Here a stitch, there a stitch...

FINALLY!!!!!!!!

WE'RE off TO get OUR puppy, THE wonderful PUPPY named EINA!!!!

(imagine accompanying musical score and many people dancing around in happiness and glee)

posted by Mrs BJ @ 4:28 PM 6 Comments

Hello, Yay for Progress, Goodnight...

When anniversary vacation calls, posts are temporarily suspended...

Yes, I meant to update before we left for our camping trip but then
ran out of time what with packing and jumping around and all. We had
tons of fun, saw an otter, some deer, and numerous squirrels and
chipmunks, went hiking up gorges, (me falling) down hills,
investigating every yonder hill and dale, had campfires every night,
bought a new tent to avoid husband killing old obnoxious zipper-broken
tent in the middle of the night (and to preserve my sanity after I held
the flashlight for him for 20 minutes at a time while he "fixed" the
zipper), and just had a grand old time. Here are a few pictures that I
meant to post before we left. I don't have the pics from our vacation
off the camera yet so that will have to wait.

Just a note, I worked on the shawl the entire trip down (a
five-hour-trip) and the entire trip back, while we were there and
around the campfire to the light of the fire and lantern. Oh yeah
baby, I am on my way toward being done (well, technically I am only
about 65% of the way done but that is 32% more than I had when I
left!) So the teeny tiny pictures of the shawl shown below are
deceptive! I am way further than that!! Yeah, I'm running far, far
away from that horrible snail-paced knitting bog...

First some kitty pictures (because he's so cute...and has no idea what
is in store for him when tomorrow evening we bring home our puppy...)

DH's idea of a splendid place for a kitty- right on all my clean linens...the nerve!


I guess he doesn't seem to have much of a problem with it, though:


Next, you can see my splicing with this yarn worked out remarkably
well. Join not at all noticeable and no worries about mis-estimating the
amount of yarn left for a row:










Here's an idea of the length, albeit scrunched:


And Knuckles laying claim:


The diamond design and emerging color scheme (if there is one). The colors are better in the second pic below:




And lastly, Knuckles and Abbie enjoying some sun...about a week before his I-swear-I-fell-out-of-the-window escape. Naughty Little Kitty...


So I bid you Goodnight...

posted by Mrs BJ @ 10:18 PM 2 Comments

Almost forgot...

Oh yeah, thanks to everyone who commented on my last post. I was very interested in everyone's opinion and appreciated the feedback. If you need to know what I'm talking about, read this.

posted by Mrs BJ @ 4:14 PM 0 Comments

My Freaking Rant (DH's idea of appropriate title)

Good Morning to all.

Actually, I guess it's more along the lines of afternoon. What do I know? My brain is scrambled. Too much work all at once and suddenly no work. Yes, I am at work, with all actual work finished, typing a post so I can amuse myself instead of sitting at my desk staring straight ahead at a white wall (notice: wall, not window), looking completely obvious to everyone that I have no work to do. As I've told my sister-in-law (you will notice her blog in the sidebar, Oliphaunt Knits), if I ask for more work because I feel guilty for going online when I have nothing to do then I am asking for trouble and really and truly need my head examined. The reason? Usually I have so much to do that I am busy every second of the day and don't take my breaks because (I might be anal) I want to make sure everything is done and done well and not hanging around like some old emotional baggage...(breathe)...so if I ask for more work and they give it to me it might be fine and dandy that particular day or two or five but come next week when the normal work load builds back up and just watch me start pulling my hair out one by one and creating sculptures on my desk with this hair...(breathe)...and then frogging the sculptures so I can knit something before I realize that this idea really is just disgusting and should never have been considered in the first place (phew!) This and, of course, if I finish all my work and have nothing to do (since I'm a SuperStar at my job and quicker than Speedy Gonzalez) then I can go online and browse all our wonderful knitting blogs, yarn stores, etc. and build up some inspiration without the guilt. Keep in mind this is only a theory. In practice it seems that I still feel guilt about this. The life of me at work...what to do, what to do? But enough of that. The window into my guilt-ridden, knit-addicted heart is closed. Now to the actual point of this post.


Just about an hour ago I opened my email and saw something from "AFA", aka American Family Association. I made the mistake of thinking that I agreed with something they were supporting once and so I clicked somewhere or the other and have been receiving their emails ever since. This wouldn't be a problem except that it seems I have a conscience that pulls me in two different directions on certain things, many of which are brought up with the AFA's "Call to Action" emails, and I am left in the position of feeling guilty for not acting on something "moral" (one pull of the conscience) and simultaneously annoyed at the email (2nd pull of the conscience). Let me put it more plainly by using this email as an example. Once you hear my thoughts on this, please please feel free to comment. I would love to hear what others out there think about this type of thing.

Fact 1: I have beliefs. I try to live by those beliefs. Included in those beliefs is my view that homosexuality is not right, is yes, a "sin". I know many people disagree with that right off the bat, but if you can get past it, that is not the point right now.
Fact 2: I belive that many other things as well are not right, are sins, including things like stealing, lying, selfishness, wrong motives, less than beneficial thoughts and actions toward others, etc.
Fact 3: I believe that all of us are guilty of any number of these things throughout our lives. I also believe that this is the whole point of Jesus coming and taking our just consequences on himself and then giving us his Spirit as a means of not doing these things anymore. That being said, I think that homosexuality is a sin like any other and not any better and not any worse.
Fact 4: I don't think that it is my responsibility to force people, companies, and countries, to agree with my views.

So...in my opinion the below email is singling out homosexuality and anything that is created by the homosexual community (in this case a magazine) as so bad that no one should have anything to do with it. Evidently businesses should not be able to advertise in this magazine and if they do we should boycott them. Now, my problem with this is as follows: If I boycott Ford because they advertise in a magazine that I don't choose to read and fundamentally disagree with on various levels, why don't I boycott any company for doing anything that I disagree with? Why don't I boycott the cable company for showing TV shows I don't agree with or wouldn't let my children watch? Why don't I boycott the company that produced the show? Why don't I boycott anyone that watches that show and so supports it and the companies associated with it? This just gets ludicrous. At some point don't we have to decide to stop being nazis about what we believe versus what others believe and instead decide to live the way we believe and teach our children the same while allowing other people to be who they choose to be whether we agree with it or not. Isn't this what America was established for in the first place? The original immigrants came over for, among other things, religious freedom. Does this mean only freedom for one group's particular beliefs or does it mean freedom for everyone? I believe if we dictate to others the values that we require them to have this puts us in the same category as those who the original immigrants were escaping from in the first place. And isn't this exactly what we are dealing with in Iraq right now? The terrorists who are strapping bombs to themselves and blowing themselves and us up to make a point believe strongly in their own values. The west is transgressing those values in their eyes. Does this then make it ok for them to do whatever they want to us so we will change? I think not. And yes, I know, AFA is not committing violence against anyone in order to produce the change they want but as I see it their tactics are still those of pressure and force instead of more beneficial vehicles of change. The underlying principle of forcing others to do what you want remains, whether you are referring to violent groups in Iraq or to our boycotting groups in America.

Deja vu? This same group, AFA, called for boycotting Target and some other businesses around Christmas time because instead of posting Merry Christmas all over their stores they were posting Happy Holidays. The reasoning of the stores? They do not only have Christian customers and so to recognize the varying backgrounds, customs, and holidays celebrated during this time by their customers (Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, Ramadan, etc) they acknowledge them all with Happy Holidays. The position of AFA? Evidently that Christmas is the holiday of priority, or of the majority, and that to call it anything different than Christmas is to start to take away our Christian traditions and values. So...we boycott them because they don't do what we want? What about the other groups? What if they want to boycott them because the store is not referring to their holiday specifically? Wouldn't more be accomplished if those same efforts to get people to boycott went instead to building up in your own like community those beliefs you want preserved? Each of us are a part of myriad communities. Our family, church, school, city, knitting groups, states, countries, etc are all communities to which we belong. Do we as knitters get disgruntled with the larger communities of which we are a part, such as our cities, if they do not recognize us in the particular fashion we want? No, we worry about building our own smaller communities the way we in those small communities want them to be and create the atmosphere and behaviours that we want in them. Sock knitters don't get mad at Aran knitters because they don't knit socks, they just create their own sockknitters group and focus on what they want to do while letting the Aran knitters knit what they want to knit. If you want your kids to grow up knitting socks instead of Fisherman's sweaters than it is your responsibility to teach them that instead of railing against those who knit Fisherman's sweaters. Yes, I know knitting is not a "deep social issue" or a "moral issue" but the principle stands. People should treat other people as they would like to be treated and bullying people into standing on the same side of the right/wrong fence, even if you sincerely believe in the rightness or wrongness of something, is not the way to do it.


I would love to know your thoughts as well. Thinking about it I guess my "conscience dilemma" is simply that I believe my point of view expressed above is correct but knowing that a lot of Christians who believe the same basic things as I do disagree with that. I guess that makes me question my position although after writing this I think I more firmly agree with myself (can I do that?) than I did at the beginning. If you, however, do agree with AFA's email, please let me know why. I am genuinely interested to hear your reasons.

That being said, here is the email. (All active links in the email were put there by AFA)

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Ford Makes Historic Move in Support of Groups Pushing Homosexual Marriage
AFA ActionAlert


Donald E. WildmonFounder and Chairman
May 11, 2006
Ford Makes Historic Move in Support of Groups Pushing Homosexual Marriage

Dear abbie,

Earlier this year, Ford Motor Company sponsored a program showing two lesbians passionately kissing each other. Now the automaker has made an in-your-face move against traditional marriage advocates with the historic step of advertising all their name brands in a homosexual magazine. This followed a request by AFA that Ford withdraw from supporting any homosexual magazine. In the May issue of the homosexual publication OUT, Ford has advertised all eight of their brand automobiles. This is first time in history that Ford has advertised all their brands in a homosexual publication.

In this issue of OUT, which Ford supported with their advertising, are articles such as Nightlife: Party All the Time. Here is the description OUT gave of that article: "Rockin' and raunchy queer clubs are making a comeback, and we tell you where the three hottest places to play are." Another article was The Mix: Scary Lady, Porn 2 Go. Here is the OUT description: ...porn stars cook up their favorite meals for your pleasure..." Under the title The Long and Short of It, we find this description by OUT: Ronni Radner goes inside Runt, a weekly party for bite-size gay guys and the men who love them, and looks at the rise of the vertically challenged queer man.

To view the front cover of OUT, click here. To see the Ford ad supporting OUT, with all their brands, click here. Notice the wording at the bottom of the ad: "Standing strong with America's families..." Since this ad was run in a homosexual publication, evidently Ford considers two homosexuals to be a "family."

Take Action
If you have not already done so, sign the Boycott Ford Pledge by clicking below. Forward this email to family and friends so they can know of Ford's support of homosexual marriage.
Click Here To Sign the Pledge Now!If you think our efforts are worthy, would you please support us with a small gift? Thank you for caring enough to get involved.

Sincerely,
Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and ChairmanAmerican Family Association

P.S. Please forward this e-mail message to your family and friends!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

posted by Mrs BJ @ 2:04 PM 7 Comments

New Puppy!

Sunday BJ and I took a trip to WelBea Kennels in Centralia, WA to pick out our Corgi pup. It was a two hour ride spent in anticipation and punctuated by frequent outbursts from me, "I'm so excited, we're going to get a puppy!", "Yay, we'll have another family member!", "This will probably help prepare us for being parents", "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH, a puppy!!!! Yay, yay, yay!", and of course, "What will the cat say?" We arrived, met all the moms and pops and doggies on "dates" that populated the kennel. The mother of the litter we were looking at was beautiful but very small for a corgi. The father was "normal"-sized. We picked the biggest one of the litter so hopefully it will be in the mid-range for size, but not that it matters much. Our little squirt was trying to run around which was amusing since she couldn't even walk very well. She'd walk a few steps and her little behind would fall to the side and she'd have to get up and try again. She seemed to be relatively laid back but I was happy to see that she was wrestling with her siblings too. She was very curious and didn't lay down to sleep until the very end of the time we were there (a few hours), long after her siblings crashed. I think she will be a good match for us with all our camping and hiking and road trips and the like. Corgis are very good family dogs and great with children as well so...as soon as a baby comes along (no, no plans now), we'll have a dog that he/she/they can grow up with. As for a name, we might name her Eina (feminine Einstein) but really we are still in deliberations about it. Who knows. Maybe she'll end up named No Name or (my bad idea) Einsteinetta. Scratch that. My husband would rather stick a hot poker through his eye and have someone jump on the end of it than name a dog Einsteinetta. So, we don't know what the name will be but we sure know what it won't be.
Without further ado, our unnamed pup....



In this pic our pup is in the middle...


We get to pick her up and bring her home with us in about three weeks. We will be camping the week before that for our anniversary and I just don't know if I will be able to be patient! Of course, I don't want to waste away our vacation with longing, so I'll just enjoy every day and try to be patient. BUT I CAN'T! LET THE DAY COME SOON!!

(Abbie, hush!)

posted by Mrs BJ @ 11:28 AM 4 Comments

I am from...your mother!

Here is an idea Tammy had posted which she originally found here. Copy and paste this first part and post to your own blog. My version is posted below.

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I am from _______ (specific ordinary item), from _______ (product name) and _______.I am from the _______ (home description... adjective, adjective, sensory detail).I am from the _______ (plant, flower, natural item), the _______ (plant, flower, natural detail).I am from _______ (family tradition) and _______ (family trait), from _______ (name of family member) and _______ (another family name) and _______ (family name).I am from the _______ (description of family tendency) and _______ (another one).From _______ (something you were told as a child) and _______ (another).I am from (representation of religion, or lack of it). Further description.I'm from _______ (place of birth and family ancestry), _______ (two food items representing your family).From the _______ (specific family story about a specific person and detail), the _______ (another detail, and the _______ (another detail about another family member).I am from _______ (location of family pictures, mementos, archives and several more lines indicating their worth).

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(The title to this post comes from my obsession with "Jo Mama" jokes. You'll just have to bear with me. This is something about me that is not likely to change soon.)

I am from...Your Mama
I am from books, Olay and BurtsBees. I am from beauty, serenity, the peace and plants of home. I am from trees, Detroit and Wikkiup Lakes. I am from chaos and craziness, Martha Sarah & Jerry Glenn, Peggy Ann and Robert Lourence, peace and contentment. I am from sibling bonding and learning. From "It's time to get up, it's time to get up, it's time to get up in the mo...o...rning" and "You are not the parent. We are the parents." I am from God's womb, his everlasting love and justice. I am from God's hands as he patiently molds me, teaches me, shows me it's ok to trust and love and relax, helps me accept others' failings and pray they accept mine. I'm from Edgerton, Wisconsin and Portland, Oregon, New York in a farfetched way. From the dad who gets a kick out of the dog who eats poop, the mom who enjoys sappy movies, the cat who meows by night and bites legs by day, the sister who loves me and shows me a different side of life, the brothers who make me laugh, and the husband who keeps me sane, healthy and happy. I am from scrapbooks, photo albums, family computers, old cards, letters, mementos. I am from...

posted by Mrs BJ @ 11:20 AM 1 Comments

Lace, Lace, Lace!

Hi again! Long time no talk! We have a new computer which we just set up and I have internet access again but can't yet upload pics. So, though I have made quite a bit of progress on my wrap and even have step by step splicing to show you (so handy!), today will consist of dream-projects. In other words, I show you pics I found of wonderful things that I would like to make once I get my (billions of) current and en queue projects completed. Most of these pictures and designs come from Fiddlesticks Knitting, a site I discovered while attending the on-line Lace Symposium hosted by Knitting Beyond the Hebrides. I never thought I was a lace girl but I accidently started knitting myself a scarf about a year ago which was lace (didn't realize that when I started) and discovered that I really enjoy lace knitting. My wrap is also considered lace since the design is formed with yo's and K2together's. Turns out I'm a lace-girl more than I thought!

In no particular order, here are beautiful lace shawls, wraps, etc that inspire me to be a better knitter, knit lace, and GET MOVING on my current projects so I can start some more!! Oh the joys of knitting!

I find this Romance Shawl especially beautiful (though I at first thought, whoa! that's a lot of pink!):



Here's the first shawl I saw of Dorothy Siemen's designs. This caught my attention and introduced me to all the others. Meet Peacock:



and the back view of Peacock:



Next comes Paisley (gorgeous!):


Garden:


and Spider:


So many to choose from! You should check out more of her shawls here. You know what this makes me want to do besides buy yarn and knit lace?! Design lace. Yes, I know, more difficult...but look what I could create!!! Just wait. I'll make something and then post it as a free pattern on here. It might take me a while to get there considering all the projects I already have going and the ideas for more but...I'll get there...and end up with a desk looking like this (Dorothy's desk as she designed the Peacock Shawl):


By the way, if you are interested in lace you should make sure to read Liz Lovick's downloadable pdf on Shetland Lace. It has tons of great info and not only that, it's free! She talks about the different types of Shetland Lace and even includes patterns. I can't wait to finish reading it myself. Sounds like a good weekend project (with a cup of coffee, of course!)

Have a great weekend!

posted by Mrs BJ @ 4:41 PM 4 Comments