Nightingale, tell me your tale...

Thirty-Third: What I Did on My Summer Vacation

2008-10-28T07:24:00.000-07:00

I stepped outside of my apartment this morning and took my first full breath of crisp, fall air. All I could do was sigh with contentment. Of course, that made me realize exactly how long it's been since I blogged. The fresh air stifled the pang of guilt, though.

So, the feeling of fall (which makes me want to do and record and remember everything that I love) has jump-started me. I'm going to make a valiant effort a kicking this blog into gear again, for myself if nothing else. Lots and lots of exciting and just plain fun-wonderful things happened while I was on my summer hiatus, so now, in summary (and to catch us up to where we are now), I give you, "What I Did On My Summer Blog-cation." Oh yeah, elementary school style!

This summer, I:

*moved back into my apartment with Sweet Darold, ending the reign of the centipedes from hell and the 2 year old who wouldn't stop running above my head. Silence has never been so sweet.
*baked the world's best chocolate chip cookies, courtesy of the New York Times. And yes, they really are that good.
*started trying to ride my bike to work more often, and have the sore pelvis to prove it (still!).
*donated to the Obama campaign as many times as I could afford to.
*knit 2 market bags, one tube top, 2 pairs of fingerless gloves, and 3/4 of a sweater.
*ripped 1 ill-fated attempt at the Tempting II sweater, from Knitty.com.
*got a raise at work (whoo hoo!).
*went to Tybee Island with my family for our annual beach trip.
*got a sunburn.
*relaxed, relaxed, relaxed.
*got engaged!

Lots of eventful (and not-so-eventful) things going on, none of which I found time to stop, breathe, and blog about. So, you get a recap. If you're still out there after that lonnnnnng absence.

Hello? *echo* *echo* *echo*

Ah well. :)

PS - I'm intending to blog my wedding planning adventures and excitements separately on my new and as-of-yet-unposted-upon account, www.brideandjoy.blogspot.com. It's where I'll go to keep perspective on what this big, looming event is really all about. :)

Thirty-Second: A Mosaic

2008-06-11T12:36:00.000-07:00

I'm just gonna bring this blog back from the dead with a brief bit of fun in the form of a mosaic maker. Saw this on A Caffeinated Yarn and Wine and Needles lately, and I want to play too. Welcome back. :)

The rules:

Using fd’s Flickr Toys,

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker).

The Questions:

1. What is your first name?
Courtney
2. What is your favorite food?
Sushi
3. What high school did you go to?
South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts & Humanities in Greenville, SC
4. What is your favorite color?
Peacock Blue
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
Ewan McGregor
6. Favorite drink?
Midori Sour
7. Dream vacation?
The Italian Countryside
8. Favorite dessert?
Everything Chocolate Raspberry
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
Content with my life
10. What do you love most in life?
My Westie (okay, my family, too, but he came to mind first!)
11. One Word to describe you.
Loving
12. Your flickr name.
driftslikesmoke (though, I had to search for drifts like smoke, since nothing came up for my flickr name!)

Thirty-First: Fun and Games

2008-04-22T09:44:00.000-07:00

So, after my little grumping entry, I feel a need to do something a bit more fun!

I saw this on Jenny's Blog the other day & had to steal it. It was so fun playing hers that I had to jump on the bandwagon. The rules:
• Pick 10 of your favorite movies (okay, I got carried away, but why does it have to be just 10?).
• Go to IMDb and find a quote from each movie.
• Post them on your blog for everyone to guess.
• Strike it out when someone guesses correctly, and put who guessed it and the movie.
• Looking them up is cheating. Please don’t.

1.) "You may see me only as a drunken, vice-ridden gnome whose friends are just pimps and girls from the brothels. But I know about art and love, if only because I long for it with every fiber of my being." - Moulin Rouge!, Jenny

2.) ~~"This isn't life, it's just stuff. And it's become more important to you than living. Well, honey, that's just nuts."~~ - American Beauty, Jesse (who should get it, since he acted in a remake!)

3.) "It started as rioting. But right from the beginning you knew this was different. Because it was happening in small villages, market towns. And then it wasn't on the TV any more. It was in the street outside. It was coming in through your windows. It was a virus. An infection. You didn't need a doctor to tell you that. It was the blood. It was something in the blood. By the time they tried to evacuate the cities it was already too late. Army blockades were overrun. And that's when the exodus started. Before the TV and radio stopped broadcasting there were reports of infection in Paris and New York. We didn't hear anything more after that." - Children of Men, Holly

4.) ~~"Bill Groundhog-Day, Ghostbustin'-ass Murray!"~~ - Coffee & Cigarettes, Darold

5.) "I have no idea to this day what those two Italian ladies were singing about. Truth is, I don't want to know. Some things are best left unsaid. I'd like to think they were singing about something so beautiful, it can't be expressed in words, and makes your heart ache because of it. I tell you, those voices soared higher and farther than anybody in a gray place dares to dream." - Shawshank Redemption, Darold

6.) "On September 3rd 1973, at 6:28pm and 32 seconds, a bluebottle fly capable of 14,670 wing beats a minute landed on Rue St Vincent, Montmartre. At the same moment, on a restaurant terrace nearby, the wind magically made two glasses dance unseen on a tablecloth. Meanwhile, in a 5th-floor flat, 28 Avenue Trudaine, Paris 9, returning from his best friend's funeral, Eugène Colère erased his name from his address book. At the same moment, a sperm with one X chromosome, belonging to Raphaël Poulain, made a dash for an egg in his wife Amandine." - Amelie, Electronic Goose (which sounds like another movie all together!)

7.) ~~"Look at it out here, it's all falling apart. I'm erasing you and I'm happy!" and "Constantly talking isn't necessarily communicating." from the same film.~~ - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Darold

8.) "A new car built by my company leaves somewhere traveling at 60 mph. The rear differential locks up. The car crashes and burns with everyone trapped inside. Now, should we initiate a recall? Take the number of vehicles in the field, A, multiply by the probable rate of failure, B, multiply by the average out-of-court settlement, C. A times B times C equals X. If X is less than the cost of a recall, we don't do one." and "This is your life and it's ending one minute at a time." - Fight Cub, Jackie

9.) ~~"She doesn't get eaten by the eels at this time." and "You rush a miracle man, you get rotten miracles." and "No one would surrender to the Dread Pirate Westley."~~ - The Princess Bride, Jessie

10.) "So I guess this is where I tell you what I learned - my conclusion, right? Well, my conclusion is: Hate is baggage. Life's too short to be pissed off all the time. It's just not worth it."

11.) ~~"Ever fired your gun in the air and yelled, 'Aaaaaaah?'" and "My, my, here come the Fuzz."~~ - Hot Fuzz, Jesse

12.) ~~"K-mart sucks."~~ - Rain Man, Jenny (though I thoroughly expected Darold to get this one!)

13.) ~~"And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a most painful death."~~ - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Jenny

Okay. Let's see how you all do on these. There's a few that I know certain people - if they're reading this - should get. :) Have fun!

Thirtieth: Looking on the Bright Side

2008-04-18T08:45:00.000-07:00

First of all, let me apologize for my little absence. I'm working on being a better, more reliable blogger, and I've actually started 3 new entries between my last one and this one. I'll probably rework the other two and push them out in the next couple of days. I've been busy with a big project, which is in part to blame for the lack of time I've had, but that's no excuse.

As for today, I came here on Sunday to make a gripe-entry, complaining about all the reasons that I was having a bad day, but you know, I just can't manage to do that now. I'm too lucky, too blessed with a great life to sit here and complain about "bad things" that happened, when really, none of it was really that bad at all. I was grumpy and self pitying, and that's not who I want to be. So instead, I'm going to have a little bright-side entry. :)

Grump#1
I ordered some clothes a few weeks back from Gap.com. Having tried them on in the store a couple of months ago and finding that they fit well, I decided to wait until they went on sale online and buy them then. They arrived over the weekend, and they didn't fit at all anymore. They were too big, too baggy, and altogether unflattering. I planned to return them, but since I bought them online, none of the tags had prices, and I didn't have a printed receipt. Therefore, I couldn't return them without paying shipping again, which was almost the price of the clothes. Grump.

Bright Side
The clothes don't fit, because I'm losing weight. The running and lifting and hot yoga I'm doing are all clearly paying off, and that's rewarding. Plus, now I guess I have some cute, unused, quality clothes to donate to someone who needs them far more than I do. Sure, I'm out a few bucks, but I'll just save my donation receipt so that when the tax-man calls next year it doesn't hurt as badly. :)

Grump #2
Last month, when I went shopping at Limited, I received a $25 gift card free with my purchase, redeemable after April 7th. There were some spring clothes that I wanted there, so I decided to wait until then to buy them. Well, Sunday I went to the mall with Darold, planning to use my gift card (which he'd been holding onto in his wallet for me) only to find that he'd lost it. I couldn't justify making the purchases without it, since I'm pretty broke right now, so no new spring clothes, which I'm awfully short on since my last big charity-donation-closet-cleanout, for me.

Bright Side
I'm trying to be better about saving money, so maybe this was a blessing in disguise? I dunno, though. I'm having a tough time with this one. I was really looking forward to having some new, more adult/work-appropriate spring and summer clothes. I guess it at least taught me a lesson about not letting the ADD-kid keep something that you don't want to lose for you.

Grump #3
Darold ate all my Oreo cookies that I'd bought as my sweet treats for the month. Do we really need any more evidence as to what a petty, grouchy little brat I was feeling like when I started this entry? I mean, really. I'm embarrassed that this was even in my list. It's too petty to even warrant a bright side, I think.

Grump #4
This was the grand grump that really set my pissy mood in motion. A couple of months ago, I called my salon to schedule an appointment with my regular stylist, whom I've been seeing regularly for the last 3 years or so. I only decided to finally donate my hair to Locks of Love because I trusted her enough to make my hair look as cute as possible at any length, and I fully intended to stay with her as long as she was in the area (which she always said she planned to be forever, as she loved Atlanta). At any rate, I called to schedule only to be informed that she'd moved to Florida without notice, leaving no recommendations for her current clients.

I resisted going to someone new for weeks, asked around for recommendations, and ultimately couldn't find anyone who seemed both reasonably skilled and reasonably priced, so I chose to just start over at the same salon with a new stylist. They set me up with Sasha, who they said had the exact same hair and style as Andi, my former stylist. This was encouraging, since the reason Andi had worked so well with my hair was that our hair was the exact same texture, so she knew how to work with my wavy, often unmanageable mane. Imagine my surprise when I showed up to the salon and was introduced to Sasha, a stylist with thick, coarse, African American hair, which one must admit is not exactly what I have. I trusted that she would be a great stylist, though, and proceeded to communicate what I was looking for to her. She nodded and acted like she understood, though I admit I was worried at the time that she didn't seem to be paying much attention and was rushing the entire process. She proceeded to cut my hair, and then styled it the exact opposite way from what I told her I'd like (giving me flat ironed, stick-straight locks rather than the loose, spiral curls I'd requested). I politely told her that it was fine and that I loved how soft it felt (which wasn't untrue). I paid $15 more than the price I'd been quoted, because I was told there had been a mix-up and that Andi and Sasha were NOT in fact the same price (though I wouldn't have booked with Sasha had I known that) and tipped well in spite of it.

The entire ride home, I looked at my hair, played with it, and decided that I was really unhappy with more than just the way it was styled. The cut was all wrong, too. It was not at all the multiple soft layers around my face and neck and shoulders that I'd described, rather one blunt layer at around my mid-neck/shoulder region, done choppily so that it's nearly impossible to style neatly WITHOUT going the stick straight, flat ironed route. I decided that I had to call and ask if it would be possible for me to come in and have a few things fixed with the cut, even though I'm not generally willing to do something like that. I don't send back meals just because I don't like them; I don't ask for my money back on movie tickets when the film is dreadful (in fact, I didn't even know you COULD do that until I talked to a friend who used to work at a theatre). I've always assumed that such things were a "buyer beware" sort of purchase. If you don't like it, well, that's the risk you took, right?

Well, upon calling and asking as nicely as I could if there was any sort of policy in place for customers who found themselves unsatisfied with their haircuts (explaining that I'd just left and that the more I looked at my hair, the more I realized that it wasn't really what I wanted), and was asked to hold so that the person who'd answered the phone could find out. When someone picked up again, it was Sasha, who was really irate and snippy with me. Her tone was just awful and accusatory and mean as she demanded to know what had changed my mind, since I didn't say anything when I left about not liking it. I tried to explain that I had to look at it a bit longer before I realized that it wasn't quite right, and that I'd attempted to restyle it myself and that it just didn't work the way I wanted at all, all the while repeating that it wasn't personal; it was a great cut; it just wasn't the right cut for me and that I didn't blame her, rather myself for not communicating what I wanted clearly. She then accused me of just trying to get a free haircut. I explained that I didn't want my money back; I just wanted to fix the one I'd already paid for (and I should have pointed out that if I wanted a FREE haircut out of it, I would have called to complain 6 weeks later rather than 6 hours later). She said that she could schedule me to fix it, but I'd have to pay the full price all over again. I declined, and am now really pretty unsure as to what I should do next.

The customer service was absolutely deplorable, and I was shocked at being put on the phone with the stylist who'd cut my hair (who had clearly not been positively prepped for the call; judging by her demeanor by the time she answered, my guess is that the receptionist must have said something to the effect of, "This girl's calling to complain about the haircut you gave her." rather than "She'd like to talk about the style you gave her earlier today.") rather than a manager.

Should I call again and just ask to speak to the manager without giving a reason why? Should I just let it go? It's been over a week, and I'm still absolutely miserable with my haircut. I don't want to hate my hair for 6 weeks, you know?

Bright Side
Well, I'm clearly still unhappy about this one, but the bright side is, hair grows. And I'm lucky enough to have my health and my hair and the money to go to a salon to have it styled if I choose, luxuries that I understand that I'm blessed to have. Even still, I'm not sure how to handle the poor service I received, which is really the point at this point, I think.

If you made it to the bottom of all this, congratulations. I think I rambled too much even for ME this time!

Twenty-Ninth: Speed Demon

2008-04-04T09:31:00.001-07:00

82 words

Speedtest

I'm such a nerd. Seriously. Such a nerd. I think I could have done better were my fingers not so sore from practicing the guitar, though. :)

(real post below this; I just had to add this in before I forgot about it)

Twenty-Eighth: Traveling (Wo)man

2008-04-01T08:41:00.000-07:00

Darold and I took off for St. Augustine & Sawgrass this past Friday, and the 7 hour drive was just about the most fun I’ve had in a long time. I’d forgotten how good it feels to just sing along to my favorite iPod playlists and talk and laugh until I cry. I did my fair share of the driving (while he napped - punk!!), and it was nice to just watch the scenery zoom by. The conversation just flowed and flowed, somehow. We haven’t been like that together in ages. I didn’t even need to take out a book and occupy myself once. I’ve missed traveling, especially with a good, fun travel companion.

We had lots of silly fun taking my nephew's Flat Stanley project around historic St. Augustine for the day, which means we took tons of pictures. Flat Stanley visited the old drug store, the country's oldest wooden school house, Flagler College, and the coquina fort, which I always want to call the Castillo de San Rio (anyone else remember when the Hello Kitty stores were called Sanrio?) rather than San Marcos.
Flat Stanley and I enjoyed a bit of shopping on St. George street. I think this was right before I got distracted by something shiny in a jewelry store window, in fact. Saint Augustine has lots of cool silversmiths and local jewelers. I, unfortunately, bought nothing.

We also had lunch at the best little restaurant, Columbia. I tried to get Flat Stanley to pay the check, but no luck. Apparently 2nd graders aren't allowed to pay for lunches with copious amounts of sangria. Darold and I both had our fair share, as you can see... We got a little silly before lunch was over. Fortunately, St. Augustine - like Key West as a whole - is a little part of the world that beautifully and mysteriously seems to be in no hurry, and it seems to have no shortage of street musicians, so our leisurely lunch was accompanied by beautiful music from the absurdly tanned man across the street. We couldn't get a picture of him without being obvious, but trust me, his skin was bizarre. It was so tanned that it almost looked leathery and orange, but he had the softest, longest white-blond hair I've ever seen on a man. There was something almost oompa-loompa-ish about him.

After lunch, the next stop was a walking tour of Flagler College, which was just unbelievably beautiful. They have millions of dollars worth of Tiffany glass in their dining hall alone, a tiny fraction of which you can see behind me in the picture at right (Darold, for some reason, is loathe to take a picture without me in it, blocking the view of anything interesting). The story of Henry Flagler, his three wives, and his downright jerky, self interested business practices reminded me a bit of Daniel Plainview from There Will Be Blood. He was a man who apparently lost his soul and sense of ethics in pursuit of greatness and prosperity. Must have been a cultural theme around that time period. Not that we're immune from it now, by any means.

The rest of the day was spent meandering the pretty town in the gorgeous weather, riding the tour trolley with a woman who had to be the absolute worst tour guide ever born, and touring the fort, which is not advisable to do in heels. Forts are bumpy places.

I decided while on this trip that I must only hate central Florida, as I now have to reluctantly admit to loving both Saint Augustine and the Keys, and I'll confess that Sawgrass was relaxing, if uneventful. It was nice to see Darold's hilarious family, drink a lot of wine, and play my all time favorite card game, Nickel Nickel, which I would link you to, but there seem to be no rules available online.

Now that we're back, we've decided that we should try to go on a cool weekend trip like that every six months or so. It makes us obnoxiously happy, as evidenced by the goofiness of this (and all of these) picture(s). We're thinking the next stop should be Asheville, North Carolina, a town that I love but Darold's never visited. Plus, the last time I was there, I missed the yarn shop, so that's as good an excuse as any to go back, right?

Since getting home, I've embarked on two new learning experiences - making sushi and playing guitar, but more on that later. I've rambled enough for one visit. :)

Twenty-Seventh: Getting to Know You

2008-03-27T08:37:00.000-07:00

If you've never written a letter to yourself when you really needed to listen to the deepest parts of you, I highly recommend it.

I recently did this massive mind-body cleanse that left my brain in a bit of over-focused, power mode. Of course, that meant that I had all sorts of mental energy overflowing in me, and nowhere to direct it. When that happens, I tend to turn in on myself, over-analyzing and questioning every aspect of myself, as is evidenced by my last, meandering journal entry here. So, Monday, I decided to write a letter to myself rather than let my thoughts consume me. I free-wrote, just letting my fingers do the work without really letting my brain interfere at all. I've never been able to do that on paper, but online it was much easier, since my fingers are usually a step or two ahead of my conscious mind anyway. In doing so, I managed to remind myself of a lot of things that I often forget and get lost in, and it's been really wonderful to have that letter to go back and review when I feel like I'm starting to lose sight of the things I want to do and the person I want to be again (which happens, inevitably; I'm human). I'm putting some highlights in here for myself, though if you take anything from them (which I doubt anyone will), then I'm glad. :)

"Let [life] be what it [is]. Be still. Let your mind be quiet... Let yourself be what you are, where you are, who you are. Don't ask questions of what it means every second. The meaning is in the quiet. In the instinct. Just be."

"Allow yourself to remember how it felt, and how much clarity you had, when someone asked you this morning what you took away from the cleanse and you didn't have an analyzed, thought-out answer prepared to give her. The right answer came to you instantly. Energy. The ability to focus your energy where it needs to go. The ability to have clarity and purpose and a sense of self again. That's what you have. That's what you need to continue to foster. That's what you don't need to lose. Please don't lose it. "

"Make the lists that you want to make for yourself about the things that you want to do to better yourself as a person. Keep them growing, and keep working towards them. Belly dance. Rock climb. Take cooking classes. Read more. See more plays. Run an endurance race. Just don't let yourself get so bogged down in the lists and the goals that you forget to just BE YOU and ENJOY YOU. Don't let your lists define or intimidate you."

"You're beautiful. You're loved and lovable and anyone who doesn't want to be in this beautiful life that you're continually fostering for yourself clearly has nothing to bring to it right now. Don't force people to be something they aren't. Don't pull them into a life where they have no purpose to serve and do not belong. Everything will be as it's supposed to be. Be sure of it. "

"Love yourself."

My trend toward self-exploration and thoughtfulness has continued over the past several days, and it's expanding itself into me branching out, getting outside of my bubble, and working to know others again as well. On Tuesday night, I went with Narissa and Danielle and their friend Kristy to Ten Pin Alley in Atlantic Station for a little swanky-bowling. The concept of the place (an 'upscale' bowling alley-slash-dance club-slash-pool hall) seemed a little silly to me, but it was actually really fun. I guess the trick to enjoying bowling is to make it NOT feel like you're in a bowling alley, be that by being with the right people or in the right place. At any rate, I hadn't seen either Danielle or Narissa for a while, and it was great to catch up with them and just laugh at all sorts of things that I hadn't thought about in forever. It reminded me of why it's actually a good thing for me to break out of my little hermit-shell a little more often than I currently do. :) It was refreshing to indulge the social side of myself - a side that's been largely hidden over the past several months as I tried to get to know myself again.

This weekend will include a trip to beautiful St. Augustine, Florida and Sawgrass. I'm excited, though I'm having trouble deciding what to take with me to knit. I don't have any warm-weather projects on the needles right now, so I'm at a loss. I don't want a big mass of wool on my lap while I'm knitting poolside, y'know? I also want to get my hands on some good books on tape for the 7 hour drive. Any recommendations?

I'll be back soon with pictures (I hope). :)

Twenty-Sixth: Expectation and Attachment

2008-03-20T09:51:00.001-07:00

There are so many things floating around in my head right now, due in large part - I’m sure - to the cleanse I’m undergoing and the way that it’s affecting my brain and body. I feel an increase in mental clarity that seems to have brought with it an increase in thought and question. Currently, there’s so much in my head that I’m having trouble paring it down to its basic parts, but I think I’m getting close. Right now, I’m wrestling with expectations, attachment, and acceptance in all areas of my life, and it seems that the more I try to deal with them, the more obstacles arise that challenge just what I’m working on.

My inner wisdom knows that expectancy is powerful, magnetic. It acts at a cellular level to create an outcome for us, and it enables our intentions and beliefs to manifest. That’s why I try so hard to stay positive, because I know that expectation can easily manifest in either direction. I have to check that my thoughts and attitudes serve my highest purpose and that of others, but it becomes hard sometimes to recognize the lines. Where does my highest purpose cease to be of importance in the face of the needs of others? When is it okay to act in the best interests of now without regard for later? Is it ever? I don’t think it is, but waiting for the expectancy of later to manifest can leave us feeling empty or unsatisfied right now, and that’s difficult. I wait and give space in my life to so many people who need time to heal (this seems a pattern for me over the past years - I’m a nurturer; we tend to do that). I expect them to heal and grow and become better, and I deny myself the things that I’d personally like to manifest in order to allow them room to do that. I give space and manifest for others in the hopes that, in time, that will allow something to grow that will benefit everyone involved.

What happens, then, when the person for whom you’re manifesting space and health and growth isn’t manifesting it for himself? This was my constant struggle with Jesse. When someone keeps a negative outlook, my positivity can only penetrate so deeply. I guess that’s ultimately why I had to detach from that situation and work on acceptance of it as what it is. I have to trust the universe, the higher power, always, and know that the outcome - whatever it is - will be what is right and meant for me. I have to remind myself to keep my expectations attuned to a higher purpose, and not get bogged down by the wants and attachments of now.

This brings me to attachment, which I know is my biggest obstacle, always. I become attached to my expectations just as badly as I attach to my wants, my immediate needs. Yet, again, my inner wisdom tries so hard to remind me that attachment, especially to a person or an outcome, has its roots in fear and the need to hold onto or control what’s familiar. We humans are biological animals built to be wary of change, and yet my higher mind constantly wars with my biology, and I guess it should if I seek to be peacefully, truly, deeply happy. Happiness with attachment seems to be a superficial happiness, dependant upon maintaining the status quo. I don’t want that sort of happiness. I want the inner happiness first, and then others who choose to join me in my happiness are welcome in it with me. Detachment is what I need. It’s only then that I can allow others to be themselves (not the person I’ve created - I believe our perceptions of others are always creations, no matter how well we feel we know them - and attached myself to) and appreciate them for that.

The problem is, my wise-mind knowing all of these things doesn’t keep me from faltering in it. Every day is just a step on the journey, and every day I can succeed or fail a thousand times. I just have to do my best to keep myself on the right path with every step I take.

Twenty-Fifth: Spring is Here!

2008-03-18T08:32:00.000-07:00

I love Spring this year. Normally, I don't want winter to end. I long to hang on to warm, cozy sweaters and being curled up under blankets with someone lovable, but this time the heralds of Spring are all around me and I'm thrilled about it. The weather these past few days has been gorgeous, highs in the upper 60s with a cloud-free sky that makes me hate the fact that mine is a desk job, and I'm loving watching everything come back to life. Every morning I seem to see another little sliver of beauty that makes me so happy to be right here, exactly where I am in my life.

To make all this even more exciting, I just got my package from my Longing for Spring Swap partner, Tami. Tami hit the nail on the head when it came to buying me stuff I love, and I couldn't be more grateful! She sent me the pattern for Sahara, which I've been wanting for over a year now, some Wintergreen Lifesavers (yum!), a big bag of chocolate Riesens (one of my very favorites!), a Dove chocolate truffle egg, beautiful star-shaped stitch markers, a skein of really cool, peacock-tail colored yarn (can't WAIT to see what I can make from it!), another skein of yarn in every shade of green imaginable (did you know that I'm planning a trip to Ireland, Tami? That yarn is en route to being the PERFECT Ireland hat!) , a great big green mug for tea in the morning (can't wait to show you - it's so cute!), a journal that's almost too pretty to write in, and some cocoa-chai tea. I don't even think I mentioned that chai is my very favorite drink, and yet she got it right! Tami, I can't say enough thank yous. You really really went above and beyond! I couldn't have asked for a better partner! I'll post some pictures when I get my camera charged and read to roll. :)

Unfortunately, I won't get to enjoy any of the candy until next week when I've finished the Ayurvedic cleanse that I'm doing to usher in the new season, but I can't wait until I can! For now, sugar (not to mention meat, caffeine, alcohol, wheat, and dairy) is out of my diet, but I'll surely be returning to normal, gradually, next week. Then, the candy better watch out! I'll post a full explanation of the cleanse and my thoughts on it next week when it's all over.

Thanks again, Tami!

Twenty-Fourth: Forgetful Girl

2008-03-10T20:36:00.000-07:00

Leave it to me to come up with a fool-proof way to keep myself from forgetting things I'd like to mention in a blog entry, and then come up with a way to be a more capable fool. I tend to try to make my subject line of each post about what I'm planning to write about, but of course I left my entry for so long last time that I forgot to mention the "bugs from hell" part that so nicely rhymed and contrasted with the sweet wonderfulness of the wedding bells. In short, centipede season has apparently begun again, as my dog, Wesley, went nose to ~~nose~~ scary, nasty, feeler-things with one that morning. These centipedes are not the thick, relatively harmless looking things that one often finds curled at the bottom of an uncleaned pool. No, no. These are fast, nasty, spidery little critters that bite and sting and hurt. I personally haven't been bitten, but I keep a vigilant watch for the little bastards. As non-Zen and Buddhist as it is, I hate bugs.

On a non-forgetful note, I sent my Spring Swap package out (via my student assistant - love having one of those!) on Monday the 10th, and I have to say, I'm proud of the package I put together for my spoilee! I think she's really going to love it. I know I would. I took a few pictures, pre-sending. Check it out! I'm pretty proud of what I got. I wonder if the person this is for will know it's for her? Probably not, since you can't see the patterns in the picture. Anyway, I hope she loves it as much as I loved putting it together for her! Happy spring!

Twenty-Third: Wedding Bells and Bugs from Hell

2008-03-03T18:21:00.000-08:00

This week is off to a fun start. The weekend was taken up almost entirely by festivities surrounding my friends Mike & Denise's wedding in Peachtree City. It was a really beautiful ceremony, and the reception was incredibly fun. Darold and I danced our little hearts out, and were so honored to be included in the bride & groom's small guest list. Mike & Denise are really wonderful people, the kind who could ask you for anything and you'd do whatever you could to help them out. I wish them the happiest of marriages. Of course, the wedding weekend meant I barely knit a stitch, since that's one of a very few places that I can think of where knitting is entirely inappropriate.

In other news, I received a package from Holly that she so graciously sent me for winning her most recent de-stashing contest. My digital camera is currently out of commission, but she sent some beautiful, ice blue, lace weight, Super Kydd mohair from elann.com that I'm so excited to try! I've decided to make a beautiful shawl out of it. With all the wedding fever from this weekend, I got it into my head that one day, the shawl I make might end up being my "something blue!" I'm nowhere near there, yet, though. :) The package also included a soothing, scented sachet and some really cool fabric pieces that I'm using to work on a quilt (well, probably more like a lap-blankie) for my year-old nephew Andrew. Black and white is great for developing a baby's vision, and his daddy's a Georgia Bulldogs fan, so I'm sure all of the black, white, and pops of red in the fabric will be much appreciated. I'll try to post a picture when I get done with it, though who knows when that will be?

I'm still working on my spring swap package! I've got 99% of it done, and I can't wait to share it all with you. See you soon!

Twenty-Second: A little catching up to do

2008-02-28T06:41:00.000-08:00

Well, today has started in fine form. Oof, Tuesday did, I should say. I started this entry on Tuesday, which was a right mess of a morning. I woke up at around 5:00 AM to the cacophony of one of the worst storms I've seen in a while. Bear in mind that when you rent a basement apartment beneath a family home with two small children, the noise of a terrible storm is not by any means limited to thunderclaps, howling winds, and pounding rain. Oh, no. It also comes with the added aural pleasure that is the screams, teary wails, and running stomps of two very mobile, very anxious children. I am usually a big fan of taking the time to find the hidden symphony in the noise of every day life, and thunderstorms are usually great fodder for such meditative listening, but just as a wailing two year old ruins a "true" symphony, it also ruins a natural one.

I'm a smart cookie, though; I invested in earplugs a few weeks ago. I went back to sleep and happily stayed there until about 7:30. Of course, when I woke, it was not to the chirp of my alarm. Instead, I heard the pinging sound that my cell phone makes when it's inching towards a dead battery. This, of course, didn't make sense, since my cell phone was plugged in to charge before I went to bed. I went to flip on the light only to find that the power had gone out at some point in the middle of the night, and it wasn't back. Thanks to a handy flashlight given to me by my mom "just in case" (since she knows I'm seldom practical enough to think about my need for such things until AFTER I need them and don't have them), I was at least able to clothe myself and get out the door to work, if with crazy, damp, curly hair from lack of power to my hair dryer. The rest of the day was considerably uneventful, since massive storms and fallen trees tend to keep people away from yoga studios.

Wednesday provided a little reminder that we're not quite out of winter yet by dropping some snow flurries on the city, which I of course enjoyed. I've gotten to the point with this winter, though, where I refuse to wear big sweaters. If I have to have ten layers on, that's fine, but I'm not wearing a sweater again until next year, thank you. Being a knitter helps with this goal, I think. There are always more hats and scarves.

Wednesday afternoon and all of Thursday was spent with my family in my home town, which was nice, if at times a little draining. My sister's beautiful twins, Will and Emme, turned six on Tuesday, so it was good to get to see them. They're getting so unbelievably big.

I have some shopping for my swap partner to do today, so I have to cut this short. I'll certainly be back soon to blog about this Saturday's upcoming wedding. I'm excited. :)

Tweny-First: Getting Back on the Blog-Wagon

2008-02-21T17:18:00.000-08:00

It's amazing how time just... slips by. Every day I come here, planning to write something, but lately I've been in something of a slump. I've been a little bummed off and on, which generally results in a lot of self-reflection and attempts at self-improvement. So, I've been doing a lot of the things that make me feel good outside of my regular routine. I'm working on sticking blogging back into that, so I hope you'll forgive my ridiculous absences. :)

I've been working on activating my brain a lot more, since I feel like intellectual stimulation seems so hard to come across since entering the 9-to-5 world. I've had a voracious hunger for leisure reading, which I finally indulged last week by buying five new novels, and borrowing two more. I got Stiff, which I've been dying to read (no pun intended) since I took a class on Death & Dying a few years ago, and The Princess Bride, which has been one of my favorite movies since I was a kid. I've never actually read the book, so I'm looking forward to diving into that one. I also got The Knitter's Book of Yarn, which I'm having a blast with, and The Monsters of Templeton. I've always loved Gabriel Garcia Marquez's magic realism style, and Monsters of Templeton is supposed to be very close to that, so I can't wait to see how it shapes up. I'll post some brief reviews up here if anyone's interested. :) As dorky as it is, I also like to keep my brain sharp with crossword puzzles and sudoku books, so I've been going through all of my old, finished ones and finding any puzzles that I haven't completed and finishing them off before I go out and by more. I know, I know, I'm a nerd, but I hate feeling like my brain isn't getting the exercise it wants and needs.

Speaking of exercise, tomorrow marks the beginning of a little test that I'm putting myself to. I want to work out every day for 30 days, either through hot yoga or through going to the gym. Since I work at a yoga studio, it shouldn't be too hard. I've prepared by spending all day today doing nothing more than running a few errands and casting on for a new pair of socks. Other than that, it's been a fat lot of being lazy.

I'm loving it. :)

I'll be back soon. We'll see if I survive the next 30 days. :) Wish me luck!

Twentieth: Something Springy This Way Comes

2008-02-14T09:08:00.000-08:00

I saw this "Longing for Spring Swap" on a favorite blog, and was moved to participate. It's been a rough couple of weeks over here in my neck of the woods, so I'm doing my best to focus on the positive and do things that make me feel good about life, people, and the universe in general. Doing nice things for others tends to make me feel good, so here we go! I'm excited to join my first swap. :) Here's the questionnaire:

Do you knit or crochet? How long have you been at your craft?
I only knit, and I've been at it for about 5 years now, though I really got serious and started knitting more than charity-blanket squares in the past two or two and a half years. My grandmother tried to teach me to crochet when I was very very young, but I never quite picked it up.

What are your favorite yarns/fibers?
I love anything soft, specifically alpaca and cashmere and non-scratchy wools. I also love anything in with an interesting colorway. Company-wise, I love almost everything by Malabrigo, Debbie Bliss, and Rowan (unless it falls into the dislike categories below! :) ).

What are your least favorite yarns/fibers?
I don't really like pure cotton (though Rowan Calmer is okay). Otherwise, I don't like novelty (eyelash, fun fur, ribbon) yarns or Noro, because it's much too scratchy for me, in spite of the beautiful colorways.

What are your favorite colors?
Anything that can be found in a peacock's tail. Jewel-toned blues and greens and purples. Rich, saturated colors tend to be my favorites. Wine and deep garnet and chocolate tones score well with me, too.

What are your least favorite colors?
Tans, creams, pinks, most oranges, and pastels (all colors that have a tendency to wash out my very fair, pink-undertoned skin).

What ‘warm weather’ project are you looking forward to making this year?
I've been wanting to attempt a lace shawl (this one, specifically), though I don't normally give much attention to the season of what I'm knitting. I'd love to do a cap-sleeved Sahara sweater for spring this year, though.

What are you favorite scents?
Anything natural and light and not overly perfume-y. Nutmeg and chai and pumpkin are wonderful, and I also love honeysuckle and gardenia and Japanese cherry blossom in the floral vein. Quince and brown sugar and vanilla and clean linen are also favorites for my oil-burner/incense habits! I also love those smells you can't bottle, like the way it smells when you drive up a dirt road on the way to the lake in autumn.

Least favorite?
Citrus smells, sun tan lotion (that awful, overbearing, coconut smell), and all heavy, fake scents.

What is your favorite flower?
Orchids, lillies, tulips, freesia, sunflowers and honeysuckle.

What are you favorite spring time hobbies/activities?
My absolute favorite thing in spring is going to a grassy spot with a blanket, my dog, and a book (and usually a pretty journal, too) to spend the day outside reading and soaking up nature. Nothing inspires me like being outside in the springtime. Dying Easter eggs with the family and having a cup of warm tea in the morning when the air still has a chill on it are also great.

Do you have a garden? If you do, tell us a little about it. Do you like to plant flowers or vegetables?
I live in a basement apartment with very little natural light, so no. :(

What are your favorite sweets?
Smarties, wintergreen lifesavers, and chocolates (chocolate/caramels, like Rolos & Riesens, especially).

Do you collect anything?
I love books (I really want to build a wonderful library... my amazon.com wish list is far too long!) and yarn, of course, but I also like beautiful quotes and old typewriter keys (I'm odd, I know). I wouldn't call any of them collections, though. Just things that I have trouble resisting when I see them.

Do you have any allergies?
Gratefully, no.

Do you have any pets?
A west highland terrier (Wesley) and a white, long haired munchkin cat named Smidgen who eats yarn.

I always give such long answers to things like this. Can't wait to see who I'm spoiling!!

Nineteenth: Kind of a Big Deal

2008-01-28T07:35:00.000-08:00

So much has been happening lately. It's been busy and hectic, I won't lie, but it hasn't been anywhere near all bad. In fact, a lot of what's going on has been pretty rewarding, in some way or another.

Work, first of all, has been absolutely insane. We had a grand re-opening for the studio to celebrate the completion of the renovation and give new students an opportunity to meet our beautiful new space. We expected about 75 to 100 people, including existing students, to come through the door in the course of the 9 hour Open House. Instead, we were blown away. Word must have traveled, because we had almost 400 people come in. I greeted, talked yoga with, and gave tours to so many people that I had no voice by the end of the day, but it was a smashing success. Since that day, we've been averaging over 100 students PER DAY. That, my friends, is pretty awesome (especially considering that it's almost double our daily student average for November and December - this is the thrilling data that I'm paid to crunch over the course of my day). Granted, more students equal more work, but with more work has come a raise and a boost in benefits! Oh, AND the studio pays for all of my gasoline now, which is basically an extra $120.00 a month on top of my raise. I'm a lucky girl.

Speaking of work and luck (or, well, being appreciated, I suppose), one of my fellow building-mates did something incredibly kind this past week. In appreciation of the little things that I do for her to keep her business running smoothly (none of which do I consider outside of the realm of common courtesy and kindness), she gave me a gift certificate for some private Pilates sessions with About Movement Pilates. I totally need it, and she suggested that it should be helpful as I continue training for my 5K goals. I can't wait to schedule my first appointment, but I'll admit that I'm a little shy about my lack of Pilates ability. My core is not my strongest region. :(

In terms of knitting, I've been on a roll. Not only did I finish my simple, garter ridge scarf, but I also finally finished the hat that I was making for Jesse. Of course, it took 3 tries before it was deep enough for his big head, but I finally got through it (and without having to buy a second ball of yarn! Hooray for leftovers from the garter ridge scarf!). I finished it just in time, too, since it snowed 2 days after I gave it to him! Atlanta doesn't see a lot of snow, so I feel like it was the universe's way of congratulating me on the hat. I'll show you the hat if Jesse ever takes a picture of it, but in the meantime, I can show you some of the snow!! To those of you who live further north, please bear with me. As a Carolina-born girl who now lives in Georgia and has maybe seen snowfall 12 times in her nearly-24 years, I am excited by even the most meager of flurries. :)

My parents came to town, and as you can see, we had a blast. There was sledding, snowball fighting, and all around revelry. Oh, and for the sentimental record, the scarf I'm wearing in those pictures is the first thing I ever knit. Wesley is also wearing a handknit "collar" that was really just a swatch of slip-stitch colorwork that ended up fitting around his cute little neck, so he told me he wanted to keep it. It was a good day for Atlanta-area knitters. Our work was called to task and performed in fine form. :)

I've had a considerable case of finish-itis lately, especially in terms of a few sock-mates. I'll show you some pictures of that next time. I've been on a budget-necessitated yarn diet lately, so I've been working with what I have. :) Though, speaking of yarn, I have to give a massive thanks to Holly of Hollyarns, who had an awesome destashing contest recently, and I won. The prize is 3 balls of elann.com Super Kydd in a gorgeous Ice Blue color and some fabric for quilting. I can't wait to make something out of it... perhaps a pretty lace shawl. I'll be sure to post pictures of what I make, Holly! Thanks again!

I'm still working on those 2008 goals. Look for a progress report in the next couple of days. For now, I've blathered too long. Thanks for all of the get well wishes! I'm feeling much better. :)

Eighteenth: Something to do when you're sick at work

2008-01-25T07:52:00.000-08:00

Back at work today, still feeling sick and exhausted and unable to focus on any single thing for more than approximately three seconds, so what to do?

Budgets? Eh, requires at least six to seven seconds of consecutive focus for progress.

Answering emails and phone calls? Done.

Preparing to train the new employees coming in at 1:00? Ha.

So, yeah... Online quizzes? That, my brain can handle.

First, the results of a little political compatibility test I found over at Paperclips. I'm amused at how much quizzes like these, even when politically oriented, make me think back to, "Which movie hottie r u most compatible with?!?" sorts of quizzes from my middle school years. Oh, Barack Obama, we were born to walk hand-in-hand through the cherry blossom trees in DC. I knew it. :)

90% Mike Gravel
90% Dennis Kucinich
87% Barack Obama
86% John Edwards
82% Joe Biden
82% Chris Dodd
81% Hillary Clinton
74% Bill Richardson
37% Rudy Giuliani
24% John McCain
22% Ron Paul
20% Mitt Romney
19% Tom Tancredo
16% Mike Huckabee
8% Fred Thompson

2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz

There's also this fun throwback to chain-email quizzes that I found both at Jeneration-X and YarnCrawl's wonderful blogs...

What time is it? 12:14 PM
What's your full name? Courtney Johanna Elizabeth DeGennaro (My parents knew I was the last one they were making, so they wanted to squeeze all those unused names into me)
What is the most recent movie that you have seen in a theater? There Will Be Blood which is perhaps the best film I've ever seen, no exaggeration. Daniel Day Lewis gives what might just be the best performance in cinema history. Please please please go see it.
What are you most afraid of? To be honest, I don't know. I have a hatred of teeth and seeing them wiggled or removed or damaged, but I wouldn't call it a fear. I guess I'm with Robin in that I fear losing teeth or having them broken. Yuck!
Place of birth? North Augusta, SC/Augusta, GA
Favorite food? Oh, I can be such a foodie. I love sushi, but when the mood strikes, I can't pass up a Brickstore brick burger with bleu cheese. On a cold day or when I'm not feeling well, it's all about tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich with my mom. Oh, and muffins.
What's your natural hair color? Brown
Ever been to Alaska? No, but I hope to cruise up there some time. Seeing the Northern Lights is on my list of things to do before I die.
Ever been toilet paper rolling? I was such a goody-two-shoes... Nope.
Love someone so much it made you cry? Hmm... not in the psychotic and co-dependent way, no, but I've been so in love that the sheer beauty of it (and of life itself) brought me to tears. So in that regard...Yes
Been in a car accident? No, but they tend to happen within 2 car lengths of me with disturbing frequency. Either helping afterwards is my superhero power, or causing them is my supervillain ability.
Croutons or bacon bits? Neither, I prefer a fresh spinach salad with strawberries and mushrooms and balsamic.
Favorite day of the week? As cheesy as it sounds, I'm not partial. I try to make every day count.
Favorite restaurant? One Midtown Kitchen
Favorite Flower? Sunflowers, gerber daisies, freesia, orchids, lillies, and those gorgeous yellow/cream/orange roses with red tips
Favorite sport to watch? Football when it's an important game (like the superbowl or a college bowl game) or soccer, especially the world cup
Favorite drink? Diet Pepsi! Especially the wild cherry and vanilla variations
Favorite ice cream? All, please. I do love rocky road, vermonty python, cinnamon and anything with raspberry, though.
Disney or Warner Brothers? Disney movies, WB cartoons.
Ever been on a ship? A tacky gambling cruise ship for laughs. ("Girl, you know you don't never gamble wit' no panties on!" is a favorite quote overheard on THAT one)
What color is your bedroom carpet? My bedroom has black, polished concrete floors. That's why my slippers are my most prized possession.
How many times did you fail your driver's test? None, thank you.
What do you do when you are bored? Knit, read, check, and re-check blogs, Ravelry, shop on bananarepublic.com, jcrew.com, and gap.com, or read
Favorite TV show? I enjoy Grey's Anatomy, Survivorman, and Law & Order SVU
Last person you went to dinner with? Does lunch with Jesse at Taqueria del Sol count? Other than that, I don't recall. The under-the-weather brain refuses to dig up records for more than 5 minutes in the past.
What time do you get up? 7:45 to 8:00, unless I'm going for a morning run, in which case 7:00 or 7:15ish.
What are your favorite colors? I like peacock colors, specifically blues and greens.
How many tattoos do you have? None, thank you. I've never looked at my body and thought, "Wow, I should've been born with a butterfly above my butt. Let me fix that."
How many pets do you have? 1 dog, Wesley, the most adorable beast on earth. I also might be taking ownership of my family's Munchkin cat, Smidgen, soon.
Which came first, the chicken or the egg? A circle has no beginning and no end.
What do you want to do before you die? Too much to list here. I've been thinking of making a goal list of 101 things, though.
Have you ever been to Hawaii? No, and I don't particularly care to. I'm more of a mountain person than a beach person.
Have you been to countries outside the U.S.? I've been in international waters. :(
Time this survey ended? 12:46 PM. Now I only have 14 minutes to kill before my trainees come in. Hooray.

Next time, a real post. Promise.

Seventeenth: A Brief Visit

2008-01-24T19:22:00.000-08:00

I've been home sick most of the day today with a yucky feverishness, all-over-ache, inability to focus, and general exhaustion. Of course, to fight off the boredom that inevitably comes with being home sick, I've been fiddling with my Ravelry page and I've made some progress. I finally have pictures of almost all my projects up (except for the hat shot that I'm waiting on from Jesse).

Check it out! I'm so irrationally proud of myself. :)

Oh, and in my moment of weakness, I bought myself an early birthday present in the form of some Artyarns Supermerino from Wendy over at Knit and Tonic. Apparently my self restraint has fallen with my immune system. What can I do? :) Go back to bed, I guess....

Goodnight.

Sixteenth: Featuring frustration, a bit of gratification, and exceeding verbosity

2008-01-08T06:39:00.000-08:00

It's only 10:35 AM, but so far, it's a beautiful Tuesday.

I went to Helen, GA this past weekend to pick up some Pioneer Porridge from a small, local mill up there (don't worry, they ship, and it's worth it). Their porridge is my absolute favorite breakfast treat, and having a big bowl sprinkled with brown sugar on a cool morning always makes me think fondly of early mornings with my mom, who introduced me to the wonderful stuff. Just smelling it cooking, even if I'm the one cooking it, takes me to the kitchen table in my parents' house, sitting with my mom and talking about everything and nothing while we plan our day. I had to get some for the "you're a part of my life and I love you" baskets that I'm making for a few people. They were originally going to be Christmas presents, then (when I didn't get paid on schedule) they became belated Christmas presents, and now they've become "Happy New Year/I appreciate you" gifts. Who says gift giving out of love for someone can only happen on a few, pre-selected days of the year? Down with that, I say.

On my way up to Helen, I got something of a shock. You've probably heard that Atlanta's been in a drought for the past several months, but nothing has been said about it lately, and it's rained several times, so I think a lot of people (self, unfortunately, included) have stopped worrying or being as conservative with water as they were when it was in the news all the time. Well, the drive through North Georgia was a wakeup call. The whole 1.5 hour drive, I didn't see a single stream, river, or lake that had more than a trickle of water flowing through it. It was an upsetting reminder of just how much we need to always be mindful of how much we take from this world. It's frustrating to me to see the yoga studio running ambient fountains because the owner likes the sound they make when water is in such dangerously short supply. It stirs my need to do something. I feel like contacting appropriate agencies and finding out how I can help, beyond the usual showering rather than bathing, not letting water run, only doing full loads of laundry and dishes, etc. The need to make a difference has once again been stirred in me.

Other than the water-shocker, the trip up to Helen was really lovely. I decided to pull over on the side of the road to stop at a farm (not an agri-tainment sort of farm, just one where all the animals were within sight of the road) and pet a few big, fleecy sheep, donkeys, ponies, and Shetland ponies. There were also goats, llamas, and alpacas hanging out near me, but none of them would get within reach. The sheep were so gorgeous and soft that I was wishing for shears. I don't know how to spin, but to play with that fleece, I'd definitely learn. The only disappointment of the trip was the lack of a yarn shop.

I suppose I owe you some knitting content, don't I? Well, the knitting life provided some frustration last night. I still haven't tried blocking the simple scarf I made. Instead, I've been working on Jesse's hat (putting aside the trial version, as he'd picked out a yarn and we were both a bit eager to see how it knit up). He chose Manos del Uruguay in granite, and it's really gorgeous. See? Not a colorway that I'd normally choose, but it's really beautiful and it's really him. The yarn, you see, is not the source of the frustration. Jesse's head? That's the problem. He's a normal looking boy, but you'd never know it if you were trying to knit him a hat that would fit, sight unseen.

I worked up the hat according to the pattern for the Irish Hiking Hat on Ravelry, and matched it, depthwise, to another hat that I know he's worn before. Even still, when I put it on (knowing that his head is bigger than mine) it didn't even reach my eyebrows. So, of course, I ripped. Being in the zone, as it were, I immediately started going again, leaving out numerous decreases in the pattern, almost doubling the depth of the hat, and finishing with about 2 yards of yarn to spare. He came over and tried it on, and it's still too shallow. Granted, not nearly as shallow as the first attempt was, but it still needs about an inch to an inch and a half more before it's perfect. Which means another $20.00 ball of yarn for a few measley yards. Curse him and his big head. :)

In goal-reaching news, I'm doing well, but it seems that my crazy-distractable brain can only achieve a few goals at a time. I DID get up and run for the first time this morning, though, and it felt really really good. I didn't hydrate enough before (or at all during), though, and I think that hurt me. I ran-jogged nearly 2 miles, which is good for me as a relative beginner. I think I need decent running shoes, though. The ones I have don't seem to be cutting it. Anyone have any recommendations?

So far, running in the morning has given me incredible energy, and I'm just in a darn good mood. I hope the day continues on this upward trend.

Namaste, everyone.

Fifteenth: In which we attempt to stroll down the right path a bit

2008-01-03T19:36:00.000-08:00

Somehow, blogging has become my procrastination that keeps me from going to bed lately. I'm sure I'm the only 23 year old on earth who thinks that going to bed at 11:00 is late, but I'm trying to reset my circadian rhythms a bit so that I can start going to the gym in the mornings before work rather than after, when I often feel too exhausted to get anything productive done.

Speaking of productivity, though, I've felt like I've had so much more of it in my life over the past several days. I've started a new hat, the Irish Hiking Hat, found on Ravelry (can we all agree that Ravelry is such an incredible resource?) and knit in Rowan Cocoon's Frost. I bought the yarn, initially, to make something for Jesse, but I want to try it for this hat, and Jesse thinks the color will make him look like an old man with grey hair, so I'm working on it for myself first to see if he still likes the pattern, and then I'll make it for him in another color if he does, as he's been requesting a hat. :) I also recently finished a custom order scarf in simple stockinette with occasional garter stitch rows for texture, but it's curling terribly in spite of the garter edging I put on in an attempt to keep it from doing so. Any pointers are welcome, of course.

In regards to my other goals, I'm doing okay. I'm reading _The Other Boleyn Girl_ right now, and I'm over 2/3 of the way through it. I'm on a bit of a historical fiction kick, though it's never been a genre I've enjoyed in the past. I think I approach historical fiction differently from most people, in that I assume that all the people, places, and major events are factually based, but that's as far as I trust it. Though, I often let the things I encounter in such works inspire me to go on encyclopedia-diving sessions. I guess I was just in a psych-and-sociology phase for so long that other works got pushed to the wayside. The book is interesting, if nothing else. I've never seen Anne Boleyn painted in such a negative light. History always seems more interesting when it's written from the point of view of the losers.

I haven't started running yet, but I'm planning to soon. I need new running shoes, since the ones that I have now aren't really suited. The bedtime routine is going well, and it's helping a little, though I still need help relaxing and drifting off once I'm in bed. I've just been having trouble quieting my mind lately. I often sleep more easily and soundly when I'm sleeping beside someone, though I haven't done that in a while...

I've been finding lots of new blogs that I'm enjoying reading, and I'm making more attempts to comments, not only because I find lurking a bit boring, but because I like the feeling of community and sharing generated by it.

For now, I'm feeling somewhat disconnected and incapable of flowing naturally from one train of thought to another, so it's off to bed with my hiking hat and my book. Bon soir.

Fourteenth: In which we get in just under the wire

2008-01-01T20:54:00.001-08:00

It's a new year. An even numbered year, which I've always found preferable to odd numbered years for some bizarre reason. One of my many... quirks. Some may call them oddities, but I prefer quirks, thank you.

I've never been the sort for new year's resolutions, as I'm not really the kind of person who believes in putting off a change you want to make. I believe that if it's important, you should just go ahead and do it rather that waiting for some symbolic day. Resolutions also feel inevitably doomed to failure, if only from the massive pressure riding on them. 2007 was - like so many others - a year without unrealistic resolutions, but it was also, unlike others, a year that felt generally unmemorable. I think that's because I didn't really have any goals for the year. It was a year of keeping going. Getting out of bed, going through the motions, and going to bed every night. I want 2008 to be different. I'll make it different.

This year, I've decided that I want to have some concrete goals for myself. I think it's different from having resolutions, which I see as rules that one forces oneself to live by. Goals are something to work towards. No restrictions. No sense of failure. Just, something to work towards. Something to motivate me. An extra reason to get up in the morning.

So, I have a large generic goal for 2008, which breaks down into smaller, more measurable goals (that I hope to keep track of here in the least boring way possible - I doubt that anyone wants to read a progress report every week). This year, I want to enrich my body, mind & spirit as much as I can. In each of those categories, I have a primary subgoal, then a secondary and tertiary goal. With so many goals, I'll always have something to work towards, I think.

So, in easy & clean list form, my goals for the coming year. We'll check in 52 weeks from now and see how it's going.

Body:
*run 2+ 5K races (bonus for completing them in 30 minutes or less)
*initiate a healthy bedtime routine (i've long had trouble sleeping, and i hear this is something that can help)
*stop eating anything other than fruit or vegetables after 9:00 PM

Mind:
*read 2+ books per month, at least one of which much be a "valid" work, such as a classic, a memoir, nonfiction work, scholarly publication, or collection of essays
*enroll in a class of some kind (bonus for it being something that I have no experience with)
*knit 1+ project a week

Spirit:
*get in touch with the higher power once a week (bonus for variety, such as attending church, reading religious/spiritual texts, meditation & yoga, intelligent theological discussion, and spending meaningful time in nature)
*call a friend that I don't talk to enough at least once a week
*spend a full week on vacation (something I haven't done in years)

And another goal that seems to fit into all three, cooking dinner with someone lovable at least once a week (bonus for trying new recipes and cooking techniques)

So there they are. Little glimpses, I think, of the person I am, and the person I hope I'm trying to become.

The Forgotten 14th, which doesn't count, really.

2007-12-18T20:02:00.000-08:00

I love Christmastime. Love it. To an obnoxious degree. I love the smells and the cold and the gray skies and the bare tree limbs and the way my nose and fingers and toes are always icy and the fact that there's constantly an excuse to drink hot tea or hot chocolate while snuggled up with someone you love. Of course, in with this, is the love of Christmas. Not so much the buy-buy-buy, commercial, mall-Santa type of Christmas, but the nutmeg and cinnamon and eggnog with family, cookies and tree-trimming and playing Scrabble under a blanket by a fire kind of Christmas. The togetherness is what I can't get enough of, and it just happens to be a bonus that all the lights and songs and smells just make me feel all warm and snuggly by association.

See? I wasn't kidding. Obnoxious rambling.

I've found myself diving headfirst into the holiday this year, since I didn't do anything last year. I was moving at the time, so I didn't even bother to put up a tree. Overall, an underwhelming holiday with too little time to spend doing all the Christmas things I love.

(This post was sadly abandoned and forgotten until 1/1/2008. Sorry)

Thirteenth: The Overdo List

2007-12-15T07:24:00.000-08:00

I've been getting lots of requests for my Christmas list lately, and rather than call everyone who has asked and read it out, which sounds obnoxious and greedy to me, I'm just going to post it here. Do with it what you will. :)

*Yarn/Needles/Gift Certificates to knit stores (Knitch or Elann.com are recommended)
*Cool, quirky jewelry
*Books (preferably off of my amazon.com queue to buy)
*New sports bra/workout clothes
*A pretty key chain
*Essential fit jeans from Gap
*Lotion & pillow mist from Bath & Body Works (aromatherapy collection, Eucalyptus Spearmint or Orange Ginger)
*Keihl's baby balm lip balm (my FAVORITE and most necessary item on this list - my lips are dying since mine ran out!)
*An auxilary cable for my iPod to hook up in my car
*A cell phone charger for my car

So, there you go. Those are a few things I want/need. Really, the baby balm is the only thing I need, but otherwise, they're wants.

I've had a lot of fun Christmas shopping for others this year. It's the first year that I've really had money of my own to spend on others, and I'm loving it. Love love loving it. I can't wait until all the presents are wrapped and under my tree.

Any ideas for super quick knits for older brothers? I'm stuck...

(please don't skip post 12, newly added below. it's more than a gimme-list!)

Twelfth: Puppy Love

2007-12-01T22:45:00.001-08:00

There is something so unavoidably lovable about new things. We all know that babies are made to be extra cute and cuddly and lovable so that you don't mind waking up with them at 4:00 in the morning EVERY NIGHT, but it's a phenomenon that extends to other new things as well. Whether you love them or not, you at least NOTICE them. This draw towards perceived newness is something that I've realized since I started running the studio. You don't necessarily have to get new retail in or spruce up your space at all to get your clients to notice things, and more importantly, buy them. You just have to break their routine, say by reorganizing your boutique display. Being drawn towards the new is an evolutionary adaptation that we have as humans. We notice when things are different in our environments, because if our ancestors didn't, they got eaten. Failure to notice new wolf tracks in the area where you're camping doesn't make for a high likelihood of survival, you know? So, when things are new and different, even by the littlest bit, we're hard wired to pay attention.

I can't help but wonder if that's why my brain has been in absolute, manic overdrive for the past several weeks. Everything in my world is new. It's like a stimulus overload.

First and cutemost, there are puppies. Not my puppies, of course, but Jesse's sister, Carter's puppies. She's fostering five irresistible little beasts from the Bahamas. The 'breed' is known as the potcake, because that's what the people there give the dogs, who are generally wild, if not feral, to eat. If you're interested, you can learn more about them here or here. They're incredible dogs, so much so, in fact, that I've been engaging in puppy therapy almost every day since Carter got the dogs. There's something about having having five new, squirmy puppies on your lap that keeps even the surliest person from being grumpy. What's that? You want proof, you say? Well here, I have proof for you.

See that? Yeah, that's Jesse, a boy with the capacity to be surly at times, looking completely mollified by the presence of puppitude. But you know, I think he needs more puppy to TRULY get the effects of puppy therapy going.

There it is. A smirk. A blurry smirk, but a smirk nonetheless. Love it. Puppy therapy.

I'm writing this, and wondering what day it'll post under. I know I started this entry several weeks ago, but I'm bad about starting an entry and then walking away from it without finishing it. Anyway, the next new and exciting thing is still new and exciting, at least to me.

Meet my new car, a 2008 Nissan Sentra that I've taken to calling Sonny in my head, though I'm not sure why. I've been driving a 1994 Ford Taurus since I could drive, so a brand new car is definitely wild to me. I still walk out to the parking lot and get a little confused sometimes. The best thing about a new car, at least for me, is its capacity to add a little brightness to a bad day. When I walk out of the studio after a long, exhausting, frustrating day or work and get into this car, it's a conscious reminder of the fact that I'm happy. I'm a really lucky girl with a lot going for me. I'm fortunate, and this car is a reminder of that. Granted, it doesn't take a new car to make me realize these things, but it's a tangible reminder, which is nice to have. It has 500 miles on it, all but 12 of them driven by me. Crazy.

The newness doesn't stop there, though. The details will, because this entry is already ridiculously long, but There's so much more going on. The studio is undergoing major renovations and expansion for our five-year facelift, and of course there's all the newness and excitement of the holiday season, complete with Christmas tree and presents (though that, of course, is its own post). Not to mention new knitting, both projects and goals.

Change is overwhelming, but I'll be darned if it's not exciting.

Eleventh: Exhaustion

2007-11-28T12:29:00.000-08:00

I am entirely exhausted. I don't know why, because I've been getting normal amounts of sleep, but I feel like every single part of my body can hardly hold itself up. Working together to keep me moving is just unheard of for my poor system. The sensation of hovering on the brink of exhaustion is not one that I've had in ages, but this week, it's back in full force. In fact, I've been so exhausted that when I began writing this entry on Wednesday, I fell asleep in my chair, too tired to finish it. Still, I don't think lack of sleep was the problem. My body simply required a bit of down time for recuperation.

It's now Saturday evening, and I'm doing my best to get back in the swing of life before Monday bowls me over in a little over 24 hours. I went to bed last night with nary a stitch knit. I needed a moment away from my Fetching gloves, my current project, so that I could regroup and approach the creation of the thumb hole (something I'd not officially done before) with a clear head. I knew when looking at the instructions that "Using waste yarn, k7; slip these sts back to left needle and k them again using working yarn; work in 4x1 Rib as set to end" was not some curious, heretofore unseen code sent to trick me, and yet I - who know that I am no dumber than the 2,723 ravelers who have currently made Fetching gloves - could not seem to put my spatial brain to work deciphering what to do next. So I rested a bit past here (but this was the last picture I took, so this is what you'll see). And I read. And I came back to the Fetchings tonight, and they're glorious. They're done and beautiful and blue and I covet them. Of course I covet them, because I have it in my silly head that I'll be making 3-4 pairs of them before Christmas comes (ha!). The pair I just made, I think, will be for my sister-in-law. I still have machinations to make them for Jesse Dear's sister, Carter, his mom, Lois, and perhaps my own sister and mother. Though, I did find some pretty earrings that I think would suit my sister. They're handmade by a co-op of women in Nepal, and I think she'd like them. At least, if her style is still what I remember it being, she will. I also have a secret knitting-project in the works for my mom, so I might just stick to that for her this year.

Really, I'm nuts, and I'm toying with further exhaustion if I don't pare down my knitting expectations. The problem is, I can't make for my sister-in-law without making for my brother, just as I can't make for my mother without making something for my father. I wish things like small knitted ornaments appealed to me, but they just don't. They feel like knitting time wasted to me, even if it's just an hour of time wasted. So, for now my expectations are thoroughly out of control. They always are, you see. That's a bit of my personality that I'm still working on coming to terms with. I'm adapting to it and wrestling it into manageability, so I'm sure it will be okay.

To further our theme of exhaustion for the day, it's 1:40 in the morning, and I have nowhere to sleep. My bed is covered in freshly laundered clothes and the new bedspread set that I have yet to unpack and put onto the bed, and my sofa-bed is covered in Christmas ornaments, which I spent the evening sorting and examining for their thematic appropriateness for the direction in which I want to go with this year's tree. I've generally been a very traditional, red and gold Christmas tree kind of girl, but this year, I'm all about the peacock colors, as well as a bit of icy blue and green. It'll be beautiful, you'll see. You'll see because I finally have a digital camera cord with which to show you. Oh, we are in trouble.

Tenth: Bad, bad blogger

2007-11-02T09:08:00.000-07:00

I am a bad, bad blogger. The proof of this lies in that I'm actually finishing this entry on the 27th of November, regardless of what the date says at the top. I was reminded today, while squawking to Jesse about how none of the blogs I read are updated often enough, that I haven't updated my own in more than two months.

The problem is, there isn't a lot to write about when I try to go back and do a retrospective entry. Sure, plenty has happened, including a fun trip, a wonderful Thanksgiving, a delightful ride through Atlanta on 150 CC Vespas, but it's so hard to go back and write about it when it's so far in the past.

So, I'm going to try to do better. I've been looking back at old LiveJournal entries, and I miss the way that I could look at that and remember exactly where I was in my life at the time that I wrote particular entries.

So here I am. I'm back. Enjoy me.

Ninth: Passion

2007-09-19T12:21:00.000-07:00

I cannot live life without passion. If I don't feel it towards something, I have trouble being part of it. This, I think, is why I tend to let so many lacklustre friendships and unexciting events fall to the wayside or go unattended. I have trouble mustering a feigned excitement for something that doesn't spark within me in some way. Of course, the result of this is that I love the people who I do bother to keep in contact with deeply, and I have an enthusiasm for the things that I choose to do that could be called obnoxious. I throw myself into things wholeheartedly. It's just who I am, and so far it's working for me (though I do sometimes wish I made more effort to keep in touch with people).

One passion I have is for empathy, compassion, and my desire to help make this world a better place than it was when I came into it. I haven't been doing enough to fulfill that desire lately (by any means), and I can feel the absence of it in my life. It's that absence that has led me to start sending out volunteer applications to causes that matter to me. It's interesting, then, that the Yarn Harlot posted an entry today about New Orleans. I remember when Katrina hit, wanting to leave school for the semester and go to help rebuild. I wanted to uproot myself and replant in a place where I could help others re-establish their roots. I saw a concrete opportunity to help make a difference for people who need it, and I didn't take it. So, I read Stephanie's post about the state of things there, commented, and proceeded to read the comments of others. One in particular struck me at my core, hurt me in a deep way, even though it was not a personal attack. One blogger wrote, "As a response to both the post and the comments... It's not the government's job to make sure people have food, clothing, and shelter. It's our responsibility to make sure we have food, clothing, shelter, and the means with which to acquire them. America doesn't ascribe to "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need." We demand a certain level of personal responsibility. The mayor and governor *didn't* ask for help from the federal government (which it certainly could have, but, you know, politics got in the way), which is a major reason why federal help (and the Red Cross) weren't in the city ASAP."

I was taken aback. It pains me to see such a lack of compassion from anyone. I had to write myself an email just to get the instant and overwhelming rush of emotions out of my head and into the ether in a place where they can do no harm. I just keep asking myself so many questions about how this person and people like her whose responses I've read must think. My inner empath is enraged by the response of so many people to what has been lost. Are the losses any less painful because of who it was that lost them? Are we to feel less for the people who are homeless and living in FEMA shacks because "they didn't have that much to begin with"? How can we let our own justice department spend $60 per person on their lunches when there are people who don't have $60 to spend on food for their families for a week? There is no justice in suffering and poverty, no matter who endures it.

And what can be said to this blogger who says that it's not our government's job to help these people? Are we, as a democratic nation, not supposed to be the core behind our government? If we show indifference and do not ask the government to be accountable, how can we demand accountability from anyone?? If the people who we select to represent us are not asked to take care of these people, are we not thus absolving ourselves of responsibility to help our fellow man? The commenter says that "we are not a nation that ascribes to 'from each according to his ability, to each according to his need. [and that] we demand a bit more personal responsibility." But what are we as people, as human beings who are inextricably connected and tied to one another as brothers and sisters in the human race if we do not make it our personal responsibility to help one another simply because it is the RIGHT THING TO DO? How can anyone look at human suffering and decide that it is not his or her problem? We are only as great as the kindness that we show to our weakest, our most disadvantaged, our forgotten.

This sadness and outrage (partnered with a hope that I cannot stifle) is the what led me to be a Sociology major. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to learn why (and hopefully change the fact that) we as a nation allow some people in our country to suffer so terribly while throwing millions and billions of dollars at judicial luncheons and galas at the White House and multiple homes and luxury cars and Paris Hilton and ... ugh. I have to step off of the soapbox for my own sanity's sake, but we Americans are a confusing culture with wonky values, to say the least. I almost have to thank that commenter for the way that what I can only see as her ignorance has re-ignited the desire in me to use every moment of my life to make a change.

Eighth: The Return

2007-08-26T18:24:00.000-07:00

It has been much too long since I came here and blogged my wee heart out. Life has been somewhat upside down in the course of the last month. Unfortunately, there hasn't been much time to knit, much less a lot of time to blog. I have finished a couple of socks (though they're not sibling socks, not even cousins), but not much else. One is a classic, stockinette sock that I did in my Fawkes yarn in order to see the colorway. The other is a monkey sock from knitty.com. I think I'm going to rip back the Fawkes sock and redo it in the socktopia.com Fawkes pattern, which I sadly discovered after my stockinette version was already done. I also cast on several things, including a baby hat for my brother's darling tiny, a sweater, and a simple but gorgeous scarf. I don't have knitting ADD though. I can only work on one project at a time, knitting on it until completion. Funny, I multitask so well in other ways, but I just can't manage to do it with my knitting.

Anyway, now that I've settled into my new job (though I keep getting new projects piled onto my head on a weekly basis... long term projects with no foreseeable end date), I hope that I can return to the knitting and blogging world. Autumn is my favorite season for a number of reasons, so hopefully the glee that it inspires in me will encourage me to capture it all in blog form.

Until then.

Seventh: On the Eve of Something Big

2007-07-17T22:54:00.000-07:00

All of us have degrees of affection for things. I classify them into likes, addictions, and (most severely) obsessions. I like diet Pepsi. It may be nearing an addiction, but without it I am fine. I am almost certainly addicted to knitting, evidenced by the fact that if I don't have an opportunity to knit during the day, I find myself tense, sometimes grouchy, and often unable to sleep. I tend to think that obsessions are unhealthy and rare, and I like to think that there is nothing with which I am obsessed. I recently realized that this may not be entirely true.

This is another instance in which if you breathe you likely know about all of the Harry Potter madness going on. I am a huge Harry Potter fan, and only recently realized that my adoration may be nearing obsession level. The big clue for me was when I started buying, you guessed it, Harry Potter hand-dyed yarn colorways. In fact, now that I look back on it, I distinctly recall that my first trip to the yarn shop to buy something with a particular project in mind, I was buying maroon and old gold yarn to make a Gryffindor scarf. I couldn't find a pattern at the time for the "trapped bars" style Harry Potter scarf I wanted, so I took a stab at it myself. It came out reasonably well, but it could certainly be better if I did it today. Now, of course, I have sock yarn (and I wasn't even really a sock knitter!) colored in imitation of Fawkes the phoenix (one sock done!), Professor Sprout, The Half Blood Prince, Salazar Slytherin, and Lord Voldemort. I'm tempted to start dying yarns myself in order to avoid having to buy anymore custom yarn. I am hesitant, though. There's something magical about watching the yarn change colors and not knowing what is coming next.

I am distracted and this entry is most certainly an unfinished work, but for now, I post. Jesse Dear is sick and I'm going to go and check on him. Perhaps I'll return when I have a bit of focus.

Sixth: Lucky Ducks

2007-07-03T23:01:00.000-07:00

Ever so seldom in a knitter's life, a thing of beauty occurs.

You wake up, totter to your computer (for some, this might not be the first step after waking up, but let's all remember that I'm 23; I was raised in the age of computer dependency. If I could have a microchip drip into my arm it might make life a little less twitchy when I'm away from my laptop), and power it up to check your email, you know, just in case someone wrote to you in between the hours of 2:00 and 8:00 AM. You see that you have, as you sometimes do, an email newsletter from your local yarn shop. This could be a missive like any other, but it's not. You can feel it.

Something emanates off of this email. There's a ethereal glow around the from line. Your skin tingles as your mouse's pointer moves to open it. You just know, deep within your knitter's soul, that this email is special. Maybe they've finally gotten the color of Cascade Pastaza that you ordered. Maybe they've received a shipment of rare bone needles, and you are one of the lucky few they've decided to tell before they hit the shelves (though why would they do that? it's not as though you rush to the shop immediately each payday and consider whatever you spent to be a standard, government-withheld "knitter's tax"). Maybe, if you're lucky, they're having one of those delicious tax-free weekends.

Maybe it's something better, but you don't dare get too hopeful.

You open the email, and it's far better than you could have imagined. Your favorite local yarn store, the one that always looks like little pixies have come in to clean and organize and decorate (which must be the case because everyone who works there is always happily knitting in cozy chairs or lovingly fondling the yarn; they're never doing REAL work), is having a sale. An incredible sale. You will get to draw little duckies out of a "duckpond" and they'll be marked with savings. You'll save a minimum of 10% on your entire purchase, and one lucky duck has 100% savings. You could get all your yarn for free. You knew this email was special, but you had no idea just how special.

You keep reading, and it gets better. There will be grab bags. Little, mysterious bags that will contain, this heavenly messenger tells you, a minimum of two times the purchase price worth of goodies. Your heart races with excitement. You're nearly drooling at the thought of grab bags, the little pouches of joy that you first met at the Hello Kitty store in the mall as a child. Back then a $1.00 bag that contained two pencils and a pack of gum was thrilling. But now! Now, the goodies will be knitterly, and presumably worth far more than a dollar!

I hope that I'm not the only lucky knitter out there who has known this exhilaration. If I am, well, then all of you should move to Atlanta and start shopping at Knitch. I got more amazing yarn than I can even catalogue there this weekend. I just have to figure out what to make with all of it. And those grab bags? They were even better than I expected (8 balls of Debbie Bliss silk alpaca for $20.00 kind of good).

Fifth: Detractors and Enablers

2007-06-30T21:21:00.000-07:00

All of us have detractors in our knitting realms. They come in many forms, and all of us have known at least one.

There’s the significant other who warns you that your yarn spending may be getting out of hand if you want to be able to afford to have a child and send it to college one day (doesn’t he know that good wool is a sound investment?). Maybe you have the sibling who suggests that you could chip in for Dad’s birthday present if you didn’t insist on knitting him new dress socks every year (well, yeah, but he enjoys wearing the socks far more than he likes mowing the lawn with the new mower). If you started knitting at a young age, you likely had the college roommate who suggested that you keep less yarn in the dorm room because it was getting a little crowded (if you look at it as part of the décor, it doesn’t feel so cramped). It’s generally easy to write these folks off as unenlightened. The brave among us even try to win them over through explaining how fun knitting is or introducing them to the comfort of hand-knitted socks. Even still, the majority of knitting nay-sayers remain so despite our best efforts. In my head I call these folks knitmares.

The lucky knitters have a few knitting enablers to balance the negative juju that the knitmares ooze in our general direction. The luckiest of us have more enablers than detractors, resulting in a life full of Merry Christmases with rightfully appreciated knitted gifts and happy trips to the yarn shop. I am blessed. As I’ve mentioned before, my mother is a serious enabler. She drove all over the city with me the last time I visited her in an attempt to help me find the area’s only yarn shop before it closed. She looks at and coos over everything I make. She even took up knitting briefly when I first got into it. Her encouragement keeps me knitting on the days when I think that I can’t barrel through another inch of knit two, purl two ribbing.

Another fantastic enabler, I’ve found is Jesse Dear (yes, another person who will likely come to be referred to by initials. Did anyone else have a flashback to “John Dear” from Lady & the Tramp when I named him? Was that just me?). Jesse is an enabler to the second power. Not only is his mother a knitter (my first real knitting friend, I might add) who accompanies me to the yarn store and shops, oohs, and ahs as much as I do, but he also seems to appreciate the things I knit (and if he doesn't, he wisely pretends that he does). Much of the time we spend together, when we aren't harassing one another and I'm not kicking his rear at MarioKart, is spent on nice, peaceful pursuits. There's a lot of idle-ish time spent simply enjoying one another's company. We watch tv, talk, lay around on the couch with a movie on, and read together. The great thing about these little ways in which we pass the time is that they grant me lots of guilt-free knitting opportunities. He reads; I knit. We watch tv; I knit. He creates awesome websites on his computer; I knit. The point is, we're both people who often choose to stay in together rather than go out. We're not partying types (What's that Courtney? You're a 23 year old knitter, but you're not a party girl? I'd never have guessed!). Occasionally, though, we both break character and go out for the evening. We have a fondness for art gallery openings, Wednesday night trivia at the local Mellow Mushroom, and snooty beer at the Belgian pub on the square.

Friday night, we decided to go a little crazy and head out for a bite to eat and a movie (hush, you! for us, it was a little crazy). We started at Alon's, a local bakery that now has the distinct honor of being one of only three places in the city where I will order and actually enjoy a sandwich (I don't like sandwiches, generally. Don't ask me why; I don't know.). After a light meal we drove to Atlantic Station to see Ratatouille. I have long been a fan of Disney/Pixar films, but Ratatouille was phenomenal. It was so fun and funny that JD and I were both laughing out loud the entire time. It was a huge improvement over our last movie choice, Spiderman 3, which was so bad that it left both of us unsure of whether it was worth it to ever go see another movie again. In fact, the movie was so good that I didn't knit a single stitch the entire time.

And you know what? I had so much fun that I didn't mind not knitting for an entire evening one bit. Just don't expect me to do it again any time soon.

Fourth: The Balance of Things

2007-06-28T11:44:00.000-07:00

SD is a technologically fascinated boy. Since long before I ever met him, he has been something of a gadget hound. He's the type of person who will not only watch the Steve Jobs release of a new Apple product 10 times, but if you fail to watch it with him, he'll essentially recite it to you later. He buys new, state of the art cell phones before they're released in the US. He's the first person to own whatever the gadget of the moment may be. In fact, he often owns it long before anyone knows it's the gadget of the moment.

This, of course, is in stark contrast to my fascinations. I am a self-professed nature baby. I take inexplicable pleasure in sitting outside for hours on end and watching all the creatures go by. Waking up before the sunrise is worthwhile to me, if only because it affords me an opportunity to sit outside and listen to the world before the city wakes up. By virtue of my earth-loving nature, I often feel somewhat out-of-place in the concrete and steel of Atlanta, but I manage. The point is, if it isn't soft or fluffy or natural or born and growing from the earth, it doesn't really interest me for too long, no matter how many bells and whistles it may have.

This difference between SD and me has never been more evident than it is right now. If you ... well, if you breathe then you're likely aware that the iPhone premieres here in the US tomorrow. In fact, when I just IM'd SD to ask him when the release date was he said, "Tomorrow, 6pm... Say your prayers. It might be the end of the world; the second coming. I might go to confession just in case." The thing is, he's not kidding. He's been worshipping at the altar of this gadget since it was little more than a rumor. I was forced to endure the announcement that Steve Jobs made about it at least four times. I'm relatively sure that the fact that it's debuting tomorrow while SD is overseas and unable to get his hands on it will cause him to spontaneously combust, if only a little. Thankfully he will be nowhere near my stash when it happens.

Two nights ago, while I was being put through torture-by-listing-of-iPhone-features for some undisclosed crime against humanity, I gave SD a little taste of his own medicine. He was telling me the nine ways that the iPhone can toast your bread (or something like that. I've really started to tune it out), and I linked him to some sale yarn that I found. For each mention of the iPhone, he gets another yarn link. I'm excited about this little form of reinforcement. Either he'll learn to stop trying to make me excited about gadgets, or if he doesn't, he'll at least start learning what yarn I like. We haven't gone head to head yet, but I'm pretty sure I have more wool than the iPhone has functions. I suppose we'll soon see, though if you ask me, the most exciting thing about the phone is that it will give SD something to do other than juggling the yarn balls when I drag him into the shop with me.

I learned my lesson about lecturing him on how expensive his little gadget-habit is, though. When I told him that the iPhone seemed an awfully expensive purchase considering that he just bought a new laptop, he pointed out that I very likely have more than $600 worth of yarn in my stash. I am loathe to tell him that I know he's right, and that's just one basket.

Third: The Mysterious Black Hole Project

2007-06-20T20:24:00.000-07:00

I like to think of myself as a kind, capable knitter. One who teaches patiently without judging and learns graciously and with humility. I have always accepted that there are things (ok, ok, many things) that I don’t know. Considering my acceptance of how little I know, I tend to believe the things that older, wiser knitters tell me. One thing that I have heard legends of time and again is the dreaded black hole knitting project, but I really thought it to be no more than the excuse of lazy or incompetent knitters. A sort of mythical knitting boogey-man. "How," I thought, "could someone measure their work, have 29 inches of blanket, knit for 2 hours, and measure again to find that they still have 29 inches? She’s either doing something wrong or fudging just how long she’s been working on the thing."

You know, I am learning that there is definitely some kind of fiber-karma floating around out there. If you think hateful and disparaging things about the knitting perils of others, you will soon come to have a project so frustrating that it forces you to think hateful and disparaging thoughts about your own knitting, all the while questioning your skill and sanity.

Case in point, I recently bought Stefanie Japel’s Fitted Knits, and I fell in love instantly with the young, stylish knits that I found in it. I wanted to start with something light that was easy and quick enough that I could start and finish it with time to wear it most of the summer and fall. I chose the Perfect Periwinkle Turtleneck Tube Vest, though I chose to knit it in a lovely, lightweight, soft brown wool that has been making eyes at me from within my stash for months now. I began the sweater several weeks ago and started to knit on it, finding the project to be an absolute dream. Simple, classic, and best of all seamless construction that seemed to just fly off of my needles. By the end of day two I had made it all the way down the neck, divided for the arm shaping, rejoined, and knit several inches of beautiful, bust-hugging bodice. I estimated that at the rate I was going, I'd have a gorgeous sweater in no more than a week, four or five days at best. I considered the fact that I finished an enormous lace baby blanket in just a couple of months (very shortly after I started knitting, actually! how is it that I managed to do that?) to be proof that I had the stamina to pull it off with no trouble.

Then, I entered... the Twilight Zone (you have to say it in Rod Serling's voice in your head - it sounds great that way).

I'm pretty sure that in the knitting twilight zone there are little goblins that crawl onto your needles and release one stitch for each one you complete. There is no other explanation for the fact that over the course of 3 days during which all of my free time went to working on my sweater, I made less than 2 inches worth of progress. Where were my stitches going?

I'm sure it seems like this is the point in my entry where I tell you that I'd made some error and I was knitting twice as many stitches as I needed in each row or something and that the Black Hole Project doesn't exist, but I didn't make any sort of mistake. There's no explanation. No matter how much or how fast I knit, I just couldn't make progress. The BHP is all too real.

So, to fight my way out of the black hole, I did what any other sane knitter would do. I knit a sock.

My first sock.

Second

2007-06-19T16:15:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm a nerd, but I can't contain my excitement that Stephanie Pearl-McPhee herself, the woman whose blog and knitting books I worship and reread until I can nearly quote them, was the first person to ever comment on my humble little knitting blog.

Seriously. I had to put my glee here because there is no one who I can call and tell who will appreciate it. And, you know, that's why I started this thing.

First

2007-06-19T13:00:00.000-07:00

Well, well, well. Stop the presses, kids, it's yet another knitting blog out here in the ether. And don't you know we need just one more of those? I seek to be a part of a knitting community. I want to glean the wisdom of other knitters and have knitting friends who aren't 40 years my senior. I enjoy learning from older knitters, as they usually have far more experience than I can ever imagine having, but sometimes it'd be nice to sit down and knit with some other 23 year olds. I'm tired of admiring shawls and afghans. This blog is the first step in my journey towards being a more connected knitter.

I have no illusions that this wee little journal will chronicle feats of unmatchable knitting greatness (yes, I'm looking at you and your nine lace bridesmaid dresses, Knitting Iris) or ever attract hundreds of commenters on each post (why would I be glaring at the Yarn Harlot? I'm not glaring at the Yarn Harlot). I simply realized recently that somewhere between 40 and 60 percent of the conversations that I try to hold with my friends and family at some point come around to knitting. It's a good portion of what I do. Thus, it's what I talk about. So, rather than jumping up and down trying to make the unenlightened in my world appreciate just how incredibly awesome it is that I recently found 800 yds of cashmere on sale for just $30.00, I'm going to jump up and down and make you, dear reader, appreciate it, because if you're knitters (and I can't imagine you'd be reading this if you weren't) then you already know how exciting that is. Don't you?

This blog is also partially for my mother, who lives far away and still lovingly pays my rent while I spend part of my own earnings on yarn, and I think she deserves to see the fruits of my yarn-loving labor. She always listens patiently when I gush about the things I'm knitting, and she either feigns or actually has quite a lot of enthusiasm for the things I knit. So, I know that if no one else is appreciating my knitting posts, she is. It would be very easy for her to say, "Courtney, stop buying yarn and make your own darn rent payments." This blog is my way of thanking her for not saying that... yet.

Another impetus for this little endeavor is the fact that Sweet Darold (heretofore referred to as SD) is overseas in Austria for the entire summer. As SD often takes up large parts of my time by forcing me to do real social things like a human being, such as going out to new restaurants and going to see movies (can you imagine his gall? it's too dark to knit in a movie theatre, and all that talking coming from the big screen makes me lose my place in the pattern!), his absence has left a giant chunk of otherwise unoccupied time in my day that has now been devoted to knitting, thinking about knitting, reading knitting books, or planning what to knit next. Needless to say, I'm getting a hell of a lot more knit now that he's away. Do you think he'll forgive me if I ask him to extend his trip until I get my Christmas present knitting done? Austria has to be worth it, right?

So, for now, I'm at work, and cursing the fact that I don't have a digital camera handy so that I can show you my first ever sock. I've been knitting for several years now, and I've just never taken the plunge on socks until two days ago. Now I have what I think is a lovely first sock and an unquenchable thirst to knit more. I already have more sock yarn in transit to me. I'm thrilled.

Blog updates may be slightly infrequent until the internet in my apartment gets repaired, but hopefully the desire to talk on this blog a bit more will make me into the proverbial squeaky wheel, prompting my landlords to grease me up with a little internet access. Until then.