how about a real update?

Thanks for all the nice comments on the Central Park Hoodie! I really love it.

The last few weeks have been relatively stressful and my way of dealing with that stress is by doing as little as possible. Except the knitting and rampant tv watching, of course. I've been doing lots of that.

I have made a few life-altering decisions though, amist all of my 'doing nothing' and 'addictive thinking' and 'obsessive knitting'.

Here's a little rundown:

1. I've started training with Cheryl for a half marathon in November. I am officially insane.

2. I got a new bike with some of our stimulus money and once I'm totally confident in my riding skills and have tried the route a few times I'll be riding to work a few days a week. More evidence of my insanity.



3. I've grown tired of morning and afternoon sugar crashes (nutella smothered bagels will do that to you) so I'm trying the GI diet to see if I can help myself stave off diabetes and fatness. It's not very different from the competition diets I did a few years back so I know I can do it.

4. I've just signed up for Ravelympics and I'm doing THREE projects in 17 days. Bellatrix, Shetland Triangle and Hey,Teach. WTF am I thinking?!? Maybe this is a very dumb idea.

5. After many years of irritation I'm considering having my tonsils removed. When I'm sick, 90% of the time my throat is related and my tonsils are HUGE. I also get tonsil stones (do NOT click if you're squeamish - apologies for the extreme grossness) and they're a little painful and seriously nasty. Surgery scares the crap out of me because I visualize all the things they'll do to me while I'm out and it's hopefully much worse than reality. If insurance will cover it I'm going to look into the laser surgery. Less painful, but I'll also be awake. EEEEEK.

I think that's enough for now...

Hope your Monday is a good one!

Central Park Hoodie, part 2

After being finished with the knitting for a little over a week, I've finally sewn on the buttons and completed the second Central Park Hoodie. And I *love* it. So soft and smooshy! I didn't even hate knitting the hood, and I was so sure I would.


Pattern: Central Park Hoodie
Yarn: Cascade Sierra (8 skeins)
Needle Size: US 6
Size Made: 40" bust


Usually I would make a size 36, but since this is cotton and not likely to stretch too much I knit the size 40 and used the US 6 needled throughout rather than switch to a larger needle for the body. I knit the body in one piece to the shoulders then knit the sleeves and set them in. The buttons are "reproduction vintage" that I found at JoAnn's.


Cool, eh?

I'm so pleased with the sizing. It's roomy enough and warm enough to really serve as a jacket for me, with room for a light sweater or heavy shirt underneath, which is usually all we really need around these parts. Yay for happily finished projects!!

p.s. you can sort of tell here - i got my hair cut super short again and it's very pixie-esque. i went to etsy and found this awesome seller and bought a few new funky hair clips for my cute little hair cut.

wanna see? (these are her pics, not mine)



Love!!

YAY!

YAY!
Originally uploaded by LotusKnitter

I'm posting this from flickr just to see how it works out. Looks like I'll be a grad student again :D

purple tuesday

I went back to the salon today. My purple highlights didn't take very well and they kinda went away. But now I have magenta/purpley colors so it's all good.

Plus, they gave me wine.


I guess I have a sort of purple fetish going on right now. I bought these shoes this week:


I think they have badass potential. Also I am a whore for some shoes. There. I said it.

This week I'm working on the last bit of the sock club and some new colorways for the shop. I maybe went a little purple crazy there too. I made some choices about new yarns to carry as well, but you won't see them until the fall!

On Friday I'll be seaming the shoulders and sleeves on the dread CPH. I really hate seaming/sewing. Really, really hate it. It's threatening to stop my progress. Blerg. I figure if I seam the shoulders now the sleeves will be easier and then I'll go ahead and pick up stitches for the button bands to get the misery over and done with. And it was moving so quickly...

purple haired freak

I love pay day. This time I got my hair all purpled up. Well actually, it's black with subtle purple highlights. So subtle you can't even see them inside, which is perfect for work, but get me out in the sunlight and everyone around me starts doing double-takes. I'm totally in love with my new hair guy. He's straight, cute, tattooed, plays in a band, and just generally rocks.


Thursday, after the dye job: Boo. It's really impossible to photograph and looks more reddish brown here.

And inside, it's just black again.

Thursday night: Karen and I at 31 Flavors (see? it's really black!). Coffee ice cream makes for blurry pics.



I also stopped by the MAC counter again and got some yummy new eyeshadows. Beauty Marked is a dark black with red sparkles and Satin Taupe is a shimmery dark brown. I had a really hard time deciding what I wanted, cause I kinda wanted all of it.

This weekend was a bit nutty. Saturday consisted of an early morning blackberry picking party, IKEA, a wholesale yarn drop, and a pool party. Then Nate and I put my new computer desk together, which is similar but not exactly like the pic I posted last week. The top is the same but IKEA doesn't sell the white tressle legs anymore so I got bookcase-esque things. Pictures soon. We also got new dressers like Pam's (thanks for the idea!!), a new end table, and a metric shit ton of stuff to hang on the walls. Again, pictures soon.

Sunday was also insane but in a different way. A huge storm blew threw town and caused power outages everywhere. Lightening struck our neighbor's tree, which knocked it down and into the power lines, ripping the power lines and meter off her house. The power lines and pole collapsed and caught fire, which caused another pole to snap in half and also catch fire. Good times. So our power was went out for 6 hours just as I was about to dye yarn. Boo. If I had been a good blogger I would have raced over and taken pics, but I was a little afraid of the live electricity on the ground and thought maybe my life was worth more than a photo of poles on fire. Sorry.

One more thing: I started the 365 project today, woo! I joined a few flickr groups and added today's pic - my big eyeball.


I might be a little sleepy and in need of eyebrown maintenance.


(p.s. Happy birthday, Pete!!! You're not old, you're vintage!)

New Yarn Options?

I've been looking at adding to my yarn bases lately, so I've begged for samples from a few places and some packs arrived today so I wanted to share with you guys! I got about 10 samples, but I picked the nicest and/or most practical choices. I like to try to stick with superwash yarns for ease of care, but two of the three choices are NOT superwash, so keep that in mind if it's something that's an issue. Let me know if any of these appeal to you! I'm not going to do a poll (way too tired tonight for that), so please leave a comment real quick with a yay or nay vote for each one.

#1 100% Superwash Merino, Bulky weight, 120 yds. This yarn is really soft and squishy. The twist is not super tight, which allows for some of that softness and I can already imagine it being an absolute dream to dye and knit with.


#2 60% Suri Alpaca/40% Merino, Worsted weight, 220 yds. Um. This is the first thing I pulled out of the box because my knitter sense went WILD. No wonder what with all that alpaca! Also very soft, but a little furry thanks to the alpaca content. I'd wear it though. And drool all over it.

#3 70% Merino/30% Cotton, Bulky weight, 170 yds. I'm not 100% sure about this one. The cotton ply makes the twist a bit uneven. It's cool looking though. It's soft and lofty, but I'm betting that the cotton strand that's plied with the wool isn't going to dye, so it might be...interesting looking. I'll dye up a snip and see. I'm open to it if y'all like it!


I'm still on the look out for a different fingering wool/nylon blend, but I'm pretty happy with the Louet fingering and I'll be offering their sport weight as soon as they have more in. I'm not quite as wild about their heavier weights because the twist is just SO tight to me. I've found a superwash worsted that I'm happy with, so I didnt' post it, but you'll see it soon enough. I'll probably dye up the occasional bulky or worsted for the shop, but I'm thinking they might just be optional bases for custom orders.

Input, please! Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

pretty new friends

Oh hi! This is the first post from my new iMac. I *love love love* it. So much so that I don't want to download anything or create documents or even upload pictures. I want it all pretty in its pristine-ness for as long as possible. But since I have to break its cherry at some point, have a looksee!

It comes out of the box like they made it at Ikea. Flat keyboard, itty mouse and remote, cord and computer. Plug it in and go. One must make room for the requisite kitteh towels though so they can enjoy right along side. Molly approves. As much as she can approve of anything.

It's so shiny and pretty, I just want to pet it. The only negative here is the desk. The comp is too high for me at the top and too close to me at the bottom. I'm going to IKEA soon to have a look around. I'm thinking this desk would rock my socks.

Drool.

Oh! Also, my CPH is coming along. I'll be starting on the left front this evening, then the sleeves when I finish that. It fits perfectly too, at least according to my crazy try-on attempt. This project makes me so happy and I've no idea why. Maybe because it grows fast.


I'll also be dyeing some yarn for the shop this week. It's been way too long. I have some new fiber samples coming soon so I'll have some questions for y'all about what new yarns you'd like to see. I'm looking for a different wool/nylon base and a few other things, so your opinion will mean a lot. Look for pictures and a poll soon!

p.s. If you're a music whore like me, check out Musicovery. I like Pandora a lot, but this site fucking rocks. Set it to dark and calm and have an emo boo-hoo fest, or set it to energetic and light and kick ass through a workout. L.O.V.E.

Yummy Weekend

It's always amazing to me how quickly weekends, holidays, and sick days can fly by, but work days, even when you enjoy what you do, can just drag on and on and on. I know this happens to everybody, but it always catches me off guard when it's suddenly Sunday night and I still have a ton of things to do to prepare myself for Monday. Thanks for sneaking up on me again, Monday. Love you.

This weekend was not quite as busy as the last, but I still managed to dye, wind, and package a ton of yarn for the Sock Club that's going out hopefully tomorrow, sell and package and ship my extremely heavy sewing/embroidery machine and all its accessories (YAY!), work on the Central Park Hoodie, and make a delicious meal that will feed us all week.

Meet Risotto with Wild Mushrooms and Peas from Tyler Florence's Real Kitchen cookbook. And my glass of Pinot Grigio. Yum. It was so good I had two.


A few years back Nate and I got into a routine of trying out recipes from the cookbooks we bought and making sure to only buy a book if it had a recipe we were POSITIVE we would make. This book is one of our favorites, along with Tyler's Eat This Book. We got incredibly lucky and found about five recipes that became instant favorites. This risotto is one of them.

Now, I don't really do mushrooms. I took some pretty heavy hitting botany classes in college and I have a healthy respect for fungi. I don't feel as though it belongs in my body (in general). However. This dish is so good, it was hard for me not to eat some for breakfast this morning. Granted, I do have to pick out the more obvious, larger mushrooms (portobello) since they don't cook down enough for me to wrap my brain around putting them in my mouth, but the sauce, peas and cheese make me so happy.

On the knitting front, I got to the armhole section on the CPH last week and I'm now working the fronts and back separately, which is kinda confusing at the moment, but I'll figure it all out.

"As the Knitting Grows." Would make a great soap opera title, eh?

I'm also working on a few swatch/shop samples for my LYS, Main Street Yarns and Fibers and making technique swatches for the knitting class I'm teaching this month. FUN! The best part is that I get to work with new yarn and knit little things I might not make for myself. Whee!

Have a great Monday!

The Blame-it-on-everyone-else Cardigan

I took lots of pictures this weekend when I wasn't dyeing yarn that I can't show you, knitting, cleaning my bathrooms, throwing old stuff out, steam cleaning a chair, moving said chair up two flights of stairs, putting together a gym, playing WoW, and otherwise dealing with the ridiculous heat. I might have been a little busy.

I also might have ripped out some projects I can't bring myself to finish.

Lenore. (Sorry, Madge.) I love this yarn, love the pattern (not that I was doing the pattern stitches on the foot, but still), and yet I just can't work on teeny tiny yarn with teeny tiny needles right now. So I didn't rip, but I carefully stowed away for another day so it would stop staring at me from my knitting bag.


Socks I hadn't really started yet, with some Lorna's Laces in the Grumperina colorway. Same reason as the Lenores. The yarn is sooooo teeny. But soooo pretty. Another day.


I did NOT rip this pair. The yarn is Blue Moon's Little Bunny FooFoo in the medium weight (ahhh so nice). I've been trying new things with this pair of socks so I couldn't just rip them. I might put them away for a while instead.


Hello, short row garter stitch heel! So comfy. I learned this heel method in Lucy Neatby's class and it's so much faster and simpler than a heel flap.



As you can see, these are toe-up and I have so much yarn that I think they're going to be knee highs. I'll be working on these for a while. Love the way the colors are knitting up! No pooling! (It's all about the number of stitches cast on, seriously. When I do the increases for my calves I'll probably be singing a different tune.)


Instead of socks, I'll be knitting on this pretty regularly. I blame y'all since y'all were right, of course, so I finally cast on for the CPH in Cascade Sierra.


I started with the 36 bust size and about 3 inches into the ribbing I remembered that cotton doesn't stretch like wool does and that I'd had to make a rather large button band for my first CPH because it wouldn't close even with a fair bit of blocking. So I ripped and recast on the 40 bust size. It will be big, but I'm cool with that. Better big and comfy than too small.

I'm knitting the back and both fronts at the same time. Somewhat slow going (god I hate to purl big long rows), but hey, no seaming!

I'm about two more cable repeats beyond this. If all goes well I'll be finished with this by July. Sure it will be too damn hot to wear it, but I'll admire it (and pet it) and wait impatiently for October to roll around again.

It's refreshing to actually see some progress after an hour's worth of knitting! You guys were soooo right. I love this sweater.

SQUEE!!!!!!!

YAY!

It's official. We're going to DC for the inauguration!!!!!!!! See my pretty hotel up there? It's less than a mile from the White House and the Mall.

Somebody pinch me. Holy shit.

On to fight another day

Thanks so much for all the love, emails, comments and general good thoughts. Venting and talking with y'all made me feel so much better. It's good to know you're not alone in rough times, eh?

I've had an entire Tragic Cherry Woe Cake and it looks like I'm going to live. See?


I'm currently enjoying some chocolate from Germany (a gift from our graduate exchange student this year - she rules) and it's super rich and kind of hard to eat, but still very good. I'm sure I'll manage to choke it down.


Nom.

And then this little guy smiles at me every day...

Oh hi, I'm a cute little Pokemon.

And of course I'm listening to some great music on Pandora. Makes for happy times.

I brought a list of things that will make me happy to work with me today and so I'll be learning about my camera and knitting if I can ever stop being picky and just choose a project to cast on. If I hadn't already made the Central Park Hoodie, I'd have cast on today, but I'd like to do something different and yet I want another CPH. Oh, the drama. So I'm searching Ravelry in vain when in reality I should cast on the damn CPH and be done with it. Gosh.

Hope everyone's doing well this Tuesday. I'm going to indulge in something gross and greasy for lunch, but I'll work it off later (hopefully).

Blerg (a somewhat lame whinefest...please bring cheese)

(ok. what follows is kinda emotional and sad and i don't do that often. or ever, probably. feel free to skip it entirely. do not, however, tell me to find jesus. done. not interested, but thanks. i'm human, and maybe not as nutty as i might sound. i'm hoping i feel better just by typing all this. scroll to the next post for knitting!)

I'm feeling way antisocial lately. It sucks. Because at the same time I wish I could just sit down with someone and turn off my filters and totally be myself and fucking vent. About whatever. I don't do that very often anymore except with Nate and he's awesome but we both know we can't be everything for each other. That's what friends and therapists are for. I have no idea what's wrong with me. I should probably just call my therapist, but that costs money. Blerg. And I don't do it here because...well, generally that's not what folks come here for. And it's my choice not to totally expose myself and be unedited all the time (or at all). I've experienced the ramifications and it's rarely fun. But fuck it, I feel like shit and I want to talk about it. If you don't like it, move on.

Usually I keep my emotions in check because it can be so easy for me to just *feel* everything. Everything I'm dealing with AND stuff people around me are dealing with. Sometimes it's overwhelming. I have to tune out and disconnect because I can't stand being so open and susceptible to other people and sometimes myself. This is exactly why I don't watch movies that make me cry. It's hard for me to recover. Like today I just sat on the floor and cried for about an hour. For no good reason. I had this visual of lying on a cold stone floor in a cave drawing circles with my fingers and feeling very numb. Kinda random but accurate. It's like I let one teeny tiny thing in and the whole fucking world collapsed. And now I have to dig myself out and rebuild and junk. Stupid metaphors.

I can't imagine how hard it would have been for me to really pursue acting. It's hard enough just to deal with myself some days. How horrible would it have been to have to live with a fucked up character for 3 months or more? I would have had to have therapy just to stay sane. And to stay myself. It's way too easy to get lost in someone else. I think that's what ultimately kept me away. The fear of losing myself.

It's the same way with voice lessons. I feel SO completely exposed. So I try to be perfect, then I'm told that it's ok to make mistakes so I can learn from them. But uh...no it's not ok, cause here I am, totally exposed AND sucking. Sure some of that is the perfectionist in me, but most of it is about being completely raw and out there. Thanks, but that's what walls are for.

Maybe that cave is not such a bad place. I feel like I'm missing something in my life right now, but I've no clue what it could be. Maybe I've just been disconnected for too long.

Finally finished!

Oh hi. I have a new teeny tiny camera and I'm learning how to use it. The one I had from a few years ago was *impossible* and awful (Nikon something or other). I'm so glad I have a good one now (Canon Powershot SD1100). LOVE it. I'll still use my Rebel for yarn and other things, but this camera fits into my purse a lot better for every day camera needs. Like when I need to catch people doing something completely stupid. Or I'm just bored.

So I finished the Lelah Top while at the beach last weekend. Other than random sock knitting it's ALL the knitting I did the entire time, and I only had to finish the straps. So lazy.

Hi. I'm blurry sometimes.

I freaking love this top. Sure I had to rip and reknit three times to get the lace part long enough and then I got impatient and had to rework the boob section twice, but it was so worth it. I want to wear this thing every day. I used about 3 balls of Rowan Calmer by the end because of the lengthening and the straps, otherwise I would have stuck to my 2 ball projection. I found a brown ribbon at Michaels and wove it through tonight so I could go out and show off. I should probably block it, but eh, whatever.


Love!

still alive

This damn song has been stuck in my head since Saturday. It's a newish song in Rock Band and we played the hell out of it while on vacation and ever since it is stuck. in. my. head. Not that I don't love it, but omg get out already. There's only so much room in my brain for these kinds of things.

I hope you all had a nice long weekend! I hate that vacations are never really long enough and the drive home always sucks, but otherwise it was a pleasant weekend for us and I'm only slightly sunburned (dear god I'm so white that I burn in one hour even with a shit ton of sunscreen on. bah.). I only did minimal knitting, but I finished the Lelah Top and worked hard on a pair of toe up socks. I was too busy enjoying the nothingness to actually take pictures, but I'll have some soon!

So while I wasn't knitting, I was reading. And I've come across a new obsession. Y'all already know that I'm a big old nerd. It should never be a surprise when I reveal the further depths of my nerdiness. And yet.

The first time I talked to someone reading a Harry Potter novel (the 3rd one, POA), I scoffed. In their face. About reading a children's book. Surely my literary tastes were greater and omg how old are you that you're reading a book for 12 year olds?!?! Ahem. She laughed at me and said "just wait." The next day she brought me her copy of Sorcerer's Stone and it was off to the races for me. Of course I had to apologize as I took it back to her the next week and went out and got books 2 and 3 for myself. Open mouth, insert foot, chew vigorously. Never again, I swore, would I take "young adult" literature for granted. Not that the first book was stellarly written, but I was certainly interested enough in the world to continue.

This weekend Carrie introduced me to Twilight. Again, my first thought was "but it's in the YA section...bleh." Wrong again. I ripped through that sucker on Saturday, then bought the second and third books the very next day. I'm started the third one last night and I'm halfway through today. You might say I'm a sucker for decent vampire fiction. Not shitty romance type fiction even though it IS a love story, but it has just enough of the gothic novel elements to keep me hooked. Damn it. I had sort of enjoyed having a life.

I could totally gush about the empathy I have for the main characters, but it's not pretty. I'll simply say that when I was 14 I totally would have been open to a sexy vampire stealing me away from my life and pledging his undying devotion FOREVER. I might have been a dark and melodramatic teenager. Shut up. (p.s. to the possible sexy vamps out there - i'm much older, less cute, and taken. forget about it.) Ahem.

OH! Back to my real life - the yarn from Louet for the second sock club shipment is shipping to me TOMORROW! Woo! I'm finishing up my wholesale orders this week and shipping those out this weekend so I can completely devote myself to the club without any procrastination guilt.

Also, thanks for all the podcast suggestions! I can't listen to "food" podcasts while I'm exercising because I'm weak and I'll just stop and go find something to eat, but I will listen while dyeing yarn (though the effect may be much the same).

Have a great week, y'all!

Keeping up with The List

My 101 Things in 1001 Days list is feeling a bit daunting to me lately. I've set myself a LOT of long term goals, which would be out there anyway, but seeing them mocking me on the sidebar is a little disconcerting.

I've made some progress though and I'm really enjoying the process. Here's a bit of a run down:

Things I'm enjoying making progress on:
Reading - I'm a bit of a book nerd anyway, so this is a lot of fun. I have about 20 books going right now so I'll be able to finish this goal with no problem. Also, I've decided that once I'm finished with the last Harry Potter book (I'm 9/10ths of the way thru #7 for the 3rd time), there will be NO MORE reading them until I have kids old enough to give a shit. After book 6 I cursed Jo and swore 'never again' and I mean it. This time.

Trying something new every month - I'm really enjoying this. Even if it just means I buy weird shaped fruit at the grocery store. If it's new to me it counts.

Trying new recipes - We have sooooooo many cookbooks that this one is easy. Right now I'm kind of hooked on The Sneaky Chef. Reading cookbooks should totally count, but I'm not claiming them.

Things scaring me:
Everything to do with money - paying off credit cards, all the stuff I want to do for our house - it's all freaking me out right now cause my money will only go so far these days.

Things I need to find substitutes for:
Visit England - Again with the money. If the dollar weren't tanking so hard this might still be a possibility, but until further notice we're on the lookout for somewhere affordable to visit for our 5th anniversary next May. I'm thinking maybe a cruise to Mexico and Jamaica. A European cruise would ROCK, but I doubt it's in the budget. (p.s. there is no budget, which is probably why i have difficulty with that pesky credit card debt)

Things I have to start over:
Exercise and mediation. Boo. Weight loss and inches goals. Double boo. Part of this problem is that being on the treadmill can be sooo boring. I would drive somewhere to run but that doesn't seem efficient and I'm bored with my neighborhood or I'd just go outside. I think I need new podcasts. I really enjoy Pottercast (stfu), Lime & Violet and sometimes Stash and Burn. I really don't want any more knitting podcasts, but I can't think of anything else I'd want to listen to. If you have suggestions I'd LOVE to hear them!

I'm enjoying a DVD I bought and my running, but I definitely have a hard time doing it every single day. Though I've decided to train for a 10k next month so I guess I have to make it priority. Does a 10k count as two 5ks? I think it should.

**********

This weekend is our knitting/beach trip so I marked it off The List. I have to buy a bikini today and then clean my house. I do not want to do either. Bah. I'll have fun pictures when we get back though!

constantly contrary

yarn, cops and berries...aka a competely random post

Holy life suckage, batman.

I don't mean that my life sucks, I mean it has completely sucked me in, covered me in yarn and has finally spit me out again. I feel a little fuzzy in the brain and noodley in the appendages.

(forgive me, i was feeling prolific when I started this post, then I went to lunch and my motivation decided to stay downtown and window shop)

The first shipment of the Punk Rock Sock Club is out! I hope you guys like it! I'm dyeing a couple of wholesale orders while waiting for the rest of my sock club yarn to be delivered and then I'll be working on some new colorways for the etsy store. This weekend I'll mark down everything in the etsy store by 20%. The yarn is terribly bored just sitting in a box in my dining room and is begging to be knit into something gorgeous.

********

The cops are heavily patrolling my neighborhood for the next week or so. Nate's coworker who lives 5 doors down from us got BOTH their cars broken into on Monday night. Our dog woke us up at 3 a.m. that morning barking so loud and fierce I was sure he was going to jump through the window. I never did see whatever he saw, but I have a good idea that it might have been some hoodlums. Can I tell you how weird it is to have a cop car shining bright lights into my house at 1 a.m.? Yeah, I was still awake, but that doesn't make it less strange.

*********

Last weekend a few friends and I went to Washington Farms and picked strawberries. I managed to get quite a haul.



And then I made a cobbler, which tastes oddly like a sweetened strawberry jam sandwich.

But we ate it anyway. We also had strawberry shortcake, strawberry ice cream and fresh smoothies. I'll definitely be going back to the farm for more berries. In June and July they'll have blueberries and blackberries. Nom nom nom.

workin' for the weekend*

Sometimes I just go completely off the deep end about something and must act on my impulses immediately. I think most southern folks call it a 'wild hair'. I can't call it that. My brain does crazy things with that imagery.

My front yard drives me completely insane. Usually it's a mild form of insanity, a sort of 'oh bother, stupid yard' and then I let it go. Not Friday. A bit of backstory: when we bought this house in December of 2006, we were concerned about erosion, since the house sits on a built up hill of red clay, which can often get really dry and simply wash away if you're not paying attention. So we amended our contract to include a shored up bed in front of the living room windows and a retaining wall. They did it without too much of a struggle. But they filled it full of red clay and rocks. Big ones. Bigger than my head. Sigh.

(if you've never seen red clay, this is it. it's red. it's clay. and not to say that my head is tiny. the rocks you see here are the little ones. the big ones got thrown into the woods, where all good rocks go to die. or get bigger, whatever they do.)

Well the escapade on Friday all began when I took out the dog after work. I took note that my two forlorn tulips (in another flower bed) that never bloomed were dying. Great. Two of the ten that I planted got leaves, then died. Not a bloom in site. This pissed me off, so I went to prune the first dying one and um...out came the bulb. Oops. So I dug around a bit and realized there were three bulbs in the ground and that my lonely little tulip had multiplied. I went over and somewhat gently pulled up the other lonely tulip and it had multiplied too! Whee!

I dug them all up and repotted them so they could grow and mingle and be friends. You can only see the tops of four of them, but there are about 6 more that were just bulbs.

I dug around the rest of the bed and the other tulip bulbs had all disintegrated. Boo. I still got ten for ten, but not in a way I had intended. Still, now I have a right mess in that particular bed. I'll deal with it next weekend.

Then I decided that I was tired of that icky flower bed under the living room windows. So I put on icky gardening clothes (not very different from my icky workout clothes from the day before) and made Nate go to Lowe's with me to get real dirt, fertilizer, a hoe, and some bushes. (Cause a girl needs her ho and bushes. Ahem.)

So I grabbed my ipod and dug and sang at the top of my lungs until it got dark. I'm quite sure this confirmed my neighbor's thoughts about my wackiness. But I'm a wimp and I didn't get very far. Wet clay is very heavy.

Saturday morning we got up and did the rest. We had to dig out two feet by two feet of red freaking clay, mix it up with dirt and fertilizer then put it back in. The rest of the clay will get mixed with more dirt and fertilizer to fill up the bed the tulips came out of. I might replant them or just get something else.

We now have three tiny knockout rose bushes, all of which have brand new blooms today. I hear they grow fast and furious, so I hope they'll just cover that whole area quickly. I hate all the ugly black waterproofing stuff and the shoddy concrete work. Just eww.

Later this week I'll go buy some edging stones to give it a border and make it really pretty.


The only downfall is that after this mania my back is completely out of whack. It was already hurting on Friday and my mild scoliosis was twinging something awful. It's a weak spot, but not in any detrimental way.

On Sunday I enjoyed Lucy Neatby's class at my LYS with my mother-in-law and her sister. We learned a few new toe and heel tricks and giggled a lot. I might also have said 'shit' a few too many times in polite company. But Lucy was wonderful and fascinating. She totally makes me want pink and purple hair.

*i know that song is not about working ON the weekend, but now it's stuck in my head. enjoy.

Friday is a free peach cobbler

Monday, take note. This is how a day is supposed to behave. Gorgeous weather, good friends, free dessert.

Cheryl, Courtney and I had a delicious lunch today and half way through our meal the waiter brought over a FREE peach cobbler. Apparently someone else had ordered and then decided against it and he had overheard us talking about how yummy it would be. So he gave it to us. Sweet!

I may have done more than my fair share of cobbler gobbling.


And on a completely unrelated note...ow, my scoliosis.

holy crap there's knitting!

For the record, the GRE did not slay me, I'm still here. Though I did sort of physically melt when I saw my score and realized that I do NOT have to retake it. WHEW. Thanks so much for all the encouragement!! I got an 1130, if you're curious, and I'm kinda kicking myself for not studying for the verbal section cause I could have rocked it a lot harder, but whatever, it's over.

My boss (who totally rules, btw) gave me the rest of the day off, so I had some Ben & Jerry's to celebrate and then took a lovely nap. Tonight I'm dyeing yarn and dancing around my kitchen while Nate plays GTA4.

So, how about some knitting? Remember the Aleita Shell? I totally love it, but my row gauge is different from the pattern, and it now requires math to work the proper number of decreases. I'm a over math for a little while, you know? I'll get back to this one later.

This is as far as I've gotten:

The separation for the bust V section:


I've also cast on for the Fern Fitted Shell with the Ella Rae Bamboo Silk (LOVE IT). Thanks, Nada, for the errata info! It's slow going but I blame the GRE, not the pattern.

And I cast on and have almost finished my Rowan Calmer Lelah too. I'm doing a racer back top rather than the tube top in the pattern, like this one. I hope it doesn't stretch too much. That would be counter productive. For me anyway.

I've also been working on some of my 101 things. I've found a great exercise/stretch/meditate routine that is refreshing and makes working out really rewarding. Now I need to get back to eating better to make all my hard work worth it!

Ok, back to dyeing! Have a great week!