Sarah Jane Humke

Goals for Rhinebeck

Sarah Jane Humke

October 12, 2008

I have found that when I am traveling over 1000 miles to go to something, it is a good thing to make a list of priorities prior to getting there. If I just show up some place without some sort of plan I tend to go nuts (I know, what’s new?) and don’t end up with anything that I wanted to get out of the experience. The pupils become dilated the head starts turning with a speed that seems unnatural. And all ideas that I had sort of go out the door. Actually, they usually go screaming out the window like a brawler getting thrown through a barroom window. Though, my plans tend to be even more inebriated than the guy getting tossed by this time. The excitement from being and hearing and seeing and (sometimes) smelling tends to be a little intoxicating. So, my list:

1.) Will not spend more money than have. I know that it seems like such an archaic idea given that banks and governments and such seem to have absolutely no idea how to do this, but I am going to try to stay within my budget. However, the budget is pretty nice since I AM traveling over 1000 miles to do this. I mean, if I am making this big of a carbon footprint I had better damn well help the economy.

2.) Will not get drunk and diss and/or start fights with knitters at the Ravelry party. This one shouldn’t be too much of a problem since people think that I am on roofies when I’m drunk I get so affectionate. I have hugged the entire population of a large sports bar during a basketball in which I was wearing the colors of the opposing team. What can I say, I get friendly….

3.) Will try not to run around screaming, “Ooo! Ooo! Look at that! Ooo! Look at THAT! Ooo!”. This one might be hard….

4.) Will not roll naked in the Alpaca yarn and/or on the poor alpaca. That just wouldn’t be nice to the alpacas.

5.) Will try to actually take pictures. I think that this may work out better than trying to plug the computer into my ears in order to upload the images in my brain. I want to share this with all my friends in the best way that I can without a whole Hooker’s road-trip. However, I do need to find a cable or something in order to transfer the pictures from the camera to the computer while I am on the road. Need to talk to tech support about that.

6.) Will not bring home a sheep. Too many in the bed as is, it is only a full. If another furry/fuzzy creature ended-up there my husband (categorized as one of the fuzzy/furry creatures [his best imitation is of Cousin It from the Munsters]) would have to sleep on the couch. Not the best thing for marital relations….

7.) Will not buy more yarn than can pack. Shipping is such a bitch.

8.) Will try to not freak the Muggle in-laws out. They already know that I am a “special” one since I married their son. I’m just glad that they have sold their house already. They were on pins and needles there for a few months, having to have the house insanely stupidly perfect clean and tidy. They would actually take the dogs and leave when people wanted to see it. Doh. Am so glad that I’m not trying to sell MY house right now:-)

9.) Try to sweet talk someone into teaching/showing me how to spin with a drop spindle. I tried to sign-up for the workshop, but it was already filled. I know that there is going to be about a month there where I will not have my spinning wheel and I think a drop spindle would be slightly easier to put in a suitcase. I just want someone to show me quickly how to do it. We’ll see on this one….

So, the countdown? I leave on Thursday, it is Sunday (for a few more hours yet). I am so excited that I am quivering whenever I think about it too much (ya think I might have a bit of a problem?). So, I will try to take a picture of the Rhinebeck shawl tomorrow (I just forgot, a nap took presedence today!) and well, clean the house (as well as go to work, you know, $ for wool…).

Honk if you…..WHAT?!?!?!

Sarah Jane Humke

no comments

October 11, 2008

I have done an informal survey and it seems as though the driving in this area is getting worse. Not over the past years, but rather over the past couple of weeks. I chose to blame it on the stress that is raging around all of us with the economic meltdown going on currently. People have gotten simultaneously aggressive and forgetful. I have been hearing a lot more honking than I ever have in this area, and I have been run out of my lane twice in a week by people changing lanes without looking first. I admit, it seems like the entire world (or at least the financial world) is coming to an end. And the constant bleating of the presidential candidates is starting to grate on everyones nerves. However, folks, we need to keep our eyes on the damn road folks!!! It is not going to help either the economy or your mental state if you run into me!!!

In other news…. Today I went on the “Happy Hookers Hit the Road!” field trip to Mt. Dora. We had lots of fun freaking the muggles out all over downtown with quite the crew of hookers. Lots of fun (and yarn) was had by all. I might have a few pictures later as David was mister candid camera the whole day!

Still working on the shawl. Didn’t photograph it today (I suck, I know!) but it is getting bigger and bigger. Hopefully it will be big enough and warm enough by the time I get to Rhinebeck. Reports from friends in the NE tell me that the leaves are starting to turn, so hopefully my 2 hour+ drive will be even more lovely than usual.

Drive safe everyone!

Thursdays are my hooking night! (Hooking is FUN!)

Sarah Jane Humke

no comments

October 9, 2008

So, I got to start a new project tonight. Why did I “get to” you might ask? Why, I finished one of my special couch projects (that I can’t show you for a while [think Christmas] as it is a gift for someone) last night re-watching the complete Firefly series. Ok, so I only got through a few episodes, but you know what I mean. I was watching it on dvd. Anyway, so I finished this test of will power and faith and….well….didn’t have anything else to work on for a while. So, today I was ambling about on Ravelry and realized that the party that they are having at Rhinebeck (only a week to go OH MY GOD!!!) is going to be outside. Which means cold (or at the very least cool, which for someone used to yearly lows for an area being in the 40’s means cold) and that everyone else there would be able to wear something that they knitted or crocheted and I can’t wear one of the bajillion blankets haven’t made anything clothing for me, ever. No scarves, ponchos (gag a little at that word) hats, sweaters, socks, nothing. So, I decided to make a shawl. I saw a pattern I think in Crochet Today! for a “quick and easy” shawl that actually looked like something that I would wear for once (usually, to me, “quick and easy” also translates to “butt and ugly”) but not in a yarn that I would like. Technically, this is the pattern that I am following but I think that it is going to end-up looking quite a bit more like this as I think that it needs to be a little longer and more substantial. I stopped at Sip and Knit on my way to the Happy Hookers Meet-up. Hung out with Tucker the sinfully cute furry mascot of the store for a little bit and made my way with 4 skeins of Mirasol Sulka yarn in caramel and 2 in snow white. I found this yarn originally during a visit to Chicago. I made a (rather) expensive scarf out of it then, now I am making a (rather) expensive shawl out of it. However, I will tell you, it is going a lot further in the shawl than it did in the scarf! Anyway, I am (a little) bummed because Sip and Knit is having it’s 10th anniversary party the Sunday that I am going to be at Rhinebeck and it sounds as though they have a lot of cool give-aways and discounts planned. Doh! Anyway, so I am about halfway through the pattern as it was written and it has been, indeed, “quick and easy” and it is still looking like something that I would deem acceptable to put on my back, so it all seems good (so far).

Otherwise, my days are a blur of homework, pet care, work and move preparation. I will try to take a photo of the WIP shawl tomorrow (as it is too dark and too rainy outside tonight [It was a dark and rainy night…..]).

Now, I need to go and try to save some African violets from Destructo Cat’s vengeance.

My Grandmother’s Marigolds

Sarah Jane Humke

no comments

October 8, 2008

Today at work I walked by a bench of marigolds and they reminded me of my grandmother. She always grew a hedge of marigolds in her garden, near the road. They were the open pollinated type, tall, hedgy, small pungent flowers. She would collect the seedheads in a paper bag that she kept in a dark cabinet in her kitchen all summer long. There they would stay dry and she would be able to plant those seeds the next year.

I haven’t been able to find marigolds like that for years now. All of the varieties sold are short and not nearly as hardy. In some ways, those marigolds were a lot like my grandmother. She was six feet tall. Everyone in my family (except my mom and I that is) is tall, so that was never a biggie to me growing-up. It wasn’t until age had robbed her of her height that I realized how unusual it really was. She had this amazing head of pure white hair, and had had it for quite some time. She went white when she was in her 30’s I’ve been told. In some ways, I am a lot like my grandmother. She knitted and read a lot. She also had trouble holding her tongue. To tell you the truth, I’m not sure that she really even tried to hold her tongue. I know that by the time I was old enough to notice it, she was old enough to not really care anymore about conventions.

My Grandmother died when I was 18. She was the last of my grandparents to do so. This is one of the crappy things about having kids late in life, they don’t get much time with the grandparents (if at all). I think that my grandmother would have appreciated the things that I crochet probably more than anyone else in the family. I wish that I would have worn her ugly sweaters more as a child (now that I know how much hard work went into them). I hope that she knows that the bits and pieces of yarn and projects that were never finished have been put to good use (yes, I ripped out most of my grandmother’s unfinished projects, she would have approved of the yarn going to something else).

I don’t know if she would have been surprised that I am only now (soon) graduating from college. Or that I married a nice man from somewhere not Iowa. Or that I even crochet, since her attempts to teach me knitting were only successful in that I know how to do it but don’t like to.

I really wish that I had some of those marigold seeds……

Countdown to Rhinebeck

Sarah Jane Humke

no comments

October 5, 2008

My United Airlines flight leaves for Rhinebeck on the 16th of October. Today is the 5th. That means that I have 11 days until Rhinebeck (well, technically it is longer since the 16th is a Thursday and it doesn’t start for me until Sat., but that is beyond the point!) I am taking a class on choosing the best fleece since the drop spindle class was already full by the time they received my registration. I would love to have taken pretty much any of the spinning classes, but most of them required bringing your own wheel. My Ashford isn’t going to travel again until it moves to the UK if I have anything to say about it. I am taking 2 suitcases for yarn and fleece purchases (one inside the empty other one on the way there, I know that you have to pay to take bags with you now….) The computer will be traveling with me so y’all will get roving reporter updates of Rhinebeck from be whenever I get a bit of Internet. Maybe. I may be just so busy and excited that I forget how to post! You never know….

In other news, Jiji the cat has decided that it is safe to move about the house. Jiji is “Chris’ cat”. She joined the family at the same time that he did and has been with him her entire life. When she moved in, she decided that the safest part of the house was the 2 back rooms and the bathroom, and that is where she stayed. Now that Micheal has been gone from the house for a while, she has been venturing further out a little more each day. On Friday she spent a bunch of time in the kitchen. On Saturday she was sitting on my spinning chair by the door to the living room. Now, she is sitting by me on the couch. She has never been out here without being forced! Belle has been taking her cues from Queen Jiji and is sitting on the spinning chair herself (Belle is a lovely cat, but definitely a follower). All of the newly collared cats seem to be ok with their jingly neck accessories as no one has removed them or even seems to notice them.

Jiji and Sarah on the turd

Aren't I Lucky?

So, to give you an idea of how things are right now in the house….. Meara and Weezy are sitting beside me on the seat of the couch. Jiji is sitting on the back of the couch right behind my head purring. Milo is all over the place bringing her unique flavor of destruction to anything she can get her paws on (mornings and late evenings are the worst for this, she just sorta goes nuts for a few hours). Belle is sitting on the spinning wheel chair and Willma is hiding in the bedroom closet. All three parrotlets are awake, happy and eating in front of me. This is a happy house.

As promised, I watched P.S. I Love You last night. It was a sweet story, but for some reason, it just didn’t have the chemistry to make it a great movie. (At least not to me, I love Catch and Release but a lot of people thought that it sucked. Maybe I need to stop watching so many “man-in-life-dies-woman-gets-over-it-with-help-from-friends-and-new-love-interest movies. It may start to freak the hubby out:-))

Michael’s has the glow in the dark yarn on sale, and it indeed, glows in the dark. Come on, you know you want some of that!

Pain-less

Sarah Jane Humke

no comments

October 4, 2008

I have an urge. An urge that involves a dark blue sharpie, the cover of darkness and a small flashlight. Oh, and a sign on someone’s front lawn.

Have you seen those McCain-Palin signs everywhere? When I very first saw one I thought that it said McCain-Pain and I though, “Heck yeah!”. Then I realized what it really did say. Then I thought that with the judicious use of the dark blue sharpie marker, it really COULD say that.

It has been stuck in my mind ever since. I don’t know that I would actually do it. None of my neighbors usually put those types of signs in their yards (in my neighborhood, it’s more likely to be a confederate flag in the place of a front curtain that shows their political affiliation). But the idea, the thought of doing just makes me unreasonably happy for some reason.

Also, the hubby shared this YouTube video with me and it just made me smile.

In other, just as odd news. I have decided to give swheat scoop litter a chance. I am testing it out on Willma, who is now confined to the bedroom. Milo has been picking on her and not allowing her to eat or use the litter box (which is, I’m sure, the reason that she resorted to using yarn as litter). So, now she has a food and water bowl and a litter box in the bedroom all to herself and she is loving it! Even when I put a collar on her for the first time in 7 years, she seemed pretty ok with it. By the way, all of the cats that weren’t previously collared (that is everyone but Milo) now are. I want them all to have 2 forms of ID on them when they are traveling to the UK (they all also have chips implanted in them, but they are a little harder to read if you just randomly find a cat) just in case.

The past 2 weeks have found me reading a lot more than I have been for a while. All of the books have been crochet/knitting/yarn/spinning based. I have read Knit Lit the Third, Knit Lit (Too) and Knit Lit all in fast succesion. I have Hooked, a collection of stories that is similar to the Knit Lit series, but about crochet. I also am nearly done reading Free-range knitter: The yarn harlot writes again. The Yarn Harlot has hit another home run in this book. A few less one-liners, more introspection but still dead funny. I would totally suggest it to anyone who maybe thinks a little too much about yarn:-) These 3 books are all short stories or poems and snippets, nothing very long. Very good for that bit of time when your hand just needs a break. I also have the book The Knitter’s Book of Yarn: The Ultimate Guide to Choosing, Using, and Enjoying Yarn waiting for a time when I have more time to really go through it. I looks like a great book, but as usual, knitting-centric. Are knitters the only ones who use yarn???

Last night I watched the movie Eastern Promises because it has one of my favorite actors, Viggo Mortensen in it (and I knew from my hubby that you saw a LOT of Viggo in it!). However, I didn’t know that you saw most of him in a fight scene in a bathhouse with lots of blood and death. Major downer for me, but a pretty good movie if you can handle the violent bits.

Tonight I am going to watch P.S. I Love You because I am a girl and I need to watch a girlie movie after the shocking violence from last night.

Ok, enough media. No pictures as the sun is gone from the sky and the yarn is still not photographed.

Dangerous Wheels

Sarah Jane Humke

no comments

October 3, 2008

Meara hates wheels. She, a 15 pound terrier mutt once managed to get a large dump truck to stop in the middle of our road so that she could proceed to attack and bite it’s tire. Seriously, the driver was laughing so hard he couldn’t speak. I’m just glad that he was a dog lover and stopped as Meara played chicken with him and his truck in the middle of the road. This dog has to be crated when the lawn mower comes out as she feels that it MUST be killed. She will grab onto one of the wheels with her mouth and if you do not stop moving, her head will go around in circles.

She really hates wheels.

This hatred is gaining more fuel currently. Meara sits by me while I am spinning, asking to be let up onto my lap and staring at the spinning wheel as it turns resentfully.

I would not be surprised to see her try to drag it out into the backyard in order to kill it and bury it.

I would definitely take pictures of that.

Another day in Paradise.

Sarah Jane Humke

no comments

September 30, 2008

The hubby is gone and I am alone once again. There is a weird sound in the house, more of a vibration really. I’m not sure where it is coming from but it is making me think that I may very well be a cylon.

I haven’t been spinning much of late because I have been working on one or the other of the very special super secret projects that are nearing their completion dates. Thus, no pictures that I can post without blowing the surprises. No pictures of new yarns. Not even any new pictures of cute dogs doing cute things.

What can I say? Just another day in paradise…..

A great one has left us.

Sarah Jane Humke

no comments

September 28, 2008

Tonight I got word from her people that one of the greatest dogs that I have ever known has left us. She went out into the yard and lay down in her favorite sunny spot and peacefully went to the other side.

We could all only hope to be that lucky.

She will be missed by all who knew her (except the UPS man).

Oh what a Granny day!

Sarah Jane Humke

no comments

September 25, 2008

Yes, today I am working on those most maligned yarn objects of the 70’s. Why? Because last week at the Happy Hooker’s meetup (which, by the way, is tonight in the Altamonte Springs location!) Birgitt reminded us all that we needed to get our squares to her in order that they can be actually put together into a blanket for someone in need. DOH! Totally forgot about them, thus I am making granny squares. I can make them fast and almost without thinking (which is always the best way a crochet object should be made by me, as evidenced by previous blog posts), thus I may even get a few finished by the deadline. Oh, and did I mention that I had a bunch sitting around that just needed a few more rounds on them in order to be the correct size? They were leftovers from my brother’s Ugliest Afghan Ever and an aborted project. Is this cheating? I mean, I made most of them prior, so I did in fact make them, just not right now…..

My Brother's Ugliest Afghan EVER!

Now, to the part that nearly broke my heart. It was a catastrophe that took my breath away. It almost made me cry.

I had to throw yarn away.

Yep, I had to part with some of my precious 70’s era olive greens and rust reds and (gasp!) even a few really good and ugly ombres (the 70’s were a very fertile time for these). The reason you ask? What could make you THROW AWAY YARN????????

One answer: Fetid cat pee.

Yep, you read that right. Willma, the formerly outside cat now inside cat has used one bag full of yarn as her (it hurts to even write this) cat litter box.

There was a smell. It didn’t go away with the cleaning of the litter box. It didn’t go away with the inspection and cleaning of the floors. It just wouldn’t go away. Then, going into the yarn room, it got WAY (crinkle your nose and pucker your butt) stronger. I start looking on the floor (as this is normally a logical place to look for such things) and happened to put my hand down on this bag of yarn to steady myself, and…..it was wet. WTF? Then I realized that the smell was coming FROM THE BAG! It was quickly taken outside and placed in the garbage can (thank God that tomorrow is garbage day!). I quickly inspected all the rest of the yarns. Most of them are in large plastic tubs and the ones that weren’t all seem to be ok (though I will have another inspection before the garbage truck arrives!). Still, peeing and pooping in my holy space. Huh. No more cats in the yarn room EVER!!!!!

Yarn in Distress!!!It hurts to even look at a picture of this!