Twists of Fate

My nephew just called (with the help of his dad, my brother) to let me know HE LOVES HIS SCARF AND THANK YOU VERY MUCH AUNTIE AND I LOVE YOU AND NOW IT IS TIME FOR BED KBYE!

Per my bro, he’s named the alligator scarf “Lightening”? I’m not sure what that’s about, but he is totally adorable and I wish I could pick him up and squish him right now. :-D

I wish I got that reaction to all the knitted gifts. *G*

I really love technology.

For those of us who aren’t able to purchase a Kindle, for whatever reason, and do a lot of reading at ye olde computer screen, there’s always Mobipocket Reader and eBook sites.

I often purchase and download from Fictionwise, and bought a Buywise membership last year. It’s paid for itself at least four times over already, and I was delighted to see that I have enough credit in my Buywise account to get four or five new books this morning. YAY! It’s like free books, only not.

Anyway, even BETTER was going there this morning to find that they’ve launched a sister site called Libwise, or an eBook LIBRARY system. It’s newish, I believe, and while it’s only available to Buywise club members and so far the selection of eBooks is limited, dude. It’s an eBook library! Of books that aren’t necessarily in the public domain! You can check out a book for up to sixteen days and when it times out it’s automatically removed from your library.

Anyway, I have to go and strangle the landlady’s rat dogs for eating the fucking kitty food. eBooks and Libwise = good, god damn poodles and rat-like terriers = dead.

No, seriously! There’s a few FOs to document.

First up, something for me. Though after wearing these, I think I should’ve knit them much tighter. These are the Jacoby Mitts, pattern from the Berroco website, chosen because it was the playoffs and my favorite Red Sox player was having a great post season at the time. I used STR mediumweight in what may be Bella Coola, and I don’t know what I was thinking. My hands aren’t that fat…after one wear they are stretched out to the point where wearing them is weird. I’d totally use the pattern again, and may do so to make some gift mitts for the holidays.

Not the best picture, but I did darn in the ends on the second mitt after washing.

Next is a hat for my father. His 70th birthday was yesterday, but I haven’t spoken to him for like six years. The hat will be sent via my sister, and I’m working on a scarf to go with. The pattern is brooklyn tweed’s Turn a Square pattern, which was great. I think I screwed up the “jogless join” part, but it’s wearable. I used Noro Silk Garden in a colorway I can’t remember, and Berroco’s Ultra Alpaca in a nice green for the main color.

Last but not least is a scarf for my nephew. This is Baby Alligator kit from Morehouse Merino, which I got a while ago but just got around to making. I love the finished product, but I really did not enjoy knitting with the very firmly spun yarn. It really made my hands hurt, but it’s soft enough to encourage a little kid to wear it, and durable enough to last while a little kid is wearing it.

I will probably make the alligator again for my niece, but in a yarn that’s a little easier on my hands.

On the needles - a pair of Faceted Rib Socks, another pair of mitts in a different pattern, socks for me and a couple of hats.

Unemployment denied my initial claim based on some calculations that fell a whopping five hours short of the requirement, and efforts to get through to the claims office result in an automated recording telling me to try back later and then it hangs up. All of the agencies I work through have nothing available for what I do, and I keep haunting the various job listing sources like a ghost. I’m actually looking for loose change at this point. Good times. :( But I’m still here, at least for now.

Sadly, not of anything I’ve made (the dye studio is essentially unheated and it’s way too cold to spend much time in a north facing room with a ton of windows and no heat).

A new to me blog, Old Red Barn Co has some lovely quilts they’ll be giving away to three lucky winners. See?

Isn’t that full of awesome? One day I’ll be able to indulge my curiosity in quilting, but for now, I enter. Because even though it’s south facing with a ton of windows, the heat in my apartment is not controlled by me and they’ve been turning it off during the day. When they’re gone. But I’m home. And freezing my ass off. I would dearly love to be bundled into one of these three while I’m at the computer!

Go. Look. Enter if you’d like. Thanks to Stumbling Over Chaos for the link!

I have a fairly big sale over in my other (fannish) blog if so. Lots of bottles of Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab (BPAL) for sale over there. If you know of anyone interested in BPAL, point them that way please?

I find it interesting that I can let go of the perfume easier than I can the fiber. It’s getting to the point though. *sigh*

Anyway, baby steps. BPAL on sale if you’d like to go look. :)

Holy shit y’all. I mean, seriously. I think I may love this man. More than a little.

WOW!

Ladies and gentlemen and other beings,

I am here to tell you that should you have the opportunity to participate in your local jam economy, ZOMG DON’T HESITATE! DO IT! DO IT!

I had the opportunity (and the funds) earlier this year to purchase 50lbs of organic sugar for the lovely, the talented, the fabulous and amazing Domestinatrix. By becoming her Sugar Mama (hee hee hee!), I was able to go over and take a share of her summer’s bounty of jams and marmalades and generally freakin’ awesome stuff yesterday.

She has this cabinet that’s chock full of these jewel like jars of Complete Awesomeness. Seriously. I gazed upon the Cabinet of ZOMG and part of me felt like fainting. The rest was jumping up and down and making GIMME!paws. Jams in just about every fruit I’ve heard of, and some I haven’t had yet. Rows and rows of pickled lovelies (Heart Beets y’all!), and I was just….

She does some incredible work. The time and energy that goes into putting in a stock of such amazing is nearly unfathomable today, though it was completely matter of course just a couple of generations ago.

I had a lovely pot of tea and a great conversation while being able to sample some of her pickled goodies on rye crackers (Must. Get. Some. STAT.) with some cream cheese…OM NOM NOM NOM! Never having had home pickled goods before, I wasn’t sure what the deal was, but now? I have seen the light! And tasted the vinegared love! And it was tasty and just *incoherent gestures of WOW!*

I would totally do that again. I hope I can next year. And I hope I can get my shit together enough to be able to do some pickling and canning myself next year. Hopefully much of it in the company of the lovely, the fabulous, and generally all around Heroine of The Kitchen, my friend E. And her adorable sidekick mew Zelda.

Support your local jam economy y’all. *nods firmly* I am going to go make myself some toast and open another of the jars. The pomegranate jelly yesterday was full of NOM, and tonight? Maybe Ginger Peach? That should perk interest, no?