New Subtitle

I know! I know! This is supposed to be first and foremost a blog about my knitting. However I have found myself with less and less knitting to blog about and more and more life to blog aobut. That's why the switch around in the subtitle. Now I'm going to have to go change the category I'm in at BlogHer. Hopefully that isn't that difficult.

Meanwhile I'm plotting all the wonderful nefarious deeds I can do and stuff I can buy with my new found fame. I have a new reader! Welcome Pamela. Did you bring any friends? I hope so. If not how do you expect me to become rich and famous like Heather Armstrong? Able to live off my blog and my husbands love. Oh yeah, and my kid and two dogs, which I don't have. And the daily posting. Have to get working on that.

I am going to make you all a promise. I will post everyday before I go to bed. If I don't you can call me and ask me where my post is.

BlogHer

Blogging from work is never a good thing. I’m supposed to be working right? But I just can’t help it right now. I need to blog. I also need to wait for the drugs to kick in before I try anything more difficult, like vacuuming my studio.

I was reading My Favorite Blog this morning like I always do. I found a link to a new equally cool blog and from there to BlogHer.

I decided to join. Not sure what exactly this will do for me but I’m sure it will be a good thing. Exposure to lots of new blogs and new readers on the way! BlogHer is a great community of female bloggers talking about everything. Gaming, crafts, do it yourself, celebrities, politics, religion, life in general. You name it you’ll find a blog about it there.

While we’re on the subject of blogs about everything under the sun, I realize people have their passions. I still don’t understand the things that some people blog about. I can understand Mommy Blogging. I mean what else would a stay at home mom have to blog about but her child and life around the house? I can understand blogging about politics. Politics are important. You should have an informed opinion about the people that rule your world. I can even understand blogging about an MMORPG. I know some of those players in real life and it consumes them. I have a friend that is playing when he’s at home and on the forums at work. It’s all he does.

What I don’t understand are people that blog about things like celebrities. I mean they’re people just like us. They’re not special. They’re just more famous and most likely have more money. What is the world’s fascination with celebrities and spoiled rotten heiresses? I don’t think I’ll ever understand.

I used to work at the Disneyland Resort as a tour guide. I’ve met some of these “celebrities”. They’re no different from you or me. Except Susan Lucci, she was a bitch from hell. I’ve met Teri Hatcher, and her husband whose name escapes me. I’ve met Stephen Hawking. I’ve met most of the cast of whatever soap opera Susan Lucci is on. They’re all just normal people.

So why, as a society, are we all so interested in what’s going on in their bedrooms, living rooms, and kitchens? Would you like it if there were people going through your trash to see what brand of tampons you use? Or people trying to get peeks in your windows to see if you really eat edamame like you said you did on Oprah? Or following you around trying to get pictures of your baby so the world could see how cute, or ugly, they are? I know that would drive me totally bat shit crazy.

Why can’t we just leave these people alone and let them do their jobs? Like we do with the policemen, the firemen, and shit even the greeters at Wal-Mart. Why are they so special? Just because they can get up in front of a camera and pretend to be someone else? Don’t get me wrong I like TV and Movies. I just don’t think that we should treat the stars of these movies/shows any differently than we do our next door neighbors.

Off my soap box now. This is supposed to be a knitting blog right? So on to my recent knits.

I love knitting and have decided that some of my recent knits should go to some charity. To that end I have decided to donate some of my recent knits to the local MTC, Missionary Training Camp. I am not LDS, never have been, never will be. I don’t believe in proselytization and I know “The Church” doesn’t need any monetary help, I mean how could they when all their members are going to go to hell unless they give 10% of their gross income to “The Church”. However these young men, and very few women, are being sent out into the world. To different cities, sometimes even different countries, to “spread the word” and, although I don’t agree with it, I don’t believe they should be sent without some comforts of home. So some of my hand knit dish cloths and market bags are being given to the MTC for these missionaries to take with them. Perhaps even some scarves or hats for those going to colder climes. If you would like to donate some of your items please send me a message at mtcdonations@yahoo.com and I will tell you where you can drop them off or mail them for delivery to the MTC the next day.

My mother requested I make her some market bags to take to the grocery store. I make them out of Peaches & Crème cotton yarn. They have lots of beautiful colors and, her favorite being emerald green, I figured she’d pick a green one. What does she pick? Not some beautiful shaded green, or green and lavender, or anything even resembling her favorite color in the least. She picks Pink Lemonade! Not so bad on the cone or in a ball. When knit up into a market bag? Hideous! At least it has green in it and she won’t forget them when going to the store.

I haven’t made any progress on my UFO’s this month. I have however added several dishcloths to my collection. I asked someone the other day what they would pay for a hand knit dishcloth and showed them an example and they said anywhere between $5 and $7. So then WHY ARE MY DISHCLOTHS NOT SELLING ON MY ETSY SHOP?! Major suckage. I guess I just have to give it time and advertising.

Speaking of my etsy shop. I’ve had two people mark me as a favorite but not buy anything. Is this something that happens a lot? I mean if you like my stuff enough to mark it as a favorite why not buy something? Just doesn’t make sense to me.

Guess a lot of stuff doesn’t make sense to me today. Maybe it’s all the drugs I took earlier. Who knows? I certainly don’t.

Coolest Link Evah!

So I was looking for knitting blogs the other day and I ran across one that had a link to Wordle. This has got to be the coolest thing evah! I'm even writing in ebonics it's so cool. You have got to check it out. This wordle is of my last blog post.

101 Things About Me

Some of this information may be may be useless, some of it may be redundant, but that's okay. It's still fun.

1. I'm the second oldest person in my household and among my siblings.
   
2. I'm one of 2 children.
   
3. I love to knit.
   
4. I love to do martial arts.
   
5. I hate to deal with the general public.
   
6. I live in Utah.
   
7. This is my only blog.
   
8. I am a science geek.
   
9. I love to read fiction.
   
10. My favorite past-time right now is knitting dishcloths. (I'm an addict.)
    
11. I dye my hair.
    
12. I get acrylic nails.
    
13. My favorite color is purple.
    
14. I play D&D.
    
15. I want to be a veterinarian.
    
16. I have too many projects that I'm working on at the moment.
    
17. I play Everquest II.
    
18. I bruise easily.
    
19. I don't think I'm very good at sparring.
    
20. I have 4 tattoos.
    
21. I have 6 piercings that are not in my ear lobes.
    
22. At the time I am writing this I am 29 years old.
    
23. I kill plants.
    
24. I'm 5'7.5" tall.
    
25. I used to be a tour guide at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, CA.
    
26. I was born in La Mirada, CA
    
27. I graduated class of 1996.
    
28. I'm pagan.
    
29. I love Tinkerbell.
    
30. I'm going gray.
    
31. This list is a lot more difficult to write than you'd think it would be.
    
32. I study Shaolin Chuan'Fa.
    
33. I teach Shaolin Chuan'Fa
    
34. I love dragon flies.
    
35. I can memorize patterns after the first time knittd.
    
36. My second favorite color is green.
    
37. I have one living parent and one living grandparent.
    
38. I have a niece.
    
39. I used to be a web developer.
    
40. I want to learn how to fly.
    
41. I want to learn how to ride a motorcycle.
    
42. My closest living relative is 90 miles away.
    
43. I hate it when people mess with my stuff.
    
44. I love twitter.
    
45. I only have dial up at my dojo.
    
46. My hair is longer now than it has been in 5 years.
    
47. I love Indian food.
    
48. I have a warped sense of humor.
    
49. I like the noise my row counter makes when knitting.
    
50. I use knitting as meditation.
    
51. I hate cleaning but I do it anyway.
    
52. I love my steaks rare and my egg yolks runny.
    
53. I have a very strong sense of what's right and what's wrong.
    
54. I stand up for those who can't stand up for themselves.
    
55. My eyes are green.
    
56. My nose turns up at the end.
    
57. I don't like making lists.
    
58. I love writing articles for Helium.
    
59. I can't stand flat keyboards.
    
60. Bright light gives me migraines.
    
61. I am baffled by teenagers.
    
62. I have a cat named Odin.
    
63. I am in love with Heather Armstrong.
    
64. I currently have just over 20 students and am looking for more.
    
65. I love my job.
    
66. I am a tiger when sparring and should be more like a crane.
    
67. I drink Diet Pepsi.
    
68. Most of my clothes are black.
    
69. I need to pass my leopard test before I can take my dragon test.
    
70. I am under incredible stress at work at home.
    
71. I live with 4 ferrets, a cat, and a dog.
    
72. None of the above animals are mine.
    
73. M roommates never do dishes.
    
74. I drive a Saturn.
    
75. I have an Etsy shop.
    
76. As much as I like to think so my boss is not an ass.
    
77. I wrote hits list in notepad and accidentally saved the file as 1001.html not 101.html.
    
78. I make lots of typos.
    
79. I know how to crochet but don’t like to.
    
80. I do counted cross stitch.
    
81. I make beaded stitch markers.
    
82. I love making fulled bags.
    
83. I hate my state bird, the seagull.
    
84. I love a man with an accent.
    
85. I love the way Peaches & Crème stripes when used to make my market bags.
    
86. I have two uncles.
    
87. I have two aunts.
    
88. I have no idea how many cousins I have.
    
89. It takes about 10 hours of knitting to make one market bag.
    
90. My office is a sauna in the afternoons and evenings.
    
91. I wear glasses.
    
92. I despise make up but wear it on a daily basis.
    
93. I used to smoke pot but haven’t in 8 years.
    
94. I have officially registered for Hat Attack.
    
95. I still occasionally do some Cold Fusion Development.
    
96. I’m knitting while I write this.
    
97. I want to learn Chinese.
    
98. I want to get married and have children.
    
99. I’m really good with other people’s money but horrible with my own.
    
100. I love the scent of Mary Kay’s new formula of Lipstick.
     
101. It has taken me 5 months to write this list.
     

Expected higher viewing volume

So I was finally able to post a comment on my favorite blog today. Because of this I'm expecting higher viewing volume, considering my comment was like 22,000 on the list. She has a huge reader base. I figured I should probably start posting on a more regular basis. Like I haven't said that before.

At the recommendation of my superiors I have decided to no longer post to my other blog about my career as a martial artist. In fact if you try to find it you'll find that it has been removed. I will however still post about my life in general but I'll do it here.

To that end I have finally been given my own studio. I am the chief instructor at my own dojo. That means I get to make all the decisions AND I have to accept all the responsiblity. If something goes wrong it's my fault. Which totally sucks. But right now I'm the only one here so it makes sense. I can't blame it on someone else if there is no one else.

I'm working hard on getting my studio up and running. Always trying to get more students. So if you're in the South Sandy area and are interested in coming in for a lesson please just post a comment and I'll get in touch with you regarding a time.

Now on to the knitting news. I have found the Cloth of the Week yahoo group and have been knitting wash cloths like crazy. I have also been making a slightly modified version of the Everlasting Bagstopper found on Knitty. These bags are awesome. I have put everything in them from an entire crocheted throw blanket to:

• A powered hand sander
  
• A large glass jar
  
• 2 1 liter bottles of Diet Pepsi
  
• A foot long Blimpie AND
  
• A bag of chips
  

The above list was all at once and there was room to spare. Once I have enough made I'll be listing them for sale on my etsy shop.

I already have some of my dishcloth/scrubbie combos up for sale. I need to get pictures of my stitch markers up so that people can see those and start buying them. I just haven't had the time yet. I'll have to do that tonight. Plus I have quite a few sets that need finishing. I also have dragons that need finishing and posting. I have quite a bit of work to do on my etsy shop.

Since I'm at work, as usual, I'll try to post pics later tonight maybe tomorrow.

Yay for you, fast man.

Oh my gawd! This has got to be the funniest thing I've read in a while. I recently added the fark.com rss feed to my MyYahoo page. I was reading some posts about the new Olympic chant from China. Of course as all forums do the topic got changed to the "inequality" of modern day olympics and how they're not living up to the ideals of the olympics.

So someone asked what this poster would change and this was his response:

"Open it to many different height and weight classes. Open it to lower income athletes who might not be able to afford the training time or equipment to excel. Allow those who right now are shut out of it to be a part of it. Tone down the celebration of these people. They have not cured cancer. All the did was run fast. Yay for you, fast man."

You can find the original discussion here

Just about peed myself after reading that one.

Knitting articles

I've been writing knitting articles on Helium. I've found a few topics that I'm interested in writing about and that I believe I have enough knowledge to actually contribute. I 'm wondering however what other topics you might be interested in reading about.

So fellow knitters. Tell me what you want to know. What topics are you interested in reading about? It can be something as simple as casting on to something as complex as kitchener stitch. What do you want to know. Tell me and I'll try to come up with an article.