Polar Bear Take 2

I decided to give the polar bear another go, and I think this one turned out better, even though the eyes are still a little flat.

I went back to karate tonight, but didn't make it through the entire class. I lost what little strength I had and had to sit down. Sensei understood though, because he'd had the same sickness I had. He said that maybe he'd given it to me, since we both got sick the same day.

Mr. Eiffling was there from the Greenville dojo. Sensei had asked him to come and give Barrett and Josh an evaluation since they will be testing soon. I was nervous about him being there, even though he is really nice. Sensei had said he hoped he could get him to come more often, and I hope he does. It will be nice to have a fresh perspective on things. Besides that, Mr Eiffling is an outstanding martial artist.

One thing he mentioned to Barrett (Josh wasn't there tonight) was that he and Josh should train together as often as they can outside of class. Having a training partner will make such a difference in the quality of your training. I was thinking, "Boy I wish I'd had a training partner. All I had was James!"
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Two Fer

You get a two fer today. Two sketches of the same thing. The first one was done last night while I was rebooting my computer. The second I did on my lunch break today. Yes, I know the first one is dated 3/3, but that's because I hadn't turned over my calendar page and wrote the wrong date down.

Lately here, I've been plagued with start-over-itis. I hadn't planned on doing the monthly dishcloth this time, but later I decided to do it anyway. I got all the way to day #4, and decided I'd chosen the wrong color for it, so I ripped it out. The pattern is of a bunny, and I really want to do it in pink. I don't have a solid pink, but I do have a real nice variegated that I'll do it in. Or maybe I'll just do it in an off white that I have. Also, I was knitting a grey scarf out of some leftover yarn when I decided it would end up too short and wide. So, despite being over half way through, I ripped it out and started over. I'd knitted about 10" and realized that this time I'd gotten it too skinny. So I ripped it out again. I think it's just right this time.

If only I could shake this persistent cough, I'd feel a whole lot better. Then I might feel like actually posting something interesting. The doc gave me some cough medicine, but it makes me so drowsy I can't take it during the day. It would make for some unusual posts, though.

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How I Learned to Knit

I'd wanted to learn to knit for about as long as I can remember. I distinctly remember as a small child asking my mother to teach me how to knit. The only problem with that was that she didn't know how to knit.

"Your grandma tried to teach me once, but I just couldn't do it. It's too hard. Here, let me teach you how to crochet."

So I dutifully learned to crochet, but I never really enjoyed it. My heart longed to knit.

My grandma had known how, but she'd had a massive stroke when I was just three years old. Her right side was paralyzed, and the part of her brain that controls speech was damaged. She was never able to use her right hand or speak clearly again. I thought about asking her anyway if she could teach me, but my mother was afraid it would make her feel bad if she couldn't make herself understood. I never asked her, but in retrospect, I wish I had. I tried to think of anyone else in my family that may know how to knit, but no one did. They all crocheted.

"Oh, I tried to learn to knit, but I couldn't. It's too hard. My fingers just weren't made for knitting. Here, let me show you how to crochet."

So I continued on with my crocheting, though I didn't really enjoy it. My heart yearned to knit. When I was in the Navy, I wanted to knit a sweater for my now ex-husband. I found some absolutely beautiful yarn that I just loved. The only problem was, I didn't know how to knit. Yeah, there are patterns out there for crocheted sweaters, but they just weren't what I wanted. They didn't have the drape of a knitted fabric. They seemed stiff as a board to me. So I crocheted him a huge granny square afghan. We were divorced before I finished it.

Even after I'd gotten out and returned home, the dream to knit stayed with me. I was talking to one of my dad's neighbors over the back fence and somehow the subject came up. I mentioned that I'd always wanted to learn to knit and she said,

"I tried it once and it's just not....It isn't....You'd be better off sticking to crochet."


Fast forward five years. It is 1998, or thereabouts. I was perusing the craft department at Wal-mart when I spotted a I Taught Myself Knitting kit. It had everything I needed to learn to knit except yarn, but I already had that. I decided I was going to buy it and I was going to learn to knit. Finally. After 30 years of longing, I was going to learn to knit.


I bought the kit. I got home and eagerly sat down and read the book. I got my yarn out and started trying to knit, and guess what...

It just wasn't working. My fingers didn't seem to be made for knitting. It was too hard. I just couldn't do it. Needles and yarn ended up stuffed in the bottom of a craft drawer, forgotten...

Until the day I was cleaning out my craft cabinet and found them again. I decided I would try just one more time. I don't know what was different, but that time it just clicked. It worked. My fingers seemed made for knitting. It was easy, and I could do it.


I was living my dream. I was knitting. And I've never looked back...
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We're Saved!

We're Saved! UFOs will save us from global warming!


There wasn't much warm about this

Don't let the blueness and sunshine fool you. It stayed pretty chilly all day, and is supposed to get even colder before morning.

Yesterday, Cody brought home a note from his art teacher. It was one of those "If you have any of this stuff laying around the house and would like to donate it" kind of things. Guess what was on the list...

Yarn--any kind, any color

Have I got yarn to donate??? I bagged up all my baby/fingering weight yarn, about half of my sport weight, and a few odds and ends of worsted weight to take up there. The small sack is some crochet cotton. That's that stuff that is about the thickness of sewing thread.

This is what is left of my stash, including the new stuff I just got.

It's still a lot of yarn, but I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Speaking of light, as I sit here in front of my computer desperately trying to think of something interesting and clever to say, I realize my brain is lost in total darkness. There's only one thing left to do in a situation like that...fix a big mug of hot chocolate and curl up with some Jane Austin. I'm reading Emma now. It's not as captivating as Pride and Prejudice, but a good read nonetheless.

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Polar Bear

He almost looks like he's smiling, but I wouldn't try to cuddle this one.

Ok, One More

A variation on one I already did. I haven't heard anything else from Shelly, so I'll just hold off on anything else for now.

Since I have absolutely nothing interesting to talk about, I'll just leave things at that. I'm not even doing the monthly dishcloth. It is the same diagonal pattern that I've done about a gazillion of already, and I just didn't feel like doing it. I'm still suffering the after effects of my recent illness, and I have no energy, strength, or motivation. I sure hope this passes soon...

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Wednesday, And Not A Thing To Say

This heart looks more like it is wearing an obi rather than a scarf. I'm just about out of ideas, so it's back to regular sketches for a while.

I went back to work today, and I am exhausted. We've got more bad weather heading this way. I just hope it's not as bad as the last bad weather we had. I'm going to go try to rest a bit before it hits.

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A Minor Tragedy

I discovered today that my wavy lace shawl, Number 3 in my Stashalong Goals had somehow gotten fruit punch spilled on it. Ok, Cody did it. I don't drink fruit punch.

But that is beside the point. The point is that despite my best efforts with washing it, my shawl now has large pink blotches on it, and they won't go away. What happens now is that instead of trying to dye the shawl and the remaining 4 balls of wool the exact same shade of pink--which I don't really think would fit my vision of what this shawl was meant to be--the shawl will get frogged*, the splotchy wool will get dyed as hanks, then it will be reknit into something else at a later date. Maybe I'll do a felted bowl or something. Those look fun. I will replace the shawl with another stash project.


With that change, my list now looks like this:

1. Prayer Shawl
2. Irish Hiking Scarf
3. Wavy Lace Shawl--replaced with Grey Scarf From Unknown Wool Blend
4. Red Heart Strata Scarf
5. Branching Out Lace Scarf
6. Texas Longhorn Scarf
7. First Time Socks
8. Socks using Magic Loop
9. Socks on DPNs using Knit Picks yarn
10. Socks from Red Heart Strata

I had originally planned on replacing my Red Heart Socks with another project, but I decided against it. If I keep adding new projects to the list in place of the ones I finish, I'll never be able to buy yarn. That doesn't mean I can't start anything else. It just means I still can't buy yarn until I've finished this list.

I have to go back to work tomorrow, and I'm not looking forward to it. I'm feeling much better, but I have no energy. If I'd had a desk job somewhere, I'd have gone back today. But since I have to stand on my feet all day in an oven hot factory, I just didn't feel up to it this morning. I did a little bit of housework, and kept having to stop and rest. The simplest tasks wore me out. Well, we'll see how it goes tomorrow. If I need to, I'll come home at lunch.


* Frog--rip it, rip it
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Look What I Got!

The yarn I won for the contest naming the charity got here today. The notice was actually in my mailbox Friday, but I didn't feel like going to the post office to pick it up. I went by and got it this morning when I left the doctor's office.

It includes 2 skeins Patons Divine Chantilly Rose, 5 skeins Patons Voodoo Night Sky, 4 balls Knit Witz Ombre #53, and 1 hank Showstopper #204. I just love that Patons Divine (that's the pink stuff, Buck). It is similar to the Bernat Haven I got for Christmas, but a whole lot softer. I may end up having to make something for *ahem* me with it. Shelly also promised additional goodies, and these are what she included:

2 balls Moda Dea Tutu Pear Green, 3 balls Moda Dea Tutu Geranium, and the nifty little book of bag patterns. Even though I am not really a bag person, I do see some patterns in that book that I like, and I see lots of gift ideas. There are even some drawstring type bags that I can do in guy colors for the boys.

So I did go to the doctor this morning, and I have bronchitis. I could have told you that, but since I can't write my own prescriptions out...well, you know. He gave me an antibiotic, told me to get plenty of rest, fluids, take a couple of days off work, etc. etc...I'm a little paranoid about my lungs. I've had pneumonia twice, and the second time was from a case of bronchitis that I let go for too long. The first time I got pneumonia, I was 11, and it hit me out of nowhere like a ton of bricks. I was outside playing freeze tag with the kids on my street. I was fine then. My mother called me in to take a bath, and before I was finished, my fever was so high that I could not get warm. I don't even remember what my fever was. I went straight from the tub into the bed and my mother brought every blanket in the house to put on me and I still couldn't get warm. The next morning, she took me to the doctor and I ended up in an oxygen tent in the hospital for 8 days getting penicillin shots twice a day. I remember it all so vividly. My lungs haven't been the same since, but I still feel lucky.

If I'd been born 100 years before I was, I'd have died.

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The Bad Thing

The bad thing about being sick when you are the mom is that there is no one to pamper you.

Still sick.

Going to the doctor tomorrow.

Being drug out in the rain last night didn't help, but we were under the first severe storm of the spring. We were under a tornado warning for a while, and felt we needed to be under more substantial shelter. We went over to B and J's. It was bad. I've never seen purple on the radar before, at least not that I can remember. Lots of green, yellow, orange, even red, but not purple.

It was bad, folks.

Gonna go lay back down, now.
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Still Sick

I spent most of the day in bed. I did get up long enough to snap this Saturday Sky photo. It has been very windy all day, and I thought it was cool that I caught this leaf in flight.

Brevity

No sketch today, nor knitting progress to report. I came home from work with a 101.6 fever, so I'm taking it easy tonight. So that I don't leave you completely empty handed, here are the some of the more interesting Site Meter Google search queries:

Fun nurse sketches

desparate "had to go so badly"

becky and paul

bruised lips

Progress Reports Part II

Progress socially:

I got a really nice e-mail from Shelly last night. She acknowledged that of course I had the right to post my sketches on my blog, and would I please continue to submit ideas. She explained that her concern was that someone would get their feelings hurt by thinking that I'd already been chosen to do the logo. Once she actually visited my blog and realized that that was not what I was saying, she apologized. Yes, there were misunderstandings on both sides, and I really did over react a bit. In consideration for her feelings, I will offer a compromise in the form of a disclaimer with each logo idea. Onward to the...


This thing that looks like a large intestine is actually supposed to be a scarf. It looked a lot better in my imagination. Today was definitely an off day as far as sketching goes.

Disclaimer: Sketches presented are ideas only. The final logo and rendering artist have yet to be chosen.

Progress on Dishcloth KAL:

I finally finished it. I really like the way the colors pooled on this one. The yarn is Peaches and Creme something-or-other. I don't remember. I bought a cone of it on clearance several years ago and the band is long since gone back to the abyss from whence it came.

Progress on Prayer Shawl:

It's just over half way finished. The color is Red Heart Tropic Fruit. Remember the other day when I said I'd found a mistake that would not be ignored? Well, I ripped back, and corrected what I thought was the mistake and began knitting again. After about 4 rows, I realized that I'd stopped ripping one row short of where I needed to be. Yep, the mistake was still there. I ripped back again, far enough this time, and corrected the actual mistake, then began knitting once more. So, despite the fact that a lot of knitting has been going on, not much progress has been made. But it's a pretty color...

Progress in school? Cody got two failure notices sent home yesterday. One was only a D-. The other one was an F. How is that progress? Well, since the last progress report--the one in which he had 9 zeroes in that class--he has gotten all 100s and one 90. If he would just do his work, all his grades would look like that. I think he is getting tired of staring at the wall...

I had the strangest dream last night. I dreamed that it was pouring rain, so I had driven Cody to school. I got back home, only it wasn't my house. In my dream, I was living in the house my aunt and uncle lived in when I was a child. They moved out of it some 20 years ago. About the time I got inside, I looked out the glass patio doors and it began to snow. It was snowing the biggest, wettest snowflakes I'd ever seen. I mean, these flakes were about the size of an old silver dollar. That is all I remember of the dream...

When I woke up, this is the sight that greeted me as the sun came up:

All those black specks in the tree are birds. They migrate down here this time of year and fly in huge flocks. They can cover an entire yard and blacken the sky. They chirp constantly. I've even heard them make so much noise that they drowned out my TV. The sound that I thought was rain this morning was them. Sorry for the poor picture quality. The sun wasn't fully up yet.

Tomorrow is another plant shutdown day, but Johnny volunteered me to come in and do a mini-inventory. He is going to bring biscuits. See, he's not all bad...

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Apologies

First off, my apologies for my rant of yesterday. That e-mail I received just touched a nerve. It's not so much that she didn't want me posting my sketches on my blog, but that she was making assumptions about what I was doing without even checking them out. Please be aware that I did not respond to that e-mail in the same ranting style I posted here. Also be aware that posting here in the way that I did helped me calm down enough to respond calmly to the e-mail. I did decline to submit any more of my ideas, but after re-reading her previous e-mails, including that last one, I realized that she didn't really want to see anyone else's ideas anyway. She just wanted someone to draw out her idea. For free...

I did rescind my offer to provide her with pro-bono labor. She can call the local high school and find an art student who may be willing to sketch her logo, if she treats them with a bit more respect than she showed me. Well, no hard feelings--at least on my part--and I wish her luck.



This isn't a logo. It's just a heart. I really like drawing hearts for some reason. I think it's the challenge of making them symmetrical. This one didn't quite make it. Yes, I know there are ways to make a drawing symmetrical, but that takes the challenge out of it. Ya can't really do those tricks in 10 minutes anyway.

Good news! I finally got my Amazon.com account straightened out. I ended up having to call them. I'd tried using the e-mail customer service, but the problem is that each e-mail you send them will go to whoever gets it first. It usually isn't the same person. I'd get the form response about how they couldn't answer e-mail unless it was sent from the address associated with the account. I'd send them a reply telling them that I couldn't respond from that address because I no longer had it. A different customer service representative would send an apology and request certain information. I'd send the information requested, but it would go to still another customer service rep, who would then send me the standard form response about how they couldn't respond to an e-mail unless it was sent from the address associated with the account.

Needless to say, I got tired of running in circles so I just called them and got the matter straightened out in about 5 minutes. I feel really silly now that I found out what I did. When I switched ISPs, I did change the e-mail address on my Amazon account. The only thing is, I got my old address and my new address mixed up and used part of each. No wonder I couldn't find an address that worked! The rep told me what address I had put in (after I verified my identity using other means) and I was able to log in and correct it. I now have the correct address associated with my account, am able to log in, and am ready to spend, spend, spen...Oh, wait. I have no money. Well, it was good while it lasted.

Karate class was good last night as well. Sensei worked the bajeebers out of us. I complimented him on the class saying, "That was such a good workout, you made my hair curl." We got to go over all our empty hand kata, not just the first three or four. He even called sunsu, which surprised me (ok, I had requested it, but he usually doesn't go that far) because I am the only one who knows it. It is nice having more higher ranks in the class for this very reason. For so long it was just James, myself, and a bunch of white and yellow belts. We'd go over seisan kata over and over and over and over, but we'd never work on the higher kata. I like being able to do higher kata in class.

After we did kata, we did some self defense. James participated in the whole class, but I had to ride him pretty hard to get him to stay out on the floor. He'd brought some buddies with him and kept wanting to go sit down and talk to them. Well, he participated in most of the class. We were doing some self defense and he was supposed to be taking me down. As I went down, I, without thinking (mushin), shot my hand out and connected with his groin. That was the last of him participating. There was only about 5 minutes left in the class, so I went and helped Mr. Tarver--the new white belt. He was partnered with Brian, but wasn't getting the move we were supposed to be doing. I spotted his problem right away. He was grabbing Brian's punch and holding on to it instead of blocking it correctly. Therefore, that hand was unable to complete the next move it needed to do. When I pointed this out to him and emphasized the correct way to block, he was better able to grasp the technique.

I've gotten behind on my dishcloth KAL. I hope to finish it later this evening. I'll post pics either later tonight or tomorrow.
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Second And Final Logo Idea

I'd had about 4 or 5 more ideas on logos, but I got an e-mail today informing me that she did not want me "announcing to the world" that I'd been "chosen" to "do the logo", therefore I was not to post the sketches on my blog. Frankly, that just made me mad. I never announced to the world anything. I just volunteered to submit ideas. That's right, I volunteered to do it for free. I wasn't going to get paid a dime for this. Now, she is slapping me down for posting my sketches on my blog. Nobody tells me what I can and cannot post on my blog. It's not like it's copyrighted material or anything, and even if I was I own the copyright on it anyway. I can do whatever I *&^% well please with my own work. The part that really gets me is that according to Site Meter, she hasn't even visited my blog to see what I have up here! She is just making assumptions--slapping me down based on unfounded assumptions!

Not only that, when I volunteer to do something--for free, mind you, I expected to be treated with a little more dignity, respect, and appreciation. So, starting tomorrow we will go back to the ordinary, everyday daily sketches, and my other ideas for the logo--which I thought were actually my best ones--will go unsketched and unpublished.

When people ask you to volunteer to help--for free, mind you--they shouldn't be so persnickety about how that help is presented, else they may run off all their volunteers.
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