Is it Winter?

Yesterday, it snowed. Well really it snowed Tuesday night, . . . and freakin' stuck to the ground! Oh and it didn't melt until about noon! People, it's October! It's also Northeast Michigan so I shouldn't be surprised and in my head I'm not, but in my heart I'm not ready. My heart is still in Southeast Michigan, where maybe, maybe (but probably not) it will snow around Thanksgiving, or really, closer to Christmas.Thank goodness that's not my car - I have a garage now that you can actually park cars in and you don't have to scrape snow off of them! This is some poor soul's car in the parking lot at Wal-Mart. I used to live in Kalamazoo. It didn't take me long to get used to it's crazy lake effect snow winters, in fact I liked them. I was younger then.


Behold my birthday present. It feels dirty, because it's all hidden like in my garage. It should be out on the lawn because truly, it's not dirty to be a Democrat. I know lots of other Democrats and they are fine upstanding citizens. Maybe that's my mission up here, to teach the poor Republicans that Democrats are people too.I'm so excited to vote! I'm going to drop off my daughter and go get in line at the Word of Life Baptist Church (that's where I vote, which I also find weird - downstate you vote at schools, not churches)and wait to pull the lever, or fill in the dots, or poke the holes, however you do it in Michigan now! I'm smart, I can figure it out!

I just got back from Knit Night at the Library! It was the first one and about 20 people showed up! Awesome, I didn't bring the camera because I didn't want to freak people out, but I'll bring it next time, because apparently the fact that I was knitting lace freaked people out. In a good way. But I felt like a show off, which I'm totally not. I spent a good portion of the evening telling people that they too can knit lace, all ya gotta know is yo, ssk, and k2tog and you are hooked up.

(It's actually much farther along than that, I just haven't taken pictures of it recently)

Yesterday was my birthday and guess what I got? I'm totally going to take a picture of it tomorrow because it's too dark to take one now, but . . . .

I got an Obama/Biden yard sign! Yay me! Unfortunately I can't post it in the yard because of stupid association rules, but I put it in the garage window so everyone can see it. People are already giving me the evil eye. I live in the Republican haven of Northeast Michigan. But I refuse to keep my mouth shut or my opinions to myself. So there!

I also got a tee shirt that says "Obama Mama". Lovin' it. Now you all know where I stand, don't hold it against me. I live with a republican and he still likes me most of the time. (Although in this election he's voting with me, first time ever!) So I'm ok. Really.

Oh, and Saturday night? Got my first roadkill. Well, it wasn't technically mine, since I wasn't driving, but it was the first roadkill I've experienced first hand. We were coming around a curve, fairly fast (faster than I would've liked but Joe's boss was driving so who am I to say anything) and the porcupine just sort of walked into the car. Boom. Gone. Then the other passengers spent the rest of the ride looking for eyes. People, this sort of thing does not happen where I come from. Street lights. Miss them.

Oh and I also got invited to be in a book club. Fun! But even the book club in run by a republican, although she is a teacher and she kept herself so neutral that I assumed she was a democrat and totally embarrassed myself expressing my opinions. But the invitation still stood so she musn't have minded too much! Things are looking up in the Northeast corner of the Lower Peninsula. But I still miss home.

It Wasn't Lost

The camera wasn't lost. Savannah was peeking over my shoulder and saw that I thought it was lost and quickly informed me that she knew exactly where it was, in her room! I should have known, little camera hog that she is. It's what she wants for Christmas, a tie blanket and her own digital camera. Hmmm. . .

Anyway, here are some pictures of fluff . . . well it used to be fluff now it's string! Well actually it's the fluff that's left to be spun and the spun fluff too and my gorgeous spindle from Spinsanity. Speaking of . . . my birthday is Sunday and my husband is now in Lansing. I've been asking him every day if he's gotten to ThreadBear yet to buy me a new spindle, because every girl needs more than one you know!I made a good dent in that fluff ball, because I knitted away on the lace last night (that's it sitting behind the fluff and only have 20 more rows or so to finish! So while I was watching America's Next Top Model, I spun!That's the cool sock I was telling you about. It's a pattern called Simple Pleasure from my friend Terry Ross. It's just two rows repeated but with this yarn, I think it looks so cool! The yarn is kind of brownish with hints of green and purple and it's white Panda Silk that the owner of the lys overdyed. Silk apparently doesn't take dye well so the white shows through. The effect of the dye, along with this pattern reminds me of knights in armor! I love it. I wish I was a better photographer so you all could see what I'm talking about.

Well I've got to go to work today. No knitting for me. :(

The Camera Ran Away

Once again, my camera is incognito. Do you notice a trend here? It's a bummer too because I started a cool pair of socks with neato yarn and they aren't beige! I'll take a picture when I find the camera. It's sure to show up.

Today I've promised monogamy to the lace project. It has fallen by the wayside, due to my new love affair with the fluff. I've spun almost 8 oz. of beige fluff. It's all wrapped around coffee cans and coke bottles (one pepsi bottle snuck in there, the traitorous thing!). I think I'm going to google plying today when I can't knit lace any longer and read up before I try it again.

I was gonna go get my haircut, but who wants to do that on your day off when you know you could be knitting? I'm really letting myself go here!

Off to look for the camera.

Huntin' Season

Today I saw a sign that said to me "Welcome to Northern Michigan". It was attached to the local fruit market and it said:

"Complete Deer Processing Done Here" (no of course I don't have a picture, I have not yet learned to keep my camera in my car to take advantage of such bloggable moments)

At first I thought, being the southeast MI girl that I am, now why would the deer need to be processed? It's not like you can OWN a deer like a pet or anything, they don't need licenses . . . oh . . . they mean processed, like bologna. Yikes.

Now I'm not getting on a soap box or anything, because I like meat just as much as the next carnivore, although I prefer to get my meat all nicely packaged and anonymous from grocery store. I'm just not a hunter. And here I am in the middle of hunting land. My husband keeps warning me that soon I will see dead bambis adorning the roofs of people's cars. I honestly don't know how I will deal with that.

And it's not just bambis. Some guy from my husband's work, got a bear license and killed himself a bear. He says they make pretty good jerky. Although he just got a little bear, supposedly the big ones are better meat. Surreal.
By the way, did you know if you google images of bears you get the most interesting content? Why? I don't understand. I've never called it a bear!

The Spanish Award for Spreading Friendship

Holly gave me an award! For spreading friendship around the world! How sweet! Even though so far I've only spread it mostly around Michigan, Oklahoma and Canada, I still think this whole blogging thing is really cool.

So I've got to send this award to other people who I think are doing the same. I'm new, so I don't know if I can think of the required eight people but here are a few who fit the bill for me.

Kristinknits - she introduced me to this whole blogging thing, love her!

Megbean - she of the awesome spinning and knitting, my Alpena Library buddy

Terry Ross - Oh awesome designer of socks, my first friend in Alpena, met her on Rav

Ok, I also would like to give an extra shout out to FatCat, Spinsanity, Amy and Kristina whom Holly also awarded with this award! That makes seven. I'm still searching for number 8!

Fluff Turns to String - Who Knew?

Here's what's left of my fluff

Here is what it became!
I had 8oz. of fluff, I wonder how much yarn it will make? I'm thinking if I ply it, it will be between dk and fingering weight. Yes, it is still suffering from a slight thick/thin problem, but I'm getting more control every time I pick up the spindle. I love it!

It's so nice to be back in the library. You wouldn't believe the things you miss. Like the smell of a drunk. It's not so much on the breath, but an odor of alcohol that just wafts off the body!

Or people returning books that smell like smoke and have cat hair stuck to them with some unknown substance.

Or realizing that the entire juvenile picture book section is just as messed up at this library as it is everywhere else.

It's like home! (Not really, because the Blair Memorial Library will always be my library home and nothing can compare. It's the best library ever, I swear. All that stuff I mentioned above? You only experience that if you work in a library. Patrons of the BML only see the good stuff. Promise! If you ever visit Clawson, stop in and ask for Kristin or Elizabeth and tell them I sent you. Really.)

Feelin' Kinda . . . Eggshell?

Everything I'm working on today is eggshell. Maybe. It's that off white color that can't be described . . . or can be described, like, a thousand ways, you know, like Eskimos and snow.For example, above, you will see my first official big ball of fluff, from one of the LYS's. The owner said it drafts easily, and she was right. It's just like the fluff Spinsanity sent me, it drafts awesome! So awesome, I'm not even really spinning the thick/thin sort of yarn, just the slubby kind!
Now, I have a lace horror story. Those of you who are faint of heart should probably stop here. It was ugly. I don't have very good photographic documentation, but I think I can accurately describe it. See the largish hole below?
Well, I was happily knitting along, having pretty much memorized the repeat, watching some awesome episode of one of my tv shows (this was so traumatic I've forgotten which one) when a largish puppy running at full throttle lunged across my lap ripping the needles right out of my hands!

I sat there, with my hands in mid air, in total shock. I was desperately afraid to look at the yarn. I took a very deep breath and picked it up. And entire repeat plus had slid off the needles. And no, I did not have a life line. I think I stopped breathing. And then I started swearing. I probably called the puppy some names he really didn't deserve. And then , as if the lace were my own baby, my momma instinct kicked in. I became calm. I grabbed an extra needle and picked up what I thought looked like stitches and to the best of my ability, I counted the stitches before and after and managed to figure out where in the repeat the horror began, and restitched it! While it's not perfect, I think when blocked maybe the person it's being made for won't even see it. She's not a knitter so it's ok.
Lace pictures look like crap until you block the stuff. I've got five more repeats plus one more smallish chart and I'll be done! Then I'll get the good stuff for you!

Now I should really go make the lemon bars I promised my children. I promised them last night only to realize I had no eggs. I had a small revolt on my hands. I promised after school the lemon bars would be waiting for them, and I fear for my life if they are not on the counter. If you don't hear from me soon, maybe someone should call Alpena and check! :0

Brief Update

The dryer is fixed. Laundry is being done. Life is back to normal?

Knitting the Adamas shawl, on the 8th repeat, gonna add a lifeline just in case.

Want to start more socks, but. am. fighting. the. urge!

Job is fine, work tomorrow, get paid time and a half!

Husband away for a week, just me and the rugrats.

House clean, time to go knit. (or spin!)

Don't Move To Northern Michigan

Sure, it tries to suck you in with all it's watery and fall leafy splendor, but don't fall for it. Because if your freakin' dryer breaks?


With clothes in the washing machine,


on laundry day,
there is only one person who can fix it! Guess what? He isn't coming to your house for at least two days, and then on the day he is supposed to come, he doesn't call to tell you when he will be here!

But oh well, screw me, because like I said, only game in town. This I know for sure would not happen downstate. Downstate there is a plethora of appliance fixers. If one of them is impolite enough not to call, you call another one, and for a sufficient amount of money, someone shows up at your house relatively soon and fixes your damn dryer!

It's the same with the video stores. One video store. If they don't have what you want, too bad. But guess what I saw at Wal-Mart today? A DVD vending machine. No kidding! You slide your credit card, pick from the list of newish dvd's and boom, there ya go. A dollar a day. Way cheaper than the video store. But weird.

Anyway, it's all sucky and rainy, and I have dirty clothes and dirty carpet all around me. (I can't clean the carpet until the appliance guy comes because my dryer is on the second floor and you all know how those appliance people can be with their dirty wet boots) I'm trying to work on my pretty lace and it's going well . . . now. Two days ago, I was on the 7th repeat of fourteen, when I realized I had screwed up on the fifth repeat. Now, I knew that I had had to pick up a stitch because I was one short, but the denial part of my brain was working overtime and said "Oh Tracy, it won't even show, don't worry!" Ha. When I tried to frog back, there was no way those stitches were going back on the needle. I had to frog the whole damn thing. Now I'm on repeat five. But it's ok. Because so far so good. (I just knocked on the desk)

Register to Vote Today

If you haven't done so already, in Michigan, this is your last chance.

Go to the Secretary of State. I know, it sucks, but bring some knitting, your sure to get some done.

Get in line, wait, knit, and tell them you want to register to vote. Then you get to vote in the presidential elections.

Awesome. Easy. It's your responsibility as an American. And then if things don't go your way in November you totally have the right to complain. And I'll even listen to you . . .provided you voted!

The First Step is Admitting You Have A Problem

I have a horrible case of too many wips. Not so much startitis, because I started all of these projects at really different times, just never finished them. Witness . . . .
1. The brown yarn? For my NYOBE squares. I'm on number 8 of 11, if you don't count the 12th one I need to knit for myself, so really, wouldn't you want to start another project too?

2. Orange yarn? My pretty Briar Rose Scarf. A couple of repeats shy of finishing if I want a nice, medium length scarf. I told myself when I started I would make a really long one you could wear a bunch of different ways, but a girl can change her mind you know.

3. That bluish yarn stuck in the book? That's a second sock. You guys know all about Second Sock Syndrome, right? Hey, at least I cast it on.
4. Moving on to the second table (my knitting is taking over the living room) we have a shawl, a wedding present for my former boss, who is getting married in June. I know, June SEEMS like a long way away, but it's lace, and it's big and I'm sure it will take me some time.

5. That pink yarn is not mine! My baby is knitting a scarf! She knits so tight, that I have to knit a row for her now and then to loosen it up so she can fit the needle into the stitches! She knits alongside me at night while we watch delicious reality tv!

My job. I am a total wuss. At my old job, we would work the circ desk for an hour at a time, then work on whatever else needed doing, come back and work the desk for a second hour, etc..., but we were only ever on our feet for about an hour at a time. Here? Yesterday, I stood for seven hours. Thursday it was five. I won't take a picture of the wicked blister on my toe, just suffice it to say, it freakin' hurts. Otherwise, it's nice to be back at the library. Same computer system, so I don't really have any of those freak out moments, where you think you've broke the computer, or accidentally charged someone, like, hundred of dollars. Just learning this libraries policies and I should be fine. And my feet will toughen up. Especially when they see a paycheck and can walk over to the LYS and by some roving. No yarn right now, but stuff to spin? It's a new thing to stash. :)

GO ME!!!!

I got a job! I am now employed as the new circulation person at the Alpena County Public Library! YAY! I'm psyched! It doesn't pay well, and as the director pointed out, it's the bottom of the totem pole for sure, but it's what I loved doing back in Clawson at the Blair Memorial Library (always the best library ever!) and I can't wait to start! I start training tomorrow. Awesome!

So today I have to knit and do laundry like a mad woman. Oh, and I want to spin some more. Here, let me see if I can find the pictures of my yarn. There it is on the spindle . . . .
And there it is wound into a skein! It's very twisty. I for sure over twisted it, which I hear, can be a design feature, but not the one I was going for.

Did I mention the second best part about working at the library? Knitters. I hear there are like, five serious knitters there! I met one lady, who knits yarn that she spun from her dogs fur! And Meg, she rocks. Check out the pretty scarf she spun and knit for her boss' retirement, it's on her blog, you may have to scroll down.

The first best part about working at the library? It's a combination of things. First, I will have money to buy yarn and fiber! Second . . . it's around the block from the LYS!