A Stitch In Time

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I talk about my various and sundry hobbies here as well as my life in general. The primary focus of this blog is my spinning and my knitting but you can find just about anything covered if you hang out long enough.

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Guanco on the Russo - done

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Siv from Viking Patterns for Knitting - from my handspun Back done front not on needles

Oregon Cardigan Autumn Colorways by Alice Starmore started 12/6/08

Komb Afghan using my Jacob handspun for inside of hexagons and Bond for outsides.

Waving Lace Socks from Favorite Socks: 25 Timeless Designs from Interweave using Panda Wool in Chocolates colorway.

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Asian fabrics quilt. 75% done

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Fleeces Processed into Roving

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Melba - Shetland - Black

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Monday, January 29, 2007

The Letter G

A while back, Kristi did the Letter meme and I asked for a letter. (This is the second time I’ve written this post. The first version was lost to the ether. Grrr…) I was given the letter G.

1. G—den - My maiden name! Sorry, I won’t diclose the whole thing. Gotta keep some anonymity! I loved my maiden name, but I confess it was very easy for me to shed it for my husband’s name. In fact, these days I sometimes forget I ever had another name at all!

2. Germany - I lived here for 6 years albeit when I lived there it was West and East Germany respectively and the Cold War was raging. Ok, maybe smoldering would be more accurate.

3. Greece - More Specifically, Greek Mythology. I learned my first bits of Greek Mythology in Elementary School and fell in love with it. So much so that I made my parents check out every book in the library on the subject! Athena was my personal favorite. I guess I was a budding fiber artist even then! I had a dream of spending the night alone on the Acropolis in the Parthenon sleeping under the stars. I even wrote the Greek Embassy asking if I could and they politely declined. I still dream of going to see the Acropolis before I leave this earth. And I fully believe that if there is such a thing as past lives, I was a priestess of Athena in one.

4. Green Beans - My favorite vegetable! Yum!

5. Gala Apples - My favorite apples along with Granny Smith. Add a slice or two of Colby cheese, and it’s heaven!

6. Gaspeite - A fabulous lime green to apple green stone that i am lucky enough to own a few pieces of.

Yes, those are a number of G items, all of which are special to me.

Now, what have I been up to lately?

I’ve been doing some spinning on my woolee winder and some navajo plying due to the fact I only have 2 bobbins for it.

I’m enjoying getting better at navajo plying, but I still think I’m pretty bad at it.

I’ve also been knitting. I FINALLY finished the first entrelac sock on Friday night. I blocked it on Saturday.

I’ll be starting the 2nd sock soon.

I received some really wonderful gifts too. One is from Deb and came at a time I really needed it. When my Grandpa was in the hospital and my kitty Calvin was going t hrough a bout of illness. We’re cautiously optimistic on both counts, but I was fairly bummed out lately. SO this super fun and happy teapot really did the trick! Incidentally, I confess that despite my love of tea, I didn’t even own a teapot until Deb sent me one!

Thank you Deb! I’ve used it nearly every day since you sent it to me and it always makes me smile! And that Stash house blend tea? Fab! I really like it!

Today I received 2 skeins of Opal yarn in colors I’ve never seen before. These are from Marguerite over at Stitches of Violet. I absolutely love both of these! I am so tickled by the Yellow one! I can’t wait to see what it looks like knit up! And the orange, white, brown and blue of the Rodeo is beautiful! I am very interested to see the design that comes through on that yarn! What fun skeins! And all in colors I absolutely love and don’t have enough of. Thank you Marguerite!

Ok, I think that’s everything. Really. I’ll try not to fall off the planet again so quickly.

Posted by Lizzy B on 01/29 at 07:57 PM
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Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Weird Much?

There is a meme floating around cyberspace that I confess I have a burning desire to do. So I am going to do it.

List 6 weird things about you. Now, those who know me, pipe down, I know there are at least 600 things I could list but I’m only picking 6 and none of them are fiber related.

1. It is very hard to make me laugh at the printed word/scripted TV, and often movies. People however? All bets are off. Seriously. Ask Lady V, Shelley (who is not in fact dead, just totally overwhelmed with work and life right now), Deb, Rebekah and any number of people who have heard the cackle that is my laugh. I get around people and the giggle meter is off the charts. But show me a video on YouTube that makes most people crack up and I will smile, but laughter doesn’t happen. Most comics don’t make me laugh either even though I enjoy them. That is not to say that I am a morose person. Again, ask these folks who’ve met me. Morose isn’t a word they would use to describe me. So unless it’s Monty Python, and maybe Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe, don’t expect me to laugh at your comedy of choice. But If I’m there with you when you show it to me, or better yet if you read it to me, I’ll likely be in stitches.

2. I will only own one watch at a time. Ever. And I will search high and low to find that perfect watch. I’m also VERY picky about what watch I choose. I am not a big fan of over the top watches. The first watch I ever bought for myself was one that I had looked for for almost 2 years. It was a Pulsar with the sun/moon and a date indicator. It was the size I wanted and the leather band didn’t hurt my wrist at all. I wore it so much that I had to get a new band and numerous battery changes. I had that watch for 6 years. My next watch was a Citizen with a mother of pearl face and two tone metal band. I had that one for 6 years too. it was given to me by my now-hubby Kirk when we were dating. I had said I wanted a new watch and he offered to get it for me for a birthday present, but I stipulated that I HAD to pick it out because I had a vision of what I wanted and it had to match. I also had to try on the band. That eliminated a lot of watches right there. Skin and hair pinching are undesirable and unacceptable in a watch for me. I like traditional watches with very little ornamentation. So when my sweetie said he wanted to get me a very special watch for my 30th birthday, I was hesitant. I mean I had just broken in the Citizen! I mean I had just gotten a new crystal it was great. I didn’t NEED a new watch, but I agreed grudgingly. He wanted to get me a Rolex, but I didn’t find a single one that wasn’t too over-done for my taste. That and they were WAY too big for my wrist/arm. Rolex has since come out with some lovely thinner styles, but at the time they didn’t have much to offer me. Long story short, we looked at Tags, Cartier, Movado, Bulova and many other makes and finally Omega caught my eye. Small, elegant, dressy AND casual, mother of pearl face (I really love that for some reason), and little diamonds on the bezel. I LOVE it. It’s comfortable on my skin and it’s profile is small enough that it doesn’t make me feel like I could maim someone with it. I’ve had it for nearly 5 years and I can’t imagine ever having another watch for any reason. Yes, I do mean ever. When I have had my watch serviced, I simply don’t wear one while it is being worked on. I am THAT devoted to my one watch status. Kirk says this has something to do with resistance to change. I’m like this with purses and wallets too. Remember, I’m acknowledging that this is weird so I do in fact know it’s a little odd…

3. I am indifferent about age. Both mine and that of others. I often forget how old I am and have to resort to basic math. I was born in 1972 so that makes me…. Since I was an only child I have tended to gravitate to those older than myself out of habit and comfort. I feel more comfortable around people older than myself because their lives and priorities match my own much more. So I am often truly surprised when friends tell me their ages. It’s something that just doesn’t even occur to me as being an issue or even existing! I have friends who are older and younger than me, but I have very few who are actually my same age. I’m not too sure why that is but I think it is an interesting thing.

4. I am a phase eater. I will go through a period of time in which I will want to eat one thing ALL the time. For instance, let’s say it’s mac & cheese. I will want to eat it for lunch every day for a period of perhaps 3 months. Then all of a sudden I will taste mac & cheese and it just won’t taste right to me until I find that next phase’s subject. Like peanut butter and black raspberry jam sandwiches. The only real exception to this is bananas. I can eat a banana a day for the rest of my life and be very happy about it. When something has become a “phase” food, when that phase has ended, I tend to aggressively NOT want to eat that food for quite a while. It’s odd really. I’ll eat PB&J every day for lunch for six months and then won’t eat it for a year. I don’t know why that is but I have come to accept it as simply the way it is.

5. I have little to no food in my refrigerator. I have lots of beverages and condiments, but little actual food. I shop for the day, meaning if I wake up on Tuesday and want pot roast, I go to the store and get the stuff to make pot roast that day. I don’t do well with planning a week’s meals ahead of time because I tend to change my mind. I mean how am I going to know what I will want to eat on Thursday when it’s only Sunday? I became accustomed to this way of grocery shopping when we lived in Germany where it was a very short walk to get fresh meat, produce and even pasta from the merchants in town. Since you could get it all that fresh, why would you want to store it? Not to mention that our home was not very big and the kitchen was downright tiny so space was at a premium. I got used to the freedom of being able to pick out what I wanted to have that day and getting it. So if I decided to go out I wouldn’t be letting food spoil etc. I know this system wouldn’t work for everyone, but it makes me much more excited about what I am going to eat in a given day since it will most certainly be what I have a taste for.

6. I do not name things. I do not name my cars, spinning wheels, stuffed animals, laptops or other electronic gadgets. When I play a MMORPG (Massive Multi-player Online Role Playing Game) the HARDEST part for me is picking a name for my character. Heaven help me if my first choice isn’t available. I think this has to do with my lack of creativity overall. I am simply not a creative person, and I am OK with that. I am a literalist. My names are often descriptive. My BMW 330i is the BMW. The Nissan 350Z is the 350Z. My wheels are the Joy, the Louet and the Suzie Pro or the Majacraft depending on my mood. Does this mean I am any less attached to my belongings than people who name their things? I don’t know. But if I did name one of my belongings, I would probably forget the name I gave to it because I am HORRID with names. Maybe that’s the real underlying reason.

So yes, I am weird, and these are a few of my personal weird traits.

Posted by Lizzy B on 01/17 at 12:20 PM
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Friday, January 12, 2007

Hiatus

I’m back after a bit of a hiatus. It was a self imposed hiatus due to a bunch of family stuff. You see, my only remaining grandparent, my maternal Grandfather, turned 89 years old on January 7th. This is in fact a really good thing. Unfortunately however, about a week before Christmas, he had to go to the hospital and was there until the 4th of January. He had an Aortic Valve replacement on the 26th of December. So I got to spend a lot of time going to hospitals (He ended up being in 2 for that stay and he’s now in a third.) during the holiday time. I’ve never talked much about my ralationship with my parents on this blog becauase I try to keep it mostly light on here. But let’s just say that my relationship with my parents is strained at best. There are a number of reasons for this and I have come to accept it as simply the way it is. Right now they think he might have a virus, but at 89 years old even simple things can get out of hand quickly.

So my holiday was very hectic and I actually needed serious unplugged time. I got it too!

Before I go any further, let me just say, GO RAVENS!!!! Today was Purple Friday in Baltimore and surrounding suburbs etc, and here’s what i wore to work today.

While I was away from the blog and it’s siren song I did not actually do much in the way of crafting of any kind. I did a lot of cooking and a fair bit of Xbox gaming, and I finally finished Oblivion! Yay! It’s a game I have enjoyed playing for quite a while. I did most of the entire game twice, once on Kirk’s xbox console and once on mine. I really enjoyed it and might go out of my way to do more of the quests for fun.

I guess I should mention Christmas, which was a wonderful day to get our family and friends over for a great meal. We cooked turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, broccoli parmesan casserole, chili/green onion biscuits, gravy and stuffing. This was by far the smallest feast we’d ever made. We managed to have almost no left overs, which was our goal! You see, another thing I’ve been keeping to myself is the fact that Kirk & I joined Weight Watchers in September. We’ve been slowly peeling off the pounds and Kirk is doing a GREAT job. I’m moving a lot slower in the process, but I’m ok with that. I’ve been doing a lot more cooking as a result leaving me less time to blog so that is some of what has been going on… So there is less of me to love now, and I am loving that. Frankly I’m not even finding it very difficult to do this WW thing, mostly it’s time cconsuming. I have to plan my meals and do a heck of a lot more cooking so it’s been sucking my time. I added a ticker at the top to keep track of my progress here on the blog. don’t expect it to move very fast though. That’s why it has a turtle on it. Slow and steady wins the race…

Ok, now, back to Christmas. It was lovely even if my grandpa wasn’t able to be there with us. I was given many lovely gift by friends and family and I am always reminded how very lucky I am to have such wonderful people in my life. I wanted to talk about only 2 of my gifts. One was a Woolee Winder for my Ashford Joy.

This was from my sweetie and I am waiting for a 3rd bobbin before I make any evaluation beyond a quick and dirty test drive.

The other was a gift from my parents. I was taken aback by this gift. I think you could even say I was shocked by it. You see, (Some additional back ground here) I’m an only child and Kirk and I have no offspring. Not only that but my parents have shown little to no interest in Kirk & I for over 10 years. Recently they have apparently decided that they want grandchildren. They haven’t said a WORD to us abolut it EVER. Not in our 11 years together, nor our 5 years of marriage. So, imagine my surprise when I received this on Christmas morning.

Yes, it is a baby doll that talks, eats and poops. They also gave me extra diapers and food for the thing. Upon opening it they said “We figured this was as close as we were going to get to grandchildren.“ Yes, well. Interesting. I do know a very deserving young lady who will probably love this though. She’s only 3 years old, and were I her age I would have loved it too.

So Christmas was interesting and a bit ummm, strained.

I did get to give my secret project in time for Christmas. It was another Streakers Shrug with the ribbing and cuff yarn being my handspun and the body using Encore for its washability. This was made for my wonderful MIL who didn’t give me a baby doll for Christmas.

Now, while I have been away from the blog I decided to start a pair of socks. I decided on the Entrelac Socks from the book Socks Socks Socks published by XRX. These are knitted toe up, a first for me. Entrelac is also a first for me too… SO I’m happily knitting away and get past the heel and it looked like this:

It didn’t fit and had horrid holes where a gusset ought to be. I ripped it out.

This was MUCH better!

I also decided to add a gusset to this sock and added 2 more rectangles to the sock upon starting the “leg”. I had to somehow figure out how to remove them though ion order to make sure they fit past the ankle. An interesting dilemma. I should note, there is no gusset in the pattern. My first run was following the pattern verbatim. I am a stubborn woman (My Taurean bullheadedness no doubt) and I confess that a gusset-less sock does not work on my foot. I have a tall foot due to a very high arch. This is not something that I find to be bad, and I rather like my feet actually. I could barely get the previous version of the sock on, but now it is looking like this:

I have a goal of finishing this first sock this weekend. We’ll see!

And finally, for Rebekah, here’s a picture of my sweet baby pup!

Isn’t he handsome?

I’ve missed you guys! I’ll be popping by blogs and trying to leave some comments now that I have risen from my stupor.

Posted by Lizzy B on 01/12 at 05:42 PM
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