Need Content? Grab a Meme

I stole this from Bells. I wonder what it say about me. I dislike nearly all modern fiction, so it makes for a lot of "blanks".
There should be another list, all non-fiction. I would have a lot more interest (ie The History of Salt - it's been on my wish list for a while now.)
Also, who wrote this list? There are so many wonderful works left off of it. The Scarlet Letter, Tom Sawyer, anything by Jules Verne, Shakespeare, any poetry (not even Uncle Walt is on here.) Anyway, here it is for what it's worth.

Bold the ones you’ve read
Italicize the ones you want to read
Leave blank the ones that you aren’t interested in.

1. The DaVinci Code (Dan Brown)- made for some interesting conversations between the Duke and I
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee) Read this, very quickly, in school, I need to read it again
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery) I read all of her books when I was 10 or so. I loved them
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling) Sorry Bells, can't agree with you on this, I love the HP series.
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown) Too far out there
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden) I was SHOCKED to learn this beautiful book was written by a man. . .
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)- I actually didn't finish this- I got more than half through, but it just isn't my thing, much to the Duke's dismay.
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger) How have I not read this yet? I don't know
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)- maybe
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)Loved it!
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)- maybe
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom) - a funny thing about this book, my MIL gave it to me to read- this woman is a walking library, she speed reads everything in sight. The entire story revolves around 2 words in this book, 2 Tagalog words, no less. She missed those words and didn't understand the book. I was in tears.
45. The Bible - re-reading right now! I love the NT
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy) I'm actually nearly finished with this interesting, if slow read. I ocasionaly put it down and yell "What are they THINKING?"
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck) I've actually read this, but remember so little that I think this classic deserves a re-read.
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens) Oh I love this one, I know, it might make me sick, but I just think it's hysterical.
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)- another maybe
54. Great Expectations (Dickens) Oh I loved this book.
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)- it's in my reading pile right now
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger) I HATED this book HATE HATE HATE. I DO NOT believe in determinism.
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy) so I bolded 1 word, I made it about 1/3 through and gave up
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)- yes, I've actually read the thing
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According to Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte's Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck) I read this when I was a teen ager- even then I knew I was too young to really understand it all, even so I loved it.
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)- again, maybe
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

Cascade 220

I got a total kick out of the fact that you all decided to guess which yarn was writing to you. That wasn't what I was expecting, but I loved it.
Just so you all know, the "piece of Yarnnation" that goes to the randomly selected commenter, will not always be in the form of the story yarn, in fact probably most of the time it won't be. (Like last time, the Yarn was Rowan's Chunky Print, but Bells got some hand dyed sock yarn, which she is knitting the most beautiful socks with.) This is mostly because the yarn doesn't tell me it's entire story until after I have knit with it, so I most likely will no longer have it in the stash.
In this case, however, I always have a little Cascade 220 in the stash. Right now it happens to be in colorway 9408- Cordovan, which is a slightly heathered reddish brown.
I have employed a handy-dandy random number generator, and the winning number is ............ 5! And this means nothing to y'all because you aren't looking at the comments, but Sarah (aka: Gry- Sarah what does your handle mean?) was the 5th commenter.
So Sarah, your choice, I have 2 hanks of C220-9408 for you, or (for your spinning pleasure) 8oz of some unspun superwash merino in one (or a mix) of three colors: a slightly variegated tangerine, a lovely lightish grass green, or a rich moss green.
Let me know what you want, you have my e-mail.

Distract Me

Pregnancy Update: Will someone please put me out of my misery? The super pill held less magic than hoped for. The nausea/vomiting continues. Six more days before I throw myself at the mercy of my doctor.

Anyway, this is a post about distractions. So far distraction, when possible, is the best medicine.

First up, upon arriving home from a walk yesterday, what do I find on my door step?



Oh yes, my Tote Exchange Package- GO HERE to read all about how wonderful my partner Teresa was to me and to find out where you can get that amazing sock yarn.

Fresh air seems to distract me for a time, and mother nature was decked out in full regalia.

(roll over the the individual picture to see the entire photo.)

Sunday's walk in the arboretum provided a very pleasant distraction, along with very happy and muddy dogs. We took them on their retractable leashes, such a great invention. They run forward and back, forward and back, covering 2-3 times the ground that the Duke and I do. Logan was so tired after a good long romp, that when the Duke put him in the tub to bathe him (something that usually results in hysterics) he just sat down in the tub and submitted. We even had a hard time getting them dry because they didn't want to run around the house for near as long, which is their usual method of drying themselves off. Instead, the Duke and I submitted to damp doggies on our laps and ran our hands through their fur to decrease drying time. As always, nothing make me happier than good tired pups!

I have been able to spin and bit and knit a bit less. Onesie painting requires so much less of my body and brain, so I whipped out a few more.







I may not find this as charming or hysterical in a few months, but for now, in my ignorance, I laugh each time I see it.



UPDATE:
hmmm, I don't know how the commenting got turned off. I did have a little technical dificulty with this post, but I wasn't messing around with the comments. Anyway, there you go, it's back on.

The Yarn of Yarnnation #2

Our family has been in this business for decades. We know what it takes to stay in the game. You’ll find our family in nearly every yarn store in the US, and many other parts of the world. Not many families out there can say that now a-days.
We’ve quietly listened to the flashy novelty yarns, with all their fluff and sparkle tell the world how wonderful they are, proclaiming loudly that they only needed a pair of needles and a little garter stitch to reach maximum admiration value. (That’s not really something to brag about if you ask me, but I just keep my opinion to myself.) We watch from time to time as the new knitters come in and buy them up one or two balls at a time. We often hear back from family “in the stash” that these novelty divas are devastated when they realize that they have been separated forever from their glitzy friends. I guess it’s not much of a party if there is only one star.
We’ve also overheard the ohhs and ahhs that almost sound drug induced when a new luxury fiber arrives in a shop. Often they look in our direction with distain at first; after all, our family is just plain hard working wool. As knitters pet and fondle the luxury fiber of the moment, cashmere, baby alpaca, silk, we patiently wait. Those yarns are always so shocked when, more often than not, the knitters replace them to their display baskets after seeing their price tag, and hurry over to where our family resides. There are very few jackets or sweaters knit out of cashmere, and no knitter would make felt slippers from limited edition baby alpaca.
Us, well at first glance we may not be much to look at. Sure we have great colors and a lot of them, but our simple 4 ply wool, put up in hanks is nothing to write home about. It isn’t until we get on the needles that our true worth is revealed.
You can strand us together, we will hold tight. You can twist us into cable after cable with never a hint of distress. We will lie as flat and perfect in stockinet stitch as the undisturbed snow, or give us some texture and we will stand out strong with all the crispness of a solider. If the needles slip or the pattern is bad, rip us out of those stitches. We can take it, time and time again. Our family has done it all from felt to lace and everything in between. We have a long and proud tradition of excellence, those high-brow yarns will come and go, but we will always be here. The knitting world knows they can count on our strength and stability, and that- that is something worth teaching your young knitters.


*Remember I will choose a random commenter to send a little taste of Yarnnation too.

Desperate Duchess and Dashing Doggie

I want to say thank you again for all the comments, suggestions, emails and general love and good vibes that so many of you have sent since I announced my impending alien arrival. I have tried everything that any of you have suggested, and anything that anyone else has suggested. Some of the suggestions worked a little bit. Some of them made me more sick. Some of them concerned my darling Duke (but I did them anyway- desperation is KING.) Please, be patient with me in answering your comments and emails. My energy level is very limited.

Thank you for the encouragement to start selling the onesies out of my etsy shop. I don't think I will any time soon, as my business brain ruins all creativity when it takes over (ie- You CAN NOT spend more than 20 min on a single onesie, or your cost of labor will go above the point where you can cover that cost and still sell the onesie at a reasonable price point.) However, there will be some fun new baby and shower gifts to come out of this new found activity. If you really want one, you may also be able to bribe me with yarn or other fibery goodness to paint one for you. Email me and we'll talk.

Now, if you want to skip my continued whining about how much I hate being pregnant (and really who could blame you,) scroll down to where the pictures start.

The Saga Continues. . .

Yesterday morning I had to open the refrigerator, a task that requires me holding my breath, as there is a smell emanating from within (despite the fact that the Duke has thrown nearly everything away out if- bad or not,) that sends me into dry heaves. The Duke can't smell it- at all, but I can't even be in the room when it is open, and have to evacuate the area for about 2 min. each time the accursed appliance is opened. You can imagine this is a problem for someone who 1. is pregnant and 2. doesn't want to eat anything as it is.
So, yesterday as I was following a dear friend's advise to eat something bland when I felt sick, that for her, the sick feeling was her body's way of telling her she was hungry. Rice Checks were on the menu and after an uneventful meal I summoned the courage to replace the rice milk. I prepared for the event, took a deep breath, opened the door, and somehow instantly ran out of air. As I replaced the rice milk I also inhaled. This sent me immediately into dry heave convulsions. Normally this would only last a couple of seconds, but not this time. They continued as I frantically made my way to the porcelain recepticle (I was in NO SHAPE to be cleaning vomit off the floor.)
Up to this point in my pregnancy I have only thrown up once, brought on by an extremely upsetting conversation (watch for major life change #2 coming soon.) Yesterday was to be my second. I have no idea what it is like to have a seizure, but if I were to imagine it, this is what I would now imagine. Naturally, this can only go on for so long before any body would relent. I lost my Rice Checks. I crawled to my bed and began to alternately wonder why God suddenly decided to hate me, and if my lifelong defence of Eve's decision was warranted.
Now, I know that God doesn't hate me, and I know that Eve did what she did for a noble and great purpose, and I am thankful for both of those things, but my brain had been short circuited to feel nothing but pain, there was no hope.
I have known for several days now that salvation from this malady lie in my medicine cabinet. A friend and my cousin had both told me that Promethazine (Phenergan) was the only thing that made their pregnancies tolerable. I had talked to the Duke (who, for those of you who don't know will be a pharmacist in about a month) and my father (who is also pharmacist,) about taking this *scary music starts here* DRUG! The Duke wanted me to wait until after my first doctor's appointment and my father, who showed no real concern about me taking this drug, thought that I probably should as well, but knew of many women who had taken it during pregnancy and had healthy happy babies. For those of you who are medically minded, it is rated category C for pregnant women.
I wasn't comfortable calling my doctor, as I had all ready done this once and he had told me that he wasn't very comfortable prescribing me something until after he had seen me, but would make an exception just this once. (So I all ready used that card) and I can't really go see him until the 1st of April when my insurance kicks in. Now, all of this would be moot, as it is a prescription drug, except that I HAVE A BOTTLE OF PROMETHAZINE IN MY MEDICINE CABINET. My PCP had prescribed it a couple of years back when I was having nausea brought on by migraines. I didn't need it for long, as I soon afterward quit the job that was causing me to have migraines, thus treating the problem in a more proactive way.
I fought the "temptation" for a few hours longer and finally, at the end of what I consider a very long rope, I looked up the appropriate dose for pregnant women. I took the lowest possible first dose and was in the most profound sleep I have had in weeks within a half an hour. I took the second dose several hours later and, although I was not miraculously better, I finally felt well enough to wash my hair for the first time in 7 days (I have showered once in that period of time, but couldn't bring myself to wash my hair, which is kind of a lot of work.) I normally shower daily or every other day, and I only rarely shower without washing my hair. After a bit of a rest I was also able to leave my house, and run some errands.

I was able to go to the bank, boring buy long overdue.

I was able to go the Baskin and Robbins and get (and EAT!) a scoop of the only one of the 31 flavors I am permitted- Daiquiri Ice- YUM

I was able to go to the fabric store where I bought these



to make this.



BTW- Princess, if you like this well enough after I'm done, I will make one for you, but I didn't realize until I got there just how much fabric it requires, and the personal accountant balked at two right now (plus I didn't find any fabric I really LOVED for you.)

I also got these for Princess, who fell in love with this fabric line after seeing what JoJo at Stardust Shoes did with them. Thanks to Chef Messy for introducing both of us to this super cute blog.



I was able to go to a baby store and bought my first real baby puchase. It was on sale for "only" $30.00 and the ones that I've admired like this before (with a "big" name attached to them) were over $100.00. It felt so real to be buying something for the alien.



I also have some knitting content to share (oh yes, that reminds me, I also felt well enough to get a little - a very little- knitting done.) Here are a couple of patterns that together make up Dashing Doggie. You will find them, free of charge, on my patterns page.



UPDATE: While I was writing this post I was also eating a green apple. I went upstairs as the Duke's alarm went off, but he didn't get up. I was feeling OK, still a little nausea, but I didn't expect to feel 100%, after all I am pregnant. I got the Duke up and laid back down myself. 10 seconds later I found myself violently puking up my green apple and crackers. I relent! I give up! I surrender. I called my Dr. this morning and said I would come in and pay for the appointment, what ever he wanted, just PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make it stop! He told me I could take a higher dose of the Promethazine for today, and then called in a prescription for Zophran (aka one of the most expensive drugs on the market- these people know that a vomitous pregnant woman will pay nearly anything for relief, and so I will.) God bless this good man. He understands pregnancy related deperation.

Here's hoping that the sun will come out tomorrow.

Can't Knit? Then Paint

So the latest pregnancy update:

Massive amounts of ginger (ginger beer being the preparation of choice at the moment)
Sea band bracelets that have been on so long that they have made permanent marks on my wrists
Unisom
Vit B-6
Tiny meals 6-8 times per day
Decent sleep, (not possible until today because of very loud construction next door, now overcome with my new white noise machine) in 4-5 hour bursts
A couple of short walks in the cool spring air

If I can manage all of this, I don't feel good, but I don't think that jumping out of my third story bedroom window is a legitimate solution anymore either. (Kidding, I'm kidding. . . mostly)

Anyway, knitting makes me feel crummy (you see the jumping out the window thing now?) Spinning increases the queasiness, so painting oneies it is.



The Duke loves the little lion, it's OK.



The second sheepy. I LOVE HIM.



The leaves are nice and leafy.



This guy is really a lot cuter in person, but I think I'm going to fill him all in instead of the yellow dots.



I heart tulips!



Not so in love with the turtles, but they are OK, they can't all be great.

Things the Made me Happy Today

A red Freedom Rose



My finished "Uptown Bag" pattern by Amy Butler



Y'all didn't know I knew how to sew did you?



The first of many hand painted onesies that will be coming out of my kitchen. I had so much fun doing this. I've finished three more, but the camera was too much for the sickie to handle.

Maraming Salamat (much thanks)

Thank you all for all your well wishes and helpful tips.

A few of you asked when my est. due date is, well I haven't been to the DR yet, but by my calculations it's about Nov. 8 or 9.

That puts me at a measly 6 weeks and a bit (please don't forget the bit, every day behind me is one less day of potential blech.) This is the week that all the pregnancy books tell you "morning" sickness will likely begin. They lie, they all lie! This has been going on for WEEKS all ready. Either that or I am further along than I think I am, but I doubt that.

Anywhoo, again, thanks for all your suggestions. I have all ready tried the ginger, along with anise, fennel, and mint. None of them much help. I called my Dr. and he prescribed Prevacid, again, with few results. I have tried to eat small meals, which does help, the biggest problem here, is that when I fell like I can eat, I am so hungry there is no way I could keep from eating until I feel at least partially full, but then this makes me feel very sick again in about 15 min., so I'm trying. Peanut Butter was making me sick a few days ago, but I tried it again (a bit on soda crackers) and that went pretty well. Finally, yesterday I went and bought some Unisom and some vit. B-6. The Duke figured out how much I should take and a half an hour later, at long last, I had a little relief. It was enough to sleep soundly for several hours at least. The other thing that really helps is riding my scooter. Doesn't that sound strange, but the cold air blowing in my face trumps the sickie, even if for just while I'm riding. I love it!
The Duke came home with a dozen red "Freedom" roses and a pair of Sea Band bracelets. He's such a good man. I don't know if the bracelets are helping yet, but I haven't taken them off. Pictures of the beautiful roses tomorrow or the next day.
Glynis also said she had to take Phenergan during her pregnancies. I happen to have a bottle of that from when I had nausea brought on by migraines. The Duke insists that I can my DR before taking any of it, and I suppose that is reasonable.

Well, we'll try to get back to our regularly scheduled fiber fun here in a day or so. I have a new Yarn of Yarnnation nearly ready to go up. Keep on the look out.

Major Life Change Explaination: part 1

Hurry, run, look out your window for the flying pigs!
That's right, we're expecting a little alien baby. We know it must be an alien because no human child would dare make his mother feel this crappy. Prepare yourself now for future postings detailing the gag-a-thon/sleep-a-thon that my life has been reduced too.

Oh and yes, when I can rub two brain cells together long enough to think about it, I am very very excited, as is the Duke.

For those of you who go to church with me, I'd like to keep this under wraps for a few more weeks (yes I know posting it on the internet may not be the best way to do this) I just want to be the one to announce it (this has been recorded as too much to ask in the past, as you may know) and I want to wait until after I've had my first Doctor's appointment.

Oh yes, and all you mothers out there (besides mine, who has told me that it must be the Duke's family's fault I am so sick, as this doesn't happen in our family) Any advise on taming the nausea dragon would be appreciated. I'm ready to try nearly anything.

DONE

I presented my business plan today. The logo I designed was greeted with approval, I presented with as much grace and intelligence as I posses (don't laugh.) And I now have a whole week free of all thoughts of school.

(Here's the Logo I designed, pretty good for an amature, don't you think?)



I also finished the Sweet Sunny Baby. Have you ever seen anything so adorable in all your life?

Even the Tea Has Turned on Me

Good Grief, will it never end?
Today:
-Got kicked in my sleep by my husband (hard)
-Woke up at 5:00 am, unable to get back to sleep
-Realized the Duke is still sick as I gaged watching him clean goop out of his eyes
-Fought with (for several hours) and then finally canceled my health insurance
-Spilled scalding hot tea all over myself, my couch, and of course, my computer
-In my rush to clean it up I find (deeply imbeded in my foot) the second of two needles I dropped the other day in the carpet (unable to find the second at the time I concluded I had been mistaken and there must have only been one.)

On the other hand:
-I finished the slides for my Business Plan presentation on Thurs
-Created a template for my patterns and formated the first one, which is all ready off to Princess P. who is test knitting



-Got better photographs of the Easy Peasy Baby Rattle and the Birthday Bib

-Finished a little baby hat for a friend who is due on Sat.

-Got a great start on the next Ba Ba Baby design Sweet Sunny Baby

-I am up-to-date on my tetnus shot (I think, I had one in 1999- checking- yup 10 years, I'm still good for a bit longer)
-There was still enough hot water in the tea pot for another cup of tea

Luckily my silver linings are usually pretty broad.

So what are you going to do now?

Due to some recent, unexpected, and major changes in my life, I have suddenly found myself with a significant more amount of free time that I have had in the past. (I'll tell y'all more about the major changes in a few days when I have better processed everything.)

Princess P. emailed me earlier today and (among other things) asked what I was going to do with my free time now. Good question, Princess, what am I going to do with this new abundance of free time?

I'M GOING TO KNIT OF COURSE!

I have wanted, for a long time, to create my own line of knitting patterns, but I have never had the free time it required before. Now, well. . .

Today I spent some productive time with my design notebook and came up with a half dozen ideas, then I spent some healthy time with my needles and yarn.

You all get to preview the first two patterns in the first set of designs, BaBa Baby.

Easy Peasy Baby Rattle
This darling little toy is easy to knit, uses soft and natural wool, and has the sweetest little shushu noise when rattled.

Birthday Bib
At our house birthdays meant Mom's homemade spagetti and angle food cake. The birthday baby might not get a lot of that spagetti in her mouth, but oh what fun! First crack at the cake was another well earned reward for a year of accomplishment. A bib to compliment the show was a must. This one gives plenty of coverage with arm holes so the birthday baby can still throw tomatoes at her big brother! (I don't have a baby to model this, so my stuffed pup will have to do for now.)

More to come. . .

Good Day, Sunshine

Thank you all for the encouragement. I had a much better weekend, much thanks to my friends.

Here is something happy to look at until I have knitting content to show- soon I promise, soon.

When It Rain It Pours. . .

Does living in Seattle make that statement more ironic?

I believe that right before a person is about to receive a choice blessing, the powers of hell conspire against that person to try to get them to do something that will really screw things up.

I believe that trials are actually blessings in disguise, given to us as opportunities to change, to grow, to improve.

I believe that we are here to learn and that learning means falling down sometimes. I also believe that we are here to be tested, and that being tested means being put in situations that will test us.

So I will therefore conclude the following:
1. The forthcoming blessing is going to ROCK!
2. I have reached another growing spurt in my life.
3. I may not get an A+, but I'm doing the best I can, and I am proud of that (in a tired sort of way.)

Today I:

-- Stayed up until 5 am working on the last section and the financial forecasts of my business plan. When I finally fell asleep it still wasn't done, and in my opinion, there is nothing worse than pulling an all nighter and not finishing the product.

-- Fought my body all day

-- Was frustrated because I couldn't take care of my sick husband.

-- Was deeply disappointed by someone I thought was my friend

-- Had a person we believe is trying to commit insurance fraud file a claim against our insurance.

-- Was used as someone's personal emotional punching bag

-- Had to let someone down, once again, due to my inability to say no.

-- Ate something that disagreed with my stomach

-- Picked up my dog's bedding that he had, only moment's before, peed on.

-- Had an emotional breakdown.

It was a sucky day. . . but like all rainstorms, this one too will soon be over, and there is a bright and beautiful silver lining.

This is Logan looking over three copies of my FINISHED business plan. (He is a fierce editor, by the way, tearing up things he doesn't like!)



It is a very dense 37 page, single spaced, document that I am extremely proud of.

It has a table of contents



It has charts and graphs






It has financial analysis



AND IT'S DONE and with a whole 20 min. to spare- who could ask for anything more?

The Clouds Part. . . The Angels Sing. . .

We all had our own private doubts, but it has finally happened.
That's right, Sebastion is done, finished, completed.






A perspective shot for you. That is a 6in (15cm) ruler sitting on this BEHEMOTH.

The pattern is Sebastion from Rowan's Arabesque magazine. Knit in Rowan's Little Big Wool, colors 508-Amber 5 balls, 509-Topaz 6 balls, 505-Jasper 1 ball, 507-Moonnstone
2 balls. Needle sizes US 11 and 13.

Notes: I knit the front and the back, and then seamed it all up, which is not what the pattern says to do. So much for reading the pattern. I have no idea why they want you to knit the neck and arm ribbing flat and then seam, but I didn't. This also resulted in the er- quirk that the colors of the verigated ribbing on the neck and arms are opposite of the ribbing on the bottom. The pattern gives you directions to start on the wrong side, so I followed it, not realizing that it was for flat knitting- so there you have it.

If you want to see this fabulous fair isle in person, it will soon take up it's residence at Hilltop.

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I saw this on Lucy's blog. It's prety cool.

ooooooooooommmmmmmmm

What a weekend!
Here's how it went:

Friday.
I went to work, nothing special to report.
Came home for a bite to eat and a short nap before heading out to The Fiber Gallery for the Seattle Spinners monthly spin-in. It was great to see Sarah and to hear that her little passenger isn't demanding 85% of her strength anymore, just like 50% or so. This was the first time I have gone to this spin with this group, and it was really very enjoyable.
Then I headed up to Village Yarn and Teas to join in their knit nite, that was going on until 12:00am. Georgia of Yarn Pirate (who dyes the most stunning yarns- go buy them!) was having her trunk show. It was great to see all that yummy yarn all in one place and in person. I even got there late after more than half of the booty was gone, and I was still impressed. I was oh so tempted to buy some, but my pocketbook is sadly empty right now. I also got to sit and talk with one of the nicest women who comes in Hilltop. We always have a brief little chat when she comes in, but because I'm working it's always too short. I was able to sit and talk with her for about an hours, and it was so nice to get to know her better.
I didn't make it until midnight. I was sleepy, and got home about 11:45. Plus, I had a big day the next day. . .

Saturday:
Up to Hilltop to set up for MY VERY FIRST SPINNING CLASS. I was a bit nervous, but it all worked out wonderfully. I had five students, and they all were spinning by the end of class. It was so much fun for me, and very rewarding. I hope it was for them as well.
After cleaning up a bit and getting something to eat, I went down to work in the shop. It was so busy, which was great, but also crazy. I hadn't slept well the night before, and I was exhausted by 5:00. Shannon and Daphne to the rescue. They let me clock out and rest of a bit before we all headed off to our next big adventure.
Jennifer, my boss, had arranged for all of us to go to a yoga for knitters class. It was amazing. Now I have done living room yoga, but it really does make such a difference to have an instructor walk you through it. Not having to stop to look at my cards was great, and Amy, our instructor's voice just made you want to relax and helped me stay focus on the present. I can't wait to join a regular yoga class. It has been moved to the top of my priority list. I could not believe how good I felt afterwards.
Then, in crazy HT girl fashion, we all headed over to The Garage for some food and bowling. It was so much fun. It was great to see Tatyana bowl for the first time ever (she did really well) and to find out that Kat and Susan are the real bowlers among us. It really was so much fun, and the best part, I was so tired when I got home that after just an hour or so of down time, I climbed into bed and slept soundly for 8 hours. It was fantastic.

Sunday:
Was enjoyable as usual. The Duke was home most of the day, with only one meeting in the morning. Church was uplifting, the Sunday nap was refreshing, and we had a yummy dinner of Greek slow cooked chicken, artichoke dip, homemade hummus, pita bread, and a salad. Dinner was made all the more sweet by four delightful friends who joined us for dinner and brought some supper tasty crumb cake to finish off the meal.

All in all, it was a whirlwind fiber filled weekend. The best kind!

EXCLUSIVE: The Duchess Eats Her Words!

So, some of you who have been hanging around here for a while may remember my Anit-zipper Resolution. Oddly, it was a year to the day, which I didn't realize until I just looked back at the post, that I broke that resolution.

It is amazing what you are capable of when you don't have the money to pay someone to do it for you.

May I present the finished Eco Sweater, complete with perfectly installed zipper by yours truly.

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I took a few pointers from a sewing class that I took a few months ago. Our lovely instructor had us use scotch tape to tape our zipper in place before sewing it on. Scotch tape wouldn't have held up here, but packing tape and a few pins worked nicely.

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It took me three evenings of intermittent work to get it in. I guess it pays to take your time with such things. I also found that using a finer needle helped a lot. . . no, I am not a sewer.

Here is a funny sort of tabloid looking pic of me in the sweater. The Duke and I aren't ever home together during day light hours. Maybe there will be better pictures after we start saving some daylight.

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