Double Knit

It isn't that hard- in fact, there are elements that make it easier than regular knitting because you can always tell whether you need to knit or purl on each row. I made a..thing...that might be used as a coaster someday but who knows. I also finished Eddie's blue and white, as well as Roni's ensemble and Dawn's glovelets, which are a different thing than I've done.
I almost wrote, I hope she likes it. I know she will, just because it's something I made for her. But I really do hope she likes it.

Under the Weather

Sick yesterday- and I don't feel that great today. But I'm good enough to drag it in to work. I hate calling in but there are times when I shouldn't be anywhere but home in bed. Maybe I can survive tonight. I hope so!
Knitting a very different pattern for a scarf, working on Roni's purple and black and getting to an end of the list. I have the pattern for a scarf called 'Falling Water Lace' which is gorgeous and has yo and ssk in it which will be a great learning experience, and have hopes to learn to double knit, which is fascinating and not that hard. I hope. We'll see.

Funeral

I hate funerals but I'm going to one today. My dear friend Travis passed away Monday. 37 years old, heart attack. I can't believe it, can't accept it. I wonder...what the hell! How could this happen?
It's the saddest family story ever. I knew his mother, Cathy, loved her, was addressed by her as Stepchild, which was an enormous comfort to me. I knew her daughter, Travis' sister Sheila, who was my Evil Twin. I know Cathy's husband Dale and have known the whole lot of them since the early nineties. Sheila passed away from a sudden illness almost two-three? years ago, in October. Cathy passed away over a year ago around Valentine's Day. And now Travis. Unexpected and uncalled for. I can't wrap my mind around it. I can't imagine what Dale is dealing with- and through it all he managed to get a message to me about the service today. So of course, yes, I'll go. To show my respect for him, his family and their grief.
I can't help but ask why. People who all had so much life ahead of them, so much to live for, a family wiped out. I can't understand it.

Wimbledon

I love tennis almost as much as knitting, maybe because I can watch one while I do the other. I played in my extreme youth, very briefly, very badly, and yet I enjoy the sport more than any other on television. I will watch it all day long. Life is suspended when there's a Grand Slam tournament on. I am supremely content watching and was really pissed during the French Open when it was almost exclusively on the Tennis Channel on satellite. I have cable. Lucky for me Wimbledon is on ESPN this year. THANKS ESPN!

Crazy Hat Day

I am pleased that my work is encouraging weird behavior. I have my hat ready, it's my old fishing hat I pinned up the brim and stuffed in tulle and feathers. I am like Vince Noir- my hair is like a hat, all hats suit me. Like him, I am sure there is probably one that doesn't suit.
I am getting rather close to being done with the scarf list. I have 26 projects completed and 11 to go. And they're boys so....conservative, boring colors. Yuck. Now it doesn't seem so close, either. Oh, well, I love a challenge.

Summer Heat is Here

It's supposed to be 99 degrees today. I love Oklahoma, but the heat is just draining. I am doing my best not to whine but this time of year, if you're in the humid boiler of Tulsa, everyone's doing it. Sweating, bitching.....welcome to hell! I wouldn't live anywhere else.
I mowed the back yard yesterday evening while Bug planted the hostas and laid the sod by the porch. I hope it all comes out alright. I didn't do much knitting, just collapsed on the couch.
I don't know what today will bring, aside from crippling heat, but I guess I'm ready.

Deadline

I don't have one, do I? I've been making these hats and things for everyone I work with and I can only think of one deadline: WINTER. And it's half a year away. I am dangerously close to getting done. But then what? Maybe I'll adventure more into Fair Isle knitting. Maybe I'll try a big blanket in rib stitch. Maybe I'll make something I can wear a lot. Maybe I'll knit a car cover.
This morning I found my coffee not made. I panicked. My carafe had been broken and there was no way for me to have my morning brew. Disaster!!!!
I scoured the town for a coffee maker I didn't hate and found one less than a block from home. I purchased it post haste, washed it and made coffee, which I am drinking at two in the afternoon. It's delicious. The pot doesn't have the drip on the hot plate hiss my old one did. YAY!
I have done nothing on my days off. NOTHING. I need to catch up on all my laundry for work. I wear exclusively black, black pants, shirt jacket, socks....bright orange drawers though. I paint my nails black. I dye my hair black. I just look good in black. It's very slimming. And every bit in a pile by the washer.....
I have big plans regarding the dead marie costume, as well, involving bugle beads which I have owned for years and never figured out where to use. I am such a lazy ass.
So I need to get busy, start making some noise, do something productive. Maybe.

More Knitting

I have finished Shay's cream and claret ensemble, now I'm working on Nancy's eggplant and gold, which is very pretty together and someone told me it looked like a Crown Royal bag. Yum.
I do not anticipate a good day, but that doesn't matter. I've got my hair on and my nails shiny black (something I have done since November of 2007. You'd be surprised how many people don't notice my hands look like Herman Munster.) so I am as ready as I'm going to be. Some part of me- the naive, wistful, part optimist, wishes things could be good.
Maybe they never are, for anyone. It's all an illusion anyhow, good, bad. Things just are the way they are, my perception makes it great or crappy. I am usually able to see the glass as half full--I think. I don't know. Maybe I don't know anything. Maybe it's a big mess!
Where are my knitting needles? I need to not think.

Moving Things

I've rearranged my sewing room. It's been an almost all-day job. I put my old computer in the closet, cleaned and threw out and swept up ashes....since I quit smoking in January, this is something that really needed to be done. Eeew. I have it rather bearable, but even in its Early American Dumpster decor it's still my favorite place to be.
I bought a set of knitting needles that light up so you can knit anywhere- "Even in the dark!" the packaging says. One of them is broken and I am taking them back tomorrow, if there's time between two doctor appointments and one 4 hour class. *sigh*

Knitting a Lot

I am really trying to get these things done, learn a lot from each project, try something new and add to my somewhat dubious skills. I enjoy it, it keeps me off the streets and maybe someday I'll get better.
In my personal life, which I try not to dwell on much, things are tolerable, I am a little lonely and knitting is a Godsend. I think I have a dozen more hats and scarfs to make- I added cute little fingerless gloves and those are morphing into different creations. I would like to learn double knit so I can make the scarves more elaborate. One thing at a time. I can barely purl.