I've started thinking a little more about the chicken coop we're going to be building soon. backyardchickens.com has some great inspiration, and forums with people that will answer all your questions. I need to get my hands back on some chicken library books again, and start drawing up something a little more concrete than pointing at the screen and saying, "Take this part of this coop, and this part of that coop and mix them together!" And I'm working on chicken names - like Noodle and Nugget and Kung Pao and Potpie and Sesame. Just because it makes me smile.

And I've got the first FO of the year done! Well, okay, it's just the first half of a FO. And the ends aren't woven in yet. But it's a fingerless mitt, and I designed it myself! Hopefully I jotted down the pattern well enough, and the second one will match the first. I did a lot of the work on the mitt at Sticks and Stitches - which was a good time. Would have been a little better if the game was interesting, but you can't have everything.

That time, again.

It's time again to be introspective, to analyze what just happened and send out good hopes for what's to come.

Re-reading last years resolutions wasn't very illuminating. I wanted to have a place to call my own; we managed to accomplish that. I wanted to knit something of consequence and I believe that I have. I wanted to get a business plan written, but it seems that we're skipping that step (for the moment) and just jumping in. All in all, a good year.

For this year, there's only one things I'm determined to accomplish - I'd like to relearn how to connect with people.

I've never been good with people; I've never been quick to make friends. I've spent the last two and a half years learning how to survive. First how to accept a world that was merely a poor imitation of what I'd always known; second, how to carve out my own place in the world. I've been so focused on developing myself and my place, I haven't had anything left over for anyone else. I'm ready for that to change.

I'm going to try to reconnect with the friends I used to have. I'm going to try to find a knitting group I actually enjoy. We're going to hike this winter, and maybe meet some people who want to keep going come spring. Barring that, we'll find another group to hike with then. I want to be able to plan a dinner party, and have people to invite that will actually want to show up.

We finally finished most of the painting in the living room - I say mostly because there are still some corner touch ups to do.. Plaster walls don't have definite corners, and the previous painters and I don't seem to agree on where the corner really is... :) And we've figured out how to have the furniture, so that's really nice. Except we just moved it all around for the baby shower last weekend, and it still isn't all back where it belongs. That's okay - that's what this weekend is for.

I got a lovely package from my Flat Rate Box swap partner - two! books, two skeins of Silky Wool (which I love, absolutely) in a beautiful dark green color, which is going to make a lovely cowl, a package of Bob's GF corn bread mix (which I plan to use making sweet potato corn bread - I love fall!) and some lovely decorations - fall bowls (which are going to be perfect around the house, in the craft room, candy dish, etc) and a rooster canister which really made me smile, and bid ole' bag of candy corn that I immediately devoured. There was a rooster note pad, and rooster recipe cards - which makes me laugh, because they're kitchen items and R won't let me buy roosters for the kitchen, even though I usually want to. :) It was a delightful box!

Next weekend we leave for a week in Baltimore. I'm excited - we're going to the aquarium! And maybe the B&O railroad museum. And probably back to Spinster Yarn and Fibers, for a jaunt at the batt station again!

I haven't spun since the weekend with the alpacas - I haven't gotten the chair set up again yet. But I will this weekend - I'd like to get the purple BFL all finished up soon. :)

The spinning at the alpaca farm went well! I had a good time, met some new people, and got a lot of good laughs at little kids. I'm reasonably sure that one lady in particular is going to purchase a wheel sometime soon - she was enamored with the Kiwi. And Jana (one the owners) asked if I'd be interested in teaching a class - which really makes me laugh - so that she, and another lady we met at the farm, can learn to spin. Ha! Looks like it's time to get lots of books out of the library... :)

It was a nice, relaxing weekend. We don't actually have anything planned for this weekend, so perhaps we'll be able to get the paint out and work on that some.. And I'm going to make candy corn! I'm a candy corn junkie, so that's really way super exciting!

What a week last week, what a weekend, and what an inauspicious start to this week.. Goodness.

Summer was busy. (And, according to the overcast sky, it's over now.) I was hoping that when fall came, things would slow down a bit. Turns out, that's not true. Between family emergencies, new babies, etc.. Things are looking to be just as hectic as the last three months. (Well, without the stress of moving and mortgages.)

Work is nuts. The "construction economy" is a bit behind the regular economy, so we're just hitting the full effect of this recession. So we're working overtime on crappy jobs we wouldn't have given a second thought to a year ago. Lots of little projects, lots and lots of little projects...

I've been spinning a lot lately - I haven't had the focus required to knit. So after I found the wheel, it's lived in the living room in front of my spinning chair. I finished my first yarn - it's lime green, neon orange, grays, purples, and whites. It's really bright. And it's between 650 - 700 yards of mostly lace weight. The balance is better than I was expecting, and I still haven't washed & wacked yet. It will make a lovely something. :)

I started my second set of top - an 8 oz bag of BFL I picked up at the Merc. When I wasn't spinning, I sent out all my fluff on swaps and didn't get much to replace it, so I had to get me something colorful. I'm working on making this a little heavier - it might end up about a light worsted weight when it's finished. And, of course, it will be beautiful too.

I'm giving a spinning demonstration this weekend at Gentle Meadows Alpaca farm for Alpaca Farm Days! Hopefully lots of people will show up, and no one will be able to tell that I barely know what I'm doing!!

We're all moved in now! Well, mostly, you know. We finished getting most of my stuff from my Dad's house yesterday. Now all we've got to do is finish painting, and unpacking.

Both of which I've successfully avoided by focusing on my spinning! Saturday I finally finished the singles I was working on - it's all way skinny stuff, and bright bright colors. And now I'm plying - which I've never done on the wheel, because this is the first project I've finished! It's all so soft and squishy looking - and all the really bright colors (the lime and florescent orange) are lining up with the white and gray, so it's quite pretty. It'll be a heavier lace weight when it's all said and done...

I ordered more bobbins last week, and it's a good thing - I'll need them next weekend! I bought some alpaca fleece from Gentle Meadows Alpaca Farm last spring. One of the owners called last night and invited me to give spinning demonstrations at their farm during National Alpaca Farm Days! Which does really make me laugh - I've been spinning for less than a year, I'm just now finishing my second project ever, and I haven't taught anything since I was a kid! We'll see how it goes. It'll be fine - hopefully I'll be able to answer most of the questions!

Moving!

We're moving! We closed on Friday, and we get to move today! We stopped by the house twice on Friday, and another three times on Saturday - moving a few little things here and there, changing the locks, getting the new patio furniture into the garage. All the yarn is moved, the spinning wheel, and a few boxes of kitchen and closet. Today we're doing all the big stuff - furniture, beds, the rest of the boxes. We'll finish all the piddly things later this week.

I've got a to-do list a mile long (well, okay, it's not that bad) and it's mostly finished... Then I'm going to start loading Dad's truck and get some more boxes into the house...

It still amuses me that as a reward for spending 6 weeks in a nervous anticipatory stressful hell, you get to box up all your stuff and then try to find it all again later. Ha!!

Or, buying a house could be an awful disaster that just won't stop. Perhaps I'm being slightly over dramatic here, but it's more likely that I'm being largely over dramatic. Either way, I'm not responding to the stress level very well. :) But that's okay, because as soon as all the house buying stress is over, we get to mooooove!!! Woohoo! Now that's something to look forward to - packing, lifting, unpacking, dropping boxes of glass things, and not being able to find anything ever again!! (Okay, so that's definitely over dramatic. Whatever.)

Regardless, I'm making the most beautiful pair of socks ever seen by human eyes. And I'm still working on my sweater - slowly, though. I did finally get into the second ball of yarn. Ha! The latest lace shawl is, I believe, crumpled in a ball under the couch. I should probably be making something for a baby gift, but, well... That's not going to happen.

Now, I would like to spend the rest of my afternoon reading about how to care for chickens, but instead I must work.. Boo.

Today (or maybe yesterday?) is 6 months into the new year. So, let's visit this again.
"1. Finish a kitting project that requires commitment. Afghan, lace shawl, sweater, knee socks, and such would all count.
2. Buy a house. Well, okay. I'd like to own a house by June, 2010. So, be well on my way to owning a house.
3. Write a business plan. Perhaps start a business. Renee and I would really like to have somewhere to employ ourselves. Or, at least, her.
4. And, of course, go to the gym. "

4. Well, there has been no gym going as of yet, so that's a fail.

3. There has been no business plan writing, so that's a fail. But, there is business starting in the works. So that's a pass. I think we're even here, and since we're only half way through the year, I'll say we're ahead!

2. Buy a house - we're now 1/3 the way through this goals time line, and we'll be in contract on a property this evening. So, this is certainly ahead of schedule. Maybe even enough ahead to count twice!

1. Knit something of consequence - I've finished two lace shawls, and I'm 1/11th the way through a sweater for the 3 rd time. Perhaps the sweater will count towards "of consequence". The shawls were both with fingering weight, so I don't think they count. I'll say this one is on schedule.


And, I'd just like to say this again - we're buying a house. We've counter-offered our hearts out, and accepted. So now start the inspections and such! It's so exciting!

What a momentous time. We're buying a house. Yeah, we've known that for a while now, but. It just got really really real last night. It didn't feel real in April, when we first went to the bank. It didn't feel real when we were spending hours pouring over houses on the internets, using a few impersonal photos to try and decide if we could call that place home. And while it was plenty real when we spent evenings tramping around in stranger's houses, at times it felt like more hassle than it was worth.

But last night, when we wrote our first offer, it was as "real" as it gets. It was horribly exciting, and entirely terrifying. I couldn't decide if I wanted to vomit, or do a dance. Or maybe just curl up on the couch with a bottle of whiskey. Either way, we did it. Now starts the counter-offers and negotiations - hopefully. :)

And, on top of that, I'm working on the most beautiful pair of socks I've ever seen. I used a brand new cast on, they're my first cuff down socks (so they're a new architecture), and a brand new stitch pattern. And they're delightfully, and going rather quickly. And I'll likely have some time this weekend to focus on them, too!!


(ahh! Buying a house~!!)

It's been an interesting couple of weeks. Of course, busy. Busier than normal, though, I'd say. Mostly because our evenings have been consumed with the home buying process! We've spent the last three weeks working with the realtor, researching houses, etc. I've become a regular user of the auditor website. There is so much useful information there, it's pretty ridiculous. I love it.

We've got it narrowed down to a short list. Now we've just got to double check funding, and it'll be all good. :) We could be moved in 45 days. That's pretty exciting. Terribly exciting, in fact.

Knitting wise, I'm working on that damned sweater again. I'm taking more care with my raglan increases, so it's going well enough. I love the color, and the FO I'm envisioning in my head is quite lovely. That shawl? It's sitting on the living room floor. I haven't had the mental capability to pick it up in a while. The whole house thing is draining me. But, that's all right. It's worth it. Well, it'll likely be worth it.

I've got some nice plans for the summer shaping up. We're spending July 4th in TN, with grandma. Corie is flying in from El Salvador for a week, and we'll probably do some fun things then - like go to the zoo, and the conservatory, and maybe swimming. And probably a hike, too. We'll have fun!

Caaaamper.

Camping is a good time. I sure enjoyed it. I will say, though, that it's much more fun if you bring enough sleeping bags, enough wood for a substantial fire, extra blankets, and pillows. And I'm sure an air mattress wouldn't hurt. :)

We had big fun. And I think we should plan a group camping trip for later this summer. And another trip with a small group. They even have showers! And a pool! And a lake that's really pretty and only a little smelly. :)

I haven't felt much like knitting lately. I've been mainly doing dishcloths - little things with cotton yarn. I've done a little on my shawl, but I'm afraid I'll accidentally felt the thing! I should also re-start my sweater. I made mistakes I decided that I couldn't live with, so I've got to get the thing back on the ball winder - again. Goodness! It'll be worth it, though, when it's done.

I totally finished the shawl in time for the wedding. In fact, I finished it long before the wedding, wore it a lot, and then had to block it again so it looked nice and fresh for the event! That was exciting.

So, let's see. I finished the shawl, I finished a Baby Surprise Jacket for a co-worker, I've made several dishcloths (although I haven't woven in any of the ends yet - that's not my job!), I've started reading with a vengeance, and it's park season. That's my favorite part - I love sitting in a park, reading or knitting, while watching small children shriek and play. Or watching large children shriek while throwing a Frisbee.

I joined a group on Ravelry intent on reading 52 books in 52 weeks. Only a little ambitious. I decided that I'm going to try a series approach. I started with a series that I partially read as a child - The Ship Who series by Anne McCaffery and various other authors. I'm zipping through them, with only a few pages left in the last book to go. I'll have 5 books with the first two weeks, so that's a nice head start. (A head start I'm sure I'll need later on!) I've got the Pern series lined up next. I never read any of the pern books, although I surely should have. I read an excerpt once, and I think I remember enjoying it. We'll see - the first four books are ready to start this weekend.

I start another shawl - without a deadline this time. It's Laminaria (Ravel link), and so far it's entirely beautiful. I'm using Misti International Handpaint Lace, 100% Baby Alpaca. It's to die for. The ball is so squishy and soft and I love it, but the part of the shawl that's worked up already is even nicer to cuddle with.

We're going to try going camping this weekend, so we're headed to Dad's house this evening to grab Little Brother's tent and camp stove. I'm excited. We're not going far away, but there will be water to swim in, a fire to sit by, and stars to sleep under. I haven't been camping in a while - I tried it a few years ago, but the weekend we went was cold and rainy and it was miserable. This weekend is supposed to be damn perfect, so it should be a much nicer experience.

What a weekend! What a productive weekend! To start things off right, we went out Friday night - to Cafe Shish Kebab (on Bethel) for dinner. Oh, goodness. Everything was entirely delicious and spicy and just right. Mmm. I love Turkish food, and I love not having to deal with Easton to get Turkish food. Delightful.

Saturday was buuuusy. We did some heavy lifting all day. We moved books, tables, boxes and boxes of beads, and sewing dodads. The exciting news that I am now in possession of a serger. The downside of that is that I have no idea how to use it. Eh, I'll figure that out, I'm sure.

We spent Sunday incorporating all our "new" stuff into the house. Cleaning, organizing, filling drawers, going through piles of fabric, etc. Moving the books - again. And we got the yarn organized! And stored! In baskets! It's good. And it's mostly all done now. So tonight I get to play with the serger - I'll probably start with a project bag - something I'm familiar with and only requires a little bit of serger use. Of course, that's only after I figure out if it's threaded or not! Ha!

Oh, and my shawl is almost finished! I'm almost half way through the cast off, then it's time to block it - and see what happens. This is going to be an entirely different blocking experience - I'm sure cotton/silk won't behave the same way as the wool did. Interesting...

It's the end ...

I think I finished my last motif repeat of the Shetland Triangle last night. Which really pleases me, because that's about a month (or 2) ahead of schedule. I've got the edging to do, and then blocking. It might be finished before the end of this weekend. That's super duper awesome rockin'.

Tomorrow is game night. We'll see how that goes. And tomorrow I'm moving in with Renee! (Well, kinda.) I mean, we're getting a book shelf from dad's house. And some of Mom's beading stuff, and probably her serger and some storage solutions. I get to set up a craftal area. That's way exciting awesome.

I don't know what project I'm going to start next. Probably my vest. Or something for a baby. Maybe some socks. I haven't had a sock going in a while. Maybe I'll start socks, and my vest, and something for a baby! Ahh!! Attack of the knitting monogamy destroyers!

reeeeelax. don't do it.

We went to the conservatory on Wednesday night. I love the conservatory, truly. It's a place where I can go and relax, and inhale exotic scents, temperatures, and humidity levels. (That last one is especially nice in the winter.) The plants, the greenery, the colors, and the shiny all work towards centering me. It's amazing in the middle of winter - a nice reminder that color does, in fact, exist in nature. And here's proof - isn't it delightful? The richness of color, the way the fuchsia colors the green, the white, the tips of the leaves? I love it.

And there are butterflies there! I love butterflies. And then, since it isn't winter anymore, we got to play outside! At a park! With swings, and kids, and climby things, and pretend, and hopscotch! Ain't she the strongest thing you've ever seen? Whoa, lady! Now for a delightful, warm weekend...

Umm. We went camping - and had a blast. The forest was utterly beautiful. We went on a nice hike - started at Old Man's Cave (where the waterfalls were half frozen still), walked through Cedar Falls, and ended at Ash Cave. There was one pretty nasty hill, but we persevered. Since then, we've gone hiking every weekend. (So, in total, this makes four weekends of hiking.) This weekend we went to Battelle Darby park and walked a nice 4-or-so miles. It was so pretty outside - I flapped my arms a lot while we were there. We were all taking off sweat shirts by the time we were halfway through - entirely delightful.

Other than all the hiking - I've been spinning! It's slow going - but I reckon that happens when you're spinning lace weight. I spun yesterday for probably 2.5 hours - and only made it through about half an ounce of fiber! I've probably got another 3 or 4 hours left on this first bobbin, then I get to start my second and that's way exciting. It's looking reeeeealllly nice too. There is certianly some thick-and-thin going on, but it's not extreme. And it's staying pretty thin, too. I think I like 3-ply yarns the best, conceptually. And that should work out with the thin I spin - a three ply should end up around a heavy sock weight. Uhh, I think. I haven't actually plied anything yet. :)

And I'm about half way through the wedding shawl. I have three balls of the yarn, and initially the shawl was going to be 3 balls big - but that might be too big. I'm about halfway through the second ball, and it's getting pretty hefty. Thing is, I'm not sure how much it'll stretch when blocking - I think the knitted-mess size for this one is much closer in finished size than the knitted-mess size of the Luna Moth. I'm going to put it on a longer cable and do a test blocking. That's what I'm gonna have to do. I actually might need to buy another set of mats to make sure I've got something big enough to do it on!

What else? Work is okay. We're finally catching a bit of a break. Renee is working on planning a Stitch and Pitch - baseball starts soon! I like baseball, so that's way exciting. R made me a stuffed dinosaur! And I love it! This weekend, we went to The Golden Hobby shop - and it was awesome. We got some new little dino statues. They look very Land Before Time like. I love them. We'll probably try to do most of our christmas shopping there. All kinds of stuff, Buckeye paraphenalia like you wouldn't believe. And I started making stitch markers! And little bags! I actually got out my sewing machine - craaazy.

So. That's it.

We're going camping this weekend! In Hocking Hills! Woo!

I finished the wheel, and got it all put together. I'm working my way through my Shetland Triangle, Due Date: May 22nd. And I'm working through a dishcloth for gifties! Amazingly, we've made it to two Wednesday night knit nights in a row. Hey - we were busy for a while, and then we were sick, and then we were just tired, but we're getting there now. So ha! It's way awesome.

Rae is making this bag, and I'm utterly jealous. Liiiiike, freaking out jealous. Hopefully she won't use it - because I want it, I need it, I'm desperately in love with it.

Did I say that we're going camping this weekend? And that I haven't slept well all week? And that we're going drinking with my little brother tonight? He turned 21 this week, so we're taking him out! We'll hit the liquor store, a bar or two, great times! Annnnd, we made him specialty vodka. Hot dog vodka!!!! Chilli dog shots tonight, baby!*



*Umm, I personally think this is absolutely disgusting. But Rae and Little Brother are terribly excited, and I can't help but get caught up in it..

Last week was stressful. So very very stressful. Work was a nightmare. Until late Thursday, I was certain that I'd be working all day Saturday and a half day on Sunday. But then on Thursday they cancelled my project and my weekend opened up and I decided to take advantage of it!

We had our annual company banquet Friday night. Not interesting stuff, I can tell you that.

Saturday Rae and I went to Innis Woods! I haven't been to Innis Woods in ages. Beyond that, the last few times I went it was just to get some time with a girl away from prying parental eyes. We actually made it out of the car on Saturday, at which point I'd seen more than any previous trips there. We started walking around, took the long path around the very edge of the park and then made it over to the Sister's Garden - which was a delight for our fanciful minds. We played Saturday morning. We invented worlds, countries at odds, and fairy tale peoples. We wrote a children's novel out loud on our "diplomatic envoy" of the afternoon. It was great fun. We have to go back when things are alive.

Saturday evening we saw Slumdog Millionaire. What fun! The vibrant colors and the energetic music combined for a great time. The story was sad at points, but in the end everything played out well and "justice" and "retribution" were had. And the hero gets the girl, which is ever important.

Sunday we slept in and went to Three Creeks Park - what a weekend for being outdoors! All the activity was relaxing, being outside was centering, and the cold - well, was bearable. We had a good three mile walk on Sunday, nearing a jog at points. We're trying to make sure we'll be able to handle the hike this weekend. The week before is the perfect time to start "training", right? Haha!

And I finished finishing my spinning wheel - about time, right? I'm not terribly pleased with it, but it's just going to have to do. I'll work on it again once the weather outside is tolerable. Until then, I want to be able to use the thing! And I'm going to, but not tonight. Stupid work class, taking up my precious free time. Tomorrow, though.

Finito.

Ahh! I finished it! It's way totally awesomely exciting. It's at home right now, pinned to blue foam mats. This evening I get to unpin it and toss it around my shoulders.



I know every first time blocker has got to say this, but I'm just amazed at how much the thing grew! It was such a crumpled tiny mess, then I started pinning it, and it grew a little bit. But then it kept stretching and I kept adjusting the pins and then, magically, it was huge! Ahh! Attack of the Luna Moth Monster! Batman!