| Dear Bitsy - Etsy.com Shop |
[20 May 2012|09:08pm] |
Hello! Please take a look at my etsy shop, Dear Bitsy. I crochet disturbingly adorable and adorably disturbing animals, including a human skull! The skulls are normally done on a custom order basis, so please send me a message on etsy if you are interested!
Thanks!!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/dearbitsy?ref=si_shop
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| Dear Bitsy - Etsy.com Shop |
[20 May 2012|08:54pm] |
Hello! Please take a look at my etsy shop, Dear Bitsy. I crochet disturbingly adorable and adorably disturbing animals, including a human skull! The skulls are normally done on a custom order basis, so please send me a message on etsy if you are interested!
Thanks!!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/dearbitsy?ref=si_shop
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| Yarn Help....Continued |
[19 May 2012|04:38pm] |
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After doing some more research, I have another question pertaining to this tee....
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sakura-tee
I was wondering if anyone has ever used Cascade Pima Tencel and if so, do you think it would be a good fit with this pattern? The original calls for a cotton/silk blend, but according to the info I can find on the Tencel it's cotton and Tencel which is made from wood pulp and supposed to have the drape and feel of silk. It's a little more affordable though.....
Barring that, I think it will either be the Tencel or the knitpicks because those both seem to be more in my price range.
I still love the second sweater, but haven't quite found a suitable substitute for the yarn yet. A friend of mine suggested the knitpicks shine in sport weight...but I don't know. Guess I'll work on that after I get the first sorted out. Here's a link to the second top I'm talking about:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/seaglass-shell
Thanks in advance to anyone that comments. :)
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| Yarn Help!!!! |
[17 May 2012|11:10am] |
I just recently picked up a copy of the summer issue of Interweave Knits. Is anyone on here making anything from this issue???? Anyway, I fell in love with two of the tops in this issue and I was wanting yarn recommendations. Both patterns were originally knit with cotton blends, and that is fine by me. However, where I live yarn is hard to come by unless you go to the local wal-mart. We unfortunately do not have a LYS in my town. I am willing to travel a few counties over or to order offline....if I can find something that won't break the bank.
This is the link to the first one.
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sakura-tee
And here is the second.
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/seaglass-shell
The first requires worsted weight and the second sport. If you guys could recommend a nice yarn to make these out of I would really appreciate it. I'd like something that doesn't pill or have any other undesirable qualities in a yarn. The problem is that I usually work with cheap acrylics and I would really like something nicer if I'm going to put the time and effort into these. Since I haven't worked with many other yarns, I don't want to buy something unless I know others liked working with it and had good results. Thanks in advance for any advice you guys can give.
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[16 May 2012|10:17am] |
It's babymaking time again - month 3.
Which leads me to my in-laws. I would want my child to know them, of course... but... I'm... reluctant to let them have all that much influence. They just raise children much much differently. They leave their kids to their own devices and sorta ignore them from an early age. There's so sense of guidance or a notion that one is helping to build a happy successful adult.
And the state of my family... well... besides my cousins, I've got my mom and that's it. And that sorta concerns me. I was raised by lots of old people, who had patience and love and knowledge. I feel almost guilty knowing that my kid won't have that.
I mean... my kid also won't have raging lunatics for parents, and that mitigates a child's need for other attentions. But still, I got so much from the elders in my family.
I know a lot of people with kids who don't live near family, and their kids seem to be growing up well. I guess it's just that feeling that I want my child to have it all.
It would rock if this month's attempts are successful. I'll rock with it if not.
My mom asked me if Bob and I had considered an "end date" for trying to conceive. I don't really know. I'm 41. I'm working with my doctors, and I want the advice of a high risk ob/gyn. I'm trying to get into that clinic at UIC, but they only take appointments at the end of the month, for 2 months in advance.
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| Socks? |
[15 May 2012|07:21pm] |
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I'd like to knit my first pair of socks...and I'd like an easy pattern. I've never done socks before, but I am familiar with the basics of knitting. I can k, p, m1, psso, k2tog, etc. So if you have any tried and trusted patterns, I'd be really grateful! Hopefully something in the dpns category...I've never worked magic loop ^^;;
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| Needles/Accessories Online |
[14 May 2012|02:03pm] |
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Does anyone have any experience ordering from eKnittingNeedles.com - what are their reliability/service like?
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[13 May 2012|03:30pm] |
I somehow fucked up my synthroid schedule. The problem is that I wake up early, take a pill, then go back to sleep, wake up again and forget I've taken it. I had been using a pill sorter, but I got out of the habit. When I count how many I should have until my next prescription, I'm short by a week. I can't believe I've doubled up that much...
and I'm worried it will mess up my next round of lab tests and the docs will think my dosage needs to be altered. I'll have to explain that no - I'm just a dumbass.
* * * * *
I have a few white streaks right in front of my hair. I tried using temporary color, but it didn't do a damned thing. I don't want to use permanent color for several reasons. First, I like my natural color and don't want to change my whole head, just the greys. Second, my hair is only chin length and I want to grow it out past my shoulders. If I start with the ammonia and peroxide now, the ends will get crispy and need lots of trimming and slow down the grow-out.
* * * * *
I've been a bum the entire time Bob's been at his parents'. He's got Monday and Tuesday off, so I figured we could get the cleaning and shopping done together. I feel a little guilty for getting absolutely nothing done, but I've been wiped out. I think I got too much sun on Friday and I'm paying for it.
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| Making the right size hat + Viking hat |
[13 May 2012|04:58am] |
One thing I've always had problems with was sizing beanies. If I'm not making an average adult size, for which I use the same pattern every time, I always end up making the hat until I can look at it and see if it's too big or too small, but I don't want to be spending all this time making a hat only to find out I have to unravel it and start over.
I've been told three things:
1) Measure the head, divide the measurement by 4, then crochet a flat circle until you reach that number (for example, if my head is 22 inches, crochet a flat circle that is 5.5 inches) then crochet even rows until desired length
2) Same to above, but instead of dividing by 4, divide by Pi (3.14159)
3) Crochet a flat circle up to one inch below your head size (if my head is 22 inches, crochet a flat circle to 21 inches) then crochet even to desired length.
The third one seems kind of bunk, but maybe I misunderstood it.
Are any of these accurate? If not, what is?
Thank you in advance!
PS, I feel like all I ever do is ask and never really share (mainly because I don't have many original ideas. I have an online shop and my most popular item is a beardhat, but I can only make that so many times before I'm sick of it, and I'm sick of it), but recently I saw a really, really cute baby viking hat available on Etsy. There's a pattern for sale too but I didn't want to buy it right then, so I thought I'd whip up a hat of my own.
It's not nearly as cute, but I like how it looked on the little guy I nanny:
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[11 May 2012|08:26pm] |
yes, yes, I'm writing a lot today. I'm my own company, I suppose.
I made a comment to my mom that any child Bob and I might have would likely be quite smart. She said, "you don't know that" and started to talk about nature/nurture and randomness. But I cut her off and asked her if she could name one person on our Irish side that wasn't exceptionally smart. She stood there for a minute, ran a few dozen people through her head, and had to admit that every last one of them is brainy.
Maybe it is obnoxious of me to make such a statement, but I made it in the context of making a case for homeschooling until at least age 7 (with lots of out-of-home augmentation like art class, tae kwon do, swimming, etc). My thinking is that I'll know best how to help my own child make the best of their strengths and how to help them deal with their weaknesses. I also think that younger than 7 is too young to be away from home all day long all week long. I see that as state-funded babysitting... because I can't afford private schooling.
And then that got me thinking about how *I* was educated. My Irish side helped my mom out a lot when I was a baby/toddler and I spent a lot of time with my Grandmother and my Great-aunt, and with my mother, they are the ones who taught me to speak and read. Everything else I've learned how to do comes directly from those 2 things.
In second grade, I tested at college-level reading. My teachers were up-in-arms. My mother, and other family, acted like it was expected. I didn't even know about it until I stumbled onto the test tucked in a baby book, but I remember always being the only person in my reading group, and the teachers bringing in their own books for me to read. I devoured Twain, then Poe, then Dickens. When I was introduced to Shakespeare, I became obsessed. All before junior high.
Back to parenting... my daughter is similarly successful, and she went through the now traditional pre-school then kindergarten then primary school route. And now she's a senior in college, about to become a math teacher. But she had the benefit of extremely well-funded public schools in a very tony suburb.
Is it wrong of me to simply expect that I'd have another bright kid?
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[11 May 2012|05:44pm] |
Also... regarding that Time Magazine cover and headline...
moms need to grow a pair, make their choices, and be truly cool with them. THEN, and ONLY then, will the infighting stop.
I had a natural childbirth. I breastfed until my child was almost three, and she slept with me for longer than that. In fact, she used to sleep on my back.
But I don't judge people who make other choices. My friends run the gamut, and most of them are excellent mothers. These choices are ancillary to the intent by which they are implemented. YO! MOMS! Are you trying your best? Then chill out, breathe deeply, and keep on loving your kids. Don't compare yourself, or your kids, to others. It's a waste of happiness.
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[11 May 2012|04:35pm] |
Back from my mom's... she had a bad night's sleep, so we didn't hang out too long. I didn't sleep well, either, so I didn't mind that we only had a few hours together. She liked the lasagna and the earrings (which I purchased at the National Museum of Mexican Art).
We talked about family - she's on Facebook now, and I was catching her up on the news that I knew about. Many of her friends on there are actually her former in-laws... my (step) cousins. Even though it's been over 20 years since her divorce, they still think of her as their Aunt, and have loving feelings for her. That makes me happy - she was very good to each of them and I'm glad they remember it that way.
* * * * *
I'm debating whether or not to try and nap. It's already 3:30, and if I do crash hard I might not wake up until 7ish. Then I'm sorta messed up for bed time.
If Bob were coming home, I'd just stay up because his company would revive me. When he's at his parents' for the weekend, I just sorta float between awake and asleep without regard to the clock. This would be ok if my computer would stream Netflix, but it loses its shit when I try.
* * * * *
I'm someone who used to walk around with a lot of unresolved crap relating to past friendships and romances and sexcapades.
Most people don't make my radar unless they piss me off. So when I get attached to someone, I feel it deeply. For me, a person is either irrelevant, or someone I strongly admire/like/lust/etc.
So when things just sorta break off, as things do, I get left with the feelings but without the person. Even if things break off badly, or violently, or dramatically, I still have something in my center that remembers feeling something else.
Not any longer, thanks to the internet, Facebook, blogs, etc.
I'm one of those who *really* wants to know people's stories, and put them all in a pile and look at how yesterday led to today.
I moved around a lot as a kid, so I was often in the position of needing to step it up to make some friends (while simultaneously missing those friends I'd left). I always chose deliberately. I liked smart kind people, and their inevitable quirks made them even more enjoyable.
Now, as an adult and thanks to Facebook, I get to know all of them again and the coolest thing is - it's all such a boost! What a wonderful bounty they all are... well... the former friends, that is.
The former romances/sexcapades... I regret very little because I was usually the one in control, the one to end a relationship, the one to not return phone calls. But still, I'd had that lingering attachment. That's now nicely morphed into one of two options: a friendly familiarity and warm memories, or a complete satisfaction that I got away.
I like this... I have less anxiety about random things from the past. My childhood was bizarre, and I carry around a lot of weird stuff. A lot of that stuff gets tied into other memories, making them all sorta tainted and nauseating. But I find a lot of that is separating, and I can have the happy memories without getting assaulted by bad ones.
Part of it is visual. My friends are now all adults, and thanks to FB I know what they look like. So when I think of them, that's what I see first. Part of it is that they return the love and fond memories and wow - it's so warming to know someone cares after, sometimes, decades of no contact.
It's almost like I get to reframe my story, and remove the characters I don't like and populate it with the good people. I can have trips to the Little Red Schoolhouse, and getting jacked up on penny candy, and water balloon fights, and homecoming dances, and sex in parked cars without allowing anything ugly to surface. I don't mean denial.
I mean I've finally found what works for me when it comes to getting beyond and letting go.
15 years ago I walked away from my life, family, friends, everyone but Bob and his brother. Everything was a trigger, and nowhere and no one familiar was safe.
I don't think this is how it works for everyone, or maybe anyone but me. The truth is that growing up I was surrounded by really wonderful people, and a couple of fucked up ones. I'm slowly removing the fuckupedness, peeling it off.
All-in-all, right now life is the best I've ever had it. I've often written about how I didn't have the first clue about getting my head right. It's a really big deal that I can experience joy without an undercurrent of rage.
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[10 May 2012|05:18pm] |
I only wanted to make a small pan of manicotti, and one small tub of ricotta (plus the egg, romano, parsley and mozzarella) ended up being WAY too much filling, so I made lasagna instead.
And I count the cooking as 2 big things because first there was the fresh sauce and then there was the handmade pasta. Whew. Now I'm tired.
There was enough pasta left over to make some fettucine, so that's what Bob gets for dinner.
I'm too pooped to clean up too much. I'll save that for Saturday. Tomorrow's big thing is the journey out to my mom's house. 2 buses and a train, and it drops me about a mile from her place (where she picks me up). Then, she usually drives me home but I think I'll just ask for a ride to the train, instead of making her come all the way into the city on a Friday night.
* * * * *
Got a call from the doc. The RA in my hands and feet is starting to cause minor deformations in my joints. If I wasn't trying to get pregnant, they'd recommend a biologic medication. But I'm not so sure I want to go on one of those just yet. The side effects are HORRIBLE and can be life-threatening. My feeling on it is that if I can manage the pain with ibuprofen, we're all good. I'd rather treat the stomach issues that result from too much ibuprofen than wind up with leukemia from Enbrel or Humira.
* * * * *
Bob will be gone all weekend. I'm kinda bummed about being a lonely hermit while he's gone. I'm looking up some art-related stuff that could be happening in Pilsen this weekend. I'd like to get hooked up with a group of people and throw my shoulder into a project larger than my own mind.
One of my former teachers directs plays on the deep south side. If he wasn't so far away, I'd offer myself up as a costume and set stylist, but the commute is over an hour each way.
I'm also looking into what I might be able to do with the Lion's Club. Now that I've experienced thyroid eye disease, I want to do *something* to help the people who don't have health coverage.
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[09 May 2012|05:02pm] |
After grocery shopping today, I'm feeling more excited about cooking in general. Seeing, touching, smelling the produce put me in a happy mood.
* * * * *
I'm realizing I just have to pace myself, and only have one big thing to do per day.
Like today - I went shopping. I had to shower and dry my hair first. That's almost-but-not-quite 2 big things, so I'm done for the day. Frozen pizza for dinner.
The trick is really, truly being okay with this and sticking to it in the long term, especially now that the sun has arrived. I'm loaded up with medical appointments/procedures over the next month, so that means everything else that requires being outside is done at night or not at all.
(I'm hoping it's just a one time thing, but I lost a small fistful of hair in the shower this morning. If it starts happening again I think it will break me a bit.)
* * * * *
What are the politics behind Obama's decision to publicly support gay marriage?
I've seen him speak, up close and personal, when he was campaigning for Senator. I was taken in completely.
He rose on the wings of The Machine. They finally had their man. Obama needed Daley and his clout. Daley saw a way to bolster Chicago's profile and pocketbook for decades.
Right now, I HOPE it was political, and he's got the numbers to back up this decision because it's vitally important to me that he wins in November. It's the same for anyone on disability, or without insurance.
There's so much at stake. The parties are not the same. Yeah yeah yeah, there's a group of people who benefit regardless of who is in power, but who is President matters.
* * * * *
Bob has been awesome. It's been good for a couple of years, and lately I've really needed him. Besides all the crapola with the surgeries, I've been smacked with the ugly stick and he doesn't care.
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[08 May 2012|09:02am] |
For my mom, for Mother's Day, I'm making manicotti with homemade pasta and sauce (and whole milk ricotta and fresh mozzarella).
I used to love cooking. This blog, Flickr and FB used to be filled with photos and my recipes.
I've lost it, though. I've been SO uninspired. And the effort of it... I used to love complicated recipes. Now, I just want to be able to throw something in the oven and be done with it.
I think some of this comes from my sleep issues. I'm near lethargic most of the time. When I get myself started on a project, even something small like washing some dishes, I am fatigued the whole time. It's not a matter of just getting up and doing it and then I'm into it. Instead, I just get more tired from the effort.
I don't like it that I think of cooking as a chore. That's not how I've ever lived my life.
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| Quilt! |
[08 May 2012|08:33am] |
So hello! I've never posted to this community but now that I've rekindled my lost love of crocheting I thought I'd join. Especially now that I have something to post.
During my long line of miscellanious crafts I've started propably about three or four quilts that eventually went unfinished and got lost. Or something. I lost interest. But now I've finally finished one and thought I'd share it with you. I still haven't gotten around to steaming it so it's not perfect but damn it it's SEWN TOGETHER AND FINISHED!
Here it is.
( The rest of it in here! )
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