Fire and Flight

Sticking with the post-parent rebellion I'm currently enjoying, I went and got my tattoo started this week. It was oh so much fun! It was supposed to be incredibly painful and sore, but I sat through the whole session just fine and today I don't even really remember that it's there. Until I smell it. It's got that A+D stuff on it and it smells like a wet dog at times. Uhhg. But it's not bad. I'm completely pleased with it. It needs a bit of touch up, which will happen in a couple of weeks with the fill-in, and the tips need to be extended just a bit to make it a bit more symmetrical, but not bad at all. I had it done by my friend Molly who just finished her apprenticeship to another awesome guy and is now fully able to professionally tattoo and charge you for it! She does awesome work, so check her out if you are thinkin' of getting a piece done.



The symbolism of the tattoo is one that I've been working on since I was seventeen. It has the Celtic symbol for inner strength and also triplicity of being as is the popular idea today. That also ties in with my Celtic heritage that, while muddied considerably, still is pretty strong for me. The curling fire represents emergence and passion, 'cus who don't love passion! Seriously though, passion is important in any artists life and I draw on mine continuously. The tattoo also has a yin yang element that of course represents balance and duality. That's a no brainer for me. The fire unfurls to represent wings which carry four meanings- the phoenix, which is one of my favorite mythical and metaphysical creatures and also ties in with the fire; flight, when I dream, my dreams are of flying and are usually remembered for a long time after waking and they also are my favorites; freedom, also felt in my dreams while flying, but something I have also come into realization of as my inheritance as a human being in the last few years; and Air, which is the element of my zodiac sign Gemini. So appropriate, too, if you know me at all.

And that's about all for this post. On a side note, Fall is finally here. It swept in on first fallen leaves rustling in the wind. The first day this week was a perfect cold, grey day with just enough sullen beauty in the sky and earth to be appropriately chilling. In the old pagan beliefs and many other earth born people's today it signified the slow fading of the Old God as he made his decent into the Underworld. The Dark Mother began her reign over the land and winter settled in, blanketing the ground until the God was reborn and emerged from the Goddess' womb to cover the Earth with new beginnings. Sigh. I love all the old stories.

Take that eHarmony!

I was going to post my thought on this, but this article sums it up well enough in it's first half. All you ever wanted to know about the scandalous eHarmony and its reasons for not allowing same sex couples a chance on its site.

Pretty f'ed up if you ask me.

Oh, and I love the guy's incredulous look. Reminds me of times not so long ago when I dared. Yup, same look. Lol!

Officially Official

What does the word "official" mean to you?

To all the knitters at the Mondays@7 group, it means that we now are officially sanctioned (oooooo!) by Barnies and Noblies and acquire all the perks theretofor... allowed us. Lol. We will be meeting "officially" (we defy them to keep us from meeting every damned Monday night, ha!) the first and third Mondays of the month, at seven pm, in the south-east corner of the store with a wonderful spread of the mountains visible out the windows behind us. A few expressed their dissatisfaction with our new locale, but I'm quite happy with it.

So there.

Moonlight and a Faun

"...alles ist einfach, alles ist leicht, niemand wird lernen wenn niemand verzeiht..." (everything is simple, everything is easy, nobody will learn if nobody forgives)~ Faun~

So I have another new music obsession. One of so many here recently, I don't blame you if you think I've jumped off the deep end of music blogging and will never come back. I will come back. Eventually. Actually, I just need to get this stuff out there so I can free my tired old head from the nagging "Omgblogmusicomgblogmusic!"

Faun is a group I had maybe heard of before, but I don't know that I ever actually checked them out. They are a German folk music group who's sound has been referred to as "dark Enya." This is probably due to their classification as a goth rock band with a contemporary Celtic sound. As last week I received their CD Totem released just this year. Having now listened to their haunting tracks thick with the rich cultural flavor of ancient Germanic tribal sounds, I can say that they definitely are darkly Enya-esque but by no means do they copy the amazing singer. They have made a name for themselves. When knitting to this CD, I imagine sitting in a grove surrounded by a dark forest which hides all kinds of faerie folk, beautiful and airy, but also dark and shadow bound. Drumming puts me into a semi-trance where the simple repetitions of knitting move to flow to the rhythm. Definitely a highly meditative, and I suppose spiritual, soundtrack that appeals to that dark satyr in me. Makes me happy.





On a whim, I also snatched up Amethystium's new CD Evermind. I don't usually go for electronic/synth/heavy ambient since I figure that's better at a rave or far out club. But this one is so masterfully done I can't help but love it. It gives my apartment an "otherworldly feel." Almost like I'm sitting in the middle of The Dark Crystal or Pan's Labyrinth. The electronic sounds blend over and under each other on so many levels. To follow just one layer is tough since you will more likely find yourself distracted to a whole other level of the song. Each track fits its title so well. Click here for a sample of what I'm talking about. I usually am disappointed with how unlike the track title the music usually is that I ask "What? Did they just randomly slap on a name? Wtf, mate?"



These CDs didn't disappoint though. If you feel like walking into another world while going about your daily activities (i.e. cleaning, reading, knitting, working out) Evermind is a great CD for that. Enjoy the samples I left. Totem should help you get into your deep, dark otherself and fall away from the visible world and the brightness of all we call real. I appologize for the lack of material to play for ya from Totem, but check out the website, it's just as good.



I end this post on this day dominated by the darkened, new moon with a recommendation. Check out The AntiCraft. It's one of the coolest, goofy-yet-gothy sites I've found. They will be coming out with a book in November this year. Can we say excited! They put out a webzine that updates around eight times a year. It's very comparable to Domiknitrix. My favorite for a while was the End of Days Kit, but my love has grown for all their craziness! Sit back and enjoy all the twisted crafts they have given the equally twisted WWW.

Hat Started and Finished!

This took me only five hours. I started it numerous times, but I finally finished it last night and this morning. It's a superfine nylon/acrylic blend on US 7 needles. And yes, I can work in the round!

And here is a really dumb picture of me modeling it. Sigh. Why I do these things is unknown. By the way, the lip of the hat is rolled in this picture. Looks like a really small hat...

New Scarf Now in Color

Here is a little emo-ness for you today.

Lol. This is Pon and Zi. They are cute little emo characters created by Azuzephre (Jeff Thomas) from Deviantart. They hit a huge popularity boost a few years back with the online art community that is DA, and have since blown into the mainstream. There are a horde of sites dedicated to Pon and Zi and their cartoons can be found all over the internet. I've left you a bunch of links, so enjoy and keep reading.

I have a new project that I may or may not have mentioned to all webdom. It's my crazy new Halloween scarf!

It's simple, yes, but oh so much fun. It's what I've put into the "grunge" pile to work on at knitting group or whenever I'm doing something that takes a bit more concetration than I can devote to my current UFO. I'm using the orange merino/alpaca blend yarn that I won from A Knitted Peace, and the chocolate highlander wool that I later went back to purchase from AKP.

And that concludes my quickie post on current projects! I'm so efficient.

New Look Brings New Confidence

Okay, so this will fall into the random life and craziness folder, but have you ever just gotten a huge boost of confidence because you changed something about yourself and it turned out to be immensely complementary to your image? For example, a new haircut, a tattoo, new clothes, a boob job, a new workout routine, a mani or pedi, new piercing... You see where I am going with this. Well readers (and adoring fangirls and fanboys), I have recently had two such confidence boosters. You will have noticed the painful lack of any author imagery on this blog and it is because said author has been so bored with his looks that he has merely decided to waive the author picture. Well, no more. As of today, you will notice a new addition to the sidebar and it sports a likeness of His Shmexiness, myself. Now I have revealed my scariness to the world. *Munsters organ music* Yay, confidence!

*-* WARNING *-*

Intense bouts of insanity brought on by muchhappiness evident below. Not for the faint of heart or easily bored. You have been warned. Now go on and read it like you intended to anyways.

I know a lot of my friends who have seen me in the last twenty-four hours will just roll their eyes at this post. It has been an intense few days of reveling in my new look and the afterblast is smoking out the crowd. But I am still reveling, so on I shall revel to all you who have the patience to listen.


I had started with the image adjustment process a few weeks ago when I went shopping with the ever adorable girlfriends of mine, Molly and Joanna, and I tried on a pair of sexy pants... get this... in a size smaller than what I have been wearing! Woo knitting! Why knitting you ask? Knitting has given me something to do with my time besides eating, and often encourages me to walk to my Barnes and knit there, requiring some form of physical excercise. Thus, a trimmer me. With this trimmerness has come a desire to reinvent myself a little. So, I needed a haircut and what did I do? I got one. Duh. I got a fauxhawk! And after the many stares and adoring fans at my favorite bar, JR's, I decided to go another step in the transformation process. Can't stand the suspense anymore? I got my ear pierced! Bam!

*-* Attention *-*

Insanity levels decreasing. You are now safe to take interest again. Wake up, dipwad.

You are now wondering "what the hell is the big deal?" There is a long story behind all of it, and you know I would love to go into detail about it, but I'm not gonna. Simply put, I got to do some things I've wanted to do for years but were never allowed. Now I am free to do what I will and every new exploration of that freedom gives me a boost. The new look has been excellent for my self confidence as people now tell me I look older. Crank in the points! Gone is the 18 year old highschooler look. Thank the gods! I've now graduated to the college kid block. Sigh, new wardrobe someday will help dispel that bracket and move me up a bit more.

*-* Yo *-*

You can go get some coffee.

I am done here. I think I'll move on to a quickie post about my new yarn and project. Yay!

*-* Warni-- *-*

Well, maybe not. Thought I saw the insanity level skyrocket for a sec. God, I need a new job...

Daughtry!!!

Wow! I'm still excited and I've already been to bed and back! Last night was the first actual rock concert I've ever been to, complete with an amazing light system and phenomenal speaker system. And what concert was I at? Daughtry!!


It was held at the Colorado State Fair in the events center and the festivities began at the early hour of eight pm. It was a massive setup. Not as big, I'm sure, as others, but by far the biggest I've ever been to. I've no idea how many people were actually there, but it was enough to fill the place up almost completely. It was an awesome crowd that sat there through an hour and a half of opening artist Day of Fire. I was no big fan, but their songs weren't bad. After the screaming headbanger music and a surprise appearance by Chris Daughtry, the lights came up and it was a rough half hour 'til the lights came back down and everybody pulled out their cell phones to catch the first appearances. The lights flared on revealing Daughtry's stage set with it's industrial back alley look, and the group walked on to a massive roar that rose from the crowd below. A little warm up, a little "we love you Colorado" and we settled into the concert that slowly built up this amazing energy. It was contagious. We knew the minute the drummer tore off his t-shirt, the music reached a frenzied crescendo, and Chris Daughtry pulled open his shirt that the party had truly begun!


From that point on it was one song after another of Daughtry's amazing talent and Chris' amazing voice. He is so much better in concert than any of his songs played in any car or on any stereo could ever let on. His voice has a real, masculine power that sucks you in and then blows you away on a wind of energy that is like flying out of yourself! The band members that back him up through it all have talent that is coveted and envied greatly as far as I am concerned. They complement his style and ability excellently. Chris' stage presence is a winning piece, too. He walks the stage reaching for his fans hands, not missing a beat or step in the whole song, and manages to put real emotion into his performance that makes you want to really feel what he feels. It was an amazing experience I can't wait to repeat!

There were, of course photos taken and video snapped, so I'll post all of that to the blog when I get it (Joanna has it). Check out all the stuff I've linked to below for Daughtry. It's so worth it. If you haven't heard these guys... SHAME!!




Daughtry Home

Daughtry Music Video- "It's Not Over"

Daughtry Playlist (opens new window)

Template Poltergeists

So, many may wonder what the hell is going on with all the pretty stuff that used to make up my blog's template. I'll tell you. It's a poltergeist! Screwy thing just keeps messin' up my layouts. I believe most of this is in part a conspiracy of the Web Lords who own the webspace on which my layout dwelt. Polter decided to haunt there, and thus the resounding chaos. I since left the groovy layout to find its own way in the WWW and have stuck with a supplier closer to home. Until I have built a template in my own kingdom, I will just have to use the borrowed one from Lord Bloggertemplatebuilder. In short, if you see things goin' screwy, just sigh and pray for my soul. Who knows, I may end up possessed if Polter finds his way back.

There will be other changes soon. Enough that I really don't want to go into detail and will simply let you all know when we've hit the stable state. It may be a while...

Summer's End, New ReStartings

Yes, I know it's not a word. It's a blog, for pete's sakes!

I have a lot to blog about today, and I don't know how much I'm gonna get out before I have to take off to new and exciting adventures here in the wild world of Littleton, CO. The library may close, but my day is not yet over! All sorts of new things to chat about; knitting, knitting group, thoughts about the end of summer, a new find on the WWW, etc.. But I should just start already.

I was walking over here today and it was a tad chill out with a nice breeze blowing through my styled and long-but-needing-to-be-cut hair as well as the trees, though I think my hair looked cooler than a bunch of half-turned, rustling leaves. Ah, such an ego booster. After my moment of shallowness, I noticed that, technically, Fall has already hit us and the Autumnal equinox is fast upon us with Mabon on the 21st of next month. Aaaaaaa! What happened to keeping track of the year? Climate-wise I think Summer is finally bidding us farewell as it trundles off to sleep. Here come the wood sprites and their crazy paint buckets full of all those warm browns, yellows, reds, and oranges. Craziness.

Last night was our knitting groups Monday meet, just like every week, and actually was a bit sparse due to school starting, boyfriends needing some lovin' time, errands, and a general pooped-outness. The Old Faithfuls were there with Molly, Jan and Valerie making up the posse. Molly made some progress, finished actually, on her sweater while Jan played with some gorgeous new purple yarn and Val stitched away on her wrap. I stopped over to the table for a lunch break and then went back to making drinks for the sleepy grouches who give us so much business at the coffee shop. Can't help but love them.

During lunch, I put an idea out to our girls about taking our group Barnes and Noble official, and they loved it. Easy. If you missed my last post, you can check out the pre proposal ideas I had here. In discussing plans and ideas for our proposal, we came out with the following ideas: we'd meet every week on Monday at 7pm; it would be open to everyone, men and women; we would discuss a minimum of one book per month with a project available and encouraged for everyone to mess with; we'd have reserved seating and full facility use as well as a spot on the events board and in the newsletter and website; and, as facilitator, I can give everyone a lot more access to books that they need, info on the group, a contact base in case of a problem, and the opportunity to pull in both local authors and touring ones as well. Can I just say "Yes!" I'm very excited. And that's putting it mildly. For me.


Besides all that craziness going on with the group, I have a few new things to cheer about myself. I went to my local knitting store, positioned, conveniently, down the street from my apartment last Saturday with some friends, and won a raffle! The only guy in the store won a knitting raffle. How awesome is that? What did I win, you ask? Three balls of alpaca/merino blend yarn in a harvesty orange color and the book The Knitting Goddess by Deborah Bergman! It's totally synchronistic as I had just ordered the book from Barnes. Ah, karma.






With that yarn I have started a fall scarf that is thick and chunky and is hordes of fun to knit up. This on top of my new hat project from a design given to me by Molly. It's done on my first set of circular needles and the yarn is a nylon/wool blend. Soft, but a bitch to knit with. It keeps splicing on me. Grrrrr. It'll be cozy when it's done. I don't remember if I tallied my scarf to finished or not, but the pink lovely is done. I hope to add a fringe to it, since four-year-olds love fringe. When that's done, I'll have a pic up for ya all.





I've got a couple other projects in the back of my head on a to-do shelf. They are a lovely halter from the Hollywood Knits book done in a black pima cotton yarn for my bff Ashley, and the tank I have a picture of below done in grey and black. My grey will be a shade darker, but basically the same. I say this shirt on Adam & Eve's website and said "I can knit that." So, I'm gonna.

Damn computer is telling me to get off. I swear, I could spend eight ours a day on this thing and not bat an eye. Damn regulators. *string of curses*

Rufus Wainright Made Me Knit

I have a new love when it comes to music. His name is Rufus Wainright, and for some reason I keep mistyping his last name. Sorry, buddy. I also have some new news on our Mondays group and the stuff I want to implement. I'm gonna dish on Mondays first I think.


Our Monday night knitting group get togethers have been awesome thus far and have sparked interest from other Barnes & Noble customers. I've had four requests just this last week for info or about whether or not we teach and so on. Tonight I'm going to put an idea to the group for decision and polling. I think it'd be a smart move to make our group a sanctioned Barnes & Noble Event with all the perks and benefits. I hesitate to make this decision on my own only because I feel there are a couple of cons. One is that we kind of lose our anonymity and become public, which means anyone will be able to join. Now, while I'm not saying that we are a picky, bitchy group that chooses who and who not to let into our knitting "tangle," I think being that open may be a bit of a problem for some people. And so, a discussion. Two on the cons list is the censored approach we will have to take with new members since B&N will shut us down as an Event if we aren't "family friendly." I think this will be an easy one for everyone, but it does take some of the fun out of the bitch time we all love. We'll see. I've done up the proposal for B&N and will be handing out for vote tonight. For a looksee at my store and the hangout for our group, check this out.



One big change I would love to make is the ability to play our own music for our knitting group. With this option, as unattainable as it really is, we could share music that we like to knit and listen to during our groups. My current favorite is the handsome Rufus Wainright and his newest album Release the Stars. He is an out and fabulous performer/song writer/musician with a very unique style reminiscent of a seventies singer all with a modern mix of orchestral and rock music to back him up. As the hip Aussies say, "So flash!" I've left you all some links to his site and a popup playlist below. Listen to the boy's music. It's scandalous, heartfelt, and passionate. You will fall in love, guaranteed!

Click and Play!

A Game For You!

Yay! I love games like this. Sadly, I like like games like this maybe a little too much. If I said I filled this out three times before I posted it, would you think I'm crazy? Aww, too bad for you that I didn't, huh? Can't call me crazy now. Well...

My adopted Mom tagged me. She runs the ever colorful and knitty Emma's Daughter Designs Blog with the newly added Etsy shop. If I tagged you, make sure to copy the game from my blog and post it on yours. Then tell me 'cus I suck at checking up on stuff like that.

The game is SCATTERGORIES … and it’s harder than it looks! Here are the rules:
* Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the questions.
* They MUST be real places, names, things … NOTHING made up!
* If you can’t think of anything, skip it.
* You CAN’T use your name for the boy/girl name question.
* If your name happens to start with the same letter as mine, sorry, but you can’t use my answers!

1. Famous Singer/Band: Smashing Pumpkins
2. Four letter word: Shit! One of my favorites, especially when screwing up a drink at work.
3. Street: Sycamore St.
4. Color: Scarlet
5. Gifts/Presents: Spa and Skin Care Products- Seriously, any kind!
6. Vehicle: Scion xD
7. Things in a Souvenir Shop: Shot Glass
8. Boy Name: Sasha
9. Girl Name: Sharpe (makes me giggle... kinda)
10. Movie Title: Stardust!
11. Drink: Saki
12. Occupation: Ski Instructor
13. Celebrity: Siefried FischBacher from Siegfried & Roy
14. Magazine: Style Watch
15. U.S. City: San Francisco
16. Pro Sports Teams: San Jose Sharks (hockey team)
17. Fruit: Silverberry
18. Reason for Being Late for Work: Shower went a bit long.
19. Something You Throw Away: Starbuck's cups
20. Things You Shout: Shweet!
21. Cartoon Character: Spongebob Squarepants

Seeing as I don't know a lot of your email addresses (shocking), I'm gonna pawn it off on ya'll to just post it and then link back to me so I can read whatcha put. Fun fun!

Another Mondays@7 Meet

I think having this Mondays@7 thing every week really picks up the days for me. Mondays are no longer a drudgery or a day to stay inside. I want to be out, be working, or shopping, and building up all kinds of energy to throw at my work while ticking off the hours with my local "tangle." That's the term I've obsessively adopted when refering to a herd of knitters. Like it, you have no choice! *sinister laughter

Last Monday was a suprisingly more upbeat and exciting one. I didn't think that was possible with all the new blood we have. I think our three hours we spend there get shorter every week. There was talking, talking and more talking, as always. We decided to start implementing a weekly book review done by one of us each week on a knitting book from our favorites list. Valerie has volunteered to pounce on the first week and hopefully we'll have someone all over the next. With the ample supply of knit-craziness our group possesses, I'm sure it won't be hard to fill a few months. I for one am reserving the week in October after Debbie Stoller's Son of Stitch 'n Bitch rolls out in Barnes.

Thanks be to the knitting gods on behalf of all men out there!

Also, I'm exploring the idea of having a group page where those of us who check in on stuff or feel like contributing to a group blog can post, shout, or vent on our events abroad in the knitting world. I looked at Google Groups today since I'm not a huge fan of MSN or Yahoo!. If anyone has any ideas, this would be the blog to post them on. Or tell me next week. On Monday, at 7pm!

Next on my To-Do List: Blog about our Sock Contest Winner, change a few mechanics to the blog, and look for a brand new look for this thing.

New Religious Artifact and MenWhoKnit.com

Today I received a sacred relic. It was given to the first Google blogger, Moser, when he scaled Mt. Sitemap to receive sacred instruction for the migratory Nation of Bloggers. Here is the sacred .Gif he received.

In case you are having issues reading the sacred text, I have rewritten it for you, unabridged, below.

1. You shall have no other Blogs but me.

2. You shall migrate to the New Blogger for it is a land of milk and honey.

3. You shall not misuse the name of Google your God.

4. You shall upgrade to the new template to seek salvation for your blog.

5. You shall submit your blog to the search engines and ping them after every post.

6. You shall not delete a blog lest it be taken over by spammers.

7. You shall not copy-paste old blogger templates into the New Blogger layouts.

8. You must not steal content even though you may be "inspired" by it.

9. You must back up your template BEFORE and AFTER any changes to the template.

10. You must not be envious of your neighbor's blogs or his template.

Just a little something I found while browsing other blog help sites. Worth a good laugh, I do believe. I also spent all day on MenWhoKnit.com and even got my first blog entry off. I was initially kind of worried I'd be a lot out of the loop and maybe just chatting around with a bunch of odd people with no lives, like me, but all fears were banished when I got on and read a few of the newcomer's entries and read through some of the project ideas that these guys had going. So refreshing and totally inspiring! It's actually a "cool" community made up of some pretty diverse and interesting people. 'Twas most invigorating. I can't wait to jump on and start discussing new ideas to start on with these guys.

MenWhoKnit.com was the only major "all-guys" knitting community I found while online searching through Google. Maybe I just didn't spend enough time looking (I would think a good hour would be long enough), but there it sat, the sole guys-run, guys-oriented knitting community for, wait for it... guys! Guys, check it out, join it! Girls... sorry, I'm afraid you'll just have to check it out.

Also discovered on (ta-da) MenWhoKnit.com was this fantastic read about the connection between knitting and religion. Initially I thought I'd end up a little steamed (I'm so bad at being open minded sometimes) just because I assumed it'd be a little preachy, but I was rewarded for my adventurousness. YugiDean makes some very insightful points.

Scary Knitting!

Who can resist a good video with such craziness? Found this on YouTube after seeing a shoutbox comment on MenWhoKnit.com. While some of these may seem out of taste for some knitters, I find them hilarious and brilliant! Maybe it's that scary "dark" side of me comin' out. Enjoy, feel horrified, or poo-poo it to your hearts' desires! lol

New Knitters

Okay, so I'm not going to blog every knitting group. (lol) Just the maiden voyage ones, which means I'll post... who knows!!!

Our group last night was small, but a lot of things came up for everyone, work being the biggest. Bernadette did show up and with goodies too! As she so eloquently quipped, anything to satisfy a sweet tooth! Josh, Joanna, and Kim all stopped by too, so our party was random but much fun. Next week we'll try for Katherine and Sunny. And maybe we'll actually get Josh to knit!

The Last Knit

Bit long, but I couldn't help it! Pray I never get that bad!

Next week- scary knitting!

Current Projects and Intended Projects

This is my table at home with the only two projects I have going right now all over it. That's also my stack of books over which I pour endlessly, soaking up all the cool designs and patterns I can't wait to try my hands on! On top is the Knitter's Handbook and it is my most recent and favorite addition to the pile. It's got everything I need know on stitches and the like and has already helped me figure out where I have screwed up on a few things.



That pink "thing" siting in front is the beginnings of a scarf (for whom, I'm a bit torn over) that has actually gotten quite a bit more done to it since this picture was taken. It's done in a mistake rib and alternates between two skeins of multicolored pink hued yarn. I've spent about four hours on it by now and figure it'll take another six or seven if I'm diligent and don't screw it up. The nice thing about this multicolored yarn is that I can screw up and even I don't notice until I start really looking for it. Sweeeeeeet! The yarn I'm using is Dark Horse Yarns' Fantasy, 50% nylon/ 50% acrylic blend. It feels incredible, so soft and light. I'm almost jealous of whoever ends up with this.



And in a pile behind it all is the Harry Potter scarf I started in July. It's so close to being done it's ridiculous that I don't just finish it! Soon, and then I shall photograph it in all it's glory!



As for future plans, I have a whole lineup of stuff I want to do for Christmas, most of it easy and fun, and also some socks, a black and grey striped scarf/hat/gloves combo for me, and something orange for Halloween, for me too, of course. Lol.

I love being able to make stuff specifically for me!

Tuesday Night Success

Well, Tuesday was a hit. I think the total count was nine, though a couple people who showed up later on didn't knit. It would have been ten, but dearest Katherine was at home with bronchitis. We are more than okay with that absence! It would be an utter tragedy for us all to get flattened. But the newbie was missed. Next week.

Raechel was the only one close enough to finish anything last night, and managed to knock out a sock! Now on to the next...

Joanna was all over her first scarf and looks like she's got the hang of it. She went a long way from where she was last week. These pictures are from a coffee break she and I took to teach her the basics. I ended up learning stuff too! Like how I was knitting everything all wrong. Sigh.

Here are a couple pics from the middle of the action. Rae, Jason, and Kim, and then Valerie, Molly, and Joanna, of course. Quite a group. Conversation ranged to all topics including, but not limited to, work, family, the world domination of knitters, favorite music, utterly hated music, and so on. We even got some true stitchin' and bitchin' done! We are a resilient group it seems as we weathered everything from the anti-knitting harassment of Joe and Cassie in the Cafe, all the way to a few goof ups on our patterns. Jason seemed to be dominating that department (lol), but we all expressed some amount of dismay as we missed a stitch or purled in the wrong place or just plain screwed the hell up! I even learned how to make an I(diot) Cord, which apparently was so named because you really would have to be knitting like an idiot to make something that cool. Had a lot of fun with that one.

We all seemed to really have a blast and most of us seemed to want to do it again. So we've set the date for next Monday, August 13th. Same place, and again at seven pm. Hopefully we get another great turn out, though I am confident we'll have a roarin' good time whether it's two of us or as many as twenty.

See everybody there!

Creation- Knitting the World

Ha ha! I had to post again. One just wasn't enough for today. Actually I just checked my Google Reader, and saw that Willa from over at the Knitting Zen Blog had responded to my request to post her creation myth on my blog. I loved it so much I had to ask, and Willa was awesome and said okay. She also has her own Etsy shop called Intentional Charms full of handmade charms, earings, and other cool stuff.

On a side note- I love Etsy! So many crazy individuals with their own flair and brilliant knicknacks.

Back on topic. Here is the story as told by Willa. The original post I found can be seen here.

Enjoy! And thanks, Willa!


Knitting the World


First Daughter was in a foul mood. She and her sisters had drawn straws, and she had gotten the short one. Consequently, she had been given the task of knitting the earth, and it was going very slowly. The stitches would not come easily; she seemed to knit and knit and knit, and never get anywhere. Miles of stitches. And the brown and green yarns were boring—yard after yard of greens and browns, endlessly spooling from the needles. She yawned. Why couldn't she have gotten to knit the sky, or the sea?


Second Daughter was knitting the sky. Stitches of blue silk flew from her needles, punctuated with fluffy tufts of cloud and the occasional jeweled bird. She laughed to herself as she duplicate-stitched a flock of geese into the fabric, creating tiny v-shapes with silvery gray thread on top of the blue sky.


Third Daughter was knitting the sea in pools of emerald and sapphire, spumes of foam rising from her clicking needles.


The Mother walked among them, fingering the cloth, occasionally correcting a stitch, pulling it straight, and stroking her daughters' smooth heads as they bent over their work. Second Daughter smiled into the sky, pulling a length of white wool from her workbasket and knitting it together with the sky blue silk to make a cloud. With sudden inspiration she selected a shiny silver yarn from her workbasket and began fashioning the lining for the cloud.


Third Daughter looked up as the mother approached, and leaned her head into her mother's hip. The Mother smiled down on her and fingered the fabric that was rolling off her needles. Third Daughter was working a cable into the fabric, creating an island in the center of a gleaming silver sea. Miles and miles of sea pooled around her, green and blue and silver; she looked up and, seeing Second Daughter knitting the sun into the sky with golden wool, she chose a lighter shade of gold and began to knit the sun's reflection into her sea.


First Daughter threw down her needles. "Why do I always get the boring jobs?" she asked. "Second Daughter and Third Daughter get the pretty blue and silver silks, and I get the boring, lumpy green and brown wool. It isn't fair!" The Mother walked toward her. "Why do you complain so?" she asked. "Every job is worthwhile. The sea is beautiful, and the sky is beautiful, but the earth is beautiful, too."


The Mother picked up the bolt of fabric that was First Daughter's knitting. The knitting was lumpy and bumpy, having been knit of roughly spun wool on heavy needles, so unlike the smooth silk of the sky and the sea. First Daughter tried, but she couldn't help comparing her knitting to her sisters'. "Can you fix it for me?" she asked her mother. "Will you?"


"It was your job to knit the earth, Daughter," the Mother said. "You have to do the job that is given to you, no one can do it for you."


"Then I quit!" said First Daughter, and flung her knitting down and flounced away. Without a hand to smooth it, the knitting lay where it fell, in lumps and bumps and piles, forming furrows and hills and valleys. And that is how the mountains were formed.

~ Willa Cline, February 23, 2006

At Last- The Apartment

I finally got some photos posted. I apologize for the first slide in my show. Slide didn't do the greatest job sticking with Photobucket's edits. But if you crane your neck to the right, it kinda makes sense. I take no responsibility, however, for any chiropractor bills you may run up. You crane at your own risk!

Enjoy. It's a wonderful little apartment in downtown Littleton. It was quite the steal. I'm looking forward to Halloween and Christmas when the town's main street (my street) will be lit up and decorated with thousands of lights or crawling with little gouls craving some candy.

Knitting Contest

Allright people! I've been given the uber fun task of creating a contest with the sole purpose of coming up with a name for the pattern for this lovely pair of socks-

Give me a name!!!

This contest is being hosted by Bev over at Emma's Daughter Designs and the winner will be provided with a skein of J. Knits sock yarn. Use the email link at the bottom of this post or send an email at mousebrat2006@gmail.com with "Knitting Contest Entry" in the subject line. One entry per person, please. The deadline for submitting your entries will be Saturday, August 18th. Any comments or questions, you know where to find me. Hint- use the email link. lol Good luck, all.

Send me an email here.

I've had a couple new knitters sit down with me and start their own projects, so there will be pictures coming! Also, just to kind of put this out there, though I know most of you already know this, we are getting together to knit this Tuesday night at the Barnes & Noble on Wadsworth and Bowles around seven-ish, I think. It's still kind of in the works, but a few people have expressed interest in knitting as a group, myself included, so this is our crash course attempt to do that. Feel free to drop by, we're not cliquish.

Tell Me What You Think

Like what you see? Feel stimulated by what you read here? Fallen in love with the author?

Or...

Maybe you hate the look? Want to hear a wider range of topics? Or loathe the author's new profile pic?

Then leave a comment, blog readers! This is the place to tell me all about what you'd like to see in a blog such as this one. Constructive comments are always welcome, senseless comment violence will be dealt with by my good friends, the Blogger Mafia. If they exist. Seriously, give me a piece of your educated mind and I'll try to see where I can improve my iSpace. For the good of the reading public!

Go in peace, earthling.

Updates and a New Web Address

Hey all, as you may have noticed, I have changed the layout a bit. lol



These are just to get the feel of my blog's template and will probably change again. I bought a book called The Rational Guide To Google Blogger by Wei-Meng Lee and it's gotten me on my way to having the whole lineup. I'm working on Atom syndication, site counter and statistics, and template adjustments with html editing.



I'm also toying with the idea of including AdSense. I'm not sure I like the idea of ads on my blog yet, so for now it's no.



I have also changed my web address for the blog. It is now http://www.ispaceofstrange.blogspot.com/. Any links to my blog that you may have added in the past will be null and void. Sorry!! I promise not to change it anytime soon.



Whew, almost done. I am going to put up a permanent "Tell Us What You Think" entry where you can leave a comment on what you like or think I should change or topics you'd like to hear more about. I may have that up today, maybe not.

That's it for now, guys. 'Til next post, Strange out.

The Art of Emma's Daughter Designs

Emma's Daughter Designs is a well established, Wyoming-based company specializing in knitting design and patterns and set in the wind-swept plains of, surprise, Wyoming. It's owner, founder, top designer, and general head honcho is none other than the lovely Bev Warner, or, as I like to call her, my adopted mom. Mad props to her! And yes, I am buttering up said fabulous designer, simply because, as my adopted mom and a great artist, she is fully entitled to it! She has also been one of my biggest supporters and helped me in so many ways I can't count. Truly a great mom! This paragraph has the potential to be much longer, but on to company and its products.

The name is a tribute to Bev's mother and carries with it all the love you would expect from a company built around such devotion. A portion of the proceeds pulled in by EDD go to support a charity (and I apologize for the lack of accurate info) supporting women with, I believe, breast cancer*. There is some serious blood, sweat, and tears that have gone into the whole process of owning this company, though I can definitely say that the end results are fully enjoyable and rewarding.

*Note: I will be sure to update this entry when I have a to this charity.

Bev's designs have shown up alongside other great designer's on sites like J. Knits, a company specializing in "creative hand-dyed yarns" on top of their patterns. Just on a side note, also check out Julie's of J. Knits blog. Other sites include Knit Picks where EDD's Amhra’n Gra’ Sweater is featured, and The Knitting Vault with it's own collection of EDDesigns. Below are some pictures of Bev's finished products, most notably the Amhra'n Gra' Sweater which graced the cover of a popular knitting magazine (apologize again, will update). Enjoy the eye candy!

"Amhra'n Gra' " (Love Song)

"Farmer's Wife" and "Yoga Socks"

"Day Dreaming"

Another sock design and "Just a Whisper"

"A Cold Day In *Miami"

Attention Knitters!! Bev is also on the lookout for test knitters for some of EDD's new patterns. Anyone looking for a fun and unique knitting challenge should visit her blog entry Patterns by Emma’s Daughter Designs. She will supply the yarn and a pattern as well as provide a free copy for you when the pattern is published! All interested best move along and check it out.

Clouds and Storms

I had to post a quickie with a picture of some amazing clouds that billowed in as a preview to the amazing storm we had yesterday. All the hot weather and low pressure systems we've had move through in the last week made for some really neat skies. Yesterday, late afternoon, we had a huge storm blow in complete with thunder and beautiful lightning. The grumbling clouds sounded like great mythic titans battling and cursing at each other over our heads. The lightning was often close enough to hear the crackling as it leaped from cloud to cloud. I was dumb enough to not have camera on me, but I don't think it would have helped much since it was mostly grey and monsoony. I don't think my camera would have lasted long in the rain. So I'm including a picture of the day before and the big massing clouds. Enjoy!

Book Review- Knitting

Every so once in a while I like to drop the names of a few books and or authors that I either enjoyed reading or found very helpful. With my current obsession with knitting, I have picked up as many knitting books as I could find and devoured them. I think I scared the other knitting books away since I've kinda hit a slow spot in the reading feed. Here are a few, although definitely not all.


Stitch n' Bitch by Debbie Stoller is an excellent "for beginners" book that covers the first steps to knitting in a fun and easy-going manner. I loved this book for it's fast and fun approach to a craft that tends to feel a little dated. Or used to, in my case. The book brought knitting into a modern sense and also threw in a good base of patterns to knit that aren't difficult and give a lot of opportunity for practice. Debbie has quite a collection developing in the Stitch n' Bitch line of books including Stitch n' Bitch Nation, The Stitch n' Bitch Design Journal, and Son of Stitch n' Bitch which I have listed below.

Son of Stitch n' Bitch also by Debbie Stoller is one that falls into that category that has eluded me. I will find you soon. Until then I have contented myself with reviews on the book and pictures of completed designs from its pages. This is another of Stoller's works that does not fail to impress. I can't wait to sink my fangs into this tender morsel.







Knitting With Balls by Michael Del Vecchio is an instant favorite in my book! This guy has tackled the knitting scene and "masculinized' it. The projects, going far beyond the sweater, hat, and scarf pool we were formerly limited to as guys, have a modern and edgy feel and are varied enough to please any guy looking to fill up his list with knitting projects. I was in heaven when I found this book.







Domiknitrix: Whip Your Knitting Into Shape by Jennifer Stafford is a fantastic read that every girl and adventurous, fierce lad should have in their collection. While the title suggests a female-dominated list of patterns, I found a healthy amount of designs geared at young guys and their insane, dark, and totally cool tastes. This book is a crazy read right from the vinyl cover to the gothic page layouts inside. I personally recommend the mohawk hat! Also checkout the Domiknitrix website for more crazy fun.





The Natural Knitter by Barbara Albright was a book I picked up in an effort to learn more about knitting with natural fibers, no fakes, pesticides, chemicals... or bones about it. It covers a ton of information on organically produced fibers from animal to plant and even tosses in a section on dyeing them naturally if you so choose. She had very helpful comments on which fibers would work best for what and even what their micron size was! If you are contemplating spinning, this book has a chapter to help get you started. Overall, the tone of the book with it's environmentally friendly tips on how to support organic and local producers and it's knitter friendly suggestions and advice made for a relaxing and informative read.


And that concludes my reviews. Also, for any of those guy knitters who stumble across this blog or any of their curious lady-friends, there is a site design specifically for the men and their projects called Men Who Knit. Check it out as well, I think it'll be a neat way to connect with other ballsy knitters!

Harry and The Knitting Engagement

Okay, corny title, I know. But they serve a purpose. A purpose in the master plan brewing in the great mind of Shawn! It's great, but not complicated. I have a Midnight Magic Party to go to this weekend and I'm going as a regular wizarding... wizard. I figure a nice English-looking outfit should fit the bill along with a hand crafted wand that still isn't quite what I want it to be. Yet. To top it all off, I am going to be adding a Gryfindor house scarf (yes, my house! ha ha!) that I knitted! This sucker is gonna take me all the way to the last minute to finish, but only because I'm a sorta perfectionist and I ripped it out four times. First one was to fix the initial size which was actually pretty close to what I have now (dumb, dumb me!), the second, to fix a couple major problems and third and fourth, to change the pattern completely and make it a rib instead of a garter pattern. Looks hordes better! And I got the pattern right now, too. I'll be saving this sucker. I am being chased off the computer though, so I shall adjourn and fix this baby up with links and proper punctuation and grammer!

What's My Creative Potential

Beauty doesn't require prettiness. Some pieces of art are not pleasing to look at, and yet their content and form are arresting and lure the heart into profound imagination.

Thomas Moore

I read this in a book I borrowed from the library called Spirit of the Home by Jane Alexander. It's all about how to turn your home into a place of comfort and protection with a connection to that sacred, spirtual part of you as well. It's a great book, what little I've actually read. I've mostly enjoyed the pictures of perfectly constructed home interiors with a kind of magical feel to each one. I'm a sucker for enterior design. I've often thought, while looking through similar books, that maybe I shouldn't go to school for that, too. But that's too far off the point for this paragraph.

This phrase by Mr. Moore is how my view of art and, subsequently, life, has developed since college. I think I might even have had this universal view already in place before I went to school, but it took a few good professors to wring it out of me. I remember sitting in class on day one of Intro to Art History and the professor handing out these pieces of paper. He asked us to profile ourselves briefly and to put our philosophy on art at the bottom in less than ten sentences. I had no clue what to put then and I still don't really know what I'd put now, but that day was the starting point to my discovery of what the world of art meant to me.

Interesting person this Thomas Moore. Here is a piece cut from Wikipedia's entry for him-

Thomas Moore (May 28, 1779 - February 25, 1852) was an Irish poet, singer, songwriter, and entertainer, now best remembered for the lyrics of The Minstrel Boy and the The Last Rose of Summer. Born onthe corner of Aungier Street in Dublin, Ireland over his father's grocery shop, his father being from an Irish speaking Gaeltacht in Kerry and his mother, Anastasia Codd, from Wexford. He was educated at Trinity College, which had recently allowed entry to Catholic students and studied law at the Middle Temple in London. It was, however, as a poet, translator, balladeer and singer that he found fame. His work soon became immensely popular and included The Harp That Once Through Tara's Halls, Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms, The Meeting of the Waters and many others. His ballads were published as Moores Irish Melodies (commonly called Moores Melodies) in 1846 and1852.

Also not mentioned in that cut was the fact that the man is also Ireland's National Bard. His views and ideas expressed in his work follow Ireland's views and ideas as a national culture. Our own National Poet here in America is Walt Whitman, but more on him some other time when I get around to feeling in the mood to write about him.

Back to the original quote. Moore is right on when he says beauty is not always pretty. There are many paintings and works of art that youmight look at and think "wow, that is not attractive at all, and yet,it makes me curious to understand the meaning behind it." That is one of the great accomplishments in the art world when you can createsomething that reaches out to the mind of the viewer no matter whothey are or how unatractive the piece is.

It works this way in life as well. Those people we initially judge as shady and up to no good, i.e. goths, bikers, all those emo punks,might be some of the nicest kids/people you will meet. They understand a side of reality that most people never explore. They feel familiar and comfortable with that dark, emotional, or hard and rough edge of life and choose to embrace it. It doesn't mean they are any less of a person or that their morals are off. Without the dark you cannot have light. Light cannot exist without something to be contrasted against.