Sunday, March 29, 2009

Our Town

Allow me to say the views and opinions in this post are by no means meant to offend anyone.
No not the Thorton Wilder three act play. But where I live. Robin was kind to suggest a post topic of more info about where I live, so here it is. (Thanks Robin waves)

First the Western side of Washington. It is culturally diverse. Maybe not as much so as say California but none the less diverse. I grew up in California, Monterey and Pacific Grove. It is truly a beautiful area. Where I grew up was a small town, considered a retirement community, really. Although there used to be a major army base, Ford Ord, there is the Defense Language Institute(DLI), Navy Post Graduate School (PiG School), and the Institute of International Studies. There were always people that have come from other parts of the country as well as all over the world. The opportunity to meet a variety of people was ever present. Western Washington was reminiscent of that culture. We enjoyed living there. I was able to meet some great people living on the west side.

We were then lured by the thought of affordable home and land for sale on the eastern side of Washington. We moved to the eastern side to a farm north of Spokane. But the work and commute got too much for us and we had to downsize and move closer to my DH's job. I didn't feel comfortable moving into Spokane proper, and ended up settling in a small town just outside Spokane. I find it even hard to describe the community that we live in polite, politically correct terms. I can't even begin to think of a way to start. To be blatantly blunt, it is a meth invested, blindly religious, judgmental, racial, mentally challenged community, that is adverse to any form of change. Please believe me when I say that none of that was said with any animosity. It truly wasn't. Those were literally just observations and experiences that I and my dear friend and neighbor have had. I have mentioned my dear friend and neighbor before, we have had several conversations regarding the area in which we live and she has come to the same conclusions that I have. Actually she was the one that has incurred more of the racial situations than I. She is a person of color. I am a Caucasian with 'ism' and my DH is a person of color. Our children are mixed. If you are not a person of color or with 'ism', you would not be able to tell that our boys were mixed, they are all light complected. We also home school our boys. My DFaN has her children attend the public schools. Her daughter has had horrible things said to her because she is not blond hair and blue eyed. Her daughter has instructed her teachers in black history. She did this in the third and fourth grade. The other students in her class claimed they had never heard of Martin Luther King Jr. Maybe this is in other schools as well. As I said we home school.

All I know is we don't fit in. I have tried to interact with various people in the community and have found that I always feel as though I need to be fake or to hide some aspect of my life for fear of some judgement towards me or my family. In order to ask some one to leave me alone in this town I have had to resort to outright vulgar cursing and yelling, several times. Geez, I am just not used to that. Usually, if some one has done something offensive to you, a simple snub or polite explanation that you have no desire to deal with that person is enough. Not here. As my DFaN says "They make you show them your ass" before they catch a clue. Then they become hurt because you have yelled at them. Never mind that you might have had three verbose discussions explaining how you didn't want to deal with them anymore. You have told every one of their acquaintances that have called you on their behalf and various family members as well. I guess I am just unaccustomed to this small of a town mentality. I know I don't care for it. I find very little in this area inspiring.

I can already hear some of you out there saying that maybe I haven't given this area a good enough chance or maybe I haven't tried hard enough. I feel I have. I have been judged because I do not attend a church. I have tried to have intellectual conversations with people that look at me as though I am speaking some ancient dead language. I have met more small minded people in this area than I have in my 4o something years of life. Frankly some of these people around here just plain scare me. They boggle my mind. I have been blessed in my life to have conversations with people that have come from all walks of life. Some have had very hard times and others have had easy times. Some have even served time in the penitentiary system. I have had conversations with people that are extremely conservative and overly liberal. And yet, the people I find myself living around now...fit into their own little category. And I'm not even sure what that is.

So why stay? The brutal fact:We are stuck here right now. My husband lost his job and has not found another one. One reason he made the decision to return to college. He did not want to go back to the western side, find a job and then send for us. We do not have the finances to relocate. In other words, we are currently financially poor, so we have to stay where we are. For now.


As I stated before in this post, I am not saying any of this with any animosity. I know there are some kind people out in this area. Most of the ones that have not been raised in this area find the same thing that I and my DFaN have found. I assure you that I am not the only one here feeling, seeing or thinking these things.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Caution weak content: the anti-post

Soooo have you ever just not been inspired enough to come up with anything clever or witty to write? Yup that's where I'm at. Hmmm do you think I have writer's block? Yeah neither did I. Anyway every time I think I have come up with a topic, I sit down at the computer and then go blank. So I guess this is an anti-post.

I have found a couple of fun and cool sites and blogs for you to check out. So just chat among yourselves and check out the other blogs and sites until I can get my head and thoughts back on track. K?

Stitchionary-It just started up. Anyone can contribute and they have a group on Ravelry.
ImagineArt7- Leigh is really nice and helpful and has some fun things in her store.
Photo.Knit.Dog- It's a fun blog and Lina has some cute furry friends
Walking Within the Spiral-I've just recently discovered this blog.

Well I guess that's about it. (See what I mean...? writer's block or what?)

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Socks, Socks, Socks,

I know it might seem that I have a preoccupation with foot coverings as of late. I assure you it's not he case. It just happens to be a coincidence. Reeeaaalllllly.

My friend and neighbor decided she wanted to find some tights for an outfit she recently purchased. She asked me if I knew any place around this area in which she could find some opaque, textured tights. I immediately drew a complete and udder blank. So off to the internet I went. I have fun searching for things on the internet. She does not have the time nor great inclination, to spend much time sorting through websites. I found a couple of websites for her to peruse, and of course in doing so I happened to find one that I liked. Well of course I did (grin)

Sock Dreams. They have a cool selection of socks and stockings, they accept PayPal, and they have free shipping in the US. What a deal huh? I decided to go with a simple pair of socks to start with. These are them. And they aren't even the longest pair they have there. They sell a pair of socks that are 200 inches long. 200 INCHES!? My word. They are currently out of stock on them. Ok? I never realized there was a fashion run socks that you could pull over your head and tie off. Hmmmm maybe I should get a pair for the Wee Ones and when they are acting up I can tell them I'm going to hang them up by their socks (grin). Problem is they would probably think it would be a good idea.

You should go by, poke around and see what cool socks or stockings you can find. I'd love to hear what you think and which pair you couldn't live without. Or do you have a favorite sock/stocking website that you like better?

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Sock Yarn

Yes, I know what a strange topic for the day after St. Patrick's day. Allow me to inform you now that I have been said to be a...little...strange. But in a good way. Or so I have been told.

Anywho, moving right along. Sock yarns. Why is it that the colors on a skein of sock yarn can look more magical than the same colors on worsted weight yarn? I'm not sure. Every time I see a photo of some creatively dyed sock yarn it triggers an inner response of "oooo I want that" But I fight the urge. Well I try. I already have a few skeins of sock yarn right now. Sitting there staring at me. They say "Alright, already. When are you going to start a project with me? You know you want a pair of Absinthe". I quietly sit there trying to ignore the fact that my sock yarn is getting uppity and impatient with me. And yes I do want a pair of Absinthe. Heck if for nothing else than the cool name. I have always been besotted with things archaic and vintage. Hence the use of the terms 'besotted' and 'hence'.

There are certain brands of sock yarn that I am drawn to. I occasionally go and drool over the amazing colors of these yarns and play with the idea of choosing one to buy. I am fascinated with Emily Parson's dyeing ability ( yes I know that just sounds all sorts of wrong). If you have not seen her yarns please take the time to check out her Etsy store. She creates a ball/cake of yarn she calls the Magic Ball(unfortunately none are listed on her Etsy store at the present time). This skein can create a scarf that looks like patchwork when knitted. I mean how cool is that. Check out this post she did on her blog What's THAT Gonna Be?. Scroll down to the Calico Cat Magic Ball. Now be honest if you don't knit doesn't seeing this make you want to try? I love the fact that all the colors you need for a patchwork scarf are in one skein as opposed to having to keep track of a bunch of different skeins. I also love the fact that this is another use for sock yarn.I have not been able to afford to purchase one of these Magic Ball's yet, but hope springs eternal, and I'm just a geyser of it. =)

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

The Luck of the Irish

Happy St. Patrick's Day. I wish that everyone will find they're pot of gold.

Ok bear with me...

I am a little frustrated with using the JS-Kit for my comments. So I am going to switch back to Blogger's comment. I have looked at WordPress and have thought about moving over there. But to be honest am a little intimidated. I know silly.

When I chose to set up a blog I was doing it for myself only. But then my Mum and I decided to set up an Etsy store. I thought my blog might be a good way to network. Then I started to have some lovely people stop by and comment. Oooo cool. Of course none of the people I told about my blog, such as the people I know. Oh no they didn't stop by and say anything. The stinkers. =) But with the wonderful Ravelr-ers and SITStas visiting me I find that I'm my reason for having a blog is to just connect.

We live in a town that I must admit we do not fit in with. I realize this might seem strange to say but I assure you it's very true. I'm not the only one that feels this way, my dear friend and neighbor feels the same. Maybe I shall write about that in another post.

This post was simply to say that I am going to switch back to using Blogger for comments. I'm just concerned that I am going to lose the comments that have been left thus far. If for any reason you notice that one of your comments are not showing on a previous post, please do not think that I arbitrarily deleted it or blocked it. This whole blogging thing is still new to me and I am learning as I go along... so just bear with me. Thanks ever so...=)

Monday, March 16, 2009

La de da de da da

I found another awesome contest over at this very dangerous blog. The Fabric Shopper. I love all the wonderful fabric prints that are being designed recently. They can make my mouth water, my synapses start buzzing and my creative juices start flowing. Ok so maybe way too much information. But you get the idea. I see these fabrics and start to wonder what they would look like in different fashion apparel and then reality sets in and I remember my fashion sewing skills. Oh I can sew clothes, but they never seem to fit me. (sigh) Well maybe I should say they fit the inner me. You know the one, the tall, svelte, properly proportioned you. The one that has the flawless complexion and the perfect hair. Yup that one. But a bag. I can do that. And be able to play with these fabrics....ahhhhh So run over and enter for this contest.

LibriVox

LibirVox, have you heard about this website before? Oh I'm sure you have. Of course I am sometimes a wee bit slow on the uptake. I discovered this site about a month ago from reading some post in Ravelry.

It's a fantastic site. It allows you to download audio versions of classic literature, all for free. The first book I found and downloaded was Enchanted April by Elizabeth Von Arnim. I must admit I discovered this story by seeing the movie first. It is now one of my favorite movies. So I was thrilled to find an audio version. My DH just recently upgraded our cellphones. He was tired of me hinting about the fact that I wanted an IPod. He felt this phone might stop me. It did. I was thrilled to be able to download this book. I get to listen to it when the Wee Ones have toddled off to bed and I can't stand the sound of the tv at night. I just turn on my audio book and knit away.

The next book I think I'll listen to is Count of Monte Cristo. Another favorite story. in 1998 there was a tv mini series that I watched. That was when I fell in love with the character Edmond Dantes as portrayed by Gerard Depardieu. I know he's a little quirky and not very suave. I felt his portrayal of this character made him far more real than if a really classically "handsome" actor did the part. I have read the book several times. I will find it interesting to hear it read.

If you do know about LibriVox and have used the service, which books have you listened to? If you haven't tried it before you should go on over and try it out.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Third times a charm

I just discovered a awesome blog contest.
Over here at Le Musings of Moi. It really is a great contest. She is offering some fantastic bags that are good for the planet and fun for your fashion sense. The bags are being wonderfully donated by Green World Bags. You really do need to go and check out this site. The bags are fun and would be really useful.

This is another one of those blogs that I discovered from the SITS website. I love her blog design especially since I have a serious weakness for most things that are Frenchy. I think it comes from the whole Chartres thing. But that will be for another post. (grin)

Now just jump over and enter her cool contest. And while you're there read some interesting posts. I promise you won't be disappointed. And heck if you don't win the contest, you have discovered a new interesting blog, Le Musings of Moi, and a wonderfully helpful website Green World Bags.

Curious and Curiouser..

Ok how about that line? Do you know which literary work that is from? A Hint: it comes from the same one as in the previous post (The time has come to talk of many things. Of sealing wax and sailing ships of cabbages and kings...) Well....No. Nothing yet, huh. Don't worry I'll wait... =)

But that is not what this second post is about. I am simply jazzed that I have created a blog button for anyone to grab. Woo Hoo! Miss Amanda over at Knitting in my Backyarn made the suggestion that I create one so she could grab it. Well that started me off and running. I had no idea on how to create one. I asked my DH who just answered he didn't like blogs (GASP) I know! So off in search of a how to that I could understand. I started to sweat a little because I knew there would have to be some html required in this project. OooOo scary html oOooOo.

I found this site Grab My Button. Well it seemed simple. (ahem) So off I went to design a button. Ok. Did that. Saved it to my PhotoBucket account. Easy enough. Went to the Grab My Button page and copied the html code needed to have the button show on my blog. Copied it. Then went to the Blogger layout page and pasted the code into the gadget spot. And...Presto...a button appeared with a scroll box for someone else to copy the code. woo hoo, right? Uh No. When I clicked on the button to make sure it would take a lovely person who chose to follow me and wanted my beautiful new button back to my blog, it took said person to PhotoBucket page of the button. Aaaarrrgggghhhhhhh! Ahh crap! That meant I would have to muck about with the html code. Oh goody (sigh) So I went through and looked at the html of the other buttons I have on my blog and BINGO I was able to figure out how to get it back to my blog. The downside. You know there had to be one with me jerry rigging html, I have the web address under the scroll box. Oh well it doesn't look too bad with it there.

Even with the html wrestling going on and the resizing the button and the myriad of times I had the button on my blog and removed it. I feel really accomplished. Of course I haven't gotten any knitting done today... shoot. But I got a button.

SITSta's are doin' it for themselves....

Ok Ok I'll stop singing and doing my disco diva dance moves...(grin, pant, pant, pant)

I do have to sing a little song of praise though for the SITS website. As I stated in a previous post I have just joined SITS. I have found so many cool and awesome blogs. I know that might sound contrite or silly but it's true.

You should check out their blogs;
Art and Inspirations
Laughing Through the Chaos
Decor to Adore
Were Those Wrinkles There Yesterday
Dandelion Wishes
These are just a few.

I have also been so fortunate to have met some great people from Ravelry. And have found some terrific blogs that way.
Princess Emerald
Knitting in my Backyarn
Inkberry Blue
Smariek Knits
Kat Knits
Again that is just a few

One thing I'm a bit frustrated about is how to respond to comments that have been left for me. I would love to be able to respond back, but am unclear on how to do it for some. I have been able to find most of the people that have left comments, and have left comments on their blog. I thought that if I switched comments control to this JS-Kit thing that would enable me to find a link back to the author of a comment. But it doesn't seem to work that way. So now I'm thinking of going back to the regular ol' Blogger comment control thing and moderate comments, so that maybe I can find the author's easier. What do you think? What are your suggestions?

On the home front, I rented Kung Fu Panda for the Wee Ones on Friday. Needless to say we have been watching a great deal of it. Luckily I find it funny. Yes I know I'm a little behind on movies, if I'm just watching this now. Ummm, can't think of any excuse really. Dh has even chuckled at a few lines. Since the boys have enjoyed it so much I went on EBay and found a copy of it for a really good price. I have to take the rental back today, so hopefully the one I purchased will be here soon. The Wee Ones don't really understand the concept of waiting. Hopefully there won't be too much of the squealing and crying. Yeah right...

(....humming..... grin)

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Whew...

Geez I need a Margarita, some tortilla chips and some good salsa. (ok can you tell I haven't had dinner yet?)
I just finished creating a new banner for the Etsy store. It was great fun. My first time working with Digital scrap booking elements. I bought a pack from Raspberry Road Designs. I asked them if I could use some of the items from the pack I purchased in the banner. They kindly said yes. Woo Hoo. And then I was off. I had a great deal of fun playing around with the different elements. I can totally see why people can get hooked on this craft. Oh good just what I need another craft.
I spent all last night looking through the web at different sites offering digi scrap booking items. I found I really liked most of the things on Raspberry Road. I also liked the fact that they have a Dollar store section. Bargains always suck me in. I originally found them by looking at the freebies on DigiScrapDepot.com. There are some great freebies on there, but I was concerned about using any of them for my Etsy banner since most of the terms of use for the downloads ask that the graphics not be used for commercial use. So I purchased the Enchanted 1 elements pack. There is actually a second pack to this. But I felt the one was enough. I think if I bought the other pack my head would probably have exploded from too many choices.
Ok so now I'm going to enable. I figure why should I be the only one heading down the road to crafters overload hell. If you haven't tried messing around with digital scrap booking you should give it a try. Oh come on you know you wanna....plus I need a buddy down in crafter hell.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

New digs ....again

Yup, I changed the ol' blog backdrop again. I feel a girl needs a little pick-me-up and change-a roo every once in awhile.

I love The Cutest Blog on the Block.Com They have some fantastic backgrounds, and so easy to use. It's great they even give you the tutorial on how to create your own background from scratch. I really want to try this out. I went to the link for the elements that they supplied and immediately became way overwhelmed. So....I just went back and chose one of the ones from the website that were already prepared. Yup I'm a chicken... I'll try it again when I have more patience and maybe a theme in mind.

I have also just joined SITS. It seems like a great site that helps promote blogs and peoples other websites. Hopefully it will help us out. But it's just great to see other peoples creative blogs and Etsy's stores. I have seen some really cute things that I wish I had extra income for.

Today my DH is at the college taking care of taking the placement test and getting his classes. Bless his heart. I'm very proud that he is going to go back to college to get some education so that he can work smarter instead of harder. He has worked on the harder side for far too long.

So while there is new snow on the ground and it's chillier than a penguin would be comfortable with, the sun is shining I have a new backdrop for the blog, I've seen some great Etsy stores (check out this one and this one), found a new website (SITS) and my DH is being a college kid...=) It's all good.

Monday, March 9, 2009

Hellllloooooo out there...

Ok people, I know you're there. Well at least 3 or 4 of you. I am requesting some assistance. I am hoping to get some input on our Etsy store. We still have not had one sale or a convo. (sigh). can anyone give some helpful critique on how we could improve the store front, or even merchandise. Is it the fabrics that we have used for the bags are not zippy enough? Do we need to take better photos? I asked the wonderful people on Ravelry, on the Etsy forum, and got some input. One nice person suggested I enhance the banner so that it is more readable. And that I use a different back drop for the merchandise photos. You could check out her store here. I like the way she has created her stitch markers, very clever.

I believe that Etsy is a wonderful idea. I love the concept of supporting our crafts people. I grew up watching my parents run their own store, attend local fairs and even have one persons shows. I believe in the system, but am losing faith.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Introductions

Tonight was to make the long awaited introduction of Lulu O'Day's friend and companion...Miss Bella Twista. Yes it's true she is complete. She has been couture'd (stylish fuchsia sundress) and coiffed (lovely afro-puffs) and shod (now she's sounding like a horse, she won't like that) She's sassy, and full of tude, but very sweet and nice. She's a dichotomy.
Not to have Miss Lulu feel left out. She is sporting a new hair adornment. She has been very patiently waiting for me to create a barrette for her closely cropped coif. She seems much happier with her new sparkle. She might not seem happier, but I assure you, she is.



I already have a couple of ideas for other creations/personalities using this pattern. As I have mentioned before it is the Tulip Doll by the very talented Katie Park. I have thought about doing two little boys. One for each of my Wee Ones. Not for them to play with, they are far to destructive. Hate to admit it, but it is oh so very true. I could only imagine seeing little Tulip doll parts lying around with stuffing everywhere (shudder). No it would be more as a keepsake. I just have to find the right color yarn for their skin tones. The middle one has a coco cast to his skin and the youngest one is pale as pale. Yes my children are dichotomies too.

Anywho, I seem to be rambling tonight so I think it's time to wrap it up and leave you with one more picture of the two chums.



I have more photos of these little ladies on my Ravelry projects page.