Sneak Peak of the Labyrinth Pattern Club
I realize I’ve been bad at blogging. Life has been super crazy. That’s my excuse every time though isn’t it?? Oh well.
I’ve decided to be generous today since it’s the 4th of July. Happy Independence Day to everyone.
I have mixed emotions over this holiday for very personal reasons, none to do with the actual holiday.
We’ll just say that it’s along the lines of “Something good started… then the next year something bad started… etc”
I’m going to focus on the good though.
But like I said, I’m feeling generous.
So I know that some of you can’t join in the Labyrinth Pattern club fun and games thanks to the economy sucking right now… but here’s what I’m going to do.
Bring a friend!
Yup, if you introduce a friend to the fabulous pattern club and they join the club (they have to let me know when they check out that you sent them.) You will receive $5.00 worth of credit in the shop.
This credit will be good on anything in the shop, be it patterns, or yarn, or a few of the knitted items I’m going to be posting up in there because I don’t want to pack them away for the move. Which means you aren’t left out if you’ve already joined the club. (Credit is good on the Club membership as well if you bring the friend and then suddenly decide at the last minute that you want to join in the fun as well)
And yes, the credit can be used on the future clubs (both pattern clubs and the yarn clubs… like The Three Musketeer’s which I’m still working on the details of… )
And here is a teaser shot of the “My Lady” hat.
I have also gone ahead and added the pattern for My Lady and As the World Falls Down to the Ravelry database, which is giving me problems (won’t let me add photos etc right now). Hopefully those issues will be fixed soon.
Remember, as of right now you can only get the patterns by joining the club. After the club is over I will release the patterns individually for sale, but I don’t know when that will be.
Alright, that’s all from me right now. I’m going to go take care of a chore or two before the party at my friend’s house tonight.
Through dangers untold…
I am biting the bullet. I am committing to it. Now I just need to get my butt into gear and get the patterns ready.
In the next couple of months, I will be putting up for Pre-Order, a Pattern Club.
There will be 6 official patterns. (Price yet to be determined)
Of the confirmed patterns, there will be:
1 Stole (rectangular)
1 Sock pattern
1 Shawl
There are more coming, but these are the ones that will happen.
As of right now, orders will only be through the shop proper, I will email the patterns to people. Once the club is over, I will then open the patterns up for sale via Ravelry, but it will be only once the club is well and truly over. I will then send a download code for the members to add the pattern to their Ravelry libraries. (But that won’t happen till the club is over, only because I can’t separate out who can “purchase” the pattern via ravelry. And as of right now, this is only going to be open to club members.)
When I started tinkering with this idea, I start wracking my brain as to what I wanted the theme to be. I almost didn’t start this project simply because of worrying about if I’d be able to come up with the patterns.
Well, not even 5 minutes after I came up with the theme, I got ideas for 6 patterns immediately. I have more than 6 patterns that I’m playing around with, but for this round… there will only be 6. (There might be a special extra, but we’ll see.)
What is the theme?
Well my dear readers… I’m going with one of my favorites of all time.
Yes, you read that correctly. Labyrinth. Inspired by the most amazing movie brought to us by Jim Henson, featuring The Goblin King himself, who just so happened to be my first crush ever. (I still have a crush on David Bowie)
That’s all the info I have for now. More details will be forthcoming.
In other news… I had been avoiding doing my taxes for weeks now. I had everything prepared and ready to go, but dreaded the important step of actually filing. On one hand, I am glad I delayed.
A few weeks ago I received a letter from Unemployment (Colorado), stating that my payments were being postponed, and that my claim was under review.
Then a few days ago, I received a letter stating that not only was I now ineligible for benefits (no explanation as to why… the buggers), but also that they had over paid me by 2 months. This overpayment is of course due immediately, and comes to just over $1200.00. Where they think I’m going to suddenly come up with this money is beyond me. There is a reason I am on unemployment. I am by the Government’s standards… unemployed. C’est la vie.
This last letter of course lead to meltdowns and panics on my part trying to figure out what the heck was going to happen. (And it was partly the inspiration for this club)
I finally came out of shock, and got a game plan.
It has changed what will happen in the next few months. The moving to England time table has once again been stepped up, and it means changes to The Asylum.
But, like I said above I am glad I delayed in filing my taxes. Had I done that sooner, I would have had my return already, and most likely spent it on yarn (for the Asylum) and other things… like food and rent. (What a concept.)
Now, it all gets to go to my Unemployment bill. It won’t cover all of it, but it will put a fair sized dent in what they are demanding, and it will make me breathe easier not having the total amount looming over my head.
Sometimes procrastination pays.
On a completely different note… I just found out that they are going to be making the Dragon Riders of Pern into movies. YAY!!! I cannot express how happy this makes me.
I did not read Lord of the Rings in 6th grade like a lot of people I know. Instead, I was in Pern.
I carried around marble decorative eggs because they reminded me of Firelizard eggs.
I learned how to make Klah (still drink it on a regular basis). I learned how to make Bubbly Pies (though I don’t make Blueberry since I’m not a fan, instead I make mixed berry).
During the death of my Aunt/Mother, I retreated not only into Outlander, but into Pern.
In dreams I flew on dragonwing.
They better do these movies well. Otherwise there will be hell to pay.
On that note. I’m going to bed. I am very tired. Night all!
Anomaly Con 2011, Part 1
I want to do a good long post about Anomaly Con. I even started mentally writing it last night. But it would require downloading photos, etc.
I’ve also decided that certain things I wanted to talk about… I shouldn’t. So I won’t. Ya dig?
Anomaly Con was quite fun. It was quite interesting being a “vendor” type person instead of just a patron.
I will touch lightly on this, and that is it. I found most people at the con quite… negative.
I don’t know if it’s just that I have basically turned into a bit of a hermit over the last year or not… but the patrons were by and large dour and negative whilst looking at wares. This is an observation not just at my table, but something I noticed as I observed people at other artist’s tables, or downstairs in the dealer area.
Alright, I’ve said my peace on that. Now I’ll move on.
The con it’s self… lets just say I do realize it is the baby year, and there was a lot of learning experience.
The Tivoli Center is a beautiful building. The atmosphere was perfect for what we were doing. Giant copper brewery … urns? (My brain is dead, I can’t think of the word I want) lots of piping… and just amazing bits and pieces.
But, it is not a good place for a convention. To get places, you would have to walk across the entire length of the center, then go up another elevator etc. And there was one section that quite a few of us never did get to, nor could figure out how to get there. (I feel so bad for the people who were stuck in that area…)
The Asylum did not do so well at the con. I made back my booth fee, and the cost of everyone’s tickets.. So that is great. That’s the least I could ask for.
Copper Dragonfly’s hats did well and people loved the odd shapes of the hats instead of just general round ones. (By well, I mean a few of them sold)
Erin Gallagher the author did amazing. Lots of people are excited for me to finish my novel and have it out in the world.
At one point I was kicked out of my own table and told to go listen to a panel that was going on. I did. I’m glad I did. Though it was amusing, I was pretty much the only person asking questions.
But… I might have found a self publishing route that I might go with. It is a group that was created by authors who have gone the self publishing route. So, they banded together and created their own author house. Self publishing is hard work, but having resources is a good thing. And most importantly, I would retain all rights nor would I have to worry about exclusivity. So if my dream came true and Harper Collins, or Tor decided to pick me up… I could easily go with them without having to give up a pound of flesh to get out of contracts etc. What I also like about this group, is that they are inclusive of all genres. For me, that is a very good thing. After all, I’ve got several. Aether Horizons, steampunk adventure fiction. Angel Blitz (working title), a paranormal fantasy in WW2 England. The Q2-Files (series title), a modern mystery thriller. The Happy Housewife (working series title), a paranormal fantasy set in the 1950′s.
See, I don’t just fall into one category. Then there are other projects that I’m not yet at liberty to discuss, which fall into none of the categories I just mentioned.
Now, this company is a baby company. They literally just published the first title as of this weekend. The website needs a lot of work in my opinion. (Right now it looks like a fan page for one of the authors… which I understand why it’s like that, but I would recommend making it a little less about Her Her Her.)
I am interested in this pub house because yes I had planned on doing the self publishing route. I know it means I’ll have copies of my book laying about my house waiting for me to ship out. I know it will mean me selling the hell out of my book to everyone I come across. But, going with the print on demand publishers is just bloody expensive(with very little profit), and won’t ever get me into Barnes and Noble. (This pub house needs a few more authors… well not authors, but book titles before it can be put into the big distribution list that all the shops order from.)
And there isn’t a print on demand website out there that I have discovered that can get me my novel for 5$ a book (my cost).
I think I’ll still go with smashwords, and a few other sources for the e-book editions, but that is neither here nor there right now.
For those who are interested in knowing the group… the website is here: Tangled Webs Publishing
The weekend was not so fun because Saturday evening after we left the Con (no, we did not stay for the ball.. we were too tired) we went to dinner. After dinner we got back in the car and it didn’t start.
Oh, I had completely forgotten. The night before on Friday… we went to a concert. It was Great Big Sea. It was the final show of the tour, and the boys were having fun. I am so very glad I went.
When we got done with the concert, the car didn’t start. We got towed over to Danny’s shop, and then the car started. We risked it and went home because of how early we needed to be up in Denver. The car went up to Denver just fine.
So here we are, at a Mexican restaurant a few blocks away from Katte and Curtis’s house. The car is not working.
Katte comes and rescues us, as we were staying at her house anyway.
Curtis makes a call on his cellphone while I calm myself with a dram of scotch.
Curtis is the only man I know who can have a mechanic call him back at 10:30pm on a Saturday. And more oddly, that mechanic agrees to come out to the car at 7:30 in the morning on a Sunday.
I slept not so great because my brain wouldn’t shut off, I was dehydrated, and I had a migraine forming.
The morning comes, the mechanic meets us. We determine it looks like it’s the fuel pump thats not working anymore.
Curtis hooks up Ginny to The Beast, and I nervously steer while he tows me the few blocks to the shop. (Oh my gods I hadn’t had to do that kind of towing in 7 years… I do not like to do it at all!!!!)
Katte then takes us to the Con. She was just going to pop in and see my table setup, and ended up staying for 3 hours. She loved it. She has all sorts of ideas now. Ideas that involve The Asylum as well.. muhahahahahaa.
Von who was coming up from the Springs on Sunday for the con gave me and all my crap (and people) a ride home. Which is good, because I had no idea how I was going to get all of my crap home otherwise.
The car is still in Denver. Katte is coming down with the kids on Tuesday to go to Garden of the Gods, so she’ll just scoop me up and take me up to Denver when it’s time to go home. (I was told that Tuesday is when the car should be ready, if nothing else I can always spend the night at their house until Wednesday if needed.)
So it was a good and bad weekend. Lots of interesting things happened.
Oh, and apparently my steampunk name is “Extra! Extra!” as everyone remembers the badge on my hat. (At least thats what the Colorado Springs people remember me as.) So I even moved the badge to my fedora on the Sunday. We’ll see if the nickname sticks or if I find something better.
I promise to post photos once I get them all downloaded etc… but for now… here is this one.
Saturday at Anomaly Con
Happy Birthday Mum – a giveaway
Edited note: Remember, to get multiple entries you need to do multiple comments (not just saying “I followed this, this and this” in 1 comment). Otherwise my RNG won’t find you.
Today is my mum’s birthday. I cannot for the life of me remember how old she is, but that’s nothing new… I’ve never remembered. We’ll go with the classy reason of “To me… she is ageless.” Yeah… that one works.
The chocolate cake I made a few weeks ago is defrosting (first time ever freezing cake… we’ll see how it goes.).
Her pressies are ready and waiting (yes, you might think I’m a good daughter. Truth is, I totally forgot it was her birthday, but luckily I bought her presents last year and didn’t misplace them.).
So Happy Birthday mum. Hope it’s a good one.
Now onto the giveaway. No, this really wasn’t planned due to mum’s birthday… but again.. I’ll just say it is.
I have not announced this new little project before because I’ve been too busy. (Really… I need a full time assistant, and an actual work space now. This is getting ridiculous.)
The Asylum For Wayward Yarn is being a secondary sponsor for the Crafty Diversions Fan Appreciation Knit Along.
I am absolutely honored to be a part of this. I really like her patterns (had quite a few of them queued without realizing it when I agreed to be a part of this KAL), and this is a huge step up into the big leagues for my little Asylum.
I couldn’t have done it without one of my fans/customers being juts totally awesome and dropping my name when the question about yarnies came up.
Well, right now I am very sleep deprived. And when I am sleep deprived… I do stupid things. This stupid thing, you will benefit from.
On top of the prizes I am going to be doing for this KAL, I am offering up one now.
Oh, I guess I should talk about those first.
1) You are allowed to purchase some of my new colorways that I have not debuted here on the blog. (I guess I should do that) My only rule is that you actually participate in the KAL if you buy the yarn. I’ll be sad if you don’t, and a sad Erin means no more giveaways. (I’ll put the new yarn pictures down below)
2) I will be doing a Finished Object random drawing winner from this KAL. Doesn’t matter what yarn you use, if you finish your shawl, you can possibly win one of my yarns in a colorway of your choosing.
3) I will be doing an Asylum Finished Object random drawing from this KAL. If you use an Asylum yarn, you get entered to win another skein from me, colorway of your choosing.
4) Oh wait… 4… that was just me giving a skein to someone already. Nevermind… ignore that. (Yes, someone has already been lucky)
So I’m a gonna do another (yes, what great sentence structure from me this morning…) drawing. Right now.
There are several ways you can enter.
“Like” The Asylum on Facebook. – This one is obvious as to why.
“Like” Me, the author on Facebook. – I know, it’s blatant self promotion, but hey… my Asylum.. my rules. And I bet a few of you didn’t know that I have an author page on there now. Well, now you know.
“Follow” me on Twitter. – I’m not sending you to my Asylum one on twitter because I don’t really use it anymore. Just go with my personal one. I’ll do yarnie goodness on there as well. And I’m trying to be better about using twitter. (Make sure in your entry comment you tell me who you are on Twitter so that I can associate you with it)
“Follow” this blog.- Seriously, just do it. I don’t think you’ll regret it.
And one last one because I’m totally about promotion right now…
“Like” Aether Horizons on Facebook. – If you don’t know what it is, it’s a novel I’m hoping to publish later this year. Does it have anything to do with this KAL? No. But it’s my baby, and again… my Asylum… my rules.
Comment here in the comments each action you take. (I’ll be checking, so don’t try to lie… ) For each action, please leave a separate comment (it just makes it easier on me when it comes to picking the winner, and if you shove all of it into one comment, you’ll only get ONE entry.).
Alright, I think my insanity is over for the moment. On to photos of new yarn goodness.
“Beware” inspired by the most awesome band “Bitter Ruin”. I kind of love them. Kind of more than I should. If you haven’t listened to them, you should. Go do it. You won’t regret it. This yarn was created as I am knitting a hat for Georgia, who is the more feminine half of Bitter Ruin. But that is a post for another day.
“Les Pacte Des Loups” inspired by the creature that actually terrorized the French countryside in the 18th century. The Beast of Gévaudan (huh, guess I could have named it that… non? Oh well, if I ever have to change the name… that’s what I’ll change it to.) was responsible for an estimated 210 attacks, resulting in 113 deaths and 49 injuries; 98 of the victims killed were partly eaten. Some say it was a giant wolf. Some say it was a hyena (I don’t give into the people who say it wasn’t due to not having the right amount of teeth. When you kill 113 people or more, you are bound to loose a few teeth eh?). Some say it was a wild boar. Some say it’s sire was a red furred Mastiff. Some even say it was a Mesonychid. We will sadly never know.
“The Silver Kiss”, this one amuses me because while I was dyeing it I kept thinking it reminded me of Silver Kisses. Don’t ask why, it just did. I decided on Silver Kiss instead and only then remembered that The Silver Kiss was my very first vampire book that I read as a child. I’ve spoken about the book before, in my post about “Blood and Chocolate” by Annette Curtis Klause. She also wrote The Silver Kiss. So yes, I unintentionally named it after the first vampire book I ever read. It feels appropriate.
The photo does not do the yarn justice. The subtlety of the steam and brass and copper tones is gorgeous on this yarn. I can’t wait to see it knitted into something. I had been planning a series of Steampunk yarns for a long time now, this is just the first of what will be many. Oh hey.. there ya go.. there is the tie in to Aether Horizons. See, I can justify anything.
Copper Dragonflies is another in my Steampunk line. Inspired partly by the most fabulous friend of mine who is Copper Dragonflies. Her hats will be with me at Anomaly Con (ACK, another thing I haven’t posted about.. whoopsie. I guess I’ll be doing another blog post soon!) as she is my… “apprentice”. *shifty eyes*
The Governor’s Daughter is the next in the Parley of Pirates series. Betcha can’t guess who that’s supposed to be? I’ll give you 5 guesses and the first 4 don’t count.
“The Anguisette” is the latest in my Love as Thou Wilt series, based off the immortal works of Jacqueline Carey and her Kushiel Legacy. I think it turned out just perfect.
And last but most certainly not least…
Sleepy Hollow. I really wanted Fall colors for this yarn. I think I got exactly what I wanted. Headless horsemen, Ichabod Crane… things that go bump in the night…
Alright, you’ve seen all my new yarns (which other than for the KAL, will NOT be available until April, after the Anomaly Con is over.
Help out a fellow writer.
Hello world. No, I am not dead. I just have been slightly dead. I know I should have been posting about my trip to England, which I will do… eventually. I was sick while I was in England, and then I got sick once I got home. So I have now been sick going on a month. Not fun.
I’ve also had lots of dyeing to do. I’m gearing up for my big Sherlock Holmes Yarn Club, which starts this January. And when I say starts this January, I mean for the clients. For me.. it started back in September. I’ve been buying yarn and swag, and designing things, and knitting etc. I’ve spent the last 2 days dyeing up over 30 skeins of yarn which is only HALF the first month’s shipment.
I’ve got more to dye today once I finish this blog. I tell ya, once I’m done with this club, and the Big Ass Order that I’ve got at the same time… I might have to take a break lol. No, I won’t. But I am working on some Super Sekret Projeckts (yes, technical spelling there).
But today I’m going to talk to you about a friend and her book. I am honestly proud of her because she is finally publishing her book. She is going the self publish route, and she has personally given me lots and lots to chew over. She shares her experiences in the back end of the business, to which I find invaluable.
If you are ever interested in her tips, you can read them at her blog here: To Publish or Not To.
Because she has chosen to go the Self Publishing route, a route that I my self might be headed in… that falls to us to help her out.
I’m going to steal her own words now, as it’ll give you a tiny idea of her writing style.
“But word of mouth is powerful, and it’s a good book. If you like darkly comic fantasy with lots of sex, complex characters and moral situations, and multi-layered world building, this one is for you. If you read 100 pages of Twilight and decided the characters were just too damn painful to deal with, if you loved Harry Potter until JKR went off the rails in Deathly Hallows, if you really, really loved some of the fantastic adult oriented fan fiction that Harry Potter inspired, if you wanted to shoot Lev Grossman in the head for inflicting The Magicians on us because nothing happens in the book and the main character is a whiny twit, give Sylvianna a read. I wrote Sylvianna with those things in mind, creating a book for people who love fantasy and want an intelligent, grown-up version to sink into.”
She is offering her book for free. Yes, for FREE.
Simply go to this link: Sylvianna by Keryl Raist on Smashwords and use this code: EN72N
That code is good until January 21st 2011. (whoa, almost wrote 2010… can we tell I’m not ready for it to be the end of the year yet?)
Even if you have NO intention of reading the book, please please download it anyway.
The more downloads a book gets, the higher in ranking it goes. Then the more people who see it, the more likely it is to sell. Feel free to pass the code around and give it to anyone you want. She is looking for as many downloads and reads as possible right now.
If you want a physical copy of the book, there is a little widget on the side of my blog. Now if you click through that link, I get a bit of money. And since I’m a not quite, but almost starving artist(writer) trying to finish my own novel… CLICK IT!
Alright, it’s time for me to do the dishes, then get back to dyeing… I’ve got a lot to do in not a lot of time and I still hate being sick.
I will try to get back to a more regularly scheduled blogging. I am also attempting to actually finish my novel and the Super Sekret Projeckt. Those are my goals for 2011.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, and for those celebrating today a Wonderful Boxing Day.
I myself did not really celebrate, the presents are still under the tree. We are waiting on Mum coming home from dog sitting before we open anything.
I did however, make pumpkin bread for our brekkie, tuna steaks with spinach and sweet potatoes for our dinner, and we had a Japanese chicken noodle soup as well.
Oh, and there was no snow. How about that… not a white Christmas. It kind of amused me.
Gelato of yummy evilness
I must yell at Jes for introducing me to a little gelato shop in Colorado Springs.
I love gelato. I have for a long time. Last time I was in Vegas, I walked the entire length of the strip to get to the Venetian so that I could have some gelato at the little place there.
Well, there is a place not too far from where I live. It’s exactly directly across from where I live… As the crow flies. Unfortunately the crow does not have to deal with a bluff… namely Austin Bluffs, which the road is named for. So it takes me much longer to get to the little gelato shop than it should.
It only opened up last month, and I cannot remember it’s name at the moment, but oh my god is it good.
For the last 2 months I’ve been making some ice cream.
I’ve nearly gotten it right. But the last batch turned out a lot naturally lighter than normal ice cream and I was sitting there going “it reminds me of gelato” and then I go and have gelato again and BOOM.. I was right. Mine just wasn’t as creamy because I didn’t strain it through cheesecloth.
Well I have cheesecloth on hand, I’ve got my cream, I’ve got my milk.. And I am even going to attempt to make my own caramel sauce to make a caramel gelato.
Life has been busy. I’ve been doing a lot of orders, and I’ve even just reopened the shop. Yay! I’ve also started working on some major happenings in the Asylum, which I’ll be filling everyone in on later.
I’ve been filling out important documents… like my visa paperwork.
I also got back into writing on Aether Horizons. I had an interesting little twist in the story that I wasn’t expecting. A new character even.
I’ve been doing a lot of things for the wedding, including buying the centerpieces etc.
Lots of knitting, even in the hot weather. Working on a few projects, “Sneaky attack elf”, “Falling through time and space”, and “Royal Brew”
Of course there shall be photos soon of everything I just mentioned.
I guess that’s all for now. I’ll go start making some gelato now. Success or fail story tomorrow.
And for those who don’t know, gelato is Italian ice cream, but not nearly as fatty, yet maintaining major creaminess. It is yummy.
Frak the Ash Cloud
I’ve been such a bad blogger. Please forgive me my peeps.
Believe me… I’ve been wracked with guilt at my lack of updating.
I’ve been busy with my little Asylum. Yuppers… things are starting to happen. This is exciting.
I also booked a flight to Florida. Whoa… Really? Florida? WTF??
That’s right. In just over a week and a half, I am getting a plane, which thankfully is not being affected by the Volcano Gods… nor the Ash Cloud of Doom.
As you all may have heard me gush about previously, I am a fan of Fresh from the Cauldron yarns.
Well, Squib who runs FftC is needing some assistance. All of her normal (as I call them) minions have upped and moved. One of them even moved to Colorado.
I looked at this as an opportunity. She needs help, I have been wanting a One on One dyeing lesson from her (basically been wanting that since I first started talking with her). Realized I had the money… (well, not really… but I can justify it for my business.)
So, this is a good thing. Sure I’ll be doing most of her grunt work, but I’ll also get to sit at the feet of my Mister Miyagi and watch / help her work. This is worth it’s weight in gold peeps. Really it is.
Today I spent the morning sitting in a cafe (okay.. it was Panera) writing on Aether Horizons. Didn’t get as much written as I would have liked because it became too noisy for me to really concentrate.
I also gave a little girl a purple flower. Alright… it was a sketch of some flowers on a purple sticky note. But she loved it. And her mom loved it. It was my way of saying “I totally know that you know I can hear your convo and I’m sorry to hear about your problems with your military husband that you are discussing with your priest/whatever he is and also about your childhood issues with your father’s affair while you were growing up in Germany but lets pretend that I cannot hear you at all. Oh, and I’m totally stealing the line your husband said to you that you love telling because it’s the most romantic thing in the world. Kthnxsbye!”
After that, I picked up Mother of Mine and her friend “Dances with Pitbulls” and we went downtown for lunch. We did sushi.
I tried something that I had never seen before.
Sweet Pumpkin Roll.
It was good… It was mellow… It was interesting. I say interesting because I think the texture is why I think it was interesting.
After that I walked down to Poor Richard’s book store while Mother of Mine and friend went to the College and took photos at the statues.
I bought books. Bad me! 5 books to be specific! BAD ME!!!
3 of them though are books I NEEDED.
2 of them were books I wanted just for pleasure.
Considering one of the books has already helped me feel better about my writing and I think will be of good use to me in the future… that makes me very happy about buying it.
One of the other books… well if I decide to fully write in the mystery genre it will be invaluable right alongside my “Practical Homicide Investigation”.
And the 3rd useful book I bought was a Knitting Book. Specifically an Interweave Press “lace and eyelets” which I decided I had to get because it had at least one stitch in it that I can use for the scarf I have been designing. This will solve a problem I was having.
The 2 books I bought for pleasure were both by Kim Harrison.
Book number 1 “Dead Witch Walking” in paperback. It was a practically brand new copy and I’ve been itching to reread the series.
The other one was “The Outlaw Demon Wails” in hardback. I know, I shouldn’t be buying hardbacks, but there is a reason I got it. In the UK, they do not call it “The Outlaw Demon Wails” they call it “Where Demons Dare” which is silly. It ruins the flow of the Clint Eastwood Western Titles.
Not to mention, I just really like the US covers better than the UK covers, and I do plan on owning all the books in Hardback (since they are re-releasing the first books in the spiffy hardback version, which is nice since they never got into hardback in the first place.)
So since I still don’t have Hockey blog ready to go.. here is a new yarn for you all to drool over.
I give you Jamie Fraser, shown here on Superwash Sock. Straight here from the wonderful pages of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series for those who aren’t in the know.
The knitting crazies
So I had to take a break from the Doomsday Cardi. I was working on the sleeve for the … 3rd time?
I ended up with a weird hole in a spot that was gonna bug me, and then had another mistake so I just decided to frog the entire thing again.
I decided to take a break because I just couldn’t stand the thought of doing the sleeve again, and then start all over with the right sleeve. So I was going to attempt Two at a Time.
Now, I haven’t actually attempted this previously as I’ve been avoiding socks. I have no idea how this will be. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
To add to my craziness during the break I decided to pick up my Ishbel again. Not to jinx myself, but this time it’s going well. *knock on wood*
I’ve got 21 rows left till it’s done. Pictures to come soon hopefully.
I guess thats all for now. Trying to get back into the habit of blogging more often.
Now we know what happened to the Smurfs…
On a drear and wintry day we dragged ourselves into the bitter cold and slowly crept our way to the cinema.
We arrived in the parking lot at exactly 12pm when the show was to start. We decided that we wouldn’t get our seats properly etc, so instead we went over to Whole Foods and got some lunch and groceries and snacks for the next showing.
We bought some cookies from New Moon Kitchen. Ginger Snappers specifically.
I will not be giving these people a second chance on their cookies. Mother of Mine says she’ll give them another chance with another flavor as her friend is friends with the company… but she only ate a small bite out of my cookie, just barely 25% of it. I ate 75% of the single cookie, and hell no. Not again.
For one thing, they were like 6.99 a box. That meant it was 2 something a cookie. In my mind, those cookies needed to taste fan-freaking-tastic.
Did they?
No.
They tasted weird. Gave a soapish after taste.
After the movie we went back to WF and returned them. Yes, they were that bad.
Since we still had 2 hours to kill before the movie, we went over to Joann fabrics. I ended up spending money I didn’t want to spend, but it was necessary. The proper fabric for my under dress and mock up dress for the wedding was on sale. The sale was also ending yesterday, and 2$ off a yard is not something to sneeze at.
As for the movie… it of course was Avatar.
Avatar in 3d.
It was good.
My back surprisingly didn’t hurt during the long movie. And it did not feel nearly as long as I thought it would, and I did not get bored.
The glasses still pinched towards the end of the movie, so I still need to make myself a pair of comfy 3d glasses.
The music was very good.
The special effects were amazing.
The plot… was Pocahontas meets the Smurfs. (Smurfs on steroids according to my mum)
Sam Worthington was once again totally hot. And well… I’d totally sign myself up for a 5 year space sleep if it meant I got to play in those Avatar bodies.
On the writing front, it’s amusing… I’ve been going to bed far too late recently, and I keep saying “Oh… I’m just going to write a sentence… Just a sentence. That way I’ve written something and don’t feel guilty for not writing.”
Then I end up writing sometimes up to two pages.
The Doomsday Cardi is going well, I’m up to like row 27, and I’m at a spot that previously was giving me troubles… the decreases. But this time they appear to be working… I’m just trusting Ysolda. I’ve not been thinking about it.. Just doing it.
Well, time to fetch some dinner.
Bugs and Hisses.
Doomsday Cardi!
Normally today would again be Wordless Wednesday, but that’s not happening today so bare with me. No gym either because it was a hassle with the car situation, and my hips were better but not 100%.
Right now I’m watching An American Werewolf in London, and dreading what is about to come. Just keep reading… you’ll see what I mean.
Now, on to Doomsday. Isn’t it pretty?
Now lets see what I saw last night…
Oops.
Yes, those are mistakes.
Now, I’m sure I’m the only one would 1)would notice and 2) would care.
But I care. I care a lot. This is the cardigan I am supposed to get married in. If I don’t fix it, I’ll know. I’ll think about it. I’ll hate it.
Yes, there is also the problem that if I keep having to redo this, I’ll end up hating it by the time it is finished. But that, is a chance I’m willing to take.
I’ve got enough time that I’m not freaking out. I’m also getting pretty good at knitting it quickly. I just need to make sure I remember to pay attention and not accidentally cross my cables the wrong way.
It’s off the needles and on a strand of yarn, I’ll frog that when I finally need that yarn.
Today I’m going to cast on again.
But right now… I’m going to make pizza for lunch and eat the custard I made this morning.
No, I’m not actually upset about this. Frustrated and disappointed… But not upset. I’ll get it right eventually.
Pumpkin pancakes. NOM
Today I’ve not done much.
Mostly because for now the second day in a row, my hips feel like they’ve got a corset strapped on too tightly.
Not nearly as bad as yesterday, but still… every time I move it’s painful, and just sitting, or laying down, or standing hurts.
The reason for this, is yesterday at the gym… I ducked out of Aqua class early.
For a few reasons. I didn’t like the substitute trainer we had. She had us doing everything in circles. Which totally threw off my rhythm. And she kept jumping in and out of the pool, and the 3rd time she doused water in my direction, I was just kinda done. Jes had already left as she had forgotten her wallet at home and there was no way she could go to class without having eaten something after a gym workout.
So I went out to the gym area and basically redid my entire morning workout again.
6 minutes on the elliptical machine the first time, and then another 6 minutes. It didn’t kill me!
I think doing the hip abductor machines (both inside and outside) for the second go round is what did me in.
I also focused on my arms in the second half of the days workout, which left my arms feeling quite like jelly yesterday. Today they are better.
If my hips aren’t better in the morning, I’m going to skip out on gym, only because I don’t want to do further damage. Instead I might go on Thursday. (just gym, not aqua class… I’m still not wanting to do aqua at 630 at night)
All of this means I’ve been getting a lot of knitting done. Woot. I am kicking this cardi in the bum.
Why is it that when you make a pledge saying “No other projects till this one is done” you start getting itchy fingers to start something new?
That is quite frustrating when it happens, and yes… I am suffering from that right now. But I’m holding fast. Knitting is not like writing where if you don’t write down the idea, it might vanish in the recesses of your mind.
I’ve been getting some good writing done. This is making me happy. Lotsa action.
No, I am not watching the Olympics. Which is a good thing, as what I have seen… NBC is screwing it all to hell. Instead I’m watching McLeod’s Daughters season 5.
I guess that’s all I’ve got for now. Pancakes for supper tonight.
Pumpkin pancakes. NOM.
Twitch.
It’s Sweaterday and I do not have photos of my Doomsday to post. That’s alright. Soon hopefully.
I’ve made lotsa progress on it. I’m up to row 47, so I’ve got about 70 rows of the body left to go before I set it aside to do the sleeves.
Drove to Denver today. That was not fun. My back was twinging the entire time, heck it even kept me up throughout the night. So a 3 hour round trip car ride was unpleasant to say the least.
The company was… strained. I was not in a bad mood, but I was hurting, and people were being… well there were dumb drivers on the road, and I had to deal with some people who drive me absolutely batty. (And when I say that, I do not mean Batty in the awesome way.)
Didn’t get any knitting done while at the SnB, because I forgot to bring another skein of yarn, and I was at the end of the current one.
I didn’t get any writing done last night or while at the SnB because last night it was after midnight when I went to bed and I was tired, and today… well it was a chaotic environment which wasn’t good for that.
Tonight when I crawl into bed, I will hopefully get my two pages done.
Reading: I put down “Must love Hellhounds” which has a Charlaine Harris short story. It was… meh. And it’s due back at the library so it’s been put down. I might read it again after the move, but I’m not rushing out to do so.
Picked up “Dying for Chocolate” by Diana Mott Davidson. But truth be told, I’m really looking forward to the next book in my pile more. “Cross Bones” by Kathy Reichs.
I guess I’m done for the night. The opening ceremonies last night rocked.
Bugs and Hisses!
A cover that shall never be… (most likely)
I feel as though I’ve gotten nothing done.
Which is entirely not true.
Up and at the gym in the time I’d like.
The strangest thing happened to me today. I was on the elliptical machine up to 5 minutes, and I realized I was in my final minute. I looked up and the next time I looked down, I was in the post workout 5 minute cool down and wondered why my timer had reset it’s self. I then realized I was in the cool down (which I never do, as when you are only doing 4.5 minutes, it’s stupid to do another 5 minutes). I had done 6 minutes! I hadn’t even realized it. This shocked me a bit.
After gym and aqua class, I scooted home. I had invited Jes over to help me eat the crab and artichoke.
Had a good lunch with her. There was much laughing. I miss laughing with friends. I’m also slightly sad that when/if I come back to Colorado after the move, she will not be here. Instead she will be on the West Coast in the Seattle area.
Unloaded and loaded the dishwasher.
Then quickly ran out to do some errands. Post office, library, gas station.
The library was not fun.
Some idiot decided that even though I was backing out, he was going to back out of the spot immediately across from me. I stop as soon as I see him (And yes, I was there first) I honk, a woman witnessing this in her car honks, the man… remains oblivious. As quickly as I can I put my car into drive to go back into the parking spot I had just (only have way) vacated. I can’t imagine what would have happened if I had not done this, as the woman who was witnessing this says that the man actually hit me. I did not feel it, so I don’t know if that’s true (my car is slightly a tank), but if it is true then my god he would have really hit me if I hadn’t been in the process of moving in the opposite direction. Now, he also nearly hit the woman who witnessed’s car as he decided that there was enough room for him to zoom past her. (Which, really… there wasn’t that much room.)
I’m fine obviously as I didn’t feel the tap if there was one, and of course my back hurts, but it always hurts, and I had a pretty major workout week when it comes down to it. The problem with chronic back pain is that you never know if the reason your back hurts is because of something specific, or just the normal pain you deal with every day.
I guess the reason I feel like I’ve got nothing done this afternoon, is that I spent he majority of it tinkering in Pixlr.
I’ve kind of got an idea for a cover of my novella. Yes, I said novella. Which most likely won’t get it’s own cover. And no… it still doesn’t have a name yet.
But if I don’t post my tinkering, I really will feel like the afternoon has been a waste.
All I can say is damn I really want a computer with Adobe Photoshop on it again, and also a computer that can handle running photoshop.
This image was a very rough image, but like I said, it’s mostly just to give myself an idea of what I would want for the cover. (The cover that most likely won’t ever happen since it’s a novella)
So, even though it’s a rough image… I’d love feedback.
Would this cover draw you in whilst in the bookshop?
Well, I’ve realized I’ve not had dinner, and I’m watching the opening ceremonies of the Olympics (which… I must be pmsing, as I keep getting overly sentimental and emotional over things while watching it).
Well, Donald Sutherland’s soothing voice just came on the telly, and I’m going to possibly knit a few rows and just spend the rest of the evening relaxing. (even though it’s already past my bed time now)
I am not taking place in the Ravelympics, nor The Yarn Harlot’s Knitolympics or whatever she calls it. No, I am just knitting for me, and shall work on my Doomsday. No new projects till it’s done, and I’m sticking to that.
Oh, and these Opening Ceremonies are frakking AWESOME.
Books, Nine, and here fishy fishy..
So today I was actually up and out of bed when I wanted, and I was at the gym at like… 7:03… roughly.
Now as I’ve said before, I’ve never been one for exercise. I’ve never found that elation that comes with it. I still haven’t. But today something happened that I had never thought would happen.
I got on that hellish elliptical machine, set my timer for 4 minutes (remember I’ve been building up in 30 second increments) and before I knew it the 4 minutes were over! How the hell did that happen? I wasn’t dying, I wasn’t coughing, there was no burning sensation in my lungs. Sure, my legs felt it, they had since I stepped on it, but I didn’t feel like I was going to collapse.
Shocked is certainly an understatement.
Feeling good, and still having plenty of time I did a few of the machines. Not much on those, then I moved over to the rowing machine. I did a whole 30 minutes on that. Oooh boy. It didn’t kill me.
After that it was time for the bike, and I did my 20 minutes.
Aqua class time, this time it was a killer. You know those 30 minutes I just spent on the rowing machine? Well, our (sweet) instructor decided to have us do quite a few movements that were mimics of that action.
After class I headed across the street to Barnes and Nobel. Now this was completely a research trip. I had originally no plans on buying anything. Damn it just happened to be payday as well. And I have no willpower.
The trip was to look at Moleskine journals so that I could go online later and know exactly what size etc that I wanted.
There I was drooling over the leather bound copies of Wicked, and Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and a few others… I was a good girl though and did not get any of those.
Though, there was one thing I did end up buying. I couldn’t resist it.
It’s called “A Sorcerer’s Cookbook” and it is something that made my inner Foodie, and not so inner Witch go “Buy. Now.”
When the move happens, I won’t be taking my 5 Anne Rice books (4 paperbacks, and 1 hardback), I won’t be taking any of the LKH books, I won’t need most of the paperbacks I have upstairs, so having 1 more book that I will actually read again and enjoy shall have space in my moving boxes. (Speaking of Anne Rice, if I do ever replace my Vampire Chronicles that I mentioned above, it shall be the nice leather bound all in one set that yes… is also from Barnes and Noble)
I skipped down the parking lot to Whole Foods, and once again spent too much money, but in my defense I bought flour and honey, and those two items took up a third of my bill and won’t run out for a good long while. (Well… the flour I can use up rather quickly with my bagel making.. but the honey… Will last)
Another third was taken up by my apparent need for fish. Perhaps it is because I’ve stopped taking Fish Oil and my body is finally protesting that… But this week I have been absolutely craving fish. Monday I found myself contemplating buying some crab meat (real not imitation) as it was just on my mind. I resisted. I was a good girl (it also helped that Monday I was absolutely broke waiting for my paycheck). But then today as I was in Whole Foods, they taunted me. Jones’ Crab Claws for 5.99 a pound. Now these claws are the big ones with lots a meat.
Yeah… I got them. I mean 1 pound gave me like 7 claws. I shall be having me some yummy crab tomorrow.
The downside to today, is that all of the awesome workout I had this morning must have pinched something. My left thumb which has been giving me lotsa problems this winter, is bugging me again. Can’t tell where the pain is actually originating from, but my thumb clicks and feels tight, and depending on how I move it, I feel it in my wrist, or all the way up to my elbow.
This is horrific to a writer and a knitter.
I did work on my knitting today even with the pain. Got 4 rows knitted on the Doomsday Cardi.
This evening I amused myself by putting myself on Neil Gaiman’s website. It is his blogiversary of 9 years. He put a call out to fans to submit photos of themselves, with something to do with the number 9. My submission was not clever simply because I had a slight headache from damp hair being in a bun all afternoon and the wrist/thumb issue. (Alright, I was downright cranky from it) I was photo #361. And all the submissions can be seen here.
If you don’t want to check out the page and see all the awesome submissions, here is my image that I put up: (which, it’s very neat seeing all the different fans, from young to old)
The photos will most likely be made into a collage at some point in the future as he did with another event.
Oh, and I just realized it’s Wednesday, which means I should be doing a Wordless Wednesday… Oh well, it’s hard for me to do Wordless Wednesdays since Wednesday is one of my busy days, whereas Tuesdays and Thursdays are not.
Well it’s time for bed now. There was something I wanted to mention, but I’ve completely forgotten it.
Night!
Elementary, my dear Watson.
Today I have not done much.
I woke up. I got out of bed. I got in the car and drove to the gym.
I drove right past my real estate agency where upon I remembered it was the 1st of February. And I also remembered that I did not have my rent check. Sigh. I then also remembered that I did not have my library books, which I was going to take back after gym. Apparently my mind did not want to function this morning.
I did however have a book with me to read (and more specifically the book I wanted to read) so that my solo biking was not boring. I’m also up to 3 minutes on the elliptical machine. Woot!
Turns out my solo biking turned into solo aqua class. This is now the second class without my gym buddy. Oh well. She is apparently sick. Not to fret, it’s not going to stop me from going myself.
I splurged and bought a new pair of headphones so that I can have workout music. I like my Skullcandy Lowriders, but they are not good for activities. As they won’t stay on the head if you do a lot of leaning. And well… they also feel icky sweaty against your ears after a while. Gross.
So I have now purchased some Skullcandy CHOPS. Which are over the ear clips so that they actually stay in place. I of course bought them on ebay (new in box) at a much discounted price. (Think 12$ w/free shipping instead of 30$ plus shipping)
I received a package in the mail from Luna at Spelled with a W, which consisted of a spell kit for Imbolc. She was running a give away for either the Imbolc kit, or a Valentines Day Love Kit, and I really didn’t need a Love Kit, as I happened to already snag my beau. And also that any little kit I might make for a friend… will need to wait until after the move so that I have the proper ingredients.
Today my trickery paid off, and I am now in the Vampire Sock Club 2. Well, specifically Guy is. But thats alright, I’m paying for it, and he shall reap the benefits of my yarn habit. Ironically when I asked him if there were any yarns that he specifically would like me to get (out of my 12 skeins), he picked ones that I either already had (Lucien, and Michael Corvin), or ones that were already on the list that I wanted. I’ve decided to get some more of Lucien and Michael as I really do love them, and I want to try them in the Merino Cashmere Nylon mix.
The Lucien that I already have, as I’ve already mentioned is set on the Clockwork Lucien project, which I am as also mentioned, thinking about changing the yarn on and either using the 10 skeins for other projects, or selling. We’ll see. And my gods that was a long run on sentence. Lol.
I’ve been enjoying the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes, which I grew up on. Jeremy Brett really was a most fantastic Holmes.
I did not make it to the library. That shall be tomorrow. Tonight shall be tucked up under the blanket, with tea and knitting, praying that my back stops tweaking sometime in the near future. (The back has been tweaking for about 3 days now, aqua class helped this morning, but not enough sadly.)
Time to knit!
Zombie day…
So yesterday I did not blog. I said to myself “Oh, I’ll have plenty of time when I get home!”
Yeah right. Didn’t get home till 930pm and I had a major migraine happening.
Yesterday Mother of Mine and I got our free schmear from Einsteins. Yup, you heard me correctly, that was number 2 on the free bagels day. (We are sneaky that way- and also our local Einsteins annoyed us so we didn’t mind sticking it to them.)
Then we drove to Denver and went to the Lamb Shoppe.
I have to say… I am 100% more impressed with that LYS. I wish it was MY local LYS. (Yes, I technically just said Local twice, but thats how much I lurve it.)
It’s open, it’s got grand windows that let in light, it’s not got a single florescent bulb. You can bring your dog. And just the people are awesome.
I did not talk about a certain incident at our LYS here in the Springs a few weeks back, but the end result is I will never go to that Stitch and Bitch ever again and I really do hope those vile women go straight to hell. (It might sound bad, but I’ll be honest… If they got hit by buses… I wouldn’t be sad for them.) (And for the record, it has nothing to do with the shop it’s self. It was patrons, not the owners)
So walking into the Lamb Shoppe and feeling welcome, and actually being able to see the yarn and stuff was just… like a breath of fresh air.
The reason we were there, other than Saturday SnB, was that it was some birthdays.
I met a lot of cool people.
Then we went to Littleton (quite literally blocks away from the very first house we lived in when we moved to Colorado all those years ago) and had a wonderful Burn’s Supper with other Blairs.
I highly doubt Robbie Burns ever would have imagined his “Ode to the Haggis” being read off of an Iphone, but there ya go. It has happened now thanks to Torin.
Katte and Curtis and the Younglings joined us, and it was much fun. (Katte and Curtis have been honorary Blairs for years in our mind, and the other Blairs are fine with it)
I managed to get through all the events without a headache. Generally when I go to Denver for something, I tragically come down with a migraine pretty much during the drive up there.
This time the migraine didn’t start until the very end, and held off for the most part just until we reached Castle Rock. I of course was driving. Made it home without incident, but I promptly took an allergy pill and went to bed. (We were trying to see if the allergy pill would solve the migraine, if perhaps the migraine was due to the air particulates in the Denver’s air. Colorado Springs is much more windy, so yes you’ve got dust and dirt in the air, but it’s constantly moving through as opposed to Denver where it stagnates.)
Odd dreams of course, but I also did not want to get out of bed this morning. And I almost didn’t.
Spent the day doing really… nothing. I knitted and played on the computer. I was slightly grouchy depending on whom I was talking to.
Speaking of knitting. I frogged my Doomsday.
30 rows in, and I decide I wasn’t liking something. I could have frogged back just the 10 rows to my life line, but I decided to do it all since there was one little cable that was messed up, and so I decided to just take care of it all.
I didn’t get much knitting done yesterday, only a few rows while at SnB.
But now I’m up to row 12, so I’m making progress. I don’t have any more super sekret projekts to take care of right now, so I shouldn’t have anything to distract myself from Doomsday.
I did buy some yarn yesterday at the Lamb Shoppe. It’s this wonderful DK Merino Silk by Karabella.
I got two balls of it, Cocoa and Mink.
Mink is this gorgeous dark grey with a tinge of a pink shade… so it very much looks like mink.
Cocoa is a very dark rich brown, so dark it’s almost black.
If I could afford it, I think I would do my Clockwork Lucien in it instead. Which, I’m actually debating that project now. The yarn I have for it (Lucien) is Fingering weight, and to get even remotely the gauge I need, I need to have it at least 3 strands.
And considering Lucien is a hot commodity, I could easily sell it and make bank off of it. *shrugs* we’ll see. Mayhaps just every month (especially if I don’t get into VSC2) I’ll just buy a skein or two of the Cocoa so that I can do my vest in that instead and horde all the Lucien for other projects.
I’m annoyed with myself for not getting any writing done last night, as I crawled into bed with the migraine and allergy pill taking hold. So tonight, if I am finally out of this Zombie Fog, I’ll do my best to make up for not writing last night.
Woah… And now it’s Friday???
This year, is…. Well I don’t know if it’s actually zooming by, but at least the individual days are. Before I know it, it’s Monday again.
This doesn’t bother me.
It does scare me though. For many reasons. All which I’ve gone into before.
I had a good workout at the gym today. But I think that no matter what, if I’m going solo I need to bring a book or music as that 20 minute stretch on the incumbent bike totally was boring as all hell. I enjoyed the time, but really needed some stimuli so that I didn’t feel like that creepy girl watching everyone else. (What can I say… the tv’s didn’t keep my attention, I couldn’t hear them and I’m spastic enough to look around whenever something moved.)
On my way into the gym, I hit an icy patch on the road. That was not fun. I didn’t slide out of my lane or anything like that, but it just scared the dickens out of me as it wasn’t just one little slide, it was slide, slide, ooh slide again.
The gym was on the empty side, so was aqua class. I’m assuming it was because of the weather. (Which other than the icy spot I dealt with.. was really not that bad… there was only the snow left over from last night so I do not understand why all these schools were on delay.)
I haven’t actually sat down and started the Doomsday Cardi again yet. It’s slightly daunting. I should have never put it down, but I really did want to finish a project so I could get it in the mail soon for a friend.
The writing is starting to flow a bit easier now. This makes me quite happy. I’ve got good feelings about this book. Sure it’s not what I originally started months ago. But that’s OKAY. In fact, it’s Better!
I’ve got far too much that I’m reading right now. The 8 Books in 8 weeks at the library started, and I of course not thinking just checked out a bunch of novels. I always do this to myself. Oh well, I’ve checked out some quickies as well so that I can finish those without being rushed. I love that knitting books count.
I guess that’s all I’ve got for now.
Later peeps.
Thursday already?!
Today started with me not wanting to get out of bed.
Slept in for nearly an hour even. Well, I did kick my ass at the gym yesterday.
20 minutes on the sit down bike.
2 minutes on the elliptical machine.
45 minute Aqua class.
5 minutes (??) on the rowing machine.
I will admit I enjoyed the rowing machine, but I am not entirely sure if I was doing it correctly. I’ll find out soon enough. If I was, I’ll keep doing it.
So all in all, it was quite a busy day at the gym and I was quite sore but sore in the good way. This meant for really not wanting to get out of bed this morning.
But out of bed I did get. Dressed and off to Einsteins did we go. Thanks to facebook, Mother of Mine and I had free shmears.
After that, the grocery store and then the library.. (Which I still managed to forget to pick up a movie… oh well, it’s not like I won’t be there soon enough)
I finished a Super Sekret Projekt today. Nope, still can’t talk about it yet. Not till I block it, photograph it, and stick it in the mail to the person it needs to go to.
I also decided that even with it being snowy and cold, I was going to take photos of my new yarn.
Unfortunately my photographer snobbish side was only happy with how one of the yarns photographed. (I’m having such problems with purples and blues right now! New camera please?!)
Now, for some time now… well.. pretty much since I started yarn dyeing people have been asking me if I were going to dye some Harry Potter yarns.
Harry Potter yarns have been done… often. So my response has always been “If I am inspired.” As I really didn’t want to do what everyone else has done.
So when I do Harry Potter yarns, it is probably not going to be the “main trio” or the very obvious ones.
Bellatrix was a request. That request was not “I want a yarn inspired by Bellatrix” no… it was “I want yarn dyed in these colors so I can finally do my Bellatrix socks”. It just turned out that the color I did reminded me of Bellatrix from Harry Potter.
There is still another Bellatrix to be shown as when I imagined her, there was just a bit more to her than what had been requested. (Her photo shall come soon)
But today I shall speak of Felix.
Felix Felicis.
Liquid Luck for those in the know.
Now, for weeks now I’ve been imagining a hat made out of yarn like this. Specifically the Snapdragon tam by Ysolda Teague.
I really do not wear yellow. Yellow is pretty much one of my least favorite colors. But I just cannot imagine the Snapdragon in any other color at the moment. Most likely I would make the hat, and then give it to someone who would actually wear the color.
As I finished the Super Sekret Projekt, I need to get back to my Doomsday Cardi… This will require me quite literally getting my mind back in the project, it shall take much concentration on my part till I get back in the rhythm. But I get to transfer it on to my new Zephyr Needles from Knitpicks. We’ll see how they go.
Finished reading “M is for Magic” by Neil Gaiman last night. It is a collection of short stories and they were quite good. One of them in particular had me bawling like a baby as it was about the cats that have decided to call his house home, and I happened to start reading it the day that he blogged about putting one of his cats (Zoe the blind attic cat) to sleep. This is the 3rd cat he has lost in the last year. Zoe was the youngest at 14. Hermione and Pod were about 18 if my memory serves. So reading a short story involving his cats just quite literally had me bawling all over again. (This past week it had been posts about Zoe leading up to her final day.)
Tonight I start reading Monday Mourning by Kathy Reichs.
On the writing front, I have had a wonderfully productive week thanks to my friend Hatter. It started with a text message at 11pm at night. He is one of the few friends that I can text that late and not worry about waking up. I sent him a text of “Need your help. Need a idea for a ____ from South America.”
I was shocked when I didn’t get a text back from him immediately.
Next day at about 11pm again I get a phone call from him going “Holy crap you texted. I’m sorry.. My phone sucks and didn’t tell me… here’s my thoughts on what you need.”
So thankfully, my fear about him not texting back immediately was simply a mechanical failure on his phones part. Phew.
For the next hour we chit chat back and forth bouncing ideas. He is a writer, but he is also someone who I can trust to bounce ideas off of. He also understands Steampunk like some of my other idea people don’t. -He is also someone who I don’t mind squeeing like a fan girl with about certain things… Like Anthony Stewart Head singing… Vampires… bloody scalpels etc… Sigh. I’m gonna miss My Hatter.
Anyway, the hour long convo he and I have totally gives me a direction to go in, something I had been lacking. Don’t get me wrong, I had the basics started, but I was hesitant. Now my direction is clear. (Well, at least this section) It allowed me to finish that chapter and start the next. Which, when it’s the first chapter of the book (or chapter equivalent), it is quite important to feel good about finishing that chapter and moving on to the next. If you are wishy washy about it, then it’s going to haunt you the rest of the book. My characters are making their personalities and presence known, and the world which I am creating is becoming much more apparent to me.
And on that note, I leave you for the night. Tomorrow is the gym once more, then apparently a busy weekend after that. The snow is still going on, and I have a feeling that tomorrow morning shall be a “oooh it’s warm in bed, I don’t wanna get up and go out!”
Oh.. last note… according to the scale at the gym on Wednesday… I lost 1/2 a pound from last week. Which doesn’t necessarily mean a thing since I was on my period last week. I guess we’ll see next week.
Super Seeeeekret Projects almost done!
Could it be yours?
It’s a possibility. After all, I have a few of these I’ve been doing.
I’ve been naughty and not working on the Doomsday Cardigan.
Instead I’ve been working on something else.
Something I can’t talk about. So 
Writing: Last night I had an awesome dream. Now mind you, this of course was an awesome dream so I do not remember much of it.
It was almost Phantom of the Opera like in the fact that there was a … theater of sorts.. and rooms, corridors and dark corners abounding.
It was steampunkish, in the aesthetic appeal of everything. There was also this cool “light bomb” of sorts. I wrote down the details of that.. But I’m not going to share it here. Ya know.. gotta protect the intellectual goods.
I think it was snowing in the dream, but I’m not sure. It really is a shame I can’t remember all of it. It was rather neat.
I categorized this as writing, as well.. go back to the middle part with the light bomb. Connect the dots.
Tomorrow is Aqua class, and possible gym time (depending on how I feel about it, as I’ll be solo after class since Jes will have to go to school) . I am just now starting to be able to walk without wincing.
Then, I shall pick up my standard dyeing supplies after class as I’ll be on that part of town.
I think rather shortly, I shall be having a contest to name one of the new yarns. If the name comes to me, I won’t bother with the poll.. so stay tuned!
And randomly related… I really am having the urge to watch Stardust right now.
Snowball fight on Hoth
This made my geek happy. Carrie actually looks happy. Before whatever issues in her life were to happen, she had fun in the snow while filming a small scifi movie.
Today, Saturday… I have not moved much.
Yesterday’s day at the gym kicked my arse.
The trainer was not the same one we had on Wednesday, and she was that classic trainer.
Small, Energetic, Loud, Perky, 80% Dominatrix.
Still… it was good. Then Jes and I went out into the rest of the gym and worked out there. Which is why I cannot walk without going “owie!” today. My inner thighs are yelling at me in the most extreme. Which means on Monday.. I’m gonna do it again!
My dyeing ego is certainly feeling good right now. I debuted M is for Magic today, and I am getting great response from it. Actually, I’ve been getting great response from all three yarns I just debuted this week. This makes me happy.
As far as writing goes… I’ve got more characters starting to chatter in my head, and is giving me a better direction on where to go for this Airship novel.
The Blitz novella is still being worked on, I’m at a tough spot where I need to make that decision, and well… my muse is not helping me right now. She’s of on an airship right now if I know her. Oh well, I’ll figure it out and get it on paper.
I’ve got another batch of dyeing coming up soon. But I must go buy vinegar before I can do that.
Really I guess I’m just rambling. Happy Pie Day everyone. I’m going to go back to knitting and watching Monarch of the Glen.
M is for Magic
“M is for Magic” is a short story collection by Neil Gaiman.
During my session of dyeing, I started reading this book whilst waiting for my dye to exhaust.
I haven’t gotten very far in the book (kettle dyeing takes far less time than my usual dip method), but I did enjoy it.
I must admit that I didn’t think my first “Neil Gaiman” inspired yarn would be M is for Magic, I had assumed it would be Sandman, Coraline, Stardust, or any of the other ones I have written down. Funny how life changes plans.
So, I decided that my semi solid purple skein would be named after the book.
M is for Magic is as I said a moment ago, a semi solid purple, with a very subtle black overdye.
It was a mistake.
When I was measuring out my dyes prior to dyeing, I thought I measured out 2 cups of the Violet dye I was working with, and also 2 cups of the Sapphire Blue. (Which was used in the Midnight colorway)
Turns out I measured out 4 cups of the Violet and that was it.
Now I only realized that when I had the yarn in the pot, and I was pouring in the violet from two different bottles and wondering why it looked… well… the same!
That’s when I realized what I did.
I quickly made a decision to overdye it with black. (After all, that was the skein I was originally trying to create Midnight with. I did Midnight after for obvious reasons)
Now, I didn’t want it to look like it had been dragged through mud like some people’s rash of overdyes have been, so I made a point to do it subtly.
I like how it turned out. But then, I am slightly biased.
On the writing front, it is going quite well. Both stories are getting regular updates. (I generally work on only one a day, but there are some days where I add a little to both. It all depends on my mood.)
Midnight
This past weekend I was playing around with a new technique in dyeing. I’m trying to get my skillz up, and the only way to do that is practice, practice, practice.
3 yarns went in the dye pot. I will post a blog for each one to tell it’s story properly.
I didn’t have a name or an idea for this one when it was bare yarn.
Then, as I was mixing in the purples and blues I started thinking about Doctor Who. (yes, I am a dork… I freely acknowledge this.)
I started specifically thinking about the episode “Midnight” from season 4.
Spoilers below, if you don’t want to be spoiled skip down to the photo. After the photo I’ll make sure it’s spoiler free.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Midnight is an uninhabited planet that the Doctor and Donna “relax” on. The sun is far too strong, so no going outdoors.
The Doctor decides he wants to see a diamond waterfall.
So he hops on the tour bus… a 4 hour trip each way. Donna decides that 4 hours each way is much too much like her school days and decides to lay by the pool soaking up the sun. (through a very thick filter mind you)
The trip is like any other bus ride, until the bus goes on a different course. The computer chose the course mind you.
Suddenly the bus is attacked. But (gasp) nothing can be out there!
A strange entity then takes over on of the passengers.
A mimic if you will.
A poem from it (and forgive me, I cannot recall the author’s name at the moment) struck me. I really love it.
“We must not look at goblin men
We must not buy their fruits
Who knows upon what soil they fed
Their hungry, thirsty roots?”
Well, I give you a new yarn. Completely kettle dyed… (as opposed to my normal dip method)
“Midnight”
The photos do not do it justice. But Mother of Mine and I are talking about building a light box. A light box will solve all my lighting problems.
I hope you enjoy the yarn. I do. I think I have plans for it. But we’ll see.
It also looks like I’m going to have a busy year here in the Asylum. I’ve got about 4 custom orders pending right now. This makes me very happy.
Crash and Eddie
A few months ago I was approached with the second custom order of my business.
I was excited. I was nervous.
Suddenly I realized I was running out of time.
This was supposed to be a Christmas pressie, and I didn’t get off my butt and in front of the dye pot until the middle of Guy’s trip out here!
The reason for this was the fact that it was a new technique. I was attempting Self Striping for the first time.
Thankfully, Amanda was really cool about everything and a pleasure to work with.
Tangled in yarn, frustrated that everything I was doing was coming down, I enlisted the assistance of Guy and we got it ready to dye. (And he got a taste of life to come! grin )
The mission?
To create a yarn based off of Crash and Eddie from Ice Age 2 (and Ice Age 3)
I think I did pretty well.
Here is what I came up with:
And this is what happens when you do self striping yarn. Yup… you get yarn draped all over the house. And woe to anyone who tries to walk through!
Kelley, the recipient of the yarn… loves it. She shall keep me updated with what she makes with it, so that I can see how it knits up.
I am excited about this.
Gretel Lost in the Poppies
Been meaning to post this for a long while now but it got lost in the limbo of drafts for the last month.
And Drat. I just wrote an entire post and it got eaten by the wireless connection. Sigh. Frakking internet. Lets try this again. It won’t be nearly as witty or insightful as the previous one.
Project: Gretel Lost in the Poppies
Yarn: Fresh From the Cauldron “Field of Poppies”
Pattern: Gretel by Ysolda Teaque
I absolutely love Ysolda. She is a 20something student who manages to make a living off of her designs.
Ysolda will make it into the Hall of Great Knitters.
Elizabeth Zimmerman, the GrandMamma of Modern Knitting is in that Hall.
Stephanie Pearl McPhee will make it. Not necessarily because of her designs (I’ll be honest, I’m not familiar with her designs) but because of her voice in the knitting community. Stephanie leads Knitters Without Borders (which donates to Doctors Without Borders), she has been on a late night talk show because of the fact that she started the term “Kinnearing” (or Kinneared) (Greg Kinnear and the host called her to talk about it) – which if you are not familiar is the act of inconspicuously taking the photo of someone. Generally a celebrity. Which I myself Kinneared Howie Mandel in Vegas during my last trip. I didn’t even know about the term at the time.
I digress.
I have learned a lot thanks to Ysolda.
I learned to “Trust Ysolda.” If she says do something.. Don’t over think it. Just do it. (Actually I learned this on another project from Ysolda.. but it worked on this one as well)
I learned how to do a Tubular Provisional Caston. (Come on.. you know you wanna say it like a surfer. Tubular dude!)
I learned that no matter how many times I do the Tubular Provisional Caston (which I have done a lot now), I still need to watch a video of it each time as I don’t trust myself enough to do it from memory yet.
I learned how to do Twisted Cables. Which are not easy. But also not entirely hard. But they can be.
I learned not to do Twisted Cables when I’m tired.
Oh… and did I mention that this was my first project with cables??? Yeah. It was. Awesome huh?
I learned that I will be making many of these hats as I love them.
I guess thats all for now. Hopefully this will post and not get eaten. (I’m also going to be smart and copy it into a word doc first) (And thank goodness I did that.. as yes.. it got eaten since it still thought firefox was offline.)
