Funny kid quotes

Mom: Do you think I'm stylish?
Younger son: No mommy, you aren't stylish, you're pretty.
Mom: Thank you.
Younger son: What does "stylish" mean?

Christmas

Christmas is coming and I love it. Christmas carols on my mind already. What? do you ask. What do I want for Christmas? Well, let me tell you. Books are always good. Now anything to do with spinning or knitting is also good. Yarn, fiber and things like that. A nice digital camera would be excellent or a spinning wheel. Why am I telling you? Just in case you would be asking.

Notice me!

Funny kid quotes

Younger finicky son: Dude, you should really try butter on your pancakes, it's really good.

Funny kid quotes

Older son: Mom, do you have to do something stupid to make babies?

The fishes

Spiderman and the Incredible Hulk. Hulk is a fantail goldfish and Spiderman is just your garden variety feeder goldfish from Walmart. I just cleaned the tank and Spiderman is huge, nearly half the length of the 10 gallon tank. It's kind of scary. Really. That gaping mouth coming at you when you feed them.

Movies

Normally I don't watch a lot of movies but as our TV is turned off at the moment....

There were two that stood out from the ones I watched.

Pan's Labyrinth was nothing like I expected. I expected some children's fantasy story like Bridge to Terabithia or the Narnia series but it wasn't like that. The bad guy was really bad, the spooky things were really spooky(especially the creature with the eyes in his hands, ugh). It also had an other worldly quality because it was set in Spain and was spanish with english subtitles. Over all I really liked it and felt really touched and moved by it. The ending was kind of happy but not really. It really evoked more a feeling than anything.

The Painted Veil was very romantic but with a touch of reality. A woman marries a doctor but is just doing it to get away from her nasty rude mother. She then moves to China with her husband but has an affair. She falls into the trap of believing her lover will take her away but her husband knows the reality of what has happened and what kind of guy she has found. Circumstances made her realize her husband wasn't so bad after all. The ending made me cry.

I'd recommend both movies. When I watch a movie, I don't want to know what to expect so it's more of a surprise and has more of an impact on me.

Literary post of the week

Ah yes, let us discuss what I am reading. *perching spectacles upon my nose*

Living the Good Life by Helen and Scott Nearing

This book was first published in 1954 and yet I find it so relevant and interesting. This couple decides to buy a farm in Vermont and life a simple life. Hoping to work 6 months out of the year and spend the other 6 months spreading their ideas and doing good works. My quote of the week was from this book. Evidently this is something I would like to do because I've read a lot of books of a similar tone.

The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers by Lilian Jackson Braun

I always like these books so it's no surprise I like this one. I like cats and I like the minor mysteries in the books. They are definitely light reading.

And the next book I have on the list is

Chicken Justice and Other Unexpected Lessons in Country Living by Steve Coffman

Yet another simple living book. I haven't yet started it but it looks to be well written.

Of course all this is addition to the textbooks I'm reading for class and everything else I do. Can you say BUSY?

Knit knit, (diddy do wap) knit

Bet you didn't know I could stand on the ceiling. Huh, huh, didja? These lovely socks I finished with only small hole in the toe (after frogging and frogging and then finally emitting a deep growl) But they fit perfectly and although the colors don't match in sequence, only I will know when they are ensconced in shoes. Sockotta yarn. Crystal palace pattern. This scarf is nearly done. Only a few inches to go. I had yarn left over from a sweater I knit a couple years ago and knit this scarf and another one. It's Lion Brand Wool-Ease and the Lion Brand Red Riding hood scarf pattern. I'm not going to make it into a hood like the pattern. It should be a warm and wooly gift for someone.
And what will this be? (the shiny thing is a small box of pearlescent beads) Could it be? Could it really be a couple headbands with beads? Yes, yes it could. Maybe. If I get it started soon.
Take care!

You spin me right round baby

This lovely stuff is my fiber of the month from Spunky Eclectic.

It's called Aspen, she said it reminded her of Colorado. I thought that was appropriate, seeing as I am in Colorado. It's a merino/tencel blend and I can spin it super skinny. I'm wanting to make a scarf with it when I'm done. So stay tuned. The spindle is a recent purchase from Spinsanity on the Etsy website. Purple with the moon and stars. I wanted it because it's lighter than the CD spindle I have. And of course, everyone wants new stuff.

This very blurry hat is the knitted toque I made from my second handspun. When I first made it I thought it would be too small. But I blocked it over a bowl and 'hey presto' it fits me. It's scratchy and I probably won't wear it but it's my very first knitted item from my handspun and does look nice (yuck photo nonwithstanding). Smile.
I have 6 more ounces of fiber on the way from Spunky and I'm rubbing my hands together greedily in anticipation. 4 ounces of wool and 2 ounces of a merino/bamboo blend. *ouch* Not so much rubbing please.
Take care.

Quote of the week #3

There are two ways of living: a man may be casual and simply exist, or constructively and deliberately try to do something with his life. The constructive ideas implies constructiveness not only about one’s own life, but about that of society, and the future possibilities of mankind.
Julian Huxley, Essays of a Biologist, 1923

Quote of the week #2

O God! Methinks it were a happy life,
To be no better than a homely swain,
To set upon a hill, as I do now…
So many hours must I tend my flock;
So many hours must I take my rest;
So many hours must I contemplate;
So many hours must I sport myself;
Ah, what a life were this, how sweet! How lovely!
William Shakespeare, King Henry VI, 1623

Quote of the week

Arise, come, hasten, let us abandon the city to merchants, attorneys, brokers, usurers, tax-gatherers, scriveners, doctors, perfumers, butchers, cooks, bakers and tailors, alchemists, painters, mimes, dancers, lute-players, quacks, panderers, thieves, criminals, adulterers, parasites, foreigners, swindlers and jesters, gluttons who with scent alert catch the odor of the market place, for whom that is the only bliss, whose mouths are agape for that alone.
Francesco Petrarch, De Vita Solitaria, 1356

In which........

This..... becomes this....

and then this....

Or, if you prefer.... this

becoming this....

The pink is a linen thread which used to be a sweater. I love linen and so purchased this too small sweater to ravel and make something else out of it. Upon doing this I realized that the linen "yarn" was just 4 threads of linen held together. After much thought and consultation, (i.e. asking Ravelry) I decided to spin it on my spindle and give it some twist and then wash it to try and set the twist. Seems to be working so far though I haven't actually tried to knit with it yet.

The blue is another 100% wool sweater raveled to make this beautiful yarn. (Someday I'll have a good camera that takes good pictures to show you the beauty of it) That hank of yarn is just the sleeves if you can believe it. I'll get 2 good sized balls from it to join the other 4 good sized balls I've gotten. The last picture is a sock I'm knitting from one of the balls. We'll see if a ball=2 socks. I'm hoping so.

Next time some spinning fun!

Take care!

This is where the random comes in...

I've been reading other blogs assiduously and quite on a regular basis lately. So perhaps I can do my own from time to time.
Just a few random things bouncing through my mind

Bounce: My son decided that since he doesn't have school tomorrow, I should stay home from work and homeschool him for that one day. Soon he will be much smarter than me.

Bounce: I'm going to try my hand at drawing something for a website I'm working on. This is evidently because I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH TO DO ALREADY!!!

Bounce: I love going to college and would like to do it full time again.

Bounce: I just got reminded somehow of the time I went to a homecoming dance with a guy from my church at a different school. His friend looked at me with a puzzled expression and asked what school I went to. When I told him he said, 'that can't be right, I know everyone there'