Lazy Lace

The spontaneous lace scarf I made last week gave me a little boost. I actually used some laceweight yarn that had been languishing in my basement for a long time. I think I bought it right when Knit Picks came out with their alpaca laceweight heathers.

I started over on David's blanket. I cast on with size 11 needles and worsted weight cotton. (The man needs air when he sleeps. Imagine sleeping next to a heavily sweating golden bear.)

I cast on 6 stitches and knit six rows of garter stitch.

Then I started every following row with: knit 3, yarn over, knit to end of row. Whenever I get tired of garter stitch, I knit 3, yarn over, knit one, *yarn over knit two together* to yarnover from previous row and knit to end.

I don't plan the eyelet rows, I just let them happen.

The straight rows will be: knit 3, yarn over, knit two together, knit to end of row.

The decrease rows will be: knit 3, yarn over, knit two together, knit to last 5 stitches, slip slip knit, knit to end of row.

Easy as falling in love!

I'm still here

I had a fantastic birthday. I went to my grandparents' house and enjoyed spending time with them. I was spoiled with tons of golf equipment and knitting gifts.



My stepmother has been telling everyone in the family that I'm mad at her because I'm jealous of the new baby. She even invented a so-called confrontation where I yelled at her for not spending enough time with Isabel. Jeez, that woman thinks the absolute worst of me any chance she gets. It used to break my heart, but I just don't give a flying fuck anymore. She doesn't think I'm human enough to have feelings about the deaths this family has suffered or my daily struggles raising a family of my own. Any time I'm pissed off or depressed, it's all about me being a petty jerk. Never-fucking-mind what I'm going through. All my life's problems are cause by my obvious grade school level emotional intelligence.

Anyway...
Lately I've discovered that smacking practice golf balls in the back yard is 1000% more fun than blogging. Especially since I don't seem to have anything nice to say.


My husband is quite a looker, no?

I restarted David's blanket. I've adapted my new "lazy lace" attitude to his blanket and I've already gotten farther than I had before. I'll have updated pictures soon. I've been wasting a lot of time by casting on many new projects with my new yarn gifts.

A Gift

Sometimes a little joy shows up in the mailbox.

I won a blog contest from Indigo Blue. I have to say that I was really impressed. Not only was the handstitched keychain a wonderful gift, the packaging was almost another gift itself. The entire unwrapping experience was an experience.

I highly recommend that you stop by the shop. You can feel the love.

She's Ugly But I Love Her

I learned a few things after casting on for this blanket.

• I don't want to work on David's blanket because each stitch feels like a step towards losing him.
• My handspun yarn is the greatest thing in the world to work with.
• I love entrelac. I love it enough to knit a whole afghan with it.
• I can knit backwards, but I have to use the Combined Method.
• I love knitting backwards.
• Even the most complex knitting can become "space out" tv knitting if you do it long enough.
• I consider an entire blanket of my handspun yarns the greatest luxury, even if the colors are a little fugly together.
• I don't want David to go.
• We went to our Overseas Medical Clearance meeting this morning and I can go to England whenever I feel ready.
• I'm terrified to move with three kids overseas by myself
• I miss my old psychiatrist, even though I really like my new doctor.
• I don't want David to go.
• I don't want him to leave.

For Blogger Users...

I got a request to show Blogger users how to get a nifty Blog Roll from Blogger in draft.




Go to this address and sign in with your regular account. http://draft.blogger.com/
Click on the Layout tab.
Select Add a Gadget.
Click on Blog List.
Add your favorite blogs...I hope that helps!

I lead a wild life

Isabel and I went to the laundromat to wash the camper bedding today.

I brought a little laceweight project with me. I've discovered that laceweight yarn looks amazing and lovely even when it's knit in the most simple pattern. I don't have the concentration for a complicated project right now, so I'm knitting a little no-pattern scarf.

I cast on 37 stitches with a size 8 needle, worked in garter stitch for a while, then did a row of eyelets when I felt like it. There is no consistency in the placement of the eyelet rows. I'm too lazy to count sometimes.

J is for...

Jets. There are advantages to living on an Air Force Base.

Last year the Canadian Snowbirds came for the annual Malmstrom Open House and one crashed. David and I had snuck off for a nooner and joked that we had been "busted" when we heard the sirens.

Then David got called in to work.

I sincerely hope that they have a successful show this year.

Here is the view from my front yard.

Meme

Crafty Gryphon tagged me for a meme. Here we go.

1. What was I doing 10 years ago? I was a college student in Kansas City. I worked a full-time job and two part-time jobs. I easily worked 80 hours a week and attended a full course load of classes.

There are times now when I don't leave the house for two or three days. Yet I'm much more tired than I ever was.

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order): Help Isabel with her sewing kit. Feed family. Spin merino I bought in Idaho. Ply Border Leicester. Work on current embroidery project.

3. Snacks I enjoy: Honestly, I enjoy almost all snacks. Lately I've been craving s'mores because we have the camper parked in the driveway and we've been eating dessert outside at night.

4. Things I would do if I were a billionaire: Get a really elaborate half-sleeve tattoo. Buy a ranch in western Montana. Travel. Donate on whims. Take care of my extended family. Have a few more children (get David's junk reconnected).

5. Places I have lived: Montana, Texas, Missouri, Utah

6. Peeps I want to know more about: All of you, but I don't want to tag anyone. I'm always open to answering a meme, but I'm not comfortable asking. I'm a turd.

A quick post on a cold, rainy day

As I was trolling around looking for things to buy that I don't need and can't afford, I found these amazing soup containers on the Dieline blog.

I'm a sucker for packaging. Especially packaging that uses knitting or sewing images.

I'm so glad I'm poor or I'd single handedly kill the environment by buying anything and everything in a pretty package.

Chemical Angels, 12" by 16" (unblocked)

Prozac is the angel that saved me.

I took every (and I mean every) antidepressant on the market over the last 22 years. (Yup, I took my first happy pill at 11 years old. I was upset about my mother's third or fourth marriage. I was uncontrollable.) I have taken MAO inhibitors, SSRIs, TCAs, antianxiety meds, atypical antipsychotics, anticonvulsants, etc.

I have tasted all of the crazy pills.

Nothing made me happy. The possibility of ECT therapy was discussed.

Then Dr. Smith made the bold move to put me on the most commonly prescribed antidepressant on the market. Fluoxetine was the last resort. It was also the only one that worked.

Yes, my brother killed my niece in a drunk driving accident. That sucks. I'm unhappy about that. My husband is leaving me with two learning impaired stepkids and my own daughter for a whole year to work in Korea. That sucks. I'm unhappy about that, too.

Prozac lets me pick out little morsels of happiness that happen during the day and actually enjoy them. I find relief in sleep, food tastes good, and I can feel the love I have for my family.

I'm firing on a few more cylinders. I'm functioning. I'm not ecstatic every minute, but I'm alive. I'm coping. The synaptic cleft is shrinking and the brain cells are communicating.

This piece of embroidery pays tribute to my dear Prozac. My axons and dendrites thank you. 100 billion cells are now shaking hands.

That was so hard

Are you looking for your childhood demons? They might be at my dead brother's house in Idaho.

Mine were.

I fought with my mother constantly. I spent a whole day sobbing because of horrible memories.

The upside was that I got to know my sister-in-law better. She's so funny and strong. She might be the strongest person I ever met.

I also finished 4 pairs of socks.

I made a pair for the baby, but I don't have pictures yet. I managed to get Karla, the Cute-Hater, to admit that hand knit baby socks are cute.

I made a pair of socks for David that look exactly like duck feet. (He picked out the yarn. I dyed it with Easter egg dye and he loved it. His wide feet don't help the duck situation.)

I made a pair of soft golf socks for my grandmother.

I knit some footies out of Fixation for Isabel.

The baby is beautiful. He's sweet tempered and has freakishly long fingers and toes. I love him.

To Idaho...

Karla had the baby, a boy. We're off to visit for a week. I wish I felt happier. Something about holding baby Ayrith days before she died in an auto accident just makes me not want to go. Poor baby girl, poor mother, poor grandmother, poor cousin, poor sister. I wish this stuff were easier. The only reason I'm going is that it must be a million times harder for Karla, so I'm going to do what I can to let her catch up on sleep and feel loved by her family.

See you in a week!