Insubordiknit

A moment in history

Okay, it's impossible to post while listening to my new obsession -- podcasts. I've tried several times and you've seen nothin new on these pages, right? Let's collectively blame it on podcasts, shall we. MMmmmm...podcasts.

Okay, to business. Shop update late tonight, less than usual cause I'm slowing a bit with the warm weather, but still a goodly amount of cool stuff. Now to show you what I've been doing, brought to you by the same energy that recently brought you excavating with youngsters, we know bring you Cuneiform for all or as the little bit calls it Some of the stuff they coudla dug up. Yes, we've moved on from nomads wandering the fertile crescent to early Egypt and Mesopotamia. With that grand ole land between two rivers comes, as I'm sure y'all remember, the first writings -- Cuneiform, done on clay tablets. So hold on to your rat-tails, here we go --

First the making of the clay, were you aware of the proliferation of cornstarch and baking soda amoungst those crazy Sumerians? Apparantly, 'cause we're all about the details, folks.

And then there's the translating -- a long and arduous process requiring the manipulation of a pencil, movement English to Cuneiform brain energy, navigation of stray hair, which, when not in the eyes is being sucked on in the mouth...mysteriously power source? and finally, much, much, concentration (sometimes we see concentration tongue emerge). The end result is a name, first and last, or a Little Bit.

Finally we see the tie that binds -- yes, a knitting needle may actually have been the original tool for carving Cuneiform characters into traditional clay tablets, just as we all know it is still used today for unearthing fossils, you did see those pictures, right? Proof positive.

Shaky business, the transporting to a sunny area to dry. Pay no attention to the barren land, these Sumerians had to travel far away from their moist rivers beds to find sun strong enough to dry this clay, and as you know, egypt is a Sandy place, little grass grows on it's dusty plains.

Raw...I mean, RAWR!

This is what I need -- maryland yarniers. Are you maryland handspinner or dyer? Do you sell or wanna sell your wares? Come on, are ya? If so, I need you. E-mail me...like right this minute.

Alright, since playing catch-up never works well for me, I'm just gonna jump right in with what's up right now and pepper the next few posts with pics and pieces from our trip, the one on your right is what I like to call vacation knitting, my mom rocks for giving me so much time to knit, if only I hadn't had to spend it knitting the same thing over and over and over again, but more on that in my next post after I gt through knitting it one more time.

I'm Raw, and not in that special dirty way either, food-raw, raw-foods. Nothing cooked, only raw foods. I'm doing a bit of a cleanse and metabolism jumpstart. I did two years ago for a good 2 months and felt fantastic so I'm hoping for similar results. And if I happen to lose the same 15 lbs, well, that's fine too, since I'm not being the least bit self-loathing or untrue when I say that these past few months have seen my whole body expand to where only my once loose and baggy dickies, fit. So, for a while there'll be 2 menus, the raw one for me and the regular vegan one for the boys. Regularly this would cause me some concern but when I'm raw I become a dynamo! Energetic and existing happily on few hours of sleep. I forsee much knitting in the wee hours.

Raw menu--
Pesto stuffed mushrooms
marinated portabellas and onions
marinated greens
spinach avocado dip
miso soup
chili -- seriously, sooooo good, the boys like it better than cooked chili!
dill cashew dip
date/raisen torte
lots of fruit and tomato/garlic/oliveoil/salt bowls and smoothies.

This week's vegan eats --
Raw chili, cause they like it
Mac n cheese
Roasted corn and orange quinoa
cloud nine tofu

flax banana tea loaf

oh yes, one more thing, one more desperate thing -- I returned to an inbox with over 900 spam blog comments as it seems that mt-blacklist has decided it's tired of doing it's j-o-b. Anyone use anything with movable type that works? Please share, I'm about to go freaking bonkers over here, either that or I'm gonna spend the next year in the ramada hotel, applying for loans at outrageous rates, taking cheap prescription medicine while enlarging my penis and watching scatalogical porn, and nobody wants that.

We're baaack...

Holy hot cakes, the Little Bit and I are home and safe as houses. We stayed a bit longer than I thought we would but the times were so good we didn't want them to end. Really, one of the best visits I've had with my super-rockin folks in a long time. It couldn't have been better. More details about the knitting, lack of spinning, male bonding, and family frolicking in the next day or two, after we catch our breaths and finish up all the left over road-food.

Also, I'm sorry to say that I was a bit rash in saying there'd be a shop update this Monday, ain't no way. I do, however, have all my custom orders done and ready to be sent out, so that's not all together lazilicious. Yeah, so next week, big update. Promise. And soon, news of our trip, pics of knitting, and the woes of an ingrown pubic hair --ouch.

Out of time and town

Oops, I forgot to mention that there'll be no shop update this week or next . The little bit and I are hoppin in the car and driving to Missouri. I spent the week catching up on my custom orders and those will go out tommorrow before we drive off into the sunrise.

Oh hey, I wanted to thank everyone for the book recommendations, keep 'em coming. I'm going to put a booklist on the sidebar soon. I just finished The Time Traveler's Wife and while I enjoyed the read, immensely, I found, with the ending, dissapointment. Not even dissapointment with the ending but dissapointment when I got to the end and the glow of a well-written read had left me and I realize that there was not one woman in this book positivly depicted.

Women are the waiters. Waiting. Clare, supposed Catherine to Henry's Heathcliff, spends her whole life waiting, even after he's dead she's set up to wait each day of her oldage, sitting by a window, hoping for one more brief encounter. She's tragic, a life spent waiting instead of living. The other female characters don't fare much better, the best friend, in a troubled marriage but just hoping and waiting for Gomez to get over Clare. Waiting for him to leave her. The ex-girlfriend, destroyes her life, sucked down a big drug and violence funnel, again, waiting for Henry. The only female character not waiting is Kimmy, the kindly, overlooked Korean neighbor who takes care of everyone.

And Henry didn't wasn't Mr. Good-catch either, he just had a cool trick.

Bah. Women as waiters and caretakers, enough already.

I think at one time I would have found the whole thing romantic and lovely, but now I find it wasteful and infuriating. The sacrafice of a life lived for a love that was really created and intensified because of the sacrafice of a life lived. Circular logic that once appealed to me but apparantly my heart has hardened and become callous and frankly, wants more than the knowledge that it (the love) was an ideal.

All that said and aside, it doesn't mean I didn't like the book. In fact, really enjoyed reading the book. Interesting and compelling idea. Well-written and fun. Honestly, a page turner. I'd recommend it.

See ya in a few weeks with lots of knitting progress!

Sexy Knitters KAL

Here's what my busy little hands did last night, orangina, for the sexy knitters KAL. I've wanted to to this pattern for months as I got it free for being one of Stephanie's test knitters. I'm using, for the first time in my short knitting career, the rec'd yarn -- Rowan 4-ply cotton. The color is tutti-friutti and we'll just have to see about that. So far I love knitting it, it's my first lace, really. The stitch pattern in fun and easy, after 2 repeats I no longer needed to look at the paper. I've two concerns so far, one -- that although I purchased the right amount of yarn, I'll run out before I make it just a tad longer than the pattern calls for, and two -- that the lacework is open enough, pinkie's gonna make an appearance. Do other people wear something under this? Well, at least the colors are about the same, pinkie will blend.

I'm knitting a size small, which is a bust size of 36". I've always been about a 34" but lately I've had a bit of what I thought was heartburn but really was a too-tight bra, so now I guess I'm a 35". So I'm knitting a 36" but my guage is a bit tighter than the pattern's so it should (I hope, I hope) work out. I didn't want to cast on 9 more for the next size up because I thought that would be too big. Right now, with a CO of 112, it measures 17.5" inches, which would make it exactly 35" around. Should be perfect...right?

Pretty on the outside...

Behold, Baltimore's newest answer to the neighborhood blight problem. Looks like a normal section of row houses, eh? Ahha! Click on the picture and look closer, my friend. Notice door and (all the) windows of the house in the middle -- the stark whiteness, the spartan cleanliness (come on, whose door doesn't have at least one peanut butter handprint on the door?, whose window not one smudge or old goo from a misplaced sticker?), the sublte reflective quality. What is it you ask? It's a laminate. Yes, a laminate. Maybe it's more obvious on this one. Come on, try a little harder, people. Or perhaps a family of stilt walkers lives there, but only on the first floor. They don't go upstairs, stilts don't work well on stairs, heck, papa stiltwalker tried it last week and damned if his stilt didn't go right through the upstairs hall window, what a mess...

Yes, this is my city, folks. Instead of spending money on programs to rehab, both aestically and internally, instead of putting money into our fucked-up school system, instead of feeding our people, raising minimum wage, helping people have a reason to clean up and then helping them clean up, teaching art, providing safe places for kids while parents work, instead of all of that, our city officials are running all over the city plastering up these laminates on burned out, condemned rowhouses (and there are thousands in this city) to make them look prettier, no matter that it's rotting on the inside.

Beauty industry mentality. Bah. I'm throwing out my lipgloss. Oh wait, no I'm not, I like shiny lips.

But really. Weird isn't it? I've seen several different window styles, some have a nice warm fire showing through the crack in the drapes, some have a dining room set up, B-ill even said he saw one with a kid peeking out.

I admit it makes things look nicer, but it's just so strange.

Such is the world

First, thanks to all the yarn-tester volunteers! I'll be e-mailing soon.

And now something that's been on my mind. The world is full of so many different types of people. While I know that, it's sometimes hard to get my tolerence around it. All in the same month me and my blog have been called too negative, too positive and too bragatocious. Geez. I'm all of that, I suppose, negative (cynical) and hopeful/positive, and even sometimes proud. And while I felt bad after I encountered those opinions, I have to remember that I can't please everyone, sometimes I can't even please anyone.

I love blogging and being a part of a bigger community than I have here in smaltimore, but sometimes it's hard. I can't stop myself from reading people's blogs that don't like me, people tell me stuff, send me e-mails or copies of e-mails, I get my feelings hurt, I feel insecure, I feel petty, I feel angry, sometimes I even feel better-than. But all in all, this ride is worth it, I think. And it's good for developement of patience, right?!

There's nobody out there, online or offline, that I don't think well of, at least a little bit -- I think there is good in everyone, I really do. I think there's artistry in everyone. I hope everyone is able to realize their dreams honestly (heh. unless those dreams include the destruction of me, 'cause then I hope you stub your toe on a tree root). I just need to give up on everyone being nice, 'cause they aren't, such is the world, such is blogging.

Yarn and april's fools

Yarn shop is now updated for the week. It's a bit light due to a great big case of the knits but there's 7 new yarns, some with multiple hanks and lotsa yardage, a few simple singles, thinner than normal, and 3 monster hat kits.

Also, in spinny news, I'm coming out with a new kit soonish and need a few test knitters. It's a very easy and quick knit, shouldn't take more than a night or 2 or 3 depending on your speed, I just don't have time to knit the 3 or 4 I'd like to have for photos. Here's how it'll work, you send me an e-mail saying you're interested, I'll send you the yarn and pattern, you knit it and send it back to me within a month (i'll have the dates soon, I've yet to spin the yarn, but will do that this week or next), I'll photograph it for the insert and website then I'll send it back to you as thanks! So you get to keep the knitted object! It'll be between 150-200 yards of crazy handspun. Anyone interested?

Like I said, I'm too busy to knit these sample myself. Why? Because I've got the cabled hoodie on the needles, fronts, back done, joined with a 3-needle bo and the hood picked up and knit maybe 2 inches; the bea arthur mess, fronts, back and one arm (which is, btw, bigger than the friggin back!) done; 2 pairs of socks, each one at the first heel gusset; and tomorrow I cast on for orangina. Busy. Pics soon.

Yesterday I learned a little something about my folks, if I'm ever strung out and strapped for cash, they'll believe anything and hand over their CC# without hesitation. Both of them. I called and the conversation went like this --

Me (loudly on my cell): B---, we're in trouble, Little Bit and I were trying to surprise you with a visit and we're stuck in Ohio. I must've left my wallet at the last gas station and since this ashole of a car gets a million miles to the gallon, I just noticed it and we don't have enough gas to get back and it's getting dark and we can't get a hotel cause we don't have any money. I don't know what to do.

B---: Oh man, oh man, have you tried bill?

Me: Yeah, I can't get him. I've tried for the last hour.

B---: ohhh, do you want me to try to get his?

Me: I'm not sure, I mean I can't get him and I don't know what to do. We're stuck in Ohio and I don't know what to do...

B---: I can give you my credit card number...

Me: did I mention that Little Bit and I are in costumes? Yeah, he wanted to surpise you so we're driving there and I'm dressed like Peter Pan and he's tinkerbell. I've got on tights! and he doesn't even have tights on, just a little fairy dress and wings.

B---: what? (snickering) oh man...

Me: We're in costumes!...

B--: can you get to a hotel?

Me: I'm not sure, I mean, we're in OHIO! in COSTUMES! in OHIO! and I don't even know if hotels are open on April fools day.

B--: Oh sure, they'll be open.

Me: on april fool's day?

B--: yes, for sure, they'll be open..

Me: are you sure? I'm not sure they'll be open on April fool's day...

B---: No, they...oh man hahahah...

and then my mom came into the room

B--: you know, you're mom is really good at figuring out what to do in these situations, here, talk to here...

My mom was actually much faster with her credit card info, I didn't even get out that we were in costumes and she had me going to a hotel, me giving them her CC# and them calling her to confirm and then I told here about the costumes and she, without missing a beat replied:

Oh, they won't kick you out for that, they won't, they can't!

Hehe. So, those numbers are as followed-- 4406 0203 0066.

Yeah, right.