Fever Pitch.

Someone is still trying to beat that holiday deadline :-)

Fun Guy

This morning as I was out taking a walk with our dog Farkle (she is nearly 14) I saw this really cool tree fungus that I just had to include in the 'ol blog. It was about a foot in diameter and the brightest yellow. In my neck 'o the woods you definitely don't see cool stuff like this every day.

"Cool tree fungi"

Beaming with pride...and a little envious to boot.

I just had to add this to the 'ol blog. Carlin finished her Dad's Christmas sweater. Yippee!

(Luckily, he doesn't really read this blog or i'd be in trouble!)

It practically blogs itself.

Please, may I have one minute and twenty nine seconds of your time.

"hilarity ensues"

"World's ugliest dog dies"

R.I.P. Sam

They are out of their Vulcan minds....

I swear when I saw this in the adult beverage section of the grocery store it had to be a mistake. I also thought it looked like something I might find in the bubble bath section at Target. You must take a look and tell me your thoughts. Oh, and by the way...the stuff is not cheap, around $12.00 each.

There is a large little hat that shall remain pictureless. Some of you saw me working on it at the last Sunday SnB. Let's just say making that thing turned into the worst idea on the planet. Here are the reasons, bear with me, list's are big these days and I am a bandwagon jumper...

1. "FUGLY"...."thanks Clare and Tevana and Carlin for NOT saying anything," Danielle said, in a very sarcastic way.
2. Scratchier then "Scotts Brand" toiletpaper on a baby's bottom
3. HUGE. It fit me with room and it was supposed to be for a 4 year old.

I ended up making this hat instead: (I used "Ricochet" by Moda Dea. I'm happy with the results. I took a cockeyed picture, it really is shaped much better then this and it WILL fit a four year old)

I took a little trip to Echo Park's very own "third world yarn store/magazine stand" the other day and I bought a few balls of my favorite Mexican yarn...

Currently, i'm using the red for a scarf for me to wear on Thanksgiving...i'm making it using the "Arabesque stitch" the camera user (me) couldn't quite capture the stitch pattern very well but here it is anyway:

and the chocolate brown will be used for a scarf/holiday present made using this pattern.

I almost forgot....

You know what I did today?
(and NO that's not me, though I am feeling 90 years old at the moment)

Today I feel like a...

彈劾布希!

Thanks for the Bush clock, Clare! Okay, now everyone say "Bush Clock" ten times fast....outloud!

:-)

Off kilter

Dixie wrote a blog entry over at Blog Coven that I found extremely provocative. In fact, it answered a lot of "whys" for me . The other day I thought to myself that Mercury had to be in retrograde because of all the weirdness happening to me lately...I think that I prefer to go with her Mars theory instead. Things are so out of sorts I even did a Rune reading for the first time in years. It was right on. Here's what it looked like:

I'm getting nervous about the holiday projects so I'm trying to do things that take no time. The people that they are for do not crochet or knit so they have absolutely no concept of how long or short of a time they take. I feel like I'm duping the commoners. Oh well. The sham will continue.

My Grandmother commented about a week or so ago, using her best Jewish guilt, about how she would love to have another scarf for the cooler weather. Here's the part that got me...I think she feels like why would people, grandchildren included, want to do things for her out of the goodness of their hearts? She offered to pay me for it! I feel so cheap. Like a Crochet Whore...I told her to leave the money on the nightstand.

Grandmother's scarf:

Happy "All Saints Day "

Hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween... Carlin ended up having a very popular costume. So much so that she was receiving full size candy bars :-)

It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life. ~Rita Rudner

I'd like to give a "shout out" to this man for putting up with me for the last 15 years. Today is our 14th wedding anniversary. Love you honey. Here's to many more.

Sweater, fini!

So yesterday at the SnB I started to sweat the fact that I may not have enough yarn to finish the baby sweater I was working on. I was worried for a couple of reasons. The first being that this is a sweater for a baby and when crocheted in mass quantities Simply Soft becomes like one of those lead aprons you wear while having an Xray. The second reason is because i'm trying to do stash busting things. Granted, I started this with the yarn I had left from "TDB" and I had to go and buy another skein, but I really did not want to have to buy more and then have the majority left over after. That would have put me in the same position I was in when I started. I did end up with enough and this is what I have left over, yay!








and here is the sweater:

What I need.

Ok Clare, you got me. I wanna play"What I need" (remember kids,this is where you go to Google and type in "[your name] needs"...first 10 things, blah, blah, blah.)

1. Danielle needs to be attuned to how she is feeling
2. Danielle needs to let the Social Security Administration know ( what do they need to know? See #8 of this list)
3. Danielle needs to make announcement at October meeting for volunteers to make phone calls (Phone calls people! Make phone calls!)
4. Danielle needs some advice about IUI pregnancy please! (ummm no, I don't)
5. Danielle needs to stop making stuff up. :-)
6. Danielle needs to be abused (in a good way)
7. Danielle needs four wheel drive
8. Danielle needs to retire (comfortably, with lots of money)
9. Danielle needs to raise £1000 to cover flights, food and Team UK uniform (what the hell is Team UK? Dixie? Anyone?)
10. Danielle needs another bath

I think a couple of posts back I mentioned that I was knitting a sweater on size 4 needles for my nephew. Let's just say it's not going to happen. I was completely overzealous in my choice of needle size and yarn in relation to my lack of knitting skill. However, as a side note, I am still going to attempt knitting socks in the very near future. After much trepidation, I have frogged the 8,000,000,000 rows of that sweater and have found a crocheted sweater pattern I like a lot better and it's fun and satisfying!
Here is my progress so far....










The funny thing about certain crochet patterns, usually the stuff that is free, is that you have to look past the obvious dorkiness of it's appearance in the photo . This sweater was no exception. I hope that my visualization skills have not let me down and the end result will be what I have envisioned. Time will tell.

Happy Birthday to our cat Cyddy. She's 15 today! The cat butt you see is Baby Olive, she's only 10.

Yipee Cayee !

"TDB" = DONE!

and the shawl that I made for my mom...

Incommunicado

I'm still here. I have been a flake in ALL aspects of my life as of late. Not just in the blogging department. I've been super non-committal about everything. Sometimes I think it's just easier that way.
I've been working on some projects. In case you haven't heard...the frigging holidays are coming. Which means... holiday projects. Yay.

Hats...


















Little girls hat, for the niece...
















Oh, and i've become semi-suicidal with my latest urge to knit. I'm making a baby sweater for one of my nephews with size 4 needles. Oy vey. At least it's a smallish piece. That ought to satiate my urge to knit for awhile. After it's completed I plan on trying socks. Hopefully, Dixie
the Guru of socks, will come through with that beginning pattern we talked about at last Sunday's SnB.

"Very hot and still the air was, Very smooth the gliding river, Motionless the sleeping shadows" Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

It's been awhile since my last entry. it was too hot to write anything coherent (see my last post.)The level of heat this summer had really begun to get to me. We don't have air conditioning. Our house is over 100 years old and I guess no one ever bothered to have it installed. Usually, the temps over the summer near Downtown L.A., which is only about a mile and a half from me, do not warrant having air conditioning. Believe it or not 15 miles inland we still get the ocean breezes, what with no hills or mountains to get in the way. I actually semi-seriously pondered the idea of getting air conditioning for a few weeks this summer. But alas, the weather yesterday and for a few days more at least, have been overcast and in the upper 60's and low 70's, enough to make my air conditioning needs almost a distant memory.

I also found myself over the last couple of weeks to be very affected emotionally by the situation on the Gulf Coast. Just when I thought I was incapable of having those types of feelings toward humankind I have an emotional breakdown that seems to just go on and on.

The cooler weather means that I will again have to pick up TDB (the damn blanket). The occasion for which I need to present that present is fast approaching. However, i'm sure it will have to be late. My mother's birthday was last Tuesday and i'm near completion on her obligatory gift, a shawl. The blanket has re-entered the queue right after that. Photos are forthcoming.

"Invention, my dear friends, is 93% perspiration, 6% electricity, 4% evaporation, and 2% butterscotch ripple."

Thursday night we went to the SnB and Toni brought a cake for me from her, Tevana and Claire. It was totally fabulous (I'm betting it was better than the yarn Dixie ate at her "yarn tasting!") I have to share a picture...

Thank you for doing that for me gals. It really meant alot and I was truly touched.






Claire brought me this...
I have been walking around with it shoved up my nose ever since. What does that tell you.
I actually LOVE the scent of Lavender of which there is a lot of it in it. Reminds me of the relaxing cool down part of Yoga class which is very calming.

Aversion Therapy

It does work. Just try crocheting or knitting a blanket throughout the summer months. I can practically guarantee that doing that will make you NEVER want to do it again. I decided to take a little respite from the "Damn Blanket" project and make a couple of things on a much smaller scale and that do not have to rest in your lap as you progress(Smells like birthday and holiday presents.)

Behold...

Hat made from some type of
"Moda Dea" can't for the life
of me remember what it's called...

Scarf made from
Crystal Palace "Glam"




I'd also like to take this opportunity to give a shout out to my mom. 36 years ago today she was finishing up 24 hours of hard labor just to be able to bring me into this world. (Talk about aversion therapy!!!) Ummm, thanks!

This Blog entry brought to you by the letter "K"

Yesiree, it has been a 'few minutes' since my last blog entry. Carlin is back from Camp and she had a fabulous time. Though, I think she is happy to be home. Last I heard she does want to go back next summer. So, all in all...a success!

While she was at camp she rekindled interest in a craft she learned long ago. We have already had to go to 'Michael's' for supplies...I am taking the liberty of photographing her projects for her since she has been a slacker with her own blog.


Thomas and I went to the Dodger game a week or so ago and we both noticed something somewhat interesting. Usually, on the scoreboard they will record the pitchers strikeouts with the letter "K." That was not changed. However, they won't usually put them right up next to each other (for the first three) when the batters have struck out for fear of being 'socially incorrect.' Apparently, Dodger Stadium has changed it's policies. Either that, or not only are their sponsors "Budweiser", "US Bank", "Toyota" et al....but it now appears the "KKK" wants in on the action, too.


Last Thursday's SnB had a birthday theme. It was Tevana's Birthday. I didn't get a picture of Tevana (for some strange reason) but I have one of her i'd like to post. I think it was a self portrait.

I did however manage to take one of Claire eating her fabulous piece of Tiramisu(that Toni brought)...Um, hello....Miss Manners, I have a candidate for you :-)

The totally amazing Tiramisu or the obligatory picture of the birthday cake....

Nothing much to report along the lines of crochet projects. I'm still working on the "Damn Blanket." I have made some progress, though. I'll post photos when i'm done.

Timing IS everything

It's hot. I have to finish this by the middle of September and I don't have a choice.

Damn Blanket.

I'm making it using Simply Soft and

the crocheted moss stitch.

Off to camp...

Our little girl is growing up. Thomas, Carlin and I are so close that we found today to be a little difficult in terms of letting go and saying goodbye. I am a little verklempt about it all. So I will just post pictures and captions for now.

Carlin and her dad, he is singing her a 'going away song.'

Carlin with the "deer in the headlights" look. Notice how the wilderness background lends itself to the authenticity of the wildlife reference.

Health check. Apparently, this camp is VERY selective and won't admit any polydactyl's. I think it's for insurance reasons.

At last, Carlin's gal pal's and cabin mates.

The Frenzy

Carlin and I woke up this a.m. and quickly made a beeline for Costco. Why you ask? Harry Potter, of course! One year we made the horrible mistake of getting there an hour or so earlier then they opened. We thought a copy of HP might be hard to come by, due to the hype and buzz of possibly not enough copies to go around. We got inside and they truly had thousands of copies and about 50 kids chomping at the bit to get in. This go around we took our time. I actually think I was more excited then Carlin waking up knowing it was "HP Saturday" not because I can't wait to read the book, but because i'm excited for Carlin to be able to read another installment. She has read each volume a multitude of times in between the release of a new book. For a long time it was difficult to get her to read anything else. Thankfully, she has outgrown that. It was interesting and different going to buy the book this morning with a 'jaded teenager' in tow. She was trying her darndest not to appear excited for appearances sake. I could see through her transparent facade and knew that just under the surface of her way cool exterior she was overflowing with excitement. I figured that since I am her mother it would be my job to exploit her excitement and photograph it for all eternity.

One thing about Carlin, she really made me work for the 'keeper' picture. If she would have just done the obligatory 'excited' pose I wouldn't have had to draw all that unwanted attention to her.

This is what I was going for:

(Note: The Harry Potter School uniform. This girl is hardcore)

But I got this instead...

There really was NO rush this morning...

My new nephew

Evan...(my sister is a manager at Starbucks, hence the "SB" onesie.)

More pictures...

Some things I've been working on...

Stitch detail for the black scarf

Finally, a picture!

Here is the poncho I made for the niece awhile back....When we were out in Vegas I finally got to see her in it.

Shaken but NOT stirred

Personally, I love a little earthquake activity in my life, it makes you remember the whole "scheme of things." Besides that, you get to see a bunch of idiots on the news asking people stupid questions about what they were doing at the time it happened. Just once I would love to hear someone say they were on the toilet, followed by a brief but detailed description about that scenario. Yeah, I know, i'm sick. Whatever. We all have our crosses to bear.

Speaking of (not so funny) toilet humor...

I didn't feel the one we supposedly had last Sunday. We, combined with our upstairs neighbors were dealing with a major plumbing emergency. I was busily bailing raw sewage out of our toilet that was rapidly trying to overflow. Fun. I think if there had been an easy pain- free way of committing suicide at that moment I would have.

Needless to say, we have had cocktail hour at the Davis residence every night this week, so nice and relaxing. Not to worry, it's not time to do the AA intervention yet.

I missed the SnB last night. I fully intended on going but got home and was so tired. I just couldn't do it. I'm sure I would have sat there staring into space and been no fun at all.

Still trying to make a dent in my stash. Hats, hats and more hats...and I can't post a frigging picture, yet.

I was sitting in my car this a.m by myself at a red light and I flashed back to something that was said at an SnB awhile back. This woman who I'd never met said she knits while driving. Excuse me, but how is that even possible? (By the way, I cannot remember who said that, or how long ago it was. I have a habit lately of compartmentalizing things in my brain and then going back to process them when I have time or the 'RAM' gets full). Does anyone who reads this blog knit or crochet while they are driving? Does the mere idea of it seem ludicrous to anyone else? Could she have been lying?

By the way, i'd like to direct your attention (if you haven't already seen them) to the most inspired pair of hand knit socks I have ever seen over at Dixie's blog. They are truly amazing and the reason I will NEVER attempt to knit socks :-)

It's official, I have way too much yarn. Normally, that's not really a problem. At least I don't think it is, but it has made me assess
the way I have chosen to store it all. Bags, bags and more bags. Clearly, this is not working for me. I need to investigate a better solution for my organizational woes. The amount of yarn that I possess will probably generate many hats and scarves (I'm thinking holiday's and birthdays). Unfortunately, my past yarn purchasing habits have not yielded enough yarn in any one color for a substantial size project. It was ALL impulsively purchased in insufficient quantities for anything of note. Unless of course I wanted to make one hideously gigantic scrap afghan. NO Donut afghans either. Thanks anyway Karen :-) *i'm assuming that would have been her comment*

Congratulations Dixie!

So, tonight is the season finale of "Lost," I'm addicted to the show because it's fun. It's the same reason I watch "Desperate Housewives." Fun. TV in general, fun. I find that I used to be one of those people that never watched television, or at least said I didn't back in my 20's. Now that I am firmly in my 30's I have NO problem admitting that I do. People that I have had conversations with that don't watch television have this sort of "I'm superior to you kind of attitude." Whatever, I like TV. I also like to crochet and read, which I manage to try and fit in with ALL the TV watching I do. Plus, i'm never at a loss for conversation at all the cocktail parties I attend.

I'm currently still working on that black scarf I started several days ago which I thought would take me a day or two. Black yarn is not my friend. Too hard to see. I do love the black yarn, though. Must make more things with black yarn!

Had a really nice time at the SnB yesterday afternoon. It was me, Tevana, Christine and Carlin. Always interesting conversation. ( I think Cara stopped by for a moment, though I'm not sure. I looked up from the scarf I was working on and she was already out the door.) At one point the conversation gravitated towards our plan for our beloved pets remains after their lives on earth have been completed. It stemmed from a website we have been talking about, www.lifegem.com . Interesting, though I could see Tevana's eyes glaze over, she's not really an animal person, not too sure if she could wrap her brain around the whole keeping of a pet remains thing. When we got home Carlin told me how uncomfortable the whole discussion made her feel. She did not like talking about the death of past or present pets. I just feel that when the death of my pets happens as it is inevitable, I will probably be close to inconsolable and want to know of all of my options for when the time comes. I have a need to be prepared and an inherent fear of the unknown.

Projects I'm working on include:

Scarves and more scarves (good for 'de-stashing'). Not sure why, I think I'm unconsciously planning for the holiday's already. Sickening.

Still trying to complete the hubby's afghan, it's just been too hot. Not like he would want to use it yet, anyway.

I also started a new project for the hubby, can't really say what it is though, on the off chance that he actually reads this on occasion. I was going to surprise him for father's day but it may be more like his birthday (September) by the time he receives it :-)

I finished the snake that I made for my nephew. It turned out so cool, if I do say so myself. I'll have a picture of it up soon.

Damnit, damnit, damnit!

Wouldn't you know it, my digital camera software refuses to load on the Dinolaptop and there is no available USB port without using an adapter that I don't frigging have! Can you tell that i'm just a little bit irritated? I have even less patience for the usual crap then I normally do. Probably stems from the "Cabin Fever" that I suffer from. But then as Carlin loves to regularly remind me , "It's always got to be about you Mom." Damn straight!

I have managed to pursuade hubby to take a sick day tomorrow so he can stay home with Carlin and I can go into the office for the morning and get some much needed work done. Weird that I'm actually looking forward to that. I just need a break.

There is a bit of a funny anecdote to go with the title I have chosen for this blog entry. When I was a little girl and still sitting in a highchair, my parents (when they were still married) and I went to dinner at "The Sizzler". Apparently, I became impatient (again with the lack of patience, do you see a trend?) because I couldn't pick up a garbanzo bean, or something to that effect. I took my arm, in one sweeping motion and flying saucered my plate across the restaurant while simultaneously yelling at the top of my lungs, "damnit, damnit, damnit!"

Well, I guess I can hardly be irritated at the fact that my 'regular blog reads' have hardly been posting with any regularity as of late. It's not like i'm the poster child for serial blogging. To all the Serial Bloggers out there, you know who you are.

What is my blog missing, aside from better punctuation and more interesting reading. Photos! For the last few months i've been handicapped by our slightly slower IBM Thinkpad. All of our software programs are not loaded on to it for fear it might spontaneously combust. At least that's my fear. Hubby would and has said, "It should be fine." Not too sure if I buy that. I have trust issues. Therefore, I have not loaded anything remotely related to the digital camera on to it. That may change, soon. My impatience is taking over. Our desktop computer is laying next to me in near fatal condition. It's motherboard has died an awful death and we are waiting for the good people at "Such and Such Computers" to ship out our new one. Can't wait for it to get here so my computer geek husband can perform the necessary surgery.

Carlin has Pneumonia. Last week she had what may have been the flu which has turned into something much worse. The poor child has had what any normal person would deem a high or significant fever for a week now. Yesterday, she was at the doctor and got some antibiotics. If it doesn't clear up in a couple of days her doctor would like her to have some chest xrays and then not too sure what else after that. I'm just a teensy bit stressed out by it all and I feel bad that she has felt totally crappy for this long. She also seems depressed. She misses her daily and not so daily routine. School, friends, SnB's etc...

Needless to say, even though I have been at home with Carlin and faced with endless amounts of housework I have pretty much chosen to ignore it and crochet instead! At least I have my priorities straight. Pictures to follow, with possibly even more actual blogging. Stay tuned...

Not helpful...

I like a day that feels productive. Unfortunately, today was not one of them. I woke up with the best intentions of making it so. I guess it wasn't in the cards.

I have projects that I'm still working on: mom's throw, baby blanket, hat and booties for sister's unborn and a scarf that I'm knitting thrown in for a little distraction from the larger projects that occasionally feel a bit monotonous and are getting less and less portable due to their size.

I was also told today by "C" that I was not helpful when it was my advice she asked for in the first place. I don't believe I ever promised that my advice would always be correct. Advice is inherently subjective anyway. It is only ever correct if it's what you want to hear.

You're such a teenager!

Tomorrow, my husband and I become the parents of a teenager. Those of you with kids will get how significant that is. It's a milestone that marks how fast life is and a reminder that things should be enjoyed and valued.

Happy Birthday Carlin. We love you!

Cancel the milk carton alert.

I have succumbed to the pressure from my peers in relation to my lax blogging habits. I've decided it's time to soup up the 'ol digital camera and start the streams of consciousness a flowing. I went as far as to wipe out my old blogging template (apparently, by default, it also clears out the personal info on the page, too.) Time to begin again. I think there is something to be said for a clean slate.

Stay tuned.