Holy Crap! My Thumb is Green!

Wow, so many responses to the "Art" post. Who knew a few plants and a ceramic facial parts would be so commentatable? (um, yeah, I think I just made that up.) So, in response to your questions... How do I manage to keep my plants alive with 2 cats in the house? Well, I'm a member of the "K.I.S.S" club. Keep It Simple, Stupid. All those plants - idiot proof. Pothos, Heartleaf Philodendron and Peace Lilies. That's the majority of my plants. All of them can be treated like absolute crap and will still live. I water them once a week or so, keep 'em where they can see some sun, and that's it. As for the cats - all they care about is if the plant has spikey grass-like leaves. All those plants are lobed. The cats are soooo not interested in lobes. Occasionally Ripple will munch on a new shoot from the Heartleaf Philodendron hanging behind the couch, but he loses interest pretty fast. Where did I get the Eye/Mouth? How Big Are They? Marshalls. And they're about 12x12 inches. Sizeable. I'm still looking for a nose or ear. So if you see one of those, snag it for me, eh? I love your turtles!! I collect turtles too :) How did you start? (from JavaJem) Wow, I've been collecting them for a long time as well. I used to have a pet turtle when I was a kid, and it grew from there. When you have something like that that you like, people just immediately think of you when they see something. Most of my stuff I've gotten as gifts. Turtles for me also make me think of the saying "In order to get ahead, you must first stick your neck out." It's a very motivating thought, ya know? And heck, they're just so fragging cute! Hopefully I've answered your questions. If you have any more - bring 'em on! ETA - For ACCL - Where on earth did you get the aromatherapy mister? I want one! I got this particular one at a Kinney Drugstore in Northern NY. But I've seen 'em all over in Eckerd's and CVSs throughout the country. They can be had for pretty cheap.

Art Around The Home

Time for another Blogstalking post. So, this time, it's art around the home or some such thing. The freakier the better. Well, what's more freaky than having this across the wall from you when you're on the toilet? Hee hee "Eye See You Pee" And of course, on the other wall, behind the toilet: "Kiss My Ass" hee hee hee. Sick minds. In the middle of those two pieces, I have a mirror that I framed with broken ceramic pottery. I did this at one of those Paint-Your-Own Pottery places a few years back. I pissed off some old lady that because I horded all the lime green. Sorry lady, I had a vision, and it required the lime green to carry it out. See the turtles in the corners? In the living room, I have a cheap beautiful silver spray painted plastic brushed metal mirror and of course more plants. They're everywhere here. It's really the main artwork around. I'd take more pictures but hey, how many plants do you want to see? All right, all right. We'll see more plants. This neato thing sits in the corner of the living room - just to the right of the fireplace. It's an aromatherapy mister thing. You put essential oils in it and it makes the room smell swell. I just think it looks cool. And of course, more plants. If we shift to the right, we have my wall 'o entertainment. It's all an illuuuuuuusion. You think there windows there don'tcha? Don'tcha? Nope. Nothing of the sort. I put the curtains there thinking it would look more like a home theater. But people seem to think it's to give it the illusion of more windows. Nah, I'm not that sneaky. Behind the one on the left are my cds and extra dvd's and *gasp* video tapes. Not that I watch those, but more for nostalgia's sake. And of course, a plant. (Notice the turtles on the shelves.) If we turn around, we see my all time favorite piece of turtle art. I got this for my birthday last year. My mom and my sister and I were shopping at Marshalls and I always go check out what they have in the back with all the cool decoratey stuff. That's where I got the eyeball and the lips. I keep hoping to find an ear or a nose. No such luck so far. But I had to have this turtle. Who wouldn't? To the left of the turtle is a book case. Above it is this neat pastel drawing of the inky-dinky college I went to. Ahh, nostalgia. Below it are some more - you guessed it - plants. In the bedroom, I have only one piece of artwork. Yup. A plant. But a giant one! This is a Giant Peace Lily. Spathyphylum to those who wanna get all technical about it. But it's still giant. That bloom is the size of my hand. Before I took these pictures, I hit the local yarn shops for more SP goodies and sales. One local yarn shop is moving locations so, well, when the whole store is 20% off and some other stuff 50% what's a girl to do? But when I got home, look what I found? I knew it! He's been using it all this time but would never let me actually see it! I feel vindicated now.

If Alanis Morrisette Sang About Knitting

I've had the link to the Alanis Morrissette Lyric Generator for quite some time. I thought I'd share what it can do when you put knitting terms in. Hee hee. So, without further ado, what it would sound like if Alanis sang about knitting: "Why" Stitches, Stripes, Cables Why God, Why? Stripes, Ribs, Seaming Why God, Why? What have I done to deserve this Green horror? Surrounded on all sides with the Hell of Seaming Like a Shakespeare character, I'm wordy and alone Why God, Why? Needles, Stitches, Patterns Why God, Why? Seaming, Patterns, Cables Why God, Why? What have I done to deserve this Green disaster that is my life? Surrounded on all sides with the Hell of Seaming Like a Shakespeare character, I'm wordy and alone Why God, Why? What have I done to deserve this Green misery? Surrounded on all sides with the Hell of Seaming Like a Shakespeare character, I'm wordy and alone Why God, Why? Why God, Why? Why God, Why? Why God, Why? Why God, Why?

The 12th Yarn Pr0n Friday!

Hi. I'm a complete idiot. Why, you ask? Well, you see this yarn sitting on top of this wacky looking turtle's head? It's the same damn yarn I shot for the last yarn pr0n friday 2 weeks ago. I didn't remember I had done that until it was late at night and the sun was well and gone. So, we'll revisit this wonderful, Cherry Tree Hill Supersock (Country Garden Colorway). Not like it'll kill us to gaze upon it's splendor some more. Besides, I really like this shot. Ok, onto some yarn you haven't seen naked yet. Cascade Pastaza. This will be heading to my SP soon. And for me, some Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran. I fully intend to make Fetching with this. I need some fingerless mitts that don't make me look like a muppet. They're starting to pick on me at the meeting I wear them to on Tuesdays (I swear you can hang a side of beef in the room it's held in.)

Yarn Pr0n Friday, Coming Soon to a Computer Near You!

Your Brain is 53% Female, 47% Male

Your brain is a healthy mix of male and female You are both sensitive and savvy Rational and reasonable, you tend to keep level headed But you also tend to wear your heart on your sleeve

What Gender Is Your Brain?

Oh, yeah, I was Knitting a Camisole

If you've been particularly attentive this weekend, you noticed that the progress bar on the lacey camisole actually moved. I finished the front last night. I hadn't touched it in probably 2 weeks, then finally dug it out and got my groove on. The lace pattern on the front is actually a VanDyke Lace pattern. How do I know this? Well, if you have the Perpetual Calendar of knit stitches, it's April something or other. 29th? 27th? You'd think I'd remember since it's been flipped to that page on my shelf ever since that date. I didn't realize it was the self-same pattern stitch until I was halfway through the front. Heh. It was great. I picked this up Friday night, determined to make progress on it. I blame the needles. I was using balenes, the long ass ones. My hands aren't used to that and it was getting heavy. I used my credit at the yarn shop to get the size 7 Addi's I needed, and switched to them Friday. Big difference in the comfort factor. I also finally started on the Binaro Shawl. ugh. I'm carrying it along with some King Tut mercerized cotton, and I must say, it's not nearly as fugly as I was expecting. But it's still a pain in the ass to knit. I forgot to take a pic of it though. Maybe for tomorrow.

Yet Another Dishcloth

This is the July Mid-Month cloth from my yahoo group (it's over in the sidebar - Monthly Dishcloth KAL). I've taken to only knitting the mid-month cloth because I don't generally like the kitchy "image" cloths they do the first of the month. Although, I see this months was a dolphin jumping out of water and it actually looked pretty neat. I might go back and do that. But this one was a fun knit. I like the faux-cables and it was nice practice for the YOs before and after a purl. Zib mentioned in the freezer flash comments that the scrolling links to your left were distracting. Is that so? Do you all feel that way? I read over 100 of your blogs, and wanted to be able to show all of them fairly, so I put my bloglines blogroll in a marquee scroll, otherwise it'd be a list a mile long. If you'd rather not see the marquee scrolling - please do comment. I'll have to take away the button marquee and the stupid crap at the very bottom (the how much is your blog worth I can do without, though the weather pixie is cool). But hey, y'all are the readers. So, tell me what you like and don't like about my blog layout! ETA - Ask and ye shall receive. The marquees are gone. As are the buttons. Oh well. If I read your blog, you're on here. And hey, I wouldn't have the time if y'all updated daily but there's a snowballs chance in hell of all 126 bloggers updating on the same day. Well, until next April 1st that is. And not all of them are knit blogs, though about 95% are.

What Kind of Nerd Are You?

Found on elizabeth's blog: FYI - she's more nerdy than me. I mean, I'm more nerdy than her. Damn.

Flash Your Freezer!

Another Saturday, another blogstalking activity. This time, we want to see what's in YOUR freezer. Me? Chicken and liquor. Well, a bit more than just that, but that's the fun stuff. Mmm...Jagermeister. That ice cream? Um, definitely more than a month old. I'm lactose intolerant so the ice cream treats are few and far between. The chicken I buy from Harris Teeter when they're on sale. It's frozen boneless/skinless chicken breasts and can go right from the freezer to the microwave. That's my kinda cooking. There's also a stray package of ice shrimp I got for like $.89 and have no idea what to do with. And you see I like ice packs. For when I bring my lunch to work. That little football is an ice pack too. Hee hee. But let's not forget the door! I expect to see more Thin Mints in this blogstalking activity than just mine. And of course you need chilled glasses for beer and whatnot. You see where my priorities are.

Nalgene Water Bottle Cozy

No yarn pr0n today, I showed that off on Wednesday and it rained yesterday so I wasn't able to get outside for any new pr0n shots. So, yarn pr0n friday will return next week. Sorry, Zib. Well, the water bottle cozy, she is finished. Needles: US 6 dpns Yarn: Cascade 220 Gauge: 5 st / 7 rows per inch Instructions: Cast on 56 stitches join, working in K2 P2 Ribbing for 9 rounds. Knit 8 rows plain, begin 19 row fair aisle pattern (from Fall/Winter 2005 Knit Scene) Knit 8 rows plain, change to K2P2 ribbing for 5 rounds, binding off in pattern. ETA - Yes, it really does keep the water colder. Plus, no sweating! Case in point - I filled my water bottle up with ice water at 7:45 this morning, it's now nearly 11am and I still have ice in the bottle, and my desk is dry! Yesterday, I had a puddle and warm water by this time.

Stuff I've been meaning to blog

Yeah, some call it "Random Wednesday" but I'm a day late for that, eh? There's some stuff I've been meaning to blog but other stuff comes up and takes priority, so le's play catch-up today, mkay? To the right you see some gorgeous Stitch Markers made for me by the wonderful Stephy. On my way back from D.C., I stopped to have a quick dinner with Stephy, presumably to pick up the leftovers of her Koigu socks she had made. She was giving me the leftovers because she knew I'd been dying to get my hands on some Koigu to play with it, and had been planning to make a Dream Swatch with it. It turned out so pretty. I thank Stephy for giving me the opportunity to play with the Koigu and get a feel for it before I dug into the few skeins I took home with me from D.C. (Thank you, Trillian!) So there's that bit of knitting I've hidden away on flickr for a little while. Next up, I finished another Coffee Cozee. The first one was a bit smaller that it needed to be for the styrofoam cups here at work, so I whipped this up on Tuesday night (yes, while in a funk and drinking jager) and it fits perfectly! So, with that confidence, and my gauge noted, I went ahead and cast on for a cozee for my Nalegene Water Bottle. This things sweats all over my desk while I'm at work, and frankly I'm sick of it. So, I'm taking things into my own hands. And I'm taking a step forward with the dabbling into Fair Aisle. Check this out: The pretty: For you sickos that want to see the guts: Ok, and now onto the really random. Ripple is a soap-licker. A licker of soap. Incidentally, that stuff is some cashmere facial soap from the wonderful rosi g. Oh this stuff is wonderful to my skin. And apparently, it tastes good too. But it doesn't matter if that's cashmere soap, lava soap or ivory soap. Ripple will lick it. And he always does it when I brush my teeth. He does it other times too, but whenever I'm brushing my teeth, he's right next to me, licking soap. It's been a rough week for me. And it's slowly getting better. I was able to joke a bit about the fucknut and H.R. Fuckinstuff at my knitting group last night, but it still all hurts. In the meantime, I'll just be like my Hibiscus, and keep my chin up, skyward.

Bow Down Before Royalty!

'Cause y'all, I AM the Turtle Princess! And a huge thank you all for the support after yesterday's tirade against the suckage of my world right now. It'll get better. I know it will. And the surprise package from my SP (that's 2 this month!) really did help. I'm still wearing this crown and it's been a good 45 minutes now. I just might wear it to my knitting group tonight. Heh. So, I know y'all want to see what else was in this fabulous package. Well, I'll show ya. First, it came in this uber-cool see-thru mesh backpack. And of course, it's green! My SP is onto me. I can see myself using this to throw a WIP in for a picnic (yeah right, when do I ever get to go on picnics?) or some other outdoorsy activity in which I may actually have the luxury of knitting. Anyway, let's dump out the stuff that's inside the uber-cool backpack and see what fabulousness lay inside. Left to Right, those are "Wash Away Your Sins" Towlettes (SP - I think I'm gonna need the industrial size barrel of this stuff), Green Squnchy Needle Holder, A BEAVER RELIC (be jealous, be very very jealous) - Behind that - a Message Pad Mouse Pad (SP - how did you know I needed a new one at work? I threw my old one away months ago and have been pad-less since - Thank you!) A hank of Sandstone Ranch Wool (100% wool? Or is there mohair in there like Lamb's Pride? The label doesn't spell it out for me) in a lovely limey-electricy green color. And finally, the cutest couple. A pair of turtles on a swing. They're hanging over my desk right now. So cute! So,where's the pr0n right? I got yer pr0n right here: Awww. My Sp is the bestest!

Highs and Lows

That's what this week has been full of. (Warning: There's a crap-ton of profanity in this post, if you care about shit like that.) High: I have a fantastic time at a lake party on Saturday. I got to pilot a jetski and didn't even fall off! Low: The boy I was seeing through Match.com that hadn't called me back in, oh, 3 weeks - calls me out of the blue with some lame-o line about how "you know when you think about the person you want to be with, and then you meet that person? It scared me." Bullshit ya fucknut. High: I told said fucknut that we're both adults and he should have been man enough to say something rather than just simply not call for 3 weeks. I said that IF I were to consider giving it another shot, that I would hope this was not indicative of the way he handles his problems. I tried to explain to him how I felt, and he kept saying "That's ok, you can think I'm a dick. I understand." And he'd say he wanted to talk it out, but every time I started talking it out - he'd say that again. Well, guess what. I do think you're a dick. Have a nice life. Don't call me anymore. Low: Back to square on on Match with only a few more weeks to go. High: Already contacted a guy that lives much closer to me. Will set up a coffee date for later this week. Low: I have $48 to last me the next two weeks because I suck at paying bills in a smart way. High: I got my first set of stitchmarkers from the Stitchmarker Swap on the knittyboards! Thank you Mrs. Motter! Low: I just found out I didn't get the promotion. In the most shittiest, fucked up manner. Through the grapevine. And when I did finally hear from the right person, it was a real wacked out conversation. Something about beauty pagents and intangibles and not being able to single out any one thing. What the fuck ever. I finally got him to tell me the other candidate was coming from the same position at another company. So, thanks for the big "fuck you" HR fuckinstuff.

Hey, Poops!

You made me try some stranded colorwork. I saw the pattern for Coffee Cozees on your blog, and I thought it'd be the perfect excuse to go ahead and try it out. Turns out, I'm not so bad! First, I tried holding the CC in myleft in a continental type way - but the death grip I had on it just wasn't working out. But once I put them both in my right hand, I got a technique down and I was much more evenly tensioned from there. So, thank you, poops. Now, those of you that dared me to enter the catcave, you'll be disappointed. Just cat fur and wood. The stray bit of styrofoam. Thank God.

I Drank the Kool-Aid

Well, the ladies at Mason-Dixon Knitting finally sucked me into their Dishcloth madness. Not that it takes much for me. I have, however, managed to avoid the ubiquitous Ball-Band Dishcloth successfully. But when Kay posted the pattern to this little beauty, I couldn't resist. I actually cast-on for it right away last night, finishing the garter stitch squares. This morning I finished the mitered square corners and wove in the ends. It's a purty dishcloth, isn't it? Oh yes, I see more of these in my future. But damn if there aren't a crap-ton of ends to weave in after.

Because All The Cool Kids Are Doing It

'What" will your obituary say?' at QuizGalaxy.com

What's Under Your Bed?

Another Blogstalking activity from the Knittyboard. In yet another post designed to show the areas of our dwellings where even guests generally don't see, we bring to you, "What's under your bed." To the right you see what's ON my bed. I call this "The Furbag Pillow." Not to be used by those with allergies or a desire to keep the skin firmly on your face. So, without further ado: Looks harmless, no? And it is. Just a couple underbed chests with wintery clothes and miscellaneous summer clothes. But if you take a look from the other side of the bed, there's actually something else going on. Horror of horrors a cat toy! And what's that on the right? Well, that little black thing is a hair tie (also known as a "cat toy") and that flap hanging down? That's the entrance to the batcatcave. Where cats who don't want to be found or crated to go to the vet lurk. It's also one of Morris' favorite places to sleep. There are several cave entrances along the whole bottom of the boxspring. I've thought about sealing them up, but that's just inviting more to be made in other spots. I wonder how many cat toys are in there? Now, futons count as beds too, right? And I've got one of those in my office. If I should ever have a visitor, they can sleep amongst the yarn (who's the first volunteer? Come on, you know you want to. I'll even let you dump out the yarn in the closet and on the shelves so you can literally sleep amongst it. I know Rain would take me up on that in a heartbeat, wouldn't ya?) Yup, that's yarn under the bed. A spacebag full of Lion Jiffy my mom gave me. 24 skeins of the stuff. It's waiting to become something. Dunno what yet. To the right of the yarn we have a bagged box of mementos, also used to block felted bags. And on the right of that, on the left here, we have my laptop case, and a plastic shoebox full of homemade envelopes. I went through a faze where I made envelopes out of magazine pictures and whatnot. They're kinda cool, but not too sturdy. Someday perhaps, I'll show them to you. So, what's under your beds?