Today was my first day at my new job. I think it’s going to be a great fit. The people are super nice, funny, and supportive of each other. And it’s bankcard so that’s doublely weird. I guess it just depends on who is running the company. 
Upon getting home today I found my dad’s birthday present to me waiting in the mail. A spinning & knitting/crochet update is coming but right now I’m exhuasted.
Hand Dyed Corridale.
Percy Jackson is just a normal twelve year old boy. Sure he’s got problems with school, bullies, and authority but at that age who doesn’t? Getting kicked out of school after school does have a way of making one think he’s a screw up though. One day though on a seemingly innocent visit to the beach with his mother Percy’s life changes forever. Finding out his best friends is a satyr and being chased by the Minotaur into a camp for demi gods is only the beginning of Percy Jackson’s new life. Here he makes friends withchildren of similar parentage and finally finds himself a place where he belongs.
Peace can only last for so long though once it is discovered which god has fathered Percy. Monstrous attacks begin and Percy is sent on a quest to retrieve Zeus’s stolen master bolt (the lightening bolt from which all other bolts are made) and return it before the summer solstice to stop an all out war between the gods. Along the way is more adventure than one boy can handle, danger at every turn, and new heights of treachery.
An absolutely fantastic tale marvelously woven by the author Rick Riordan. As a book written for young adults I didn’t expect it to be as fun and engaging for an actual adult as it was. Move over Harry Potter because Percy Jackson could kick your butt. Smart mouthed, practical and fun Percy doesn’t go looking for trouble but he was born a hero, a combination of mortal and god parentage that he can not control. In a world where hero’s are sent on quests all the time and spent their lives training Percy is a rare breath of fresh air.
I often fear reading young adult books because the main characters can be whiny and immature (as their audience) which can get on the nerves of any adult. Amazingly Percy seems to be mostly free of self pity and angst while still staying young and believable.
A fantastic book for sure that has me thanking the gods I bought the series. Definitely worth the read!
"What'd she say?!"
I’m employed. Starting Monday and I think it’s going to be an awesome fit. This is exactly what I needed, what my family needed. What we needed so we don’t have to move or pack. OR MOVE.
It was a terrible couple of days but no worse than THIS TIME 2 YEARS AGO! (What the hell is with my family that we need tests every 2 years?) 2 years ago the company 1/2 my family worked for was sold and we were given 5 days to pack our house and get across the country (Ohio to California) and start work again. I cried. I think we all cried. I still miss my house and my huge back yard and snow.
2 years before that the partners at the company we all (my family) worked for fought and we almost went under as they ripped each other apart.
I swore I’d never work with family again (not because I can’t or they drive me nuts because I LOVE working with family) but it’s so scary when you fail. When you fail everyone fails. It hurts too damn much.
So here I am on the other side of my 2 year trial. My husband will be starting his in November along with my FIL and I know it will be ok. It’s always ok because that is the only option.
Thank you all for dealing with my week of depressing posts. I’m normally a very optimistic (somewhat sickeningly so) person but my heart hurt pretty bad because my family was suffering. Leave it to me though to fix that kind of suffering in a week. I should have been in charge of turning the economy around. I probably could have finagled it in 4 weeks. I’m THAT kind of problem solver.
Ok, enough of my babble. I wanted to thank you all for your kind comments though I didn’t reply. I wanted to thank my MIL for being my second mom, my FIL for being made of magic, Mette & Tom, Jim & Carol who were ok with the prospect of us living in Yurts on their property, Shawna & Rebecca who let me cry on the phone and make no sense, my knittin’ kittens @ Anacapa Fine Yarns who surrounded me in a cushion of happy thoughts, my spinsters who all told me how they had gotten through it and for listening to me talk. Thank you all. I’ve never realized how blessed I am until the world starts to crumble.
Mercy Thompson couldn’t keep herself out of trouble if her life depended upon it – and it does. After killing one more vampire than the head vampiress commissioned her for Mercy is once again in hot water. As if this wasn’t enough an old college friend comes to her asking for help with a mysteriously powerful ghost. Add on top of that the fact that her relationship with the devilishly handsome Alpha werewolf, Adam still needs to be clarified. A girl wouldn’t think that it could be any more complicated, but then it wouldn’t be Mercy’s life. Thankfully being able to turn into a coyete, having powerful fae and vampire friends, and being followed contantly by an enchanted fairy stick (guaranteed to make sure all your ewes give birth to twins) takes a lot of surprise out of life and makes you expect the unexpected.
In this fourth Mercy Thompson novel Patricia Briggs has once again hit a home run. Adventure, romance, humor, witty dialogue and enchanted fairy staves make for one exciting fast paced ride. Mercy is a character who makes you smile, cry, and cringe with her struggles. Incredibly likable and relatable I still think that the cover art (though I enjoy it separately) detracts from the story.
I appreciate that though Patricia Briggs throws in a romantic element it is neither overly mushy nor graphic so the reader gets the point (and here they have sex) with out having to read through it. It races the pulse a bit but wouldn’t embarrass you in front of your mother. Though indeed Mercy’s love life is part of the story it is not the only story that is going on.
Though this book is still quite new (having been first published in Feb 2009) I find it almost impossible to wait for the next book in the series. Nine out of ten stars for sure for a fun breathless literary ride.
Thank you for the kind emails yesterday. I’m still really sick to my stomach about the whole situation but I’m on the road to making it better. With planning we should be able to come through the storm pretty much in tact. Times like this make you greatful for the things that have nothing to do with money. Amazing friends who care about you, family that loves each other so desperately you know it will be ok, and a husband who heals my heart and soothes my soul. I’m still really sick about the whole situation but I know it will be ok because it has to.
and here is something I’m spinning to brighten your mood as I’m sure I’ve been completely depressing for 2 days.
well poop. they say when life gives you lemons make lemonaide so I’m going to be trying really hard for the next couple of weeks to be optimistic. It’s going to be hard no doubt but I’m a glass half full kind of gal. Except that someone has broken my glass 
We will probably be moving in the next couple of months and frankly I’m a little freaked out.
Sometimes you just have to take a deep breath and accept the things you can’t change.
I have to be honest for a moment and air my own craft snobbery. See, I always looked down on crochet. I know right? Who hasn’t? (Well, there are some of you out there but chances are you learned how to crochet before knit). I liked the stitches well enough, but the choice of yarns a lot of crocheter’s used, colors and patterns always turned me off. I really don’t care if it’s the “King of Acrylics” it’s still acrylic and I don’t want to use it. Maybe it was the yarn selection to blame for crotchet’s sad fate. Yarns have come a long way from what I hear in the last 20 years.
Though I had my own crochet snobbery I really wanted to learn how to make a granny square. So one day I sat down and taught myself how to with the help of this youtube video. It’s pretty easy once you get the gist of it and so fast that it tends to be a little on the addictive side.
The yarn I’m using is Noro Kueryon in colorway 149 from my stash. I scored 15 balls of this on ebay a few years back for practically nothing and did nothing with it. I had thoughts of making a noro striped sweater but every time I tried to start it the colors looked like dirt. Here in crocheted form they still look like dirt to me, but in a good way. Like when you are able to see a side section of earth and all the different layers are all lined up. Plus with the granny square the random noro color changes aren’t so noticeable.
Frankly, I’m in love with how this is working up. I was going to make one big granny square but I’m now opting for 2 large center squares with small squares boardering them. Wish me luck.
And here is the OTHER crocheted blanket in the works.
This one will seem like it will take forever I’m sure. It’s completely out of Malabrigo and I’m only buying one skein at a time so I won’t be too overwhelmed.
This weekend the Mr is going into full on knitty noddy production so hopefully by monday I will have something to show you all. I’m also hoping to get him to make some drop spindles but in the end that’s something I myself my turn out on the lathe.
Monza is a cut throat heartless commander general of the Thousand Swords; a lethal group of mercenaries. That is until her gainful employer Grand Duke Orso decides to murder she and her brother and throw Monza’s body from his mountain terrace to the forest floor below. Broken to pieces Monzcarro Murcatto surprisingly does not die and is put back together in quite good fashion by a mysterious bone thief. Once she has her wits back about her and body in semi decent working order there is only one thing that burns in Monza’s mind.
Vengeance.
Along the way to killing the seven men who were responsible for her brothers murder and her attempted death Monza brings together an unlikely band of bloody villains. An optimistic Northman trying to be a better man, an under appreciated master poisoner, a convict named Friendly though he seems anything but, a former torturer and the man she once betrayed to gain control of the Thousand Swords. Together they set off on an unlikely and blood spattered trail to eliminate those seven men who tried to kill Monza.
In Joe Abercrombie’s latest book Best Served Cold you are thrown smack dab back into the circle of the world he created. Shoulder to shoulder with some of the same characters made me smile as I could see the under currents and references alluded to from The First Law series. Though this is a complete and independent read from The First Law I think that reading both gives the reader a much more comprehensive grasp on what is not said outright.
The fight scenes in this book are worth the read alone. Graceful, intriguing, brutal, like a train wreck that you can’t pull your eyes from Joe Abercrombie has an almost poetic portrayal on all things horrific. I applaud him for going the extra step, to truly bring down hell on his characters is something so rarely seen in fantasy beyond the expected Tolkien style “questing”. His characters are so finely wrought that you expect them to be based off real living and breathing people. His ability to give such different characters different voices puts him head and shoulders above most writers. Even before a name is mentioned the reader knows who is thinking or speaking.
That said and though I enjoyed Best Served Cold I have to admit I had more trouble getting through it than The First Law series. Maybe it’s because the characters were so similar in motivation or because maybe I am not as jaded as I would like to think. Joe Abercrombie’s characters of women start to grate by the last one hundred pages of his book. Just as it grates when you realize that there is not one single redeemable quality in all of the characters he has employed. I am not to naive to think that there is always a happy ending, but maybe one a little less brutal.
As much as I enjoyed Best Served Cold I gave it four out of five stars on my goodreads account because while just as engaging as The First Law it lacked the humor and even good spirited moments that gave the reader some repreave of further depression lying for them just a few pages away.
In all this was an enjoyable and smart read. The dialogue was well written and witty, the scenery and battle scenes gracefully and beautifully executed, and the characters bold, brilliant, and brutal. I would recommend this book tops to anyone looking for something new and different in the fantasy genre.
I was randomly asked the other day would I rather be deaf or blind. I just stared blindly at the person dumbfounded until I was able to say “I think I’d rather loose all my limbs”. I don’t know why they asked the question and I don’t know anyone that actually would rather be either. If you are born with out being able to hear or see that is one thing, to know that I would loose either is pretty terrifying. Actually, I am slowly going deaf but if you’ve been in a room with me you’ve probably already guessed that. Here’s a hint, if you want me to pay attention to you sit on my right side if you are to the left I will just smile and nod because I’ll have no idea what you are actually saying. Add more than one speaker in the mix and you will witness a rare moment when I actually shut my fool mouth.
Knit Picks Palette in mouth watering colors!
That said the person then asked me if I’d rather be blind instead. No. I am an extremely visual person. I spent my high school years divided between art (drawing mostly), orchestra, and math. (yes, math).
What does this have to do with anything? Absolutely nothing. So, moving along the random train, *all aboard!* and we’ll come to the next stop. On your toes now, we’re moving along quite quickly.
Malabrigo Granny Squares
I have been thinking about Christmas this year. Odd I know for a Unitarian to think about Christmas in any depth but I have relatives who do the whole JC thing and I am a sucker for a Christmas tree.
To keep what little bit of my sanity I am able to cling to by the skin of my teeth I have decided to only do one handmade item this year. Only one person is getting a handmade present and I’ve just started it which means I have months to finish it. Those of you in the know understand that I will happily crochet granny squares for another two or three weeks before I get bored and discard it for approximately 3 months only to remember it in the second week of December and weep as I stay up into the wee hours of the morning trying to finish it.
Handspun (by me) Alpaca Mini Skeins
I have also been informed today that the Mr’s scheduled vacation is coming up in 3 weeks. Since I haven’t been working I hadn’t given it a second thought. Which means nothing is planned. But! We are not people who will use 10 days at home (because that’s stupid frankly) so we are going with something that makes me a bit queasy in the stomach. We are using the word “Adventure” a whole lot. As I understand it we are going to pack the car with our light camping stuff (meaning more compact) and heading up the coast of California. Up the 1 till whenever we stop.
We’ve done this drive before. When the Mr and I first were married we were broke. Seriously broke. Dollar store praying we had enough money in the bank to cover our bill broke. Then one day he got a raise and we suddenly weren’t so broke and thought it a perfect time to take our belated honeymoon. We borrowed his parents Navigator and headed up the 1 all the way to the Russian River Valley. It was the most beautiful trip I’ve ever taken.
I want to stay longer among the redwoods, go back to the drive through tree, see the tide pools again and stop once more at the Monterrey Bay Aquarium.
On the way there will have to be yarn shops (and private ranches?). I have already made 1 side trip of Berkley to visit A Verb For Keeping Warm. What I am now looking for is suggestions! Also I’m going to need book suggestions.
Randomly moving along (Keep your arms and hands inside the vehicle at all times). A blast from the past.
1. I am naturally very blond. 2. I am wearing blue suede fringed chaps. 3. I am wearing topsiders. 4. I was just about the most unpopular kid in school. Odd how that doesn’t matter anymore.
Happy Friday!
To say that I’ve had a knitting hiatus this summer is probably a massive understatement. I’ve just been caught up in other things, things that are not conducive to knitting. Unless that is you can find a way to knit while writing? While spinning? While reading ? (Yes I know some of you CAN knit and read but I can’t.) So it must amaze you to find out that I have finished a plethora of objects in the last two weeks. A PLETHORA 
First up. The La La Shawl. I knit this out of my own handspun and couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. I didn’t really block this just washed it and hung the shawl over the bathroom shower door to dry. (Yes I am wearing a sweater, it’s like 40* in the morning in Ventura.)
Yarn: My own merino hand spun
Needles: US 3′s
Verdict: Perfect. It’s the perfect size and weight for me to use as a wrap or scarf (I’ll probably use it as a scarf) and I love the color.
NEXT! The Lina Hat
Yarn: Brown Sheep Nature Spun Worsted Weight in Blueberry
Needles: Us 6
Verdict: I love making hats, what can I say? I love this hat. I ‘ve wanted to make it for quite a long time but for some reason I didn’t. I absolutely love the crown decreases, they are so smart and in pattern (a huge plus for me!) and the finished product is stretchy, smooshy and delish. You should knit this, seriously.
Moving right along, the Groovy Cable Hat(I’m not a fan of anything called groovy but this hat was ok)
Yarn: Malabrigo Merino in Sunset
Needles: Us 6 & 7
Mods: This hat wanted you to knit the whole thing on us 6′s in a worsted weight yarn. Ouch! Plus there were two sizes of hats offered. :/ I knew I didn’t want to do this so I cast on with a US 6 and knit in pattern for an inch then I switched to the US 7 and finished the hat. I’m really really glad I did. I also twisted all the stitches for better definition.
Verdict: It’s ok. I look good in the color but the hat leaves me uninspired.
And now just to screw with your head I crocheted a hot pad. Why? I have no idea.
I am here to mind f-ck you
Just a granny square with a half double crocheted backing then crocheted together.
I also finished a spinning project.
Wensleydale dyed by Black Bunny Fibers. I split the roving lengthwise and spun each section in one long strip, then I Navajo plied into a bulky weight. These are going to be mittens
It’s the most balanced and loose yarn I’ve ever spun which I think really allowes the wensleydales silkiness shine. Plus, I love the colors which are like an acid trip (I’m guessing).
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