Remember how hot it was in July?

This was the scene on my street last night. Look at my sad little face!

Holy crap!

It's, like, -400 degrees outside. Yesterday was a little mini blizzard. When I woke up I was pleasantly surprised by the buckets of snow falling from the sky. Pretty! Fun! But then it kept it up for 12 hours. Cancellations! Accidents! No karaoke tonight, kids. Let's all hole up and play games.

Scattergories!

Other cozy winter activities:

Kitten Naps!


Bakin' savory pies!

Irish hiking scarf!

Baby Alpaca Chunky! It's for dad.

Raglan!

I thought I'd throw together a little raglan cardigan using Cascade Jewel. Jewel is a Manos knock off, and it is really nice. The colors are chewy and full, it is easy to work with, and it knits up beautifully. It also felts real nice, if that's your thing. For my cardi, I didn't really swatch or make a plan or anything. I just sort of assumed I'd get about 4 sts to the inch. I'm only about 5 rows in, so we'll see where we end up. That's what I call "Designing."

Wine!

KT bought this wine because she is allergic to sulfites. She says that most people are allergic to sulfites and that's why they get bad hangovers from red wine. She says that I am probably not allergic to sulfites because red wine is like mother's milk to me, and I have never gotten those monster red-wine-hangovers I've always heard about. See how KT going to culinary school improved all our lives? Now we know about certain kinds of hangovers.

Clean out the pantry!

Snowstorms are the best time to clean out your pantry. Look how happy he is, happy about his clean, clean pantry fulla food! He's a little OCD, though, so don't be disappointed if you clean your pantry out and do not experience this kind of radiant joy. He also gets that look on his face when you show him an Extreme Weiner.

Emerald Isla Yarns!

We're pretty excited cause Esmeralda is dyeing up a batch of this kind of beautiful thing for the shop. It's gorgeous, and I love that she is a super cool lady who lives right here in Clintonville.

That's all for now. Stay warm, my pretties, and stay tuned for stories from San Diego! I'll be at TNNA with Karida, hanging out in North Light's booth, doing promotion stuff for Pints and Purls.
You know, that book we wrote.

Luv,
Bruce

10 10 10 10 for everything everything everything everything

1) WINTER. My love of winter is over. It only took a few weeks for the charm to wear off. If winter were a person I'd punch it. O, tropical District of Columbia, with your handsome 40 degree winter days! Oh, my Lord in Heaven, it is cold. Those of you reading from DC will remember me saying that, in Ohio, the sun doesn't come out from November to March. We're in the middle of that now. It's awful.

2) KNITTING. It's good weather for knitting, though. I've started (yet another) Irish Hiking Scarf. Again, in Baby Alpaca Chunky. This one is for my dad. He requested exactly this for his Christmas present, which made my life a lot easier because I never know what to get him. Plus, I can pretty much do Irish Hiking Scarves in my sleep at this point.

3) FROGGING. My My So Called Scarf is getting frogged because I did it on a stupid 10.5 needle. Fact: You need to use an 11. That little millimeter is the difference between awesome and stupid. Goddammit. I was all, MSCS, it's cool! And then Cabbage and Brax started doing them too, on the correct needles, and theirs were SO MUCH PRETTIER than mine that I almost set them on fire. So I'm seriously bitter about the MSCS.

4) WORKING. Brax and I are working really hard lately. I was thinking the other day about last year, that golden, golden period last year, when I absolutely hated my job, but I only had one. Just the one job. Sure, it was a huge struggle to get out of bed in the morning, yeah, but it was just the one job. The whole thing isn't a problem except on Fridays and Saturdays, when we have to juggle both our serving jobs and the shop, and at least one of us will end up working til 2AM. Them's the breaks!

5) DRINKING. We're responding to the stress in the usual way: going out. Alcohol has been involved. For one thing, my ol' man has been out of town on business (Hah!). I think it's pretty funny that whenever he goes out of town I act like I'm 19, considering the fact that he does not constrain my actions in any way when he is around. He's kind of rad that way and, given my priorities, I wouldn't be with him if he wasn't. Still, whenever he goes out of town I kick it, hard. The other thing is, people are starting to drift into town for the holidays. Party time! The third thing is, there is karaoke every night of the week in this crazy town. I'm running out of songs to sing, and am open to suggestions. In case you're wondering what my nights look like, here's me and Brax and Cabbage rocking "Goodbye Earl."


6) COLD AND FLU SEASON. The past week has been pretty fun, but the result of all that fun is that I'm freaking sick. Some kind of cold or flu or somethin'. If this post is incredibly disjointed and stupid sounding, it is because my brain is NOT WORKING. I feel all cracked out. There is no such thing as enough sleep. The Science Pirate was just here and gave me some cough drop things that made me feel a lot better, but I am, regardless, dying to get back in bed.

7) KITTEN. It doesn't help that this is waiting for me in bed:



Mr. Rochester is a little devil. He'll suck you right into his web of snuggling. He'll also attack your face while you're asleep. He's getting along with the other cats. Cat harmony has been pretty much restored. Lucy even gives him a bath sometimes.

8) I BLOGGED ABOUT A BLOG. Hey, good news for you nine-to-fivers who are tryin' to kill time 'til happy hour: we have a new blog friend. Our nice cowboy band friends, the Rodeo, have a blog now. Only two posts, and the author (Mason. Remember Mason?) already fell and hurt himself. Here at Wine Lips, we call that good blogging.


9) EXHAUSTION. I think I have exhausted my supply of nonsense to blog about. Happy holidays, guys! Stay warm, eat pie!

Luv,
Bruce

Mr. Rochester!

First snow! Well, the first real snow. Here is how I know I'm really, for really real, back in the midwest.

I love it. I know I'll hate it by February, but shoot, I hate everything in February, so PFFFFFT. The bad thing is, it's hurting business 'cause the traffic is bad and no one wants to go out in it if they don't have to. They're all staying home wearing sweaters and drinking tea. Obviously they should be here buying yarn from me, right? Speaking of which, for those of you who are curious, the big opening went really well, and so far so good with the shop! Still, tell your friends, ok?

Here's the really big news for the day:

This morning I asked Matt, who was out "running errands," to bring me a coffee at the shop on his way home. So he comes inside, hands me the coffee, and says, "AND...I have an early Christmas present for you."

I said, "Early Christmas present?! Why, cause it's snowing?!"

Then he goes outside, and comes back in with........!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He is my early Christmas present and he is six weeks old and I named him Mr. Rochester, Chester for short. Tiny baby Chester! He is totally chill about not knowing what the hell is going on. Poor kid had been a lost stray momless baby, and then was living with a good Samaritan for a while, and the good Samaritan give him to Matt, and Matt took him to the vet, and the vet poked him and shined lights on him and stuck him with needles, and then Matt tied a ribbon on him and gave him to me, and I pawed at him and cuddled him and wouldn't put him down. So he has had a rough life so far. But he is sort of like "Whatever" about it. He's not asking for any special treatment. He's too cool for all y'all's nonsense. Mr. Rochester is a total badass despite weighing less than a hank of Cascade 220 and having a nerdy English literature name.

Sister and Lucy haven't met him yet. They are quarantined in the basement while he gets acclimated. Matt gave them tuna in an effort to make them associate Chester with delicious tuna.

Oh, hey, City of Columbus, I'd like to tell you that I've been sitting in my shop looking out my giant front windows at the street all day and you are doing a TERRIBLE JOB of keeping the roads clear. You're gettin' my goat here.


People keep sliding around and getting stuck, and I haven't seen a single snow plow. This is getting ridiculous! I mean jeeze, this is High Street. It's the first road you should plow. What the hell?

Hey, wear a scarf, guys, it's cold out there!

Bruce

List of Excellence

Hey dudes! Here's some stuff!

1) Our friend Katie graduated! I'm SO proud of her. She's amazing. She just figured out what she wanted and went for it and did it. That is so great, and I know she's going to be a big giant success. A Chef Success. Chefcess.

Here is the picture I took of her actually accepting her diploma.


She's the short one...see, I was so busy jumping up and down that I put my camera on manual focus. I'm pretty much awesome.

Here she is at her graduation party, with an apple and her cute mom. If you think I'm proud, you should see this lady. These parents were about to burst. Chef KT! You win!

2) The morning after KT's graduation party I woke up with a bunch of bruises on my legs and I have no clue how I got them. I probably got them in some really awesome way. Also I remember walking, in a tizzy, up to a friend of mine, holding my handbag up by a broken strap and exclaiming "My handbag broke!! What! What a crappy handbag!!! Can you believe that!" And he took it from me and handed it back fixed saying, "It wasn't broken, Libby. It snaps on and off." Well la di dah. Obviously I am ready to be a big mature business owner.

3) Lucy watches television when there is an animal on the teevee. Only animals. Even when the sound is off! How does she know? What do they look like to her? How? What?


4) The shop is coming along all fastlike. Brax and I are working really hard on it and we should have it open real soon. We'll tell you a date as soon as we know for sure. Sorry about the lack of precision on this--we just want to be able to open the doors the very minute we're ready.

5) Amazing potato cheddar soup!

a buncha potatoes
1 carrot
1 stalk celery
water
SALT
1 stick of butter
a couple cups grated cheddar

This recipe goes like most of my soup recipes. Katie is probably going to read this and be like, "Bruce, you're doing it wrong," since she is a big chef now and all. But this is how I do it, and I think it's delicious!

Put all the chopped up veg in the soup pot and put in just enough water to cover it. Add salt to taste. For me this is a bunch of salt. Let it boil for maybe 30 minutes. Then take out a few cups of the soup and put it in the blender and puree it. Put it back in the pot. OK. Then make a roux. (A roux is when you take some of the hot broth and put it in a bowl with a couple tablespoons of flour and make a smooth paste out of it.) Put the roux in the broth. Stir it on in! Stir in the butter. Then add in the cheese, a little at a time. Sprinkle, stir, sprinkle, stir, until it's all incorporated. Delicious! Really, really healthy low fat food. Perfect for vegans.

That's all for now!
Bruce

My weekend

hahahahahahaha!

Brax,

I had an eventful weekend.

We went to the vet.

Sister had a seizure, but she seems fine now.


It was scary. I was petrified. The vet is running tests. But I'm getting the impression that some cats just have seizures. Anyway, I'll let you all know when the tests come back.

So when we got back from the vet, I was sitting at the foot of the stairs and I stood up really fast and slammed my head into the end of the banister and WOOOAH BAM I saw stars and I fell over and blacked out for a sec. Then I sort of automatically got up and kept moving and went to work. After I'd been at work for about 2 hours I realized that I was sleepy, headachy, nauseous, woozy, and I didn't understand why jokes were funny. I was like, huh, maybe I have a concussion.

So I have a minor concussion, is what I'm saying. Now, I've waited tables drunk. I've waited tables angry, tired, and sad. I've waited tables when I was so burnt out on waitressing that I thought I couldn't possibly serve another stupid table or I'd scream. I've waited tables so hungover that if you were wondering why it took so long to get your refills, it's cause I had to go barf real fast.

Waiting tables with a minor concussion beats 'em all. Don't do it, you guys. If you have a concussion, go home sick.

I took Tylenol and got lots of rest. I woke up every 2 hours to make sure I was still lucid. I was. As lucid as usual, anyway. I still feel funny--my head hurts and I'm tired. I was well enough to go to the market and the park this morning, though. (although I spent the rest of the day on the couch.) There was a sidewalk chalk art fair last weekend and a lot of the pictures are still there.





We bought veggies.

and sat in the park, near the good doctor Lincoln Goodale.


Dr. Goodale gave free medical treatment to the poor and left a bunch of his land to the city to be made into an excellent urban park. If it weren't for him we wouldn't have the park, and without the park I wouldn't have anywhere to take a nice walk before work and pet dogs, and where would we have Comfest? Dr. Goodale was rad and I'd drink to him if I had a drink, which I don't, because I am pretty sure I shouldn't drink with the concussion.

The only other thing I have to say is this: remember when I said I hated the following things:

1. Lion Brand Yarn
2. Wooden needles
3. Straight needles

Remember that? Well, Dumbledore tells Harry in book 2 that even the wisest of us must sometimes eat our words.



It's a throw. Out of Lion Brand Thick and Quick. On bamboo straight needles (US 13). I don't know, it is all just totally practical, and the yarn is about as nice as 80% acrylic can possibly be, and it is fast, cheap, warm, and machine washable. Also I only have a US 13 addi in a 16 incher, which is obviously not long enough. I had these fatso bamboo ones though, which I had hanging in my office for decoration. It's fine. Easy peasy. I've always been more practical than snobby, and here again my practicality has won out. It's nice. I like it!

OK, that's all.

Peace,
Bruce

bumping down last night

It is a beautiful day today! Hot but not humid, sunny and happy. Buzzing insects, shining sun, etc. It is definitely summer, but there is the slightest hint of fall in the air. Lucy is back in her usual window spot. She loves to lay on her back in the window. It is freaking adorable.

It is a little too warm for wool, although I am working on a super bulky cabled sweater with that stash of Magnum I've got laying around. I'll show it to you later. At the moment I'm making a lot of cotton dishrags because if my hands sweat while I'm knitting they won't just felt. Also they're not a giant heavy wool thing in my lap. (The obvious solution here is socks, but guys, I tried so hard and I don't think I can do it. I can't focus on socks! And then when you're done you have to make a whole other sock!) Anyway, I like my dishrags. Functional!

OK, I've got some book writing to do...enjoy your day, everyone!

Bruce

a lot before my coffee.

Brax,

1) There are 22 year olds running around my neighborhood selling magazines and pretending it's for a good cause, because it's for a contest or program or something that is for young entrepreneurs. A young man in a hemp-and-seashell necklace knocked on my door when I was puttering around in my pajamas, pre coffee, hair standing straight up, and really incredibly groggy since I had bizarre sleep last night (details in a minute). He started off by saying that he wasn't collecting donations so I didn't need to punch him. I was so confused. Then he went into this big thing and kept handing me things to look at and finally I said, I don't understand, what is it again? And he said it was a "communications contest" for young entrepreneurs to see who is the best communicator. And I said "I still don't understand, are you asking me to buy a magazine?" And he said "yes. I know you don't need any magazines but you should buy one just to help me win the contest."

Then he started asking me questions to try and tie my life back to one of these magazines but I was crafty and didn't answer with anything that was magazine-related. like "what do you do for fun?" I answered, "reading." No magazine! At least not on his list. "Do you like to work out?" NOOOOOOOO. "Huh! Coulda fooled me!" Then he asked if I had kids or whatever, and I said no, and so he asked if I had a husband or boyfriend, and I said yes. And he said, "what does he do for fun?" And because Matt just told me last night that he wants to learn to sew so he can make himself ties and vests, and because I knew that it would weird out this little Douchbag In Training, I said "he likes to sew." WELL.

"No way! Wow. Does he like to cook and clean too?"
"I don't need any magazines."
"No one needs magazines! Just buy one to help me out."
"No."
"If you buy one I put a tag on your door so that none of the other people doing this will knock on it. If you don't buy one they'll be knocking on your door all day."
"No."
"Is it because I'm a jerk or something?"
"No, I just don't want any magazines."

Then he turned around and swore like he'd just missed the big touchdown. He was seriously pissed off.

So now I'm hiding in my office with the downstairs all locked up in case more business majors try to sell me things that I admittedly don't want or need but which I should buy "to help them out." I would also like to note that he called me "Ma'am" at least 150 times in the 5 minutes he was at my door.

I think those kids are in the WRONG NEIGHBORHOOD. You know who does really well on my street? The HRC people, and the Obama people, the union people. This is not a neighborhood full of people who want to "help out" business majors. This is not the kind of neighborhood where we want to "punch" people collecting for charity, but are happy to buy some crap we don't need so you can win some communications prize that I don't understand because you have not communicated it to me clearly. Huh. Look, it was just a lot before my coffee.

2) It is an excellent day for lounging in your window seat.



3) My bed is a horrible nightmare. I never sleep through the night and the right side of my lower back hurts all the time because the bed dips down in the center. We can't afford a new bed right now because of that time I quit my job to find myself and I didn't have any income for a month and a half and then started a big secret project which will mean money soon but not right now. This whole bed situation came to a head last night around 3 AM, when I got so frustrated that I woke Matt up to bitch. We moved to the futon in Matt's office. I had forgotten what it felt like to sleep deeply. I slept so deeply that it took an hour to really wake up, and I felt like I'd been sleeping for days but I hadn't. My back feels a whole lot better too, after only one night. ON A FUTON. That's how bad the bed is--the futon was like a temperpedic to me. Sucksville.

4) MADCRAFTING! For one thing, I signed up for a sewing class so I can learn how to sew correctly. For another, a few weeks ago I went to the national quilt show with Matt's mom, and while I was there I kind of randomly picked up a needle felting kit and a bunch of pretty roving. Now I'm going to totally needle felt something rad onto this bat fabric I picked up the other day.

Look at how awesome this bat fabric is. LOOK AT IT.


If you live in central Ohio, and you like fabric, then you need to go to Sew To Speak. They've got bat fabric, man. It's the cutest, friendliest shop. Go there!

5) My office chair needs a cushion. Cascade Magnum! I'm lookin' at you. I don't want my cushion to be a whole big thing. I want it to be knitted in an evening, stuffed full of fiber fill, and cushioning my butt tomorrow. So maybe I'll start that. If it works out I'll share the pattern with you guys.

End transmission--I'm starving.
Bruce

Visual stimulation

Brax,

The Columbus Knit Purl Hurl will now come to order.



Cabbage got her sweater mojo back.



The Science Pirate is making a beautiful fuzzy sweater!

You couldn't make it that day. You'd better clear your calendar for next time!


Pabst was there. Pabst always makes time for KPH.

Back home: I caught Lucky Lucy getting crazy with some wool.


Look at those back feet! You can tell she's about to do that back leg kick thing they do when they're really going to town.

Happy Saturday! I'm working a 12 hour day, but I'm happy for those of you who have the day off. Enjoy yourselves.

-Bruce

All my posts are about cats!

Bruce,
Ugh, I'm hung over today. I hope I didn't make too much of an ass of myself last night. I really enjoy living in Columbus. Particularly the friends and hangouts. Of course, I do sort of miss my old apartment...the central air in particular. And there was so much space! I think the cats miss all that space too. They don't have as much room to run around, so they seem to be getting in each other's way a lot. They have taken to lazing around the new apartment, hiding in closets or trying to find cool spots on the floor. Fred has a really funny way of laying with his front feet together like so:

He is a little gentleman. Hmm, I think that's Katie's umbrella. Also, Oscar has developed a new fear: the garbage truck. Every few days, a truck comes to empty the dumpster, and Oscar crawls into the bed and hides under the comforter. What a big baby.

Anyway, the reason for all this old-apartment-sentimentalism is that yesterday, I drove up to Toledo and moved the last of my belongings outta there. That's right! I officially don't live in Toledo any more. I always leave a few weeks of "overlap" time between apartments, so that I have a little extra time before I have to have the old place clean and empty. It is unhelpful in some ways because for that month or whatever, you sort of have this "I still have moving to do" sword hanging over your head, and it is Blessed Relief to finally have that done. However, it is also very helpful to not have to have everything done in one marathon moving day.

(I think you'll remember that Historically Awful Move of 2003, where we all had leases beginning the exact day we had to be out of our shared house. It was sort of a nightmare, not helped by the fact that we threw a giant party the night before, complete with a stripper pole installed in the living room. But I digress.)

Anyway, even though we're working with a smaller space, I do like my new apartment. It has hardwood floors, plenty of windows, a basement, and a nice big kitchen. I will just have to get used to the cats doing their "exercise" at 5:30 in the morning: chasing each other back and forth across the length of the apartment, making sure to run across my head and hiss at each other with each pass.

Lylas,
Brax

Lazy summer days

Re/Defining The Fem/In/Ine

Brax,

It's a beautiful day here in the heartland! The sun is shining and the birds are singing and my neighbor is listening to an awesome country record real loud. I'm glad she's rocking out on a Saturday morning. Obviously she didn't stay up all night reading or she wouldn't be so perky.

I was reading Jamaica Inn all night. This was the second time I've read it. I love it. Look, people don't seem to know about Daphne Du Maurier. I never got assigned her in school or anything. She's another one of those authors that I am only lucky enough to know about because I have a very well read mom. You should check her out. (Start with Rebecca.) She's a first rate storyteller and a damn good writer.

I'm on this Daphne Du Maurier trip right now because
a) I was reading Jamaica Inn again and
b) yesterday we watched the Hitchcock marathon (hooray!) on TCM, and they showed The Birds and I remembered how I kept meaning to read that book, which is, coincidentally, by Daphne Du Maurier. I went ahead and ordered it.

She was apparently one of Alfred Hitchcock's favorite writers, because he adapted three of her books into movies (Jamaica Inn, Rebecca (Oscar winner, best picture 1940!) The Birds). I think this is really interesting considering how CRAZY SEXIST he was. Most of Du Maurier's books have interesting, strong, complex female lead characters. I haven't read The Birds yet, but I am pretty excited to see what the source material is like, since the movie is one of Hitchcock's lady-hatingest. If I ever went back to college for another useless liberal arts degree, I'd probably write a thesis called something like Re/Defining The Fem/In/Ine: Women in Hitchcock's Du Maurier Adaptations. I'd get an A on it, too. (Actually, that sounds really fun. Hm. Part of me could have really enjoyed academia if it didn't require so many deadlines and stuff. And if I felt like it had practical applications beyond intellectual circle jerks.)

Anyway. I started a new project!!!111@1!

It's a little early to tell, but that there is the Alexandra ballet sweater from Fitted knits. The yarn is Debbie Bliss Chunky Donegal Tweed. (I am ripping out the Cozy V-Neck sweater from Fitted knits in order to make it.) I was going to invent my own beautiful cabled cardigan pattern, and then I remembered that I wanted to go on a knitting vacation. This pattern is fun and easy! And really wearable. Plus I think it is a better use of the yarn than the V-Neck sweater. I'm so excited to be knitting for fun with some of my favorite things --green, tweed, chunky, raglan, cables. Updates to follow.

Sister is ready for winter.

Luv,
Bruce

Bruce soars on two cups of coffee

Brax,

We had a big weekend around here. Matt graduated! He's a lawyer now. Everyone says that they're going to call him when they get arrested for assault or DUI, but he is not that kind of lawyer.

My grandma and my mother came for the graduation. My grandma really wanted to go to the Willard Hotel. It's this really fancy historical hotel in DC, where, legend has it, Ulysses S. Grant coined the term "lobbyist" in reference to the 19th century wonks who came to the Willard lobby to, well, lobby him. He liked to sit in there and smoke.

So we kicked off the weekend with a bajillion dollar lunch in the Willard Room. Man, it was fancy. When we sat down at the table, Grandma made to sit her handbag on the floor, and a waiter materialized out of thin air and placed a little stool next to her chair. For her purse to sit on. (Mom and I didn't get Little Purse Stools. Possibly because we didn't have designer bags like Grandma? Do you think the waiters at the Willard are trained to give little stools only to bags over $400? Can I also take this opportunity to say that I think LV Bags are hideous and you couldn't pay me 400 bucks to carry one? The concept of the status symbol has tricked countless women into paying hundreds or even thousands of dollars for butt-ass-fugly handbags.) Anyway, lunch at the Willard. High heels at lunch! Matt had to wear a tie.

After lunch we went to the Round Robin bar, also in the Willard, where Senator Henry Clay personally mixed Washington's first Mint Julep. Consequently, Mint Juleps are the Round Robin's signature drink. So I had my first Mint Julep there, and it was pretty damn good. It cost 15 dollars. Which, incidentally, is more than the shoes I was wearing at the time ($13.99 at Payless).

Later that day, Matt's family arrived and we split into different groups and did tourist stuff. The graduation itself was incredibly stressful, what with the family, and the crowd, and the AIR CONDITIONING and the trying-to-get-a-cab, plus the weather was awful, but in the end Matt got this giant diploma. I am pretty proud of my guy, the labor lawyer.

Now that that's over, it's time to pack for the move.


The cats are really interested in everything that's going on here.

There is some knitting news too--I am 90% finished with the book knitting! 90%! I've got to do some end weaving and some seam sewing (but not much, because when I write patterns I try not to include seams because seams are tools of Satan). Also I have to knit some sleeves.

Once I do that, I'm all set for my next move. I went and bought me a copy of Cat Bordhi's holy book, Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles. Cat is amazing. I am totally blown away by her inventiveness and practicality . Cat has one of my very favorite qualities--she is totally no-nonsense. I love no-nonsense people! There is no crap in this book. It is all really practical meat and potatoes. Seriously, dudes, go out and get you some Cat Bordhi. Girlfriend can tie the knitting part of your brain into a knot, which confuses you at first but then, once you've gotten your head around it, makes perfect sense.

So, as you can see, because of Cat Bordhi, I am 'bout to be one of those sock people. They say things like "Sock yarn doesn't count!" and "Kitchener stitch" and "toe-up." That's me.

That's me starting next week!
Bruce

Maxin', Relaxin'

Brucie,
Looks like you had an awesome time!! Man...fiber animals are where it's at! Know what else is where it's at?? Porch+wine+knitting....aka what I did with MY weekend!Oh heck yes! In case you're wondering what I'm knitting, it is some socks for my mom's Mother's Day gift!! The pattern is Reptilian Lace from the Summer 2006 Knitty, and I'm working it sans beads. Quite frankly, I'm not a "bead" kind of person, and I don't think my mom is either.
The yarn is some looovvvvveellly merino superwash sock yarn from Karida. I joined her sock yarn of the month club, never having knit socks before in my life! It's going pretty well, I'm just taking my time with the sock knitting. (clearly, as I am currently using the February yarn) I enjoy it, but I don't think I could ever become an obsessive, constant sock-knitter. All those teeny tiny stitches are a little hard on the hands.
Here she is:
This pattern is really interesting and fun!

Also, here is the most recent sock yarn to come from the sock club:
"Raspberry Truffle." Merino wool with cashmere...mmmmm......I can't wait for this yarn to go on my feet! Also, this is a terrible picture...the colors are these bee-yootiful browns and reds. Seriously, Karida. This yarn is awesome!
The whole time I was out on my porch, this guy really wanted to come outside too:

In case you can't tell, he's rubbing his face against the window, trying to get my attention. I think it will be good for him to move to Columbus with me. Once I'm there, I'll have people coming over to my house all the time and Oscar will have a whole new audience. Maybe he can help Freddy adjust...Fred's not a "people" cat, nor does he like moving or cars or his carrier or the coffee grinder or things changing at all.

I'm SO excited to move. I'm READY!! I know I still have stuff to do, like "find a job" and "train my replacement at my current job," but I seriously want to just jump in the car and GO most days. It has been great to have this experience, don't get me wrong. I really needed to get away from Columbus for awhile and gain some perspective, and I had 2 years of fabulous work experience. But especially over the last few months, it has become very clear that for me, being happy and living a full life means being close to my friends and family....not necessarily having a great job any old place.
Anyway, that's about all I've been doing. Red wine philosophizing on my porch while knitting. When I'm not knitting on mom's socks, I'm plugging away on Labyrinth.
I'm excited to get the waist shaping done and try it on. I am in love with this color!
Lylas,
Brax

Yes it's a good day....

Brucie,

I am a compulsive online deal-seeker. I also find that if I come across something awesome and super-sweet that is also a good deal, I have much less self-control than in an actual store. I find myself saying things like, "I can't afford NOT to buy this!"
Last week, after careful thought and consideration I decided to make a few purchases that I'm very excited about. And yesterday, I received two packages in the mail! Combined, they made yesterday a super day of package awesomeness!
First, I bought a record player!!!!!! I'm SO excited. It's a portable little tabletop dealie, and it can run on either a plug or batteries. It was $75 on Amazon, and it can apparently also hook up to your computer so you can transfer your records to mp3 format. I bought it because I didn't have a record player, but I am always finding awesome records for like $1 at the record store. Featured below is "You Ain't Woman Enough" by Loretta Lynn. I also went with this model because I found the idea of bringing along a record player on a picnic or yacht trip Wildly Romantic. Like in Sabrina. (It is downright shocking that I'm still single)

The second awesome package that arrived was my yarn for Labyrinth!!! I'm sooo excited for a project I can share on the blog....a non-classified project!

I'm doing that blue as the main color and white for the trim.

Here's a nice one for you from the "my cats are so freaking spoiled" file:

Have a lovely day, buddy. Hey, want to get some lunch on Friday?
Brax

In which Bruce announces Big News, tells you what people of taste do with strawberries, and organizes her circs.

Everybody,

Man, guys, I’m sorry we’ve been absent for so long. I'm going to try and make up for the long absence with a looooong, informative post.

So where have we been? For one thing, Brax’s computer is broken, plus she’s got all kinds of irons in the fire. Me, I have been just plain busy. Here’s a thing I’ve noticed about life: changes come in clumps. Things are happening, man. To both me and Brax, and to the ball and chain, and to lots of other folks I know. Brax and I are both trying to figure out moving (to the same city! Maybe even in the same neighborhood! Me and Brax! Tearin’ it up!) and career changes and, you know, bright new futures and stuff.

What is a real shame is that I’m knitting lots and lots of stuff that I can’t show you. Why can’t I show you? Because this knitting is going to be published in a book! I don’t think I ever made a formal announcement about this book thing on here. I’m writing a knitting book with my buddy Karida over at the Neighborhood Fiber Company. This book will come out in 2009.

This also prevents Brax from showing off some of her knits because she is being awesome and knitting some of the book projects for me. Don't ever write a knitting book unless you've got lots of rad friends who will help you knit. I am lucky enough to have Brax and Cabbage who will knit for my book and make my life better.

So now that we've uncovered a big part of the mystery of the sparse posting, what else is going on?

I've been reading a lot of Sherlock Holmes. I have to say I have solved some of these mysteries before Holmes has. Did you know that that TV show House is based on Sherlock Holmes if he were a modern day doctor? It is. I just learned that from Google.

Sister has been really digging on Jackson Browne lately.

It got to be spring up in here, with the cherry blossoms!

And the birdies in the trees!

And the strawberries! Why do people spend a bunch of time doing stuff to strawberries, cuttin' them up in pieces, putting sugar on them etc, when you can just spend a fun-filled 15 minutes dipping them in chocolate? DELICIOUS! Easy! Fun! Preserves the strawberryness of the strawberry.

Here is what I did:

Ingredients:

1) Some nice pretty delicious strawberries.

2) One bag of the fanciest semi sweet chocolate chips your grocery store has. Know why? Because this recipe only uses two ingredients, and the fanciest chocolate chips my grocery store has are only about 5 or 6 bucks, so why the hell not? It's dessert! Go crazy!

Melt the chocolate chips in the double boiler (you want to keep the water at a simmer). Dip in the strawberries and then lay them on a baking sheet with some parchment paper on it.
Stick 'em in the fridge for a little bit. Maybe an hour? They're great. Next time I'm going to dip a mint leaf in with each strawberry for added awesomeness.

Ok, and last but not least, I have organized my Addi Turbos into the most organized state they have ever been in. I've devised a system! I was all shop-shop-shop for a circular needle case and I have to be honest: many of them were real ugly. So no. Many of them were waaay cute and made by awesome, creative craftspeople. Those were the best ones, but you guys, I just didn't want to spend 40 bucks on it. My friend Ellie uses a lure case from the Bass Pro shop, and that seems to work really well for her, but I was intimidated by the fishing website, and also it was still a little more than I wanted to spend. So I went to Staples and bought a lime green binder and some plastic page protectors in pretty colors with tabs. BAM! Needles organized, under 10 bucks.

Enjoy your weekend, buddies!
Bruce