it's been a while...

And things are different. I have a craft show tomorrow, so I'm madly knitting for that (except right now, when I'm typing) and hoping I sell every bit of what I bring. Thanks to the terrible economy, we'll likely be moving in a few months, though I don't know yet if it'll be for a job or back in with my mom in Maryland. Clio the Wonder Kitty has a urinary stone that should have, in all ways, killed her, but she's perfectly healthy. I am sort of holding my breath to see what our future holds. I'm excited to find out, whether it's good or not so good. Either way, it'll be different.

A taste of things to come

Here's a few photos of some of the handspun yarns I have listed or will list during this week in my shop. They're going to be priced MUCH lower than normal in order to get some cash flowing into my anemic bank account.

hi there

Wow, it's been a while, eh? I've been in quite a long, drawn-out funk. I'm not a fan of my job (anybody want to hire me? For anything?) for several reasons, and it's affecting my brain pretty heavily.

However, this weekend marks the first weekend I have off since I told my boss "no more weekends!!". Even though this means my hours are being cut roughly in half, I can't tell you how happy I've been since I got off work Friday. It's completely worth it (not to mention the fact I'll actually get to spend time with Big Man again).

One sign of this happiness is that I'm interested in spinning again! Oh, I had done some during the bleaker days, but I wasn't *excited* about it. Now I am. Due to the hours being cut, I plan to work hard and get things listed in my Etsy shop at enough of a discount to (hopefully) ensure they sell just to get some more money coming in. I'm just spinning my fingers off, and it feels great. I owe a local Ravelry/LSG friend a debt of gratitude for getting me going, as she is paying me to custom spin some rovings she fell in love with.

I plan to take photos tomorrow, as this afternoon was spent spinning and napping (and, I kind of forgot I was supposed to take them). I hereby swear to post photos on this blog in the next few days of beautiful fibery things. Oh wait! I DO have a picture of the skein I test-spun for my Ravelry/LSG friend!

50ish yards, 4oz of hand-dyed merino from Fat Cat Knits, her colorway Deep Woods (I called it Sea Glass)

And just for fun, here's my buddy Sampson at the Wild Animal Park (where I met said friend this morning). I don't really know if it's true, but I like to think he remembers me, as every time I go into the aviary he hangs out in, he always comes right to the front of his tree and hams it up and looks like he wants to jump onto my shoulder. I say this because I've observed him from the entrance (where he can't see me), and he just sort of hangs out on the tree not doing a lot for other folks. I do usually spend at least 15 minutes talking to him every time we go.

Today he danced for me! I'd never seen that. Of course, that was when my camera died, so you'll have to move your head up and down in front of this photo and pretend.

He's a hyacinth macaw, and part of the reason I realllllllly want a big bird. His beak (and a lack of funds and space) is part of the reason I don't have one. I'm a weenie.

Maybe the lifting of the funk will mean more blogging too--it feels fun right now, whereas in the past it felt a bit like a chore or duty. Here's hoping! Now I'm off to spin some more...

You must eat this NOW.

Immediately, drop whatever you're doing and go straight to the nearest grocery store. You MUST try this flavor of ice cream.



I know it's been out for a while, and I'm late to the party. But it's soooooo gooooooooooood.

Also, if anyone knows where I can get my hands on some Ben & Jerry's Coconut Seven Layer Bar ice cream (short of going to a scoop shop), PLEASE let me know!

I'm a thief.

My lovely friend Susan has a recurring feature on her blog of "Probably Something You Would Like". I'm stealing that idea to share some things with you that I like, and hopefully you will too!

I adore Smitten Kitchen's blog. LOADS of wonderful recipes, all very well-written and photographed, and I have yet to find a problem with anything I've cooked. Well, baked, as I usually go for the goodies. I also bought some of her prints to put up in my kitchen. They look lovely, if I say so myself. Well, if you ignore the horrible rental "white" paint and the ugly window.


The artwork found in AmberAlexander's shop is *amazing*. I'm in love, and want to wallpaper my wool room in her prints. I especially like this one of an octopus.

Artwork property of and courtesy of AmberAlexander

Lookit this amazing fiber bowl! It's machine stitched on soluble fabric, and is just astounding to me. ChocolateFrog really is an expert at this most unusual art.

Image courtesy of ChocolateFrog

Not Always Right kills me, every time. Customers say the darndest things!

You've probably seen this before, but I lurve it. The kitty makes me happy.

Well, I think that's it for now. I don't get out much anymore--work, sleep, sometimes on my days off I get to cook or do fibery things. I'll see if I come up with anything interesting for a post next week--if not, maybe this will be an intermittent feature!

Friday Funny

I snagged these from this month's issue of Vegetarian Times.


A couple sits down at a diner. The husband orders a burger, and his wife gets the veggie burger. The waitress yells back to the cook " Two burgers, one regular and one de-calf!"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Why did the tofu cross the road?






To prove he wasn't chicken!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A man walks into the doctor's office with carrots in his nose and broccoli in his ears. He says, "Hey doc, I still don't think I'm eating right."

Well, hello there.

I am still here. Things have been, well, a bit topsy-turvy in my head the last couple of months. I'm trying to straighten myself out and settle down. It's slow going, but it is going, at least a little bit.

I've been trying to get used to my new job, and doing some knitting, and some spinning, and lots of nothing too. I might have a finished object to show you, but, well, someone has been holding me up.




That's the inside of the finished back of my Estes Vest. Clio decided it was wonderful and the perfect bed, so it has been naught but a bed for some time now. I've also finished one side and part of another, and will be buying a skein of grey Lamb's Pride to make her her very own bed, so she can stop usurping my knitting.

I'm going to try to post more often. I did hear a good joke recently, so look for a Friday Funny this week. Oh, before I forget--I'm going to Rhinebeck this fall! For those of you who aren't fiber fanatics, Rhinebeck is the informal name for the New York State Sheep & Wool Festival, and it is one of the two biggest on the East Coast, if not in the country. I'm considering it research, as I'd really love to make a living traveling to different markets with my yarns, and selling online and wholesale in between festivals.

Till next time, keep knitting, spinning, spending time with your loved ones--whatever it is that makes you tick and keeps you happy!

Virtual Cat

Because I forgot to take the camera to the beach this weekend and because I've done nothing but knit, watch Mythbusters on DVD, and that single beach trip, I have nothing to show you (though if the sun stays out, I'll snap some pics of the finished back of my Estes vest). However, I figured we could all use some time with a snoozing kitty, who is ever-so-happy to have me home all day. You might be able to hear her tiny little snores. If not, she's still calming and cute. Hope it brightens your day even a little.

Friday Funnies

A three year old walked over to a pregnant lady while waiting with his mother in the doctors office.

He inquisitively ask the lady, "Why is your stomach so big?"
She replied, "I'm having a baby."

With big eyes, he asked, "Is the baby in your stomach?"
She said, "He sure is."

Then the little boy, with a puzzled look, asked, "Is it a good baby?"
She said, "Oh, yes. It's a real good baby."

With an even more surprised and shocked look, he asked...
"Then why did you eat him?"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Three guys are driving in a pickup, two in the cab and one in the bed. Suddenly, a deer jumps into the road, so the driver swerves to avoid it and drives down an embankment into the river. He and the other guy in the cab swim out as the truck sinks. To their horror, as they reach the riverbank, they realize the third guy is nowhere to be found. They’re just about to dive into the river to save him when the third guy final pops up and swims to the shore. “Sorry,” he says. “I couldn’t get the tailgate open.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What do you call two men sitting on a window sill?







Kurt and Rod.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Three fonts walk into a bar. The bartender looks up and say "Shove off! We don't serve your type in here!"

what, you want I should update?

So, it's Thursday. Time has gotten away from me, moreso than usual. I do have a few pictures (however terrible) for you, and I will post them now. Let's see, how to begin...

I went to Stitches West. It was really great. I want to be a vendor next year. I think that makes me insane (especially since I just looked at the prices for vending this year, eep!). I nearly forgot to take photos, and the ones I took are sort of blurry. Believe me, these two are the best of the bunch. Sorry, but if you squint you'll see it clearly!

Yes, it was crowded. Yes, it was weird being one of the attendees after working so many other types of conventions. However, as it was a crowd of women, I could see over almost everyone!

Standing on a chair near one of the back corners. This was a relatively *open* area--it was PACKED in some of those booths!

I think this was The Bagsmith booth--those are US50 wooden needles. She could've killed someone with them. The rug to her left was knit with roving and those needles.

What's that? You want to know what I bought? Why? Oh, living vicariously, ok. I had set aside some of my tax refund to take to Stitches, and boy am I glad I did! I used almost every last penny of my budget for the trip, but I paid for all my gas, food, and of course yarn with it. I've got some captions on the photo (click on it to "embiggen" so you can actually read it). Also, please try not to be distracted by the colors of my bedspread. Nowhere else was big enough and light enough to take the photo!

click to make it big enough to read the captions!

• I have no idea just yet what the Malabrigo is for, though there is enough of the Brillante for a vest (I think) and enough of the Melilla for a short-sleeved sweater (I think--maybe even elbow length). I simply could NOT resist those colors. Yes, I know it's a softly spun single, and yes I know it will pill. I don't much care though, and I'll shave them as necessary!

• The Knitting Notions should be plenty for a cabled vest, I believe. Hand-dyed--there are gorgeous tonal variations you can't quite see in the photo.

• There's another enormous skein of Eco-Wool for Big Man's sweater, but that was being swatched from and therefore in another room (did I tell you I want to make him a hoodie? And that he wants it baggy? Thankfully he likes the looser/bigger needle swatch!).

• The sequin thread will be plied with some plain black thick/thin (like these yarns) and I think I can get two skeins out of it, and the two green wool/stainless Habu cones are to (eventually when paired with two cones I already have) make myself a Sea Tangles sweater.

• The ultra-fine stainless--I can't wait to try that! I want to spin a textured single of...maybe merino/bamboo, and let that thinner-than-a-hair wire wrap around it as I spin it back the other way. It'll be sooooo coooooooool. I have to find the perfect fiber, though...ooh, maybe I'll corespin and then let the wire wrap! So many decisions.

Not much else is going on right now, honestly, I'm applying for jobs, freezing myself because I feel like not using the heat (but leaving the silly windows open) is a great money-saving measure for some reason, and deciding if I should make my own bread every day (is it more cost-effective? Doing the math today). ETA: I just called my local warehouse store, and a 25lb bag of all-purpose flour is $6.29. That is roughly $0.26 flour cost PER LOAF of sandwich bread. Guess who's never *buying* sandwich bread again! Off to try making a loaf right now to ensure I'm good enough at it that this would be a worthwhile purchase.
I've been doing loads of knitting on my Estes Vest, and have nearly the whole back done. I know it's faster than if I were doing it with finer yarn, but even using the Lamb's Pride Bulky and US10.5 needles, all the tiny cables in the honeycomb are slowing me down. It's such a cool pattern, though, that it's worth it. Plus, it's going to be a REALLY warm vest--I'm excited.

And because I know you've missed her, here's another shot of Her Furry Highness. It's from yesterday, and she was resting hard. Doesn't she look tired from all her exertions?

Friday Funnies, Matey!

These are courtesy of my Seester, queen of silly jokes. Thanks Seester!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Why did the pirate cross the ocean?





To get to the other tide!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A pirate walks into a bar with a paper towel on his head. The bartender asks "what's with the towel?", and the pirate replies "Arrr! I've a bounty on me head!"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How much did the pirate pay for his piercings?





A buck-an-ear!

Wednesday, huh?

What a long strange week it's been. Let's see...

1. I am now part of the 7.6% of Americans who are unemployed. I kind of knew it was coming, but it still stings. On the plus side of things, this means I probably have more time for spinning and knitting till another job comes along!

2. I'm going to Stitches West this weekend. Actually, I leave tomorrow morning. I'm driving up, picking up a fellow Raveler about halfway. it should be loads of fun, especially as I have a portion of my tax refund to spend as I wish!

3. I have not yet begun to pack for this trip. I don't even know what knitting projects I'm taking, and I have to do a load of laundry. I am sure I'll forget nothing (yeah, right). I will try to remember to take photos, though.

4. I don't know that I even have 4 things tonight, much less 5. It's been sort of a draining afternoon/evening. Did I mention that when I got to the rental car place directly after work, that location had closed and *no one told me*? I was, um, "annoyed". I was able to go to another nearby location and get my silly rental car though.

5. Hey look, 5! But nothing substantive to post, so here's a picture of my cat. Again.

Another one bites the dust...

Hopefully I've now gotten that song stuck in your head, because I'm evil like that. Another week has flown by. Thanks to my pinkeye (which seems to be resolved now, thankfully) and some goings-on at work, I had a three day week this past week, and I'm going to have another one this week because I'm going to Stitches West!! I'm pretty excited, though it doesn't really seem real. I've already made up shopping lists for all the yarn weights and yardages I'll need for all the different sweaters I want to make. If you actually clicked through, you'll see two men's sweaters. Yes, I'm convincing Big Man he wants a sweater. Considering how tall he is, I think I now qualify as a masochist. At least they're both done in worsted weight yarn, so it won't be too awful.

I'm also excited to see many of my online friends from Ravelry. I'm road-tripping up and picking up a lovely Raveler about halfway up, and it should be a lot of fun. I made loads of muffins this weekend (more on that later) and intend to take quite a few with me, both for delicious snacks and to ensure I have something to eat in the mornings that doesn't come from Starbucks!

The only sad thing is that I don't think I'll have much in the way of internet access while I'm gone, so the virtual world will have to muddle through without me somehow!

Yesterday (and Friday night), I decided I wanted to bake. As Big Man will testify, I don't usually do things in a small way when I cook. I should probably sign a contract to cook for the local firehouse (though they would probably take exception to my vegetarian meal planning). I looked in my cabinet, saw that I had 4 kinds of dried fruit, and decided I would make muffins. I don't think I've ever made muffins, but that didn't deter me. So, when making muffins, the recipes usually make 1 dozen--muffin pans only have 12 cups, so why not? However, if you're going to take the time to cook one dozen, why not make TWO dozen? I mean, really, it would be silly not to. Right? Right?

That's a 5.0 cubic foot freezer. Sure, there is some other food in there (like Big Man's Lean Cuisine, which will go to work Monday and be replaced with more muffins, see below). but there are also approximately 60 muffins stuffed in there too. Oh, and about 4 cups of cookie dough (see it perched precariously in between the top two bags of muffins?) because 8 dozen muffins weren't enough.

This is why we discussed getting a small chest freezer last night. That's about 20 blueberry muffins that wouldn't fit in the freezer yet, plus a few of each flavor to be eaten sooner rather than later.

Since I was waiting to go to the specialty store on Saturday for the sparkling sugar to sprinkle heavily on top for that lovely sparkle and delicious crunch (though it turned out they don't carry it anymore, phooey), Friday night I made Olive Oil muffins from Smitten Kitchen's blog (which is amazing, go look). I cooked mine too long, as I'm not used to making muffins, but they're still just wonderful. I imagine they'll be perfectly delightful with a salad or soup, or, well, anything. I didn't use fresh zest, but rather splashes of citrus oil. It's wonderful stuff, and just the thing for adding flavor when you don't have fresh fruit handy, or when a recipe would suffer for too much liquid added. Take note: a little goes a loooooooooooooooooong way!

On Saturday, after discovering I wasn't getting any prettifying sugar, I came home and started baking. First up were Sour Cream-Apricot muffins. It says it makes 1 dozen muffins. When I doubled it, I had enough for 2 dozen muffins and to fill a loaf pan (if somewhat shallowly). This is ok, actually, as they're delicious! Despite me (again) cooking them too long, they're very tender and delicately flavored. When I chopped the dried apricots in my food processor, I added some candied ginger to the mix (and should've added a bit more). Note: if you make this recipe, the dough is much more like biscuit dough than batter, and will seem EXTREMELY dry til you add the soaked apricots, so do not skip the soaking! Also, they don't really rise almost at all, so feel free to fill the cups FULL.

The line-up, L to R: Olive Oil muffins, Sour Cream-Apricot muffins, Cherry-Lime-Almond muffins, and Blueberry-Lemon muffins.

Next up were the Cherry-Lime-Almond muffins. I used the same recipe for these as the Blueberry-Lemon muffins, but modified it to suit what I wanted. Disclaimer: I think I'm going to try a different recipe next time, as this wasn't quite right (though not bad!).
Trader Joe's makes a neat product called almond meal (though I expect you could find it lots of places) which is ground almonds that you can use to replace part of the flour in your baked goods to provide an almondy flavor without the chunks. Obviously, I used it here, or else I wouldn't mention it! I used both the lime oil and some lime juice. I only made up a small part of the total liquid called for with lime juice and made the rest up with water. Even so, the batter was VERY limey, but it mellowed out some on baking. I chopped the dried cherries in the food processor again, and again added some candied ginger to the mix. Also again, I needed to add more ginger! I again cooked them too long (noticing a pattern?), but they are very flavorful nonetheless. I really like the lime in particular, and the cherry flavor becomes more noticeable as they sit.

The final contender was Blueberry-Lemon. I also used some almond meal in these, but didn't feel like including it in the name. I actually used real lemons in this one, so no lemon oil for me! I scraped the zest of two lemons and used the juice like I did with the lime. I added a good bit of powdered sugar to the liquid, though, to make up for the intense tartness of the lemon juice. For these, I used dried wild blueberries (I love Trader Joe's!), and they're so wee I didn't chop them. I finally learned from my mistakes, too, and took them out sooner than I thought I should, and they have the best texture of any of the group. The blueberries are wonderful bursts of flavor, and I wholeheartedly recommend them, even if they are a bit pricey.

Finally, the cookie dough was my old fallback, modified of course. I added chopped good-quality dark chocolate, dried cranberries, and delicious tulip poplar honey (thanks Dad!) instead of the egg. I usually tip in some shredded coconut too, but I didn't have any. I have no idea how these bake up, because I don't think I've ever actually cooked them. I always just eat the dough. Oh don't look at me like that--I know you've done it too!

Oh, right--I'm supposed to talk about yarn and stuff, huh? Well, though the twist hasn't been set yet, I did some spinning amidst the baking this weekend. This is spun from FatCatKnits' last installment of the first merino club. It totals 4oz, though it is obviously in two yarns. The thin two-ply is spun from what wouldn't fit on the bobbin when I did the single. I had thought I wanted to do a N-ply, but thought the colors would look good and tweedy as a two-ply.

Approximately 45yds/2.6oz of the single and 80yds/1.4oz of the 2-ply. Approximately.

I would also love to know what your favorite online or local yarn store is. I have another huge batch of promotional postcards to send out, and would love your input on who you'd like to see carrying my yarns. Sadly, I can only do within the US right now, as selling wholesale internationally is a bit much for my feeble brain to comprehend at the moment!

Friday Funny

René Descartes walked into a bar and the bartender asked if he’d like a drink. He replied, “I think not” and *poof* he disappeared.

Have you heard about the vampire who decided to be come a poet?
I hear that he went from bat to verse.

What's orange and sounds like a parrot?






A carrot!

Wednesday!!

1. I'm nearly out of jokes for Funny Fridays! Someone help! Ok, the internet will probably be useful in this endeavor. So will my Seester, queen of goofy jokes. I'll be ok. I think.

2. My eye is much better, thank you. Antibiotics are pretty amazing.

3. The scarf of doom was used to great effect--lookie!

That's my old friend Katie in the middle, dressed as Rikku. She's accompanied by her friends Mary and Lauren dressed as other characters from Final Fantasy X-2. See the scarf of not-doom-but-awesomeness? She wears it well.

4. Due to upcoming changes in my life, you may get to see more yarns, FOs, and blog posts! Hurray! Or, you may not--I don't know yet what precisely is going to happen.

5. I don't normally post things like this, but it made me laugh today. Hope it makes your day a little brighter too.

Hmmm.

Welp, I was worn out Sunday and didn't post. Last night, I didn't much feel like it. I still don't tonight, but think I ought to. So now, I'm going to simply caption pictures rather than writing. So I think I shall. It's good to be da king.

Point Loma, the westernmost point of land in the continental US. That pic is for you, dad.

See, I told you we went whale-watching. That right there is the best picture I got. Sure, we saw tails and blow-sprays and flukes. But no, I couldn't get a single one on film.

A replica of the schooner America, who gave its name to the America's Cup race when the title was snatched from the British in 1851.

Look, handknits! See the neckwarmer? You saw it a few weeks ago too. The sweater was bought on clearance at Target. Can anyone explain to me why a sweater made of 60% cotton/25% wool/15% acrylic is the itchiest damn thing I own?!?

A nook-u-ler submarine. They can go 30 YEARS without refueling!! No, that's not a typo. YEARS. I know what I'm doing when the zombies come.

Lazy sea lions. They're sunning on some docks that date from the 1950s and are used for holding live bait.

Part of the SD skyline and the USS Midway. Though it's slightly cut off, the width of the Midway is nearly 26 stories. It's just over 100 stories long, twice the allowed "height" of San Diego skyscrapers due to FAA regulations.

Super delicious "Car Bomb" cupcakes I made for our LSG/Ravelry get together on Sunday. They have Guinness in the chocolate cake batter, whisky (that I didn't use) in the chocolate ganache filling, and Bailey's Irish Cream in the buttercream frosting. They are AMAZING, and you can find the recipe here.

That's all I've got for now. Have to save something for tomorrow's post of randomness, right?

Friday Funny

A neutron walks into the bar and asks how much for a drink….. barman says “for you, no charge”

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What does the H in Jesus H. Christ stand for?

Haploid

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What do you do with a dead chemist?

Barium.

Promiscuous Wednesday

Yes, promiscuous. See last week's post for clarification.

i. Don't forget--any purchases of yarn, patterns, or knitted items throughout the month of February will help support the Australian Red Cross in their efforts to deal with the devastation of the ongoing bushfires.

1. I think of things I could write all week, and then forget them. It's terrible. I can't wait to see how awful my memory will be when I'm 70!

2. I joined Twitter. Seemed like all my Ravelry friends were on it, and it also seemed like a great way to keep inane babble out of this blog. So, really, I did it for you. Check out my tweets (not twits) in the sidebar over there to your right.

3. You may have forgotten, but I have yarns on consignment over at Material Whirled. The wonderful Reenie Hanlin has a lovely website, so check it out!

4. On the note of yarns--I'm going to have to spin my head off the next few weeks, as my stock is incredibly low, and (thankfully!!) people want skeins. However, I have to finish a custom knitting project first, and I feel like it's the slowest thing I've ever knitted. Sigh.

5. I long for a proper crafting space. Right now, my wool storage/workspace shares a room with the guest bed and the computer. I would want a computer in my future studio (the internet is sort of integral to my happiness and crafting abilities), but I would LOVE to get the dang futon out of the room right now. That, however, would leave nowhere for guests, and we do like having visitors on occasion. Of course, there's also the comfy chair in the living room, and the yarn in our bedroom--those should all be in one place with the wool and other supplies. One of these days...probably the same day we cease to have noisy neighbors!

Australian Bushfires

I have several e-friends on Ravelry who are in the "danger zone" for the Australian bushfires. You may have heard news reports about the fires. One friend said "this must be what the apocalypse feels like".

I'll be donating all profits from the sale of yarns and knitted items and all proceeds from the sale of patterns to the Australian Red Cross during the month of February. Please consider making a purchase and supporting our Australian friends in their time of need.

I'll be donating weekly, and posting a running total of donations here on the blog. I've donated US$40 myself already to start us off. Help me make that number grow.

Additionally, if you're interested in supporting the care of wildlife injured in the bushfires, please click through to Wildlife Victoria to donate for the animals.

Are you sure we had a whole weekend?

I'm just asking, cause it sure seemed to fly by for me. Let's see...

SATURDAY

• Started out the day by visiting a local yarn shop interested in carrying my yarns. Not only did they agree to place a wholesale order, but two of the employees nearly cleaned out my stock for their own stash! I'm quite pleased, to say the least. I was also delighted to do the math and figure out I'd only need approximately 8 wholesale orders a month in order to match my current salary at my day job--time to step up my marketing!
  
• After doing a few things at home, Big Man and I went out for dinner to celebrate the sale. We ate at Monsoon downtown, and you should do the same if you're ever nearby--it's quite delicious, and the atmosphere is wonderful. I had coconut-ginger soup and dizzy noo shak (curried bananas), and of course delicious naan. We also ate at Extraordinary Desserts for (you guessed it) dessert. I was painfully full on the way home, but all the food had been so good I couldn't turn it down!
• Sadly, upon arriving home, I discovered my ankle was exceedingly unhappy with me for some reason, and I spent the rest of the evening grimacing and watching Iron Man.

SUNDAY

• Due to the stupidity of my ankle, we had to skip our beach walk. This made me very sad, and I alleviated my sadness in that time-honored way: baking. I made Blueberry-Lemon-Ginger bread from scratch, bastardizing a cranberry-nut bread recipe. I used dried wild blueberries from Trader Joe's, and diced up some candied ginger from the bulk food aisle at my local natural food store, and lemon oil instead of fresh juice/zest. It turned out quite well, though I always have to bake quick breads for FAR longer than the recipe says to get the middle done. Sometimes I don't care and eat it doughy, but I wanted to do this one right so I wouldn't be embarrassed to show y'all a picture!

• After making the bread, I decided I couldn't stand the clutter in the house anymore, and recruited Ian to join me in a cleaning whirlwind. It felt great, and we threw out plenty of useless junk, collected coins to cash in, and even rearranged a few things. I'm not done, of course, but a good portion of the apartment is much prettier now!
  
• While the sun poked its head out for a few minutes (it's been rainy here lately), I snapped some shop photos. Yes, you heard correctly--I have new yarns to list! You've seen the two black ones (remember them?), but this one I spun AGES ago, and hadn't shot yet. Heaven knows why, because I love the yarn so much I'm tempted to keep it.
  

It's spun from FatCatKnit's handdyed merino in colorway Crocodile Tears. I got it some time ago, so you may not remember seeing the roving in her shop. It's 116yds and just over 8oz of thick/thin bulkyish weight two-ply, and has delicious raspberry sorbet colored sparkle spun in at the raspberry parts (you can see it in the big version of the photo, so clickity!). If I could think of something specific I'd make with it, I would keep it!

• I'm now off to do a custom knitting order that I should've finished by now. I'm also packing up some packages (none of them orders, btw, so don't think I'm slacking there!) that I should've already mailed. How is time so speedy, and so much speedier than us?!?

Friday Funny

Because I have no problem whatsoever remembering to make regular posts, I decided to start another recurring post! I'll post something funny (and clean!) every Friday.

Why did the chicken cross the Moebius strip?











To get to the other...oh, wait.

Arbitrary Wednesday

1. The online thesaurus I sometimes use gives "promiscuous" as a synonym for random. That's a fail right there, thesaurus.com!

2. Any suggestions on a comfortable low stool, preferably with a back and no arms and perhaps 16" high? My regular spinning stool works just fine with my Sonata, but my Country Spinner requires me to be much lower, and the sofa heaped with pillows won't cut it for more than a skein or two of plying. I love being tall, but sometimes being regular-sized would be most helpful--I wouldn't scrunch over just to be closer to my spinning, and the regular stool would probably be fine!

3. Do you prefer cold water or room temperature water? I like mine to be icy, though I will usually finish my glass if it's warmed to room temperature from icy (but not usually if it's been out overnight, as on my nightstand). I know some folks like warmer water all the time, but I just can't fathom it!

4. I adore pudding, but only instant (or Snack Packs if I must). Cooked pudding (aka the real stuff) has never appealed to me, especially not when it forms a skin, ugh. Instant pudding only turns into pudding because of some sort of reaction between the pudding mix and the calcium in the milk. That's why soy or rice milks don't really work at all and just make pudding-flavored soup, and a reason I occasionally buy cow's milk. But only once in a great while, as it kind of squicks me out (for various reasons I won't go into, cause they're gross). Oh, and NEVER tapioca. I don't like eating fish eyes, thankyouverymuch.

5. I saw this on Cute Overload today, and it made my whole day. Except, it did make me sad I don't live in Australia, because nothing like this would ever happen in the States. At least, if it does, it's never an animal as cute as a koala.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hot damn.

It is HOT.

Hot enough to sneak into this cinderblock haven and look for relief! [Koala makes 'ehn!' sounds]

WAIT A MIN! [sploosh sploosh] WHAT'S THEES!?

[Test Slurpitty test slurpitty]

Yes.

Yes, this will do.

[Sizzling Koala sounds]

According to Sender-Inner Kathy M., "A guy at work's wife sent him these photos of a little Koala who just walked into the back porch looking for a bit of heat relief. She filled up a bucket and this is what happened!"

Enjoy.

While it may seem like I'm being a fab blogger and sharing loads of photos, really, I'm just tired. So, I'm not going to type a whole lot. Just going to load a bunch of pictures and pass that off as a post. Hope you don't mind...

I noticed these little root dealios on one of the few plants I haven't managed to kill yet. The whole plant (a succulent of some sort) is smaller than my palm, so the root-ish things are quite tiny.

A marsh drains directly onto the beach here, and make a neat little creek. There've been loads of stones washed onshore lately, so it's rockier than normal.

just pretty

boids.

The groundwater seeps out of the cliffs along the shore, but I just liked the feet hanging over the edge.

The groundwater seeps out on some mosses in some places. The dripping is quite loud, actually.

We weren't the only ones enjoying the beach today.

Big Man took this. Quite lovely, I think.

So wee I had to give you scale (that's my palm).

more pretty

ane-nem-o-nees

So you can relax too.