Has it been so long....

As I look over my infant blog, and realize that I have neglected it for 2 whole weeks, I wonder, can it have really been so long? At any time, days, weeks, even months can slide by and I barely notice, immersed in raising my children, and knitting, and reading, and rasing my children, and caring for my husband and home, and raising my children... I guess there is a theme here. :D

I doesn't help huge amounts that I'm in kind of a meloncholy doldrums. I'm not sad, but neither am I joyful. I am feeling the mundaneness of my life. The day in and day out that doesn't change. My fire is banked, and I seem unable to search out the fuel that will bring it blazing back to life. Nearly without saying, the urge to cast on for new things is great at a time like this. I did finally succumb to one siren song last night... the MS3 stole. I signed up for this stole two days before the first clue came out (BEFORE THE YARNHARLOT!) and told myself that I would just watch, learn, collect the pattern, and knit it up when I had the chance. I followed conversations about beading, all the different types of yarn that people are using, from cobweb to fingering. How to block it, how to count the stitches and not get lost. I was mesmerised. And nearly drowning in 300+ messeges a day. But I couldn't stop thinking about it. I even ordered yarn for it (still hasn't come - the nearly 7000 people that signed up for the KAL have apparently caused a shortage in lace weights). I told myself that was fine. I had enough knitting to do. I have a shirt to finish. A bolero. A scarf. 2 pair of socks. A mystery knit. I don't need a mystery stole KAL. But I was gripped. Finally, without another ounce of strength in my body, I cast on for the mystery stole with a giant ball of mystery yarn, (gift from my MIL - I can't say enough about how wonderful it is to have a MIL who shares my passion for yarn!) which I believe is fingering weight, on size 7 needles. I have beads and a crochet hook that somehow fit this. And I am at peace. Mystery Stole, with mystery yarn, chart A complete. Isn't it wonderful?

A matter of language...

Today I stopped by the Yarnharlot, one of my favorite sites, and likely one of yours too, if you are a knitter, and found myself staring at news I didn't want to hear. It is the kind of thing that every woman fears. To be violated, and not believed - but even worse, not even able to express what happened to you in the language that you feel accurately describes the event. I am afraid that if I even try to express what I honestly feel about this, I would dissolve into impotent rage. Read. Judge. And write. Write to congressmen/women, presidential candidates. This cannot be tolerated. How can it be tolerated by a country that began upon the principles of freedom?

Internet Resources for News on this legal "event"

Slate Jurisprudence: The law, lawyers, and the court.
Gag OrderA Nebraska judge bans the word rape from his courtroom.
By Dahlia Lithwick
Posted Wednesday, June 20, 2007, at 7:27 PM ET
http://slate.com/id/2168758/

ABC News http://www.49abcnews.com/news/2007/jul/11/woman_refuses_obey_judge_who_banned_word_rape_tria/

Journal Star http://journalstar.com/news/local/doc469652152182a872732942.txt
http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2007/07/12/news/local/doc4695974ad7711560429460.txt

This was compiled from a commenter, onafixedincome, on the Yarnharlots page:

IF YOU WANT TO FILE A FORMAL COMPLAINT, go here:
http://www.supremecourt.ne.gov/rules/pdf/complaint.pdf
then print, fill out, sign, and send.

Please do feel free to mention that his conduct falls under subsection 6 (conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice that brings the judicial office into disrepute) of Article V, Section 30, of the Nebraska Constitution and Nebraska Revised Statute Section 24-722 (Reissue 1989).

Then send copies to your senators and representatives, and let the fun begin!

This from Hypatia, also from the comments on the Yarnharlots blog.

When filling out the form, I also found the following information helpful -- it takes a little work to dig it all up from the internets:

Name of the Judge: Jeffre Cheuvront
Name of Court: Lancaster County District Court
City: Lincoln
Date of Incident: October 23, 2006 - present

Must knit Faster...

I LOVE getting yarn in the mail.
I cannot express the joy of seeing the mailman walk up my driveway with a box in his hand. I literally jump, and open the door. I fondle the box, stroke the mail sheet, savoring the anticipation. Then I cut - ever so carefully - to reveal the magic inside.

This box is my last package from the Pick-up-Sticks sock club, and I shall miss the surprise each month, but alas, funds dictate that I must be frugal, so no sock club for now.





I reach inside to find a lovely purply-peachy yarn.. it is soft - it bewitches.



Going completely against everything that I told myself I would do


(like finish the Beach pattern first,







or that I would ONLY knit on my mystery knitting until it's deadline)



I promptly wrapped the skein around the back of my son's little rocking chair and began to wind a ball (insert plea for ball winder and swift here).

I couldn't stop.







I told myself that I would just wind the ball. That was it. Then I found myself online, looking over Knitty. Before I could help myself I had cast on for these...I have succumbed. I am weak. I am a compulsive knitter, with no hope of recovery. I got this far in one day.
But now I have to frog it. Somehow it turned out huge. Of course, the fact that I didn't do a guage swatch MIGHT have something to do with it, but I HAD TO KNIT IT NOW! I was compelled. Called. The lure of the unknown, the silkly softness of the yarn called to me. I ignored everything and knit. And it was a day of joy. (Today, not so much. Much house work ensued today. Sigh.) Now I just have to decide if I'm going to keep knitting on the same pattern (after I frog and reknit on smaller needles) or if it is ultimately destined to be something else? Hmmmm....

So, instead of knitting tonight, I am surfing the new Knitting Daily site over at Interweave Knits ( a lot of fun, this is ), and I download a pattern. Then another. And another. I realize that my stash (still in it's infancy) is simply not up to this task (not to mention my wallet!). But the great tradedy, the horror that overcomes me...when will I have time to knit all of this? I know that I will find 20 more patterns next week! How can I do it all! AACCCKKKKK!

MUST KNIT FASTER!

What kind of knitter are you?

What Kind of Knitter Are You?

You appear to be a Knitting Goddess. You are constantly giving and are unconcerned with reward, you simply want others to love knitting as much as you do. If someone wants to knit miles of novelty yarns, you are there for them. If someone wants to learn short row shaping, you can help. There are no taboos in knitting, only opportunities to grow. Everyone should have friend like you around if they want to learn to knit, and there's a good chance that your passion has rubbed off on a few others.http://marniemaclean.com
Take this quiz!








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Independence Day

Happy Fourth of July U.S.A.!


"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." - Thomas Jefferson


On this day, 231 years ago, these words were proclaimed for a new world to hear. It is amazing to me how truth blazes through centuries to illumine the mind in search of it. It was upon these ideals, in part, that our country was founded.


Today we celebrate the ideals of Freedom and Liberty. We celebrate not the victory of a Revolution, as some believe, but the willingness to fight for what we believe in. We fought. We won our freedom. And so today we celebrate the most cherished ideal of the American - Liberty.

Slow and steady...

You all know that saying, the one that always conjures up mental pictures of cocky Hares and patient Tortoises. Slow and steady wins the race. Sigh. I am in a race now. I have a major project to complete. One that I thought was within my grasp. One that I could see the result, and almost feel the joy in completing and gifting to someone special in my life. Alas, I have grossly underestimated the amount of time that I will need to complete this project. I am knitting at a much slower pace that I thought I would - but then this is the most complex lace adventure I have undertaken, and the first time I am knitting with actual lace (nearly cobweb) weight yarn. It's a little bit fiddly. Add to that the pie in the sky dreams of actually being able to knit for an hour or two each day (3 children definitely put that idea to rest), and I am not going to be anywhere near done with my project when I wanted to be. I am a little bit sad. But, if I keep up with my efforts, and knit slow and steady, then perhaps I will have this for Christmas, AND be able to work on other projects this summer - like my Beach socks, or the Lace Edged Tee that has been on my needles for nearly 8 months now. I think that small needles and smaller yarn are teaching me a much needed lesson in knit humility, just when I was feeling a little bit cocky, and imagining a speedy finish. There is wisdom everywhere, and I find it - and many other things - at the tip of a knitting needle more often than I might like to admit to everyday muggles. But there it is. I am off for another 5 minutes of knitting, hopefully uninterrupted.

Good Day.