Life lessons I've learned from my KnitPicks Ball Winder

Generally speaking I love Knitpicks. They carry everything, have amazing products and sell yarn for a good price. However, the more I use the ball winder I got last May the more I wish I had spent slightly more to get something that doesn't make me want to rip my of hair out.

So before I search the internet to find a hack to fix my issues I have some knowledge to bequeath.

Lesson 1: You get what you pay for. If you are paying 20.00 for a 40.00 item you might want to investigate more before making a commitment. This lesson also applies to cars and men.

Lesson 2: If you start in the middle you are looking for a disaster. Never mind that this ball winder makes a center pull ball. If you start there, you will have a huge knotty mess. So start from the beginning, there are no short cuts in life.

Lesson 3: Too much tension will cause an emotional break down. Too much tension on the line and you will have yarn wrapped around the winder, the base, the table, and your arm. Too much tension in life same deal, minus the yarn. Could probably apply to cars and men.

Lesson 4: Listen to the advice of others. If the masses didn't like something, don't think oh thats just them. No, chances are you won't like it either. Yes, this definitely applies to both cars and men.

Lesson 5: If you are going to pay good money for something, let them finish their end of the bargain. If you buy yarn at an LYS and they offer to wind it, let them. They bought a really nice winder and swift. I have a chair and this piece of plastic. This also applies to cars and men.

Lesson 6: When you make an investment, make a committment as well. I should have also gotten the swift to take the chair out of the equation. Once again this probably also applies to cars and men.

Amazing how much of knitting applies to cars and men.

Amish and other assorted friendship

Last night I attended the Pioneer Woman book signing at Borders. It was insane and wonderful and exhausting all at the same time. I was exhausted after having only attended so I can only imagine how she must feel after an entire tour of smiling, signing, chatting and taking pictures.

I spent 6+ hours in Borders, made an assortment of new acquaintances, knitted an entire hat, ran into an old acquaintance, and traded off some Amish friendship goo to someone would is, lucky for her, friend enough to get some goo in a bag.

When I finally did get up to the table to have my book signed I was hoping to have something profound to say [I seem to always be hunting for that profound moment] but alas I was much too tired to come up with something worth remembering.

As for the goo....

If you've never made Amish Friendship Bread you probably have no clue of what I'm talking about and since I have no camera at the moment I am without the ability to show you.

Amish Friendship is a sweet bread that you cook after 9 days of starter bag mushing and share with 3 friends. EVERY 10 DAYS. After last night I am officially out of actual friends in Texas to give this to. Trust me, you'll have bread for months if you keep the process going.

There is a point of this goo story somewhere I promise.

As I handed off the gallon ziplock of bread goo someone else, a total stranger, walked by and raved about how she just cooked her bread and how amazing it was. I would bet money that somehow her bread is connected with my bread.

It's a six degrees of Kevin Bacon moment. I should have taken advantage of the opportunity to interrogate the woman and find the connection but I was working on coming up with something profound.

I may not have something profound but I do have one knitted hat and a cookbook full of amazing recipes. I vote evening well spent.

Mobius or not to Mobius

I keep having this debate about whether or not I like the whole Mobius scarf thing that's going on right now. I'm pretty certain that if I had one I wouldn't understand how to wear it.

Conceptually is a big piece of material that goes around and around and is attached so it has all this so called versatility.

Wear it as a cowl, wear it as a hat, wear it as a scarf, wear it as a wrap, wear it as a shrug. Doesn't that seem like an awful lot of expectations for a scarf? Plus it sounds like something the late great Bill Mays would sell.

"It keeps you warm, it's fashionable and it slices AND dices. For only 6 easy installments of 29.99 we'll even throw in a matching mitten set. What a DEAL"

The sick thing is even though I don't understand them, and I think they are kinda ugly, I still want to knit one. I blame the advertising.

[Image borrowed from ravelry's denicol, beautiful work!]

Hugs and Kisses - Rav Download Live

After nearly two months of trying to understand how get hooked up as a designer on Ravelry here it is, my debut as a digitally published designer. You can visit Ravelry to download now.

Here is my finished product, with many thanks to patterwhisper for taking the pictures.

It takes about a half a skein of NaturallyCaron.com Spa but as you can see from my pattern testers it is a great project for stash busting.

You need basic crochet skills (single & double).

Please feel free to share your feedback in the comments!

I love you Grandma

I just finished reading the Friday Night Knitting Club and found myself in tears for the second time today. [The first was a church when the choir sang amazing grace.] It’s a beautifully poetic story, with great bits that any knitter can identify with, while telling the humanizing tale of Georgia Walker, single-mother and business woman.

What got me started crying wasn’t the content of the story, although it did provoke it. It was thinking about the joy in reading and crafting that my Grandmother instilled in me from such a young age.

So many late nights I remember staying up with her, kitty-corner on the old brown couch reading and eating Oreo’s. I’m certain I was up much later than an 8 year-old should have been but it didn’t matter. I’d have whatever book she’d found for me at the library and she was usually reading a thick mass market paperback, although for the life of me I can’t seem to remember what genre she favored. Often when I put a book down late at night I think about how much I miss her.

It’s like fresh salt in a wound.

I always thought it’d get easier, as time passes but it hasn’t. It’s been over ten years and sometimes something will hit a cord that brings it all open again.

I know she loves me and is proud of me. I just wish I could close my book and see her smiling back at me, reminding me gently, that maybe, it’s time for bed.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

This summer I had the opportunity to visit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis and I can truly say it was an eye opening experience.

While in college I understood the importance of donating to St. Jude, because it is my sorority’s national philanthropy, but I did not really understand what an amazing place it is until I saw it for myself.

Children from around the world are treated, without any expenses that would bankrupt their families. They have tutors to make sure they don't fall behind in school and specialists who make sure their emotional wellbeing is being taken care of as well as their body.

These kids are sick, but you can feel the hope as you walk through the halls. Kids like Sean, need our support to keep that hope alive.

I am volunteering to recruit teams for the Give Thanks Walk in Dallas, taking place on November 21. There is no entry fee to sign up, and no minimum number of team members. To learn more visit the Give Thanks Walk Web site and or leave me a comment if you have questions.

There are also a number of walks around the country, so if you aren’t in the DFW area check to see if there is a walk near you!

Yup... I'm a stalker

I read blogs. I like blogs. I might even love blogs.

I vaguely miss the newspaper, although I can get most of their news on twitter faster than reporters can produce it.

I do continue pick up magazines, if only to have something to read while on a plane somewhere. Otherwise they just take up space, get saved for an undue amount of time, and left on an end table until I move.

But I love blogs.

As I spent the last half hour reading past entries on the blog of someone I knew in high school it dawned on me how entirely creepy blogs really are.

I don't know these people. I sorta knew the person who's blog I was reading at that moment, but really I wouldn't recognize the bloggers I read if I met them on the street (except maybe Pioneer Woman because shes my blogging hero).

Yet, that is ok. It is completely welcome and actually invited that I peek, daily, into the lives of total strangers. The difference is when it's someone I know, or used to know. Thats when I feel like I'm creeping in someone's bushes taking pictures of them in the shower and that is surreal.

Why is it ok to be a daily part of someone's life whom you've never, and probably never will meet and invasive feeling if its someone you do know?

Its befuddling, and a little creepy, and I'm inviting strangers to hear about my befuddlement.

First Crochet Pattern! Hugs & Kisses

I finally finished my first crochet pattern and it is now in testing by some wonderful volunteers on Ravelry.

It is a neck warmer, originally designed as a gift for a my aunt who's birthday was in September. I swear I'm putting it in the mail this week.

The picture at left is courtesy of ddrevia since my camera is on the fritz.

Once I hear back from the last of my testers I will be putting the pattern up for free on Ravelry so stay turned for the completed project.

Goals

New goal.

Write one blog post a week.

It's football season and I've thus far watched 2 college games, attended a cowboys game, and am planning to go to a high school football game in a couple of weeks. While I'm not really a huge fan of the sport I think I'm starting to understand the Texas passion for it. I may need to buy a cowboys jersey to prove my sudden interest in the sport but I think the Bronco's fan in me would prevent making it all the way to the check out line.

I think it all spawns from the years of sales tax I've paid, and really you have to agree, Invesco field beats the Cowboys Spaceship any day of the week.

Is social media a Dr.'s note excusing lazy journalism?

I had planned to go to the gym today but since I'm battling with the pollen counts outside I thought it might be nice to not sneeze all over the equipment. I planned to go last week too, but I got a tetanus shot and already felt like I'd worked out.

Granted these are a lot of excuses. I could still have worked out last week, or today with a large box of tissues in tow, but when it's all said and done, I didn't feel like it.

One of the list serves I subscribe to sent out this blog post today asking if Young PR people are getting Social Media Tunnel vision.

I think that there becomes a point where instead of writing a good release, or learning the finer aspects of AP Style [or basic grammar for the matter] is too difficult and therefore a social media blast is an excuse for not doing it.

There is a fine balance between not recognizing the potential of social media and not doing the basics of brand management. If you know the basics and recognize when you should still use them, social media is a fine compliment to the entree.

The concern raises when we stop learning the basics or forget how to use them. Everything else is just an excuse.

My appologies

Now I hope no one is reading my blog thinking that someday you are going to find a parable of wisdom that is useful to you, because lets be honest I usually write about crap. (Can you say that on the internet and not get spam filtered? O’well)

Anyways, usually it’s about what critter is hanging out in my apt parking lot or the parking lot at work, or the giant guy I found in my apt, or Texas shaped waffles.

Occasionally it’s my knitting / crocheting / yarn loving habits.

Every once in a while is my yoga addiction, which has become less since I can’t seem to find a studio in TX that doesn’t want my soul in exchange for a few enlightening hours.

And maybe if you’re lucky it’s rambling about social media, ROI, marketing, etc. And that’s really only when you’re lucky.

Which I feel might be slightly telling about my life. Hopefully not, since I’d like to believe I don’t have that much crap going on, but clearly that might be the most interesting parts

Irrational Fears

I have a lot of irrational fears.

For instance every night I lock both dead bolts, check the window locks, lock the balcony door, check under my bed and in the closet and then lock my bedroom door. By the time I go to bed this place is Fort Knox. If it wasn't a a thousand pounds to move I'd probably put my dresser in from of the door.

If I really think about it I see how irrational my whole plan is. By the time I check under the bed, if something/someone is in the house, they are now locked in with me. I have very little furniture and spend most of my time in my living room. I would have seen them come in. Plus what would I do if I found someone?

Needless to say I know its irrational, but it makes me feel better.

Not nearly as irrational as being afraid of being attacked by an Ocelot.

http://www.gotpetsonline.com/pictures/gallery/exotic-animals/other-exotic-animals/ocelots

Don't get caught up in his pretty little eyes and fuzzy face. I saw one of these in a public park on Sunday and proceeded to warn everyone I saw about the Mountain Lion. Apparently some people keep them as pets but I had a dream the other night that that precious lil kitty ripped off the hands of a child and the firefighter told the kid there were lots of things he could do without hands, like swimming.

I never said I didn't have an overactive imagination.

New Blog!

New city, new job, new blog, woooo!

Here is my new blog for all those who care to read. I have no claim to any expertise, so if you want to read you'll hear all about yoga, crocheting, theatre, volunteering, cooking, Texas, how I really want a dog, and any other stories along the way.

Mostly ramblings, but it's all good fun.

Comment and stay in touch!