Fight or Flight

It was Miller Time...

2009-07-20T15:38:00.007-04:00

I said the other day that I was going to go get my crochet on while sitting on the porch outside the bar and I have proof! Kathleen, the scarf exists! Everyone was like, "What the f are you doing, Grandma?" Ohhh, but it was soooo nice out. I never understand how the bar could have people in it and the porch is empty! When the weather is like this, the only people inside should be the ones waiting for a table outside! You can read all about the yarn and the scarf I'm making in this post.

I finally gave up on crocheting under the influence when I started making boo boos. Fear not Kathleen, it has been frogged. It was no biggie, though because I was only about 4 shells past the screw up.

It's Miller Time.

2009-07-13T18:44:00.007-04:00

I've been slacking major on posting stuff, but with good reason. Mr. Flight and I had some drama, but it's all water under the bridge. I posted about two feet of a rambling blog entry last week, but then I committed the cardinal sin and took it down. It was too personal and I didn't want a reminder of a shitty ass week on my blog for all posterity. It doesn't matter anyway because we're better than ever now, so it's all good.

I'm on my way to go sit outside on the porch of the bar Mr. Flight and I work and finish my friend Kathleen's one-skein scarf that I started in April. Just a couple hours of double crochet and it's done! She'll be sitting pretty well in time for Fall. I also have work to do for the museum, so I'll have my laptop with me too. Will I get work done? Probably not. Will I crochet and drink Miller Lite? You can count on it.

So I haven't posted pictures in forever like I mentioned in my last post, so I figure it's time. I think the iPhone takes really good photos, but for some reason Mr. Flight thinks it takes shitty photos. I think he may not have the steadiest hands. (But I love you regardless, Boo.) I will however post this blurry-ass picture of me that Mr. Flight took because I look skinny as a mofo. Oh yes, I go on the divorce diet and I think I'm hot shit. Ahhh...vanity.

I love technology

2009-06-25T22:13:00.004-04:00

Picture me singing that like Kip from Napoleon Dynamite. I just got an iPhone and boy do I feel dumb. I'm trying to set it up now, when I should be doing my laundry. I wanted to set the Apps before I threw my laundry in, cause I was going to play with it while I sat at the bar next to the laundromat.

Fast forward: Okay, so now it's two days later. I was going to finish my post, but I was about to be locked out out of the laundromat. This phone is rad. It does everything. It was funny because Mr. Flight played with mine and bought his own the next day. It's even funnier because he's the "I don't have cable" variety. I'm really glad though because that means I can just ask him how to do stuff rather than have to figure it out myself. I mentally check out around electronics. The downside is Mr. Flight hasn't looked up from the phone since he got it in his hot little hands. It's kind of cute though, he's all super jazzed about it. The phone also takes really good pictures and ever since I moved into my new apartment, I haven't been able to find my camera. (Note the the lack of pictures on the ol' blogger lately.) So problem solved on the lost camera for now.

I'm starving to death. Kubiac eat now. (Parker Lewis Can't Lose, anyone?)

Shameless plug for Joan and Victor!

2009-06-16T16:40:00.008-04:00

Because I met two extremely awesome people last week, I'd like to give them a little plug. And yes, I do mean little. (I know how many people read this blog, okay?) They are the founders of the Carbon County Cultural Project and generally amazingly interesting and hospitable people. Here's a description of the CCCP ganked from their website:

Located in a former wireworks factory, the Carbon County Cultural Project (CCCP) is the destination for people who enjoy unique spaces, modernistic design and contemporary American cuisine. As home to FLOW restaurant, we are proud to have become the premiere Art and Food destination in northeastern Pennsylvania.Built c.1850 as a wire mill, and later home to a silk mill and dressmaker’s factory, the Carbon County Cultural Project has undergone extensive renovation from its industrial origins to the present art gallery facility. The CCCP gallery space features emerging and established artists and Stabin Morykin Gallery offers a permanent collection of paintings and limited edition prints by famed international artist, Victor Stabin.

The CCCP also offers workshops that can be taken for Act 48 credits. Here's the most current one:

Mr. Flight and I went up there last week to eat and I had such a good time. The building itself is so, so neat.

See:

So go! Eat, learn and look at art.

Public Service Announcement

2009-06-14T13:25:00.017-04:00

NOTE: The boyfriend will now be referred to as Mr. Flight. It actually is quite fitting, since Mr. Fight (my future ex-husband) was/is a total dick and loved to fight, whether that meant arguing with me or actual fist fighting with others.

Mr. Flight on the other hand is sweet and kind and smart and thoughtful and-get this-he goes birdwatching.

note: not an actual photograph of my boyfriend birding

(he doesn't own hats nearly that cool, or hang out w/ young boys)

So now I don't have to simply refer to him as "my boyfriend" or worse,
"my new boyfriend".

I hope I can finish this post before my brain explodes.

2009-06-08T10:47:00.006-04:00

Holy. Shit. Am. I. Pissed.

Now that the divorce-y stuff is getting underway, I told (soon to be ex) Mr. Fight to get his own damn car insurance, cell phone plan, bank account, etc. I mean, I wasn't a dick about it, I was really trying to be as patient and accommodating as possible about the whole thing. I wasn't the one who had to get the new plans, policies, etc., because everything was in my name to begin with, with the exception of the car insurance. The policy we had was mine before we met and then I added him to mine, since he was on his parents (natch). He texted me a week ago maybe and told me he took care of the car insurance. Oh, he took care of it all right.

Well, I've been going through all my online stuff and changing the passwords, not only to keep him from screwing me in whatever way he can think of, but because the password was our wedding day. It was bothering me to have to keep typing it every time I went online. That day was apparently not one of my better days for decision-making. Anyway. So there I was changing my password and I wanted to check how much my car insurance was now that Mr. Fucknut was off of it. Are you ready? HE CANCELLED MY CAR INSURANCE AND LEFT HIMSELF ON MY POLICY. Oh, yes. Instead of getting his own policy with the same or a different company, he just deletes my car off the policy that I've had for over seven years. I've had no car insurance for the last week. Nice. Thank goodness I checked. I mean, the problem was easily solved, I just called up and cancelled his car and put mine back on. I thought about sending him some psycho angry text, but that's not going to be as fun as letting him think he has car insurance when he, in fact, does not. I'm pretty sure he's too stupid to realize he isn't getting a bill. Also, this way I don't have to have any contact with him, which is one of my top priorities.

At first we were trying to be all cool to each other, but as soon as he realized that we were totally, totally over, he stopped being so...cordial. Unfortunately we still have to deal with each other quite a bit, since right now we're not only still technically married, but we had a lot of intertwined shit. Luckily we didn't own anything and I'm willing to keep all the debt so it was only small stakes stuff, like the cell phones, car insurance, etc. I was talking to him a couple weeks ago because he wanted me to give him my engagement ring back (uhh...which I bought myself, but I said fuck it) and he kept asking me if I had a new boyfriend. I told him yes, but didn't give any other details at the time (don't worry you'll hear all about him soon enough) because Mr. Fight is a fucking psycho and I didn't want any stalker shit. I knew he was only asking me because he wanted to tell me all about his new girlfriend. You ready for this one? This totally beats the car insurance, but I've known about it for a few weeks so I'm not pissed. Actually I was never pissed, when he told me about the new girl I couldn't stop grinning. Ok, here it is.

My lowlife future ex-husband is dating a 16 year old!

Ummm...illegal much? (Not that I don't do illegal shit, but I think this rule might be a good one.) Disgusting much? I feel bad for this poor girl. No, I really don't. I should. As a teacher I am appalled, but as a goddamn human I'm appalled too. How skeezy. The reason it made me smile was because it just validated all my feelings about him. He was a fucking loser. Loser. Loser. What a joke. He goes, "All I have to do to keep her happy is buy her a pack of cigarettes once in a while." She sounds perfect for him. Then when he got off the phone he goes, "I've got to go, I've got little girls to fuck." Isn't that sick? And he met her on Myspace. Of course. I think there's a government database that might need his name.

Wow, my brain didn't explode. Right on.

Say my name, say my name...

2009-05-29T15:34:00.003-04:00

So every time I hear my last name it makes me want to hurl. Walking around with my soon to be ex-husbands last name is grossing me out. I need to change it, but I don't want to use my maiden name either. My maiden name (like from back when I was a fair maiden? What a stupid archaic thing to call it) is my father's last name and my mom and him split when I was a baby. He is total degenerate and I haven't seen or heard from him in over 15 years. When I was about to get married I was thrilled to get rid of that name, but I cannot stand to use my ex's name for much longer. When I give tours at work and I say my name it's hard to get out of my mouth. I stopped calling myself "Mrs." which was a weird feeling. Do I say Miss? I think that since I was married I am a "Ms." by default.
Anyway, I decided to use my mother's maiden name. It's a cute name and sounds very British. (Well, because it is. It reminds me of Miss Moneypenny from James Bond.) I have been digging around for my birth certificate and I hope that is enough to change my name. My concern is that I'd be changing my name to something I've never been called before, and I don't know if there are extra steps I have to take. Oh boy am I looking forward to fun filled day at the Social Security office! What a horrorshow that place is. I can't wait to get a new driver's license! I never thought I could feel so good, so soon after something that I thought was supposed to be traumatic.

I've returned from restructuring.

2009-05-28T17:13:00.004-04:00

So, where have I been? I only have a second to post something, so this will be the Cliffs Notes version of the last month and a half. Mr. Fight and I are totally, totally through. And I feel amazing. I moved out on May 1st after 3 awkward weeks of living together after the initial 5 days of, "get out and stay out." It was hard and scary and lonely, but it was the best choice I ever made. I basically spent some time drugging myself with Valium for a bit and when I came to, I was okay about the whole thing. I wasn't going to look for anyone to be with to take my mind off of my husband, because I've seen girls do that after a bad break up and it always seems to do them more harm than good. I just wanted to be alone and mope and face my fears. It wasn't so bad. I got a job bar tending and I don't have some deadbeat on the couch sucking me dry, so I am not as stressed about cash as I used to be. I mean, I'm still "big picture" poor as shit, but I can pay my rent with ease now, which is nice.
So there I was all content with my choice and feeling okay about everything and the most wonderful and unexpected thing happened. I met someone! Yay! I have never once found someone that I wanted to share my life with when I was looking for someone to share my life with. It felt so right because it was just so natural. I know it seems super fast, but by the time I left Brian, I realized I was already over him. My romantic love had turned into this caregiving love and the husband/wife shit was already long gone. I tried to keep my guard up with the guy I met, but after one day it felt like I had known him a million years. None of the weird awkwardness that can come with a new relationship. I won't go into detail yet, but I feel the happiest I have ever been. He went through a pretty traumatic break up recently and we have a similar perspective on what a relationship should be and what our last ones were missing. I won't gush about him here (yet), but I could. So be happy for me, because my life rules.

Life is short.

2009-04-13T10:47:00.004-04:00

I'm not sure how to say any of this or what even I really want to post, but things are deteriorating hard and fast in my home life. My husband and I have talked about getting a divorce and that's really all I'm going to say until I have more of an idea about what's happening. I'd rather not say anything here that I would regret later. There was no single act that made me finally tell him I wasn't happy, but it's been 6 years of hardship and I finally realized that I'm just not that strong. I can't be strong enough for both of us anymore. I'm tired of always being the responsible one.

On Monday of last week we were having a fight about me getting a second job, which is a fight we've had before. His unemployment is going to run out, he hasn't gotten approved for disability yet, so that money is a long way off and I don't make enough to support us even with his unemployment. To support our household, we really need two jobs. If he isn't going to have a job, well that leaves me with getting a second job. The first time I brought it up he-get this-forbade me from doing so. It would be too damaging to his ego. "No wife of mine is going to have two jobs." Well then get off your ass and get a motherfucking job. Even while applying for disability you are allowed to earn up to $900 a month. Uhhhh... that would help! I would have thought the shame of me needing two jobs would be enough to motivate him, but no. So Monday, after realizing we had $24.00 to make it almost 2 weeks for two people, I brought it up again. He got all pissed and crazy and was screaming and told me to get out of his face. So I left and went to a friends house. I came home later that night but we didn't discuss anything. When I came home the next day, we started the same fight, since we never resolve anything because he finds grown-up conversations too upsetting. He'd rather ignore everything. So the fight starts up and this time he says, "I'm out of here." I basically said, don't come back. I hate to play childish games like that. If you leave, you better fucking mean it, or just calmly say that you need some time to think for a while and you're going to go cool off at a buddy's house. I can't deal with the drama queen shit.

After he left he stayed gone for 4 days and 5 nights, but then in a moment of total loneliness and weakness, I let him come home. I have taxes that have to be done that I need him for and his name is on the lease, so I can't really throw him out, but he knows that just because he is physically in the house, does not mean things are okay. It's weird because it isn't like I hate him. I'm just not happy and after 6 years, I don't ever see anything changing. We are who we are. I felt like after 6 years of eating shit, I am just all full. It was weird like I hit a brick wall. I was fine, fine, fine, then bam. I had a "what the fuck am I thinking" moment. It was like a switch got flipped inside me and my capacity to take his bullshit was maxed out. Sure it rocked his world, because in his mind, he's like, "What's the problem? I always act like this." And I'm thinking, that's the fucking problem. I feel dead inside. Used up. Like a hollow shell of the girl I used to be.

So basically this was the long way of saying, "I'm smoking again".

Wordful Wednesday

2009-04-01T10:24:00.005-04:00

This was my last pack of cigarettes.

I've decided to quit smoking. I've done it before and I think this time it's going to stick. I started smoking around 4 years ago and I quit after getting sick last February. I was laid up in bed with a horrible virus and by the time I stopped puking, it had been 3 days since I had a cigarette, so I figured I quit. It was not hard for me to get over the initial quitting, but it was hard for me to stay quit. My husband smoked around me all the time and eventually, I caved. First it was one or two a week, then day, then I was back. I didn't start up again until July, so it's only been 8 months. Hopefully that helps. What I think is going to help the most is that this time, my husband is quitting. He decided to quit on his own, which is a positive thing because I know you can't quit til you're ready. We need the money. It costs between $400-$500 a month for a couple to smoke. That's fucking stupid.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVED smoking. I truly enjoyed it. I just like money more. So, it's been 9 hours and thirty two minutes since my last cigarette, and I feel fine. Mr. Fight and I decided we are going to treat ourselves with gifts equal to the amount of money we would have spent on cigarettes to keep us motivated at first. I'd say, "Wish me luck", but luck has nothing to do with it. I'm a tough cookie and I refuse to let something like cigarettes be the boss of me. I know I'm stronger than that.

For more Wordful Wednesday vist Angie at:

Give me your web address, url or whatever it's called!

2009-03-24T12:18:00.005-04:00

Arrg. I just took a look for the first time at the person's blog who has the url (is that what it's called?) I wish I had. I was attempting to link to my blog and I accidentally put in fightorflight.blogspot.com and I finally saw the blog that uses that address. Mine is THEfightorflight.blogspot.com, because what I wanted was already taken. She hasn't posted anything to this blog and it hasn't been active since 2002. That doesn't sound that long ago, but how cow, it's seven years! I wish there was a way to get it from her, but I can't bear the thought of redoing my widgets anyway, so I guess it wasn't meant to be. It's too bad that inactive blogs with zero posts don't go back into the system at some point. Say, after six years.

New yarn...YUM

2009-03-21T22:50:00.023-04:00

I went to the Kraemer Yarn Store today! Always fun! I love to shop there since they are so knowledgeable and helpful and always polite to newbies. I have never felt put off or intimidated to ask questions there. They have a clean, bright, well organized store, with an amazing discount bin of off-weight skeins! The purpose of my mission was to pick up a skein of Tatamy Tweed DK, in the taupe colorway. I am making Kathleen the One Skein Scarf from the Stitch 'n Bitch: The Happy Hooker book. The pattern is also available free from the Jo-Ann's website, so go forth and make one-skein scarves! It is the best pattern evar!

So I picked up a nice skein of the taupe color but soon noticed a discount bin calling my name. I saw that it was a full bin of the very yarn I was holding! The discount bin holds yarn that doesn't weigh quite what it should, either too little or...too much! Typically the Tatamy Tweed costs about $6, but the sale priced balls are $3.49! I found a sale priced skein of the exact color I needed and when I took it home it actually weighed in at 115 grams, or 1.15 skeins! For less than what I would have paid for 1 skein. Awesome!

Here is said yarn:

Tatamy Tweed DK, Taupe
(Look Kathleen, I got you one with a LABEL. Fancy!)

But of course I couldn't stop there.

Tatamy Tweed DK, It's a girl, $3.49

Weighing in at another amazing 110 grams or 1.1 skeins!

These next two balls came together:

Tatamy Tweed worsted, Navy Tweed

Weighing in at 71 grams, .71 of a skein!

Tatamy Tweed worsted, Flannel Tweed

This ball weighs in at 100 grams or a full skein!

This and the navy ball were $3.49 TOGETHER!

And I couldn't resist more of the black colorway, of which I already have some stashed:

Tatamy Tweed worsted, Black Tweed

Weighing in at 157 grams or over a skein and a half!

Did I mention it cost $3.49?

Ok, so I saved the best for last. Sitting all alone in the sale bin was this beautiful ball of Fountain Hill Brushed Mohair. Are you ready to hear what it cost? ONE DOLLAR. I took it home and weighed it and I was shocked. It was the deal of the day. A full skein of this yarn costs either $10 or $12 dollars and weighs 100 grams. This ball weighs 93 grams! For a DOLLAR.

Fountain Hill Brushed Mohair, Surf's Up!
93 grams!

I love new yarn! Sure it'd be nice to buy whatever I wanted at full price, but I got all that yarn for $14! The Tatamy Tweed is a dream to work with, it feels so cool and soft moving through your fingers. I like to make small things, too, so for me it works to have small quantities of stuff on hand. However, they also have beautiful bags of "sweater quantity" in the discount bin too, also for rediculous prices. Thank you Kraemer Yarns! I love you!

Stash bags, con't.

2009-03-21T22:41:00.006-04:00

Remember a few posts back when I mentioned I was going to take the stash bags down to the tobacco store to see if they wanted to sell them? No dice. The guy was polite, but clearly not interested. He obviously liked them, because I could see him reacting as I was pulling them out of my bag. He seemed to like the rasta one the best as it warranted a smile.

Maybe he was feelin' irie. Then again, maybe not, since he basically told me where I could put them.

I'm a 21st century digital girl!

2009-03-21T22:31:00.003-04:00

I got my laptop! Whoo-hoo! I had no clue how to use it for the first few days and my husband has been consumed by his new software for burning dvd's and making new covers for them, since apparently our new computer (or something in it) lets you take screen shots from the movie you are watching. He is starting up a little cottage industry where he will be distributing rare horror and punk concert movies and he is thrilled to be able to make jazzy new covers. When he is ready to go public, I'll post a lot more info. But anyway...I'm back!

I also got a new banner and button! The button is so cool you should put it on your blog! (How did you say? Just copy my code on the sidebar!) My always fantastic friend Kathleen from Katydid and Kid made them both for me and she can make you one too! She will make them for cash or reasonable trade, so if you want your blog to look rad like mine (I know, I know, I get a new button and my head swells) head on over and ask her to hook you up!

Thanks Kathleen!

Computer go boom.

2009-03-15T12:14:00.003-04:00

Moments after publishing my last post, my computer apparently broke. I went out to buy printer paper, which I haven't bought in what seems like years and I came home to my computer making a horrible noise. It was fine that morning while I was writing the post, but I guess things often seem fine until the minute they break. Since I obviously have no resources to get my computer fixed or buy a new one, I figured this was the end of computing pour moi. Amazingly, my awesome mother offered to buy me a new computer for my birthday, which is actually months away. I try to be extremely self sufficient, but sometimes I let myself take a handout. I picked out a laptop, which should be here tomorrow! (I am writing this from work- shame, shame.) So if you tried to email me or reach me via computer somehow, I should be back up tomorrow.

Some finished Stash Bags

2009-03-09T11:00:00.005-04:00

The one in the back didn't photograph well, but it is the black "felted" bag from the post below. The tan one is my fav and I'm still working on the rasta one.

We'll see if this is lucrative.

Felting-sort of.

2009-03-02T15:06:00.009-05:00

I took a bunch of pictures as I was making my first crocheted-then-felted project, but somehow they aren't on my camera. In lieu of the photos, I'll give you the blow by blow.

I started out with Jo-Ann's Sensations Kashmira yarn, 100% wool. I needed to hold two strands together, but I hate working from either end of a skein, so I decided to make some center-pull balls. I did take pictures of this, but just use your imagination.

How to make a center pull yarn ball:
Take the tail end of your yarn, about 6 inches or so and make sort of a fist around it with the four fingers on your left hand so the tail hangs out the bottom near your pinkie and the other end is coming out the top above your index finger. You really just want to keep the tail end out of the way. Next take the "working end" of the yarn, the end that is coming out of your fist near the index finger and begin wrapping it around over the top of your thumb, keeping the wraps loose enough that you'll be able to get your thumb back out. You are also still holding the tail end in your "fist". Now just keep wrap, wrap, wrapping until you look like Little Jack Horner. You can pull your thumb out if you want, but just keep your thumb sort of in the hole, so you don't wrap over the hole where your tail is going to come out. Amazing!

Now that I had my two balls wound, I started off with a simple pattern for making a "stash bag". I just chained 13 with my H hook, did my first row of sc, sc into the "butts" of all base chain stitches and kept spiraling around until it was as long as I wanted. Then I chained like 12 or so to make the little loop and sl st to finish. I will add a button for the loop as soon as it is dry. Unfortunately there is now no picture of the bag pre-felting. Wahhhh....

Then I took it into the bathroom and filled the sink with hot soapy water (I used plain old dish soap) and rubbed rubbed rubbed until I could see the stitch definition getting fuzzier and the holes between my stitches had fused together. I didn't want total stitch definition annihilation, so I stopped there, but I can see how rad this would be with a washing machine.

Submitted for your approval:

Ok, now that I uploaded this picture, I'm a little disappointed. It looks pretty normal and un-felty. I swear the stitches were all big and open before and now they've closed up. Whatever. Don't believe me.

I was thinking about making these and taking them to the store down the street that sells glass "tobacco" pipes to see if they want to sell them so the potheads don't break their bowls. I mean, "tobacco heads". If I could sell them one for like 5 bucks and they could maybe sell it for 10 bucks, that would be sweet. I can make one in like an hour, so that's about what I'm used to getting paid.

Superstar!

2009-03-02T11:34:00.010-05:00

I was tagged by Kathleen over at Katydid and Kid to be a part of the Rock star club.

Here's how it rolls:

1) Go to Wikipedia and hit the random link on the left sidebar, under the navigation heading. The first article you get is the name of your band.

2) Go to the website The Quotations Page. The last four or five words of the very last quote on the page is the title of your album.

3) Go to Flicker's Randomizer feature. The third picture, no matter what it is, is your album cover.

4) Use Photoshop or another photo editing software to create your album cover.

5) Post your album cover on your blog, along with this text. Be sure to nominate at least 5 friends (by leaving comments on their blogs with a link to your post), and tag me, Fight or Flight, by leaving a comment so that I can see what you've created.

Drum roll please....

For those of you wondering what PARD6B is:
Par-6 partitioning defective 6 homolog beta (C. elegans), also known as PARD6B, is a human gene. And I know I was only supposed to use the last 4 or 5 words of my quote, but I couldn't do that to Kurt Vonnegut. I am quite please with my new band. I play the cowbell. I've got a fever, you know, and the only prescription is more cowbell.

My rock stars:

Amoena @ It's About Me, Amoena (as usual! I can't help it, I frakking love her blog!)
Karrie @ Knit Purl Gurl
Laura @ I am a refined young lady!
Victoria @ suffering from nostalgia (as usual!)
and in an attempt to help a friend revive her blog which she hasn't been posting to lately...tsk, tsk
Rebecca @ youer than you

Have fun!

Fin!

2009-02-28T11:45:00.015-05:00

With my husband anxiously looking over my shoulder, I finished the "Priest Zombie" last night:

I redid the eyes that I burned (see yesterday's post for more on the priest zombie) and decided to needle felt the white collar thing, cross and blood.

Here's the "Priest Zombie" and the "Corporate Zombie" at home on a shelf in our kitchen:

As long as we're talking priests here, you may have noticed the nice picture of the Virgin Mary below the shelf:

Or was it Jesus?

It's basically the sweetest Jesus/Mary hologram ever, courtesy of the Pennsauken Mart (read: dirt mall in Jersey). When I went to my friend Bonnie's house for the first time years ago and saw the same Jesus/Mary hologram thing on the wall, I knew we were soul mates.

Zombies!

2009-02-27T17:04:00.012-05:00

My husband purchased me the book Creepy Cute Crochet, by Christen Haden for Christmas and so far I had only made the Grim Reaper for my brother:

Apparently my husband actually only bought me the book because he wanted an army of creepy cute zombies in our house, not because he thought I would really like it. Which I do, so it worked out for both of us. he has been begging for more creepy cute monsters, since the only one I made, I gave away. I finished the "Corporate Zombie" two days ago, with a few modifications. This is what the real corporate zombie looks like:

This was made by Ravelry user RSPS (you will need a Ravely account to view link).

I left off the hair, per my husband's request and changed the skin color to green. I used Lion Brand's cotton yarn and the colorway for the face is Avocado:

The pattern calls for the tie and blood to be cut from store bought felt, but I decided to needle felt the tie and blood instead, since I had the stuff at my house to do it that way. the eye is made from white and black polymer clay and the eye and mouth are in embroidery floss.

After I made that one, my husband was full of ideas for more zombies. His next request was a priest zombie. I think he wants me to make all the main zombies from the Dawn of the Dead or Day of the Dead. I'd have to watch the movies again to see what accessories would be required to distinguish the different zombies. I finished most of the priest zombie in a few hours last night.

I had to improvise on the jacket and collar, but I like how it's coming out so far:

I can see I've crocheted some cat hair in too...oh well. I made the eyes and the white "priest collar" thing, too:

But I was blogging while they were in the oven and I forgot about them, so now they're burned garbage. I might use the eyes anyway, since a zombie might wave torn up eyes, assuming he's been through a lot that day. I will either remake the "priest collar" thing out of clay or needle felt it.

If it stays in one piece that long:

I don't feel secure at all!

2009-02-24T16:45:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I took the day off work to support Mr. Fight as he applied for disability. Oh, yes. A fun day at the Social Security Office was had by all. Yes, the one downtown. To kill time in the waiting room husband was going from person to person and making up reasons why each person was there. The Social Security Office downtown is usually full of some pretty interesting, uh, "characters".

I won't go into detail about what he was saying because it was pretty rude, but there was a Wolf man (think Eddie Munster) and some Mickey Rourke looking guy with a leather jacket with all the fringe and silver circular things hanging from it, so you can use your imagination. It was pretty funny. Before anyone gets upset, let me tell you my husband was looking like no prize. He was in rare form actually. He went bald in high school (yeah but he also had giant mutton chop sideburns in middle school) and he always shaves his head and wears a hat. Always. Even around the house. In his mind, he thought it would be a good idea to make himself look as pathetic as possible for his disability interview. He let his hair grow out for a few weeks and it was all scraggly and he didn't wear a hat. It was full on male pattern baldness on a 26 year old. I've never seen him like that. I mean, I don't give a shit if he's bald or not, but it's funny to see your husband with a "look" you don't know. He also has been growing this crazy beard all winter, which is now like 3 inches off his face and looked really nice with the hairdo. The decision isn't up to the lady who interviewed him, so looking pathetic wouldn't really help or hurt his case I don't think, but it was funny to see him cultivate this "pathetic look".

Anyway, Mr. Fight had to recount every job he has ever had since he was 14 in 1998. The lady was asking him stuff like how much money did he make at each job and what type of hours did he work. He didn't even remember some of the jobs! After that he had to go over all of his health care info like every doctor he's seen since 1998. I can see how people would get discouraged and overwhelmed at all the paperwork and the quantity of information you have to gather. I'm ready though. I am ready to fill out every form they throw at me until my husband has the benefits he needs and deserves. So in 6 months I should have a decision and if he gets denied I have to appeal it and get a court date. I was told that takes up to two years.

I know this will be a long process and I will probably be frustrated and overwhelmed myself, but I feel good that the wheels are in motion. I have a little bit of hope that my husband and I will begin to live a normal life within the next few years. The last six years of my life have been such a roller coaster with him, learning more and more about how sick he really is as it became harder and harder for him to hide it from me. We just want the same kinds of things that other people want; a home, a family and our next meal.

Under Construction-part deux

2009-02-22T09:45:00.006-05:00

Like many other bloggers I coveted a more unique design than the blogger template could offer. That and who wants their to blog scream, "I'm a template!"? Not I. So I've been adding things here and there, but what I really wanted was a fancy header. However for some reason when I added the second sidebar, I broke the header. No image for me. :(

My amazing friend and blogging inspiration Kathleen, over at Katydid and Kid had offered to design me a button and a banner in exchange for crochet trade! What's a girl with a broken header to do!? Well, I reached out to my Ravelry friends and the fabulously generous Cesia from Cece at it again stepped up to the plate to offer her brain power! She fixed my header! Whooo-hoo! I have the test header Cesia created up now and I think it will stay up until I switch it to my shiny new one. So for the time being, "Fight or Flight" will now be known as "Tester Image". Deal with it.

Cesia does full on blog overhauls as well as tweaks and accessories so if you need a little sumthin' sumthin' for your blog, go check her design blog out at:
Design by Cece

She is offering deep discounts through her grand opening promotion!

Under Construction!

2009-02-19T22:13:00.002-05:00

Forgive my header looking a mess! It will look better soon! Details to follow!

Farmer's Market!

2009-02-14T17:14:00.005-05:00

One of my new favorite ways to save money is to buy most of our groceries at the farmer's market. There is one about 25 minutes from my house and there are other fun things to look at there (besides produce) so the trip does double duty as weekend entertainment.

I know that we're not supposed eat carbs any more, God forbid, but I am in love with this bread:

To make it even worse, I've been eating practically nothing but this bread and butter for the past two days. I figure since it's fresh and not jammed full of chemicals it will go stale soon, so I must enjoy all of it's deliciousness right away! And yes, I know you're jealous of my chartreuse counter tops. (I actually love them! I have the big pink Kitchenaid stand mixer and other pink kitchen stuff and it looks oh-so-cute on the pukey yellow green counters! Squeal!)

I also got all of these fruits and veggies:

1. 3 apples
2. 4 red plums
3. 2 orange peppers ($1.49 a pound!!!!)
4. buttload of sweet potatoes ($.39 a pound!!!!)
5. 2 eggplants
6. romaine lettuce ($.89!)
7. bag o' garlic ($.99!)

I don't know how much all the other stuff cost per pound, but the whole table full cost only $10.60! Amazing!

Thank you farmer's market!

What better way to celebrate...

2009-02-13T18:17:00.017-05:00

My husband celebrated his 26th birthday on this week and as a result, he got a little cash from his dad. I resisted the urge to snatch it all away to pay bills, because I indulge in things like yarn and crafty supplies now and again, so he got himself a present. (We don't really buy each other gifts, except for something small at Christmas. I mean he's on unemployment, I don't make much money, so why would we buy each other gifts? So we can have less money to eat food? I consider our home a gift, the fact that I have a cell phone a gift, the computer and Internet I'm using right now a gift. We get gifts everyday!)

What did my husband choose for his birthday present? Friday the 13th, part 3, 3d! This cover art is pretty radical, although it's actually from the soundtrack, not the movie.

The movie came with 3d glasses, so this was totally us:

Oh, p.s., the 3d glasses were printed to look like a hockey mask. Radical x 2.

The first person killed is poor Edna, who gets a knitting needle through her skull! How tragic! (I like her knitting basket.) Now that I think about it, a dude may have gotten killed before Edna, but that would have been in the beginning part of the movie that overlapped with part 2.

The 3d was throughout the whole movie, not just in a few scenes like some 3d movies. There was tons of "eye-popping" shit like this:

"Hey guys, wanna smoke this joint?" Whooooaaaa. Awesome! It was like I was there.

This movie ruled. Happy Birthday Mr. Fight! And happy Friday the 13th!

You like me, you really like me!

2009-02-11T19:32:00.024-05:00

I'm jazzed! My good friend Kathleen from Katydid and Kid has given me an award! She's given me the Passionate Blogger Award.

The "rules" for this award:

1. Put the logo in your blog post
2. Write five things you are passionate about apart from blogging
3. Tag up to 5 people on your lists and let them know you tagged them.

Five things that I'm passionate about:

1. Being an advocate for my husband, who lives with severe anxiety and depression.
My husband suffers every day with an illness that isn't taken as seriously as it should be. These aren't diseases that are diagnosable through conclusive tests and he is often told to "suck it up" or "get over it" by people confusing his sickness for laziness or immaturity. I believe that he deserves a life as full and satisfying as anybody else and I will fight tooth and nail to see that he has the services and treatment opportunities that will make that quality of life possible.

2. Fiber-anything!
I loved to sew as a child and began weaving in college. The repetitive operating of the treadles, the shuttle skimming quietly across the warp and the thrill of seeing the colors interact as the fabric builds-slowly but surely-is a very meditative and wholly satisfying experience. I also needle felt and recently learned to knit and crochet. I must say, I'm in love! (Natch.)

3. Ephemera
These items help show where we've been; trips we've taken, bands we've seen, places we've visited, either on purpose or by accident. By saving them it helps give significance to those fleeting moments, which may seem ordinary now, but down the road these are times I want to remember.

4. Promoting arts in education.
It is my philosophy that we are all helping to "write" the story of our time for future generations. We learn so much about past cultures through the art and artifacts left behind. If we do not instill an importance in art making of all kinds in today's children, who will be there to tell our story?

5. Good Cosmetics
Ooooh boy, do I love me some nice make up! Now that we are having financial hardships, it's not a luxury that I can indulge in often. Some people think it is a waste, but they can have the Wet n' Wild all to themselves. I'll go hungry for some good eyeshadow! MAC eyeshadow in yogurt (pink), behold (grey), era (tan) and vanilla are my "go to" girls. I love Benefit's Brow Zings and Highbrow (an arch highlighter that makes you look like a drag queen, but in a good way. Trust me.) For foundation, nothing beats Bare Escentuals.

So, that's me, in a world without blogging! Here are my nominee's:

1. Suffering from Nostalgia

2. It's About Me, Amoena

3. The Land of the KnitaSaur

4. My Knitting Basket

These are four blogs that I really enjoy, and I'd like to hear more about their non-blogging lives!

Wordful Wednesday

2009-02-11T08:24:00.016-05:00

As a person with limited financial resources, it can be a challenge to come up with fun things to do on the weekends, etc. One weekend activity that Mr. Fight and I like best is go to yard sales and antique stores. We can look around for a while, see all the cool or weird stuff and find something small and inexpensive to bring home. We collect salt and pepper shakers, cigarette snuffers, thimbles, Wade figurines from Red Rose tea packages and any other chachka we can put on a shelf for the cats to break. Oh yeah, we like to look for shelves too!

We went to a garage sale recently, which was fun because it was actually in the person's garage, not out in the driveway.

I found quite a treasure!

It's such a cute recipe box! I am in no way Pennsylvania Dutch, but I live in "Dutch Country" and I love the PA Dutch Hex Signs with their folksy decorations. I have a couple of hex signs in my kitchen and this box obviously has that same appeal.

But wait there's more! The box was full of family recipes, along with funny old ones torn out of magazines or off very dated looking packages:

Now I can make you anything you want if you give me a box of cornflakes.

I can say with confidence that this box is from the late 1960's or early 1970's, since I found this torn out sheet from a calendar inside the box:

And you guessed it, there was a recipe written on the back! It sounds like it would not be my favorite snack, but I like keeping old recipes alive, so here it is. It's called "Rocks", sounds delicious, right? If you like dates, I guess it could be good.

"Rocks"

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar (brown or white)
3 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda dissolved in water
1/2 cup boiling water
1/2 cup black walnuts (chopped)
1 pound dates (cut up)

That's where the recipe ends, so I would assume that you just mush all that stuff together and eat it. I don't know what to tell you about those 3 raw eggs. Bon Appétit!

For more Wordful Wednesday visit:

I has NPR!

2009-02-06T12:25:00.006-05:00

I just made my pledge to WHYY! Yay local public radio! I am seriously in love with NPR/WHYY. Marty Moss-Coane is my freakin' hero. Once I dialed a wrong number and I got Mike McGrath on the phone. I was like, "Oh my god, are you Mike McGrath?! Is Terry Gross right there?! Marty?! OMG!" He was very nice and did assure me that Terry and Marty were right down the hall. (Isn't that wierd? Of all the wrong numbers to dial, I get Mike McGrath's office line.)

It is awesome they let you spread your pledge out over the whole year, so now I only have to pay $6.25 a month! Support public radio! I'm totally impoverished and if I could find the money, so can you! Think about what you waste 6 bucks a month on? Right? Ok. I thought so.

Felted Friday

2009-02-06T09:53:00.020-05:00

I apologize in advance if my posts have been "cat heavy" lately. However, I thought I'd post some pictures of a few needle felted "thingies" I've made recently, because Bubsy (the cat) tends to destroy all felted items quickly. At least this way I'll have a record of them.

Exhibit "A". You may remember a post showing a wet felted pineapple.

Here it is today:

Sucks, right? The piece didn't come out perfect, but it was the first felted thing I ever made, which made it special. While, I'm sure Bubsy did this, perhaps Penelope was trying to frame him. This next photo is Penelope while I was trying to photograph the damage.

Exhibit "B":

The felted pineapple thing above was on a high shelf, which Bubsy actually ripped off the wall to get to it. Sigh...wool is irresistible.

Because these following items will surely be destroyed soon, here they are now for your viewing pleasure. When I first learned how to needle felt, I made a little pineapple. A wee pineapple. It has since been eaten. The fruit thing became somewhat of an obsession for a while.

Here's a few:

This is them on a sewing machine table, so you can get a better idea of the size. (The table is dusty! Where's my house husband?!)

Finally here's a cat toy I made to discourage eating of my other felted stuff:

Giving this to the cats is probably just making me an enabler. Oh well.

Just a little tit bit.

2009-02-05T19:58:00.020-05:00

I just came across I really cool website and I thought I'd share it with anyone who actually reads this. Breast cancer is something that has affected more than one woman in my life. My grandmother died suddenly of breast cancer. By the time she found out she was sick, she only had three weeks to live and wouldn't take visitors. She refused to have a funeral or viewing service, so it was pretty much like she just vanished. No closure. No dead body to look at to make it real. It sucked and was super sad. She was really cool and young, only 69 when she died.
On the other hand, I'm actually thankful in some ways that I never saw my grandma looking like Skeletor. My husband's mother and grandmother also died of breast cancer and it was horrible to see what they went through. It wasn't the same experience because I wasn't as close to either of them because I did live with my grandparents until I was in third grade.

So now that you've read my dead grandma sob story here's the website! It's called Tit Bits and they make knitted prosthetic boobs! My mother in law had a mastectomy and she had this rubbery fake boob and she never wore it. I bet it felt gross against the skin. I have strapless bras with that silicone stuff around the band so it doesn't end up as a belt and I hate wearing it.

I think these are awesome:

How cute! A little pink boobie! I love that they are fun and quirky which I think would be a refreshing departure from all the doom and gloom of cancer treatments, wigs and rubbery boobs.

Feeling flashy? They come in tons of cute colors!

Want the "natural" look? They come in a bunch of flesh tones with cute star-shaped button nipples!

Or, what the hell! Wear a watermelon boob!

You can also choose 3 different nipple...uhh...lengths. There were "natural", "naughty" and "discreet". I have no idea what the heck a "naughty nipple" looks like, since there were no pictures of that.

What a great idea!

Wordful Wednesday

2009-02-04T22:51:00.006-05:00

The Associated Press is hassling Shepard Fairey over his use of an AP image. In the article he admits he used the image, but argues it falls under fair use.

AP image on left, Shepard Fairey poster on right (duh).

Here's the article.

The image was changed significantly and the use of the image didn't really affect the original. Of course I'm not a copyright attorney, so what the hell do I know? I do know that it would seem horrible for Shepard Fairey to have to pay the AP "compensation" when he didn't keep any of the money from the poster sales and he charges far less for his work than he could. When Fairey was interviewed on Fresh Air , I believe he said it all went to the campaign and OBEY.

For more Wordful Wednesday visit:

For Matt

2009-02-03T16:34:00.010-05:00

I've always had a lot of respect for people who go out and make their own way in the world. Conversely, I've always thought it was lame to never want to leave the area you grew up in.

I mean, just because you were born somewhere, doesn't mean that's the place on earth that you belong. Where's the sense of wonder? Adventure? Independence? I think we all need to find our way in this world and to me, that does not mean say, working at your old high school. My mother was so proud of me when I decided to move from New Jersey to California for college. She said I was doing things other people only dream of. Why dream when you can DO! It's a big world out there and it's full of experiences just waiting to be experienced!

So that said, I had a nice time catching up with an old friend over the weekend. (Hi Matt.) We went to college together here in PA (he's from here, I'm from Jersey) and he is the ONE person that I know from school that got a job teaching art in a traditional public school after graduation! I know of two others finding jobs since then, but not for a year or more (much more). In my department at work almost all of us are certified art teachers that never found a job. To the museum educators I think the museum is like a purgatory for art teachers. Or a waiting room. Same dif. Happily, some, like me, realized we were destined for other things. I found my home working in an art museum and now I would rather jam a #2 pencil in my eye than work in a school. I love working in a museum. I will always work in museum education. It turns out that's what I was meant to do. I love being around the art. I love that we get new special exhibits every few months and I get to learn about so many new things and see so many amazing works of art in person. I still teach (kids on field trips and after school/weekend programs), but it is always something different and it isn't all day, every day. I get plenty of kid-free time at work as well. Holla!

Anyway, back to Matt. After we had our chat he texted me and asked me why I hadn't blogged about it! He is so cocky, which is one thing I've always liked about him. (I usually like cocky pricks. Is that like a double negative? Cocky Pricks? Pricky cocks?) Like in his mind, of course a conversation with him would make me drop everything to write a blog post. Well, here ya go a-hole! I kid, I kid.

He moved to Arizona after college to take a job teaching. When we were in school the way they described Arizona reminded me of the things immigrants must have heard about America before they made the trip. It was the "land of opportunity", etc. Well, Matty made the voyage and it paid off. He seems to have things pretty sweet, well in the paycheck department at least. I hate to say that I'm envious, because like he so quickly pointed out, we both had the same opportunities and education (ok, well I have a little more education...ZING!). But I fell into my job at the art museum and I was in love! I didn't want to teach like that and the extra money wasn't worth it. But, you know, I'm sort of envious of how cushy his life looks. It's hard not to be envious of people whose lives seem like they are going really great, when you know they don't deserve it any more than you do. (Not that he doesn't deserve great things, it's just that I do too!) However, more than envious, I'm really happy for him. He did the one thing I admire most, he made his own way in the world. (Ok, are you happy Matt? I blogged about you.)

Musings

2009-01-31T22:01:00.009-05:00

As I was leaving the grocery store the other day, I saw a license plate holder that got me thinking...

It was for the Lion's Club and it had the motto "We Serve" on it. It reminded me of that dancing movie "You Got Served":

It would be funny if after the Lion's Clubber's did some good in the community, they were all like, "You Got Served!".
That is all.

Wordful Wednesday

2009-01-28T08:38:00.007-05:00

It's a winter wonderland!

Here's the snowy view from my front door (which is technically more of a back door since the road is on the other side of the house). The tiki torch looks somewhat out of place in the snow! You can see in the picture that I have a soccer field in my backyard (front yard?) which is nice because I've only seen a handful of soccer games in the entire time I've lived here and the rest of the time it's like I have a ginormous yard.

So because of the snow, I'm taking the day off work. My car is terrible in the snow and I get a bit white knuckled driving in poor weather conditions. I'll have to go in Friday, which sucks because I work Sunday-Thursday typically but I have so much stuff to get done at work since a big portion of my "desk time" has taken a backseat to getting everything ready for the upcoming Monet show. I have been helping install the corresponding children's area and it can be a real time suck. The good thing is that installing an interactive children's area is more fun than paperwork and reports for grants. The bad thing is that all that paperwork is still waiting for me.

I see that the Kraemer Yarn store has a knitting class at 1pm today which I may try to go to...though if I can make it to the store, I could have made it to work, right? I want to learn some of the other stitch patterns besides garter and stockinette because, 1. they're cool and 2. garter stitch is somewhat boring to do (yet perfectly nice and functional) and stockinette just isn't really suited for flat things. (Hello, curly tube!) I really like the ladies there and the "class" is more of a Stitch 'n Bitch that has someone there to fix all your mistakes and help you get through a tricky pattern. Of course the ladies there will teach whatever you want to know, but it isn't a structured class where you all make one thing. It's more like bring whatever you're working on and shoot the breeze. I can tell already that most of the ladies there are expert knitters who are really just socializing. Which is cool, because there are tons of people who can help you if the leader of the class is busy with another knitter.

The seed stitch is calling my name, so I may have to brave the elements.

For more Wordful Wednesday visit:

Ticked-off Tuesday

2009-01-27T12:49:00.009-05:00

Remember the recent post about my awesome cats? Well here's a story about one of them being particularly un-awesome.

McFluffin is the biggest cat we have, yet he is the biggest scaredy cat. Penelope is a real bitch for some reason and hisses at him every time she sees him. (Which is quite sad, since I hoped they would be boyfriend and girlfriend.) Her and Bubsy were weird at first, but after a few weeks everything was fine, they would snuggle and love. Then when we got McFluffin, Penelope hated everybody! She started hissing at Bubsy and McFluffin. Bubsy goes after her too, but that's because he's so stupid he thinks she's playing. McFluffin however runs away and hides like a baby, even though he could knock her lights out with one swipe of his gigantic six-fingered hand. But he doesn't. He's too much of a lover, I guess.

Well, I was worried because McFluffin has been with us about 3 weeks or so and he still doesn't want to come out of the bedroom. He lives on the bed. I call him my "bed-time bear" because he lets you spoon with him and he's always in the bed. My sister-in-law said that he always snuck out at night to eat and use the "facilities", so I assumed that's what was going on, until he gets more comfortable and Penelope gets over her attitude problem. (I think she'll be fine eventually, since her and Bubsy are friends now.) Au contraire mon frère!

I was laying on my bed yesterday evening and I saw McFluffin hop into a shopping bag from the store Express, which I keep my old notes from weaving classes as well as many yards of fabric for weaving. "How cute, McFluffin's in a bag. Aww." HE WAS TAKING AN F'ing PEE IN THE BAG. I was afraid to startle him or try to stop him as he was peeing because I was picturing his pee spraying all over the room. After I recovered from the shock of losing all that fabric and my treasured weaving notes being used as a toilet, it dawned on me...where's he been pooping? If he isn't brave enough to pee in the litter, where is the poop? Well friends, let me tell ya where the poop was. In my closet! Yay. I don't have a regular closet since my apartment was an old post office and there is only one closet in the whole place and it isn't in the bedroom. I use one of those portable type ones from Target that is made of metal rods that fit together. I hung curtains from the frame of the closet so it looks nicer than that nylon covering that is supposed to zip up over the "closet".

The box in my closet which contains my prized Coach bag was covered in cat barf. Luckily, the bag was safe. (I think it was upsetting his stomach to switch foods, but I have to have everyone eat the same stuff. I wouldn't know how to regulate the cats eating different food.) When I picked up the Coach box, I saw it. A mountain of fossilized cat shit. Nice. Disgusted and feeling betrayed, I look further. I decide to pull all my clothes out and really evaluate the situation. Guess what! My clothing that was hanging on the lower bar (there are two bars top one is pants, lower one is my button up shirts) WAS ALL COVERED IN CAT PISS!

Have I been wearing piss clothes and not known it? I do have kind of a lot of clothing from the 3 years I was the women's merchant for the Gap, so maybe I kept getting lucky and didn't pull out piss-clothes. Maybe I've worn sweaters everyday since we've gotten McFluffin and since I keep those folded on a shelf in the linen closet in the bathroom they were not victimized by my cat. (Yes, in the bathroom with my towels. No closets, remember?) I threw out all the white/light colored stuff that was violated and I am washing all the dark stuff that I am assuming was pissed on, but I can't be certain. If it smells funny after washing, I'm tossing it. I do not know how I didn't smell any of this in the bedroom.

So, if you've thought that I smelled like cat piss for the last few weeks, I apologize.

It's the shizz-knit.

2009-01-24T18:55:00.010-05:00

I like to learn new things. After crocheting for a couple of months, I kept seeing projects I'd like to make, but they were knitted. Well, I am not one to be left out, so I'm learning to knit! It is so fun. It's not really harder than crochet, just different. I always had heard how much more difficult knitting was than crochet, but that is simply not true, in my experience.
Lucky for me I live near the Kraemer Yarn store where I took some lessons.

This is something simple I'm working on:

My husband saw the yarn and asked for a small blanket. I told him to expect it in a few years. It's made with Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick. Lemme tell you, those folks at Lion aren't kidding. It is thick and quick!

He also requested a mohair scarf, so I have this going as well:

It's made from 2 strands of Kraemer Yarn's Fountain Hill brushed mohair. Very nice. Both projects are in a simple garter stitch. I learned to purl, and produced a very official looking swatch of stockinette, but I decided to keep these knit, knit, knit. They will both be long projects, so I thought I'd make them a mindless non-pattern to move them along faster. The mohair is fingering weight, so the scarf is growing very slowly. Doesn't that sound gross?

Fingering weight?

Good news!

2009-01-24T17:14:00.006-05:00

I usually hate opening my mail because I know it's mostly bills I can't pay and threatening letters from credit card people. However, yesterday I got a little gift in the mail! It was from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry and they told me that my husband's unemployment is getting extended again! Yippee! I can still live in my apartment! For 20 more weeks at least! Freaking awesome. I am really happy that I know that we're going to be okay for a little while longer, but I am eagerly awaiting the day that we can have a little financial stability. I don't care if we're still broke, but I just want to know what I'm working with. I can't wait to get all the credit card people off my ass, but I don't want to start cleaning up those aspects of my life until I can properly budget for them. Right now, it's rent, gas and electric (okay, and TV, my cell phone and the Internet, I'm not a monk). Thanks for listening.

Now for some not so good news. But it is for the best. I will be taking a break from roller derby, possibly for now, possibly for ever. I really need to focus on my life at home and what's best for my husband. Being a part of roller derby has changed me forever and I will be forever grateful that I was able to be a part of something so amazing. Thank you for everything derby sisters! On the bright side, the women all over the world who are involved in roller derby are so amazing that I know it will be around if and when I am ready to return.

He is...McFluffin!

2009-01-13T17:23:00.010-05:00

I know this isn't the coolest thing to say, but I'm going to say it anyway. I love my cats!

They are so funny and they all have such different personalities. I know this sounds totally pathetic and you probably didn't realize that you were reading the blog of a 60 year old woman, with the crocheting and cat talk and all. Since we moved out last year, we've only had one cat, Penelope (pronounced Peen-a-loupe, rhymes with cantaloupe. It's from the movie Club Dread. RENT IT.)

Then in September, we bought Bubsie. In this picture I am wearing drawstring pants and he is fighting the drawstring. This is pretty much Bubsie in a nutshell:

And finally, big beautiful McFluffin! (Like McLovin from Superbad). We just got him and he used to belong to my sister-in-law, but she has a German Shepard, and the two did not mix. He is a Maine Coon, about 3 years old and we got him cut into a "lion cut" to make all that hair more manageable. Mr. Fight wears only black and the cat's hair was a freaking mess. I couldn't sleep on my pillows without cat hair in my eyes and up my nose. Here he is:

Here's the back view to show off the full splendor of his ridiculous tail:

There you have it! The loves of my life.

A year in review.

2009-01-08T16:30:00.007-05:00

I suppose it's time for the "new year's post". Yes, it's a little late. I am looking forward to having a good year. 2008 was not my year. I can't say it was all bad, many wonderful things happened in the past year, but it definitely had it's downside...

I did not expect Mr. Fight to still be unemployed. He was let go in March and he still hasn't found anything. To be fair, he did not start looking until, I'd say August. His mother passed away in late 2007 and he took it really hard. He went into a bad funk and by March he got fired for calling out. This did not help his funky funk. I told him to take some time to himself and sort of get it together, reevaluate his medication, etc. THEN start looking for a new job. I've been down this road enough to know that trying to shove him right back out the door and off to a new job wouldn't really be productive. He'd likely end up losing the new job and feeling worse than if he had just waited til he was better able to be a good employee. So since August my dear husband has been looking for a job and there is nothing! There is only a few crappy jobs that pay like $8 an hour. My husband has gone to apply for these crappy jobs, since $8 is more than the couch pays him to sit on it per hour. He never got a call! He was applying to work at a thrift store unloading a truck or something. I bet they are just so inundated with applicants since there is nothing better listed in the papers. Gah. The good news is that they keep extending his unemployment. That has to end sometime, though, and when it does, we are F-U-C-K-E-D. But enough about that.

Honestly, if I had no money woes, things would be all gravy. I bet a lot of people could say that, though, huh? I'd like to add here, though, that I don't totally mind being poor. Well, sometimes. It makes me really appreciate everything I have and it has made me learn what a necessity truly is (sort of...) Of course I still consider thing necessities that really aren't (hello nicotine!), but I've learned to do with out so much that I may have been used to. The biggest thing that has sucked about the last year is how bad I jacked up my credit score. I used to have a good score but when Mr. Fight got canned, I STOPPED PAYING ALL MY CREDIT CARD BILLS! Oh my god right? I am such a freaking low life dead beat. So gross. The truth was, I didn't have the money! Who'd have thought!? After we went down to one (meager) income, it was us and the cats being homeless or paying the credit card bills, so I made my choice. I figured that when he got a job again, I'd do that debt consolidation whatever. Until then, I haven't heard much about debtor's prison lately so hopefully, I'm cool.

On the upside: I love my husband. I love my family. I love my cats. I love my home (so I hope I get to keep it).

Here's looking at you 2009!

There's more where that came from!

2008-12-30T16:24:00.008-05:00

I thought I'd take a minute and add some follow up pictures to the crochet stuff I put up last week. I gave most of this stuff away, so I'm happy to have photographed my first baby steps in crochet.

Mr. Fight was super bummed that his Christmas present didn't show up before Christmas, even though I was a good girl and ordered it on December 4, so I made him a little gift. (He wanted a custom made football scarf from Germany. I guess 3 weeks to make and ship the scarf wasn't cutting it.) He requested a small bag, a "stash bag" one could say. These were totally easy to make. I found the pattern on Ravelry and it comes from Priscilla's Crochet. They are actually eyeglass cases:

This is the One Skein Scarf I made for my momma. The pattern is by Denise Cozzitorto and was published in Stitch'n Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker:

This is what I made for my little brother. The pattern was a challenge, especially since I wasn't paying close enough attention to counting my stitches. I was watching TV with Mr. Fight and he kept talking and I wanted to say, "Can't you see I'm counting!!!!! I am crocheting on a deadline! I just learned how to do this! I am not a machine!" but I didn't. Instead the reaper is a little wonky. So be it.

It is from the book Creepy Cute Crochet, by Christen Haden:

And lastly, my work in progress. I am making a bag that is big enough to carry files in, a book, a crochet project, whatever. I found this "Easy Peasy Crocheted Bag" on Laughing Purple Goldfish's blog.

Cheers!

I love crochet!

2008-12-22T16:24:00.010-05:00

Ok, so I mentioned that I was going to learn how to crochet, well, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! I am absloutly nuts about crochet! I freakin' love it.

The first thing I made was basically a raggity rectangle of single crochet that was all lopsided and missing many stitches. I tied it off and threw it in my bag as a reminder of my first crochet baby steps! Then I decided to try out a fresh ball of a yarn and a new stitch. I decided to try double crochet (love!) and I stitched about 14 rows with nice and soft (but nice and cheap) Caron Simply Soft. I then felt comfortable with that stitch and it was looking pretty good, with the same amount of stitches in each row, 14 rows later. Nice. It was on to triple crochet. I did about 7 rows of triple crochet and realized I preferred making the doubles better. However, at this point I had decided that this was to be a scarf, so I had to figure out some kind of plan. I decided to leave my 14 rows of double and 7 rows of triple and start switching back and forth between the two for the length of the scarf. So I did double-triple-double-triple until it was almost as long as I wanted. Then I finished her off with 7 rows of triple and 14 rows of double crochet to make it match the beginning. At this point I could have stopped but I was feeling like the scarf needed a little more "pizzazz". So I broke out the shell stitch with the black Simply Soft! Oh yeah! (Picture me saying that like Peggy Hill.)

Here it is on my desk:

There's no stopping me! Then I did a little circle to learn how to crochet with increasing and decreasing stitches:

Here's another: So I decided to put this to good use and make some Christmas presents for my family since I did take the Handmade pledge this year. (See link button in sidebar.)

I only have one thing left to make, and that's something for my father, which will be a scarf. I made stuff for my little brother and mom that I don't have pictures of yet, but I do have the scarf that I made for my sister. This is based on a design by Mermaiden on Ravelry.

When you roll it up IT LOOKS LIKE SUSHI! Bwahhhhhahahaha!

On the Homefront

2008-12-22T11:33:00.006-05:00

Well, things could be better. I haven't posted anything yet about the shit storm that is my personal life, but here's a little taste. I work for peanuts and my husband has been out of work since March. I've been paying to keep up his health insurance since he has expensive medical issues, specifically crippling anxiety and depression (which is why he's currently out of work). I found out last week that Mr. Fight's health insurance got cancelled because I paid the bill too late. Well, I paid the bill too late because my husband doesn't have a job and I'm trying to keep us not homeless and I just did not have the money. Bummer. The real pisser is that all the stuff I have to pay for now without the insurance costs MORE than the money I didn't have to pay for the insurance. Grrr....

On the bright side, normally it's a chore to hide all the gaps in my husband's employment history when I update his resume, but at least this time the economy being in the toilet sort of helps cover his tracks. He's not like some low-life who doesn't want to work, he just has a hard time keeping jobs. He gets all worked up over something or another going on in his life or at home and he wants to call out of work because he's so overwhelmed with whatever. Then he's all freaked out that everyone at work is talking about what a loser he is for calling out, which makes him afraid to go back, so he calls out for a week or more, ultimately ending in him getting canned. That's pretty much the cycle. It's hard.

Right now he is looking for a job, but there is really nothing in the paper. He's been looking since August or so. After he got fired this last time in March, I told him to take some time, go to the doctor and try to get a little bit of control back in his life. He's been on every anxiety/depression medication I've ever heard of and none of it seems to help him. What happens is, he feels like shit so he goes to the doctor and they say, "Maybe we should try something else".

Then he has to take the new pills for however long it takes for them to kick in and for him to get used to them. Then he doesn't know how he feels because he can't tell if his body is still getting used to the pills, or the dose isn't right or the combination isn't right. All he knows is that he never feels good. It's not that he wants to feel happy all the time, it's just that he wants to feel not overwhelmed by feelings of being a total failure and obsessing over ever tiny thing that is going bad in his life. I can't imagine how hard it must be for him to be so miserable all the time. I mean, I'm certainly not happy with where I am in life and certainly thought I'd have made something better of myself, but I'm not so consumed by these thoughts that I just can't get up and function. I get up and go to work because someone has to.

He has some breakdown along the way where he can't "suck it up" and look at the big picture. The consequences of his actions aren't what's important to him in that moment, it's not doing whatever the next thing is he would have to do-like go to work or to a family party. He just wants to curl up in a little funk and not leave the house, see people, go to the store, anything. He goes on like this for months until someone (him or the doctor) finally says, "Maybe we should try something else."

I'm here!

2008-11-23T12:10:00.004-05:00

I know I haven't posted anything in a short while, but I've been knee deep in craftiness! I'm not equipped to post photos or anything now, but I've been busy trust me. The loom is warped, and after I wove about 3 inches, I broke a warp end. Believe it or not, it's the first one I've ever had break on me. In 3 years of weaving at school, it never happened! So I need to get a t-pin today so I can fix that puppy up. I tried a biggish sewing pin, but it was not strong enough.

My 10 year old niece Breanna came over and made needle felted Christmas ornament with me yesterday, which was fun. Within a few minutes she had broken all but one needle, so after that, I just watched. I can't blame her, though because they are easy to break, especially if you are new to the wonders of "stab art". And I only had 4 to begin with. (I had more but my cats helped me loose them. Yes, I will find them jammed in my foot someday.) When I gave her the last one, I said, "Be careful with that one, or we're going for a ride to the store." And lo and behold, the needle lasted. We used cookie cutters to make the shapes and that worked really well. I've heard that that was an easy way to make flat stuff, but I've never actually done it myself. It works like a charm.

I'm also teaching myself how to crochet, to expand my crafty repertoire! I've heard people say that if you try to do too much (as in different kinds of fiber art), you wind up never finishing anything. But I suppose the same could be said about life in general. I think it would be fun tobe able to use all these different crafty techniques together to make a colossal craft super-item. (Not like I'm the first person to think of that.) So more on crochet 101 later. Stay tuned!

Measuring the warp (is no fun)

2008-11-13T10:18:00.012-05:00

There is something to be said for having the right tools for the job. I mentioned I was going to try to improvise a warping board to get started weaving, since my new warping board isn't due to arrive until next week. I took the weaving bench pictured in yesterday's post and I flipped it upside down and stacked cookbooks on the underside of the part you sit on (which is now facing up), so it wouldn't move. At this point I'm thinking how smart I am and that I wasted my money buying the real deal. (Insert belly laugh here. Oh, hindsight!) I then attached a warping peg:

to my entertainment center thing, because it had shelves about the height of the upturned stool legs. (That picture is a stock image, I only had one peg that came with the rigid heddle loom.) I had planned for about 200 warp ends since I was thinking about doing something with spaces in the warp and like I said, I wanted something manageable for my first go on a new loom. I would have preferred I was able to stand upright while warping, but I couldn't get the stool to stay put when I tried to elevate it, so I left it on the carpet and figured I'd bend over to warp. After all-it's only 200 pieces of string, right?

Then I was off!

Skip ahead half an hour. Let's just say this was not an ideal setup in retrospect. I felt like my back was broken and I was only a quarter of the way done. It's funny, I remember hating to measure the warp in school where I had all the right equipment, when I didn't realize how good I had it. Each thing you need to buy for weaving is like, hundreds of dollars and it was all there at my fingertips. This is a weaving I made in school on an 8 harness jack loom:

Here's a bit of a close up:

That weaving has 960 warp ends. I'd have to kill myself if I was using the ol' stool and peg method to measure the warp for something like that.

So when all was said and done, I gave up on my crappy method of warping. I. was. over. it. I had 58 measly warp ends, but if I space them out a lot and use a super chunky weft, I'll be able to make something around 2 feet wide.

I'm picturing a rag rug made with cut up jersey fabric. Honestly, it's just to get some practice, so it's okay if it wasn't the weaving I was planning on making. When that warping board gets here, it's ON!

I must have been good in a past life.

2008-11-12T13:19:00.013-05:00

I must be sending out good weaving vibes into the world! I mentioned in an earlier post that I was fortunate enough to receive a Ashford rigid heddle loom over the summer. Here it is hanging on my wall:

I've woven a bit more on the RH since this picture was taken. Not much more, but a bit.

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!

Are you ready? I'm serious, this rules.

I got a loom! A real one! A great big real loom! Holla!

The person who gave it to me is one of the most wonderful people I have ever met and now I will never ever forget her. I never, never thought I would have a loom, not at least until I had excessive amounts of disposable income to spend on a large piece of equipment like this. So thank you and I'll love you forever.

This is a picture of it in my tiny bedroom. When my husband saw it he thought I was insane in the membrane. I was joking that we could throw our bed out to make more room for it.

It is a Gallinger loom, which was sold at The Mannings in East Berlin, PA, but it was sold there before it was called the Mannings. Back then it was Gallinger Creative Crafts, until the business was sold to Mr. and Mrs. Manning in the 1960s.

(Please excuse the fact that there is nothing on the walls in my bedroom, I had to move major pieces of furniture around to get the loom in, so I took everything down so I could get it in position and figure out where I want the warping board to go. I typically enjoy having more flair on display.)

Oh and in regards to my attempt to make a ghetto warping board out of nails in my wall-no dice. The nails just kept falling out of the wall and were all greasy and disgusting and would probably ruin any warp that touched them. So I'm over that. I'm sure I could have made one, but I don't really own any tools, so I'd have to buy everything besides a hammer. When taking into consideration the amount of time and materials it would take to make my own, I decided to buy this one off Ebay:

I found this one for $29.99 at The Knit Store, which is a great deal. It should be here early next week. However since I can't wait to start weaving on my new baby, I'm going to improvise tonight with an overturned table and a dowel clamped the appropriate distance away. We'll see how that goes. I'm only going to use about 200 warp ends for my first weaving since I want a chance to get used to the loom and learn how it works before I try a complicated pattern.

Now for some close-ups of the loom! Keep in mind this loom came out of a garage, so it's a bit dusty. I promise to clean it and oil it all up. So don't hold that against me. This is a close up of the treadles and tie ups. I know 4 harness looms typically have 6 treadles, but this one is a little different. Each extra wide harness is tied up individually, so you have to treadle accordingly.

While acquiring the loom is certainly most of the battle, I still had a bunch of stuff I need to buy before I could actually start making something. First, I needed a bench! The ones they sell online are between $200-$400, which is ridiculous. I found this thing that used to be a table, I think, at the thrift store for $12. Sure it was too tall and wobbly, but nothing my handy hubby can't fix with our trusty hammer. ( I told you we had no tools.) Actually that's a lie. Our truly handy friend Mike brought us a saw thing. It looked like a drill, but it was a saw. Then the handy hubby fixed the wobbles. And yes, that's dusty too. It's a work in progress.

You can see that the bench has a little space underneath, so I can keep warp there! LOVE IT! Freakin' adorable. And look-I bought warp!! I love new supplies!! I had to buy a new reed and heddle hook-which in retrospect I think I used the heddle hook for everything and not the reed hook. I guess I figured I got the big ticket item for free, so I could spend $100 or so on other shit that I need to go with it. I bought grey, black, pink and white warp, which should give me enough variety to get started. I also found that pink and brown ball of jersey material at an antique store. (It's on the far right.) That would be cute for a rug, but there isn't that much, so I don't know how big of a rug it would make.

So, there you have it. Needless to say, I'm beside myself. I cannot wait to get going! Yay weaving!

Holiday gift ideas!

2008-11-04T12:39:00.003-05:00

Buy something from my friend Lindsay. She rules and her shit is rad and can be purchased at Without a Pulse.

Like these crocheted Sushi Coasters:

Or for the rollergirl in your life, a "Talk Derby to Me" necklace, shrinky dink style!

This is Lindsay looking a little like a sad Care Bear. Cheer her up and buy something already!

The Medium is the Message.

2008-11-04T00:53:00.017-05:00

I'm on a shopping high! I just purchased two new Shepard Fairey prints and I am super happy. If you aren't familiar with his work, you should check out his website OBEY GIANT. You've probably seen it somewhere in the last twenty years:

Or you may be familiar with one of his most recent works:

While working in New Hope, PA in 2001 I purchased a Shepard Fairey print during a show of his work at Tin Man Alley, thanks to proprietor and curator Jonathan LeVine. Tin Man Alley has since moved to NYC and is now the Jonathan LeVine Gallery. So here is the print I bought in 2001 and have treasured ever since:

That one is a joint work between Frank Kozik and Shepard Fairey.

Frank Kozik is a well-known artist who specializes in concert posters. He and Shepard Fairey collaborated on a print in 2000 for their joint art show "Fuck Kozik and Giant" which took place on October 5, 2000 at Dept Inc. in Osaka, Japan.

This is it in my living room, shown off especially well by my awesome photography skills!

The other print I bought at Tin Man Alley was this one by Frank Kozik. I love this one. I think it rules. The glare on this photo, does not rule. But you get the idea. It's awesome. She's blind and in a wheel chair and this kid's giving her the ultimate F you! Take this spider AND this skull. Damn. That shit's harsh.

So I'm sure you're on the edge of your seat wondering which two new prints I bought! Here's the first one:

Awesome!

And here's the second one. I figured I needed an Andre. I like this ripped up one.

All the prints purchased from OBEY GIANT are signed and numbered too, which is cool.
Yay!!

Getting my weave on.

2008-11-02T20:52:00.009-05:00

Over the summer I was fortunate enough to receive a wonderful brand new 36" Ashford rigid heddle loom.

While I was picking up my Art Ed. Certification (my major in college was Fine Art/Sculpture) I picked up roughly the equivalent of a minor in weaving. In school we used 4 and 8 harness looms and what I loved best about weaving was creating pattern. I think it is so wild how you can manipulate the threads to make such beautiful and intricate designs. I love how all over the world and pretty much throughout time, weaving has stayed the same. Sure there are crazy industrial looms that are bigger than my apartment, but for the most part weaving still is what it always was. I remember this one time I had to visit The Daniel Boone Homestead on a college field trip and Daniel Boone's father was a weaver.

When we walked in the door there was a loom set up in the middle of the home and it was warped and partially woven with what was apparently a leftover project from Daniel Boone's father. (Or so they said.) Well, I wanted to just sit down and finish it for old Mr. Boone! I thought it was such a trip that this loom looked exactly like the loom I was using in school almost 300 years later.

Back to the rigid heddle. Like I said I loved pattern weaving and though I am extremely grateful for the rigid heddle, I do know it is a loom with real limitations as it only has the equivalent of two harnesses. That said I am eager to see what this baby can do! The loom was already warped when I received it, with a natural colored warp about 16" wide and who knows how many yards long, because I'm not undoing it to measure. Even though I have grander plans for this loom than what it is currently set up for, I know what a real bitch it is to warp a loom, I refuse to take off this warp and let all that tedious hard work go to waste. So I see a table runner or place mats in my future! I've woven about 6" or so, just messing around using a variety of pink, green and tan fabrics and it looks cute, but I honestly don't know what I'm going to do with it. Small wall hanging of some sort? Perhaps.

However, due to my minuscule apartment's previous life as an old timey post office and not a residence, I have almost no storage space. There is one small closet that my husband uses and another closet which is supposed to be for linens in the bathroom. Well my clothes take priority over some towels, so I keep my clothing in the bathroom! So the loom had no home. My handy husband put 2 hooks on the wall in our bedroom and VOILA! the loom is hanging on the wall. The hooks from Home Depot are the kind with 2 hooks on each hook (like for a coat and hat), so I have the loom resting on the top hooks and the shuttles rest perfectly on the bottom hooks. Nice! Also when there is a project on the loom, it looks lovely as decoration! Whenever I finish whatever I'm making, I'll post the pictures.

My next project is to make a ghetto warping board. I found sweet plans online thanks to In the Woodshop.org. Now if you follow the instructions on his website, you would no doubt have a very well designed warping board. I however, do not have a wood shop, or friends that I know of with a wood shop that are dying to make me a warping board. So this girl's going to IMPROVISE! I am going to bastardize the following plan and recreate it with 4" nails in my wall, using the plan below to provide me with the proper measurements and placement of the pegs (or nails).

I'll let you know what happens. I figure I've got some time to work on it, since I still have to finish my table/runner/wall hanging/place mats before I need to warp anything. That is-unless the weaving gods smile on me again and I have something new to warp! We'll see!!

Farmland Adventure! (or Washing Wool, part Un)

2008-10-29T18:47:00.023-04:00

Okay fiber lovers, get excited! As promised, here is photo documentation of my woolly weekend with Amy! First things first, Amy's house is beautiful! So cute. Here's a view from the backyard:

While I was there Amy showed me the great assortment of naturally dyed wool roving she just received from Wool Farm Crafts.

She was making some really nice Christmas ornaments and I liked them a lot. I've been thinking about felting a nativity scene and seeing the ornaments convinced me to make my Christmas gifts this year.

After I admired Amy's digs and took the grand tour, we got down to business. Here's one of the two bags of wool that Chris and Amy sheared:

So we have plenty of raw material to work with! As you can see there is some sticks and leaves and junk in the wool. Luckily Amy had the good sense to not save the wool from around the butt. There was honestly tons of wool, so it would seem cruel to have to use the poopy stuff. Next we got started picking the big stuff out.

After we picked the wool sort of clean, we put it in lingerie bags, which we got 3 for a dollar at the dollar store. You can see the bag on the ground. After we filled our 9 bags, which in retrospect, we should have bought more bags, we were off to the laundry room. (As we were doing this I was reminded of the John Waters movie "Pecker" with Eddie Furlong and Christina Ricci. Christina Ricci works at a laundromat and at one point she catches a lady trying to use Rit dye in the machine. Ricci goes OFF on the lady and I was imagining the same scenario, but with dirty wool! Ha!)

After we filled the washer and added the soap, we poked at the bags with wooden spoons to help jostle some of the dirt and debris free. We took the bags out, emptied the washer to get rid of the filthy farm water, then refilled with new clean water and did this until the water ran fairly clear. We probably filled the washer 3 or 4 times.

Next we took our clean bags out to the garage to sort out the clean wool. You can see we each have a little funky pile next to us and then a bigger pile of wool that's been picked further of sticks, et cetera.

The next step is carding the wool, getting all the fibers lined up in the same direction, getting the knots out and any final stubborn sticks and leaves. Amy and I do not own carders, but we are looking into buying some, maybe off EBay. Here's what it looks like:

That nice lady from Oaxaca, Mexico is carding wool. The things in her hands are the carders. You can see they look a little like dog brushes. So Amy and I tried, you guessed it-dog brushes! It worked okay, but they were smaller so it would just take longer. You can see the lady has the basket of nasty-ish (but clean) wool and she is making nice fluffy organized wool!

Now by this time my husband was calling, wondering if I was ever coming home, so the photos end here. We plan on making a regular thing of this, so when Amy and I have nice bats of wool roving, I'll post the pictures. Here's a little nugget of cleaned wool, so you can see how far it came from the first picture of the wool straight off the sheep!

So there you have it. Washing Wool, part Un. It was a lot of work, but not too much, especially if you have good company to share the work with. Once we get it all carded, I'll post Washing Wool, part Deux.

Full directions on how to wash fleece are available at Gleason's Fine Woolies. Please consider making them a donation for this service.

Mah brain hurts.

2008-10-29T10:37:00.007-04:00

So I've been busy once again fooling around with the ol' blog layout. I guess I should start working on some, um, CONTENT, for this thing, not just add buttons and links all day. I must say that I am in no way technically minded. I got an iPod for Christmas like four years ago and I can count on one hand the amount of times I used it. I couldn't deal with all the downloading and the instruction booklet seemed all mumbo-jumbo-y to me. So I finally pawned it for like $10. Whatever. Give me NPR. I can tune a radio.
That's more my speed.

As you can imagine, my barely existing technical skills can be quite the handicap in this here digital age. For the roller derby, I am the keeper of the Myspace-juvenile, yes, but a great way to get promotional information out en masse-and that has been good for me to learn compooter skills on. However, despite my tendancies to glaze over when it comes to this complicated code stuff, I do want to have as "fancy" a blog as I can muster. That plain template looked WEAK! And I think it's super fun to have fancy page and pick all the colors and whatnot. Getting the computer to make all that stuff happen, is not. I now think graphic/web designers must be some of the smartest, most focused people on earth. So with my minimal html knowledge, I have done my best to add jazzy features to this page. I managed to get the elusive 3rd column! That nearly killed me. I also managed to add the "Grab a button" thingy. That also was a a total bee-otch to figure out, so please grab a button! In conclusion, I am very proud of myself. Enough about that. On to more exciting things.

On Friday last week, my friend and co-worker Amy had me come over to have some felty fun! She and her husband have the good fortune to live on a great big peice of land, which I want to call a farm, but I think a farm needs crops, no? It's farm-like at the very least. She has sheep! And goats! And horseys! Thrifty fiber lovers that we are, we decided to clean some of the wool that Amy and Chris sheared off the sheep earlier this fall to help us feed our need to felt stuff. We thought this would be an economical way to have enough natural colored roving to use as a core material, and save the expensive pretty stuff for the outer layers. We may dye some too, so that will give us even more options. I do like the natural sheep colors too, so we'll see what we do with it.

In any case, I don't have the images to upload right now, so consider this a big tease and I'll post the photos of my Farmland Adventure as soon as I can.
I do have this picture of my cats, though:

Sweet!

2008-10-25T13:38:00.009-04:00

As you know, I like felting, weaving and wooly things in general. I tried wet felting for the first time this summer and here's the result:

The brown parts on the pineapple looked better before the wet felting, as they were more spread out into little diamond shapes, but all in all I'm pretty happy with it. I ended up with a pretty good square, which as a beginner was something I had to pay careful attention to, so as not to end up with a wonky rhombus.

Pineapples are one of my "things". I'm fixated. I don't know why. Yes, they are delicious, but it's more than that. Anyway, I tend to collect all things Pinapple. I even got a pineapple tattoo! (Thanks to Casey Corklic.)

That's my arm.

Fish don't fry in the kitchen.

2008-10-25T13:07:00.004-04:00

So I haven't posted anything since Sunday, but I've had a pretty full week! I'm moving my desk at work into an actual office, which is exciting. I'm also getting some new responsibilities, which is good too, since I really like working at the museum. Moving on up!

You win some...

2008-10-19T10:44:00.014-04:00

Alright, bad news. We lost the game! It's not a big deal, the other team was really good. They had less players than us, but all the girls they had were pretty amazing. Hard hitters, big girls that were hard to take down, endurance and good offense. It's not so bad to get beaten by a strong team. Makes me want to work harder. It was a close game, we lost by about 12 points I think. (Derby is kind of like basketball, in how high the scores can go. If we lost by 12 points in say, soccer, I might feel worse right now.) Anyway, enough of that. There's always next time.

On another note, some people asked me to put up some pictures of the things I have made out of felt. I left my camera battery charger on my desk at work, so could only turn on my camera and take one picture before it died. So here's a little lady I made. It's not suposed to be offensive, so don't take it that way. It actually started out of my love for the Ancient Fern brown color. I made the body out of a toothpaste green, then covered it with the nice colors. I haven't finished the arms yet, so you can see the light green coming through. The picture is a little blurry because I was trying to take it quick before the battery went.

Want to hear a sad story? Cats like to eat felted stuff. Something about the sheepy smell drives them wild. After my abbreviated photo shoot-disaster struck! I forgot the god damn little lady on the couch and Bubsy mauled her overnight. (Pardon my french.) I was able to get the camera to turn on for one more photo.
The aftermath:

Can you see how she's all fuzzy now? She used to be smooth and firmly packed. Now she's all nubby! She had a rough night. She's fixable though. She did, however, have two felting needles stuck in back last night, which are not there now. I can't wait to find a 3" barbed needle (or two) jammed in my foot.

The culprit:

Penelope does not approve:

Here's us in happier times:

We were on a derby trip to play a bout out in Ohio and we stopped at this gross barbeque place on the way. All the food had names like "The Pittsburger" and there was no real indication of what any of the food was going to be. So I ordered the Pittsburger, which turned out to be a pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw and french fries on top. It was a disgusting mess. Later I saw a lady who worked there sweep out the oven with a broom. Like a broom that you clean the floor with. My friend Bonnie ordered some "Ragin' Cajun" sandwhich that turned out to be a two foot chicken hoagie. Ahhhh...good times.

Reading is FUNdamental.

2008-10-18T00:09:00.008-04:00

So I decided to fancy up the ol' blog a bit. It's not quite how I'd like yet, but I'm over it for tonight. I have a bout (game) tomorrow (I play roller derby) that I want to get my rest for so I can try to cream some ladies tomorrow. I would, however, like to leave you with this:

Penis Pokey Book by Christopher Behrens.

Penis Pokey
"This book contains no nudity. No profanity. No sexual material of any kind. And yet it just might be the most obscene thing we've ever carried! Penis Pokey is an illustrated board book with a large die-cut hole in its center. Every spread features a dazzling full-color illustration with one thing missing—a banana, perhaps, or a fire hose, or a sea serpent. Male readers can complete the illustrations using the talents God has given them. Are we serious? Yes! Is this funny? Absolutely! Will this be a terrific hit with college students, bachelorette parties, and exhibitionists of all ages? Of course! Penis Pokey is far and away the strangest and funniest novelty book we've seen in a long, long time."

There, now I can go watch the Soup and go to bed. I'll post an update about the bout tomorrow night. Wish me luck!

Felt-tastic.

2008-10-16T15:14:00.010-04:00

I love felting! I started with wet and dry felting over the summer and it reminds me of when I started weaving. It's a "where have you been all my life" feeling. This is going to sound weird, but I'm sure no one is reading this anyway, but I freaking love the wool roving. I want to eat it or roll around on it. It is so beautiful, the colors available are lovely and the way you can transform wool roving into "stuff" is amazing! Whether it's wet or dry felting, it's awesome how quickly the wool dreads together to make material or sculptural forms. This is a photo of the sampler pack from Peace Fleece. If you look closely, you can see that the colors aren't solid, but heathered with all kinds of beautiful colored nubbies. Ancient Fern is my favorite, favorite, favorite. Brown with purple and greens mixed throughout! Nice.

Welcome!

2008-10-15T14:16:00.002-04:00

So I decided to start this blog after being inspired by a friend's blog Katydid and Kid, which you should check out- especially if you like the earth or have a baby, or both! My blog won't be about babies or the earth, although both are alright in my book. I thought this would be a good way to sort of live in the present and be more aware of the things that are going on in my life. Sometimes we think about the things we do today as preparation for something better down the road, but that seems to me like a good way to waste your life. So this is going to serve as a record of the stuff I do and the things I care about.

A little about me: I'm 27, I live with my 25-year-old husband of 5 years and our two cats Penelope and Bubsy. Together we've had our ups and downs, but we're a team and we always find a way. We got married quick and young and spent 4 years being broke and living in my in-law's basement while I went back to school. We moved into our first apartment one year ago on Halloween. We're still broke.

This blog is the story of us making our way in the world.
Fight or flight.