Big Sky Life

2010-04-27T11:13:00.002-06:00

We are now 39 days away until the big event. We still need to figure out the cake and a few, very small details. We're very close to a decision on a car -- we know what type we just don't know which one. We wouldn't mind traveling in order to buy one.

There are times when I'm nervous about the wedding... but that has more to do with hoping that everyone has fun and the number of people coming. We initally thought it would be very small but it turns out that most of the geek's very large family is going to be able to make it. I'm excited though, very excited. I can't wait to be Mrs. Geek. Every day I can't wait until he gets off work and comes home to me. I feel so comfortable with him and love just being in his arms. It's a feeling that I can't figure out how to explain but I love it. I'm excited about what the future will bring. We've been talking a lot about that lately and it feels great to do so.

Wedding planning has commenced!

2010-04-09T16:27:00.002-06:00

With just about 3 months of planning we realized we had to get on it right away. I have less than 2 months left and a lot of things done.

1. The colors were picked out and will be black, white, and silver. It lends to a much more formal wedding than I had originally thought of. I always figured I'd have a jp and minimal everything to do with a wedding. Guess I was wrong.

2. The dress has been picked out and is currently having alterations done.

3. After much deliberation we decided on a hotel where we received a nice package deal. It was a little pricey but not bad all in all. We'll use one convention room for the ceremony and another for the reception. We also get a room for the rehearsal dinner, morning after brunch, and bridal shower if we wish. Plus, it comes with a very nice honeymoon suite with jacuzzi. They'll also butler the champagne toast, which is really nice.

4. Because we're having it at the hotel we need to use their catering. However they have experience with gluten free so I'm much more relieved. The entire meal will be gf so that I can enjoy the day and not worry about an accidental gluten.

5. That led to a very difficult search for a gluten free cake. There are a couple of places in town that are willing to deal with it though. One was completely booked up and from the other I just picked up the sample pieces. She didn't even charge me for them which made me super happy. Because the geek and I both play games together we're considering an unsual cake topper by Paul Pape. His website is at http://www.paulpapedesigns.com. On the one hand my fiancee likes the Little Big Planet topper because of the expressions on the faces (sad for groom and happy for bride) but we also like the world of warcraft idea. Since we both play girl toons (characters) and druids we're thinking we might do the shapeshifted versions: a moonkin (or boomkin or owldeerbear for balance spec) and the tree form (for resto spec). We both happen to be dual-specced that way so it would work. My mother hates the idea but we think it kinda reflects us so it would be fun.

6. Passport paperwork has been turned in and so hopefully we'll receive that soon so that'll be one less worry.

7. I met with the florist and put in for what we want and have it set temporarily so that if our numbers change I can alter what we're ordering. There are going to be anenomes (white with black centers), calla lillies, roses, and stepenotis.

8. We got a really nifty guest book from the Guest book store. We were able to personalize the pages and everyone can write in advice and things. It's so cute.

9. We've had a few snafus along the way. We went to the local party store that decorated my sister's wedding and ordered lots of balloon decorations, the cake server set, a nifty goblet set, and invitations. The cake server was back ordered and won't be available in time and we replaced that, no big deal. Our invites came in today but had an oopsie in the address area. The owner called up that company and they'll start production today. Which means that as soon as we get them we need to get them out since people will have about a week or so to RSVP. It's not the end of the world since everyone invited already knows anyways. I'll have address labels printed and we'll fold, label, stamp, and send within 2 days.

I figure that almost anything can go wrong and it'll be okay. As long as the geek and I show up as well as our officiant, we'll be married and all will be right with my world.

Engagement

2010-03-23T08:13:00.002-06:00

On March 11, my boyfriend and I got engaged! The weekend before that everything had suddenly hit me and I'd become a little panicked. He gave me a beautiful emerald necklace that was supposed to be part of my anniversary gift and told me that he wanted to spend a lot more time with me and not to worry. A week later, he proposed with the matching ring. He had wanted to do that on our anniversary but unfortunetly everyone knew and he was worried someone would spill the beans. He even asked my Dad's permission!

Our date is June 5th of this year. We're going to marry before leaving for Alaska so that my family can see and his family is going to try and make it down here. So, I've been even busier with planning this. We've actually got quite a few of the details worked out already. Today we're going to go get our passports and I'm going to find out about my blood test for the marriage license.

I can't tell you how excited and happy I am. My Dad and I will dance to What a wonderful world by Louis Armstrong and he and his mom will waltz. We want our first dance to be a Frank Sinatra song and the other day he made me tear up because he was singing one. He's got such a nice voice! We'll even be taking dance lessons starting in a few weeks.

How's it going?

2010-03-08T19:34:00.002-07:00

Wow have I been busy! My geek and I (no I still haven't found the right blog nickname for him) have been getting ready to move to Alaska. It looks like we'll be moving the beginning of June. I'm super excited and a bit nervous. I've also been studying for my A+ exam and am nearly done with the first book and am almost ready to start with the practice exams.

So in getting ready to move I've been cleaning out my old apartment and throwing out, packing up, and donating a lot of stuff. We've also been having a bunch of fun looking at vehicles. I've sold my car and we're working on selling one of his cars. The other one will be traded in when we buy a vehicle. Our cars were old and not good enough to move 2500 miles, an of course, will not pull a trailer. We haven't figured out if we want a truck, SUV, or a crossover but I think the Geek has fallen in love with a Lincoln MKX (the nicer version of a Ford Edge). We, being geeks, like the Microsoft Sync, voice navigation, and other nifty little gadgets.

How lucky I am

2010-02-01T14:16:00.002-07:00

Sometimes, especially lately, I tend to get down on myself. Things have been hard with trying to find a job and such, but I can't believe how lucky I am. My boyfriend has been extremely supportive and so reassuring with everything. He's been helping me study and encouraging with that. Tonight he's going to help me rework my resume for a job in Alaska.

Such a short post, but I just wanted to air how happy and lucky I am to have found him.

Pork tenderloin w/ sauce

2010-01-24T21:17:00.002-07:00

This is actually my BF's brainchild, but it was super-yummy. We picked up a 2-pack of giant pork tenderloins from Costco and made one tonight.

He put the tenderloin on a pan, wrapped in foil for about an hour at 350 degrees. Then I pulled it out and placed it into a cake pan and made up the sauce on the stovetop. I used a jar of Classico Alfredo sauce and about 1/4 of a jar of Vodka sauce (bertolli maybe?, BF doesn't like tomatoes so if you do you could add more), and a can of diced potatoes. I also added some italian seasoning and then poured the sauce over the tenderloin. We baked it for about 45 minutes or so (I'm guessing since I put it on for 30 and then kept checking after that) and it was oh so yummy. It came to me after that I shoulda made some instant mashed potatoes and so I've added them to the grocery list.

What's been up?

2010-01-20T15:58:00.002-07:00

A lot actually.

Work-- I got laid off, found a job, and then got fired... so I'm back on unemployment. I got fired for being late on a day when most people around the city were late because of the weather and because the owner felt I didn't take my job seriously and I acted as though I thought everything should be fun. All in all I guess I don't really want to work someplace where I'm not allowed to enjoy myself. So my bf posed the question... what do I want to do? So I started thinking long and hard and while I haven't made any firm decisions or totally narrowed it down, but I do think I want to do something with computers. It's what I'm good at and what I enjoy.

So... with that in mind I am studying for my A+ certification which is a basic certification that can help me land quite a few computer jobs.

The problem is that the jobs aren't very plentiful around here, which led my BF and I to discussing moving. His whole family has moved from MT to Alaska, which ironically is where I was born. The more that we talk about it the more excited I get. His folks are coming down to get some of their stuff sometime in the early summer and we're thinking of joining them. It would be the perfect time and we wouldn't have to make the long truck up there by ourselves. I can't say that I wouldn't miss my family and the state of MT, I am very excited for so many reasons. The prospects for the future, a beautiful state, and everything that goes along with that.

New Year’s Resolutions 2010

2010-01-01T18:13:00.001-07:00

So we begin with a look back at 2009’s resolutions:

1. Take lunch to work at least 3 times a week. This will save money and force me to cook/prepare stuff at home and mean that I'll eat healthier there as well. This worked for awhile, actually quite a ways into the year and then… I stopped spending much time cooking at home or even being home.

2. Karate at least once a week through May. I quit in March due to expenses.

3. Organize my place and learn to keep it clean and organized. This means I need to create some kind of a workable schedule. Yeah, not so much.

4. $50 a paycheck goes into savings. Yeah, same with karate this had to be given up when expenses got too much.

5. Things I would accomplish knitting wise this year: spring forward socks, rainbow faux-fair-isle socks, Grandma's Mother's Day/Birthday gift, coworker's hat, finish Mom's sock, cup cozy, throw for my couch, scarf to match hat and coat, Gap cable scarf. I got the hat for my co-worker done and didn’t get much else knit.

6. I would like to go on an overnight vacation this year, whether that is to Sock Summit, Las Vegas with my friend J, or even just an overnight in MT or WY somewhere. I have wanted to vacation for years and haven't had a real one. Even if it turns out all I can afford to do is go to Red Lodge or Bozeman and stay the night, I should. It's recharging the batteries. I had a very nice, relaxing camping trip this year and I’m counting this as a vacation.

7. I need to have an intended goal for yarn that I buy. I need to be able to look at 3 skeins of cashmere (just an example) and say that will be a scarf for Mom, not oh that bag of 10 Cascade 220 is a good price and maybe I could start a sweater someday. I actually did this very well this year and didn’t overspend the yarn budget in the slightest.

8. For every yarn that I buy, a yarn must leave the stash. I can sell it, trade it, or use it, but I shouldn't double my stash this year. There are exceptions: gift knitting (which goes back to number 7) since I don't always have in stash what I need, or money people give me towards yarn. Again, this worked out very well.

9. Go through my storage. If I haven't seen some of that stuff in 4 years or even longer... ask myself why am I keeping it and get rid of that. I have side storage that runs the length of my apartment (about 60 feet if I remember correctly) and is probably 3 feet wide on both sides. One side is full (sorta since the roof slants) and the other has quite a bit of stuff. I got rid of quilting stuff… and that’s it.

10. TRY with people. Try to get along, try to apologize when I know I've been hurtful, and try to help more. Try to respect myself when something isn't my fault by not apologizing or stepping in and taking on too much to make things better, putting myself down, or beating myself up long after something has gone awry and it is my fault, or by taking all of the blame when it wasn't just my fault. I know what I need to do to make things a little better at work, so I just need to get off my duff and do it. This will be expanded upon in 2010 because I really need to work on this.

2010

1. A vacation for recharging the batteries would be nice and I think it should be a goal for every year.

2. TRY with people. Try to get along, try to apologize when I know I've been hurtful, and try to help more. Try to respect myself when something isn't my fault by not apologizing or stepping in and taking on too much to make things better, putting myself down, or beating myself up long after something has gone awry and it is my fault, or by taking all of the blame when it wasn't just my fault. I know what I need to do to make things a little better at work, so I just need to get off my duff and do it. I want to become more bold and not be a doormat to anyone. If I say no… then I need to mean NO and stick with it.

3. I really need to work on the savings account and the $50 a paycheck should definitely be more than doable with my new salary.

4. I had more and will fix this when I remember them.

What I've been doing

2009-12-05T12:52:00.004-07:00

I've been busy playing world of warcraft. The first toon at the top is Tuffi, my gnome warlock, level 20 that I play on Draenor with the Dropped Stitches guild that I've met up with from Ravelry. The second is Kaderra, my night elf druid that I play on Cenarius. I have other toons but these two are my faves. Tuffi is cute and Kaderra isn't so squishy.

Tomato Chickpea pasta soup

2009-10-27T19:45:00.002-06:00

I intended for this to be soup, but it turned out very thick. It also turned out yummy!

1 quart of chicken broth
1 small onion
Lots of garlic
Tuscan seasoning
Dried parsley
Dried oregano
Cumin
1 package of thin spaghetti noodles (I used orgran which is 13.5 oz)
1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes (with juices)
1 15 oz can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed)
Small amount of olive oil
Shredded cheese (Optional, I used taco seasoned)

In a big pot, saute the onion and garlic using the olive oil. Add the chicken broth, slowly, and then the can of diced tomatoes. Season as desired. Let this come to a boil and add the bag of noodles. Cook on high for about 5 minutes or so and then add the chickpeas. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the noodles are soft. Allow to sit for a few minutes. When dishing, stir in some cheese and enjoy.

To appease the viewer...

2009-10-26T21:10:00.003-06:00

I'm not really sure how many people actually read this, but I know my Mom does and she's been asking when I'm going to post again.

Like everyone else, my job is loosey-goosey. Work has been getting slower and slower and the bad part is that it isn't all due to the economy. Of course with most of my job having to do with printing blueprints the economy has taken a huge bite out of my job since there just isn't as much construction. However, the other thing is that technology, while a great benefit to what I do, is also killing me. More and more companies are distributing plans via CD or FTP site and there is a lesser need for printing. There are programs that will basically read a .pdf (or other generic file) and do take-offs for the contractor. So, we've been cutting hours and talking about possible lay-offs.

On the other hand, I fear looking for a job right now since as of today's paper there was one general job and it was for a lumber jack in WY and everything else was specialized. I have no real marketable skills. However, I am seriously considering changing that. There are several thoughts to this: tech school instead of the 5 year degree program I had originally looked at and going into something that I used to be awesome at and still have an interest in: computers or maybe try to relearn some of my old skills on the side.

After all the hard work that my Mom did to try and change me from a geek to a girl... I seem to be heading right back to that direction. Whereas the only games I had been playing were on my Nintendo DS, now I've been getting into computer games again. This time they aren't only turn-based like Heroes of Might and Magic, but also things that are hack and slash (totally not something I thought I would go for) like Diablo. I totally blame my bf in this. I am actually looking forward to the new Diablo coming out next year because the graphics look soooo cool. Obviously I hadn't been playing a lot of PC games and didn't know how much better they looked then they used to. Bf has been trying to get me to play world of warcraft and has even set up a character already. I'm losing my hold on non-geekedness.

Unfortunetly it's almost the end of October and I really, really have to get to finishing some knitting for Christmas. I should be going to knitting night I suppose but I just haven't felt comfortable there in awhile and end up leaving quite a bit earlier than I used to.

Online dating

2009-09-12T16:52:00.003-06:00

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. Life has been fun and interesting. Where to start?

I'm trying online dating. It's rather interesting. The ones that amuse me are the guys who are 33 and are looking for a woman who is 18-34, or sometimes they are even more blatant and say 18-32. Oh, come on. Although, I must admit, I am a lot like them, though I don't come out and say it. I'd rather go older than I, than younger. I'm 27 and I wouldn't have an issue with someone who was, maybe 24 or 25, but I wouldn't feel comfortable dating someone who wasn't even legal to drink. I don't know why, but that's how it is. So when an 18 year-olds profile comes up, I click no. Another thing that makes me click no: lack of grammar or bad spelling. I can ignore some mistakes, because that can be normal. However, in this case: "I am the modern day cattle driver so it will take a its all or nothing will for me to find my cowgirl so don't be afraid just enjoy the ride i just want someone that will want to be cared about an when the storms of life come at u theres someone to say i got youre back ", I'm not even sure what he's saying. Then this e-mail: "how ya doin i guess rembering a bday wud b a good thing u can reach me". Yikes. He has no picture and doesn't even give eye color, height, hair color, etc. The only thing he does give out is his income. Odd. However, there are lots of nice, sane people out there. I've had a successful first date already.

I know lots of people who have tried online dating. Some of those people have long, long term relationships or have even got married. This brings up the question: what did people, like me, do before online dating? I don't have much of a social life outside of my few friends and my knitting group. I volunteer, though I don't think that taking dogs for walks will lead me to meeting any nice guys. I have in the past met guys through work, but almost all of them where I work are married and in a small business it's not really a good idea to date your co-workers.

Puppies

2009-08-21T21:04:00.002-06:00

For the past several months I have really been wanting to get a dog, but I live in a different town than the one I work in. This means that I can't get home at lunch to let him/her out. Plus, there are the issues of breed or size restrictions in other apartments. The other day I was looking at http://www.montanapets.org and found Rex. He's a German Shorthaired Pointer/Lab mix. Unfortunetly, I dreamed about him all night that night. Baron was a GSP.

The solution to the problem that I've been thinking of for the past few weeks is volunteering at the animal shelter. So, I did. My job is to cuddle the kitties and take the dogs for walks or play with them. It's fun! There are rooms for strays, adoptables, violent intakes, a cat isolation room, and a room where the non-violent animal control intakes or post-surgical animals are. There was a poor cat who had a broken jaw, though she'd already been adopted. Also, in the same latter room was an 8 week-old puppy who was a police hold. She'd been left in a hot car and so she was evidence. How could you forget that you had a puppy that cute and little? Oh, did I mention that she was a GSP/Lab mix? I wonder how they determine what breeds these mixes are. All I saw in her (or Rex) was their GSP side. So, the lady at the shelter humored me and let me carry her around and to take her out last and play with her the longest. Oh my gosh she was cute. Since she's a police hold she has to stay until the end of the trial. I can't ever let her off leash just in case she'd get away, but she could be there for several months.

There was also a mother and her tiny, tiny kittens that were maybe 2 weeks old, if that. Their cage was in the office, where it turns out I'll spend some time since they asked if I was good with numbers and I laughed and said, yep I have a weird thing for numbers. I think that when I go in on Sunday I'll take a picture of my favorite.

Cupcakes, riding

2009-08-10T20:40:00.003-06:00

Yummy, yummy! I used a new GF Betty Crocker mix in devil's food and a Rich and Creamy milk chocolate frosting. These made 12 brownies and left extra frosting. The batter had a off taste, but the cupcakes were moist and delicious. I just need to find a cupcake holder for taking them to work.

I've been riding a bike a lot lately. I wanted to buy one but I found out that nice bikes cost a nice amount of money. My Dad has his brother's bike just sitting and collecting dust. We fixed it up a little and I bought a woman's seat for it. I'm still getting very sore in the rear but I hope that will be better by the time I ride in the Velo Bella ride, which is 15 miles. It's a mountain bike which means I'll have to work twice as hard during the ride, but I hope I can do it. I think that the Trek bike I fell in love with will go on the Christmas list. It's a hybrid so it would be a lot easier for me to ride around on the streets.

Hello life

2009-08-02T21:33:00.002-06:00

Locally, we've started a celiac support group. It's great. I'm learning new things and meeting people who have been at this way longer than I have. We're going to start having a recipe exchange, which will be great, though a lot of the way I cook is throw some of this and throw some of that in without really measuring things out. At our next meeting we will be having a naturopath. Future plans include having a GI doctor and a nutrionist. Next Saturday there is supposed to be a gluten free products booth at our local farmer's market and coming up at the end of August there will be a state-wide meeting in Bozeman.

I've also decided to start my own "bucket list". I should have a lot of time to do everything on it, but it's always good to have an idea of where I'm going.

Hi

2009-07-18T20:39:00.002-06:00

I've been soooo tired lately that I haven't had much of anything going on to talk about.

My nieces and I have done several fun things this summer-- the Strawberry Festival, roller skating, and softball and baseball games. My oldest niece has been doing very well in softball, even making it into the All-Stars this year. It's only her first year so she has definetly shown a lot of promise. In the fall both of my nieces will be in sports, with the younger doing soccer.

Billings has started a celiac society which I attended today for the first time. It's really nice to get new ideas and speak with others who are local. I've already learned that there is one place that serves fried food I can eat.

On the knitting front... I've gotten nowhere. I have a project going for my Mom for her birthday, however I still need to finish the sock from Christmas. Agh!

Balance

2009-06-28T19:44:00.002-06:00

I'm having trouble with balance in my life. I wasn't sleeping, though by the end of the the day I would be exhausted. I would go to bed and then only sleep for a few hours. Finally, for the past few days I had been sleeping through the night. Yesterday I took a nap, which worried me that I wouldn't be able to sleep at night again. But, I was babysitting last night.

Last night was fun. I took the girls to Taco Bell and then to roller skating for about 5 hours. My younger niece knows her limits and didn't skate near as much as my older one. She is so cute. We were headed back to their place and my older niece told me that she was hungry. I was ready to take them to McDonald's when my little niece said, "Noooo, I want to go home. I want to go to bed." We went inside and she immediately went to bed, clothes on and all. I had to undress her as she was falling asleep.

Then, I shouldn't have worried about my nap last night. I slept all day. I woke up, had breakfast, went back to bed, had lunch, went back to bed, and now I'm struggling to stay awake through the few shows that I watch. I have a feeling that I won't be seeing the end of Army Wives. I would really like to find the happy medium in all of this medication.

I've been away

2009-06-09T20:52:00.001-06:00

My Mom pointed out that I've been remiss in posting. The truth is that I've been remiss in a lot of things.

I hadn't been feeling like doing anything and my mood had been getting worse. So, I went to the doctor and was put on zoloft. However, zoloft made me extremely tired and now I'm taking prozac.

Unfortunately, as of yet, I still have no desire to do anything and have the constant nagging thoughts about my future.

I did finish a hat for a co-worker's grandson. The same co-worker that I knit a hat for her granddaughter just a few months back. I need to get back to knitting since I have a super-secret project that needs to be worked on, and a sock to finish.

The story that I was writing has also been put on hold. I'd like to get back to it since I have ideas that sometimes pop into my head.

The gluten free eating is getting better. I have very few slip-ups now and I've pretty much got it down to a science. I just need to find motivation to cook instead of eating chex cereal for dinner. I just borrowed my Mom's old ice cream maker and the bowl is currently chilling in the freezer. Tomorrow I'll try making some ice cream. There are lots of healthy recipes out there to try.

As far as being healthier... I'm working on it. I've been taking walks (when able, it's been awful rainy here for about a week) and working out on my heavy bag. I bought some weights also.

I'll try and post more often. I have some cute baby bunny pictures that I should upload. 'Tis that season.

"There's a hole in your seat".

2009-05-05T21:52:00.003-06:00

My niece's second softball game was tonight. It was the oddest game I'd been to. No matter how many times either team was out, everyone got to bat. They would also keep pitching until the ball was hit. Maybe that's how it is supposed to be at 9. It started with my sister confusing me by sending me looking for a field called Boulder at Poly Vista school. As it turns out, I was supposed to be at Boulder school. So, we all arrive, a little late (not my niece thankfully). My brother-in-law was really hurt at work today, so he wasn't in the best of shape. They invited me out to dinner afterwards and I took the girls in my car.

Here's a little flashback: about a month ago I lost my cell phone. I completely cleaned out the car and searched for it in the house and at work. No luck. I have been using my old phone and researching a new one. I don't like Alltel's choices and here in MT we're still temporarily Alltel. I thought about a blackberry since it would give me internet access (imagine being able to find out what foods are gluten free while standing in line waiting), the ability to have my grocery list and such with me. However, that's not really the case with a BB. You must download the apps and they are $$$$. My new iPod Touch (an early birthday present) is sooo lovely and that's what I wanted in a phone so I didn't have to carry both. All of my apps are free! I might download a fairly pricey one to get the celiac's shopping guide. However the BB apps are on average: $15. In theory, Verizon gets the iPhone next year. So, I was considering keeping the old, old phone (hate it but why buy one that I'll be disappointed in).

So, continueing on: I have the girls in my car and the conversation goes something like this:
Older niece: "There's a hole in your seat".
Me: "no, there's not" (I thought she was pulling my leg)
ON: "Yep, right here on the side."
Me: "Oh, come on."
ON: "I'm telling the truth. There's plastic and then a hole in your seat. Hey, there's something in here," she says and slides her little 9 year-old hand in the "hole". "Oh, I found your old green phone."

She handed it to me and I held my little, battered phone in amazement. When I got home I searched for the "hole". You won't believe this (at least if I'm right about what hole she was talking about). If you push where the rounded part of the fabric seat meets the plastic base, then there appears to be a "hole". If that is where my phone was then I have no idea how it got there. It's a fairly tight fit. She had told me it was "way down there". I had felt under all my seats, but it must have got stuck up in there somehow. So, assuming that the ESN number on the phone is now clear, I'll go back to my mildly easy to text on phone.

Also, all of you GF people need to head to Starbucks. The valencia orange with almond cake is DELICIOUS. It's moist, but fluffy. I don't like almonds but the only ones there were slivers on the top. I'm mildly allergic to oranges so I can't eat more than one for awhile, but at $1.99, I could have one next week for my birthday if the cake someone gets me at work is not something I can eat. I was surprised since the lady at SB said that was the same price as their other baked goods.

Angel food cake -- a failed first try

2009-04-20T22:32:00.002-06:00

So I tried to make angel food cake for my friend's birthday. I had wanted to take some to Mom's house but she said we didn't need a dessert for Easter. Then she had hernia surgery and so I went to my sister's house and she wanted to make a complicated tart. So, as it turns out, my picky friend's fave cake is angel food cake and so I am making one for her birthday at work.

On the first attempt I learned that egg whites from the carton won't form peaks. So I got a carton of eggs from my Mom. Those worked and since I was all out of potato starch (well mostly out), I switched recipes and went with another one that used a pre-mixed GF flour. I used 3/4 c of Carol's Sorghum mix and 1/4 c of sweet rice flour to add some body (oops forgot about the egg whites doing that). I pulled it out of the oven and, using a new oven mitt which was apparently too thin for this purpose, started burning my hand. I dropped the bundt pan and thankfully, while it didn't fly out of the pan, it didn't break inside the pan. I needed to make 2 to feed everyone at work and so I'll still make one more tomorrow and that'll give me 1 1/2. I plan on taking a little slice of the more broken up part into a friend to pre-taste the cake. Next time, however, I'm using 1 c. of the mix and no rice. I tend not to like the taste of rice flours. Plus, I'll be bringing either strawberries and cream or some kind of a pie filling for the top so the taste will be slightly hidden.

Ok, so Mr. Greenjeans has taken a little hit. My carpal tunnel has made my hands flare really badly (hey it was this time last year that it got really bad) and so it's slowed a lot. I'm knitting on a sleeve. I was almost done with one sleeve but I didn't like how it looked and so I pulled it out. Someone had suggested a smaller needle size for the sleeve for a more fitted look, however I saw the line from one size to the other. Now, I'm just decreasing a little differently.

Also, wish me luck with the dentist tomorrow. The tooth that was filled last year is bothering me again. I hope it doesn't need a root canal. I have no idea what my new insurance covers. Too bad that the insurance lady didn't get us any info on our plan. Wonder if she'll be able to tell me if I call?

A picture of Mr. Greenjeans

2009-04-05T15:26:00.003-06:00

Finally I get to uploading a picture.

The color is much nicer in person, but I took the picture without flash. According to the pattern I only have about 4 inches of ribbing left, but I'm going to make it a little longer as I'm not really a fan of cropped sweaters. The sleeves are live stitches held on scraps of yarn for easy pick up. I love that idea. The hardest part will be picking up all of the stitches needed along the sides and neckline for the ribbing. Yuck! There is a very real chance that I'll have this done at the end of the class, though.

Recipes: Seared Scallops and Parmesan Rissoto

2009-03-29T22:00:00.002-06:00

I have 2 awesome recipes to share with you. These are very loose recipes, since I didn't measure most of the stuff out.

Parmesan Risotto
Arborio rice
A couple of tablespoons of butter
A heaping spoonful of garlic
Chicken broth (or if you're out like I was, chicken bouillon and water) to make enough to simmer the risotto in
Parmesan (I used the stuff in a jar sold by the spaghetti sauce)

You'll want to get this started before starting the scallops. Melt 1-2 tablespoons of butter in a pot. Toss the rice in and coat it in the butter. Lightly stir every 20-30 seconds as it starts toasting. Once most of it is toasted pour the broth in and add the garlic. I don't know how much rice I had since I bought out of the bulk bin at my health food store to see if I could figure this out. I would guess that I had 1 1/2 cups of rice. I used 3 cups of water and 4 teaspoons of bouillon. Let this simmer for about 20 minutes. Before removing from heat melt another tablespoon of butter into the rice and throw in your parmesan cheese. I had about 1/4 of a jar left and used that. Toss together. Makes 3-4 servings.

Seared Scallops
5-6 tablespoons flour (I used a GF mix, regular will work also)
A good sized sprinkling of pepper
A smaller sized sprinkling of garlic powder
1 Tbsp. of Tuscan seasoning (I might have used more but I like things heavily seasoned)
Olive oil
1 Tbsp. White wine vinegar
1/4 cup white cooking wine
1/2 pound of scallops

In a gallon-sized bag, combine the flour, pepper, garlic powder, and Tuscan seasoning. In a pan, get some oil heating. Drop the scallops into the bag, shake, and then put onto the pan. Cook about 3 minutes each side. I had huge scallops so I stood them on their sides and slowly cooked and rolled them also. Cutting them in half would have been easier. Put them on a plate. Add the vinegar and wine to the pan, stirring until thickened. Make sure to scrape up the coatings stuck to the pan, they're yummy. This should serve 2. I had 2 scallops for dinner and 2 for tomorrow (remember I said they were huge) with a nice serving of rice.

I also made a yummy drink out of a clementine, a couple of strawberries and some tonic water. My Mom does the same thing with strawberries and meyer lemons but they were out of the lemons at Costco.

While I'm at it, I'll share my gourmet grilled cheese I had for lunch.

2 slices of bread
butter flavored cooking spray
Spray butter (or real)
2 slices of ham (the natural stuff is GF and I stick with it)
2 slices of cheese (I used fat free swiss and fat free sharp chedder)
Tuscan seasoning
Parmesan cheese (grated or the stuff in the jar, not the faux-sprinkle type)
Aioli sauce (faux recipe below)

If making aioli sauce:
1 1/2 Tbsp of mayo (I use fat free)
small sprinkling of mustard powder
1/2 Tbsp of garlic (I used the jar, real garlic will make it taste more like traditional aioli)
small sprinkling of pepper
-- Combine all of these. Season to your taste.

Coat the pan with the cooking spray. Butter (or spray) the bread outside. Place them onto the pan. Put a slice of cheese on each slice. On one slice put the two slices of ham and on the other, the aioli sauce. Sprinkle a little Tuscan seasoning and put one slice on the other. Spritz more butter onto the top slice, coat with more Tuscan seasoning and parmesan. Flip the sandwich and do the same. Flip once more to melt the cheese to the bread. Place on plate and enjoy.

Mr. Greenjeans is in trouble

2009-03-28T10:01:00.003-06:00

I started my Mr. Greenjeans sweater at class last weekend and when I got done with the increase rows I was two stitches short. I'm going to get some help from the teacher to figure out where. I'm either one stitch short in each, the beginning and ending sections, or 2 in the middle. The second and fourth sections are right since the pattern tells you, you are slipping those 56 stitches onto holders. I'll try and take a picture tonight after class. I'm loving this all in all though. So far it's super easy, and fast. Maybe I'll knit more sweaters top-down.

New Chex cereal formulations

2009-03-19T19:41:00.001-06:00

Recently, as in not long before I was diagnosed as having celiac disease, General Mill's changed the formulation of rice chex, replacing the barley malt with molasses. As of June 1st, corn, honey nut, strawberry, chocolate, and cinnamon chex cereals will also be making the switch. I know it seems silly to be excited about this, but it's huge thing. I've never tried any of the flavored chex cereals but I'll be buying several (excluding cinnamon since I don't like red hots and cinnamon things usually taste that way). An official GF cereal can cost $5-6 and chex is $2.50 to 3.50. I can also eat sugar laden kix or fruity/chocolate pebbles.

Oh and Betty Crocker will be coming out with GF mixes in May or June, according to internet rumors.

Food Reviews

2009-03-15T14:46:00.001-06:00

I know I said there would be a recipe a few days ago, and although it was tasty, it wasn't something I could eat. As with most homemade bread, it had a crunchy crust which I cannot chew through with my jaw. So, as I write, there is a second batch, this time done up as rolls rising in the oven.

However I do have some food reviews for you, if you're a celiac. If you're not then you might want to skip this post.

I ordered the Ener-g sampler pack for about $20 to try out some new breads without having to spend an average of $6 on each loaf and eat it only because I feel obligated to.

English muffins

These are big. They might be able to be used as hamburger buns. They have 10g of fat per muffin, which is more than I normally prefer to eat for breakfast, but 1/2 with a clementine would be a good idea. I toasted them in my toaster oven for the longest setting and they only got slightly crunchy on the top but still soft on the outside. They don't have a weird rice taste to them but they are slightly soft and take just a bit longer to chew. Pretty good, though I wouldn't think of them as English muffins in the normal sense.

Seattle brown bread

Each slice is 80 calories, 2g of fat, and 4g of fiber. For a sandwich this would be a heavy, hearty meal with 2 slices. I ate one slice for breakfast with a bowl of rice chex (not filling at all since there's NO fiber). I toasted it on the medium setting on my toaster oven and it had an ever so slightly crunchy crust and just a hint of being toasted to the inside, which is perfect for me as I never liked toast until I realized my bread HAD to be toasted. I spritzed the whole slice with I can't believe it's not butter spray and put my huckleberry jam on only half. Has an odd smell out of the package, but smells better once toasted. Tasted a little "off" for the first bite but all of the others were better. Hearty tasting, like multi-grain bread. Slightly more chewy than a normal slice of bread, but pretty good. Made for a filling breakfast and would probably try a 1/2 bowl of cereal with this.

Lara bars

I had the banana bread one yesterday on the way into town since I hadn't had a real lunch. These fall into the "raw" food category. Tastes like a hearty, multi-grain banana bread. Not my favorite but would probably carry one around with me for an instant snack. I've got other flavors to try still.

Glutino pretzels

Yum. I like these better than regular pretzels now. I will admit that when I first tried them soon after switching over they tasted "off" to me and now they taste fine.

It's been awhile

2009-03-07T17:17:00.002-07:00

A lot has changed since I last posted. I'm starting to get this gluten free eating thing down, most of the time. Today I realized that my cupboards don't have much in the way of variety foods when I went searching for lunch stuff. I ended up with a sandwich and leftover asparagus, green beans, and some butternut squash I had picked up at Good Earth. Then I made biscotti from Jill at Hey, That tastes good!, which turned out very well and should freeze nicely for future desserts or bases for pies. Unfortunately I also realized I was using the last of my flour that I was going to use for pizza. Oops! As it turns out, I don't need to make a big dinner since I'll be leaving soon to go into town and babysit. I'll leave a little early and stop at Mary's Health Foods (yes, I have four health food stores, two grocery stores, and one wholesale store that I have to visit in order to grocery shop now) and pick up a few things, including flour mix. I could make up my own batch, but I'm still relying upon premixed stuff. I bought a stand mixer for a pretty good price at JC Penney's last weekend which has really helped. Since I now make a lot of my own food (I always did, but not nearly to this extent) I was able to justify the expense to myself. I had never owned a mixer before, but for dough, it gets a bit much. I used to think that I actually cooked and baked a lot, including breads, but boy, was I wrong. I had never even proofed yeast before. So for dinner tonight I'm having a Thai Kitchen Instant rice noodle soup. These are like little ramen noodle packets, except with thin rice noodles and single servings (ramen is for 2). I really like them, though I had to laugh when I realized I was scooping them up on sale at $.70 when ramen is like $.15 on sale. Tomorrow I'll shop for things to round out what I already have and make real meals again.

I started test knitting a baby blanket for a pattern designer. It's a really neat pattern, but I kind of made a mess by trying to avoid DPN and using 2 circs. I have yarn tangled. I'm going to slip it onto DPN and then end up going back to a circular when it gets too big. My Mom's sock is at the heel turn and I just need to find the instructions for the particular heel I did. My co-worker loved the hat I made. She kept saying it was like sherbet and that it was soooo adorable. I was actually really proud of that hat, even though it was easy. I need to do another one for the other grandchild, even though she doesn't think so, but in blue and a different pattern (no eyelets for a boy). On the 21st I'm starting a class for a Mr. Greenjeans sweater. I'm going to use the Cascade 220 that I already have in stock. It'll be my first completed sweater, assuming I complete it. I haven't been doing all that great in the finishing department lately. However, it is a five week class so that should help. I am going to make a few modifications to it. I detest 3/4 length sleeves so I'll either have to make them shorter or longer and I'm going to make the sweater slightly longer at the hips. My size takes about 4 skeins of Cascade 220 and I have 7, so I'll be fine no matter what modifications I make.

I'm not going to make it to Sock Summit. This is greatly disappointing, but necessary. Too many doctors and tests lately means that my funding is going away. I'm having more put into my flex starting in April. So, I'm looking at two other locations to drive to and have some fun... Denver or Salt Lake City. They're both about 8 hours away, have Ikea and Whole Foods Market (gluten free shopping haven), yarn stores, shopping galore, and wonderful sight seeing.

One last thing before I go... a small, tiny rant. My sister always says that I never come and hang out or party with her. I always am polite and say nothing, but it's mainly due to the fact that she doesn't invite me. Today when she texted me to ask what I was doing tonight and I said I didn't have plans, she said her friends were having a shindig. I foolishly asked what time thinking she was inviting me. She told me and then said she'd have them fed. Oops, she meant she wanted me to babysit. Silly me. Well, she is taking me out for lunch tomorrow for baby sitting today and next Saturday.

Baby hats and dear swap package

2009-02-18T19:55:00.004-07:00

Yes, there's been some knitting.

This was a baby hat for my co-worker's grandchild, who's due next month. I wanted to make matching booties... but she's due too soon, so the hat will be given to her by itself.

Pattern: slipping my mind at the moment... oops!

Yarn: Bernat satin sport

Needle: Size 5 Knit Picks, 16"

I also received a swap package from the Knit Picks swap.

Okay, an absolutely amazing package!!! FOUR balls of KP Wool of the Andes in Winter Night, FOUR balls of WOTA in Amethyst heather, 2 balls of Risatta Dusk (which I've really been wanting to try), and 2 of Katyil Print in Pansy Leaves. Wow! She did such a great job of stalking me and found out that I love office supplies. Lots of post-its (I use these on everything from cookbooks to knitting patterns), a 5-star notebook, heart shaped paper clips, regular pencils with eraser toppers, a mechanical pencil, and a highlighter (needed one for my knitting bag. There were lots of knitting goodies: ziplog bags of all sizes including a big bag (these are great for holding works in progresses, especially since my lunch and knitting goes into the same bag on the way to work), wool wash, cable needles, yarn needles, and a Vogue On the go book -- Cables: mittens, hats and scarves. There were Lindt dark chocolate truffles and a flower applique. There was a big, pretty binder with flowers on it for holding patterns. She pre-filled it with patterns for felted items (considering the amount of wool I received it made sense) like bags and hats and left lots of page protectors for adding more. Wow, I am sure spoiled. 53Chevy on Ravelry was my spoiler!!!

Tuscan Romano Basil pasta

2009-02-08T20:44:00.003-07:00

2 servings:

½ a package of spaghetti (1/4 lb since the packages are 8 oz. packages)
¼ cup of Bountifuls Tuscan Romano Basil salad dressing
Lots of garlic (I used the stuff in the jar)
2 roma tomatoes chopped up
Some sliced green olives with the pimento out of a jar (optional)
Some mozzarella or parmesan
Some basil
A little olive oil

Cook the pasta until al dente. While that is cooking heat the onions, garlic, and olive oil in a pan, stirring every once in a while. Chop the tomatoes. Add the tomatoes and green olives if using to the pan with the onion mix. The pasta is probably done at this point so put it on an unused burner and don’t drain yet. It keeps cooking this way so that’s why you only cook until al dente. Add the dressing. When this is warmed drain the pasta and rinse. Split between two bowls, top with the sauce and then add the cheese and basil.

This is good mildly warmed (as it is right after you prepare it) and cold. I used the De Boles rice pasta that Walmart sells super cheap and Wishbone Bountifuls (which is labeled as Gluten Free saving me from actually having to look at anything or worry that the caramel coloring isn't gluten free).

Excitement over funny tasting food... it can happen

2009-02-04T20:55:00.002-07:00

Since there isn't much to report on the knitting front (well, I did finished another baby hat, but no pic yet), we'll share more about the celiac diet and my little struggles and joys with it.

1. I made quesadillas on Monday with corn tortillas. I don't know if I ever shared the fact that I had jaw surgery several years ago, but this makes corn tortillas a pain in the butt. They are very chewy, thus leaving me in pain. So I tried them again tonight, but it's still a no-go. I do have teff flour tortillas in the freezer and pre-fried turkey bacon so I can try this again later.

2. Wendy's has a nice website where you can print off a gluten-free menu. I've had a salad and baked potato and a chili and baked potato so far. Hmmm... wonder what I'll have tomorrow since I don't have anything prepped. I suppose it wouldn't take long to boil some rice pasta.

3. My co-worker's wife has celiac disease and he gave me a list of food that I can safely eat. It's from 2007, so I have to double check some things, but it certainly gives me a jumping off point.

4. Beer. Beer was off limits and then I wanted it (of course). Amhauser-Busch (I'm sure that's spelled wrong) makes Redbridge and it tastes like a full-caloried, full-flavored beer. That's important to note since I normally drank Miller Lite and so I wasn't quite used to the taste. So, towards the end of the bottle, it had a bit of a harsh taste, which I think I would get used to after awhile. For those who are wondering ... wine is fine because it's made from grapes, not wheat (sorry for the rhyme) and strong alcohol, including whiskey is okay since it's distilled and thus the gluten has been nullified somehow. I'm not really a big drinker, but at least it is possible.

5. Still always hungry, though the quesadillas did fill me up for 2 1/2 hours yesterday at lunch (I have been eating every hour so this is a big accomplishment).

6. Graham crackers. This may sound silly, but since Mom mentioned camping in April (hopefully) I'd been wondering if s'mores were possible. Sure, I could just toast the marshmallows, but could I have s'mores? Yes, as it turns out, it is possible. At Bonanza they have the GF graham cracker mix AND GF graham crackers pre-made. They don't have to taste the greastest ... after all I will be putting a giant marshmallow and chocolate bar on them. Now, I'll just have to figure out the cross-contamination issue. Might be eating a bunch of prepackaged foods, but oh well.

7. And lastly, English muffins. I've found several recipes and this weekend I will try one of them and a new Chocolate chip recipe (don't entirely recommend the one from Hodgon's Mill, decent but not great). I've seen them in the freezer section and they run about $2 each for an unhealthy version. My food choices may be more limited but I don't think that I should stop eating healthy if possible.

Next weekend I'm baby-sitting for Valentine's Day and need to figure out what I'll bring for dinner. This will eliminate any issues with different foods. It's either a pasta dish with corn pasta (tastes like normal pasta) or something naturally gluten free (like meat) and probably some brownies out of a mix. This gives me the excuse to try a brownie mix and find out how I like it. The kids will also be gunea pigs. One is picky, but if she likes it she'll eat a lot so I'll know she likes it, and the other will eat almost anything.

Crepes -- the fiberific version #1

2009-01-31T21:00:00.004-07:00

I searched for an easy, but good crepe, but couldn't find one that I really wanted to try. Crepes are my go-to for cooking. They make great cheese blintzes (make them bigger, they'll work better), yummy with jam, or fruit, ricotta, ham and a pickle spear, cheese, etc... But my recipe wasn't gluten free and I wasn't sure I could convert it so I gave it to my friend S who said she was going to try it this weekend. I'll ask her tomorrow if she did. I probably could have converted it, but instead I made a new one. While this doesn't taste gluten free (I'm learning GF stuff doesn't always taste "normal"), it does have a slightly different taste due to the flax.

Ingredients:

1 cup gluten free baking mix (I used Gluten Free Mama's Almond flour)
1/4 tsp. xanthan gum
1 tbsp. flax
1 1/4 cup skim milk (I use dairy-ease)
2 eggs (I use egg beaters)
Other things to add to the mix depend on your use for these crepes -- cocoa, nutmeg, vanilla, cumin, etc... be creative (this time I used some vanilla and a tiny bit of nutmeg (huge fan of vanilla, barely tolerate nutmeg)

Mix (use a wisk) all the ingredients together and let sit for 20 minutes.

While that's sitting I'll explain some things. First, I think you could use a cup of white flour in place of the GF mix and xanthan gum. Also, I chose GF Mama's Almond flour, mostly because it seemed fairly economical ($15 for 4 lbs is economical in the GF world). I was hoping against hope here because I hate almonds. I tried almond milk once and had one sip and tossed it away since it tasted like almonds. I was also scared to open the bag of flour and the container of xanthan gum since it all cost so much and I didn't want to screw this up. Well, I opened up the bag and it looked and smelled like flour. I was shocked. Now the xanthan gum smelled weird but I can't have everything.

Back to your batter. This will be thick for crepe batter, but that's okay. If it seems too thick then add more milk. Use a small pan for most styles of crepes, larger if making blintzes. Spray the pan with butter spray (or use butter or a different spray) and heat on medium. When it's warmed up place 1/3 cup of batter (more for a larger pan) into the pan and shift the pan to evenly coat the pan. Cook for a minute or so. You'll know you're ready to flip when the edges have hardened. Because the batter is thicker you'll cook for nearly the same amount of time on the second side. Repeat until batter is gone.

Enjoy. I hope to play with this recipe a little more to get some more fiber into it. Since going GF I have hardly any fiber in my diet.

Finally ... Christmas knitting is shown

2009-01-31T20:39:00.001-07:00

These are the snowmen I made my Mom for Christmas.

Pattern: Knit Picks Felted Snowmen

Needles: Size 4 for the snowmen and top hat, sizes 1 and 2 for the accessories.

Yarn: White (same as the natural in reality) Palette by Knit Picks for the snowmen, Black Palette by KP for the top hat and one scarf, and miscellaneous Mountain Colors Bearfoot millends for the accessories. I don't recommend using this if you have a problem with mohair, but I liked the colors. This is probably the reason it took me so long since I couldn't finish any one part without my hands itching.

Beads came from Buy the Bead in Billings and at the moment I'm too lazy to go check what size. I hand felted the top hat in a pot of boiling water. I don't suggest doing this... but here's how it worked. Stick it in the boiling water. Remove pan from heat and place the hat on my spoon rest. Let it cool just a bit and then roll it around in your palm. Repeat until felted. I found out the next day there are better methods. I also strung a little extra black yarn through the hats for hangers. If my Mom doesn't want to hang them she simply has to untie the knot or to clip the yarn and pull it out. The hats were all tacked down to the heads so they wouldn't come off.

End result: A family of non-knitters, some of whom think my knitting is weird, raving over the snowmen. In fact my Mom just told me on Friday that she and my Dad were still talking about them last week. She wanted to display them but was afraid of the dust.

I forgot to take a picture of my Grandma's scarf. I've also been knitting hats for my co-worker who requested them for her upcoming grandchildren. I told her to buy the yarn and I'd knit the hats. I did one out of her yarn, Caron Simply Soft variegated, and hated the yarn so I bought my own. I'm doing a little pink eyelet hat out of Bernat Satin Sport. Much better. But, again, I forgot to take a picture of the first one before giving it away. Also, OTN, is the second of my Mom's Christmas pair (tiny yarn hurts the cuts on my hands from Eczema) and something for her birthday (bulky yarn and I have until September).

If all goes well, I'll have another recipe for tomorrow. I'm experimenting as I write this. The mix is currently setting and will hopefully work out.

Crockpot Italian steak and polenta

2009-01-30T19:49:00.002-07:00

My first completely homemade GF meal. I'm constantly hungry and I think I know why. I went from having anywhere from 35-50 grams of fiber a day (yes I know that was an exorbitant amount, but I love carbs) to very, very little fiber and hardly any protein. So, I added some protein into my diet. My original plan fell through when my local Walmart was missing a lot of ingredients so here's what I came up with:

2 lbs of cubed steak

2 8oz. cans of tomato sauce

1 Texas sweet onion

Italian seasoning, salt, garlic salt, and pepper as preferred

1 pre-cooked and formed chub of Basil Garlic polenta

Cut the onion into slices with a thickness that you like. Spray the crockpot with a non-stick spray. I used olive oil. I normally have three kinds of cooking sprays -- olive oil that I use most of the time because it's healthy, lightly flavored, and works well, butter spray that is great when you want a butter taste, and non-flavored that I rarely use. Layer the onions, steak, and tomato sauce. I have a 5 qt. cooker but the meat didn't all fit in one layer (I recommend cutting the steaks smaller) and so I did a layer of meat, a can of sauce, and repeated. Sprinkle the top with the seasonings as you like. I like lots. Cook for 9 1/2 t0 10 hours on low.

When ready slice up the polenta and fry in a pan. I used butter spray for the frying. Use a few slices of polenta as a base for your steak and sauce. In place of polenta you could use rice or mashed potatoes.

This recipe is easily halved, though I'd probably still fry up the whole chub of polenta. It'll probably feed a hungry family of 4. I was hungry and thinking it would make great lunches and picked up way too much meat.

Wow, this is what hunger is...

2009-01-27T22:10:00.002-07:00

So I've had an interesting couple of weeks. I've been into the doctor several times and we know some things, finally. It's so frustrating when you know you're sick and no one can find anything. When I talked to one of my Senseis back in December who's a nurse, she even mentioned that some people are hypocondriacs. I just knew that it wasn't all in my head. Nope, there's medical proof that there are things wrong with me. My thyroid test just came back and the Doctor has been trying to reach me. All I know from the message is that there are abnormalities and I need to see a specialist of some kind. In fact his last message was that it was after hours (what doctor calls after hours) and that he would try me again on Thursday when he's back in. So now I've got a day to fret.

However, we do have more knowledge: celiac disease. It explains my stomach issues and my lack of hunger. Celiac disease means that the villi in my stomach are being destroyed by the gluten that I eat and this causes all sorts of nasty trouble for me. This most likely caused my weight loss (could be the thyroid, but most likely the celiac) and anemia that I've had. They recommend a stomach biopsy but I'm happy without it. I have crummy insurance and I'd have to continue to eat gluten filled products and keep making my self sick for this biopsy.

Now I have to relearn how to eat, cook, and order out. But, it's nice having a supportive family. My Mom picked up wheat-free bread at World Market. We're not sure if that's the same as gluten-free so I'll have to check the ingredients. It's not really as difficult as I thought, but it'll be a learning curve. My normal snacks don't work anymore and I have to completely clean out my cupboards and make sure all of my appliances are clean. I'll probably be my biggest source of contamination for a while. But, there's a pizza place, Z's Pizza, that is getting gluten-free pizza crust in 6-8 weeks and I'm eager to try it.

I can also say that I have felt better in just a few short days then I have in quite a while. I've also been hungry, all the time. I think it's because I've had hardly anything to eat in so long and my body has been deprived of what it needs. Last night (sorta this morning) I had to have a bowl of puffins (honey rice cereal that is fairly crunchy and has a big rice after-taste (and if you're like me and have a weaker jaw it might take some soaking before you'll want to eat it)) at 1:30 am because I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep since I was so hungry. I even had an ice cream sundae tonight (which would've been okay if I'd remembered lactaid but we picked some up afterwards and I was okay after an hour or so). At first I was thinking it might be fat that was bothering me since someone suggested my gallbladder might be diseased. Ironically eating lower fat was making me sicker. I had the linguini alla marinara at Olive Garden which was really low fat and I only ate 1/2 at most and a salad. Pasta and croutons, apparently not good for me. Plus lower fat items sometimes have a lot of whole grain things like wheat in them, such as my favorite Fiber One bars.

I also found out that you can make peanut butter cookies really easily -- peanut butter, sugar, and eggs. Hmmm... might be worth a try so that I'll have some fairly cheap snacks since gluten-free (gf) stuff is not inexpensive by any means. I'll try using PB2 to make it lighter since I also don't want to be unhealthy.

New Year's Resolutions

2009-01-17T11:43:00.001-07:00

Yes, they are late, but I feel that since this is an important step in January for most of society, I'll write some down. Last year I didn't do any so we start with a look back at 2007 goals:

1. Open a savings account (actually this is done as of yesterday, woohoo) This was obviously accomplished and I did this again when I switched banks.
2. Lace I started a shawl for my sister using a basic feather and fan pattern but never finished it. Last year I made and finished a clapotis and a pair of lace socks.
3. I have seven skeins for socks -- USE THEM!!! I didn't do so well with this... and I bought more.
4. That goes for others of my stash -- look in the stash first before buying new yarn See number 3.
5. Create a winter set to match my coat In 2007 I never did this. I finally found a matching color last year and made a hat. I'm going to order matching yarn for a scarf with my next Knit Picks order.
6. Create a wearable that is not a scarf or pair of socks I started and never finished a very boring sweater. I would need to do something that isn't stockinette.
7. Fair isle Nope
8. College in the fall I did this and then rethought college for me. It's not that it's hard, but it is very expensive and time consuming. I'm into instant gratification, don't want to quit my job at the moment, and don't want to be in debt.
9. Another bag I started one in crochet, but didn't finish, and then in 2008 I started another but ran out of yarn and didn't finish that either.

Here's this year's list. My Sensei (karate instructor) says that a goal has to be measurable. You can't just say, take lunch more often, you have to give an exact amount.

1. Take lunch to work at least 3 times a week. This will save money and force me to cook/prepare stuff at home and mean that I'll eat healthier there as well.

2. Karate at least once a week through May.

3. Organize my place and learn to keep it clean and organized. This means I need to create some kind of a workable schedule.

4. $50 a paycheck goes into savings.

Ten seemed like a good number and so we'll see next January how things went.

Franklin, Day 2

2009-01-11T11:12:00.001-07:00

Wow! We were making a miniature Tomten jacket by Elizabeth Zimmerman. I chose pink and purple Cascade 220 and have enough yarn left to reverse the colors. He had developed a chart for garter stitch jacquard, which most of us did not make it all the way through, though it still looked neat and we were able to understand the technique. It's quite different doing color work in garter stitch and a little time consuming also. Then we moved on to the body and then to the hood. I learned a lot from the class, though most of us didn't finish our sweaters. I'll probably rip back my sleeve since I picked up funny (and now I know that when I pick up on socks I'm doing it wrong and that explains why it looks so funny) and finish it off. I will probably reverse my colors and knit it on larger needles and at a larger gauge for a teddy bear. I enjoyed it a lot and am thinking that I might have a good time making bear sized sweaters. I'm also not scared of color work anymore and even considered the sipula bag from Knit Picks. Perhaps by the time I place my order, it'll be in stock. I will have to see. It would take a lot of time and I have a long list of projects to get done.

Wild Purls had goodie bags for us. We received tote bags with a Franklin cartoon on them that Franklin brought with him thanks to Interweave Press, Never Not Knitting by the Yarn Harlot, and a sweater stitch marker. They also had lunch and lots of desserts for us. Because my back has been bothering me lately and mostly when I sit, I had to walk around the mall for awhile to stretch out and went to bed quite early when I got home. Franklin also said he was going to have future classes make an even smaller version.

Franklin, Day 1

2009-01-09T21:52:00.001-07:00

It was a very fun night with Franklin. We started out knitting (okay, actually I chatted with Bindakay and then knitted)in the comfy chairs until he arrived. When he did, I nicely resisted the urge to rush over. In fact, I even waited until the people who had to leave early had gone up. Twice during the night I was asked if I was Ari. It's kind of neat that people recognize me from either Ravelry or here. Frankin has the nicest handwriting and he's so sweet. He did a reading from his book about being a sado-masochist knitter and it was even funnier when he read it aloud than when I had simply read it. At one point a couple of young boys went up to him and showed off their drawings and Franklin spent quite a while looking at them and commenting. I will be back tomorrow for the class and will report back. One of the employees had her husband taking pictures and he got a picture of me and Franklin.

On another note, Mom's sock 1 was kitchnered and I started the second. I must say, this was my kitchner ever.

Post-Christmas quickie

2009-01-05T21:17:00.002-07:00

Someday, I promise to have Christmas pictures up. I got my camera back from my Mom's, but I haven't done anything with the card.

Here's a little idea of what went on:

Had the 20th- 28th off.

Grandma got here, but her foot was sore.

Took her to the doctor who said she needed to stay off of it.

Went and did some running around for her and me.

Finished Mom's snowmen, but not her sock.

Ate, laughed, ate, opened gifts, ate.

Celebrated my Older Niece's birthday at the bowling alley, which was fun.

Went to work for a couple of days and had from the 1st-4th off.

I was very spoiled this Christmas. One of my best friends made me a scarf with white and purple. This was the friend who had just learned to knit this last spring. My sister gave me a lovely spring smelling candle with 2 wicks. I haven't burned it yet since it reminds me of spring and summer, which is perfect and since it has 2 wicks the whole thing should burn down she said. Apparently one of her co-workers sells them. My Grandma had her friend knit me a dishcloth and gave me the pattern for it. She also gave me a size 2, 16" Addi Circular that I need for a beaded bag. Thanks to her, I'll also have a subscription to Creative Knitting. She got me 2 pairs of Levi's 529 jeans in the size I asked for. Here's the odd thing, they were too short. The size larger that was too big was 2" longer. These were just long enough, which meant after one washing they'd have been too short. The website said they were all the same length and they don't make longs, so I got a credit to get some new ones when I find a new style I like. I hate buying jeans, so I'll have to try a lot on (I'm skinny waisted but have big hips and long legs). She also got and made some decorative things for us. My Mom ordered some sconces that I had sent her a link to (she knows how to take hints) that go so well in my bedroom. My sister had got me a picture with leaves on it a couple of years ago and these sconces were iron, but matched the leaves. They aren't up yet since I need the perfect spot. She got me some cute Skecher shoes (I had tried them on when she was there, so again, she takes hints well) that are the new D'Lites in white and pink (I'm starting to like pink for some reason). I also got pajamas, new pans since the few I had were rusting and I kept needing some I didn't have, like a muffin tin, pizza pan, loaf pan, and a wonderful pan for making cakes or whatever with a lid, earrings (I only get these at gifting times since I have picky ears that only like silver (or gold, but I'm not a big gold fan)), a sweater, Brisingr the book, and a Starbucks gift card. I'm sure I'm missing somethings.

Mom's first sock is almost done. I need her to try it on one last time before I start the toe decreases and then I'll start the second one.

I'll post about my "resolutions" some other time, but one has to do with going back to karate. Tonight was my first night and it went well. So this week is hectic. Tomorrow is my knitting night, Thursday is karate again, and Friday and Saturday are very special days. Franklin Habit will be here on Friday and on Saturday he's teaching a class!!!

In a fit of stupidity ...

2008-12-23T23:30:00.001-07:00

I have been remiss in updating my blog, so here it goes.

The doctor appointment went well, although very expensive. One little appointment is going to run me $800. But, we did find out that my thyroid is overactive, which explains the weight loss. What it doesn't explain is my always being cold (very cold since I shiver at anything less than 72 and would be wonderfully comfortable at 74 or more), lack of appetite, and hair loss. But, the doctor thinks that my thyroid swings from one direction to the other and I have the symptoms of an under-active thyroid.

My Grandma arrived with some difficulty. She was worried about the weather but that actually didn't ground the plane. The plane just broke. So she had to get a ride back home and then get someone else to take her back to the airport (normally a 1 hour journey) since the weather got icky. Then her foot swelled and now she can't walk. This changed the plans we had for when she arrived. Yesterday I got several hours of knitting done while waiting for her at the doctor's office.

Yesterday I watched my nieces. Originally the plan was for Grandma to take them to Build a Bear. Instead, I did but the girls will bring Grandma's early present to them with them tomorrow for Christmas. Plus, we walked the mall. We hit Bath and Body Works, Hallmark, and Sheel's for gifts for their parents. It's not much but the kids thought of the ideas themselves and that's what counts. LN was spending my money so I was really happy that she automatically found inexpensive gifts and I didn't have to veto anything. My older niece wanted to look at Gymboree for something for herself (she still had money to burn in her pocket since she used her own money for her gifts for her mom/dad). I felt totally bad doing this but I left her in the store and went down a couple of stores with my little niece to Build a Bear again. ON (older niece) had wanted the pen that matched her bunny she'd made so LN got it for her for Christmas. I was paranoid about leaving her in the store, but she will be 9 on Saturday and she runs about her neighborhood by herself and it was only for a few minutes, so was I okay? Anyway, these jeans were really expensive, but she was so proud that she got them herself. The only thing was that she was $.31 short, so I covered it and that's our little secret. LN didn't understand why she couldn't have the yellow shoes she wanted, after all ON was getting something. She tried every plea a 4 year old could think of. "I'll just carry them around for a little while" or when I explained that ON was buying it with her money she told me that I could use my money to buy the shoes for her. It went on for probably 10 minutes and I was trying hard not to laugh. She sounded so sneaky and older. So after all of that the kids went home about 20 minutes after LN's bedtime. Oops.

Today I ran errands for Grandma and bought lots of gift cards for people. Then I screwed up my Mom's Christmas gift. Which is where we come to the title of this post. Since no one will be reading the blog tomorrow here's what's gone on in the Christmas knitting world. My Grandma is getting a scarf out of homespun. I hated the yarn knitting with it, but it's super soft when you wear it. My Mom was getting socks and snowmen. The socks aren't done. It was my first pair of fingering weight socks since having hand problems and as it turns out, I still can't knit with fingering weight yarn for too long. So I'm 3/4 done with sock 1. I feel terrible about it. But, it gets worse. I screwed up the snowmen. The accessories took more work than I had planned. I could only get yarn that would work for the accessories in bearfoot, which has mohair in it. It made my hands itchy to work with but I trooped on. I didn't like Lumpy in either the fingering weight or worsted weight versions. I forgot to felt the top hat for Slim. I did that tonight and kept burning my hands. It took me a little while to figure out how to boil felt them. So I would boil the water to heat it and then put this steaming hot little hat into my hand and roll it around. When it would feel cool I would stick it back into the water. It was awful. Then I stuck it into my warm bathroom to dry, after doing as much shaping as I could. I figured the accessories would have to be tacked down with thread and needle. I can't sew very well. My friend had to teach me how to sew the beads on. So, I tacked down the earmuffs on Rosy and tied on her capelet. I tacked down the beanie and tied on the scarf that was supposed to go on Lumpy. Then I looked and realized that it was sewed on to Slim. I have no idea how to undo this. Slim is taller, which means that he would have looked better with the top hat and that the scarf meant for him would have fit him and now it's too long for Lumpy. Egads. I feel so bad that I almost don't want to put it into the box for her. But, I need to give her something. Also, she'll never know if I don't tell her. So, I better learn to keep my mouth shut.

Pictures will be posted after Christmas. For one thing, I didn't take any of the scarf, and for another, someone might just snoop.

15 Knitting days until Christmas

2008-12-10T12:53:00.002-07:00

Yes, I'm counting today and, yes, I'm counting Christmas Eve, which is when we exchange. My Grandma's gift is done. My Mom lives here and so I can finish her gift after Christmas if I have to, and I will have to. I have to start wrapping gifts. I told my Mom she could come over and bring the girls (my nieces) with her on Friday, which means that everything for them needs to be wrapped by then.

Saturday I'm having my first ever Christmas party. This also happens to be the first party I've hosted. Wish me luck. I've got ingredients to make punch, dip, and little miscelleneous things. There will be less than ten people, but I still worry that it'll bomb.

A life meme

2008-11-29T16:25:00.001-07:00

Things I’ve Done (In Bold)The itallics items are close but no cigar
1. Started my own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than I can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sung a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris 13. Watched lightening at sea
14. Taught myself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown my own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught myself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had my portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had my picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Rode an elephant

Life in general

2008-11-23T13:51:00.001-07:00

I can't believe that I haven't updated my blog in awhile. It's been hard knowing what to write with so much of my knitting being for Christmas.

HSBC called last week and someone had tried to use my credit card. They're having to reissue me one, which I kind of hope to get this week, just in case I need it for Black Friday for Christmas gifts. Thanks to HSBC for being a good watchdog though!

Franklin is back from his trip to London. I hope this means that we'll get our supply lists soon! No pressure, but I'm excited. If it calls for worsted weight then I can use my Cascade 220 that I was originally going to use for another sweater. Since I'm into instant gratification I will probably never knit that sweater. I'll just need a contrasting color and maybe some buttons from Knit Picks. If it calls for bulky I'll use some Knit Picks yarn.

As it turns out, my Grandma is allergic to wool and so I've had to come up with a plan B. I'm not crazy about the yarn that I picked. I'm also not thrilled with the pattern. Might need to look on Ravelry for a new one.

My Mom and I went to the food and fun show at the Metra yesterday. I didn't buy much, she bought even less. I didn't see many people buying things, which isn't shocking with the way the economy is. However, this one guy was making and selling felted bags and hats. One bag with some cables on it was $260. Yep, that is right. I didn't look at the price of the hats, mostly because I was scared to. I so need to start selling some of my knitted stuff.

A knitting meme

2008-11-15T20:40:00.001-07:00

The official rules are mark with bold the things you have knit at least once, with italics the ones you plan to do sometime, and leave the rest.

Afghan
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting (modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting (not sure what this is)
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Continental knitting (sorta)
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
Teaching a child to knit
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Knitting to make money
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dyeing with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
Knitting with DPNs
Holiday related knitting
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dyeing yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Baby items
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm warmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

FRANKLIN IS COMING, FRANKLIN IS COMING

2008-11-13T20:21:00.001-07:00

In case you were wondering -- FRANKLIN HABIT IS COMING TO BILLINGS, MONTANA.

My wonderful LYS, Wild Purls, had a special event for their best customers. I had assumed that everyone had received an invite, but apparently not. Those who have taught, taken classes, kept up with the goings on of the store, or somehow made it special got an invite. I brought S with me. There was wine, cheese, crackers, fruit, and nuts and lots of wonderful knitters. Then the announcement came. FRANKLIN IS COMING January 9th and teaching an ALL-DAY CLASS on the Tomten jacket by Elizabeth Zimmerman. Oh, my, gosh. For those of you who aren't sure who I'm talking about please, please go see his blog here (a new window will open). He's not your typical knitter. He's a shaved bald guy who's once been asked if he learned to knit in prison. He writes and is a professional photographer. His new book It Itches just came out and next year his 1000 knitters book will be coming out. Wow. So, yes I'll be at the signing and yes, I, who's never knit a sweater before will be taking the class.

Oh, and while at the TNNA show, Julia, the owner of Wild Purls met with Beth from Lorna's Laces and this is what they came up with:

The color is better in person. This is the Wild Purls colorway, also unveiled tonight.

My newest hat

2008-11-13T20:11:00.001-07:00

I used some of the yarn that my secret pal sent me in the first Falling for Ewe box.

I apologize for the crummy pics, but it's hard to take pictures of myself.

Pattern: An Unoriginal Hat by the Yarn Harlot (Stephanie Pearl-McPhee)

Yarn: knit Picks Wool of the Andes Bulky in Blackberry

Needle: 16" size 11

Time: roughly 5 hours (woo-hoo)

This hat matches my Columbia coat so well that it doesn't make my OCD color issues flare up.(colors have to match not just coordinate)

We have our new President

2008-11-04T21:07:00.002-07:00

It has just been announced that the next President of the United States of America will be Barack Obama. This is monumental because he is the first black president. Regardless of how anyone feels, he has a big job ahead of him.

I'm hoping that the polls change a bit for my co-worker who was running for State House as he is currently trailing. He's a good guy who wants to do good things for his district.

NaNoWriMo

2008-10-31T13:10:00.003-06:00

What the heck am I thinking? I just joined the National Novemeber Writing Month write-athon and of course I have a lot of Christmas knitting to get done. I'd been thinking about this for awile, but I finally joined. Of course I didn't realize that it meant starting a new story, not finishing the one I've been working on. Oh, well.

So I have a ----- for Grandma to buy yarn for and knit, ----- to buy a new needle for and then knit for my Mom, ------- to knit for a couple of people, and ---------- for the -------, and of course the package toppers. I was thinking of knitting -------- for the nieces, but I'm not sure about that. I guess that means I'm not knitting anything for me at this time. Next year I'll start sooner.

FFE #2

2008-10-30T19:01:00.002-06:00

I received my second falling for ewe package and it was soooo wonderful. There was a theme to it: stuffing from Thanksgiving. Canada has their Thanksgiving in October and so she stuffed a very little box. There was a DPN holder, some really pretty stitch markers, mini-Mary Kay Satin Hands set, a Bernat book of sweater sets, Lion Brand's Just Hats (love this book), 2 balls of Sirday Baby Bamboo, Berocco linen, and a neat little kit for making a coin purse. I looooved this package.

Well, I'm sorta at a crossroads with my Christmas knitting. I still have the wrong needle for my mom's gift and need a different size. Do I order from Knit Picks and pay extra for faster shipping, wait the 2 weeks, or order a different brand (Addi) from someone else whom I'm ordering my friend's gift from, or buy from my LYS? Eeeks.

My computer came back to me

2008-10-23T18:24:00.002-06:00

So, you all know I don't have the best of luck. I sent my computer in and was able to track it to know that it arrived, but then I lost it. I called HP and asked why I could no longer track it and got told that their computers were down. Does that seem ironic? I placed a Knit Picks order just a couple days after my friend did and she could track hers but the number for mine keeps coming up as invalid. Then, all of a sudden, yesterday I got an e-mail from HP saying that my order was shipped. I had to go to FedEx's site to track it since HP's was still down. I noticed that it said it was out for delivery. Obviously their e-mail wasn't very timely, oh well. But, when I opened it the information included for restoring my files if I had backed them up was for an XP computer. Oh, no. I had my tech guy at work plug it in to check the OS. There is a sticker on the side of the case that says Vista, so either a tech didn't pay attention when loading it or the shipping guy didn't pay attention to what info to give me. Yay, they gave me Vista back! I'm actually starting to really like Vista, plus all of my back-ups were for a Vista computer. So, I guess that I'll just have to hope that Knit Picks just shows up one day. Last night I went to help a co-worker with his campaign (he's running for State House) so I got home really late, so at 11:30 I was plugging in the computer and setting it up. Something came up telling me that there were files telling me what was done to my computer, but when I clicked on them they appeared to be bad files. The nifty notification told me that the files would also be on my desktop (which they're not). I restored my back-ups and this morning I started dealing with my microsoft Office issue. Last year I bought a really cheap version of Ultimate from http://www.theultimatesteal.com, which is for college students. I was really leary of the whole thing back then because I bought a $600-700 program for $60, but I found the website through Kim Komando's daily newsletter (which she advertised again this year). However, it activated just fine. Since I didn't have a CD to reload the program from I searched Microsoft's website on what to do. Good grief they have a difficult to navigate site. What I ended up doing was downloading Professional and then trying to activate that and being told it didn't work and then calling Microsoft (which thoroughly scared me after recent tech support calls to various places and seeing their website). Mr. Tech made everything way, way too easy. I explained the situation and he gave me an activation code. Wow, something went smoothly and easily. Which also means that my e-mail should be running here pretty soon.

So, moving on to knitting. I've got some stuff done for Christmas, not much, but a couple of little things. Also, I did cast-on for something for me, even though I hadn't really planned to. I started the Georgian Lace hat by Knit Picks in Blackberry Comfy (a Knit Picks yarn). Comfy is cotton/acrylic, so it's not the best yarn for winter, but it matches my Columbia coat perfectly. I flubbed one round this morning when I was trying to do too much, but I will fix it tonight. But, now I have a question. My Grandma is coming for Christmas this year and it's the first time she has come for the holiday in 8 or 9 years. She is a crocheter, quilter, miscelleneous crafter so she really appreciates handmade gifts and usually gives handmade gifts. I'm thinking I should knit her something, but I'm not sure what. I can't make her socks since I can't measure her feet and I know she's had some feet/knee problems in the past. Any ideas? Any at all?

Frogged

2008-10-19T14:21:00.002-06:00

I think the magic loop method is so far pretty neat, but I frogged the sock. The circular needle I was using had an awful join and I was spending more time trying to move the stitches up onto the needle. I would like to try this method fully, but not with that needle. It was some kind of a bamboo/plastic cable needle. I'm not a big fan of those cables and I had to work too hard to get the stitches up onto the needle. Oh well. I'll look for something to keep me entertained tonight.

Oh, Knit Picks

2008-10-18T22:48:00.003-06:00

I love Knit Picks. I love, love their yarns. I love their customer service. And, for the most part I love their needles. What I don't love is knitting away and having my needles come apart. This is not an issue with their options needles, but it is an issue with the Harmony needles. Apparently the glue just doesn't hold. This summer I ordered 2 size 10.5 tips. I had to have one set replaced not longer after receiving it because one fell apart. I was knitting on some Christmas gifts today and another one fell apart, meaning that I need to call and see if I can get another set. What is great is that KP does replace them if it's a manufacturing defect, as it is in this case. I would bet that this is the second of the original set and probably from the same bad batch. They did say they had to change glues. I asked my Dad if he could fix it but he didn't have a glue that would work on metal and wood. He said there wasn't enough surface for epoxy but that I could try superglue, which we have at work. So, for the moment, I'm on hold for Christmas gifts. I cast-on magic-loop style with the sock yarn that my secret pal sent me last month. I would have loved to have dug into the KP sampler she sent or any other project, but I of course started one that would take forever and have to be put on hold come Monday when my new yarn arrives for Christmas gifts. There is logic to this though. This will help me figure out how to knit with size 1 needles and satisfy my curiousity of how Magic Loop works. It's not hard so far, but the small needles gave me a headache since I had to watch my knitting and I'm not used to doing that. I couldn't feel the stitches to knit blindly. Hopefully that'll get better since I have a gift being done on small needles planned.

I used to believe that no one read my blog and it would be okay to post all the details, but I've learned that's not true and so there will be a lot of secret knitting going on. I did finish my charity hat and will post pics soon.

What I do

2008-10-17T21:09:00.009-06:00

First off, a note to any people with my e-mail address. When my computer went down my e-mail seemed to have gone with it. I don't know why that is since it should be tied to the server and not my computer but everything is bouncing. So, I'm using my older e-mail which is the same as the one most people have, but with @msn.com.

So, I thought I would give you a little glimpse into what I do and here it goes.

This is the back corner of the room I spend most of my day in. Sure, it might look kind of messy, but it really isn't too bad. It was a nice day so we opened the back door and as you can see, almost all of the snow that we got last weekend (over a foot) is gone. We have a couple of pallets of paper that we keep up in the room for wide format copies: 30" and 36". 24x36 and 30x42 are very common architectural plan sizes. On a busy day we can go through over a pallet of paper (42 rolls of 500' paper) depending on which machine we print to. Currently a local architectural firm has been getting a lot of prints and so we stacked them on the big table and folding table. The little red boxes contain spec books, which we don't print but do receive from other printing companies. It's hard to see since I took these pictures while sitting down, but in the far left corner we have a Kip 8000 that we converted into a Xerox 721 by swtiching the controller. This prints 22 24x36 prints a minute. The set of machines in the back center of the photo are a Xerox 6050a and Synergix scanner. This printer only does 8 24x36 prints a minute. That back photo is Butte, Montana from 1925. Butte was the biggest city back then by about twice the size of any other town.
More of our room. This is one giant room. One of my co-workers is a professional photographer and those are his pictures up on the wall. We use them as samples to show people common photo sizes. They are mounted to foam core, laminated, and trimmed out with a plastic trim that makes it all look very nice. As you can see, we have a lot of tables. There are five large tables, one with a glass top. The tables are either 36" or 48" x 12 feet, which gives you an idea of the size of the room.
This is the laminator. It does cold and hot lamination as well as pressure mounting. Those big rolls standing near are about to be loaded on. Oh, and don't ask how I know, but if you accidently get your fingers stuck in there... well... it will break them, even if set to 1/4" between the rollers.And here is what I do all day. Oops, that was the wrong screen to have maximized. I build print jobs and send them to those printers I showed you earlier and makes maps. I spend a lot of time on the computer. We also have some color plotters to do wide-format color printing. It's fun because it's rarely the same thing and my co-workers are pretty great to deal with, at least most of them.

Christmas knitting, Baby knitting

2008-10-16T21:18:00.003-06:00

I have started my Christmas knitting. One of the things that I was making my Mom was requested by a co-worker, which I thought was pretty cool. What was cooler though, was that a co-worker who has two pregnant daughters asked if I would knit them some baby stuff and she'd pay me. How wonderful is that? She must think a lot of my knitting and that is a great complement.

My computer was sent to HP yesterday and I'm thinking they'll have it tomorrow and day-by-day I'll check the status.

I made an oopsies on needles that I ordered and guessed the wrong size for my sock gauge. So, I ordered new ones but the old were quickly snapped up by a Raveler. Oh how I love Ravelry.

Oh, and I'm planning a pretty nifty post for this weekend.

I killed another one

2008-10-10T22:18:00.003-06:00

I am of course, referring to my computer, which is currently sittling over by my kitchen table. I had the IT guy at work fix my old computer and thus have a back-up. I was on Ravelry (always) and my computer locked up and I couldn't ctrl-alt-del and had to do a hard shut down. When I tried to power it back up the computer just beeped at me and didn't flash showing me the hard drive was firing. After a very pleasant (no joke) hour with tech support I'm going to have to ship my computer back to them to be fixed. The call started out poorly with the automated voice telling me it was out of warranty and transferring me to someone to purchase and extended service plan. I bought my computer at Costco, which offers an extra year of warranty with their computers and the non-English speaking man told me that it was under warranty (at least that's what I thought he said) and transferred me to a nice man who spoke wonderful English and was from Arizona originally but living in Portland for his job with HP, which he loves. Of course panic was rising in me when I was told I could be without a computer for three weeks. But, aha, I have a back-up. Originally I was going to give this to my sister, but she showed no interest and then I decided to hold onto it for my Mom's daycare and the computer lab they've been planning on adding. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to find the monitor's driver disk or that the internet wouldn't work, but the monitor works better with this computer and when I plugged in the ethernet cable I was able to woosh right onto the 'net. I use XP at work, but at home I have Vista. I'm having to relearn XP (I can't type in the name of a program, which means I have to remember where in the list it goes, like IE), relearn this computer, and fret about losing Office off of my other computer. Sure, Vista auto backs-up, but not the programs and I downloaded Office 2007 Pro so I don't know how to get it back if I need to. When I heard the "warranty expired" claim, I was ready to give up. I had forgot about my back-up computer and I'm currently having enough money pinchers that a new computer is simply not possible and I was figuring that I'd have to learn to live (or rather survive) without a computer. Thankfully something went right. Obviously, compared to sooo many people my life is awesome, but sometimes you feel as though every time you step up to bat you strike out. It's been nothing major really, just lots of dental stuff (now maybe a root canal), needing car work, stuff like that, but it just all adds up.

In other news: it snowed today, all day. So, the plan for the weekend is to start my Christmas projects and watch movies. Nothing really appealed to me at the movie rental place, but I picked up a couple of so-so ones. I have a few other things I want to get done, but I plan on vegging a lot on my first free weekend. Ironically, my Mom picked up the yarn for her Christmas project. I pre-paid for it and she picked it up for me. Originally I was going to have it sent to me. I couldn't make it to the LYS otherwise and I would spend more on gas to go into town on Saturday then paying for mail. I did sorta, accidently lie to my Dad and I do kinda feel bad about that. I told him (since as a financial guy he helped me create a budget) that I wouldn't buy more yarn or video games (the one I bought was with credit I had at Game Stop) and I bought more yarn from both Knit Picks and Wild Purls. I forgot that I had already planned on buying this yarn for Christmas gifts. As my Mom said, it's cheaper to make gifts than buy them so it doesn't count. Well, that is sorta true. In this case it'll be cheaper to make them, but that's not always the case. Plus, I need to get people Christmas gifts. She appreciates hand-knit items (actually I think she prefers them) and I really think she'll love this one (and as they say... it's the thought that counts). But the total for this will be about $10, so I think that's okay.

I have hair

2008-10-07T21:32:00.002-06:00

So, they aren't glamorous pictures, but they show that there is hair everywhere. Hopefully, it stays. I had more, but ironically, I had to buzz it down. Since the big butt-cheek look spot on the back of my head and several others had finally started to grown in, I decided to buzz it all down to the same length. I tried several lengths on the razor, but unfortunately I had to use the smallest setting.

I also had ... hunger. For the first time in 3 weeks I was hungry. So here's what I ate:

breakfast of cereal
lunch of a small baggie of carrots and 1/2 sandwich, 2 big goldfish crackers, and a bag of cookies
dinner was 1/2 a sandwich, 1 big spoonful of steamed veggies with cheese, and a couple of cheese straws

and now I think I've overdone it and feel icky. All in all that doesn't seem like a lot of food, but maybe it was a shock to my system.

Hopefully, this all keeps up.

Fun is not the nitty-gritty of life

2008-10-04T20:52:00.001-06:00

This came from Dear Abby and I think you should read about it here, the second letter of that day. The woman in question mentioned that she was jealous of her neighbors and that she couldn't remember the last time she had fun. She also stated that she didn't want to be on pills. To which Dear Abby said that "travel, fun, and processions are not the nitty-gritty of life" and of course told the woman that seeing someone and maybe being on pills would help. Truly, I need to live a less extravagant life style and perhaps I need to realize that the trip to Europe that I keep wanting to take just isn't going to happen anytime soon, but not having fun? Everyone should have fun. Fun can mean going and having a picnic in the park (even if that's by yourself) and then reading or knitting or whatever after for a few hours. Fun can mean curling up on the couch and watching a movie. Fun could be walking around the neighborhood and looking at the ways trees change color. Fun doesn't have to cost anything. But, how can fun not be the "nitty-gritty of life"? If you're not having fun, then what's the point? By the way, this article came out last Monday and I'm totally fixated on it still.

Moving along, I enjoyed my time off. Things went very well and it helped me see some things more clearly. I needed to get rid of Big Orange. I can't work 7 days a week. Some people can, some can't. I can't. So, with the help of my Dad, I've got a plan and I gave my notice. Well, sorta. I laid it on the managers' desk. Tomorrow I'm giving a copy to the new Front end supervisor who started today. I'll need to live a little more cheaply, but it's doable. Next weekend is my last weekend. I got a lot of cleaning done and that helped me feel better about where I live again. I saw hair regrowth, and a lot of it. It's not enough to take off the wig, but, there is definite fuzz everywhere (or most everywhere anyway). Maybe by the time Thanksgiving comes around I can remove the wig, we'll see. It's still weird to take off the eyeshadow/eyeliner combo I've been using to recreate my eyebrows and see little hairs. I usually scrape a little harder before I realize the line isn't coming off. Also not enough to stop with my hiding yet, but it'll get there. Now, I'm trying not to get too excited since it regrew once and fell out in spots.

Oh, and we have a diagnosis as to what is wrong with me. Dr. D (my co-worker and not a real Doctor) diagnosed me as being depressed. She says that all of my symptoms, including the physical ones like stomach issues and a lapse from my period, can be attributed to this. While that's true, I don't buy it. See, I have been told my many different doctors that I have ADD, ADHD, OCD, depression, bipolar, and even PTSD. I was told that I wouldn't be able to function without meds and would never be able to have children. I've been drug free for about 4 years. Granted, that's not to say I couldn't relapse, but my breakdown came almost exactly a year after one of the most terrifying incidences of my life (that caused the first hair falling out). You can't tell me that isn't too coincidental. Also, I know what I'm like when I'm getting depressed. I actually enjoy my life. Sure I've been a little stressed lately, but who doesn't have those times. I finally relaxed about it all and decided to fix things if I could, otherwise don't worry about them. Or, as my friend A said, maybe that's how depression hides -- in cheerfulness. And, no, I'm not manic. I can sleep, my thoughts aren't racing, and I haven't been doing anything absolutely stupid (including spending gobs of money). So, I think I'll look for a real diagnosis. First, we'll see if some stuff clears up by quitting Big Orange.

I've lost about 10 pounds (based on the pallet scale at work, the only one I use) in about 2 or 3 weeks. For me, that's not good. According to the BMI charts, I'm at 22, which would be good, except the BMI doesn't take a lot of stuff into consideration. I'm apparently 5'7" and now 142 pounds. The only problem is that if you go by the weight charts, that's bad. I'm big boned, and it's not a joke, I've had three doctors confirm that. So that means I should weigh at least 143 pounds. Isn't it ironic, just a little over a year ago, I was trying hard to lose weight.

Oh, yeah. I started a project. I'm not working too hard at this, but it's a charity kid's hat. It's something anyway. I just haven't been too enthusiastic lately, but that's okay. Sometimes I need breaks when I go and go on something and then in a few weeks, I'm fine again.

FFE Question #3

2008-09-30T18:58:00.002-06:00

What meals or foods mean ‘Fall’ to you?

Pumpkin Frappuccino. I love this, but I hate paying for it. I've had one so far this season and was planning on having one this week. At $4-5 it's an extravagance right now, so I recreated it at home and am soooo proud of myself. Here's my recipe:

1/4 cup pumpkin puree (puree, not pie filling)
3/4 cup milk (I used light 8th Continent)
4 tbsp Splenda
A splash of vanilla
1/4 tsp apple pie spice (pumpkin pie would work)
ice cubes to get consistency desired

Blend all in blender until it's right for you.

Wow... a FO

2008-09-29T22:30:00.002-06:00

Believe it or not, the weird zigzags in the middle are really there. I pulled a strand from the middle and one from the outside and it worked out just fine until the middle and then fixed itself. Anyway... this is the "bath-mat" from One Skein and ~~knit~~ crocheted with an enormous ball of cotton that was on clearance for $5 at Michael's. This is my first completed crochet project (well I once made some sachets, but they took about an hour so they really don't count). I actually had to try and look up how to bind-off in crochet and when I couldn't find the answer on Ravelry's forums (I couldn't believe no one else had been this stupid actually) the answer came to me: you don't and that's why the pattern said to "fasten off" and not bind off. Wow, how stupid! Since the colors match my kitchen way better than my bathroom it'll either wind up there or maybe the bottom of my stairs.

In other news, I didn't accomplish everything I wanted to accomplish today. It was supposed to be chore day, but that's okay. Thursday is completely unplanned so I can always move some things around and finish up then. Tomorrow I am having lunch with my sister and I'm going to attempt to talk to the bank she works at and see if I can refinance a loan. I've had this loan for about a year and I'm paying through the nose for it. With the market the way it is, I'll probably get no where but it doesn't hurt to try. Then I'll come back home and tackle my desk and some computer things and create a new budget. Stay tuned to see how everything goes.

First falling for ewe package

2008-09-29T22:14:00.002-06:00

This is the first package from the Falling for Ewe swap. I received some wonderful, wonderful yarns and a knitting notebook. There was a ball of sock yarn, Arequipa Estelle, which has 65% superwash wool, 20% alpaca, and 15% nylon and the cool (as in the cool vs. warm color palette) Peruvian wool sampler from Knit Picks. Now, if you've been reading the blog for some time you already know how much I absolutely love, love, love Knit Picks yarns. They are economical and just as lovely as their more expensive counterparts. So this sampler gives me the chance to try out their Peruvian wools in everything except fingering weight. So this sampler includes Cadena in Neptune, Wool of the Andes Bulky in Blackberry, Shamrock in Connolly, Wool of the Andes in Avocado, and Telemark in Skyline. They come with patterns for each of the yarns. One pattern is for a cup cozy for the "to-go" cups that I buy at Costco and take many mornings to work. Of course, then I have to remember to bring it back home, but it'll be small enough to stick in my purse.

Secret pal, I loved everything!

My list

2008-09-26T19:12:00.002-06:00

This will hopefully be the last pic-less post. I just don't have the time at the moment to take and upload the pics. However, I'm off Monday-Thursday and it's on my List. In fact, I thought I'd share what I plan on doing during my "It's all about me" vacation.

Clean my apartment top to bottom (believe it or not I actually want to do this)
Organize my finances. This means I'll make a budget, figure out where my money currently goes, set-up bill pay and pay some bills.
Go to the new Kohl's that's opening up.
Spend my Dillard's Dollars on ME.
Get a pumpkin frappucino.
Sleep in every day.
Call up my sister, or e-mail her, and take her out for lunch one day. She and I haven't really talked a lot lately. The last time we did was not a good conversation so maybe we could just try and catch up and be, oddly enough, sisters.
Go through my fall clothes.
Decorate for fall.
Plan some recipes to try and grocery shop.
Cook.
Create a schedule for my life at this time that works with both jobs. This includes things like laundry and cleaning.
Take a yoga class.
Go to WIld Purls and have them help me with my odd way of knitting that makes ribbing look funny.
Knit (or crochet) with the community knitters at WP.

A little hi

2008-09-22T21:19:00.002-06:00

I was without internet this weekend, since my modem went kaput. The nice tech came and replaced it this afternoon and fixed my parents' cable problem they've had for four years.

As far as knitting goes, I haven't got much done. I really haven't had time or the care to do anything.

As for my hair, it's still falling out, but I have a wig to cover it thanks to someone's generosity. It's really nice. It's long, longer than I thought it would be when I had looked at it. Because it's synthetic and so long, there was one problem that I didn't think about: the laminator at my main job. So, at that job I'll have to put it up.

I had another eye problem: an autoimmune problem where my body that attacks my iris. So for now I'm taking steroids to fix that. But it's worse at night when my eyes are trying to dilate back and forth.

Things aren't so bad...

2008-09-17T20:52:00.002-06:00

Okay, so yesterday's post may have been a bit depressing... but it was a hard day. Then today I realized it wasn't so bad. For one thing... I can still buy tires next week. It'll be tight, but I can do it. Also I found out that our insurance is supposed to cover 80% of the allowable amount and will pay up to $1000 in a year and that the max deductible is $150. They've already taken out $50, but I need to keep them from taking out another $100 since I have paid $50 to the dentist already, and I don't think they took that into account. So, now I just need to be calm and wait until they call me. Since none of my teeth are bothering me... I can wait. The longer they wait the more money I can save. Plus my parents had a great idea... if some aren't that bad... why not wait until next insurance year if possible?

I am still trying to figure out if I can do the wig. Maybe I should try one on. Or... maybe I should wear the one I have... even if it doesn't look the greatest just to make sure that I can stand wearing one for the entire day. I can always bring the hat to switch into since it's not like people don't already know I'm sorta bald.

My Dad is a financial guy of some sort and helps people plan things out and make a budget and has offered to help me. Of course I have to admit that I've got in over my head... but it's time to do that. But first I'll figure out just where my money goes.

And... when I stopped in at Big Blue to have my blinds cut shorter I saw one of the managers. He says they're still looking for people and still want me but since they hadn't had a human resources manager it had been hard to hire people. The new one underwent a drug test today and he said to call mid-week next week and talk to her. Cool! I'd much rather work there... plus I used to so I sorta know the system and store.

Updates all around

2008-09-17T07:04:00.002-06:00

First off... knitting. No pics, because I don't have time for them this morning. I started some voodoo wrist warmers with some Mirasol Hacho that I bought in Bozeman. I'm doing them one at a time since I thought they might make a better pick up and put down project that way. I need them for at Big Orange. I really haven't done much knitting though all in all.

But, I'm trying to get my life sorta back on track to where I feel it should be for the moment. I have been pretty stressed lately because of all of the little things. Since one of these stressors is my off-line knitting group, I'm taking a bit of a break from them. This day off will also give me some time to work on my apartment, that I've let get out of hand. I used to do all of my big cleaning on the weekends, but since there are no weekends for me, it's a total mess. That would be stressor number 2. Stressor 3 was the lack of hair. Sure, there are a lot of times it doesn't bother me, but there are times it does. So I was going to buy a wig with money from my flex... but that leads me to stressor 4: dental work. I had an appointment last Thursday to look at a tooth that had been bothering me. Monday it was filled. Yesterday I had a new patient exam to take x-rays and figure out what kind of cleaning I need. I have five cavaties. The lady at the office will send in a pre-qualification thing to the insurance to see what they'll pay. So far out of the $100 for the first visit and the $200 for the filling they've paid $45. Woohoo (insert sarcasm). Which of course goes roundy-bout with the stress that started the job hunt: my car. The original plan was to put tires on last week but I underestimated the cost by a lot. So then the next plan was to put them on next week but I spent some of that money at the dentist. So, since I can't drive without good tires I'll need to do that, probably by doing something I was trying to avoid: credit carding it. Now I don't think it's as bad as I think, because I do have the flex money to spend on dental work, but it's a lot at once and I always overreact and then rationalize it out, which is why my Dad and I were not getting along yesterday. He got mad because of my apartment, which caused me to burst out about no time, which made him more mad and to tell me I don't need the job which caused me to burst into tears which he hates. But, that's what I do when I'm stressed and frustrated and yesterday was the apex. I bought a little notebook to write down all the money I spend (and yes I see the irony)... which I think will cause me to spend less at the same time since I don't like having to see what I've bought actually written out. Sometimes I just get overwhelmed and need to step back from everything for a little bit and think it all out very slowly.

On to something good. My Dad put up the headrails for the blinds that I got for my birthday. My birthday was in May, but we got the blinds in June and we've both been busy since then. Of course weekends are the times he has off and I work. But, the lady at Big Blue, where I got them, didn't take of the 1/2" for being an inside mount so I need to take the vanes back and have them cut down today. They'll just pop in and then later Dad can cut down the valances. Then... I can start making the bed again. I hadn't been because I have to throw an old comforter over the top of the new one to project the chocolate brown from the sun.

Well... oops, I have to go get ready for work.

A perfect day

2008-09-16T21:00:00.002-06:00

Not today, but I won't ruin this post by going into that. My Secret Pal asked me, "Also, could you describe for me what your perfect day would be? Please add the things you would do, where you would go, what you would eat, etc...what you would surround yourself with or whom...", and so I answer, and I felt this would be a very good blog post.

First... the ideal perfect day. It would start with me sleeping in. Hey, remember this is MY perfect day... if I wanted to sleep all day, I could. I would shower, dress and then french braid my oh-so-manageable mid-back length hair (hey, don't interrupt my dream). I would go eat breakfast in the dining room of whatever hotel I was staying in. Since I love to plan things out, I would already have planned out what to do the night before. I would get to knit during breakfast, and no one would look at me strangely. After I would do some sight-seeing, based of course on where I was. If I was in the UK, I'd visit Stonehenge, see Buckingham Palace, visit all the little places that the Yarn Harlot posted pics of (like that quaint little pub). I would have real English Tea. If I was in Germany, I'd go see castles and visit the Christmas Markets (because of course it would be that time of the year). If I was in Alaska, well... I'd have to see everything. But, if I was on a cruise, I'd take some excursions and spend some time knitting on the deck. I would love to try local fare. All of my meals would require that I try something new and different that I couldn't have at home. There would be yarn stores to visit and local yarns to bring home. Now, for my traveling companion ... probably my close friend J. He likes to travel and is easy-going enough to go into a yarn store. My grandma would make a good companion also. I'd invite them both, but my grandma would think that J and I were dating and well... that would be too weird.

Now... on to the more localized perfect day. I would sleep in (yeah I planned on going to bed an hour ago). and not have to work that day. Then my Mom and I would probably go out to breakfast (and totally ignoring time and distance) at Bridge Creek for their buffet. Then we would somehow mysteriously arrive back in town and walk around and shop. I, of course, would have all the money I would need for the day, and would buy lots of Eddie Bauer clothes, books, and yarn (because of course she would allow me to go into a yarn store with her). We would have lunch at Olive Garden and dinner at Red Lobster (and no, calories don't count on my perfect day). We would come home and I'd go over to her place and watch some funny, cute little movie. We'd have cherry colas and eat popcorn or chex mix. I'd go to bed fully happy.

Or... the day I've been thinking about lately. I wake up late (yep, there's a theme). I pad over to the window and open my new blinds (that my Dad partially installed today, the rest will be me doing them tomorrow night). Oh, look at those big, fluffy snowflakes and gee... I don't have to work today. My apartment is set to a nice, warm 70 degrees. So, I make a bowl of oatmeal, which I eat in front of my computer. I shower, dress, the whole nine yards. I dress in lounge clothes, since that's what I plan on doing. I cuddle up under a blanket on my couch... pop in a movie... and knit all day long.

FFE Question #2

2008-09-14T08:24:00.001-06:00

What ‘cold weather’ project are you looking forward to making the most the autumn?

Since I've taken a job at the Big Orange, I'm now thinking that the wrist warmers I bought some yarn for might need to be made this year. I'd planned on knitting them anyway, but wasn't getting anywhere with that. I've also got some scraps that might make it into some warmers. I noticed last night that Target was selling a lot of wrist warmers, which means that buying them might have been cheaper than making them, but oh well. This way I can customize them.

Odd thing about my hair. The patches that were still missing hair have started to fill in, but I noticed that there were a couple of small, new patches that had been growing just fine. So, obviously that is not done. Which means, that I still need to figure out how to make hats. Lots of people have been kind enough to give me hats, but I want one that I've made. I'm sure that doesn't really make much sense.

Of course, I've got some Christmas projects planned. I need to order some yarn for one person's, but it'll be super cheap. I can't reveal what that project is, since I know that person reads my blog.

Another hat done

2008-09-10T21:00:00.001-06:00

And, yes, I did doll up the head. Her complexion was a bit pale.

The pattern if from the Yarn Harlot and it's called An Unoriginal Hat. I used malabrigo that my secret pal from SOYL, Preita, had sent me. I'm really quite please at how it turned out. It knit up super quick. It ended up being too small for me since it was double stranded, but I put a pompom on the top and it fits my youngest niece and so it'll go to her. This has to be some of the most wonderful yarn to work with.

On another note, my hair has sorta started growing back. There are still patches that refuse to behave though and I'm still losing eyebrows. I think that has slowed down, but I don't have many left to lose. Perhaps I should just shave off what I have left. Might look just a little better. I started a group on Ravelry called Knitting Baldies. So far there are 5 of us, which actually is quite a few more than what I thought I would get.

Favorite thing about autumn...

2008-09-07T20:34:00.001-06:00

i don't know that I can narrow it down. I love, love, love the colors. My kitchen is done in "Tuscan" colors (also sorta known as autumn colors) and my living room has a sage green furniture set with orange throw and more orange extras. I love fall clothing (I like being warm too). The changing trees, mums, things like that.

SOYL last package

2008-09-05T18:11:00.001-06:00

Well, the Summer of Yarn Love is over. It's kinda sad, but Falling for Ewe is starting. Here is what I got in my last package.

There was so much lovely stuff in this box that got delivered at the end of a rough week. A box of chocolates, some chocolate sunflower seeds (how did you know I loooove these things) and a notepad with a magnet. I go through fridge notes quite quickly so this is wonderful. Now, the yarn. A skein of peruvia from Berocco and FIVE balls of Andean silk from Knit Picks in holly berry. I looked on Ravelry and someone made a gorgeous shawl using 4.5 balls. So... at least I have one idea for this beautiful, soft yarn. My pal was Preita. She definetly spoiled me during these summer months, and somehow her packages always came just when I needed them.

September is Alopecia Month

2008-09-03T22:09:00.001-06:00

I didn't know this until today. So... I'll do like every other blogging alopecian and post this video:

Find more videos like this on Alopecia World

In other alopecia news ... where is the hair? My best friend thinks I'm being paranoid, but I saw a shadow on Friday. I can see/feel that same shadow. Normally that wouldn't be too big a deal... but I can grow 1 1/2 inches of hair a month (normal is about 1/2 an inch). It should be fairly long by now. But, to have smooth legs I'd have to shave twice a day and she'd have to shave every 2-3 WEEKS, so we have a very big difference of opinion of my paranoia.

I'm making a ... hat. Surprised, probably not. I'm using the malabrigo that my secret pal sent me (absolutely the bestest yarn I've ever used, I do believe) and making the An Unoriginal Hat by the Yarn Harlot. It'll be thick since it's double stranded, but I love it anyway. It's a quick knit. Even working half-heartedly I'm half-way done after two days.

A hat is done

2008-09-01T15:38:00.001-06:00

Obviously I spent a little bit of time playing with the photoshop filters, but couldn't find one I really liked. I made the hat too big, or rather I followed the pattern and cut out some stitches but still can't figure out how to make a hat for a bald person. Oooh well. It's soooo soft though. Made out of Cascade Bulky leisure, which is 50/50 alpaca and pima cotton. Without tucking it behind my ears, it flops over my eyes.

Lots of Misc

2008-08-29T22:10:00.001-06:00

First off, I sometimes wonder about the people I work with. One guy chewed my butt at 7:40 this morning (yep, officially I don't start until 8, but I came in early for something today) and it wasn't my fault. So, all day, I had a continuation of my rough week. But then, one co-worker told me that he is going to see his sis-in-law this weekend and she has an etsy store, 2 Old Hens and a Chick and makes crocheted hats. He said he'd get me one. How cool is that? I had been having a heck of a time finding hats. The couple I got at Target yesterday were both black and one reminds me of a pilgrim hat. It looked cute at the store though.

I heard from my Falling from Ewe pal. She was chatty, which is nice. Apparently she's already been doing some cyber-stalking. She wants me to use Ravelry's favorite function to show her things I like. I started with some Kauni shawls and will have to remember all the things I've seen and wanted to do.

I have Monday off from both jobs. Obviously, looking around at my apartment, I'll need to get some cleaning done, but I also plan on getting a little knitting done. I want to finish this hat sometime this weekend. I've tried the Beaverslide, but that seemed like it'd be too warm (although the cold is coming) and it's bulky and I had cast-on 100 stitches on size 10.5. Oops. So then I tried cotton, using the leftovers from my market bag, but that was slow-going. So I got some Cascade Bulky leisure, which is 50% superfine alpaca and 50% pima cotton. I cast-on slightly more than the appropriate number of stitches (I thought the yarn used was bulkier than what I had) for the pattern I'm using, Crazy Aunt Purl's Chunky Knit Beret, but when I got to the decreases I realized it was far, far too big for my nearly bald little head. So I re-cast on, subtracting a few also. We'll see how this goes since I'm on my last knit row before beginning decrease rounds.

Bye-bye hair

2008-08-25T21:11:00.001-06:00

So, I buzzed the rest of my hair off. It's surprising to me how much there still was since I felt like soooo much was gone and there was a lot gone, but that's what you get when you have thick hair (or at least when you have hair it's thick). The hair couldn't hide the spots anymore and I was feeling the itchy feeling of having hair down my back and it's all over my bathroom. Oh well. I canceled next week's hair appointment before realizing that I still might need my eyebrows waxed, if I still have them next week. At least the people at work are good about it. Last time one of my co-workers said she'd kill herself if she lost her hair, which is not really the thing to say to someone with alopecia. Duh. In the meantime, I've got one cotton hat going and instructions and yarn for another which should knit up in just a couple of hours. Gots to go knit...

Falling for Ewe

2008-08-22T23:00:00.001-06:00

I had a mishap with sending in my info on Ravelry for this swap and missed getting in. I kept trying to send but it wouldn't show in my outbox so finally I gave up and figured the hostess had 20 copies of my info. But, someone backed out and I'm in, so here's my info:

Do you knit or crochet? How long have you been at your craft? I've been crocheting for about 20 years (now I feel old) and have been knitting for about 2.5 years.
Do you spin? What type of spinning do you do? No spinning because of a lack of time. Though I used to be in a group that included spinners, mostly for the dyeing aspect.
Are there any other crafts that you participate in? Beading (hard with my hands but I'd love to learn how to knit with beads), scrapbooking, card-making
What are your favorite yarns/fibers? Wool, particularly merino,
What are your LEAST favorite yarns/fibers? Acrylic, fun fur, mohair makes me itch
Are there any types/brands of yarn that you are dying to work with but haven’t gotten a chance? I was realizing that all I've really worked with is wool and cotton. I received some soy silk in the SOYL swap and haven't played with it yet. Big Fabel (or the like) because I love socks and have only recently heard of this yarn that looks like sock yarn but is heavy enough to use needles my hands like.
What are your favorite types of projects to knit/crochet? I love socks. I've made so many types of projects and really I like a variety of things.
What are you currently working on? Anything you plan to start this autumn? Currently, the never-ending sweater (always), a crochet bath mat, socks (toe-up on two circs, two a time, my first this way), and a hat.
What is your favorite FO? (Please, post a picture if you would like.) At the moment:
What is your oldest UFO? I'm not really sure at the moment.
Are their any knitting/crochet techniques that you would like to learn? Knitting with beads (I have wonderful cotton yarn that my SOYL pal sent me that would make a wonderful Odessa). Fair Isle scares me but I would love to learn.
Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements? Yes. I have size 11 feet that are about 9.5 inches in circumference.
Do you have a yarn winder and/or a swift? Both
Where/how to you keep you needles/hooks? At the moment in a mini-tub in my "coffee table".
Do you collect anything? Tuscan stuff for my kitchen, yarn, needles
What is your favorite type of music? Are you MP3 ready? I have an iPod and all CD players can play mp3s. I like country (recently saw Brad Paisley and loved him), some pop (3 doors down, nickelback, katy perry, etc)
Do you like sweets? What are your favorites? Chocolate. No red hots or anything super chewy, though I love the taste of caramel, but my jaw can't handle it.
What is your living situation like? Any pets? Children? Just me
Are you allergic to anything? Smoke, oranges, ragweed, maybe mohair
Do you have an online wish list (Amazon, Etsy, Loopy Ewe, etc.)? Please include links for your swap pal. I'll update Amazon and look to create one at Loopy and then post links.
Are you having a birthday during this swap? Nope.
What is your Ravelry ID? ari, see side bar too.
Anything extra? I prefer Knit Picks needles (esp. the Harmony ones. I have carpal tunnel and thus don't knit with small needles or yarn unless it's lacy on bigger needles.

Hats

2008-08-22T06:59:00.001-06:00

So, I'm suddenly thinking that I would love hats. Now, I don't normally wear hats because, well, I have thick hair normally and that means that I definitely get hat head. So, for those who know me (or check out the early parts of this blog or sometime in April or May about two years ago), you can probably guess why I want hats. I wound up a skein of Beaverslide McTaggert Tweed that my secret pal had given me. It's bulky so I should be able to use the 10 1/2 16" needles I have. I'm going to Hobby Lobby either at lunch or after work since their needles are 40% off. Wish me luck.

New projects

2008-08-22T06:32:00.001-06:00

My first toe-up socks:

I cast-on doing one at a time and then put them both on to the cables since I don't like doing one sock at a time anymore. I think the toes look funny, but maybe it's because it's my first pair. I'm doing a simple garter rib pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks. I didn't want anything too complicated for this pair.

This is the bath mat from One Skein using a giant skein of Sugar and Cream that I bought on clearance from Michael's for $5. It's crocheted using a size K needle so it'll go fairly quickly. I cast-on last night so that I'd having something made with cotton to work on at the ball game tonight.

I decided not to buy the car. I'll fix mine up and then put some money away for what I've always wanted to do: take a vacation that involves traveling more than 250 miles. It's been quite a while.

I'm stressing

2008-08-20T21:20:00.001-06:00

Somewhere there's a quote from Midas saying my car needs x amount of dollars to fix it. Then there's the quote from the Chevy dealership to fix and put new tires on my car. I don't have the quote from my regular mechanic yet. That was going to be next Tuesday. But, Monday I went and tried to buy a Ford Focus. I asked to drive a Ford Fusion and fell in love with the car that I've been saying for the last year ... If I had my druthers I'd buy that one. Then there is the awful truth... I've never been crazy about my car. It had issues when I bought it that honestly thought my Dad was going to throw a fit over so I never mentioned them and now I'm wondering if that wasn't the catalyst to this whole problem. I had to get the paint redone (not crazy about white but we stuck with it), the ABS and No Traction lights were on, and the middle console didn't latch. I hate the boomer in the trunk and if I turn the radio OFF the ear-crushing sound from the subwoofer comes out. It's like with the Lumina. I wasn't crazy about it but I loved having my own car. But, I screwed up my credit in the past. I felt sick to my stomach on Tuesday when I realized I'd told them I wanted to buy the car. Then I realized it wasn't going to work for the amount I was willing to pay and today I started to be okay with it. Keep working at the Big Orange and then save up money. Fix the car, maybe add some style (might need headlamps/tail lights and Euros are cheaper anyway) and then do things I've always wanted to do ... like vacations. I could go on Sea Socks. My Grandma likes to cruise... I could go with her. I could visit her. In three or four years I could buy that car (or whatever is out then). My friend A decided to look at the Ford Focus (she currently drives a little Civic so it's actually a step bigger). I snowed the guy at the Hertz lot (sorry for that but you really need to know what you're selling). Then we went and talked with my guy at Billings Ford. They played games with her. So they didn't sell her a car tonight. And, they managed to get me to a payment I was willing to make. They wanted me to take it home tonight to make the decision. I told them I don't make rash decisions and would have to sleep on it. I thought I could always take both cars over to my mechanic tomorrow. But, now I'm not so sure. The interest alone will be almost what it'll cost to fix my car. Plus, I'm locked into Big Orange for 6 years or finding a better paying job (I actually know of one I could do that would pay me my car payment more a month). The Fusion would be safer, a lot safer. Insurance would only be a little more expensive. But, like I said... I had kinda got used to the idea that it wasn't going to work and what I could do instead. What to do, what to do?

Lost yarn

2008-08-14T06:28:00.001-06:00

I decided to frog the shawl I was originally working on for my sister and re-cast-on. I decided that it was too dense for a somewhat lacy shawl and couldn't remember what size needle I had used (it must have been a 6 or 7 since that was the biggest I had in the nickel options needles) and this time cast-on with a 9. However, I thought I would just grab the other 8 balls this morning, but I'm not sure where they are. So, since I need to start finding my fall clothes anyways, now would be an excellent time to look through all of my bins again. Why would I not have put them with the other yarn. It goes back to having about 1500 yards of laceweight somewhere, but who knows where. So, I guess I'll start that Irish Hiking Scarf again. I'm really starting to feel a little frustrated with myself.

I thought I could knit...

2008-08-13T20:57:00.001-06:00

I cast-on for the camisole and was about 2 inches into it when I noticed something while trying to count stitches ... it was twisted. I cast-on for a pair of fixation socks last night and hated the pattern with the yarn and re-cast on today. This time I screwed the pattern up somewhere along the way. So, I currently have NOTHING on the needles that I want to/can work on. I have needles and yarn on order from Knit Picks, which would help with some of my projects and the idea of doing seed stitch for that sweater is keeping me from working on that project. So... what to knit? Guess I need to go check out Ravelry.

Lots of oopsies

2008-08-11T06:41:00.001-06:00

I finished my Mom's clogs and started felting them last night. My friend A has the same size feet as her, so I'll have her stick her feet into the wet wool and try them on. I do recommend that you add the extra row that it says is only needed for "wide" feet or men's feet. These are awful narrow. Of course it says in the instructions that you can pull on them to widen or lengthen them, but I have no hand strength.

I tried working on the rainbow bag the past several days to finish that up and realized that I am out of yarn. I could do contrasting handles, but I'd have to rip out 140 rows of the one. So, for now it just sits.

I cast on last night while I was felting the clogs for the camisole. Since I can't knit as tight as I used to, I managed to get gauge with the needle size it called for. I did consider dropping down a needle so as to make this fit a little better, but if it's too big then I'll just wear another cami under it. It's meant to go under something anyways.

Some stash-busting needs to occur

2008-08-09T14:17:00.001-06:00

Heavily pic-intensive

7 skeins of shine sport intended for the silk camisole from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. The yellow one was made by aproudUSAFwife. She made hers from Knit Picks' shine sport

also.

7 Hanks of Cascade 220 Heathers in Lake Chelon Heather. I bought this at the Wild Purls pre-opening sale for a pretty good price, hoping to use it for the cabled hoodie from Yarn Girls' Beyond the basics. This sweatshirt was knit by Tiennie out of the yarn the project called for. I must have bought enough for the largest size. My size calls for 1100 yards and the large calls for 1300 yards and I have 1540 (or one ball too many for that size and two too many for my size). Can never be too careful you know.

This is the yarn left over from some socks I made for my sister out of Cascade 220 superwash. Without meaning to, I think that I had used the same color as what I was planning on using for my sweatshirt. Two was one too many, so I can always knit myself some matching socks (and hat and maybe scarf if I take what'll be left from the sweatshirt)

More Cascade Fixation. I started a sock once with the stripy one, but I knit too tightly, using the elastic to pull it tight and so it doesn't fit or stretch. Now I know what I'm doing and will rip that sock out and knit again, this time, with a pattern. Of course, the blue is solid and thus will lend nicely to a lace pattern.

Sock yarn. Well, I guess I could make ... um... socks.

Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Franklin's Panopticon. A recent addition. When I went in to pick up my special order from Wild Purls, Julia had this in my bag because she knew I read Franklin's blog. I don't like fingering weight anymore simply because the small needles make my hands hurt, but I am going to try it. I think I even have a pattern picked out. This is Spring Forward from Knitty. It's a pretty easy two row repeat. I can't think of an easier lace pattern.

This is Mountain Colors Bearfoot in coordinating mill ends. Since I have about 3.5 - 4 ounces (around 100 grams) of this, I can only imagine that I was planning socks.

More mill ends by Mountain Colors, this time Twizzle. Mini-socks (aka stockings) for Christmas ornaments are planned and will probably use up some of this.

More Twizzle mills ends. I'm actually using this ... sorta. I haven't worked on this project in a while, but it's supposed to be a purse from the Simply Knitting magazine. All of the colors are fall-ish.

Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light. I have 3 hanks and I think they would make a beautiful shawl.

These are also pretty new. I bought these giant balls at Michael's for $5 on clearance. I'm thinking a kitchen rug out of the variegated and a market bag out of the green.

This is Alpaca with a Twist and is just soooo soft. I started an Irish Hiking Scarf, originally for my Mom, but I don't think she has anything that would go with this color, there are a few mistakes, I'm not sure where I ended, and my gauge has changed considerably. So, I'll rip it out and probably start again. I'm not sure who I'll make this for, but the yarn is just perfect for this project.

Mirasol Hacho. I bought this on my May trip to Bozeman. The lady who owned the Bozeman Yarn Shop also gave me a pattern for some mock-cable wrist warmers that I want to make and take with me to work.

These are also some of my newest additions. Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted in rainbow and Cascade 220 superwash in black. I'm thinking that combining them will give me a stained glass look and I'll make some house socks. We'll see. If they don't, then I'll just make heavy socks out of the rainbow. I had been coveting this colourway for awhile and finally had Wild Purls order it for me. Oh, and she says she's going to start carrying Shepherd Worsted all the time. Woohoo. Oh, maybe the whole point of this was to convince myself that I need to make projects out of what I have.

I do plan on buying some more yarn, but for Christmas projects and gifts so that doesn't really count. Plus, I hear a rumor that my friend got engaged during her vacation this last week and so I might be making that shawl that I've been eyeing for awhile sooner than planned. Hope she picks the colors for her wedding soon.

An employment rant

2008-08-09T09:50:00.001-06:00

Due to my car needing work/replacement, wanting to travel, better my life somehow... I decided a weekend job was a grandiose idea. I went and got one. Now this place will remain nameless, but we'll call it the Big Orange Home Improvement Box Store, or maybe just Big Orange for short. Now since I used to work for Big Blue Home Improvement Box Store I knew there would be some issues for me. However, I don't believe that those issues only came from working at the other store.

First I was interviewed on a Sunday about a month ago.
Took the drug test and had a background check.
Finally heard from them over a week later.
Got told that I needed to come in for paperwork and they set it up for after work on a Thursday.
Oops, manager and HR person are going on vacations (I'm assuming seperate ones). Come in on Wednesday. I couldn't since furniture was getting delivered.
Came in on Wednesday during my "lunch" time. I hadn't planned on taking a lunch since I was going to go home early. Arranged for me to be there at 11.
Manager went to lunch at 11 so I left work for no reason. Please come back later. I can't. Oh please. Fine, I'll see if I can stop by on my way home.
Manager calls me at work and says don't come, just answer questions over the phone.
HR says come in Saturday and Sunday from 9-3.

Finally I think that we're getting somewhere, but what do I know?

Show up at 9 and get a tour and a stack of stuff to watch/do on the computer. I spend the next several hours trying not to fall asleep.
At 3:20 they ask me why I didn't just leave while I was shadowing (nice word for standing around and watching someone else work). Always thought the higher ups made those decisions, but whatever. I left for the day.
I show up at 9 again. I asked all the key questions that no one had told me. When's pay day? When do I get my orange apron? Locker? When do I show up next weekend? I get told to just show up whenever. Nice (*insert sarcasm*).
I take a lunch in order to work longer and finish my training. Come back and train a bit more and then get thrown on to the register. Look up and realize that even though I haven't finished my training, I'm the only cashier and the head cashier has run off.

So I had some decisions to make. Did I really want to put up with more of this crap?

Put in an application to Big Blue on Tuesday and stop in to talk to a manager I still know there.
Friday, I pick up my pay check and deposit the little envelope containing my "I'm sorry but this isn't a good fit" letter.
Spend Saturday playing computer tech and making some money and then knitting at Wild Purls. Messed around on Sunday and start to wonder - what's better - money or free time?

So this week:

Big Blue's top decision making management is on vacation or away for some corporate thing so I have to wait until next week to talk to them, but my application, I'm told, is on the store manager's desk. Okay.
Big Orange calls on Wednesday and says they just found my note, can I give them another chance since some people are just overwhelmed. Um, it was more than that. I explain that I need more structure in my life. Oh, this is only like this during training. Work for a couple of weeks and if you still don't like it, then quit. I'll think about it. Come in for training tonight. Can't. Tomorrow? We'll see.
I finished training on Thursday night. Head cashier says I need to call the dept. manager or HR lady.
Swamped at work and can't find time to call when I wouldn't be interrupted. I checked my messages last night while at the fair and have one saying, you really need to call me before 5 so we can get you on the schedule. If I'm not here, talk to the manager, if she's not here, talk to a head cashier.

So, on the one hand, I thought last night, that I was off for the weekend. But, on the other hand, should I call and tell them to put me on the schedule? Is it just me or are they really flaky there? These messages are left on my home phone, which is an out of town number. They know I work Monday - Friday, 8-5 so I might not get that message until at least 5:30, though I can check my messages from away, though that, to me, is beside the point.

They're DONE!!!

2008-08-03T20:41:00.001-06:00

The second picture was my attempt at something artsy and I don't think it really worked. I LOVE these socks. They fell so nice and they're beautiful. Since they're cotton I can wear them in the summer, though I didn't pick a very summery color. I wish I knew what shoes to wear with them. Since I want to be able to show them off at knit night, I can't wear them until Tuesday. I got a good chunk of my Mom's clog done. I'm only on the first one, but I am sure that once I know what I'm doing, the next will go quick.

Summer of Yarn Love pt 2

2008-08-02T19:15:00.001-06:00

I got my second package!!! She sure knows how to spoil me.

There's a really neat project bag from Cassafrass Designs in bright colors. I love bags and the bright colors just scream summer and some Crabtree and Evelyn hand therapy in Lavender.

On to the yarn:

TWO balls of Debbie Bliss Cathay in Lime, Ty-Dy from Knit One, Crochet Too, and TWO skeins of Euroflax in Island Moss. She called this a sampler, but there's soooo much yarn here that I'll have no problem finding things to make with these yarns. They are all perfect for summer as they are linen or cotton or cotton blends. Thanks so much! Also, it turns out she's from Ventura, where I used to live and since someone from the Ravelry group for the swap and I had been talking about this, I think I know who she is, unless there's someone else from Ventura area.

I've been working on my Mom's clogs. I managed to get the upper done after three tries. I need some help from the Clog Lady of my offline group for the next part. I'm a very, very visual person and cannot seem to figure out what the pattern is asking for. I have had this problem with learning new cast-ons, the market bag, and learning 2 socks on 2 circs. But I'm getting closer on those lace socks:

The pictures don't quite match up to each other. I figure I should have these done Tuesday. I have some ladder issues on the left side, which I don't normally have using this method, but I had a slight, slight problem with my last sock. So, since this one has more of an issue I figure some is to blame on my inexperience with this yarn. Also, I am thinking that trying a different decrease for the gusset on that side would help. I had been doing ssk, but I could try skp or k2togtbl and see if that gets better. I wish I knew what I used to do that didn't cause this problem.

WIP

2008-07-30T22:22:00.001-06:00

I've got some more of that fixation lace sock, or rather pair, done.

This pattern really isn't that bad and I'm starting to like the yarn. I did realize, rather late, that I picked a fall color for a lace sock. Oh, well.

I also started back on the clogs for my Mom. I really need to get at least the first one done by the beginning of September. That gives me a month from tomorrow. Yikes. Normally that would be fine since it's a large knit, but I think I've scared myself with the fact that I messed it up in the first place. So, this time I have the row counter ready to go and all should be fine.

Aren't they pretty? Too bad they aren't mine. I took S's yarn home and balled it all up for her. Six skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted. Beautiful colors. The picture doesn't show them well.

I heard from my Secret Pal today. She says I should receive it Friday or Monday. This package should have things that I probably wouldn't buy myself, but would probably want to try. I'm very intrigued. Also, she hinted at next month's package. It's going to be large and that there would be one kind of yarn, but that it's absolutely fabulous. Ooooh, I can't wait. My LYS is having an anniversary sale Friday and Saturday and I plan on looking for something for my pal for her August package.

The world wide web

2008-07-26T21:40:00.001-06:00

First off -- I have to apologize for another pic-less post. I'm currently picking up stitches on one heel and about to turn the other, so it's in that one (and only one that I can think of) stage where I can't try on the sock. The needles are in a circle, it's half picked up ... you know that stage.

Anyways, moving on to the subject of this post. I had to kill time between my weekend job (which I started today) and my niece's birthday party and so I went to Wild Purls, our LYS. Bindakay told me that she had someone in to the yarn shop yesterday for their Christmas in July sale who said that there were two people from Ravelry that she really was hoping to meet and I was one of them. Apparently, before she had joined Ravelry she had found my blog and between the blog and Ravelry, she has sorta got to know me. There are times that I wonder, am I getting boring, is anyone even reading this, and things like that. It's really nice to know that there are people out there who read what I write (and yes I love the comments and so I do know that you do read). NorthDakotaBlonde found me through my blog when she first moved to MT and was looking for some local knitters and another nice lady who is about to move to MT for a job found me on Ravelry and came to knit with us offline when she interviewed here. It's amazing how big a world this is and how even when we think we're in our own small corners, we can indeed be found. The internet has really helped knitting, too. When I first began to knit, I didn't realize how big it was. I googled knitting, hoping against hope that I would find something out there about it. Hahaha. Patterns, other knitters, blogs. There was sooo much out there. Now, over two years later, there is Ravelry, which is absolutely amazing. i found the daughter of one of my Mom's first employees on Ravelry. This woman, and her daughter, now live in another city, but there she was. How amazing!

I don't know if I've ever told the story of how I learned to knit. I looked back and I started this blog April 16, about a month after I had learned to knit. I had my dog put down February 14 and a month later I was at Ashley Furniture and looked across to see KnitWits. I went in there out of curiosity and ended up signing up for a class. It's so funny, now to think about this. S, asks me if socks are hard. I honestly think that the answer will be yes, for a beginner, but I stop myself and say, no, you could do that. C, with Ruffled Feathers, says that it irritates her when someone says that she can't do something and it's not that that is what I'm thinking. But I find that knitters have a very varied sense of what is difficult. But, looking back, here's my timeline of what I knit when I started:

A bag a month after I learned. (April 16ish)
Two hats, one flat, one in the round end of April
A bag that I had to put down because I didn't know what DPN meant (to which someone recently asked me if I know what they are now, just because I don't like to use them doesn't mean I don't know what they are or how to use them). BTW, that's the bag I'm knitting now.
A pair of socks that I started two months after I learned to knit.

The funny thing about that pair of socks is that the yarn shop wouldn't let me take the class to learn to knit socks in June at first. I had to take the bag class and she was still reluctant to sign me up. Sooo... I showed her the socks I was knitting on 2 circs and then she let me into the dpn needle class. Oh, and that pair of socks was done using yarn I had dyed. It's just amazing how so much has occured in 2 years.

Okay, one last thing on this very long post. I have been asked several times about the name Ari, which is used on my blog, Ravelry, and with some of my other online things. I didn't want to use my real name when I set this blog up, even though I'm sure it's easy enough to find, but I wanted that tiny bit of added security. So, since I write stories and I had always loved the name Ariana, and it was the name of my current character, I used the nickname of my character. So there you have it: some history of me.

Cotton doesn't work with bamboo

2008-07-24T22:34:00.001-06:00

Or at least fixation doesn't play well with bamboo needles. I have the hardest time doing the psso on the bamboo needle, even though it slides so nicely on the metal one. I'm kind of at a stand-still with my sock. For one thing my hands are aching with this pattern and for another I'm not really sure how long to make the leg. These are definitely not going to be warm socks (they do have holes in them after all) so they don't need to be super long and I don't really like long socks that much. I do realize that I'm going to have to fudge the pattern a bit to switch my needles around since I want to do the foot lace pattern on the metal needle and that should be my gusset needle. Shouldn't be too hard to do though. I have learned how to use this yarn and since I have 4 more balls I really wanted to figure this out for socks. You have to knit really loosely or else they won't stretch when they're on your foot. But this also means that the yarn goes a really long ways. Kind of amazing since there are only 100 yards to a ball.

New Furniture

2008-07-23T20:17:00.001-06:00

The day finally came! I can actually look out my office window, towards the ground and see my old couch on the trailer, ready to be hauled off. The new stuff is soooo nice. It's poofy, but firm, exactly what I wanted. I was a little scared about them being too dark for my living room, but they fit in nicely. I have a bit of work to do in the living room now to organize it, but it looks great.

FOs and new WIPs

2008-07-23T20:00:00.001-06:00

I made a dishcloth. My first ever and it turned out cute, though oddly shaped. I don't know what I did wrong because it's not really square. It's hard to see in the picture, but it's a dolphin diving into the waves.

I also started some thing new.

I apologize for the stubble showing. This is the fixation on lace sock pattern from "Knitting Circles Around Socks". I'm using Cascade Fixation that I bought at the Yarn Shop in Bozeman (see last post). Basically these socks are going to end up costing me $6. If I'd been smart I would have bought more of this yarn. I could have made footies and anklets for $4. Wowsa. Oh, well. I'm also currently winding yarn for the cotton comfy socks from this same book. That'll make three patterns I'm using from the book, which makes it worth it. The cotton socks will be an easy knit, so I'm going to go ahead and cast-on for those times when I need something brainless and easy.

First Knits

2008-07-20T20:41:00.001-06:00

This is Older Niece knitting her first scarf. She says she's knitted before, that one of her other Aunts has taught her and that she just needed to be taught how to cast-on. She sorta has it down, which means she might have tried it before, but I don't know if she'd done much actual knitting. We started with 8 stitches and at one point I took her from 11 back to 8 and then taught her how to k2tog. A few rows later I showed her what she was doing wrong: pulling the yarn in front when knitting. I also showed her that she was getting holes. The great thing about kids is that they don't see things like adults. She liked the holey design and wondered if she could do it on purpose. I showed her my drop-stitch scarf and said if she got knitting down I'd get her some ribbon yarn to make one. This may be a passing fad, we'll see.

One of those weekends

2008-07-20T18:48:00.001-06:00

My parents went on vacation to Denver from Wednesday through yesterday. During this time, I had only a couple of tasks -- water the plants and take in the mail and paper. Everyday except yesterday it rained. It seemed to rain quite a bit in Billings, but I guess that the actual precip was rather low. I checked one morning and it still seemed rather damp and one night I glanced over and saw lots of water and figured it was still okay. As it turns out, it wasn't. The water had been left on and so what I saw was coming from the hose, that I never checked. Some of the lilac bushes are nearly dead and the pump for the well could have burned up. I have furniture coming on Wednesday and when I called to ask my Mom if she knew what the plan was, she said he was really upset and didn't want to talk to me. It's not that I blame him though. I really screwed up. It's just being lazy, which unfortunately is my M.O.. It just adds onto the "I'm a screw up" feeling I've been having lately about multiple things. I know that feeling will pass, but with my Dad I'm not so sure. See, honestly, I'm sorta walking a fine line with him. My Dad spent about nine months working on my apartment, and I'm not the cleanest sort. Seeing my place in shambles really sets him off. My idea of clean isn't quite the same as some people's obviously. My Older Niece asked me this morning how often my parents come into my apartment and I told her not often. She said that was good since it was really messy. Considering I had thought it was rather clean and had spent extra time trying to make it nice for her, II was obviously I very wrong. I don't know what to do.

I don't have what it takes

2008-07-20T09:14:00.001-06:00

Things were ... interesting yesterday in Bozeman. Little Niece didn't understand why she couldn't go with us, and of course, me not having had a lot of experience with kids tried to use logic and reasoning on a four year old. Want to guess how well that worked? Then yesterday S showed up just a bit before 6 and I wasn't quite ready. It only took me a few minutes to finish getting ready though. Older Niece was quite content on the way there playing my Gameboy DS. We went through the museum and saw a show at the planetarium, which was more for kids, but still fun. The Museum only took us about 3.5 hours.

We went out for lunch at the Soup Shack, which was the start of one argument with Older Niece. Lunch went well, and I enjoyed my food, though I think you get a better deal during the spring/fall/winter months. During those times you get to pick your toppings to your soup, bread, and fruit as well as your meal and you don't between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Oh well. We did some shopping. Bozeman was having their Crazy Days. The yarn I wanted for the cotton comfy socks was 1/2 price at Stix, and so I bought enough for 2 pair. At the Bozeman Yarn Shop I bought 3 skeins of Cascade Fixation for 40% off, which I needed for the next pair of socks for my class in a burnt orange, not my normal color but they'll be nice fall socks, some needles for my niece, and some yarn for $1 for her to practice with. All in all, not bad, but not really what I had intended on doing.

But then, walking back to the car we were all messing around and Older Niece said she was going to run away and I said fine. She giggled and ran off, and I thought she'd go towards the car since it was up ahead, but she ran into the street. I yelled at her because there were cars coming and then snapped at her when she came back about how bad that was, etc... I showed S where the Bozeman office of our store was and then we headed over to the Yarn Shop to meet up with A and another co-worker who were coming into town. Older Niece didn't speak to me for that 1/2 hour. I threatened to take her home and things got somewhat better. At the picnic, well, I don't know about 8 year-olds or how wild they can be.

We got home last night and by the time that she had showered it was 9:40 and she had a long list of things she wanted to do: play the Wii, listen to me play the flute, and learn to knit. I told her it was time for bed. Again, I was the bad Aunt.

So, I have determined that maybe I am just one of those people who not be a good Mommy. Some people have the stuff, and some don't. I don't have patience, know how to deal with them on their level, don't have patience, and can't really relate to them. Oh, and no patience.

Fini

2008-07-17T20:57:00.001-06:00

Still knitting ...

2008-07-16T21:53:00.001-06:00

I should be done with these socks. I really, really should. I keep trying it on and keep knitting more straight rows. Did I mention I have enormous feet? Well, I do. I've got 20 stitches on the needles and am going to kitchner with 6 stitches. That's 14 stitches, which means that there are 14 rows. That's about 1 1/4". My big toe needs 1 1/2". So, the instructions are to start decreasing when you're at the base of your big toe and I can't. This makes things very difficult because now I have to try it on every few rows and "guess" when I'm ready. Of course I'm watching the yarn balls get smaller. I don't normally have this little patience at the toes. Well, maybe I do on the second sock and of course I know when these are done, they are DONE. But the flip of that is that normally, I don't have to panic over the lack of yarn until the second sock. Oops.

I spent $10 on cotton yarn today at Michael's. The big balls were on clearance for $5 each. This seems to be a great deal, but I just can't believe that I, the cotton hater, spent that much on the yarn. One ball is stripes in English toffee, and should go with my kitchen, which isn't where I wanted to a make a rug for, but they didn't have anything left that would go with my bath and the other is a solid green that I'll use for some market bags.

If you have to ask...

2008-07-16T19:08:00.001-06:00

My Dad always used to say that if you had to ask how much something cost, then it was probably too expensive. As you can see, they only list the price for the diesel.

Need smaller feet

2008-07-16T07:06:00.001-06:00

It's about this time that I start really wishing I had smaller feet. Size 11 is just a bit long when you are knitting socks. This is where I was as of last night after knitting at Ruffled Feathers. I spent some time looking at books and magazines so I didn't knit for the entire night. Maybe today I'll be ready to start the toe decreases. This is also where I start really hoping that I have enough yarn.

2 socks, 2 circs moving right along

2008-07-14T21:33:00.001-06:00

For the class I only needed to be ready to start the heel flap. But I went to town on those socks this weekend and had the flap done, the heels turned, stitches picked up, and gusset decreases done. Woohoo! i did have to do short legs since I was afraid of running out of yarn for the toes with my big feet. I would have shown this, but I'll have to wait until I shave (*ahem*). Our teacher is soooo wonderful. I asked her if I got these done before the class was over, would she help me with the fixation lace sock in the book. Yep, she will. So, my motivation is to get these done. Tomorrow is knit night for Ruffled Feathers. This of course means that my friends from work and I will go out to dinner (this time to the Athenian, a Greek place) and then head over to Barnes and Noble from 7ish to 9ish. That's two whole hours. I should have no problem getting to the toe area, hopefully by Friday (maybe even tomorrow night). If I can work the decreases during lunch on Friday and maybe Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights, I should be able to kitchner during class and cast-on the lace socks. Sounds wonderful, huh!?!

The slight problem with this plan is how busy this week will be. Wednesday I have a slew of doctor appointments and then Yoga in the evening. Thursday is a cram session of cleaning and preparing for the weekend. Friday I'm picking up my Older Niece after work for a sleep-over. This will be the first time anyone other than my parents or best friend sees my place. Yikes. She's 8 and should do fine. I've got a Wii and that should help keep her entertained. We'll have dinner, pick up donuts and juice for the morning. Early Saturday we're heading for Bozeman to do the museum and a BBQ and will get back sort of late. Sunday I'll return her home and then help my friend move. But, at least it'll be fun.

I got a call from Ashley Furniture. My stuff is in and they, of course, wanted to deliver Wednesday. Their original time was during one of my appointments and I don't know when I'll be done. So, the following Wednesday they'll deliver it. I'm really excited. We'll have to get my old stuff out and my parents are heading to Denver this week and I still would like to use the pull-out sofa for Older Niece this weekend, so this all works out splendidly.

I should also mention that my friends who are learning new things are really doing awesomely. A, has completed her first sock. As intimidated as she seemed, she went to it and finished it in about a week. She is doing the 1 sock on 2 circ method. This is great since she has about 6 pairs of unknit socks at home. S, who learned to knit about two months, maybe a month, ago, was bit by the biggest bug and has spent probably more on yarn in the past month then I have in a year (actually I don't really want to know what my yarn spending has been). She has completed about four or five scarves for people as gifts and has bought yarn for umpteen more. While in Bozeman we'll be stopping at the two LYS for her to see what else is out there.

clapfini_0001

2008-07-10T20:30:00.001-06:00

clapfini_0001
Originally uploaded by sign_language_girl

Here's the blocked mini-clap. It's still drying on my ironing board, otherwise I would have modeled it.

The Windshield Update

2008-07-09T21:35:00.001-06:00

Well, my Dad and I are going to try and figure this car thing out this weekend. On the one hand, I really don't want to pour that much money into the car, but on the other hand, I really don't want to have to make car payments. Eek. The dealership was pretty good about the windshield, though it did take me a bit of time to cool down about it. They said that this occurs when there's a chip on the glass and then they wash the car with cold water when it's hot out and the chip spreads through the whole windshield. Apparently someone was supposed to have forewarned me, though no one did. Also, he pointed out more damage that I didn't know about. It appears as though someone or something really beat onto/into my windshield in one corner. The service manager thinks that a new windshield will cost him $150 (which I'm sure he's getting cheaper than my retail price somewhere else) and he'll split that cost with me since there was already some damage to the windshield and it's obviously not a new windshield. It makes sense, but like I said, I had to cool down for a bit before I could understand all that. Yep, I'm a bit of a hothead. Which led me to do something really, really stupid.

I had a doctor's appointment today for an annual. Normally I don't like to mention something so very personal, but it wasn't until tonight that I really started thinking about what I had done. I rescheduled it. For a time that probably won't work for my body. Back in April or May I found a lump and let it go because I know that those things can vary depending on that time of the month. But I hate this kind of appointment, so I ignored it for a little longer. Then I called the lady I saw last year who couldn't get me in until the end of August. So, I called and asked for a female doctor at the clinic I normally go to (yes I know I need to find one doctor and stick with her) and they could get me in today. Well, I was in a bad mood and we were sorta short on staff at work. Okay so we'd been so slow that it hadn't mattered, but I blamed my reschedule on that anyways. Well, the lump is bigger. I know that it's probably nothing. I'm 26 and in pretty good health. But, that isn't a great certainty. My mom's mom died from breast cancer. So, needless to say, I'm a bit scared that I messed up because of my own temper tantrum.

A rant about owning a car

2008-07-08T22:00:00.001-06:00

A long, long time ago, I bought a car and it's dying. Oh, no wait, it wasn't that long ago. Shoot, that's why this sucks so badly. I took my new to me car in for brakes. Midas had previously suggested some things that needed to be done, which I sorta took under advisement (this was only a couple of weeks ago). Then the Chevy dealership sent out a coupon for a brake special and I took it in for the rear ones to be replaced. Here's what they found

ABS light is on due to a right front hub-wheel speed sensor -- 510.25
Lower intake gasket is leaking and needs to be replaced -- 760.00
Which then leads to needing the oil and coolant flushed -- 99.95 and 149.95
Left inner axle boot is leaking grease and is possibly torn -- 200.00
Power steering pressure line is leaking -- 225.00
Needs new tires -- ~around 100.00 ea
Sludge in the filler neck of radiator which is bad somehow
Rusty fuel filter -- ? didn't give me a price, maybe they gave up at this point

Okay, soooo adding this up gives a grandiose total of $2,345.15, plus I put $211 into it between the brakes, rotors, and tire rotation today. Soooo... I need to talk to my Dad but it doesn't seem to make sense to put all this work into a car that has 125k miles and that I've only owned for four months. Yep, that my friends was the kicker, but NOT the straw that broke my back.

Nope, that would be the broken windshield. I had a few little chips that had been sealed when I had received the car, but it was in otherwise great condition (apparently the one great thing about this car). I picked the car up at 9 tonight and tried calling as soon as I left the parking lot. Now, why would I be soooo stupid as to leave the parking lot at all? Good question and I don't have a good answer. Anyway, they didn't answer. I tried again when I got home. I tried just now. When I try the main number I just get a stupid recording. What in the heck did they do to my car to crack my windshield. It's from the top to the bottom and does indeed obstruct my vision somewhat. OOOOOHHHH I am just sooooo mad right now.

Plus, we have a work BBQ coming up in Bozeman. The original plan was that I and a co-worker would carpool up in my car, with Older Niece, early in the day and go to the Museum of the Rockies, have some kind of a snack, maybe shop a little, and then head to the BBQ. Of course, now I don't know if we should be taking my car up there, but I would feel a lot better if I was the one driving. No offense, S, but I've heard your tales and seen you driving. My friend A says I shouldn't worry since I just need to buy a new one before that time.

Then of course to top it all off, I confused the time of this Wednesday's appointment with next Wednesday's appointment and told all my co-workers that I would be late. Of course it isn't until 10:20. Which I suppose means that I have enough time to wake-up, talk to my Dad, go to the dealership and gripe to them that they broke my perfectly fine windshield somehow, and work for two hours. How perfectly wonderful!

Back to Socks...

2008-07-07T22:20:00.001-06:00

I started my sock class tonight doing the 2 socks on 2 circs method. I'm really such an idiot. I have the book but just COULD NOT figure it out. Well, it does usually help if you read all of the words, not just go your own way and do what you want. Eh well. I'm using the Lorna's Laces June special edition color for Jimmy Beans Wool called Blueberry Snowcone. I love the colors. I wasn't so sure when I saw it online, but they are soooo pretty and definitely MY colors. The pictures didn't want to come out so here are a few options.

Julia at Wild Purls, my LYS, recommends Jimmy Beans Wool. At one point she suggested them for ordering a skein of yarn that she didn't carry and would take probably three months to get (btw, I did order it from her). Every month, on the 1st, they come out with a new color from Lorna's Laces. Apparently they aren't the only shop that does this, but I had wonderful customer service from them. They were kind enough to send my order in pieces and didn't charge me extra shipping (which didn't matter since I had qualified for free shipping by combining with friends) and sent candy. Yep, the candy helped win me over, teehee.

BTW, I did, finally, buy some blocking pins. I have absolutely no idea how to do what I want to do, but I'm going to try and lightly block the clapotis that has been done for about a month. Bindakay, from Wild Purls, tells me that I could also take it to the dry cleaners and they'll block it. Interesting...

One bag, Two bags...

2008-07-06T11:37:00.001-06:00

I finished the Booga Bag. I ran out of yarn for doing the I-cord and my friend, A, gave me some Lamb's Pride in green to use for the handles. It seems small, but maybe I'll get used to it. If not, then I'll give it to Older Niece. Somewhere I have a mini-booga bag that I had made for Little Niece that just needs handles. Maybe I should work on finishing that one. However, I do LOOOVE the colors of this new Booga Bag. The green matched better before the bag was felted, but it still looks nice.

I also started the Lucy/Missy Bag. It's a stash-buster, so I'm not real concerned about getting it done in a hurry. Because the yarn is really bright it'll make a great project bag, but not really a great purse, even though I do like bright colors.

Tonight I'm going with A's family to a baseball game at the new Dehler Park (old Cobb Field for those who know Billings). It'll be the first for me of the season. The temperature is only supposed to get up to 85, so it'll be wonderful knitting weather. I'm bringing the bright bag and some cotton just in case for one of those ball-band dishcloths from Mason-Dixon Knitting. This'll be my first dishcloth.

The 4th was a lot of fun. We hung out at A's parents' house and had a wonderful lunch, watched her nephews play, and then ended up staying for dinner. This year Billings did not have fireworks displays (except for one church-sponsored one up in the heights). Laurel is usually the big 4th of July spot, but trying to get out and then back into Laurel was a nightmare. They had the firemen stationed at the exit in Laurel and were taking donations for the festivities. Feeling generous, I gave some. Our firemen are voluntary and the activities and fireworks are all provided for by donations. Gotta love our town!