Veni, Vidi, Vici

Between work and personal deadlines, my week has been extremely crazy again. I've been working long hours and have had a few late evenings at home. I've outsourced meal preparation to local restaurants, all house cleaning to either Italian or a service, and taxes to Italian. I have even sent those super short emails. I'm sure you have seen them. They are fragmented messages missing nouns, articles, and verb: messages that are limited to:
Busy. Send more later. Lunch?

Little Clover has responded to my busy schedule and stress by stepping up and becoming a little gentleman in a pint sized body. After a long and stressful day at work, I came home late the other night and hit my limit within 15 minutes of walking in the door. The dinner Italian had called in for me to pick up on my way home was not ready. In fact, they had not even put the order back to the kitchen. The washing machine had forgotten its purpose in life was to clean clothes, and my favorite hair clip broke. I was stressed and tired. Little Clover took one look at me and said, "Mama, I'll fix dinner tonight? How about a grilled cheese sandwich?"

I smiled and said, "That would be lovely."

Since he is still little and not allowed to use the stove, I asked if he would like for me to cook it. He said, "Yes, please," and we had a wonderful dinner.

In an effort to meet my pending deadlines, I've eliminated sleep from my schedule. Other than the bags under my eyes, my new twitches, and a propensity to be a bit edgy, it's coming along swimmingly. You can get a lot done, like a Wedding Shawl.


Yes,sirree bob! The shawl is blocking! The knitting was finished late Tuesday night and the ends were woven in yesterday. I made three mistakes while knitting but only one is really visible. I hope The Engineer loves it. I also hope the off white of the shawl doesn't clash with the off white of her dress.

Don't Drink the Lemonade

Water for Elephants

First, a confession:
It took me well over two months to finish listening to this book. The story is very good and the narration was wonderful, for some reason though, I wasn't engaged enough to continue listening to it. Other things seemed to be more important. I think one thing that made the book difficult to finish was the subplot of Jacob as an old man.

The book is really two stories in one. The primary story is that of Jacob Jankowski as a young man who ran away from his life and found himself in the Circus. The backdrop of the Circus is as large of a character as any of the living breathing characters and Sara Gruen is a talented writer for being able to pull this off. I love stories where the setting has such prominence. Jacob must resolve what his life is and who he is as he travels from town to town. His journey with the Circus train chronicle's his journey from a sheltered one life to one that is more worldly. He finds himself on that train.

The sub plot of the story is about Jacob on the verge of losing himself. He is old, 90 or 93, he's not sure which. His not knowing is a very strong theme of the subplot. The subplot of the book was the true point of the book. It made me think of what I want in old age, how I view those who are old, and how I have behaved around those who are old. I felt regret for my behavior and I felt great sadness for what Jacob's life is like in the nursing home. If nothing else, this book grants readers amazing insight into the mind and emotion of the aging. I don't know what Gruen's experience is, but she is gifted. Not only does she have a depth of understanding for the human experience, but she can communicate it in a way that builds bonds and empathy.

Oh, the ending was superb!

Eenie, Meenie, Mighty, Mo

A new phase of Project Spectrum has begun and I am way behind. I knew the shawl would take me into April, but I was hoping to have a Picovoli done by now. Sadly, my plan didn't work out exactly like I had hoped. The Picovoli is moving at a quick pace though, and I have a feeling it will be done before the warm weather arrives.

Since I'm a stickler for finishing a project before moving on to the next, I will finish the Picovoli before I start my Pink Project for Project Sprectrum. My green project may just fall to the wayside and will have to wait for another day. For my pink project, I need some help. Which one do you guys like?

A.

B.

I will make the short sleeve version for either one of these.

Last night I knitted

I spoiled myself last night and shut myself away when Little Clover went to bed. I didn't do any of the laundry that was lingering, waiting to be folded. I didn't even work on the documents due this week for work. I certainly didn't check my email. Instead, I sat in bed with a small bedside lamp shining softly next to me. My iPod was speaking the words of a book in my ear and my hands knitted. I stayed this way for over two hours, knitting in bed. All the tension in my shoulders that had built up with the stress of the last few weeks began to melt and I felt revived. After two hours of knitting, I had a renewed sense of self and the second panel to the wedding shawl, which I stitched up today.


I owe belated birthday wishes to a few people. Every year, the beginning of April is a time for celebration as I am fortunate enough to be a part of four very wonderful lives.

Firstly, my brother in law had a milestone of a birthday this year. He is now officially old :) Happy Birthday, Brian! Remember, I have a whole year to give you little gifts to help you with your new old age.

Next, I have to give a huge gigantic cyber hug (for now) to my best friend. Happy Birthday, Tlee! I miss you much. Please come down in May for some fantabulous Canadian music and food wrapped in bacon.

I also owe a belated birthday wish to the Godfather. Thank you for welcoming me into the Family. May you have many more happy years, and I can't wait to see the garden.

Finally, Italian deserves a gigantic birthday wish. I love you and love celebrating the day that you came into this world. Happy Birthday.

Although I didn't plan any huge party for Italian's birthday, we did celebrate in our own special way. We had a very nice dinner with his family. Xavier Guy was even in town for the Easter break. Friday, we bundled up with hats, sweaters, winter coats, scarves, and gloves. We were ready for the 30 F weather and head out to the baseball game. Yes, we watched a baseball game wearing clothing that was remnicent of a football game. At least the beer stayed cold.


And you can't have beer at a baseball game without a nice helping of
BBQ Nachos, which also stayed cold. Trust me, they are wonderful hot.


The game was quite fun. The home team won. The crowd was extremely entertaining. Little Clover left with a bat. Yep. He got a bat from one of the players. We were sitting in the stands by the dugout when one of the players walked up to the wall, reached over, and handed Little Clover his bat, complete with ball marks. Little Clover, being the baseball fan that he is, was in heaven. Oddly enough, the one picture I took of the game was actually of this particular player battting. The heavens must have been aligned that night.


Now we have yet one more reason to like the Cardinals. As a Cubs fan, I'm still holding out hope that David Eckstein will be wearing Cubbie blue one day.

Oh, how could I forget? What says Easter better than a Darth Vader decorated Easter egg?

On your mark, get set, go!

My crazy life is starting to slow. This past week, I finished up two of my neighborhood events. Every year, my neighborhood hosts a landscaper who will give general landscaping tips. If you bring a picture of your house, he will look at it and give you specific suggestions on what to plant and where. He was very good. Next year, I may be brave enough to bring a picture of my house.

Then, on Sunday, our neighborhood had an Easter Egg hunt. This is the only event without a chairperson, which meant that I had the lovely job of running the Easter Egg Hunt. I spent the last two weeks stuffing over 600 eggs with goodies and candy, finding a person to make an appearance as the Easter Bunny, and making treat baggies. We had torrential downpour on Saturday, which left me worried that Sunday would be too muddy. Fortunately, the park was dry and perfect for hiding all the eggs. The kids arrived, ran around frantically,

and left with baskets full of candy and smiles on their faces.


Now with my big event over, I can focus on a few other things, like watching the mama and baby birds at our house,


or my roses bloom.

The first rose of the season.

Catching Up

For those who haven't heard, Interweave Knits will have a new Editor in a couple of issues. Eunny Jang will be taking over at the helm of the magazine. As a follower of her blog and an admirer of her designs, this is an exciting announcement. She has a great attention to detail and puts an extraordinary amount of thought into her patterns. Congratulations to Eunny!

The lace shawl I'm currently knitting for my sister's-in-law wedding, is a Eunny Jang design. The shawl is the Print o' the Wave pattern off her website. So far, it has been a very easy knit. I originally used stitch markers to segment each repeat section. I quickly abandoned the stitch markers for a couple of reasons. First, the pattern repeats become easy to read as the knitting grows. Secondly, the repeat sections are flanked by K2tog or SSK and occasionally, they would consume a stitch on each side of the stitch marker making me do this crazy balancing act of slipping off the stitch marker with a couple of fingers and then precariously holding the stitch marker between some free fingers while I try to knit, then placing the stitch marker back on my knitting. After doing this for a couple of rows, I decided to be darning and flung my stitch markers to the side. I felt liberated.

The pattern tells you to start with an invisible cast on. There is actually a cast on called the invisible cast on. This was news to me and I'm glad I took the time to look it up before I started knitting. You will need a piece of waste yarn and you will end up with live stitches. Could you imagine my surprise if I had used the long tail cast on and then gotten to the "pick up stitches part" for the edging? The Victorian Lace Today has wonderful instructions for an invisible cast on. The tutorial in Victorian Lace Today is also better than the instructions in The Knitter's Companion by Vicki Square. Although The Knitter's Companion has pictures, the instructions in Victorian Lace Today were a bit easier for me to understand. I didn't look at anything else in The Knitter's Companion, so the rest of the reference book may be quite handy.

The shawl is definitely growing. I was casually working on it last Thursday at my bi-weekly knit night, and was talking about the pattern with blogless Lynsey. I was happily relaxed thinking I was over halfway done with the center panel and could easily knock it out by the end of the month, when a small comment made me realize that I was only halfway done with one of the two center panels. I started to panic. Since Thursday, I've been knitting furiously on the shawl and the sweat and swearing and tears have paid off. I finished one of the two panels Sunday and have casted on for the second panel. With luck, I can have the shawl finished in a couple of weeks. I am completely loving the pattern. It's an easy lace knit. I think there will be much more lace in my future.


The Picovilo is also growing and is almost a half top.


My spinning is also progressing at a decent rate. My LYS has a very large supply of Ashland Bay fibres. I was lucky enough to score some bamboo:

Enough

I realized the other day while driving Little Clover to a game that loving your child is enough. After my mom died, one of the biggest regrets I had was that I didn't show my love for her enough. There was more I could have done. I could have been nicer to her while I was a teen. I could have said "I love you," to her more. I could have called more. I could have talked to her more. I could have hugged her more. I could have done all those things and it still wouldn't be enough, because after you lose someone, all you think about is what you don't have anymore and there is this gap that stays behind for a while.

Being a mom, though, has brought me the realization that my mom had enough. She loved me with all her heart and that is all she needed. That's why I remember the special smile she had just for me. Italian calls it the "Mommy glow." I know that the love she felt for me is pretty darn similar to the love I feel for Little Clover. I love him enough for the both of us. My love for him is enough especially for me. Do I want him to love me back? Of course I do, but I don't need it. Feeling how much I love him makes me immensely happy. Being able to show him my love makes me happier still. The rest, his hugs and kisses, are an added bonus. I have enough.

I actually wrote the above paragraphs several months ago and was waiting for the right time to post it. Today, my mom's birthday, seemed to be the right time.

When March hits, her birthday enters my mind and I usually begin to miss her and become quite sad. This year, though, whenever I thought about her birthday, I found myself getting excited and looking forward to it. I miss her still, but it has been different. Her birthday is seeming more like a celebration. It is a special time for me to remember her and be thankful for the time we had together. I can still feel her love for me and as I look around, I see small things that remind me of her. I've seen four leaf clovers everywhere, birthday cards in people's cubicles today, and even a bright seven color rainbow. It's as if with every little sign, she's saying hello in her special way and reminding me that she loved me enough. I love her back and I think she knew.

Southland in the Springtime

There are many things I love about being a Southerner. Spring (or nearly Spring) is one of them. Every March, the South begins to transfer from a black and white Ansel Adams to a Technicolor backdrop as the gray trees sprout blooms in luscious whites, bright pinks, golden yellows, and brilliant blues. The tulips pop up out of the ground in reds and the daffodils and crocus open. There is definitely something 'bout the Southland in the Springtime.

3.1415

Yesterday was National Pi Day and we celebrated by having pie, cherry to be specific :)
(I meant to post a picture of the pie, but forgot to upload the pictures. It might show up later)
We are now gearing up for Square Root Day on March 3, 2009 (3/3/09). Anyone else want to join in?

To complete my dorkiness, here is a book review:

Brave New World
I finished the book a couple of weeks ago after having put it down for a few months. My schedule did not allow for much actual reading time, but during a business trip, I picked the book back up again. It was still good and the narrative was very fresh. (I have yet to master the art of knitting while reading, but once I do, watch out bookshelves!)

The book was written in the late 1940s/early 1950s timeframe. It is touted as being "timeless," and it is for the most part. We have made some technological advances that date the book to a certain extent, but in the 1950s, the internet, email, instant messaging, and cell phones were very very experimental at best. The social aspects of the book are still timeless and still provoke thought.

This is my second time to read the book. I first read it in high school and it was inappropriate for me at 15. I could get it, but not on the same level as now. Who knows, when I read it again at the age of 60, it may take on a whole new level of complexity. Overall, the pace was good, the writing was fine. I wanted to finish the book and even hit the sweet spot of reading where the book takes over and calls to you. As a warning, the sweet spot is late in the novel.

The things that struck me were the arguments for and against emotional attachments and the discussions on what is civilized. Huxley can causes you to think and evaluate what a society is and its influence on its members. He also does something beautiful with paragraph structure when Linda is introduced. Up to that point, the paragraphs and writing overall were well structured. They were fairly short, easy to read, cohesive, and formatted correctly. When Linda was introduced, the paragraphs begin to stretch and flow. The sentences jump a little and some paragraphs are question after questions. The lack of social constraints become evident as John and Linda speak, and I enjoyed the visual shift.

Also, I couldn't help but think of Disney World during the descriptions of the Feelies. If you have been to Disney and seen either Mickey's Philharmonic or the Muppet Movie in 4-D, then you will know what I mean when you get to this part of the book. It was actually a bit unnerving.

As for the ending, it is conclusive but also open ending. You could interpret the actions that lead up to the ending in two ways. Both ways could plausibly leave you with the ending Huxley has written. I have to admit, that I like the fact that the ending can be interpreted like this. I think it makes the book a little better.

In my Element

Oh, how I love my car. This past weekend, I got to try out the second of the 64 seating configurations of the Honda Element (the first being the standard seating configuration, which I think counts, but shouldn't really). This seating configuration will be called the "Can you shove the mattress in there, too?" configuration. You see, I got a call from my dad Friday morning letting me know that they would be in the neighborhood and he was wondering how the spare room was coming along. I smiled and said, "Well, I've been meaning to pick up the futon from Costco." We made plans, I assured him that this would be no big deal and that I could whip up the room with very little effort. Of course, I lied.

Although we had picked up the house and tidied for Xavier Guy and SweetPea (who is super sweet), the house was in no state for parental visits. I don't know what it is about having the parents over, but I feel the need to show them that I've grown up and become responsible and neat despite the fact that they saw the state of my bedroom while I was in high school. I called Italian and we settled on the game plan. Costco though, wasn't cooperating. They had sold out of the futons. I called around, checked online, found a futon store in town who did have 7 in stock that I could drive away. I rushed in, bought a futon, mattress (with internal springs, quite comfy), and a cover in under 15 minutes. Then Futon Guy and I had to load it into the Element.

He asked me to raise up the seat and I went, "huh????" Lucky for me, Honda gives you a Quick Start Guide (I kid you not. Being in the software industry, I found this rather humorous). The guide told me how to fold my back seat and attach it to the side wall of the car. We shoved in the futon, both boxes, the mattress, and the mattress pad all in the car. I even had room to pick up Little Clover from school. Yippee! The Parental Clovers confirmed the comfiness of the futon and much fun was had by all.


Yay!

It's even blue to go along with Project Spectrum. Okay, that's a coincidence. I may be a knitting dork, but I'm not that big of a knitting dork. Okay, okay, I am!

During the melee of the weekend, I did get some knitting done. The Picovoli is coming along. I've made the sleeves and they look like sleeves. This is my first top down sweater and it's rather fun.


Secondly, the wedding shawl is slowly coming along.


Oh, Xavier Guy, watch out. I think Little Clover was trying to move in on SweetPea this weekend. We had a great time seeing you guys and can't wait for May!

To the gentleman I passed on the interstate:

Although the local newspaper can be quite interesting at times and can contain enthralling articles, please do not read it while driving. It seems that you only have enough mental capacity to either read or drive and not both. Maybe the cup of coffee you were drinking at the time while driving in the fast lane was too much of a distraction, but you were only driving the speed limit and I really needed to get to work.

Sincerely,
Irish Clover

I had a spare moment this week and settled down on the sofa with a Pottery Barn catalog that had recently arrived in the mail. I think it might have been a late winter issue, but hey, I don't often have a chance to look through a catalog. Plus, since I'm on a shopping hiatus, I can pretend that I'm browsing at the store. This issue was jam packed with knitting!

Knitted blanket on the homepage

Knitted furniture


And knitting on the floor

Who knew you could knit furniture?

Slowing Down and Speeding Up

I spend Saturday mornings knitting and listening to podcasts while Little Clover watches cartoons. I have a few that are my favorites, but in general, I will listen to almost any knitting podcast. There is something about having a conversation about knitting with someone who obviously loves it as much as you do. It is quite pleasing and unifying. This Saturday including listening to David's latest episode of Sticks and Strings. His essay on "The Slow Clothes Movement" drew me in to the point that I slowed down my knitting so I could focus on listening.

He drew attention to the amount of time each knitter invests in a finished object. The yarn can usually be purchased again and often times, a store bought item is cheaper, but the time can never be renewed. Once it is spent, it's gone and knitters choose to spend the time on making lovely things for themselves or for lucky people they love. Our knitting now is a conscientious decision. David talks about how we purposely delay gratification and go against the "I want it now" mentality which is prevalent in our world today. With each stitch, we are taking back our time and slowing it down, making it last for days, weeks, years, or if we are lucky, decades as our knitted items are used and passed along.


This is the beginnings of a shawl for an upcoming wedding.

As a side note, what makes one qualified to become a social chair? Evidently not much because I am the new social chair for my neighborhood association. The closet I have ever gotten to being a social chair before now was working on the posters for my Junior Prom. I had the glitter, so I got to help. I feel oddly unqualified at this position, so much so, that I'm tempted to go buy this:



Help!

Chestnuts Roasting

We had our first fire last night and it was wonderful. We had a gas fireplace in our old house. It was convenient to be able to walk into the living room and have a fire with the turn of a key, but we didn't really use it much. Even though it had the fiberglass stuff at the bottom to mimic burning embers, it still had this tinny out-of-a-box fakeness to it. Now, I know what was missing. What was missing from our fake gas fire was the popping of wood as the water trapped in the fibres exploded, the smell of camping and out-of-doors that waft out of an open fireplace, and the crisp glow of orange that can only come from real carbon materials. It was wonderful and dreamy and perfect. We all spent the evening with no television watching the real embers and flames dance and jump behind the screen. Bliss.

Now, the saga of our fireplace began over two years ago. The massive fireplace in the family room commands attention and was one of the features that drew us to this house. It was beautiful, but it wasn't functional. The chimney cap was damaged and there nothing to arrest sparks, so if we had a fire, we could possible set the roof on fire. Little Clover suggested that we only have a fire when it was raining outside. He's a smart kid. In addition to the missing chimney covers, the dampner was broken as well. This winter, we finally decided to have the entire chimney serviced and fixed. All the work was completed last week, and we had temperatures in the high 60s and even hit 71 one day. We were resigned to waiting until the next winter to have a fire, but we lucked out with a fairly cold night and a lunar eclipse (one really doesn't have anything to do with the other, but they were both highlights [hee, hee] for us). I'll never go back to a gas fireplace again.

I am Woman

Where's the Kitchen?

That was going to be the title of my book. Before I found a job I liked at a company that I really, really liked, I used to dream of being a full time writer. I have notes on several different book ideas that cover a broad range of fiction categories and a few nonfiction concepts. One of the concepts that is my favorite is the concept of the a neo-feminist viewpoint.

The book idea began when I heard some news story or read some article about a feminist thought or ideal or movement. I probably became very frustrated by said thought/ideal/movement because I don't consider myself a traditional feminist activist and could not identify with that movement. I don't consider myself a traditionalist either and find their ideals to be just as distasteful. I was somewhere in-between and felt a bit alone.

I was tired of hearing from people what a woman (womyn for those versed in the NOW campaign from the 80s) should be. The extreme sides had extreme views. Some feminist shunned not only stay at home moms, but motherhood in general. Being a mother myself, I disagreed. The other extreme shunned those who decided not to be mothers (or wives) to focused on their careers, because they believed that women should be at home tending husband and children. Being a working woman, I couldn't agree with this side either. Where were the moderate people, the ones in the middle who believed that it was okay to work and it was okay to be a homemaker? Why couldn't we all just get along???? Surely there were other people out there that shared some of my views. I just had to find them. I rationalized that if I wrote a book and people bought it, then the others who were in the middle wouldn't feel alone. We could all be happily in the middle together.

I had this in mind for my cover art:


It quickly conveys the gist of what neo-feminism means to me. I can have it all, if I want to, but there is nothing wrong with not wanting something either -- the happy medium. Who knows, maybe this little book of mine will come out anyway. (Of course, if the book were as witty as Erma Bombeck but as insightful as Anna Quindelin, then I'd be happier)

Happy Woman's History Month. Let's celebrate all the woman who have come before us, those who were vibrant and progressive, and those who moved history in their own quiet ways.

Happiness is finding a pencil

The blue car in white snow.

I love watching a well played sporting event. A proper sporting event, no matter what sport, has a fluidity and a grace, a finesse to it that can be just as satisfying to watch as a play or ballet, especially when the sport involves little people. Basketball season has officially begun and Little Clover had his first game this Sunday. Despite the loss, his team played quite well. They have one play, but at least they have a play. The play consists of the point guard dribbling across the line, passing the ball to Little Clover, who then passes the ball to a teammate who then passes it to another taller teammate who shoots. The team executed the play with brilliance about three times, then they became little kids and ran all over the court. It was quite cute, especially when they decided they needed to talk to Mom and Dad and would run over to the stands, sometimes while there was still action on the court. Little Clover was the lead scorer of the game, bringin in 7 of the teams 11 points. He was quite proud.

As were Italian and I. Honestly, I can't think of many things more wonderful than watching kids play sports. There is a remarkable excitement at each success and an astounding lack of concern over "failures." Little Clover's team didn't care about the loss. They were excited to play adn were thrilled with their shoots and their steals. They grin with happiness after every shot and stare at the stands looking for approval and a thumbs up from their parents. It's nice to know that my opinion matters to him and it's amazing to see his face beam. Maybe I only love it because Little Clover does. Who knows. His happiness makes me smile.

The blue bath

The blue kettle

In keeping with Project Spectrum, above is a short photo montage of blue (with a little bit of white thrown in for fun). I found out about Project Spectrum late last year, but enjoyed seeing the colors in the blogs I visited. This year, being a part of Project Spectrum has made me more aware of certain colors around me. When I see the sky, it's no longer an expanse of wide sea, now, it's a photo op! Blueberries look edible and photo perfect. I even ventured out of my normal color range and bought (before Lent) an exotic fibre in grey for spinning. More on that later.

Better than Yoga

Have you ever had one of those days? You know, the kind with really high highs and really low lows? I had one of those highs today. I had a day where I felt great about my job. People gave me compliments about my work and told me I was doing a fantastic job. Then, just a few hours later, other people told me that I am doing a horrible job. Normal, I don't really care. Work was just a silly way to earn money to feed my family. It wasn't important. This job, though, matters to me. I like this job, and I like this company. I suddenly found myself attached and caring about the quality of my performance, and the fact that someone was providing unconstrustive criticism was aggrevating. The snippy me came out. I reined her in and only a small snide comment came out in the meeting.

I left work frustrated and angry and wanting to be even snippier. Italian, listened as I vented, handed me my knitting bag, and said, "Have fun at knitting." (There was this sound of a door shutting as he said this.) I did.

I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but it's worth saying again. I have one of the best knitting groups around. With the booming internet, I have the luxury of having knitting friends all over the world. They are always there when I need them. Whether at noon when I need a little pick me up or at 11:00 pm when I finally have a minute to myself, they are there. My local knitting group is there, too, just on a more normal basis. I arrived at knitting and was immediately greeted with warm hellos and a hug. We talked about kids and jobs and patterns and yarns. We laughed as we reviewed patterns and talked about religous traditions and community activity. We complimented each others works, past, present, and future, and we spoke in the knitters' codes of DPNs, worsted, sports, and 4s. I left relaxed and connected and rejuvenated. I'm very lucky to have such a group. Thanks, y'all.

The beginnings of a Picovoli by Grumperina

The Shampoo One

One of the Clovers' St. Valentine's Day tradition is to celebrate the day as a family. Italian and I celebrate the romantic part on our own, usually on the weekend, but on the actual day, we celebrate our family. This does involve chocolate truffles for me and candy for Little Clover. This year, Italian and Little Clover presented me with chocolates from a local candy maker (we try to support local first, then organic). The flavors they picked were Irish Cream (because I'm Irish), cappucino (because I love coffee), coconut (because that's my favorite), and champagne (because it would be fun). Italian easily pointed out the Irish Cream, the cappucino, and the coconut. The champagne one was a little bit harder. Italian explained how every truffle flavor is decorated differently, so the champagne one should be the one that doesn't look like the other. Little Clover looked at the truffles, pointed at one, and said, "I think the shampoo one is this one."

Italian and I smiled and agreed. I wonder how it will taste.

And Now for Something Completely Different
What says "I love you" better than spam?

Alot of Spam! Oh, wait. That's not it. How about:

Italian and I spent this past Valentin's weekend at the theatre watching a lovely showing of Spamalot, watery tart and all. It was spectacular! As a former theatre junky and performer, I loved the acting, the blocking, the dancing, the technicality, and the singing. As a Python fan, I loved the crude humor. All in all, I left the show with an aching side and wanting a catapult and cow. Neither Italian nor I could figure out how they accomplished the Black Knight scene. If you watch it, try not to be distracted by the monk. Go see the show if it stops in a theatre near you.

Happy Mardi Gras

I finished these just in time for Mardi Gras!

Pattern: Widdershins (plain sock, toe-up with heel flap)
Yarn: Socks That Rock in Nodding Violet.

I love these socks. Even though they are just a plain stockinette sock, the stitches are beautiful. The yarn has a depth to it and the stitches are slightly textured. The colors are deep and dimensional as well. Plus, they are in a fantastic greens and purples, perfect for Mardi Gras. My timing couldn't have been better.

Quite a few milestones and holidays are passing me by this year. So far, I've missed my blogiversary, the Chinese New Year, and I forgot about Mardi Gras! I've only just realized it in time for...Lent. Yay. (Injecting a very, very deep sigh). For Lent, I give up spending money on things that I do not need. By only buying necessary items, I adjust my reality and focus it once again on what is a need and what is a want. This helps me keep my perspective and be grateful for what I do have. Of course, this moratorium on extraneous purchases includes yarn.

I do have an exception this year. The year for a special wedding gift has not arrive at my LYS yet. Since I placed the order for it a few weeks ago, I will not feel bad paying for it during Lent. What will be a problem is leaving the store without anything else. Fortunately, I realized today, the day before Lent, wonderful Mardi Gras, that I have one last day to shop and a computer to help me buy yarn! All is good.

A love story

When I began knitting again, about two years ago, I did not expect to fall in love with yarn. Instead, I expected to dabble a little here and there. I knitted a dreadfully curly stockinette scarf and an acrylic purse, sans straps, that is still in pieces in the playroom somewhere. I liked it, but I wasn't in love yet. Then, I went to my first yarn store. All the yarn was arranged in colors and fibers all over the walls. I became excited, but overwhelmed. I quickly bought the Brown Sheep recommended in the pattern for the scarf. I didn't look at the gauge or the yardage in the pattern which called for two colors of yarn, one skein each. Fearing I might run out, I bought two skeins of each. Naturally, I have a ton of Brown Sheep yarn in two shades of green left over.

I began simply with my knitting, following a pattern almost exactly as it is written. I played around a bit with the yarns specified in the pattern, and often ended up with an item that resembled the piece in the picture, but didn't quite seem to fit right. Then I discovered gauge and my knitting got better. My yarn substitutions were more thought out, and I began to fall in love. Something happened when I knitted. I relaxed. I could sit in one spot for hours and not feel guilty. I became a little more patient, and I could feel tension leaving my shoulders. I turned my mind off and knitted and knitted and knitted. I loved following a pattern and had absolutely no desire to write my own pattern. I couldn't understand why someone would want to think about her knitting that much.

Then I found socks. I tackled socks because they scared me, they were risky. They require tiny needles. They require proper gauge. They required that I think while I knitted. I didn't want to be scared of knitting anything, so I tried it, and I fell further in love. They were portable. They were quick. They were useful! They didn't fit. I had to tweak the pattern and I found a pattern that required personalization. I found I liked the idea of making the socks just for me. Then the whole heel thing was intriguing and I wanted to know the whys and hows of it. That lead me down the path of making up a leaf pattern for a hat because I didn't want to hunt for one, and then, the next thing I know... Wham! I'm tackling a sweater without a pattern, just with some measurements. With the time and thought and consciousness required to knit blind, it was evident I was definitely in love.

All this time, everytime I said, "Oh, I can't ever see myself doing/making/trying [insert some knitting related feat]!" Italian has just nodded and smiled, knowing I would try it and accomplish it. Needless to say, I had fallen in love with him long ago, and that was one of the many reasons why. I've fallen madly in love. I have the yarn, and Italian has the sweater (and socks), to prove it.

 

Please excuse the very dorky look on my face. I have no idea what I was doing, but evidently, it was something dorky.

I remember Alaska

With every stitch of this scarf, I remembered Alaska. Finally, after keeping the yarn safe in my stash for several months, I gently took it from its nice warm home and began to knit it into the scarf it was meant to be. The yarn is one of the best breeds of yarn. It is souvenier yarn. It traveled in a suitcase all the way from Alaska to my little stash, where I would go and visit it every now and then. I would visit the yarn when I began to long for the cool wet air of Alaska and it would make me smile.



The yarn though wasn't very happy in my stash. I think it was crowded there. It would nag at me and tell me that it really, really would like to come out and get some air. I finally listened and it rewarded me with this, a soft, warm, airy lace scarf in a blue that, with every stitch, reminds me of Alaska.


This is all that is left of the yarn. Well, that's a bit of an exaggeration. This is half of all that is left of the yarn. I couldn't find the other piece of string.