Post 700 22/28

Since August 27, 2005, there have been a lot of posts.  This one makes 700. 

I started with the usual shy tap, tap that most bloggers write, taking a tentative step into public journaling. Like most bloggers, I have my blogging persona, but that persona is linked fairly closely to how I see and imagine myself.  At times writing here or re-reading old posts help to see more clearly who I am and who I want to be.

Whether you've read one post of mine or all 700, thank you for being here, for spending some of your precious time with me.

Lust 20/28

It's one of the seven deadly sins.  I commit it all the time. I confess to craving pleasures of the body day in and day out, and I confess to satisfying those cravings.

I just did. It felt so good.  The foreplay lasted weeks.  I stalked and fantasized. I plotted.  

Should I take the blame, though, when it has come down to me through my maternal genes from several generations?  If I'm acting on my nature, is it a sin?

Could these little beauties ever be a sin anyway?  

Thanks to a tip from a Fluevog Ravelry group (Ravlink), I was able to make them mine, all mine, for nearly half price.  That's no sin.

What do you refuse to think of as a sin?

Not Taking the Blame 19/28

Every now and again, I have a day when I decide not to turn on Rupert. Sure, it was a work day yesterday, and I was on my no-name work computer for a few hours, but I spent my after-work free time reading a non-work related book and making a tasty batch of tomato soup.  As the evening progressed, I realized I needed to post.

"Aha!" I said.  "I have George the iPhone.  I shall post from my Typepad App."  There is, after all, an app for that.

Post I did, and rather wittily, too.  There were some clever bits about being an old fogey who can't type with her thumbs.  There was a photo to represent my evening (reading, knitting, Olympics).  There was a question about what you, dear reader, were doing with your Friday night.

When I turned Rupert on this morning (he likes to get turned on in the morning, why yes, he does), I saw, or rather did not see, my witty little post.  

I'm not taking the blame on this one.  

Two questions, then: what did you do with your Friday night?  and/or what have you refused to take the blame for lately?  Stay tuned for 20/28 later today.

Lent is Here 18/28

Last year I wrote a post about Lent and my experience with attending church.  As Lent approached this year, I thought long and hard about what discipline I wanted to embrace for 40 days.  I tossed ideas around with Neal, but none of them felt right.  It occurred to me on Monday that what I want to use this time for is to be me, only better.  A better Beverly.  Sounds like a plan, right?

Except, really, I need to consider what, exactly, I mean by that.  I mean, it's an on-going thing, attempting to be a better Beverly.  It's not a project to limit to 40 days.  

Then the real plan occurred to me.  

For my Lenten discipline I will examine my life without flinching from the icky bits, without prettying up the ugly parts, and I will draw up a specific plan of action to make the ick and the ugly less so. I'll take the lead of my girl Spring and write a manifesto, and then I will act on the manifesto.  

What would you put on YOUR manifesto?

Gimme Some Guac! 16/28

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 Hey, Barbara, you may want to click away.  I wouldn't want you to have another yarn accident (ha!).

But if you've scooped up your Olympic Medals (only 22 left at last count!), and you still feel the need for a little something special, you cannot go wrong with a little Sugar.  I got some guacamole, myself, but there are some sweet things to hike that blood sugar right back up after some serious Craftletic exertions.  I adore Beth's yarns.  They are so springy to the touch, which makes them a joy to knit.

Also, I am hoping with my fingers and toes crossed that Melanie's Dean starts churning these out so I can snag one.  Since they live down the street, maybe I should just go knock on the door, eh?

So.  I've been asking questions of you for about 16 days.  Have any for me?

P.S. I'll see what I can do about a Blogless Sara crepe recipe.  Seriously yummy dinner last night!

Fail, or This Shoulda Been 15/28

I lasted two weeks with the daily posting.  What a lame-o.  

Coco Chanel once told me to never explain (along with never complaining), but I'll just say yesterday was chock fulla words…grading and critiquing and proofing letters for Neal.  All those words were followed by a glorious dinner prepared by Blogless Sara and her delightful partner Patrick.  

Crepes.  

Crepes with spinach (did I die and find the Afterworld?).  Crepes with salmon (nothing with a face for me, so I did not partake, but word at the table was YUM).  Crepes with apples and chocolate.

And nearly four hours of entertaining conversation.  

It was 12:25 this morning before my sated self remembered I had not posted.  I'll just double up today, and we can all move on.  Right?

Anything you've forgotten to do lately?  Confessions taken here, and remember, they'll get you entered in the contest for a glamorous woven prize!

Halfway 14/28

I've got more pimping to do, but I'll save it for during the week.  Instead, let me wish you a happy Valentine's Day.  We don't do much in terms of celebrating (ok, we don't do anything to celebrate except smooch, but we do that on other days, too), and I think having a quiet, slow-paced day together is better than flowers or chocolates or dinners out.

I'm making slow progress, but progress on my Ravelympics project, Elizabeth Zimmerman's Green Sweater.  I'm making mine in gray, though, because my LYS owner convinced me that every woman needs to knit herself a nice gray sweater at least once.  I'm planning to include a smidge of waist shaping as my figure is not flattered by boxy sweaters. 

I've spent the day writing up story critiques for a talented client, watching the Olympics, knitting, and mooning over shawl patterns.  I've decided that my skein of Olympic Medals is going to be a shawl.  400 yards of superwash merino in gold, silver, and bronze.  What would you make?

How about you go buy a skien and we can have a March Medals KAL?

Opening Ceremonies 13/28

I had a blast writing yesterday's post.  As I told Scout, I was on a rhetorical high while writing.  Here's a little background.  I asked Scout if she could dye a yarn that would evoke the gold, silver, and bronze Olympic medals. The result wowed me, and I was psyched when she said she was going to make a limited-edition run of the yarn.  More than half of the skeins sold in under 24 hours, so if you're thinking about getting one (I tweeted that we should have an Olympic Medals KAL after the closing ceremonies…let me know if you buy a skein and want to join me), hop on over there!

Did you watch the Olympic Opening Ceremonies? I enjoyed the program immensely.  I'd be hard pressed to say what was my favorite part.  The touching tributes to Nodor Kumaritashvili, the amazing welcoming first nations dances, the whales, the fiddlers and tappers, KD Lang's rendition of what must be the most beautiful song ever written, Shane Koyczan's "We Are More", the fire and ice outdoor Olympic cauldron.  Over and over, I had chills.

What did you enjoy? What events are you most looking forward to watching?

Olympic Medals

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The thrill of victory.  That's what we're all after, isn't it?  We've signed on to the Ravelympics or the Knitting Olympics to strive for something just a little beyond what we thought we could achieve.  There's no easy here.

For 17 days you're going to craft your heart out, pushing past the pain, past that decrease you forgot, past the 13 rows you had to tink.  All for glory.  All for knowing that, yes, you can knit a complicated lace stole in 17 days.  For knowing that, yes, you can knit, steek, and finish an entire sweater in 17 days.  For knowing that, yes, you can finish those seven UFOs that have languished on your project page since 2007. For knowing that, yes, you can triumph.

You'll have your finished objects as a reward.  You'll have your blog badges from Bobicus Maximus and the Yarn Harlot.  But you deserve even more.

Medal
 

Why not award yourself the kind of Olympic medal that means the most to a knitter:  a skein of limited-edition, hand-dyed sock yarn exclusively from Scout's Swag.  Gold. Silver. Bronze.  It's all there to mark your fortitude, to commemorate your achievement, to celebrate your craftleticism.

Only 80 skeins of Olympic Medals sock yarn will be created.  Each beautifully dyed skein will be 400 yards of superwash merino, enough for socks worthy of an Olympian, or even a shawl to wear as a mantle of your success.  Whether you want to reward yourself or a member of your team, Olympic Medals yarn will be shipped by February 22, just in time to mark your achievement.

Go ahead.  Anticipate the thrill of victory.  No matter what happens in the next 17 days, you've earned this medal.

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Let's Get Started

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