Time better spent...

than doing something...ANYTHING...than what I did this month. Seriously, I have just about nothing crafty to show for an entire month of existence.

A pair of new shoes (which I LOVE - and deeply thank Meegiemoo for, as she was the one responsible for showing me the Fleuvogian light). I'm being good - these are for my brother's wedding, and I'm not wearing them until July. (Yes, it's killing me a little...) I'm not really a "shoe" girl, but these may just convert me. It's amazing how comfortable they are, for high heels.


Copious amounts of travel planning. Yay!

A nasty bout of pink eye for the whole family. Yuck.

Lots of patterns traced out and transferred to paper. Yay!

Plenty of washed fabric to iron, cut and sew together. Boo.

Finished my first set of linen napkins. Yay! (No pics yet, as they're all in the wash. Imagine the same print on the outside, and various coloured polka-dots on the inside.)

Attempted to knit a shawl and had my ass kicked by the pattern. Boo.

A renewed sense of must-get-out-and-stop-being-such-a-misanthrope. Yay!

A renewed sense of crap-it's-hard-to-be-social. Boo.

Finally caved and bought a blu-ray of Mamma Mia. Yay! (Yes, I am a closet ABBA fan.)

Quite delighted with how my current knit swaps are going - I'm in a LOTR swap atm, and have just signed up for a video game swap. (Odd Ducks on Ravelry, of course.) And I was very happy as I was asked to be a moderator for the Odd Ducks, and I'm currently modding a Chinese Zodiac swap. And some of the planned swaps for the rest of the year include Pirates, Zombies/Apocalypse, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog, Grimm's Fairy Tales, and the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Ahhh, it's good to be amongst my tribe.

Escapism...

I don't know if this is something that you do too, but when I'm trying to escape from something (situation, person, etc.), I craft. As of late, I think that I've been trying to get away from the weather. So, I've been hiding in my craft room (read: basement), and making stuff. Probably doesn't hurt that I have a new toy - my sewing machine died a rather loud and smoky death awhile ago, and I was lucky enough to find a Janome MC3000 very cheaply on Kijiji. I freakin' LOVE this thing, and am delighted enough to ignore much of my knitting UFOs for it. Besides, I need to get a head start on Miss E's summer wardrobe, yeah?


A spring skirt. I am desperate for colour these days, so I grabbed a charm pack (I think it's the Riviera line from Connected Threads) from the stash and improvised this. Hope that she'll actually concede and wear it...there may not be enough pink in it. *eyeroll*


More fun with the dye pot. Mostly gunmetal silver with a hit of blue. I think I'll call this one Katana. Same merino base as usual.


A knotted tulle tutu for the princess. I used this super easy tutorial, and if I have to make another one in the future, I'll definitely be using shorter sections of tulle. She was tripping on this one.


Ahhh, baby gifts. This one has still to make its way to the intended recipient...'cause I'm a lazy ass. But how awesome is Pirate Bootie? *snort* My first intarsia, and definitely a learning experience.


I've been trying to get away from using paper napkins at home, and here's part of that movement. Made from Japanese linen that's woven to show different patterns on each side of the fabric. Very cool. I've got a metric asston of different fat quarters of this kind of fabric, so you'll be seeing different sets eventually. I'm considering making some for the etsy shop, but really? I'm going to need to find my motivation first. I think I may have left it under the couch.

After a rather alarming incident at the library last week where I was caught without the stuff for a diaper change, I decided that I needed to make myself a diaper clutch to toss into whatever bag I'm carrying. I'm pretty sure that there's an easier way to make this kind of bag, but I was winging this. Very pleased with the end result, as it's just enough colour to keep me happy. Pretty sure that it'll be absconded with once Miss E's older.




And finally, Happy Birthday to Miss E. Yeah, I'm still in shock that she's as old as she is...it's all going by way too quickly. My sweet baby is two!!! Holy CRAP!!! Here she is, ready to dig into her cake. Plates? We don't need no steenkin' plates...

Dreamers...

I've been trying to figure out why this article in the NYTimes bothered me so much when I read it this morning. I think I have it - it's the part where the girl's agent states that “There’s no such thing as originality anyway, just authenticity,”.

Seriously?

It's not so much the fact that the author essentially lifted entire pages from another book. Hell, even Shakespeare was accused of plagiarising large portions of his plays from Italian plays of the time. I think what is bothering me is that this attitude seems to be representative of the cultural shift towards a society where people lack any semblance of a grand vision. There's a mass settling for incremental innovation, and people seem to have lost the ability to develop really big dreams to build towards. There was a really good article in the Economist about the general lack of faith in humanity's ability to progress a few months ago - basically, people seem to think that we've come as far as we can...and that we're just treading water at this point.

This really worries me.

Hey, I'm all for mash-ups. Taking bits and pieces of culture and smooshing them back together in a new format is fun. Girl Talk amuses me to no end - picking out the few notes of an obscure musical reference is a great parlor game. And arguably, it is a creative act, but please people...the Mona Lisa, it ain't. So, I have to ask - how did we get here? Why are we so bereft of dreamers? Even those who are touted as artists seem to be content with simply reheating pop culture. I mean, it's been going on for awhile (Andy Warhol anyone?), but why are we so pessimistic about our future now, of all times?

It's a tiny understatement to say that we live in an era of change. I watched a great video on cloud computing the other day, and I honestly felt staggered. It's absolutely mind blowing to contemplate the social shift that we're about to go through. Here, you should watch it too.



What gets me the most is...why the hell are the majority of people willing to accept that we're stuck with what we have - and proceed to rehash it to bits - when major change is happening RIGHT NOW? Where have all the visionaries gone?

Can't ... stop ... writing ...

By crikey, when the muse hits...she lays smackdowns like a mack truck.

I've been trying to squeeze out the Pompeii story, but it's been tough. This is clearly a tale that needs to be coaxed out. I'm just having trouble getting into the vibe of the story. But lately, I've been distracting myself and doing some research on a possible travel destination. (I NEED to get out. Somewhere. Anywhere but here.) And while reading about it, I found out that one of the towns apparently boasts that it has the highest concentration of "hidden people" anywhere. Elves. Faery. Dwarves, Trolls, Pixies! Now, that's on my list of *must-see* destinations, even if it is as touristy and cheesy as I think it will end up being.

Mix that knowledge with an hour of rocking Miss E to sleep in a quiet, dark room...and you have the makings of a new story. It's not that I'm not trying to work on Pompeii - it's more like writing this new tale is a total compulsion. I've been sitting here writing for two hours and I already have a little over a thousand words. I know that's not a lot for some writers, but for me - that's a metric assload of writing.

I'm a little reluctant to share what I have so far, 'cause it doesn't do a very good job of showing what the story is all about (and it's DAMN cool - at least the version in my head is), but I daresay that it's a nice introduction. I suppose the new story fits under the category of fantasy or magic realism. Definitely in the vein of Charles De Lint. Cheesy and overpopulated as a category, but it makes me happy to write. And that's important, yes? I'll post some of it later, once I start getting into the good bits.

Thanks guys...

Seriously, after reading the comments on the last post, I am very grateful that I have friends that like me just the loud, obnoxious way that I am. You guys made a grown woman even leak a few tears. The previous post wasn't meant to be a rant - it was more of a dear-god-someone-please-explain-what-the-aliens-are-doing-now kind of post. But I deeply DEEPLY appreciate the support and love that you sent my way. Thank you again. FYI, I have been sending responses to your comments, but I have a feeling that they're not making their way through the ether. Please let me know if you're getting the messages. Oh and about the pastiness...don't take it the wrong way, my friends. I live in Nova Scotia and it's January. Hell, *I* am pasty in January, in NS. I've gone from being a golden beige to a pale lemon meringue. Blegh.

For all you who found this blog through Facebook ...

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uhm

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Hai!

It was with more than a bit of alarm and stomach-curdling fear that I saw that my blogging was now synchronized with my FB status updates. Couldn't figure out why for the life of me why it was happening...until I remembered that I had allowed an application to nab my blog data, as I wanted to use it to follow another blogger. So much for web anonymity, eh?

I just wanted to talk about a game that I've been playing lately - Borderlands. It's stupid, FPS fun on the PS3. But the best part is that you can play two players, split screen. Sweet. So the Mr. and I have been playing co-op, and it's been going well. Reminiscent of the days of Diablo. And that's a veeeery good thing.

Oh course, you can't frag and knit at the same time, so my knitting has been neglected as of late. Still working away on a headband for myself, as the yarn did NOT want to be a touque. Or a beret. Or even a flouncy elf hat. Surprisingly, the yarn (Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran) has held up well to the repeated froggings.

Instead of knitting, I've been having fun with my dye pots. Meet Sedna and Crushed Roses.



The first one is a skein of Silky Malabrigo that I practiced overdyeing on. First, splotches of blue and purple, steamed in my crockpot. Then, it went into a bath of green. Very labour intensive, but worth it. And the second was simply kettle dyed Henry's Attic sock yarn base in vermillion with a touch of violet. So far I just have the solo skeins in each colour, but I'm thinking that I need to make more of the Crushed Roses - I am down to just three pairs of handknit socks for my own feet. Shameful, I know.

And writing? Yes, I'm still writing. I am setting myself some homework - 500 words a night. And whether it's on the Pompeii story, or on a dalliance with a different world...it still counts.

Too much estrogen...

I'm a stay at home mom. Yup, a gen-u-ine homemaker. I bake, clean, mix drinks and I even do it in a handmade apron, on occasion. You don't see many women opting to ignore years (and years and fucking years) of schooling and general social pressure to keep up to a certain material standard much these days. And I think that it's a personal decision - what works for me definitely wouldn't work for some terrific moms that I know. Most days, I'm pretty good with the choice that we made to get to the point where I am. But I'll tell you the one really big thing bothers me about this situation...

The women.

Frankly, I suck at being a girl. I have no idea how to navigate the intricacies of female social networks, and the concept of bonding over backstabbing is totally foreign to me. Subsuming your true nature just to fit in...I can't do it. Growing up, I always hung out with guys. I was the guy with boobs and long hair. I simply understand and appreciate the male code of behaviour better than the female one. And the thing is...the only people that I seem to come into contact with in the stay-at-home parent world are women.

Last year was Mr. Munchkin's first year in school and I tried something new. I dressed in Mom jeans, bought a pair of big bugeye sunglasses and generally acted like a 9th grader feeling out the situation and trying on new personalities every week. I hated every minute of it. It felt like I was living in someone else's life, and wearing their clothes to boot. But the good news is that as of late, I've grown bolder.

I realise that I've got a fairly outsized personality. (Translates to: I'm loud and usually obnoxious in public.) Not to mention that I am awful with names and faces. Lots of people will be turned off by that, and I'm good with that. I've grown used to being socially straightened over the years. Moving around every few years will do that to you. But what I can't stand is a group of women whispering and pointedly staring at me (without ever having spoken to me) based on what I'm wearing. Look, I can't help that I'm the only ethnic person within a 5 km radius. (Seriously, there are days that I feel like high fiving any other person with a dark skin colour...just because they happen to walk past me on the sidewalk. It's lonely out here in the land of the pasty white.) But I don't think that it's my race that bothers them, as much as it is the fact that I am just not even trying to fit in anymore.

For example, today - my hair was done up in two little buns and I had on my white fleece motorcycle jacket. I realise that this "look" is young and that I am not the svelte nymph that I once was. But really? I don't think that it merited the looks of disdain that I earned. Then again, maybe it was the knitting and walking at the same time.

Oh well. I think that I'm going to relish my future status as *that* mom.

Second thoughts...

After writing for a few hours last night, I started rereading what I'd written. The most uncomfortable feeling started creeping over me, and I realised that the story is much gentler than I initially thought it would be. And...I'm not so good with the sweet stuff. My forte tends to be writing stories about glossy and mindless violence. Take this introduction to the Cyberpunk game that I was talking about before:

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Night City is the kind of place where Hope wears mirrorshades, a permanent sneer and a large bandolier of bullets. In the right parts of the city, the shimmering opalescent office towers are a whore's paean to money and power. The corporations rule here - and they don't bother with the velvet glove. It's all about the iron fist...enforcing their control though the use of horrifically efficient heavy weapons teams and good old doses of pain. But the city is glossy...all brilliantly neon, so no one ever notices the occasional blood splatter on the wall. It's just considered to be part of the exotic appeal of Night City.

But in the ugly parts of town...well, that's another story. Boostergangs run wild, terrorizing those who are either too poor to be Mallplexers or too stubborn to move to a better part of town. Since human compassion doesn't earn any Eurobucks - the corporations don't really give a flying fuck about anyone down here. The dinged up but earnest police force struggles to keep the peace here and they try hard, too. But these days, there are just too many powers fighting for control of the badlands. So, it's vigilante heaven. Kill or be killed, babe. Not to say that no one gives a damn. There are heroes, oh yes. But why do any of them do what they do? It ain't for the money. It's all about the Glory, chombatta. That, and the chance to piss off the corps every once in awhile.

The lives of a couple of cyberpunks are about to intersect...and brother, are they *ever* going to take the piss out of the corps tonight.

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Now, THAT was fun to write. (Ignore the slang, it's indigenous to the gameworld.) And while the Pompeii story is haunting me, I just hope that I can do it justice in the end.

On to the knitwear!


A last minute baby gift for Mr. Ninja's cousin who is having a baby girl next month. Bunny Beanie pattern. And now for one of my favourite FOs ever.



Veyla. But modded to make it into flip-top mittens. With mother of pearl buttons, and in BFL sock yarn. I love love love love these, but unfortunately am not keeping them. They're for the Gods/Goddesses/Mythology Swap that the Odd Ducks are doing. But I will definitely be making the pattern again for myself. I have all the buttons for it, after all.