A New Leaf

This is my new resolution. Thank you Mouse for directing me to this, and thank you, Tiffini for starting this.

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately (blame the clapboards)and I'm starting to make some choices. Like the high school show for example. It has sucked up my fall every year (minus my first year out here, but I had no friends then so...)and autumn is my favorite season. The lead up to Halloween is just delightful. But the shows get bigger every year and I miss more and more of the season. And the neighbors will kill us if we don't get out and rake soon. So this is it...my last show. They are trying to keep me on, at least for the winter show, but I doubt they can convince me. I have too many other project that I would like to work on. And I missed Rhinebeck because of the show last year. So I decided, hell they are going to work around my schedule this year and I'm going to Rhinebeck and the Renn Faire next weekend. They will just have to deal with it. I'm going to live my life and enjoy the things I want to.

And so this pledge with my blogging. I'll blog when I can and not feel guilty about it. So there!

Now I'm gonna go and pull out my Halloween decorations and then sit on my arse and knit on my ballet wrap cardigan while watching tv rot.

Chilly and damp

That's what it is now. The cooler temperatures are just wonderful but the wet isn't. I'm glad for the rain. We really need it (I was beginning to worry about my trees) but it makes the paint take forever to dry.

Everyone else went out for lunch today so I have a chance to write. I have a ton of painting pictures and some others to post when I am home and conscious long enough to do so. I finished my Flame boot socks, so now I am without a traveling project. I think I may make a pair of leg warmers out of junk yarn to wear when I am painting in my socks. I'm actually hunting (rather passively, I must admit) for the Elizabeth Zimmerman sock pattern where you knit the top and then pick up around to do the bottom of the foot and the heel so that if they wear out you can unravel that part and reknit it. I would do some painting socks with something cushier on the bottom to save my poor little feet.

I'm rather tired lately. I'm trying to stick to a healthy diet but this busy schedule really kinda kills that. Hey at least I am drinking cans of V-8 instead of Red Bull.

I had dental work today and some Novocaine. I have to say I totally love my dentist. He is the only one who can give me a shot and I don't feel a thing.

I haven't even put up my Halloween decorations yet. I'm really slacking this year. I may tonight...I still have to paint at the high school but with this humidity I think I'll be done for the night once I get the coat of primer on.

Sorry for the really boring post. Love won't be home till past midnight so I'll try to post pictures this evening.

A few hours respite

I've got a few hours break today. Floor tiles can't be recoated until later and the head must dry. The eye is waiting on its flat...so here I sit at home. (wondering what the hell I'm talking about??? Read this)

Love is at strike today. 8 am to 7pm. Then tomorrow (work weeks run Monday through Sunday there) starts his 88 hour week. The number just seems unreal. What really is unreal is that upper management actually signed off on this! I swear they are trying to kill him. In situations like this I do my best to keep him in food and pain killers. Dinner is currently cooking in the crock-pot and smells delicious.

I've been doing a fair amount of thinking and soul searching this week. Boring painting will do that to you. Miles and miles of painting both sides of clapboard, board by board, twice on once side, once on the other, don't forget the edges will defintely get you turning inward. I've come to a decision on something. It is amazing how resigned to it I am, once I had finally made this decision. And yes, I'm being cryptic for a reason. I really need to tell the powers that be involved before I start shouting it from the roof tops.

On another note have you seen this:

Sweeny Todd Trailer

I can't wait for this! One of my favorite musicals (if not the very favorite) with some of my most favorite people. Everyone else will be waiting for Santa this christmas...I'll be waiting for Mr. Todd.

note

Just a little note...I won't be around much. I'm full swing into painting, plus I haven't been sleeping so I'm morphing into an overworked cranky bitch. I've had very little contact with my computer this week and I expect it to continue for a while. I'll try to update when I can. Wish me luck and sedatives.

Woohoo to my PIF people. I'll need your emails, if I don't already. Don't forget to post on your own blogs. I'll be contacting you guys when I get a moment to breathe.

Pantone strikes again!

After once having to match individual grains of sand to Pantone colors, I found this hysterical.

Pantone cup

Maybe I should take one of those to Dunkin' Donuts and they would learn what a "spot of cream" is. I will tell you, the half gallon they tend to add, it is not.

PIF

Now I remember....I'm now a part of the Pay It Forward Exchange. I got it from Roxtarchicknits.

Here's how it works:
This is based on the concept of the movie Pay It Forward. I've not seen the movie but here's the gist. It's kind of a twist on the golden rule (do unto others as you would have them do to you). You do something nice for someone randomly with the idea that they will go and do something for other people and it expands from there. If everyone followed this the world would be a nicer place.

So the knitter's exchange twist on this is that I will begift the first three people to comment on this post with something handmade. They will in turn write a similar post and gift their first three commenters. Get it?? Small print...this is a good exchange for those who don't work on deadlines well. We have six months to get our gifts out.

So comment away.

Busy Bee

I've been a crazy busy bee lately.

Last weekend was The Painted Sheep debut at the Fiber Twist. I helped Kris with the set up and painted her a sign for the booth. Check out her blog, she tells the tale better than I can. Check her stuff out. It's lovely. She graciously let me have a skein for my help. I took this beauty.

Mmmm...sock yarn. Can you tell my color mood is yearning for fall? I had little cash on hand for the market. I had to limit myself to some shallots, fruit chutney, and organic garlic butter.

This week it has been mostly about Macbeth. Check out Footprints in the Sky for more details. Monday was our production meeting and the first time I saw designs. Since then it has been trying to get started despite some disasters. And the first person who says its the curse of the play will get stabbed. There has been a bit of sleuthing going on to get the whole story but here's a run down. When we set up for the meeting Monday we noticed it smelled a bit musty in the basement. We noticed some water stains on a big box down there, which is not all that uncommon. I also noticed all my buckets had been stacked weird. No big deal...on with the meeting. At one point we were discussing materials and the muslin required for the show was mentioned. The Technical Director reminded us of the big box of it in the basement. OH CRAP! Down we go and sure enough...something like 500-600 yards of muslin was mildewed. Like get the hazmat suits nasty mildew. No one has any clue what happened....until now. Apparently some one working at the school set off the sprinkler system in the basement and attempted to clean it up themselves. They didn't tell anyone. Now mind you the basement is where we store all our lighting equipment not in the air, all my paint supplies, some past drops, carpet runners for the winter, and our new (wall mounted) dimmer racks. We have yet to determine the complete extent of the damage. I salvaged some muslin to get started on projects but I had to wash it. I should have ironed the eye drop before putting it down. The starch didn't get rid of all the wrinkles.

I'm still plugging away on my second red boot sock. I had some books to finish reading before taking them back to the library.

I guess that's all for now. I'm sure I'm forgetting something. Oh we bought our new fridge today but the sexy beast won't be here till next week. Well I'm off to knit and watch a movie with the boy.

Quiet

sorry for the quiet period. Our internet has been down. I have much to tell but not right now. It's the full moon and I have a boy to go and ravage.
*insert evil grin*

Socks n Knucks

Here you go



Not twins this time but that's ok. Still love the color and they will be toasty warm.



Here's the Knucks. Done in black Silky Wool. Hope the monkey likes them. I had to reknit the last one twice and then the cuffs on both. They stretched a little when I was sewing the gaps between the fingers



I'm already at the heel of the first sock on the next pair of boot socks.

Steal this!

Click me!

Just one more reason to throw myself naked at Trent Reznor's feet.

Two FO's

Yep two...no pictures yet. But I finished my boot socks and the black knucks. I decided to forgo the embroidery on these. They are a gift for a 15 year old boy...enough said. If he wants it, I'll add it later. That's easier than ripping it out or him not wearing them. The sweater is still waiting for some good sit down pay attention time. I'm not sure what the next projects will be. I have more Foliage for another pair of socks...I think I'll make those just to kill time during lunch until I plan out and swatch the next batch of projects. Nothing like chilly weather to get one knitting again.

blah blah blah

Life has been plugging along as usual. I tried blogging this weekend but it was so damn slow...Don't mind me...I had a gin and juice and I'm fairly tipsy.

So knitting update.

Ballet wrap: started last side...now I'm to the "must pay attention" part and haven't been in the mindset.

Black knucks: I had to reknit the second glove (again). It was too loose and noticeably so. Now all that remains is the grafting of the holes between the fingers and the embroidery.

Autumn socks: First sock done. Doing the foot on the second. I should get to the toes during lunch tomorrow.

I'll have to find another project to knit at lunch.

I was going to write more but typing coherently is not working well. Gin and blogging do not mix.

Caught!

HA! We got her. She was in the cage this morning. I went down to give the lot second breakfast and there she was with her siblings. Love didn't even tell me he got her. She fwoomped on her side and begged to be petted. She had a few melted whiskers and what we think are minor burns on her ears from when she crawled into the hot car engine. Well at least that adventure is over.

On the plate for today...going to the doctor and not sure if I'm still insured and finishing the damn opera. I hope to have pictures on the painting blog of that tonight.

cursed!

Ha! Guess what Love caught in the trap! Yep, a skunk...it was there last night. He threw a towel over the trap and opened the door. Today something managed to eat the food in there without setting it off. Hopefully we get her tonight...little bugger.

I'm sleepy...I'll tell you more about life and knitting another time.

Kitty sighted

I saw her out front when I got home from working late last night. We got so excited and tried to coax her with treats but she took off again. If I see her tonight I'm just going to leave her alone. We put more food out and some water, so who knows...we may have a trapped kitty today. One can only hope its the one we want. When we originally trapped the kittens we got two neighborhood cats as well. Lets pray the skunks stay away...how does one safely let a trapped skunk out of a cage???

Weekend at a glance

I made fair knitting progress this weekend. I finished the first foliage sock. The second black Knuck is nearly done. I had spaced a little at SnB on Wednesday and did 10 more rows than I needed to. So I frogged it back and got it to the cuff last night. I'll keep working on the socks at lunch. I still need to cast on the right front of the Ballet Wrap Cardigan. I'll probably do that after here.

I've been spending some time on Ravelry as well. I put in my needles and discovered a bunch of oddballs. I'll find an artistic use for them somewhere. I joined a bunch of groups and found some of my friends. I haven't posted at any of the groups yet. I need to pace myself...especially since we have only the one computer.

Today is Sunday...therefore cooking day. I made a pot of homemade sauce and meatballs to get us through the week. We both have a few late working days and this will make for easy fend for ourselves dinners. I'm also making cream of cauliflower soup. Its a great recipe with a nice blend of the vegetable and curry.

The big adventure happened today. One of the cats from the basement made her escape. Love was just far too trusting and she got out. We ran right out and found her under someone's car...which she promptly climbed into the engine. We tracked down the owner to pop the hood to coax/force her out. Then she took off on us...and has yet to be seen. We've set up the trap with some food hoping hunger and longing for her siblings will bring her back. Love is beside himself. She is his favorite and the most sociable out of the bunch. He's really beating himself up for this, claiming that he's as good as killed her. I scolded him for the stupid move at first but he's so upset with himself that I had to apologize and try to reassure him as much as I can. It's not doing much good. Hopefully I'll have some good news on this front soon...I hope we find her before the coyote does.

Now if I could only score Colin Firth

You scored as Elizabeth Bennet,As one of Austen's most beloved characters, Elizabeth Bennet represents what most women would like to become: strong, independent, and loyal. Of course, she has her faults including a stubborn will of iron and a clinging to first impressions. Overall, Lizzie is bright and lovable...something to admire and aspire to.

Which Jane Austen Character are You? (For Females) Long Quiz!!!
created with QuizFarm.com

Rated

I think I'm a little disappointed. This is what I found odd...

This rating was determined based on the presence of the following words:

• hell (3x)
• pain (2x)
• zombie (1x)

Um...OK. I'm sure I've swear a lot more on here than that. Pain??? I find that a little weird. And zombies....I'm surprised it was only one. I guess I have things to work towards.

I got in!

I got my invite to Ravelry!!! Woo Hoo!!! I haven't had a chance to do anything yet but I'm on the user name Gothknits. Go figure.

I made it through my first day of work. Details of such things will now be on my Footprints blog. I forgot how physical the job can be. Especially since being on physical restrictions lately. Man I slept last night. Well must be off. Not sure the traffic I have to face to the new job.

Knitting has been prolific lately. Much to show soon.

Moving on

Tomorrow is the big day. I start my new job. I'm both excited and nervous as hell.

I finally finished the left front of the Ballet Wrap Cardigan. I'm a tad frustrated with this pattern. I found the directions rather confusing...so confusing that I had to rip back 3 times. I'm also a bit miffed with the sizing. The bust size jumps from a 34 to a 40. That's a huge jump! I am going with the smaller size hoping that it won't look too horrible.

Today's mantra: The words "at the same time" should always be in bold lettering. Always. And a larger font or colored text wouldn't hurt either.

Knitting update

I actually have some knitting to show you. I've been a busy little bee...


These are my purple Knucks. I still haven't decided on embroidery yet so they'll stay plain for now. The yarn is Silky Wool. One skein with a fair amount left over. I lengthened the cuffs to 2 inches since I like my gloves to come up higher. Yes, these are actually for ME! I'm halfway through a pair for my little brother. I'll have those done soon enough.


Then there is my Ballet Wrap Cardigan from Interweave Knits. The yarn is from a sweater I got at Goodwill. I don't remember the content but I'll find the tag when I post the completed project. The back is finished and this is the left front. I'm loving how fast the bulky yarn is knitting up.


This lovely little creature is my Foliage boot sock. You may remember the blue ones I made my mum or the green ones I made myself. These are for me. I fear the warehouse that I will be working in at my new job will be quite chilly in the winter, so warm socks for me. I love, love, LOVE the colorway. It reminds me of Autumn, my favorite time of year. This was the project I took to the hospital with me. They got a kick out of my knitting in pre-op. Good I had it too, the doctor was held up and I went in for surgery about an hour late. It helped (somewhat) to keep my mind off how hungry I was. (No eating after midnight and surgery scheduled for 2pm. When asked if I needed anything my reply was "a cheeseburger')

As for me. I'm doing better. Glad to have gotten through my last few days in retail hell. Physically I am recovering; still a little pain, but getting better day by day. Emotionally I'm...I really don't know. I have to say my husband has been the greatest through all of this. After he brought me home from the hospital he went and bought all the foods I couldn't eat while pregnant (smoked salmon, smoked salmon spread, and a wheel of brie as big as my head). He also bought me Gone with the Wind. My all time favorite movie. I knit the whole back of the ballet cardigan while watching that.

I'M FREE!!!

Ding dong the apron's gone!

I've even avoided taking my painkillers today so I could have a drink and celebrate. And only 245 people ahead of me on Ravelry...is life getting better or what?

The final countdown

I have 6 remaining hours of retail hell!!!!

(i'll be able to dye my hair purple again!)

Back to the daily grind

I go back to work today. I'm not looking forward to it. But I only have 22 hours of work left at this place. Hopefully I can keep it together today. I have SnB to look forward to tonight, and a bunch of knitting to post.

Aftermath...

I made it through surgery ok. I'm home and in an expected amount of pain. I'm not allowed back to work until Wednesday, so if anyone feels like hanging out with me Mon. and Tues. I would welcome the company.

An to round out the strangeness of it all. Something that cheered me yesterday...I had a cameo in The Devil's Panties. I'm the one in the pig tails. You may remember that ensemble from this post.

Well I'm off to recover on the couch with some needles, wool, and movies galore.

The Bitter and the Sweet

Ok, I'll start with a few FO pics. First of all I did finish my knucks, but don't have pictures yet. It is quite impossible to get a good picture of gloves on your own hands. When I have my love at my disposal I'll get him to do it.
These are of the baby blanket I made for one of our contract workers at the store. She's due in September. We just found out the other day that their house burned to the ground this week. People, please check your dryers...make sure you have the proper duct work and clean out all the fuzzy crap. I don't want to hear about this happening to anyone else.

Specs are garter miter squares done in Sugar and Cream kitchen cotton (yellow) and random mystery kitchen cotton from stash (green).

On to the fabulous news. Friday, August 31st is my last day at my retail job!!! I got the job painting scenery for the University!!! I am so completely excited. The story of the job and the work I will be doing there will be followed more closely in my painting blog Footprints in the Sky.

Ok the sucky news: they had to put down my little brother's dog this week. He's taking it hard, but anyone would. She had lost a back toe nail to cancer about a year or so ago. This time it was in a front toe and her tail. After the surgery to have those amputated, she was unable to keep food down, and was partially paralyzed on one side. She had a small upswing last weekend but then went down hill this week. I'm not a dog person by any means but she was the best dog. Sweet and loving. I'll have to hunt around for a picture of her....

And for the worst news of all. I debated about writing this, but this blog is about me and the influence in my artistic life. I had hoped to have some uber-fabulous news for you all in about a month or so...but it's not to be. I had an ultrasound yesterday and it confirmed our worst fears. At 9 weeks into my pregnancy there was no heartbeat and I am beginning to miscarry. The baby made it to 6 weeks and stopped growing. Nothing we did, just a chromosomal issue and nature did what was best. I understand all that but it still sucks.
I'm having a D&C today. Which means I had to stop all eating and drinking at midnight. My surgery isn't until this afternoon. So mixed in with my grief is the fact that I am starving and thirsty as all hell.
We are dealing with it the best we can. I know I'll work through this with my art. Its how I do this. My mind keeps going to Freida Khalo's painting Henry Ford Hospital and that whole scene in the movie Freida. Not that I am comparing my pain to hers, but I know mine will show through my work.

So that's been my life in a nutshell. Some good some bad. Thanks for listening. I'll be ok, I promise. I'm not sure how much I will be blogging this weekend, it all depends on how I feel physically.

news to follow

Sorry for the silence. There's been a whole lot going on. Some good and some truly awful. I will write soon...I promise.

There's No Place Like Home

We got back Tuesday night and yesterday was a recovery day. It's so nice to be back in my own bed, even with cats waking me up at 4 am for scritchies. A lot is going on. I'm currently playing telephone tag about the job. Love is about to head into a disaster of a load in, and today is my first day back to work in almost 2 weeks. I'm afraid of what I will find. I'm not even sure I will have a job when I get back. I am widening my job search though. It's tough finding something that isn't retail though.
I have some knitting progress to show. The green and yellow blanket is done. My knucks are all but done themselves. I'm not sure if I am going to embroider them or not. I'm also plotting out my next project. I always have a hard time figuring out what to do next. Especially since I hate swatching.
Well I better get my day started. I have to be to work at 1pm (yuk!). Missed you all.

blogging break

Yeah, I've taken a little break from blogging. Been on vacation this week so my time has been spent with my adoring and very sexy husband. And then we're off on the road for a few days...with very limited internet access. I'll have tales and picture when I return. Have fun and keep cool.

Happy Lizzie Borden Day!

Yes, today is the day back in 1892 when Lizzie Borden hacked her parents to death...or did she? This was the first unsolved true crime story that I became fascinated with. I think it was about 5th grade and we had our RIF (Reading Is Fundamental) thingy where we were given the chance to get a free book. I took one on true crime. There were maybe 6 or 7 stories in it; the Lindbergh baby, D. B. Cooper, and others that I don't quite remember. But the one that stuck in my mind was Lizzie Borden. Even my Mom recited the poem from heart when I told her what I was reading about:

Lizzie Borden took and ax
and gave her mother forty whacks.
And when she saw what she had done,
she gave her father forty one.

To read up on Lizzie and the story try here at the Crime Library. Be careful...a very addictive site. I'm also quite a Jack the Ripper buff. I know this all makes me sound rather twisted. I just love a good mystery and forensics have fascinated me for a long time. That was a potential career path of mine, once upon a time. So read up and enjoy!

Do you know who did it??

Finished knitting

I'm doing better today. There's just a lot going on, and the heat isn't helping. My vacation starts when I leave work on Friday...I can't wait. At least I have tomorrow off.

I do have a knitting photo to show. This little sweater is the one I was struggling with. Not enough yarn in a discontinued color to finish it as the pattern dictates. So I made up a lace on the sleeves and voila!


It is from Natural Knits for Babies and Moms. The yarn is Debbie Bliss Cashmerino. I'm becoming quite enamored of this yarn. Too bad it costs so much. The buttons are from my collection.

The yellow and green blanket is still on the go...I'm not going to take a picture until its done...squares are rather boring to document.

I haven't been knitting much. We're doing a lot of work on the house and it's time to start weeding through things and do a purge. I'm not sure if we are going to attempt a garage sale or just donate it all. Ebay is an option on some things. And when not doing all of that, or working, I've been reading.

Well, I best be getting ready for work (yuk!)

Muggy

I'm irritated and lonely tonight. It's too hot and the AC still isn't functional. There is a lot going on that I can't talk about and I'm frustrated as all hell.

How are you?

ConnectiCon pictures...at last

We finally got the pictures of ConnectiCon off of my love's phone. Sorry for the quality.

When we got there we did a quick spin around to see where everything was and then wandered into the Webcomic Auction that was raising funds for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Being an artist myself, copyright and trademark issues are really important to me. Actually a friend of mine is currently going through some trademark issues.
Anywho...there we are watching the auction and my favorite artist Jennie Breeden of The Devil's Panties, Geebas on Parade and various others (damn this girl is prolific) went up. I looked at love as cute and pitifully as I could and he said go ahead and bid. So I did. Another dude and I got into a bit of a bidding war... my wonderful, generous and fabulous husband let me keep going. I won't say how much I paid but I won! This became my 30th birthday present...remember my birthday back in January that went uncelebrated? Yeah, well this totally made up for it. I had actually come to the Con to meet Jennie. I even emailed her to see what I could bring her. I came armed with fruit, candy and sandwiches.

So the goodies I won were a deck of her playing cards, a Men in Kilts...with a leaf blower calendar (as she states if you wear underwear it's a skirt. These are men in kilts) , signed issues of her comic book and an original signed cthulu geshia drawing done there at the con. Actually we ending up hanging out with her and a bunch of other artist all night. She gave the choice of two out of three geshia drawings. We went to dinner with them and an after party. Jennie did I tell you that you rock? Well you do! I had so much fun and it was a real inspiration being around all these artist doing their thing. Plus it was total bonus being refered to as "the hot goth chick who bought me".


I forgot to get an empty art journal at work to have sketches done by the artist for me...so I had them draw on me instead.

This was done by Hawk from Applegeeks. The pic of him drawing it didn't come out. This is version of Hawk from Applegeeks Lite.

Tim Buckley of Ctl+Alt+Del didn't have a booth there but that didn't stop me from asking for a sketch. I asked for a doodle of Zeke, my favorite sentient X-box.

Jennie did her little devil girl of course.

This is Jamie of In His Likeness. He did the Internet from his comic. I hadn't known of his before this and it now has a place in my regular comics. For some reason I failed to get one from Chrisiti from In the Puddle. Next time...

I did get Choo Choo Bear from Randy Milholland's Something Positive. We commiserated about Emerson students. I also got a paper sketch that will be framed and put in my studio.I spent all my money buying Jennie so I was unable to get the books and shirts I wanted to. Oh and this...I really really wanted to buy this. Even my love gave his approval. hehehe . In case you are wondering my shirt say Talk Nerdy to Me. It was quite a hit. To sum up it was absolutely wonderful...it was like coming home. It was quite inspiring as an artist and fun for the freak in me. Next year I will be there and in costume. I will also pull some extra jobs to make some just-for-the-con-money. I'm actually anxious to hit a few others, but then love may kill me.

A big thank you to all the artist that let us hang out with them.

Back in the open...

I finished the 7th Harry Potter book last night...at 11:59. I acquired it around 3 pm Saturday before a previous engagement. I won't talk about it here, not yet at least. But it is nice to listen to the news again and read the paper, or talk to people. Now I have freed up some knitting time.

In the dark

Here's fair warning: I'm going underground until I read the new Harry Potter. I've come this far without it being ruined for me...So see you in a day or two.

Thursdays

Thursdays are weird days for me. It's my night to close the store, so I usually don't go in until 2pm or sometimes 1pm. That gives me the morning to myself. There are two types of Thursday mornings that I will typically have. The productive one and a non-productive one. The first I get up at a decent hour, later than I normally do, but still early enough to get things done before I have to leave. On these days I can usually get a load of laundry done start to finish, clean the bathroom, and accomplish a number of tasks. The latter is like today. I sleep in late. Get a slow start and really don't have time to do much before I go in. I don't like these Thursdays very much, but when my body demands sleep, sleep it gets.

I'm working 6 days this week. I'm not going to tell the tale of the hellish week that has transpired in that place. It started when I went in last Thursday...and in the course of the week I've nearly walked out no less than 3 times, got close to being fired, been lied to and stabbed in the back, and generally have reached the end with this company. What remaining time I am there is merely to tie up loose ends and set up for my next employment adventure. I have too much talent to be wasting there.

I have several projects on the go right now. Once I get things sorted out I can say more. Lots of my free time has been reading. I've got to get through book 6 before 7 comes out on Saturday. Its sort of a tradition with us. Actually when one of them came out (5, I think) my sweet love went to the bookstore at midnight to get it for me. I had to leave in the am for a job out of town and he made sure I had it with me. He's definitely a keeper. I just want to read it before someone spoils it for me.

When the Sopranos ended NPR had an article about how if you didn't watch it the night it aired you would have to crawl under a rock to avoid spoilers...and then ten minutes later they reported how it ended with NO spoiler warning!!!! (It wasn't a horrible blow though. I don't watch the show. We don't have cable. *gasp*) I don't want that to happen with Harry Potter. I'm not the kind of person who reads ahead to see what happens.

Post-Con

The con was FAB*U*LOUS!!! I bought a webcomic artist...yes, you read that right. I was drawn on by several of my favorite artists. I have pics galore, but they are on love's phone camera, so it may be a day or two before I do a full post about it.

Today is all about cleaning the house and re hydration.

break

We've thankfully had a break in the weather. It was getting so oppressive. And our A/C ended up having a problem that dumped water all over the innards of our furnace. So now its very likely we need a new furnace. If that is true then here are the stats and winners of the appliance game:

Round 1: no one....dryer went
Round 2: me...stove went
If the furnace goes then round three goes to my love. That was his guess. Mine has been the washer and/or the fridge which have been running neck and neck with each other.

Yesterday was my first day off in a week...and without the A/C I was totally useless. I nearly died after I mowed the lawn. I thought I would come in and turn on the air before my shower. The house would be cool enough to let me get some housework done. Then I realized the full extent of the incident the night before. No turning on the air. I had no where cool to go. I wasn't going to go to the mall myself. So I just sat around....melting. I did get some knitting done. I've also decided to forgo the costume this convention. I'm just lacking the time to complete the one I really wanted to do. And I just can't toss together something right now.

A lot of my time lately is going to rereading the Harry Potter books before the new one comes out on the 21st. I was going to start with the fourth one and just read the last three. But then there was a conversation on whether or not Harry is going to die, and someone said that he thought he would until he reread the first one. Damn! So I started from the beginning again. I'm halfway through 4 at the moment.

So that's life at the moment. Lots o crap at work where its just as hot. for some reason its 10 to 15 degrees hotter in my shop than in the rest of the store. Its even worse if I have to turn the drymount machine on (which operate at temperatures between 175 and 215 Fahrenheit). I spend as little time in there as possible.

I will have pictures eventually....just haven't been knitting much. I have spent so much time at work lately.

I apologize for the lack of coherent statements today. Trouble kick starting the brain this morning.

uh oh!

oh crap...Connecticon is only a few days away...and I still don't have a costume yet. hrm.....

I'm still about just working...a lot...I'm in the middle of a 7 day stretch of hell.

instead of sleeping

getting better with a mouse. I'd love to try with a tablet.



Learn how to draw cartoons, comics, and anime at Sketchfu!

My hand at sketchfu

Lisa turned me onto Sketchfu. I thought I would try my hand at it. My mouse drawing definitely needs some work. Enjoy. (click on it to see it larger)




Learn how to draw cartoons, comics, and anime at Sketchfu!

Pondering...

I've been doing a lot of pondering, thinking, worrying, stressing, and dash of self-pity wallowing since the interview. I'm just not so sure where to go with my life at the moment. I just know I really shouldn't stay where I am at the moment, as far a work goes. I'd love to just quit and start free-lancing again. But I know that's when I'll suddenly, despite all the medical issues, get pregnant. And while that would be wonderful, I wouldn't have any health insurance. grrrr....

Ok, moving on to something that doesn't make my jaw clench and my stomach churn.

This sweater is turning out to be quite the little project of disasters I've created for myself. The "coordinating" yarn I bought looked hideous with the two existing colors. Just awful, so I'm back to making what I have work. There not enough to do a matching hat. I was making it work until I was two feet short on the color for the button band bind off. So I am stealing it from another part of the sweater. This really is a situation of robbing Peter to pay Paul. I'm determined to make this work. Come hell or high water....this will work.

Other then that I'm doing a touch of cooking this morning before I go into work. Today is our (delayed due to holiday) garbage day. Which is perfect broth making day. I save all (or most) of my vegetable peelings for broth. Carrot peelings, onion skins and the outer layers, broccoli stalks, the little ends of the garlic that get cut off, celery ends. Just about anything that is technically edible but not exactly desirable to do so. I scrub them well before peeling and put them in a freezer bag. When it is full I boil them for broth and toss the peelings. When I finally get a compost pile, they will go there. The broth either is made into soup right away or frozen for later use. Ice cube trays are great for this. Freeze it as cubes and then defrost only what you need for a recipe. I do need new ice cube trays for this. Use different trays then ones for you 'regular' ice, unless you want a brothy taste to your soda. I also boil any chicken/turkey carcasses for broth. After the meal I pick the meat off, but leave a little on for flavor and boil away. Again, its used right away and/or frozen. I love soup. I eat it all the time and making my own broth makes it much easier and much more economical to make.

I'm back

Well, I'm back from the interview. It went very well, though I now know this position won't be the magic cure for my current situation that I have been hoping for. We shall see what happens though.

Feeling a bit calmer after it was over I noticed that I wasn't too far from Creative Fibers. I felt that I had earned a little treat so in I went. I grabbed two skeins of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino to finish the baby set and a skein of black Silky Wool to get going on another project. For the baby thing I knew I wasn't going to find the same color. They had something *close* but I think it would have looked like a mistake, so I went with a totally different color to compliment the other two. I'm hoping to get that done tonight. I'm on my own most of today...I think I'm going pop in some Dark Shadows and knit my little heart out...and think...lots of thinking.

just testing

Just trying something out as a new profile pic. I took this in college with a timer. Yes, that's me. Yes, that's my violin. This is probably my all time favorite photo of myself.

And the days not over yet!

It has been a day of happenings...Very productive at work and I figured out a computer thing that had been stumping us for a while. I was out at 3ish since I went in at 7. Ran to Target and actually found what I was looking for. Out in the parking lot I got a call from the Doctor. I guess we're off to more in/fertility appointments. Then I get home to a message I assumed was the doctor...nope. I have an interview tomorrow!!!!! Now I know what I'm doing tonight...getting the portfolio together and try to figure out what I'm gonna wear. ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

I guess this would be a good time to announce my other blog venture:

Footprints in the Sky

This is going to be my scenic art blog. Its in it's basic form at the moment but that will change. So much to do...so much to do...eating would help wouldn't it. hrm...Well I'm off to see if I can knit and photo-shop at the same time.

Hot

its hot...so very hot. Normally this isn't a problem since we have central air. But the furnace is currently unhooked due to love's household construction. So we languish away. Not really good knitting weather. I've hit another roadblock on the baby project. I'm not sure if I'll have to break down and buy more yarn or not. I have a possible creative solution but then again it may fail miserably. I'll know when I actually pick up the needles to knit it. I just feel too grimy to do so. I'm saving my shower until just before work...

I did finish the other front to Otis. I'm becoming very bored with it...or knitting in general lately. I think its the heat...I have sewing urges but between a cat infested studio and power being shut off hither and thither in the house, it's not exactly easy to accomplish.

I'm antsy today as well. It's hard to work on things when love's doing projects of this scale, especially when he keeps hitting roadblocks. Today's Mantra: Never let a paranoid schizophrenic contractor design or build anything in your house. Unfortunately in our case he owned the house at the time and we are left to deal with his complete lack of planning, logic, or adherence to code.

Well I'm off to read for a while before heading off to work for the day/evening.

Cats on a Tuesday

We have many cat friendly perches in our home. Various places that one can laze about. Each cat has their own favorite. And then there is the Sunpatch. The Sunpatch exists during the middle of the day when the only bit of direct sunlight in the house comes from the skylight in the hall. The size varies as the sun makes its crawl through the sky but it averages about 1 foot by 2 feet. This is prime kitty real estate and a nearly daily battle will ensue for possession. I managed to document one such battle. I'm sorry for the quality of them...between the fierce fighting and the bright sun it was the best I could do.



This fight began when Isis walked up to the Sunpatch and looked at it. Loki came running down the stairs and sat right in it. Loki doesn't share well. If Isis is already in the Sunpatch Loki will approach and merely sit on her head. Don't believe for a moment that Isis is the victim here. She will often walk up to a reclining Loki, lick her head a few times and then CHOMP on an ear or a haunch.


The battles are somewhat evenly matched. Isis has no claws but is quite adept with her teeth, having practiced for years on us before we got Loki. Loki has claws but forgets to use them. Isis has several pounds on Loki, but then Loki has learned the trick of rolling on her back and using the floor and wall as leverage. Her favorite pose is the paw in the face. Isis will be sizing up the next attack and a grey paw will just smack on her nose and sit there. Her version of 'talk to the hand' I suppose.



Loki is the victor this time...mainly because Isis got bored, walked away, and demanded food from the audience in the kitchen. Doesn't she look proud.

Ha!

So just got back from love's company picnic. I usually avoid this since it's an odd thing being there...I used to work for the company and then I hit a glass ceiling during a campaign against me for fighting for safety issues. It seems its against company policy to NOT want to work in a carbon monoxide rich environment...but anywho. A new to the company employee is someone who went to college with the two of us. Someone who doesn't like me...or so I assume since she was talking smack about me to a rather good friend of mine. Actually the story is quite amusing considering she really put her foot in it on that occasion. So there she is...and there I am. She looked right at me and then ignored me. I grabbed my beer and kept on walking, sidled up to love and said what happened and plainly pointed out the fact that I still have the same figure I had in college and well...other people don't. Otherwise I totally behaved myself. Hey at least I didn't call her on the carpet for calling me a bitch in front of a bunch of my friends.

hrmph....

Sure everyone says something about the scissors but no one comments on the Eurydice set. *pout* As for the sheer number (get it.."shear"...well love would be proud of me) of scissors, mind you it is the merging of both our collections as well as tons of donations from people giving me their sewing equipment. I won't mention how many sewing machines (working and non) that are in my house.

I have been a busy little bee of late. Friday nite we threw a BBQ so of course it rained and had to move the festivities indoors. So that canceled the croquet match and the s'mores toasted at the fire pit, but it was fun anyway.

I finished the shawl for love's grandmother. I laid it out to show him when I bound of and then noticed something. Same dye lot but you can distinctly see the different skeins...son of a motherless goat!
I'm also working on a baby sweater for a friend. I have 3 skeins of yarn for it and a hat. I have two in the darker and one in the lighter. The hat was knit in the darker a while ago and I started knitting the sweater with the lighter main body with darker details....not enough yarn for that. So I frogged it all (i had done the back and the two fronts) and the hat and restarted with darker main body and lighter details. I'll do the hat a mix of the two. It's in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino. Love the stuff...oh why don't I get more yarn??? I nabbed this stuff when It was discontinued. At least I'm working on my destashing.

I also had a late surprise gift from my old PRGE pal Obsidian Kitten! There is a beautiful tulip shaped bowl for candles...lets see the little bastard squirrels chop that off! A Batman button, some pretty pretty soap and a hand knit pot holder. The postcard has a picture of Charlie Chaplin from Modern Times. Not seen is the Fear Factor red fire ants gummies. Those didn't last long. Thank you again! It came at the perfect time as all your packages did.

Ok off to get my hairs cut by a professional, buy a pin drill and to the doctor's for some paperwork. Then to love's company picnic where I will try to behave myself. well...maybe.

Righting some wrongs

For those who bemoan the fact that I forgot my camera while painting Euyrdice in NYC here's a little movie with pictures of the set to narration from the designer. (who happens to be one of my favorite designers). None of the workers pictured are me. Sorry. Wasn't much time for picture taking.

And a correction...it seems that I DON'T own 17 pairs of scissors...I own 22. That's all I came across actually. I didn't dig too deep in our tool area or in some of the more obscure craft storage areas.

Don't worry....

I didn't cut my hair off. I'm just aggravated with it. My mum wouldn't cut it as short as I wanted back in April and now it is too long again. My hair grows wicked fast and I haven't found a good hairdresser that is affordable. That's why I just let it grow...it costs way too much to maintain a cut. But when it is getting this long it's quite heavy.

So I didn't chop it...I gorged my self on take out from Outback and laughed at Shaun of the Dead.

I have four more days of work before a day off...four more days.

hide n seek

I think love better hide the scissors....all 17 pairs of them...slightly (and getting more) drunk and sick of my hair...hehehe.

Cursed

Apparently I'm phucking cursed to be a god-damn pariah at any job I have because I follow policy and fight for a safe workplace.

Can you tell that i'm drinking already. I've had it. I'm on a 10 day stretch with out a day off and I have a feeling that I will be tendering my notice at the end of it. I'm sick of doing everything that I am asked to do and being the bad guy for doing it.

But on a good note I'm due for a good boss in the cycle...

Boss L-great boss taught me a lot
Boss J-horrible
Boss L-Best boss I ever had! Miss her like crazy (yes Lisa that's you)
Boss K-absolute nutcase had to talk her out of suicide most days and ended up totally stabbing me in the back
Boss T-tough but fair. totally took a chance on me. really made me feel appreciated after boss K. I cried when he left.
Boss L-awful, childish, thinks he's the best thing since sliced bread but can't find his way out of a paper bag...I could easily go on.
Boss ???-see the next one should be good...where are they though???

In the Darkness

I am in one of my darker moods right now. Not a pit of despair, mind you. This is not depression. This is....well what has gotten me labeled goth through the years.

Dark, reclusive...I'd lock myself in my studio with my music and work all night if it weren't full of cats. I have an urge to either have an altered state of consciousness or cut myself right now. One of my secret thrills/secret addictions is self mutilation. I've not succumbed to it in years, but the need and desire is often there. Ever present...like my eating disorders. It's very hard to explain to those who don't do it...Reviving Ophelia has a good chapter on it, beyond being a fabulous book as a whole. I think every adolescent girl should read it...and any woman who never had the chance to. Secretary is a movie that addresses it in a very forward manner. Actually when my Love and I watched this movie together I turned to him at one point and said "that's what it feels like, that's why I do it" It's a shame that too many people focus on the bondage aspect of the movie. Am I revealing too much of myself...oh well. Like I've said...I've not cut in years. Mostly for the sake of my love.

Where was I going with all this. I just have an urge to walk away from work and all of this and just drown myself in music and art. Back like I use to before this horrible suburban rut I'm in. Perhaps it's the weather, or the time of year, or having gone off to New York to paint, or the moon and planets or whatever. I need to pull back from all this and find my spirit again. Find my art again. something...

sorry if this post wasn't what you expected...perhaps I'm starting to be myself again.

Wednesday

We I'm a bad girl and didn't take pictures yesterday on my day off when it was sunny. It doesn't help that the camera is full. Stupid thing won't recognize the memory card at all so we have to rely on the internal memory...which is anywhere from 9 to 12 pictures. Bah!

Font wars update
Larger: 2 votes
Smaller: 2 votes (and one if I had to vote vote)
Don't care: 2 votes

So I'll keep thinking about it for a while. I wish I could get the size to something in between. I've tried doing so on my template but it just won't budge. hrm...

Today I am working at my old store getting my assistant settled in and clearing out the shop of all 'illegal' stuff. It will be rather interesting to be back. I miss some people like crazy...the others... meh. I will try very hard to not be snarky. Well I better drag the boy out of bed before I leave.

Today's Mantra is from the Tao Te Ching:
Do your work, then step back.
The only path to serenity.

Font wars

Ok...i'm going to take a little poll here....

I'm not sure what works best for you who read this

Do you like reading my blog in

This font size (larger)

or this font size (normal)

The most votes win.

getting there

I just realized that I haven't posted in a few days and I left it rather tenuous. I'm doing better. SnB was good...the mooing of the ice cream cow at Stew's was a little much, but I think the place is a winner for now. I worked on the shawl for my love's grandmother until I ran out of yarn...i didn't have the extra. So I went to start on Otis...had the extra yarn but not the piece I was knitting on. So I grabbed the Silky Wool I had in there and started on my Knucks.

Work has been hell on wheels. My assistant is being promoted and moved out to another store. I wouldn't have made it through the holidays or my Dad's surgery with out her there. They are swapping her with someone else, unfortunately some one who has extenuating circumstances in her family which means I cannot rely on her being there. And my new guy quit an hour before his shift yesterday. The day I throw my keys at my boss and walk out the door gets closer and closer everyday. *think pretty thoughts....happiness is a warm gun....think pretty thoughts*

I will have pics of the knitting when the sun decides to come out.

In the light of day

I'm doing a tad better this morning. At least I've learned to recognize when I'm having a bout of depression. It's a start. Today will be a struggle. Work is going to be less than pleasent especially since the other two managers there today are ones that I cannot stand. Patience is a virtue but as we all know I'm not exactly known for being virtuious. Well I must be off. At least I have SnB to look forward to tonight. This time we're trying out the dining room at Stew Leonard's. We all know how I feel about Stew so that's something good today.

Today's Mantra: If you kill them then you are just making more paperwork for yourself.

falling

I am currently sinking into another pit of despair. Work has me overwhelmed and frustrated. Even when I'm home I can't get away from it. I'm stuck where I am and I don't know how to get out of it. I feel creatively and emotionally sucked dry. My fuse is getting shorter and my filters are wearing away.

Addicted to quizzes?

In the dark ages, how would gothknits die?

You would be burned as a heretic. At least you would go out in a blaze of glory ... or just a blaze. It all depends on how you spin it.

'How would you die in the dark ages?' at QuizGalaxy.com

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Again, not surprising

MISSING: gothknits

Was last seen walking around naked in the woods

'What will you last be seen doing?' at QuizGalaxy.com

'What will your obituary say?' at QuizGalaxy.com

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Its all fun and games until...

My contact ripped in my eye this morning. Never had that happen before. Damn it really hurts and it's rather hard to set an ad with one blurry and one non-blurry eye. Still hurts. Don't know why I'm posting this. Off to bed.

still here

It has been a crazy day. I stayed up too late last night yelling at the TV (read: watching hockey). We really need a bigger one. Ours is just too small to really see what is going on. At least they stopped doing the little colored blur to track the puck. I really hated that. I can't watch hockey and pay attention to my knitting so I worked on the green/yellow miter square blanket instead of Otis. That's the only knitting I've done since SnB on Wednesday. I've either been working or I crash when I get home. We did go out for our anniversary, at least. Well that's it. I'm exhausted, hungry and I still have a huge list of people that I need to call. Plus I have BE at work at 7am tomorrow. blah

mmmm...chocolate

You are Dark Chocolate

You live your life with intensity, always going full force. You push yourself (and others) to the limit... you want more than you can handle. An extreme person, you challenge and inspire the world!

What Kind of Chocolate Are You?

5 years ago...

I made the best decision of my life and married my best friend and the love of my life.

Happy Anniversary.