Last Day of Freedom
Mood:  chillin'
Topic: Daily Rantings
Have to go back to school tomorrow. I have been off work and doing the cleaning, decorating, sorting, and organizing thing. I bought a sewing machine but had to send it back. I haven't knitted anything in months but plan to start back soon.

Rain on the Roof
Mood:  chatty
Topic: Daily Rantings
It was another fantastic day at the Eastside School of Many Aggravations. Right about noon a little rainstorm popped up and the electricity went off. I was not amazed at the squeals of delight coming from the teacher-torturers. We were just settling down to take a Science test....little did they know, I gave the questions aloud because it was a true or false quiz. Score one for me! Anyway we wound up having to use flashlights to use the bathrooms being that they are pitch black with no juice.

Went to the doctor later in the afternoon to get the shots for my arthritis. Now stop me from knitting! My shoulders and arms have been hurting lately and my knees were beginning to act up. That is when I know I need to go in for my shots. The only drawback is the first night I am juiced...lol. I usually don't sleep well that's because the pain finally goes away and I feel gooood.

My next project will be a hand knit one. I saw a scarf made out of Eros in the Patternworks magazine and I love it. I was shopping at JoAnn's the other day and found a lion brand knock off of the yarn. I bought it and thought that I would try making the less expensive one first. If I really like it I will later order the one in the catalog. I think these would be fantastic Christmas presents. Something a little different.

Also I have been toying with the idea of making a jacket in a stocking net stitch but using the weaving feature or intarcia to weave in some of the more expensive novelty yarns. I have too thought about embroidering on the yarns.

This is the time of year that I get excited about my Spring Wardrobe. I know exactly what I want. I want some colorful loose fitting pants in a print or floral, a tee top, and a soft jacket or a cardigan. I want everything to coordiante. I want to use hot pink, orange, purple, turquoise, lime green, bright yellow. I found some bright yellow eyelash the other day that would be perfect for the trim on a jacket.

Sunday
Today is an overcast cool day. I am excited to be alive. I have been working on getting over a cold and haven't knitted much. I really want to be able to crank out fantstic outfits and write the great American novel but there are only so many hours in the day an unfortunately I have prior commentments. Such as getting food, keeping up with the house, and so forth. I have a job....which lately I hate. Maybe its the cold talking, maybe it is the time of year, maybe its the truth, I will give it a few days and see.

Machine Knitting Blog
Topic: Machine Knitting Blog

Machine Knit Bloggers Join | List | Random

What Kind of Knitter Are You?
Topic: knitting Quiz

You are interchangeable.
Fun, free, and into everything, you've got every
eventuality covered and every opportunity just
has to be taken. Every fiber is wonderful, and
every day is a new beginning. You are good at
so many things, it's amazing, but you can
easily lose your place and forget to show up.
They have row counters for people like you!


What kind of knitting needles are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

The Wekend Is Almost Here
Mood:  happy
Now Playing: Yeah!
I am so glad that it is almost the weekend. I have had a doozy of a week. I haven't even had time to think about knitting anything. However last weekend I made a couple of new items. I made a cocoon on the Brother 260. It is so simple and goes really fast. You use almost the whole bed and skip groups of needles so that you get a really slinky link fabric. It is made as a rectangle that is folded to create a cute jacket. I made two, one in Homespun and the other in Red Heart Super Saver yarn. I like the one made in Homespun much better because the fabric drapes and is softer. I used two strands of Red Heart held together and that seemed to produce a stiffer fabric. It is a little too heavy for this climate.

Last Day of November
Mood:  lucky
Topic: Retirement
Today is the last day of November. I have been on a drunken stupor for the last two weeks. Not with alcohol or really good drugs now mind you, but with fluid on my ear. I was fine as long as I didn't stand up or walk around. I've missed work, Thanksgiving vacation and doing a lot of things I had planned but at least I'm still alive and today, much better.

I'm trying to decide if I can go to work tomorrow or not. I'm sort of thinking not. I am still having a few spells occasionally. I am way behind on all the normal things I really need to do, like get groceries, cook some meals, dust the place, just walk outside and see what my yard looks like in the fall.

I'm one of those people who plans everything, organizes, and I have a habit of trying to cram way too much into one day. My Dad used to tell me not to try to live my whole life in one day...but I have to tell you, I feel like I have really lived an extremely lucky exciting life.

The past few days I have really been thinking about retirement; not about how prepared I will be in financial terms. I should be thinking about that and I will one day, but no, I am thinking about all the things I plan to do when I teach that final day of school. The day when I have them play, "Smoke on the Water" over the PA. The day when I cut the retirement cake and tell everyone that I'll drop by and visit occasionally. Of course I won't visit cause I'll be too busy.

I have given thought on more than one occasion about what it would be like not to have to get up and go to work everyday. The first thing I would do is sleep late. I'll snuggle under the covers for hours before my feet hit the floor. I'll take plenty of naps...anytime I want.

I have my hand in so many extracurricular activities that sometimes I run myself down just to have moments to write, read, or think even.

There are many many things that I would like to have a blast with such as writing. I want to write several books, lol, not just one ya say? No I have some specific areas in mind. I would like to write a children's book and illustrate it myself. I figure that should take a year. Then I want to finish the two novels that I started some twenty years ago. Not to be published, I don't really care about that. This point is..I want to write them, just for myself. Then there is a few "how-to-do-it" books that I have on the back burner. Not to mention I would have time for journals and such.

The next thing I want to do is make a movie. Oh, I've fooled around with family stuff, weddings, birthdays, holidays, but that is more recording than anything. No, I want to write a script, gather the necessary actors, props, sound, and make a real movie with a cool story. I have a list a mile long of ideas. That should take six months to a year.

I want to knit and knit and knit. All the designs that I have in my head I want to put on paper and bring them to life. I want to see a ball of string and a pencil color sketch rise up, take form, and hang in my closet for just the right occasion.

It has been one of my dreams to design clothes, not just a shirt here or a skirt there, naugh, I want to design a wardrobe in which every item coordinates and works with the others but in the same respect can be changed to a whole new outfit with assessors.

I want to have days too, to just sit and stare at the blue sky and think.

I want to celebrate every season with a huge party sort of "Martha Stewart" style.

I want to take people to tea and host tea parties.

I want to exercise and tone my muscles...if I have any left at all by the time I retire.

I want to paint. I am a watercolor artist. I've sold a bunch of paintings (that's a brag there if case you didn't notice. Hey I've won ribbons and CASH at the fair. Right now all I can do is go decorate the fair booth for the school...but every dog has it's day. I have fantasies of a friend and me sitting in a picturesque location with our watercolors spread about us capturing the electricity of the scenery. In my mind I have painted masterpieces. In reality I haven't had time to paint in so long my watercolors are dried out.

I want to get together with friends and sip exotic drinks on the porch in the late afternoon sun. We'll exchange pictures of the grandchildren and talk about our ailments. I am sooo looking forward to having friends that don't work.

I have often heard people say, "well, if I didn't work, I don't know what I'd do, I'd be so bored." They must not have much of an imagination because my life is so rich and full that I can barely contain my gratitude and keep up.

I don't really feel like I work now, everything I do is fun and I get much enjoyment out of my life. I have a career that I really like, most of the time anyway. The JOB is not really the root of my daydreams. It's time. The time that I spend there cuts into the time that I want to create and sleep. Time that I want to be fulfilling my other dreams.

After one day at work, I admit it, I'm tired, physically and mentally. I feel drained and after taking care of the simple matters of daily life, there is barely time left to fall in the bed and close my eyes before it begins again. I'm really lucky though because I have more time off from work than most people. Sweet summers and holidays keep me going back year after year.

It won't be long thought, until I can say, strike up the band and bake the cake and do everything I have my heart set on doing.

No Knitting Today
Mood:  lazy
Now Playing: The day after
I have bags and bags of yarn, my machine set up, and itching to knit. I am making some simple afgans for family members for Christmas the year. Unfortunately I had to get my wisdom teeth pulled yesterday and I can't knit today. I've slept most of the day which was pretty nice. Here's one simple afgan I already made. I just used all the 150 needles on my LK150 and knitted 285 rows. It turned out just the right size.

Knitting on the LK150
Mood:  lazy
Now Playing: Wish I Could Go Back To Bed
Here's the knitting scoop for the past few days. I bought a Singer SK155 on e-bay. I waited and waited and finally my machine came..it looked like a herd of elephants had trampled one it. It was bent and broken. I cried because the machine otherwise was in mint condition. I knitted a few swatches to see how the machine would do and the punchcard was affected. I figured I would have to send it off to get it repaired and it would cost me a fortune. I had to let it go back. I was very disappointed.

Then I bid and won a Singer Memo Matic 360K. I wanted a standard machine so that I could make lace. I knew that it didn't have punchcards, so I ordered some. This machine came and I couldn't even knit the first stitch. The sponge bar needed replacing, the needles were bent, and it was really dirty. The good news though is that I found a service shop in my area. So that machine has been sent off for repairs.

AM I EVER going to get a machine?

The first machine that I bought was a Bond USM. I have been making things on that for the past four years. It was a struggle because to me the carriage wouldn't slide very easily and I didn't like having to pull yarn out on every row. I may wind up selling it.

My next machine which I also got off e-bay is a Singer LK150. Love it, love it, love it! The carriage glides across the bed as smoothe as butter. It is so easy to change tension and I like not having to use the weighted hem as on the bond. I also like the tension rod because I can knit a whole bunch of rows before I have to stop and adujst weights.

Haven't really knitted much lately, been concentrating on getting my machines together. That has been a real challange.

Sick Day
Mood:  not sure
Now Playing: Knitting a Poncho
Today I am sick. I stayed home from school to go to the doctor. I tried to get an earlier appointment but unfortunately couldn't. So I am taking it easy and kniting a poncho for my daughter on my LK 150. I love this machine. I am almost finished just working on the edging. I ran into a slight snag so had to take a break and surf the web.