Meret Sorrows

I'm doing this great new knitting project - the Meret http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/meret-mystery-beret.  Just a quick beret. 

Or so I thought!  For some reason I end up with extra stitches between the markers sometimes.  It's happened on 3 rounds now.  GrrrR!  So now I'm frogging again.

It looks good, I don't know what the problem is.  It's quite frustrating and I thought I'd share that.  If you've done this pattern before and know what I'm talking about help me figure it out.

I love the pattern, and I've been having fun knitting it aside from the mistakes.  Probably just too much goin' on in my head, wouldn't be the first time.  :-(

UPDATE: I figured out the problem.  I was occasionally forgetting to pass over the slipped stitch!  Oh, it's so fun knitting while my mind meanders elsewhere.   ha ha

The beret turned out great, it's the only hat the stays on my head without having to readjust it.  It's warm too (used Lion Brand Wool-Ease worsted) but a little itchy.  Maybe after I block it it'll de-itch.  ?  I doubt it.  Next time Simply Soft might do. 

photography by: Eric M  :-)

This is the back of the hat being worn, before blocking. 

The View on Memory Lane

Hi all.  I've been having fun with our new computer and high speed on http://www.cafepress.com/  I made a new t-shirt, but I have to wait to buy it until we've got an extra $41.  Here's the front of it:

Here's the back: 

Isn't this fun? 

Eric's having a blast too. 

He's been designing all sorts of political t-shirts.  It's too bad I've had to warn him about wearing them in school, since teachers are not above political fallout.

Luckily we haven't budgeted anything for t-shirts.  So now I'm wondering about intellectual property rights.  lol 

In other news, I started writing my sister a letter almost a month ago.  I suppose I should be finishing it up soon.  Last night we bought Season Nine of Seinfeld.  God I'd forgotten how much I miss those shows.  FUNNY.  I guess Jerry S. is a vegetarian too.  How cool is that?

Ooooh, I found some pics of things from my childhood.  My mom used to sell Avon and she'd buy me these little trinket type things.  They were no big deal really, but you know how it is when something's from back then.  Seeing them again means everything, particularly now since mom's gone.  So there was an Easter bunny pin whose face lifted up with perfume 'creme' in it.  Also a gingerbread boy pin, and a ghost finger puppet that glowed in the dark.  Inside it was lip smacker.  I still remember how that ghost smelled.  I think I had a white dog with brown spots pin too.  Holy GOD, I just found this online.  I can remember how it felt to open the top up.  Now this: I'm freaking out at this!  I'd totally forgotten about it.  There's lip stuff inside I think.

OK, so this is not Avon, but brings back great memories.  Remember these guys?  Awesome.  I loved the rounded kitchen chairs, my life-size play set had some just like them.  Fisher Price rocked! 

Here's the spoon ring from Avon, my mom bought both my sister and me one of our own:

I love it!  What do people do with things that mean so much to them?  Do you still have all the stuff that meant so much to you?  After my parents split up, everything sort of went to Hades.  I don't know what happened to most of my stuff but I can honestly say that I'm so grateful for the internet!!  Let's go look for some more fun stuff:

...and...

I also had a bunny with a fluffy tail:  Oh my GOD I'm so happy to see this again!!  Of course, my tail got slightly grayish from touching it all the time.  lol  This is kinda like being with my mom again.  I guess time travel is possible.  Here's another one; the only dog I had as a kid ha ha:   Isn't he so sweet?  Now I must find the ghost, I'll be right back:  Found him!  I forgot his name was Gilroy.    There was this weird texture to him.  Not weird really, but cool.  Sometimes when I was scared I'd sleep with him, cuz he glowed. 

I love Avon to this day.  My mom had a white box filled with various lipstick samples.  One time Vickie Smith and I took 'Very Cherry' and drew faces on our stomachs!  LOL  Good times.  It's funny how I don't remember where I put my Visa card 2 weeks ago, but I can remember that!  My favorite lipstick color was called Baby Orange.  I liked it because my mom told me that only I looked good in it with my strawberry blonde hair.  I felt quite special.  :-)  It was also in a dark blue tube and I thought the light orange looked pretty with it.

Here's one more: Fisher Price record player.  My favorite was the dark blue record, 'Edelweiss'. 

Oh my, I've gone on for longer than I planned.  I suppose I'll be going.  I hurt my knee yesterday so no treadmill today.  I'm going to do a 20 minute pilates class on dvd.  Wish me luck.

Hello again

Ok, after spending numerous hundreds of dollars on a new computer so I could blog, I can now miraculously blog downstairs again!  ??  So in the interest of not looking a gift horse in the mouth, I'm blogging on the prodigal computer.  :-)  It's nice to do that down here, so I can be around the Guitar Heroes in the family. 

On Valentine's Day this year I went to the library with my daughter, to go online (that's when the 2 computers in our house were rebelling).  You may have seen that I have an affinity for most things Pat Condell, so while I was listening to his newest post, I saw another clip of halal meat butchering.  To make a longer story short, I decided I could no longer be a part of the extreme torture of my fellow earthlings.  :-)  I've been questioning eating meat since I was around five.  My mom used to say that they gave their lives for us...WHAT?  Even a five yr old doesn't buy that!  lol  Please. Anyway, the pic here is of some vegan banana bread.  It was very good and more soft than usual.  Husband and son who are not vegan even loved it.  I made this a couple weeks after having gone the way of the big V.  I noticed that eating it started me thinking about and craving food again; something that hadn't happened since my new way of life started.  It's made me see that I'm very sensitive to sugars and probably white flour.  I'd been so used to eating mostly whole foods.  So, it's nice to know that I can still bake, but I don't think it'll be happening very often.  Here are some other things that are now staples, along with quinoa (super-num) and quesadillas:

Last night I made some Punjab Eggplant over brown rice, a big organic red leaf lettuce salad with red grapes quartered, strawberry slices, banana slices, walnuts and an English cuke.  There was so much flavor no one even needed dressing.  We also each had half a baked sweet potato with cinnamon and a little brown sugar.  Perfect dinner.  (not pictured)

I can't even begin to describe how much better I feel internally...and that only took 2 or 3 days to manifest.  I can breathe through my nose for the first time in over 2 decades!  The arthritis that was steadily growing worse is gone completely (in 3 days!), and my mind is so much calmer.  I don't sit and worry all the time.  The biggest surprise so far, because I didn't realize that diet mattered in this area, was that after the first week, my vision is no longer blurry!  I was ready to go pay cash at the eye guy to get an exam and buy some glasses.  (I don't have insurance)  My vision is perfect again!  I can't get over that one.  So cool. 

I'll try to get off this rant for awhile.  In other news, I finally finished the cat bed I'd done, but was afraid to felt.  lol  Here's this feat:

Lucy loves it.  She actually uses it.  Our dog loves it too:



Daisy, this is a cat bed.



Of course Lucy had been stealing Daisy's bed for months now.  That's why I made her her own in the first place.  I do believe they're just competitive with each other.  lol 

Yesterday I found my son's cd he'd been looking for while he was at school.  It'd gone missing a week or so ago and it was causing him great, if relative, distress.  So, I wrapped it up and made up some clues for a treasure hunt.  I put an hour or so into its planning and got thrilled at thinking how excited he'd be.  Apparently I overestimated things.  He said, "Ya gotta start making these clues harder, I'm not a baby you know."  ! ! LOL  WHAT?  I guess he's not, but he was happy to have his cd back.  I wish I'd have done more of those fun things while he was younger (he's 12).  I made a treasure hunt for daughter only one time and she still remembers it, 14 yrs later.  Carpe diem, eh? 

What else has been going on?  Well, in line with the new veganist lifestyle, I've been stocking up on books and cookbooks.  I got a huge kick out of Skinny Bitch.  It was shocking and funny as hell.  (I'd already gone vegan, but it was a great cementer of my views.)  Of course, John Robbins is always a good read, as is Dean Ornish.  The book I bought on Valentine's day after I'd seen that video was called Veganist by Kathy Freston.  I'd start there, if you're wondering about things.  Or Skinny Bitch...there's also a Skinny Bastard.  I think it's funny that this all happened on Valentine's Day.  A) It's "heart" day and nothing can be healthier for your heart than switching to V.  and B) It was the eighth anniversary of my mom's death, who died of a stroke, due largely to her diet.  And the auto immune disease she had...which can be avoided, in large part, with a vegetarian diet.   The evidence is astounding.  I'm so angry that no one mentioned this to my husband as they were taking fistful after fistful of money from him, for his first, second, and third stent.  I'm going to change the subject now, but do yourself a favor and look into this subject.  Not the nutties who are making a fortune on our buying meat and dairy btw, but the ones who've done scientific research.  Read The China Study.  Read Dean Ornish's books.  Read http://www.drmcdougall.com/ 

Ok, I've had my say for awhile.  Prayers and love to Japan's victims of the earthquake and to all of you.