so full of myself. I picked purple yarn because purple is my favorite color, and the favorite color of my ex-boyfriend, so it symbolized a lot of my pain. I did pray while I knit it, and I cried a lot. After about the first skein of Lion Brand Homespun (it took 3 on size 13 needles, 87 stitches across) I began to think about who I could give the shawl to, beginning to feel a change in myself. And, ironically, the shawl belonged to my ex-boyfriend's grandmother, Mimi.

Mimi was a red hat lady, and I knew that the shawl belonged with her. When I'd finished, I had a friend crochet a red scallop border around the shawl. I gave it to her with a new feeling of wholeness and completion. It was like an ending to that chapter in my life.

Chapters don't really end in life, though. About a year later, Mimi died suddenly. (She fell in the yarn isle at a craft store, broke her hip, and died... but that's another story.) I was enlisted to care for her mentally retarded son because of my many interests and experiences in special needs adults. I went to her funeral. She was a wonderful, truly unique person and so was her funeral. Red hats and purple clothing reined. The family used my blanket to cover the table with her pictures on it. After the funeral, no one wanted the blanket I had made, so it was given back to me.

I am not friendly with my ex-boyfried (he is now happily married and expecting his first child), but I have Mimi's blanket. I have the memory of creating this first well-done knitted object and of joining the world again with me, to wrap around me. So it seemed only fitting to put it in the background of my banner. My first knitted object. The beginning of a new life, and the end of an old one.

And that's another great thing about knitting. Right now I am using the blanket to keep myself warm (the cat loves to knead the knitting with her paws, too), and it is a part of my roommate and my daily life. But it also symbolizes so many things. So many kinds of love and pain and healing. So I had to share why it is on my banner. And why I knit: because of the prayer shawl ministry, because of the color purple, because of Mimi the Red Hat Lady.

I'm a Hufflepuff!

2007-04-09T02:47:00.000-05:00

I've joined a sock swap to prepare for the new Harry Potter book!

We have to finish a pair of socks before the book comes out on July 21st. I'm pretty excited about this... as part of the swap we're required to take a test to see which house we're in (I'm a Hufflepuff, which is what I wanted to be, happily), and then post the questionnaire on our blog. So here 'tis.

Hogwarts Sock Swap Questionnaire

1. What Hogwarts house have you been sorted into? Hufflepuff

2. Shoe size? 7.5-8 inches

3. Foot Length? 8.5-9 inches (I usually like a little snugger fit, so go for the 8.5 when I knit myself socks, but technically I'm a 9, and either's fine)

4. Foot Circumference? 9 inches

5. List your three favorite double-point needle brands, including size and length. I am not that picky, since I usually buy the inexpensive needles and splurge on yarn. I use the cheap metal kind that only come in sets of four. I'd really REALLY love to have a set of five. Currently I have two different size five sets, and it would be nice to have one complete set. Having said that, I DO like Addi turbos, and the bamboo is so pretty at the yarn store...

6. Would you like to try a new brand needle? If so, which brand? Size? Length? ANYTHING! I can get excited about anything knitting-related, so... surprise me!

7. Are you willing to have an international Hogwarts Sock Pal? Sure.

Widdershins

2007-04-08T22:07:00.000-05:00

Yes, I have cast on for (yet) another project.

But before I go there, I want to justify it by another foot's worth of progress on the Broadripple Shawl. When I finish, I've gotten permission from the pattern's creator (remember, it was originally a sock pattern) to post my shawl version here. Incentive to keep knitting on it? After two socks and half a shawl, I really am getting a little tired of it. I've got it memorized, could knit the pattern in my sleep. And yet, I still think it is so beautiful.

SO. The new thing:

Can't tell yet? They're toe-up socks, Widdershins, to be exact. My first toe-up sock. It was fantastically hard. Those people that say toe up socks are easier are filthy liars. I had a really hard time. And I only had four needles instead of five, so that made it all the more difficult. But I'm doing it nonetheless.

And see:

Now I have a toe hat!

Happy Easter

2007-04-08T22:05:00.000-05:00

From the Easter Dog!

Shawls for ERs (pronounced "ears")

2007-04-05T14:56:00.000-05:00

Yesterday at Prayer Shawl Ministry meeting a new member, Pete, showed us her first shawl. She discussed how it was not very good (which was a lie, because it was very, very nice) and that she didn't have someone to give it to. She told her son that she was just going to put it in the closet and let it sit for a while. Her son said, "wait, Mom, I'll take two." (Let's set aside the fact that he said two, which was an unreasonable demand obviously coming from a non-knitter.) Pete's son is a trauma nurse at one of the hospitals. He mentioned how the other day the people in the hospital had to wrap a woman who had just lost her baby in a really old hospital blanket. How much better to have a knit shawl?

We all got chills. Indeed, knit shawls are better, and we sent Pete home with the rest of the shawls in our closet.

We blessed them all for ERs. My little thoughts and prayers go with those shawls and the many little journeys that they go out on.

Broadripples Finished!

2007-04-05T00:26:00.000-05:00

I FINISHED Penny's socks!!! FINALLY, all of my Christmas gifts have been gifted. *Blush*

And here they are:

Roxie stuck her paw in, and I just had to include it.

Hoo-ray! Now I can cast on for new socks!

The pattern is Broadripple Socks from the Knitty Summer 2003 issue. The yarn is Diakeito Diamoment number 807 from my favorite yarn store, Shaggy Sheep. It's hard to find the Diakeito yarn, but Jan reminds me that Shaggy Sheep ships! It's thick yarn, a little too thick for the size 3 needles, but I do like how they turned out, thick and warm. They'll be great, ahem, for winter. It took 3 skeins, with only a little left over, and they are definitely sized for size 7-8 feet. I like the colors, but if I had it all to do over again (which I DON'T) I would try to match the skeins a little better so that the toes change more gradually. Anyhow, I'm pleased. They're Penny's favorite color, and I hope she will like them too. My comfort socks.

Scattered Thoughts

2007-04-03T00:56:00.000-05:00

I went to the LYS today and looked around for a bit, rather guiltily. But I escaped, my only new item being the knowledge that I can sit and knit with the staff if ever I am lonely... and that they know my name now. (Is this good or bad, that the yarn store staff know my name?)

I have this real desire for more sock yarn, and it's getting to be a bit obnoxious. I MUST finish these that I have first. So, I went home and forced myself to knit on the pink broadripples. The PAIR will be finished by Wednesday so I can give them away. I don't know why I'm having so much trouble finishing these!

Babies are being conceived everywhere, it appears. I am excited about the prospect of knitting things for them, though. I hope every baby I know about is a girl, so that I can knit pink ruffles.

Speaking of pink ruffles, I shall soon be a bridesmaid in my sister's wedding. This, amazingly, infringes even on my life, some six hours away. How odd that we Christians have picked this one ceremony (sacrament?) to be so special. I want a Kitchenaid mixer for my baptism. What about the Eucharist? Doesn't THAT deserve a $600 cake?

I've been having this odd craving lately to go do a rosary. I'm not Roman Catholic, and although my mother is high church Episcopalian I have been an ardent United Methodist these last few years. I'm not sure what I should make of this craving, since it also coincides with the desire to learn to spin. Maybe my hands just don't have enough to do? I must learn to knit while I am washing dishes or taking a shower or reading.

I found this today. It's colored cotton. Naturally. And also sustainably. I REALLY want to learn how to spin cotton. It seems silly to have grown up all of my life with fields behind my house filled with the stuff and not know how to change it from a little poof in a shell to the thing that is one of my greatest passions--yarn. I can remember picking up the balls out of the field when I was a kid. I remember watching someone show us how to card and spin at school, and I came home, picked out the seeds, and twisted a little section into yarn. Even then I thought it was cool to see the process that changes a tiny seed into something wearable. I must find a spinner here!

Along those same lines, I am beginning to feel a deeper connection to place, to here in the South. This is also quite odd, since I've spent many years trying to figure out how to leave Texas. But as I was driving back yesterday I was admiring the openness, the sky. I saw an old woman walking back to her house and I realized that I do, indeed, love it here. This place is my place. There is room to just be here. The moon hung in the sky tonight so big, and even from my yard in this little flat city I could see the stars. I understand things here, in this place. I understand how people think and why they think the way that they do. I understand why Georgia O'Keefe came here and found her art in the plain colors. There is room here to see for miles and drive out in the country where there is nothing but red dirt and yell loudly. There is also room to sit quietly. There are terrible things here like tornados and dust storms and mud rain and wind that will drive a person crazy. There's not always a lot of appreciation for differences. But there are redeeming qualities that my friends and I ignore far too often. There is a lot of love here. Even a girl with liberal tendencies, a tattoo, and a nose ring, can be accepted by a circle of older women. There is a connection between us all. We have lived here. We have survived the drought and the rains and the open spaces, and we even dared to thrive throughout it all. We have passed down the tools throughout the generations, and there are still people to share our love with. We young 'uns often forget about respect in our need to move forward and reject the past. I think that this is what knitting does for us. It connects us back and back to our mothers and grandmothers and farther and farther. Women have always been doing this. Women must always be doing this.

It is too easy, always, to dismiss someone, to dismiss a place, as ordinary. There really isn't anything ordinary. We shouldn't work so hard to be special. The most special people are the ones that recognize the negative and decide to be positive anyway. The most special people are the ones that look at the terrible awfulness of life and decide, anyway, to love.

Well, I've waxed eloquent enough for a while. I just keep hearing how terrible this town is, how "there's nothing to do," and "nothing but narrow-minded people" and "why in God's name would anyone live here." I also, let these words slip out of my mouth, and I wanted to say, for the record, that I understant the beauty, too. I understand the importance of open space and deep connection to the earth. So there. That's enough.

Back From the Bridal Shower

2007-04-01T22:17:00.000-05:00

My sister's shower was this weekend. Lots of people and cool stuff.

If I stay single forever, can I have a shower, too? I want a KitchenaAd mixer.

But along the drive, I finished one of the Seduction Socks:

And I also made some (albeit small) progress on the second Broadripple sock:

And now for some scrubs and the Broadripple sock again. I MUST FINISH!!!

Thursday Night at Shannah's Place

2007-03-29T22:31:00.000-05:00

So there's wine and champagne and brownies and...

KNITTING!!!

Gifting a Painting

2007-03-28T22:18:00.000-05:00

I went to dinner for my friend's birthday tonight, stowing the dog painting in the car as a surprise. She'd seen it, way back before Christmas, in a preliminary stage, so I thought that she would be able to guess my "surprise".

Instead she guessed several knitted objects in a row and then looked at me, totally confused. "I have no idea," she said. Her husband agreed. "All Shannah does is knit."

Apparently everyone has forgotten my many other talents.

Oh well, it was really fun to surprise her.

And just to prove how totally useless I really am as a human being: I went to Prayer Shawl Ministry tonight, completely ready to knit on my sock, and proud of my newly organized knitting bag. Each project is sorted in its own plastic bag, instructions included, and tucked away in my knitting bag. Well, I got to Knitting, pulled out the bag, the sock, the sock instructions, and began to knit. Sort of. Actually, I had a problem. Only 3 double pointed needles in the bag. So I knit on the purse instead. Sigh. Reminds me of the (many) times I've gotten my food at the food court, only to realize that I didn't have my wallet. I really need a keeper. Then I could just sit around and knit ALL day at home. I like that.

Some Wednesday Things (pre-knitting meeting)

2007-03-28T12:43:00.000-05:00

I have the computer back! It's enough to make me giddy...

SO I mentioned yesterday that I cast on for the petunia tote last week: (It's quite a bit farther now)

I plan to work on the socks tonight at the Prayer Shawl Ministry meeting.

My roommate came home last night with a huge set of beautiful pottery that she'd finished. She told me to come to the show in the kitchen and announced "I'm a badass." And she is. They are BEAUTIFUL. I'll ask her if I can post a picture or two.

Along those same lines, I would like to announce that I, too, am a badass:

I finished this painting of Gracie this morning. She's one of my friend's dogs, a two year old great dane. I love her, and I was honored to be trusted with this portrait. I'm really happy that I pulled it off. I still have to do her cocker-spaniel brother, Bailey.

Still No Computer Cord...

2007-03-27T22:26:00.000-05:00

...but lots of knitting.

I know the rule is to cast off before you cast something new on (especially if you already have several things on the needles...), but I couldn't help myself. I've started the Petunia Tote from Interweave Knits. It's almost halfway finished already.

I survived the tornado on Sunday and the flooding Sunday night. But today, the heat did me in. I want to write more, but my little tummy is upset and this is all I can get out today...

Good News

2007-03-22T22:04:00.000-05:00

There is nothing wrong with the computer, just the power cord. Whew!

I spent this evening at my friend's house. I unabashedly invited myself over, but I brought thin mints, so maybe I'll be forgiven.

I am so thankful for dogs today. I know I say this over and over and OVER again, but it is so true for me. Without them, I would be truly crazy. My friend has a great dane, and her joy in seeing me was enough to put me over the moon.

I am still happy about the kitchen, too. I'm on a new streak of dishwashing.(Yes, Mom, I do wash dishes every day, despite my shock at the suggestion...) And I've made my bed every day this week. So that's two down.

I spent most of my knitting time today untangling the mass of yarn that was created when I shoved my projects into my bag after Prayer Shawl group time last night. We were able to present two shawls to the founding members of our ministry. I wanted to cry. Knitting has been so important to me over the last few years. It has been a healing process. When I re-started knitting, I was in a bad place. Learning to think of others, to create things for others, helped me get out of myself. I often underestimate the meditative part of knitting. It's not purely about creating. There's all that time in between the casting on and the finished object. I am so thankful to those two women for sharing this yarn world with me, and our connection to the hundreds, thousands, of women who have passed their knowledge down over the years. The woman who began the ministry at our church said last night, "What I didn't realize is how much I would enjoy the fellowship and how important our time together would be." I agree. I care so much for our intergenerational group... I love them all. Knitting wouldn't be the same if I couldn't meet (and bless and pray) with these women every week.

I also knitted for a bit on the "Seduction Sock," though I'm still not sure who/what I'm seducing with it. I've turned the first heel, and am busy closing up the gap so I can finish. The end is in sight! Then there's the second sock... But then I'll have my very own pair. It will be the first socks I made just for keeps.

Speaking of second socks, I think I'd better go try and at least get to the boring part on the broadripple socks. So, I'm off!

No Computer (again)

2007-03-21T13:03:00.000-05:00

After all those thankful things, a negative post.

My power cord has finally given out. It says that it is charging, but my computer is DEAD. It won't even come out of hibernation so I can shut it down.

I've got to go get a new power cord and see if that helps. No money though. Sigh.

Things I'm Grateful For

2007-03-19T22:36:00.000-05:00

A list today. These are the things that made me very happy today:

1. A CLEAN kitchen:

2. Pretty flowers in the clean kitchen from my roommate's family (my new favorite flowers are the purple hyacinths):

3. White tea in my favorite mug: (It reads, "Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly. -Proverb")

4. Yummy seed mix (us vegetarians are easily pleased):

And, mostly,

5. A (still) exhausted dog:

No knitting today (gasp!) yet, but I may get a meditative row or two in before bed. I want to finish the prayer shawl so that I can start something from my Knitting for Peace book. I want to send something far away; I want to let my little knitting out into the world.

Knitting Update

2007-03-18T22:29:00.000-05:00

Finally: 1) My camera! 2) Purple bedroom! 3) A tired, tired dog! 4) A knitting update!

First, the broadripple socks. In the background you can see the new knitting books, and there's a Texas map to symbolize the socks' journeying since January. (These have been a long time coming.) The second picture is my attempt to take a close up of the way the stitches look with this thick yarn. Very dense.

Next is the newest member of the USC (Unfinished Sock Club), the Seduction Socks:

And, lastly, the pioneer Broadripple Shawl, based on the Broadripple sock pattern but modified into a flat knit shawl for my Prayer Shawl Ministry group. It's Lion Brand Homespun, Nouveau, and it is for the "shawl closet," so it will go to the cancer center. Roxie was so tired I didn't even have to force her to be a model. (She got to play with the family dog this morning, come home, and have her friend Penny come over for several hours this evening. She is one pooped pooch.)

I'm not tired enough to go to bed yet, but I think that I'll go lie on my beautiful bed and each almonds (my new favorite snack!). Or maybe have some of the fancy ice cream Danielle and I found at Walmart: Girl Scout Samoa Ice Cream. WHAT? Either way, I'll be dreaming happily in my own bed tonight before I go panic at school in the morning.

Sweet dreams...

Homesick

2007-03-17T22:35:00.000-05:00

Who knew that I could long so much for one room? I miss my purple...

I'll be home tomorrow, and then I'll miss my family.

A Splurge

2007-03-16T23:51:00.000-05:00

I was BAD today!

BUT LOOK WHAT I GOT:

So now I can make things for all these friends that are having babies...

To share with the Prayer Shawl Ministry Group, and add to my volunteer list.

Just for fun! (Maybe some funny bridal shower gifts?)

There were SO many beautiful patterns in this magazine, including an afghan that I have plans for...

And one more magazine, just for kicks.

All these decadence, and I don't feel ONE BIT guilty! :-D

Excuse me, I've got to go take a long bubble bath with chocolate and some books...

No Camera

2007-03-16T18:44:00.000-05:00

I am so angry at myself for forgetting my camera this week. I remembered it as I was turning onto the highway from my house. Oh well, I thought, surely my techno-savvy dad will let me use his, forgetting that the techno-savvy dad would take his fancy camera on the mission trip with him for Spring Break.

And so this weekend has been fulling of Kodak moments. The dear dog has been even more photogenic then usual. I long to take pictures of my brother's growing kittens. The rats, even, have been unusually cute. Sigh. ALWAYS.

And where was the video feature when my brother picked up the dog and she *ahem* expelled gas in his face? Surely that would have won us the $1,000 prize on America's Funniest Videos. Or when the cat took half of the skin off of my arm? Or when dear dog Roxie flipped completely around in the air and STILL managed to miss the tennis ball?

It seems that I record the silly mundane moments of life with my camera and neglect to bring it along when something is REALLY happening.

But I miss the camera the most because this week has been filled with knitting. I have made progress on almost every project and I am anxious, anxious to post pictures. (Let's not discuss the unfinished homework... I'm WORKING on it, okay?)

Suffice it to say that the socks are growing, the shawl is almost finished with the first skein (which reminds me: I need to go buy a second skein... so much for that "same dye lot" rule), and Abby's sweater is, well, I am about ready to move on with the self-pity now (see why with my post on the Red Sweater KAL page).

Knitting on NPR!

2007-03-15T23:12:00.001-05:00

My favorite radio station discussing my favorite thing: Needling the Knitters

My favorite part is where Cash Peters asks, "Are you a knitting circle for enthusiasts or are you a support group for addicts?"

Yay!

On Disposable Things.

2007-03-15T16:05:00.000-05:00

Disposable children. Disposable animals.

Why am I obsessed with these things? They are the things that speak to me. Basically, I do NOT believe in disposable things. I think everything is important, even to the most basic thing, the butterfly flapping its wings.

I think that this is why knitting is so important to me. Every stitch, every mess up, matters to the whole. Even the mistakes are important. It's the same way with animals and people. Sometimes the mistakes have even more meaning than the correct pieces. The mistakes stand out and create meaning.

Of course, these thoughts could become a bit too much. I mean, is a pop top on a can important? Well, maybe... (and on and on I go)

***I've abandoned my other blog. People can't leave comments and I don't like that. I'm going to try to figure it out, because it looks cooler and I've somehow linked this one to the wrong e-mail address. But for now, I'm back to the ol' blog. Maybe I'll change the background or something...

Christmas...EEEEEEEEK!

2006-11-21T21:25:00.000-06:00

As of tomorrow, I have exactly one month in which to:
1. Make projects for the family. This involves three scarves, one drawing, one poncho, one painting, and some cross-stitch.
2. Make projects for the friends. This includes seven somethings. Scarves? Promises?
3. Finish my novel. This means writing the rest and then re-writing.
4. Get a loan. So I can finish school. Maybe this one shouldn't be #4.

Well, the point is that I shouldn't be blogging. There are a billion OTHER things I should be doing with my hands. Like PACKING, since I leave tomorrow for the Thanksgiving Family Feast. But I just left Roxie at a friend's house so she can hang out with her dogs, and I'm feeling a little distraught about it...

To quote a good friend, "GUT UP."

Little Cable

2006-11-13T21:58:00.000-06:00

I now have my first knitted cable going! It's so tiny and cute--a skinny scarf perhaps? A belt? I'm feeling like a beginning knitter... the first thing I ever made was a bookmark. I'll put up pictures when I find someone with a camera.

I've been making something of myself by knitting during lunch at school. Now, I know this is strange. But Christmas is so close! I have so many THINGS to make! One of the teachers has asked me to teach her how to knit, though. How cool! My strangeness is spreading!

My computer narrowly avoided disaster yesterday when the dobersaurus crashed it off the shelf. The power cord bent, but I can still shove it into the computer. Doubtless I'm damaging something delicate inside, but my solution works and it's free, so... I'll keep blogging.

I have a novel due in two weeks. MUST STOP PROCRASTINATING. Doesn't two weeks seem far enough under the wire to keep me up at nights? Nah, nothing keeps ME up at nights. Except--there is this really cute little cable that I am working on. It's hot pink, and it's my first one, and...

Spoiled by Yarn

2006-11-12T15:59:00.000-06:00

I just LOVE LOVE LOVE these expensive Japanese yarns!!! I had bought two skeins of Diakeito on-sale at the snobby yarn store a while back when funds were plentiful (well, if not plentiful, they were at least THERE), and then I got two more free skeins at the knit out. They are such beautiful colors, and I can really tell a difference in quality. I want to knit with them always.

Also, I'd like to try some direct-from-the-sheep yarns.

I want to learn, eventually, how to go from the sheep to the spinning to the dying to the knitting. What a feeling--to have produced the object from the very beginning.

Unfortunately, there are funding and time constraints. Oh to have a job at the snobby yarn store!

I am enjoying pretending that I can afford these yarns at the moment, though, and some people are going to have really nice Christmas gifts, if I can bear to part with them.

BTW, I am DONE with the Feather and Fan pattern when I finish this scarf. It will be time to move on.

A Work in Progress!

2006-11-11T22:56:00.000-06:00

This is what I've been working on all weekend:

Isn't it pretty? The yarn costs $15 a skein, and I didn't buy it. It was free at the Knit Out this year. Unfortunately, the two free skeins are only 2/3 of a scarf. Oh well. I'll buy one more. It's going to make a REALLY pretty Christmas gift for an unnamed somebody.
More pictures of works-in-progress soon. Until then, enjoy some time with my dog.

There is Nothing in Life that a Little Wine and a Lot of Chocolate Won't Fix

2006-10-20T22:42:00.000-05:00

Well, I guess there are a few things.

But tonight I feel better. After a very bad week, I am ready to move on. Gus is outside. Roxie is inside, with a bone in her mouth. I am watching TLC and about to pull out the knitting.

By golly, life can keep throwing things at me. I'll keep getting up.

But I may have a little wine and chocolate while I'm at it. Alone. With the dogs.

GOT THE COMPUTER BACK

2006-10-16T20:00:00.000-05:00

And there's no time for blogging!

There's time for e-mail! And Instant Messaging!And finding knitting websites! And lounging on the couch with Roxie!

Hooooooooo-Rayyyyyy!

Augustus

2006-10-07T23:34:00.000-05:00

This is the pretty boy that my roomate and I are fostering now:

Isn't he the most gorgeous thing? A fawn doberman!

Animals make me happy.

Disappointment

2006-10-04T22:19:00.000-05:00

The hardest thought for me is the thought of disappointing someone. I have always wanted to be a star person--to be one of the really special ones.

For a while I tried to be ordinary. It was like a breath of fresh air.

But ordinary is disappointing. So I'm trying to be special again. And I can't do it. Maybe I tried so hard to be ordinary that I lost my special-ness.

Or I just need to take my medication.

I'm Never Ever Going to Graduate

2006-09-27T17:13:00.000-05:00

My main frustration today: apparently I'm going to be a student FOREVER. And never a teacher. It makes me very very very sad.

At least I can knit on the side.

Mean Kids

2006-09-25T22:06:00.000-05:00

Kids are so mean. As a teacher's aide, I don't know what to do about this. If I hear a comment, I can say, "Hey, don't say that," but all they learn is to say it more quietly. They always pick on people when they can't defend themselves.

The kid who doesn't speak English is the biggest bully. But how else can he communicate but in the universal language of meanness? There's not really another universal language that fourth graders share.

Friday I had to talk to two of my girls in the hall because one had told the other that she wouldn't be her friend anymore. The friendless is one of my special ed kids, so I stood out in the hall and hugged her and she hugged me so fiercely. I am not all that comfortable with touch for such an extended period of time, but I tried to stand there and hug her back and be present. She hugged and hugged until finally I had to tell her that she was OK, and it was time to go back to class.

My kid, A, wears t-shirts and holey sweatpants a lot. I want to shake his mother. Isn't it enough to be autistic? Does he have to wear weird clothing too?

And one more thing:

2006-09-23T21:55:00.000-05:00

ISN'T SHE THE CUTEST EVER?

And she sits and lets, wait, asks for me to put it on. And she is dry in the rain. And I just love dat dog.

2 Months Down...

2006-09-23T21:51:00.000-05:00

I haven't disappeared. I haven't given up on blogging. I've been busy, though.

I looked in a photo album today that I had titled "Shannah's Life." EVERY SINGLE PICTURE was of my dog. Hmm. What does this say about my life?

We're fostering KITTENS!!! They're very cute and cuddly. Well, that's a lie. They're very cute. Only one is cuddly. The others hide inside the recliner and refuse to come out unless I pull them out. One tried to escape through the window last night.

My computer is still broken, so blogging will continue to be few and far between. But it helps me think to write down, so I will continue!

A Clean Day

2006-07-22T21:38:00.000-05:00

Well, actually most of today was a "dirty day," but that title seemed a bit, um, dirty...

My old place is CLEAN and NEAT and ready for a new person. I have mixed feelings about that. I guess you always do.

I had a great day with my Mommy today. She was so much help with EVERYTHING, from keeping me sane to cleaning out the oven. And she left me with a fully stocked pantry. She deserves an award of some kind. A REALLY big one.

Robinson Crusoe

2006-07-21T20:59:00.000-05:00

Why am I enjoying a story about an 18th Century man stranded on a desert island? Why would I be fascinated with him? I don't even like him, really...

Ah. Classic Literature. "Lit-r-ture" in a snobby British accent, I say.

Knitting Group Tonight

2006-07-19T23:46:00.000-05:00

I love these women. I love how we sit in a circle together, and how we laugh. I love that women have been doing this for CENTURIES, together just like this. Or alone just like me at home. I feel connected that way. Centuries of prayer and thread and everything.

I just need to learn how to spin wool into yarn. I know how to feed and care for the sheep. (well, goats?) So I need to learn to shear, then card, then spin and color and then I will be able to make a sweater completely. I think that might be satisfying...

But it is satisfying, too, to sort through our shawls this evening and give this extra shawl to this person on our prayer list, to assign a shawl to be made for that person, to sit and find time to INTENTIONALLY care about someone particular. There's not much time for that now-a-days.

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On an entirely different note: I'm reading Robinson Crusoe and its really racist. Hmmm....should this be a banned book? Of course I don't believe in banning books, especially this one, sometimes considered the "first novel." But it's tough. We'll see how it plays out...

A Note on Comments

2006-07-18T23:11:00.000-05:00

I know that there has been some trouble with leaving me "comments" on my postings. I changed some settings. So try again! But e-mail me too, so that I can check if they are showing up. If you post and then re-load the page, you should be able to see your comment then. If not, I have NO IDEA, and will e-mail the website to see what's up.

Because, truly, what's the point of having a blog if others can't comment on it? Then I might as well keep a diary and force everyone to read it. Or something. (Well, I'm tired. And a little lack-lustered.)

After a LONG absence...

2006-07-18T22:36:00.000-05:00

Well my computer's broken. BROKEN. Like there's a little blinking question mark. Apparently the darn thing has lost its hard drive. (How do you LOSE a hard drive?) I should be motivated to fix this. Instead I feel like giving up the Internet entirely. I've gone without a phone. I've gone without TV. Heck, I've gone without a computer, too.

But I'm addicted! I can't check all the blogs I read...those knitting sites...environmental news...church politics... I didn't realize how much time I spend on the Internet. (But evidently my friends did. Faries asked me how I was surviving without it. Not well, Faries. Not well.)

Linda moves next week. :-( My love goes with her and the hope that she will be happy in her new place, with lots of peace and quiet. (Or noise if she wants! It's up to her.) I hope living alone is GREAT... and a wink goes with that. At least there will be no Roxie to poop in the path to the dumpster. Good luck, Linda!

ROXIE UPDATE: No pillows eated at the new house yet. No shoes eaten. Roxie has managed to accumulate one ball of barbed grass in her ear, one major ear infection, hundreds of ticks and fleas, and a new leash. Not to mention lots of new friends at the vet's office. I wonder if they have caller ID. I wonder if they have to cast lots on who will answer the phone next. I just give them my name and Roxie's name now. I don't bother with the greeting. They probably already know. I feel like the panicky mother. I shall never be able to have children. One broken bone and I will, seriously, drop DEAD.

KNITTING UPDATE: Well, I have been productive here. Everything's finished on the fun fur and black shawl except the fringe, and it finally has a recipient (the same person that I started it for, but I thought wouldn't want it--she likes it!). I hope that I can get it blessed tomorrow. (My cue to quit typing and go work on it...I'm ignoring the urge.) I actually have the baby blanket FINISHED and ready to deliver. Of course, the baby should be about ready to WALK by now, but at least he'll be warm. I also helped Danielle make a fuzzy blue-and-white hat on the Nifty Knitter. I've started two more projects, too: Tricia's pink shawl and a purple chenille blanket. On the NON-KNITTING CRAFT FRONT: I've started the mural on the wall in my new bedroom (Mom's visit this weekend will speed that process, hopefully). I have painted two silly girly pictures for the bathroom or somewhere else where fluffiness is acceptable (powder room? we don't have one). I helped Carlyn start a quilt.

I seem to be on an art boom. I'm glad. I think I might even sit down to write a story. I read before bed last night. I really don't have THAT much free time. Maybe Roxie's illness is making me stay home more. Maybe I'm losing friends. Oh well. Active hands are happy hands. Or something like that.

I've written several days worth of posts here, so that I should have caught up.

Peter, Paul, and Mary Make a Point Again

2006-07-08T02:31:00.000-05:00

If you could somehow
Pack up your sorrows
And give them all to me,
You would lose them
I know how to use them
Give them all to me.

I know how to use other people's sorrows, but my own seem overwhelming. Why? That doesn't make sense.

I guess since it's 2:30am, I ought to go to bed. I mean, an acne infomercial is on TV. And it's even the one WITHOUT Jessica Simpson. Roxie's snoring. But after going to a move, I'm a bit wired.

And I don't want to go to bed and have to start another day. Today's been good. Can't I just stick with one day?

Un-Packing is WORSE Than Packing

2006-07-07T11:06:00.000-05:00

"A place for everything and everything in its place."

Not so! Too bad I'm not living by myself. I think I could live with piles on the floor.

I did get my pictures hung in my room, so I'm feeling good about that tiny thing. And the bookshelf is filled, and the bathroom is done.

No more yarn! No more books! Ever! (OK, well maybe LESS yarn, LESS books.)

And the Cat Came Back...

2006-07-05T01:16:00.000-05:00

We thought she was a goner, but:
THE CAT CAME BACK!!!

As Dad and I were moving today, the cat I tried to save and then got upset about because I didn't and was a bad animal lover, CAME BACK! She had on a pink flea collar. So she has a home! Or at least a people. She hung out in the back yard meowing at us all day, following us in and out of the back house, in and out of the alley, in and out of the gate. When we left, she was hanging out under the trampoline. I guess Roxie's absence made her come back for a little more loving.

I'm so glad that my interference didn't kill her, and I'd like to think, that, MAYBE, my interference has something to do with her plumpness and her pink flea collar. Hopefully.

Maybe good intententions aren't always bad.

Bumper Sticker

2006-07-05T01:13:00.000-05:00

Too bad closed minds don't come with closed mouths.

And a little bitty note:
I'M MOVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A picture of the puppy Rebecca found today (so cute!):

I think dogs do show up when they think you need them, not when you want them, and not necessarily when YOU think you need them.

Purple Dreams Await Me

2006-07-03T20:03:00.000-05:00

I have a purple room awaiting me (as of last night), and oh I'm so happy! And I move on July 4th.

Hooray! I'm moving from the numbered streets to a lettered street. Movin on up?