Coming up for air. . .

Resurfacing briefly from the sea of miniature red sweaters that I'm flailing around in to say "go look at this!" It's a Clap! But it's got Cables! I adore it.

What to do, what to do?

Secret Santa drawing started today at work and I got a crocheter! We have a ten dollar minimum but not a set maximum. I was thinking maybe a Brittany hook, a pattern, and the yarn with which to act upon the the pattern . . . Crocheters? Any suggestions?

Tales and Tails.

The Tale:

Once upon a time, a knitter was making her way to work for the second half of her day. As she waited at an intersection for her opportunity to make a left turn, a big bad wienie failed to notice the knitter innocently stopped in the turning lane and slammed into her with nary even a screech of the brakes.

The knitter was very nice about the collision (honest to goodness! I really was!). After all, what does screaming do other than increase tension? Besides, the way the population triples (yes really) with the arrival of the snowbirds, that's become a busier intersection than we're used to . . . making it rather dangerous. The big bad wienie told the insurance people that the knitter "came out of nowhere" (the knitter would have had to, as there's quite literally nowhere, other than the direction the big bad wienie came from, to come from in that part of the intersection) and somehow caused the collision. *shrug* She's lying, and the truth will out.

The Tails:

Our intrepid knitter had to travel to Plant City today (a journey that later proved entirely unnecessary, but that's neither here nor there) and on her way back, spotted this:

Yeppers, that's a ummmm, herd? of llamas. I think. Alpacas all have hair in their eyes right?

About another 20 minutes down the road, I snagged an opportunity to take a picture of these guys:

First spotted a week or so ago . . . on the route I take to get to/from work four times a day!

However, these guys are clearly not petting zoo sheep or maybe it's just that they spotted and feared the wool-lust in my eyes . . . as you can see:

If you look closely, you can see that the whole flock is headed for the hills.

Incidentally, just what do you call a gang of llamas anyways?

Pictures at least.

Lotus "Chemo Cap"~Bernat Bamboo, size 10.5 US bamboo dpns, Tulip Lace



















Green "Chemo Cap"~Bernat Bamboo, Stockinette, Size 10.5 US bamboo dpn with a k2 p1 rib



















Hallowe'en party ...at long last. Sandy as a Big Ole Stereotype *grin*

























Some Hillbilly...Woman? from somewhere *shrug* evidently she feels pretty.























Tachi as "StinkerBelle"























Bairu as Scooby-Doo























...and his props. Kelly as Velma, and John as Shaggy.






















The reason I'm not at all garrulous in this post.

What that virtually undamaged car did to my poor innocent baby.

Yes, I'm ok.

We Will Remember Them

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

~
We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

~
Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

~ Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae MD

(1872-1918)

Kinnearing!

So I kinneared this photo at work today.

Forgive the cruddy cellphone picture quality. I feel that it would have been less kinneary if I'd hollered at the girl "hold still! Let me grab my camera"

Anyways, why am I taking photos of the back view of high school kids? See that little yellow circle? That's pointing out a ball of Lionbrand Homespun . . . . white I think, with what looked like Susan Bates size 10 needles. Knitter in the wild!

ummm, New pics old post?

Hiya! Lazy blogger here just pointing out that you no longer need to strain your imaginations wondering about my Clap or the clappish cap.
Scroll down to view 'em.

Ghosties and Ghoulies and Long Legged Beasties and Things that go "Tink" in the night.

Have a safe one everyone.

Cat for Sale.

Really. He's adorable and all (if you can get past the "I'm so happy that I'm gonna drool on ya" thing) but I'm sooooo done with his habit of chewing wires. Some of the things he's noshed on include a telephone wire, the power cord for my laptop, and, most recently, the cable for the digital camera. I've got lots of pics to show and no way to show them.

So. Picture Behold Mathboy modelling my completed LionBrand MicroFiber Clapotis in "Lilac" (cornflower blue from the same people that call tangerine "Mango")
Picture Behold a very small LionBrand MicroFiber drop stitch cap in that same shade.


Picture the beginnings of (at long last) my Strikke-along project . . . Elann's Pinwheel Sweater in . . . guess what fibre and colour of said fibre? This has got to stop because if I keep showing up at knitting with that yarn I'm certain that Eileen's going to try to stage an intervention.

(ETA: Ummmm, so I'm a bad strikke-alonger/blogger. Didn't take any pictures of the early stages of the Pinwheel. Not going to take any current pictures right now either.)

The pinwheel is coming along nicely but somehow I lost the plot around . . . I dunno, maybe row 7 or 9 and at least one of the intervals between increases is too short. Or maybe the others are too long. *shrug* Maybe I'll frog it one more time on the weekend if I just can't stand it. Or not. Isn't knitting fun?!

Celebratory

Happy Second Anniversary Bill, I love you.

Oh good lord!

K, still no final plans on that strikke-along that started today . . . but! Kelly, Eileen, and Sandy . . . I know ya'll looked up qiviut right? Right??
Well, for those of you who are all lost and stuff now, here's the story. There's a pattern in my pattern-a-day calendar called Matilda's Hat and Scarf. Matilda is a teddy bear and the hat and scarf are made of qiviut! I was totally and completely outraged at this. Last night at knitting, I declared, in my disgust, that if I had a skein of qiviut I would not waste it on any frakking teddy bear. Nope. My qiviut would be a much loved pet who would live in my bra during the day and sleep on my pillow at night. There was much hilarity at this (in part because my cohorts were not familiar with that near-mystical substance) but I think I may have gotten the last laugh thanks to this cartoon of Franklin's (scroll down for the 'toon)

ACK!

It's October already and the Strikke-along started today. What's my problem you ask? Well, I still haven't decided on a pattern. I'm thinking some sort of stranded colour/fair isleish, black and red or black and white, felted, water bottle tote. Bah.
I'm off to tote the kiddies around, maybe I'll have a solid plan when I get home.

Arrr, Booty!

Me mates from the Mystic Twisted Fibre and me went to seek the legendary treasure of Fiber Arts in Odessa and came away with some magnificent plunder. Bloody Rocks Sandy liberated some sock yarn as did meself (I be Robyn the Crazin' Canajian)

Mate Kelly the Silent Speaker was but a guide and enabler on our maiden voyage to Odessa.

Upon me ARRival back at the good ship Zephyr me first mate, Bald Bill Red Eye, presented me with a parcel from the end of the world. It were my winnings from Crazed Kristy the Generous

One of the ships rats got into it while I were makin' pictures . . . a sure stamp of approval.

(note: there are NO pictures of this stuff without a black and white cat lovin' everything.)

In the parcel there be three skeins of Berroco SoftTwist, three bARRs of handmade soap, note cards, stickies, foot soak tablets, and a must have for all pirates . . . pretty earrings.

I be leavin' ya now with pictures of other booty from a contest prize on the Silent Speaker's blog (beaker yarn), and treasures won from our voyage to the Commonwealth o' Virginia (Fleece Artist) and a final picture of me treasure chest.

Sign of the Season

Current scorching temperatures notwithstanding, fall is clearly coming to my neck of the woods. I saw my first true snowbird the other day.
When I lived in Ontario, I always watched for the first robin of spring. Now that I live in a place where we see the robins in the winter, I watch for fall's first snowbird.
Snowbirds can be confusing. In spite of their ordinarily migratory nature you'll often see see the Damyanky Arveeus year-round. They are an American snowbird that migrate for two or three years but eventually find that they enjoy the wide variety of citrus fruits and golf courses and establish permanent nests. Often these nests are in preserves and they quite naturally will flock with other members of their species. It is virtually impossible to spot them once they shed the tags assigned them by the home state.
On the other hand, the Canadian variety (Canuckiseh Arveeus) is easy to pick out. Even on the coldest mornings (by Florida standards) they can be seen in their light weight summer plumage. Usually spotted travelling in pairs they prefer large vehicles (either minivans or Buick's) and are easy to distinguish from other Canadians with similar plumage by their slow rate of travel. Other than their high tolerance for cooler temperatures and differing origins C. Arveeus is virtually impossible to distinguish from the more common D. Arveeus.

Bits and Pieces

I've been messing around with picking instead of my usual throwing style of knitting. Holy cow! Once you get going it's lovely. Until you realize that you're going to have to knit through the back loops after you complete a purl row. Yes, I know what I did wrong and with some care, I'll get it right eventually.

Hallowe'en is coming, and with it, a Tampa Chix with Stix party at my place. It's a costume party and I can't quite choose between "hill billy beauty queen" and "little girl playing dress-up" Both will involve very badly applied makeup in hideously unflattering colours and pigtails (or maybe a side pony for the dress-up costume) and one will involve a set of those oh-so-attractive BillyBob teeth. Or blacked out teeth. Hmmmmmm decisions, decisions. It's entirely possible that I'll even post a picture or two of the end results.

Embarrassment and E-mail

Kristy is having a contest over at her blog with many great prizes (go! Join! I'll wait.) and one of the things that she's looking for in the way of submissions is your most embarrassing story. Well, in addition to the three I've already dug out of my suppressed memories and shared over there, there's this one. . .
In September of 2005, I joined Mathboy for a week in New York City. We had a lovely time seeing the sights although, to my sorrow, we never made it to Ellis Island to visit the Statue of Liberty. When the week was up I returned to LaGuardia and got there in plenty of time for my flight home to Toronto. I successfully negotiated my way through screening and customs and on to the correct gate and took a seat in the waiting area (this was B.K. [before knitting]). After what seemed like forever, they finally made the boarding call for my flight and, after handing my ticket over, was guided to my seat. I had just gotten settled when a large group of Orthodox Jews boarded (yes, that matters) One of the men approached me and told me that I was sitting in his seat. I smiled and jokingly suggested that he would have to spend the flight in my lap if he meant to sit there (whoops . . . evidently I shocked them with my brazenness). Amid gasps of horror from his companions (yes really . . . and the men were more upset than the women) he stomped off to get a flight attendant. Well, it turned out that this airline (who I would boycott if I could remember which it was) had TWO flights, with the same flight number, within an hour or so of each other, both were headed to Toronto and I was meant to be on the second one. I shamefacedly slunk off the full plane and found an isolated niche in which to await my actual flight and cool my flaming cheeks.

Did any of you Florida types receive the latest e-mail from Knit'n'Knibble? Well, e-mails. I could be wrong but I suspect the proprietor has a bit of an infection going in her computer. Either that or she has a lot of answering to do to the entire mailing list whose addresses were made available in two of the three messages.

Foolish thoughts.

Every so often I get homesick or start missing my previous job. Today is one of those days and there's only one reason for it; The Harlot is trekking to Aurora Ontario. In my previous life I drove for a commuter transit company that included routes from Toronto to Aurora. One that goes right past the yarn store in question.
In my oh so vivid imagination, I'd be driving the bus that Stephanie would take to get to the gathering this evening. Of course, this assumes that I'd know who she was, that I would have discovered knitting and the knitternet had I stayed put in Canada and it also assumes that she'd take the bus and not save some time by carpooling up.
*sigh* I'm a goofball.

Rambling

First day of school today and I'm already writing a referral. *sigh* Only time will tell whether early crackdowns will set a course for decent behaviour for the rest of the year.

Mathboy was inspired over the weekend and tonight he made dinner. We had a selection of cranberry juice or sweet tea marinated fried chicken. The sweet tea was ok and the cranberry was reminiscent of Thanksgiving dinner. Good but odd.

No knitting was done today as it was just far too hot on my big yellow cheese wagon. On the other hand, I have been delving more and more into thinking about spinning. There's a whole line of wheels out there made of PVC piping and I'm starting to wonder if I can convince Mathboy that it would be fun to construct an ancient tool out of thoroughly modern plumbing supplies. After all, they're cheap and if I don't take to spinning, he can take it apart and use it for spare parts *grin*

I Have, I Wanna, Not Likely!

The first order of business today is to thank Alyson for her thoughts on my party going dilemma. I think she's right and while I'm sure that Mathboy could effortlessly handle the slings and arrows of silly muggles, I'd rather not put him in a position where he needs to. So. The knitting will stay in the car alone, but not unloved and very much missed.

Now. You're in for a leedle bit of whining but it's part of today's story.

I first learned to knit as a child of seven at my grandmother's knee. I don't recall what the yarn was but I know for certain that the needles were part of a set of ten that I still own today. Have you ever heard of finger knitting? It didn't take me long to become bored with it and I eventually moved on to "interesting" things like cat's cradle and other string figures. Right around the same time, I had a role in "The Gingerbread Man" as the Old Woman who bakes the Gingerbread Man. My main props were a rocking chair, a set of straights and some blue yarn. Being the stickler for detail that she still is, my mother cast on 20 or so stitches and taught me to knit so I could be an authentic "old woman" it still didn't stick but it helped lay the groundwork for my future as a Knitter.

A few years later my heart's desire was a pair of legwarmers. Well, it seemed that Mrs. Claus either had far too much to do or a really mean sense of humour and I received two balls each of mustard yellow, teal, and purple yarn . . . in, as I recall, a chunky scratchy icky stuff. She also included a pair of needles and a pattern. I did not continue the path to knitting at that time. I did, however, receive three pairs of legwarmers that year. Pink ones from my parents (who were much nicer than the Claus's evidently), blue from my grandmother, and a pair of hand knit mustard, teal, and purple ones when my mother took pity and saw I was never going to do anything with that odd scratchy yarn.

Nineteen years later I found myself living in Florida with no friends. Of course I had Mathboy, his friends, and his family but I had no friends of my own and no idea how to make any. My mother in law and her friends had long been in the habit of circulating books around their little group and when I moved here I became a stop on their book-go-round. One of the books was Debbie Macomber's "A Good Yarn" I read it and fell in love with the idea of knitting socks but more than that, I fell in love with the idea that knitting could bring these lonely women together and help create friendships. I dragged Mathboy off to Michaels and bought the Susan Bates "My Knitting Teacher" kit and the prettiest yarn I could find (give me a break here, I was new) because I was going to make a blanket! Yep. With two 4.5 oz balls of Red Heart Baby Clouds in Tutti-Frutti. I'm not sure what kind of blanket I was planning to make with a total of 210 yards of yarn but there ya go. In my enthusiasm I cast on FAR too many stitches for the straights that I was using and soon got irritated with it and moved on. My next kick at the can was Wendy Johnson's Kitty Pi. I completed it and followed it with several more that I accessorized with little cabled catnip stuffed mice.

It's been over a year now and, while I certainly wouldn't describe myself as an accomplished or expert knitter, I can certainly say I've come a long way. Best of all, I've made some friends along the way. Both in the Blogosphere (Hi Kristy!) and in the real world (Hi Alyson, Eileen, Kelly, Sandy, and everyone else!)

I still have a long way to go with this knitting thing as the list below shows.

I've used Bold for stuff I've done, italics for stuff I want to do one day, normal for stuff I'm not planning on doing, and red for stuff I've never even heard of.

• Afghan/Blanket
• I-cord
• Garter stitch
• Knitting with metal wire
• Shawl
• Stockinette stitch
• Socks: top-down
• Socks: toe-up
• Knitting with camel yarn (I even know where to buy it and, in doing so, contribute to a good cause)
• Mittens: Cuff-up
• Mittens: Tip-down
• Hat
• Knitting with silk (does cotton/silk blend count?)
• Moebius band knitting (haven't even done it accidentally)
• Participating in a KAL (would that be a knit along?)
• Sweater
• Drop stitch patterns
• Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
• Slip stitch patterns
• Knitting with banana fiber yarn
• Domino knitting
• Twisted stitch patterns
• Knitting with bamboo yarn
• Two end knitting
• Charity knitting
• Knitting with soy yarn (clapotis part I is only partially complete but it is a soy blended yarn)
• Cardigan
• Toy/doll clothing
• Knitting with circular needles
• Knitting with your own handspun yarn
• Slippers
• Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
• Continental Knitting
• Designing knitted garments
• Cable stitch patterns
• Lace patterns
• Publishing a knitting book
• Scarf
• American/English knitting
• Button holes
• Knitting with alpaca
• Fair Isle knitting
• Norwegian knitting
• Dyeing with plant colors
• Knitting items for a wedding
• Household items
• Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars
• Olympic knitting
• Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
• Knitting with DPNs
• Holiday related knitting
• Teaching a male how to knit (I'm pretty sure that Mathboy has learned by proximity)
• Bobbles
• Knitting for a living (oh hell no. I'd starve to death)
• Knitting with cotton
• Knitting smocking
• Dyeing yarn
• Steeks
• Knitting art
• Fulling/felting
• Knitting with wool
• Textured knitting (ummmm, isn't it all textured?)
• Kitchener BO
• Purses/bags
• Knitting with beads
• Swatching
• Long Tail CO
• Entrelac
• Knitting and purling backwards
• Machine knitting
• Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegating yarn
• Stuffed toys
• Baby items
• Knitting with cashmere
• Darning
• Jewelry
• Knitting with synthetic yarn
• Writing a pattern
• Gloves (assuming fingerless count, otherwise, it's on my to-do list)
• Intarsia
• Knitting with linen
• Knitting for preemies
• Tubular CO
• Freeform knitting
• Short rows
• Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm warmers
• Pillows (does the little eye/neck pillow herbie I made for my MIL count?)
• Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
• Rug
• Knitting on a loom
• Thrummed knitting
• Knitting a gift
• Knitting for pets
• Shrug/bolero/poncho
• Knitting with dog/cat hair (but not on purpose)
• Hair accessories
• Knitting in public

Gotta Question.

I know, I know, it seems like I only ever blog any more when I'm whining or want something from you all and I promise I'm working on changing that. Probably.
Anyways. Over the next three weeks, Mathboy and I have been invited to two parties hosted by his co-workers. One's retirement party and the other is just a gathering. I know many of the people who will be attending but not well and some I've only met once.
My question is this; Should I take my knitting? It would probably be a sock but it might be Clapotis.
Mathboy would say, if I asked, but I'm not, that the knitting should stay in the car but he also thinks that the knitting should stay in the car when we're going to a restaurant or assorted other places where I just know that I'm going to get fidgety without a dose of yarn. (took the knitting into the red and blue home improvements store the other day, over his objections, and it saved me while he played with plumbing bits for half an hour).
So. What say you all? Non-knitters are also welcome to comment.

yay.

I'm thirty. Remember when you were a child and 30 was older than you could comprehend?

My celebration started wonderfully with a phone call from my area manager (at 8:09) asking me to please come in and do the year end cleaning of my bus. I then got to open the second and third cards in a series from Mathboy (his family motto is "Nothing in Moderation") and listen to lots of moaning and complaining from him that the boss lady had had the nerve to call before nine and ruin all of his scheming and planning to start my day with a smile. Evidently there was meant to be singing and flaming brownies.
Now I'm off to spend my birthday detailing my bus (which I had planned on doing anyways), feeling ill (still running a low grade fever), and, hopefully, going to the doctor's office to see if she can figure out what my problem is.

Still Alive

(edited to try to repair the odd spacing and ask what bloggers problem is with spaces and pictures.)

Long overdue post with PICTURES!

Firstly . . . about two weeks ago, I met up with Alyson, Chris, Kelly, Phoebe, and Valerie (no that link's not a mistake, Valerie is one of the brains behind Yarn4Socks) at Knit'n'Knibble in Tampa. From there we went to dinner (well, Alyson, Kelly, Phoebe, Valerie and I) at Pane Rustica which was delicious, reasonably priced, and under lit. Our third, and final stop, was a nearby Barnes and Noble where we chased away an older woman (who was so deeply ensconced in her cozy chair that she'd actually brought a blanket from home) by being unruly and giggly. Well jeez. What else can you expect from a gaggle of knitters?

From left to right: Me, Valerie, Alyson, and Kelly.

Photo credit goes to Valerie's very patient husband Reuben.

The following Sunday was our usual knit-out at (lately) Jason's Deli where Sandy was kind enough to model her clap-in-progress. Incidentally, I'm working on one in the same colour (because I abandoned put the SWS one on hold). The yarn is Lionbrand Microspun in Lilac. Because of course periwinkle blue is the first colour I think of when I think of lilacs. *sigh* Anyways.

The monkeys were completed in plenty of time to be gifted to my mother in law this last Sunday but on Friday I decided to make something else to go with them.

Any guesses what?

Here's a hint (Mathboy made this part)

Oh! Saturday we picked up The Deathly Hallows and I read it on Monday. Like Kelly, I devoured it in about 5 hours. My problem now? Mathboy won't read it until he's finished the series he's reading right now . . . and he wants to read the first six in the Potter series before he reads book seven. *sigh* Keeping mum about it for goodness knows how long is liable to kill me.

Lastly, here's the evil large green bug who's been munching on my roses. Anyone know what it is?

I'm off now to consume large amounts of orange juice, ruby red grapefruit juice, and soup in an effort to combat whatever the heck it is that's been inflicting a fever and headache on me so that I feel somewhat human tomorrow (not feeling one's mortality on one's birthday is kind of a nice thing) and on our trip to Virginia Friday.

Ravelry

So I toddled over to Ravelry to see where I am on the list . . . .

Found you!

• You signed up on July 3, 2007


• You are #13011 on the list.


• 7143 people are ahead of you in line.


• 4187 people are behind you in line.


• 32% of the list has been invited so far

*sigh*

Graft and re-Graft

Ordinarily, I wouldn't feel the need to point out the silly things that I decorate my blog with but LOOK! It's a skinny cute little knitting me (with pointy ears! )! If you want your own cute little knitting you, head on over to www.meez.com and join. In the space where it asks who referred you, type cornssss (note the fourth s) and you'll get five free coinz to deck yourself out (can't get the knitting or the wedding ring without coinz). In the interest of full disclosure, I also get coinz for any references that join up . . . but they're of no use in the real world. Also, Kelly? They've got Hairspray outfits! I'm ashamed to admit that I could easily send hours in there messing around and playing dollies.

On to the knitting content. I finished monkey 1, did something that I was calling kitchenering, and decided that it looked absolutely horrible. There are no pictures because it was very very bad, however, I do have witnesses to the badness.

Last night found me on the couch, muttering and grumbling as I returned to this point:

Once I got back to the start, I ran the video found here, watched it maybe three or four times, gritted my teeth and settled in to graft my little heart out. In the end, I did this:

I could only be more pleased if it'd looked like this on the first try.

And so, I'm proud to present Monkey 1.

The cool sock blocker is a bent-out-of-shape coat hanger. I found the tutorial here thanks to this post of Kristy's.

Tonight you'll find me on the couch doing this:

and watching Mike Rowe play with reptiles on Dirty Jobs.

Incidentally, Monkey 2 came to the immigration offices with me yesterday and evidently the size 2 bamboos she's on were not deemed nearly as dangerous as the zeros that Boudica was on. No chin poking test this time (the last time I was at the immigration offices, the screener checked to see how dangerous my needles were by stabbing himself in the chin repeatedly with them.) and while I was able to while away my time without getting bored, all of the knitting I did got frogged thanks to a ginormous error made as soon as I got there. I got my new stamp and so I'm good to go for another year. Next year at this time, I'll be able to apply for my long term (ten year) green card. Woot!

Monkey Passion

On Tuesday, the monkey sock and I went to its place of conception. I'm only about three or four inches away from the toe and rather pleased with myself.

Here's Monkey enjoying the music and lights.
























Today, Mathboy and I went for a stroll around our wildly overgrown back yard and found this lovely little fellow and his entire family and all of their friends attempting to overthrow our backyard. I really need to get out there and mow. In case you're curious, that's a purple passion flower

Mean spiritedness?

I'm a horrible person. Mathboy and I received a wedding invitation from one of his cousins today. This will be her third wedding and I'm just aggravated by the whole thing. You see, the invitation included two things that should not normally be included in a wedding invitation:

1) Registry cards directing us to the places where they've registered for a heck of a lot of stuff for two people who are evidently already cohabiting . . . one of whom, as I mentioned, has already been around the block twice.

2) What amounts to a coming out announcement. We had no inkling that Cuz was a lesbian but it was made plain in the invitation that entreated us to join in celebrating the marriage of so-and-so's daughter to so-and-so's daughter.

Bah. I don't think I'm a homophobe . . . but maybe I am. Maybe I'm reacting in this manner merely because I think that homosexuality is wrong. I don't dislike gays and lesbians. I grew up with an honorary uncle who was quite gay, one of my childhood friends came out about five years ago, I had a friend who had two mommies, Mathboy has an aunt who came out 15-20 years ago . . . I like most of these people (the exception is the former friend who decided that people disliked her because she was gay and not because she was a raging bitch) and all are welcome in my home. I just happen to think that the lifestyle is wrong. I also think that illicit drug use and cigarette smoking are wrong and yes, I know that habits/addictions are chosen and many would argue that homosexuality isn't. I don't really want to go there.

Anyways. As long as you're not harming anyone else, I really don't care what you do. How does all of this circle around to Cuz and her partner? Well, sending an invitation to a same sex wedding without giving any of the family (including elderly and conservative grandparents) any idea that you lean in that direction, or are even involved with anyone, kind of smacks of confrontationality (is that even a word?) I'm probably particularly irked because we've tried to keep the lines of communication open but any contact, including Christmas cards and wedding invitations from our end go ignored and unanswered.
What do you all think? Am I just being an uptight, judgy, right wing bitch?

Edited to Add: Mathboy tells me that I am, in fact, a homophobe . . . but he also says that I can't help it. My contention is that I can dislike a behaviour or action without disliking the person.

Happy Independence Day!

With malice towards none...With charity for all; With firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan-- to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations.

~Abraham Lincoln, March 4, 1865

Happy Canada Day!

^click me!^

Ok, Choke Me.

Booo, hiss! There will be no Oreo sharing this Sunday as we have familial obligations in Okeechobee for the day and it's unlikely that a) I'll be back before 8 and b) in any shape to go anywhere after the drive down and back. There is a shiny spot in this though . . . think of all the knitting time I'll have!

I'll leave you with some pictures of the dogs "protecting" me from the rabid killer gopher tortoise who made the very poor decision to enter our yard a week or two ago.

"It's alive!!!!"

"Get Tachi! Get it"

For those who are concerned about the fate of our visitor, I locked the dogs in the house and gently removed her from the yard. She was last seen working her way north. And, for the record, the Gopher Tortoise is not known to be particularly blood thirsty or threatening unless you happen to be a slow moving piece of vegetable matter ;-)

Mail Call

Hooray! I got mail! A totally unanticipated package from some friends on Canada's west coast.

Packaged in a re-recycled box (that I used to send some gifts to Mathboy once a long time ago. Before I knew what a destructive toad Tachi was)
Look! Canadian Double Stuf Oreos . . . and a pretty puppy card. And packaging peanuts.
The Oreos will likely be joining me at Starbucks on Sunday if anyone's interested in tasting them.

Incidentally, Monday's mangled bits of metal were size 000 aluminum Susan Bates double pointed needles from this set.

Roller Skating Sox and Evil Pets

On Friday I did a field trip to a Tampa Roller Rink. I worked on the Clap for a few hours and then decided that I really need to cast on my Monkeys. I completed my cast on, joined it and had just begun working in the round when a woman walked up, asked if I was knitting socks and began fondling my yarn. Clearly a Knitter. As I'm rather shy (shaddup Sandy and Kelly. It's true!) and don't do well one on one with strangers, I didn't really have much to say. In retrospect, I could have asked if she had any wip's with her, would she like to join me, where she buys her yarn . . . So, stranger from the Roller Rink? If you're reading this, I'm not snotty...until I get to know you :-)

Monkey at the roller rink. Forgive the crappy cellphone pic.

The weekend was fairly uneventful, I was late getting to Panera because we spent Sunday afternoon in Tampa visiting with some of Mathboy's relatives but once I got to the restaraunt we had a giggling good time.

This morning I interrupted an impromptu "learn to knit" session on my bedroom floor. I've had to dissuade the dogs from thinking they could knit in the past but evidently I wasn't forceful enough in pointing out that 000 needles are just not a good idea for beginners. The needles were cheap, and it was my fault for being foolish enough to leave them where the rotten beasts instinct driven darlings could eat them but I'm still royally ticked.

I am a follower. And a joiner. But mostly a follower.

The sorting hat says that I belong in Hufflepuff!

Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot, and treat them just the same."

Hufflepuff students are friendly, fair-minded, modest, and hard-working. A well-known member was Cedric Digory, who represented Hogwarts in the most recent Triwizard Tournament.

 

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