The Weaving Inn

Spring?

2012-01-26T13:27:00.001-08:00

It's a beautiful day here in Northern California, currently 63 degrees and sunny. Do I really want to leave this kind of weather for grey and damp? Probably. I decided to pull out the camera and have a little photo shoot at lunch. It was a bit disappointing, pictures I thought for sure were going to be great were more like ... meh. I look perhaps a dozen pics and of them, these 4 were salvageable.

These lovely flowers grow on a bush outside our office.

Painted mailbox on Menlo Oaks Avenue. Where those with money reside.

Same flower ... different angle.

Another painted mailbox peeking out of the bushes. And that's about it for today. Well other than the fact that tomorrow is my sixth blogiversary so there will be a giveaway. A small brown tabby I think.

Winter Equals Baking

2012-01-24T12:30:00.000-08:00

One of the downfalls of living in California is that in the summer it's generally too hot to bake. Actually make that mid-April to mid-October. My teeny tiny apartment does have an air conditioner but it only cools the living room. If it's July and you turn on the oven in my apartment it's game over. No need to add any liquid to your recipe, just stand next to the mixing bowl and sweat into it. Isn't that a pleasant thought?

I hate it. I *love* to bake. Baking is what I do. When I was younger I wanted to be a pastry chef but I didn't think I had the creativity. But I can follow a recipe with the best of them! So when winter rolls around I go into a mad flurry of baking. I usually bake at least twice and more often, three times a week. Quick breads, cookies, squares, more quick breads, you name it.

Last night I made Cherry Nut Bread from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook I bought back in 1979. I always makes notes in my cookbooks about how a recipe turned out and the day I made it. Apparently I've been making Cherry Nut Bread since January of 1982. And it's still my favorite quick bread recipe. I don't care if maraschino cherries are loaded with chemicals and dye, I love 'em. Also this recipe has buttermilk in it so it's really moist. The rats like it too. I can't wait until I'm back in Vancouver and can bake ALL the time!

It All Must Go!

2012-01-23T12:48:00.000-08:00

The best of plans ... Well I'm already bored with the granny square idea. So I spent the weekend working on my Ribbon Afghan. This is a very simple and easy pattern, great for watching TV. I'm doing mine in two shades of pink, two shades of grey, and black and white. It took me three attempts with the stash yarn to find colors that I actually liked together. Now of course I'm a third of the way done and I'm outta yarn. And, as we all know, I am REALLY out of yarn. The only yarn left in my apartment is Meep yarn. Luckily, Michael's is having a yarn sale.

The bathroom was purged this weekend. I found six carpal tunnel braces. This is what happens when you live in the same place for eight years. Stuff accumulates. And then it piles on top of other stuff and you never really know what you do and don't have. This is why you should never have too much "stuff." Throw it away, give it away, just get it out. I command you. You will feel oddly liberated and in two days you'll forget you ever had it. Gave the boyfriend all my linens, except what I'll need for the next five weeks. FIVE WEEKS. Only five more weeks and I'll be homeless and jobless. I can't wait!

It's Another One!

2012-01-20T09:50:00.000-08:00

We are rolling along with our granny squares. I'd forgotten how much fun they are to do and how, sometimes, you actually have to use your brain to figure out what's going on.

This is the Never Fading Flower Square (Ravelry linkage). I think I like it even better than the one the day before. I had to add a round of half double crochet to make it the same size as Thursday's square. I guess I'm going with five inch squares instead of six inch squares. Ever the tight crocheter, I am. The other ones on Ravelry look all lacy and delicate, I'm going with sturdy and solid. This is a Canadian afghan, after all.

This weekend I'm gearing up to purge the bathroom. Which is infinitely better than purging IN the bathroom. And when I'm not purging the bathroom I'm going to do nothing. I seem to be the only one here at work with any kind of sense of urgency about getting a person to replace me which is causing me much stress. But that's OK because I only have 25 MORE WORKING DAYS TO GO.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Hello Granny

2012-01-19T09:35:00.001-08:00

I have come to a decision. I am going to make 365 six inch granny squares. Hopefully all different. Now if we take the standard size of a twin bed, which is 39" X 75" (thanks, Wikipedia, glad to see you're back up and running today) that would be enough granny squares to make four blankies or thereabouts. That would be quite the accomplishment. Here's the first square on my epic undertaking.

This is the Flower Granny Square which I think we can all agree is a rather appropriate name. I used Simply Soft in Dark Sage and Sage with a G hook. It came out at five inches exactly. So already I'm running an inch short of my daily goal. If I'd used an H hook I probably would have gotten six inches. If you decide you'd like to make this square please note that there's an error in the pattern. Of course there is, I'm incapable of choosing a crochet pattern that is completely correct. Anyway, row 2 should read: Ch3, 1 dc in same stitch as ch 3, Ch3, * 2 dc, ch 3* 7 times more (8 dc groups). Join with a sl st in top of ch-3. OK, I'm off to find today's granny square pattern. Stay tuned for more granny square madness!

365 ... Something

2012-01-18T10:21:00.000-08:00

So I came across this really interesting blog about a week ago. It's called the Make Something 365 & Get Unstuck blog. Which is a very long title for a blog. It's sort of along the Picture A Day For A Year idea. In fact, that's exactly what a lot of people are doing, getting out the ol' camera and snapping pics. But other people are making things. One guy is drawing a picture every day that sums up his day but the catch is, he can only spend 60 seconds on it. Another person is making the symbol for Pi each day out of things like paper clips, or pie crust dough and taking a picture of it.

I had thought about making a quilt block a day then remembered how much I hated quarter inch seams. Then I "briefly" thought about baking something every day. Which I would really, really love to do except I don't want to weigh 300 pounds by the summer. Maybe I could make a granny square a day? But I gave away all my yarn which means I would have to buy more. Horrors.

Maybe I should buy this book which has 50 different crochet motifs in it and just make 7 of each. I keep telling myself I want to make an afghan. In fact, there's one sitting in a bag in the car but it's just stripes and I'm already bored with it. Perhaps granny squares are the way to go. Still liking that baking idea ...

No, Really

2012-01-17T10:38:00.000-08:00

So in between giving away everything I own, making Meeps and trying to remain sane, I'm also knitting. I can't even remember the last time I knit something. I was starting to wonder if I even knew how to any more. But I really wanted a pair of slippers because my feet are cold. And I imagine they'll be even colder in Canada.

PICTURE SHAMELESSLY STOLEN FROM RAVELRY.

I love, love, love this pattern. It's such a fun pattern I have no regrets about paying the six or seven dollars it cost. It has a pretty nifty construction and you use bulky yarn! I'm using Wool-Ease chunky in "Mulberry" which is kind of a burgundy color. The pattern has a number of sizes so you could make lots of Christmas gifts for loved ones. Because it's never too early to start thinking about Christmas. I know I am. Because I may have mentioned once or twice that I'm moving back to CANADA where my wonderful cousin makes the BEST plum pudding ever!

Books, Books And More Books

2012-01-16T09:49:00.000-08:00

The bedroom is 95% done! And it only took me four and a half hours to do it. Plus multiple trips to the dumpster downstairs and one quick trip across the street to Lunardi's to buy another box of garbage bags. It wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. Still not something I'd want to do on a regular basis. I still need to go through my clothes and get rid of things I know will never fit again. But yes, the main obstacle to moving out of my apartment is now over with.

And then there's the "book issue". My little apartment at one time contained over 700 books. But over the last six weeks or so I've been whittling away at them by donating them to an organization called Reading Tree. They have big blue boxes all over the Bay Area and you just dump your books in them and away you go. Two or three times a week I'd fill up a grocery bag or two and drop some books off.

To date I've dropped off 299 books. And I have six grocery bags at home filled with the next lot to drop off. I'm capable of throwing away just about anything but books? No way. There's no way I could toss books. But thanks to Reading Tree there is light at the end of the book tunnel.

Room Number One

2012-01-14T21:21:00.000-08:00

I've got a plan. There are five more Sundays before I go back to Canada. There are four rooms in my apartment. That means I only have to work on one room a week and on the fifth Sunday, after I collapse from exhaustion, I can move everything I'm keeping into a storage locker. Tomorrow is the bedroom. Because I need to get the worst room done first

Every time I look in the bedroom I think to myself, "There's no way I'm moving to Canada if I have to go through all this." My tiny little bedroom is also my yarn room. And my fabric room. And where I keep all my books on writing as well as everything I've ever written. Not to mention my clothes. All the rat supplies. And financial records. It's a nighmare. Truly.

When I look at my bedroom I solemnly promise myself to never live in one place for 8 years again. Or to start having an "annual purge." Fortunately I have a home for all my yarn - I'm donating it all to my friend Cindy's church group. You didn't think I was taking it all with me, did you? Nope. Nor am I paying for storage space for it. It's going. Along with all my knitting books and binders full of patterns. When it comes to getting rid of stuff, I am RELENTLESS.

In other news, I continue to torment myself with looking at apartments in Vancouver that I am in no position to rent. Like this little number.

For the low, low price of $900 a month you too can rent this apartment in beautiful downtown Vancouver. Wanna see more pictures? Hey, guess what! There are none because this is the ENTIRE apartment. Except for the bathroom. Now I've lived in some really small apartments but I think this would even drive me stir crazy. Mind you, if you positioned things right you could grab things outta the fridge without even getting out of bed. And NO PETS. Which makes sense since where the hell would you put the litter box?

The more I think about it, the more I come to realize that my days of downtown living are behind me. *Sigh*

No Furries Allowed

2012-01-13T10:20:00.001-08:00

OK, I agree that it's not surprising that Vancouver has changed a lot in the 15, almost 16 years, that I've been gone. Where there were cows there are now apartments. Many of the street signs are now in English AND Mandarin. Most rentals seem to have done away with carpet and are now laminate. And of course, rents have gone WAY up.

But the biggest, and most distressing change, seems to be a Nazi like attitude about pets when it comes to renting an apartment. NO PETS. ABSOLUTELY NO PETS. NO PETS - FIRM. NO PETS ALLOWED. What the heck? Where did this come from? In all my years of living on my own in Vancouver, not once did I have a problem finding a place to rent that took pets. This new attitude is a problem for me. Obviously.

My original plan was to take the rats in the car with me and send for Andy and DeeDee later. My boyfriend would look after them until I got settled and then put them on the plane. It's what I did when I originally moved down here. Except then, my Sammy sat at the kennel because my Mom had like 8 million cats and couldn't take on any more.

Fortunately I have been able to find a home for DeeDee with my boyfriend's ex-wife. This is the best of all options since the boyfriend's two daughters ADORE DeeDee and now she will have four people fawning over her instead of just me. And she'll have a kitty sister, named Josee. I'll be sending money down every month for her care and feeding so I think this is going to work out fine.

Which leaves Andy and the rats. Some of the rats will be coming with me while some will be going back to the rescue. I'm taking the ones that would be the least adoptable. I'm very good at hiding rats. A cat isn't quite as easy. I am at a loss as to what to do about Andy. He is highly unadopt-able given that he's a garden variety brown tabby who is terrified of 99% of the world. He would lose his mind in a shelter. So the search continues for an apartment that will take not only pets but an unemployed tenant. Lordy.

The Twilight Zone Day

2012-01-12T15:51:00.000-08:00

Crap, I've already missed a day. Oh well, onwards and upwards.

Now we all know how superstitious I am and how I'm forever looking for signs whenever I have to make a decision. Moving back to Canada is a pretty MAJOR decision for me. So I'm in some serious need of signs.

I haven't really devoted a lot of time and energy to finding a job in Canada. For two reasons. First, it's still another six weeks until I'm home. And secondly, well I don't have a place to live. I thought I'd go with the novel concept of living close to where I work. As opposed to living an hours commute away like I do now. But for some reason today I found myself perusing the job ads on Craigslist. I came across an Accounts Payable job in Cloverdale. I know how to do Accounts Payable but I'm more experienced with Receivables. And Cloverdale? Well when I lived in Vancouver, Cloverdale was farmland. It's where the cows lived. It's the boonies. Yet I clicked on the ad.

I'm reading along, blah, blah, blah, yeah I can do that, yeah, I've had experience doing that. Then I get to the bottom of the ad. Now generally speaking, job ads don't usually include the name of the person hiring for the position for fear of them getting bombarded with phone calls. Not so with this ad. And the name of the person doing the hiring is a girl who lived across the street from me when I was in high school. We walked to school together every day and were quite good friends.

Do I need to tell you that you could have knocked me over with a feather? People, what are the ODDS? But all along I'm still thinking, sure Carmena is doing the hiring but she's going to want someone soon. Nope. This is a brand new position. There's none of the "we need to get someone in here so the current person can train." We're having a Skype interview next week.

Of course nothing is certain and I may not even get the job. But still? This sign couldn't be more obvious if it was on a billboard, if you ask me.

A New Year, A New Country

2012-01-10T10:52:00.001-08:00

Ahh little blog, how I have neglected you. But here it is a nice and fresh new year so we might as well fire up the pages again. For there is plenty to report and there will be even more to report in the coming months.

First of all, it is no coincidence that I haven't posted since August. Because that was when I opened my Etsy shop. And let me tell you, it's been a freakin' wild ride ever since. I, in my wildest imagination, never expected Meeps to be the hit that they were. In the past four months I have sold over 100 of the little buggers. Crazy or what?

In fact, one woman ordered FOURTEEN of them as Christmas gifts. During November and December it was all I could do to find time to sleep. It didn't help that I took in a pregnant female rat at the beginning of October who a week later popped out nine babies. That was a LOT of work. And then I took in another litter of 8 little five month old boys who needed to be socialized. I think maybe I'm trying to kill myself. Over Christmas and New Year's all I did was sit on the couch and stare at the ceiling.

But the big news ... the really BIG news ... is that in 46 days I will be moving back to Canada. For good. I am giving up all my worldly possessions, packing up the ratties and heading North. To say I'm excited is the understatement of the year. Of course I have so much to do between now and then that it makes my brain hurt but it's something that is long, long, long overdue. In my almost sixteen years in California I don't think a day has passed that I haven't wished I was home. You can take the girl out of Canada but you can't take the Canadian out of the girl. So it's very important to me that I chronicle this little adventure. And what better place to do it than the ol' blog?

Red Wine, A Full Moon ...

2011-08-17T11:19:00.001-07:00

... and I join the ranks of the tattooed. Actually I'd been mulling this idea over for more than a year and this just seemed to be the time to do it.

Rattie feets. Is anyone surprised? And it's front and center on my outer right wrist. I think this proclaims to the world, "I am a Crazy Rat Lady." I will admit though that I had serious tattoo-ers remorse after getting it. It's a bit bigger than I wanted. When the tattoo guy said, "Do you want it about the size of a quarter?" I thought he was talking about both feet together. No. Each foot is about the size of a quarter. Clearly, I am not well versed in the ways of the tattoo world. But guess what? Like it or not, I'm stuck with it. Maybe as I get older it will shrink.

In other rat news, little Simone passed away the same night I was getting this tattoo. Unfortunately I have no pictures to share of her since I hadn't had her that long. The vet and I think she must have had a stroke, based on her behavior. Simone was one of the A&E Hoarder rats so she may not have been the healthiest rat in the world. She is much missed by all the ratties, especially her constant companion, Buggy. R.I.P. Simone, you were well loved.

No Room At The Inn

2011-08-15T13:35:00.001-07:00

I guess it was inevitable. With all this amigurumi making it was only a matter of time before I'd run out of space. There are monsters in the kitchen cupboards, monsters in the bedroom, monsters in the living room. What to do, what to do? The monsters were actually starting to outnumber the rats.

Meanwhile at work, where I have a number of amigurumi, people were bugging me to sell them. This seemed like a pretty ludicrous idea to me. Would you pay good money for something that looked like this?

So I logged into Etsy and apparently people will spend good money for handmade toys. Even some not very good toys. Which is not to say that MY toys are perfection. How could they be, they're handmade. But I guess they're kinda cute. I try to make each one different. I have WAY too much fun doing the hair.

What the heck I thought, I'll give it a go. And if no one buys any, well then I'll simply donate them to the Pediatric Ward at Valley Medical. And if someone does buy one, well then that money can be used to offset my rattie costs. One of those win win situations you're always hearing about. So here's the linkage for the store. Criticism is always welcome. And who knows, maybe you'll decide your life isn't complete without a Meep. Hey, that rhymes, maybe I've got the making of a jingle here.

And On We Go

2011-07-25T13:50:00.001-07:00

Amigurumi, and in particular this pattern, Baby Monsters, have pretty much taken over my life. All I want to do is make monsters. Lots of monsters. Many monsters.

This is the Meep family. From left to right we have Hank, Moira and Bunny. I stayed up until midnight Friday doing Bunny's hair. I tell myself I'm only making all these monsters to practice my embroidery skills. And my felt cutting skills. Because certainly no 51 year old accountant would become obsessed over making monsters, that would never do.

Would it?

Happy Then Sad

2011-07-13T14:02:00.001-07:00

Presenting Commander Ribbit from the Alien Frog Army. Fun, easy, fun, easy, fun, easy. I love Commander Ribbit. He was crocheted using the Purple Best Bud (Ravelry link) pattern. And guess what? There's only ONE thing I don't like about my little creation. His head is a bit wobbly. But I can live with that. Sort of.

I'm going to make him again and rework the pattern so that the body and the head are all in one piece. That was how the Cthulhu I made was constructed and it just makes so much more sense to have one piece instead of two. We'll see how that goes.

On a sad note, Judy Chicken, who wasn't really a chicken but was actually a wonderful rat, passed away last night. Judy Chicken and her sister Fuzzlet One came to me from the Humane Society a year ago. Fuzzlet One passed away a few months ago but Judy hung in there until she turned three.

I don't know why I don't have any pictures of her but she was a patchwork hairless. Meaning she had little tufts of fur scattered over her mostly hairless body. She and Fuzzlet One were identical twins which taught me a valuable lesson. It is very hard to bond with rats if you can't tell them apart. It wasn't until after Fuzzlet passed that I realized what a character and a love bug little Judy was. I hope she's happy to be reunited with her sister, I'm going to miss her a lot.

What Where Huh

2011-07-11T14:06:00.001-07:00

I have no idea where I've been but I think there have been children involved. The boyfriend has a new job that requires him to work three nights a week until 8:00. His 10 y.o. son has also moved in with him. Son goes off to day care during the afternoon and then I pick him up when I get off work and we go hang out at dad's house until dad gets home. This is kinda sorta OK since the boyfriend has cable and I don't but still ... there were many reasons I didn't have children and I am reminded of those on a regular basis. Moving on.

Babysitting also allows for a lot of crafting time. This is the Baby Snow Dragon (Ravelry link) or as I refer to her, Boobie, The Breast Cancer Awareness Dragon. She was a pain in the butt to make and I'm very surprised I finished her. Not because of any problems with the pattern but because my finishing skills are still kind of sucky. She looks alright from far away and hopefully no one will try and lift her by her head.

This is ... wait for it ... a PANDA. I made this for a co-worker's daughter. It was super easy but man alive, I never wanna crochet with black yarn again. Unless of course, someone wants to give me a new pair of eyes.

Finally if you're looking for a new charity to craft for check out Kyla's website, Knitting For Charity. If you sign up, she'll send you an email every Monday alerting you about current needs. Right now it's all about the tornado victims in the South and the people in Japan who are still trying to put their lives back together. Remember, what goes around comes around.

Mr. Owlandish

2011-06-17T09:30:00.001-07:00

Here's my new assistant at work, Mr. Owlandish. He's more clever than about 95% of the people I work with. He was very easy to make although I did a horrible job attaching his feet. Which is to be expected since I finished him last night at 11:30. The pattern also had you make a crocheted beak which I obviously didn't. What can I say? I love to play with scissors and glue. The pattern was in Leisure Arts "More Cute Little Animals To Crochet." I can't remember how much it was, $10.95 or something? But it's well worth buying since there are oodles of cute patterns in it.

I've given up on the Dalek which was my WIP on Wednesday. It just wasn't working out very well. I'm thinking a bigger hook size might have helped since the fabric I was getting was reminiscent of steel. So into the garbage it went. I suppose I could have frogged it and reused the yarn for something else but the yarn was rather splitty and I hated it. Buh bye yarn.

In other news I returned the Mercedes-Benz to the dealership because my overly expensive ass pillow was not helping with my back / leg pain. I imagine I'm the only person in Mercedes-Benz history to return one of their cars because it made their butt numb. So I bought a 2006 Scion xA and I love this car with the heat of a 1,000 burning suns. More on that later. Have a wonderful weekend everyone! And if you'd like to see more Finished Objects check out Tami's FO Friday blog.

Oh and one other thing before I go. Blogger hates me and refuses to tell me when someone has posted a comment on my blog. So if I don't reply to your comment, it's not because I don't REALLY, REALLY appreciate it. Perhaps it's time to move to Wordpress. After 5 1/2 years it may be time for a change.

Wednesday WIP (No Chains)

2011-06-15T10:46:00.001-07:00

I realize that building a robot is a complicated thing but I swear, this one is never going to end.

This is supposed to be Dalek (a dalek? Mr. Dalek?) from Dr. Who. I've never seen Dr. Who. I've always wanted to though. But after spending my teenage years at far too many LOUD rock concerts the ears aren't quite what they once were. So if a show doesn't have closed captioning I tend to give it a pass. If they have English accents to boot, well it's not even worth trying.

Although you can't tell from this cell phone picture Mr. Dalek is quite large. He also employs a multitude of different stitches instead of the traditional single crochet only of amigurumi. He has arms as well that aren't showing up. It kind of looks like a baby hat, doesn't it?

My list of people wanting me to make them toys is growing. I was thinking about that this morning and I wonder why people feel comfortable just asking for something simply because I have the skill to do it. I have a friend who's a professional baker. Yet I've never called her up and said, "Hey Jen, got a craving for peanut butter cookies over here, can you whip me up a batch?" Or, "I'd like a chocolate cake, are you busy this weekend?" I probably have a few friends who know how to put up wallpaper. And yet my walls remain bare. It's like as soon as you learn to crochet or knit, you've got a bulls eye on your back. What's up with that?

For more works in progress on this Wednesday, check out Tami's blog WIP Wednesdays. Trust me, there are far more interesting things over there than Mr Dalek The Baby Hat.

This Is It

2011-06-09T13:58:00.001-07:00

So this is the new ride. A 2000 Mercedes-Benz E320. No, I didn't win the lottery or get a raise at work. In the almighty Silicon Valley, a Mercedes is no big deal. So they're quite reasonably priced. This little putt putt was $7,900.00, one owner, 75,000 miles.

And frankly it makes my head hurt and my butt hurt. It makes my head hurt because the owner's manual is 341 pages long. Power headrests? Are you kidding me? There are so many buttons and gadgets it's ridiculous. I've managed to program the temperature control so that it's always a balmy 72 degrees as I motor down the freeway but I can't figure out how to set the trip meter so I can see what kind of gas mileage I'm getting.

It makes my butt hurt because there's like no lumbar support. And with my laundry list of back issues that's a problem. Basically my butt and my foot go numb when I'm driving. It hurts. So today I went out and bought a pillow for my ass that cost a ridiculous amount of money considering it's a pillow for my ass. We'll see how it goes. Because really, it would be a shame to return it now that I've figured out how to open the gas door.

M.I.A.

2011-06-08T09:55:00.001-07:00

Fork, I fell off the blogging bus again. This whole car accident business / buying a new car has left me all discombobulated. I am fine with the concept of change at work but not so good with it when it comes to the personal life. Anyway, a new (used) car has been purchased, my case has been settled, checks have been received and life is slowly returning to as normal as it ever was. But of course the toy making hasn't stopped.

I usually like whimsical as opposed to realistic amigurumi but I have to say, I love my squid. He was super fun (and fast) to make and I think he looks pretty realistic. I'm going to have to make more of these. Maybe a squid army.

Another Ugly Bunny. This is Ugly Cyclops Bunny and belongs to the boyfriend's son who sleeps with it. Another quick and easy toy.

Last but not least, a drama llama for a co-worker. I won't go into how hard this was to make but jeebus it was hard to make. I definitely WON'T be making this again. The pattern, by PlanetJune, was perfectly written with lots of photos to help you out along the way. That wasn't the problem. It's just that the whole thing seemed to go on forever and then you have to attach the legs so that they touch at the top and oh Great Googly Moogly that was a PAIN. Doing his "hair" was no walk in the park either. But hey, I learned some new stuff and the co-worker likes it.

Last but not least, another charitable opportunity for my 3 readers. Unless you've been living under a rock, I'm sure you've heard that Joplin, Missouri has been pretty much wiped off the face of the Earth. The call has gone out to make toys for the children of this devastated area. If you're at all interested here's the website, Uglee Dolls 4 Kids. There are both crochet and knit patterns so if you feel inclined ... well you know the drill.

And Then It Hit Me

2011-05-26T12:14:00.001-07:00

I don't know why it's taken me so long to post this little story since I'm usually all about the stories but whatever. Here's a story for a Thursday afternoon.

Two weeks ago tomorrow I was driving along 101 in typical rush hour traffic. Stop. Go. Stop. Go. You know the deal, same old, same old. That is, until the little Corolla in front of me stopped short. Since *I* was paying attention, I managed to stop without hitting him. And yet ... I still heard brakes screaming. BAM!

Unfortunately Mrs. Chen wasn't paying such close attention. In fact, Mrs. Chen was going at such a good clip she managed to send me flying into the little Corolla in front of me. There were all kinds of funny smells and smoke but eventually Mrs. Chen and I made it to the side of the freeway. I guess Little Corolla had better things to do because at first it looked as though he was going to join us but then he left.

To say I was pissed off would be an understatement. My stupid car, which is possessed, had been in the repair shop all week for a mysterious ailment that had even stumped the repair man and now it looked at though there were going to be other "ailments." Mrs. Chen's car had a few ailments of it's own. Like an accordion shaped hood. I insisted we call the CHP since Little Corolla had taken flight and I didn't feel like being held responsible for any damages down the road.

The CHP showed up an HOUR later. Officer Campbell took our report and asked Mrs. Chen, "How fast do you think you were going?" "I no go fast!" she blurted out. "Well how fast is that?" responded Officer Campbell. "I go 10 miles," answered Mrs. Chen. Officer Campbell made mention of the fact that not only was her hood crumpled but her air bag had deployed, was she sure she was only going 10 miles an hour? "15?" suggested Mrs. Chen. Officer Campbell wrote down 25.

Since then it's been a non-stop round of doctor's visits, phone calls with insurance people and blah dee blah. Fortunately, Mrs. Chen was in good hands with Allstate and they're picking up the tab for everything. Including this:

This, loyal reader, is the Key To Happiness. A 2010 Dodge Charger, also known as my rental car. And now you shall know one of my little secrets - I am a total car whore. I love cars. Love, love, love them. Especially fast cars. Especially fast rental cars. I am so smitten with this car it's ridiculous. I want to marry this car. I don't know how I'll ever give it back. I was actually calculating how much it would cost to just rent this car FOREVER. I am no longer driving a soccer mom car, I am driving A CAR. And it sounds like the repair shop is going to have my evil Hyundai for at least another week. I get to keep MY Charger for the entire long weekend!

So even though I'm still supremely pissed at Mrs. Chen at least now I can go fast enough to get out of her way.

Rapture

2011-05-24T13:29:00.001-07:00

Are we all still here? Everyone accounted for? Apparently the only rapture that happened this weekend was the appearance of Rapture The Pig.

Here's Rapture. I figured since the world was going to come to an end this weekend I'd best do a fast and easy amigurumi. Enter this little piggy. I got the pattern off the Lion Brand website which has a surprising number of amigurumi patterns. She was way fun to make, especially her little nose. My finishing skills are coming along although my leg placement could use some work.

Apparently that doesn't bother the boyfriend's children though since DD #3 has put in an order for 10 amis. She wants an elephant, a teddy bear, a penguin, a dog and so on and so forth. Maybe I'll go back to hats.

Happy National Teddy Bear Day!

2011-05-19T14:06:00.001-07:00

According to Facebook (the knower of all things) today is National Teddy Bear Day. I have yet to make a bear so of course I had to start one this morning. I am making Lion Brand's Amigurumi Bear. It's basically two pieces of crocheted fabric sewn together with appendages added. I'm hoping I can finish it before Teddy Bear Day is over. I'm using Red Heart's "Soft Yarn" in the colorway "Toast." Maybe that's why I'll name the little feller.

Here is Apple Ninja. I made him yesterday and almost lost my mind. I have a friend who just started at Apple and I got this wild idea about how cute it would be to crochet a little Ninja with the Apple logo on it for him. Really, what the hell was I thinking, me the hater of all things fiddly? We shall not discuss how long it took me to get the stupid logo cut out. I actually had to make a PATTERN of the logo, glue it to felt and then snip, snip, snip. Except the first time I snipped I had the logo reversed. Curses.

Did I mention how flippin' splitty this damn yarn was? It's also Red Heart Soft Yarn but I think something went wrong with the dying process because this particular ball of yarn went wEEeeEEeeEEee every other stitch. I was in a seriously bad mood after this little guy was done. I think maybe I'll just keep him for myself as a constant reminder to never attempt something like this again.

The Obsession Continues

2011-05-18T13:49:00.000-07:00

I could probably blame Blogger's downtime last week for my fall off the blog wagon but I think i was just lazy. Or maybe my hands were sore from crocheting non-stop.

FO number one is the Hungry, Hungry Hippo. Through no fault of the pattern, I did not enjoy making Hilda Hippo. I made her nose too long so she keeps tipping over which is why she's supported by a tape measure in the picture. I also did a really craptastic job of sewing her head on. I could find no tutorials on sewing closed pieces to closed pieces so I winged it. Poorly.

Also, she seemed to go on forever. One of the reasons I put off learning amigurumi for so long is that I thought they were all teeny tiny and I thought they would be uber fiddly. Hilda is not teeny. She's not huge but she's not a two day amigurumi either. Single crochet in the round with an E hook can be tedious at the best of times.

And here we have Ugly Bunny. I had so much fun making him that he only took two days. Yay Ugly Bunny! I'm almost done with Ugly Bunny #2. I am getting far too much enjoyment out of choosing how to decorate these critters. It seems like every other day I'm going to the craft store for more felt, or buttons, or ribbon. Houston, we have a full blown obsession going on here.

Thanks FB

2011-05-10T13:17:00.001-07:00

I know a lot of people don't like Facebook. I admit I get a little tired myself of all this "Like Us On Facebook!" marketing business blah blah blah. And I can understand when people are cautious about revealing their TRUE IDENTITIES ON THE INNERNETS. Me? I don't give a crap. Steal my social security number PLEASE. Good luck getting a credit card, pal.

However, for people who live 1,200 miles from home, it can be a real godsend. I've reconnected with cousins I haven't spoken to in years. Stumbled across my aunt who I last saw in 1970. And then there's my nephew.

Long time readers of this blog may recall I'm not too friendly with my brother. The last time I spoke to him was in 2006 when my Mom passed away. I knew he had a son out there somewhere but I had no idea where. So one day I entered his name into the Facebook search. I mean really, how many Wynter Monkhouses can there be in this world? And there he was. My 25 year old nephew who I'd never met.

That's him in the picture if you haven't already figured it out. Turns out he lives in Vancouver and makes a living being an extra on movie sets. In the pic he's in his vampire costume, filming Underworld 4. He's also been in Mission Impossible 4, Breaking Dawn (that silly Twilight Movie), and a bunch of others. So thanks to the wonders of Facebook, I get to be sorta famous by association on a very miniscule level. And who knows, maybe one day he'll be really famous and can look after his Aunty April. April and Wynter. What the hell is with the calendar names?

Call Me "Elf April"

2011-05-08T19:20:00.001-07:00

There is some crazed toy making going on at Chez Insanity. It's kind of like Santa's Workshop around here.

This is Glub The Goldfish. He was made for my boyfriend's eldest daughter who loves fishies. I used Red Heart *cringe* Soft yarn for this. And I hate to say it, but so far that's my favorite yarn for amigurumi. I've tried Wool-Ease, Vanna's Choice and Red Heart Super Saver and this is by far the best. It's not too splitty and it has a nice sheen. It also has a good beat and you can dance to it. You can also bend it to your will a bit. Bendable yarn, who would have thought? He was pretty simple to make and day by day my whip stitching improves.

Here's Bitty Bird #2. Nothing really special to say about him except I am once again reminded of how much I love red and black together. Still haven't figured out a satisfactory way to attach the wings in this pattern but I just bought "The Complete Idiot's Guide To Amigurumi" so perhaps enlightenment isn't far off. He went to the boyfriend's youngest daughter. See what I mean by not taking up amigurumi when there are multiple children around?

I didn't make this, Mother Nature did. Please welcome Lily and her sister Madeline (not pictured) to the fold. They will eventually be Brill's girlfriends. As I mentioned early last week Brill's girlfriend Tink passed away. Brill is very sad. But right now, Lily and Madeline are just teeny tiny babies. Brill ... not so teeny. I figure another 2 or 3 weeks and they should be able to hold their own. In the meantime I am having a blast with these two. Whoever fostered them did an incredible job because they are so comfortable with being held which is very uncommon with babies this young. And that's it for this lovely Mother's Day. I hope all the Moms out there had a relaxing and enjoyable day with lots of good food and PREZZIES!

FO Friday: The Evil Edition

2011-05-06T09:36:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure why I've never read any H.P. Lovecraft. Stephen King is my idol, followed closely by Robert McCammon. I *love* horror. But no Lovecraft. So when my boyfriend asked me to make him a Cthulhu, I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. But thanks to the magic of Ravelry, I was able to find a pattern. Thank God for Ravelry

I took this from the Wikipedia entry for Cthulhu: "Cthulhu is the high priest to the Great Old Ones. It also is one of the central figures of the Lovecraft Mythos. It is often cited for the extreme descriptions given of its hideous appearance, its gargantuan size, and the abject terror that it evokes."

Are you quivering in terror at the sight of my latest amigurumi? Heart racing? Knees knocking? Having trouble breathing? Are you AFRAID?

Hmm, maybe it's the Red Heart Super Saver neon green yarn I constructed him from that's the reason for the lack of terror. Or perhaps his roly poly body. Or his slightly mismatched wings. Stupid wings.

What about the side view? Doesn't he look as though he's about to spring into the air and wreck havoc upon the world? Is he not the Osama Bin Laden of amigurumi? Work with me here people! OK, I give up. Don't blame me if you sleep with one eye open tonight. And while you're watching nervously over your shoulder check out more Friday FO's over at Tami's Amis. Tell her The Mighty Cthulhu sent you.

Changing Course

2011-05-03T13:48:00.001-07:00

OK, enough with the doom and gloom and the daily dead rat count. It's all getting to be a bit much, isn't it? Let's have a little whimsy. A little cuteness. Maybe a giggle or two. Let's Pig Out!

It's Piggy, in all his pinky glory. And I made him. How amazing is that? This is amigurumi #2 and though he's far from perfect, hell, he's standing. Maybe his little body isn't as uniform as we'd like but I'm still working on my stuffing technique. It would probably help if I bought actual fiberfill or fiberfoam or whatever that stuff is called, instead of using cotton balls. I've also discovered there's a fine line between too much stuffing and not enough.

His legs could probably have been sewn on a bit tighter as well but hey ... learning! I put the eyes in correctly though and I adore his piggy ears. This crocheting with an E hook though - kinda hard on the wrists. I doubt I'll be opening an amigurumi factory any time soon. And before I embarked on this toy making obsession I probably should have remembered that the boyfriend has FOUR children. Who all love stuffed animals. A sore wrist may be the name of the game for a while.

The End.

There Are Days ...

2011-05-02T21:48:00.000-07:00

... when I am sure I must be the Grim Reaper of the Rodent World.

Tinky left us this evening. It wasn't unexpected; she has been slowing down for the last month or so. But it was only a week ago that she dragged a huge steak bone into her hammock and settled in for a feast. If nothing else, rats teach us to live each moment to the fullest.

Tinker Toy came to live at my house at the end of December '09. She was already a year old when I adopted her from San Francisco Animal Care & Control. Her first year hadn't been all sweetness and light, she was a surrender from a known backyard breeder. Tinky was a taster. She needed to know what flavor your eyebrows were. What about the inside of your nose? Ears were a particular favorite. She was a bitey girl but I loved her anyway.

In the time that she was with me, she had two husbands. Tinky lived with Phil until he passed away then she moved in with Brill. They were ridiculously smitten with each other. More often than not, you'd find them spooning in their hammock with Brill's little arm over her shoulder. The next few days won't be easy for either of us. R.I.P. Tinky Winky, you were much loved.

Imagine

2011-05-01T13:42:00.001-07:00

The Friday FO event that was started by Tami is frequented by a number of crocheters who make amigurumi. Tami herself is an amigurumi genius. I *love* amigurumi. I mean LOVE. Which isn't surprising given that I adore stuffed animals to begin with. So of course when I check out everyone's Friday FO's I come across a lot of supremely cute critters.

Five years ago I took an amigurumi class that was offered at a retreat I went on. I'm not sure whether it was my beginner crochet skills, the pattern I was working from or what, but frankly the cat I made looked more like it belonged permanently in the litter box. I decided then and there that I couldn't create adorable little creatures. Not to mention, I am well known for my dislike of "fiddly stuff." But I really, really wanted to make them!

Enter the Tiny Whale!

Not to toot my own horn, but can you stand the cuteness? Look at the itty bitty whale! I heart this little guy. And he was dead easy to make. OK, maybe I had to rip out a few rounds here and there because I wasn't paying attention as closely as I should but in the end - a whale!

Fortunately for me, I stumbled across Planet June's designs on Ravelry. Her patterns are so well written with lots of photos that even someone as fiddly stuff challenged as me can make them. I was able to finish this guy in under an hour although it took me two days to find flippin' eyes for him so he was blind for a bit. Now I'm working on a pig and having a blast. I'm so accustomed to being on auto pilot when I'm knitting or crocheting that it's a welcome change to actually have to pay attention to something. Plus with all the pieces you need to make, it seems to feel more like you're really creating something. As opposed to banging out just another hat. FUN! Now let's just cross our fingers that once I have to sew all the pieces on that I don't make a major screw up. Or I may end up making Tiny Whales for the rest of my life.

And Again

2011-04-28T21:58:00.000-07:00

This month will not end soon enough

We said farewell to Scruffy Neil tonight. Although he was only with me for three months, I couldn't have asked for a more wonderful little man.

I really hope I make it through the rest of this hideous month without any more losses. Three pets in one month is enough.

WIP Me Wednesday

2011-04-27T09:31:00.001-07:00

Tami, the Oh So Clever person behind FO Fridays also hosts WIP Wednesday. Isn't that kind of her? To provide one forum for a blog post is wonderful but two? Nobel Peace Prize I'm looking at you. So here is my W.I.P for this week. It will come as no surprise to anyone, I'm sure, that's it's a HAT.

Isn't that an artistic photo? No? Anyhoo, this is a very special hat. Because I have finally found an alternative to wool that I actually like to knit with. I am pleased as punch. The yarn is Knit One Crochet Too's "Babyboo". It's a DK weight that knits more like a worsted and it's 55% nylon and 45% bamboo, 115 yards. Plus it was only $5.75 a ball. The jury is still out on whether or not I'll be able to get an adult's hat out of one skein but I'm hoping. The bamboo gives it a bit of a sheen and it has fantastic stitch definition. This one is a KEEPER.

The pattern itself is the Plain Roll Brimmed Hat Doesn't that eloquent name just make you want to grab your needles and get to work? Did I mention how soft this yarn is? Like baby bum soft. Like little rattie tummy soft. Like apparently I have lost my mind. And now that you're seen my fascinating Work-In-Progress why don't you jump over to Tami's blog and check out the rest?

Well Stocked

2011-04-26T10:59:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was 50% Off All Easter Candy day! Or Easter Monday if you're Canadian. It's one of my most favorite days of the year, followed closely by 50% Off All Valentine's Day Candy and 50% Off All Halloween Candy. So in the spirit of the occasion I managed to hit Walgreen's Drugstore, Safeway and the CVS drugstore.

I exhibited remarkable restraint at Walgreen's and Safeway. However, I may have lost it a bit at CVS. Do not shop for 50% Off Easter Candy right before dinner!

Fatal, fatal error. Especially when they had Russell Stover's Coconut Nests on sale. They say as you get older you become more like your parents. It would appear that over the last few years I have developed my mother's passion for chocolate and coconut mixed together. What other possible reason could I have for buying THIRTY Coconut Nests? My original plan was to buy 6. And then I thought, "Oh hell, what's a dozen, they're only 44 cents." But then I started to feel sorry for the rest of the Nests and I thought, "Screw it, I'll just buy the entire box." Allow me to repeat that. I bought the entire box.

There were actually 31 Nests in the box. But as I was standing in line counting them, the lady in front of me turned around and said, "Oh, are those good?" Umm, duh? And then she took one out of my box! Is that not the absolute height of rudeness? I mean, when was the last time you were standing in line at the grocery store and turned around to the person behind you and said, "Oh right, ice cream, that sounds good." And then taken their ice cream? Bloody chocolate thief.

Anyway, the picture above is my desk drawer at work. We've got your Reester Bunny peanut butter filled bunnies (2 bags, $1.49 each), Twizzler Nibs (those weren't on sale but I'm addicted to them), Cadbury Chocolate Cream Eggs, a LOT of Coconut Nests, Lindor White Chocolate Truffles and some Koigu yarn. Buried under the Nests is a bag of York Peppermint Patties and half a Snickers bar. Oh and a Zone Protein Bar because I like to eat healthy.

Do I really need that much chocolate at work? Probably not. But I'm the one everyone comes to when they want a snack. We don't have vending machines at work. We have coffee and we have water. Those are your choices. But now, you can have coffee, water and Coconut Nests! Yay!

Crappy Picture, Nice Hat

2011-04-25T09:22:00.001-07:00

Yesterday all I basically did was knit. It was sunny. There was plenty of time to take this hat outside to get a decent picture of it. Did I? Obviously not. No, I waited until 10pm and took it inside. I did this knowing full well that my camera does not like to take inside pictures. So I ended up with a lousy picture of a hat I really like.

This is the Lace-Edged Women's Hat. I think the designer should rename her pattern to be something a bit prettier as opposed to merely descriptive. Because this really is a lovely hat, despite how it looks in my crummy picture. I used Knit Picks Merino Style yarn and I was surprised (it just took me 4 attempts to spell "surprised" correctly, hello Monday) at the quality. There are some Knit Picks yarns that I absolutely loathe (Palette, Wool Of The Andes) and some that I adore (Gloss). So it's nice to add another yarn to the "Win" column since, as we all know, Knit Picks is tres cheap. And it's superwash, how great is that?

In other news I went to the Knitting Room on Saturday to use my "$20 For $10" Groupon coupon and I bought up a bunch of Plymouth Yarn's Wildflower DK. But guess what? It's so splitty I refuse to work with it. Therefore and herewith and as you will, I shall endeavor to take a nice picture of the four skeins of yarn tonight and then tomorrow we'll have a little give away. That's if you're in the market for four skeins of a cotton/acrylic blend that splits at the drop of a hat.

Fraught With Peril

2011-04-22T10:04:00.000-07:00

You would think that knitting a hat would be a simple affair. Six or seven inches of knitted fabric with a design perhaps. But when you're a world class worrier like I am, the entire process is anxiety inducing.

I decided I wanted to knit chemo caps for a change. So I found a pattern, The Sisters Hat, pulled a ball of yarn out of my stash and went to work. First I worried about the lace. Was lace appropriate for a chemo cap? Would it show too much of the scalp and be embarrassing? Then I worried about the yarn. I'm reasonably sure that it's Stonehedge Farm's Shepherd's Wool which is 100% wool. But most chemo caps seemed to be knit in cotton, or some other non-animal fiber. Would my hat be useless?

Then I worried about washability. Would the person who got the hat be too sick to hand wash it? Then I fretted over the length. Most hat measurements, I'm assuming, are given for people with hair. How much would the lack of hair affect this measurement?

I went back to worrying about yarn content again. I don't like to knit with cotton - did this mean I'd never be able to make chemo caps? EVER? The lace again. If this hat was unsuitable for a chemo cap then I wouldn't be able to send it to the Reservation because a lace hat in the winter is very impractical. Oh my God, was I doing all this work for nothing?

Was the yarn soft enough? We shall not speak of how many times I rubbed this stupid hat on my face to see if it was scratchy. Was my yarn inappropriate for a lace pattern? Huh, wut? Let me tell you, the last four days have been nothing but worry, worry, worry. It's amazing that I actually managed to finish the damn thing. But it's done so I will send it off and hope for the best for my little hat.

At least I managed to finish it right in time for FO Friday. FO Friday is the brainchild of Tami, who I do not know but she seems like a very nice person. Anyhow, what you do is click on the FO Friday linky which takes you to Tami's blog and you can add your blog if you have an FO to post today. Not only is it a great way to show off your handiwork but you can promote your blog. I of course do not need to promote my blog because I already have three readers, all of whom are named Cindy. Shout out to The Cindys!

And that's it for this Good Friday / Earth Day of 2011.

A Hat. Just That.

2011-04-21T11:17:00.001-07:00

This may go down in history as one of the most boring hat pictures ever taken. But the pattern wasn't boring at all, it was rather fun! This is The Swirl Hat (Rav link). I used Classic Elite's Liberty Wool again. The original pattern calls for fingering weight yarn but I didn't have any that was machine washable. So I used a U.S. 6 and worsted weight. And the hat came out the same size as if I'd used fingering weight. It's possible I'm a little tense these days.

I am proud to announce that I have gone all week without Internet access at home. My DSL bill is overdue and because of all the rattie vet visits in the last few weeks I ain't got the funds. And you know what? I really don't miss it. I thought I would go through severe withdrawal but instead it's been wonderful. I'm not checking everyone's Facebook status every five minutes, I'm not printing out patterns from Ravelry, I'm not checking Craigslist for adoptable rats. Instead, I'm gettin' stuff done. Like ... knitting. And spending time with the ratlets. And ... cleaning. I baked cookies. Honestly, I'd forgotten what real life was like. I could get used to this.

They Always Go In Pairs

2011-04-20T09:49:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Bella followed her life long buddy, Celeste (who left us last week), across the Rainbow Bridge. Bella and her other buddy, Sophie, came to live with me on 10/01/09. At first glance, she seemed to be just your regular old brown rat. But she was much more than that.

Bella was a kind and gentle soul with a heart as big as the world. She loved to give kisses and never fought with her cage mates. If there was an Olympics competition for rats, Bella would have won the long jump time and again. Her favorite trick was to leap from the toilet tank to the towel hanging over the shower doors, scurry up the towel and then run back and forth along the top of the shower. She also loved to sit on top of my head and do my hair for me.

Bella had been slowing down the past few weeks. She'd still try to jump on top of things but wasn't quite as successful at achieving the great heights she loved. Never a chubby fuzzbutt, she was even leaner than usual. On Tuesday something must have ruptured in her head and so she made her last trip to the vet yesterday.

I've lost six rats so far this year. With each rat you grieve in a different way. With some it was just a matter of time before they passed. With others, like Jordi who just up and died at the age of 2 months, it's a terrible shock. Even though I knew Bella's days were numbered this one sucks the most. Jump high, Little Princess, you will be forever missed.

Snail Porn

2011-04-19T13:26:00.001-07:00

You never really know what's gonna show up on this ol' blog. Sometimes it's knitting, often times it's rats, now and again it's food. Today, it is Snail Porn.

I am endlessly fascinated by snail shells. I know a lot of people don't like snails because they like to munch on plants but me, I love 'em. I've even been known to pick up a snail off a sidewalk and relocate it to a snail friendlier location.

So I grabbed my camera at lunch and went out in search of snails. There's a park not far from where I work that always has snails. I may be the only person in the world that knows this. April Paddock, Snail Hunter. But look at all the different colors, aren't they amazing? And they go round and round and round.

This is why I burn up camera batteries like it's nobodies business, macro lens. Yes, I should probably get rechargeable batteries, I'll think about it. Where do all the designs on snail shells come from? Did you ever wonder about that? I suppose I could Google it but I'd rather believe it's just magic.

OK, enough with the snails. Yesterday we had an earthquake but it was only a 3.8'er. However, it was most appropriate since yesterday was also the 105th anniversary of the great San Francisco quake which occurred in 1906. What a coinkydink, eh?

Seeing Triple

2011-04-18T10:58:00.001-07:00

I wonder if you scrolled really fast, whether you'd think these three pictures were the exact same hat?

I wouldn't be surprised if you did. After all, they're all the same pattern, they're all in Wool-Ease and they're all modeled by Maybe Bruce on top of a rat cage. I'm sure it's good to be consistent in same areas of one's life but knitting? Kinda dull. But productive! And productive is the name of the game when it comes to charity knitting. Followed closely by "machine washable."

In other knitting news I am contemplating joining this KAL. I haven't really jumped on the "Shawlette Bandwagon" yet but this one promises cables. I love me some cables. Actually I did knit a shawlette once and then gave it to a friend to block. And she lost it. How sad.

Speaking of sad, I was reading a new to me blog and the woman who writes the blog lost her husband in a motor vehicle accident a short while ago. She posted a picture on her blog of her husband lying in his casket with her children around it crying. Now I know I announce all my rattie deaths on my blog and I freely admit I use this blog as a personal diary but I wonder if that kind of crosses the line. I mean it's her blog, she can post what she wants but that just struck me as maybe a bit too personal for a blog. Something to think about on an overcast Monday.

Eight And Nine

2011-04-17T13:37:00.001-07:00

I am oh so slowly making my way to completing 52 hats this year. Accent on the word slowly. Theoretically, I should have 14 hats made by now. Try nine. And considering that most of those nine are baby hats, well I'm really laggin' here.

This is Drew (Rav linkage). I knit this in Kooooooiiiiigu, my all time favorite yarn next to Wool-Ease. Drew is supposed to have little bitty bobbles on top but I suck at the fiddly stuff. Or I'm lazy. One of the two. This is a very teeny tiny hat.

The Windy City Hat (more Rav linkage). I love this hat. It was super fun to knit and FAST. I used Classic Elite's Liberty Wool for this because it's machine washable and it's inexpensive and I like it. I'm not sure if it would make a good chemo cap with all the holes but that was my original intent. Unfortunately someone was a little tight with the knitting so now it's going to The Boyfriend's eight year old daughter who LOVES hats.

In even more exciting news I can now see my dining room table! Seriously, I need to start opening mail more frequently than every two months. What if there had been a check in there somewhere?

Keep It, Throw It, Box It

2011-04-16T21:00:00.000-07:00

I was looking for a particular skein of yarn today (clickity biggity for a larger picture of the disaster). Can you tell I was having a hard time finding it? It wouldn't have been such a big deal except I'd sold that particular skein on Ravelry. People aren't really impressed when you take their money and then go, "Dang, can't find your yarn!"

So it seemed like just as good a time as any to do the biannual yarn organization. Things had gotten seriously out of hand. Fingering weight was in the worsted weight bin, there were multiple Michaels' bags stuffed in the closet, there were 8 million tiny little half skeins and a whole lot of ugly. Plus a few surprises.

Apparently my love for Wool-Ease is out of hand since I had one complete bin full of it when all was said and done. OK, there may have been 3 or 4 balls of Vanna's Choice in there as well but jeepers, lotta Wool-Ease. Also, I probably have the world's largest collection of single balls. There are maybe six colorways I have more than one ball in. And then the number goes up to ... two balls. My sock yarn stash is also looking rather pitiful (relatively speaking). A few W.I.P.'s took the opportunity to make themselves known. I quickly buried those under some ickrylic.

Speaking of which, I managed to fill a small moving box full of charity yarn for my friend Cindy's group, Hugs 'N Stitches. And I filled a garbage bag full of really, really horrible yarn. I know, I know, it's sacrilege to throw out yarn. But this stuff truly made me shudder. Either the color was disgusting (I obviously shop for yarn with my eyes closed sometimes), it was mangled beyond repair (thanks Andy) or I was misled by the yarn content (I'm looking at you Spud 'N Chloe).

Tomorrow: The Dining Room Table!

Selective Listening

2011-04-15T09:29:00.001-07:00

Here's little Luna Grace, one of the newer additions to the crew. She's another one of the "Hoarder Rats". Luna is a good example of how I only hear what I want to hear when it comes to ratties.

Brill is one of the few intact males I have. He lives with his long time companion, Tink (who is spayed), and loves her madly. Unfortunately Tink is getting on. My best guess is that she's probably 28 months. So I've been looking around for another spayed female. Enter Luna Grace.

There's just one problem. Brill is a VERY big man rat. And rambunctious. Luna Grace is tiny. And justifiably terrified of Brill. Now the thing is, is that I knew Luna G. wasn't going to be a big rat. They told ME that when I adopted her. They SAID, "She will always look like she's only three months old." What was I thinking?!? Oh I know what I was thinking. "Oh look at this pretty little grey rat that loves to be held and cuddled with the white squishy wishy tummy . I just wanna snorgle her to death."

And that dear readers, is why I have 16 rats.

Consistent In My Inconsistency

2011-04-14T10:32:00.000-07:00

Celeste left us yesterday at the age of 20 months. This picture pretty much sums up Celeste's personality. Celeste had "estrogen issues." She was constantly fighting with the other rats and wanted absolutely nothing to do with me unless I had some food. She ended up with two large mammary tumors that I unfortunately didn't have $600 to remove. The vet assured me that they were causing her no pain and that when the time came that they affected her mobility, we would help her cross The Bridge. I really hope that she is happier now than she was with me.

For those of you who are keeping count this brings my rat total to 16. I've had to resort to keeping a spreadsheet so everyone gets fed on a regular basis and that everyone gets their "out time." Most of my ratties are "stashers" so it's very easy to feed them one day, come back the next and the bowl is empty. "Oh gosh, I need to put more food in there." Then come cage cleaning day you find five pounds of rat food hidden at the bottom of the cage. So yeah, a spreadsheet's a good idea.

In knitting news, I'm working on Molly which is a seriously cool scarf. Unfortunately I'm having a hard time finding a colorway I like. I started it in Classic Elite's Liberty Wool in kind of a blue/purple/gray colorway but the way the yarn was variegated made it look, I dunno, sloppy is the only word I can come up with. So then I switched to Wisdom Yarn's "Poems" which is a self-striping yarn. I like the self-striping bit but OMG, the colorway is hideous. However, I'm not ripping it out again. And since I plan on making a lot of these I'm sure I'll come across the right colorway eventually. Maybe.

Drive By Post

2011-04-01T09:43:00.001-07:00

No, this isn't an April Fool's Joke, I really am posting something. In case you have a spare pair of socks lying around, or you have a hankering to knit a pair, please check out this linkage - Socks For Japan. I think this is a great cause and I'll be casting on for a pair this weekend, I figure it's the least I can do.

In rat news, March sucked with the demise of my little Fuzzlet and my buddy Doug. I think I have 18 now but I'd have to do an actual head count to be sure of that. Maybe I'll do that this weekend and take some pictures at the same time.

In April (me, not the month) news I hope to be out on disability next week. The ticker isn't working quite like it should. Blerg.

Knitting And Stuffs

2011-02-22T12:48:00.000-08:00

Oh my goodness, actual knitting content. Here's Pinky modeling the Back To Basics Winter Hat. This was a very quick and easy knit. I made it for the Bundles Of Joy group over on Ravelry. They make baby stuff for one of the OB wards on the Reservation. Apparently they're having a baby boom on the Reservation lately so they need all the hats, mittens, socks and blankets they can get. I tried making a pair of mittens on the weekend but they're too tiny and fidgety. Me no likey. I think I'll stick with hats. I've already cast on for the second of these hats.

I made yellow paste in the crock pot yesterday. Actually, I think it was supposed to be Hearty Split Pea Soup. The flavor was very good, the consistency ... thick. Soup is not supposed to resemble pudding. The rats really enjoyed it though so it wasn't a total waste.

I adopted a little brown rat on Friday. His name is Moses. On Sunday I discovered a lump on his side. I think God is trying to tell me something.

More Farewells

2011-02-18T09:47:00.001-08:00

Sadie

Sept. 2008 - Feb. 17, 2011

R.I.P. old girl, you were much loved by your Dad.

Jordi

Dec. 2010 - Feb. 17, 2011

R.I.P. Little Man, you were gone too soon.

Up, Up And WALL

2011-02-17T11:03:00.000-08:00

As we all know, I work at the most hideous job imaginable. I don't mind doing accounting, it's something you can pretty much do on autopilot which leaves lot of time to daydream. I like to daydream. But what I don't like is the two hours a day I spend commuting and the insane people I am forced to work with.

I like to write. A lot. I've written a few articles in my time and, believe it or not, been paid for them. Not much, but enough. So in an effort to get out of this hell hole, I've decided to restart my freelance writing career (and I use the term "career" VERY loosely).

Yesterday I applied for a contract job working as a copywriter for an online company called InteractMedia. Part of the application process was to write 500 words or more on something you considered yourself an expert on. The only thing I'm really an expert on is fish. Not the kind you eat, the kind you keep as pets. Perhaps you've come across my ground breaking work, "Goldfish - Beyond The Bowl"? How about "The World Of Siamese Fighting Fish"? No? OK, well whatever.

Once you submit your article, the nice people at InteractMedia will read it and a) decide if they want you and b) assign a rating out of 5 stars to your article. Thankfully I passed the test. Annoyingly, they only gave Guppies Are Great 3 out of 5 stars. Forkers. That article was EPIC. Someone suggested that perhaps the nice people at InteractMedia don't care for guppies. I think I should have included more sex.

So every day you're supposed to check the Job Board to see what's available. There I was, all keen and ready to go and .... there are no jobs. None. Nada. How rude is that? Then I went over to another website where I'm also a "Content Producer". All they want are articles on how to increase the size of your penis. I'm not really an expert on that. Needless to say I'm sorta stuck right now. I will persevere though! Stay tuned for exciting developments. And if anyone out there knows how to increase the size of your penis, please feel free to shoot me an email.

Audtion - A Review (Japanese with English subtitles)

2011-02-15T11:35:00.000-08:00

Filmed in 1999, “Audition” puts to shame every American horror movie ever made.

Shigeharu Aoyama has been alone for the last seven years, following the death of his wife. At his son’s urging, “Dad, you’re looking old”, Aoyama teams up with his friend Yoshikawa to find himself a new mate. Yoshikawa is in the film industry so the two of them decide to send out a casting call for a non-existent film. In Japan, apparently all you need to do is send in a resume with a picture attached if you’d like to be in a film. Once all the resumes are received, Aoyama sits down to choose the girls he’d like to screen.

Auditions begin in a very proper Japanese way. There is a lot of bowing and “Yes, Sir, No, Sir” as each girl is presented to the two men. Of the 30 women selected, only one has the characteristics that Aoyama is looking for. But is Asami Yamazaki really who she appears to be? Or is she the Japanese version of Glenn Close in “Fatal Attraction”?

This is no in your face blood and gore slashfest. Subtlety is the key word here and director Takashi Miike is a master. The first hour moves a little slowly as we watch the very formal courtship between the two main characters. However, it doesn’t take long for Aoyama to make up his mind that Asami is the girl for him. And that’s when all hell breaks loose.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film and would recommend it if for no other reason than it’s interesting to see the difference between American and Japanese horror. A very solid five stars out of five.

Umm Yeah Here What

2011-02-14T14:43:00.000-08:00

This has been an epic Monday which has left me a bit discombobulated. People not showing up at work, people showing up late, people not doing what I've asked them to do and then pretending they never heard me in the first place. It's all a bit much for the first day of the week. Not to mention that I lent my car to the boyfriend today which meant he had to drive me in to work. He is a chatty boy, the boyfriend. Even at 7 in the morning. So much for easing into the day.

Here is a random picture of Stevie who loves to play in the bucket in the bathroom. Behind him we can see the handle of the toilet plunger which is slowly being chewed in half by my beaver like rats. Isn't Stevie a handsome boy? I just love him to pieces, we have a great time in the bathroom (aka The Rat's Play Room). While we're on the topic of the bathroom I have finally discovered what is causing my leg to ache most painfully. Sitting on the nice hard linoleum floor while the rats play. I didn't do rat play time either Saturday or Sunday night and my leg is FINE. And before my lovely masseuse, Jen, yells at me ... Yes, Jen, you did tell me four months ago that sitting on a hard floor was the worst thing I could do. Now I need to find a chair small enough to go in my small bathroom or a really comfortable BIG pillow for my BIG butt to sit on. If anyone has any great suggestions, please pipe up. I can't not have rattie play time every night.

I made Zesty Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken yesterday with the help of the boyfriend's 8 y.o. daughter. She did a great job, it's too bad the recipe wasn't all that great. My sauce was a little on the watery side and the chicken was a bit overcooked. The kids liked it though and we made mashed potatoes which I consider a meal in itself so it all worked out. I also watched a Japanese horror movie which I need to write a review for. But not today, today is too confusing.

Brain Hurts

2011-02-10T11:37:00.000-08:00

Seriously. This film critique stuff makes my brain hurt. Which either means this isn't my true calling or that I need more practice. However, Associated Content did publish my review of "The Town" but then Associated Content isn't exactly known for its high standards. Basically if you can string three sentences together, they'll publish whatever you write. So I'll keep practicing but I'm gonna include my movie reviews at the end of my blog posts so you don't have to suffer through them.

Crock pot news! Since the delicious stew, I've also made fantastic chili and wonderful beef stroganoff! I am VERY pleased. I think I'm finally getting the hang of this slow cooker stuff. In fact, the stroganoff was so good, the boyfriend's 9 y.o. rather picky son ate two plates.

In knitting / crochet news it's all about the squares. I've only done 24 though so I'm kinda bummed about that. I just have far too many rats to entertain and far too many movies to watch. I don't crochet while I watch movies anymore, instead I take notes. What the heck do I think I'm doing? My priorities may be all out of whack. On to the review ...

Theoretically, "Twelve" refers to the Ecstasy like drug being sold in this movie. However, it could also refer to the number of subplots going on in this hot mess.

Narrated by Kiefer Sutherland (Damn it, Jim, I need more time!), we first meet the main character, White Mike, played by Chace Crawford (Gossip Girls). Still reeling from his mother's death of a year ago, Mike has taken to the streets to sell drugs in an effort to help his father pay his mother's medical bills. Mike's best customers are the snooty Upper East Side kids he once attended high school with. There's Chris (Rory Culkin) who's guarding the family home while his drug addled mother and father cruise the seven seas. Unfortunately for Chris, his juvenile delinquent brother, Claude shows up, having made his escape from the latest in a long line of boarding schools. Next there's Esti Ginzburg who plays Sara Ludlow, the hottest girl in school. Sara's never met a man she couldn't manipulate and she's got her eye on Chris' parent's house as the perfect spot for her 18th birthday party. Last, but not least, is Molly (Emma Roberts). Molly has been in love with Mike since they were preschool pals.

But apparently the lives of rich kids do not a movie make so there's a murder thrown in there as well. Charlie, Mike's cousin, is gunned down in a drug deal gone bad. Mike's obviously not having a very good year. To underscore this, we are regularly subjected to scenes of Mike at his mother's funeral, Mike at his mother's bedside, Mike looking longingly at his mother in her casket. Which apparently all took place in a white room, in case there was any question about the significance of this event. To add to the visual confusion, director Joel Schumacher (St. Elmo's Fire, The Lost Boys, Flatliners) films every scene involving drug use as a 60's acid flashback.

Based on the novel written by Nick McDonnell, this is a story about excess. In this day and age, there's nothing new about that.

Goings And Comings

2011-02-07T21:13:00.001-08:00

R.I.P. Elliott

September 2009 - February 7th, 2011

Best snuggle rat ever.

Welcome Scruffy Neil

Just because you were on A&E's Hoarders doesn't mean you can keep pooping on me.

Disappointing

2011-02-04T10:19:00.001-08:00

After eight years spent in prison for insider trading, Michael Douglas returns as Gordon Gekko. I kinda wish he'd stayed there. I loved Wall Street #1, released back in 1987. In fact, I might go so far as to say it's one of my favorite movies. The character development was outstanding and you got a real feel for what drove each person to do what they did. Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps was, for me, like sitting in an accounting class.

Jake Moore (Shia LaBeouf) plays an up and coming Wall Street trader who coincidentally happens to live with Gordon Gekko's estranged daughter, Winnie (a very whiny Carey Mulligan). The film takes place in 2008 just as the financial structure of America takes a sudden dive south. Jake goes to see a lecture given by Gordon and introduces himself as "the man who's going to marry your daughter." And so begins the typical Hollywood drivel.

Will Gordon and Winnie reconcile? Will Gordon steal Jake's soul? Why does Winnie blame Gordon for her brother's suicide? Because he wasn't "around"? What kind of claptrap is that? Why does Jake feel compelled to keep bailing his mother (Susan Sarandon with a very amusing New Jersey accent) out of her many financial difficulties.? Do we care? No, no we do not. Because we're spending waaaay too much time hearing about bank bailouts and things like CDS, CDOS, and other financial terms that mean absolutely nothing to the average film goer. Two stars out of five. Very sad.

In square news, I'm up to 12. Or is it 13? Making 'em all out of Wool-Ease since I have oodles of the stuff. Ooo, ooo, ooo, I got my Wollmeise yesterday! It's in a cellophane bag and I'm too scared to take it out of the bag. Pictures tomorrow because I need to take my little skein outside and photograph it in the sun to do it justice. Exciting!

Not Again

2011-02-02T09:17:00.001-08:00

I'm sure you'll all be thrilled to hear that I am once again making ...

... squares. And taking phenomenally crappy pictures of them as well! My word, can you believe the hideousness that is this picture? Out of focus, washed out, over exposed, I hit the trifecta of bad photography with this baby. Any way, the Pine Ridge Elders group is focusing on squares for the month of February. I will try to keep photos of squares to a minimum (especially bad photos) but ya know, sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

I typed that last line with a Boston accent as a clever segue into today's movie review, so go back and re-read that line, k? First and foremost, 5 stars out of 5 for this amazing movie. Ben Affleck stars as a career criminal by the name of Doug MacRay who specializes in bank jobs with his three childhood friends. But this movie is more than just a shoot 'em up cops and robbers film. It's about redemption. (Doesn't that sound all film critic-y?).

During the course of a robbery, the boys take a young bank manager, Claire (the lovely Rebecca Hall), hostage. Although she is eventually released unharmed, there is still concern that she may be able to identify one of them. It falls to Doug to "scope her out" and see if she remembers anything incriminating. Eventually, this being a Hollywood movie, they begin to develop a romantic relationship which leads to Doug questioning the direction of his life. Once a promising hockey star who succumbed to the lure of drugs, Doug is now 12 steppin' it and rethinking his career.

But not everyone in Charlestown is on board with the idea of Doug going straight. His boss, Fergie, played by the incredible Pete Postlethwaite, threatens to do to Claire what he did to Doug's mom. And so, Doug plans what he hopes is his final heist.

The movie also stars Jon Hamm, of Mad Men fame, an FBI agent who always seems to be ten minutes too late. I was concerned that all I'd be able to see was Don Draper but kudos to ol' Jon, he did a fine job. And last, but certainly not least, there's Jeremy Renner, who is up for Best Supporting Actor, as Doug's closest friend James Coughlin. His performance alone is worth seeing the movie for. The proverbial loose cannon, you never know which way Jem is going to go. Usually, it's the wrong way. So there you have it, my first attempt at a movie review longer than 10 words. In closing, see this movie. You won't be disappointed.

Lights, Camera, Action

2011-02-01T11:08:00.000-08:00

I like movies. A lot. When I was a teenager and school would break for summer, I would sleep all day so that I could stay up all night watching old movies on TV. Because, way back then, the VCR hadn't been invented, let alone DVD players, Blu-Ray, High Def, blah, blah, blah. It would be 4 in the morning and my Mom would be standing at the top of the stairs yelling, "April Elizabeth, turn off that TV NOW!"

Not only do I have a Netflix account, I also have a Redbox account. I'd probably have a video store account too if there were any left in this area. I love going to the movies as well, preferably by myself. I've got two theatre passes in my purse as well as a Groupon coupon for two more passes at home. You could probably say I love movies as much as knitting. And they go together so well!

What I don't love so much is writing movie reviews. Because I suck at it. I'm not very good at analyzing movies, I just like to watch them. I pretty much take everything at face value. Obviously I can tell good acting from bad and what defines crappy cinematography (Hello, I can't SEE anything) but I'm not very good with the, "What did he really mean by that?"

But it would be SO great if I could learn to write reviews. This weekend I watched all the movies pictured here. It's all part of my plan to see all ten of the movies that have been nominated for Best Picture. There's a potential blog fodder gold mine goin' on here. Four movies, four blog posts. But for now all I can say is Winters Bone - 2 out of 5 stars, Inception - 4 out of 5 stars, The Social Network - 5 out of 5 stars and The Kids Are All Right - 2 out of 5 stars. But despair not, because today I ordered this:

You can call me "April Ebert."

This 'N That And A Contest Winnah

2011-01-30T21:35:00.000-08:00

Thanks to eight episodes of "Pillars Of The Earth", "The Social Network" and "The Kids Are All Right" (there's 2 hours of my life I'll never get back), Wheelchair Wrap #4 is finally done. Although it only took me two weeks to do this one it seemed more like two years. Maybe because I've done four in the last two months. That's a lotta crochet.

Now all I need to do is find a box big enough to pack four of these monsters in, put together a "Valentine's Day" box for one of the residents of the nursing home and ship it all off to South Dakota. And then my contribution to the Cohen Nursing Home Valentine's Day Celebration will be finished. February the Yahoo Elders group is supposed to be doing squares but fortunately I have a pile of squares already done. Except for the eight million ends that need to be woven in. I've also started a baby sweater but more on that another day.

The big winnah of the Happy Anniversary, Weaving Inn contest is WendyR3!. Congratulations, WendyR3, please send me the email address you'd like your Knit Picks gift certificate sent to. My email address is Sakkasie@hotmail.com

And finally, here's Doug, having a little Sunday afternoon nap. I so very much wish it wasn't Sunday night.

5 Years, 504 Posts

2011-01-27T21:48:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe. Five years of blogging. When I first got word of this "new" trend called blogging I thought it was the height of arrogance. You post stuff on the Internet about YOURSELF? Why in God's name would anyone, outside of your immediate family perhaps, want to read about you? And some people were doing it EVERY DAY. What the hell could they possibly find to talk about? Why would you want to read about people you didn't even know?

Jeebus, was I wrong. Although I haven't posted every day, I seem to have found plenty to talk about. Plus, way back in 2006, if you did any kind of craft it seemed to be de rigeur that you had a blog to display your creations. Or pictures of your cats.

Then Ravelry came along and seemed to take the wind out of the sails of a lot of bloggers. Why bother talking about your latest knitted hat on your blog when you could just post it on Ravelry where thousands of people resided? I miss Red Dog Knits. And Sock Pron. And hey, I don't even know those people!

So yeah, five years. To commemorate this momentous occasion I did two things today. Well I've done one so far. I caved in to the hype and bought a skein of Wollmeise on Ravelry. If you don't know what Wollmeise is, good for you. If you do, please tell me it's everything people say it is. Thing number two is, of course, a giveaway to celebrate my big blogging day. Leave a comment between now and 6pm PST tomorrow for a chance to win a $25.00 gift certificate to Knit Picks. I don't get a lot of comments but I know there are people out there reading this silly bit of nonsense because my blog counter thinger tells me so. What have you got to lose?

Happy Anniversary, Weaving Inn.

Successful Stew

2011-01-26T10:28:00.001-08:00

This food photography - not so easy. Going by the picture below you might be led to believe I've started eating dog food. Fear not. It's actually Slow Cooker Beef Stew. And it was good. Very good.

Beef, potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic and peas, num, num, num. I incorporated a number of suggestions from other people who had already made the recipe but next time I think I'll just prepare the recipe as it was exactly written. The only complaint I have is that it was a bit salty. But that may have been because I added a packet of McCormick's Slow Cooker Beef Stew seasoning as per one person's suggestion. I don't really care for those instant seasoning thingers, I always wonder what's REALLY in them.

Regardless, I managed to eat the entire pot over the course of a few days. Well not the ENTIRE pot - the ratties like beef stew too, ya know. I think this weekend might be chili weekend. Or maybe split pea soup. My Allrecipes queue is starting to rival my Ravelry queue.

Events Occur In Real Time

2011-01-25T13:37:00.001-08:00

Alas, one of the great love stories of all time has come to an end. After eight years, Jack Bauer and I are no more. Last night I watched the final episode of 24's season 8 and now I am lost.

Jack, lost without me too.

Jack and I have been together longer than my marriage lasted. We were together when President Palmer was assassinated. I was there with him each time Jack uncovered another spy who had managed to infiltrate C.T.U.. Without exchanging a word, we both knew that President Logan was a scum sucking piece of filth. And not once did I ever say, "Jack, nuclear weapons AGAIN?"

Now he is gone. On the run from the Russians, leaving Chloe behind to protect his family (including his whiny daughter, Kim). I've returned the DVD to Netflix and cleaned up the wet Kleenexes. Life goes on. But I know, that until the day I die, all I'll have to do is close my eyes and his voice will come to me, "Damn it, I'm running out of time!"

Today's Blog Post ...

2011-01-23T20:30:00.001-08:00

... is brought to you by the Mission Santa Clara.

The boyfriend's son has to do a project on two California missions. It's due in two weeks and it hasn't been started yet. So yesterday we took a trip to Mission Santa Clara, home not only to a very lovely mission but also Santa Clara University.

I didn't have my camera yesterday so I had to go back today and snap some pictures. I figured since the kid had already been to the Mission this wasn't technically "cheating." Although maybe he should have been the one to take the pictures. Oh well, what do I know about kids and school these days?

The Mission is surrounded by beautiful gardens which made me quite happy since I love to take pictures of flowers.

Unfortunately my camera takes horrible inside photos so I can't show you how gorgeous the Mission is inside. However, if you live in the area it's definitely worth a visit. The Mission is very popular for weddings although from what I understand you have to be affiliated with the University in some way to get married there.

On the way home we saw a church with a sign that read, "Prayer - God's Wireless Connection Without Roaming Charges". I like a church with a sense of humor.

Hey Meret

2011-01-22T18:36:00.001-08:00

OMG, I actually blocked something!!!

Yeah, I'm surprised too. This is Meret from Woolly Wormhead. If you're not familiar with the name Woolly Wormhead, she is an amazing hat designer who has something like 140 designs on Ravelry. Meret shows up in 3500 queues. I'm a little late getting on this particular bandwagon.

I used Stonehedge Fiber Mill's Shepherd's Wool to make this. It's 100% wool and goes for the princely sum of $10.00 or thereabouts at Green Planet Yarn. 250 yards. It's a great deal. And it comes in lots of pretty colors. I wish all the little eyelets showed up better but I need a bigger blocking plate. Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed knitting this pattern from start to finish. Which was good, considering how many times I had to tink back. It's been a while since I've done any lace knitting.

But here is my dilemma. Normally I make hats for the Rez. But they don't especially want lacy berets. Little cold there. I won't wear it. I don't wear hats, I just make them. So is there anyone out there in the Internets who would like a purple lacy beret? Anyone? Free of course. Leave a comment if you want it. Seriously.

Oops

2011-01-21T10:22:00.000-08:00

It has been a prickly week, no doubt about it. Work is NOT going well and if I could jump ship right this instant, believe me, I would. But alas, there are cats, rats and fish that need food so I'm stuck here for now. Not to mention that my green card has expired so any job hunting is on hold until I come up with the $450.00 to renew it. So that's my excuse for not blogging for a week.

Last Sunday I actually made something in the crock pot! Yay, April! I made Meat Lover's Spaghetti Sauce. It was OK. Not great, but OK. I don't think I'll make it again though. Although I did learn that marjoram plus ground beef is a definite win. I don't know that I'm crazy about the way ground beef seems to separate into little tiny bits when it's cooked for a long period of time. I did brown it beforehand but still ... little tiny bits.

Tomorrow I'm making Slow Cooker Beef Stew. Isn't that exciting? But no celery, ick, I don't like celery in beef stew.

In knitting news, I'm working on Woolly Wormhead's Meret beret. I thought I was finished on Wednesday but then OOPS, screwed up on the decreases. I am soooo decrease challenged it's not even funny. I think the key, when knitting hats on 2 circs, is to switch to DPN's on the decreases even though you don't really need to. At least I hope that works for me. Also, chatting at Knit Night when you're doing decreases on a lace hat is never a good idea.

Win Win

2011-01-14T19:46:00.001-08:00

I got a few balls of Wool Ease today ...

... and Andy got a new box.

It (the yarn, not Andy) was on sale at JoAnn's online for $2.49 a ball, compared to $3.29 regular price at Michael's. When you factor in the cost of shipping, it wasn't that great of a deal. However, all the Michael's around here carry the same 10 or 12 colors. And trust me, I've knit at least one project out of each of those colors. I wanted some new colors, damn it!

So I got two balls of navy and seven other assorted colors. Even the pinks are different although they don't really look it in my crummy photo. I think I got enough to make a few hats. That's if I ever finish Hat #2 of 52 which is coming along rather slowly. Which is to be expected I suppose since I'm knitting it on US 2's with fingering weight yarn. What the hell was I thinking? If you're doing a challenge you go with the fast and the furious, not the tiny needles, thin yarn routine. Here it is January 14th, I've made one hat and no crock pot meals. I am a 2011 failure.

Here We Go Again ...

2011-01-12T21:34:00.001-08:00

Yes, it's another Wheelchair Wrap. Number three for those of you keeping count. This is my favorite one so far. I love the color of the yarn (Dusty Purple) and I think this particular yarn (Vanna's Choice) lends itself well to the pattern. It's very cuddly and squishy. However, I used an "I" hook instead of my regular "H" and the shawl is a little on the large side. Plus I ran out of yarn with one and a half rows left to crochet so I think I'm going back to an "H". Fascinating, I know.

One of my New Year's resolutions was to make at least one meal a week in the crock pot. Here it is the 12th of January and I've made squat. But all of that is going to change! CindyLouWho brought me this awesome cookbook tonight, all for my very own, and I'm excited!

There are like a bazillion recipes in this book, with multiple versions of some dishes. That way if you don't like Mary's take on chili, you can try Linda's. I really, really need to start cooking again; as much as I love Stouffers it's gettin' kind of old. And really, how much work is it to cook stuff in a crock pot?

And the gifts just kept on coming tonight at Knit Night. Kerry brought me three skeins of Wool-Ease which will make wonderful hats for the Rez. So hooray for good friends and another finished WIP!

Tuesday Tidbits

2011-01-11T21:31:00.000-08:00

Not much to report today. Here's a scarf I finished last year. It seems like it took forever but according to my notes on Ravelry, it was about six weeks.

It's the Double Bump Scarf which I knit using Wisdom Yarn's "Poems". It's a relatively inexpensive yarn that tries to emulate Noro but without the extreme thick / thin thing that Noro has going on. Less roughage as well. The pattern was fun to do but I had a hard time watching TV and knitting it at the same time. But then, I'm kinda stupid like that. The pattern also makes a nice dishcloth if you're in need of a dishcloth.

Bought two more books on writing today on Amazon. Because I already own about 30 books on writing. Hope springs eternal and all that rot. But these are more "writing in your journal" oriented. I think I only have about 15 books on that subject.

And finally ... further proof that my being crowned "The Crazy Rat Lady" isn't far off - I went out for dinner tonight and got an extra order of mashed potatoes and gravy to take home for the rats. Yeah, I'm frightened too.

Fuzzies

2011-01-10T10:30:00.000-08:00

Here are some better pictures of the fuzzlets. First up is Stevie!

Stevie is the braver of the two babies. He's especially fond of peanut M&M's and wrestling with his brother. I think he's going to grow up to be long and lean, unlike his chubby brother.

This is Jordi who's never met a meal he didn't like. Usually baby ratties are very cautious about trying new foods since, as we all know, rats can't vomit so what goes in, stays in. Since Jordi took up residence at Chez Insanity, he's had a steak bone, a chicken bone, peanut M&M's, yogis and some veggies. I'm hoping he grows up to a big squish.

In knitting news I'm working on Wheelchair Wraps 3 & 4 as well as Hat #2. It would appear I've gone from being a process knitter to a product knitter. I'm not so sure I like the change.

A Whole Lotta Fur

2011-01-07T09:16:00.001-08:00

I can now say I know what 1,000 rats in one place looks (and smells) like. Rats upon rats upon rats. Big rats, baby rats, pregnant rats, one eyed rats, happy rats, not so happy rats. They were all at Andy's Pet Store last night. It was mind boggling.

Everywhere you turned there were piles of rats all sleeping on top of each other in over sized cages. Then there were the single cages with rats who didn't share well with others. And the babies. OMG, the babies. Most only one month old. When they're that young they look like full grown mice. Little widdle faces with skinny tails and bright pink noses. How could I resist?

Well so much for that New Year's resolution. Although, all things considered, I think I showed remarkable restraint. I adopted two and the boyfriend adopted one. I got the guy in the crappy picture above, he is now known as Little Stevie. He is a beautiful dark gray color with that adorable white blaze. His brother, who is Mr. Acrobat, has not been named yet. He is an agouti capped guy which I know means nothing to most of you. Think brown head, white body. The boyfriend got a blue/gray boy he named Willard, which is a really stupid name if you ask me.

When I left home this morning they were both buried under the bedding in their cage. At one month, they haven't developed any kind of fear with regard to humans so it won't take long to socialize them. Not to mention the fact that it's absolute joy just to hold them and kiss those pink noses. I am such a failure.

One Down, 51 To Go

2011-01-06T09:12:00.001-08:00

Five days into the New Year and hat number one is done! I finished this last night at Knit Night. My apologies to Melissa and Cindy for not bringing my knitting bag with me and having to borrow uhhh ... stitch markers ... a pen ... scissors ... a darning needle. I mean really, how hopeless can one be? Anyway, this is Ellen's Knit Hat knit in Wool-Ease (of course). Originally it was going to be for The Ship's Project. Until I was half way finished, checked the FAQ for the The Ship's Project and read, "No solid gray hats." So off to the Rez it will go.

Today I am taking the boyfriend to court so he can sort out some child support crap. This trip will be fraught with peril. Not because he's going to jail or anything but because, two doors down from the courthouse, is where North Star Rescue is keeping 1,000 rats that they rescued from a hoarder in Southern California who is actually being featured on that A&E show. I have seen pictures of some of the rats in residence. They are beyond adorable. There is a maternity ward. With baby ratties. Baby ratties are cuter than kittens. Have I mentioned one of my New Year's resolutions was no more animal adoptions? I think that if I were to enter the building my head would explode. Wish me luck in finding the strength to go straight from the courthouse to my car.

We can always hope.

The Hat Of Much Sadness

2011-01-05T10:10:00.001-08:00

I've knit a few hats in my knitting career. From Fair Isle to ribbed, from slouch to striped. I've even designed one or two. So could someone please explain to me why I'd ever be under the impression that 110 yards of worsted weight yarn would be enough for an adult size hat?

Here we have The Hat Of Much Sadness, aka The Hat Of Bad Planning aka The Hat Of Wishful Thinking. I really, really thought I'd have enough Crystal Palace Merino 5 (a lovely, albeit slippery, superwash yarn). But as I got about four inches into the pattern, (Rib-A-Roni, my current hat pattern obsession) I came to a shocking realization. I was going to run out of yarn. Shocking, I know.

I probably could have bought another skein with the same dye lot since I purchased this yarn less than a month ago. But noooooo, it had to be finished now. So I dug another yarn out of my stash and knit on. I even added a few rows of the Crystal Palace at the top to make it "look" as though this was what I'd planned all along. I also screwed up the decreases which is why Lydia is not modeling this particular hat.

Wove in all the ends and then realized. I'd just knit a hat with a combination of superwash and non-superwash wool. What is the point of THAT? Jeebus. Maybe I'll go back to scarves.

Wrap Deja Vu

2011-01-04T09:22:00.000-08:00

Hey, it's like reading yesterday's post all over again. Yep, it's another Wheelchair Wrap. I love this pattern, can you tell? It's so ridiculously easy to do yet I think it makes quite a pretty shawl. I am ten rows away from finishing the third one and I have the yarn to make four more.

I used *cough*Red Heart Soft*cough* to make this one. Let me tell you, there's nothing "soft" about Red Heart Soft. Think boat twine with a sheen. But nursing homes seem to like acrylic and let me tell ya, this IS acrylic. I think, in the event of a nuclear blast, you could probably use this wrap as a shield. Because not only is it ickrylic, it weighs a flipping ton. Well perhaps not a ton, but it's heavy.

In other news, January 27th marks the 5th anniversary of this here blog. 5th? 4th? If I started it on Jan. 27th, 2006 is this the 5th anniversary? I'm not so good with the anniversary calculations. Anyways, I imagine there will be a contest. And then of course, next month is the birthday month which means I need to figure out some charity contest and oh my goodness, I think my head is going to explode from all this thinking.

Maybe I'll give away some rats! Like ... Celeste! Who has suddenly gotten all lumpy which means a trip to the vet. As some of you may recall, Celeste is the Holy Terror of my Rat Pack and was put on this earth to give me nothing but grief. She's quite outdone herself this time around though. And perhaps we'll give away Tink who likes to "taste" various parts of one's face. With her teeth.

Nah, I'll just give away yarn.

Hooray For 2011!

2011-01-03T13:34:00.001-08:00

It is a new year. Finally. 2010 was not one of my better years, which seems to be how it was for many people. I shall look back on 2010 as The Year Of Illness. From a rogue virus that sidelined me in June for three days, to the Famous S Cluster (sciatica, scoliosis and spondylothesis) to my current malady, Pseudo Pneumonia, which I have had since Thanksgiving. Yes, this wasn't one of my healthier years.

However, being stuck on the couch was good for the crafting. I probably made more "stuff" this year than ever before. I didn't meet my goal of 25 scarves for the Rez but I'm pretty sure I made 25 assorted objects for my Indian friends.

This is my latest pattern obsession - The Wheelchair Wrap. I wish it was called something else because I keep thinking it's something that should be wrapped up in a tortilla with cheddar cheese and lettuce. We (me and the Yahoo group I belong to) are making them for a nursing home on the Rez. I'm on my third one.

I have also joined the 52 Hats In 52 Weeks challenge on Ravelry so expect to see a whole lotta hats. That was one of my resolutions, 52 hats in 2011. My other two resolutions were to blog every day (which I've already failed at) and to make one crock pot meal a week. I am determined to master the slow cooker. If for no other reason than it would be a God send in the summer when even heating something in a pot on Medium on my stove makes my apartment unbearable. So if you have any great crock pot recipes please send them my way.

And hopefully I'll keep up with the blogging. Happy New Year, everyone!

It's The Holiday Season - Where's My Soapbox?

2010-11-30T13:23:00.001-08:00

Pine Ridge Reservation is located in South Dakota and is home to the Oglala Sioux tribe. The current population is approximately 40,000 people. The life expectancy on the reservation is the lowest in the Western Hemisphere, after Haiti. Infant mortality on the Rez is 300% higher than the national average. The teen suicide rate is 150% higher than the national average. The unemployment rate is usually around 80%. The average life expectancy for males is 48, for females it is 52. Every winter, Tribal elders die from hypothermia because they cannot afford to heat their substandard homes.

Adolph Bull Bear is a 78 year old full blood Lakota living on the Rez. He lives with his disabled son and his two grandchildren in a house in Kyle, S.D.. He is an Army veteran and was once a Tribal police officer. He is also my friend. Each month I send him a box of items to make his life a bit better.

When I ask him each month what he'd like he doesn't ask for things like Godiva chocolates or expensive cologne. Instead he asks for toilet paper. Laundry detergent. Would I be able to send him some salt and pepper? How about a pair of socks?

This weekend was a cold one in Kyle and Adolph is almost out of propane. The Tribe helps out with supplying propane but they've just finished having an election and nothing is settled, least of all who's going to get heating fuel. Adolph phoned me in a panic this weekend since he's only got another 7 days or so before he has no heat. Was there any way possible that I could buy him some propane. I reassured him over and over again that it would be no problem to make that happen and that he didn't have to worry. I'm still not sure he believed me, after all, white people often say one thing and do another.

An Army veteran. A proud Native American. Begging for toilet paper and warmth. It's a sad state of affairs.

Faker

2010-11-23T13:30:00.001-08:00

Kitty has been named "Bubbles". No, I didn't name him that, I prefer people names for animals. The boyfriend named him after the individual shown below. He's a character in a Canadian show called Trailer Park Boys.

I think we can see the resemblance. Anyway, Bubbles is not really blind. Faker. He's simply near sighted. Which still allows him to pounce on anything within about two feet. And Bubbles loves to pounce, oh yes he does.

Being of the male gender, Bubbles enjoys his Legos. He's also developed quite a bond with the boyfriend's nine year old son, who also likes Legos.

And is this a ball of yarn Bubbles has found? Why I think it is! Yarn is FUN. Actually I'm pretty sure that when you're a kitten everything is fun. Especially playing the sympathy card with unsuspecting people on the Internet. Then they'll come and take you home where they'll start asking themselves an hour later, "Why the hell did I get this kitten?"

Hats?

2010-11-21T13:58:00.001-08:00

Did someone say hats? Yeah, we've got your hats right here ...

Rib-A-Roni Hat

Noggin Hat

Double Double Crochet Hat

Simple Hat

Starburst Hat

I think I'll go cast on for another.

You Would Too!

2010-11-18T21:13:00.001-08:00

If you saw this little guy on the Internet and read that he was only 2 months old and stuck in a crowded shelter, you might be sad for a moment and then go back to what you were doing. But what if you read that he was 2 months old, extremely stressed and BLIND? Yeah, you'd go pick him up too. I know you would. Welcome "Bubbles."

And Now For Something Completely Different

2010-10-22T11:37:00.000-07:00

Books. Let's talk about books today. I have a lot of books. And a small apartment. It is VERY rare that I re-read books, simply because there are too many other good books to read. So they pile up all over my tiny, rat filled abode. And then I came across PaperbackSwap.com this week. Finally, an answer to my quickly running out of floor space problem. I can post my books on the site and people will actually take them off my hands! Genius! Of course I have to pay to mail them but media mail for most paperbacks is only $2.96.

For each book I mail out I get one credit. I can use those credits to request books from other people. Of course I don't really want any more books since I'm not even close to finishing the ones I have. But they don't have to know that. For those of you who DO want books you might want to look into joining (it's free to join). They currently have over four million books available for swapping. Yes. FOUR MILLION. The thing I like most about "the club" is that you can print off your mailing label along with postage and delivery confirmation right from the site. You just Paypal a couple bucks into your account and voila! Or you can print off your mailing label without anything but the address on it and go to the Post Office. But really, who the heck wants to do that? I'm telling you, pretty soon you'll actually be able to walk around in my teensy weensy place!

Woo. Hoo. Hat # 3

2010-10-21T21:37:00.001-07:00

Let me tell you, it's all about the numbers here at Chez Insanity. I'm walking a fine line between production knitting and trying to knit attractive hats / scarves / what have you. As much as I would like to crank out something different every day just to fill the need I really want to make stuff that someone would be proud to wear. But then I come across people who are whipping out hats at an alarming rate and *le sigh*, I am torn again.

I think this hat sort of fits the bill. It was fast (by my standards) but it's still kinda cute. This is the BasicSimpleLazy Hat (Rav link) from Yarn Ball Boogie. I used Queensland Collection Super Aussie which is a worsted weight superwash merino. It's dirt cheap, I think I paid maybe $3.99 a ball for it from Webs, and it's rather nice stuff. I have a feeling it might have a tendency to pill but let's hope not. I used just a little over one skein (109 yards). That's a pretty inexpensive hat.

Unfortunately I knit it on 4 DPN's instead of 5 so I've got some ladder issues going on (see lower right, upper left). I won't be making that mistake again. Now I'm making mittens. I love making mittens but I hate that stupid hole when you're doing the thumb. You know that hole you get when you're picking up all the stitches to start the thumb? Yeah, that hole. But my friend Blogless CindyLouWho says she knows how to pick up the stitches for the thumb so there are no holes. Imagine! So hopefully I'll have these mittens done by next Wednesday so I can pester her at Knit Night to show me how to do it too.

My life - just one round of excitement after the next. Back to the knitting!

The Octopus Scarf

2010-10-19T19:37:00.001-07:00

I had such high hopes for this scarf. The pattern was a lot of fun to do and really fast. In fact I had the first half done in a day. And then it struck me. I'm knitting a very long fuschia tentacle. What were supposed to be cables actually look like suckers to me. Don't they look like suckers to you?

Fortunately the scarf is reversible so instead of wearing a Sucker Scarf you could wear just a regular ol' scarf. How disappointing. I suppose if I went with a bigger hook size the cables might not be so prominent. I won't bother to link the pattern unless someone in my "blog audience" should happen to be a marine biologist, in which case an Octopus Scarf might be something they'd like. Regardless, I've added this scarf to the pile. I think this is number 11 but frankly, I have no idea.

Frequent Buyer Pot Card

Of course there could be other reasons why I think this scarf looks like a tentacle.

TGFF

2010-10-18T10:28:00.001-07:00

Thank God for weekend football. If it wasn't for football I'd probably never get anything finished. Fortunately I've gotten into the habit of watching college football on Saturday afternoon and NFL games on Sunday afternoon. You can get a lot accomplished watching football.

Here's another hat just like the other hat I posted last week. It's the Crochet Watchman Cap (Rav link) again. I had hoped that by dropping down to an "H" hook that the hat would look a little less sloppy, maybe a bit more "refined" if a hat can be called refined. But no such luck. Thus, I have come to the conclusion that I prefer to make knitted hats even though I hate circular needles. But that's OK, because I have my wonderful Comfort Zone needles that the lovely Valerie gave me four years ago. I love my Comfort Zone needles for hats. They're bendy, they come in great colors and they're long enough that the stitches don't slip off. Did I mention they're inexpensive? A set of US 7's costs like $5.50. And a set consists of six needles.

I also finished a scarf this weekend but I'm saving that for the next post. Try to contain your excitement.

At Last ...

2010-10-15T09:52:00.000-07:00

A picture that wasn't taken six months ago. Behold the Head Eating Hat! Poor Lydia has totally disappeared off the radar. Mind you, she does have a rather small head but still.

I tried to take a picture of myself in the mirror wearing this but I had a ridiculous look on my face in every shot. It's pretty bad when you're the photographer and you can't get a decent picture of yourself. I started another hat last night. Only this time I'm using an "H" hook. I'm hoping it will be big enough to fit someone but when it comes to me and crocheting hats it's a total crapshoot. I want to get this pattern perfected though so I can make a hat or two for the Hats For Sailors drive. I spent a lot of time out on the water when I lived in the Old Country and I know how freakin' cold it can get out there. And even though I hate this whole war business I still have an immense respect and a heck of a lot of gratitude for the people who willingly put their lives on the line every day.

This weekend I am going up against another lady in my Pine Ridge Elders group (best group on the Innernets!) to see who can make the most crocheted squares in like 48 hours. This particular individual already did a squares challenge earlier this week so she's all primed and ready to go. The lady she was competing against made 163 squares between Monday morning and Wednesday night. Can you even IMAGINE? I'm hoping to make 20. Maybe. Hopefully.

A Pictureless FO

2010-10-14T11:20:00.000-07:00

I finished a hat last night but have no picture. So instead we have trees and clouds today.

I am very pleased with my pictureless hat. I used the Crocheted Watchman Cap (Rav link) pattern. I may call this the perfect crocheted hat pattern. But that may be just because it actually fits my super sized noggin, though it's not for me. This is one big ol' hat. I used Wool-Ease with a J hook and I think I'm gonna make the next one with an I hook since not everyone has abnormally sized heads and I want to make a bunch of these for the Rez. At times I wondered if I was actually crocheting a market bag, that's how big this hat is. However, it has a lovely brim you flip over so it's almost as though the entire hat is two layers. Definitely a winner.

In rat news, we are awaiting the arrival of another rattie to the SANCTUARY. This new arrival is coming from a medical lab so no doubt he will be completely unsocialized. I always enjoy a challenge. He has been tentatively named "Pfizer."

Blerg 'n Blah

2010-10-13T11:27:00.000-07:00

It would be nice if I got my act together and took pictures of what I'm actually working on rather than recycling pictures I took earlier this year. Let's pretend this is an apple tree in bloom since Fall is apple season. Then we can pretend that this photo is relevant. Sort of. I miss taking pictures but it's hard to take pictures when you can't stand up for any length of time.

So on Saturday I went to Michaels because I needed some chunky weight yarn for a hat I wanted to crochet. I took my purchases and went to the boyfriend's place and started on my hat. The hat began to grow. And grow. And then it grew some more. The hat started to look like a dinner plate cozy.

Apparently Lion Brand's Thick 'N Quick yarn is not chunky, it's SUPER CHUNKY. Or SUPER BULKY. I just assumed since they had either worsted weight or Thick 'N Quick that the T 'n Q was the next level up from worsted. It seemed a reasonable assumption to me. Wrong, wrong, wrong. In a way I'm actually glad I'm wrong though because that stuff is a mother to crochet with. It's THICK. Really THICK. And I bought three flippin' balls of it.

Needless to say, I won't be making anything with this yarn. I have a ball of dark grey, medium purple and brown. It can either sit in one of my Rubbermaid containers or it can go to your house. Want it? Leave a comment. But remember - IT'S NOT CHUNKY WEIGHT.

My Favorite

2010-10-07T09:33:00.000-07:00

Of all the scarves I've EVER knitted or crocheted this is my favorite. Given my penchant for scarves, that's saying quite a bit. This is the Yarn Harlot's One Row Scarf knit in Cascade Pastaza. If you're not familiar with this yarn, it's a single ply of 50% wool and 50% llama. I got it in the 35% off bin at Green Planet Yarn.

The only downside to this pattern is ... well it's the same row over and over again. Which makes for great T.V. watching but I'll admit, there were a few times that I nodded off while knitting. And none of that was the result of medicinal marijuana. Which I'm finding I'm not so crazy about. In any form. I may just continue to develop my Vicodin habit. I figure at the ripe old age of 50 you can have all the bad habits you want. At 60 I plan on moving to Baltimore to become a heroin addict. It's possible I've been watching The Wire too much. Best T.V. show EVER.

Moving on ... Scarves eleven and twelve are in the process of being created. I'm particularly stoked about scarf number twelve which is the Skinny Cabled Scarf (Ravelry linkage). It's kind of a fun little crocheted number that works up FAST. I guess the fact that it's "skinny" helps. I had to go up a hook size though so it's not quite so slim, 4.5 inches to be precise. I'm using some of my free Brown Sheep yarn. But now I'm wondering if it isn't more of a masculine looking scarf in which case "Raspberry Jam" might not have been a good color choice. Oh well, time will tell.

Eight And Nine

2010-10-06T10:01:00.000-07:00

It would appear that I am addicted to the Sweet Guy Scarf. I have now crocheted four of these scarves and am looking forward to crocheting another one. And probably another one after that. And another and another ...

This one is in Lion's Brand Wool-Ease and Plymouth Yarn's "Plymouth Select" which is a 100% superwash merino. If I remember correctly it was around $12.50 a skein but the skeins are 216 yards. It comes in lots of pretty colors and is more of a light worsted.

Lion's Brand Wool-Ease times two for this scarf. I really should buy shares in Lion's Brand, with the rate I'm going through Wool-Ease. I just wish Michael's would carry more colors. Every store carries the same 12 or so colors. So I've resorted to buying from Ravelry de-stashes. If anyone has any Wool-Ease for sale, speak up!

Scarf number ten is also finished, I'm saving it for the next post. Also, please excuse the repetition of photography styling here, this taking pictures of just scarves is getting a bit tedious.

Adventures In Substance Abuse

2010-10-01T11:37:00.000-07:00

I thought my back problems were getting better but maybe not so much. So my chiropractor said to me, "Have you considered medical marijuana for the pain?" Well no, no I hadn't. I think the last time I smoked dope was in 1983 at a Kink's concert where I got high and then promptly fell asleep. So she prepared all the paperwork because it's a complicated process this being able to legally smoke illegal drugs.

That night I got online to find a "dispensary." There are a total of 67 dispensaries in the San Jose area. The website even had reviews and menus. Menus! Back in the 70's you got what you got and you were happy with it. Of course back then an ounce was $10.00 and now it's about $365.00. I tell you, my blog is a wealth of useless information.

Wednesday I decided to go to the "store." The "store" was at the very end of a residential street. At first I wasn't sure I was in the right place. The sign in the window said, "Medical Aids - Wheelchairs / Mobility Devices / Walkers." Then I noticed there was a security guard standing inside by the door. I was pretty sure wheelchairs didn't need guarding. And as I walked into the "store" all doubt was vanished. Holy jeebus, I thought I was back at a David Bowie concert in 1980 - the place reeked of uhh ... medicine.

The receptionist had me fill out more paperwork and then told me I was good to go. The big burly security guard announced into his walkie talkie "Patient coming back," unlocked door number one, we walked down a long hall and then he unlocked door number two. High security, this drug selling business. The "medicine" was displayed in cases like you'd see in a bakery store. They even had cookies! The "budtender" (ha, isn't that cute, budtender) asked me what I was looking for. As if I would know. I told him I wanted something "nice." And I only needed a "little bit." Apparently those are not your standard drug terms these days but we finally got me settled with some "Purple Barney." Don't ask, I still don't know.

I took myself home and got out this pipe a friend had lent me for my big adventure. Back in the 70's we didn't use pipes, we rolled joints. But I was never very good at the rolling thing. After about 15 minutes and 15 matches it was obvious I wasn't very good at the pipe thing either. Nothing happened! By this time all of my Purple Barney was gone. Then I thought to myself, "Well if you can learn to knit Fair Isle on YouTube surely you can learn how to smoke a bowl." There are no videos. What the fork?

I think my pot smoking hobby isn't going to take off nearly as well as the knitting did.

Back Again

2010-09-28T11:08:00.001-07:00

I haven't felt much like doing anything these past couple of weeks because of MY STUPID SCIATICA. However, I did dump my physical therapy person since my leg was getting progressively worse and am now doing the chiropractic thing which I swore I'd never do. And it actually seems to be making a difference. Color me corrected.

In the course of one very long week we learned that a) my pelvis is severely rotated to the right, b) in addition to sciatica I also have scoliosis, c) I also have something called spondylolisthesis which means one of my vertabrae is slipping off the one below it, d) the disk between those two vertebrae has completely disappeared and e) that I need to start putting money away towards unexpected medical costs. I have also had many, many x-rays taken and I'm wearing a lift in my right shoe because not only is my pelvis rotated, my left hip is about two inches higher than the right hip. It's amazing I can even walk, isn't it? No wonder my diet has been a combination of peanut butter cookies and Vicodin. Both make me feel better and both don't require you to stand up to prepare them.

On the positive side, I have finished two more scarves, have a third nearly done and a fourth almost done. Pictures might be a good idea. I also got all the dishes done that were in the sink although I had to do them in five minute intervals. All the rats are still alive and enjoying the aforementioned peanut butter cookies. I have also become hooked on Guild Wars so when I'm not playing with the ratties I'm running around an imaginary world and blowing things up. It's kinda cool to have fire come shooting out of your hands. As opposed to say, down your leg. And that's all there is to report from a very hot Campbell, California.

For Petey Sake

2010-09-15T10:12:00.001-07:00

September is turning out to be a crappy month for ratties. On Monday I took the boyfriend's rat, Atlas, to the vet because Atlas looked like he'd been in a fight with little wounds all over his body. Turns out Atlas hasn't been scrapping, he just has mites. Here's some rat trivia for you. All rats have mites. However, it's only when a rat's immune system is compromised that the mites become a problem. Why is Atlas' immune system compromised? He has a tumor. A tumor that will cost $300 to remove.

Other than the tumor, Atlas is in great shape and he's only a year old. Which means the tumor needs to come out. If he was an old man, we might not go that route. But only a year old? Not to mention the sweetest rat in the world. Hell yeah that tumor needs to be gone. I just need to figure out some financial logistics.

SophieToes and Peeper

In happier news, I am now on scarf ummm 9? Plus I found another crochet pattern that looks way cool, it's the Catherine's Wheel Scarf (Rav link). Since the Knitting Room was having it's big sale on Saturday I scored some Cascade 220 to make it with. Hopefully I'll have enough yarn to make 2 scarves, one for the Rez and one for me! I got fall colors, you know, browns, oranges, dark greens. It'll either look really great or disgustingly hideous. It's all part of the excitement of crochet!

Good-Bye Bob

2010-09-10T19:02:00.001-07:00

Rest in peace, Bob Rat. You were a very special boy.

Not Much

2010-09-09T22:14:00.001-07:00

I don't have much today because frankly it's time for me to STFU about my stupid sciatica and just suck it up. However, I do have one piece of good news. If you live in the Bay Area, The Knitting Room is having a 25% off everything in the store sale all weekend. EVERYTHING. Yarn, books, etc.. This makes me extremely happy because that means I can buy more Encore Worsted for scarves. They have lots of other nice yarn there, including a fantastic selection of sock yarn, but their Encore selection is AMAZING. And there's lots of chairs for when your forkin' sciatica kicks in.

This Needs To Stop Now

2010-09-08T20:43:00.001-07:00

I am an old person.

I thought I was fine. Granted my commute was an hour and 15 minutes going home tonight. And yes, I sat on a hard chair for two hours at knitting. But cripes on a cracker, is it too much to ask that I be able to walk around Bed Bath & Beyond for 10 minutes so I can buy a Contour Memory Foam Leg Pillow? Must I lurch around the store like Quasimodo?

Thank you to everyone in the store who pretended not to notice as I did something that probably looked like the "I gotta pee" dance while waiting for those two eejits to FINISH THEIR RETURNS so I could check out. And to the nice cashier who hardly batted an eye when I literally fell across her counter because I couldn't stand up anymore - thank you for pretending not to notice and instead simply asking, "Just a purchase this evening?" And then whispering hopefully, "Gosh, I hope this pillow helps."

You know you're an old person when you start to blog about your medical ailments. *Sigh* And with that I'm gonna go ice my ass.

Consider Me Stretched

2010-09-07T19:06:00.001-07:00

So I went to physical therapy today. And I guess the biggest question I have about the entire event is - "When did physical therapy involve having an "emergency button?" Also, I'd like to know why someone would think that breathing deeply would negate the absolute searing pain racing up the back of my thigh when accupressure is performed on my ankle? And of course it would be interesting to know what "the most irritated sciatic nerve I've seen in a long time" actually looked like.

Maybe something like this?

Did you know that they're resurrected The Rack in P.T.? Of course they don't call it The Rack. No, it's called being in traction. I got to lay on my back for 20 minutes while they streeeeeetched me. The whole time I laid there I was thinking, "I wonder if I could knit in this position?" Then I got to lay on an ice pack for another 20 minutes. When the therapist came in at the 10 minute mark to see how I was doing I told him, "I'm bored out of my mind. Next time I'm bringing a book." So he turned on the music for me. Peter Frampton. Baby I Love Your Way. The Rack was definitely less painful.

Lenço Número Sete

2010-09-06T17:25:00.001-07:00

Do you think they wear scarves in Portugal? Because that's what today's title says in Portugese - scarf number seven. I wonder if it ever gets cold enough in the winter to wear a scarf there? I suppose I could look it up on the Interwebs if I was so inclined.

So, as the title says, here's number seven. This is "Wavy" from an old issue of Knitty. I think I started this at the beginning of the year, got bored with it, and stuffed it in the WIP basket. Or perhaps I was tired of being blinded by the color. Rather pink, isn't it? Knit from that ol' workhorse, Cascade 220, which I originally bought to make a kitty bed from.

Now I only have 18 more scarves to make to reach my goal.

We are still very sad about the not unexpected passing of Phil yesterday. To inject a little levity into the day Minerva decided to take the plate I'd given her some baby food on, drag it over to the top ramp of her cage and ride the plate all the way to the next level. I always wondered how the plates managed to make it from the top ramp to the bottom of the cage. Little did I know the ratties were using them as sleds.

Farewell Phil

2010-09-05T15:31:00.000-07:00

Rest in peace, old man. You were loved from the first day I met you.

Delusional

2010-09-03T08:54:00.001-07:00

I'm still trying to convince myself that I can easily crochet a baby blanket AND still have time to make 25 scarves by December. It doesn't help that there is now a box of 43 skeins of yarn sitting on my dining room table. They are calling to me. "Make me into a baby blanket" they whisper. Also, at Knit Night on Wednesday, Emily was making a baby blanket. Do you think that's a sign? You know how big I am on signs when it comes to knitting and crochet.

Then when I was in Barnes and Noble last night to pick up the latest copy of "US" magazine (10 pages of Emmy Award dresses!) I came across this magazine. I think that may be another sign. I'm pretty sure it's a sign. There are a lot of REALLY nice afghans in here. As well as a lot of "What the hell were they thinking?" patterns. It was a pretty good deal though, $9.99 for 44 patterns. I liked at least half the patterns and loved 5 or 6. Including a beautiful circular afghan for a baby girl. And you see, the Lakota people are very fond of circular items. Another sign? I think so. Don't you? Well DON'T YOU?

Forty-Three

2010-09-01T21:51:00.000-07:00

Today I will be discussing the number forty-three and the relevance it has in my life. When I was 43, my husband and I decided to go our separate ways. For $43.00 I could take myself and three friends to Five Guys for some awesome food. If I have 43 cans of Fancy Feast I can feed Andy and DeeDee for three weeks (supplemented by crunchies of course).

Forty-three dollars will buy enough bedding to clean about eight rat cages. Forty-three pennies won't buy much of anything. If I ever end up with 43 rats, I hope someone has me committed. Forty-three stitches in worsted weight wool will give you about a 6" scarf. And today, my friends, 43 is a very magical number. Because today I received 43 balls of FREE yarn from Brown Sheep Yarn. Behold.

Two weeks ago, I posted that an American yarn maker would send you yarn if it was to be used for charity projects. I declined to give out the name of that particular yarn maker for fear of them being bombarded with requests for free yarn. However, this gift that I received today is so far and away from anything that I was expecting that I had to say something. This is, in a word, amazing.

I received 8 skeins of Handpainted Originals, 9 balls of Cotton Fleece, 12 balls of Superwash Worsted and 14 balls of Superwash Sport. If you were to estimate an average price of $8.00 per ball (and that's on the low side) we're talking $350 worth of yarn. Are you as stunned as I am? Where else in the world would you find generosity such as this? We're looking at a lot of scarves, hats and baby sweaters for the Pine Ridge Reservation here. It's stuff like this that restores my faith in humanity. And on that note, I need to get knittin'.

The Rat Marriott

2010-08-30T21:58:00.001-07:00

We have guests at Chez Insanity! Paying guests even! I am rat sitting three girls for a week while their owner goes to Burning Man. They arrived today and dang are they cute. Below is a picture of Bibi (left) and Nakkie (right). Nakkie is so named because she's a hairless rattum. The third guest is Mousekins and she's very scared right now and hiding in her igloo. She is HUGE. Not that Bibi couldn't stand to lose a few ounces herself. These girls make mine look like babies.

They seem to be settling in alright even though I've rearranged their cage. I don't understand rat owners who stuff their cages so full that their poor ratties have no room to move around. It's no wonder these girls need the rodent version of Jenny Craig. And there are NO food bowls. Don't get me started on people who just toss food into the cage. No toys either. It's all very sad and I may have to tell their owner that all three ratties died while she was on vacation and oh I'm terribly sorry. Then I'll keep 'em. In a bigger cage too. This cage isn't nearly big enough.

There are now 19 rats in this apartment and Andy is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. He hasn't left my side all evening. He keeps trying to climb into my lap if I'm at the computer or on the couch. He's also tried a number of times to climb into the cage with the new girls. Maybe he thinks that if he pretends to be a rat I'll pay more attention to him. Poor little monkey, I think I'll go give him some treats.

Schal Nr. sechs

2010-08-29T17:37:00.000-07:00

That means Scarf Number Six for those who don't speak German. I don't but Babelfish does. Schal Nr. sechs is not quite done yet. Two skeins of Encore Worsted does not a five foot scarf make. I am short seven inches. Which I knew was going to happen because this is the second time I've crocheted this pattern with Encore. Perhaps I thought that a different colorway would have more yardage. Anyway, it's a nice sunny day so I thought "photo opportunity." It's not like another seven inches is going to make a whole lot of difference to the way this scarf looks.

This is the Men's Double Ribbed Scarf which is the pattern I had so much trouble with the first time I tried to make it. And I was going to post my version of it but then I got all caught up in rat adventures and I still haven't done it.

In other exciting news, I rented a storage locker yesterday. My storage locker is number 3066, just in case you wanted to write that down. It's gray with an orange door and I'm ever so thrilled. Well not really but I'm awfully glad to have some place to put all the damn rat cages. My 400 square foot apartment was getting rather claustrophobic. Of course I mean the empty rat cages, not the ones with occupants. That would be cruel. Does $64.00 a month seem like a lot for a 5' X 5' locker though? Of course it would be more than worth it if I could store Andy in there.

Saturday Stash Show

2010-08-28T22:42:00.000-07:00

There have been some additions to the stash over the last few days. I'm stockpiling scarf yarn in case there's a worldwide yarn shortage between now and December. Though I seem to have lost my scarf focus lately; today I cast on for a Baby Surprise Jacket. Maybe the new yarn additions will inspire me to go back to scarfing ...

As we can clearly see on the label, this is Wisdom Yarn's "Poems" yarn. It's 100% wool and reminds me of Noro without the thick and thin thing going on. Thank goodness, because varying thicknesses of yarn drives me insane. As well, this yarn is a lot less expensive than Noro. I'm not sure if the yardage is better, each ball of Poems yarn is 109 yards. I can't wait to see what this looks like knit up. I'm thinking the Yarn Harlot's One Row Scarf might be a good choice for a pattern.

This is one of the world's best buys in yarn and the only place I've ever seen it is at my local LYS, Green Planet Yarn. It's Shepherd's Wool and for $10.00 (maybe $10.50, I can't remember), you get 250 yards of the softest, loveliest yarn. And it's a worsted weight. 250 yards of a worsted weight for less than $20.00, how awesome is that? Not to mention it comes in about a bazillion colors. The coral looking yarn is actually bubble gum pink, thank you artificial lighting. I think combined with the purple, it'll make a cute little girl's scarf. I think Green Planet does mail order if you just had to have some of this. It's REALLY nice stuff.

And what makes it even better is that I had earned my $20.00 in store rewards when I purchased this yesterday so the two skeins cost me $0.99. Muhahahaha ...

Yo Adrian

2010-08-26T13:36:00.001-07:00

Believe it or not, I have no scarf pictures today. So instead I'll tell you about Adrian. Rats and yarn, that's all this blog seems to be about these days. Maybe tomorrow we'll have a book or movie review but I'm not really good at writing those kinds of things so rats it is.

Adrian came to me at the end of March this year as a foster rattie. With his two brothers Richard and Murray. In the picture above, we have Richard in front, Adrian in the middle, and Murray bringing up the rear. Which was a pretty accurate representation of their socialization levels at the time. They were only two months at the time and had barely been handled. They were SCARED. Trying to socialize babies SUCKS. Why? Because rattie baby fur is slick which makes them very hard to hold. I imagine that comes in handy when you're trying to escape a predator but I am not a predator. Plus, when rats are frightened they have a tendency to poop. And pee. I guess that's why they're so dang cute.

Richard and Murray were adopted by a wonderful family at their very first adoption fair despite still being a little under socialized. I didn't want Adrian to be alone but I had no one he could live with at the time. So I gave him to my boyfriend because he had space in one of his cages. Adrian looks very much like a wild rat and the b/f thought that was "cool." I told him quite sternly that he needed to keep up with Adrian's socialization or eventually we'd reach the point of no return with that.

Apparently I was not stern enough. Adrian is now back with me. Rats enjoy the company of humans but not when they're terrified of them. The argument, "But he should be able to just be himself" does not apply to rats in my world. Case in point: Adrian flies down the ramp in his cage when I get to within two feet of him. How is that a happy life for a rat? So I'm back to square one with my pal, Adrian. At least his fur isn't slick any more.

Number Five

2010-08-25T09:37:00.000-07:00

My apologies for this craptastic picture. This is what happens when you take scarf pictures at 10:30 at night. Not to mention that the batteries were dying in my camera. Where the heck have all my batteries gone? I know I had a jar full of AA batteries and now the jar is empty. This is rather perplexing. Of course, the likely culprit is Andy.

Anyway, details about the scarf. Once again we're looking at another Sweet Guy Scarf which is my current pattern obsession. This is scarf number five of a planned 25. Can I really make 25 scarves by December 15th? Well, let's do the math, said the accountant. There are a measly 113 days between today and the 15th. Divided by 20 (the number left to make), this means I need to complete a scarf every five days. I think that's doable, don't you? A Sweet Guy Scarf takes at the most three days, especially since I now know how to weave in my ends while I'm crocheting. Which delights me to no end. So yeah, I think I can do this.

In other news it was flippin' HOT here yesterday. 102 degrees. I refused to go to bed until it was 70 degrees but I crashed at 78. I know I shouldn't complain because it's been a fantastic summer so far and back East I understand it's been miserable. But I do hate to sweat. Especially since it slows down scarf production.