WHOLE BOOKS FOR A DIME?

Currently, I'm working on a pair of those awesome slippers I mentioned in the last post. I think I'm going to need more yarn, maybe we can take a ride out this weekend to get it. I live only 2 hours from WEBS :-) I have a GPS, I should just plunk my ass in my car and go myself. Horrible to be so phobic.

Since I've been cleaning out my grandparents apartment in hopes of renting it, MY place has become a shithole. Boxes EVERYWHERE. If this is only a few things from my grandparents' place, I shudder to think what it will look like when we move from this dump.

In any event, the knitting books my grandmother had have been wild. A LOT of patterns, and I do mean A LOT. It's sort of bitter-sweet to look back when the newspaper had a "Chatters" column where knit & crochet patterns were exchanged-my gram has a lot of patterns clipped from newspapers. One upon a time, even magazines like Family Circle, Good Housekeeping and Woman's Day had free patterns as well. Those were the days. I guess it's too much to ask to have a pattern or two when there's more pressing issues in life such as how, when, and where to have sex. I guess I am an odd-ball...sex is overrated, I'd much rather knit any day of the week. No mess to clean up, no sweaty sheets to change and there's something to show for your time.



I was thinking of trying to make a book with the newspaper clippings, sort of like the Griffin & Sabine books. If you've not read those. Griffin & Sabine is a very tactile read. It's a series of letters written back and forth between the two characters. You open envelopes of different sorts on each page and pull out & unfold a "letter" to read. Not sure how I'd do that with knitting patterns but take a look at some of the prices on these books. You couldn't even buy a single pattern for this price today.



I go to get my roots bleached today....this SHOULD be the day I turn totally white. We'll see. He better be less rough and messy than the last time or he's gonna hear about it.

HA! I just saw we can now add video clips. Hmmm, Chris got a clip of me on a coaster this weekend-I'll have to try that later.

Bales of Hay and knitting slippers

Here's a couple of photos of the bale of hay I call hair.




Actually, it's not too bad at all. It is not as damaged or straw like as I remember it being the first time I went this light. The top of my hair is pure snow white-I wish it would just all go pure snow white on its own and be done with it. I'm not sure if the rest of it will get that light next time. He was EXTREMELY rough with me resulting in a lot of breakage. From my left eye in front straight back to my crown is all burned off. There's also a patch beside my left eye that he was so rough with he literally pulled my hair off. Someone doesn't want me blond? What am I to think? He was very sloppy too.he ruined a concert tee shirt I had with bleach, he got as much bleach on the floor, smock he made me wear and the mirror as he got on my hair. SHOWERED me when he shampooed all that crap out of my hair. Too bad I like it so light, I think it looks good and you can't even see the spot on top that is thinning anymore. You'd think in this day and age there'd be pills we could take to change hair colour. Minimal to no damage and be as simple as that. How hard can it be? There's just serious issues I seem to have with hairdressers. I don't seem to get on too well with them. I just can't win.

On the knitting front....I'm waiting for some wool to come in the mail so I can knit the most amazing pair of slippers ever. I can't wait to do these and show them to y'all! I'll wait for the spousal unit to get home so I can go to Boston and get the needles. I don't own DPN's past size 10.5's. He likes to go to Boston with me, I'd rather be there now so I could get home and do what I want.

I've been blogging how long now? I've had the same layout since I started. I need to figure out how to alter the template and do funky backgrounds and what now. I love basic black but I'm bored with it now.

Have I mentioned I cannot seem to get past Row 32 of that dragon lace shawl? I've started that 4 or 5 times now. I put it aside, won't try it for a while now.

Feeling: a lot of anxiety

Listening to: Mean Man by W.A.S.P. (this has become my new theme song)

Once more into the bleach

I finally found a new hair stylist who said he can do what I want. I go Thursday to get my roots done but he is doing my whole head so I'll be a total blond (that doesn't sound good! LOL!) and no more bloody foils. I told him I want to be pure white...weather he can achieve that I'm not sure. I'm not too keen on his attitude...maybe it's a guy thing but I don't like guys doing my hair. I think men turn out better with women doing their hair and vice versa. I'm getting nervous now that I'm going to end up with a lot of breakage which shouldn't happen if he stays on me watching like a hawk. I will not end up like I want on Thursday...if he takes me up to white, it'll be a slow, gradual process as my hair can fry off but in any event, I should appear much lighter once all the roots are done. That darkens it and makes me unhappy I think. I just wish I could figure out why this sudden 'need' to go pure snow white. My hair already knots up something fierce as it is when we ride roller coasters and I still have some natural hair. I can imagine when I'm totally bleached. OMG! LOL!

Sometimes I wish my hair wasn't thinning on top, I'd love to take a break from the bleach and dye my hair dark, to the same colour as Katharine McPhee's hair which is slightly darker than my natural colour was...oh how many years ago did that see the light of day? LOL! The darker my hair is, the more noticeable the thinning spot on top is which is why I keep it blond...the lighter my hair, the more invisible the thinning spot is.

On to knitting news....I think I'm going to abandon Rowan's Seahorse sweater. I like it but not enough to keep knitting it-my friend Kyra sent me a link last night for a new book coming out that has this sweater in it:




I love this so much so I think I'm going to rip Seahorse back and rewind the yarn into balls and wait for this book to come out and knit this. I'll have to order about 10 more balls which means the dye lot will probably be off some but that's ok...the yarn fades in the wash. I wish I could get hold of the designer to ask how much yarn it takes.

I guess this means I can go grab some sock yarn and get going on some new fall socks in the meantime LOL! I have a funky slipper pattern on the way to me too...can't WAIT to do those!

I also need to work on that dragon shawl...I've had nothing but trouble with one row. I love a challenge but this is proving to be to difficult and I usually don't have all that much trouble with hard stuff. It's the easy stuff that throws me.

New Socks

I was scanning some blogs and found these socks over on Criminy Jickets and thought I'd give them a whirl. I love the J-Walkers but wanted to try another pattern for a change. They knit up really fast but unfortunately, the cable pattern doesn't show up well in this yarn. It looks nice in person. The yarn was, I believe, Mountain Colours' Wildflower.






There's another cable sock I am dying to try but I just sent for yarn for a Dragon Shawl that should be coming any day. I don't know where I'm going to put the shawl. Maybe hang it on the wall since with my cat, it's a dangerous proposition to drape a lace shawl on the sofa. I may be biting off more than I can chew with this since I have never tried lace before and this looks quite involved.

The Fall issue of Interweave Knits arrived in my post box yesterday. Ummm, I'm officially asking that this autumn extends until next July as there's FAR too many things in there I want to knit. First of which is the Cobblestone sweater from Brooklyn Tweed. I've always loved what I've seen him do on his blog so it'll be a treat to get to knit one of his designs.

Lots of other stuff going on that I don't feel like getting into but we're going to go ride coasters again in 3 weeks. This is a record for us going to NJ and man it feels good!

Happy Knitting!

Rail Riding!

Wow, it's been forever since I last posted. I've been knitting a bit here and there. It's the pattern "Seahorse" from the Rowan Denim book.It is a beautiful pattern but I'm finding it more difficult than Patrick LOL! GO figure. I always did say I had an easier time with the harder stuff than I did the things that should be easy.


I was also told by my doctor that I have a hernia. Wonderful...just one more thing for me to obsess over. It's small, he says, and he didn't seem too concerned with it yet but eventually I'm going to need surgery and I'm not thrilled with the idea. I'm a wuss that way-this is why men don't get pregnant. LOL! Women are stronger.

I'm still writing erotica, have had several stories published and was asked to write a story for a publication coming out next year. That'll give me time to develop a story I've had in my head for months.

Chris and I went to the amusement park last month. Finally got over my fear of hypercoasters. It was never so much the height that scared me so much as the LONG, SLOW trip UP the lift hill. We met a friend of mine there and first ride of the day was on Nitro...230 feet tall, 66 degree drop. I dunno what the hell I waited so long to ride it for...it was pure heaven and the lift hill wasn't as bad as I had imagined. Here is a shot of us on it...this is taken at the bottom of the first drop. No, those two kids next to Chris are not my friends, I dunno who they are. My friend was there with her son earlier and had to leave.

I'm in the black t shirt with the pink BC Rich guitars logo on it. Chris is next to me with his eyes tightly closed LOL! I'm almost ready to do Nitro with my hands in the air. Here's a point of view video of it..I did not shoot it. NITRO

Then we rode El Toro , one of the largest wooden roller coasters on the East Coast and currently the steepest drop on ANY wooden coaster in the world-not sure how long that record will last but this thing is fast, intense and WAY too much fun. I am now addicted to step drops. While Nitro is smooth as glass and a very gentle ride-EL Toro is just as smooth but is literally like riding a bull...it has MASSIVE ejector air. Your butt is not in your seat from the first drop until you hit the intense twister finale.

Here is us on El Toro...

We're going back in 2 weeks and have one more coaster left to conquer, Kingda Ka. That'll be a piece of cake. Can't wait to get back and spend all day on the coasters again.

I also started playing guitar...again. I bought myself another one to complete the set I had started. This is a BC Rich Bich....10 strings. I was never able to get this guitar back in the 80's...something always happened when I ordered it. 20 years late but better late than never. Ain't she purdy?

Hope you all are enjoying your summer....more later...

TOYAH!

I just saw this on You Tube. God I loved Toyah....she was great! The 80's were so much fun!

I can't sleep

I thought since I cannot get to sleep due to noise round here, I'd make an appearance on my blog. I just took a Xanax which will hopefully knock me out, or at least zone me out enough that I can fall asleep. This is the 4th night I've had to take one to get to sleep and I don't like doing this. They were not given to me to sleep-I am going to need these during the summer for my nerves and I'm on my last refill. I'll have to see next month if my doctor is still willing to give me more. I hope he is...I'm not keen on the idea of turning back into the psycho lunatic I was before January. The Xanax has stopped me from annihilating furniture and expensive electronic equipment.

A few weeks ago I ordered more Rowan Denim yarn for another sweater from their Denim book. It arrived this afternoon but I was running around like a madman I didn't get to dig into it. I got the darkest blue, I think it's called Tennessee? I now need to make up my mind between the two sweaters I got it for. Seahorse is one and Sheringham is the other.


I'm still writing. I'm in the process of finishing up another story. It's a bit slower going now than it was in my 20's....I can't shut the world out here. When I was living at home I could just close my door and that was it. I don't have that luxury here. There is no door to close. When I move I will make sure I have a room to write that has a door I can close. That scene in The Shining when Jack flips out and tells Wendy whenever she hears his typing to stay way really isn't that far off from the truth.

There has to be a happy balance between creativity and life...I just don't know how to strike it anymore. I used to...it's just not working out anymore. My life has become too damn structured. I live by rigid schedules, something I used to shake my head at my dad for doing-I've become worse than my dad ever was as far as that goes. I don't even fart if it's not scheduled in.

Happy Knitting...;-)

Sexy & Romantic glitter graphics from Sexi Luv.com

HI

Still alive and knitting...writing a short story too and listening to Metallica at the moment. I thought this was fun:

45 of the most random things you probably never needed to know about someone
whats your name spelt backwards?:	Yrrej
What did you do last night?:	Worked on a short story
The last thing you downloaded onto your computer?:	A pic of a hot guy...wanna see? :-)
Have you ever licked a 9 volt battery?:	Of course....hasn't everone at one time or another?
Last time you swam in a pool?:	Bloody hell, 10 or so years ago?
What are you wearing?:	Otomix sneakers, Levis 501'a and a DIO concert T shirt
How many cars have you owned?:	5, I'm on my 5th
Type of music you dislike most?:	Rap
Are you registered to vote?:	Yes-why I bother I dunno-they do what they want anyway.
Do you have cable?:	No, DirecTV, I hate cable.
What kind of computer do you use?:	Apple Macintosh baby! PPC G5
Ever made a prank phone call?:	As a wee lad, sure
You like anyone right now?:	Yes
Would you go bungee jumping or sky diving?:	I did bungee jump once...that was enough.
Furthest place you ever traveled?:	Mexico
What's your favorite comic strip?:	Rose is Rose, Fox Trott was a close second
Do u know all the words to the national anthem?:	Yes
Shower, morning or night?:	Someteims morning, sometimes night-sometiems both
Best movie you've seen in the past month?:	Hmm, The Night Listener
Favorite pizza toppings?:	Garlic and anchovies
Chips or popcorn?:	Popcorn
What cell phone provider do you have?:	None yet tho possibly Cingular when Apple's iPhone comes out
Have you ever smoked peanut shells?:	Pardon me? Is this like that joke of smoking banana peels to get high?
Have you ever been in a beauty pageant?:	No
Orange Juice or apple?:	Both please ;-) But not together
Who were the last people you sat at lunch with?:	I dunno, strangers last Friday in Cambridge
favorite chocolate bar?:	Hershey's special dark
Who is your longest friend and how long?:	Paula...22 years, 23 years and counting
Last time you ate a homegrown tomato?:	last summer
Have you ever won a trophy?:	yes
Favorite arcade game?:	MARBLE MADNESS!
Ever ordered from an infomercial?:	I dont think so, no
Sprite or 7-UP?:	Ginger Ale (can ya tell I'm difficult?)
Have you ever had to wear a uniform to school/work?:	Yes-it didn't last long
Last thing you bought at Walgreens?:	I don't go there. I prefer Duane Reade (told ya I love NY)
Ever thrown up in public?:	Once, yes. You're not a true metal head till you have
Would you prefer being a millionaire or finding true love?:	I can't have both? True love
Do you believe in love at first sight?:	yes
SPONGEBOB OR JIMMY NEUTRON?:	WHO?
Did you have long hair as a young kid?:	No. That's why I refuse to cut it now as an adult
What message is on your voicemail machine?:	None, I erased the answer phone this AM
Where would you like to go right now?:	Silly question...New York City
Whats the name of your pet?:	Midnight
What kind of back pack do you have, and what's in it?:	I don't have one
What do you think about most?:	Guys, clothes, Guys, roller coasters, Guys, sex , movies, Guys, did I mention Guys?
Take this survey | Find more surveys | MySpace Surveys Bzoink - The Original Survey Site

Erotica...(or a dirty story depending on your perspective)

I went to Boston Friday early afternoon to look for an Elizabeth Zimmermann book, "Knitting Workshop" which I picked up along with a
hank of green Mountain Colours wool to make another pair of fingerless mitts. it felt so good to get out again that I jumped back on the train and headed over to Cambridge for lunch. I had to spread out a magazine to dive into as I *hate* eating alone.

Anyway, on the subway ride back, where I had to switch trains I saw this guy walking down the platform. Umm, you know the line in the Eagles song Life In The Fast Lane "He was a hard-headed man, he was brutally handsome." Well...that was this dude-BRUTALLY handsome. I'd peg him in his mid 20', no older than 26 I guess. So he's been on my mind. I woke up yesterday morning and did something I've not done in a LONG time. I sat my butt down and wrote a short story....actually it wrote itself. I used to write erotica back in the 90's off and on. I'd like to do more of it, it's fun but how many hours are in a day? Where do I apply for an extension...27 or 28 hours may be more what I need.

I've been thinking of joining myspace as I saw there's a plethora of gay erotica writers there...do I *really* need to do this? It might get me and keep me writing but do I honestly need to take on one more internet thing? This is one thing I guess I could go do in Boston...grab my Powerbook and go sit somewhere in the city and write smut LOL! I just cannot bring myself to knit in public :-(

I do have to say it feels good...you'd think I won the lottery but getting that short story out sent me over a cloud. This is what I need...the creativity is starting to flow.

And what are the chances this dude is reading this? Slim to none but on the off chance you are...you had a brown leather jacket on and a coloured iPod (I'm not giving it all away-gotta make sure it's you, don't I? *GG*) I was banging my head to Guns & Roses-I stood right in front of where you sat and saw you checkin' out the Borders bag I was carrying- Orange Line out of Boston Friday afternoon about 3. Thank you for the inspiration-your eyes are incredible....you are HOT dude! Contact me!!!

We're going to my dad's for Easter dinner. We so rarely eat together anymore. My mom had the whole family every Sunday. Now that there's only my dad left....Umm, I'm not going down that road right now.

Bored....

OK....It's Saturday night and I'm sitting here listening to W.A.S.P.'s 2004's effort "The Neon God Pt. 2: The Demise" I had planned to knit but I'm waiting for yarn to come for another Denim sweater. The yarn is on back order and expected in a couple weeks max. Boo Hoo! Yesterday also arrived a new pair of contact lenses so I think I now have every colour of the Ciba Radiance line. Autumn is my favourite, Sunrise is awesome too. Eden doesn't show much at all on me and I'm not sure about Moonlight. Sometimes it did and other times not so much when I had them before.

I started writing short stories again and wanted to write but it's after 11 now and I'm not sure I want to stay up until 3 AM writing.

I got bloody mad Thursday at my hair stylist. She did my roots as always but for the past few visits seems more and more distracted. For one thing, the cell phone needs to be locked away somewhere not in the shop-there's always a little too much chatter and not enough concentration. When you're putting bleach on my hair, I kinda expect full attention on my hair, not a phone call or who is being stood up or the details on a sofa and its cost. This time I paid for it dearly...my hair looks like someone pissed on it. I have NEVER been this brassy and I've been bleaching it since I was 21-almost 20 years. She insists it's platinum-it's light but not quite that light. It's golden-I don't like it. I went to see her the next day and straight away, "I did exactly what I was supposed to.' Umm, no not really-you didn't leave it on long enough! Long story short, she got my cheque, ripped it up and threw it at me. She absolutely refused to take ANY responsibility which to me showed she knew she fucked up. This is MY fault? I don't think so. I wasn't looking for my money back, what I wanted was for her to say "We'll correct it next time." but she's insisting I got what I wanted.

No...I've been asking all along for rock & roll hair and I don't get it. How bloody hard can it be? That's ALL I WANT, I just want my rock & roll hair. Wild, unkempt platinum blond hair. I can sorta manage what I want on my own but I can't bleach it...I can't see in back to paint the crap on. So now I have to find a new place. Actually, I may have. I stopped in a mall (UGH!) and asked if they could help. They said no, not right now-I'd end up with major breakage and hair loss but they did ask why this woman didn't put a toner in it. [shrugging shoulders] She seems to think she can handle all tones of blond with bleach alone, I dunno. Usually she is spot on, this time she was too worried about other crap. She's bloody lucky my hair didn't burn off but that's ok. She wants to throw away a 17 year relationship, fine with me. I've decided I think I'm done with foils too...I want my whole head done from now on.

I've been sorely tempted to colour it purple again, that would take care of the problem nicely-I've got the manic panic colours but I've got my eye on someone and don't want to scare him. He doesn't know me yet and I can be pretty wild when the mood strikes. And I like the blond, I don't WANT it purple. Not all of it anyway. Instead, I've been forced to wear my top hat out which I've never been comfortable with. I like it but I just don't think hats are me. Funny how bad hair changes your mind and you adapt ;-)

This photo is a few years old but I got bitten by the *MOON* bug ;-) I decided to mess with my photo. I'm debating weather I want to be bothered with the maintenance of going snow white like Johnny Rod of W.A.S.P. fame. Google him-he was HOT!!!!!! God I loved him. He's a paramedic in PA now. Hmmm.....he can work on me any time but I don't think I got what he's after :-/ It looked so good on him but it's such an incredible PITA to maintain.
I was platinum before-the upkeep grew old REAL fast but it looks so bloody good. Well, it did when I was 21.

I'm rambling now...have a good night ;-)

Thank you and I'm sorry

Thank you all for the wonderful comments on Patrick. I've tried to post comments to your blogs-Moon and Sue and Blogger isn't letting me long in. If I try the new account it cycles endlessly on the password and if I try my old account, it tells me I've switched to the new blogger.

I think I need to get away from this and go some place else to blog. Blogger screwed itself but good. It never ceases to amaze me how they can fuck up a good thing in the blink of an eye. Commenting is messed up, spell check does not work-did they even bother to check this all out before they forced it upon us?

In meantime, I've ordered more Denim yarn and am tossing two designs around from the same book Patrick came from. Not sure which one I'll do-both require the same amount of yarn. One is called Seahorse and the other is the very last one in the Denim book...the very casual V neck with the garter st. borders.

I started knitting a Nancy Bush sock...I've got about half a "Friday harbour" sock done (I think that's the name of it?) and it's going to be too small to fit my foot. I'll rip it tomorrow maybe.

I started a "100 things about me" and am about half done with it. maybe I'll have it done for whatever I end up with a new blog.

Other than that....I'm just lusting after one of these cars. I want a Lotus Esprit. Pity I can't drive a manual. I'm thinking of learning just so I can rent one of these this summer. Im tired of drooling over it-I want to drive it before I become too old and lok as ridiculous behind the wheel as the white haired grandpas driving Corvettes. I'm not all that far away from that age bracket. YIKES! YOu can see this baby in action best in Basic Instinct. Julia Roberts also drove one in the beginning of Pretty Woman. Sharon Stone looked better tho ;-)

Patrick is done

Patrick is finally done. Aside from a 6 or 8 week detour where I was wrapped up playing Second Life every bloody waking moment, it didn't take all that long. This is the best picture I could get. Started Oct. '06, finished March of '07, would have been February if not for Second Life.

All I can say is this is such a satisfying achievement. It was a lot of fun to know and certainly keeps you on your toes. If I did it again, I may make it an inch or two shorter. it's supposed to be this long but it just makes me think of the girls in the 80's who wore sweater dresses, tights, spiked heels and a real thick belt round the waist. A great look...but I am not a female nor do I wish to be ;)

Can't decide weather to make another cotton sweater for summer or order some wool for a saddle shoulder gem from Knit Picks. I'm looking back through some 80's knitting books too (I can hear the groans LOL!) and may do one of those just for fun. There was nothing about the 80's I didn't love-the clothes, the hair, the music-everything...was the best. Hasn't been another decade that has come close to the fun of the 80's.

Gosh I look grumpy. I'm really not that grumpy LOL! I was very happy when this was taken.

Still Alive

I'm still alive LOL! Today I was determined to knit and stayed the hell off Second Life.

At 7,58 PM tonight, just as my DVD of Basic Instinct ended, I cast off the last stitch of the main knitting on Patrick. WOOT! WOOT!

Tomorrow I will tie off the loose joins and stitch the one shoulder,wash it and see how it shrinks up.Then all that is left is to knit the patterned collar and I can wear it! WOO HOO!!!!!

I think while I've got the enthusiasm, I'm going to put in the animated movie Flushed Away and knit a square so I an shrink it with the sweater. This yarn does shrink up quite a bit according to the instructions. I need a washed and dried block for repairs if I need it.

LOL! Blogger still can't get its shit together with the spell checker. Doesn't work. Hmm.....WACH AUF BLOGGER!

Goodies!

No, I've not fallen off the face of the earth...I'm just firmly entrenched in Second Life. In any event, we got some horrid weather. The weather people were on about this big storm only we didn't get quite so much a storm as we did a big, frozen pile of ice. It was mainly sleet that has frozen and is bloody heavy....too thick to chop through.

Somehow the postman managed to make it through and delivered this box of goodies to my door. After all these years, I've finally got to hear and see the Goddess of Knitting, Elizabeth Zimmermann in action. I only have watched one episode so far but it's FAB! Well worth every penny.

I should be done with and wearing Patrick but seeing as how I live in Second Life when I'm not in Real Life....I've not got much knitting done. Hence, I cannot attempt these Fair Isle mittens until I am. I'm going to see if I can sit down with the the knitting podcasts and get some work done. It's so close..

SO...Bis folgendes Mal (Until Next Time)

I apologise to any Germans if I said that wrong...please tell me the proper way. I'm trying to learn the language.

Second Life madness

Hello....Man did I ever step into an addiction. Valium holds nothing on Second Life. I had heard about it on a podcast last weekend and Friday night thought "Hmm, let me see what this is all about." Now, I played video games with some buddies when I was a teen. I wouldn't ever say I was addicted to them-I got frustrated easily and that always seemed to keep it in check.

Did it shock my ass when I found I was losing hours in Second Life. I sat down Saturday and the whole bloody day was gone before I knew it. Huh? What do you mean it's supper time? I just put breakfast dishes in the dishwasher. Holy Crap this game is fun!!!!

If you click the link and check it out, just be forewarned....it can be EXTREMELY addictive. I think I would have had my sweater, Patrick, done by now had it not been for Second Life. I still have a bit more than half to go on the final sleeve. I'm going to attempt to take my ass away from this computer because I cannot sit down anymore without wanting to go into SL and poke about. It's just too damn cool for words! Maybe I'll post my avatar, I've grown very fond of him and am rather protective of him. Is that completely daft or what?

Anyway, hope you all are knitting and being productive. I'm going to see if I can't build knitting needles and yarn in Second Life. I'm sure it's possible to knit there-I'm just too new yet to figure out how. ROTFLOL!

I switched to the new blogger....apparently the spell checker is not working.

Templates

Somehow I managed to sign in FINALLY under my old Blogger. I refuse to switch to the new one but in meantime...if anybody understands how to change templates and doesn't mind helping me, can you please leave a comment so I can get in touch with you? I'd like to change this before I'm forced to switch to the new blogger at which point, I'm most likely going to delete this and disappear. I lost a lot of readers anyway when I stopped knitting over the summer. LOL! Who can knit when it's 90 degrees and just as humid? In any event, I refuse to open yet another new account just to blog. If my current one I set this up with isn't good enough, then that's Bloggers problem, not mine. That is insane anyway-I'd like to know exactly what Google gets out of this to be forcing the use of their account to remian with blogger. I hardly ever use google anyway. My favourite search is clusty.com and my second favourite is ask.com. I never will understand why they have to go screw with something that donesn't need fixing in the first place.

Hope you guys had a good day. I wasted mine in front of this infernal machine instead of knitting like I had planned to do.

Currently playing in iTunes ~ Erotic City...Prince & Sheila E.

Desk Mess

I was looking over some blogs and saw this over on Sam's blog and thought why not. This is the mess I call my desk. It's not always been this way but I think this shows how bad my mental state got. I've been wanting to organise it but since this is upstairs and nobody really sees it, it's not a high priority since I've been getting the downstairs straightened out. Man, this is embarrassing. I'm not this much of a slob.

I saw a really nice computer armoire at a furniture store last year that I'd love to get but not until I move into a nice home in a nice neighbourhood. I'm done spending in this house. It's kind of a sin to hide a Macintosh like that since they're just so cool to look at.

Right then-after seeing some of your blogs, it seems colour work is the in thing right now so I went and downloaded this Northern Lights Mitten pattern from Knit Picks. I just downloaded it and maybe I'll order the yarn next week. Its not really been mitten weather and I don't really wear mittens (fingerless mitts, yeah) but I'd like to get back into colour work since you have inspired me. I've done stranded work before (my Zebra Sweater) and it is not nearly as bad as intarsia. I only wish I had done an argyle sweater first as I highly doubt I will ever again do intarsia after doing a Kaffe Fassett pattern. Once was more than enough for me. There goes my classic argyle.

Do you suppose they'll discover scents are carcinogenic? LOL! Everything else seems to be. I say this only because scent has a very powerful impact on me. I use Nantucket Natural Oils a lot. I was simmering his Sweet Jasmine oil tonight while I was working on the start of the last sleeve of Patrick. There's other oils too. Not to mention I'll spray my room or sheets with stuff that takes me back to different times in my life. Often I'll squirt a spritz or two of a perfume my mom would wear into the room. I dunno, I just find scent a very comforting thing. I need to get some honeysuckle oil to simmer. My grandparetns had a lotof that in their yard and I don't think I've smelled that since I was a we lad-I only remember it attracted every bee in the tri-state area but boy did it smell nice.

I guess I'll quit here for tonight. I had been listening to 4 or 5 back to back episodes of Chub Creek today and had sort of planned to do an audio entry for a change but wasn't quite sure how to go about it and I felt kinda stupid sitting here talking to myself so I did a normal entry instead.

Currently playing in iTunes ~ Midnight Syndicate The 13th Hour

Happy Imbolc

By am I behind schedule. Anyway, as the wheel slowly turns, I want to wish you a happy Imbolc.

have a lot of house work to do and managed to finish the first sleeve of the sweater. One more to go and it'll be Happy Snoopy Dance for this lil witch!

Half a sleeve, home stretch

I've been knitting full steam ahead on this sweater. Got half a sleeve done in the past couple of days. It's funny, the memories that go along with these. This sweater will be forever reminding me of Lime & Violet and Chub Creek as that's what I mainly listened to while knitting it. A few episodes of OZ here and there but mainly podcasts kept me company. I still can't believe how fast the knitting went on this. I was convinced when I first started it that I'd be knitting this till doomsday but once you get a rhythm going, it really sort of flies along and it's just too interesting watching the cables move along.

I need to go buy some sock yarn. My doctor totally freaks when he sees the socks I wear. Mainly it's been the two pairs of Jaywalkers I've worn. The green ones and the multi-colour candy coloured ones. Since I have one more appointment in May for a complete physical, I'll need to get and make one more pair of Jaywalkers. I'm debating weather to knit them on a size larger needle as they are a royal pain in the ass to get on my foot-then again, I don't think they were meant for a man's foot but who cares LOL! They're cool socks! And so far, of the three or four pairs of socks I've knit, the Jaywalkers show off the yarn the best.

Went to the eye doctor yesterday, made out OK there for now. I am so damn tired of doctors now, it seems that's all I did January was go see doctors. Last one up is the friggin' dentist. They scare me most of all, financially and anxiety wise. That dentist office smell and those torture tools just really wig me out.

I spent 90 minutes getting a copper kettle polished up this morning. I had let it really get nasty...just hadn't been feeling all that great the past couple years...that old "FTW" attitude. Now that I'm feeling better, I decided to get it clean. I'm so happy I've got a shiny copper tea kettle on my stove again. I never thought that could be saved...lots of elbow grease and 90 minutes was all it took. I love copper, even if it is a royal PITA to keep shiny.

Back to my regularly scheduled life

Wow, what to say, a lot has sort of gone on over the past week. I guess first & foremost is I finally got my butt to a doctor on Tuesday of last week. Awesome guy, someone you can actually talk to who doesn't have a God complex. Very down to earth and reasonable guy. We talked a bit, he did some blood work and put me on Xanax. WHAT A DIFFERENCE! I feel like a totally new man and no longer at the mercy of my nerves. I haven't felt this normal in over 4 years and feel like I'm finally getting my life back on track. I have to go again this coming Tuesday for a follow up and then again 1 May for a complete physical.

Knitting-wise, I started a pair of Log Cabin socks with the cashmere. Ripped it out after one sock as it was too large and just generally too floppy-had no body and I knew I wasn't going to like it. It was sinfully soft but just not quite right for a pair of socks. I guess I'll just forge ahead on Patrick and get that done.

I'm all caught up with Lime & Violet...they are, without a doubt, one of the best teams out there-I love 'em! Now there's only Chub Creek (in my podcast links) to catch up on.

That's really all that's been going on-I've been trying to get some organising done since I've not done a whole lot since I had been feeling so volatile and just had a general "Who Cares" attitude.

Being that it's supposed to be dreary and rainy, I'm going to park in front of the devil box and knit all day :-)

Have a great Sunday!

The Spring Winter day

Holy Crap...it was almost 70 degrees yesterday-this is January....it's not normal. While I'm not asking for snow, cold weather would be nice. I've not gotten to make any soup this year. I'm one of those weird people that won't make soup unless it's cold. There's a movie I've been wanting to watch too but it sorta requires some cold weather to really watch it properly. There's just some movies you watch over the winter that you don't watch over the summer and vice versa, you know?

I spent the all of yesterday winding that infernal jade sapphire yarn into balls. It took about 2 1/2 Twilight Zone episodes to wind each hank into a ball. I have never seen a hank so messed up....winding in and out of itself, it started to go one way then would double back on itself. WTF? I will be writing to them tomorrow. I now have 5 balls wound-two words NEVER AGAIN. I didn't want to use it for socks thinking it was too special but after that, they are SO getting make into Log Cabin socks....Besides, it's been so warm and not really scarf of mitten weather.

My amaryllis bloomed too the other day. My mom always had these around, I guess I got mine too late to bloom for Christmas. Anyway, it's pretty. I heard what I thought was my cat jumping off a table or something. It was the damn flower that tipped over. I'd always read they have a tendency to tip but never had one that actually did. Mine did. One flower is all cut up now but at least the stalk didn't break. There's another stalk that's a bit smaller ready to bloom. I'm glad I got pics before it tipped.

Have been getting some laughs listening to Lime & Violet. I'm caught up to episode 13. They're awesome! Also finally subscribed to Chub Creek after listening to Brenda Dayne talk about him so much. His show is cool.

Winding Woes

Has anybody else experienced big time tangle issues when using a 'high end' yarn? I set out today to wind some super luxurious cashmere into balls to make another pair of Log Cabin Socks (Note to self-post pictures!) for myself. Today being the first day we've seen snow this year and being that I'm stuck inside waiting for fish eggs that were supposed to be in my original order I was supposed to get Thursday which came minus one jar of said caviar and I'm the putz waiting for a delivery that UPS does not deliver on Saturdays.

ANYWAY....my nerves have about had it and I'm about to set fire to this cashmere yarn. I won't mention any names, I think you can figure out what yarn I'm talking about as I raved about it a few posts back. The yarn is nice, HOWEVER the experience is more than the end product to me...it begins with the hank, proceeds to the ball winding, then to the knitting and finally the end product. This super luxurious cashmere yarn is nothing I'll be blowing money on again, it's crap as far as I'm concerned. I'd rather be handling Red Hart yarn...yes, I said RED HART. This particular brand of cashmere is EXTREMELY overpriced and unabashedly over-rated to the Nth power.

At first, when I made fingerless mitts with this, I had the same problem but thought perhaps it was just a hank or two that was bad....Now I see it's not just a hank or two, it's the whole damn lot.

I'm going to attempt to make heads and tails of this knotted, tangled mess they have the audacity to call a hank. I'll tell ya what I call it...cashmere or no cashmere, this is what you call a Hunk O' Junk! I may or may not end up with ashes, depending on how long I can stall my nerves.

Can I get my Valium now?

2.04 PM ~ My nerves did get the better of me. This is what's left after I cut it up to confetti with some nice, sharp cooking shears. These shears go through yarn even cleaner than they cut throgh chicken bones. Too bad I'm going to the doctor in a little over a week or I'd go take some Serax and get in bed and read the rest of the day. If he does blood work and finds Serax in my blood, there's no way he'll ever give me Valium so I gotta be a good boy and suffer a little longer. I fear I've got a brain chemistry imbalance :-(

Morpheus says:

Knitting and podcasting and stuff

Hmm, lesse...I want new stuff! I should be happy since I now have an almost complete set of the Brittany needles I've coveted since last year and I'm real happy knitting with them but I think I want to try a pair of Lantern Moon needles just because they look nice. Not quite as nice as the Brittanys but nice! I also think these square needles look intriguing and I want to try a pair. Not sure they'd be all that comfortable? Just something new to try.

I've been busily knitting away on Patrick. I think maybe this photo will show the detail a bit better, it's just so enormous at this stage that it's difficult to get the centre panel of diamonds to show up. While knitting, I found myself all caught up with my favourite podcast, Cast-On.

I discovered I need to keep a notebook by my side LOL! Brenda has such great content that I'm quickly filling up the chart for Patrick with notes on new podcasts, songs she plays, or other stuff she mentions. One such podcast is Sticks & String. It's done by a guy named David Reidy from Australia. I have a couple of episodes before I'm caught up with him and he'll not be doing another episode until the end of January. Check his cast out....it's really very good!

Another podcast I found, I think via Brenda Dayne, is the first video podcast on knitting I've ever seen Let's Knit2gether This is so cool! You have to check it out. It's nice where knitting is a visual thing and you can see what is going on.


Right then, that's about it on the knitting front. I was startled awake about 2.30 AM by the start of a panic attack so I jumped out of bed, got a handle on it before it got a handle on me and I think I'm going to settle on the sofa now and watch one of my favourite movies for a bit.

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas, Happy Yule or whatever it is you celebrate :-)

Finished!

I got the back of Patrick done tonight, and what a feeling of accomplishment. I spent the day listening to Brenda Dayne while knitting. It feels like spending the afternoon with a good friend, she just has a very comforting way about her.

Anyway, this is the correct length...this yarn is supposed to shrink up considerably in length and you have to wash & dry it in a clothes dryer before sewing it together. Let's hope it does shrink up as it should else I'm gonna have to find me an 80's style girl who can pull it off with a pair of tights and a big, chunky belt.

I'm almost sorry I didn't make this in a wool instead of cotton. Perhaps one day I'll re-knit it in wool-I think it'd look wonderful in a heathered green.

Took nine and a quarter balls to make the back.

On another note, we went and had dinner with my cousin and her husband last evening. It was nice. I haven't seen them in 20 years and never really spent any time with them. It was great to spend time with them and talk. We need to do it more often. They live out in the middle of nowhere which was nice in a sense. You could see stars in the sky, they have deer that run around there, that's how rural it is. No street lights. Her husband took the four of us to see some Christmas lights which was nice. I haven't done that since I was a little boy with my grandparents.

The ride back home, though. OMG...I'm questioning moving now. Maybe it's too rural but it was pitch black, no street lights and we're driving having no clue where the hell we were going and I'm having to do deep breathing and think happy thoughts (roller coasters) to prevent myself from freaking out BIG TIME in the car. I told Chris maybe I can't do this....and that perhaps it may be that we're stuck in the city and I just find a doctor who just prescribes Valium without a problem. I really don't think I can handle that, as much as I want to get the hell out of here, I had a big problem last night. I dunno what the hell is wrong with me. I guess that dashes any romantic notions I had of finding a little cottage in the Scottish Highlands. :-(

ANYWAY....1 piece down, three more to go on Patrick. I wish the pattern showed up better in this photo. Maybe if I get one in the daylight rather than a flash. It's really striking when you see it in person.

Log Cabin Socks done

I finished them Monday or Tuesday. I'd post a picture but have to wait until the spousal unit gets them for Christmas and tries them on before I get a picture.

I'm tossing around the idea of making a pair for myself in Jade Sapphire Cashmere but I'm not sure I want to use the yarn for socks. I don't know WHAT I want to use it for. I made a pair of fingerless mittens, I just am not sure if I want to use cashmere for socks. My very first pair of socks are kinda ruined...the toe area has felted and gotten very stiff. I guess maybe I wear them too much.

Have been busily knitting on Patrick tho I'm getting nervous it's going to be too large. My nerves are shot so I'm not even going to think of that at the moment.

Does it feel like Christmas? It doesn't to me...not sure if that's my nerves or the fact it's too goddamned tropical? I dunno.

Not having a good night but then, that's pretty usual for me ROTFLMAO! I can't stomach this time we live in has moved from drugs to this holistic crap....but what can I do? I'd rather drugs....I'm jus sayin' :-)

Now Playing in iTunes ~ Future Memory by Heth & Jed

Ghostly apparitions and other such things

LOL! I've been playing with my camera and experimenting with double exposures again. It's been 5 years since I've really shot anything seriously so it's a huge learning curve again. I'm not totally pleased with these results but I'll get there again.

I've been wanting to try light up needles as they look interesting and fun but I'm not a fan of plastic to start with. Has anyone used them? I guess I'd do well to really get knitting again. This time last year I was knitting up a storm for Christmas. I had a mountain of hats and mittens and slippers and what not. Now I barely sit and knit. How do you mothers with kids do it? I just find by the time I get a grip on my stress, I just have no enthusiasm to knit even tho I want to. I can no longer sit on my sofa and knit in the evenings due to the noise level here. I just seem to get up, muddle through the day, and go to bed. If I can get through the day without smashing something, that's a good day.

Have started to look for a new place to live. I've decided I don't care what capital gains penalties I have to pay, it's not worth it to stay in this ghetto any longer. I spent a couple hours this morning on the Remax and Century 21 web sites looking at new homes and am not real encouraged :-( I'm hell bent on a Victorian and can't find any at all. But this stuff is like shopping at a vintage clothing store, you have to hit it on the right day so I've not totally given up hope.

I'm hoping that I'll be able to toast in the New Year. generally, tradition has it that I get a bottle of Dom Perignon for New Years but I've been unable to drink the past two months. The alcohol really wreaks hell on my nerves so I've not touched a drop. I'm hoping I'll still be able to drink the Dom.

Anyway, better days are coming.....When, I'm not exactly sure but I have to believe in that.

R.I.P.

Well, at 8.30 tomorrow morning, I'll be at the vet putting my mom's cat to sleep. He is in end stage renal failure...he's gone way down the past week and the blood work came back today and the news is not good.

Aside from that, our oil company (that my dad has used since I was a teenager) has, as the Steve Miller song goes, taken the money and run. We are out a couple thousand dollars of oil money.

At this stage of the game, it appears I am never going to get the fucking relief that only Valium can give me. I have called a shrink today and I think I am going to start looking at the possibility of electroshock treatment. I want Valium but I think getting my brains scrambled will be more easily attainable. I'm not making light of it...this anxiety is BRUTAL and for some goddamned reason or other, the mere mention of the word Valium and cat claws come out and people go on the warpath. If one person could walk in my body for one week, they'd be singing a vastly different tune. But whatever...I'll be an interesting case of exactly what anxiety does to a person.

I suppose listening to Marillion is not the best idea at this time but hey-why not. I've got Clutching At Straws playing in iTunes.

Build a Bear (and knit for him too!)

Ok, we went out for supper last night with friends. While they went to a Christmas store, I spotted a Build A Bear and decided to go in and look around. I ended up making a bear and I want to introduce you to Morpheus, named after the Greek God of Dreams.

This is his little Christmas pajama set. I got him a scrub suit and a Santa outfit. I was just looking at all the clothes for them on the build a bear web site and I can tell this is going to be a dangerous thing for me...too many cute things for them...

BUT, I decided it might be fun to knit him an Aran sweater. Wouldn't take very long at all, I don't think.

I'm off to bed but wanted to introduce you to Morpheus. These shots were from this morning, the first when he wa still in bed and then after I got him up for breakfast. It's WAY past his bedtime now...

Post-Thanksgiving

{sigh} I don't know what to say anymore. Hmm..Thanksgiving was ok. I started out bad, I went nuclear earlier in the morning but I'm not going there again. Dinner was good, I anticipated it would be awful-we had issues with the turkey-well, the pan more specifically. But this is about knitting, isn't it...

Well...I'm knitting :-) I got one Log Cabin sock done. I'll post a picture as soon as I can get the spousal unit to model it. Kinda hard to get good pictures of it on my own leg. It's a real fun sock to do and it works up fast given that I'm so into Patrick and want to knit on that so much.

Oh yeah, I got a new camera. I got this beautiful Nikon camera on the 19th. I got tired of not having my own camera. Funny, usually I'm not keen on digital cameras, in fact, I am downright hostile towards them but I cannot praise this one enough. I absolutely love it. It takes gorgeous pictures and I feel more comfortable with it than that Minolta I had and ruined a few years ago (kicked over the tripod and it busted). This camera acts like any 35mm film SLR, I don't really feel like I'm using a digital camera. Since I've not shot pictures in almost 5 years, it's taking me a while to re-learn but I anticipate many happy years with this Nikon. And I always wanted a Nikon anyway. Now I just have to buy that infrared digital camera since Infrared is my real love in photography.

I shot this this evening with the new camera. I put the first Christmas decoration up after the Thanksgiving table was cleared. I love this, got it last year from the Bradford Exchange. I guess tomorrow I'll do more decorating. I was going to start tonight but I'm just too stuffed.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.

Playing in iTunes: No Ones Gonna Love You ~ SOS Band

You are The Moon

Hope, expectation, Bright promises.

The Moon is a card of magic and mystery - when prominent you know that nothing is as it seems, particularly when it concerns relationships. All logic is thrown out the window.

The Moon is all about visions and illusions, madness, genius and poetry. This is a card that has to do with sleep, and so with both dreams and nightmares. It is a scary card in that it warns that there might be hidden enemies, tricks and falsehoods. But it should also be remembered that this is a card of great creativity, of powerful magic, primal feelings and intuition. You may be going through a time of emotional and mental trial; if you have any past mental problems, you must be vigilant in taking your medication but avoid drugs or alcohol, as abuse of either will cause them irreparable damage. This time however, can also result in great creativity, psychic powers, visions and insight. You can and should trust your intuition.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Brittany Needles!

I spent the vast majority of the weekend knitting on Patrick and listening to knitting podcasts. It's been a long time since I listened to them, even tho I kept downloading them, so there was a lot to catch up on. It was good to "spend that time" with Marie Irshad and Brenda Dayne, I missed hearing them. I bought a new iPod on Saturday, my old one needed a battery and I just wanted a new one that had the colour screen. The battery is supposed to last 14 hours between charges and I just recharged it today so that was a lot of catching up and I'm still not done :-)

Today I got the last of my goodies in the post. My Brittany needles. I'm happy although it's absolutely obscene the money I've spend on each pair. My grandmother would never let me hear the end of it but how can you say no to something you covet so strongly? I totally blame Men Who Knit and their first issue of their 'zine. If not for that, I'd never have even known about Brittany needles, nor seen these beautiful Victorian topped, hand turned needles so it's all their fault. Now I have sizes 5-8 and wasted no time at all in putting Patrick on them.

Yes that's a ball of Jade Sapphire I bought. I'm trying to figure out what to knit with it-scarf or what. I was looking to see what type of gauge I got with it. I guess with 3 55-gram hanks for a scarf. I should go easy on the cables. The vase was something I got for my mom once but I just can't recall what the flower arrangement was for. It came with the raffia tied round it. I thought the sentiment of that vase was perfect for storing the needles.

On that note, I'm headed off to bed now. It's time to pull the shade on today and turn the page.

Jade Sapphire, Patrick & Wood

I got some good stuff in the post today. It brightened my mood a bit. I got this Jade Sapphire cashmere - YAY! 2 hanks of Amethyst Haze and 4 hanks of Hydrangea. This is the 6 ply stuff, not the sock yarn. I figured I'd make fingerless gloves with the Amethyst given there's only 2 hanks of it. Trouble is, finding a nice pattern to suit the yarn. It has to be special for this beautiful yarn, no? Man does this feel nice!

I'll make a scarf with the Hydrenga, I loathe knitting scarves but I'll look through Barbara Walker's books to find a nice pattern to use. This stuff is going to be a big treat...THANK YOU KYRA!

If you look, you can see three wooden cable needles stuck in the yarn. I saw these in Knit Picks and had to order them. I'm a wood nut! I tried these on my current project but cotton yarn seems to stick to them, they'll be fine on cashmere and wool. Knit picks has some very cool stuff! I keep looking at their Bare yarn and dyes...I'm sort of getting tempted to try dying. Must finish my current project first.

This picture of my progress on Patrick is odd...I need to get it on two needles but didn't feel like knitting half a row. I should have an easier time as I also ordered 3 pairs of the Brittany needles I covet so much and those are a bit longer than normal needles. I have to really scrunch this up on my Clover bamboo needles when I'm done knitting for the day. Anyway, given this denim yarn is sport weight and I got my gauge on size 5 needles, I'm really surprised it's moving along as quickly as it is. Especially given the complexity of it. It really isn't bad at all once you get a rhythm going on it and I find I get lost in the knitting and hours pass before I realise I need to stop to eat or something LOL! I can't believe I'm knitting this...can't wait to wear it, but what a lot of weight it is for bamboo needles. Hope it doesn't break the Brittany's. I forgot how heavy cotton can get. It's been about 22 years since I last knit with cotton.

Do I need a title?

I can't think of one. My friend Kyra told me about a new podcast, Lime & Violet so I put the link there on my sidebar. I only have listened to one episode but it seems kinda fun. I like it.

Some stuff going on but I'm tired of complaining. I'm destined to be certifiable before I can move from this skanky slum I live in. I don't sleep much, I'm at wits end but I chug on. Let's just say after life hands you lemons, it then hands you steaming piles of dog shit. You know how in the winter there's....well....no need to go there.

I'm hoping I can have a clear enough head to do some knitting today. Kyra told me about some Jade Sapphire on e bay so I bought the whole lot...I have 5 hanks of the stuff heading my way. I should be happy but I'm too numb.

Anybody know how safe or authentic those places are on the web that offer Valium without a prescription?

Chugging along

I got to work on Patrick again yesterday, I've got about halfway through the second repeat of the chart. It surprises me, I got the gauge on size 5 needles but it is moving along much faster than I thought it would, despite the complexity of it. I have a bunch of shit to do this morning but plan to shut the world off by 11 and knit the rest of the day. I just can't deal with reality for long stretches anymore.

Speaking of, does anyone know if Purlsoho is having problems? I've been trying since yesterday to order some Jade Sapphire yarn. I created an account but it just sits there, trying to log me in and nothing happens. I don't even get a "connection timed out" box popping up. I could put my sorry ass on an Amtrak train and go get it myself faster than I could on the internet. Not a bad idea actually except my nerves cannot handle such a harried day

Patrick

First I want to thank you for the well wishes on the death of my grandfather. It's been difficult in the sense that the family is now just about gone, I only have my dad left. Holidays haven't been the same since my mom had her stroke and died 4 years ago and now it's only a reminder than I'm one step away from being alone in the world. I haven't been the same man since my mom died and this year has been hell, the past month or so has been unbearable. No wonder I've been driving everyone around me absolutely mad with my constant cries for Valium. I don't know how else to describe what I feel other than it's a constant state of anguish that I just need the edge taken off but it won't happen without Valium. It's a band aide, I know that....but my idea is if I could get a goddamned doctor to give it to me for a short time to bridge the gap so I can get from the state of constant turmoil I'm now in to a sense of normalcy but it doesn't look like it's going to happen. I'm well on my way to a stroke or heart attack myself if this keeps up, I cannot continue this way. It hit me in bed the other night why Valium is not given anymore and risk of addiction is NOT the reason.

ANYWAY.....enough of my inane rambling. THIS is what I've been working on, or trying to. It's a sweater from Rowan's now discontinued book, Denim. Let me say right now this is the most complex sweater I think I've ever attempted. There is so much movement with the cables that you can't let your guard down for a second. It's a great challenge. It took me a while to get going-it's a bitch to establish but it's really cool. I love the "ribbing", think that is just awesome. I'm hoping that once it's washed and assembled it'll tighten up a bit. This is one reason I don't like working with cotton yarn, your tension has to be spot on or every little variance shows-cotton, I find, is very unforgiving that way.

This is 38 rows, there's 60 to the repeat. I guess this means I won't get to make my black, cashmere turtleneck this winter. Oh well...there's always next year I guess...if I'm not in an asylum by then.

Mucking About

My grandfather died on Monday so I've been relatively low-key. I AM Knitting, a very complex cable pattern for a Rowan sweater. When I make some progress I will post pictures. I think it may be the most involved sweater I've ever attempted. In meantime, I was over at Samantha's blog and saw this and thought I'd steal it (Sorry Sam, you dont mind?!)., It looked fun...

1. FIRST NAME? Jerry
2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Not that I'm aware of
3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR JOB? Yeah, I'm a stay at home house husband :-) I love it!
4. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? Friday.....the older I get the more I find I cry at the drop of a hat.
5. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? I did before the damn computer became so much a part of life. I need to work on my handwriting again.
6. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE LUNCHMEAT? I generally don't eat that stuff. I have tunafish or grilled cheese or Lean Cuisine Panini's (yes, I'm on a diet)
7. KIDS? does my cat count?
8. WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? I'm not sure, I can be a moody prat LOL!
9. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? Besides this blog, I sometimes keep a journal, yes.
10. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Yes and it sometimes gets me in trouble if it's in e mail and the person can't tell for sure if I'm being serious or not.
11. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes.
12. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Once in 1989 was more than enough for me thanks...
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE CEREAL? Oatmeal.
14. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Yes.
15. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? For me not to be in a rubber room by now, I think so but some Valium sure would help!
16. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ICE CREAM FLAVOUR? French Vanilla-OR Banana Boat (???) Dippin' Dots
17. SHOE SIZE? 9 1/2
18. RED OR PINK? Red
19. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVOURITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? I am WAY too high strung, stressed out and have a very short temper-it goes back to that valium thing again.
20. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My mom.
21. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? I dunno-I just copied this from Samantha's blog :-)
22. WHAT COLOUR PANTS AND SHOES YOU ARE WEARING? blue surgical scrub pants and a white sweat shirt, I just got out of bed.
23. LAST THING YOU ATE? Sesame toast, a small wheel of mini Gouda cheese and a tangy salad pepper.
24. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Nothing at all, it's dead quiet.
25. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOUR WOULD YOU BE? Purple
26. FAVOURITE SMELL? the smell after a rain storm
27. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? I think my cousin Paula.
28. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? Eyes, I'm an eye man all the way.
29. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? You mean that I stole this from? LOL! Yes
30. FAVOURITE DRINK? (non-alcoholic) Tea (alcoholic) Absinthe
31. FAVOURITE SPORT? Baseball (NY Yankees) and Football (NY GIANTS) because it reminds me of my mom's-I'll ALWAYS be a New Yorker at heart
32. HAIR COLOUR? Blond with blue and purple streaks currently. Hey, I went to see Cirque du Soleil and I like to stand out-sue me LOL!
33. EYE COLOUR? Brown, Grey if I wear my contacts
34. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Only to change my eye colour right now but probably will need them soon.
35. FAVOURITE FOOD? Japanese or Thai
36. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDING? HORROR movies...I didn't like the "scary movie" revival-they weren't all that scary.
37. BOXERS or BRIEFS? Hmm, you're getting personal ;-) Briefs-I'm an old fashioned guy
38. WHAT COLOUR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? White sweat shirt, you just asked me that, are you daft?
39. HUGS OR KISSES? both at the same time!!
40. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? The men in the white coats that are coming to take me away ha ha, he he, ho, ho LOL!
41. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND?
42. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? Burnt Offerings by Robert Marasco-the movie was infinitely better.
43. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? The Apple Logo...I'm an Apple Computer whore. There's Apple logos all over the place here.
44. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? Probably Charmed while I ate supper.
46. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Stones-I like the Beatles too but the Stones.
47. WHAT IS THE FURTHEST YOU BEEN FROM HOME? Oh hell, someplace in Mexico where our ship docked before the return leg of our Cruise 6 years ago.
48. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Special talent? That I can be very annoying? Especially when I'm driving everyone nuts crying for some Valium...
49. WHEN AND WHERE WERE YOU BORN? March 1968 in Massachusetts

Aran Block

Let's see if I can get this photo to upload today. Having unraveled my Aran cardigan I knit last fall, I used some of the wool to work on a pillow. I was unable to get one of the fronts undone without having to cut into it so I think all around I'll just get more wool and knit it fresh. Maybe I can muster a vest out of what's left.

ANY-WHO....This block from the Great American Aran Afghan has always been sorta special to me. I don't know why but it's the block that most strongly called to me. I love the idea of an Aran sweater in miniature sewn to a block.What a cool idea. On the reverse of the pillow, I'm knitting another of the blocks. I just can't seem to bring myself to knit a plain stocking stitch block. How {YAWN} dull.

There's some other stuff I've wanted to link to but will have to wait. I can't recall all of it off the top of my head so I'll save it for next post.

Miss the 80's

Am I the only one who misses the awesome bohemian, glossy, slick, fashion-conscious, beautiful 80's? I get reflective every so often as I just haven't been happy since the 80's ended. I don't seem to fit in in these politically correct times and don't really want to. There hasn't been a decade yet that has matched the fun and freedom we had in the 80's. At least, that's true for me .

In any event, back to knitting. I'll be posting a pic of the back of the pillow block I'm working on. In meantime, here's a picture of Toyah Wilcox and the front of my pillow. Long live the 80's!

PS...apparently, the Aran block doesn't want to upload. I'll have to see what the problem is .

For Moon

I dunno why, when I saw this guy, I thought of my friend Moon. Isn't he the best Moon? I have to admit, I'm glad the latex is painted green, if it were flesh coloured, it would be just too creepy. I'm used to him now but when I bought him, he was scary. His eye follow you when you walk and..well...he just awesome :-) Click on him to make him bigger to get a better idea of just how creepy he is. When you walk by him, you always get the feeling you're going to feel a bony hand reach out & grab your ankle. His hands are hidden under the leaves.

I'm knitting an Aran sweater pillow block :-) I'll post details a bit later.

Cable jacket

I finished this morning on this. I had to rip it out and re-knit it as it was WAY oversized and stretched to the floor. Came out MUCH better the second time around.

I'm on the fence as to weather or not I like the yarn. I can tell you it will snag on ANYTHING you have on your body. Earrings, rings, anything around your neck. There's some pulls in mine already, damnit! It's a very spongy icord type yarn. I'm not sure I'd use this yarn again although it comes in gorgeous colours.

Take note of the buttons....I got a hankering to try polymer clay stuff after seeing some absolutely gorgeous jewellery on the Carol Duvall show. I found out it's not all that easy to do the cane work but I did sculpt a cute little penguin, skull and decided I wanted to try making my own buttons so that's what I did.

I combined metallic gold and hazelnut Sculpey clay and got a swirl going that I liked. I then cut 1" circles from it and painted them with mica powders that matched the colours in the yarn pretty close. Baked them and and I just sewed them on this morning.

I love the jacket, and the weather has been chilly enough in the mornings that I got to wear it out this morning :-)

Progress Pic

Here's a picture of the left front of the jacket. It's knit with Artful Yarn's new offering, Reality. I'm coming along with this but I was very disappointed with this when I got it Friday.

The yarn looks like a nice fall palette, doesn't it? It is light as a feather. When I saw the ad for this yarn and jacket in IK, I thought "This is an awesome fall jacket. Perfect for crisp afternoons or evenings." Well, it's more along the lines of the perfect 'jacket' for a summer walk on the beach when an East wind is blowing. I'm not going to get as much wear out of this as I thought. Unless it's so airy, it'll insulate me, I dunno.

I got gauge on size 11 needles so this is knitting up like greased lightening. The colours are beautiful, eh?

Getting back into the swing of things

I guess with the approach of fall, the knitting bug is starting to bite me again. I'm beginning to feel all autumnal and it feels nice!

Lesse, the past two days I've spent ripping back the Aran cardigan I did last winter. I decided that I didn't knit it to sit on a foot locker only to look at and say "Look at how pretty it is!" I knit it to wear it and it's too tight so.....RIBBIT! Most of the yarn is washed and drying now. I'll re-knit it at some point this fall/winter. incidentally, Bacardi Silver Big Apple is a great drink while ripping a sweater! YUM!

Between the latest Interweave Knits and Vogue Knitting mag, there's enough I want to do that I'm positive I'll never get to. The cover sweater on Vogue's fall issue is one I think I'll do...if I crop it to waist length, it shouldn't be too foo-foo for a guy to wear.


There's a sweater jacket in an ad for Artful yarns in the latest IK mag that I am going to make. At the moment I'm waiting for my friendly UPS man to bring the yarn. I ordered it yesterday and is due at my door within the next hour. The yarn looks really cool. I'll post a picture when I get it and have a decent bit knit up.

New Zoo Review anybody?

You remember the show New Zoo Review? I was going through a bunch of sutff on You Tube that a buddy of mine kept reminding me of and my friend Kyra reminded me of New Zoo Review. I found this and thought y'all would get a kick out of it. LOL!

10 Questions

it's still too hot to really knit so I thoguht this might be fun. If you've seen the A&E Show Inside The Actor's Studio, at the end James asks his guest a series of 10 questions. I thought it might be fun to do them here since I'll nver be sitting on that stage to be asked. Here are my answers.

01. What is your favorite word?
Silmarillion-it just sort of flows off your tongue like mercury

02. What is your least favorite word?
No

03. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
Gloomy, dark, days. Thunderstorms really turn me on both spiritually and emotionally. Birds flying, butterflies and dragonflies. Nature based things turn me on.

04. What turns you off?
Negativity, complacency, laziness, lying, cheating, giving up.


05. What is your favorite curse word?
Motherfucker

06. What sound or noise do you love?
The sound of a brook or stream, thunder, the sound of ocean waves breaking.


07. What sound or noise do you hate?
That infernal reverse beeping of trucks backing up, loading docks banging, jack hammers, that sort of thing.

08. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
I had always wanted to be a rock star before rock & roll died. Acting was high on my list as well at one time.

09. What profession would you not like to do?
Garbage collection

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
I can't honestly answer this as I don't subscribe to the belief of "heaven" or god per-se.

Knitting and Cars

I just got the new issue of Interweave Knits today in the post. Man I wish it weren't so beastly hot....made me want to start knitting up a storm. LOTS of stuff in there I love and will hope to do this cool season.

There's some great lace shawls in there that I'd love to knit....to throw over the back of a sofa but that will have to wait. My cat would destroy lace in an instant. She's having a helluva good time for herself clawing up this sofa.

Didja ever want something so badly and you realise that you can't logically do it for one reason or another? I've had an on again/off again love affair with this car, an Excalibur Phaeton. I'd give my eye teeth for a mid 70's model. I watched Roller Boogie last night and my girl Linda Blair drives one in the movie. That's what started me on my love affair of it back in 1980.

I'm at a position now where I can afford one and want one BADLY!!!! but due to my location, I can't buy one. Fir starters, I now drive a 2003 Jaguar and love it to death but have been having major problems with the tires, namely I have to check my air pressure daily as they go flat. This is thanks to the dumpy area I live in and this city as a whole is not much better. The roads are filled with broken glass and I've never in my life seen so many potholes. It makes me sorry I wasted money on a Jaguar while living here as it is being destroyed. I'm now a Jaguar fan for life and can't see myself driving anything else-it is-bar NONE the best car I've ever driven and will continue buying/driving them but the Excalibur would be an awesome second car but there's not a cold chance in 7 hells I'd buy one while I'm living here. BOO HOO! I wanna move to Malibu CA. so I can enjoy both cars!

How much longer before knitting season starts again?

Keeping Busy

Not a whole lot going on that's of any interest Just not having a good time and need to make some changes but can't afford to move at the moment. Enough of my misery....

I know it's not knitting but since it's been so hot, especially when you cant open your windows, I've been doing cross stitch. I should have had this finished last winter and framed and hanging on my wall but I got a bit sidetracked LOL! I'm about half way done with this. The chart for this was 6 or 7 pages-currently the biggest I've done so far although nothing like what I will undertake with another dragon. I've got a whole bunch of other dragons left to cross stitch!

Hope you all are having fun and enjoying your summer! :-)

Happy Solstice

Can't believe it's the summer Solstice already. Hope you have a happy one!

Hey, I actually KNIT something

Moving right along on the things my mom had started and never completed, is this ribbon cropped top. It is supposed to have sleeves but I thought it made it look a bit too foo-foo for a guy to wear so I left them off so it's more like a muscle shirt.

It's made of cotton 'ribbon', Unger Streamers was what it's called. I'm not sure if it's made anymore as this dates back to 1995. I don't know why my mother never finished this, it would have been perfect for her. And it was very easy to know, just straight knit, garter st. on the bottom and collar and being done on size 17 needles, it works up like greased lightning.

I can't believe I'm posting these pictures-I look like shit. Excuse the two-tone hair, I'm in desperate need of a rock & roll treatment (bleaching the roots) which I'm doing Thursday, just in time for our trip to Great Adventure on Friday for the coaster event on Saturday. I don't know how many of you are Six Flags fans but from all I've heard this year, I'm very disappointed and I've not even gotten there yet. Wheels came off one coaster shutting one side down, a restraint unlocked on another shutting it down-we're taking bets on if any coasters will actually be open to ride. The season is getting off on the wrong foot this year and that ain't good.

I'm wishing Chris would get home from work early, I'd like to go out for a Margarita tonight.