by Kat | Aug 9, 2007 | General
Hello everyone! So, here is the blogger challenge – to blog when nothing is going on!
I have been reading lots of forum posts on Ravelry – one of particular interest – what to blog about – and especially, what not to blog about. It seems that everyone has definate opinions about what not to put on ones blog.
Okay – here and now, I officially take back all posts regarding relationship issues – this seems to be a taboo subject! So, scratch that from the annals of my blog history!
Next, I take back any other personal issues – this is also a no-no topic!
Here is my question – and I am not “fishing for blog lurkers to come out and post” – this has a wonderful name in blogdom – one I will not use here! But, back to my question – if I cannot talk about what is really going on in my life – and everyone thinks that my life is like Ward and June Cleaver – how long will you all read my blog?
It is not as if I want to share all the gory details of life at the Christensen Huis – but really, I put my pants on just like you all do – and I have things that are a struggle each and every day. This is real life folks – and sometimes real life is messy!
So, for an August post where not much is going on – how about if I update you on my knitting forrays – I am plugging along on EZ’s BSJ – this is my first Zimmerman knit – foolish me for not picking up something she designed before. I am in awe of EZ’s brilliance. This is like knitting Mystery Stole #3 – just knit as she tells you until you are finished. I have just bound off the stitches for the neck – I am knitting this in Koigu – and I am in love with this little miracle sweater – for my girlfriends little miracle baby!
Speaking of my Mystery Stole – I am so thrilled with this pattern – kudo’s to Melanie for her design genius! I am plugging away on it, making my way through clue #3 – yes, I am behind. But, I have always found – the more in a hurry I am, the more behind I get. I don’t want to have to frog this gossamer gem – so slowly I go. I have so fallen in love with lace knitting I have cast on with my Briar Rose Angel Face – yes, that is right – I have Anne Hanson’s Wing O’ the Moth shawl started! There is something so magical about holding this thin strand of wool in your hands, twisting it in stitches and yarn overs on some Addi Lace needles, and watching the strand turn into the most lovely of creations! Knitting is truly amazing – a wonder of wonders, that me – a lowly human – can create something so extraordinary!
I am also plugging away on “Something Black” – I have divided the sleeves – and knitting down the body – almost to the ribbing. This is my mindless knitting right now – no counting, stockinette stitches – back and forth. But, I truly love this pattern – another genius designer – Ms. Wendy Bernard – it is amazing in its simplicity.
So, for a whole lot of nothing going on – it seems I rattled on quite a bit. Hope your week is flowing nicely – the weekend is knocking on the door. Here is to you all having a wonderful weekend! Cheers!
by Kat | Aug 5, 2007 | General
Hello everyone – can it really be August? This summer is just flying by – rapidly! We had some much needed rain last night – a nice, slow, all-night rain. It rained most of the morning as well. I think this is the first rain we have had in several months. So, even though it is a weekend, rain is quite okay!
Sitting inside and knitting is a great way to pass a rainy day – in fact, it seems nicer than sitting and knitting on a sunny day. With the sun out, there seemed to be a project that called to me when I was knitting – you know, weed the gardens, wash windows, take the dogs for a walk – take me for a walk!
So, here on this first rainy day of the summer – it was very nice to have no conflict – okay, maybe my kitchen floor is calling me – but I can easily ignore it! So, I have been working on my “something black” and my mystery stole – I am well into clue 3 – and I am enjoying this project! PLUS -Melanie revealed our theme – Swan Lake – and the fact that our stole will not be symetrical – guess what this means to me!!! I won’t have to “break” out all the beads I erroneously placed!! The other half will be different – thus, no one but me (and you, gentle readers) will know. I have been kicking my heels up with this pleasant surprise all weekend, since finding out!
The days are marching on toward school – and I have to sit down with my teacher friend – we are going to be teaching the “money strategies” class together again. I help with the portion that has to do with credit, lending, and loans. It is a tremendous amount of fun – teaching Mr. A’s middle school classes. I can hardly believe that in 4 short weeks, school will be back in session!!
I picked up the 25th anniversary edition of Vogue Knitting – while there have been some very mixed reviews on Ravelry regarding this issue – I myself, enjoyed it a tremendous amount. Being a fairly new knitter – August brings my 3rd Knitaversary – I enjoyed Vogue reminiscing about past issue “must knits” – they redid them with a new yarn – making them new again. Some readers did not enjoy this, but I loved the direction of find a yarn and knit!! If you have not seen it, I would most definately pick up this issue!
I got the new IK in the mail on Friday – there are some goodies in there as well. I looked at this issue using some of the Vogue techniques – find a yarn and knit! There are several patterns that I think I can knit from my stash!!
This makes me eager for fall – a change of seasons – and more inside time – knitting time! This and I am dreadfully sick of television reruns – and equally sick of the summer “filler” shows that are even worse than reruns! Bring on Autumn!!
So, as we all experience the Dog Days of Summer – fall is just around the corner. Have a good week everyone!
by Kat | Jul 31, 2007 | General
Who would of ever thought that the chuckles I got over Crazy Aunt Purl’s gardener woes would come back to haunt me.
Well, imagine my surprise when I arrived home to discover Francisco’s weed wacker happy cousin – Paco – working in our condo yards!
My neighbors have some lovely hydrangea’s that were just loaded with blossoms – I emphasize WERE! Enter Paco with a weed wacker and a hedge trimmer – can you hear the poor little plants crying – he trimmed off all the blossoms!!
Another neighbor has a gorgeous Rose of Sharon bush – it was equally top heavy with just opening lush pink blooms – which are now all laying around the base of the bush – wilting, dying victims of some cruel, twisted man!
In my front yard – my fox glove had bloomed – and they were so lovely – in pale shades of yellow – like sentinels in the sun. They lined up next to a riot of delphiniums – which were days away from opening to share their gorgeous purple hues with the world around them. That is until Paco arrived…
Paco took out his trusty weed wacker and mowed them all down – to the ground – one lone soldier left – crushed under Paco’s feet.
I surprised Paco with my lunch time arrival – you could probably hear me screaming across the town – and then the tears began.
This seemed to terrify Paco – he urgently shared with me that he remembered not to cut down my butterfly bush, like he had last year! He was very confused as well – he did not know, evidently that there was a whole segment of society that actually enjoyed blooming things!
I shared with him – in a fairly loud voice – if he could remember not to cut down the Butterfly bush – why on earth could he not remember not to cut down the flowers next to it!!
It is a sadist plot, I tell you.
But – there is a Flower Hero!
Enter Ken – when I shared with him the horror I was witnessing – he immediately came to the rescue!
He will be installing some “protective” fencing to keep Paco and his instruments of destruction out!
I am sure I won’t even mind the neon orange color!
by Kat | Jul 30, 2007 | General
Well hello everyone! Hope you all had a “FANTASTIC” weekend! Filled with “FUN”! I had a “FABULOUS” weekend up at Lake Charlevoix with Ken’s “FAMILY”.
On Saturday, we (this would be Ken and me- and no, he did not think it was a Viper Festival – he was ready to trek through the yards and yards of yarn with me) took the “FERRY” to the “FIBER FESTIVAL” at Castle “FARMS”. There were dozens of vendors selling their “FIBERY” goodness!!
I stopped by Briar Rose “FIBERS” and snagged some gorgeous Angel Face to knit up Ann Hansen’s “Wing of the Moth” shawl. Oh. My. Heavens. This yarn is gorgeous – stay tuned for some Yarn Photos later on!
I also got some Aussie Sock Yarn – in a masculine gray colourway – after all, if Ken could trek through “FIBER FESTIVAL” with me – he should get some socks for the effort, right?
I also saw Susie there – and we had a wonderful reunion! Hugs and kisses and laughter. Susie had a drop spindle and a pocket “FULL” of roving – temptress that she is! I managed to hold off the lure of spinning – and just stuck with the “FINISHED” product.
I shared a room with Ken’s sister Sue – we had a great time together. I think we stayed up most of “FRIDAY” night talking. I enjoyed his family immensely and we have all planned a “FOOTBALL” “FESTIVAL” in September at GVSU for one of their games. Sue’s daughter, Stacy, attends GVSU – so I am sure that will be a “FUN” time!
Ken’s sister Sheri and her husband Randy took us for a boat tour of Lake Charlevoix – at least the south arm of it. Wow. This is the really high rent district! Holy cow, were there some palatial pads on the lake!
Saturday evening we had a surprise party for Sheri turning “FIFTY”. Another “FUN FILLED” evening!
For a weekend filled with so many “F’s” I would rate it an “A” PLUS!
by Kat | Jul 27, 2007 | General
It seems that change is inevitable – whether we want it or not. Sometimes the change is from within ourselves, but other times the change is from external forces. I think that a large part of lifes stess is due to my inability to accept change. Now, that being said – I think that I handle change fairly well, up to a certain point. I think the easiest change to work through is internal change – after all, that is the change I have the most control over. It is the external forces that cause me the most problems.
I am in a job field where changes are happening daily – rapidly – sometimes without any notice. This makes it highly stressful at work. What was always black and white now suddenly has a lot of gray areas.
Can someone please send me the rules for the gray areas???
Last night was Knit Night at Friends – I had not been there in several weeks – boy, did I miss those women! I broke my “yarn rules” last night as well. I got some lovely Koigu to cast on for EZ’s BSJ. This will be my very first EZ project – wow, huh? So, as I cast on my 160 stitches and began knitting I was so excited! Reading each step – counting my stitches – not rushing ahead to see what is next – relaxation just washed over me. Listening to all the conversations around me – Sue’s excitement of a brand new granddaughter, Ann’s work woes, AnnMarie’s work stories, looking at the pictures from Ruby’s daughter’s recent wedding – is it any wonder that I love this group so much? That and the fact that there was delicious food last night – Sue brought a “celebration” cake from Coldstone and another knitter – who I did not know – brought a fresh blueberry pie. The pie was divine!
I was up early this morning – I colored my hair, drank some coffee, played a bit on Ravelry – and now I am finishing up to head to work.
It will be a get away day for me…. I am going up north with Ken to his sister’s cottage in Charlevoix. It is a ‘family get together’ – his parents will be there, and most of his siblings – I am sharing a room with his sister, Sue. I even told Ken about the Fiber Fest that is going on at Castle Farms – to which he replied – “well, we’ll have to go”! I am hoping to see Susie there as well on Saturday. Now, I am more than a little nervous about this weekend – meeting all (or almost all) the family???? But, what on earth should I think about a man who wants to go to a fiber festival?????
Have a great weekend everyone!
by Kat | Jul 24, 2007 | General
Ravelry, that is! I got my invite today!! Woohoo!!! Okay, so this is quick and from work – my user name is AsKatKnits! This looks like an excellent way to waste time!! (as if I need another way to waste time!!)
