Thursday, March 29, 2012

Home Sweet Home








R and I signed this afternoon on the purchase of our beautiful new house.  We're so excited that it's hardly comprehensible... 

The previous (can I say previous as of right now?) owners are moving out tomorrow and we should get our keys as soon as they drive away.  :)  Then we have to get the hardwood floors refinished and do a little painting and caulking before we move in.

Not much time for knitting but it's coming, let me tell you!

I hope you are all enjoying the beautiful weather we've been having!

Knit Happy everyone!

Monday, March 26, 2012

Laying low...

Hey Everyone,

March has been a crazy busy month.  We went home the first weekend to visit family and celebrate a birthday.  Poor R has injured a tendon in her foot and has had to wear a boot around -- everywhere.  For an environmental engineer who has a lot of outside groundwork, that's a problem.  There was a shooting at my apartment complex and a car in the parking lot got all shot up [scary] and we had to replace the brake assembly in one car and the battery in the other (in the same day and when the first was leaking brake fluid from a bad repair job).  The list goes on and on but let's just say that I've been laying low as much as possible the last couple of weeks to avoid the bad luck monsterwhile I've been interviewing for local jobs, preparing to close on the house, and getting ready to move... Again.

Any time that was available for knitting has been totally eaten up by said activities -- or car trouble.

We have our walk-through tomorrow, close on the house on Thursday and then move as soon as possible!  R and I are super excited!!!

Not much potential for knitting progress in the next week or two, but then watch out! :)

In the meantime here are some of my favorite links to friends with great knitting blogs, and some relevant knitting cartoons as we've been playing Star Wars in the background of our packing...










Happy Knitting Everyone!





Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Ta-Da! Tuesday #15

Good Morning Everybody!

Well, I finally have completed the oiling and reconstruction of the beautiful wheel my wonderful wife, R, surprised me with at Christmas!  Now I just have to learn how to use it...

For anyone who doesn't know, on Christmas day my wife gave me a card which said that she had procured for me a spinning wheel that I had been coveting for some time and that we just had to go pick it up in Atlanta.  The last weekend in January, we set off to go and get it.  It was a good weekend with friends and on our way home we stopped to pick it up.  It's a beautiful wheel but it was unfinished.  Doug, (remember Doug from my retreat last fall?  He of the Perpensockular socks) suggested that I take it apart and oil it with some Danish oil which would not only give the wood a nice "glow" but would also harden the surface to protect it.

After driving home in this for 6 hours:


I started the oiling of this wheel.  But with no time to work on it during the week and a rainy weekend every weekend for a month(!), it took a long time to finish the project.


It's done now, however, so I give you my beautiful new (to me) Mach spinning wheel from Spinolutions:



 On another note, I've been battling a sinus infection for two weeks now, and here's why:


Apparently, Memphis doesn't really do winter and instead likes to skip to spring early so everything's in bloom here now and there's lots and lots of pollen in the air.  Oh well....

Happy Ta-Da! Tuesday Everyone!


Please be sure to check out others Ta-Da! Tuesday posts via the Linky List below....

Below is a Mr. Linky list if you'd like to add a link to your own blogpost.  It's cached, so give it a minute or so to add your link to the list.
A couple courtesy requests:
     1. Submit the URL of your WIP post and not to the main blog page or a previous WIP post.
     2. Please include a link back to this page in your own WIP post.
     3. No comment is necessary -- the request is added automatically by Mr. Linky.

Friday, March 2, 2012

Fiber Fever Friday #14

Hello All!  Happy Fiber Fever Friday!

It's been a while since I've been in a position to do a FFF, but that doesn't mean I haven't been finding great deals on all that fibery goodness in the meantime, oh no...

Today's fibery goodness comes in the form of this:




 A droolworthy table of really great cottons and some merino/cashmere/mohair on the left... All this great cotton I found in late January at that wonderful shop in Macon, GA Creative Yarns for something in the vicinity of 75% off -- as you can see I completely loaded up for my spring projects with a wonderful array of pinks, yellows, blues, purples, and that springy accent color - brown.

:)  That was a really good day :)


Knit Happy Everyone!


P.S. - if you're looking for a Finished Object, check out this week's Ta-Da! Tuesday post!

Below is a Mr. Linky list if you'd like to add a link to your own blogpost.  It's cached, so give it a minute or so to add your link to the list.
A couple courtesy requests:
     1. Submit the URL of your WIP post and not to the main blog page or a previous WIP post.
     2. Please include a link back to this page in your own WIP post.
     3. No comment is necessary -- the request is added automatically by Mr. Linky.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

20 Questions... (more or less)

Happy WIP Wednesday Everyone!

I like to start all of my posts as a letter to the reader.  I don't know why I settled on this format for the blog when I began it.  I suppose it felt more personal that way.  Given that most of my readers are probably friends and family anyway, it seems an appropriate choice... :)

Or at least that's how it started out.  These days I have several blog friends and that relationship is entirely unique.  It's both distant and intimate.  I know these people, in the sense that through their blog posts I have a clear glimpse into their lives.  I know how many children and pets they have, what their spouses names are, what they do for a living, how they spend their time, their favorite colors, foods, books, music, and other tastes.  So in one sense, I know them intimately -- through their blog I laugh with them, feel sad with them, celebrate births, mourn deaths and spend my time with them.

On the other hand, I don't know them at all.  I don't know where they live.  We've never met for lunch.  We don't spend any time together in person and there are things you just don't learn about each other as internet pen-pals.

So, it's for this reason that I am writing this post today.  I don't normally do this sort of thing -- my friends and family know that 99% of the time I delete forwards and questionnaires -- I get enough junk mail without sending more into the world and ruining my e-mail karma!  But when my friend Steph at Woolythyme decided to adapt one of these emails for the blogger-verse to try and get to know her bloggers better, I thought it was a great idea.  So here goes...

Tag Rules

  1. Post these rules on your blog.
  2. You must post 11 random things about yourself.
  3. Answer the questions set for you by the person who tagged you.
  4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag.    ...well.... I adapted those from Steph because they were so good...
  5. Let them know that you tagged them. ***        nah...
  6. You legitimately have to tag 11 people, but if you don’t know 11 bloggers, tag as many as you can.***        nope not happening...

 Questions from My Tagger
  1. Favorite pet of all time.  My mini schnauzer, Sasha 
  2. Meryl Streep or Diane Keaton? I like them both, but Diane Keaton hands down.
  3. Favorite movie set.  The beach cottage in Something's Gotta Give.
  4. Furthest you've ever been from home.  Ekaterinburg, Russia (Literally on the other side of the world -- 5,829 miles)
  5. Most unusual mode of transportation you've ever tried. Prison Bus. (Russia mission trip transportation)
  6. Do you speak any foreign languages?  (Pig Latin counts) Italian.
  7. Best vacation you've ever been on. I spent a summer in Italy in college.  It was wonderful!
  8. What is your earliest childhood memory? I remember getting my first pet when I was 3.  A tiny black and white kitten.
  9. A book you've read that you would recommend to everyone. Just one? The Thirteenth Tale.
  10. I think most of us are crafters---your most disastrous crafted thing.  (If you don't craft--your biggest kitchen disaster....let me tell you about my eggnog sometime.)  I slaved over a snowflake afghan when I was 15.  I finally finished it right before Christmas in 1999.  7 days before Christmas our house burned to the ground -- no more blanket... :(  Eventually I remade it and gave it to my mother, finally.  You can see it here...
  11. Your favorite toy as a child.  Probably a crochet hook (I started young).  If it has to be a toy, I had a brown teddy bear that I was pretty rough on.  I still have it -- his ear partly melted when I left him too close to the heater and he's a bit threadbare here and there, but he's still alive! 
  12. Who is your favorite singer (or band)?  Loreena McKennitt
  13. Have you seen the first person you kissed in the last 10 years? We're married, I see her ever day!
  14. What country would you like to visit before you die? New Zealand!
  15. Have you ever seen a dead body in person?  Yes
  16. Favorite book or movie that makes you want to eat.  Hmm... Toss up really.  No Reservations, or Julie and Julia, or maybe It's Complicated... so many good ones recently.

 Random things about me....
    1.  My favorite color is Blue.
    2.  I lost a sister just hours after she was born.
    3.  I am a chef, crocheter, knitter, spinner and a potter, photographer, and student of Art History.
    4.  I wear glasses when I read.  That's the only time so most people don't know.
    5.  I was a white haired blonde when I was little... with straight hair. (Think Village of the Damned)
    6.  I was envious of knitting when I was little and only knew how to crochet -- although I would never have admitted it.
    7.  I am a better knitter because I learned to crochet first.
    8.  Ever since I was little I have loved the Alien movies... but I hated small murderous things in horror movies...
    9.  I have been afraid of clowns since I saw killer clowns from outer space.
  10.  I have ridden an elephant.
  11.  I have been in a Russian prison.
Although I think it's cliche, my favorite city in the world is Paris.


Questions for my taggees.....
1.  What is your funniest pet story?
2.  Meryl Streep or Diane Keaton? (gotta keep the good ones)
3.  Your favorite Ravelry designer?
4.  Your favorite place in your country?
5.  Your favorite British TV series?
6.  What is your favorite pastry?
7.  Best vacation you've ever been on.
8.  What is your favorite childhood memory?
9.  A book series you've read that you would recommend to everyone?
10.  I think most of us are crafters---describe the first thing you made that you were really proud of...
11.  Your favorite toy as an adult :)


 So, that's the game... Now is the part where I'm supposed to tag/forward to a bunch of people which isn't happening.  BUT, if you'd like to participate I'd love it if you used this on your own blog or chose a few questions to answer in the comments section -- that way everyone can play!

I can't wait to read the comments... Tag, you're it!

P.S. - If you choose to play on your own blog, just add your link in the Mr. Linkey below!

 
Below is a Mr. Linky list if you'd like to add a link to your own blogpost.  It's cached, so give it a minute or so to add your link to the list.
A couple courtesy requests:
     1. Submit the URL of your WIP post and not to the main blog page or a previous WIP post.
     2. Please include a link back to this page in your own WIP post.
     3. No comment is necessary -- the request is added automatically by Mr. Linky.