by Kat | Mar 27, 2008 | General
Panic is surely setting in here as the days of unemployment draw to a close.
How the heck can it be Thursday already????
I wonder if I find a horn and march around outside blowing it loudly that I can stop time for a bit! Well, it worked for Joshua in Jericho – a girl can only hope, right??
I can hear you all muttering – insanity has surely set in!
Okay, maybe it has!
My good intentions for the week have gone by the wayside. I have some cleaning done, but not what I want to have done. I have some knitting done, but not what I wanted to have done.
I got sidetracked on Tuesday – major derailment people!
You see, it started out as a Good Samaritan Journey. And, with those good intentions I headed off to A2 to get Sandy’s dear husband Budd. Jail Break from The Joint, I was so into this plan!
The problem is what is between here and there…
There is of course Mecca and how can one but stop in Mecca – especially when you are on a Good Samaritan Journey?!? Plus, I had a gift certificate burning a hole in my hot little hand.
Okay, that was one the first detour in my Good Samaritan Journey.
Stop number 2 was a bit more dangerous. It all started when I called The Divine Miss B and she answered the phone. Darn her! Bigger problem, she calls me back asking me for help in the purchase of a vacuum for her shop. Oy. Then she called again to let me know she and her darling daughter were heading right over to the shop to wait for me. Double Oy! She must have heard her cash register singing for joy. So, on to Howell I proceeded.
Well, it is right on the way to Ann Arbor – I swear it is!!
Yeah, so I leave with much in tow. New traveling wheel, new drop spindle, one of those adorable acorn spindles, a book…
All this on the Good Samaritan Journey – and then I arrive, finally, at long last, to spring Budd from the Joint. (FYI, looks like they are having a special on Colon Cancer Screenings right now, just in case you are interested – just saying!)
With Budd, new wheel, and a wee bit of yarn in the vehicle we made a run for the border of Lake Michigan.
So, my questions remains – how the heck can it be Thursday already!?!
I am off, gentle readers, to find a horn to blow! Photo’s of my mayhem to follow… stay tuned!
by Kat | Mar 24, 2008 | General
Hello Everyone. There is great excitement here at The Home For The Unemployed! This is the last Monday of unemployment!
Can you hardly stand it?!?
That’s right, next week Monday I will be sitting in orientation at my new job!
So, this week I will be a woman on a mission.
There is laundry to do.
There is cleaning to do. (Okay, maybe my version of cleaning is different than yours, but I will endeavor to get a bit done anyways!)
There is knitting to do.
And more knitting to do.
And maybe even a bit more knitting to do.
Holy cow that is a lot of knitting.
My poor knitting needles are going to have a shock to their system next week. They are going to be languishing around with unfinished projects hanging off them. They are going to find themselves sad, lonely, and wondering where I went! So, this week I am going to work like a fiend to try and finish up a few projects.
Just to update you on where my knitting projects stand – I am to the crown decreases on Gretel. Hopefully this will be off my needles today! I am still plugging away at the Hemlock Ring blanket, I have 2 and a half skeins of yarn left. I have lots more rounds to do. I am not sure that I have enough yarn to finish. Yeah, just ducky, huh? Not sure how that saga will end – but I will keep you posted! Then there are my Super Secret May Day Swap socks – I am heading down to the library today to enlarge the pattern. I am hoping that will help. I am having a hard time getting in the flow of this pattern. I love the yarn, I mean, what is not to love about STR? This stuff is divine. Heavenly. I just need to get my brain wrapped around all the little twists and turns of the chart and do some memorization. Problem is, there is lots to memorize – and it is minuscule. Not saying I need reading glasses or anything – really, I have tried and they give me a headache! But, there are many figures to memorize – many! Lots of going back and forth between the chart and the key. Slow knitting people. Slow! Anyways, I am hoping that enlarging will help enormously! There are a few other projects, but they are not in the “get done or else” category.
So, I am off to clean up a bit and get to knitting.
Have a good one all!
by Kat | Mar 23, 2008 | General
Hello everyone! I am hoping that your Easter, be it white and covered in snow or bursting forth with spring flowers, has filled your day with joy! In our house the day began with Son-rise worship followed by Easter Breakfast prepared by the youth group. And, while this is not a gourmet breakfast by any stretch of the imagination, the predictability of this meal accompanied with the fellowship of good friends made the morning!
Now that lunch is over my plan for the remainder of the day is to sit and knit and knit some more!
I have been working on my Super Secret May Day Swap Socks! I am not much farther than the last time I reported in to you, but it is not for lack of trying. I had to frog back a bit when I discovered a large mistake. And, trust me, I tried valiantly to avoid a trip to the frog pond. No such luck for this lowly knitter! So, I am now back on track and hopefully I will be Twisting along the Tulip Lane and have sock #1 completed soon!
I also have been working a bit on the never ending rounds of the Hemlock Ring blanket. I am to the point where I am concerned that I will have enough yarn to finish. So, either I knit faster (that is the knitter cure, right?) or find another skein of yarn…
I have been spinning and plying a bit. I will try and get pictures posted tomorrow. I spun up and plied the Wool-Bamboo that I got at the Dyeing Workshop from Rita. Lovely stuff, let me tell you.
I should also be working on finishing Gretel – but May Day Sockmania has over taken much of my knitting time.
My son had his girlfriend over last night and she was enthralled watching me spin. They sat in the living room and she was asking me a million and one questions (much to my son’s chagrin!) and I asked her if she knit – nope. But, I will be exceedingly happy to teach her. She is a darling young lady. And, enabler that I am, a new knitter and spinner is a good thing! Especially since my children have no interest in taking up needles and knitting. However much they like hand knits for themselves, they are content with me knitting them!
Alright, I am off to pour myself a glass of wine and spend the evening knitting.
Blessed Easter everyone!
by Kat | Mar 21, 2008 | General
Excuse me, but I believe that yesterday was the Vernal Equinox – Spring – end of winter – etc.
Well, someone forgot to tell Old Man Winter that because he blew in this afternoon and deposited 12 inches of snow and it is still coming down! The wind is howling and yowling outside. Heaven only knows what the poor Robin I saw this morning is doing right now.
Heck, I should be knitting a nest cozy for that Robin!
You would never know that yesterday was so sunny and gorgeous out. Sandy and I headed down to visit Marr Haven and the lovely owner. What a lovely farm – Barb is an amazing artist. Her dyeing is beautiful and her sheep are too cute! Her workshop is filled with wonderful things to spark your creative genius!
Hope you have all your Easter Eggs dyed. And, your Easter baskets ready for the Easter Bunny to fill… I think that Santa may have to hitch up his reindeer to help out the Bunny with his deliveries!!
Stay warm if Old Man Winter is still in your neighborhood!
by Kat | Mar 20, 2008 | General
Hello everyone! Hope your week is rolling along smoothly.
Yesterday I accompanied Sandy to Ann Arbor – her husband is not feeling great and he was admitted to the hospital for some tests. Check in was something else. There was this hysterical, and I mean hysterical, woman working in admitting. Her name was Mary Beth… she was a woman who would put most stand up comedians to shame. We were all laughing and having a fabulous time with her wit. I asked her at one point if she was a knitter. Her reply caused us all to burst into laughter! “Knit?” she says to me, “I can’t do that at all. I cannot get things off the needles,” she quips with a straight face, “I just have to keep buying more needles.” Oy – what a woman.
This week was also Spinning night at FOW – and it was busy! One of the lovely ladies that I have met there has just started a new blog. Her name is Jenna and you need to stop over to Jenna’s blog and tell her I asked you to do so. She is a new spinner as well and she spins beautifully! One creative and crafty lady!
March Madness has commenced so it is all basketball, all the time for the next few weeks. Can you hardly stand it???
This morning I had an interesting conversation with The Divine Miss Beth! I thought I would get the shop voice mail and leave her a message with some questions about a lesson or two with her to help me hone my spinning skills a bit. But, imagine my shock when she answers the phone and announces to me that she is naked! I warned her that I was a blogger and she was giving me free fodder for publication…
Anyways, stop over and give Beth a holler and tell her to put some pants on! Or at least put some on before Abby gets there next weekend!!! Anyways, I let her know that I was going to work on trading up my Ashford and I was going to be in the market for a traveling wheel. And, if anyone knows spinning wheels it is Beth! She filled my brain with some things to think about. If any of you are interested in an Ashford Traveler with 4 extra bobbins get a hold of me and we can talk price and shipping arrangements. I will be putting something on Ravelry as well.
Have a great evening everyone.
by Kat | Mar 18, 2008 | General
Hello everyone!
Last night Sandy and I went to spin with the Woodland Spinners. It was great fun! What an upbeat group of talented spinners! I even met someone who is a new spinner like me! She started spinning in August when she took a class at Allegan Fiber Festival! We laughed about celebrating our one year “spiniversay” together! There was also some great discussion from the group on participating in the “Sheep to Shawl” contest that they have at Allegan! Lots of new thoughts swirling around in my head!
And, tonight the Holland Spinners are meeting! This will be fun as well – I took the Dyeing class with Lisa and Jenna and I am looking forward to seeing their fibers!! I started spinning my Merino/Bamboo roving last night. Yum! I like!! I saw something interesting on Abby’s blog and I am doing that with my roving. We’ll see how it turns out!
One last tidbit to leave you with. In our Thursday night knitting group we have a lovely lady who has 9 children. Yes, you read that correctly – nine! Well, last night I met another lovely lady who has her beat and beat by a mile. She has 13 children ranging in ages from 31 years old to 8 years old. I almost fell out of my spinning chair and, if I still had my uterus, it would have been crying!! Thirteen kids – oh. my. gosh. And, get this gentle reader, they do this with a bath and a half. She was loads of fun, which you would have to be with 13 kids – don’t you think? And, what is the break down – boys to girls, you ask? Seven boys and six girls. Here is what I am thankful for – I am not doing their laundry!!
Have an awesome Tuesday all!
