In Conclusion...

So, yes, we did talk. After much anguish and discussion, we were able to work things out. It will take a while for some of the wounds to heal, but given time they should mend. Thank you guys for your support, it's good to know that you'll stand by me even when I'm at my lowest.

This is a short post, I know, it's more just to let you know that I'm okay. I shall start posting about knitting again in a day or two, there are some things I need to catch the blog-world up on, as far as that goes.

Don't forget, Stitch n' Bitch is tomorrow night at Lindy's at 6pm. See you there!

How to be a horrible wife

1. Bring debt into a relationship started with debt.

2. Continue to spend money on things that are not going towards paying off that debt.

3. Decide to spend money (a considerable amount) on a permanent piece of art that your spouse thinks is "ugly" and "too big" but that you couldn't be happier about.

4. Don't be clear about the fact that you really want to get this piece of art and then the night before you are scheduled to have it done, get in a big fight about it. Make sure that you end this fight with both of you thinking that you are getting what you want. (you=art, spouse=no art) This can be best achieved by not continuing to talk about the subject and pretending that everything is okay.

5. Go in for your scheduled appointment which lasts 6 LONG hours without showing your spouse the final approved art until it's about to be started. You can do this easily with your camera phone since he is working and can't be there to offer ideas/object.

6. Go home afterward and immediately feel the tension created by you walking in the room. You can verify the tension created by offering to show your artwork to your spouse and see the loathing on their face as they grunt at it.

7. Hide upstairs in the bedroom, crying, because your spouse thinks that you don't care about his opinions at all. When that couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, the reason that you weren't very forthcoming about the artwork was because you care so much about his opinion that if he were to say something negative about it, you'd talk yourself out of getting it. Even though YOU really liked it. You merely wanted to get something you like and enjoy it because YOU liked it. Unfortunately, it also happens to be permanent. So from now on, you'll look at this beautiful art and under it's beauty will lie this horrible guilt and frustration.

8. Avoid talking about all this, because you know it will end badly and avoiding confrontation is what got both of you into this position in the first place. Instead just sit at opposite ends of the couch, fighting back tears and hoping that it will all be okay. Which, of course, you know it won't be until you talk about it.

Denial is an evil and dangerous thing, it's also really easy to fall into. And I'm in pretty deep.

Let's Talk About C.E.X., Baby!

That would be Craftular Enhancement eXcursion, and that's what my day off yesterday consisted of. The adorable fabric you see pictured here is for a baby blanket I'm making for one of Ray's co-workers. Oh, and it was 50% off! So I got more than enough and I may make some burp cloths or something as well. The pattern (for said blanket) is via my friend Maura. The lucky recipient of this blanket is also going to receive an adorable knitted bear bonnet and most likely some booties as well. The yarn for that will be coming next week and I'll be posting progress pictures on those.

I also used the gift card I got from Ray's sister for christmas to buy some decoupage supplies and a plain box to decorate. I purchased this page-a-day pin-up calendar and I'm going to use the pictures from it decorate this box. It should be fun.
While we were out I also exchanged the Domiknitrix book I got from Jesse for the Knitting Nature book by Norah Gaughan. I thought a lot about it before I decided to exchange it, but the Dom book is more of a "starter" or "how-to" book and I already know "how-to". There are some great patterns in it, but I don't know how many of them I would actually make. I've been drooling over Knitting Nature ever since I saw it back in Sept.(?) I want to make almost every pattern (out of 35!) in it.
While I'm on the subject of books and using gift cards, I also received my order from Barnes & Noble yesterday. My brother gave me a $30 gift card and I decided to make the most of it by shopping their christmas clearance. I'm so glad I did! For $30 (plus $3 of my own money, but
free shipping!) I got How to Seduce a Ghost by Hope McIntyre, Khai of Khem by Brian Lumley, Wolfblade: Book One of the Wolfblade Trilogy by Jennifer Fallon, Dedication by Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus, The Paths of Darkness Collection by R.A. Salvatore, and The Antichrist: A Criticism of Christianity by Friedrich Nietzsche. Wow, dats a lots a books! Some of the authors I've read other things by, others I have heard of but have never sampled, and others were judged by their cover. But all (but one) were less than $4 each, so it's totally worth the gamble. I have no idea when I'm going to be able to read all of these, I've already got a pile on my shelf waiting to be read, but that is why I love owning books. I can read them or put them aside whenever or as often as I want.

On a knitting related note, I have one of my Dad's socks done and am almost halfway through the second. For those not aware, this was one of the secret holiday projects I had going on and am obviously a little late with completion. It's ok, he doesn't mind. The pattern I used is the uncomfortably-titled Boyfriend Socks and is knit up in Knit Picks Risata in Navy on size 1 dpns. I ended up having to use 3 balls instead of the two I had initially ordered because I didn't pay attention to the yardage in the pattern. Go figure. Never fear, however, more is on the way! Hopefully these will be done next week.

So there you have it. I still need to get some plain brown flannel for the other side of the blanket, Hancock doesn't carry brown flannel. That seems weird to me. I'd like to work on that on Monday though, so that means shopping again this weekend.
That could be dangerous. ;)

People Know Me

They also know what I like, and that is more things to knit and knit with. The holidays were good to me this year. The book and calendar are from my secret santa at work (thanks Jesse!). The Lime & Violet Sasquatch Sock Yarn in Nuggies is from my friend Maura (Thanks!) and the Claudia Hand Painted Yarns in Eat Your Veggies (acquired through kpixie) is from my Mom, along with all the needles and that really cute sock blocker keychain (it came with a pattern to make socks that fit it!)





Speaking of my Mom, these are the socks I made for her, as modeled by me. She loved them and the fact that they are machine washable! My Dad's, however, did not get done. I'm actually going to have to order another skein of yarn to finish them (I did not pay attention to yardage. Bad Tina.) My dad got to see them in progress though and he really liked how they looked, so that is good.

Not all of my gifts were knitterly. From Ray I got the Philip Pullman "His Dark Materials" Trilogy (The Golden Compass is the first book in the trilogy) in a nice box set, and this really awesome wireless mouse for my laptop. He also fixed the CD drive on my laptop so that I can put music on it and he reinstalled/upgraded my OS to Tiger and basically made my computer run like new! He's so amazing.

My brother, Doug, got me a $30 gift card to Barnes & Noble which may go to knitting books, but I'm not quite sure yet because there are some "actual" books that I've had my eye on. We shall see.

Overall, it was a nice holiday. We went to my parents house on Christmas Eve, and were at Ray's sister's house for Christmas Day. She made us a really good dinner and sent us home with leftover's and wine.

Today, it was back to work and while we were quite busy at times I'm sure it was not even a fraction of the madness that was out in the "mall area". I'm so glad I don't work out there anymore. Tomorrow night is our work party at Chiante, a new Italian restaurant. It'll be fun to relax and eat with my co-workers and friends. And now I'm off to play with my new yarn and my new mouse. I should probably continue working on my Dad's sock too.

Happy holidays everyone, and to those of you who could not have a happy holiday this year I hope that, in the future, the happiness you experience more than makes up for the sadness you're experiencing now. My heart is with you.

Falling in Love and a Little Introspection

Ok, let's just ignore the fact that I have neglected my blog for the last 3 weeks. I know. I've actually written about three or four different posts in my head while at work or working on my holiday knitting. I need to figure out a way to post to my blog directly from my brain, without having to type. Can we get some people working on this please? (actually there probably already are)

Anyway, onto the reason I've set aside time to use my fingers for something other than knitting: The New Knitty!!!!!!!! Wow. I'm much more impressed with this issue than the last one. There is quite an extensive list of projects that I would like to make and it's going to take some real willpower not to start casting on while I'm in the middle of making gifts (1 down, 2 2/3 to go). Let me share with you my favorites. I have the perfect yarn (I think) and beads to make Ice Queen, I've always wanted to try entrelac so Quant is definitely on the list. Halcyon is gorgeous and involves ribbon (I'm a sucker for lace knit and ribbon), Stardust is just girly enough to be acceptable, Fair Isle Rapids would look great in a chocolate brown and lime or light blue, and Azure and Slippery are just the socks I'm looking for. And then there's Jeanie. Oh Jeanie. I haven't felt this way about a knitting pattern since......well, I don't think I've ever felt this way about a pattern. Love at first sight. This is the pattern that is going to take ALL of my willpower not to start. Look at it and TRY not to fall in love. If you're in the same boat as me and need to finish knitting holiday gifts, don't say I didn't warn you.

One of the cool things about this issue of knitty is that there are several designs from high school students. They are good designs too, Slippery is one. It's so great to see young people so excited and devoted to this craft. I wish that I had not been so concerned with avoiding anything I deemed "girly" when I was a teenager. My mom tried to teach me to sew, but I refused because "I'm not going to be a housewife, why do I need to know this?" Well, because I could have made all those "alternative" clothes that I wanted but couldn't afford or buy because the only clothing store in town was Wal-Mart. Instead, I learned how to piss off my parents, smoke cigarettes, get into trouble, and generally have a bad attitude. Skills, I have learned, that didn't really help me get anywhere. I'm not speaking with regret, however, because I know that due to several of these "skills" I came to move to La Crosse, and met the people I've met. I'm not that same person anymore (although I know my attitude is not always exactly sunny) and have learned a lot from being that person. I sometimes have to wonder though what kind of person I would be now if I was this person then. (got that?) All of this from an online knitting magazine. Hmm.

No pictures this time. It's late, and I need to sleep, not wait for photos to load. Besides, knitty's pictures are much better than any of mine anyway.

Why can't we all just get along?

So last night at knitting group I heard some really great news. The Wisconsin Library system (I'm sure this is true for other state's library systems too) has a digital download center where you can "check out" audio books for free (and in some cases are able to burn them to a cd!). I was soooo super excited about this feature, now I can catch up on my reading WHILE I knit!!! For FREE!! I went there right away and put several books on hold (since the ones I was interested in were already checked out) and was browsing around looking for more when I decided to look and see how this magical system works. Well, it's a good(?) thing I did. After reading up on the software you have to download (free) to work with this program it became quite obvious to me that this system only works with PC's (I have a Mac) and Windows Media Player and would not be be compatable with my iPod. GREAT!!!! @!%$#&*^^ing GREAT!!!

This is the only thing that the info page had to say on the incompatibility issue: "OverDrive, along with hundreds of online digital media providers, is hopeful that Apple and Microsoft can reach an agreement that would enable support for Microsoft-based DRM-protected materials on the iPod and Mac."

Yeah, so am I. However, with the track record between the two I don't foresee this happening any time soon.

To relate this to knitting somehow (because everything can be related to knitting) this reminds me of the long-standing feud of knitters and crocheters. Like Apple and Microsoft, there are many similarities between the two crafts. Both use a needle(s), of some sort, to manipulate yarn into something beautiful and/or useful. They may go about it different ways, but the effects are the same. Unlike Apple and Microsoft, knitters and crocheters can work together and co-exist to become items like this (my favorite being the brown cardigan). See what great things can come from working together? There will always be that undetermined weirdness between those of us that ONLY knit or ONLY crochet (I happen to do both and love the differentness and sameness of both skills), but deep down we know that we're in the same felted boat that is full of the the things we love, yarn and cool patterns.

This refusal to work together, while helping the corporation's bottom line, ultimately hurts the consumer. People are forced to choose, all of column A or all of column B. This doesn't just include computers, the dvd market is seeing a debate between Blu-Ray and HD dvd's. Neither one (read: corporation) wants to work with the other and as a result we are stuck with two formats that each have certain studios backing them. So consumers are forced to choose to buy a Blu-Ray or HD dvd player (and a big F-off to those that can afford to buy both. I can't afford to buy either). "But Tina" you say, "you don't need to buy either of these things. Just use a regular dvd player." Well, I do. And I shall continue to until my financial situation becomes something which can afford such a luxury. However, whether I have/can afford one is beside the point. The point is that these companies are so greedy, and so stubborn that they are absolutely not willing to "combine forces" and make a product that benefits both consumers and corporations. Agh.

Sorry for the rant. I'm sure I'll regret this post tomorrow (I'm not sure some of my arguments make sense), but I was just really excited about downloading audio books.

I'm going to go work off some of this frustration at the bar while listening to a Talking Heads cover band, Houses in Motion.

Let's Just Call It Practice

Ok, so I don't remember specifically announcing this on my blog, but I wasn't going to knit anything for me until after the holidays. Well, so much for that. After one and a quarter pattern repeats on my afghan square with the scratchy, wool/acrylic blend (it's for charity, hence machine washable) I decided I couldn't take it anymore, I had to work with a natural fiber. And color. So I broke down and started a pair of socks. Diamante to be exact, in this (the colorway I used, Royalty, is not shown) yarn that I bought last year in my first (and what appears to be only, shame on me) etsy purchase. I am working on them until my shipment of yarn for holiday gifts arrives. Then I shall be casting on with great fervor and knitting at every possible moment. I know , I know, I waited until the last moment to order the yarn and I deserve not having the time and sanity to complete these presents in under 40(!) days.

I'm sure you'll hear from me at random points in the process where I'll either be breaking down in tears, insanely optimistic, or triumphantly declaring victory. Probably, more than likely, all three.

The thought of getting back to these socks will, hopefully, keep me motivated. And if that doesn't than the thought of making this with this (both ordered with the holiday yarn. Hey, it's the time for giving, and I think that includes to yourself as well.) will surely make me want to finish.

It'll be really hard not to post pictures of all my loot when I get it, but since I'm not sure if one of the recipients reads this, I don't want to take a chance. I'll post pictures after the holidays.

Alright, off to do a few rounds on the sock before it retires!

Sugar High

Halloween can really knock the wind out of you. All that candy kind of put me in a sugar coma, albeit a functioning coma. I did things, I remember doing and saying things, but it was fueled by that most flavorful of elixirs, chocolate.

In this sugary haze, I completed my Coronet hat, fixed and finished Ray's binary hat, played a little Guitar Hero 3, watched people play a lot of Guitar Hero 3, closed my account at my ex-bank, and celebrated with Mr. D's donuts (I started crashing and had to get one more fix).

My celebration ended this morning when I ate my half of the apple fritter I bought for Ray and I. If you ever want to know what a $5 donut is like first of all, it tastes delicious. Second, it is about 1 foot across. Yes, you heard me correctly. This fritter was the size of a nice dinner plate! It only took me most of the morning to eat my half of it. I would have taken a picture of it, but I'm not really feeling up to loading pictures onto this thing today.

Therefore, this post will have a few links but, sadly, nothing pretty to look at. I think I'm coming down from my "fritter high". I just had a really ridiculous argument with Ray about talking on my speaker phone (apparently my speaker phone sucks and he can't hear me when I'm on it, I may need to invest in one of those blue tooth jobbys), and I'm feeling tired and irritable. And apathetic. Oh my god, I'm reverting to my 16 year-old self! Ok, no more donuts or sugary snacks for the rest of the day, and maybe the weekend. We'll see. Coffee doesn't count though, I think I may have to go make some more.

I think I'll spend this afternoon listening to the new Lime N' Violet podcast and working on my afghan square (mine is the second one up on the right) for my Tuesday night knitting group.

I'll have Nun of that!

Warning! This post is picure heavy, it may take a while to load.

Last night was a bit of Halloween celebrating. Jason and Heidi had a party at their house (which has some of the coolest decorations ever!) and there was delicious food and drink abound.

Because my creativeness can only go so far, my costume was yet another pun. This year was, "A Nun of Your Business" (you can't really see it in the picture, but there is advertising space available on my habit. Get it?). A bit obscure, but it was last minute.



















Our host, Cobra Commander, made us grilled hamburgers and hot dogs that were delicious.















and, I finally know someone that won publishers clearing house.















After much food and a deadly green drink concoction we went downtown, where we saw these creatures:

Venger, looking quite dashing even when drinking beer through a straw,



















and in case Cobra Commander or Venger got out of hand, there were plenty of super heroes to save the day

























































Then I saw Prince,













A dead ninja,













A demon,













And this guy,













Of course with all this debauchery Maura and I had to take time out to pray. We almost look convincing!














Maura's boyfriend, Ethan, (who this is not, this is Choi) dressed very similar to this, and with all the picture taking that went on I'm surprised that I didn't get a good picture of him. He looked very convincing as an Amish man.














A good time was had by all, and there were a lot of clever costumes out and about. Nun as clever as mine of course! Ha! There I go again, it's not my most endearing habit but I was never very conventional. Oh, boy. Ok. I'm done now, for real. All I have to say is that this was, hands down, the best Halloween ever. Bar nun.

Pass the Butter Please.

So first things first, I've switched banks. Thank you guys for your suggestions and support, hopefully I'll never have to deal with this again. The End.

I finished Ray's hat and it would fit him perfectly if he were a cone head, thankfully he is not. So I must go back AGAIN and redo the decreases. I think I can handle that though, I don't have to go back that far and it's totally worth it because it's a kick-ass hat (I had to go back and hyphenate that word). So to distract me from having to redo my "perfect" work, I've decided to make something for me. Again. It is the Coronet hat from knitty and I'm making it with my delicious Malabrigo Merino Worsted in the Bobby Blue colorway. Mmmmmmmmm. Malabrigooooo. (sigh) Anyway....

I'm going to try and order some yarn for christmas presents this week, we'll have to see how much money I have. Once I've started those my knitting posts will become fewer. I don't want the recipients to discover their gifts early!

Well, that's all I've got. Stitch 'n Bitch was really fun tonight. There was definitely some bitching, a lot of stitching, quite a bit of dancing in chairs, and much laughing til tears ran. A very good night. So good, in fact, I think I'll do it tomorrow too. Good night!