Lawn Art

The other day Eric and I were sitting quietly and watching Dalek, an episode of Doctor Who from 2005. After a few minutes I told him about sites that tell how to make daleks and how people take them to conventions and then it hit me - how about a couple of daleks in the yard? Wouldn't they be great? I would especially love it if they could keep the neighbor's dog from using our lawn as a potty - and other people's children from walking through thinking it's okay to get from their house to Kmart or Shake Shack without asking (I don't like strangers in the back yard while my girl is in the pool or something). Needless to say, he wasn't as excited about the idea as I was. Maybe I'll just build a dalek with a cupboard bottom for kitchen storage - and add some sort of lights to make it more fun and scifi. Or maybe I'll just make one of those cool dalek dresses so my geekiness can be worn all over the place!

Oh, The Frustration

The other day Khloe came home from school very, very upset. She'd not done well on a math test and was worried that I would be disappointed. I really wasn't upset. It must be hard for a ten-year-old to do algebra. I have gotten a bit frustrated with her lately, though. She's asked me to teach her how to knit, so I did. She worked on a few rows and quit. She says it's too hard. I told her that if she really wants to do it she needs to practice. She doesn't want to practice - she wants to be good right away at everything she tries. So, fine. Don't knit. I wasn't forcing her to, anyway. Last week I started a video podcast. (I'll link it in the sidebar.) Tonight I got the episode up - yay! - and showed it to her. Guess what? She wants to start knitting again so she can record with me. Sigh.

Videos

Khloe has been asking me to make a video podcast with her and we recorded Monday night. I'm having such a hard time getting it to upload anywhere that I'm close to throwing my computer against the wall. I need someone to come over here and help me. I'm not a computer person. I can make loads of things and love working with my hands. Code is not my thing. Hardware, software, any kind of "ware" isn't legible for me. If any of you can come over, call, draw pictures, or help in any way that uses no technical language I would greatly appreciate it.
I'm going to work on what does speak to me - yarn and fiber. I don't have pictures right now because it's all on the video.

More Spinning

This is the braid of fiber that I got in the Camp Half-Blood KAL/SAL. We took a quiz to see who our God parent was and wrote a bit about ourselves, then Jess dyed up yarn or fiber specifically for us. I was very surprised to see so much green - after all, I'm not much of a green fan. After thinking about it, though, it makes sense. I enjoy being outside and working with my plants. The braid is six ounces and super soft. I almost didn't want to spin it - almost. But spin it I did.

I wound up with a bit over 1000 yards of fingering to lace weight yarn. I've kept the skeins in order so I can knit it up in the same progression that it came ffrom the braid. I plan on making a pi shawl - something simple yet open to show off the colors.

I can't thank Jenny enough for selling the wheel to me. When I spin I feel like everything in the world is okay. My mind relaxes and I work on instinct. It's like meditation, only easier and productive. I feel like as long as I'm behind the wheel nothing bad can happen in the world. I really need to thank her for soothing my soul and invigorating my spirit, too - but there really is no way to pay her back for that.

Have I Mentioned

How much I adore Coggie from the High Fiber Diet podcast? She sounds like such a fun, exciting person to be around. I really wish I could go to her retreat in November. Maybe if I start saving now....
Also, if anyone has beads left over that they don't want, please keep me in mind. Maybe we could work something out. Thanks!

A Splash of Color

Here are a few skeins that I've spun on the new wheel. They're not perfect, but I'm pleased with how they've turned out. There's enough of each to make a small project. Right now I'm working on a braid that was custom-dyed for me. I'll share it when I have more done.

Stay safe, my loves!

Blogging in my Head

Yes, I've been blogging in my head again. Maybe I should invest in that Dragon program that types while you talk. That would be so much easier than my constant typo-fixing. Anyway...
My Christmas gift socks are done. I forgot to take pictures, unfortunately, but they look good. The pair for my brother are big. He's got biggish feet and wears boots most of the time so I made the leg 10". That's a bunch of stockinette! It didn't take long, though, because partway through I hit a good groove and the needles just flew. I made his and Dad's from a cone of undyed wool/bamboo blend that I'd gotten for the etsy shop and have decided that when my stash goes down I'd like to get more yarn on cones. It's so much easier. For example, I didn't have to think about if I had a good color for my brother or if the skein was big enough - I could just knit and dye it when done. I'd like to have cones of both fingering weight and something heavier for sweaters. I'll have to do some saving, of course, because the initial expense is bigger than a single skein, but the price balances out quite nicely in the end.
I had to take Kerry to an orthodontist last week - he needs braces - and decided to stop at Home Depot while we were close. Why? So I could get the paint chips for the colors of the Doctor Who scarf as listed on the http://www.wittyLittleKnitter.com website. I'll be getting a little money for my birthday and am going to get the yarn for a scarf. My plan is to use Vanna's Choice, but with the colors in my purse I'll be ready if another type catches my eye. I'd like to get the colors in fingering weight, too (I don't trust my dyeing skills to match them) so I can knit up some socks and maybe a couple of ties for some favorite podcasters. I thought a long skinny fingering weight scarf might be nice as a belt or headband, too. We'll see how things go. I may wind up having to order what I need.
On to some podcasts! One of my favorites, Smart Mouths, is ending. The hosts have had increasingly harder times getting together to record. I'm going to miss listening to them. I have found some new Doctor Who podcasts to listen to. I absolutely love Hoo on Who. They are a father/son team who talk mostly about older episodes. The older episodes were just the father and guests, and I'm going back to listen to some of those as well. I also love The Happiness Patrol. I found this one because of my cyber-crush on Tardis Tara, the genius behind the Witty Little Knitter site. This show has four regular hosts and is hilarious. They all have lots of information about Doctor Who and its history and seem to know everyone in Who fandom. Two of the hosts, Tara and Lela, actually tracked the cast and crew of Doctor Who in Utah and got to meet the cast. It sounded like such a great time.
There's a newer knitting podcast that I really enjoy. It's called Knitting Pipeline. Paula, the host, is from the next county over. It's neat to hear her talk about nearby places. She's a great knitter and has interesting stories both about knitting and bagpiping, her other love.
Khloe has been taking guitar lessons. She's pretty good. She has a knack for music and picks things up rather quickly. I have to remind her to practice, though, becuse she'd rather sit and complain about being bored. Ugh. I hope this "bored" phase ends soon - there's not much that's more annoying than someone complaining of boredom.
Kerry doesn't want to give up wearing my wool socks. I've cast on a pair for him, but I really need to give myself a small-needle break. Of course, being selfish, I want to work on something for me as well. Never fear, the boy will get his socks - and I may just let him keep the ones that he loves so much.
I need to get going - I started watching Buffy on Netflix and now I can't think about anything else. It's quite a show. I've queued up Close Encounters and Jurassic Park 3 as well - two of my gotta-watch all-time favorite movies. It's going to be a television day, can you tell?