Dainty Kitty

Knitting With Balls

If you're looking to get fired up or perhaps you'd like a good laugh, check out this article by Debbie Schlussel.  I'm not familiar with Ms. Schlussel's work but here she talks about "our society's largely successful attempt to feminize America's men"...through knitting and the book Knitting with Balls.  Seriously.  The article is titled, "Men, the New Women, Alert: No, Balls of Yarn Are not Cojones" if you can believe that.

Other choice phrases -

"Just when less and less women in America are knitting, we compensate for it by . . . having young boys knit?!"

"Here's a note for those who mistakenly think knitting is for men: It ain't. Despite the title of this book, cojones do not equal balls of yarn and two wooden sticks. And the same holds true vice versa."

And in closing, "For the record, I do knit. Or did. Takes waaaaay too long to make anything decent. It's strictly for the very bored, IMO."

And this was my favorite - left by Ms. Schlussel - in response to a comment, "THEY'RE SLACKER DUDES BEING ENCOURAGED TO DO SO IN YET ANOTHER ATTEMPT TO BLUR THE GENDER LINES." 

Go over and read the article.  Then read the comments.  They're great - nearly all are in support of men who knit and full of all kinds of interesting information.   I'm actually glad I found the article (through the blog of a male knitter, by the way) for the comments alone. 

Then leave a comment of your own.  I did. 

Emily the Elf

It's amazing how much knitting you can get done if that's all you do from the moment you walk in the door at a quarter after five until you go to bed around midnight.   Although tonight I actually did the grocery shopping, washed some dishes and finally moved the folded laundry - that I did this weekend and left on the couch - to the bedroom.  Where it has yet to make it into drawers and won't until tomorrow night.   

But I finished one of Dad's Christmas presents - the Noro Hat by Saartje de Bruijn - tonight.  Hooray for getting two projects done in one week!  Now I think I'll take a break and crochet a few more dishtowels for another present.  Well, not now because now I'm going to bed.  ;-)  Pictures, hopefully tomorrow!

Anyone know where to find molasses in the grocery store?  I looked in the baking aisle tonight but came up empty handed.  I'm beginning to wonder if I might have to go so a higher end grocery store to find it....

Zakka Style Owl Pennant

I found this via craftzine.com and I think it's my favorite Christmasy tutorial this year.  A beautiful Zakka Style Owl Pennant by Moonstitches.  I love the colors she used - especially the green - and the buttons on the letter E are wonderful.  My granny used to collect owls and she's terribly hard to buy for so I usually get her and her husband a gift certificate and sugar free chocolates (he's diabetic) as well as something handmade.  I think I've found my something handmade!

Cupcake Friday & Other Silliness

The photo shoot didn't happen as it rained pretty much all day yesterday.  We have it tentatively planned for this Saturday but there's already a 40% chance of rain.  It's going to be a busy weekend so I wouldn't entirely mind if it were postponed again.  We think it's going to be too cold after this weekend to do an outdoors shoot so Wini and I are trying to come up with and indoor place just in case.  So far we've only come up with the conservatory in Cincinnati (which would help me cross something off the list!).  I told her if it didn't happen it'd but all right but she's more excited about it than I am.  She said something about my smile lighting up the world or some yadda yadda like that.  But I appreciate her enthusiasm - it's not like I really relish having my picture taken but I think this will be really fun. 

I'm thinking about talking Friday off (one task will be started if I do).  Like I said, it's a busy weekend.  Between the Ohio State/Michigan game and needing to be at Canal Street Tavern at seven in order to stand in line for a decent seat for the Over the Rhine show, I don't think I'll be able to make anything for the Hill Family Thanksgiving on Sunday.  I found some really yummy looking ginger pear cupcakes that I want to try (pa-dow!  yet another task started).  So I might take Friday off to make cupcakes!   Sounds like a perfectly good reason to me!

Did anyone run out and rent Fur last night?  I seem to be a bit obsessed.  It's not due back until Friday...I might have to watch it again.... 

Thoughts on Crazy Pills & Two Recommendations

I take two crazy pills* a day.  Well, I take one - the other I've recently gotten out of the habit of taking but I really need to make the effort again.  I take Wellbutrin in the morning and Celexa at bedtime when I remember.  I started out taking just the Celexa about a year or so ago but it made me amazingly sleepy.  I'd have trouble staying awake throughout the day and would take two hour naps when I got home from work.  My doctor added Wellbutrin to the mix to fix the sleepyheadedness. 

I've been taking it long enough now that I can't remember exactly what I felt like before but I do know there's a difference.  I am a happier person.  I laugh at the letters PMS or PMDD - ha ha ha! 

The reactions I get from others concerning the fact that I take antidepressants interest me.  When I first started talking them, my mom pretty much came out and said she didn't think it was a good idea for me to tell anyone about it.  Right.  I've had a blog for a bazillion years - I'm not one for secrets, Mom.  Besides, if depression is hereditary, it came from her side of the family.  Her mother took something for awhile (and shouldn't have stopped).   My very favorite reaction came from Dustin, whom I was dating at the time.  He didn't like the idea of me taking anything because one side effect is a possible lowered libido.  He suggested that I try something else first.   There was another reason he should have been much more worried about.  After taking the pills for awhile, I realized that he was part of my problem and broke off the relationship.

But I digress.  I had trouble with the idea of taking a pill at first, too, but wanted to talk about it rather than hide it.  I wasn't sure I wanted to be dependent on medication to be happy and I really didn't want to take another pill.  I got over that pretty quickly, though - it didn't take long for me to really feel how much better my life could be.   And, oddly enough, most people I talked to about it were either currently taking something themselves or they had in the past. 

I do still get the occasional unsure reaction - although they're rare.  It's hard to find the words to let someone know that I'm okay.  It's difficult to tell them that this depression isn't something I can cure with mind over matter or a better outlook on life.  It's not just a Bad Day.  I'm a generally happy person but this was out of my hands.  I won't take it forever, I hope, but I'm a better person for it and I'm not ashamed.

And there is a reason for this post.  I had an unfavorable reaction today that turned into something very positive and it just got me thinking.

Anyway, enough of that.

Recommendation One: Fur.  What an amazing, sensual, thought provoking film.  From the story to the sets and costumes - just beautiful.  And I won't give the reason this is odd (just go rent the movie) but I think this was Robert Downey, Jr.'s sexiest role.  Absolutely amazing.

Recommendation Two: Clean & Clear Advantage Acne Spot Treatment.  This stuff is amazing.  Seriously.  I almost wish I'd taken a before photo.  Matt and Brian are certainly not as glaringly noticeable as they were yesterday.  I fully expect them to pack their bags and head out for good by morning.

And, just to make this a little crafty: I finished one knitted Christmas gift today!   Two maybe three to go!

Oh, and there was a typo on my list - number twelve: Take a vacation (longer than a weekend) now financed by my parents.  Um, yeah, that should have read, "Take a vacation (longer than a weekend) not financed by my parents."  That makes MUCH more sense!

*Not meant to offend for those out there who might take an antidepressant.  It's just what I call them to lighten the mood and make it a little funny. 

Elijah's Booties

The baby shower was today and I finished up the booties just in time - late last night.   I also felted them just a little bit so that you couldn't see the seams (they were knitted in three pieces). 

Oh, and in other news, I'm having my picture taken tomorrow afternoon.   So of course I woke up with two giant zits this morning.  They were beginning to rear their ugly little heads last night and I had my fingers crossed that they wouldn't be that bad...ah well, sometimes finger crossing just doesn't work.  They're so bad that I decided to name them - Matt and Brian - because I think they might be sticking around for awhile....

Now back to knitting my brother's three dollar hat....

101 Things in 1001 - The Complete List

R E A D I N G

1. Finish three books I bought but never read/finished (0/3)

2. Read the last five winners of the National Book Award

3. Read two books from the Banned List

4. Get a Montgomery County Public Library card

5. Read 12 books from the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die list (0/12)

6. Read three autobiographies (0/3)

7. Catalogue books on LibraryThings

8. Read the Lemony Snicket books (0/13)

9. Go six months with no overdue library fines (or at least keep it to one day overdue)

F I N A N C I A L

10. Accumulate, with the hopes of keeping, a savings balance of $500

11. Pay all bills on time for three months in a row (0/3)

12. Take a vacation (longer than a weekend) not financed by my parents

13. Write down all transactions for one week

H E A L T H

14. Quit drinking soda for a week

15. Floss daily for a month

16. Vacuum the whole house on Sundays and Wednesdays (start with one month)

17. Stop biting my nails for 42 days

18. Buy a SIGG or carry my Nalgene, filled, on a regular basis

C R E A T E

19. Refinish the coffee table

20. Make a headboard for the bed

21. Knit a pair of socks for Mom

22. Knit a pair of socks for Dad

23. Knit a pair of socks for Andy

24. Pick a theme and take photographs specifically to make the scrapbook Gina gave me

24. Make/Finish a dollhouse

26. Write with Monet’s Waterlilies at the DAI

27. Finish five UFOs (0/5)

28. Make a quilt – even if it’s a tiny cat quilt

29. Print and frame the Angel Oak photo

30. Make a gingerbread house

31. Finish Granny’s scrapbook (priority)

32. Write in a paper journal twice a month

33. Take a photo walk through Woodlawn Cemetery

G R E E N

34. Switch to energy saving lightbulbs throughout the apartment

35. Use my Green Bags in places other than the grocery

36. Cancel all catalogues – especially those that arrive for past tenants

37. Check out five new (to me) area metro parks (0/5)

F O O D

38. Take a cooking class

39. Finish organizing recipe collection

40. Make pizza dough

41. Try four new restaurants in Dayton (0/4)

42. Try six new crock pot recipes (0/6)

43. Go back to Betty’s for potato pancakes, a veggie burrito and several glasses of PBR

44. Try four new cookie recipes (0/4)

45. Cook dinner for my parents

46. Take The Complete Wine Course

47. Make one thing out of seven of my cookbooks (0/7)

48. Make five recipes from past issues of Cooking Light (0/5)

49. Bake three kinds of bread (0/3)

50. Make macaroni and cheese from scratch

51. Make jelly or jam

52. Make three new salsa recipes (0/3)

53. Cook six REAL meals for just me – main dish and two sides

H O M E

54. Buy one piece of art for the living room

55. Keep champagne in the fridge

56. Keep five bottles of wine on the wine rack

57. Buy two new sets of sheets that I like

58. Buy each cat a basket

59. Gather important documents in one, safe place

H A P P Y

60. Identify 100 things that make me happy

61. See Elvis Costello in concert

62. Buy a good pair of Mary Janes

63. Wake up a half hour early to read, write, knit etc. for one week

64. Fly a kite

65. Make a snowman

66. Buy a quality, flattering pair of black pants

67. Take five photos a day for thirty days (0/30)

68. Weekly coffee shop dates myself

69. Make a mixed CD of songs I like – a soundtrack of me

70. Find a new favorite magazine and subscribe to it

71. Take three three day weekends for no reason whatsoever (0/3)

72. Spend an afternoon hiking by myself

73. Find a straight liquor I love

74. Kiss in the rain

75. Develop two stray rolls of film

76. Go strawberry picking

77. Buy a season of The Muppets

78. Find a tea I like

79. Buy new glasses

80. Buy 10 CDs by unfamiliar musicians recommended by friends

81. Acquire a tent and at least one sleeping bag

82. Buy a piece of lingerie I like

S O C I A L

83. Join the DAI

84. Visit a museum in Cincinnati

85. Attend four wine tastings (0/4)

86. Go for a real English tea

87. Go to a live roller derby

88. Make a new friend

89. Reconnect with an old friend

90. Visit V

91. Call my grandparents weekly

92. Visit my grandparents in Tennessee by myself

93. Finally get back to the Columbus Zoo

94. See three classics at the Victoria Theater (0/3)

95. Keep a birthday calendar of close friends and family and actually remember

96. Call someone to catch up once a month

97. On five random days leave a comment on every blog I read that day (0/5)

98. Say I love you

L I S T

99. Blog about each completed task

100. Donate a dollar to charity for each unfinished task at the end of 1001 days

101. Near the end of the 1001 days, create a new list including those tasks left unfinished

- - -

That was a really hard list to complete (and post - I've tried several times and things keep coming up wonky).  Honestly, I think writing the list may be harder than several of my tasks! 

And speaking of competing...according to this tooI should have my list completed by August 6, 2010...just shy of my 36th birthday.

The rules and details about how to start your own list can be found on Day Zero.

A Poem I Wrote in 1996

"Your life is dashing and chaotic,"
the fortune read.
"That's not a fortune," you said,
"that's a statement."
Anyhow, I left it on the table
because I don't want my life
to be like that anymore.

Yeah, I used to write poetry - or at least I used to like to think I did.  It's been a very long time since I've even tried - life is just too much to put into lines anymore, I guess.   

Too Tired to Post

Instead you get two rather poor photos of my dining room that I took a few weeks ago.  First, my martini glass collection and favorite wall in my apartment.  Second, a little arrangement I put together years ago.  I pulled the crate out of my neighbor's trash - it's one my very favorite trash treasures. 

Miscellany Crochet & a Bit O' Gush

I really have been crafting.  Besides finishing one baby bootie, I've also crocheted two of Bittersweet's little Birds of a Feather.  I made mine red birds because I thought they were perfect for adding to a gift of cookies or other baked goodies this Christmas.  I'm also working on a little grey mouse from the Elisabeth Doherty book - I'm going to add a little Santa hat to its cute little head.  But first, the bootie.  Gotta finish it before Friday.

And can I say that I am just really happy right now?  I didn't think it was possible to be where I am so soon but my life is just going right.  It feels good be out making friends and connecting with people more.  I can't put it into exact words. Everyone - my friends here in real life and my webby friends as well - everyone has just been great. 

Endnote: Not a bad photo for nine-thirty at night...if I do say so myself.  ;-)