NotScarlett

You wish you were this lucky

Guess what I got???

A nasty cold type thing. Oh, guess what else?? The stomach bug everyone at work has. WHEEEEEEEEE! At this point, all I can do is laugh.

You know what though? It's Friday. Let's be happy. I shall bring you joy through knitting.

LOOK!  A SOCK!

It's not finished in the pic, but I did graft the toe last night. YAY! SOCK! This weekend will be sock-a-riffic as I finish the second Monkey, and the second of this latest pair. Then I think I'll cast on, oh, maybe a SOCK. I'm sock raving mad, y'all.

This weekend I'll be packing, and sleeping, and drinking lots of fluids. I'm wondering if I can take Emergen-C without my stomach hating me.

I'll also be playing with my Flickr account. I am in love with Flickr. How did I not jump on this bandwagon way sooner?  Between Flickr and blogs and my favorite crack, erm, I mean, messageboard, and new obsessions, and yarn shopping and and and.....I may need a 12 step. Is there rehab for internet addiction? Can I go check in to some spa somewhere and do yoga and lay by the pool all day in order to be cured? Do I even want to be cured?

Oh...and I am dreaming about this. Dreaming of sitting on a blanket in the late afternoon out on my new lawn, sipping iced mint tea and looking out at the lake, shaded by my awesome umbrella. The more I think about it, the better it sounds. A knitted umbrella. Who'd a thunk it?

This is not happening

I woke up this morning with an earache, sore throat, and am running a low grade fever.

Dude. This is NOT happening right now.

Haven't packed the yarn yet

I kinda missed the boat on Monday Loves this week. Sorry about that. The packing and general disarray at Casa de NotScarlett have me a wee discombobulated. We aren't OFFICIALLY moving until the weekend of the 5th, but you know me, I'm all about the lists and the prep work, so I'm systematically packing things up. I'm trying to do a bit every night after work, which is really helping me stay focused on getting this whole ordeal over with. Breaking the packing into small chunks is making this moving thing much more palatable.

My current landlady is showing the townhouse at 530 tonight, and I'm a bit panicky because the place is a disaster. Part of me thinks, WHO CARES, but the rest of me? The rest of me, the part obsessed with going home for lunch a few times a week just because I want to vacuum, the part who dusts the ceiling fans and the blinds three times a week, the part who has been known to get up at 330 in the morning to wash the floor because I can't stop thinking about it, that part is having a FREAK OUT over the dust I know is on top of the TV and the fact I haven't vacuumed since Monday. Do they have shock therapy for compulsive cleaning? Am I really this crazy? Am I really this crazy and admitting to it on the effing internet? Oh well.

Me being discombobulated and crazy=random knitting. B has been asking for months for me to make him this wrist thing for his bass/guitar/drumming activities, and I finally got around to it Monday night. Damn, this was a fast knit. No pattern obviously, I just kinda invented as I went. He likes it, I like it, we are both happy. What more can you ask for from a random knit?

It looks way wonky in the second pic because I'm modeling it and it does not fit my puny forearm the way it fits B's.

Over the weekend, I finished the first sock of the latest pair of Monkeys I'm working on. Wow, that sentence is awful. Anyway, here's a little look-see.

Have I mentioned twenty million times that I want to marry this yarn? I'm in love. It is swoon-worthy.

Another reason for my current insanity is the fact that my massive database at Ye Olde Workeplace crashed on Monday. The good news is...oh, wait, there is NO GOOD NEWS. Corrupted files caused me to lose several YEARS worth of information. I'm filing this under 'Things that are bad." Can I go home and hide in the yarn closet now?

None of these things involve packing

I'm going to hate myself in two weeks when moving time comes.

I've been packing. A little. Isn't amazing all the other things you can find to do when it is time to pack?

Making dark chocolate dipped fruit

Taking the dog for a 2 mile walk

Washing cars

Fun with roving

Knitting

Re-watching favorite movies, and watching ones I've never seen

At home pedicure

Working from home on stuff at the office that in no way needs to be done today

I DO have a plan though. Really. The packing will get done in a nice, neat, organized timely fashion.

Just not today.

Happy Saturday?

I hate packing.

/whine.

Oh Baby

Another co-worker is due to give birth any day now, so of course, I knit something for her little one.

You'll NEVER GUESS what I made for the baby.

No brainer, right?

The gift was very well received, which gave me warm fuzzies. I love it when the giftee truly appreciates the gift, it makes it all the more special.

I've got something else on the needles right now that I cannot put down. I don't want to stop knitting to eat, sleep, go to work, etc. I'm in love with this yarn.

I can't wait to show you the finished product.

I just paid for my Loopy Ewe sock club package. WHEEEEEE! So excited.

This weekend will be filled with more culling, a trip to the dump, and some preliminary packing.

What are your plans for the weekend?

Monday Loves

Thank y'all so much for the birthday wishes! I had a great birthday, made even better by the unexpected arrival of my sister and a birthday cake that featured chocolate covered strawberries. My weekend was absolutely wonderful...all that joy and serenity has carried over into my Monday, which is making for a lovely morning. My boss, not a touchy-feely type, and not one to make a big hoopla about birthdays, brought in bagels in honor of my 27th, which was very sweet. She made sure to get me my favorite asiago cheese bagel with lite veggie cream cheese...so thoughtful!

This birthday found me quite introspective. It helped remind me of the things that are truly important to me, and I feel as though the fog I've been in for the past few months has lifted. I've been reminded to focus on those things in life that I am thankful for, to count my blessings, to take time every day to be in the moment and take pleasure in simple things. I needed a bit of a mental direction change, and I feel more awake and alive today than I have in a while.

Today's edition of Monday Loves is going to be a bit different. I'll get back to the link fest next week. For today, I'll post a random list of some of my favorite things...I like to stop and think about what I really, truly love from time to time, it helps me kind of re-focus and center myself.

I love.....

The way my sister laughs when she REALLY finds something funny...not her fake laugh, but her real, honest, genuine laugh, which is rarely heard.

When B comes up with some random hilarious B.S. and gullible me falls for whatever he says...prime example-"Did you know that when George Washington Carver died, he was working on making phonograph needles out of compressed peanut shells?"...I DIDN'T fall for that one, but man, B is QUICK when it comes to making up crap like that and has a poker face like no other.

My grandfather's yearly rendition of the birthday song.

The people over at the L&V messageboard.

Sampson's rarely heard "excited bark."

A long walk in the woods on a crisp morning.

Cricket's "stabby paws."

Taking a nap with the window open on a cool, windy day.

Fresh salsa.

The sound of my mom's voice, and conversations about conspiracies with my dad.

The way B signs all letters and cards to me...not just from him, but from Sampson (and Cricket, if we have her at the time) too.

Clean air after a good rain.

Fleece Artist Merino Sock.

French pressed espresso.

Turning the heel of a sock.

Spinach.

A kitchen cleaned by B.

Canopy roads.

Nectarines.

Cuddly dogs first thing in the morning...sometimes I get up 10 minutes early just to enjoy a very sleepy Sampson wanting a snuggle.

Cinnamon.

The entire online/blogger knitting community.

Dental floss.

Hand-dyed self-striping yarn.

Shades of blue, no matter where they are found.

Torch songs.

Cricket's "eye liner" and "cow spots."

Live music.

Southern California...I do, I love it. I never thought I did until I left. Some people don't understand this, and that's ok. I miss the marine layer, the coastal eddy, the Santa Ana winds, the 91, the smog...dude. I miss it so much...call me crazy, but I'll never stop being homesick.

Thunderstorms.

Sci-fi.

Strawberry pie.

Knitpicks Classic Circs, size 0-3.

Holding babies.

Oranges, all varities....I love the shape, the scent, the taste, the color.

Tattoos....from the process of getting them to the final product.

The original Super Mario Bros.

Blankets.

What do YOU love? I'd enjoy reading your post if you decide to make a list of your own...comment or trackback if you do, and I'll be sure to check it out!

27

B has managed to spoil me rotten in very subtle ways, like new knitting books, eggplant parmigiana from my favorite Italian place, and sending me for a pedicure. He's given me the mellow birthday weekend I asked for, and I am loving every minute.

Today is the actual day, and I'm looking forward to some birthday brunch, that pedicure, and lots of quiet knitting time. This morning I slept in until about 20 minutes ago. I came downstairs to find  a dozen roses and a card signed by B, and, of course, the dogs. We're having what most people consider inclement weather, but I am enjoying the wind, rain and cooler temperatures. It's looking like a lovely birthday.

27. Where does the time go? Happy Birthday to me!

I'm saving money on packing peanuts!

I can stop anytime I want to.

I think.

Birthdays are wonderful excuses for buying more yarn, right?

Um, I guess I've just been "celebrating" mine early. For like, a month. Uh...and the day still isn't here, but I'm continuing to "celebrate". I keep nestling the new boxes of yarn in with the packed up boxes of yarn and hoping B doesn't notice.

Anyway.

Thanks for all the input on the warshrag blankie. I'm goin' for it just as soon as I clear a few other knits off my plate. Once we are settled in at the new house, I'll work on it in earnest. Here are the three that started it all.

I'm a huge fan of that teal/lime/brown combo which would be quite evident if y'all walked in my front door. I think I'm going to focus on those colors for the blankie...I may add in a few little surprises though, I'm not quite sure yet.

I'm knitting lots of other stuff, I am...I just can't show y'all yet. Things are busybusybusy here.

Oh! I'm finally playing around with my Flickr account. So fun.

How are YOU???

Monday Loves

Last night, the unthinkable happened.

I was knitting away on a ballband dishcloth from Mason Dixon Knitting. This brought the ballband dishcloth tally to four for the weekend. I felt so clever, knitting my cotton yarn scraps into these colorful and useful little items, cleaning up my stash and being oh-so-thrifty.

B looks over at me and says, "What are those?"

I reply, "Dishcloths, you know, like the ones I made for us a few months ago?"

He gets this rather pained look on his face, and kinda squirms a little.

"What?" I say.

"Ermm...well..nothing. It's nothing." he replies.

"No, tell me, what were you going to say?" I demand.

He says, "It's just...you know, you could..."

"What," I interrupt "I could go BUY some instead of knitting my own?"

"Well, yeah." he says, looking relieved that I finally "get" it.

"OH MY GOD. You just broke one of the sacred commandments of the Knitter's Companion Code. Never, evereverevereverever tell a knitter they could just go BUY something instead of make it!!!" I shout, looking at him in horror.

"Um, sorry. I didn't mean anything by it, I mean, make whatever you want honey. Hey, I bet if you took all of those and sewed them together, it would make a cool blanket." The NON-KNITTER says, clearly backpedalling.

I glance over at the dishcloths stacked next to me, a jumble of lime green, chocolate brown, sunny yellow and bright teal yarn.  They look really, really wonderful together. I look down at the hot pink, dark brown and yellow cloth I am knitting, and hold it up next to the stack of finished dishcloths. "You think? Like a little throw?" I say, looking at B.

He nods emphatically. "Yes! That would look awesome!"

"Hmmmm....maybe. I'll think about it." I say. (Actually meaning that I really WILL think about it instead of what I really mean when I usually say that which is "YOU ARE INSANE! ABSOLUTELY NOT.")

So I'm thinking about it. I mean, really, really thinking about it. I WOULD like to knit a blanket at some point...I keep putting it off because I really do not enjoy knitting blankets of any kind, I get very bored. I tried my hand at log cabining awhile back, thinking that a different way of looking at constructing a blanket would motivate me. No dice.

I think the warshcloth idea sounds so appealing because I can whip these babies out super fast. It would be great to knit up a small colony of ballband dishcloths and make them into a funky little throw, perfect for taking the chill off my feet when it's 98 degrees/95% humidity and the AC is cranked this summer. Has anyone done this or seen it done? I'm curious to see how it turned out. Am I insane for wanting to make a blanket out of warshrags? (Wait...maybe I don't want the answer to that question.)  I'm still on the fence and I'd love to hear your thoughts.

I had a blissful weekend. Truly. It was so good I am not sure I have words to describe it. The weather (that everyone else in town bitched about) was crisp and cool and utterly perfect. There was good food, good friends, and lots of laughter. I actually got to relax and enjoy myself. Thank you, weekend. You were incredible.

I've got a few Monday Loves for y'all this week. I hope they make your Monday a little bit brighter and easier to bear.

One Planet Yarn and Fiber has lightning quick shipping, great customer service and a really wonderful selection. They just started carrying Fleece Artist and Handmaiden and I may have slipped, fallen and landed in a big ol' pile of it last Friday. Come to Mama, Sea Wool Bordello.

Love this shirt, and love the whole site.

I cannot wait to move and get my garden all situated. I'm thinking about toads.

Y'all know how much I absolutely adore Sheri and her shop, The Loopy Ewe. Check out her Q2 Quarterly Loopy Challenge.

Hello! Lucky

My sister made Strawberry Pie using our grandmother's recipe this weekend. She made one to take to Easter dinner at her boyfriends parents house, and one for me as part of my early birthday celebration. This pie is my favorite dessert EVER. I Googled and Googled to find a recipe to link to for y'all, but could not find anything that was the same as the way we make it. This one comes close...we don't use the food coloring or corn syrup though, and there is at least on ingredient missing. We also tend to use the low sugar/sugar free stuff when we can. Oh, and Nina made mine with a shortbread crust. MMMMMM shortbread.

That's all I got for y'all today. Have a good week, your Monday is almost over!