Stasia's Place Of Grace

Thursday, January 09, 2003

 

What I've Been Up To...

I actually got some things accomplished this week!

• I Wood Beamed the new stand for my rigid heddle loom. It looks easy to assemble so may try to do it tomorrow.

• I unpacked the "Four Later" shaft kit for the table loom. I didn't install it yet, because...

• ... I was still in the process of warping the silk scarf kit from Treenway Silks. I finished threading the heddles tonight! The rest is smooth sailing now.

  I was motivated to get it threaded because the lovely Alicia S. sent me an Interlacements handpainted chenille warp for more scarves, so I must get moving on the current silk ones! Then I will finish installing the extra four shafts, which will give me eight total on the table loom.

  However, the Interlacements folks advised me to weave the chenille warp in plain weave, so that will be a nice, fun, easy-peasy project!

  I see on the Treenway Silks' site that they have added a silk spinning kit and a rigid heddle scarf kit now... take a peek!

• I completed three more portions (rectangles and squares) of the green and purple Cottage Creations "Rambling Rows" afghan. I still am loving doing this! But am determined to get some rows done on my socks tonight...

• I finished reading "Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy for my Classics book club. What an amazing book! Am now reading "A Prayer For Owen Meany" by John Irving for the Literature book club. I don't like it nearly as much, but I can't put it down!

• We took Chester to the vet for his annual check-up and shots. He requires medication to go. Next time, I will take medication, too. But all went relatively well. I'm sure the staff's ears were ringing as much as ours from his "yodeling"... next year, he gets a whole pill and not a half!

• We took Dilly the cat for a dental cleaning at the vet. All went well again; he got a filling and is doing great. Now we are all caught up on all of the pets' needs, except for just a few incidental things, like Fiona's upcoming toenail trim. They all have their yearly heartworm medication, and their vaccinations, and hopefully we'll all have a healthy year ahead!

• I did my exercises more days than I didn't. I like the Body Electric workout with Margaret Richards because she doesn't do things that hurt one's back. It's a tough workout, more strength-oriented than aerobic... yet it's modifiable for "feeble folk" like me. The website seems to be down as I'm writing this, though... check your local PBS listings for showings in your area.

  Now if I could just get up the energy to do a bit of walking on my treadmill, I'd really feel like I accomplished something!

• I have been faithfully journalling each night and reading my Simple Abundance book. It really keeps me focused and positive.

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Thankful For...

The unexpected gift of the Interlacements warp and a lovely, lavender-filled friendship pillow, from Alicia S.

Valentine's Day coming up! In the recent "Victoria" magazine, there was an article about Vosges Chocolate. It is not for the meek! I'm thinking of getting an "Aztec Collection" for Jeff for Valentine's Day... chocolate with ancho chiles, now that is something he'd like! Reminds me of "Chocolat"... what a great Valentine's flick!

Valentine's Day is also my beloved dog, Valentine's, "birthday!" It is the anniversary of the day we found him. He is my true "heart dog" and is always by my side. Every day of my life, he makes me giggle at least once! One of the things I'm most grateful for in my life is that we found each other. I think it ranks right after finding Jeff.

This week, it hit fifty degrees and it was like spring! The very next day, it snowed like mad and went down to about fifteen degrees. I'm so glad the weather here is never boring!

Jeff did the unheard of and got a bonus - they never give bonuses! - and that will help decrease our bills from holiday overspending, for which I'm very thankful! What a blessing. He deserves it - he works very hard. I'm proud of him.

I had a good phone conversation with my father and my stepmother this week. I ordered some Sockatta yarn to make socks for my stepmother and stepsister. Since they live in a warm climate, I got yarn that is part cotton and party wool. It's quite pretty. My father asked for Usinger's hot dogs for his birthday, so I ordered some of the Olympic Angus beef ones from their site... yep, they supplied the Salt Lake Olympics!

A Socknitters member was kind enough to sell me an otherwise-unavailable colorway of Hot Socks yarn that I really wanted - yay! What a kind person! (It is color #220 if you look at the site.)

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Goals

Finish up ICanSpin.com and turn it over to the lovely Nan.

Finish revising the links on my SpinLinks and KnitLinks pages. I have already made the additions that were pending.

See the new Lord Of The Rings and Harry Potter movies with Jeff before he's off on another trip, and before they're out of the theaters.

Attend the Susan's Fiber Shop sale on the 18th. Di and I had been talking about attempting a road trip out there, so this would be a perfect excuse to go.

Work on not saying negative things about others.

Not succumb to all the mail order catalogs that are now arriving, announcing their after-holiday sales. To that end, I'm also unsubscribing from all of their online e-mail announcements so I won't be tempted. I would like to make an effort to decrease my spending, at least in all non-fiber categories.

Next year, try to remember that the yarn sales all happen in January, and not order tons of yarn in November and December! TuGEES in Canada, from whom I just got two skeins of Briggs & Little's Regal in "brown heather" (the "live lobster" colorway), is having their sale from the 15th to the 31st... at least you can still benefit! The yarn is quite nice; I think it will be good for heavy boot socks.

Finish the two weaving projects, the RH loom stand, and the extra shaft installation on the table loom.

Tackle the huge pile of "to be filed" papers that has been growing for months, and balance the checkbook.

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To Quote...

...How about instead of a list of shoulds and resolutions we are sure to break and then feel bad about, we create a list of ways we can nurture ourselves this year? How about just three things; one for our Body, one for our Mind, and one for our Spirit. Then instead of a To Do list, our "resolutions" may start to feel less like a burden and more like comfort. That seems like a much better way to start a fresh year to me.

For our Body we could get a massage, drink more water each day, try acupuncture, get that long overdue mammogram, take up yoga, or simply�and probably most importantly�rest more. For our Mind we could read more for enjoyment and less for work, take a class we have always wanted to, learn a foreign language just for fun, or write letters to loved ones. For our Spirit we could spend more time in Nature and less time under florescent lights, we could write letters to loved ones, meditate, listen to uplifting music instead of the news, or start journaling.

~ From Girl Talk, the Femail Creations newsletter.

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I've been tired as heck, and feeling rather weak and woozy with all the weather changes... yet I was still able to get a few important things done (with Jeff's help). It is a very good feeling. I hope you will have had a happy and productive week, too... or will have one next week!

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Monday, January 06, 2003

 

KnitPicks has a free pattern for a hot water bottle cover. What a neat idea!

Merry Russian Christmas!

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Sunday, January 05, 2003

 

Catherine Wingate's great essay on sock heel options!

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