Secret Pal Part II

Here's the amazing yarn my Secret Spinning Pal made me. She really went all out: Thick & thin home-dyed Merino, plyed with mohair, and studded with felted & beaded flowers. I'm going to weave it into a blanket for the back on my taxi. She included some fun surprises wound inside. I loved that idea so much I stole it for my downstream Secret Pal. I'll post what I made for her after the mailman delivers.

Here's a felted lunch bag-style purse I made, sans pattern. The straps are actually one long felted loop. They can come up both sides, as a short shoulder bag, or I can snug it up into one long across-the-body strap. It's lined in red muslin and has a nifty internal pocket.

Happy Valentine's Day! aka Ode to my Husband

This embracing couple was found in Italy, and are 5-6,000 years old.

I know just how she feels: I'll hold on to my Matt for eons! I am so lucky to have a husband who supports me and challenges me, while giving me absolute freedom to be myself. We have so much fun together... even when we are killing time waiting for a tow truck he makes me laugh so hard I nearly soil my pants. Our life is awfully good.

When we didn't know if we were going to Match, there was a possibility we would Scramble into someplace horrid, but we realized much of our happiness lies inside the walls of our strange little apartment. We can duplicate that anywhere.

Matt just sent me a text message: "Happy Valentine's Day, my love, you made my life crazy magic."

A word of advice to the still single: Hold out for the real thing. It's worth it! I'm so glad I didn't settle for any of those romances that made me happy, but not blissful.

Drumroll please....

And the winner is.... PHILLY! Matt got matched with St. Joe's, so that's where we'll be! It's a great academic fit. We are pleased. :)

Sparkly Sisters

January had two more attacks in store for us: Matt's computer CD/DVD drive went belly up, and I have a hairline fracture in my right foot from all my walking. Geez, how's a girl supposed to get in shape?

On a happier note, we visited the Rose clan for the Tucson fossil & gem Show. This is a monster gathering of jewelery and mineral wholesalers, plus the world's best palentologists. Every hotel room in the city is a different vendor, and you see specimens that rival or exceed anything in museums.

More importantly, I got some real quality time with my new(er) family. His parents have taken me in, and Matt's sisters are now mine, too. I feel undescribably warm and happy having sisters again (for those who don't know, my only sibling, Jill, died at 16). Matt is with Nancy The Lobster Provider, and of course that's Mom and me. Mary was also there, and Nadine, who is technically a cousin but has been adopted in.

My best shiny finds at the show: An ammonite bracelet and citrine ring, courtesy of Mom's generosity, and a scrimshaw pin from their personal collection. The ruby zoisite wand was a prezzie from Nancy.

An astute long-distance reader noticed the lack of hair on my neck in the last post. It's true, my hair is the shortest it's ever been. I did it at Matt's request and he loves it. So do I, although I'm still experimenting with different styling. It poofs up into a wild punk-rock look.

SCA = Swords, Costumes, and Action!

Tammy & new friend Cody took us to a Society for Creative Anachronism event. The hat in the foreground of the first pic caught my attention, so when we got home Matt made me one. I sure have the right husband! The felt came from the leftovers of the "Christmas Crafts" with the girls, and the fur is recycled from an old hat.

Anne of Green Cables

Okay, so there's not really an Anne featured in this post. But there are green cables, oh yes! The hoodie scarf started like this, but I made a few modifications, as usual. I eliminated the visor, added a ribbed edge at the nape, and decreased the cables into a point. Thanks to Ginger for suggesting the tassles. I think I did some other stuff differently, too, but I can't remember (I was working on this during the Philly trip). Then I made some matching mittens, trying them on and winging it as I went. When I was done I realized the right one has a stumpy thumb... just like mine, courtesy of a run-in with the door of a '71 Plymouth Fury. That's what you call personalized!

International Internet SCAMBUSTERS!! (Attempted)

We've been advertising Wallace for sale on some antique car sites, as well as Craigslist. I got an email from a Don Mcwen asking the lowest price I'd take. I told him $25K and he was agreeable. "Give me your account number and I'll wire the money too you." Uh, no. But he was welcome to mail me a cashiers check. He could purchase Wallace outright, or $2000 would hold him for 10 days.

A few days later I received a UPS envelope with a check from a hotel in Maryland, for $4500. I called the number on the check and confirmed my suspicions. The owner of the inn said I was the second call that day. She had been on the phone to the bank already. The other recipient had been selling a $3000 car but was sent a faux check for $5K. I assume part two was to ask her to send the difference.

A Mercer Island cop came over to collect the evidence. He connected me with a detective in the fraud division, and we tried to set up a sting. I invited "Don" (English was obviously his second language) to come see the car. If he liked it, great, and if not, I would refund his $4500. I hoped a free car and a handful of cash would be enough inducement for him to show up.

He agreed to send his "shipper and lawyer" with another check for the remainder. Detective Wheeler started putting a team together. I was aquiver with excitement - how fun it would be to catch a rat in a trap of his own making!

He wasn't quite as dumb or greedy as I'd hoped, unfortunately. He asked me to wire the $2000 to the shipper "for travel expenses" so she could come collect the car, and she would deliver a check for the rest.

The police agreed with me that drawing him out wasn't going to happen. One time a scammer had sent a cabbie to get a check, but they'd never been able to grab anyone who was involved.

I got a second email urging me to Western Union the money to the shipper. I wrote back "Nice try. I'm not that stupid."

Keep on your toes, guys, and let's be careful out there.

Secrets Revealed!

Riin has gotten her Spinning Swap package, so I can show you the yarn now. It's Merino, Kool-Aid dyed with Cherry and Grape (the blue came from popping roving into the pot after most of the red had been absorbed by the purple), spun superskinny, then Navajo plyed. I sent it along with some human and bunny treats, and a tube for her DPNs.

As far as the Big News I thought was coming, nope. We won't know where we're going until Feb 12th.

Madrona & Recruiting

Big news coming soon... until then, amuse yourself with this: The ball is the yarn I got from my Not-So-Secret Spin-to-Knit Pal. It's fluffy hand-dyed merino plyed with 2 strands of mohair. Yum! There was a lot more but it's now Maddie's scarf.
I can't post what I spun yet because I haven't heard from my recipient and don't want to spoil the surprise.

Madrona was very small but cute. As usual, towers of temptation everywhere. One surprise: The largest roving tube I've ever seen. Was very hard not to dive in! Afterwards, Emma and I hit Weaving Works, picked up some roving, and came back to my place. I taught her to spin, and just look at how gorgeous her first mini-skein is! Turquoise plyed with eggplant. Scrumptious!

Hee hee! She's so hooked... Already talking about buying a wheel. I should start cutting notches on my flyer for each novice I've corrupted.

Dust Bunny has crossed the Rainbow Bridge

Karen informs me that Dust Bunny has succumbed to cancer. She's been offered an Angora baby from a friend's recent litter (aren't they cute?) and hopes that by the time they are ready for a new home she'll be ready to adopt.

2nd Annual January Electronic Meltdown

Remember last year? It's happening again.

1) Matt's iPod popped off his belt. I guess it wanted to live in Maine really, really badly.

2) The GPS gave up the ghost. The good news is that our new one (very helpful for our string of trips) can speak with a British accent.

2) The vacuum cleaner died.

3) The new vacuum cleaner died after 2 weeks. Now we've got a Dyson. Take THAT, bunny hay!

4 & 5) As mentioned in the last post, my Palm and phone went belly-up.

6) The apartment security passbox has been down for weeks.

7) The fire alarm keeps going off. And off. And off. Especially in the middle of the night. Management assures me they have it fixed. Someone needs to tell the alarm that.

8) Blackberry is a Revenge Pi$$er. When she is angry at us, for whatever crimes she deems we have committed, she teaches us a lesson by urinating on something. She was so irritated at the fire alarm (3:30am, 4:30am, and 5:30am) that she expressed her yellow ire all over my computer. It's dead as can be. Having already purchased the vac, GPS, phone, and iPod, there's simply nothing left to buy me a new laptop. I'm writing this on Matt's. For the forseable future, or at least until we sell Wallace, you're better off calling me.

Blackberry is now restricted to her pen when we aren't home and awake. I hate to box her in, but until she learns to discuss her grievances like a rational bunny, that's just the way it is.

Still... I'll happily take this over last year. Matt's heart is in good shape and we continue to have an outragously good time together. :) Que Sera Sera, eh?

Stash-B-Gone!

I have three methods of getting rid of my stash:

1) I want to hold a Yarn Swap. I envision us sitting around knitting, snacking (of course), and happily trading the unloved portion of our respective stashes for someone else's rejects. Which, naturally, we will treasure more than life itself. FREE YARN!! Woo HOOO!!! Oh, and books and needles and roving and dye and whatever else. Please email or comment and let me know what day(s) are good for you. I have plenty of seating space and the glorious plasma TV (and more movies than are sensible, indeed, sane). For those of you who balk at the Mercer Island trek, feel free to nominate another location or indicate your desire to car pool. UPDATE: Interest has grown beyond my personal capacity. We will be meeting at the Pavilion!

2) I plan to work steadily on my UFO (unfinished objects). I will resist the urge to start new things until the the OTK (on the k'needles) bucket is nearly, if not completely, empty.

3) I will refuse steadfastedly to spend money on yarn or roving until 2008. Please note this does not exclude items traded for, or earned via bodywork / acupuncture. I will work only from my stash (See the wonderful superbulky mittens I made! That little inch-ish piece is how much I had left!).

Number 3 will be sorely tested on Jan 25, when I attend Madrona with Emma and whoever else wants to come. Wendolene has been itching to hit another fiber fest. We are both quite excited. Again, email or comment if you want to earmark a seat. She only holds 6, including me! :) The left front still lacks a seatbelt, so I will reserve that space for our purchases. Um, YOUR purchases. Yeah.

Maine: The Way Life Should Be!

Matt & I went out to New England to check out UNECOM for both his residency and my medical school. We loved it! Plus, Biddeford, ME is close to one of Matt's sisters (the Bestest one, in her words), Nancy, and her amazing family. There's husband Andre, sons Hunter & Ben, and daughter Juliana, plus multiple furry friends: Tardy, HeadCat, a world-class guinea pig, and three dogs. Sadly, two are Schnauzers. We also visited Body Worlds and the Aquarium in Boston, and Strawbery Banke, a historic neighborhood with homes restored to represent the colonial times through the 1950's. My camera failed to make the trip, but I'll provide pics on the next visit. For now you'll have to deal with my gastronomic delight. Nancy can COOK!

PS - Matt washed my pants with my phone in the pocket, and my Palm died from lack of juice. Not having a job, I quit using (and thus charging) it. I've lost everybody's phone numbers, addresses, and birthdays. Again. Please send them - I promise I will write them on slices of dead trees this time.

PPS - Body Worlds (the original) was more artistic, but Bodies, the Exhibition was actually more instructive. They had better demonstrations of the joints, vasculature, and embryoic growth. Both are must-sees!

Tomorrow starts today!

We've done it! Thousands of letters of support have flooded in, and Senator John Edwards is running!

He says:
We know what we need to do. Changing our country means:
Providing moral leadership in the world -- starting with Iraq, where we should begin drawing down troops, not escalating the war
Strengthening our middle class and ending the shame of poverty
Guaranteeing health care for every single American
Leading the fight against global warming
Getting America and the world to break our addiction to oil

Today there's an Online Town Hall live from Des Moines, Iowa. Visit JohnEdwards.com to participate. The event begins at 6PM ET / 3PM PT.

See you there!

HBO saves TV's reputation

Okay, enough with the politics. Want to have some fun? I've been highly impressed by the HBO series I've seen. Carnivale, Deadwood, and Rome were all exemplary TV. Great characters, a bit of history, terrific acting, sets, costumes... each hour has the production values of a feature film. Finally - TV worth the time to watch it! Last night I started Six Feet Under and again, I applaud. I'm far too much of a cheapskate to actually subscribe, so I'm going to have to track down more of their work and pop it in the queue. Bravo!

Oops - he's WHO? And what YOU can do.

Someone screwed up, bigtime. Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert was tapped to speak at the 2006 White House Correspondent's Dinner. They were clearly unfamilar with his work, because the announcer pronounced the "t" in Report. My favorite part is the reaction shots. This is a perfect example of the flaws in our intelligence management: Colbert is one of the smartest enemies this administration faces, and they blindly invited him to their party. The coverup must have been sucessful, though, since this took place in April and it's the first I've heard of it.

My hero, John Edwards, is trying to assess if he has enough support to warrent running for President. He has asked for your emails: PLEASE let him know you are behind him, or are at least willing to give him a chance.

Christmas crafts

Since we had Christmas yesterday with the girls, I can now post their prezzies:

Maddie got a strange little green hedgehog sort of situation. She has a heart on the front of that sweater (red & orange yarn was spun by Holly) but my favorite part is her tail. There's a row of fuzz along the top.

Gillian scored a felted & flowered dog, modeled after her own long dog, Mitzi. See that yarn collar? Gillian spun that on my wheel. Okay, I did the pedals, but still it's pretty impressive. Her first spinning ever. *rubbing hands gleefully* She's only 10 but I've got her hooked already.

Before you guys ask, sorry, no, there aren't patterns available. I made them up as I went along.

6 Weird Things About Me

So I'm supposed to post Six Weird Things About Me. An interesting proposition, narrowing it down to just 6.

1) I am not above stealing cats and people to rescue them from an abusive / neglectful home.

2) I used to be a bodybuilder and am still far stronger than I look.

3) I can fly an airplane and my car is right hand drive.

4) I'm an excellent shot with a pistol.

5) I hate to cook. I'll gladly do dishes / knit / etc for you if you cook for me.

6) I poke holes in people and they like it.

We'll stop here and leave my sordid past where it belongs. ;)

Philly & Edwards (again)

The trip to Philadelphia went very well. I'll deliver more details once they solidify, but Matt was basically offered a great job. Yay! We had a stunning view from our hotel room, and the historical section was terrific. It's good to remember that the revolution was a crazy, treasonous uprising (which partially took place in these rooms!).

In the spirit of rebelling against an unfair goverment, please take the time to check out John Edwards. I sincerely believe he is the one guy who is honest and smart enough to bring the nation back together (red and blue states) and make us ALL proud to be Americans again. He's also charismatic enough to carry the election. PLEASE read his site. Watch his "Behind the Scenes" episodes. Learn about One Corps. He's our best hope. Get behind him and spread the word!

PS: After sending out a letter to many of my friends, I got this from David, a professional pilot:

I was flying Learjets back in 2003 before the Iowa caucuses and was assigned a trip to pick up John. This was before he was picked to be Kerry's running mate. Flew into a small uncontrolled airport east of Des Moines. John met me with a warm handshake and a smile. Very personable.

I wound up flying him to Washington-Dulles that afternoon, then in the evening to Roanoke, VA then finally to Ashville, NC. I remember when we landed in Dulles that he wanted a few minutes to "freshen up" before he went inside the FBO. He pulled out his suitcase, pulled out what looked like a small gift, combed his hair, then finally headed inside. I noticed in his suitcase he was carrying a pair of well-used (in a good way) running shoes and running shorts.

Halfway across the ramp, a little child came running out of the building. John crouched down, arms out wide and caught the little kid in an embrace. One of his. That's where the gift went. Nice guy. Family guy, too. It was a pleasure being his "limo" driver that day and evening.

SORRY!

Oops - I completely forgot I was supposed to be at Village Yarn & Tea today. I really did want to go! It's a good thing I was home, though, since we found a wonderful family to adopt Feathers. He'll have a fun and useful life on Bainbridge Island. Next week we are off to Philadelphia for Matt's interviews. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

A wonderful little poem

Books to the ceiling,
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I'll have a long beard by the time I read them.
- Arnold Lobel

A true healer

I recently heard from my friend Karah Pino. As the picture implies, she is wild with zoinging energy (hey, she's the kind of girl you feel compelled to make up words for). She also runs deep with an extraordinarily sensitive and powerful soul, the kind you develop from surmounting impossible odds. She's an artist, a shaman, and an acupuncturist. Now she has a blog, and WOW is it worth reading. Start here. Readers in Portland, watch for her on the street. She's likely to be smiling, and she often wears orange.

John Edwards - our next President?

The Senator ran as VP with Kerry back in 2004, but I was so disgusted with politics at that point that I failed to pay attention. Back in college, I was extremely politically active. I attended appearances by both Reagan and Bush Sr. I shook Clinton's hand. I marched, I wrote letters, I recruited other activists. Then I got a job that introduced me more intimately to Capitol Hill. Everyone was so morally putrid, on both sides of the aisle, that I was completely disillusioned. For the past 10 years I've detached myself from the electoral process. I hate to admit it, but I didn't even vote last month.

Then I saw Senator Edwards on the Jon Stewart show a few weeks ago. I was enthralled with his wit and intelligence. More importantly, he was a real person. A genuine human being, not a dissembling mouthpiece. I went to his website and learned a bit more. He came to Seattle today on a book tour. All the proceeds go to Habitat for Humanity and other charities. He talked a bit about his book, then took political questions from the SRO crowd. I just about fell in love with this guy. His honesty and integrity simply shine. He's rekindled my belief. My bull**** detector is pretty finely honed, but it didn't go off once. Sitting in the audience I suddenly realized this must have been how people felt about Kennedy.

I wish I had money to contribute to his campaign. Given our current situation, I will instead volunteer once he declares. And I sure hope he does soon: America desperately needs a leader with his character.

Magnificent Manos

My red sweater is finally done. The colors are more of a deep red than they look in this pic. I did the sleeves at the same time on a long circular needle, which was awesome. Automatically identical decreases, and it seems to go more quickly. Definitely a repeatable technique.

RIGHT NOW!!!!

GO SEE CASINO ROYALE!! RIGHT NOW!!!!!
It's the Best. Bond. Film. Ever.
Seriously.

And Daniel Craig is the best Bond ever.
Yes!

A Grateful Thanksgiving

The girls came for a four day visit. In addition to the spectacularly superb feast my astoundingly amazing husband cooked, we watched movies, talked about poetry, amused the critters, and generally had a cozy family holiday. We couldn't resist the turkey cake at the grocery store. :) For fun, we felted a bunch of thrift-shop sweaters, then carved them up to make new projects while Daddy slept off the Tryptophan. Maddie's purse isn't quite done. Gillie produced a sock monster in a fetching two-piece suit, while I generated a Needlegrrl bag: If you follow the storyline around, you can see the sheep with its fleece, roving being spun into yarn, dye dripping down, knitting needles at work in the colored yarn, and then the final sweater... on the shorn sheep. A little nod at my heros, Wallace & Gromit. The teal lining is from a wool coat also found in the Goodwill bins. A side note: The blue wool came from what was obviously a handknit back piece of an Unfinished Object. I "felt" sorry for the original knitter, but at least it found its way into another project.

Austins for sale

Feathers has a happy new life, but we still need to find a home for Wallace. He's a reliable daily driver and quite gorgeous. Tell your friends!

The Features of a Coon Cat

If calculating genetic engineers were to design the perfect cat, it would be a Maine Coon. Their coats are supersoft clouds, but they don't shed. They can tell if you want to play rough or not. I can pick Fig up and muss him, juggle him, whatever, and the claws never come out. Yet Matt (who appreciates DangerCats) will regularly be savagely bitten in the middle of the night. The Monster Under the Bed uses the sharp bits on him, but I get soft paws. He loves to sit squished up next to me on the couch for belly and head rubs. MCCs require more than average attention and stimulation, so it's best to acquire them in pairs or at least have other critters. They bow to bunnies but trounce cats and dogs. Identifying characteristics: Ear tufts, saber teeth (click pic to enlarge and see), huge paws, toe feathers, fluffy tail, bloomers, tiny chirpy voice constantly in use, and a second growth spurt at 2 years that results in giantism (20+ pounds).

The Bodies Exhibition

This show should be required viewing for anyone with a human body. Utterly amazing. My two favorite pieces: The one pictured here, which actually has the discs separated from the vertebrae, and one that has a skeleton facing the rest of the cadaver. The dissections are simply brilliant. Run, don't walk, to get your tickets! The audio tour is useful for laypeople, but medical types can skip it.

We plan, God laughs.

Changes, changes! Matt is taking more time off from work. Feathers is for sale (spread the word!) We are casting our nets to find the best combination of a med school for me and a residency for him when he's ready. I've been laboring over research rather than knitting, so my sweater has halted in its wooly tracks. Here's a pic of the progress so far, along with Peachy and a sneak peek at a secret project. Sharp eyed readers will note that our stripey cat has a perfect top view of the USS Enterprise on his forehead. He's always had it, but I've avoided posting it for fear of being deluged by deranged Star Trek fans. :)