it's a start...

The plant before the oregano is some kind of flowering garden plant/bush that I forget the name of that came from neighborMarilyn. The oregano, chives and sage came from MountainMama. The dill lemon balm and lavender also came from neighbor Mariliyn. The small fonted diagonal is pointing to a purple herb that she says is Japanese but that she doesn't know the name of. She aslo is searching her beautiful space for a moon flower to transfer. I don't want to add too much until I get the names of things in my head.

We had a nice thunderstorm this morning (I put most of these in the ground last night)- Liza found refuge in a closet. Today I believe I will go forth in search of MiracleGrow potting soil, a little mulch, and some mixing bowls.

Though- when I told Mr. Sophanne I was going to get mixing bowls he complained that "just because you made ONE cake doesn't mean we need mixing bowls." I said "I'd like to do it again without having to use cooking pots!" Every now and then he just doesn't get it.

Updated to add-

Here's what a little potting soil, mulch and 2 roma tomato plants will do. There's something in the mulch that got Liza's attention. What cracks me up is that I met both GardeningNeighborMarilyn and GardeningNeighborEllen buying potting soil and mulch.



and as long as we're adding- some silk came in the mail today and it is as luscious and shiny as it appears!

I'd have baked a green blob...... Part Two of Two

BWAH HAH HA HA! I'm not much of a froster after all. The cake was plenty cool. I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that buttercream frosting doesn't take too kindly to heat and humidity. I'm going to pretend that it will all firm up in the refrigerator. I'm going to pretend that it looks like polka dots.

I crack me up.

In further buttercream news, the wool peddler's shawl (in Malabrigo Buttercream) is finished.

If I'd known you were coming... Part One of Two

disaster averted... so far.

I've had this book for three years.


I bought it with a gift card because when it says "Sedaris" you usually can't go wrong. In addition to being ridiculously funny, it is full of recipes. Up until today I've never made any. This morning I made a white cake from scratch. GO ME!

Inspired by Amy's whimsical fancy, in addition to the regular ingredients, hiding in the back, there is food coloring for the buttercream frosting and a can of "ready to decorate" frosting with decorator tips.



When/if this cake is consumed, we will have eaten two full sticks of butter. All natural butter though

For all of my lack of direction following and cooking skills, somehow, somewhere, I learned to separate eggs. How did that happen? All three on the first try.



What I did not realize was that House of Sophanne lacks anything resembling a mixing bowl. First I tried this



and some vision in my past of my mother with chocolate cake flinging it's way across the kitchen came to mind. No mixing bowls? Time to improvise.



While I have no concrete recollection of cake-making in our house (except for the chocolate one), I must have learned something from my mother. I instinctively knew how to grease and flour the pan, checked to see if it was done by putting a butter knife in it and seeing that it came out clean, and when the cakes came out of the oven for cooling, I went straight to the dinner plate, put it over the cake pan and turned it upside down.



As the cakes were baking, I did some blog reading and found that Kristen says "save your egg whites and make meringue." That was a little ambitious for me and Liza was a little miffed at not getting to lick the sugary-buttery bowl. So instead-



I can't begin to tell you how much I am looking forward to making and coloring the frosting. And while a stranger to this blog might scoff at the simpleness of this post- you, my regular readers, understand the mountain I have scaled!

Stuff

So I've just finished reading this book:

Stuff- Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things Randy Frost


and while I'm feeling pretty good about the fact that I'm not a compulsive hoarder, I do live a more cluttered life than some and there were many points in the read which resonated with me.

One of the clients in the study says If I put my clothes in the drawers, I won't be able to see them and I'll forget I have them. The author expounds This dependence on the visual connection with objects is a common trait among hoarders.

This is Reason Number One that my life is so cluttered. It's especially true of clothes. I regularly leave my clean clothes stacked on the dryer rather than put them away. In this case, laziness is not the issue. Mr. Sophanne's clothes are regularly washed, dried and put away. If the clothes in whatever cycle I'm wearing are out in the laundry room, I know their status. When they go in the closet, they disappear.

It's also true of yarn and books. I want to see what I have. What I've noticed lately is that in spite of being in full sight, these items, once grouped together become and organic whole rather than individual items. Do I really think I have to remember everything I have? Do I really need to? Given the latest duplicate book buying episode, I'm thinking, YES! but is that realistic?

Another point made by the author is ...that possessions allow the owner to do or accomplish something.

I've got a nice collection of art supplies- water color paper, brushes, paints, gesso, the works. These, along with various other art supplies take up a 2-drawer filing cabinet in my stash room. They were purchased after a great workshop at the Andy Warhol Museum. I used them that summer and have gotten them out once or twice since. I've created a couple of things that I love by accident. Mostly for the past 5 years since then they sit in the drawer representing unlimited potential and me as an "artist." One of the reasons people hoard is based on the potential of objects. There is a lot of potential in my room.

It was suggested in the book that maybe hoarding is creativity run amok. You can see so many possibilities in the yarn, in the small boxes, in the ribbon, paper, colors. It's overwhelming. This I believe is profound. I have used the Saturday Night Live skit from the 90's with the tag line That's another one of those things I'm never going to do as a personal mantra at flea markets.

Another idea from the book one young girl believed that her toys would die or feel betrayed if given away or discarded and anthropomorphizing-ascribing feelings to an inanimate object is not uncommon among hoarders

When I was around 9 I had a bed full of stuffed animals. I think at the time I believed I was being philanthropic by giving all but a few of them away. What I believe now, looking back, was that I felt badly that I liked some better than others and felt the need to give the others "better homes." One example in the book was of a woman who felt badly for the yogurt container in the garbage- that maybe she should have washed it out to make it more comfortable. Thankfully, I'm not there yet.

Then there's the "magical thinking." As in "I wore this when I was young and beautiful and happy- I must keep it so that I can have that feeling again." I go through a sine wave of this experience- keeping these things until there are more things in my closet that I can't wear than things that I can.

The book only lightly touched on the accumulation of digital data- I won't really go there but will only say that I do have an external hardrive of 100G that is 80% full. Last month I seriously considered purchasing a second external hard drive to back up the first one. This is thanks to a perpetual fear of loss.

It was an interesting read- I may be able to throw out some professional magazines and clarinet music from college that I'll never use again.... or maybe not.

The main deliniation as to whether collecting and keeping is hoarding or not is determined by quality of life. As I do not yet have "goat paths" that I must negotiate through my stuff, I'm feeling pretty secure. I can also throw things away with relative ease. But I do believe I'll keep an eye on things, for the line between creativity and madness is surely a fine one.

Summer 2010 Rant #1

Phone rings

Hello?

This is blahdohblah from blahdohbas INDEPENDENT survey company. Will you take a poll regarding the 2010 election in the state of Pennsylvania?

Who's paying for this survey?

I just work for this independent company

Fine-

Benign questions continue for about 5 minutes. Are you going to vote? Are you likely to vote for A or B? What's the biggest issue in your area? Then...

Will the fact that candidate A kicks his dog, steals from his kids, and doesn't change his underwear alter the way you decide to vote?

click.

Resistance-Futile

Extra free time means playing on Ravelry. I had favorited this this Queen Annes Lace pattern on more than one occasion.

Accidentally looking through the stash I found about 1600 yds of malabrigo laceweight baby merino.

And so now there is this.



Beginning with 8 stitches of laceweight yarn on size 7 dpns and getting past the first 5 rows was absolutely a Force Of Will. I had the same mental state as I did 2 winters ago when I was determined "I WILL NOT GET STUCK IN THIS DITCH" (and didn't.) Now past that point and onto a circular, this is WAY fun. The row repeats are easy so far. There have been a few mistakes but I'm thinking if I'm 95% accurate I can live with it. I either skip a k2tog or add a stitch as needed and that's only happened twice.

The search for things to plant in the dirt may have to wait until next week. I think I'll be knitting today.


Last night's Hamburger Helper experiment was a success. I used ground meat, taco seasoning mix, cavatelli, milk, water, cheddar cheese, cornstarch and stewed tomatoes. The recipe came from the blog- chickensintheroad. I could have easily skipped the taco seasoning mix and tried it with chili powder and paprika but that was just on the "little bit too much risk" side of life.

Could there be more "I"'s in this post?

Today I visited the Babybabies. They look much more like babies these days. CUTEDORABLE!

I had a peanutbuster parfait (DQ seems to be the theme of the summer) for lunch with the mama.

I learned of a dog more afraid of thunder than LizaJane. Poor Roxie-dog chewed her way through a garage door trying to get inside away from the thunder. Bloody scary scene (even after the initial clean-up) but dog's o.k. and now has sedatives. (makes me think of Young Frankenstein seda- give? seda give?) Seriously- the clean up guy should get a sedagive.

I shared some life story and recovery from life story with good friends. It's nice to know when you're not alone in the world.

I played in the sand and looked at the garden of Big Brother of Babybabies. There is not a cuter kid on the planet. Here he is fishing. Mountainmama mama has the picture on her blog so I'm pretty sure it's ok to put it here.



I came home with some sage, oregano and chives to plant in the dirt, which I promptly did. Friday is the designated look for stuff to plant in the dirt day

When I got home Mr. Sophanne had string fries and burgers a cookin'.

Tomorrow is a hospital visit to the recently new-kneed secretary from our school and then lunch with my "spitting her food out laughing" lunchtime friend. For dinner I found a recipe for "homemade" hamburger helper so we'll just see how that turns out. I'll wait to post that link until I find out if it works!

I'm on the last rows of wool peddlar the two- thanks to knitnightjudy who said "Eight rows and a bind off? You better start now-that bind off is going to take some yarn." I'm going to predict that she has saved me much grief and indecision.

Life is good. I love summer.

I have no title- it's just a mishmash

Summer vacation is in full swing. Today I went to school. Heh heh. A beloved custodian was secretly retiring (or attempting to keep it secret) and I was recruited (gladly) to deliver KFC and a DQ cake. Work would be so much easier if it only involved eating lunch with your friends daily. It's what I miss most in the summer.

I've made dinner once. (Spanish Rice with Chicken) It tasted good but then Mr. Sophanne requested some Hamburger Helper this week. He won't eat macaroni and cheese because it reminds him what it was like to be poor but he's all in favor of Hamburger Helper. I've been reading Kristen's blog about responsible eating. Living in southwestern PA (and being too chicken to drive much to Pittsburgh) makes really difficult to make any big changes but I have been thinking about the ingredients in my food. I'm pretty sure hamburger helper doesn't make the grade (is there in fact a more "natural ingredient" way to make hamburger helper?) I'll serve some freshly steamed vegetables with it.

I've been to the gym 2 days (not counting the weekend heh heh) in a row and walked 2.75 miles each time. According to the counter on the treadmill that should negate the calories in part of one of the Hostess apple pies that always seem to be tempting me. (the words on those pies are too small- I can't know the ingredients- I'll assume they're all very healthy.)

I finished the Traveling Woman shawl making it 5 down and 5 to go. I'm one skein of Elsbeth Lavold Silky wool into a second Brandywine. I love that pattern.



I mailed what I thought was "Knitted Lace of Estonia" to Yarnhog only to find it on the dining room table when I returned from the post office. I am such a dork.

And while perusing the estate this evening, we found this abandoned piece of architecture- apparently it's a Mr. Sophanne wishing nest





Extra Life and Monkeys- a dream come true.

I don't know what will happen tomorrow- who does? - so I'll plan to do what I end up doing. I'm not sure about the blog template change but I'll try it out for a few days.

It's finally happened.

The nice part about being in the 10 in 2010 group is that when you go visit the group to see if anybody (loves) what you've posted, you browse the rest of them to find the ones that you love.

Seems like every shawl I clicked on for a closer look was from Knitted Lace of Estonia. I noticed this happening last week too. I thought to myself- I'm going to get that book. I stealthily ordered it (and a couple of others)- it was during school hours.

After ordering I looked at the rest of the patterns in the book on Ravelry. Imagine my surprise-there was something there I had already knitted. A scarf named "Raha." Oh, I thought to myself- that must have been published somewhere else.

Magically-thanks to the power of memory loss and too many knitting books to keep track of- the book was at home when I got there. Yes- now I will have two Nancy Bush's Knitted Lace of Estonia. I'm not sending it back. I'll send it to whoever emails me and says, "hey- I'd like that book." (blts At windstream DOT net) And if nobody wants it, it goes to Yarnhog because I know how much she loves lace knitting! (mwah hah hah hah!)

This Could Be Yours!

(once I get it from Amazon!)
eta-never underestimate the quickness of a Yarnhog- she's the lucky recipient!

Brandywine

Horrible picture- slightly horrible blocking but I will not get the "does not count no finished picture posted" in the 10 in 2010!

The traveling woman shawl is finished as well (this means I have completed 5 so far- and there's a wool peddlar in malabrigo that has only one skein to go) **

The thing about having multiple projects is that eventually you get near the end of all of them and it's easy to feel quite helpless.

Romi to the rescue. That woman can design. I haven't tried any of her more difficult patterns but I will. when the "pressure to produce" eases.

Right now I have some Plymouth Encore in Christmas red that was intended for a crochet project that didn't pan out. I started LoveSquared at knit night with it. According to the pattern it's a one-panel-three block scarf in fingering weight yarn. I have 3- 200yd skeins of this plymouth. I'm thinking 3 panels and 9 blocks will make quite the heartful comfort shawl!

**No one is more surprised at this than I am- except for maybe Yarnhog! =]

because I must keep knitting

and my knitting corner is a little too cluttery to find any the charts that go with the WIP's, I started Traveling Woman by Liz Abinante (rav link). It's another free pattern. It's another one of those patterns that I've tried to "mark as favorite" several times without realizing I was marking the same pattern over and over. It's really no surprise that I like this one because in terms of design element- knitting motif- it is much like the Wool Peddlar's Shawl. It also called for the exact amount of the STR (from February) that I have.

Regarding elements of knitting- the Barbara Walker Treasury of Knitted Stitches books came in the mail last week. Don't expect any finished object beautifully designed any time soon. I just like to look at the pictures. Have you seen this site- The Walker Treasury Project? It's a swatching of all those stitches done more recently, in color and photographed in a much more pleasing way. I dare you to take a peek at it and then not want to dig into some swatching.

Regarding gardening- I've never done it. Don't know the first thing about it. I DO know that you have to clear the beds of weeds and today I went to a box store, bought 2 little garden tools (a shovel and a cultivator?) and started clearing away the "stuff." Given that this area was once a flower bed, I'm no doubt clearing away the good with the bad. There will be photos and requests for assistance (though neighbor Marilynn helped the last owner do this so I've got some nearby help as well) in the coming weeks unless, of course, it becomes "another one of those things I'm never going to do."

If indeed I find myself with a patch of flowerless dirt, it will remind me of what I like best about blogland. Since there's no real time to have to make forced casual conversation, no one will ask me how my gardening is going. It just disappears into the annals of blogland!

Shawl the third

Shawl the third- Nancy and Judy- is finished and skewedly blocking. Mr. Sophanne said "too bad it's not a triangle." I said "it kind of is". Aunt of Sophanne said (before it was off the needles) "It looks like a diaper." I said, "hmm." It's a horrible picture but I had to grab one quickly so as not to be disqualified again in the old 10 in 2010.

After our weekly trip to the grocery store I realized that today is indeed Sunday but that tomorrow is like Sunday and then some so it was a nice surprise.

End of the year wisdom

Today in first grade we dance with abandon. At the end of dancing, in the last five minutes, we lay down, listen to ocean waves with tibetan bells and feel our breath. Caleb said "It feels like you're unleashing your body."

May we all unleash our bodies for a few minutes today.

pretending is good

If I could pretend that finishing something is as much fun as casting on and figuring it out, I would be amazing.

Here's the lastest of 10 shawls in 2010 (I'm just going to bypass the details of everything else on the needles.)

This is Nancy & Judy (a FREE rav pattern by Heather Zoppetti). My new favorite shawl to knit. I'm using some malabrigo superwash sock yarn that I got from someone's destash and am hoping I won't notice that 5-7 yard discrepancy between the called for yardage and the actual amount of yarn I have.



And while I haven't purchased a big 'ole pile of yarn since the Mabley workshop, I couldn't resist Sharon's alpaca laceweight from stitchjones.com That woman knows the colors in my head.



Speaking of fabulous women, let's talk about Ruth. Not only did she send me a kicka$$ workout cd (it starts with Queen's Fat-Bottomed Girls!), she made sure it got here safely by wrapping it in sock yarn.



I give puppy kisses to all of my friends!

Forever Done.

I sang. They clapped. Mamas sniffled but I'm pretty sure it was thanks to Bob Dylan's fabulous poetry and had little to do with my singing. What a relief. And it felt really good to do.

Nine, my friends, nine.

And while I know that I will try to catch up on knitting 10 shawls, it occurs to me that my summer schedule of events (excluding family visits) is pretty short. Maybe I'll spin. Maybe I'll paint the bedroom. I plan on extending the gym visits and moving on beyond cardio. I know I'll spend time with that fabulous dog. I'll visit Aunt of Sophanne and will definitely spend time with the new babybabies (that's what I like to call my friend's twins)

Sometimes it feels like cheating if I read,knit, and nap all day. Especially when Mr. Sophanne comes home and asks "what did you do today?"

Maybe if I actually prepare dinner every few days he will be fooled into thinking that I am a productive human being. But I don't remember "productive" being on the list of marriage vows. If that were the case I'm pretty sure I would have included "not being jealous of my teacher vacation" as a part of them.

So my bloggy friends- what would you do?

checking in again

The evil Strep has struck again. It's on the downside but man do I hate strep.

There's little to report but I love blogland and want to stay connected.

There are 10 teaching days left. I like it when I can count it on 2 hands.

I voted last week. Apparently in Pennsylvania campaigners must only stay 10 feet away from the door. I like West Virginia where it's more like 50 yards. It was all I could do not to say Leave Me T F alone! Mr. Sophanne's much more cheerful about it. If someone asks him to vote for their candidate he says, "I don't like him." (whether he does or not.)

Last night began MaggieMay's softball season. Her younger sister is playing as well and I sat with G-mal (grandma as they call her) and we went out to eat afterwards. Nothing like surrogate children that you can do for but aren't responsible for. Makes me happy.

So there's a child management technique that I observed last week when the family was here. The Mama, in a wise attempt to give choices rather than an opportunity for kids to say "I don't want to," phrases her requests like so- "Do you want to put on your pajamas or brush your teeth first?" It works pretty well but I imagine those kidlets will eventually get wise to it. Or else it will come back to haunt mama in her later years- "Do you want to go the the rest home or would you like Dr. Kevorkian to visit?"

Tomorrow is my singing debut at the Wadestown Baptist Church. As 4th and 5th grade classes came to my room this week I asked them to be the practice audience. I knew I was good when I could give the hairy eyeball to misbehaving kids and still keep singing. That's how I determine whether I know the song well enough or not. Too bad they weren't around in college. I would have aced every jury!

House of Sophanne- better than an amusement park

Little Liza Jane was SOOOOO very happy to have kids to play with. Hazel liked her because she was a "girl" dog. She also declared the house that our house was mine and not Grandfather's because I was the girl.



Next on the agenda was to paint the bird houses which are now hanging in the backyard. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have gone wrong if I had purchased a bird house for everyone. Several rocks are now painted and in place.



Taking a break from painting adults and kids alike took turns with the hula hoop. There's really no need to see the adult pictures of this. Really.



Grandfather took them to a train where they got to blow the whistle and wear the gloves. And unlike amusement parks, there was no waiting in line.



The Waynesburg Sheep and Fiber festival took place on Saturday. They were attending a graduation and missed out on the 5 or 6 booths the organizers managed to round up but I scored some nice souvenirs. The yarn is handspun by a woman who I purchase yarn from each year. At first I bought 750 yards. Then I wound it, tried it out and went back for another 750. The picture doesn't capture it's depth of color but it reminds me of tigers eye gem stones and will (so far) be a giant and simple Praire Shawl from Folk Knits.

Oh yea, now I remember

Now I remember why I don't join groups or engage in "official" knitting things.

I finally got a picture of Kilkenny finished.



I went to edit my FO April post in the group 10 shawls in 2010 and I found this on my post.

**ETA BY PILLEN: This shawl does not count due to no finished picture...**

When I signed up I don't think I realized it was a follow the rule sort of thing. I thought it was a "hey let's do this" sort of thing. I understand why Pillen had to edit my post. She needed to make it clear to all of the contestants (which I didn't really know I was) that as I had not followed the rules by posting a picture of the finished object, I would not qualify for any of the prizes randomly drawn in April. Seriously, I understand how people are when it comes to prizes and I'd be CYAing if I were in the same position.

Still and all, it does not do a body good to complete a 1540 yard shawl and read on a post "does not count." The situation was remedied by posting it in the May FO thread - so I guess now it counts.

Lesson learned- read the fine print- make sure it's not a contest-knit for fun.

oh and did I mention...

I agreed to stupid SING that Forever Young song at a church dinner for seniors graduating from high school. Granted they are kids I've known since kindergarten but I'm used to them singing with me.

It's that librarian that wrangles me into these things. I agreed to do it because I wrangle her into a fair share of disorganization which I am certain often unnerves her.

I am no American Idol. I figure it's a good thing to do and if it's really really awful they won't have to ask me to do it again.

Here are a couple of pictures that didn't make it to the last post.




Mr. Sophanne is heading to the airport to get son daughter-in-law and grandchildren (2 sweet girls) of Sophanne. The sheets are clean, the beds are made, dinner is pre- prepared for tomorrow, there is plenty of sliced fruit and apple juice in the fridge and Ben and Jerry's for the grown ups in the freezer...and still I walk around feeling incompetent. Go figure.

continuing on...

While it hasn't been written yet, I believe, for those of you who like to know what you're getting into, that this will be a random bullet sort of post.

The set up for the wireless fence/collar in Steubenville went fine on Sunday until it didn't. It seemed to be fine while we were there. Once we left, the charge was up too high and the perimeter was to small. This has made for several phone calls and a scottish terrier that is now terrified to go outside. Period. Accepting the fact that all dogs are not as smart as Liza and the fact that this may not be the dream solution everyone was hoping for is a little distressing.

The trip to the Children's Museum in Pittsburgh was delightful. I'm pretty sure these country kids were as impressed with the chartered bus as they were with the actual museum. Overheard several times was "This is the best day I've ever had!" Makes a body feel good knowing that I was the one who introduced the field trip organizers to the museum.

Visiting the new twins yesterday was Dee-Light-Ful. When there are two babies, there's never that awkward feeling of "Gee I'd like to hold the baby." There's always one that needs holding. I stuck around for 3 feedings, a bath and big brother and it was time well spent. No maternal instincts popping out. Just enough cuteness to make it a great day.

Tonight Mr. Sophanne's son, wife and 2 grandchildren get to the airport at 10:30 p.m. There is a little sheet-changing and grocery shopping to do but other than that, we are as ready as we can be for house guests. Is it just my selfish-a$$ self or does everyone feel (in spite of looking forward to an enjoyable family visit) just the teensiest bit resentful of space overtaken? I guess that's what comes from not having children. I'm just not used to it.

There are 17 teaching days- 3 1/2 weeks- until the start of the upcoming summer vacation. I keep saying "after this week it will go fast." I've been saying that since April. So far, not so much.

Although I'd much rather sit in this cozy chair all day, forward I must go.

Pete and Repete- I mean just Repeat

Here's why-

Last week I stumbled upon a children's picture book


based on Bob Dylan's song, Forever Young. It's been a little ribbon of a theme running through life these days as the school year ends and the summer begins. And while I've never been a big fan of the sound of his voice, that Bob Dylan can sure write some poetry.



May God bless and keep you always,
May your wishes all come true,
May you always do for others
And let others do for you.
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung,

May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.

May you grow up to be righteous,
May you grow up to be true,
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you.
May you always be courageous,
Stand upright and be strong,

May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.

May your hands always be busy,
May your feet always be swift,
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift.
May your heart always be joyful,
May your song always be sung,

May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.

Happy Birthday Mr. Sophanne

Things went smoothly after I cried this morning when I was "busted" for taking a day off to prepare the festivities. I'm not sure it's because I thought he thought I was a liar or because the surprise was a little disrupted.

I just sat down to eat lunch and heard his car pull up (an early day on the railroad.) This was a good thing because I wasn't sure how I was going to be patient and wait for him to get home.

Yes my friends, that's the love of my life.

slow progress

This is about 30 stitches worth of the Fassett patterns I am playing with. For the record the 5 stitches on either side ended up being stockinette rather than garter stitch because my brain can only hold so much.



Above the schoolhouses there is a quilt-like pattern that will be shades ofgreen that I am pretending are mountains. Above that a larger pattern that had a sunset/cloud feeling to me.



The colors aren't terribly accurate- apparently I own a vampire camera that only comes out in the evening when I'm by the computer.

The design sort of goes from smaller elements to larger ones- from cooler colors to warmer ones - with hints of warm at the beginning to tie it together. Believe me, it's simply fabulous in my head. No doubt a future Bobby.

Fortunately, Mr. Sophanne believes that he will be winning a red mustang at the casino this evening (they've called his name for various drawings at least 3 times last month) and I was able to get through the stickiest parts of my own stupid chart.

Today was a RedLobster kind of day with my NYC traveling pal Mags. She got her learner's permit last month and drove me to the pharmacy on the way to the "city." She likes the FAR right side of country roads better than the middle but I was pretty calm, she did a good job, and it was kind of cool. The bonus at the end of lunch was the LavaCookie with chocolate sauce and ice cream. It is decadent and I didn't eat all of my salad at the front of the meal so I would have room for that at the end. I'm pretty sure lunch wiped out all 4 visits I made to the gym this week.

Adventures are on the horizon- Mr. Sophanne's birthday is Tuesday- I'm going on a school field trip with my little school to the Children's Museum in Pittsburgh the following week (it is my favorite place)-I'm going to go visit the new twins on the day off we have that week-Mr. Sophanne's son, daughterinlaw and grandkids (2) will be paying a short visit before moving off to Switzerland for 2 years-and there are only about 25 actual kid-days left of the school year.

And yes, the passport is renewed and there may be a post or two from Geneva sometime in the next 2 years.

It's all relative

So I've made a giant design with some Kaffe Fassett patterns. It was going to be the back of a sweater but if I'm going to intarsia and fair isle at the same time with 4+ colors per row on occasion, it's not going to be hanging around on my back and I'm certainly NOT going to be trying to figure out sleeve decreases.

I've decided it will be a work of art worthy of hanging on the wall- or in the closet. 130 stitches by 109 rows. I can do one or two rows a night (the bottom of the chart is particularly complicated) as long as the phone doesn't ring and Mr. Sophanne isn't watching t.v. I foresee completing this sometime in 2012- hopefully before the end of the world as we know it.

The bonus of something so ridiculously impossible that may still end up looking like crap is that it makes that Brandywine shawl seem easy peasy and the malabrigo wool peddlers shawl feel like stockinette. It's all relative.

Brain A was defeated again this morning but didn't give up trying. I was dressed and drinking coffee and it said "hey you don't really have to go to the gym. It's not too late to go back to bed." Seriously? I might buy that if I'm still laying in bed but it's lame to try to pull that when I've already gotten up. Pathetic, brain a, simply pathetic. Liza Jane's been pulling a fast one on Brain A as well. She's been whimpering for walks around 7:00 pm each night and there's an extra .5 mile added to the daily count. No tangible results but it's better than feeling like crap for doing nothing.

In a crack me up moment- I have a friend in medical school who recently posted that getting a headache while studying neuroscience leads to all sorts of false diagnoses. I told her that such occurrences were endemic to becoming a professional in the world. I can't go past a farm animal without breaking into song.

my brains

At 9:00 last night my brain said "You could really use 2 or 3 macadamia nut cookies."

I had to ignore my brain.

At 5:00 this morning my brain said "Sleeping in with the cuddly dog is much better than the treadmill. You don't have to go."

I had to ignore my brain.

I want to know what it is that is doing this ignoring. Is my brain so smart it can ignore itself? What is this brain that wants me to become like a giant hog waiting for slaughter?

This fight with my brain- at least I know what's going on now and know that my brain (let's call it Brain A) isn't always right. Sometimes though, it is so very powerful.

In fact, early this morning Brain B started telling Brain A that it wasn't going to get a garlic/tomato/feta white pizza at knit night tonight no matter how hard it tried. Brain A, it seems is addicted to carbs and sweets. Small amounts do not satiate it. They only whet the appetite.

It's very possible that Brain A will concede defeat on the pizza, only to order 3-4 pastries at knit night or possibly stop for donuts on the way home. Brain A is a wily sort.

Anyone have any thoughts as to how to go about tricking Brain A?

as if I needed more opportunities for chaos

This is just a picture of the mess I've made with that small messenger bag and color play. Somehow I know for sure that if I pursue the fabulous Kaffe Fassett patterns in my head, things are only going to get worse. I could pretend that this concerns me, but given that much of my knitting without fancy color changes ends up looking like this as it lies in wait tells me that secretly I'm not really all that concerned.



I ordered this book last week. No garment patterns. Just patterns and designs.


Oh the possibilities. There are 190 of them.




I've learned to knit with ease. I've learned to purl with ease. I've learned to knit fair isle with relative ease. If I want to do something more than in a circle I'm going to have to learn to purl fair isle with relative ease and make friends with the concept of just grabbing a length of yarn and sticking it in there intarsia style. I cant find the exact quote but somewhere in this book it says if you're not sure of the color combos- add 20 more colors. Somewhere else it also says start small and simple. As if.

Kilkenny is soaking preparing for blocking- soon my friends- soon. And by "soon" I mean "Soon it will be folded up and put in the closet.

ribbit (really)

So today in kindergarten I wanted to play a "magic trick." All kids turned their backs to myself and Hunter. When I played magical music, Hunter was to run to the corner and hide. I would replace him with a frog (fake.) When the kids turned around it would feel like he turned into a frog.

I was trying to quietly explain this to Hunter while their backs were turned and said, "They'll think I turned you into a frog!" He said "but not really, right?"

Them kids are fun-nee.

hi.

I've been playing with the persian poppies and a mini-messenger bag- look! No Pattern! Garter stitched the bottom- picked up around the rectangle- poppies poppies poppies (though Mr. Sophanne says they look like aliens.)

The green in the bottom poppy is not such a good design element but what the hell ever. I like the way the other two turned out. I did an i-cord bind off on the front and sides and am left with the flap which I may or may not enjoy doing because it means stranded purling- something I've never been really thrilled with.

Three. More. Rows. on Kilkenny- then I have to find a place to block it. Then it will be all malabrigo all the time as the 2nd wool peddler's shawl and Brandywine are next in line to be finished.

thanks after hours clinic

I got the zpak and had an extra unplanned day off. After about 18 hours of sleep I'm compelled to share some stuff.

First - about my friend Chris- we are the same and the opposite so much that it is delightful.

This is Chris's workspace. Note the neatness of yarn, pattern, and pencil. She knows where stuff is at all times.



This is my workspace. The pattern is not to be seen- the strands of yarn in the distance are a part of my work area. There are no pencils or scissors anywhere in sight.


What you don't see is that we are both sitting on the floor rather than in the chairs provided. We can pretend it's for comfort or ease of getting at the yarn but I secretly believe it's the anti-social tendencies that we both share that sent us to the floor. Being a part of the chair conversations was just a little much perhaps.

I can't really tell you what Brandon Mabley taught but I can tell you that we all got better at playing with color and that is certainly not something I would have done before attending the workshop.



In this photo, his hand is on Chris' sample and mine is diagonal to the right.

He suffers fools lightly and it was interesting to see as needy women started whining for attention how he bluntly said what he thought. Go Him. I worked quietly and in the afternoon when I had a chance to say "what about this?", Brandon Mabley called me a "show off." So I think I passed the colored poppies exam. Words like Sassy and Daring and Snappy and Jewel-like were also heard. Come on Mr. Sophanne- we're moving to work at Kaffe Fassett studios. And if you don't want to go, Chris will because she got some pretty astounding compliments as well. I was so self-absorbed with my success, I failed to take note of the exact words he used with her.

If inclined to attend, you'll enjoy this workshop more if you already know how to trap stitches in Fair Isle and how to weave in ends as you go (there is a video of him demonstrating this somewhere on the internets). You don't have to know either of these things to play with color but if you have a chance to take the time and figure it out before you go, you won't be bogged down in strings and things.

sick day

A person shouldn't have to be sick just because they took a sick day. Stupid Strep. Anyone who used my yarn at the workshop- you've been warned. More later when I'm not stupid sick.

Yip.

2 days 5:00 a.m. not really worthy of a full yippee- maybe just a "yip." Thank you thank you thank you for the you can do it comments. I've seriously considered printing them out and putting them next to the alarm clock.

This morning, as per my request, Mr. Sophanne walked into the sleeping place at 5:00 a.m. and said "Hey Old Lady, Get Your Arse Out of Bed." I did indeed request that particular phrase. I wanted to get up laughing.

Yesterday I was on that treadmill, cruising at a cool 3.2 mph when a young kid came in, got on the one next to me and started speeding along. He was going at least 4 mph- maybe even 4.5. It cracked me up! There we were-he was running like crazy and he never got ahead of me- we stayed perfectly even. There's some kind of time-space continuum joke happening there.

re: knitting- does anyone remember whether I "used smaller needle for border and switched to larger needle size" for the pattern on that Kilkenny shawl? No? Bueller? 28" later and it seems to have slipped my mind.

re: the unexplainable- yesterday 2 parents came to school and asked if we were having a moment of silence "for the homosexuals" on Friday. Because if we were, their kids weren't coming. One clever tech teacher said (in the privacy of the lunchroom) "Oh was that this Friday? Shoot. We did that LAST Friday... oops." Anyone have any idea where this came from? I know we're pretty close in the calendar to Yom Hashoa (Holocaust Remembrance Day) but that's quite a stretch.

Tomorrow is the Brandon Mably workshop- now that's worth a full YIPPEE!

short unassuming post

i joined the gym again today-all encouraging words accepted. we'll see, we'll just see.

Knitting Blogging and Compassion

I can tell you about my blog friends. I can tell you the ones who suffered tragic loss, life-threatening illnesses, incapacitating accidents and downright scary stuff. When I read their stories, my heart fills with compassion, I want to reach out and hug them. I search for the magic words to make them feel a little bit better. I know this works because when I've needed their compassion for things not nearly so heart-wrenching, they have been there to make me feel better.

What I wonder about this evening is what makes this so much easier to do this in blogland with "strangers" than it sometimes is in life with real people. The "real" of a person telling the story and the fear of not having the right words in real time makes the same kind of compassion much more difficult face to face. I can't "click to the next blog" in real life. Once there is compassion in that moment, what else can meaningfully follow? And yet day to day conversation returns. There are the rare moments in real life with friends where we share our stories, our deepest exposed feelings- and then we laugh at Chicken Bob. Not because we're irreverent or lack compassion, but because we have to. The duality of this is a mystery to me and I suppose that is as it should be. I don't have to know everything.

Is something lost in faceless communication with people I've never met, or is something gained. Am I really feeling compassion for their circumstances- I believe that I am- or is it just easier and safer than listening to someone face to face.

Tomorrow I will try to be as compassionate in real life as I often feel in blogland and see what happens. Throw some insight my way if you have any thoughts on this, would you?

Bedtime

she's at the top of the steps waiting for us to join her.

What's Up?

It's the movie I just watched. Liked it.

It's Spring Break here in these parts. We've had the whole week off. I used to be able to explain how that can happen while missing the month of February, but the logic of the WV state department eludes me. (this is also the state department that said schools would start earlier next year and then forgot to legislate on extending the contracts of all of the service personnel.) The weather has been friendly. The dog has been walked. My allergies/sinuses kicked into high gear so there was plenty of rest for the weary.

Come to find that the Brandon Mably workshop is on a THURSDAY. I've paid my money- I've purchased my 12 skeins of light and dark yarn. Looks like I'll have to take a personal day. Sometimes I'm just calendar stupid. I think my friend Chris may have given me the date and omitted the day so that I wouldn't realize it until it was too late. Now that's a good friend.

( and while I realize that the colors don't pop in this shadowy picture, there are daffydils and LizaJane so it had to make the cut.)

There's some malabrigo buttercream on the needles to become another Wool Peddler's shawl. I hope I don't see anyone who I think it will look beautiful on. Also on the needles is Romi's Brandywine in some malabrigo chocolate sock yarn. I've shifted my shawl knitting from chart reading to text reading and seem to tink just a little less. That pattern is written from the bottom up and is clever clever clever.





Now lets talk Swallowtail.I made it through the first three charts- nupps and all- with the correct number of stitches. And now, as I start number four I've tinked nearly every row at least once. This due to my overconfidence when finishing a row- I don't need to count stitches- I'm sure I've concentrated enough. Some of the nupps are nuppettes- either I forgot it on the make a nupp side or dropped some stitches on the purl a nupp side. yea, yea, whatever. (Kauni on the swallowtai- Blackwater Abbey on Kilkenny)



Kilkenny is in the background- while I had other pictures- this one most reflects the color and the vastness of it. One and a half skeins to go until it's done.