Entertaining myself

Why, you ask, why? Why do I not post forever and then do 3 posts in one day? That's just how my mind works.
I have a book meme. "Borrowed" from mattress police

"1. Pick up the nearest book ( of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people & post a comment here once you post it to your blog, so I can come see.

The purpose of this meme is, in other words, to propagate complete gibberish across the Internet. I cannot express to you how thankful I am that someone has finally taken on that task."

The Lord Mayor now produced a further 1,000 for the fund. In recognition Scott promised to make Cardiff the Terra Nova's first port of call on his return. The Cardiff Chamber of Commerce gave a farewell banquet for the officers in wood-panelled rooms of the Royal Hotel.


I'm only tagging three bloggers because they are the only ones that I've talked to more than a brief comment and I've been reading them the longest of any blogs.
Boogie
Quelle Erqsome
and A Good Yarn

Inspiration

I now have 171 blogs that I read through bloglines. (pardon that I have not updated my blogroll in a very long time) Why do I read them all? Why is the variety so eclectic? Let's see, knitting blogs, craft blogs, humor blogs, geography blogs, lolcats, yoga blogs, food blogs, US dept of state blog, farming, simple living, even 3 blogs that I write myself, maps and pictures and cartoons. What a strange person I am. Even I think I'm strange. I guess I'm looking for inspiration, looking for ideas. You never know where an idea will come from. You never know how an intersection of ideas will produce something wonderful. I think the worst thing a person can do is limit themselves to one set of ideas, to one field. There is so much out in the world, so much to learn and discover. To me, creativity is just using a jumble of other ideas and putting them together in new and different ways. Life would be much duller without all these things.
Have a good day!

The too-big sock

I'm knitting another too-big monkey sock but dad has graciously agreed to take them off my hands when I get done. I'm very slowly working on a shawl but I only like to knit on it when I'm awake and it's daylight out. Awake, meaning I'm not tired or hungry or depressed. It's coming along slowly but actually looks pretty. I'm not who will get it when I'm done. I started spinning some icelandic wool from the January Spunky Club. It's coarse and scratchy but very easy to spin and I like it. I need some ideas of something small I can knit it into. We'll see. I know there is homework waiting for me but I haven't felt like it at all this week. I feel like I have all these problems and all these ideas all jumbled in my head and I can't seem to sort anything out anymore. A long vacation would be nice.

Socks

You'd think I could knit something that would actually fit me. Here I am, knitting something day after day and then I try it on and it's too big, or too small. I'm right here for goodness sake. I can try it on anytime, because, like I said, I'm right here. But no, I made one pair of socks for me that turned out to small (mom has them now), and I'm currently knitting a pair that is turning out too big. Since I've spent a lot of time, I don't want to frog them. Someone else will get them. Someday I will knit some socks for me. Someday, someday.

Time flies.

One thing about writing in a blog, time passes so quickly between posts. I think it's only been a day or two since I posted and it's been 6. I must be busy or something. I finished the heel flap on one monkey sock but no other knitting has been accomplished. A tiny bit of spinning has been done. So what have I been doing? I don't have a clue. I have a headache today so not much will get done.

Finished

I finished the Socks that Rock socks, finally. The 3rd sock came out the best with the tiniest holes in it. (Yes, I knit 3 as I knit the first one twice) They should be good. So now I just have the Monkey socks in progress and I started a crocheted lamb this morning. He's going to be pink with a blue face. Not your normal sheep. But who wants a normal sheep?

I lied

The yarn I spun over the weekend may turn into a crocheted pink lamb. I found the cutest sheep pattern over at Lion Brand and my nephews are coming this weekend so it just might happen. I have a test in class today but tonight I have nothing to do except practice my singing and watch Talledega Nights. Don't tell me what happens, I haven't seen it yet. Yes I know, it's Will Ferrell, so I know what to expect.

Progress

Well, I'm nearly finished with the sock that will match the sock with a hole in it. The second sock has a tiny hole so maybe if I knit about 10 more of these socks, the hole will eventually disappear. I'm knitting these with Socks that Rock mediumweight the Mudslide colorway. I love the yarn so it wasn't much of chore to reknit the second sock. I've also started some monkey socks with Regia sock yarn my sis bought me for Christmas. The pattern really isn't too hard and it's going pretty well. I tried to start a stole with my fancy Jaeger yarn but after 3 rows I already had 10 extra stitches so I pulled that out to retry it some other time. The pattern isn't too hard but I've never knit with such fine yarn and so I better really pay attention.
The real news is my Ashford spinning wheel is wonderful. I spun 4 ounces of Spunky club fiber from November. The yarn came out very nice and I'd like to make some mittens but I'm still looking for an easy pattern. Now, spinning time is battling with my homework time.
This Friday I'm singing a small solo in a Good Friday musical presentation at church so I've been practicing that every night now. I'll be nervous but it should go well.

New Blog

I've started a new blog, Better Living on the Cheap. Please take a look and let me know what you think. It's something I've been interested in working on for a long time. I appreciate any feedback on topics or writing. I want it to be a really useful resource for people.
Thanks!

Let's see if anyone is reading this.

Here's a movie meme I saw on several blogs.
And here's da rules........

1. Pick 10 of your favorite movies.
2. Go to IMDB and find a quote from each movie.
3. Post them here for everyone to guess.
4. Strike it out when someone guesses correctly, and put who guessed it and the movie.
5. No Googling or IMDB-ing. That's cheating, and that's no fun!

So see if you can guess mine......

1. I bribed them to sing a song that would drive us insane and make our hearts swell and burst.

2. You think that you're too cool for school, but I have a newsflash for you Walter Cronkite... you aren't.

3. Please! This is supposed to be a happy occasion. Let's not bicker and argue over who killed who.

4. Burrowing bounders! They must be breeding like... well, rabbits.

5. You're wondering, "What is a place like me doing in a girl like this?"

6. No more training do you require. Already know you, that which you need.

7. Your stunned silence is very reassuring.

8. How can a train be lost? It's on rails.

9. And then he calls me a jerk and says the last guy who thought he was a jerk was dead now. So I don't say nothin' and he says, "What do ya think about that?" So I says, "Well, that don't sound like too good a deal for him then."

10. I suppose the life of an anorexic duck doesn't amount to much in the broad scheme of things.

In which

Knitting is discussed.

Kid Quotes

"Mom, do you know why I was born weird?"
"No I don't, tell me"
"Well, I don't know but I can see through fences."

Spinning wheel

My spinning wheel is here. I really like it. The idea that I can create something beautiful with a machine that doesn't run on electricity and will last forever if I take care of it is a great thing. It needs a little oiling and finishing and tightening up but it works and I love it. Last night my kids wanted to treadle while I drafted the wool in but that's ok. I want them to appreciate making things and skills that not that many people have.

New trends

You know how everyone looks for the latest trends, those hip styles, the coolest car to drive, or even the trend of checking out the latest trends. I think of myself as someone who looks at trends as well and the past few days I have noticed something. A trend is starting in the knitblogs. Take a look at this, and then this. Is that what I think it is? Knitting underwear? Hmmmm. They claim to be knitting socks but you never know. Perhaps they are knitting "socks". I blame this. Scroll down to the last picture.

A present for me.

I'm getting a spinning wheel. I think I'm excited. It will be here on Sunday. It's an Ashford Traditional double treadle. I won't tell you the ridiculously low price I'm paying. Then you'd just be mad at me. I didn't think I'd get one for years and years. Perhaps the February Spin it will get done. I'm happy.

Ack!

I look at my blog and there on the sidebar is spin it in Feb and knit it in March. Ack! I'm spinning a merino/bamboo blend from Spunky and even though it's only 2 ounces it's never ending. It seems like with the time I've spent, I'll be able to make a huge man sweater with this yarn. Well, maybe not. I like the blend. Very pretty. I'd show you if I had such a thing as a digital camera. What with homework and scholarships to apply for, who know if it will get spun.

Peanut butter

As in peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but without the jelly. Dry but ok to eat.
I've been doing a lot of soul searching lately. My life seems not right. It's like I'm lost in a world of I don't know what to do. It muddles your thinking and makes you write not good sentences and stuff. ya know? I'll let you know what happens if the thinking ever un-muddles. I've got a lot of ideas going around in my head.

Knitting

I was looking forward to finishing a sock this weekend. Looking....looking....looking. I discovered a hole. Not just a little, totally-ignorable hole, a big honking hole that you can actually see without glasses. Oh dear. So the sock is now frogged and restarted and hopefully we will avoid that little problem the next time around. I do love knitting with Socks that Rock yarn though. It was upsetting me greatly so I started a new hat and did some spinning.

Birthday

Since I am not the kind of person that goes around telling everyone it's my birthday, I'll just say it here. Not many people read this so it's ok (I'm telling myself).
I had a lovely breakfast bought by co-workers this morning and so I'm slightly fatter and happy too. If it wasn't President's day, I might get a card in the mail too. But maybe tomorrow. If I'm lucky.

Random

One of these days I'll do one of those random meme things about me but for today I just have one. I love ordering books through interlibrary loan. That means I order the book, a few days later I get a notice that it has come in and I go pick it up. The fun part is that I've usually forgotten what I ordered. Then it's a surprise and it's like getting a gift from someone who knows me well, as I guess I probably do.
I just got my birthday gift to myself yesterday and I'm very happy with it I must say. Do I know me or what?