Stitches Midwest

We left home with all the glee of schoolchildren on a snow day. And it only has gotten better so far. After a fast drive up with only the minimum amount of road construction allowed by law, we first stopped at Inspired Needle in Lemont. We weren't planning to, but we were a bit early for lunch, so why not? I found some new scissors and a black sheep measuring tape. Seems very appropriate somehow... baaaaa.

Lunch was outstanding at Old Town cafe in Lemont- an amazing Black Forest Schnitzel, spaetzel and sauerkraut for me. On to Knitche in Downers Grove and some pre market yarn fondling. I got something specifically for a couple projects. And started a new pair of socks tonight.

We got to Schaumberg, checked in, and started exploring. We found the check-in for our conference- we are at Stitches Midwest. Bought some conference bling- and decided out Knaughty Knitters mascot- "tink" was going to be a kangaroo. There are way cool T's here with a knitting kangaroo on the front, and Tink sounds a bit Australian, don't you think? G'day, Tink!

So it's getting late, and everyone else has gone to bed. I'm in this awesome lobby, with music, a fireplace, artwork, fountains, and not a soul in sight. Yeah, it's about 1:30am, but even so....

I'll be tweeting from the conference with a #stitches hashtag. If you have no idea what that is, then don't bother- you are probably not reading this either....

First class at 1:30 tomorrow. Backwards Stitching.

Knitting badges

thanks to Cast-on.com I have earned some Knitting badges:

The McGyver 1 badge for using an unusual object while knitting. Bread ties as stitch markers was probably my first.

The McGyver2 badge for using knitting objects in unusual ways. Yup haven't we all used knitting needles to get at something that needed poking, finding or scratching? And not to mention using yarn as dental floss? Oh yeah.....

Proselytize Knitting Badge- for representing knitting in a good light. Well- I do what I can, but typically knitting represents me in a good light.

Can be an Asshole When it Comes to Knitting Badge. I have only one thing to say--Don't even start with circular needles- okay! Oh yeah, and American style may not be as fast as continental, but it is the RIGHT way.

Knitting Under the Influence Badge -Nuff said...

I Will Crush You With My Math Knowledge Badge. Math I know, gauge I can figure, and if I can't I'll just have another drink.

Knitting Has Caused Me To Seek Medical Attention 1 Badge.- Ok- I probably should have had that needle in hand from car accident thing looked at, but I'd like to think the doctors would still be laughing at me, and it healed OK.

Sizzling Sixteen- spoilers!

I only have a few minutes, but I just wanted to get a new blog post in. I just finished Janet Evanovich's Sizzling Sixteen. I liked it better than fifteen. Good plot, lots of hot Ranger action, and I love the threesome of Lula, Connie and Stephanie working together. There;s just one problem. I feel a slight unease. Maybe it's because Stephanie is feeling the same thing. I wouldn't be too surprised to see this series end soon. With the office being firebombed, everything is up in the air. I could easily see Steph going to work for Ranger, Morelli getting jealous, she finally makes a choice one way or another, and either way, the tension is gone, life finally gets down to business and Stephanie grows up and moves on. The required car gets destroyed, Grandma goes to a couple funerals, there is a few chases, laughs, and I had to read it in one sitting. It was still compelling and funny. not as good as those middle ones 7-10, but well above 15.


And in knitting world? The socks that were on the needle that went into my hand in the car accident are done. It seemed like they took forever! A new pair is well on the way to being done.

And in the world of Craig Ferguson? I continue to be truly infatuated with the sexy scot. I know all my friends are getting tired of hearing about him, but I can't help it. Lucky for me, I'm not alone. There are a few hundred thousand of us who follow him on twitter, and you can find several of us tweeting together every night while we watch the show. I keep my lusty thoughts in the volcano.

Hot! But it's only June

It has been hot, hot here. June isn't typically over 90 degrees, but we've already it it. Bleh!

Haven't finished any books recently, haven't finished any knitting or stitching recently, although I have a scarf, socks, and about three cross stitch pieces all being worked on. Summer school started and time is now a luxury I don't have. Good and bad crap has been happening but then it always does, and I usually come out the better in the end so let's just say fertilizer has been added and with luck a healthy crop will come of it. But for whatever or whomever is delivering said fertilizer- I have enough now, thank you, and you can stop delivering.

For some reason, I've been swearing more lately. Well, I blame Craig Ferguson's cussing bunny, Sid. OK- It's not Sid, it's me. I have to be careful because if I drop an F-Bomb in class, well let's just say that that particular garden has had a bit of over fertilization last week and doesn't need any more. (Yeah, in trouble again...) I really don't know why, but a good swearing has been feeling really satisfying. I stopped swearing when the son-child was born, and never really took it back up, but now...#(%($&^#()$*+!#$(*!+ is becoming commonplace.

Along with that, I've been having trouble sleeping. That's because I'm becoming a Woman Of A Certain Age and I guess insomnia is part of that. I cut out the Dew for about a month, and it didn't help. So here I am, after midnight,hanging out on the Interweb, knowing I have to be at work tomorrow grading papers at 8:00 for my 10:00 class that should be going hiking, except the forecast calls for rain. I really don't care- I'm going to take them anyway.

Oh well, I'm going to try to go to sleep, and maybe I'll dream about swearing and get it out of my system for the day.

Book Review- Between the Bridge and the River-Craig Ferguson

Between the Bridge and the River by Craig Ferguson

First- I'm a huge Craig Ferguson fan. I must say that right up front. I have read his other book (American on Purpose) and have reviewed it down below. This book was written first. To make this simpler, because I'm going to reference both books- Between the Bridge and the River will be BTBATR and American on Purpose will be AOP.

BTBATR uses a few situations found in AOP, so if you enjoyed Killer Ducks on acid and depressing Scottish schools that encouraged beatings, then you will see them again. BTBATR gives some of Craig's life experiences to several different characters, so after reading AOP, this book has a bit of familiarity. If you read the books in the opposite (probably correct) order, you would get that "behind the scenes" feeling you get with the special features on a DVD.

BTBATR follows four people: two American brother Saul and Leon who grow up abused and run away from their group home to fall in with a snake handling religious tent show; and George and Fraser, two Scottish boys who grew up as friends then parted ways around 14 or so. I recognized Fraser as a reflection of Craig, and see George as who Craig would have been if he had made other life choices- staying in school, going to college, being boring and respectable. These three stories intertwine, voyage apart, then come back together in tangents, tangles, and then meet in dream sequences. Yes, there are dream sequences, near death experiences, a ghostly Carl Jung, and an overt view of religion as a soulless money making business, and a covert pondering of religion as personal spirituality.

BTBATR is not a light summer read, but it's one of those books you think about later. It's clever, downright funny in parts, but don't expect to laugh through it. There are small bits cleverly placed to keep this from being too heavy. And those of us who are fans will recognize 100% Craig touches. There are the occasional asides where you hear Craig talking directly to you, explaining something in the book. There are parables. There is sex. Blunt and direct, no euphemism-type sex. Funny, sad, touching, mechanical sex. The way it really is.

This book is even better if you are well read. There are references you might not get otherwise. The current references that needed to be changed to stop lawsuits are worth looking for- like Peephole Magazine. Craig Ferguson describes this book as "dirty.' I don't think so. There is a lot of sex in it, and it's described as these men would. It's honest. This is a book about redemption. That's honest too.

Ahhh... back outside!

There's just something about going outside,without a coat, boot, gloves... While I love winter, there's an ease about spring. I just love taking kids out around our pond, and this spring has brought fishing, exploring, snake hunting, and duckling rescuing all back with a rush! The prairie is still being a bit shy, with only a few Golden Alexanders peeking into bloom. Like it knows May sometimes brings enough cold to make flowers shiver at night. I know how exciting the prairie is going to look, but my young visitors...not so much excitement as wariness about bugs, field mice, and spiders.

There's two types of group that come to campus for greenspace tours. (Well, being totally honest- they come for the Challenger Learning Center, and I'm just the glorified babysitter while the other half of the group discovers comets or walks on Mars or something MUCH more exciting than "oh, this plant will look really cool in two months.") Yeah- so back to the two groups. There's the "raise their hands when outside, never leave the path, can you turn off the wind" group. Then there's the herding cats group that I just follow and explain whatever they've discovered. One group, I do all the talking, hope something gets through, and don't bother telling jokes. The other- as long as no one falls into the pond or eats poison ivy, it's a success, and they usually like my jokes. The ones that stay with me learn whatever I decide to tell them. The ones who tend to wander away learn whatever they want to learn. I'm good either way.

If I'm tired, I like the drag and brag group. I can do this in my sleep, which is good because they are asleep as well. The herding cats group keeps me on my toes, with lots of "What's this?" and "I found something!" and "Can I eat this?" I get tired, but I'm energized by them as well. The problem lies when I'm all WOOHOO let's go hiking and I have an "Outside is icky" class. Or if I'm tired because I stayed up way to late mooning over Craig Ferguson and I have a class of Lewis and Clarks ready to go explore the wilderness. Today is rainy, so we all stay inside and talk about bottled water-

Which reminds me- If you have the chance see the documentary FLOW. Guaranteed to get you pissed off at the World Bank and privatized water suppliers.

Time to go babysit another class- Oh I mean educate young minds about evil bottled water...

Earth Day!

I spent Earth Day outside, taking a class hiking around the prairie. Can't think of a better way to spend the day! I used to get all excited about having an "event" for Earth Day, but since I've become more of an "Every Day" type, I notice that I feel happier when I'm fighting the good fight. Kind of like when your boss catches you working on something really hard...that feeling of doing what needs to be done every day instead of one day kinda gives me a warm green glow.

So Happy 40th Earth Day! and Happy Living on the Earth Lightly Every Day..err..day.

So what else is going on? Not much, except being very busy taking kids outside or teaching them about the evils of bottled water, and teaching adults how to make informed choices about the environment, and helping other people do the same, it's been a very green semester. And I love it! Every day brings a new adventure. Last week middle school students got to see a hidden duck nest, saw a snake swimming on the pond, found the remnants of a rabbit (all fur, no guts) picked up three bags of trash, ate some mustard greens, saw hawks, swallows,and turkey vultures, and learned that geese are never, ever pettable.

Next week- fishing adventures start. I hope to be very, very busy this summer getting kids and adults outdoors.

In the world of knitting, I've finished another pair of socks and signed up for a knitting conference near Chicago in August. A new pair of socks are going on the needles today. I'm going to use my bamboo yarn this time. They should be very soft and pretty.

The finished socks:
















Oh yeah- Craig Ferguson and the Robot Skeleton Army ROCK! Just sayin'

Entrelac Pillow

Here's my latest knitting finish->
Entrelac pillow from www.knitandcrochettoday.com free patterns



And a close up of the entrelac, which is easier to do than it looks.




The back of the pillow is a simple stockinette in the green.

This just in!

Finished last night- Mohair and sparkly gold shawl. Sparkly gold is fiber from India brought back by a friend.

Knitting again....

It seems like I spend more time knitting than stitching these days, but that's OK- I seem to like whatever is in my hands at the moment the best. I've been working through the Fearless Knitting Workbook, and becoming...well...fearless!
Here's a couple more of my finishes:
































And some stitching:



Top and Bottom of a HUGE bellpull.