lifelong knitter

All Better...

Just needed to vent and KNIT

a little Fake-Isle
and count my BLESSINGS!

Listening carefully...

to an audio presentation of
Portia Iverson's book
Strange Son
about her quest to help her autistic
son....

From the box:
"An inspiring tale of the power
of two mothers' determination
to find hope
where there was once
only despair"

I'm going to go out and get
the book if I can find it
and donate it to
the lending library
of our local libraries...
Great reference material!

Eerily, her experiences
are SO much like mine
and so many other
parents of Autistics...
it absolutely AMAZES me
that our actual experiences
are completely discounted
by the *studies*
meant to reassure...
oh. nevermind.

I found this UTTERLY
depressing.

Fascinating if you want
a glimpse inside my world
perhaps,
but I've been there,
done that,
have the t-shirt
that says
My Children are from
the Autism planet
and all I got was this
( ) t-shirt.

I so very rarely get provoked
into this kind of rage...
it really shocked me.

It just reminded me of what a LONG
strange disrepectful trip the last 25 years
have been.

I need to go knit.
I have a WICKED headache.

I now know EXACTLY why I will never
write *the book*
about my journey
through this maze.
I'd be too nice
and tell all the positive stories
and leave OUT
a lot of what is in THIS book
to spare both the reader and myself
the PAIN.

This is of course,
my opinion
based on my own life experience.
Your mileage may vary.

gasp!

I got THIS in the mail
and am truly
speechless.

LOVE at first listen!

Just got the new Beatles LOVE
cd and dvd audio discs...
WOW.

Reading the liner notes,
I discovered that the project was
FUELED by a love of
Motor Racing!
So, of course....
now the connection to Cirque
made sense!

The version of While My Guitar
Gently Weeps is
AMAZING.

Socks that ROCK!

and banks that don't....
check the harlot's blog or WENDY
or go to Blue Moon Fiber Arts...
(um, you bankers out there? Just GOOGLE, dearies.)
THEN, after you've read the tale,
consider the ramifications
of putting your money where your
treasure lies....
Seriously, folks.
Let's find out just WHICH bank
will take our money, and which one won't.
Small businesses depend
on being able to transact business
in a professional manner....
I'm still so annoyed
about this
I think I will have to go
cast on with some
SOCKS THAT ROCK yarn....
and knit in the bank lobby ;)
Care to join me?

Knitting, Actually!

I cleaned up all the drool from my desk
and managed not to short out my keyboard...
those folks at Apple Inc.
just ROCK my world.
whew!

So, the KNITTING.
right.
Inspired by THIS
I remembered how much I wanted to knit the ruana
from Folk Shawls when it first came out.
Then, I don't know,
I must have been distracted by all
of the AMAZING things being knit
around the blogosphere,
I forgot...
(oooo a shiny thing...
what?)
Yeah.
Lots of good bloggers have pledged to
at least deplete their stashes,
if not actually STOP buying yarn
until they use up what they already HAVE
(can you imagine?)
and in my quest for balance,
I think I've come up with the
PERFECT project:

So far I have used Silk Garden, Cascade 220, and several
delicious skeins of Handspun.
The garter stitch is great
for carrying on a conversation
at the new Starbucks
and the color changes
are just random enough to keep me
fascinated
(perhaps even keep me from
noticing some new shiny thing
passing by....)
well, NO, probably NOT.
I'll have a ruana
when all is said and done,
and perhaps a tiny dent in the
worsted weight blue/purple/pink section
of the STASH.

UPDATE: The Daughter has been offered a
PAYING job for the summer, 20 hours a week!
We are ALL delighted with this
win-win-win
situation!

oh,droool!

The phone and TV
of my DREAMS....
FINALLY!
go here and drool.

Love music?

Do you have strong *opinions* about what
Good music should be?
Want to listen to a whole bunch of new music
without spending all of your tuition money on itunes?
Go here and have fun!
Tis rather addictive,
but don't say I didn't
warn you ;)

Daughter is safely back at college,
all of the checks have been written,
so it is back to WORK for me!
(and uh, yeah, back to open that box....
such FUN!)

Rain=movie day

It's the new math, people.
(Sorry, I'm totally dating myself with that comment and the giggling, after.)
The Daughter bird decided that the proper way to celebrate the last day before returning to the Nest
at College....Year Three, Semester TWO...
(Pause to say a Novena to the Miraculous Mother Mary)
was to eat at Red Robin
and see a MOVIE.
We had decided on Eragon, but the movie theatre website
was wrong, and so the 12:45 matinee turned out to be
Night at the Museum.
WOW.
She was on the edge of her seat the whole time,
and I was LOVING it.
What a GREAT movie.
When the credits were over
she stood up and said
*Okay, now it is time to PACK UP!*
I have an appointment at the hospital first thing in the morning
for a recheck
on the Bite of Unknown Insect Origin.
Which is MUCH better, thanks.
Seriously.
SO much better than I rode my new
Christmas present to myself.
A good way to start on Rachael's project!

Open to the Possibilities...

Today is Daughter Bird's
job interview.
I just went back and reread that,
thinking about how miraculous
this is.
She has an actual job interview
for a summer position
to do a job at which she will EXCELL.
One that matches her strengths and
bolsters her deficits.
She's nervous,
and spent a fair amount of time
picking out the right outfit
last night before she went to bed...
To which (as a proud mamabird)
I say....wooHOO! Happyhappydance!
She totally *gets* the idea that she needs
to dress appropriately for
this important meeting.

Over the Holidays, I took a fabulous
workshop at our local yarn store with
Chris Bylsma
called Stashology 201.
The ideas have been percolating in my brain,
and the other night I had a vivid dream
about what I would create
with those ideas...
I cast on yesterday,
and am thrilled with the
beginning of the emerging fabric.
More details and pictures
once it actually starts to LOOK
like something.
Hint: I'm using at least 25 skeins,yarns, hanks
from my STASH!
and Chris...
I AM trying not to overanalyze,
really I am.
My brain is struggling with the idea
that it doesn't have to be mapped out ahead
of time,
but just like this job interview,
I need to be open to the POSSIBILITIES
and not limit myself to what I already
THINK I know how to do..

Just in case you are wondering, the Grand Opening of the new
STARB*CKS just down the road was a total bust
this morning.
The sign says Open,
but nobody and no coffee
there.
This post was created
entirely
without caffeine.
All claims to lucidity have been dissed.
sigh.