A Kiss of Shadows- Laurell K. Hamilton. Finished: July 12, 2009.
Eh. It was a fast read, sort of mindless. I'll probably pick up the next in the series just to give it a fair shot, but I don't see myself getting entrenched. Fairy Princess...?
1. Selbu Moderne in Kiogu: Frogged
Way too big for me, ran out of white yarn, got sick of it, decided I hate Koigu.
2. Queen Anne's Lace, cashmere/silk blend: This is going to be a marathon. I'm on row 48 of about 156. Of course, the rows get longer and longer as I go. I'm doing 2-3 rows a day, but I'm going to have to pick up the pace if I'm going to have it ready for a November wedding. It's a very intuitive knit so far, but the repeats are only up to 7 sts. I'm nervous for when they get to be 20 or 30 sts each. The yarn is a joy, plus it was 50% off, so the whole shawl should cost me < $50.
3. Noro socks: A beach knit. My own pattern. One sock almost done, needs binding off. Not sure how I feel about starting the other. I guess I'm indifferent. The yarn is sort of scratchy, but the colors are amazing. I'm also not sure if I want matchy-matchy or fraternal. I can't imagine wearing these anywhere in public, so fraternal might be my best bet.
4. Buttony Sweater, Wendy Fusion Superwash wool/acrylic: My duct tape dress form seems to be a little large. The sweater fits fine on me, but I couldn't get it fastened over the form. The yarn got itchy after washing; I might try fabric softener next time and see if that helps. You'll have to excuse the messy counter in the background.
I've also got a few sewing projects going on, but it's nothing to elaborate on just yet.
Cannonball Read is a contest started on Pajiba.com, my favorite movie site. (Their byline is, scathing reviews for bitchy people.) The goal is to read 100 books in a year. The rationale is if you even get to 50, that's still more than some people read in a lifetime. I started this Friday with Good Omens, by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaimon. It's about an angel and a demon trying to prevent the apocalypse. They are aided by an earlier mix-up resulting in the antichrist being raised by a normal human family. The reading was a little slow at first, I had to switch into British "humour" mode (imagine Monty Python with footnotes- yes footnotes!) But once I got into it, it was good reading. The ending was exciting without being over-dramatic (I imagine an Americanized version would have many more explosions.) And I think it was a good start for the journey. One restriction I've decided to place on myself is that I'm going to be checking out all the books from the library. My local library sucks, however, so we'll see how that goes.
In project news, I've got a few things finished but not photographed. I've also got a bunch of things started, but not photographed. Until I get my ass in gear, I'll leave you with two photos I do have.
Here's a finished Calorimetry from waayy back in February:
And here's a Randy Reindeer hat of my own design using the chart found here.
I've got some socks, a tank, and a shawl on the needles and a finished Buttony sweater, which I'm about to feature on the One Size Knits All blog. But no photos yet, so you'll have to check back.
I've never claimed to be a domestic goddess. In fact, I've never claimed to be domestic at all. It's much easier and much more fun to go through the motions- baking cakes and cookies, melting crayons with the kids, sewing comforter covers, etc. All those things make me feel like I'm being domestic, and more importantly, make me APPEAR to be domestic without having to do all the hard work.
It's not that I don't like cooking and cleaning every day for my family. It's that I Hate cooking and cleaning every day- for anybody! For the short time I was home after the birth of each of my children, I literally felt myself going nuts. "Housewife" is something akin to "Prisoner of War" as an occupational option to me.
There's a reason the ancient tale of Sisyphus is a cautionary one. You screw up, you have to push a boulder to the top of a mountain every day for eternity only to have it roll down to the bottom just in time for you to start pushing it up again. That's housewifery my friends! It never ends. The mountain of laundry and dishes never goes down. The mouths are always hungry. The floors are always scuffed or sticky. Every time you finish, you are right back where you started.
It's much easier for me to use this as an excuse to not try. If it can't be perfect, why should I spend time on it? I could be knitting, or painting, or sewing, or doing something else that has an actual finish line.
Except it shouldn't be perfect. It won't ever be. But I can at least make it better.
I just read a study that found gifted/talented kids set themselves up for failure because they think if something doesn't come easy, it won't come at all. The concept of hard work is foreign to people who never have to try hard. I can see this attitude popping up in my psyche wayyy tooo often.
I guess that's the lesson I should learn from Sisyphus: instead of trying to keep the boulder at the top of the mountain, I should try to push it a little more each day. I might not get to the top, but if it backslides it won't slide too far.
I don't know what the deal is.
I can't seem to get on the whole "Thrift Store" bandwagon. It's not that I don't come across awesome thrift store redo projects all over the blogosphere, and then become obsessed with trying them until my head explodes and I need to go lie down.
It's the stupid thrift stores around here. I can never find anything worth saving in there. Maybe I don't go often enough. Maybe people around here are cheap (they are). I just don't know.
There's another blogger around here that has no trouble finding great things at the thrift stores, but she's not giving up her sources. Maybe she's just beating me to the good stuff. Maybe my aspirations are a little high.
You tell me.
Here's my thrifty wish list:
dining room chairs- any condition
outdoor furniture- any condition
dress form (yeah, I know. In my dreams.)
picture frames, dishes, decorative items to revamp
Am I being unreasonable?
I've started a new blog (Yeah, this is getting out of hand).
I'll be featuring knitting patterns that look great knitted up on a variety of body types. I'm open to suggestions and testimonials.
You can fin it at:
www.OneSizeKnitsAll.blogspot.com
Leave some comments while you're there, but I'm going to moderate so don't bother saying anything bad because it won't see light of day.
