Monday, February 23, 2009

Coffee of Doom

coffee of doom
Coffee.  Sweet, life-giving coffee.  I needed it nownownownow, so I put ice in it.  Naturally, since we are those kind of people, it's a skull ice cube.  Fitting, I think.

I have several projects on the needles, and I'm feeling fairly meh about at least half of them.  I can't help but wonder about my lack of commitment to the yarny goodness.  Is it because I'm a weener or is it because I have trouble committing to anything?  Possibly both.  Anyway, I might feel better if I rip out the Noro scarf I have going.  I'm even contemplating ripping out a sock (!!!) because the yarn is so, so cute and it's some I dyed myself, and it looks like it should be made into something adorable for a baby.  

I have a huge lace scarf going, and at this point it has become a matter of endurance to knit it.  I think I'm going to have to commit myself to completing one pattern repeat a day, every day, in order to finish it.  It will be beautiful, but I'm over it.  

So, here's the game plan for today:  rip out Noro scarf, rip out sock, rewind yarn, do one repeat of endless *&%$@ lace pattern, make dinner, do essential tasks,  take Nyquil*, go back to bed.

*I'm getting sick.  Glands are swolen, throat is icky.  My answer to getting sick is taking vitamin C and going back to bed for 12 hours or so.  (Hello, Nyquil!)  You would not believe how well this works.  I seldomly get past the oh, I'm starting to feel ooky stage.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

The Winter of Our Discontent

Alternate title:  Two Weeks Until Vacation!  WOOT!

My fellow Arctic Dwellers and I decided waaaaay back in December that we were already disgusted with winter.  Why, hello -18 degrees, kiss my butt!.  Frozen water bottle on the floor of my bedroom?  I smite thee with my burning burning hate! 

Anyway.  It was agreed upon by all (all three of us) that we need to plan a vacation to somewhere warm sometime in the late winter.  We had three main objectives in mind in our planning:

1.  We need to go somewhere we've never been.

2.  We need to beat the Spring Break craziness.  

3.  Whatever we do, we'll miss two fricken' weeks of Winter here, thereby putting us that much closer to lovely, lovely Springtime.  Oh, happy days!

The general plan is to head south through New Mexico to Santa Fe, continuing down to Roswell and eventually Carlsbad.  My husband says that the Carlsbad Caverns are kinda nifty, so we'll stop and tour them and then turn east towards Texas.  I think we're going to spend some time in San Antonio, because there's lots to see and do there, and then that's it for our concrete plans.  In general, we prefer to play things by ear.  I think we're going to stay gone as long as time and money hold out.  

I can hardly wait!


Wednesday, February 18, 2009

No Fingers For You!

Noro Mitts
Fingerless gloves in Noro Big Kureyon.  So much fun to knit, and so easy, too.  I modified a pattern for mittens that I had used before, (see a couple of posts down) and that was that. Simple.  I had so much fun making these, that I made another pair yesterday.  Behold:


More mitts
More mitts!  These babies are thick and comfy and perfect for bedtime reading in my arctic bedroom.  (No joke, I can see my breath in there at night.)  These are made from Lion Brand Landscapes Yarn, #273 Spring Desert.  I think my sister bought me this yarn, so that makes it some of the first yarn ever in my stash.  I just needed to wait for the right project to come along.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Coraline

Go here:  view the trailer via youtube.

Seriously, ya'll.  If you're a fan of Neil Gaiman or Tim Burton, or anything resembling a dark fairy tale, watch the movie.  Don't walk. RUN.  Run to the theater and ignore your piss-poor 401K, and indulge in the nonsensical.  Is that a word?  I dunno.  If you need a break from reality, go to the movies.  That's what I do.

Also, if you're a knitter, knit some Coraline gloves.  Pattern here.

C'est les shit.   Or, in other words, VERY COOL.  

Saturday, February 14, 2009

So, it's Valentine's Day...again.

And we're ignoring it.  Again.  

My husband and I loathe this particular holiday.  The only good thing about V.D. (heh)  is that tomorrow, if we were so inclined, we could run to the Big Box Store and purchase flowers and candy for half price.  No guilt, no foul.

Caveat:  For the non-sentimental Deadwood fans:  Deadwood Valentines, NSFW


We did pass a lovely afternoon hanging out in our favorite coffee shop, Durango Joe's.  I started a fingerless mitt in Big Noro Kureyon there.  I'm adapting it from the mitten pattern in Teach Yourself Visually Knitting.  


Valentines Knitting

Love those Noro colorways.  

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Five things for today.

1.  Happy Darwin Day!

2.  I dropped a bottle of hot sauce on my toe.  It still hurts.

3.  I am soothing the hurt with beer and by downloading the latest episode of Lost.

4.  Today is Friday for our family.  My husband is off for the next four days.  Our plans include going to see Coraline!  Woot!  You seriously cannot go wrong with Neil Gaiman.

5.  In three weeks, we are leaving town and heading South and East for a vacation.  There will be aliens, caverns and rollercoasters.  

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Sheep chair, all eyes are on ewe...


Sheep are great, wool is fantastic, knitting rocks.  This chair?  I dunno, man.  I can't decide if I love it or hate it.  
The eyes, they're watching you.
Notice the one visible leg...holy caca.

Actually, if someone gave it to me, I totally wouldn't refuse it.  What an awesome Halloween prop.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

What I did last week

Drop Spindle Yarn
I managed to get 415 yards on approx. 4 oz of handpainted roving from here.


Mittens, extra warm
Mittens from my own thick/thin handspun.  Extremely warm and lots of fun to knit.


Noro hat
Earflap hat, made from Noro Yoroi.  I don't know the colorway, because I lost the label.  It doesn't matter anyway, because they don' t make Yoroi anymore.  I love this hat!  Super warm and the ear flaps are different colors, which I totally dig.  I modified the pattern from the Kitty Hat in Stitch N Bitch.  Easy peasy and a very quick knit.

Doods...I need a camera that isn't 5 years old.  I dream of digital SLRs.

Winter can kiss me right on the pooper.

Winter wonderland
The back yard.


Snow
Out the back door.  There was no snow there two days ago.

Spring cannot come soon enough for me.

Monday, February 9, 2009

Ten Things

About me:

1. I thought I was going to die when I turned 10. I wrote out a will and everything.

2. I think ketchup is nasty. I'd rather use hot sauce or mayo on my fries. Or malt vinegar. Yum.

3. When I was around 4-ish, I thought the letter S lived at the end of my grandparent's sidewalk and was lying in wait to attack me. I blame it on Sesame Street.

4. My dream is to get completely out of debt and live all over the country, vagabond-style, out of a 5th wheel. Or maybe a converted bus. Something like that.

5. I hate shopping for clothes. I would rather spend the money on books or wool or anything else. This is why I consider jeans and a hoodie "dressed up".

6. Reality television is my secret guilty pleasure. Not so secret anymore, I guess.

7. Whenever I can, I make my husband pump the gas. Partially because I'm lazy, and partially because petroleum products give me hives. Mostly because I'm lazy-- I have disposable gloves in the car.

8. I have known my husband since I was 12.

9. I have to count 4 tiles on the bathroom floor before I can go to the bathroom. I think this is commonly referred to as "OCD". It's also referred to as "TMI".

10. It took me 56 hours to have my daughter. I've always been a procrastinator.