I think fearlessness and stupidity go together. (Willie Nelson)

This is a really bad photo. It was taken in my car, late at night in the dark, with my cell phone. But I took it as proof that I am a Fearless Knitter.

I was sitting the parking lot last night, waiting for my daughter to get off work. (She's a hostess at a beachside restaurant, and when she works "closing" it means that she gets off sometime between 9 pm and 10:30ish. Since I don't want her waiting for me to pick her up after work in a dark parking lot of a strip mall with various tourist bars and restaurants, I get there early and knit while I wait for her. And for the record, I know could go inside and wait for her like a normal person. But they make a really irresistible killer chocolate cake, so I try to avoid temptation by knitting outside.)

Anyway, my project while I was sitting in my car in the dark, rainy parking lot was the Renita shawlette I started at Fiber-In. It's a simple lace pattern, so I can do it with only a minimum of concentration. Or so I thought. When I stopped to admire my work, I noticed that I probably should have paid a little more attention to it. There was a mistake sixteen rows back. (It was in the simple stockinette portion of the shawl, if you can believe that, and not in the actual lace. Go figure.) Without thinking, I went ahead and frogged back the sixteen rows. And then I had to put it back on my needles, still in the dark, tiny car.

That, my friends, is fearless knitting.

Of course, 'fearless' is a synonym for 'foolish.'

Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self. (Cyrilla Connelly)

Pattern: Crusoe Socks
Yarn: Koigu KPPM
Made for Cari

I've been avoiding this blog because I haven't decided what direction I want to go with it. Originally my intention was to produce a photo blog, in an effort to improve (or even just develop) my artistic eye. Then I started to write along with the pictures, with the grand idea that I would stay focused on the positive things in my life.

That was five years ago. Since then, my writing has gone in every direction with no real purpose other than to follow my mind's current whims. Looking at the labels, it seems that most of my posts in the past year or so has been about knitting. And what wasn't knitting, was mostly "Dear Diary" entries. Which probably explains why I don't have a very large readership.

There are lots of things this blog could become. I could make it official, and stick with the fiber topics. (After all, knitting and spinning seem to be a predominate part of my life anyway.) I could buckle down and assess my life, then record any progress I make toward achieving my life goals (to be a thin, organized, rich, and happy gypsy). Even just one of those life goals would be worth documenting the journey. I could go back to the original artistic premise, and post pictures accompanied by creative and amusing stories. I could even take up a new hobby (like mixology -- my daughter's suggestion) and obsessively write about that.

Or I could just continue to write whatever pops into my mind each day, with no effort to amuse anyone other than myself.

Reality continues to ruin my life. (Bill Watterson)

Just in case you haven't seen it yet... here's my tattoo.

Isn't it pretty? It's caused quite a bit of a stir, by the way. I had mentioned it on Facebook (okay, I was bragging), and my sister brought up our long-running joke that whenever I do something she gets blamed for it. (It's just a joke, since everyone knows that the truth is that my mom blames me for everything because I'm the oldest!) Well, one of my aunts up north read our comments back on forth, and took them seriously. Mom gets a call from another of her sisters, urging her to forgive and forget. Poor mom, who had already seen the tattoo, didn't know what her sister was talking about. End result, my sister and I BOTH got blamed!

On the fiber side of life, I've finally got some finished objects to show off. Lately I've been binding off a project and just setting it aside so that I could immediately cast on the next project. I've ignored buttons, seams; I haven't even taken the time to weave in the ends of the yarn. I still have quite a pile to finish, but I did manage to accomplish a few things.

The baby gift for my computer tech is finished, and ready whenever the baby is. He was supposed to be by Monday and never showed up, so I'm wondering if his wife went into labor this past weekend.

I did a couple more bibs, in blues. These were intended as grandmother gifts but since the grandmothers in question are, um, less than enthused with the situation I may wait for a bit before sending them my gifts.




After knitting the bibs, I had quite a bit of Lily Sugar'n Cream left over. So naturally I went on a dishcloth binge. I swear I can knit these in my sleep!

Becka's socks were finished a while ago, but I never bothered to weave in the ends. They are now ready to wear, just in time for the new school year. (Too bad they are not in dress code.)

My just needs finishing pile is down to just the Riva sweater and the slippers. But I'm ignoring them in favor of my new projects: a pair of socks for me, a baby sweater for Becka's friend, and the shawl for the mother-daughter knit-along. (Is it really a knit along if only one person is actually knitting the project?)

'Why not' is an slogan for an interesting life. (Mason Cooley)

I've been in a horrible funk lately, but I think I've finally come out of the worst of it. Actually, I'm trying my best to fly up over it all, with my arms flapping madly as I desperately try forget to fall when I trip.*

Anyway, tonight I went all out on my recovery and I finally did something that I've been talking about for the last twelve years. Actually, I've wanted to do this since I was a teenager. But my husband thought it was dumb and I gave up the idea while I was married. But when we ended up in divorce court, I thought it would be a nice way to celebrate my new independence.

Unfortunately, I didn't have the money at the time. And I had a responsibility to my kids. (Single moms are under a lot of pressure to set a good example.) So I kept putting it off. And then I was too old. (And too fat, but I won't go down that road right now.)

Now my youngest is a teenager, and she has her own ideas of what would be really cool to do. Her ideas don't really line up with my ideas of what is cool to do. But while I don't totally approve, I also don't want her to be in her forties and talking about things that she wished she had done while she was young enough to do them. So we talked about it, and this evening I took her to Ink Link where she had her eyebrow and her ear cartilage pierced. She looks great!

While we were there, I casually asked how much a tattoo would cost. The answer was more than I probably should spend, but a whole heck of a lot less than what I had thought it would be. I thought about it, discussed it with my daughter (who was totally "go for it mom!"), and I left with a beautiful tattoo! After twelve years, I finally have my statement permanently etched across my shoulder bones.

There will be pictures. I didn't have a camera with me while Marc was needling me, and now it's covered with a bandage. But as soon as it's healed enough, I'll be proudly showing it off.





*Bonus points for everyone who knows the literary reference.

It's not that chocolates are a substitute for love. Love is a substitute for chocolate. Chocolate is, let's face it, far more reliable than a man.

(Miranda Ingram)

The Good:

1. Cello cherries are on sale at Walgreens, 2 for $3. I love cello cherries, and I'm really enjoying the box I bought. (Okay, the boxes I bought. They were on sale, so I had to buy 2.)
2. I've stuck with my goal of spinning everyday for the Tour de Fleece. It's day 9, and today I did 30 minutes with the drop spindle and 1 hour with the wheel.
3. Becka made a wonderful dinner. And cleaned up afterwards. I didn't even ask her to do it.

The Bad:

1. It's one week until payday, and one day until bills are due. Sigh. Why doesn't the money come out even? (And don't tell me it's because of the cello cherries -- they were on sale!)
2. I went in and worked all afternoon, even though I've promised myself that I was not going to work on the weekends anymore. I am so far behind on the reports, it's starting to really panic me. Especially since they're talking about bringing in more students.
   

The Ugly:

1. My son's dog got into my baskets of handspun yarn, and tore up three skeins. My son put the tangled, slimy skeins back into the basket on the bookcase, thinking that I wouldn't notice. ("What mom? There's nothing wrong with your yarn. It looks pretty.") It took me an hour to untangle the first skein, and I'm not looking forward to doing the others. My spinning wheel, rovings, and hand spun yarns have all been moved from the living room alcove into my bedroom. I'm not happy, since my bedroom is now very crowded and I really liked sitting in the alcove by windows to spin. But while both the dog and the boy survived (barely) this incident, I'm afraid that they wouldn't be so lucky if Rocky were to attack the yarn a second time.

The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time. (Bertrand Russell)

It is day 5 of the Tour de Fleece, and I am totally obsessed with spinning. I've managed to get in a little bit of knitting (mainly because it's easier to sneak knitting time in at work than it is to try to spin at work), but the biggest emphasis has been on spinning.

I think I mentioned that I started a drop spindle of BFL since all of my bobbins were full. I'm having a great time with it, but now I've added fancy drop spindles to my Wish List. I'm starting to wonder how I'm going to get 1 1/2 ounces onto the spindle, and then how I'm going to ply that much. I had a gift card to Barnes & Noble, so I treated myself to a copy of Respect the Spindle by Abby Franquemont. I'm hoping that the book will give me some answers.

My drive band came Tuesday, so I was able to ply a skein of the Auntie's Yarn. It came out so wonderfully soft and squishy, I hate to give it away. (But Auntie is going to love this yarn, so it's okay.) It ended up as a worsted weight (14 wpi) with 243 yards.


This evening I brought my wheel to knit night, and started spinning the Shetland Top from Crown Mountain. I didn't split the roving before I went, which was a mistake. A couple of the girls helped me split the 8 ounce rope of roving into thirds, which took several attempts. We had that roving stretched all the way across the coffee shop trying to figure out the math!

My goal is to spin this as thin as I can (which turned out to be 40 wpi), and then to three ply it. I would have liked to get the singles to match, but I quickly gave up on that idea. It's definitely going to be a wild barber pole plying. I think it will still look really nice. And with the singles at 40 wpi, the final yarn should be nice fingering weight. And with 8 ounces to spin, I should have enough yardage to knit a pretty shawl or maybe even a shrug.

Words, once they are printed, have a life of their own. (Carol Burnett)

At work I've been trying to get through the monthly and quarterly reports. It's slow going, especially since I am checking the monthly service logs in addition to writing my goal reports.

Most of the time, reading through the service logs drives me crazy. It's very irritating to read that our blind student "watched a movie" or our deaf student "listened to the radio." Sometimes instructors get rushed, and they write an entry automatically. But today, I came across several entries that made me laugh.

One student "was in a samba mood." I guess she wanted to dance.

Another student "was sober." This is a good thing, especially since it was our big beach party day. I wouldn't want to send anyone home drunk.

But the best one of all was "played with vibrator for stimulation." It was listed as a Leisure Activity, although I suppose it could have also been an ADL (activity of daily life). As long as it wasn't a Community Event! And the state can't complain, since it is age appropriate. (All of our students are adults.)

You do know I'm just joking around about that last one, right? It was a real entry in the service log, but the instructor was referring to an electronic ball that shakes when you move it. The wording just made me laugh.

One never notices what has been done; one can only see what remains to be done. (Marie Curie)

Day 1 of the Tour de Fleece

I managed to spin up the last two ounces of what will be Auntie's Yarn #4 once I get it plied. This was after having spent four hours at work (on a Saturday!), and hanging out at CityPlace with my sister and my niece.

Day 2 of the Tour de Fleece

I probably should have gone in to work again Sunday, but I didn't want to. So I didn't. Instead I went over and hung out at Barnes & Noble with my spinning wheel. I was there long enough to spin a full four ounces of the Auntie's wool. (I wish I could remember what breed it is so that I could tell you, because it's so soft and yummy and spins like a dream). Paula came by with her daughter (such a cute kid!), so it was a really nice afternoon.

The problem is that now all my bobbins are full, and I'm still waiting to get the drive band for my plying head that I ordered to replace the one that my son's dog chewed up. Instead of being all upset, though, I'm taking it as an opportunity to do some drop spindling during the Tour de Fleece. I practiced a bit using my CD spindle (which also came in handy for several quick mini-spinning lessons -- having a wheel in the bookstore tends to attract a lot of attention). I've borrowed a small wooden spindle from Paula, mainly because I like the size of it better. It'll be interesting to see if I can do the full 3.5 ounces of Wine BFL roving on the drop spindle.


With all the spinning that I did yesterday, my hands are really hurting today. I think it was the spinning, even though I would love to blame it on the rain. Not that it mattered, since I only managed to get in about 30 minutes of spinning today. It took me a little bit to get into the rhythm of the drop spindle, but I managed to get a really nice even single that's about 32 wpi. I was hoping to produce a fingering weight, but it's looking like it will be a sport weight once I ply it.

Desire is the most important factor in the success of any athlete. (Willie Shoemaker)

The Tour de Fleece starts tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to the excuse of having to sit and spin a little bit everyday. It would be really nice to catch up with my stash, but since I have over 4 lbs (really, that much?) I doubt it.

We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements in life, when all we need to make us really happy is

something to be enthusiastic about. (Charles Kingsley)


I got tired of chasing the little yarn balls around when working on my What-Was-I-Thinking-It's-Never-Gonna-End Blanket, so I put together a mini swift using tinker toys at work. I don't know how practical it is, but I had fun making it. And it really does work.

I've finished 178 blocks so far this year, which means that I'm keeping up with my goal of knitting one block a day. I won't mention how I'm doing with any of my other goals, and I would appreciate it if your eyes did not wander over to the lack-of-progress bars on the side of my blog.

One of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats. (Iris Murdoch)

I have decided that I have gone completely around the bend. The nice men in white might as well come along and fit me for one of those snazzy jackets with the arms wrapped around the back. It would go really well with the little treat bag I've suddenly started wearing on my belt loop.

By the way, if you have a bag of treats snapped on your waistband, it isn't a good idea to sit in the middle of a group of puppies with your knitting bag. I wanted a picture for the Great Gold Coast KIP Hunt. (Remember, I told you about it Saturday.) One of the locations on the hunt list is "school." Originally I had figured that I would just take a picture at work. But since tonight was Puppy School, I had the brilliant idea to knit there for the Hunt. Just in case anyone else thinks that this is a good idea, let me point out a couple of things:

• Puppies like bamboo dpns better than metal dpns. They like them enough to steal them out of your purse. Apparently bamboo dpns make really nice little chew toys.
• A ball of yarn is almost as much fun as a tennis ball.
• When playing keep-away with several puppies, a ball of yarn is not a good keep-away object. The yarn tangles everyone up, and it isn't a pretty sight.
  
• Owners of puppies tend to be very excitable. Especially when a game of yarn-ball-keep-away is initiated.
• A sock project bag is easily confused with a treat bag. And that confusion is lessened only after all of the puppies have had several chances to taste the sock to be sure it isn't hiding a treat.
• It helps to have a sense of humor when puppies are nibbling on your hand-knit colorwork socks.
  

It's not enough that we do our best; sometimes we have to do what's required. (Sir Winston Churchill)

Warning - this is a bit of a rant.


Sometimes people absolutely amaze me. The apartment complex where I live provides doggy stations. They're kept stocked with plastic bags, and there is a trash for the scooped-poop. I know at least eleven stations, and there may be more. It seems like every "open" grass area has a doggy station.

So how could I possibly have stepped in dog poop this morning? I was less than four steps to the doggy station. As I was cleaning off my shoe, I noticed four more unscooped-poops in that one area. How lazy and selfish do you have to be to leave poop on the ground within reach of the doggy station?

Half our life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we have rushed through life trying to save. (Will Rogers)

I managed to get a couple more locations for the Great Gold Coast KIP Hunt today. First I drove all the way to Jupiter, hoping to snag a bonus point by getting a picture of David at Burger King. Instead, I just got lunch (plus one "fast food" point). Then I drove to the beach, hoping to get the beach point in the Hunt plus a photo for my Virtual Vacation Swap. Instead, I drove around and around the parking lot before giving up -- there just weren't any parking spaces left. So I ended up at the mall. At least there was air conditioning and Starbucks, so life was still good.

I've decided that it is very strange being without children. The first couple of days was fun. I could eat what I wanted, and do what I wanted, and I didn't have to worry about being somewhere that they wanted me to be. But the novelty has worn off, and I'm starting to feel lonely. I have a new admiration for my mother and my daughter, both of whom have been living on their own for years now. It's the little things, like figuring out how to cook dinner without having enough left over for the rest of the week, that has me baffled. (So far I've been coping with that by bringing leftovers for lunch to share with my student.) I imagine that I would eventually get used to it, but I can see myself spending a lot of time sitting on the couch by myself knitting to audiobooks. I will probably also spend a lot of time at Starbuck. But then again, I already do that.

Thank goodness my son comes home in five days. So I should probably enjoy myself while I can. Besides, tomorrow my mom and aunt will be visiting me. (Maybe I should just give up drinking wine when I'm alone.)

Before beginning a Hunt, it is wise to ask someone what you are looking for before you begin looking for it. (Pooh's Little Instruction Book)

Today was the first day of World Wide Knit in Public Week. To celebrate this, my friends Paula and Jennifer have been helping me plan the Gold Coast KIP Hunt. I had gotten the idea from the Yarn Harlot, and thought it would be a wonderful way to show that knitting is appropriate anywhere, with anyone. Luckily, people seem to agree with me and we have several participants for the hunt. We've also gotten some really great prizes. Naturally, as an organizer, I can't win any of the prizes. But I'm going to play along for the fun of it.

To start off the first day on a great note, my sister and our friend Josie drove up from Boca and we spent the afternoon at CityPlace. Originally our plan was to have lunch, and then to knit for a while. It was a good plan. A very good plan, as it turned out.

For lunch we went to Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger. They have the world's best onion rings, in my opinion. Plus they have egg creams, and I love egg creams.

Then we decided to hop a ride on the trolley to Clematis Street to check out the waterfront park. By then, my niece had joined us (she had been to the Norton Museum on a field trip) and she took over the photography. Thank goodness, because it left the rest of us free to knit and enjoy ourselves.

I hadn't been to Clematis Street since they finished the new piers. It's really nice. They now have three public floating piers, with benches and umbrellas all along the way. It's a wonderful place to catch a breeze while you knit or read or just enjoy the scenery. Cathy can attest to the "wheeee" factor of the waves. (We didn't tell her that it was the floating pier at first. Instead we let her think that she was even more unsteady on her feet than normal.)

We did eventually make our way back to the trolley, just in time to watch the band set up at CityPlace. Unfortunately, by the time they finished their "check, check, 1-2-3, check" over an hour had gone by and it was getting pretty late. We only stayed to listen to a couple actual songs before giving up and heading home.

All in all, it was a very good day. I hope we get to do it again soon.

Cities, like cats, will reveal themselves at night. Rupert Brooke)

Thursday Challenge
"Urban"

I took a cheat on today's photo meme. I can't really call where I live "urban," although it's definitely not the countryside either. I live in a large apartment complex, which seems even larger when you're out in the middle of the night walking the dog. Again.

I have done more walking the past three weeks than I did in three months pre-puppy. With both of my teenagers out of town this week, I have to walk the dog every two hours or so. (And if I don't, I'd have to clean up the mess. So we walk.) I've even gotten comfortable with walking the neighborhood late at night (and early morning).

At least I've been making lots of new friends. People who would normally turn out of their way in order to avoid eye contact, now smile and strike up conversations about the puppy who is eager to play.

A facility for quotation covers the absence of original thought. (Dorothy L. Sayers)

Remember the Aeolian Shawl that I started as a knit-along with my daughter? I decided to frog it. I loved-loved-loved the color. I really loved the beads. I even loved the pattern. I just didn't like the way the color and the pattern went together. So after a lot of soul searching (it wasn't easy to give up after finishing 5 of the 19 charts), I gave a big sigh and pulled it all out. I'm going to try to find a beaded shawl that isn't quite as fancy lacework so that I can show off the color without all that effort.

Since I still wanted to do the KAL with Cari, I ordered a pretty sterling gray laceweight from Knit Picks. Then I made a trip back to the bead store and found matching beads. At least it gave me an excuse to play with my new ball winder that Becka and PJ got me for Mother's Day. That was fun!



And look how nice the balls of yarn turned out.

I've finished four charts, so I'm almost back to where I was. (Actually, if you look at the pattern you'll see that there are only ten written charts. But between repeating charts and working on multiple charts at a time, I figure that I will need to go through 19 sets of charts so that's how I'm counting it.)


I think I made the right choice by changing yarns on this project.

Every boy should have two things: a dog, and a mother willing to let him have one.

Every boy who has a dog should also have a mother, so the dog can be fed regularly.

Meet Rocky, the newest member of our family.

Yes, I remember that I said I was never, ever going to get another dog after the disaster that we created with our last dogs. We were horrible, irresponsible pet owners and I promised that I would never again put an innocent animal in that position. I told everyone that there was no way I would ever again put myself in that position.

But I was depressed, and my son saw his chance and took it. At a time when I was feeling unloved and alone, my son offered me another chance at unconditional love. He did his homework (instead of just walking into a pet store and falling in love with the first creature to make puppy eyes at him), and found a dog that met both our needs. Then he offered financial security, both to the apartment complex AND to me, that the dog's needs would be met. He even signed us up for doggy school, so that my children and I will learn along with the dog how to behavior properly.

Rocky's been with us three weeks now, and so far things are working out pretty well. He's not the cuddly baby-creature that I had hoped for, but he's also not a hyperactive destruction machine that I was afraid of. My son took me seriously about giving away the dog (and keeping the security money for myself) if the dog messed up my house, and as a result Rocky is pretty much house-trained already.

Tuesday nights Rocky and I go to puppy school. If my son isn't working, he comes along too. But I've been having so much fun with the classes, I've pretty much taken over training the dog myself. Last week we learned the "sit" command, and already Rocky understands and responds to both the word and the hand command. Yes, I'm teaching my dog sign language. This week we're working on loose leash walking, and it turns out that Rocky is ahead of the class on that skill as well. (I can't help bragging. I've been a teacher's pet all my life.)

Rocky is scheduled for the last of his shots in three weeks. By then, we'll be ready for play dates at the dog park. I'm actually looking forward to it!

I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read,

and all the friends I want to see. (John Burrough)

* * Not to mention all the things I want to spin and knit! * *

I want to do a quick update on my spinning. I've been meaning to post this for a couple of days, but I just haven't managed to get further than uploading the picture into "drafts."

How do you like the picture of my wheel? I was at the dollar store, and splurged on a strip of Wallee's. They're designed to be put up on your walls, and (hopefully) won't damage the wood/paint if you move them around. I decided that the butterflies would look good on Yarnell. And if I change my mind, I'm out a whole dollar.


This past week I signed up for the Tour de Fleece. Remember the Ravelympics? This is for spinning (obviously). The goal is to spin every day that the cyclists are racing during the Tour de France. I'm hoping that with the Tour as motivation, I'll actually manage to catch up with my roving stash. In fact, one of the teams I'm on is "Stashbusters." I also listed myself with "Rookies" (because it's my first year doing the Tour), and "Palotin" (because I like the idea of sticking with the pack). Originally I had thought that these three teams gave me more than enough to do. But then I found a local group, Team Golden Treasure Coast, and of course I had to join that one. So with four teams to spin with, I had better get something accomplished.

Not that I've been doing too badly. I finished another four ounces of the white roving. It's another 2 ply, 12 wpi which is a nice worsted-weight yarn. I managed to 250.5 yards. I really, really like this yarn - it's so soft and squishy!

You try to give away what you want yourself. (Lois McMaster Bujold)

Have I mentioned that I'm in a swap on Ravelry? The theme is Virtual Vacation, and I'm supposed to send off a box to someone of yarn and other treats from my area as if the person had been visiting me on vacation. (Somebody else will be sending a similar box of goodies to me.) So I had a wonderful excuse to go shopping today.

My first stop was Yarn It! in Fort Pierce. I really love this shop. Celeste has gotten in a little more stock, but the main draw is the alpaca and other spinning supplies. I was able to pick up two items for my swap box. I was very good, and resisted buying more roving for myself even though I was tempted.

Since I was in Fort Pierce on a Saturday anyway, I had to go over to the Farmer's Market. Just to look, of course. I came away with two more items for the box, and a loaf of cheesy bread for breakfast.

On the way home, I stopped at Knit or Knot in Jupiter (it was only a little out of the way, and I am my grandmother's child) for more treats for the swap box. And even though I tried really hard, I didn't find anything to bring home for myself. The Malibrigo lace was very tempting, and so was the Louet Linen. But I have yarn for four shawls already in my queue, so getting more shawl yarn sounded unrealistic even to me. I was also very tempted by some of the sock yarn (they have the best selection), but again it seemed unrealistic given the amount of sock yarn already in my stash.

My next stop was at Debois Park, since I was already in Jupiter. But the park was so crowded, I changed my mind about sitting and knitting by the water. Maybe I'll try again one afternoon during the week.

So I just came home, and knit another chart's worth on my Aeolian shawl while watching Firefly.

Today has definitely made up for yesterday.

There is no gravity. The earth sucks. (Graffito)

I'm either extremely angry or very depressed. Possibly both.