Yay for Levees!

A break from the knitting life!

Yay for levees!

So, After a little scrounging around, I found some pictures of what the view looks like from work normally… and what it looks like now with the… um… extra water.
We hit the flood stage this morning, so I don’t know what we’re at now…

But the water isn’t supposed to crest until this weekend.
And ironically enough, we’re also under a hugely critical wildfire warning too apparently.

But, I digress…
Oh, and ignore the way that blogger likes to remove the right margin of all of my landscape photos. yay for blogger. NOT!

Usually…



and… today…




Usually…





and today….



Usually…



and today…



Usually…



And today… though not exactly in the same spot – you can even see the water going around the bend at President’s Island! Note the building on Mud Island – and see where it is in both pictures!



Ah….

Now… Mud Island will only be – after this crests this weekend and recedes…

MUD.

The world as I see it.

I'd love to say that I haven't been neglecting my blog, but that would be a lie.
And my momma says lies are bad.

So I won't say that.

I will however, offer you up a good many reasons why there are no updates on my many begun knitting projects:

A. They are too much in the beginning stage for me to photograph for you.
B. It was before spring. There is a biological need to wait to blog until spring.
C. You're not supposed to blog on an empty stomach, and I've been dieting.
D. Dieting didn't work, but then I promised myself I would only blog if I started exercising again.
E. Which didn't work, so now I'm blogging on work holidays. The next is in May.

Ah, okay, the truth is that nothing is going on.
I'm on a heel flap on the monkeys...
I'm knitting my second clap.
I've started my afghan.
I bought yarn for an everychanging sweater - I can't decide on the Glee, the Rusted Root, the Wicked, or the Central Park Hoodie.
Um.

My stash has grown to scary preportions...
Okay. not scary, but too large for someone with Absolutely No Room.

And... My fat is slowly overtaking my ability to say no to key lime pie.

That is all.

The Tale of Two Projects.

The tale of the never-ending Clapotis.

Okay, so it's gorgeous. and it was SUPPOSED to be for my mom's birthday... but it seems like I keep getting distracted.

Plus I'm slow.


and then there is the mini sock.

Why did they do this to me?!!? I was NORMAL before knitting.


But... the yarn IS gorgeous... DAMNIT, people!

Long time, no blog.

Okay, let's be honest.
I can either blog, or I can knit.
And they were right, this thing - this habit, this hobby... is somewhat akin to cocaine addiction, because I can't stop spending money and I can't stop doing it.
Even if my arms are hurting - I just get a project with bigger needles and less work.
I have projects for the times when I'm really mentally awake, like lace...
and projects for when I'm super tired... hats, etc.
I've got hibernating projects that I never want to see again.
I've got gifts that I feel like I'll never finish because I keep getting distracted.
And now...
I've got socks.

Oh sure, I can't actually knit a sock yet.
But. I started a mini sock tonight at my first sock class, and I'm in love.
Already.
Only... perhaps it does help that it's mini and therefore I can see my progress a lot quicker - but still... who wouldn't want to do this? It's a tiny project that doesn't weight much...
and it's a sock.

oh, sock love, you know my name.

Tiny excitements

I haven't blogged in a bit.
It's partly because I'm lazy.
Partly because...
No. That's all of it.
I've been totally blog-lazy lately and a lot of it has to do with the fact that I can no longer accomplish such things from the comfort of my very slow office.

But.
I just wanted to say.

I'm so darned excited about class on Saturday that I can't stand it.

Who cares about the mound of Christmas gifts I'm working on.
This one's for me, BAYBEE.

Note to self though... must learn to knit in the round before Saturday...
Otherwise L will kill me.
And let me tell you... death by knitting needle is NOT pleasant.

Very slow knitting month.

So what if I've mainly been sticking to wash cloths and large rectangles.
I like rectangles.

And at least they're lacy.

That's right, folks.
I've started on Branching Out.
Scary, I know, but worth my time.
It's keeping my brain cells in practice as I work wonderfully well, make a mistake, and find a way to neatly rig it again.

I'm becoming a genius.

I should take pictures...
I should.

But until then... pretend it's amazingly gorgeous and sexy.

Faces are overrated anyway...

Check it out!
Almost another Grrr done!
And this one was actually easy and fun to knit!
I heart Berroco Love It yarn.









And I love that the back of the pattern is so super sexy too!

Can you believe this hotness?!!?
Just wait until it has an actual FACE!

Grrrr! Did I scare you?!!?

Another GRRR today.
I suppose I should technically be able to finish one in one day, but I'm not quite talented enough yet.
Or... I guess the technical term would be PATIENT enough.

I love the way this pattern looks, but I apparently have the pattern following skills of a four year old crack addict.

Because.
This shit is HARD for me to concentrate on.

Is it okay to say the word 'shit' in a blog where I'm writing about a little old lady type of habit?
Or am I grounded from the cookie jar today?

I'm only about halfway finished. Which is annoying, as I spent hours doing it... but in all fairness to me, I ripped it back about 43 billion times because I'm a moron who can't count or use fine motor skills.

I suppose I shouldn't admit that I'm now stuck in the process of making a baby blanket because I didn't knit anything in time for the shower I attended earlier that I was going to make a bunch of these washcloths for, but then again, no one is reading this at the moment, and I can admit anything I darned well want to.

(I'm not sure why it is that I can say shit but must use darned.)

This pattern truly is gorgeous and totally whimsical... I want one in every single bathroom I own (2) and probably more than one.
ACTUALLY I want it in a blanket pattern, but that's about as likely to happen as world peace and a gay president.

This yarn is the Berocco something or other... I put that in for good technical measure, as I truly don't have a clue what the difference makes yet...
I can't afford super nice yarn and don't know the terms to sound intelligent.

Still, the best part of the pattern for me is the back.
I don't know why... the front is gorgeous, but the back just has character.
or. Character on the back of character.

I couldn't really get a good picture of it but it's so freaking cool!

Many more to come, maybe even completed one day projects one day, but for right now... just the gorgeous pink.

Giving in and keep on keeping on!

I suppose I should admit that I'm officially becoming a yarnie.
I wasn't going to give in.
I can't really afford to be, as for yarnies, a good yarn is as addictive as crack.
And since I'm not a crackhead, I can't be a yarnie.

See? That's logical, right?

But, I'm giving in.
I'm conceding.
I was fighting a losing battle anyway...
after all... it's something creative... that I don't have to get off of my ass to do, right?

Yeah, it was all for me.

Currently I'm knitting the Montego Bay Scarf, which I'm pretty darned proud of at the moment.
And by that I mean... I've only made one mistake - and I made it tonight - and it's pretty darned sexy.

Isn't the yarn yummy? I just want to bite it's ear. You know... if it had an ear.

Tonight there is even more done... though you'll have to mind the orange background.

I would only post once I'm done, but darnit, I'm just so proud that it looks similar to the pattern and not like a freak of nature!









Go Lish!

If I were a panda, I'd eat purple bamboo.

Ah. A few interesting events since last I wrote.
(Doesn't that sound so intelligent of me on a Monday night?)

For one thing, I finished my first hat.
But as it's so ugly that it broke my camera, we shall avoid posting pictures of it.
tee hee.

I am working on the Montego Bay scarf, which is absolutely horribly ugly on the pattern but after seeing it on a fellow yarnie, I'm in love.
As a matter of fact, I'm so in love that I'm making it for someone else, which shows you that I mean it...
I'm going to knit that beautiful object and... *gasp* give it away. Like a true yarnie.

I'm so proud of me.

I know it's still a rectangle object, but at the same time, it incorporates several very basic stitches which I have never done before...
and even though I'm keeping track of how many knit stitches I need to start the next one on by writing what I've already done down on a sheet of paper, it seems to be working, as I've outlasted my fellow yarnie, Leslie.

See what I have so far?
The sad thing is that I don't think I have enough yarn...
must. find. more.



































I heart this bamboo.

The beginning of a lifestyle change.

I've officially decided to start.

Knitting for real, that is.

Breaking out of my square modes.
After all, there are only so many scarves you can make - though I am still so in love with the Henry pattern on Knitty.
(I know, I know... wayyyy too many stitches for a lady like me.)

So, this is it... I'm putting it in writing so it's for real.
Now, we shall just have to start taking pictures of my projects.

This month is my daughter's 11th birthday and for it - or maybe Christmas, depending on how this knit goes - I am trying to knit THIS hat.

Wish me luck.

I bought the gorgeous sexified yarn tonight and can't WAIT to cast it on.

(I know, swatch! I'm working on it!)

I'm so excited about getting more into this.
Now, if only I could win the lottery so I could officially afford to make this a Real Hobby.

Couldn't I start doing a cheaper hobby?
My two favorites are cooking classes and knitting.

In my next life I'm going to take up garbage collecting.

The Art of Writing a Business Letter.

Never underestimate the time and energy that goes into your basic form letter.

Me: You know, Broker Man, it's not, "...inviting you to invest with myself and Company,..." it's, "inviting you to invest with ME and Company."

Broker Man: No, it's not. It's "myself."

Me: No, you should be able to remove Company from the sentence and still have the sentence make sense. It doesn't work that way with "myself" but it does with "me."

Broker Man: I still think you're wrong. I think "myself" is correct.

Me: That's because you like to refer to yourself in the third person in conversations.

Broker Man: Are you sure we can't write our letters that way? "Broker Man would like for you to invest..." Can we just use "myself?" I think it sounds better.

Me: Let me put it to you like this. Would you go home, get naked, canoodle with your wife and say, "Honey... take myself. Rub myself. Love myself?"

...

Broker Man: Boy, Dad's going to pissed when he finds out he wasted all of that money on a private school education.