KnittyOtter

Saturday Morning Wild Horses

The wild horses walked past our backyard this morning as I was looking out at the falling snow. So I snapped a few pictures and thought I'd update my blog. *gasp*

No one die of shock please. :p

 

 

I love it when the wild horses walk past our house. I also love riding past them on my bike. :D

In other news I'm sooooo ready for spring.

Forget Me Not... Oh and Socks!

A toe dipped into the blogging waters.. lets see what happens.

I recently finished my Socktoberfest Socks. You know the ones I started last year. Yeah. They are done. And AWESOME.

 

The yarn is Scout's Swag Superwash Merino in the colorway Socktoberfest.

I knit them using Cookie's Short Row Toe Up method in a simple 3x1 rib.

I did find knitting the dark yarn to be a bit much for my eyes. Or that's my excuse for why they sat unloved for a year. ;)

So there I made a post. :p

Wheeeeeeeeeee!!

Flowers, Veggies & Fruit Oh My!

Yesterday I was able to spend some time in the backyard with the honey and TKK. The weather was warm off and on sunny. Just a relaxing sunday afternoon with two of my favorites peoples.

That alone would have been perfect, but there's more...

This is the cactus that always blooms when I'm out if town. I wasn't out of town this year when it bloomed and instead of one flower like it normally has it is damn full of flowers!!

Lookie!! Lots more to pop into bloom :D

Close up:

Those inside bits look weird. o.0

Little TKK was taking in (getting high) her catnip. It's growing all over the place and we have allowed three areas to go crazy with it. These photos are at the biggest area where several plants have made a little maze for her to play in. (It's the spot she will be laid to rest when that time comes... she's 20 & has some lung tumor issues... taking it one day at a time and hoping for the best... they said she'd be gone before winter... they were wrong...she has a good comfy life and is happy.)

Here's what she looks like walking back across the yard after too much time in the catnip. I think she's asking for a snack and a nap. *L*

The other super awesome thing that came from the backyard yesterday was the first harvest of Russian Kale, Spinach & Strawberries!! YAY!!

Last night I sauteed some mushrooms and onions and then tossed in the chopped kale and spinach for a quick minute. Sooooooo good. Best dinner ev-ah!

We also ate the strawberries.

Sweetest strawberries I've had in ages. Sooooooooooooooooooooo Good!!! 

Not bad for a Sunday afternoon. :D

Cookie Cherry Cola & TKK

Recently as I have mentioned I turned another year older... if you think about it each second of every moment we are getting older, decay decay...

To help me celebrate the occasion with more cheer my super awesome one of a kind best friend known in the land of blogs (other lands too) as Cookie made me a beautiful gift. Cause she's awesome like that as I have just stated. :p

She got a shiny new wheel for her birthday  this year and she has spun me yarn on it. It's called Cherry Cola... la la la lola. (now that stupid song is stuck in my damn head AUGH!!!!)

Freckle Face Fibers

Cherry Cola 60 Merino/30 Bamboo/10 Nylon

3.39 oz/111g

She spun it into 442 Yards in April of 2010

Chain Plyed

Of course right around the time I was taking these photos cute and fuzzy wittle TKK got interested in what I was doing and ran over to help. Cause I obviously must have looked liked I needed help to her. 

You can see a cactus, cat mint, regular mint and various strawberry plants behind her.

She says she likes the yarn her Auntie Cookie made for her lots and lots. I'm not sure I have to the heart to tell her it's all mine and to get her furry paws off.

Here's a close up with the quarter shot. Cause that's what spinner photos always have in them right? o.0

I think it's a bit darker in normal light. 

Love!! Thank you, sweet awesome (evil) Cookie!!!

So now I'm thinking about knitting either some cool socks or maybe one of those baktus shawl/scarf things out of it. What do you think it looks like it wants to become? :D

May Apple Blossoms & The Bees Knees (Literally)

Last year the honey and I planted two dwarf apple trees. We even had enough of an apple harvest for a pie. Mmmmmm Pie. Pie. 1.5 Pie. Pie is Good! Want Pie Now... PIE!!!

When Come Back Bring Pie.

Ah, a simpler time.

Wankers.  

/end tangent o.0

Anyhoo, so we planted some stuffs last year. More on the other stuff later as news arises.

The trees are blossoming like crazy this year. Absolutely beautiful! :D Yesterday I took a few photos of them in all their spring glory. (Oh and I got a new camera a few weeks ago. We are in love and I plan to have it's camera babies. It will be an odd life but I'm sure we will be very happy together. :p )

Full to bursting with blossomy goodness. 

Check out this close up.

Just then I spotted a garden visitor.

It's a wonderful little honey bee!! YAY!! I love Honey bees. The honey and I have been talking about doing some backyard beekeeping for awhile now and I'm thinking next year after we do some more prep to the backyard we will be ready. :D

Here's a close up of the little guy. Check out his pollen laden knees. Whoaza! 

When he flew away he kinda wobbled. I'm wondering if it was his heavy load or if he was drunk on pollen. *L*

Thanks to his efforts I hope we have lots of yummy apples this autumn.

Pie! :D

The King Is Dead.

Long Live The New King.

Yesterday I was told that Lightening the Laptop was dead never to return to the world of the computing. Thankfully when he started to look a bit sickly I got a new computer. Still it sucks. I saved all the info except for some of my Favorites and the list of blogs I used to read. You know when I used to have time to review blogs and keep track of my own.

Funny how time flies and the world passes by.

It's hard in keep in contact with people. For me at least. Mileage may vary per individual.

So life has been moving forward and with it change. I'm still me just a bit older, different, I'd hope wiser but that's just the delusion of age I suppose.

The things that are the same are the most important, still with my honey, still nursing along my little TKK Kitty (now 20 years old) and still best friends with my Cookie.

I have made new friends, gotten rid of some old friends who turned out to be poison and gotten rid of some the new friends who were also poison/users/vampires. Keeping what I hope to be the best. Time will tell. Though some friends have fallen to the side not because there was anything wrong with the relationship, just a lack of time and attention. Like flowers some beautiful things just wilt without care.

Yesterday I turned 35. I was 22 when I met TKK. 23 when I met my Honey. 27 when I met my Cookie.

How time flies.

I still knit, as if there was a doubt. I just haven't found the time or attention to blog about it. All along I keep intending to update. Intentions. So cliche.

This year I've done a bit of traveling. For this and that. I even went to Stitches. That was... interesting. Kinda reminds me of something I read earlier today, "If you're a screaming narcissistic attention whore, you need the cyberhugglez". Only the cyberhugglez obviously would be changed to something like  "If you're a screaming narcissistic attention whore, you need to make huge dramatic scenes at stitches".  I'd go again, I just need to learn to tell people to shut the fuck up. It's not a knitter thing, trust me knitters are not above the rest of the humans. It seems that some of these individuals are starved for human contact and believe this is their big opportunity to get some sort of validation.This made for a lot of uncomfortable class room settings where crazy people hijacked the teachers time to tell everyone in the room about how their lives sucked because of ___________. Or the crazy people who showed up and wasted the class time by trying to teach over the actual class instructor when they obviously had no fracking clue. o.0 I paid money for that?! Really?!!

There was one teacher who was capable of  stopping the bullshit before it started. She wore black leather pants. Funny how you can always count on the Domme's to take charge. *L*

I did learn a lot, despite the crazy humans. (Cannot wait until the zombies get most of the humans. Looking forward to the peace and quite!) That's not to say there weren't nice people. 98% were probably super awesome and I met some great people there. But they were calm and nice. The crazy ones are frack ass loud and in your face... or they were sour disgruntled asshats who bitched because everything was sooooo hard. Eh. Feh. Meh! o.0

It was also fun seeing all the yarn and stuff to be purchased on the market floor. It was... interesting.

Like I said I'd go again. I just might try to take it slower and drink more. Yes a few glasses of wine before hitting the market floor sounds like a good plan. That and only going with the cash in hand that I want to spend. So many colors and options and people. It's crazy making.  I personally would need some sort of buddy system to stay sane if I go again.

Of course maybe it just seemed weirder than it was because of some personal/family stuff that was going on at the time. I seriously considered not going even though I had already paid for the classes because of what was going on. When dealing with bullshit other bullshit gets seriously magnified I'm thinking.

So maybe next year will be a totally different super fun thing. I'm planning on it. ;)

And just to prove I still knit here is my Mocha Bay scarf. The pattern is the Montego Bay by Amy Singer. The yarn is the Stitches 2010 Lornas Laces Jimmy Beans colorway called Peppermint Mocha. Love!

A funny thing happened on the way to my life...

I won't go into the stuffs that has been going on the last year. I'll just say I was busy and most of it was life stuffs I don't blog about. That and computer issues.

:P

I'm posting from my new computer now actually. Just got it last week. LOVE!

Though I'm a bit weirded out by how different TypePad is now... again. o.0 That'll teach me not to wait 7 or 8 months to update. Sheesh.

In knitting news I am knitting my first pair of gloves. The pattern is Knotty. :D The yarn is Sundara Sock, colorway Marina over Icicles. Love!

 
Yesterday I made super yummy pies. Well the pumpkin is yummy. Haven't tried the apple yet, but the crust looks faboo. It's the first time I have made my own crusts. Soooo nifty!

 
I'm making some French Vanilla Ice Cream to go with the apple pie at the moment. YUM-E!

I recently cashed in some credit card reward points for gift cards to Williams-Sonoma. I am the owner of a super cool Cobalt Blue Kitchen-Aid Stand Mixer. I got the ice cream attachments and the pasta attachments. Wheeeeeee! I also got a proper rolling pin, rolling pastry mat, a Blue Le Crueset 6 quart dutch oven and some other fun toys.

I hope to start posting more, but don't hold your breath and I won't beat myself up if it doesn't happen. There is lots going on and I'm just happy to have some time to knit again.

Life is all about balance and I'm still looking for mine. ;)

FO: Branching Out in Alpaca & Silk

I LOVE this scarf on George!! :D

It really makes his eyes and gaping mouth pop. *L*

Speaking of George, check out Walter Greatshell's blog! In this post he featured George. Isn't that sweet. Zombie Love for everyone! :D

Last March I started Branching Out. This past February I got around to finishing it. The sad thing was that it only took about two weeks to knit. One week last March and one week this February. This was a very simple project that I'm sure would have gone a lot faster had I used the chart. *hangs head in shame*

Instead I used the written lace pattern. The year long stand off to complete this came from my lack of keeping track of which row I was on. Then I started a bunch of other projects...

I, KnittyOtter, had an addiction with casting on to new things. I've never been very good at that whole project monogamy thing. I blame that bad relationship with that RockStar back when I first started knitting. Boring Bastard ruined me and now I'm always looking for the next big high.

This year I have decided to make a change. I will try to work on only one or two projects at a time rather than 5 or 7. But first I have to finish up all those projects waiting around for my attention. So in order for me to start Madli on time I wanted to make sure I had one of my lace projects completed. I also completed a pair of socks figuring before I start any new project this year I will need to complete two or more that are unfinished.

Here's the detail shot:

Started: March 11 2008

Completed: February 18 2009
Pattern: Branching Out
Size: 6' 11" long and 6.5" wide
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpacas Alpaca & Silk - Peacock
Yardage: 2 skeins = 292.0 yards - I had just a yard or so left over.
Needles: Bryspun US 7 16" Circs now a pale shade of peacock...
For: Me!
Purchased at: Jimmy Beans Wool in Reno, Nevada

This really is a great beginning lace pattern. After having completed this I felt way more comfortable starting something with lace weight yarn and a more complicated pattern such as Madli. Although somehow Madli seem's even easier than Branching Out, but that may just be some weird perspective I have now after Rachel talked to me about reading my lace. :D She also gave me a tip about adding a Yarn Over without ripping back if you forget to add one. I've done that twice now and what a relief not having to frog back over nupps! *L*

The yarn was also a dream to knit with, Mmmm Alpaca and Silk.... So Soft!

Here's one last modeled shot with George. This one shows the color best as it truly is.

Madli Update: Last night I finished the 5th pattern repeat of the center chart… after having to rip back a few rows because I lost a stitch somewhere and got off balance. I think I K2tog'd when I shouldn't have.  But Madli and I are back on track again. Woo!

That makes me think of: Self Centered Twat Monkey Edition

You all know the "That makes me think of" game right? No? Well it's sort of a stream of conscious type thing. Or rather how my brain is ALL the time. o.0

ALL. THE. TIME.

So this morning as I was knitting a row or two on my shawl before getting to work (not a normal occurrence, btw but I got up super extra early so thought why not.) I was thinking about my needles and gauge. I'm knitting Madli with my US 4 / 3.5 mm Metal Knit Pick Option Needles. I would be using my wooden ones as I think they have a bit more grip and make nupps and those sorts of things a bit easier BUT I seem to have misplaced my US 4 & my US 5 wooden tips. I have torn my house apart looking for them. I see now that I will have to order another set of tips to replace them. I've also started putting notes in my needle binder that says which project the tips in use are in. Now I just have to be good about putting the needle tips & cords back once I'm finished with them. Novel concept eh? :P

So anyway... as I was pondering my lost needles it made me think of how my gauge has relaxed a great deal in the last year. Used to be I could knit a pair of socks on a US 2.5 or even 3 and still get gauge. Now I'm knitting my sock on US 1.5 and getting the gauge I want for my socks. If I knit on the US 2.5 they are freakishly big. Which sucks as I have several lovely sets of DPN's in US 2.5 that aren't getting any action.

That made me think of how back when I first started knitting this asshat once put me down for having such tight gauge and bragged about how she had to knit with size US 1 needles to get the gauge that most people get when they knit with a size US 8.

Well La De Fucking Da, you Self Centered Twat Monkey.

First of all why should I even care about some strangers gauge. Why did she feel the need to share that and put me down for being a tight knitter. As if having freakishly loose gauge was any better than being a tight knitter?! o.0 Cause it's not. It just is. Just as being a tight knitter just is. Not good or bad, just whatever each knitter should know about themselves so they know how to proceed when they start a project.

So this morning as I was knitting my shawl and thinking about needles and gauge it occurred to me why that person had done that. Granted this was before there were as many online outlets for attention whores to get their "look at me fix", it's because she was a Self Centered Twat Monkey. *L*

That made me think of the most recent atrocities of selfishness this person has committed lately which made me at that time proclaim, "What a Cunt!" to the person who was wronged by the SCTM. Twat Monkey or Cunt Monkey it's all the same. Those people should be avoid at all costs.

Of course this morning as I was knitting it made me think about how much I love the phrase Self Centered Twat Monkey. :D

Sadly I feel like I know wayyyyy too many SCTM's right now. It's pissing me off and making me grumpy. Yet recognizing I have a problem with SCTM's is the first step to solving the problem. The next step will be to remove them from my realm of existence. :D I did that with a group of Self Centered Twat Monkeys last year and I have been soooooo happy not to deal with them.

So if you find you are dealing with Stupid People or Self Centered Twat Monkeys and it's pissing you off the only advice I have for you is to eliminate them from your life.

Or go on a killing spree, depending on the time of month and your tolerance level for such worthless creatures. ;)

Of course you will need to secure bail money, a good lawyer and an alibi if you are forced into the latter option.

Wheeeeeeeeeeee!!

Now that brings me back to the original thought which makes me think and question why my gauge has relaxed so much in the last year. Especially considering how stressed I've been.

Historically during times of stress my gauge has tightened up. My stress hasn't decreased any, though perhaps my knitting style has become more confident. That makes me think of the major change in my knitting in the last year. That would be Cookie showing me her fool proof and most awesome toe up short row toes and heels. That sort of clicked a switch in my head and I have a lot more confidence as a knitter. Even though now the Cookie Cutter Short Row Method is second nature and totally obvious at first I wasn't sure and it was a bit like flying blind. I had to have trust and blind faith it was going to work because my brain could not comprehend how it could work. Even if you were to fail though, it's just knitting. *L*

Now all of that makes me think how even though I'm more stressed I can always count on My Best Friend to be there for me. Even when I suck. That makes me less stressed. Throw in The Honey and Rendog and a few other people who have been added to my solid rocks of stability in the storm of life and you have more relaxed gauge in my knitting even though the world is in chaos. *L*

That makes me think how lucky I am to have the people I love in my life and how those few Self Centered Twat Monkeys don't really matter or bother me too much in the big picture.

But it's still really fun to say SELF CENTERED TWAT MONKEY!! :D

Edit: Damn this is a long post. I should give a virtual chocolate chip cookie to anyone who actually reads the whole self indulgent thing. *L*