Yay Karma

So apparently I've got some wickedly good Karma going at the moment. It all started when I was at work the other day. I had pulled up the picture of Lil D all knit up and my boss asked me "Oh hey... I was cleaning out my parents' house and I found a huge cedar chest full of yarn. You wouldn't want any, would you? Otherwise I'm going to throw it all out.

Needless to say, I claimed the yarn.
5 boxes so far, with more to come, and "A huge bucket of needles and hooks too. About the size of a paint can."

That same day on campus the used book store in the library was outside with some books. $4.25 for all these books.


I finished knitting this beret a long time ago. I need to felt it a little, as it's fairly large. I have problems with my ribbing always stretching out and losing the bounce. Maybe I need to knit some elastic into my hats...


Continuing with the great deals, I found this gorgeous necklace in a local thrift store today for a whopping $2.


And this fantastic knitting book for 25 cents.






And, to top it all off, I've been searching everywhere for Jean Greenhowe's Knitted Toys book, on and off for the past year or so. I was perusing Amazon and I saw a used listing for $2.98. I was positive that it was a fluke, that it would be one of her shorter pamphlets, but even for one of those that's pretty cheap so I bought it figuring whatever I get, I get.
WOOT!!!

500th Post!!!

Wow... 500 posts of me babbling about random things. I can't believe I've found that many things to talk about.

Well, in honor of my 500th post (not really, but shhh, we'll say it is) I have a whole bunch of pictures.

Action shots of D knitting!He's so proud of his "coaster" as he calls it. He cast off that night and began something new. You should hear him plot his projects out. He is truly one of us. And he's toying around with the idea of starting a blog!
He came over on Tuesday night to take care of me, I've been fighting a cold all week long. To cheer me up he brought this little guy with him:
Continuing with the D theme, I just finished this plain garter stitch scarf tonight for him. It's short and simple, strictly designed for warmth. It's quite a trek from the visitor parking lot to my apartment and whenever he gets there he is absolutely freezing.
It's really difficult to photograph the color. It's a heathered black and teal, very manly. Probably would have photographed better on a carpet that isn't black, but...ah well.

Some recent stash acquisitions include:Stahman's Shawls and Scarves, I won this one on e-Bay.
The Bumper Book of Knitting. I ordered this on December 12th and it JUST got here.
2 hanks of Creatively Dyed Yarn in Gras and King
A hank of Gypsy Girl Creations in Blackberry Bramble

And the WIPs right now:They're knitted olives. They're olives and they're knitted. I am in love with this pattern.

A hat to match my Irish Hiking Scarf

And my in-class knitting. Just a plain garter stitch corner to corner baby blanket. I started it last semester but it's moving much quicker now that I have 3 classes I can knit in, instead of just 1.

It's snowing here, we're expecting 6-10 inches. And the girls downstairs built a giant snow penis. I'll get a picture if possible.

Another One Done

Well, I just finished The Mill on the Floss. And I hated every second of that book.

It was like the Seinfeld of books. A book about nothing. Except without the comedy. Nothing happened at all until around 250 pgs in. And then when something did happen it was all misery and pain and that annoying Victorian self-denial.

I'll probably start Frankenstein tonight, as I had a training session at work today and found out that I'll be working a minimum of 26 hours this weekend.

Seeking: Extra Eyes

Thank you to everyone who commented and e-mailed. I get overwhelmed at times, but I've started journaling every night and it really seems to purge my mind so that I can sleep easier. I'm also debating some anti-anxiety medication. We'll see how things go once my bank account isn't quite so empty, cause I know that's causing a huge amount of stress.

In other news, I picked up my books today.

Jane Eyre - DONE!!
Mill on the Floss - Halfway and hating every second
Hard Times
Crawford
The Picture of Dorian Gray
She
The Song of Roland
The Anglo-Saxon World
The Fellowship of the Ring
The Two Towers
The Return of the King
The Haunting of Hill House
Dracula
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
The Oxford Book of Victorian Ghost Stories
The Castle of Otranto
Vathek
The Vampyre
The Norton Anthology of English Literature
The Sense of Music
Critical Theory Today
The Tragedy of King Lear - After Frankie
Frankenstein - Up next
The Critical Tradition

If anyone has an extra set of eyes, or isn't using their own, please send them down to Edwardsville. I could use them.

One Down

Just finished up with reading Jane Eyre. I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed that book the first time I read it. It's like a soap opera, it really is. All the usual twists and turns, the only thing it was lacking was an evil twin. It took me 3 days to finish up, which isn't bad all things considered.

I'm taking the rest of today for myself. The winds are so harsh here, so I want to finish knitting a scarf I started on Christmas. Tomorrow I'll start reading Mill on the Floss. Monday will begin Frankenstein and King Lear. Wednesday I have a training session at work (thank GOD it's starting up again. I need income.) and the following Monday classes begin.

People keep asking me if I'm having a good break. HA! What break?

Book 7 Release

DON'T WORRY I WON'T POST SPOILERS!!!

Ok, so we headed out to get the book at midnight. The "party" was fairly lame, as HP parties go. I figured as this was the last book people would go all out. Nope. Not here anyways.

I digress. So when 11:30 rolled around (finally) and they started lining people up there was a small hiccup. The nice people at B&N said "Line up at the white balloons if you are in group C." Problem is... the white balloons were on a wall, so people lined up on either side while the employees stood around and watched. So finally we were told "Umm... you know you're not in line?" Then the guy told us to just swing around and shuffle into the line, cause we'd all been waiting the same time, ya know?

Holy crap, this woman went NUTS at us. "We've been standing here ALL NIGHT! You're CUTTING! Get to the end of the LIIIIIIINE! How rude can you BEEE!"

I stared at her for a few seconds before smiling very sweetly (the employees who told us to shuffle into the line were wonderfully absent and didn't bother explaining why a mass of people was trying to 'cut' in line). I pointed out what a wonderful example of self control she was setting for her children(I half expected her to throw herself on the floor and have a full on hissyfit, I really did), as they were right behind her, especially over a book, before heading to the end of the line rather than fight. So we got our books at *gasp* 12:37 instead of 12:22!!! I don't know how we survived. I really don't.

So outside I had to check the last line of the book. It's a horrible habit of mine and as I flipped it open this woman shrieked out "Don't read the last page! What are you doooooooing?!?!?" I pointed out that I wasn't going to read it out loud and she still continued to spaz at me. I was sooooooo ready to be home.

Long story short long, I got home around 1 and fell asleep around 9 after reading the whole book. My opinion... best of the 7. Hands down.

Look for the contest winner to be posted on Monday!

Crafty Devil

Thanks to everyone who sympathized with me about yesterday’s crappy dorm news. I’m still holding on to a tiny sliver of hope that maybe, just maybe, I’ll get my own room.

Anyways, I mentioned that I’ve been doing a LOT of non-knitting crafts. And most of them are for the 3 different Harry Potter swaps that I’m in right now.

First we’ve got the Handmade Harry Potter swap.
I painted the book/box and the little trinket box, sewed the DPN holder, beaded a subtle Gryffindor pride bracelet (cause not everyone is down with shouting their fandom from the rooftops) and made some stitch markers in all the house colors.

I have to say that I’m quite please with how the book/box came out. I painted it green, but it looked too fresh, so I took a brush, put a little brown paint on it and dirtied the book up. Then I used crackle, so it looks like aged leather.

And what book of Darkest Magick would be complete without a splatter of blood and a bloody thumbprint on the back?

I finally finished everything up for my Hogwarts Sock Swap pal. Besides the socks and Hagrid (who I got on eBay for $1!) there’s stitch markers, a sewn DPN case and 4 sets of DPNs, a beaded bookmark, a painted trinket box in purple (her favorite color) and a bracelet in purple and silver.

Close up of the box:

And for my Hogwarts Sock Kit Swap pal…A handknit Ravenclaw bag with dyed Ravenclaw yarn from an Etsy seller inside, a DPN case with 4 sets of needles, a bookmark, a trinket box and tonight there will be a bracelet made as well. All of this stuff is due to be shipped out on Monday, assuming that I can get to the stores and stuff to find the silly Harry Potter candy.

I have to say that I really enjoyed painting those boxes. I got them for $1 each at Michaels and they turned out better than I could have hoped.

Lil sis and I went to the museum this past Saturday and it was artist day. That’s where they have artists at the museum and they’ll give you paper and pencils and crayons and little chairs and you can go anywhere you like to draw whatever you want. Well Lil sis LOVES pandas, so we headed over to the case with pandas inside to draw them. Lil sis’s is WAY better than mine. Her pandas are all happy and smiling. And hers is in color. We’ll be saving her drawing for the dorm room wall.

In reading news, I was completely sucked into: For a Victorian novel it is remarkably funny, fast paced, easy to read and completely accessible to the modern reader. I suggest it to anyone who enjoyed Jurassic Park or who was a dinosaur nut as a kid. Professor Challenger is a hilarious character.

That's all I got for now!

Blog Stew

‘cause it’s got a bit of this and that in it today…

First and of the most supreme importance… I have this…
4 hanks of sock yarn, 880yds total. I need to knit up a shawl fairly quickly out of this yarn. (2 weeks) I want to do a triangle shawl, use size 7 needles, with some lace, but not too much as the yarn is variegated. Any ideas?

More on the road trip!!!

Someone asked what I bought at the knitting store. I got: 2 Skeins of sock yarn, 2 hanks of Koigu and a hank of Mountain Colors, which didn’t photograph well. My argument to myself was that all of it was cheaper than they sell it at home, so I had to buy it right then. You know… spend money to save it.

Yeah, I know I’m delusional. But I’m happy in my delusions.

At that great used bookstore I found some real gems. All nerdy school-type books. Victoria’s Daughters, Word Origins, Queen Victoria, Queen Victoria’s Little Wars, Moby Dick, Stories of Edgar Allen Poe and Dickens’ A Childs History of England, the last two of which were purchased for me by Anna.

When we went to see the show, we decided to go all out. Here we are in all of our 3 hour drive, lazy 20-something year old schlubbiness.

And here we are after primping and polishing ourselves. Clean up pretty good, don’t we?

In honor of the occasion, and because my old ones were falling apart, I bought these: Don’t get too excited, the old ones were thrown away so I still have only 3 pairs of shoes.

Of course there were many souvenirs purchased at the play.


I love Scar…

And had I known that THIS existed, I probably would have bought it before the play. I’ve got two books like this already, one for Phantom of the Opera and one for Beauty and the Beast. It’s not in the budget right now, but some day it will be.

Also not in the budget, no matter how much I wish they were, are these fantastic yarns inspired by Labyrinth. I was, and am, a big giant Labyrinth nut. Ask me anything, any trivia, any moment in the film, any character and I can answer it, describe it or quote it.

Oh yeah, my nerdiness goes FAR deeper than what you may have imagined. Scared?

Oh The Things You Can Find...

Got to have it? Bid on it now!

More Reading and A Hockey Hero

The Beekeeper’s Apprentice – 384pgs

Let me start with a thank you to Chris and everyone else who harassed bullied convinced me to read The Beekeeper’s Apprentice. I absolutely loved it. The author nailed Holmes dead on, which was my biggest worry about reading the book. Once I got going in the story I couldn’t put it down. I can’t wait to get to the bookstore to get the next story in the series.

Weird thing is though… the ending of the book, the mysterious villain that is revealed to them all, is the SAME PERSON that I used in a dorky little Holmes short story that I wrote back in January, before I even owned the book. (No, you cannot read it, it sucks.)

Scene: Allstate Arena, Sunday night, Wolves vs. the San Antonio Rampage

The Rampage make a breakaway, the lone player pushes ahead of the Wolf pack, heading towards the defenseless goalie.

Colin Stuart puts on an extra burst of speed and charges up the rink, but he knows he can’t make it in time. So he throws himself onto the ice, using his momentum, and throws his stick out in a wild and desperate bid to knock the puck away.

It works, the breakaway goal is avoided and the fans begin to cheer the hero, until the Ref’s whistle blows and Stuart is ridiculously sent to the penalty box for, of all things, interference. (It would have only been interference if he HADN’T touch the puck.)

Boos echo around the arena as play resumes. The Wolves, distracted by the unfair call, allow a goal past, bringing the score to a tie, 1-1.

As yet more boos echo, I place my hands around my mouth and yell out, in a remarkably loud voice if I may say so myself, “Ref you SUCK!”

Cries of “You tell him!” and “You go girl!” respond to my shout and I laugh.

Later, while slipping out to use the little girl’s room, I push past a group of 7yr old boys who proceed to tell me how awesome I am, because I told the ref that he sucked. Upon my return one of the boys nearly slapped me with a mini-hockey stick on accident.

“Oh, don’t hit me!” I exclaimed, backing away.

“We wouldn’t hit you! We love you! You’re awesome! You told the Ref he sucked! That was really cool! You’re really cool!”

All night, while I kept shouting at the team, cries of “Where’s the damn defense people?” “High sticking! Open your eyes Ref!” and my personal favorite “Whiff! Nice miss there pal!” the kids would cheer and laugh and stare at me for a while.

That's right kids. Stay in school and eat your vegetables and one day you might be as obnoxious as me!

Ketchup Catch Up

I thought I’d do a little book review catch up, since I’ve fallen terribly behind:

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes – 173pgs

I love Sherlock in this series. Meant to be his last, you see him at his absolute best. I cried at the end of The Final Problem. In fact, I had PMS so I bawled when my poor Sherlock went over the falls with the evil Moriarty. (I’m not giving the plot away, the chapter starts with Watson saying “It is with a heavy heart that I take up my pen to write these the last words in which I shall ever record the singular gifts by which my friend Mr. Sherlock Holmes was distinguished.”)

Jurassic Park – 399pgs

Quite possibly one of my favorite books, I read it every 3 months or so. While on vacation I went to Universal Studios and finally got to go on the Jurassic Park ride. It only figured that when I got home I would read this book immediately. It never disappoints.

The Return of Sherlock Holmes - ??pgs

Conan Doyle wrote these under public pressure for more stories and it’s rather obvious. They lack the subtle mystery of the earlier works, the many layers of intrigue. Where most of the other stories were about subtle plots, the majority of these seem to be about violence and murder.

Strange but True Hockey Stories – 126pgs

A fun book I found a few days ago at a used book store. It’s really old, has that great old book smell, and the stories are absolutely hilarious. A great book for hockey fans or trivia fans!



Well... that's all the catch up!

Turning Corners and Turning Pages

I finally turned the corner, so to speak, on my lace shawl. The rows, which began at 242 st, are now only 137 st and are going much faster. I can do a 4 row repeat of the pattern in under an hour. Here’s what I have so far:

And here’s a closer shot:
(The top photo is truest to the colors)

I have to say, I’m loving the way this is knitting up. The bobbles make it more casual, so I won’t hesitate to wear it with jeans and a tee-shirt. All in all, I’m loving knitting it. I just… don’t think I’ll ever knit a bobble again if I can avoid it.

In Sherlockian news, I have finished reading The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and I have also read my 4th book so far this month!!! I think that’s more than I read all of last year combined. Up next I’ll be reading The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes during lunch at work and listening to The Hound of the Baskervilles at home.

Victorian Lace / Victorian Literature

I’m slowly but resolutely plodding away at my lace shawl from the Victorian Lace Today book that I got for Christmas. (Pictures soon, I promise!) It’s slow going though, mostly because you start with 242 stitches and decrease as you go. And working in trinity stitch isn’t helping the speed to increase any. Billions of bobbles!! But I do love the fabric that it’s producing, just perfect for casual dress over a pair of jeans. The knit on border is going to be interesting though, I’ve never done anything like that before. But I’ve never been afraid to try new things!

I really really hope to have it done by the time I go to Vegas in a month (28 days!) but it’s a little doubtful. I also need to knit up a hat (Ok that’s really only a day of work) and 2 more of the baby doll sweater/hat sets to give to my cousin’s little girls for their birthdays. Ok, maybe if I really work on it every day until I leave…

My newfound love for Sherlock Holmes isn’t helping my knitting progress. Or it wasn’t until I discovered that my library lets you check out and download audiobooks without going to the library! I downloaded the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and have been listening to Watson’s memoirs while I knit.

I think I might be reading a bit too much Holmes though. Twice now I’ve had dreams where I’m smack dab in the middle of a mystery with the pipe smoking detective. And I think I want to make a shirt that says “Baker Street Irregular” on the back.

Obsessive? Me? Now really, just because I reeeeeally want a deer stalker hat and have been contemplating carrying around a bubble pipe doesn’t mean I’m obsessive. Just means I’m an enthusiastic reader.

Doesn’t it?

Elementary My Dear Watson

A couple years back a friend got me The Complete Sherlock Holmes volume 1. It was ignored until a few days ago when I decided to give ole Sherlock a try.

A Study in Scarlet is the first Holmes book, where we meet the odd detective and his companion, the good doctor. For those of you who don't know, Watson narrates all of the mysteries. The book was very fun to read, short at just 104pgs, yet long enough to really flesh out the details that needed it. When a double murder is discovered in London the police turn to their aid, Sherlock Holmes, to find the real culprit. But was it murder or justified revenge?

The Sign of The Four is the second novel. In the first page we learn of Holmes' addiction to both cocaine and morphine. When a beautiful young woman shows up, begging Sherlock's help in unraveling the mystery of her father's disappearance 10 years prior Holmes is certain is is a simple case. But stolen treasure, unbreakable oaths and perhaps a touch of true love spice up the mystery.

Hey Look! I Can Read!!

Best way to start out the new year, reading a book!

I started reading The Amityville Horror around noon and finished it at exactly 2:22pm.

It's a good story and one that is host to a heated debate. Did the Lutz family fabricate the entire thing? Did George Lutz get into a mortgage that he simply couldn't afford and devise a very original angle to escaping his financial obligations? Or did the family really experience the seemingly impossible events? Did the walls bleed green slime? Did the youngest child, a daughter, really speak with a spectral pig named Jodie? Did Kathy Lutz really feel invisible hands holding her captive. Did she really levitate above her bed several times?

Most likely it's all a fake. Perhaps they did experience a few strange events in the house, it had been the site of a horrific sextuple murder just a few years prior.

Eventually it came to light that the attorney of the man convicted of the murders mentioned above confessed that the story had been invented over several bottles of wine with the Lutz's. It was hopefully to be used in a re-trial for his client in order to gain an insanity plea due to the 'evil forces' within the house. George Lutz upheld his story until his death in May of 2006, saying that the events were "Mostly true."

Read the book. Gain your own insights.

Post-Christmas Knitting Slump

I finished everything that I needed to knit for the holidays and now… now I’m in a slump. I’ve been knitting with pressing deadlines for so long that I’ve kinda forgotten what’s it’s like to have leisurely knitting to do.


I think it’s mostly due to the sudden overwhelming amount of inspiration.

Here’s a review of what Santa and other’s brought me:



I’m so loved.

I did knit something last night, but it turned out wrong so I have to start all over again. I don’t know how I managed to convince myself that it was ok long enough to embroider and stuff the damned thing. Very disappointing, makes me sad.

In other news, I have the personality of a tiger shark today.



(BTW, my comments are acting up and they’re not letting me e-mail anyone so if I don’t respond to your comment it’s not because I don’t love you anymore. It’s because blogger doesn’t love me.)