Moving.

So, I'm moving. The excitement starts this evening as we (Lisa and I) dump every box we can into our cars and head over to our new place. It's about 20 blocks from where we live right now, but the situation right now isn't ideal. It was ideal for the original intended purpose: We were only going to be there for 6-9 months and then we were all supposed to be heading off to Lebanon or someplace. This was the plan. So It was actually NO BIG DEAL to be have 3 girls living in a 2 bedroom apartment. We all had a room...mine just happened to be the living room! I chose it, I'm not complaining...we were only going to be ther for 6-9 months after all.

Well, it's 18 months later and I want a door. :o) And the computer NOT to be in the room where I try to sleep. And my bed back. Oh yes, another story.

I will spare you the gory and ridiculous details and simply say that a queen sized bed wasn't working for me in the living room I called my bedroom. So I traded...my bed went to location B, I got a twin sized mattress and bedframe to sleep on. Then I had the twin sized mattress taken from me (this is the recently stolen mattress that was living in the basement), so Lisa bought a futon and I've been sleeping on that for some time now. Meanwhile, my bed was relocated to another friends house and I'm not sure when I'm going to be able to get it back. She just had a baby and her mother is sleeping on my bed in their extra bedroom while visiting and helping out. This whole bed thing has turned into The Giant Bed Fiasco.

I will be posting pictures of my New Door, it is that exciting for me! But I will not be posting that for a couple days. Camera is packed, internet not yet up in new apartment.

Doesn't this sound like f.u.n.? :o) And I haven't even mentioned the cats and how much Jake HATES to be relocated...oh dear. Jamal has neer moved with us, so that will be a new adventure for all of us. Poor Jakey. I expect we won't see him for a week...

Here they are...Jake is the black kitty, Jamal is the other.

Ahem.

Today is better. I mentioned to Anne a post that Cara/Stephanie wrote about the whole knitting blogger's bandwagonny behavior...it's really good ( the post...) and makes me glad that others take the time to write down things I agree with, because honestly, I wouldn't take the time to do it. I just stew here in the real world and let others write excellent blog entries! Anyway...check this out. It's good.

Syd is being the sweetest little 13 mo old this week. That helps. She's doing so many fun new things and she has adopted this funny little smile where she squinches up her face and grins from ear to ear when she's pleased with herself. So cute. And we're going up and down the stairs about 10 times a day now as well. That's always a fun time!! She's also picking up random objects and holding them to her ear, jabbering away like she's on a very important phone call. Kids. Adorable.

In knitting news, I am trudging along (still) on the Windowpane Seaman Scarf from knitpicks...I actually really enjoy knitting this pattern up--the cables are done differently than I have done cables before, but I like that...new and different keeps things exciting. I'm using Plymouth Outback Wool, not the knitpicks yarn called for in the pattern. And the Opera Scarf--now that's some boring knitting, albeit very pretty--I have to knit that while watching TV or listening to Podcasts or something to keep my mind otherwise engaged. I've also taken up putting a pin at the row I start on each time I pick it up so I can actually see my progress. I love the Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk DK I'm knitting that in. Sometime in 2006 I will finish my Christmas 2005 knitting!

I'm feeling the need for a knitting challenge(but not on the order of the Knitting Olympics!)--or at least learning something new. Not sure what. Hmm. Any ideas?

The following may be deemed T.M.I.--you have been warned...
In cat news, Jake (large fluffy black Maine Coon mix) seems to have gotten a wild hair up his butt. He has been a wee bit odd the last few days. Last night he decided that licking my sweatpants was fun--for like 45 minutes. Then it was all about digging and trying to wrestle them into submission or something. Lisa and I were dumbfounded and giggly at the same time. Then, in the midst of that entertainment, Jamal (large fluffy Ragdoll mix) started dragging his rear end around the house. I've seen DOGS do this...scratching an itch or needing anal glands cleaned or something--but never a cat. That one nearly had us peeing our pants! There he was, up on his hiney dragging himself around with his front legs. Very bizarre. So I grabbed him to make sure he was ok (still laughing nearly hysterically) and it turns out he had a small poo stuck to his hairy tail. Poor little guy! He was very distraught about the whole humiliating ordeal...poor dear.


.

Annoyed.

Today is "Everything Annoys Me Day." Sorry. Please excuse the crappy mood and subsequent crabby blog entry.

I hate packing. Know why? Because it forces me to go through all my stuff and I already know that I have too much stuff--it's just overwhelming to think about going through it all and dealing with it. Plus most of my knitting stuff gets hidden and it forces me to make a choice on what project I have to be monogamous to for the next few days. Yes, only days, but not having the choice of many projects stifles me...if even for a few measly days. So I have resorted to reading blogs.

Reading blogs makes me cranky. Know why? It's bad for my knitting self-esteem. I see all these people making things and documenting them and I feel like I'm not making enough things and I certainly don't document them as well as I should. And I'M MAKING RED SOCKS people! Not everyone in blog-land!!! NO, no, no!! Mine! It was my idea first and I'm NOT joining the stupid KNIT-ALONG! Damn.

Oh, did I mention that I'm totally PMSing?

A button JUST FOR ME!

watcherblogbutton
Originally uploaded by Kirs10Knits.

I will not be participating in The 2006 Knitter's Olympics. As I mentioned to Chris, I'm really not sure I could be knitter-monogamous for an entire 16 day period...besides, if I didn't BEAT EVERYONE (which I definitely wouldn't...) I'd be depressed for years. I don't need that.

However:
GO KNITTER'S WHO ARE COMPETING!!

Tagged again!

This time by Casey--a real live friend who blogs! Now Jen isn't my only friend-in-real-life who blogs. :o)

Ok, meme time:
What were you doing 9 years ago?
Umm. 1997. Living in Nashville, working as a nanny, getting ready to go to an entry teams conference with OM and start heading toward going to the mission field--didn't really know where yet, just knew I was going!

What were you doing 6 years ago?
2000. Living on a ship--the MVDoulos (that's where I ended up on the mission field!), working in the bookshop. In January 2000 we were in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.

What were you doing one hour ago?
Working. At FedEx Freight. Stacking 1053 boxes from Hasbro onto NINE pallets because Hasbro seems to think they don't have to put their frieght on pallets. I hate this job.

Name 3 movies you can't turn off if you stumble across them on television.
1- Grease 2
2- Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
3- My Fair Lady

Name 3 things you can't live without
1- Yarn/needles
2- my organizer/planner ( I call it "my brain")
3- Friends

Name 3 things you could...
1- FedEx Freight
2- TV
3- bronchitis

Name 3 things you really like about yourself.
I really like the color of my eyes. I really like my feet. I really like that I can sing.

Hmm, who to tag? I think maybe nobody, because I really don't know enough bloggers well enough to do such a thing and I don't want to tag the same people I just tagged last week. OK? If your reading this and want to do this meme, go crazy with your bad self! Just let me know in the comments so I can come read it!

OK, shower time and then nap time. YAY!

A Finished Object and a Cat.

These are Lisa's mittens. Don't even think about mentioning that the tops don't seem to look the same...I'm NOT ripping them out again. Just. Deal. With. It. I am.



And Jamal. So bee-you-tiful. And soft. In fact--I think that roving I mentioned...I think it may be as soft as Jamal. And you can almost see his incredibly blue eyes if you move the monitor (or your head) just right...

Oh no, oh no...

OH NO!!

It's HER fault, my downstream SP7! Because she's a spinner so I'm looking for spinner-y type stuff to spoil her with, ya know?? She's a spinner. I don't have a spindle or a spinning wheel. I don't have any roving, or raw wool, or whatever...but now, NOW I have actually touched the yummiest, softest, yummiest roving EVER. Ok, it's the only roving I've ever touched, but I think I ruined myself by choosing this particular yummy stuff to touch first. And may I say that the only reason I don't own a spindle right this very moment is: they were out. Thank the Lord who loves me and knows my limits, they were out.

However.
I did sign up for a drop-spindle class.
Gulp.
I'm history.

You see, I've been reading about other people learning to spin. I've been fascinated by the process since I found out one of my friends has spun since she was a kid. Even raised her own little sheepie, sheared it, etc. So when we were in Scotland we brought her 1/2 a fleece back. That was...umm...2004? Yeah, April 2004. And now all these blogging knitters are showing off their pretties they have spun...I'm so in trouble.

Did I mention that the roving was yummy?

Promised photos of SP7 Letter:

I really love these colors!

For me??

I got a letter in the mail today! A real live letter. No kidding. :o)

Thanks S. Pal! You made my day, and today I needed it because I was just diagnosed with not only ONE -itis, but 3. I have bronchitis, pharyngitis and sinusitis. I am now taking antibiotics. I hope they work. I've been off-kiltery in a sickish way since OCTOBER. That's way too long. Anyway, back to the exciting letter! It's a BRIGHT PINK NOTE CARD in a fabulous lime green envelope...oh I love it! ANd do you know what it said?? It said i will have a BOOK heading my way in a few weeks! A book! SO exciting! I'll have photos of the letter when my battery for my camera completes it's charging.

In cat news: when I got out of bed to go to The Evil Dock this morning, all three cats that live in this house were on my bed. Very unusual, and very cozy! Two of them were cuddled up close--almost catspooning! Absolutely darling and I wish I was within my right mind because I would have taken a photo--I'm fairly certain this will never happen again and it must've been some sort of momentary lapse of reason on the kitties' part. Too cute!

Thanks you Secret Pal--you're fabulous! I'm even more excited than I already have been!

Tagged! For the first time...

...and as I started reading Lynda's blog I thought in my little head, "teehee, I've never been tagged!" She tagged ME!

Here goes:

Four Jobs You Have Had In Your Life:
1. Emergency Medical Technician
2. Nanny
3. Dock Worker
4. Missionary

Four Movies You Could Watch Over and Over:
1. Love Actually
2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
3. In America
4. Sense and Sensibility

Four Places You Have Lived:
1. Farmington Hills, MI
2. Chicago, IL
3. Nashville, TN
4. On board a ship for 2 years

Four TV Shows You Love To Watch:
1. Lost
2. Celebrity Poker Showdown! (HA!! It's a good knit-friendly show.)
3. Laguna Beach (oh dear, did I just admit that???)
4.

Four Places You Have Been On Vacation:
1. Germany, Scotland, England (all in one fell swoop...)
2. Natural Bridge State Park, Kentucky
3. Seaside/Astoria, OR
4.

4 Websites You Visit Daily:
1. newsgator.com
2. wellsfargo.com
3. mytmmo.com
4. gmail.com

Four Of Your Favorite Foods:
1. enchiladas
2. massamun curry
3. smartfood
4. swedish fish

Four Places You Would Rather Be Right Now:
1. Fiji
2. Tahiti
3. Cabo
4. Kauai
(pretty much anywhere it won't rain consistently for 28, 29, 30 days...)

Four Bloggers You Are Tagging: (if you hate this, don't do it!)
1. Jen
2. Julie
3. Anne
4. ????

Now I'm going to go see if anyone else tagged by Lynda has this up. It's nice for us "newish" bloggers to get to know stuff about people this way.
I'm just saying is all...

The WS of the cable stuff...

Some of you know what I'm talking about already--the sweater I'm ripping for yarn, this is the wrong side of the stitching I'm trying to figure out, and some suspect is fisherman's rib.

1 + 1 = 1 pair!

I finished the Second Sock last night!
See:



I also started the ripping process on the Gap sweater. All was going well until I got to the collar. The collar, you see, seems to have been STEEKED! So I have all these way-too-short pieces of yarn from the shoulder down to the end of the ugly v-neck (hey--I like v-necks, this one really was ugly!). So that's annoying. But the cables are incredibly cool. One of them has this cool pattern inside of the cable--might be slip-stitch, might be something else, really I have NO IDEA. Anyway, I have pictures!

If anyone recognizes what is happening on the inside of the cable from the photo, please let me know!


This used to be a sweater?


And here we have the collar...you can't really see the ends hanging all over the place, but trust me, they are there.


Anyone have any ideas on this pattern?? Can you see what I mean by "within the cable"?

And just because he's so cute, here is another photo of Jamal. He has never climbed up on my shoulders before and since the camera was handy and I thought it to be so adorable, I snapped a photo of it. I had just got home from work on the dock and was exhausted, so be gracious about how scary I look--focus on the CAT, people! :o)



(clicking on any photo will take you to a clearer, larger photo--especially helpful to those trying to figure out the cable pattern or exactly how long it has been since Kirsten shaved her legs!)

I think I'm about to rip my sweater...

I have this $9.99 bargain Gap sweater I'm wearing today. I got it because I loved it (good color, cool cabling) and it was only $9.99. Duh. Anyway, today I kept having to pull it down and every time I caught myself in a mirror I thought, "This neckline looks stupid." So I was going to put it in the Goodwill pile. Didn't even occur to me to try to rip it out. But then (than? Does anybody know the grammatically correct word and WHY it's correct?? This drives me nuts...maybe I'll Google it)--suddenly, it did occur to me. So...let the ripping commence! And perhaps I will learn something about the cabling they did on it...only good can come of this!

















"I hereby condemn this sweater to death by frogging..." (ha! there's a funny little pun in there...get it??)

And in other Knitting News:
LACEWEIGHT IS FOR CRAZY PEOPLE.
-and-
The Second Sock is nearing completion...


My profile photo was deemed unworthy of web-wide viewing, so Jamal will be covering for me until I become more photogenic. This could take a while. Good thing HE'S a gorgous hunk of a cat!

Good for me!

I cast on for the Second Sock today and have 10 rows til I'm finished with the leg. Pretty good for one day--at least for me!

Oh yeah, the PIZZA was really swell. I liked it very much. :o) I need to be sure to make the crust uniform in thicknes however, because it was a bit gooey in some of the thicker bits. So there will be tweaking next time, but as a first go: I say 2 thumbs up.

I'm sure something interesting happened today--I just can't think of anything. I will therefore end this post and recommence knitting the sock.

Knitting.

I had a nice day of knitting with my friend Megan today. I was working on BIL's scarf and Sister's scarf...she was working on her Irish Hiking Scarf, and very excited about learning cables!

Oh! Then I showed her how to work short-row heels and I think she even understood. That's cool, huh?

And I got a neat little envelope today, containing this! It's already on my car. Yes, I'm a dork. :o)

The Gluten-free Part

I have celiac disease. This means I cannot eat gluten or foods containing gluten. Gluten is in EVERYTHING. At least, that's how it feels right this very minute as I attempt to get back to being gluten-free(GF). I was GF for about 6 months--felt so good. Hadn't realized how foggy I was, (ok, I had realized, but thought it was because I was never getting enough sleep or something) or that my tummy shouldn't hurt all the time. I had so much energy and spunk...and then I think pizza got in the way. Pizza.

I have found a couple of others (knitter's even!) who are GF here in Blogland (HI GUYS!) and feel like I can do this. So what am I making this very minute?? GLUTEN-FREE PIZZA DOUGH for my GF Pizza! Whoo-Hoo! I'm very excited about it. I hope it's good. Not only have I never made regular pizza dough, but I've only ever made one loaf of GF bread (not pizza dough) in my GF bread machine my dear, dear, dear employers bought me for Christmas. So, I'll let you know how it turns out! And I may come chasing after a different recipe if this one bombs!

Ooo! Gotta go look!

OK, hair photos.

Not sure you will be able to see the difference in the photos. Basically, my hair is dark brown naturally--last year I did some little highlights and they were still scraggling at the ends. Anyway, the new color is much lighter and a bit reddish.

Old hair:





















New hair:

SP7 Questionnaire

The Official Answers to the Official Questionnaire! I'm so excited!

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer higher quality and/or natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand?
Yes. Yarn snob. That's me. I love wool, I love alpaca more. I dislike acrylic profusely...Calmer is ok. I do avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand.

2. Do you spin? Crochet?
I want to learn to spin--I ogle spindles online often...
I do crochet, but not often. I enjoy knitting much better.

3. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
I have a hand-sewn case my mom and I made and two little makeup case-type things for notions.

4. How long have you been knitting? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
Almost 5 years! Crazy! I guess I'd say intermediate--but I don't really know what the qualifications for these levels would be!

5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
My Amazon WishList
My Froogle WishList

6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)
Usually "clean" scents or kinda natural scents...does that make sense? I like lavender, lemon...not a fan of musky scents.

7. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
I definitely have a sweet tooth! However, anything edible must be gluten-free: no wheat, barley, rye or oats. You’d be surprised how much stuff has hidden wheat in it. Current USA fave is Milky Way Midnight. I definitely prefer European chocolate, but it's hard to come by here.

8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do?
A bit of sewing...

9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
I like most types of music. I’m mostly into alternative stuff right now. Yes, my computer plays MP3s.

10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand?
I like deep colors. Jewel tones, reds, blues...maybe I like all colors...I can’t really think of any I dislike!

11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
My apartment contains 3 humans and 3 felines. Each feline has one human!

12. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
I love hats! I wear hats, scarves, mittens...I own 2 ponchos that I have only worn one time each.

13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with?
Alpaca and alpaca blends, wool, cotton.

14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
Squeaky acrylic.

15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s?
Socsk, handwarmers/gauntlets/wristlets, fair isle, cables. I have to have a lot going at once or I tend to get bored, so really nothing is really at the obsessive level for more than a day or so...I like to try new things. Learning is FUN!

16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
I’m discovering that I like items that are fairly quick to do, but aren’t mindless. Like fairisle mittens. Or a new stitch pattern for a scarf...

17. What are you knitting right now?
Oh flip. I have probably 15 UFOs right now! Clapotis, mittens, scarves, a Knitted Babe, slippers, socks!

18. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Oh yes! I really love that someone would take the time to make ME something! I discovered this at Christmas when my friend gave me a scarf she made...I almost cried!

19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles?
Prefer circulars. But I use both.

20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
I love my Crystal Palace bamboo dpns. I also love my Denise interchangables! And my Addi's...Pretty much anything.

21. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
Nope. Would love to have a ball winder though. Someday.

22. How did you learn to knit?
Self-taught from a booklet I bought, aided greatly a year later by the purchase of Stitch ‘n Bitch!

23. How old is your oldest UFO?
Probably a year or so.

24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird?
Not sure who my fave animated character is...but my favorite bird is the penguin. They’re my favorite.

25. What is your favorite holiday?
Don’t think I have a favortie holiday...

26. Is there anything that you collect?
Nope.

27. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
Interweave Knits

28. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on?
Ooo, of course! Right now Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush and Sensational Knitted Socks are high on my list. Needles, not so much. Patterns, not so much.

29. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
Everything there is to learn. I’d like to try 2 socks on 2 circs--I think...Oh, and I totally want to learn to knit continental. I've tried it, but it just frustrates me...

30. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
Oh yes. :o) I’m a women’s USA size 7: hang on, getting the measuring tape...9 in long, 8.5 in around at ball of foot.

31. When is your birthday? (mm/dd)
06/03

Not cool.

Somebody (and yes, we have our suspicions...) stole a mattress out of our LOCKED basement/storage area in our apartment. And my landlord isn't going to do anything about it.

NOT COOL.

And I have a red, ugly, swollen (smallish) rash on the side of my face. This is not cool, but on a lesser level.

Argh.

Hair pictures will be up later. I'm too pissed off to have to deal with my computer pissing me off some more.

Argh.

Well than...

No photos of the new hair color yet. Sorry! Must wait until tomorrow so I can wash and dry it. Must look lovely, you know! Oh, and Chris, Jake is my roomate's cat, and although he is a fabulous cat that I have lived with since I moved out here to Oregon...Jamal is mine. He is almost 2 and he's wonderful. :o) He is part Ragdoll and he adopted me in July of 2004. He fetches--but only Hedgie, he talks to me, he cuddles (on his own terms, of course!), he loves meeting new people (and probably new animals as well...), he is too curious for his own good and he's beautiful! So, here are a couple photos of JAMAL.

"Oh, please...no more photos. I'm exhausted..."

"I love my Hedgie."

"The Pink Belly is exposed...do not
resist the Pink Belly...I will
hypnotize you with my crazy eyes..."

2 things...

1- I colored my hair tonight. I think I like it.

2- Have you tried Newsgator? I like it. I've heard so many negative comments about Bloglines, and I saw the link for Newsgator over at Grumperina's...so I tried it.

Ok, and another thing...this page looks different on Opera (the posting page, that is). I was going to link to newsgator and I don't have that choice. It made me say "HEY!" out loud just now. So you can scroll down and click on the button on the right if you wanna check it out. Bleh.

Good night.

No pictures today.

I am so freakin' annoyed at EVERY STINKING INTERNET BROWSER out there. Seriously. I try to do something right and upgrade my Firefox to the next update and it completely SCREWS up everything. Argh. So tonight i reached my breaking point--sick of force-quitting and re-starting the damn thing--so I downloaded Opera. And either it has issues with Flickr or Flickr has issues with Opera. I hate this. I just don't know enough about my (or anybody's) computer to get this all figured out. Argh.

On a more positive note, I cleaned up part of my room. Part of it. This is huge. I'm very excited and feel like I accomplished something today. Yay me!

I will soon be posting photos of my Favorite Cat in the Whole Wide World (at this moment). I just have to figure out what's going on with Flickr. Argh.

Houston, we have a sock...

...it fits, and hopefully it's mate will be joining it very soon (now that I've figured out what needles to use when and what bind-off to do: that would be 3-needle for this sock, folks!). We don't want no stinkin' Second Sock Syndrome here!

Here's my Photo Essay on Sock #1...aka first finished object of 2006! Woot!
Click on photos to see larger version.


Sock and it's future mate.
This is Socks That Rock in Peridot and Periwinkle, pattern is the basic sock pattern from Priscilla Gibson-Roberts on the Interweave Knits site.


Sock from the top.
I started this sock in...well, a long time ago. It took 3 times to get the needle size right (Addi 2 circ for calf, Crystal Palace 1 dpns for remainder). Having to re-make things is not my friend. This is why it took way to long to make this sock.



Sock Toe, up close.
I did the short-row heel and toe and did a 3-needle bindoff instead of the zigzag--it looked wonky and loose and ugly, so I replaced it. This is still kind of bulky, but it's all I have right now and it looks tidy!




Sock heel, up close.
Short row heel. (Please ignore hair in photo...my hair falls out, so does yours, so sue me!)

Sock on foot.
IT FITS! And she likes it. Wanted to wear it to sleep in!

Side view of sock on foot.
I'm running out of things to say about this sock...I do like the way the spirals turned and went the other way when I changed needles.

Short-row heel on foot.
It fits so nicely! I do have the "dreaded hole" however. Must figure out how to remedy that.

And with that, fair readers, we end our
Photo Essay on Kirsten's First Finished Object of 2006.
Thank you. Good night.

All kinds of new things...

Some good, some annoying, some...just new:

• Jake chewed through the mouse cord on my computer...so new WIRELESS mouse.
• Starting Power90 again. Determined to finish this time. Really.
• New face soap: Bobbi Brown Lathering Tube Soap. It's lovely and I am predicting that in will last me until August!
• Oh yes, new daily planner pages. Finally. I love my Franklin Planner!
• I found Fleece Artist Sock Yarn in Seattle! Well, near Seattle. So new sock yarn.
• New gently used hookah. Mmmm.
  

Sock Yarn:Jake:

I'm sure this is all very exciting to you.
Happy New Year!