Bug Bites

Every once in a great while I have problems decided between two things. Crochet or read?

Unfortunately I can't do both and since my iPod is out of comission (*sob*), I can't listen to audio books while I crochet. It seems to me that the need to crochet or read comes in phases. I'll get bit by the crochet bug and start a project and work on it diligently for several days, or until it is completed, providing it only takes those several days. Usually though the fervor of which I started the project wears off, or the monotony of the pattern sets in and after a week, more or less, or the weather is just too hot to want a crochet project all over my lap, I'm looking to move on to other things. Sometimes this is a new crochet project, sometimes it's a book.

When I get hit by a book book, it tends to last longer than the crochet bug. The book isn't repetative (if you're lucky) and keeps you interested far more than counting out stitches to a pattern. It also isn't heavy or hot in your lap (the way afghans or shawls are). Usually books don't cause wrist fatigue unless I'm reading a particularly large and heavy hardback cover like George R. R. Martin's A Song Of Ice And Fire series. Those suckers are BIG.

A reading phase can last anywhere from reading large chunks of a book to reading it cover to cover. It just depends on how willing my boys are to let me have some quiet time to read. I've gotten better at reading in 'non-quiet' times but it is when I'm constantly getting up for something every 30 seconds that tends to really put a damper on book enjoyment. When you have read the same 3 sentences for the last 10 minutes and you still have to read them to grasp what they are saying.... well, that's pretty much my clue that now is not the time to read. Sometimes on occasion the reading bug will hit me long enough to read an entire book and begin another. Usually though, I'm itching to get back to crochet after an entire book if I make it that long.

The dilema, you see, are the times in which both bugs have bitten me. When the night comes and all the house is nice and quiet with the wee people and the Hunk all sound asleep in their beds. (Is it just me or has the urge to start reciting Twas The Night Before Christmas hit you too?) This is the time that is mine. I can watch teevee, I can read, I can crochet, I can play on the computer and do such things like update my blog (see? I'm here.. updating.. for you!). It's like there's so many things I want to do in the solitude of my night when I can enjoy the interruption free zone.

Sometimes one desire is stronger than the other and reading or crochet will win out over the other. Other nights I end up on the computer pattern hunting (free crochet patterns on the net suck so if you have any suggestions that aren't from the Lionbrand site or the freecrochetpatterns.com site, let me know!) and print out future projects I'll eventually some day get to.

Tonight however, I took the opportunity to organize my yarn, finally, into one localized place. Well mostly localized. I still have my crochet thread in a plastic drawer, and my fun fur, 3-1lb. skeins as well as my Caron Simply Soft Quick yarn in the china hutch cupboards and drawers. For the most part though I've gotten everything into the linen closet. I wish I had more shelves so that I wouldn't have to stack yarn. That way I could see all the yarn stacked behind what you see on the middle shelf. Yes, there is yarn behind all that... to the top.


So, as I promised, I'd show you the yarn stash that my SIL got for me. (MIL paid for it but SIL picked it out.)(Sorry some of the pictures came out blurry.)

This is the yarn that I'm using to make the granny square lapghan with. The colors are as rich and vibrant as they look, and they do have that 'shine' to them. As you can see, it is a thick rope-like yarn.


This is Red Heart SuperSaver yarn in some nice autumn, earth tones. No clue what to use it for yet.

Misc. colors and assortments of verigated Red Heart SuperSaver.

SuperSaver solids. I really like the gray and was thinking of making a granny square motif style afghan with the blue, but I still haven't decided yet.

Misc. Red Heart SuperSaver sport weight yarn and Caron's Simply Soft in purple (not blue as the picture shows)and a pastel-based verigated yarn.

Bernat Softee Chunky in various colors and Caron's Simply Soft Tweed in purple.

Lionbrand Microspun. This is the really splitty but really soft yarn. I love it. I'm going to be making a lapghan out of the turquoise (picture makes it more blue), lime, and yellow. I hope that there's enough to make it a decent size. That's the thing about going with a pattern for another type of yarn, you just don't know what you'll end up with in the end.

Here's crochet thread in various sizes (10 and 20) and colors. I love every single color/style she got me.


Misc. stuff! She bought me knitting needles (no, those aren't joke needles!) size 50. They are known around the knitting community as 'speed stix'. She also got me 3 pairs (in 3 sizes) of Red Heart Crystalites knitting needles. I like them because there is more grip than aluminum which are super slippery. She also got me several small books with knitting and crochet stitches and various projects.


Did I not make out like a bandit? Seriously. I think I have enough yarn stashed for another.... few months? Weeks?

*whispers* We can hope....teehee.

The Harlequin

I just finished reading The Harlequin by Laurell K. Hamilton. I believe it is something like book 15 in the series.

So, what is there to say?

Jiminy FUCKING Cricket, RICHARD, can you just not get your shit TOGETHER??!

*cough*

A short synopsis of the book is that Vampires, while in America are seen as legal citizens and have to abide by the laws, there is also Vampiric laws in which they must abide as well. They have a governing council (albeit, it is corrupt and self-serving) and they have The Harlequin. The Harlequin are basically vampire vampire executioners. They are the police of the bloodsuckers if you will.

The Harlequin too have rules and standards they have to abide by. They are to remain completely neutral. In the event that they are "called in" by The Council they communicate only with harlequin masks. Different colored masks mean different messages. White means that you are under observation and if you're lucky... that's the only mask you'll get. Red means punishment (I think, don't quote me) and black *gasp* means death.

So our heroine and her many heros are served up a white mask by the Harlequin. They spend the length of the book trying to find out just exactly what they are being observed for. There are a few sub-plots dealing with Anita and her need for metaphysical food, one of her boyfriend's being more assertive and asking to be dominated in the bedroom (isn't that a contradiction?) and Richard. Always with the Richard and his anger, jealousy, self-doubt and most of all self-loathing.

Ok so now... I'm reading this book and the beginning is off to a really good start. Nathaniel seems so much more grown up and confident and surer of himself. Enough that he asks Anita to satisfy his needs in the bedroom. Too bad for Anita that he likes to be dominated because that is just so not her thing. I was proud of him that he was of the mind that he really wouldn't allow himself to live with a relationship that wasn't meeting his needs when he was doing everything for her. Personally, I don't know what I'd do if my squeeze told me to abuse him or he'd want to find someone that does but, hey... gold star for Nathaniel that he no longer is the doormat he's been in previous books. A doormat that I'm sad to say Anita has used readily.

Richard had such promise... such... hope... such light.... I, like a lot of Anita fans, had a hard time deciding who we would like to see Anita with more. Jean-Claude, the sexy Machivellian vampire or the warm, optimistic, gorgeous jr. high science teacher Richard who just happens to be an alpha male werewolf. The love triangle tension was amazing. All indicators pointed to Richard. He was honorable, sweet, understanding and most of all he didn't manipulate Anita into dating him like JC did.

Those, I'm afraid to say, were the good ol' days. Things started going down hill when Anita realized that he was too idealistic for his own good. In the pack society, it is all well and fine if you don't want to kill but this isn't the boyscouts. Their ways are often bathed in blood. Richard was second in command of the pack and the only way he could become Ulfric (wolf king) was to kill the current Ulfric, Marcus. He basically was too boyscout to do it. Anita pushed and pushed, fearing that his boyscout was were going to get him killed (and they would have) so when he finally did kill Marcus, Anita was there to witness. She saw him basically change into a half wolf, half man deal and eat Marcus after he killed him (which was their custome for all pack members to eat the fallen and take him back into the 'flesh' of the pack sort of thing).

Scared and discomforted and, well, creeped the hell out by Richard eating Marcus and then changing shape on top of her, Anita ran into the arms (and huge bubble bath) of JC where they finally had sex. That's when it all went downhill. Of course Richard was hurt, furious and knew that Anita could never accept his beast because he couldn't. He saw himself as a moster and her actions only proved that he was.

He never recovered. His anger only grew more, his jealousy only grew more and sadly his self-loathing of his beast only grew more. He's mean and cruel to Anita and in the next moment is heartbreakingly vulnerable. He nearly killed himself by way of passive-aggressive actions in that he just didn't fight back when things were trying to kill him. He also shaved all his beautiful hair off. The boy had it bad... and was in a really bad way.

He finally got a backbone and decided he wanted to live but his anger, his rage at Anita and her seemingly new occupation of needing sex to feed her mystically just put him over the edge. He became even more harsh and ruthless and not at all the warm, outdoor loving Richard that had endeared himself to me.

Each book I think... ok this is the one that they will just somehow manage to find *some* common ground and for like 10 minutes it seems they do but then Richard is reminded that Anita has a growing list of boyfriends now and he gets upset all over again. I guess I can't blame the guy but he knows she's not going to discard Jean-Claude or her other boyfriends (they are all mystically bonded and would take way to long to tell you the logistics of it now).

What seemed to be Anita as the unbending, uncomproming one in the beginning and Richard being the sensative, understanding and flexible one, they have completely swapped places. Richard is just too unbending to fit into her life and she doesn't know how to fix him. She knows she can't and has given up on even trying. He interprets this as her not wanting him anymore.

And through it all, Poor JC seems like the father of 2 dysfunctional children that just can't get along. They are all three bound in a triumvirate and JC is just trying to survive the both of them. If they could just get along, their power could be immesurable with Anita as JC's human servant and Richard his animal to call.

No go. Richard can't deal with reality. I don't know why Laurell K. Hamilton chose to take this route with Richard. I could understand it for a few books but it's been going on since the end of book 6 and we're on book 15. I know that Richard represented the more human aspect of life for Anita... the picket fence dream, watching musicals and eating popcorn on the weekends and now that she seems less and less human their ties hold less and less. But geeze, come on! Give this guy some relief! Either make him accept Anita's world and her life as it is or.... I don't know! I want her to have both Richard and JC. I want their triumvirate to WORK. I want JC to be able to embrace them for what they are, and not to referee the fights. I want JC and Anita to stop feeling like they are the 'evil doers' of their little group and I want Richard to stop being upset.

I really thought this was the book that would do it, that would bring him back into the fold. He tried... he tried really hard at first but once he got mad, that was it. His trying was over and the only thing he could do was be hurtful and caustic.

I do have to say that while Anita had no official police cases to solve or zombie raisings (which I kind of miss from back in the days of the early books before her love life complicated everything) there was much, much less sex in this book and it centered more around plot than feeding the arduer (a metaphysical hunger she has that needs to be fed through sex or bad stuff happens). There was sex (with a wereswan king! and the wererat king!) but other than those two moments, I can't think of any other situation. Unlike Cerulean Sins where it seemed she was having to have sex every few pages. Not that I minded... you know.. for plot purposes... and such.

So in conclusion... well there is no conclusion. They were spared from The Harlequin, people died, and Anita realized that touching Richard no longer has an affect on her. They are no longer dating. Again. But she thinks that this time it might stick because she actually doesn't feel anything. All the other breakups had been very painful.

I don't know what is going to happen the next book exactly, but I'm thinking there still will be no resolution with Richard and his demons. I believe the next book will focus more around Jason. He's a great character so maybe I won't be so dissapointed that things just still aren't working out for Richard.

New Layout... again.

Ok, I still love me some Firefox and I will continue to use it but for some reason, the new layout looks like shite in Firefox. You know what? I don't care. I'm tired of messing with it.

Hush Sarah.

New layout, new sidebar that I could edit. Also, under "Reads" I have lots and lots of links missing because damned if I can remember what all the links I had listed were. I just added them to my blogroll in WordPress. So, if you were in my list of links... and now you aren't... don't take it personally, I just can't remember your url off the top of my head. If you want to be added please leave a comment!

PaperbackSwap

I'm still amazed at this website. I've gotten *so* many books from them. Some have been in brand new condition. Every time I see the "You've saved $$$" I'm still amazed. I know I've spent more on credits than I've had actual requests but I figure everything evens out in the end because I've received hardcover books in pristine condition that I know are worth more than the standard $4.50 average used book price they use to figure such things out. To date, I've saved $643.50 using PBS.

I got a rush of requests in the last 10-14 days. And I do mean a rush! Mainly because I've reposted all my paperback books of the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series. I only have 4 of the 13 books I had posted that remain unrequested. I expect when I remove the hold from my account I was forced to put on (no money to send anymore books), those will be requested too.

I have been a busy girl. Unfortunately, not in the organizing/unpacking area. Basically everything is unpacked to a degree, I'm just sort of out of steam when it comes to organizing it all where it should go. I've run out of places to put my crafty stuff (aka crochet stuff) and just misc. things. I have more room here but for some reaon it seems that room has now been taken up and I've run out of run. I guess maybe I have too much crap. I've thrown a lot of stuff out (before and after the move) but I can't seem to part with much more. I'm definitely going to go part with my crochet or my books (to be fair all the books are put away).

Speaking of Crochet, here are a few things I have "on the hook" or WIPs (works-in-progress). I'm sure I've posted pictures of some older WIPs but since I can't check any of my archives from Jennitude, I have no clue what I've shown you and what I haven't. (It sucks because I can't get the code for my sidebar either and I'm going to have to recode it all, ugh.)

Anyway, here's what I currently have on the hook:
This is a round ripple blanket I'm making for my nephew-in-law and his girlfriend. I'm not sure when she's due or what she's having but the white yarn has a bit of all colors subtly in it so I thought it'd be a good choice.


This is kind of hard to see, but it is a really beautiful shimmery crimson. It is made from size 10 thread, but a very soft thread. I love it! It was going to be a stole/wrap but I'm afraid I'm just not going to have enough thread to make it long enough. I'm still debating on whether or not to frog it (tear it out) and start over or not with something else. The color is too fantastic not to use this thread.

This is a simply granny square lapghan I'm making. The yarn is Caron's Simply Quick and it is a really soft but very thick rope-like yarn. I am using my largest hook size (K) but I really need something bigger as it is crocheting up a little tight. Still though, the blanket is heavy, warm and very soft. I have a few more rows added than what is shown in this picture but as the blanket *is* so heavy and warm, I haven't had much desire to work on it right now in this summer weather.

This is another wrap/stole made with Lionbrand's Microspun. It's a very, very soft yarn albeit a little splitty though. Nothing too hard to work with if you are crocheting (at least so far for me) but with knitting I can see where it might be a pain with it being so splitty. The actual black is dark as pitch but the camera lightened it up and it gives a view to a bit more of the detail even though it's not the greatest picture. I've just started skein 3 out of 6.


This is a round ripple afghan that started out with the best of intentions. I don't know what I did but it steadily lost it's round shape and has become more clam shell/sea shell shaped, which works for me but I'm afraid that the more I continue on it, the less shell shape it will retain. We'll see how it turns out. It was originally going to my mother but I think the boys are going to be getting themselves another couch blanket to watch cartoons under.

This is my first doily. It is made with size 10 thread and size 7 steel crochet hook. in Christmas verigated colors. It has a pinwheel pattern in there but it gets lost in the colors of the thread. It is 50% finished. The Hunk gave me his magnifying glass/lamp and it's been a godsend to work with such a tiny hook when you're first starting out an object. I've started another doily with the same pattern but different color thread that hopefully won't be too busy to see the pattern.


Here's stuff officially off the hook/FOs (finished objects):
Here is some yarn stash that my sister in law got for me. The magenta 'fur' at first intimidated me. It's not necessarily something I would have picked out for myself, and after the fun fur being so hard to crochet with, I was a little bit leery of it. Well, it isn't exactly a walk in the part to crochet with but it feels like rabbits fur. It's sooooo nice and the hook just slid right through the stitches. I made a shawl that I was going to give to my SIL, but she said she wasn't much of a shawl person so I'm keeping it for myself! I don't care that it isn't something I'd pick up for myself, it's surprisingly heavy and with the silky rabbit fur-like feel... I love it.

Here's another shawl I made as a wedding gift. I used Caron's Simply Soft yarn (my favorite yarn that I can afford) in pink. The picture doesn't do it justice as the lighting isn't great. I still have to weave in the ends but that takes 5 minutes.

This is another newborn baby girl dress set. You might remember the blue and yellow one I did. This is the same pattern but a bit different. I'm still debating on putting the flowers on or if I really like it simple, the way it is.


Well I think that's all I have for you guys now. I have several pictures of all the yarn and thread that my SIL bought for me a few days before we moved. Let me just say that my jaw hit the floor. My MIL and SIL have been so generous and supportive of my crocheting.... I'm humbled by it. So, more stash pictures tomorrow (probably...) since I am loving how easy it is to post pictures with blogger. I really did hate having to resize everything, upload it, html it for preview and larger version. Then again, I'm just lazy.

(Oh and I don't like that you can't seem to change the Post title once it's been saved as a draft..)

First Real Post?

Or at least the first post in which, you know, isn't about coming back to Blogger. Well not entirely.

I can't for the life of me figure out how to edit the template sidebar with the new Blogger so, you basically get labels and archives. My "current" stuff such as reading, and the amount of money I've saved on PBS and my adoptions (sniff!) will just have to be a thing best saved for my actual website. To say that I don't really feel in my element/skin/home at Blogger is kind of an understatement. But it lets me blog, so.. that's why I'm here even though things feel kinda creepy being over here and sad at the same time.

I must admit though that pictures I think are going to be easier to post through Blogger. For example, new house pictures! Haven't you all been waiting for those? I thought so...



This is my living room (obviously) before we hung the pictures up. And this was after:



Here's my beautiful bookshelf with most of my books.


The first and fourth shelves with the paperback books are 2-deep. So there's an extra row of books behind those too. Most of my other hardcovers and trade paperbacks are in the china hutch. I had originally put all my hardcover books in there but the weight was too much on the middle shelf and it started to bow so I removed them and replaced them with figurines and knickknacks. I'll take a picture of it later.

Here are some pictures of the kitchen I took when we first moved in. I'd take a more recent picture of it now but I haven't done the dinner dishes (hee!)



I just love having a window in my kitchen!

The boys seem to love the spacious new kitchen as well. When we can afford a bigger table we'll put one in there but for now, we got them this $20 Cars table just so they could have something to eat at (and not on our lovely, clean carpet!)



Here is the hallway cupboards and as you can see, the Wee One is making himself right at home..



I'll have more pictures of the inside of the house later. I've decorated the boys bathroom as well as my own and I'll clean up my kitchen so you can see an "after" picture as well. Here are some pictures of the outside of the house.






I don't know if you can tell but we live in the very back corner of the complex on the far side. The sidewalk where we live dead ends back here so it is nice and quiet and no traffic at all except for the people that live in the apartments around me. My neighbors all seem to be nice. The people upstairs have a little Pomeranian (have you ever met a big Pomeranian?) and the Wee One *adores* that dog. The people next door to us have a daughter who is 6 and right around the Kidlet's age.

I'm going to close this post for now but I will have more pictures later as I also have some crochet projects on the hook that I want to share.

Later gang!

Found a new layout

I found a new layout but I haven't edited any of it so.. for the time being disregard the navbar. Wee! It's pretty though, right? :)

Who wounda thunk...

Who would have thought that when I left Blogger a year and a half ago, I'd be right back here? Not I...

Well Jennitude is suspended for the time being as I haven't paid in 3 months. It's only a small amount but when you have no money, well... you have no money. So I'm back here in the "free" blogging world again.

I think it is time for a new fresh layout. I was always finding adorable ones for Blogger when I was on the Word Press Theme prowl. Figures that I probably won't find something cute now. Just my luck!

I'm hoping that this "new" blogger isn't anything that different... or that it will be better. I haven't had time (or well I'm just lazy) to really look around. I am noticing though an auto-save feature as I write my post. That is cool because I really hate losing a post...

Ok off to find a new template!