So the plague monkey has landed

We are very ill people, and unusually so. It started with the demon spawn. Unlike her last cold, this one was very mucusy and snotty. And she hates to have her nose wiped.

Now, I am also very snotty. Chris has not evidenced this body betrayal.

The baby doesn't sleep well because she is sick and seems to have nightmares.

I'm going slowly insane.

Until next time.

An open letter ...

Dear Mr. Stephen King,

I just finished your new novel, Cell, and I must once more commend you on finding the horror in the innocuousness of a cellular phone and scaring me out of my ever loving mind. I really hate cell phones but had been considering that eventually I may actually need one. However, I doubt I could even borrow one at the moment.

Ordinarily, I would simply marvel at your genius and go on knowing that the acclaim you will receive from the public should be enough without my extra clamor. However, once small facet of one of your main characters cries out for comment. The character of Tom McCourt is gay.

Simple, isn't it? You didn't make him the butt of any joke, he wasn't inappropriately used as comedic relief, and the rest of the characters didn't keep explaining his gayness away. Instead, Tom McCourt was portrayed as a level headed young man who did not giggle with the girls and who did not simper at his larger, stronger, straighter male compatriots.

Thank you so much for not giving McCourt more than his due; thank you for not beating us over the head with his gayness, and thank you for writing something that I loved.

Sincerely,
A'tuin
(who sacrificed sleep to finished your book in one sitting)

D is for...

desk.

Yes, this is the desk where it happens at. Very messy I know, but at least there is no yarn festooning the screen. I had to clean the yarn away, because the colors weren't coming out right.

Yes, for those who wonder, I do knit at the computer. And for those who may not make the connection, this does mean I sometimes knit in the newwde.

Crafting challenge stuff

I had had so many ideas for the yarn I was going to buy with the money from the income tax refund. Then I started paying off bills this morning. There were a lot of bills, and because of this, the yarn stash will not be increasing at the same rate I'm knitting.

So I finally have to go begging for yarn donations. Not happy, but things could be worse. I could have had a knitting needle shoved in my eye. I guess I'll start faxing on Monday, but I'm going to start mailing letters today. I'm also going to check out freecycle group. Maybe someone has some acrylic yarn they would like to give up.

I've decided that acrylic yarn is no longer the anti-yarn that so many people say it is. It's just yarn, ya know? Some of its smoother than others, but I've heard washing the item a couple of times will take the scratchiness out of the acrylic.

Can one say the same for wool? But please, don't get me wrong. I prefer wool for most of the stuff I'm knitting because it is going to some of the coldest places in the world, but for myself and my family, I can't see using 100% wool.

Its just impractical here in Georgia. Unless its felted, like clogs or a bag, 100% wool items are only going to get worn maybe a week out of the year. That's why I adore blends. Except when I'm spinning that is.

I really like to spin wool. I'm actually going to be trying soy silk soon, but I'm going to be plying it with a lovely varigated wool I'm currently spinning. I don't think I'm going to be able to get the same effect as they are getting in Japan, but I'm willing to try and wear the consequence.

But back to the original statement. I prefer to wear cotton and polyester almost all year round, and so does almost everyone else I know. We save wool for things like hats, scarves, and slippers.

However, for the stuff that's going to Mongolia and South Dakota, I'm hoping to eventually have some wool to knit with. Currently, I'm using acrylic, which is actually pretty warm, because I'm knitting with small needles to make it as dense as I can. But I'm hoping to include some thrummed socks and mittens at the very least for Mongolia (Project Dulaan). And at least a few baby sweaters made out of wool for South Dakota (WOLE).

I guess that's enough of my yammering. Back to the needles while the baby sleeps.

And then there was ...

... an income tax refund! And what a refund it was. Coming soon to a blog near you--more pictures of the new and improved yarn stash.

In other news, we think the baby may have climbed up on the couch by herself. Or she used hubby for a ladder. Chris said no comment, because he was out of it and in vidiot land. I was playing a video game.

Hey he had the bal ... baby. I am so close to just not going to work today, you just don't know.

Playing catch up

Things here have been ... interesting. We've been really busy, and the baby has been keeping us up nights. She has also been going to a baby sitter so I can work some mornings. As you can see, she is starting to walk, and she is a handfull. Also see the the overalls? Aren't they the cutest ever. I'm going to start buying her just overalls, at least until summer.

I think that a big part of it is all the knitting projects I'm working on seem to be soaking up my creativity. Not that its a bad thing, per se, its just that finding stuff to keep the baby happy and occupied takes up the rest of my creativitity, and so not much writing gets done.

I do have some knitting pics to upload so here goes.

Here I am kntting a sock. That pair is finished, but I don't have a good picture of the finished pair.

I've worked out what I'm knitting for who at the point and am currently working on several projects at once. Once I have every currently planned project on needles, I'll upload a picture.






This is a pair of mittens for Dulaan, and a fair isle turtle that needs to be felted for my daughter. I have also finished several starfish for her, and once everything is felted, I'll post another picture.

C is for...

Christopher, or as he is known as in the online gaming community--Mad King Christopher. This is my most wonderful and adorable husband. He is without a doubt the most wonderful man in the world. He's a great daddy, and he's the love of my life.

He has to have his own letter, because he's too important to be blogged about elsewhere.

So a lot of stuff happening

Baby is teething, I'm knitting, working, or baby stuff, and Chris is taking up the slack. I promise to catch up on my blogging sometime between now and Sunday. In other news, I've updated the side bar. Take a gander, and check out some of the new links. More about some of these this weekend. Promise!

Isn't been awhile?

Yes, it has, and we have been very busy. I just wanted to let everyone know that we are doing fine, we are alive, and I'll be doing a big update, hopefully, over the next few days.

Peace.