STUFF.

 So yeah it's been a while since I updated, figured I might as well, while we're sitting here watching Moonshiners because, well... I don't know. Apparently my inner rubbernecker wants to see if Tickle snatches that elusive Darwin Award this season.

 Tickle. Honestly. I really hope that's a nickname or I have to wonder who named their kid Tickle. I also wonder how much of the show is even real because how do they not get arrested for having their faces right there on tv?

 ...Probably shouldn't spend that much thought on reality TV.

Bean is pretty much walking, has one tooth and the points of two others. I think MiniMonster is not entirely sure what to make of this massive change in his world. Suddenly his little brother can reach a WHOLE lot more.

 I'm working with some of my gorgeous BuenaSuerte yarns, knitting an Color Affection shawl in the red and gold of the Tony and Pepper yarns. It needs a third color, but I'm waiting to decide until my skein of her "Teal Deer" colorway gets here. Technically it's a different base but they're supposed to be very close and work well together, and if it works it will be a great Arc Reactor Blue. Otherwise I don't know.

Knititng stuff

Finally decided to post some new pictures of what I've been working on.

Pretty String

 So I did my first venture into yarn dying on the stove. I didn't use Jaquard dyes, which are the more professional version, partially because they're toxic so to use them it's really a good idea to have pots and stuff that are just dedicated to their use, and since I wasn't sure how I'd like doing it... so that wasn't a great idea at the time.

 I over dyed one skein (colored over color) and dyed two others. ((I'd post the information but the tags were 'vanished' by the yarn Mafia ((the kids))

 We used food coloring and vinegar, and put it in a pot on the stove, since using food coloring requires acid (the vinegar) and heat (the stove) to set.

 We learned a couple important things: One is that yarn, especially for over dying, sucks up food coloring like it's going out of style, especially if you want a rich, dark color. Second we discovered why you're supposed to make sure a skein is tied in several places before soaking it, because my first one came only tied in one place, I didn't add more ties... and it's going to be a 'Please untangle this' project for the husband.

 I'll show you some pics later when I finish knitting up the green one ((assuming I actually have enough for the shawlette I'm trying to use it for.)) But here's everything!

Iron Man (Yarn) to the rescue!

So if no one figured it out from my earlier grumpy post, I was having a bad day, including being forwarded a bullshit pseudoscience article on why using moisturizer was going to give me Diabetes ((Certain people feel that the correct response to being angry is to indirectly wish harm on others by sending them "Scientific" proof that it will DEFINITELY (kindofmaybeintotallyunrelatedcircumstanceswithpoorevidence) HAPPEN. It's obnoxious, childish and vile. And maybe slightly insane.

 ANYWAY: Went out to water the garden, and decided to check the mailbox just in case. Lo and Behold, the first shipment for Buena Suerte's "Shawarma" Yarn club had arrived!

 The Color Genius Billionaire Playboy Philanthropist is as fantastic as it's namesake, bright sporty red with hints of Gold on a flashy, silky, luxurious yarn.

Buena Suerte is by the way a kick ass dyer and a fun and mouthy nerd. It's her first yarn club and I hope it's as successful for her as this yarn is gorgeous.

Ripened

 It's been crazy hot recently, ninety degree days and the lot (this has inspired my mom to send me for the seventh or eighth time since I showed it to her years ago, to mail me an article on how they discovered that the world was actually hotter around the Middle Ages than it was for a while afterward.)
 Our garden is doing fabulous, which is fun. Our Corn is right on track and the strawberry plants are doing well... now we'd be doing fabulous if the goddamn Chipmunk would stop stealing the strawberries. Oh I mean the poooor little cute rodent, it's not like there's not wild strawberries, an apple tree we don't eat from, or any other food for him... OH WAIT. THERE TOTALLY ARE. GET OUT OF MY STRAWBERRIES YOU LITTLE SHIT.

 Bean has been enjoying the fruit season, though particularly he's enjoying his share of nice cold fruit from the fridge stuffed in a little strainer bag so he can nom it up without choking himself. It's kind of hilarious watching him cover himself with blueberry juice, and he enjoys chomping frozen mango chunks as a tasty version of a teether. Mango does unfortunately seem to give him super powers...

 Well anyway it makes him wired.

 Otherwise things have been fairly normal. The spot where I brilliantly managed to step on a bee, barefoot is healing fine ((other than deciding to send me into a frenzy of trying to make it stop itching this morning, but that's settled. I just need to leave it alone.))

 Otherwise the other thing I need to play leave-it-alone on is parenting groups. sometimes I find them useful, but it seems more often than not they tend to be a judgy, preachy lot, half of whom I want to smack with something, even on Ravelry and I love hanging out on Ravelry.

 I'm sorry but I just don't see it as a sign of the end times or bad parenting to use:

 1: Disposable diapers over cloth
 2: Strollers instead of Slings ((especially with larger munchkins who have reached spine damaging weights.))
 3: Formula
 4: Food that was not 100% organic with no sugar, salt, or the given OMGBADTHINGOFTHEHOUR.

 Especially number four. One lady was loosing it because day care let her (no allergy or sensitivity) kid have an frozen juice bar. ((Juice, not sugar water.)), another was loosing it because her kid might have ingested -sugar- in a fruit smoothie... one of them was raging because their kid ate a gold fish cracker... another melting down because their kid ate some Jiff instead of freshly-ground-no-salt-no-sugar-no-flavor Peanutbutter...

 I mean lets face it. Sooner or later, we're all going to eat something that's not a green veggie or drippy yogurt that comes in the flavor of 'sour and kind of gross'. Like as not we'll eat a processed hamburger or french fry at least once in our life. We'll consume meat we weren't accustomed to giving the odd carrot to, and god help us, we will probably LIKE the taste of salt, sugar, and fat in our food.

 The world will not end. We will not suffer a instant stroke, we will probably not develop diabetes, or pack on a few stone for sighing longingly at a candy bar. Hell, a few seconds research will tell us that lots of people with weight issues aren't helped much, if at all, by totally cutting everything out and that dieting just makes a vicious cycle. We're learning a lot about people's predisposition toward heaviness and how much of it is genetic and not just food.

 This doesn't make the desire to eat healthy bad, not at all, but at the point where you're creating an virtual religious rage filled inquisition over other people choosing to eat, and let their kids eat, the occasional McMeal, you've crossed a fucking line.
 If you are accusing a mom of feeding her kid poison because they're drinking formula or eating a chicken nugget, YOU HAVE CROSSED A LINE.
 If you are comparing using a stroller or eating a piece of chocolate to neglect and abuse: YOU HAVE CROSSED THE LINE.

 All around us women are wondering why we can't seem to get ahead or manage to get together to do something about politics that keep cropping up with interesting ways to attack women's rights, or to stop abuse, and I can't help think that it Sure as fuck couldn't hurt if we gave ourselves a good hard smack in the head and stop fighting ourselves. How are we supposed to get ahead as a whole if we're so obsessed and filled with righteous rage over try to out superior each other over really stupid shit?

 Also I'm going to change my password now because APPARENTLY Someone got into this account. I think I know who. HI! I CHANGED MY PASSWORD!

Yarn Enabler

 My husband is a total knitting enabler... which is a wonderful thing I think. Better that than being married to someone who goes up a tree at the word 'yarn' or 'knitting'.
 We actually got to go by the yarn store today (no kids along to keep out of everything), and he's wandering around behind me making recommendations "I'd go with that green rather than those colors..." nudging me toward books "See anything you like?" and making suggestions. "You should check out these outdoor knitters chairs."
 Me: "Aren't they just fold out chairs?"
 Him: "No see they've got all these storage things on the side and this thing here..." (points to little fold out tray to set your knitting on.)
 Me: ooohhhhhh.
 Him: *laughs*

And he was even cool with me getting a project bag. I saw some with sheep that I thought were cute, but not 'gotta have', then realized they had one with a ram on it on nice neutral fabric and was just crazy cute.

Me: Ooh, I like him... and I think he's the only one...
Me: ... semi-jokingly cuddles bag.
Him: ^_^ Get it!

I also picked up some food coloring to maybe try dying yarn with. I debated putting it back after dyeing the potential color combos on the back of the packages, because I don't HAVE yarn to color, and had further conversation with him.
 "They had undyed yarn at (The Yarn Store). I thought you weren't interested."
 Me: Ooh, no actually I just didn't see it.
 Him: Well get the dye, it'll keep. ^_^


I LOVE THIS GUY. He's amazing in so many ways. Also I think he's secretly and sneakily trying to make me feel less guilty about enjoying my hobby.

 ...I might be side eyeing some bare yarn on knit-picks even as we speak.

Bean

Bean is getting bigger whether or not I care to admit it, and this does involve leaning to feed himself...

Yeah, tell me you didn't see that coming.

((EDIT: Updated: Actually Ravelry has over 2,000,000 members. I checked after I wrote.))

 There was some rather exciting drama unfolding over at Ravelry recently after the General Council of the United States Olympic Committee sent a snarky note to the owners of Rav a note saying that the people of Ravelry were not allowed to refer to the non profit, Olympic support knit along as "Ravelymics"

 This particular event has been going on yearly for some time, and consists of people getting together to watch the Olympics, support the athletes, and do their own version of going that extra mile by trying to say, knit a whole sweater in two weeks, or similar intense projects. It's always been in good fun and a way for people to try and get into the spirit of things, but apparently that was an issue this year since the General Council sent that note, which included this very well thought out turn of phrase.

 "We believe using the name “Ravelympics” for a competition that involves an afghan marathon, scarf hockey and sweater triathlon, among others, tends to denigrate the true nature of the Olympic Games. In a sense, it is disrespectful to our country’s finest athletes and fails to recognize or appreciate their hard work." 

Yeah. Yeah they said that.   I thought it was classy too. This is almost on par with them deciding that they could pull the carpet on the group who got permission to hand sew pillows for the athletes, put in the work and man hours, then got told OOP. SORRY. WE CHANGED OUR MINDS. NO CAN DO. HANDMADE STUFF IS JUST SO TACKY IT CHEAPENS THE EXPERIENCE. ((And the McDonalds sponsorship makes it just look so cool.))


 They took a lot of egg on the face for that too, so you'd have thought they'd have started running their choices through a few more filters, but apparently not. Nope, they decided that a craft a long, which has brought people to watch who otherwise had no interest in the Olympics, was not only theoretically copyright infringement and 'diluting the brand' but actually insulting.

 Is this a good time to mention that Ravelry has something like five million members at this point? And that a majority of them got REALLY. REALLY FUCKING MAD?

 Anyway. The Council issued another statement, which I think boiled down to "Oops, sorry." And it sounds like the Ravelympics will continue as planned, along with an entirely half assed apology. Here it is folks. 


“As a follow-up to our previous statement on this subject, we would again like to apologize to the members of the Ravelry community. While we stand by our obligation to protect the marks and terms associated with the Olympic and Paralympic Movements in the United States, we sincerely regret the use of insensitive terms in relation to the actions of a group that was clearly not intending to denigrate or disrespect the Olympic Movement. We hope you’ll accept this apology and continue to support the Olympic Games.”

 Apparently also the original statement was over the signature of someone who was supposedly an intern... so apparently they're trying to say that they just let their interns send out rude statements willy nilly. That seems a bit bogus since letting an person in training send out LEGAL DOCUMENTS without reviewing them is just BEGGING for a world of self inflicted pain. That's like swinging a baseball bat at your knee just to see what will happen. The answer is pretty much always 'something bad'. In this case it's a few million still really annoyed knitters, many of which have now been left with a big nasty taste in their mouth and a lack of desire to have anything to do with the actual Olympics.

 Personally I'm just damned impressed that this is the second time that these guys have taken a big PR hit and apparently haven't learned much. Maybe we'll see something a bit classier down the road... but I think my money is on "Gigantic PR train wreck and the McLympic Burger with bacon and extra cheese."

A Wild Pixiemama visits!

 We had a visitor yesterday! Well technically we've been planning it for a little while, though I kind of half wonder if Tilmani actually noticed since he always forgets I write almost everything down on the calendar, which he never looks at in spite of it being on the wall at head height and huge.  Apparently he's not the only person in the universe who does this, but it is kind of funny.

 Anyway, PixieMama is a friend from college, who I pretty much haven't seen since her daughter was about Beans age. Her daughter is now... 12 I think? I'm probably getting that wrong.

 We've talked since then, just not gotten together, so we finally arranged for her to drop in on her way back from jumping through hoops in the Surrogacy Circus. ((She's getting ready to be a Surrogate mom for the second time, which is totally badass of her and you can check her out in my sidebar links under Adventures in Surrogacy.))

 But yeah, she visited and it was a blast! I spent far too much time apologizing, which for me is kind of normal but I'm working on it, we had take out pizza, and the kids thought she was AMAZING.
 She even put up with me yarn geeking. ((I did refrain from displaying the ENTIRE stash... just a significant chunk of it.)) and she picked some yarn she liked for a cowl that I'm going to make her. She picked out the "Hologram Moth" colorway from Sanguine Gryphon, and we found some cool sort of earthy browny-purpley-bronzy beads that actually look really good with it, since the yarn while mostly green has hints of a similar browny-purply-bronze. All in all great because I wasn't actually sure what to do with either, until we arrived at that project and they just sorta clicked. Sometimes going with your gut on craft stuff just works out.

PixieMama's future Cowl

 On an equally exciting note: Bean is now mobile, so batten down the hatches everyone! He's not officially crawling but he's scooting all over the place, and will occasionally pause and heft himself mostly into the crawl position, then decide that this is too frustrating and go back to scooting along. I'm watching him belly-scoot around and check out his brothers big plastic blocks, which is sorta funny, because MiniMonster is checking out Bean's play seat and spinning the rattles and mirrors, so basically they're both playing with each others toys. The grass is always greener and all that!

 PixieMama: the kids thought you were cooler than ice cream, and we'd love to see you any time!

Bigger on the... blocking mats

I know one of the huge projects to hit the geek-knit community is the "bigger on the inside" shawl, (Which is a really lovely thing, and very cute.), but that's not what I'm working on right now. I am still finishing up a pink Ashton which I've dubbed my "Crooked Leaves" Shawl since in the long standing tradition of creative adjustment I've kind of... backed my way into a slightly modified version of the pattern (you'll have to wait and see though.)
 What I did discover though was a reminder that blocking does strange and nearly magical things to a shawl... and one of my old projects the Vortex is not an exception to that.

 Since it came off the needles my 'Plum Paisley' colored Vortex has been largely used and abused as a small cover for nursing and baby snuggles, and then ended up living on the floor of my husbands truck for a while where it slurped up part of a small coffee spill. ((embarrassed cough goes here.))

 Anyway since he decided to clean out the truck, it came inside, and I decided to be nice to the thing, and dropped it in the tub for a wash and block. Cleaned carefully and pinned out, the shawl that wouldn't even sit decently around my shoulders has become ENORMOUS. And I. Mean. ENORMOUS.

 I'm quite excited to see it actually come off the blocking mats now and maybe get someone to help me take pictures (which won't make the color look any better on me but would still be cool to have) because it's just... I mean WOW it's big.

 This is it pinned out on my uh "Blocking Mats" ((by which I mean colorful rubber mats designed for kids I am using instead of buying mats dedicated to pinning things to. Because they work.))

That mitten is mine, not the kids. Just sayin'.

 Why? Cause it's cute that's why.

Changing of Seasoning

 ((Yes the title is in fact supposed to be a bad pun on Change of Seasons.))

 I've kind of slowly come to the sad realization that my early attempts to cook were, in fact... bad. Pretty much the only thing I could cook worth eating came out of a quick bread or cake mix box. I've pretty much officially retired almost all of my early recipes at this point as just not being half as amazing as I thought they were, but I've learned that about a lot of things. I remember, for example, enjoying "Snow Caps" Non Pariels, and they still carry very distinct memories and points of nostalgia for me... but I can't stand the goddamn taste of the things.

 Making quickie chicken BBQ wraps with melting Monterey Jack and Chicken cooked in BBQ sauce used to be an amazing bit of comfort food, ditto Kraft Mac and Cheese with Bacon Bits... but now I really don't much care for either, much as I remember digging into them with zest and finding them delightfully comforting and yummy.

 Now my idea of comfort food is more time consuming, hot chocolate powder whipped into full fat milk on the stove and topped with marshmallows and real dairy whipped cream... or Baked Potato Soup made from scratch, served up with hot rolls on a cold day. Cold Weather begs for comfort food doesn't it?

 I still love ice cream of course but I've been even gravitating away from the flavors I used to like, choosing stuff like Haagen Daas "Apple Pie" ((or better yet, real apple pie, even if chopping all the apples the way I like them gives me a hand cramp...)) over coffee and vanilla bean.

 I don't know if that's a reflection on anything in particular, maybe it is since my expanding taste for new foods has gone hand in hand with things that make me feel like I've grown as a person.

 ...I'm not even sure where I'm going with this post anymore. I was going to kind of wrap it up with a halfassed joke about BBQ-Chicken and M-Jack paperweights sitting in my gut all night, but I think I kind of got derailed somewhere in thinking that I feel like my cooking isn't the only thing that's come a long way, and wondering if anyone else has woken up to the fact that they've grown, and what things in their lives might have grown with them.
 I also note that I don't feel my personal growth has devalued the things that used to give me such nostalgic pleasure... I mean I'll always enjoy the memory of holding a box of miniature Non Pariels in an antique gate fronted elevator and watching the floors go by... even if I don't enjoy the candy any more. However my new taste in foods also means new tastes and scents that will be the bookmarks to wonderful memories down the road.

 What about you reader? What seasonings have changed in your life?

Shop till you Drop

Curl up and take a load off, it's a good day for it. I'd like to myself but you know how it is, things to do, especially while the kids are sleeping, at least for a little while.

 It's been another exciting week, with a fair share of scary things almost going very wrong, but so far we've managed not to have any full on disasters, though there's a tired, jealous toddler taking a nap while I figure out how to shave off some jealousy points without neglecting the baby. I'm thinking there may be some Nana J time involved.

 I caved a bit also and engaged in a bit of Yarn Therapy from the Verdant Gryphon. GORGEOUS yarns. I bought one at first as a test (A skein of 'Blue Green Damselfly' colorway in the 'Bugga!' base.) I kept hearing how amazing the yarn was from other knitters, and I wasn't disappointed even slightly. The colors are gorgeous on the web page both at V.G and at their 'sister' shop Cephalopod Yarns, which offers different colorways than VG. ((and also has a ridiculously cute icon.))

 Their colors are rich on the web page as I said, and they're even more incredible in person. It seems to be pretty much impossible to accurately capture how gorgeous the yarn I bought is, so of course when I had some mad money to throw around, along with some wild plans on what to do, I did what any semi rational yarn obsessed human being would do and bought a bunch more.  

 I also have a new skirt on the way, and stitch markers (though these accidentally got mailed to my mothers house, Damnit Paypal and your spectacular fail qualities... (I did double check the address, I really did. Didn't stop PayFail.), and also a sampling of perfume oils from Delightful Rot, because it was ten bucks for the sampler pack and they just looked FUN.

 ...Yeah I probably spent a bit too much but I try hard not to go nuts like that very often, but most of it has non frivolous secondary uses, like the skirt. I look good in skirts, but I have an entirety of two right now, and they're a bit more comfortable to me than wearing shorts. My self confidence about my pasty white legs is next to nihl, I prefer to keep them covered, and I will FRY if I wear my jeans all summer.

 Anyway, yeah. It was fun, and I know I'll enjoy it all, especially since I made myself pick some colors I wouldn't necessarily normally choose, just to make myself branch out. It's important to do that every so often, I think.

(Not) Mom of the Year

 But arguably a probably pretty normal one.

 Thanks to Bean, I haven't gotten much sleep in the last couple days, which in and of itself is sufficiently frustrating and a problem, because I don't handle being sleep deprived very well. In short, not getting enough sleep, especially for a couple days, makes me sort of like a grenade full of angry bees... with a pin that kind of likes to pop out on it's own.

 So yeah, at the moment, not my finest hour of calm and meditative behavior. Combine this with the fact that Bean is now tired from being up 90% of the night, also teething, and his older brothers fun stunts this morning, and I feel like SEVERAL grenades worth of angry bees.

 ((Apparently apple juice and vanilla-chocolate-chunk yogurt look an amazing amount like barf if you mix them together. Granola Bars are caltrops for your socks, and if he keeps changing options on his talking "Scout" doll every couple seconds... I will have a seizure. Also he woke up his brother.))

 Basiclly I'm going to spend the day trying not to loose it, and it's one of those days where it really feels like they WANT me to.

Almost Easter

 It's almost Easter, which means I've got an impressive amount of goodies to handle the next couple days. Well.. mostly I need to make a Blueberry Strudel pie (SO GOOD.) but I'm also making rice crispy treats (easy) and Lemon Bars (Also pretty easy). In the wings and probably not being made this week are pecan bars and blueberry muffins.

 We'll be having Easter Dinner at Auntie K's house, probably Ham (last years was amazing, and I don't usually like Ham.) Last year they got it from a farm up the road, and it being locally raised may have made a big difference. Instead of that squishy, damp, sponge meat I'm used to calling "Ham" it was dense, tender, and delicious. There were also amazing baked beans and other goodies, and a nice sense of family community. The first year we did it I felt... enormously awkward and out of place, but last year was better. I felt a bit more like I belonged there, and I hope that continues.

 We colored Easter eggs, including some blown eggs I plan to run ribbon through. I don't know how long they'll last but they would make a fun decoration while they do, and a bit more personal than just hanging plastic eggs.

Creative Cooking, Crockpots, and Funky aromas

 I feel like I've come a long way with cooking since my Husband and I got married and got a house. It helps that we have a stove but no microwave, and it also helps that my husband has been patient with my tedious little baby steps in figuring out how many things taste not only BETTER but some things just outright taste GOOD if there's no microwave involved. I know there's some studies that suggest Microwaving actually destroys FEWER nutrients (I don't know how true they are) than using the oven, but goddamn it does godawful things to the taste.

 I don't think I'd have ever eaten vegetarian lasagna if I had to eat it before, I made it and loved it here, and even MiniMonster ate some. He said "BLEAH!!!" loudly about SOMETHING but ate most of it, so I suspect he got a small chunk of onion. He doesn't mind the taste of onion (onion powder, grated onion dip...), but the texture seems to really get his goat.

 I still have a lot of things I need to work on, like cooking steaks in the oven (or getting the Huzbeast a grill.) But still I think I do pretty darn well, and we eat really well I think. Maybe having two kids younger than three isn't the time to start learning "Long hand" cooking but so far I'm doing pretty well in spite of the extra complication, and maybe I'll do even BETTER when I don't have to worry about little fingers reaching for pot handles if I loose track of someone for more than a second. ((MiniMonster isn't supposed to be within two feet of me when I'm cooking, and we've set rules on where he can stand to watch, but you know... things happen to other people, so they could happen to us too.

 Unfortunately I think we may need to replace the Crock Pot, which is a big staple for me because I can put delicious things in to cook and then get on with my day. Chili's and Curry's and Soups, even BBQ or Pot Roast... but a while ago I noticed that the black enamel had super fine cracks. I can't FEEL them to touch, but I can see them, and the Crock Pot, even when vigorously cleaned, now really kinda SMELLS. Not like food but more like something just... just BAD. I might try boiling some water and pouring it in there, and see if that kills it for a little while, but I think that ultimately we just need a new Crock.

 Sorry Crock, you've been lovely, and I'll really miss you.

Skin

Please pardon me this morning: I've lapsed into the dramatic and the poetic:

Skin

 I keep thinking about the way my family's skin smells, especially Bean, who I have more cause to be constantly snuggled up to than the others. Monster, for example, who smells faintly like some sun warmed wood, maybe sandalwood, and a hint of spice. Tilmani, who's personal scent while a bit like Monsters is more of an aged, sturdy forest with a touch of warm stone. His is particularly hard to describe. Bean smells like real Vanilla, and Cinnamon, just faintly for both, with an whiff of some more exotic aroma tickling around the edges, being impossible to name.

 People who aren't fans of kids are probably turning up their noses right now and declaring that babies and children smell like pee, poop, spit-up, and dirt... and they have times when they do, but those are all odors of incident. They aren't THEIR smell, just smells that happen to end up ON them, the way we create our own more 'notable' aromas by spritzing ourselves with perfume and cologne, deodorant, body wash and shampoo.

 That's what makes these subtle, personal skin smells so intimate. So personal. You have to be right there to catch it. You have to be in the throws of a really good hug, a snuggle on the couch with a little person leaning into you with their head on your shoulder. There's a bit of trust and closeness involved before you can pick up that faint, unique perfume.

 Maybe thats why it's so particularly comforting.

This Yarn Hates Me

I've tried working with the skein of Claudia Hand Painted Silk my friend bought so I could make her something with it, oh, something like twenty goddamn times now. It's constantly ended up frogged, because something ALWAYS. ALWAYS. ALWAYS. Goes wrong.

 This gets even more frustrating when you get a decent way into what you're doing, realize you made a mistake, attempt to tink back, and realize one, tiny little stitch has escaped like Harry Houdini and run back just about as far as it can go and left a gargantuan swatch of destruction in it's wake.

 Seriously this goddamn stuff has me about ready to cry. OVER YARN. I'm just so frustrated at failing with this stuff. I could technically just make a garter stitch shawl and have done with, but after making her daughter a Holden, that feels like cheating. Maybe I could do a garter stitch with this stuff and make her something flashier later? I mean it's really a pretty enough yarn... or would that be copping out?

 I don't know...

Eye of the Storm

 I'm currently enjoying one of those rare and amazing moments when there's actually quiet in the house. Both of the beasties are down for a snooze, MiniMonster in his room and Bean in the Swing chair, curled up under a big ol' blanket I made originally for MiniMonster.

 It's bright colors and maybe a smidge in the 'girly' spectrum, but it's soft and washable and snugly, and they both enjoy curling up under it. I hope they continue to. That's one of the reasons I craft. I like the idea of passing along something that I made with thought and care, to someone who knows how it was made, because it's a little like giving someone a hug they can wear over and over, as long as they know the thought that went into it.

 Maybe thats just me being a little sappy but I think I've got the right to be where my kids are concerned.

OH LOOK. PICTURES! HOW EXCITING!

OK yeah so I'm in my PJs....

Dark Water

This is the Holden Shawlette, ((look for the pattern on Ravelry)). I actually did this one some time back, but never got around to wetting it down and pinning it to block it into shape. So I did.

 It's pinned to one of our bathroom towels on top of an indoor-outdoor carpet in the basement that's there to keep feet from freezing if we dash downstairs to throw something in the laundry. The yarns are Blue Herons "Rayon Metallic" for the stockinette sections, and Dream in Color "Smooshy" for the lace.I originally wanted to do it all in the Rayon Metallic, but the skein had been turned into a gordian knot by impatient winding *cough* I'm looking at you Tilmani...*cough*...So I wasn't able to actually USE all of it. So I switched to some 'Dream in Color' I had around and created my first two color Holden Shawl. I'm actually working on a second one now, but it's for a friends daughter. It's still in the works but I've got a decent photo of it still on the needles anyway.  It's actually kind of wild how much more clear the stitch definition is on the green "Springtime" colorway from Knitpicks than it was with the Plum Paisley Smooshy.

Raptor Bath

 I've actually got another post I want to write about a particular fandom I'm part of... sort of... but for now I'm going to stick to some Baby related humor.

 Yesterday in an attempt to calm down Bean, who was pretty much alternating between big swings of "I love everyone" and "Wailing rage", I decided to try and give him a bath. At this point he was already hacked off to high levels because I made the unforgivable mistake of trying to get him to nap, so he looked at me like someone betrayed by his last friend as I got him ready for the bath, then immediately turned into 'Velcro Baby' when I picked him up. ((this state is when Baby latches on with a ferocious deathgrip of surprising power and will not let go.))

 So I take Velcro with me to the bathroom figuring if I share a tub with him maybe he'll freak out a bit less. Security and all that.  Everything goes fine as we sit down and he sits on my lap, still with his tiny little claws dug into my flesh.

 Eventually he starts to relax, and I make my next mistake: Trying to place baby butt into water deeper than a centimeter. The scene that followed, with a bit of 'scream' translation was pretty much like this:


 Me: "Ok lets get you cleaned up, see? The water's nice and warm...."

 Bean: <OHMYGOD THERE ARE BABY EATING RAPTOR-CLOWNS IN THE WATER! SAVE MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!>

 Me: JEEZUS! OK! OK! I've got you!! ((Return baby to lap))

 Bean: ((CLINGS LIKE SUPERGLUE and is silent again.))


Eventually I did actually get him to relax before the water got cold, and he even let me lower him into the water so he could play a little, kicking his feet in slow motion and being fascinated by how moving water feels, but pretty much all of the actual bathing part was done by pouring water on him as he clung to me like a very wide eyed growth. 


 And that, folks, was the incident that shall be forever known as: RAPTOR BATH.

Popcorn on the Stove

No catchy title this morning, sorry. I just wanted to share the tidbit that making popcorn on the stove instead of the microwave is awesome. It's not as fast, but it's fun, even if I end up cleaning up escaped popcorn later because the pot overflows.

 We don't have a microwave so I don't really have a choice about WHERE I make it, but the fun of watching the kids faces as kernels jump up and hit the glass lid is a LOT of fun. Way cooler than watching a paper bag spin and inflate. Plus we can customize our popcorn flavor however we want. Mmm.

 Yeah I made popcorn this morning. Bean got to watch for the first time and absolutely wouldn't look away until it was done. It was so much fun. And tasty!

 And before anyone else asks I didn't watch the Oscars. I got everything I need to know about them from Tony Van Helsing. Go read his blog about them. It's much more fun and wastes much less time.

Public Consumption

    I had to go to the dentist the other day to get a crown, finishing up the root canal that got underway last month. This took a while, so I sat with a magazine for a while. One discussion that stood out was a bunch of angry letters about the cook Paula Dean, with whom I am passingly familiar as someone who uses butter by the tub. Apparently she has Type two diabetes.

  Apparently this is a point of moral outrage with a number of people, who feel that the fact her cooking show does not revolve around 'diabetic' recipes and the fact she didn't tell people that she had the condition at the start means that she was 'lying'. 

 Because apparently sharing high calorie recipes with people makes every detail of your life open for public consumption...and forses people to watch your show and make your butter rich dishes?

 I don't understand this. No one is forcing people to watch. No one is forcing anyone to cook like she does, and it's no one else's business but hers how she handles her own condition.

 Where do we get this idea that we have a say in how she handles herself? It's as obnoxious as people arguing over weather or not 'Suri's' clothes are cute and fashionable enough.

Hint a Little Harder

 One of the roleplaying game's I'm in has an... interesting little problem player. She's friendly enough, for the most part, though she decided that she had every right to tell someone they weren't allowed to play because she didn't like them, in spite of not having any actual game authority. Yeah that went over well as you might imagine.

 Mostly she's sort of like a Golden Retriever puppy. A Golden Retriever puppy that hasn't been remotely house trained... and she seems incredibly, insanely resiliant to getting a clue. She's been told repeatedly to stop dropping hints over what she thinks her characters should get (And continues to do so),  IN another setting she's been told she needs to do what the clearly stated rules say and wait for actual players to show up for injury treatment instead of just making up random people so she can heal them with her amazing specialness...

 She refuses to get a clue as well over the fact that demanding that certain events happen RIGHT NOW BECAUSE SHE'S SO EXCITED SHE JUST CAN'T WAIT will Continue to piss off the Game Masters, who have already expressed, very plainly and in small words, that they are really really pissed off when she does this. BUT SHE CAN'T HELP IT SHE'S SO EXCITED CAN WE DO IT NOW NOW NOW?

 I'd say she's acting like a baby, but my Babies LEARN FASTER.

 Speaking of which: Bean has entered a colic-y stage, or if you're interested in terminology I hadn't heard before "Purple Crying". Apparently this is a period where the baby is too old to be able to 'shut out' excessive stimulus, and not old enough to adapt to the confusion, leading to periods where any stimulation is pretty much TOO much, and thus causing them to cry and scream in frustration and distress. He's loosing sleep, we're loosing sanity, and all of us, including Bean, are holding out for the point when it's all over. It doesn't help that it means he's very difficult, or nigh on impossible to calm down, and he's a lot less perky about it than the Golden Retriever.  Oh and he's probably teething, which is extremely early, but I don't have any better explanation for him chewing vigorously on his fingers even when he's not hungry. I imagine that's not helping his mood either, poor guy.

Come to me my Husbands Awesome Chili

 I decided to get a head start on Dinner today since both kids (Bean and MiniMonster) were down for a snooze, something made possible by us having tortilla chips and all the ingredients for my husbands fantastic, beanless Chili.

 For some of you this may be heresy, but I have to admit I've never been a big 'bean' person, and never even really big on Chili, though I like spicy food, so being introduced to Tilmani's chili for the first time when we were still dating was virtually a religious experience for me. It was Chili, WITH BACON IN IT. It was chili full of meat and smokey goodness, tomato sauce and a touch of salt from the chips, and just a little heat. Enough that I could enjoy it, not so much that Tilmani, who's not so big on Spicy food, couldn't.

 Since I've got a batch simmering in the Crock Pot now, to continue cooking until we're all ready to dive in (or until my willpower caves and I go after it early), I thought I'd share it with you, my patient handful of readers, that you may experience this godly stuff for yourselves.

 What you Need to cook this amazing stuff is the following:
  1 lb or so of Ground Beef, 90% lean ((A little more or a little less is just fine, depending on your preference, but you don't want to get too fatty a meat for this.))
 1 small can of diced Chili's.
 1/2 jar of -REAL- bacon bits. Screw the artificial stuff. ((You can use and crumble regular bacon, but this works just fine for me and I'm a bacon nut. .... actually I cheated and put in the WHOLE bottle of bacon bits. He doesn't need to know if he doesn't notice.))
 1 6oz can of tomato paste
 1 29oz can of tomato sauce
 1 onion (we use sweet), chopped
 and 1 pack of McCormic's Chilli seasonings: OR mix Black Pepper, Red Pepper, Garlic and a Dash of Mustard Powder.  ((this is my twist on the original seasonings.))
 
 and Tortilla Chips if you like Chili with Chips. Use your favorite brand.

 Put everything except the seasonings and ground beef into your crock pot and set it to start heating up. It can start to simmer together while you take the ground beef, put it in a pan, season it with the above seasonings, and brown it carefully. When it's nice and brown and chopped up into smaller bits to your liking, drain off the fat carefully and put the meat into the crock pot. Set it to Low (or Warm, if your crock pot runs hot.) and let it simmer with the lid on for as long as you'd like. Technically since everything's ready you could eat it as soon as it's hot, but Chili's one of those meals that's really great when it has time to sit and converse with itself, so why not let it do so?

 Have a blast and try not to think too much about what it might be doing to your arteries. ((Hey, the bacon bits have lower fat than pan cooked bacon, you can always comfort yourself with that. And more Chili.))

 Serve

Hagravens don't take rejection well

 We got a copy of Skyrim earlier in the month: Tilmani and I both have characters, though he's played more than I have... which lead to the interesting discovery that inspired the title.

 Hagravens in Skyrim, if you don't know, are pretty much exactly what they sound like. Part Hag, part Raven, and they're generally unpleasant characters, as probably anyone would be if you looked wrinkled, bent, grouchy and feathered. Anyway, Tilmani's character... named Tilmani, got drunk, and apparently one of the things he did while drunk was go get a wedding ring and propose to this delightful woman he'd met while smashed out of his mind. The jeweler was happy to inform us how he'd described the most ROMANTIC of evenings in the moonlight, and let us know she'd take the ring back if we weren't engaged, but sounded a bit less than approving that he didn't seem to remember any of this. ((Surprise surprise.))

 So we cruise around for a while and he finally gets around to finding out who he went and got engaged to while drunk and when we get to the area, the lovely beautious lady is... a HagRaven.

 A Hagraven who is VERY. VERY. Angry when asked to return the ring (the only option the game gives you on this front... sadly... otherwise I think this could be kind of awesome.) And she attacks on the spot. Tilmani won, though since he'd JUST been fighting a equally angry dragon (maybe it knew the Hagraven?), it was a little on the close side. Don't know where the rest of this particular quest will go but that was a rather funny discovery.

 So yeah apparently HagRavens don't handle rejection well. Sorry lady.

I think you just cost yourself your point

So I've been following some arguments about a rather controversial video. You may have seen it. It's the one where the guy's daughter decides she's a 'slave' because she has to make her bed, clean the counters, and take out the trash,and in return gets nothing but her own laptop, cell phone, food, shelter, clothing and education...
 Ok you can probably guess I wasn't thrilled about the kids behavior and I highly disagree that it's normal. ((You can become independent of your parents without slandering and lying and failing to acknowledge what they do for you. You really can. It's amazing.))

 Anyway the guy's gone viral because he read her really horrible, slanderous bitchfest letter to them on video and destroyed her lap top. With his gun. Which is from a certain perspective the very extreme equivalent of throwing away a kids crayons because they won't stop drawing on the wall.

 I can see where this would freak people the fuck out. I can. Peoples idea of what constitutes appropriate parenting has changed a lot from when we ourselves were growing up, but really thats not what I'm here to write about.

I have my own opinions on if he was right, wrong, or right but over the top, but some of the people in the 'wrong' camp...

 I think they kind of seriously cost themselves their point when they compared the destruction of an inanimate object to RAPE or BEATING YOUR WIFE. I also think it's kind of bull that they think it's ok for the kid to say horrible horrible lies about their parents ((I mean where's the fine line on that one? When does it stop being ok to make up stuff about someone because you're angry?)) But really.

 Don't compare things to rape UNLESS IT'S RAPE.

 When you do that you've completely gone off the fucking tracks, especially over something like this,and you have pretty much LOST. THE POINT. In fact you have actively damaged the chances of anyone siding with you because they're probably sitting back wondering what the fuck they just read.

 I was. I mean hell. I'm as fascinated by an argument as any typical internet voyeur, but that? I draw the line at that bullshit.

 ((Oh and apparently before anyone freaks out: the guy has in fact been investigated and everyone seems to be ok. Including the "poor poor abused girl who lost her laptop." It's the internet that can't let the whole thing go. Wow. What a surprise. Although perhaps for her an even better way of demonstrating that NOTHING on the internet is really private than having her dad discover the letter was.))

Oh Hey, still here

 Oh hey, just thought I'd let everyone know I'm still here... those handful of people who are still out there anyway. HI PEOPLE.

 I've pretty much come to accept that I am never going to be Allie from Hyperbole and a Half ((Whom I wish well, and hope she feels better soon.)). Hell I'm never even going to have Bitchy Waiter's following. I'm just not that exciting. I don't hit peoples nerve I guess.

 I could try but I wouldn't really be 'me' then... but thats an tangent that will bore people stupid... so I'll skip it.

 What have I been up to?
  -Mostly running around 'playing mom'. MiniMonster is officially two years old, and loves his brother like crazy, with occasional and understandable bouts of jealousy. I'd be jealous too if I was too little to understand just how much work a little brother can be, especially one that's only a bit over a month old. We try and find time to make time thats 'just for Mini', but jealousy still happens, and it's going to, but it's so overwhelmingly topped by love, hugs, and kissess that I think it will work out just fine.

 I've clearly taught the lad well... though I'll be the first to say that the choice to love rather than resent his brother is all his. Now the BATMAN corruption, that I think I have a hand in. Offered the choice between little rubber action figures for kids his age, he will, without hesitation, choose Batman over Superman. Padawan I have taught you well.
 ...I have been joking that it's because of my Batman shirts, and this has lead to jokes about the eventual confusing revelation that Batman is not actually Mommy. I think it will all work out though. It's fun in the mean time though to wonder if my two year old thinks I'm secretly a superhero.

 NomNom, who needs a better blog nickname (Bean maybe? He's small and ridiculously intelligent like Card's protagonist, and like his brother seems likely to grow to towering size. What do you think?) NomNom is doing well. He's wicked strong, and trying to beat every physical benchmark he can, and also smiling and grinning. I forgot how silly and endearing a baby's toothless, open mouthed grin can be. Especially when he's flashing it at you with a mischievous glint around the end of his bottle, or while curled up in the crook of your arm.  He's very visual, more so than his brother was at this age, and we're wondering how this will play out over time. It's definitely made him more interested in his mobile. MiniMonster was way more about the music, but NomNom likes to watch the stuffed owls rotate. I just wish the damn thing was battery operated so I didn't have to crank it back up so often when he wants to watch it. It just doesn't seem to stay on long enough for him to really relax. ((Although it's fun to see him try in his limited way to reach for them.))

 I'm still knitting, though I had to pull out the dragonscale shawl I was working on. I got distracted, botched a row, then botched tinking it back... and then it all went to hell. And I lost a chunk of the yarn pulling it out because the silk glued itself together. Again.

 ...Yeah.

 I got a couple books on making socks for Christmas, which was awesome and cool. One was for knitting them two at a time but I think first I'll work on doing ONE and see if I can do it correctly. Then I'll work on doing them two at a time and avoiding knitters "Second Sock Syndrome" ((You finish one sock, then you're so bored of sockness that the second sock sometimes never gets done. I don't know if this is less common if you have yarn that does something cool with self patterning, but we'll see. Tilmani will be my guinea pig for my first pair of test socks. I have some patterning gray-scale Kroys sock yarn that will make a nice warm pair of socks ((if I can do this correctly)) perfect for wading out in the cold and blasting snow, though since he runs on the warm side, thats probably the most use they'll get, since the man would probably otherwise collapse of heat stroke.

 ...I'm running out of things to talk about unless I want to go on a tangent about the Immaculate Bakery and their yummy stuff, but maybe I'll save that for the day I become internet famous.

 ... That'll be never.

Yet Another Sidebar Link

I just added yet another new sidebar link, this time to Momastery, after someone on Ravelry posted a link to this blog post.

I don't know how other people feel about it, but I thought it was a really great post, and the author raised some great points. This was pretty much one of my favorite parts.

 Parenting is hard. Just like lots of important jobs are hard. Why is it that the second a mother admits that it’s hard, people feel the need to suggest that maybe she’s not doing it right? Or that she certainly shouldn’t add more to her load. Maybe the fact that it’s so hard means she IS doing it right…in her own way…and she happens to be honest.

Amen to that, seriously. I get the same attitude from my mother and sister, from my Father In Law's mother... to a much lesser extent I get it from my Mother In Law when she shows up unexpectedly and I haven't cleaned up after Hurricane MiniMonster yet...

 Don't get me wrong, there are definitely bad mom's out there, but admitting that it's a difficult and stressful job doesn't mean you're automatically dealing with one, it just means we're human too.

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Damnit Devart

 Well next on the failure list is Deviant-art. Well known for selecting softcore fetish porn for it's Daily Deviations, and otherwise offending most of it's users, Devart has added a new touch of failure to it's list of sucks and annoyances. Specifically it's decided to EAT some of my old art. A couple of my cartoons, which I note are note adult in any way, one is just a head shot and the other was something funny that happened in a meeting, show up in my preview list if I search for them, but if you try and actually open them they don't load at all.

 The comments show. The title shows, both indicating that they haven't been ripped down for some imagined offense. ((insufficient naked ladybits perhaps?)), they just DON'T LOAD.

I'm damned annoyed by this and I really kind of wonder how many other of my pictures and drawings no longer load for no discernible reason.

Moving Forward Fingerless Mittens

 I've been debating if I should try and sell this pattern or just list it for free, and I've decided that since this is really my first shot at it, I'll offer it for free. Not that I'd object to people sending me money for it (I can tell people my paypal info if they really want to ship some money my way for the pattern, but it's not necessary.)

They're called the Moving Forward Mit's because the yarnover and k2tg patterning causes it to form chevrons that point toward the fingers, as though telling you where to go.

 I made these in a DK/Sport weight yarn ((I used Capra from Knitpicks for these.)) But the pattern is easy enough to adjust for size. Hell you could probably drop it to fingering and get some great kid sized mitts.

 I personally recommend either using solid colors like I did, or using yarn with subtle variegation, otherwise you kind of loose the pattern in the colors.

 And before anyone asks: Yes you may sell anything made with this pattern, BUT you may NOT sell the pattern itself. Please direct people to come and get a copy, it's good traffic for me, and I think getting credit and traffic for the pattern is a decent trade for a comfy quick knit.

 I'm also "Nightgaunt" on ravelry.com btw, so if you're on there, drop me a link. I'd love to see what you make with this pattern!
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'Moving Forward' Fingerless Mits:
 -Note: The 'important' (IE decorative) part of these mittens starts with the purl three border, and ends with the purl three border. If you find these come out too snug, and want to add stitches rather than increase needle size, I suggest increasing at either end of the starting stitch marker until they results are as comfortable as you want.  It shouldn't throw things off too much as long as the number of stitches stays even, though you'll use a little more yarn. Likewise, if you have small wrists and this knits up too big, decrease from the knit stitch repeats on the outside edges to get that perfect fit, or use a smaller yarn and needles until you get a really comfortable fit.
Materials Needed:
 --Yarn of choice ((Worsted or DK is recommended.)), --Scrap Yarn in contrasting color, stitch marker, size 7 dpns

Cast on 28 stitches, join in the round. ((I divided things over three needles with: 10-9-9))
(rows 1-6) -6 rounds in rib stitch. (k1p1)
(row 7)-knit 7, purl 3-knit 1, yo, knit 2 together, knit 3, knit 2 together, yarn over, knit 1, purl 3, knit 6
(row 8)-knit 7, purl 3, knit 9, purl 3, knit 6
(row 9)-knit 7, purl 3, knit 2, yo, knit 2 together, knit 1, knit 2 together, yarn over, knit 2, purl 3, knit 6
(row 10)-knit 7, knit 7, purl 3, knit 9, purl 3, knit 6
 Repeat rows  7-10 for desired wrist length. (should come to base of the thumb)
When you have reached the desired length, take a piece of scrap yarn in a different color:
For Left Mitten: Starting at Starting Marker
 K 1 in regular yarn, K5 with scrap yarn, slip scrap stitches back onto needle, knit with regular yarn. Continue with lace pattern above (rows 7-10) until fit reaches just behind the knuckle. Switch back to k1p1 rib for 6 rows. Bind off loosely.
For Right Mitten:
 Knit until just after the second set of P3 in the 'lace'. K2. K5 with scrap yarn. Pass 5 scrap stitches back and knit with regular yarn. Finish off mitten the same as the Left mitten.
 --If you're familiar with the "Picot" bind off, you can use it to make a fancier, more Victorian top edge, but since these were originally intended to be dressy driving mittens, I decided to go with the ribbed bind off for comfort and to minimize snagging.

TO CREATE THE THUMB ON EITHER MITTEN:
 Pick up stitches on the edges where the scrap yarn is acting as a place holder. Once you're sure you have captured all the stitches to avoid a run-back, divide your captured stitches around 3 needles. Knit thumb to desired length and bind off loosely. With thumb holes it's slightly more comfortable to err large than small, so picking up an extra stitch or two may be less annoying than one or two too few.