Kung Fu Knitting

Well it's my Hobbit name! May Overhill of Nobottle I bet you'd like one, too I found this quote yesterday: The only gift is a portion of thyself. -Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer and philosopher (1803-1882) It's rather apropos for this time of the year, don't you think? But I'd ammend it to say, "The best gift is a portion of thyself." When someone is really there with you, when they give of their time, when they obviously have done something for you that took a lot of thought and energy or when they have truly shared a part of who they are with you, it makes life so sweet and meaningful. And that is truly a gift.

I finished 1, countem 1, freaking sock this year. (But boy has it been stinky year!) So let me show it off in its unblocked glory: This little guy has been sitting around for some time now just waiting for a toe. I finished it the other night at Stitch'N Bitch, and I have to say that I'm a little proud of this sock. I really like the way my yarn turned out with my pattern. There are a couple of variations I'd like to try, meaning that my interest is still piqued. So hopefully the second won't take another year to knit.

I made this one for my mom for her birthday. It's not quite how I envisioned it when I started, but I think that particular vision would be great for a child's hat. This one is whimsical enough for an adult, don'tcha think? Details: US 7, 16" circular needle, Knit Pick's WOTA and Andean Silk (left over KSH and Merino Sock! for the flower, WOTA for the felted leaf). Picot hem that was knitted together as I knit the hat up from the bottom. It looks a little shinier in the picture than in real life ( I adjusted to color so that it showed more true to life).

Just when I am feeling the worst and am looking for something positive to cheer me up, the kids at work seem to pick up on it. (they are so amazing!) Today was one of those days but I ended up playing, I Love You! It's a tag game we made up, but you run around hugging the players while saying I love you when you catch them. How nice is that? Everyone you are playing with wants you to hug them. In fact, although they are running away from you, in reality they are all vying for your affection. :sigh: It's so simple, real and practically artless. I mean there's really only one level of duplicity involved and it's all mutually agreed upon. Not only was I treated to this lovely game, but there was just what I needed: much close and quiet story reading. I mean remember when you were little, what was one of the most reassuring, comforting activities? I remember lying in bed with my father and all my siblings and having him read or tell us wonderful stories. I remember feeling ...

Though it was December, it was still fall in Atlanta. The sterility of winter hadn't set in. The air was still warm, a little humid and fragrant, almost sweet. Flowers lingered on vines across chainlink fences in alley ways and sidewalk cracks. Some trees still had leaves, but many were busy turning. A few days were quite warm (70's!), and on others, the skies were bright and blue, the sunshine being so much more intense in Atlanta. There are lots of interesting little neighborhoods to explore In Atlanta, and in some of the artsier ones, people have taken it upon themselves to transmogrify street signs into petite billboards. It's a different sort of place that produces "I love you" graffiti, don'tcha think? Or better yet, contains buildings with quotes from Noam Chomsky and Arundhati Roy spray painted on their sides: "Everyone is worried about stopping terrorism. There is a simple solution. Stop participating in it." Of course, this wasn't rea...

Everything that I hold dear, I hold it all for you. The light warming my back as I knit in the sun. The smell of a passerby's perfume. (what scent was that?) The laugh I hear across the room. A hand brushed lightly across a knee. The breeze that just lifted my scarf so gently, it flowed over her skin and his and hers. Around the corners and through the city until I know that it touched you, too. It touched everyone. (as did the sun) And I felt you sigh with me. I recently discovered Walt Whitman and I am simply taken by his work. I can't imagine how I had never read anything of his before. And it's such happenstance that I even came across it. Someone left a bunch of National Geographics in a local laundrymat and I happened to pick one up and start paging through it last week. I came upon an article about Walt Whitman and was drawn in by his lovely and evocative words. Key exerpts were paired with photos and a short story of his life. After reading and rereading portions o...

As I mentioned earlier, I owe several exchange posts to partners. One is Annie over at Knittibell . She was a great secret pal and I appreciate all the thought and effort that went into her packages. So colorful! And can you believe it? Knitting Nature! This is one of the most awesome books I have seen in a while. And look at the little black sheep tape measure Here is the one skein item: a pair of fingerless mitts made from Artfibers Kurasawa and a leftover skein! The pattern is from Knitty. Aren't they lovely? The yarn is so soft,too. And look how well they fit! I wear them almost everyday now that it is cooler. Thanks so much, Annie! She also sent me an extra skein of kidsilk haze! How cool is that? Wish me luck today. I have an interview for a grad school program I'd like to get into and then I am off on vacation, my first in 11 months!

The past two months haven't been a good ones here in kung fu knitting land. I think I have been depressed. Well, I know that I have been. I mean, about two months ago I stopped doing a lot of stuff that I normally do, like blog and knit and read. And I had a few days where I was barely able to keep it together. I mean I was on the verge of crumbling into a little heap. Yes, a little heap of sad-Miriness. I thank my sister and Ms. Missy for getting me through there. I'm no longer in danger of heapness, small nor large. In fact, I feel more balanced than I have for a long while. I'm not exactly sure what brought on this bout of melancholy. I was under a lot of stress to try to find another job that fits my schedule so that I can keep my School Age Program job. I have one now that fits the bill for the time being. So that's a little better, but I really think I was suffering from some sort of post-trauma depression. I mean it felt so good to get out of my old relationship....

Sometimes things happen to let you know that you've made the right decision. Today was my first day back working in my after school program. I was having fun with the kids on the back playgound and they asked if we could go for a walk. I said wouldn't it be even cooler if we went to the falls? So we asked the-coolest-boss-ever if we could take our little jaunt and she said, "I love impromptu activities!" Cool or what? So off we went: (This would be the same place that I lost my shoe! Ahem!) I took half of the kids right up to falls. They got all misted. We looked at the fossil ripples in the exposed gorge walls. We threw a bunch of rocks. We headed back down stream with all of our shoes. While walking back one of the really sweet second grade boys said to me: This place is great! (then he punched his hand up towards the sky and said) It's the best day of my entire life! I suppose that he's only 7, but I helped him have his best day ever. I couldn't have do...

At different points in my life, I've thought that I had it figured out. But I've never been that satisfied with what I have been doing. My last stint as a temp has really crystalized this for me. I just cannot sit at a desk all day or work in a lab all day. It's not me and I shouldn't fight it. I'm playful and fun, active and structured. I like to explore the world and share it with other people. I'm creative and imagintive. I love little kids. I was really happy working at the school age program last year even through all the crap that happened. In fact, the staff, the kids, and the activities that went on there were the shining moments during my break up, excluding the wonderful support I got here, of course. All this summer I have missed people calling me Momo, I haven't had a good game of head hunter and no one has given me a spontaneous hug, a just because moment of innocent affection. So I have made two decisions. The first is that I am going to retur...

Or 10 ways to get your ass kicked to the curb 10. You never ask any personal questions, so that by the fourth date you have no idea that I have a graduate degree or what fields I studied in college. 9. You call me right after I text you. If I didn't call you, then it means that I couldn't. 8. You invite me to dinner then later ask me to cook you dinner. 7. I ask you for a later date time, then you stipulate an even later one. You then proceed to show up earlier than I asked you to, nevermind the time you wanted. 6. You show up dressed down and early. 5. You show up unwashed and early. 4. I look like a hot, foxy momma and you don't say a damn thing about it! 3. By the way, you're moving out of town in a couple of weeks??? 2. Yes, there is a thing called dinner conversation. It's interactive and generally themes build upon each other in a stimulating fashion. 1. You try to school me on rocks. If you hadn't committed numero diez you'd know that, yes, indeed, I ...

Look who arrived! Look what was inside! Artyarns Ultramerino - pretty like violets Thanks Bev! . I can't believe that you were my partner. It's such a small world here. I loved the Cool and Sunny socks you made out of this yarn. I hope mine turn out as nice. Bev also sent along a CD with some great tunes, chocolate, a nice textured sock pattern, and a cool postcard. Thanks! Now I have all the stuff to send along for my partner except the postcard! Look out Yarn Aboarders !

Cayli was my first swap partner on the KR Gift Elf Exchange. I had a great experience swapping with her. And over the months we have continued to communicate through each others blogs. I feel very lucky to have met her. Even luckier this week! Look at the suprise that came in the mail! All wrapped up so pretty! With a lovely card. A gorgeous handspun, handdyed yarn. With a personalized skein label. When I look at it it's telling me that it might like to be a pair of socks with a simple stitch pattern. I think it would be lovely. The colors are beautiful together. Cayli, you rock! This is such an awesome gift. Thanks for being one of the people that's been part of making my life better and better. Thanks so much!!!

Here's the proof! The top picture is me in the ring with my trainer. He's got focus mitts on that he's having me hit. (they are new and really hard, ouch!) Basically, he tells me which combinations and such to throw and he throws them at me, too. It's a really intense workout with force meeting force. The second one is me on the heavy bag. I usually go for 3 or 4 rounds on it before getting into the ring. This particular bag is pretty heavy. And having worked on it and with my trainer that day really cut up my knuckles eventhough I'm all wrapped up inside my gloves. My friend that was visiting came into the ring, and did some rounds, too. You were so cute, Mushy!

I have a wonderful friend visiting me from out of town this week so I haven't had much time to blog or comment. Sorry y'all for being a blog lurker. I'm having a lot of fun though. :-)

For some reason knitting has been a little stressful for me lately. So I decided to relax and crochet my one skein secret pal project. There's just something about crocheting that's really soothing for me, especially long rows of SC. It's just rhythmic and repetative in a nice, tranquil way. I'm using Lisa Souza Sock! Merino in Garnet. The colors are really subtle. It's rather like sunshine dapples. I'm loving the way it's looking. If you're into swapping and scarves, here's one you might enjoy and is still open: Funky Scarf Swap Thanks, Cayli for posting about it! Yesterday I did 8 rounds in the ring! It was a personal best for me. When I took off my gloves and unwrapped my hands there was skin peeling off two of my knuckles - gross but kinda burly! I've also been learning this crazy punch combination: jab, cross, jab, cross, hook, cross, step to right, jab, jab, cross, low hook, hook, cross. My trainer calls it the Willie Monroe waltz.

More Eye Candy

YAEP (Yet Another Exchange Post) I recently joined Yarn Aboard II exchange hosted by the lovely Amanda of ClothesKnit . This exchange is a little different from the norm. There are several boxes that will be sent from one person to the next until they come back to the original sender. You can only keep the box for 5 days and then you must mail it along to your Yarn Aboard pal downstream. I joined the sock yarn exchange so I bet you can guess what's in the picture. (If not, I'll tell you later) It's the yarn my pal requested. The colors are a bit unusual, but I think they look great together. I hope my pal thinks so, too. They are amongst her favorites. I just have to gather together some goodies to pop in along with the yarn. You don't know when the box will come, so you have to be prepared. As a matter of fact, I am auditioning some chocolates right now!

You know I was just thinking the other day about how happy I am. Really, my life is about 3000 times better without my Ex-Faux-SO in it. There's no one there constantantly picking on me, putting me down, stressing me out, ignoring me or any of that crap. I've stopped being afraid. I'm so much more relaxed. I enjoy everything more fully. And I can feel the pleasure of it down into my toes. It's an awakening happening in my mind and spirit and body. (Ever read The Awakening by Kate Chopin?) Of course my new, carefree life has also brought me some other problems, but for the most part I have been sailing along and experiencing things as they happen. And doing a good job getting over the rough patches I think. Sometimes I do get a little lonely, but being a little lonely is an order of magnitude better than being miserable, right? And plus, most of the time I feel pretty happy. But I am not sure that just sailing along is good enough. I think I need to find out what is it t...

Last week my One skein pal sent me another wonderful package. I just have to say to my pal that you've really nailed my yarn tastes! Look at the beautiul Artfibers Tsuki she got for me. It's a lovely dark teal that changes color in different lights. It's so soft. I've been rubbing it on my neck....It will make a lovely scarf. And speaking of which she also sent me this great pattern for making a drop stitch scarf. My One Skein Pal was also kind enought to slip in some goodies. A great CD, as you can see. There are some songs that I know and love and others are by artists that I'm really glad to be introduced to. Thanks! My thoughtful pal also sent a nice foot cream to go with the hand cream she sent last time. (Ahem, it's a good thing, too. My feet need some TLC). And look at this book. She says it's a nice easy read that one of her secret pals sent to her. How neat is that! Thank you my one skein friend!

Isn't she a doll?

I have always identified with other redheads. We're a bit rare and we need people to look up to and to emulate. We need to be understood in all of our redheadedness. When I was a child there was one in particular that I had an affinity with. You might be able to guess from the title but I will let following picture remind you of reading time with your elementary school librarian. Yes, Alexander and I had a few things in common. We were both a bit grumpy as children. We both hated lima beens, my pajamas sucked and I never seemed to get the right colored sneakers. But as a child you're really not in control of all that stuff. Your job is basically to learn how to react to all of that stuff in the best way possible. Learning how to deal is one of the greatest life lessons. But when you're thirty-something, you call the shots. You make the decisions and you really have no one else to blame for any stupidity going on in your life. *sigh* I just don't know what got into me to...

pure knits I thought about ordering yarn from pureknits for quite some time. I mean they stock handpainted cashmere sock yarn and Yarntini yumminess, who wouldn't want to shop there? So last Sunday I managed to rein myself in while purchasing some neat-o yarn for experimentation. There were two yarns that I had been thinking about buying. The first was the worsted Malabrigo which pure knits began carrying recently. The second was the banana silk yarn. I have a crocheted hat pattern from Stitch Diva Studios that turned out beautifully in this yarn (look at their customer gallery). It would make a great gift. So shipping is ultra-fast with these folks. My package was shipped on Monday and delivered on Wednesday. The packaging was A+ splendid. The yarn skeins were put up in individual plastic bags tied with lovely ribbons. I couldn't believe that I also received a hand written note about my yarns and a personal comment on my location. Tres nice, don't you think? Then, of co...

What would you think about a girl that came home from a "date" with only one shoe? Would you suspect that she accidently slipped off the edge of a creek bank and was nearly submersed in the rushing waters coming off the falls she visited late at night - but managed somehow to save her cellphone? Probably not, but it could happen.

I always seem to get so lucky in swaps! My latest treasures are some lovely stitch markers from Holly at Hollyarns Handpainted Yarn . Aren't they cute! I love the way she wrapped the tops up. Very original! They will be great for lace!!! I'm also actually doing some knitting of my own as I alluded to the other day. The Noni bag is coming along brilliantly. I think it will be a stunner, but my poor swap partner has had to wait so long! She'll get some other goodies, too, for being such a good sport!

Yesterday was an absolutely fabulous day. To start out, I woke up and felt wonderful. I got a nice 2 mile run in and did my errands. Later I got a call from a guy that I saw earlier this week. He invited me to go sailing. I skipped boxing, but it was so worth it. Sailing is just about the coolest thing I have done here in Ithaca. It's a small, fast boat. When it takes off, one side will be leaning into the water and so you have to use your body weight to keep it from capsizing. So I was in this harness that you could attach to the boat and I had to stand on the side and lean out over the water. Very fun. Later my Stitch'N bitch friend cut my hair. She did a lovely job. I've got lots of layers now and so much more curl. My hair feels and looks fabulous. I was walking around town today feeling like a princess, so light and airy. Thanks, L!!!Plus I went to the our Stitch'N Bitch last night and got some more time in on my exchange project. Ah, if only everyday were so love...

I've had a pretty great weekend and it had a lot to do with my friend J here in Ithaca. J's the kind of person that just seems to enjoy himself at every moment. He's smart and serious and all that, and yet he can be quite silly. He likes to say, ma-nam-a-namp. At fun times, like Yoda, he does speak....I mean who else will start an impromptu game of hide and seek in Borders with me? Or sing songs from Grease with me on the phone when we both don't really know the words? And he's just so into whatever it is that he's into that it's contagious. He's a great guy. Thanks J, for making me smile today and everytime I see you. To another J in Ithaca, I just want to reiterate what a class act that I think you are. To J in SP, I miss you! Someone's coming down this week to the gym to spar with me. It's like a fight-date. I can't wait to see how I'll do.

We did a lot of spin art at my program. I rescued some and wanted to make something with it all. I think it will look nice in the end.