Nutcase 101

Your Nutcase101 experience (and if you’re getting an experience out of reading this blog, let me give you the number of a nice therapist I know) because I’ve been on vacation. Yes, we went to LA and I have a post about that somewhere but it’s not writing up like I want so I’m not comfortable posting it. Words aren’t capturing the relaxing/fun/wonderful time. So, we did that and then I’ve been going solo since B had to go back to work.

And Knitting. And running grown up errands like having my car serviced by five men.

Yes, at one point there were five men on my baby. I didn’t know if I needed to be ashamed or start filming the servicemen on car action and try to sell it to some perverted group on the internet. Obviously, I didn’t go with the money making route.

My car has recovered from her experience and I’ve also been poked and prodded. In the eyes. But the eyes are good. So are my teeth. And tomorrow I find out how my back is doing. Which I already know, shitty. I’ll be talking to the doctor to schedule another round of epidurals for a spinal block of glory. I loved the results from the last round, which lasted two years, and if this round is just as grand I’ll be a happy camper.

But back to the knitting, because really, that’s the intriguing (ie boring) part of my life. I’m working on a sweater for my mom – no pictures yet. And socks (in progress – toes only right now) that are in ode to my 80’s childhood, Rainbow Brite.

And here is the pile of yarn that I’ll be using to make said knee highs.

Now, for the serious subject. What would you all (five of you) think if I stopped Nutcase101 and made a new knitting blog? Nothing has been decided but maybe I’ll do something 50/50 – rant and knit or as often known in the knitting world as “Stitch and Bitch”.

Did you know that you can bruise your kidney? Yes, you can. And you don’t have to be in a car accident or major incident to do it.

You might have heard that I went to a little yarn thing in Atlanta a couple of weeks ago. Where I might or might not have spent way too much money on fiber. (I’m an addict. I admit it.) But all of this happened on the way to yarn heaven. Okay, really, it was to my friend’s apartment.

I landed in Atlanta around 9 pm and had to catch the train (MARTA) to get to my friend’s apartment. Thankfully, the train stops at the airport so that part was pretty easy to navigate and get a seat to myself. But when I had to switch trains, the car had gotten full with people that had been watching the Braves wear really tight britches throwing around balls. Hey, I know what I appreciate about baseball, the uniforms.

Getting on the second train was NOT fun. All the people pushed, shoved and didn’t care about letting me on to the train – heck, I almost didn’t get on it. And then when I did, there was no where to sit so I stood in the aisle with my rolling bag, shoulder bag and hand bag. I tried to get situated before the train started moving but I was not successful, as the train jerked into motion I slammed the left side of my back into a hard plastic seat.

Thankfully, a gentleman saw my distress and kindly offered his seat. Which was great because I was ready to bite someone’s head off – I was tired, having been up and gone to work, then traveling and finally getting on two trains. And I didn’t mention that on the first one that I got stuck behind a group of former sorority sisters that only knew how to describe every other statement with “Oh, I SOOOO know what you mean.” “OMG!” And “LIKE WHAT?!”

Finally, I got to my friend and got to lay down. But I had no clue what I had done to my back until a few days later when bruises started to appear on my spine and there was sharp flank pain. And by a week later after a slew of symptoms and a battery of tests (including a CAT scan where I got to be radio active for a few minutes), it was determined that when I hit my back into the train seat that I had caused some wonderful kidney stones to play ping pong in the kidney bruising the inside while the chair did damage to the outside. Good times, good times.

If you follow me on Twitter, you’ll see that I post a lot about yarn. And a lot of people don’t believe that yarn work is the coolest hobby in the world or don’t understand why I could get so excited by a hank of fiber.

This weekend I got to go to Stitches South, where my yarn dreams came true. There were a lot of little mom & pop yarn shops where they make one batch of a yarn in a specific colorway and that’s it. I’m now the proud owner of a lot of different sock yarns that will knit up into some wonderful gifts for people.

Of course, when I got home, I had to get approval of my purchases.

And, the ‘Reeling Machine’ is a yarn swift, a nice little tool that helps a hank of yarn convert into a nice yarn cake when used with a ball winder.

(PS. If anyone is looking for a wooden tabletop swift – non-umbrella type – mine is up for sale, email me for the price.)

Saturday I did something that I don’t normally do, I was social with strangers. Not in the “Get out of my way” in the grocery store manner but a nice “How do you do?”

The week before I had decided to be adventurous and check out a new local knitting store that is right down the road from our apartment. (B, sorry, that means a lot more yarn is going to be adopted and making it’s home with us.) The owner had converted an old craftsman style house into a yarn store but kept all the warmth of walking into someones abode when you crossed the threshold.

You walk into a livingroom that happens to house yarn on the shelves instead of family photos and books. The dining area is ready for you to sit down to supper but the china hutch bursts forth with color of cashmere, not Grandma’s fine china. This repeats from room to room, except for the kitchen where tea, coffee, cookies and cupcakes await to be eaten.

Basically wants to make a knitter/crocheter fat and happy.

Anyone who walks in the door is encouraged to bring in their knitting, sit on the couch and just chat. So, this past Saturday I did. I was bold enough come in (and spend a pretty penny on some Cascade Ultra Pima), then work on the hat that I’m making for B. I met some wonderful ladies, learned about the various classes and had people complement me on my knits.

And the good news, I survived. I put myself out there to interact with strangers and it wasn’t too bad. I’ll definitely be back.

If you’re awake and reading this post, you’re probably aware that 2009 has passed us by and 2010 is now what we’ll be writing on checks (if you still write checks).

This year, I do have resolutions and by putting them in writing and allowing public scrutiny, maybe I will actually execute said resolutions. Let the resolution games begin!!

- Organize the boxes of stuff in the my closet and guestroom closet. These boxes belong to both B and I pre-relationship and they (in my case) have not been opened in YEARS – at least four. A lot of the stuff either needs to be given away, sold or thrown away. Obviously we don’t need most of the items because we haven’t cared enough to pry off the lid.

- Exercise once a week. Just once a week, really how much ass power will that take me? I could say three times a week and be sorely disappointed with myself but once a week will wet my whistle for exercise and possibly cause me to go to the gym more. Because I know me, that once I get into the pattern/habit/addiction of exercising, I’ll want to go and will miss it when I don’t.

- Cook dinner at home twice a week. I’ve been incredibly slack in the area of cooking for B and I, relying on fast food, quick dinner restaurants to be our source of nourishment. This has caused both of our waste lines to expand in ways that make us sad puppies. Also, all my pots and pans are threatening to leave because of the neglect.

- Only buy yarn or fabric once every two months and the purchase amount has to be less than $25. I need to take pictures (once the closets are organized) of my yarn and fabric stashes. I think I have enough fabric to make 10 king size quilts and enough yarn to make all friends and extended family a nice warm scarf or a pair of socks. It’s ridiculous.

Four is a nice even number and none of the resolutions are overwhelming by any means – completely doable. And hopefully, I’ll do them. Let 2010 begin.

It started innocently enough with crocheting B a scarf in October of 2008. I didn’t even want to learn how to knit. No, knitting was too hard and was only for people that could walk and chew gum, it’s bad enough I have trouble with chopsticks but to make something with chopsticks, not going to happen.

I was incredibly happy to knit scarfs for friends and blankets for wee babes. When I went to the local yarn store and saw women sitting around with those needles of death, making awesome cardigans, little bitty booties and cute hats for people of all sizes, I was a bit jealous. You see, I had attempted the knitting on many of occasion with disaster – dropped stitches, fabric with tons of holes and items that didn’t come close to the picture of what the author had completed. And then there were the injuries where my clumsy fingers had slipped and I poked myself in the arm, leg or eye. It was only a matter of time before I permanently maimed myself.

Then in October of this year, I decided to give the knitting one more go. I was confident in my ability to wield a crochet hook and I wanted to make the cardigans and SOCKS! I wanted to be able to make my own pair of socks. But I had to take baby steps, crafting out small blocks for afghans that consisted of incredibly mundane design consisting of the lowly pearl and knit. I kept up the hard work and made a lot of small things that didn’t require me to learn the secret language of the knitting pattern.

Since becoming a knitter, my poor B’s life has changed. I have cases of yarn sitting in our livingroom next to the cases of fabric (for which I’m still sewing up! – I can’t do one thing at a time people – Seriously, there is only one time that I’m solely focused on one thing and we’re not going to discuss that here.) along with knitting needles, measuring tape, cases of crochet hooks and other accessories.

So, I took a leap of faith people, I’m knitting my first pair of socks on what is called dual pointed needles. You read that right – there are points at BOTH ends of the needle. Let’s see how much blood is shed and how many eyeballs I have when this project is over.

I’m been searching for a purpose to keep this blog going and going. There so much going on in my life that I can’t announce to you and it won’t be for a while until I do. My life is consumed by two things I can’t discuss. And, NO, I’m not pregnant.

Also, I’m focusing on my crafts: crocheting and sewing. I feel so much accomplishment out of completing a beautiful project and then having someone else that I don’t know like it sooooo much that they buy my product!!

Another benefit of the crafting: I’m not stuffing my mouth all the time. I don’t think about food and food probably is thinking about me but FUCK IT. I don’t need it.

Finally, I spend WAY too much time at my machine. Machine being my computer. I need to get away and learn to live with out it and live with my husband, who also needs to get away. As soon as it gets warmer, we’re going to start our walks back up and enjoying the neighborhood together. Holding hands and being all mushy. Then someone farts and we laugh. Because we’re crude like that. But at least we’re walking.

So, bottom line, is I don’t know what this blog is going to turn in to but I’ll try to post at least 2 to 3 times a week with words and maybe more often with pictures of the projects I’m working on splattered a ugly shot of me. Deal?

Motivation is a necessary factor for being a blog poster. And, right now, I have NONE!

Nada.

Zip.

Zilch.

Instead of focusing on blogging, I’ve been crocheting, cutting out patterns, organizing stuff, getting rid of stuff, trying not to eat food, planning on eating healthy food, thinking of blog posts but forgetting to write topics down, and other things to add to this list.

My last finished project is for my best friend Jennifer, who is due on April 17th with a little boy, so I figured I had to go balls to the wall with the hook and come up with this:

You know, just a little something.

And, hopefully, while I’m on my next project, I promise to focus on blogging. Promise!

Crocheting machine that is. I can’t help it, once I get started on a project, I get consumed and can’t stop working on it until it’s done. And when I have the project completed, I think about the next piece. What it will look like. The color. Texture. Who is it going to be using it.

Also, it takes my mind from thinking about FOOD all the damn time. Instead of mooning over a slice of pie in the fridge, I’m concentrating on removing a DAMN KNOT THAT FUCKING ENDED UP IN THE MIDDLE OF MY PIECE. Then I have to undo half-an-hours worth of work to get the knot out and KICK SOME CROCHETING ass to get myself back to where I was.

Then at the end of it, I have something to make someone happy. Or warm. Hopefully, both.