ow.
not kidding.
ow.
what's with the neck/ shoulder pain that comes with knitting? really, friends. this is ridiculous!!
i mean, i'm a high school English teacher - I spend hours upon hours of my life marking papers in such a way that my right shoulder is almost constantly in a shrugging position and looks permanently fused to my right ear, and, the pain that results fromTHAT is nothing compared to the pain I feel after knitting for a period of time.
all of that being said, i'm now onto block 4 of my MDK log cabin baby blanket and it's looking mighty cute. the other day when I finished up block 3 (while watching a tremendous documentary on Metallica, might I add - fantastic knitting/viewing - what a fantastically EMO band), I made sure to bind off loosely so as not to repeat the fiasco from last week.... see previous posts.
the blanket is being knit in fairly muted colours, and while I'm enjoying it, i'm starting to feel a little hankering for something big ass colourful.
i think it's time to break out the Lang Mille Colori. If you haven't experienced this yet, check it out here....
off to take an advil.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Thursday, February 15, 2007
a post Valentine's kind of thought
We put so much pressure on our mates for Valentine's Day.
Did he buy me flowers? Will he get me a romantic card? Will he take me somewhere nice? What if he doesn't do anything? Should I dump him for not making a big deal out of Valentine's Day?
This is frustrating for everyone, and, quite honestly, I'm tired of the bum-rap that we ladies give our men for not being exactly what we, in our impossible heads, want them to be.
now don't get me wrong. Some men are jerks and we women need to see that and we need to get out of that relationship if that is what the case is. Vice versa for those men who are hooked up with jerky women!!!
But so much focus is placed on whether our partner does the right thing for us on this day, rather than looking at what they do on every other day of the year. Check out what The Yarn Harlot had to say about that here. But what I'm talking about is getting rid of the focus on what our partner is doing and starting to focus on what we are doing for our partner.
I'm sorry, but so many of those "self-improvement" Dr.Phil-types have it right - are YOU being the best partner for your mate? Could YOU be doing something differently? Sometimes we spend so much time obsessing over what our partner is NOT doing for us, that we fail to notice that we aren't being that great as partners either. My experience in my relationship(relatively small and insignificant as compared to some, but this is my blog, not theirs) has shown that when I'm super focused on what my fiance ISN'T doing for me, I'm damn well not doing what he needs and that's not fair. It's funny how, once I start to focus on doing what's best for the relationship, and NOT focusing on me so damn much, that the problems and irritations start to disappear and I find myself falling in love with this man all over again.
Let's face it: we've all been there and we've all done it. And while sometimes we have to speak up and let our partner know what's going on, there are other times when we should just shut up, stop pouting/ obsessing/whining/criticizing and either take care of our own needs or take care of our partner's needs.
And if you've read this and you're too busy saying "Yeah, but, he needs to change first...", you're not getting the point and you need to either (a) reread and reread this post until you get it or (b) go out and do something, anything, that your partner likes.
i guarantee you that your energy will change and that, in turn, will change your partner's.
Did he buy me flowers? Will he get me a romantic card? Will he take me somewhere nice? What if he doesn't do anything? Should I dump him for not making a big deal out of Valentine's Day?
This is frustrating for everyone, and, quite honestly, I'm tired of the bum-rap that we ladies give our men for not being exactly what we, in our impossible heads, want them to be.
now don't get me wrong. Some men are jerks and we women need to see that and we need to get out of that relationship if that is what the case is. Vice versa for those men who are hooked up with jerky women!!!
But so much focus is placed on whether our partner does the right thing for us on this day, rather than looking at what they do on every other day of the year. Check out what The Yarn Harlot had to say about that here. But what I'm talking about is getting rid of the focus on what our partner is doing and starting to focus on what we are doing for our partner.
I'm sorry, but so many of those "self-improvement" Dr.Phil-types have it right - are YOU being the best partner for your mate? Could YOU be doing something differently? Sometimes we spend so much time obsessing over what our partner is NOT doing for us, that we fail to notice that we aren't being that great as partners either. My experience in my relationship(relatively small and insignificant as compared to some, but this is my blog, not theirs) has shown that when I'm super focused on what my fiance ISN'T doing for me, I'm damn well not doing what he needs and that's not fair. It's funny how, once I start to focus on doing what's best for the relationship, and NOT focusing on me so damn much, that the problems and irritations start to disappear and I find myself falling in love with this man all over again.
Let's face it: we've all been there and we've all done it. And while sometimes we have to speak up and let our partner know what's going on, there are other times when we should just shut up, stop pouting/ obsessing/whining/criticizing and either take care of our own needs or take care of our partner's needs.
And if you've read this and you're too busy saying "Yeah, but, he needs to change first...", you're not getting the point and you need to either (a) reread and reread this post until you get it or (b) go out and do something, anything, that your partner likes.
i guarantee you that your energy will change and that, in turn, will change your partner's.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Tuesday nights are WIP nights!
i know that "WIP"'s are usually in reference to knitting projects, but my best friend Toni and I have stumbled on a most wonderful way to spend a Tuesday night.
for us, "WIP" stands for whatever needs to be worked on or finished on that particular evening - knitting may be a part of it, but not necessarily. For the past few weeks, it has involved copious amounts of paperwork for Toni, but for me, it has involved everything from scrapbooking, marking, wedding planning and filing.
we take turns going to each other's houses, we plan appropriate drinks and snacks, and then, we actually work on whatever needs to be done. it creates a tremendous feeling of accomplishment and it helps us stay in touch as friends.
this tackling of the WIP's is my New Year's Resolution for 2007... but i'm actually considering taking it on as an actual aspect of my LIFESTYLE. like a permanent thing.
btw: i'm quite aware that this is simply what "Born Organized" people consider "staying on top of things."
clearly, i was not "born organized."
for us, "WIP" stands for whatever needs to be worked on or finished on that particular evening - knitting may be a part of it, but not necessarily. For the past few weeks, it has involved copious amounts of paperwork for Toni, but for me, it has involved everything from scrapbooking, marking, wedding planning and filing.
we take turns going to each other's houses, we plan appropriate drinks and snacks, and then, we actually work on whatever needs to be done. it creates a tremendous feeling of accomplishment and it helps us stay in touch as friends.
this tackling of the WIP's is my New Year's Resolution for 2007... but i'm actually considering taking it on as an actual aspect of my LIFESTYLE. like a permanent thing.
btw: i'm quite aware that this is simply what "Born Organized" people consider "staying on top of things."
clearly, i was not "born organized."
Sunday, February 11, 2007
log cabin moderne baby blanket a la Mason Dixon Knitting....
this is a super awesome and easy project - good for beginners like me.
until...and unless....
...until you're about to cast on for Block 3 and you have to use some of the bound off stitches of block 2...
and unless you're a loose, kind of "bind off" person - which I am not and which I did not do on Block 2. This was something I was unaware of until I attempted to cast on Block 3.
this took absolutely forever because I couldn't find the stitches, I didn't know if I was doing it right, and ultimately, the stitches were so tight that the needles were GRINDING together when I was trying to make stitches. oh yes, perhaps the fact that I was too engrossed in what I was doing to get up and turn on another light in the living room, thus requiring me to knit in relative muted lighting, increased the level of difficulty and limited my chances of speedy success.
oh yah... if you're a really good knitter, please don't laugh at my attempts to make sense and use proper 'knitting terms' to describe the absolute calamity that occurred while I was simply trying to cast on Block 3 of my log cabin moderne baby blanket.
all of that being said, I had great success finding the colour for Block 4 yesterday at my LYS and I'm truly looking forward to continuing to knit.
someday soon i will post a picture!
finally, on a totally geeky English teacher note, I started Vincent Lam's "Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures" last night and, with only 3 pages read, can completely understand why this man won the Giller Prize on his first attempt. brilliant. sigh.
until...and unless....
...until you're about to cast on for Block 3 and you have to use some of the bound off stitches of block 2...
and unless you're a loose, kind of "bind off" person - which I am not and which I did not do on Block 2. This was something I was unaware of until I attempted to cast on Block 3.
this took absolutely forever because I couldn't find the stitches, I didn't know if I was doing it right, and ultimately, the stitches were so tight that the needles were GRINDING together when I was trying to make stitches. oh yes, perhaps the fact that I was too engrossed in what I was doing to get up and turn on another light in the living room, thus requiring me to knit in relative muted lighting, increased the level of difficulty and limited my chances of speedy success.
oh yah... if you're a really good knitter, please don't laugh at my attempts to make sense and use proper 'knitting terms' to describe the absolute calamity that occurred while I was simply trying to cast on Block 3 of my log cabin moderne baby blanket.
all of that being said, I had great success finding the colour for Block 4 yesterday at my LYS and I'm truly looking forward to continuing to knit.
someday soon i will post a picture!
finally, on a totally geeky English teacher note, I started Vincent Lam's "Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures" last night and, with only 3 pages read, can completely understand why this man won the Giller Prize on his first attempt. brilliant. sigh.
Friday, February 9, 2007
knitballs!
oh jeez.
how to even begin explaining a blog title like "knitballs"?
while it most definitely has to do with knitting (something I do with passion on a fairly regular basis - if being a beginning knitter who knits in front of the TV counts as "passion"), it is mostly related to a common expletive that my fiance and I use to express frustration - a common swear word that starts with "sh" and ends with "it" and just happens to rhyme with the word "knit."
i like the idea of the word play - that the "knitballs" has to do with knitting and balls of yarn and that it plays on a small joke that I share with my closest friend in the world. it's just a pun that a geeky English teacher like me would happen to enjoy. (cue the sarcastic eyeroll on behalf of my fiance!)
to continue on the knitting idea, I've been "lurking" on the Mason-Dixon KAL blog for several months and just as I finally decided to join, the group became closed to new members.
Knitballs!
I did not expect to meet this "roadblock" shall we say, and I was really hoping to start using that blog as a way to share my WIP with other knitters... but more importantly, a way to share my WIP with my cousin Lindsay who lives way too far away in Newfoundland.... in a small town that has no yarn stores (except Wal-mart). We knitting familiy members need a way to stay in touch.
Lindsay will soon be getting a link to this blog. Hi Lindsay!
and so... i will start this blog, but before I go any further, I certainly don't want anyone to get any ideas about me being an expert knitter who can provide advice and help when required.
B-E-G-I-N-N-E-R.
that's me.
how to even begin explaining a blog title like "knitballs"?
while it most definitely has to do with knitting (something I do with passion on a fairly regular basis - if being a beginning knitter who knits in front of the TV counts as "passion"), it is mostly related to a common expletive that my fiance and I use to express frustration - a common swear word that starts with "sh" and ends with "it" and just happens to rhyme with the word "knit."
i like the idea of the word play - that the "knitballs" has to do with knitting and balls of yarn and that it plays on a small joke that I share with my closest friend in the world. it's just a pun that a geeky English teacher like me would happen to enjoy. (cue the sarcastic eyeroll on behalf of my fiance!)
to continue on the knitting idea, I've been "lurking" on the Mason-Dixon KAL blog for several months and just as I finally decided to join, the group became closed to new members.
Knitballs!
I did not expect to meet this "roadblock" shall we say, and I was really hoping to start using that blog as a way to share my WIP with other knitters... but more importantly, a way to share my WIP with my cousin Lindsay who lives way too far away in Newfoundland.... in a small town that has no yarn stores (except Wal-mart). We knitting familiy members need a way to stay in touch.
Lindsay will soon be getting a link to this blog. Hi Lindsay!
and so... i will start this blog, but before I go any further, I certainly don't want anyone to get any ideas about me being an expert knitter who can provide advice and help when required.
B-E-G-I-N-N-E-R.
that's me.
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