boogaj

Quiet for a little while. . .

This is the project that I'm going to be taking with me this week on my somewhat unexpected trip to South Carolina.  A very close friend of our family is in her final days and we are going to be with her so that we can say our goodbyes and hopefully make her last bit of time here a little bit more cheerful. 

The socks are for Pete and this is the third time that I have started them.  This heavyweight Socks that Rock is throwing me for a loop!  I ended up knitting them with US 4's and did 48 stitches around.  Needles to say, they are knitting up quickly at that gauge. 

I'll be back late next week, but may not be posting until the following week, depending on my level of physical and emotional exhaustion.  Please send my friend good thoughts for a peaceful and graceful exit from this world -- she was a crafter at one time too. . .

Dad, I still miss you.

Daddy + Julie
Daddy's Birthday
Nov. 1971

A better day?

I'm hopeful!  The sister is just fine.  Apparently she rear ended someone.  (I called that one!)  And I did eventually get to shower and eat ice cream last night -- yeah!  The plumber has been here again this morning (Third time in two days!) and we think the problems are all fixed now.  (Fingers crossed!)  And on top of that, Pete is going to the place with all the fancy chocolate bars for lunch, so I get a treat tonight when he gets home. 

See, things are looking up!  Heck, it's not even raining anymore!

(Remember that Seinfeld episode -- about even Steven?  -- I swear that happens to me.  Weird, huh?  Maybe, I'll even get some good mail today!  Maybe my "magic yarn ball" that never arrived will appear. ) 

A bad day

Not an awful, or terrible day.  Just a bad day.  That's what I'm having. 

So, I've been mopping up filth over and over -- and I can't shower because the drain still isn't fixed and I'm still waiting for that plumber.  The rodder was here and he thinks there was a critter stuck in the main sewer line (ewwwwwwwwwwwww).  So that part is "taken care of" which is a good thing, I suppose.  (Ever the optimist, I am!)

I just really want a hot shower and to put on my jammies and get in bed.  Maybe with a pint of Ben & Jerry's. 

Oh yeah, and I called my mom and she casually mentioned that one of my sisters "totaled" her car.  She really glossed over this somehow, so I'm assuming my sister is okay.  I have Pete on the job -- he'll fill me in.  (He rides the train home from the city with one of my other sisters.) 

sigh. . .

Wild Weekend (includes time spent in the ER)

Where do I start?  On Saturday I suppose, since that's where the weekend began.  My wrist was sore, so I did my podcast on Japanese craft books (this plays a part later surprisingly) and then tried to do some crafting anyway.  I started my quilt and nearly completed my backtack project.  That's a sneak peek up above.  Meanwhile, chef Pete when shopping and fixed a mixed veggie grill for dinner. 

Sunday I was kind of miserable because my wrist was really sore and I couldn't do any crafting.  Here I was hoping for a super crafty weekend too!  So Pete, having listened to my podcast (ah!  It all comes together. . .) suggested that we go out to Mitsuwa so I could check out the Japanese craft books and we could do a little shopping and eating. 

All was well, but on the way home Pete suddenly didn't feel well -- at all.  He was driving and I told him to pull off into the nearest parking lot.  There happened to be a Starbucks there and he ran in while I got Maddie out of the car.  I guess he nearly passed out and fell face first into a shelving unit at the back of the store, slicing open his chin.  But he has a *much* better story explaining how it happened (he's a writer, after all  :)

We drove all the way back to Joliet, went to the hospital, and a few hours later he was all stitched up and we were very tired and ready to go home. 

Needless to say, Monday was low-key.  It actually stormed here throughout the day and we just lazed around.  I actually finished my pincushion for the Pincushion Challenge!  Have you?  Remember to email me your pictures to the pincushion challenge email address by tomorrow!

Progress on the goals!

Well, it's been 3 days and I've made some progress on the goals.  As you can see I finished up the Entrelac bag -- my next Black Sheep Bags pattern and the first one to be released since last summer!  Hard to believe, but time flies!  And while I did finish the knitting on the bag and I even did the next to last draft of the pattern (yeah!), I didn't finish this. . .

The pesky handle!  So until I finish that, I can't felt it.  And until it's felted and all goes as planned, I can't declare it a success.  Fingers crossed!

I also tidied up the office a bit.  The top of the desk, some of the bulging files in the bottom drawer and I even cleared off the top of the armoire behind the desk.  The office still needs quite a bit of work though.  Small steps.

Several hours were put into the Knitting Blogs Web Ring too.  I added 30 sites and did some massive maintenance on the existing ring  (over 900 sites!)  which took a good part of one day.  Glad to have that behind me.  Whew!

Oh!  I also purchased my back-tack fabric and washed it.  And I washed all my quilt fabric -- SIX loads!  Up and down two long flights of stairs *many* times.  I was sore the next day, believe it or not.  None of it is ironed, but I figure I'll iron as I go.

So, not bad for three days.  And now I have the weekend ahead of me!  Maybe I can finally get that quilt binding sewn down. . .

Music I (We) Like

A while back I had a poll on this here blog and 12% of you were interest in hearing more about the music I was currently into.  Well, I never wrote that post, but Pete is having a Tournament of Tunes which I am finding incredibly enjoyable.  He likes music even more than I do and writes about it much better than I ever could.  Here is the commentary and here is the bracket.  You can even leave comments here to cheer on your favorite bands or songs.

Check it out!

Progress on the To Do list (and then some!)

Well, I got all the photos cut and adhered to cardstock and then adhered to the patterns.  I also got many of the (hundreds of) patterns folded.  I packed up 5 wholesale orders for Black Sheep Bags as well as some retails orders for both of my businesses.  I printed out a few pattern photo sheets -- I'll calculate the exact numbers I need and print more tomorrow.

In addition, I got caught up on listening to a few podcasts while I worked (Chub Creek, Quirky Nomads, Knitting News Cast, Irie Knits & CrochetCast.)  I also wrote a little post for whip up (which is very good because with the whole podcasting thing I felt like I wasn't pulling my weight over there recently.  Kathreen has gotten a bunch of new contributors though, so go check it out!)  And I actually just took the last 20 minutes to have some coffee and look through my red envelope.  I love the mailorder club!  I found the secret word and got my funny money and I decoded the secret messages too.  What a fun little break!

So I think the list really focused me today.  Tonight I plan to do some serious knitting on the entrelac bag.  Maybe I'll even have pictures for you tomorrow!

Goals for the week

Okay.  It's springtime and I'm feeling goal oriented.  Over the weekend we did a mini makeover on Maddie's room.  We went to IKEA on Saturday and got a new duvet cover, curtains and gauzy princess-y thing for over the bed.  Sunday we re-arranged all the furniture, vacuumed up all the dust bunnies and installed everything.  (There were new curtain rods, so it did involve the use of a drill and such.)

Today I'm thinking about what I want to accomplish this week.  Here's my plan:

Work:

• Cut out the photos that I have printed.
• Then assemble patterns with resulting photos.
• Fold patterns.  (The patterns are run through a "booklet" folder at the printer, but this is a very rough fold.  I always go over it on every pattern with a bone folder.  )
• Print up photos for orders that came in last week.
• Test out entrelac with slip stitch edge to see if it really makes much difference.
• Complete first draft of pattern for entrelac bag.
• Get a good start on, if not complete, first entrelac bag sample.
• Tidy office.

Crafting:

• Finish sewing binding on quilt.
• Make tag for quilt and sew it on.
• Order Kona cotton 1/2 yrd cuts so I can start on new quilt next week.
• Organize new projects in some way.  (Goes hand in hand with tidy office above since several new projects are piled in office.)
• Entrelac bag kind of falls under this heading too since I'll be knitting it most of the week.
• Dye the big hank of laceweight with the dye I got at The Fold.
• Rinse out the indigo dyed yarn and roving that has been hanging in the back entryway for over two weeks.

Okay, I'm looking at this and thinking it's pretty ambitious, but I also want to do another podcast.  In addition, the Migraine Pain has been back with a vengeance the last several days.  I'm really beginning to think this has to do with the weather.  Stormy weather seems to be the absolute worst for me! 

Birthday Breakfast

Yummy crossiant from Wiliams-Sonoma.  I can highly recommend these.  (Thanks for confirming that these were worth it, Rosemary!!)

I plan to spend the day crafting -- doing the homework for my quilting class, playing with the goodies in my red envelope and perhaps even doing some spinning.  If we have time we may do a bit of thrifting -- I hear a new shop opened up in our town.  And tonight -- dinner out with Pete. 

Oh goodness it's after 11am and I'm still in my jammies.  Better get going if I want to fit in all this fun!

Conversation with my Mom. . .

Mom (on phone): Do you have any punk stuff?
Me: Punk stuff?
Mom:  Yeah, like punk clothes?
Me: Mom, I shop at the Gap.
Mom:  Do you still have your Doc Martens?
Me: Why are you asking me this?
Mom:  I'm going to a party and I want to dress like a punk (said in a perky tone!)

Okay -- so 15 years ago I used to go to a lot of punk shows and my head was partially shaved and the rest of my hair was dyed purple, but now I'm like a soccer mom -- seriously.

The boy knows what I like. . .

I have to leave it to Pete, he knows what I like! For Valentine's Day this year he brought home some lovely Godiva chocolates and Super Crafty.

I haven't had a chance to *do* any of the crafts in the book yet, but it's packed with all kinds of ideas, tips and tricks! I can't wait to get started. And as usual. . . a full review will be forthcoming. . .

Struggle for Balance (or the confessions of an overachiever)

I'm just going to spew some stuff out here about what I've been struggling with lately -- the lack of balance in my life.

This is nothing new really.  I've been like this for as long as I can remember.  Maybe it's the oldest child syndrome or something.  When I started working I worked the extra shifts -- 60, 70, 80 hours a week in the summer -- no problem!  When it came down to choosing a major my second semester junior year, I choose English lit.  Reading several novels a week and writing dozens of papers a semester so that I could graduate on time wouldn't be a problem, right?  (It wasn't -- I even made Dean's list all those semesters.)  Then after college -- I got a job at a big corporation and of course I gave my life to them.  I worked nights, weekends, at the end I even worked in New York despite the fact that I lived in Chicago.  (Yeah -- I flew there every week and lived in a hotel.)  While working there I was promoted over and over and got all the awards and took on all the special projects.

Are you getting the picture here? 

And it isn't much better in other areas of my life.  I read voraciously -- I craft voraciously -- I know how to make homebaked bread!  My sister's used to call me Martha (you can guess why).  It's just all too much!

So here I am after over working myself all last week.  Then Saturday I put in probably 6 hours of work and was stopped only by the fact that we had dinner plans up in the city.  Despite the fact that we got home at almost 2am, I got up at 8am Sunday morning and put in 11 hours of work.  *It's. . .happening. . . again*

I have to find balance.  You can see that this has been a problem throughout my life though.  Pete says that I don't know how to relax and it is true!  But even I have reached my limit!!!

I have orders piling up for Black Sheep Bags and I have over 100 sites for the webring in the queue (when I checked a few days ago -- I'm scared to check now).  I want to craft!  I want to come up with new designs for Black Sheep Bags -- I have design ideas and no time to try them out!

This is why I have migraines -- I can see that now.  So I'm going to be making some changes.  I have to -- I have my family to think about. 

Okay -- still with me?  I don't believe it!  Here are things I actually want to find time to do:

1. More weekend fun activities with Pete & Maddie.
2. More weekday fun activities with Maddie.
3. More crafting -- sewing, spinning, knitting, etc.
4. More designing for Black Sheep Bags.
5. More baking & cooking.
6. More plain old sitting in front of the TV or laying in bed with a book vegging out!

So I know that I have to re-design my patterns so that they can be printed by a small press -- no more printing photos, cutting them out, gluing them to backing paper and then to patterns.  This takes *forever* and I can't keep up with demand -- I'm 3-4 weeks out on shop orders right now.  That's just not good!  That's just one change though -- I need more.

So, I'm working on finding balance.  I was doing pretty good for a while -- stopping work at 5 or 6pm, but I've let that slip.  No more!  I need to get back on track.  I know that this is an issue with me and I just have to start putting effort into it. 

Balance is a good thing.

Where have I been?

The holidays hit me hard this year.  I've had terrible migraines for a good part of December.  So now I'm just trying to get caught up on work and playing a lot of this:

Very little energy left for reading or knitting or anything really (hence the video gaming).  Hopefully I'll be back to my old self soon and have something more interesting to post!

Thanks for the Cold Remedies!

Thank you everyone for the great cold remedies!  I've been sipping tea with honey and lemon and getting rest and I'm feeling a little bit better -- but very tired.  The trip for tomorrow has been canceled and rescheduled for later this month.  Maddie was very grown up and understanding. 

I'm going to try many of the things that were recommended!  Although it appears that some of the best remedies need to be taken at the very first sign of a cold which was Sunday -- missed the boat there. 

Speaking of remedies -- you can't get cold medicine off the shelf anymore.  Darn meth lab people.  I had to wait in line at the pharmacy as if I were getting a prescription -- doesn't seem like a very good use of a pharmacists time, but I guess it has to be done.

Time to go lay in bed again and veg out. . .

I'm sick -- have a remedy?

I guess I should have seen this coming.  I've always had a pathetic immune system.  Someone sneezes around me and next thing you know I have a cold.  (Unlike Pete -- thank goodness Maddie has his genes when it comes to this!)

So anyway, I guess having surgery probably weakened it a bit more. . . then the freezing cold weather arrived. . . and the busyness of the holiday season. . . and now I have a nasty little cold.  We are planning to go to Marshall Field's to eat by the big tree in the Walnut Room tomorrow and I feel like, well you know what I feel like.

So tell me your remedies!  Your quick fixes!  What you do to get you through when you have the sniffles, a sore throat and are oh so tired.  I need help here people!  I have a 5 year old that I do not want to disappoint! 

Holiday Gift Ideas!

First of all -- I'm feeling better -- YEAH!!!  Hopefully I'll be tip-top for Thanksgiving dinner at my Mom's next week.  After losing 5 lbs in the last week & a half, I'm really looking forward to her sweet potatoes and stuffing -- yum!

I also wanted to let you know that I'm going to be posting a couple of reviews over at Two Friends Collect Books in the next few days. 

And finally I'm going to tell you what I bought Maddie, Landon and Savana for the holidays.

For Maddie, who is a 5 year old, I bought this super cool pop-up book:

For Landon, who is a 5 1/2 year old boy, I bought this super cool pop-up book:

And for Savana, my cute little niece who is only 6 months old I bought a Sandra Boynton book.  Maddie, Pete & I love her books!

What else is a book lover such as myself going to get all the little ones in the family  :)

I'm going to try to think up cool gift ideas for all ages and post them here throughout the holiday season!

Oh yeah!  The princess hat and Baby Booga Bag are dry!  They just need a little shave and they'll be ready for a photo session.  More on that this weekend hopefully!

I'm feeling better!

Thank you for all the nice emails and comments! My throat is pretty darn sore, but I'm up and about and feeling better than I thought I would be feeling at this point. I've even been knitting -- nothing too complicated, mind you. Codeine is great stuff, but it doesn't lend itself to the highest level of brain activity :)

Up and Down

I feel like I'm manic depressive these days.  One hour up, one hour down.  Today I had an appointment with a neurologist who diagnosed me with migraines.  He seems like a great guy and he shares my philosophy on medication -- only in moderation and only when lifestyle changes won't do the trick -- so I was really up after that.  Then I had a pre-surgery visit with another doctor.  Followed by a visit with the surgical consultant and down I went.  I know it's just a minor surgery, but I was once again reminded of how painful this will be.  I'm sure that has me stressed.

So I guess I'm all over the charts.  I'm really looking forward to the holidays (for a change) because that means that the worst of this will be behind me.  The tonsils will be out, I'll have a handle on the migraines (hopefully!) and life should settle down.  (During the holidays?  What am I thinking?)

I did start a new knitting project and I'll take pictures as soon as I'm a little farther along and it actually looks like something.  I will say this though, it's for Maddie, it's magenta and it's from New Knits on the Block.  Any guesses?

Feeling better

First of all, thank you for all the wonderful comments!  I know there are a lot of other people out there who go through this too and sometimes it helps to hear that you are not alone.

The walk helped.  Exercise, sunshine -- both good for combating depression. 

Some of you have asked why I don't take medication and others are probably wondering.  I'm very anti-drug.  My mom is the same way, so maybe I get that from her.  I don't know.  But I went to a psychologist during a very bad time in my life and he taught me alternative ways to deal with the depression.

First of all I exercise.  5 days a week for about 30 minutes a day on the elliptical machine.  (This has had the added benefit of helping me to keep off most of the 50 lbs I lost a few years ago!)  Exercise is good.  And while I did exercise yesterday morning, sometimes it just isn't enough.

I also learned to meditate -- well, I'll call it that for lack of a better word.  He gave me lots of relaxation tapes to listen to.  To this day I still try to start my day by calmly laying in my bed and thinking about the upcoming day.  Which brings me to my next coping mechanism. . .

Routines!  Routines are key for me.  I have a loose schedule that I stick to pretty much every day.  You could call me a planner.  I like to know what will be happening each day before I get out of bed.  Ask Pete, he's probably sick of hearing me say "What's the plan."  But it works for me.

So that's that.  I'm coping.  It's a never ending battle, but I'll continue to fight it.

Sad

Sigh.

I suffer from depression and I do not take medication. I've been this way since I was a child, so at this point in my life I'm pretty adept at dealing with it. It's cyclical and I can usually feel it coming on. I can try to cut it short, head it off. Mind over matter kind of stuff. But today I'm having one of those days where I can almost feel myself being locked into place. I know what to do but instead I'm sitting here doing nothing. I'm in it's grip.

There is no telling what brought this on. It can be anything really. It's never about anything anyway. Just a random release or lack of release of certain chemicals in the brain. I try to hold onto that thought -- as if to disassociate myself from what is actually happening to me.

So I just told Maddie to go get her shoes. I know that if I get up. . .move. . . do something. . . I'll start to pull myself up out of this deepening and widening hole. It's a gorgeous fall day here. Maybe a walk in the fresh air will get the chemicals flowing as they should.

I hope. . .