Mamassage

knit bits

We watched Night at the Museum last night. What a fun movie. It sure beats the heck out of last week’s pick of Borat. Be sure to check it out (Night at the Museum, that is - not Borat).   I know we’ll be buying the DVD once price goes down. The whole time I was watching it, though, I kept thinking that I knew the actress who played Sacagawea. Upon reviewing it this morning, I finally placed her. She’s one of the models for the Stitch ‘N Bitch books. It’s good to know that my hobbies and reading are at least somewhat more important to me than the latest celebrities. Oh, speaking of knitting, I’m almost finished with the socks I’m making. I’ll be sure to post a picture of the finished pair. They were so much fun that I’m taking the class next week on making two socks at the same time on circulars. Also, Wednesday I met the owner of Southwest Trading Company while hanging out for the Charity Knit session at A Good Yarn. Their products are so cool. We chatted for a while about their new tofutsies line. It uses Wool, Soy Silk, and Chitin, a product that’s made from the by products of the seafood industry. Apparently, it has some fabulous antibacterial, antimicrobial, anti-stinkousness properties. Not only that, but these crab shells, etc. are NOT being dumped back into the ocean. I was totally impressed. If you knit, make sure you check out their site. I’m not certain yet exactly how I feel about deflowering my formerly vegetarian sock collection. I have to do some serious thought about the cost/benefit ratios of chitin when compared to, say, acrylic and other polluting, factory derived fibers. Either way, I’m loving the thoughtfulness with which these folks approach their company and its policies.

And Now for Something Completely Different

Each Wednesday I go knit charity afghans at my local yarn store. And as you might guess, what with it being knitting & Arizona and all, most of the women there are significantly older than I. But I do enjoy the company and all the stories. As would have it, the conversation yesterday turned to death. No, not to the "€œOh mah Gawd, it'€™s so scary"€ kind, but rather the "€œI guess I€'d better figure out what to do with my body"€ kind. So as I sat there cranking out the squares, we discussed local mortuaries, none of which are apparently acceptable, cremation vs. burial, and of course organ donation. Yep, I was present after all.  Well, somewhere along the line, the conversation took an odd turn. It seems that one of these women really doesn'€™t want to "burden"€™ her family with any financial obligation. You see, she's not close enough to them to feel she has the right, but not estranged enough for vindictiveness to factor in. Therefore, she's way into the idea of donation,€“ but feels it'€™s not ENOUGH. It turns out that she wants "€œthem [some institution] to keep my body"€. So we discussed donating to scientific research. But after some research of our own, we found that even they only typically keep a body for three weeks or so. Then it'€™s back to the family. (Organ donation is within a few days & allows for an open casket if desired, by the way.) At this point I'm about ready to tell her to sign up for BodyWorlds 4. I'm just at a loss for ideas. So it is that I turn to you, fair readers, for inspiration. Is there anyone among you who knows how this woman can dispose of her body/ashes for free? Something tasteful is preferred; however, she feels no need for it to end up in any specific local. Me, I want a green burial.  Check it out.  This one's pretty darn cool, too.

Having a Knit Fit

I mentioned in my last post that I’d been knitting.  “What?” You may ask?  “Why would you want to participate in such an old lady activity?”  And if you did, you’d only be mirroring the comments made by my loving, yet not always understanding husband.  You see he thinks that knitting is a colossal waste of time.  I have to keep reminding him that keeping fish is not my idea of a party, either.  And we do all have our hobbies. But honestly, I find that clicking the old sticks is immensely relaxing…at least most of the time.  I have, though, been heard to chant "Damn, damn, damn!"  if I drop a stitch and need to retrieve it. But I’m nothing compared to these women. Personally, I think I make kind of cool stuff.  Like my latest:  The Alien Illusion Scarf.  It’s knit so that the pattern can only be seen from certain angles.   Now you see it. Now you don’t. Pretty cool, huh? I’ve found a group of illusion knitters through Yahoo and am know learning how to graph my own designs for IK.  I was thinking about a dishcloth with a resistance fist on it.  I think I’d find that satisfying on so many levels. Meanwhile I am making Chris a cool camouflage earflap cap.  Being the baja bug (sans sunroof) driver that he is, I think it’ll get a lot of use.  I went online last night to find a pattern.  I think I’ll use this one, only without the pom pom, and in desert colors. Then I can finally get around to what I want.  And with my somewhat taciturn disposition, I think I’ll produce this lovely.  Dontcha think it’s perfect for me? ... OK.  As it turns out, Chris was a bit taken aback by reading my perception of his feelings re: knitting.  According to him, "Knitting is not a colossal waste of time." So, um, I guess fish can be kinda cool, too.

Oasis

Well I’ve spent the last couple of days in the yard/garden (yarden?) trying to make it into a lovely sanctuary. Boy, do I have a lot of work ahead of me. Have you ever noticed that on every rural piece of property there seems to be an area that is turned into a landfill of sorts? Well, here, the junk yard is my front yard. It is full of rusted out barrels of half burned garbage, broken glass, and even once housed a soggy futon on which our goat, Pagan used to sleep. (Poor Pagan’s gone now. Hopefully he’s simply run off into the desert, and not become someone’s dinner.) But back to the yarden. All last year I cursed and gave dirty looks to this horrible sight thinking that maybe the guys were going to do something about it. But that turned out to simply be just another case of wishful thinking. They work all week and then want to sit around playing video games on the weekends. And really, who can blame them, anyway? If I hung off roofs all week, I’d be loathe to do any manual labor on the weekend, too. Heck, I avoid it now. And I certainly don’t have any excuse. But on Tuesday, I just got fed up with it. I went out to plant some herbs that I’d picked up. Basil, Rosemary, Cilantro, Oregano & Dill if you’re interested. And I started clearing, and digging, and digging, and clearing. Man, does my body feel it. Now I know why I’ve never seen a fat ditch digger. This stuff kicks Pilate’s ass ...and mine. But, I’ve made some headway. I am the proud new owner of a lovely herb bed. Sparse, yet. But an herb bed none the less. I’ve mapped out where everything is going – from the hammock to the tomatoes and have begun redirecting the former duck pond into a winding stream that will also serve to irrigate some of my plants. It’s so very reassuring to have a nice fenced in area away from the highway where Kajsa can frolic and explore. I think that I may even take up making sun tea, again. It’s just getting so lovely out there. Overall, I’m fairly pleased with the work. It feels good to go to bed exhausted. I plan to do as much of that as possible. I can’t help wondering, though, when I’ll stop waking up so sore.

Shiz-Knit Part Deux

A while ago I featured this lovely item.

As well as this truly delightful gallery.

What, had you forgotten already?

That’s OK; you probably blocked the whole experience from your mind.  I know that I pretty much had.  But today, while trying to find noteworthy news items (honestly!) I ran across yet another amazing example of preposterous fiber acrobatics. 

Behold, the Tree Sweater.

Now can you see why I miss Seattle?

JESUS PETS

As seen on Texas Dave’s blog. 

I am thinking that this might just be the answer to all my financial prayers.

Knit Happens

Recently when I spoke with my sister, she was telling me about how she and my niece go to a Stitch 'n Bitch gathering on Wednesdays.  I thought that the idea sounded great.  Therefore, I have been trying to find a local group with which to get into the hip, modern revival of fiber oriented domesticity.
While searching the Internet, I've found some great knitting and crocheting sites. 
But I must say, this has certainly inspired me the most.