The Nest is Full

Life can be so unpredictable! Just when you think life is stable situations change and you start over again. My youngest son Brock is temporarily moving home, so that means shifting things all over the place. He will be in the downstairs guest room which is painted in these incredibly bright shades of salmon...it is fondly called the Mexican room.

The guest room is really only in use as such maybe 8 times a year so it is really my craft room. My daughter-in-law volunteered to help pack up all the yarn I have and it took up a queen size comforter bag, a super size expandable suitcase, a giant Costco recycling bag, and other assorted shopping bags. Plus, we left one wall unit section full because it wasn't too heavy to carry.

The up side to this is that I will be able to really organize my stuff while putting it away, for the most part I do have specific projects in mind for almost all of it.

I also have a quilting cabinet filled with fabrics, gift wrap, things that need mending, patterns that are pinned but not cut and more yarn.

Then there are the boxes of my beads, cross-stitch books, hook latch materials, and random craft projects I never finished.

By the way on Friday I went to A Grand Yarn and purchased 8 more skeins of yarn to knit up into adorable kid legwarmers that I plan to sell on Etsy.

Of course that takes a lot more time organizing but I will get to that when I get there!

Mama Bear

Wow, I really do consider myself a laid back mellow person but attack anyone that I love and watch out! This weekend I reached a breaking point when earlier in the day someone at our lake place said they wanted to put a bullet in one of my dogs head because he was barking. Our friend did not have his contacts in so he was pretty blind and could only say it was a man...geez.

Then later in the day my dogs ran off towards the woods and someone snidely said put leashes on those dogs. Well, we were chasing them and by the way they are always chained to our deck or on leashes...they just got by my son while coming in after a swim.

Well, this lady (loose term for her), walked by staring at us over her glasses in a condescending way and before she could say something rude I went "gangsta" on her *ss before she could say anything. I told her my dogs were always on leashes why didn't she ever comply with that...and how she is always complaining about one thing or another, I was mad. The funny thing is she is the lake bully and I don't think anyone has ever had the courage to tell her off!

It felt kind of good but then I thought maybe I should apologize because that really isn't in my character. My kids all had a good laugh about it and said that I would have scared the pants off of them if I yelled at them like that, I was living up to my kids friends nickname for me which is G-baby (say this with attitude and hand gestures).

I must admit that earlier in the week I heard the aforementioned lady speak in the most horrible tone of voice to her grandkids (little guys maybe 3 and 6 years old) it really angered me that she would speak that way to anyone, much less little kids.

Well, I felt pretty agitated for the rest of the day but I pulled out this beautiful cardigan knitting project and sure enough the rhythm of those needles calmed my spirits and made me feel good again!

Knitting and Hollywood

This weekend was rather gloomy and I was at our lake cabin stuck indoors with my granddaughter Laura. She is 15 months old and is so close to speaking, and one of her favorite words is doggy, she absolutely adores my destructive dog Rocky (see earlier blogs regarding his escapades) and any other dog no matter what shape or size. Our cabin is in a time warp and we only have a tiny t.v. with no reception and a crazy collection of VHS tapes. We decided to watch Lady and the Tramp and I must say it was so fun to watch this endearing tale involving dogs, babies, crazy cats, and parents that did not give one thought to leaving their infant in the care of an eccentric old maid!

What I loved most about this movie was seeing the mother announcing her impending birth by knitting baby bootees on a set of double pointed needles, I guess Disney thought you may not say the word pregnant.

Other movies that I have noticed with knitting in them are Breakfast at Tiffany's, Holly doesn't know if she is knitting the Pampas or a sweater, Wallace and Gromit, you gotta love a knitting dog, it is a stress reducer for him! A variety of Jane Austen type movies and the most odd one is The Repo Man, in this movie it is a man that is quite a gruff character and he is knitting a scarf with alot of texture to it.

Some of my favorite shows I am currently following have knitting in them as well, in True Blood the main stars Grandmother was a knitter, and in Hung which is a series about a male prostitute (very entertaining because he has the equipment but not the business sense), his pimp is a knitter, I am not sure what she knits but she has the stuff lying around.

To me the knitting is not just a prop but a little glimpse into a person, for example if you look in my knitting bags, you will see such a variety of projects. Sweaters for different family members, a couple of sweaters for myself, a skirt for my Laura, Fair Isle pouches that are possible bridesmaids gifts, and lots of yarn that is waiting to be knit up into all sorts of things.

If Hollywood needs a professional knitter to be the yarn wrangler I am at their service!

Hooray for Woodstock!

So I kind of do the Facebook thing and had a little time to kill so I did one of those crazy quiz type things that give you some insight as to what you are all about and surprise I most identify with the 60's. My formative years were during the 70's but I had always wished I grew up in the 60's.I loved the idea of being a full out hippie living off the land, growing my own food, exchanging chores with others and teaching my kids through life experience rather than in a formal classroom.

Well, what the hell was I thinking? There are pieces of my life that are 60's ish, I had my kids at home, I didn't know you could buy spaghetti sauce in a jar (thank you co-op moms), I ground wheat for my homemade bread...entertained homeschooling for about 5 minutes. But I am not cut out for all the hard work that would entail real communal living, I don't like dirt, I love my kids but need me time. The crafts that I have always pursued have always given me the time that I need to recharge and reenergize my soul.

I love all the music from the 60's and the idea that we should all get together and love one another right now, but there is nothing like scoring the cutest shoes ever at Nordstrom rack!