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.
In which many things are planned
Look, new yarn! This one was dyed for some friends, as part of their baby blanket. I’m quite excited about this one as it is so subtle and beautiful and just glows.
It is part of my Neil Gaiman “Death and Dreams” series, and it is called Stardust.
I haven’t written anything on the novels in weeks.
I’ve been stressed, sick, and overwhelmed.
Even just last week, I started a dental emergency. Anyone who’s been a long time reader of mine knows that I’ve had problems with my teeth for years. Well, I’m finally getting things sorted out. Not in the way I want of course. This is more of an emergency situation.
Last Wednesday, I started having severe pain. Then I woke up on Thursday and my face was swollen.
I did what I could do to help the swelling go down, but on Friday it was again swollen and I had been up all night in pain. I hadn’t experienced that pain in many years, not since I had been living in Boulder and I had my wisdom teeth extracted and they hadn’t given me my syringe and I needed it.
Well, on Friday I managed to get an appointment at Peak Vista. Which I must say is an awesome place. I didn’t have an appointment, but they squeezed me in. And if I had gone to the emergency dentist I would have paid 300$. Well at Peak Vista, I paid a total of 29$, and that was including the prescription for antibiotics to get the swelling down. Yeah I had to sit around waiting a while, but that was fine. It wasn’t like I was going to be doing much that day anyway.
Due to the swelling they weren’t able to try extracting the tooth, which actually is fine. They couldn’t have given me more than just a local anesthetic shot, which from past experience… would have been bad. The last time I had a tooth extracted, a baby tooth mind you that they just used a shot.. it took 4 shots and I still felt every single tug and it hurt like a bitch.
So I’ve been referred to an oral surgeon. Which is most likely who I needed anyway since there isn’t much tooth for them to grab onto, and they have to remove the post that was left over from the root canal.
The tooth that has been giving me fits, was one that I wanted to have extracted years ago. But I was naive and I let the dentist convince me to just get a root canal done. Well, that was my mistake. I should have gone with my plan, my own gut instinct. My plan was to just get them pulled, and wear my retainers to keep my teeth from shifting, and then get implants some day. Good plan right? Well, the crown immediately broke on the tooth, and then I was generally in too much pain to wear my retainers, which means my teeth have shifted. Not much, but its noticeable to me. And means I’m most likely going to have to get braces again. I am going to start wearing my retainers again anyway, as theoretically the pain I was having that prevented me from wearing them will be gone. Now it’ll just be a matter of seeing if my teeth that have shifted slightly, will shift back in to place. (I’d be happy with that)
The hubs2be knows what plan we need to have for my teeth, and that I would rather have my teeth fixed than a sparkly necklace.
My cheek as of today is back to normal. Yay.
Now back to writing.
Yesterday I wrote over 2300 words. I am quite excited about this since I hadn’t written in weeks. Unfortunately it was all on The Q2-Files, and not Aether Horizons like it should have been, but you write when inspiration hits.
I’ve also figured out a lot of the direction that I want to take the Q2-Files in. So that makes me happy as well. My first set of readers who have gotten the few measly pages, love it. Which makes me believe I have a real hit on my hands.
Oh, and the Minion and I are planning great things for Baking After Midnight; there will be a contest soon. We are just working out the details right now. OMG, the month is almost over. We really need to get cracking on getting those details sorted so that ya’all know about it.
Alright, I guess that’s all for now. Cheers!
Gray Day and Herbology
My life is interesting. When things happen to me, it happens all at once. I can go for weeks, months even without things happening. And then boom. Everything comes down at the same time.
Some might say it’s coincidence. But since it is a constant thing, I am no longer inclined to believe that it is simply coincidence.
They might be little things, they might be big things, but they have a habit of grouping themselves together.
I’m not going to go into details, but I must say I find it rather annoying at times.
It can cause frustration, anger, elation, and confusion. It can be the cause of drink, be it in celebration or depression.
It can cause artists to retreat into their worlds, be it on canvas, or paper, or whichever medium they find to be most comforting.
It can also cause that same artist to feel blocked and unable to enter into that world in which they feel so comfortable, causing them to float aimlessly about the aether.
Today is a gray day.
It is sleeting here in Colorado, which means I am unable to photograph yarn (not that it’s dry yet…); I am unable to go for a walk like I would like, and there are storm clouds both inside the house and out.
So as it is a gray day, I am watching Dorian Gray, the new one with Ben Barnes (alright it’s a few years old now, but I hadn’t been able to watch it previously).
I am enjoying it immensely. I am reinstalling MS Office onto my laptop. And I am trying to ignore the annoyance of the world.
Oh, and I give you a new yarn.
Herbology. Part of the Whimsical Wizards series.
And here is some knitting that I have done…. it was a commission that I took while at Anomaly Con.
Both shawls are in the Legolas Pattern by Susan Pandorf
Both shawls are on the Cherry DK yarn from The Asylum.
The blue one to the left is the colorway “Melisande”, the green one to the right is “Herbology”
I guess that’s all I can talk about right now. News will be coming soon.
In which a star falls
Today I did something that I hadn’t done for a while. I took myself back to my childhood. There were these cookies
from Trader Joe’s, they in my mind are the original “Two Bite” cookies. They were crunchy Chocolate chip cookies.
They were wonderful. They came in a tub. They remind me of the sail boat.
Well the last time I was at Whole Foods, I saw in their bulk area they had cookies that mostly reminded me of the Trader Joe’s ones. So, I got myself some. And literally just moments ago, I poured myself a glass of milk, loaded up the the glass with the cookies and let them turn to mush. Mind you, I didn’t do it proper. I should have put the cookies in first, THEN the milk. But oh well. I should have broken the cookies up with my spoon. I didn’t. But the memory was still there. It took me right back to the days of my youth. Mushy cookie soup. Yum.
Now onto a book review:
Stardust by Neil Gaiman My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I absolutely loved this story.
I had seen the movie first, only because I had not gotten the chance to read the book first. I am sorry that it took me this long to get around to the actual book.
To me, this is a book that I can completely see myself reading out loud to my future children.
Neil Gaiman is an absolute genius when it comes to delivering us into an amazing world. He really is my hero.
Now as I said I had seen the movie first. It was quite easy to imagine the characters as their movie counterparts. There were also some changes that were made betwixt the page and the screen, but the changes that were made in my opinion enhanced the story. I guess it helped that they actually had Mr. Neil Himself on hand to help with the changes.
But this review is about the book, not the movie. All in all, I thought it was absolutely wonderful and amazing.
On to other news:
My minion and I are hard at work on the Labyrinth Club. I honestly couldn’t do this with out her.
We’ve also got lots of things planned coming out of The Asylum. Most of the things we are working on won’t actually come to fruition until after the Grand reopening. It’s a timing thing. I can’t work for those 6 months. But I can get stuff ready before I do close up shop, and then once the shop is reopened, it will be as I said… Grand. I can’t talk about the plans yet. Not till they are more firm. But when they do become more firm… ooh boy you’ll be getting some teasers at the very least.
Last Friday I went to the Unsurpassable Prince and Pauper’s Steampunk Ball in Colorado Springs.
I decided to go Ricepunk instead of the classic Victorian Steampunk.
There is apparently not a solo shot of my anywhere. In fact, there are only shots of Tory and I together. It’s alright, we were Representin’ the multicultural minorities at the party… we had to stick together.
The party was a benefit for Myles Pinkney who is a fabulous artist here in Colorado Springs. He went into a coma immediately after an event in March, and we honestly thought he wasn’t going to survive. Mere days before the benefit for him, he was finally up and walking around. We are all so happy about this.
I bought my kimono at a thrift shop for like 3$. I fell in love with the colors and couldn’t pass it up. The belt is one I traded with The Twisted Gypsy for a shawl that I had knit.
The goggles I made in about the equivalent of an afternoon. They were so simple to make. I call them my Copper Goggles since I did a verdigris patena effect instead of a brass one. It fit the kimono better thank brass. I tell you, I got so many compliments on those quicky goggles. It’s actually quite amusing to me.
I haven’t been able to work on any of the novels like I’ve been wanting… but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been formulating plots and working out kinks behind the scenes. I just wish I have been able to get more words written. Oh well. I am going to be dog sitting for 2 days, which means I’ll have peace and quiet. I’ll focus on writing then.
Random: It’s been a very interesting couple of days. The Royal Wedding finally happened. Which I was quite sad that I was not in England for. I know it’s silly, but for me I wanted to see the people. Experience the street parties. Feel the surge of national pride that comes about during those times. The Wedding was beautiful. I will admit the 13 year old girl in me cried about the groom being who he was. Then the 27 year old woman in me took up notice at what a very handsome man the brother (Harry) has turned into. (Okay, notice was taken years ago… but it was just quite noticeable. He looks damn fine in a Royal Uniform)
Then the week became even more emotional when it was announced that Osama Bin Laden was dead. I will not touch on this much, as I know not all my readers share my opinion on the matter, and I am working on keeping this blog more reader friendly. But I will say that it was very emotional for me to hear about this. I remember exactly where I was when 9/11 happened.
At first I feared what would happen to the plans the Hubs2be and I have, as our major milestone we were waiting on WAS the Royal Wedding.
The next milestone (okay, it’s not a very big milestone time wise) is in 2 days. The election. Whether he wins the election, or looses… we are submitting the paperwork for my VISA. Thats right folks, after 4.5 years of plotting and waiting… it’s finally happening. It feels quite surreal.
And so of course with the death of OBL, and the threat of retaliation and heightened travel concerns… I was naturally worried. The hubs2be has allayed my fears on this, but I will of course take the advice of my immigration specialist (I am going to be going through the same people who helped with my visa last October. Though my visa didn’t arrive in time, that was not their fault and they did a great job at taking care of me.). But as near as we can tell, it is full steam ahead.
I’ve got a lot to pack up. I’ve got business to close. And I’ve got to actually start saying goodbye to people that I now don’t want to say goodbye to.
Why is it that you can keep yourself from making new ties for nearly 4 years, and then just weeks before leaving, you meet a whole bunch of awesome people that you actually would like to remain friends with and are now sad that you are leaving… thank goodness for Facebook, otherwise I really would be quite sad.
I guess I shall leave this here. I am going to try to be better about blogging again… I might not be able to do so directly during the move weeks, but until then, I will try to be better.
Bugs and Hisses everyone!
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
Because I could…
I could say it’s a result of the stress I’ve been under the past couple of weeks.
I could say it’s because I have been marginally good when it’s come to my sweet intake the past few days.
I could say it’s because I won’t have anything like this for a while again.
But the truth is… I did it because I could.
So I had myself a bowl of Cookies and Cream Ice Cream (Blue Bell since it just came to Colorado Springs, and Mim had never had it. Being of Texas myself, I have of course had it) topped with a chocolate chip cookie.
I made chocolate chip cookies today for this weekend. I like to feed people who are helping me out, and I’d rather myself have homemade cookies than store bought ones.
I couldn’t find my usual recipe from Martha. So I am trying one of her other ones. I think this is the same recipe I used while I was in England… I thought that they were my usual recipe but I guess not.
When I was in England I blamed the difference on the butter/chocolate chips. I am not fond of the chocolate chips I had in England (Milk chocolate. BLEGH! Give me Semi Sweet or Dark!) and the future Mother In Law does not keep butter in the house. (She runs Cardio wards in hospitals. I personally would rather have the real butter and take care of my heart in other aspects.)
My French Grandmother would roll in her grave if she knew I had used fake butter to bake with. But that is another time.
Today I used real butter, and had proper chips. The recipe I used is still different than I’m used to, but it is quite yummy in deed. Nice and cakey. Almost too cakey.
Today I also made myself some hummus. Made it for the first time. Used a mortar and pestle even. I did use a blender, but as my blender is a tiny thing I decided to help it out by premashing the garbanzo beans.
I think the hummus was a success. It was nummy.
Next up will be to make different flavors, and also to make Edamame Hummus.
Pictured above is also some English Muffin bread that my mum made. It is always a yummy success.
For dinner Mim made crustless Quiche and I must say that I much prefer crustless Quiche to regular Quiche. I’ve never been fond of most pie crusts, and Quiche was not an exception. I think from now on I’ll be making this version as I am fond of Quiche, but always am disappointed with the crust.
I’ll post the recipes up but today you are just going to get the cookies.
And the next time you most likely hear from me will be after Denver’s first ever Anomaly Con. I am quite excited. It’ll be my first time selling anything from The Asylum in a public setting. I will also be harking my scribblings. Yup, as an author. (Well, it’s my artists table that I’m paying for … so it’s not quite being there officially as an author.. but hey, my Asylum.. my rules!) Yup, Aether Horizons will be at the Con. I’m quite excited. It will make me feel all official like.
Martha’s Cakey Chocolate Chip Cookies
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter room temperature
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups (about 12 ounces) semisweet and/or milk chocolate chips
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter with both sugars; beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; add the salt, vanilla, and eggs. Beat until well mixed, about 1 minute. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Drop heaping tablespoon-size balls of dough about 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
- Bake until cookies are golden around the edges and set in the center, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool on baking sheet 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.
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.
Defying Gravity, Trust my instincts and leap!
First I want to wish my hubby2be a most happy Birthday.
This Wicked girl (there’s a name not all of you know me by… ) did a little defying of gravity today.
How did I do that?
Well I woke up with a migraine. No, thats not how. It’s just a fact. But while I was trying to recoup from the brain shattering pain, I decided to do some emailing.
Normally I would wait till the headache went away to do this so that I could be more coherent in my intentions.
Something urged me to go ahead and email a certain person anyway.
So I popped on Facebook (as I don’t have their personal email right now), went to their profile page. And typed up a private message to them.
Within 5 minutes they had responded back.
Most importantly, they responded back with a “yes!” (I’m paraphrasing there)
I had been putting off sending this email for a while, as I didn’t quite know how to word it, I didn’t want them to laugh at me. I didn’t want the rejection. So I delayed in asking.
Since I’ve only started the project (Super Sekret Projeckt mind you) a short while ago, and the physical aspect of it only a few days ago, asking the question now was not a high priority.
I can’t even take care of the entire thing until after I move to England. And gods know when that will be.
But I wanted to put the thought in their head in case they needed time to think about it. I wanted to get my duckies in a row. I’m a planner. I’m a worrier. And sometimes it appears I’m flying by the seat of my pants.
But the awesome thing is they said yes. Which means I can cross one more thing off my Universal to do list.
And by the way…. it’s going to be epic.
Now I need to get off my bum and get to dyeing for the day. I’m also working on ideas for my steampunk costume for Anomaly Con.
Bloody February
Not really any new information for those who follow me on Facebook… but I figured I should update here as well. I’m trying to be good about that.
February was a bloody month for me.
I did not plan it, it just happened that way.
The Tell-Tale Heart was added to the general 2011 portfolio. I rather like it.
Sangoire is part of my Love as Thou Wilt series, based on Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel Legacy.
This last one was a one of a kind that I did. Truthfully it was the first one I did, and The Tell-Tale Heart was my attempt to recreate it. No matter how many times I tried, I just could not recreate what I did with this one, hence it being an OOAK.
“Savvy?” is part of my Parley of Pirates series.
Demon Seabreeze is based off the fabulous Lorne from Angel. Part of my Hellmouth series.
Blue Meanie is also from my Hellmouth series. Based off the fascinating Illyria.
I have quite a few more to add, that need to be photographed.
It’s been quite a creative year colorway-wise. I’m liking how it’s all turning out.
I most certainly hit the ground running in 2011.
Sometimes you fly…
Happy Imbolc to everyone who celebrates it. For me it certainly has been poignant. It’s about rebirth and renewal. Getting rid of the old, and bringing in the new.
Today I took a leap. I’ve decided I’m going to have a table at the Anomaly Con here in Denver this March.
This is big for me. Very very big. Like, starting tomorrow I need to dye my bum off so that I’m ready. I’m sure I’ll either be far too overstocked, or I’ll be understocked. I’m okay with being overstocked. I’ll be thrilled though if I sell out of everything and am understocked. I of course won’t expect this to happen, so I will be presently surprised if it does.
This will require me finding my costuming that I’ve packed away. But it will give me a chance to wear the awesome awesome new hat I have that was given to me as part of the Pay It Forward 2011 from my dear friend Kristen.
Isn’t it awesome? Don’t you wish you were me right now with such an awesome hat? Well, you can buy one of your own from her brand new shop (I’m so proud and excited for her) on Artfire: Copper Dragonflies. You really should check her out. She doesn’t have hats up in the shop right now, but send her a message and she’ll make you one.
It means also that if you don’t hear from me for the next 2 months, it’s because I’ve fallen into a vat of dye and drowned myself. This is very possible people. Yes, I realize that I’m possibly biting off more than I can chew, especially with still needing to finish the Sherlock club.. but I’ve never been one to do baby steps. I dive into that deep end and learn to swim. Wait.. no.. I’ve got a better analogy. One quite fitting.
“Sometimes you wake up. Sometimes the fall kills you. And sometimes, when you fall, you fly.” – Neil Gaiman
Well, I’m determined to fly. I never thought I’d get the chance to do an event like this. Certainly not in the US. I might not get something like this in the UK. So I might as well take that leap. After all, this witch just might prove that she can defy gravity. (Alright, how many more analogies can I throw in this paragraph structure?) (Oh, and photograph taken from here.)
I’ve got many big plans for this year, and this wasn’t even one of the original plans! This year is definitely going to be my year.
I’ve lost 21.6lbs as of writing this. I don’t know if I’ll reach my goal before the end of this diet, but I am okay with that. I am happier with my body, my self, my business, and my life. The only aspect that I am not happy with is still not being with my hunny. But there is nothing I can do about that.
My hunny though is striving to make me happy. He bought a rug for our place. Oh yes, we found a place. It’s small and dinky, but it’ll work for us right now. But as I was saying, he bought us a rug. A rug I had said I liked. When I first saw this rug, I fell in love with it. But I told him I liked the gray one, and not the purple one. I told him this because he is not fond of purple. The gray was nice, and would look nice in the house (our main carpeting is a dark blue). So I was fine if he wanted that one. What did he do? While he was shopping in IKEA (which by the way, I love IKEA. I grew up in Ikea. I am sad that the Ikea here in Colorado will not open till next year… I’ve been wanting this store to pop up in Colorado the entire time I’ve lived here) He got us the rug. He got us the rug for a mere fraction of the original cost.
And he got me the purple rug. I love him for it. He knew the purple would make me happy. And it would look good with the blue carpet. (The other choices besides gray and purple was this “sand” and a yellow green)
To any men reading my blog.. it’s little things like that which win over girls hearts.
As the first month of the Sherlock Holmes Yarn Club is now over and done.. (and I’m scrambling to get this 2nd month in the mail asap!) I can now share with you photos of what you are either enjoying in your house or missing out on.
Photo thanks to Reni LeBard
Dr. Watson in shades of mustards, curries, browns and gunmetal. When I think of our dear Doctor, I cannot help but think of him in those colors. Some might think it odd, but that’s the impression I always have. It is mostly due to the very first impression of him meeting Holmes for the first time. He is on my new base, a 2ply SW Sock
Hound of the Baskervilles was not originally planned. When I planned this club, it was going to be a 3 colorway club and that was it. (2 skeins of the same colorway each month) But then I had a customer ask for Hound of the Baskervilles to be included, and my imagination went from there. Hound of the Baskervilles was one of my favorites of the stories growing up. And whenever I think of it, the image of those haunted moors. So while designing this one, that’s exactly what image I used. The purple and greens and browns, the ever shifting mist of those moors. This one is shown on my 4ply SW Sock
I hope you like what I created… Also in the months package is:
An Absinthe Lollipop, after all that was one of his vices. (Though Watson will tell you otherwise) They are from Lollyphile, but it does not appear that you can get them anymore. I guess it’s a good thing that I have an extra stash left over from this club. Muhahahaa
A random assortment of Holmes inspired Pin Badges (before anyone gets huffy.. each customer got 1 pin badge, certain people got 2 for their help in the project)
A tea strainer that is rather neat! (it’s got its own drip pan even!)
A pattern designed by the awesome Christina Scovel from Serenity Stitches.
Today I went to the printers to get this month’s pattern. It’s beautiful. But you’ll have to wait a month before you can see it! I’m also working on getting the last of the swag done, which hopefully will be tomorrow. Then it’s back to the dye pot for me. I’ve only got 1 more colorway that needs to be designed and dyed. I have the other colorway 99% finished. It just needs one last little treatment done to it before I can call it done.
I have been truly blessed by my loyal customers, and amazing friends. This club was a huge leap for me, and it has taught me a lot, and enriched my soul while doing it.
Oh, I also had another Big Ass Order during all this… It was for a Sock Kit that is being put together by one of my customers.
“Bold As Texas”
I had carte blanche on the colors, so I chose: Red, White and Blue for the state flag, not to mention the patriotic tones that Texas has to begin with! Bluebonnet Blue, and a Yellow that matched the Yellow Rose of Texas.
I’m very happy with it. She’s very happy with it, and apparently the people ordering the kit are happy with it! Yay!
Well, I have more that I can announce, but I’m awfully tired. I should have gone to bed before I actually started writing this. So I guess I’ll just have to announce the rest tomorrow. Goodnight everyone, and may your Imbolc fires burn bright!
2011 With a new look!
Well.. it’s taken some tinkering, but I think I’ve finally decided on a look for the blog that I like.
Let me know what you all think? Anything I need to change and what not.
I’ve got many ideas and plans for 2011, and now that I’m not cranky and depressed I’m starting to focus on those.
I can’t tell you about all the plans, simply because there are some meanie heads (yes, that was being polite when I really want to call those people (and I’m using a plural to be polite) a certain 4 letter “C” word that I never never never use and generally want to punch a person in the face when they use it. But these “people” deserve the label.) will attempt to steal the ideas.
But yes, I’ve got very big plans for this year. And I’m not talking about the move or supposed wedding!
In regards to the wedding and move, I’m not making any plans. To make plans would be to tempt fate once again.
It’s been a tense couple of days between me and My Guy. Moving brings out the worst in people, finding suitable housing always makes me cranky. I hate searching for places. The UK also makes it very difficult for apartment searches. They don’t believe in renting over there, the mind set is “to own”. Well, that is all fine and dandy if you are one who not just wants to own, but can own. So you are lucky if you get a crappy image of the outside of the building when it comes to rental properties. Oh, and that is the only image. No floor plan, no measurements. Nothing. Just a crappy outside image.
So it gets frustrating. And My Guy is wonderful, but the worst when it comes to searching for housing. He’s picky to say the least.
As I was typing this up though, I checked my email and found that a deposit has been put down on a place.
My Guy sent me the link yesterday, with photos from his viewing. And after the big upset that had happened over the last “promising place”, I was certainly nervous opening the email. (The argument had not been pretty.) I will say I let out the breath I had been holding. There was light.
One of my big things was fear of living in a dark cramped little closet. I get depressed. I suffer a bit from Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D). Also moving to a new country, with weird customs, and no friends close by… All while not being able to work for the first 6 months… in my mind is a recipe for severe depression.
This little place has light. It has a galley style kitchen (only it doesn’t go through to anything other a Juliet Balcony).
It has a black stovetop which is good if I ever dye. Woodgrain countertops, and though the sink is smaller than I’d like (and only a 1 basin sink) I’ll manage somehow.
The bathroom is downstairs, with a window. Which makes me happy so that I can get the steam out and not have a mildew covered bathroom.
The bedroom is upstairs. That is the only problem that I really see (other than just general size of the little place.. but can’t do much about that on our budget right now). I can just see me with my bad knees having to go pee at 2am and going down those stairs. Oh well, if there is a problem, it might mean I finally get the second knee surgery I need lol.
It’s over a shop, which is weird to me. I’ve never lived over a shop. I might go mad during those first 6 months. Or it means I’ll spend my days at the pub next door, with my laptop working on the novel. The pub is literally down the stairs next door. It’s called The Seven Red Roses. I rather like that name for what will be “my local”. The post office is also literally right next door. As well as a Curves (which I’ve never gone to curves, but if it’s the closest gym, I might give it a go). There is also a pilates studio, that has the machines. I might give that a go, I know I can’t just do the floor routine for pilates, not with my back the way it is, and I haven’t had the chance to try the pilates machines.
I still do not know if I will be allowed to run my business during the first 6 months of living in the UK. I understand the reason for the “not allowed to work”, as they don’t want people just marrying for the Green Card. Wait, to they call it a Green Card in the UK? You know what I mean though. I think there should be an exception for owning your own business though. *shrugs* we’ll find out, and if I’m not allowed to run the business, I won’t. (Hear that government people? I won’t work during those 6 months. If I dye, it’ll be for my own personal use, and that is all.)
I started a diet at the end of last year. And since the 2nd of January, I have lost 14.4lbs. To put it in British terms, I have lost just over a “stone“.
I don’t know if it’s simply because of the diet, or if it’s just the universe telling me something I should be doing with my life (beyond dyeing yarn)… but I have been dreaming and fantasizing about owning a bakery for the past few weeks now.
Colorado has far too strict laws in regards to food sales, so sadly all my plotting and planning will have to wait till after I move to the UK. I have someone researching the laws in the UK, but I believe they are slightly more relaxed.
But just because I cannot sell my wares right now (once my diet is over of course, I’m not going to tempt myself like that) doesn’t mean I can’t bake them and perfect them. I’ve already got a menu of items to perfect. I can also test an idea I have in regards to keeping things fresh and shipping them, not just across the country but across the pond.
This little baking dream I’ve been having has actually done a wonderful thing. My big brother Merlin and I have reconnected over it. Baking and cooking was a very magical thing in our house growing up. All of us kids did it, and we enjoyed doing it. Whether it was grilling a piece of fish on a tiny grill hanging off the back of the boat, or if it was a Chocolate cake with Peppermint Frosting (pink even!) for a sleepover. We are a family of foodies.
In my comments about this dream on Facebook, he encouraged me. Since I haven’t actually seen Merlin since… Wow, I want to say 10 years ago now… this is a big deal to me that we’ve reconnected. I didn’t get to see him at the engagement party, that he and his now fiancée flew out for. (They got engaged the night before the engagement party, but didn’t tell anyone until afterwards because they didn’t want to take away from my “thunder” well, considering I wasn’t even at the engagement party, I would have been pleased as punch for them to announce it then as then it would have been a REAL engagement party. lol)
Stories I am working on this year:
Aether Horizons
Nope, haven’t dropped this one. Still working on it. While I was in England I did a little artwork to get myself inspired.
That is an idea for Vesper Ravenwood. I enjoyed playing with it.
And here is a logo for the HMAES Valerian, the ship that takes them oh so far amongst the clouds.
Then there of course is still the Unnamed Blitz Novella. I don’t think it’ll get a name till it’s done, and I cannot finish it till I get into England and can take a walk or two. I am not giving this one up at all, because I really like it.
Mind you, the image for the Blitz Novella isn’t pretty. It was thrown together without the aid of photoshop. Someday I’ll clean it up when I have photoshop again (meaning after the move as the main computer of the house has it)
And then of course there is the new little short story project that I am working on. I announced it in the last blog.
Can’t really give you the title at this time, but you’ll know it has to do with the mysterious person named “Bliss Leigh Happy”. I cannot wait till this one is ready for public consumption. It shall be quite fun!
I’ve been working my ass off the past couple of days dyeing yarn. I’m exhausted. Today I’m going to edit some photos and put listings up in the shop, and I might do a bit more dyeing, but I’m certainly not going to do as much as I did the other day.
The Sherlock Holmes Yarn Club has been a hit! People are expressing that they enjoy the yarns and the swag they’ve received, which makes me quite happy. I was nervous about my yarn babies going off into the world.
Books I’m currently reading:
Tekwar by William Shatner (haven’t actually touched this one in a while)
Two for the Dough by Janet Evonovich
and I just got from the library (haven’t opened them up yet but I will later today):
Death Masks by Jim Butcher (Dresden Files #5)
The Cereal Murders by Diane Mott Davidson (#2)
I guess I’m done yammering. I should go make some lunch and then get to work on what I was going to work on.
Bugs and Hisses everyone.
Bliss Leigh Happy
I shouldn’t be blogging right now. I’ve hit a depression so I know this blog will sound blah.
After much frustration I got all the packages for the first month of the Sherlock Holmes Yarn Club shipped off. This club has been a labor of love. I will admit I overstretched myself. I knew I was going to do it. I should have given myself more time between getting back from England and when I needed to send the shipment off. I was not counting on getting sick with a Toxic Waste cold that knocked me on my ass for most of December.
I’ve been working on a short story. I wasn’t planning on starting a short, but anything to get me back into writing (which I hadn’t done since I left England) is a good thing.
I’m hoping that this short will become a good old fashioned serial of stories.
I’ve got a few friends working on artwork for it, for cover work and promotional items.
I’m hoping to actually sell the short stories, and each story I am including cooking recipes that pertain to the story.
In diet news: I’ve lost 12.4lbs since Jan 2nd 2011. And basically an entire inch in all the places that I need to measure.
I think I’m going to make some dinner and then call it a very early night and snuggle in bed with a book.
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.
Contest: Name that Yarn!
Alright mah wonderful little inmates. The time has come. I’m annoyed that a name hasn’t stuck with my “Unnamed Burgundy” yarn… and since I just dyed some up this afternoon for a client, I feel I need to name it. And since it’s 2:30 in the morning and I cannot sleep, and I’m feeling a bit craaaazy…. I’m poking you all.
So lets put some more motivation out there to get the creative juices flowing.
To the winner, I will offer 1 mini skein of my SW SOCK. That will be a 50 gram skein, which is 220 yards. Of any colorway of your choice. (Barring the Collaboration yarns at this time unless I get approval from my collaborator to do an off base skein)
Lets play… NAME THIS YARN!!!
Remember the themes of this asylum… madness runs rampant here, so no idea is too outlandish…1
Oh wait.. I might have just thought of a name that would fit…. Oh well, I still want to do this little contest and see what everyone else comes up with. No more kidding around, this time it’s for the money2 so lets come up with some great things.
Lets have fun with this, so tell your friends, the more the merrier, and who knows… if you bring a friend…. tell me! You just might win a little somethin’ somethin’.
This will be cross-posted on various places, so forgive me in advance for that.
Home again, home again…
This is not a post about my Florida trip.
I repeat this is not a post about my Florida trip.
I feel bad that I haven’t been posting at all, and certainly not have posted since I got home.
But I’ve been on and off sick the entire time I’ve been home for one reason or another. It’s not been fun.
Instead, I’ll use this as a time to update you on new yarns I’ve done.
This is Hatter...
Hatter has been tinkering around inside my brain since I first watched the SyFy version of Alice.
He’s so adorkable.
Here is a new pretty… I’m calling it Pretty Purples at the moment, since I don’t have a name for it.
Unnamed Pretty Purples
And here is Samhain… it was supposed to be something else originally, but that didn’t want to come out and play.. Instead Samhain came to the party.
It is a 4×4 Self Striping.
It has started what will hopefully be a full series, of the holidays. I look forward to this.
Samhain self striping
This… I won’t talk about. Not yet, as it deserves it’s own post. But this is how I spent a day… or half a day… alright just a morning.
How I spent a day when I should have been relaxing.
There… has this been enough of an update for ya’all?
I promise I’ll get to the Florida recap one soon.
Pucks and broken sticks…
My adventures in Denver for my first Hockey game.
Step One: Drive to Denver
Step Two: Starving, go to lunch at Panera. Once again disappointed with the tomato mozzarella panini.
Step Three: Realize we have about 3 hours before we can even contemplate going downtown.
We were near Park Meadows Mall and knew that there was a DSW. So Mother of Mine and I decide to see if there are any shoes that might work for the wedding.
I quite literally steal them off another woman’s feet… But I’ve got my wedding shoes.
Amethyst purple with a kitten heel and pointy toe.
This means the wedding colors changed. Thats alright. That’s a blog for another day.
Oh, I also bought 2 other pairs of shoes. A pair of sheepskin Chuck Taylors, and a simple pair of black Keds. I really needed summer appropriate shoes, hence the Keds, but the Chucks were a factor of “oh my god they actually fit”.
We even still go to the actual mall and poke around as we had only killed about an hour at DSW.
Wandered about the mall… definitely killed time. Bought something that you really don’t need to know about.
We head downtown and attempt to find parking. I’m going to gloss over that spot because well frankly… it was not pretty.
Head up the escalator to the very top of the arena, we are in the nose bleed section. A scary section I might add as if you trip… you will fall and nothing accept a small railing 15 rows down from the top will stop you.
Ask me how I know…
No… I did not tumble.. but I did stumble. I caught myself though.
We were in the very top row. This is our view: (and mind you, this is my camera zoomed in all the way)
Suddenly we see someone from the arena walking around with a stack of tickets.
That person comes up to us and asks us if we are wearing Av’s clothing. We are.
We get our seats upgraded since it’s a home game and it’s televised so they want more visible fans for the cameras.
This is our new view:
BIG difference no?
This is a picture of where our seats were, from where our seats are now.
Top section, middle of the photo. You’ll see 2 white blobs next to one of the columns? Yeah.. our seats were like 3 away from them.
The people who’s arms you see in the photo next to us, ironically had been sitting up near us, and it was their first game, AND they were from Colorado Springs.
Seriously… it’s weird when we go places.
On the other side of us, we sadly were next to the drunkest/loudest people in the arena. I was almost tempted to send the SOS text to get them kicked out of our section. Without fail we always end up being near “those” people at concerts/events.
Even though the Av’s lost, it was still a good game. I’m very glad I went as it was my first and last time I was going to get to go to a game here in Colorado before the move. (Sorry, it wasn’t in the budget to go to a playoff game)
I bought us hats. It’s hard to find a good charcoal gray hat.
After that we headed over to Casa Judd, our home away from home.
Saturday was spent doing the Colorado Tartan Day… Which… I really don’t miss doing those festivals. I of course was there as a civilian so I could come and go and do as I please.
There, now you have the blog I’ve been meaning to post for weeks now.
I have a new yarn base drying in the shower… I did the Vamp trifecta today in honor of the Moonlight marathon I’ve been enjoying. I am in love with this new base.
Tomorrow will be painting on some tshirts for my Florida trip.
And then Tuesday is my flight. Obviously I will not be able to blog while I’m gone. But I will make an attempt to do so. There is something that should happen while I’m gone that will require big uber announcement and dances of joy.
Berry Batty Pie! – Baking After Midnight
I’m such a bad blogger. I promise when I get back from my pleasure/business trip thats happening next week, I’ll be a better blogger and take care of all you peeps.
First off, let me get some artsy stuff out of the way.
I use Artfire.com for my little Asylum shop. I love it. I’ll never go back to Etsy if I can help it. I’m even about to upgrade to the Artfire Pro account for more features.
Speaking of those features, I am in love with the Facebook Kiosk.
Why am I going on about Artfire right now? Well, it’s for a contest entry, so just bear with me.
Now having just fulfilled the contest entry (sorry, there will be another one next week) lets move on to what you came here for…
PIE!!!
I made some Berry Batty Pie last night.
Blackberries, Strawberries nom nom nom.
I went with a recipe that I’m very familiar with. Let me take you back to my childhood.
There were dragons. There were firelizards. There was this acid rain called “Threads”. Oh yes, I am talking about the world of Pern by Anne McCaffery.
I have owned a copy of the “Dragonlover’s Guide to Pern” for a very long time now.
I’ve made Klah. It’s nummy… which reminds me I need to make another batch of it sometime soon.
But most of all I tend to make some of the fabulous Bubbly Pies.
Normally I make them in the traditional Hand pie form… or in the Gather tart form. But I decided to make a full pie on this one.
It is delicious.
Next time I do need to thicken it up a bit, as I completely forgot how juicy all those berries are.
Why is it a batty pie?
Well, other than the fact that I made it… I used a miniature cookie cutter that I bought either Halloween last year, or Halloween the year before to cut the holes in my crust.
So so so so nummy.
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.
Grab a Freshie.
I promise I do have a kick ass post to post about the Hockey game.
I swear.
Really. You believe me right?
Well… this is not that post.
This post… I am debuting a new yarn.
Josef Kostan from Moonlight.
One of the Snarkiest Vampires on the small screen for a good long while.
You know.. Vampire Solidarity and all that.. Rah Rah Rah!
So grab a freshie, or a non fat soy vegan blood if that’s what you prefer and enjoy.
This, to my knowledge is the final Moonlight colorway I’ll be doing. I don’t know, we’ll see if I get inspired for another one the next time I watch the dvds.
Now its time to go make dinner and then have another Pumpkin Pillow cause those are just damn nummy.
Happy Hearts Casino, Great Big Sea, and Ravelympics
Well, it looks like the majority of people decided on “Happy Hearts Casino”, so… I’m gonna go with that.
It works for me.
While the Olympics were happening, there was something in the knitting community known as the Ravelympics. There was also the Knitting Olympics hosted by the Yarn Harlot, and then several other events put on by various groups. I only participated in the Ravelympics.
I was on the fence about claiming victory though. My goal, was simply to work on my Doomsday Cardi.
Having to rip it out and start over, my mental goal was to at least get back to where I had stopped. Which I did. So technically my goal was accomplished, and I get the gold medal.
Or a shiny Bob pin. Having been on the fence though, and broke.. I did not get my pin.
I decided today to add myself to the notify list when the next batch of pins come in. I decided that since it’ll be 4 years before the next Winter Games, I should just jump on my accomplishment now. For 6$, it’ll make me happy, and it’s not a big thing to pack. 
This weekend I am taking Mother of Mine to Denver to see Great Big Sea for her birthday. This will be the last chance we get to see the boys together before the move. It’s actually quite fitting, as Great Big Sea (opening for The Chieftains and Sinead O’Conner) at Redrocks was the first concert we went to the summer we moved to Colorado. It was one of the first things we did in general, not just concert. As I’ve said before, it was a great concert. And the reason it was a great concert was because of those 4 boys who strode nervously on stage (they had been together less than 5 years at this point) and had us up and dancing in the aisle. Sinead’s voice was ethereal.. but meh. And the Chieftains phoned it in. It was GBS that we took a cd home of.
I’ve learned I can’t clean the house while listening to their music. I end up dancing and singing along instead of cleaning.
Huh, that reminds me… I need to add them to my Zen as they would be good to rock out to at the gym.
I guess that’s all I’ve got to report at the moment.
Doomsday is going along. I had to restart the left sleeve as it was too tight.
The writing is going well as well.
Name that Yarn!
The first of my Alice themed yarns is making it’s debut, but it’s nameless!
There were supposed to be two yarns making it’s debut from this series, but the yarn was having none of that and decided to be something entirely different. I’ll post that one up soon.
This yarn though is an embodiment of the burlesque dancers at the Happy Hearts casino, dancing to keep the Oysters happy.
Here it is… I give you the nameless yarn.
Entertaing the Oysters ?
Dancing for the Oysters ?
Happy Hearts Casino ?
(sorry for all the updates, I was having issues with the poll)
As Frankie Said…
I did it my way.
Today was not a good day for the most part. Kept waking up in the middle of the night because my lower back locked up thanks to the joys of having a uterus. So I had weird dreams and thus was cranky in the morning.
I couldn’t even form coherent thoughts until well into the mid part of the day.
I have half a wedding dress.
It started so simply. I needed to go to the post office to mail out a yarn order (woot). While at the post office, I realized I didn’t have my wallet. I prayed that it was simply in my jacket at home, and not some where in the street between Whole Foods and home for the last 24 hours.
Then I needed to go to the library. So, Mother of Mine tagged along as she had a package to send as well.
As we were leaving the library (and me still not coherent yet), Mother of Mine says we are going to go to Mill Outlet. We were going to buy the fabric for my wedding dress as they were having their 45th anniversary sale.
40% off one item, or one cut piece of fabric up to 3 yards. And 5% off the entire order.
Sadly, I needed 6 yards, but for some reason I still got 20% off the other 3 yards of fabric, and then even still got the extra 5% off of that.
We paid 176$ for the fabric, when normally it would be 250$
Last week I bought the under fabric for the dress, and spent…. I wanna say around 45$. So, just over 220$ spent for my wedding dress.
This doesn’t bother me, as yes… I’m sure I could go to one of those 99$ sales…But…
Would I find anything that fit? No.
Would I find anything that looked good? No.
Would I find anything that I could actually wear for more than just my wedding? No.
Would I actually end up paying 99$ No.
I’m not built like most girls. I have very broad shoulders. I also do have an Hourglass figure (though, thats been slightly hidden over the years thanks to working in call centers… it’s still there though.. still an hourglass) So if a dress has any kind of fit in the top, it won’t fit my shoulders, and if it fits my shoulders, it’s generally to big in the waist, or my hips etc etc.
This is why I am having a dress made for me. (Notice I didn’t say “making my own dress”, I’m being honest here.)
I will not look like a giant meringue, I will not look like a bell (and that is not to be confused with “belle”).
I know what shapes work with my body.
I know what length and flow works.
This dress will look good. I hope.
Found my wallet. Had it with us the entire time in the car. Must have fallen out after Whole Foods yesterday. Crisis averted once again.
After that, I was finally awake enough to do what I didn’t do yesterday.
Make homemade ranch dressing.
Which… is mighty tasty if I do say so myself. I didn’t have all the herbs I wanted, so I improvised. It’s not bad. Mine is not your classic Ranch, simply because of the herb change up. But it’s good. Next time, I’ll make sure I have the correct herbs that I want. I’ll keep experimenting till I get it just how I want it.
I used the Pioneer Woman’s recipe for it. You can find it here.
I also made The Best Lasagna … Ever.
Which is also one of PW’s. Here.
Of course this is me… I change things around.
I was short 1 cup of cottage cheese, but I do not feel that took away from the yummy factor.
I used 1 pound 95% lean ground beef and half a pound ground buffalo instead of hot breakfast sausage. What can I say… I’m not fond of spicy hot sausage.
I used the fresh parsley instead of dried, as I conveniently had a bunch of it left over from the ranch dressing.
I also added another layer into the mix.
Artichoke and spinach. Oh yes, I went there. I went there and damn it was good. Wanna know something else? 2 cans. Yes, you heard me. 2 cans of artichoke hearts. Damn I’m good. Damn it was good. You know you love it. Succumb to the the power of the artichoke heart.
Fast forward ohh… about an hour now, and I have a full belly.
The only thing I think I would change would be to reduce the salt. But thats just my own choice, I don’t tend to use much salt in my cooking, and Mother of Mine can’t do the salt. As I was holding measuring the salt out the second time, I actually debated reducing it. But no… I decided to go with Ree on this one this time… that way I would know my own opinion for next time. I think I would reduce it by half through out the entire recipe (if you read the recipe, you’ll see what I mean).
I don’t think that I had a full pound of mozzarella cheese. They were out of the shredded packs at WF, and so I just grabbed a brick and the nice cheese man who had gone to look for the shredded packs, sliced it for me. I think it was closer to just over half a pound of cheese. I did not find the recipe lacking for this fact.
I did not use any tomato paste. Didn’t need it either. Take that lasagna, I made you how I wanted.
For the amount of food this lasagna made… I’d say it was well worth the effort.
The knitting is going well. I’m up to row 61, so I’m very close to where I had to stop on the previous attempt. The cables are going the correct ways, and the only thing that I’m not happy about, will tighten up when I wet block it later. Woot! Only 56 rows to go till I put the body down and start making the sleeves.
The writing is also going well. I’m about to change up my routine so that I get myself to do more writing each day. I’ll tell you about it when I get it to actually work. Might not happen this week though because of the exhaustion factor.
I am debating making some pernicious s’mores for dessert. We’ll see if I’m up to it or not.
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