Not another obsession

Amigurumi is the newest one. I think a long affection for Sanrio characters such as Hello Kitty has softened my resolve to not start anything else. How can I resist something so darn cute? Did you go and look?

Now go here and see what else is possible. All with a hook and some yarn. In some cases, leftover bits of yarn. Sure, you can knit cute things, but crochet has the advantage in this fiber genre. In June a book will be published that has amigurumi monsters, ninjas, and aliens, all cute and tiny.

I've almost finished the first chemo cap for FMWC. I plan to finish it tonight, wash & dry it, then mail it maybe on Saturday. Hopefully I'll have enough laundry to run tomorrow so I can toss it in and take care of any initial bleeding of the yarn. I'll post a picture when it's completed.

You know, I do think of deep and meaningful things to blog about while I'm brushing my teeth or driving, but I get in front of the computer - nothing. Sit back and enjoy some rambling about trash tv for a few minutes. With the writer's strike, tv has been worse than usual. I think I vented about this another time. I do read voraciously, so I'm not vegging out in front of the telly every night, but I've not mastered reading and knitting at the same time, and I'm so far not an audio book fan. Perhaps one day I will be. Anyway, I was channel surfing last night, wanting to knit for a little while longer, when I found Pussycat Dolls Present: Girliscious. Keith and I had watched the last one, Search for the Next Pussycat Doll. Let's face it, my hubby is a red-blooded American male who is going to watch girls who look like stripper wannabes gyrate around on his tv. It's produced by one of the same guys who does America's Next Top Model, and it is a whole lot like Top Model except for the regulars. For all the baby Oprah stuff Tyra has going on, she can be likeable. Nigel Barker seems genuine and a guy you'd want to be around. Twiggy is a sweetie, and I just love the Jays. Top Model can be so fun. On the Pussycat Dolls you have Robin Antin who looks totally freaky. She's over halfway there to being the next Joan Rivers, or maybe that woman who is doing all the plastic surgery to look like a cat. Her sidekick Mikey is a such a bitch. The guy from the record company always looks sour and cranky. In my whole life I never thought I'd say L'il Kim is the best thing going, but she's the only one who seems halfway likeable. So save yourself the trouble. I've watched this drek for you so you don't have to.

Writers, please hurry up and get some decent shows back on! I'll want more Nova and Nova Science Now! More Bones and House! Now, where are my Futurama disks?

Adventures of a newbie bookseller...

or how to complicate something that should be so simple.

I've gotten notice that my third used book has sold on Amazon. You would think this would be an easy enough way to clean out a few books I've got laying around, and it mostly is.

I ordered a book a couple of years ago that got shipped to Ohio instead of to me, and I had to contact the seller to track it down and get a refund. The book itself went to Ohio and stayed there somewhere. So, for some piece of mind, I figure the $.75 for delivery confirmation is worth it.

My first book was uneventful enough. My second book, however, has been a little wierd. First of all, it's a car maintenance manual. I thought I had entered the ISBN from the back, but somehow I ended up listing it under the wrong model year. I didn't catch it until it was sold. I emailed the buyer, explained my mistake (the cover's for several different model years are exactly the same) and offered a refund. The buyer said it still had the year he needed, so send it. I asked Keith to mail it for me since I had to work for the next couple of days and would have some difficulty getting to the post office. What I found out is don't just give Keith the receipt showing what I did previously. I must write down exactly how I want it shipped. He sent the book off with media mail (which is fine), signature confirmation (not fine for a $9.00 book). Now this poor guy has another hoop to jump through to get his repair manual, and I feel slightly idiotic.

As for me, book #3 sold today, expedited shipping. You can damn well bet that I'll be mailing this one myself. It's just easier for both of us and will save us some of that couple aggravation that happens over the ridiculously small things.

In other parts of life, the family member with cancer (hereafter known as FMWC) started chemo last week. When I spoke to her on Sunday, she said if I was making her any chemo caps that I'd better get going since her hair will start falling out sometime in the next week or so. I can occasionally take a direct order, so I started one last night. I'm using the pattern from Stitch'N'Bitch Nation which is becoming my standard cable hat (I usually tweak it every time I do it), and I'm using some Lion Cotton that I have from a dishcloth knitting frenzy. The great thing about this cotton is you can toss it into the washer and dryer, and it comes out fine. It does bleed some, but I'll pre-wash it. While at Wal-Mart I picked up some Peaches and Creme in a couple of more colors that she likes. The prayer shawl will be put on hold while I get these knocked out. Pictures later.

In case you've been wondering, Scooter has been doing pretty well. He hasn't gotten dehydrated again since we did the sub-q. Keith did take apart his recirculating water station to clean it, and we've got to get it up and running again since Scoots has been refusing to drink from a bowl that has sat for whatever lenghth of time he deems too long. He needs his rabies vaccine, so he'll go in again next week, and we'll find out then if he needs any more sub-q.

Above you see the Seaweed Prayer shawl in progress. I'm on the second ball of yarn, and it looks like I won't need all 10 balls after all. However, I'll keep them until I'm finished, then I'll make the decision about returning any of them. This color is so beautiful, I doubt any of them will find their way back for store credit.

It's been a busy week. On Tuesday Keith took the day off with me so we could run a bunch of errands. This weekend is a big knitting retreat, so I worked an extra day this week. The past 2 weeks have seemed so full that all I can think about is getting a nice long nap this afternoon. We haven't let the kitties sleep with us the past few nights since they take up so much of the bed, but Grey doesn't like this one bit. She comes to the door sometime between 4:30 - 5:30 a.m. and starts meowing in the most pitiful way. She sounds as if she hasn't been petted or loved on in eons when it's only been about 5 or 6 hours. I realize that to a cat that is an eternity, but I would so love an entire night's sleep. 7 hours divided into 5 hours + 2 isn't the best night's rest.

We're having a taste of spring right now. The daffodils have started blooming, and the air feels soft. You can smell the new growth in the air. I do love spring, but this year I find I'm thinking even more about the heat that follows, and I wonder about the coming drought. I probably need to get a dump truck load of mulch to get all the trees prepared while we're still having some rain.

When I feel more lively, I'll write more. Right now I see cats heading towards the bed. Looks like a great idea to me.

Seaweed Shawl update

I've been working on it as much as I can, but the family member it's for started chemo yesterday. I need more time to knit!

I'll post pictures later, but I did want to toss in some knitting content. I will say it is gorgeous and worth the wait.

Aah, butter

Now for the information on my butter making experience.

I looked at allrecipes.com to see if there was anything else I needed to do, and it's super easy. Take your heavy cream, dump it into a blend and punch the button.

So here's what I did. I bought my non-homogenized, organic whipping cream at the Farmer's Market and poured it all into my Kitchen-Aid. Yes, the whole quart of it. I used the batter blade, not the whisk. As I cranked up the speed, cream went flying all over the counter as I don't have a splash guard, and apparently not a lick of sense either. Keith came in as I was blending quite slowly and devised a splash guard with aluminum foil. I cranked up the speed again. The cream became softly whipped, then stiffly whipped. I kept beating it. It was so cool when the whipped cream began to collapse upon itself. I tasted it, and I could taste the butter droplets in it. I kept going until the butter separated from the liquid. I carefully spooned the butter into a sieve to drain it (and yes, I knew not to press it.) After it drained for a little while, I spooned it into an enamel bowl and pressed it to get more buttermilk out. Now I have about a cup & a half of real buttermilk and maybe a pound of homemade butter. Next time I'll use less cream and the blender.

Please know that I'm here to do the ocassional asinine thing so you don't have to. Have a great Valentine's Day. Since we don't celebrate Hallmark holidays, I'll find something to watch and get-a-knittin'.

Happy Valentine's Day, 2008

No time for a post, but check out this Valentine greeting.

I'll relate my butter making experience tonight.

Week in review

This past week has been chock full of activity, and I could really use a nap today. I won't get one as I'll be working.

I went to visit my grandmother in Athens on Tuesday. At her age and after the strokes, I have to remind myself that she's not joking when she asks "who are you?" I thought she was joking, especially since she told me in December that she wouldn't have recognized me. I thought this was a continuation of a joke, but later I realized that she's serious. Her eyesight isn't what it used to be, and I'd had my hair cut by about 3" since my last visit, so my hair looked a little different. I just don't always remember that she can't joke anymore. I realized my mistake later when she started asking me questions that included was I her first grandchild and was Brett my brother? My family is so incredibly lucky that my aunt and uncle are such patient and loving people that they can and have cared for my grandmother for several years now.

This past week was also the Atlanta Knitting Guild. I have knit nights on Wed nights, so when there's a guild meeting too, I'm out 2 nights in a row. When I was in my 20's, this wasn't a big deal. In my 40's, even though I have fun both nights, I'm so ready for be on Thursday night. However, I end up staying up late since I need to unwind.

On Friday I met up with Daphne for a latish breakfast and to discuss getting the prayer shawl group set up. I haven't seen Daphne for any decent length of time in ages, and somehow the day just got away from me. We went for a late lunch too since we had been talking for so long we needed refueling. I got home in time on Friday to do 3 loads of laundry and make macaroni and cheese from scratch for dinner.

At least I get to stay home most of the day today. I started on the prayer shawl/blanket that I've been wanting to make last night. My yarn finally came in yesterday. I purchased 6 balls, and now I'm wondering if I should get the rest in this dye lot since it's Malabrigo, and it never looks the same twice. Here's a picture of the start.

The pattern is not the one I had originally planned on doing. It's one called Seaweed stitch in Barbara Walker's Second Treasury. There is a seed stitch border to make it lie flat. I could have used garter, but I really love the was seed stitch looks, and I tend to use it when I can. Seaweed stitch is reversable. It does look different on each side. I think it will make a very interesting shawl. The person I'm making this for loves the beach. I thought the Malabrigo Emerald Blue has all those tones of the ocean on a sunny day. When going through the stitch pattern books, Seaweed Stitch suddenly leapt at me, and I knew I had the perfect one.

Let's see. We gave Scooter his last sub-q on Tuesday, and I think he's getting dehydrated again already. We do have some of the fluid left, as well as a couple of sterile syringes. I'll have to call the vet and discuss this development with her. In the meantime, I'll get the recirculating water bowl back up and running. I wonder if he would drink diluted chicken broth regularly?

One more thing before I sign off for now. I'm still planning to make my own butter. I mentioned this at knit night and was disappointed by the reactions I got. For me there is a sense of wonder that you can do this. I grew up in the suburbs eating margarine until I went off to college and bought my own groceries. I've never made butter, and I can appreciate the tranformation that cream undergoes to make this wonderful, delicious product. Thank goodness there are other knitters here who do appreciate it, and enjoy eating the results of their labor. Thank you to Janice and Debbie for starting me on this.