It's a Pet Peeve...of the Yarn Kind Sorta

First and foremost I have to say although the sun is shinning and I should be happy, it's darn right cold outside! I know winter is a must, I know the season have to change... I get it all...yet today... I do believe I'd like to hear, birds singing, the smell of fresh cut grass, and the sounds of a motorcycle riding by...help... I am in need of a vacation somewhere South! If most of my body parts are heading that way, I should darn well be able to go with them... free of charge....anywhere South...can that be a law Obama can write up for seniors, gee, wouldn't that be totally awesome! Don't get you're hopes up, the best we can do is imagine ourselves somewhere on a deserted island, waiting for a man named Brad, like in Pitt, to come up and out of the water to pour oil on our body, and massage it in...alright...I get it nice dream girl. I thought so LOL!

Now that I have all that out of my system let's talk about the reason I am posting this...I go on Pinterest occasionally looking for something different in a pattern...something more than scarves, hats, mittens, gloves, socks, etc...gosh there are so many of them. Often I think gee they are in such abundance at the store and cheap this time of year. Why would I knit or crochet them. Okay, party pooper here...I know.. I know.. they are unique and often one of a kind if handmade. However, I prefer things like the crocheted sweater in the photo. So what is my point, my pet peeve...it totally drives me nuts when I visit Pinterest and it's filled with photographs that go no where... or to a site of nasty crap that gets blocked...thank you! Sometimes I think people pin things just for more attention on the Internet...I say...please... if I type in Pinterest knitting patterns stop pinning things that go nowhere...please put it on a page that says...things I like. Now if only I could figure out how to take a ripple blanket and add sleeves. I am sure it's out on the World Wide Web somewhere yet if someone wouldn't have put this on a knitting pattern page I would have no desire to make it. Now that I have that off my chest....which really doesn't stop me from eating my favorite chocolate M&M's... or finishing my knitted blanket and staying warm...I am really cool with it all.

P.S. Update...now as you're looking at the girl in the photo and thinking wow she's thin, she's beautiful, let me just say this...as you age the only real thing any woman worries about is the same old same...her weight. From skinny to heavy we all worry about it...too thin, to heavy...just a few pounds over...whatever I say! Get use to who you are...after all there is no one like you.

HUGE pet peeve...beam me up scotty!

Okay folks, I have a huge pet peeve this time like I don't any other...above is an Alex and Ani charm bangle, my daughter had her hubby buy a couple for Christmas. The problem I'm having anymore... this bizarre world of I created this, it's handmade by the seller, ya da, ya da, okay whatever. Her father was a jewelry maker and now she makes these braclets, yeah, right, okay...then what is this...oh no a China manufacturer oddly sells the exact same everything she does. I mean exactly! 

Just like "Frosted Willow" on Etsy who claims she makes all her own bangles wheee...are popping up on the same Alibaba.com site. 

Now my pet peeve, as if I already didn't say it...what on earth in this world is handmade anymore. I mean unless one sees it being made with there own eyes, who knows! You go Sherman! sorry watching Seattle play the Saints. I'm so tired of Drew Brees, okay let's get back to the original story. 

When I was young, we sketched, we painted on walls, but couldn't take them with us, after all a cave painting is hard to carry! LOL! No really when I was young we sat around a fire and wondered how it got there, sorry I can't stop LMAO! Okay note to sell " pull it together for post."

Listen, when I was young we knew that if something said it was handmade, it was handmade. Nothing came from China. Okay maybe Taiwan, but it was the only place, if anything, was not in the U.S.A. there was no craft supply shops, no internet, no cell phones, just plan old "damn it, would someone answer the phone" or it kept ringing. I have to check my birth certificate it sounds like I am from the caveman era. Crap it would have to move up from the caveman, they didn't keep track of birthday's they had no paper.

Okay, so, it's true..if someone made a sketch you knew it was handmade, now, on a computer the same thing can be done. Take a photograph and turn it into a pencil sketch. Hell, my camera even sets itself and we carry our brains in our pockets or purses. That is cell phones that do everything! If a register goes down in a store the cashiers don't know how to make change anymore. We are raising a bunch of brain dead lets make robots instead and get rid of people planet.

Then recently I said this to my oldest son, "how can they say organic food is organic?" I mean come on, when I plant my own garden I think the same thing. First of all, the ground is saturated with chemicals all over people's yards, pollution in the air, rain adds it to the ground, lead from batteries that are thrown away. 

So, recently on the CBC which is a Canada station, by the way Canada, thanks for the Polar Vortex, keep it to yourselves please! FYI another one is on it's way for next weekend! Anyway, a scientist for agriculture said this, "there is very little organic in organic food, there are too many chemicals in the ground from people saturating there lawns, trying to keep the weeds out...Hey people, weeds are part of nature leave them alone! Thank you very much! This person on the CBC said, "about 40% of organic produce is organic if even that much." Okay, I think I'll just drink poison now, wait, that's a rock and roll group. Hey awesome music!

Good old rock and roll from the 60's and 70's bands actually playing the real instruments. Beam me up Scotty, please, take me back before this techno era took over...

So in the end of my post, I have this question for all you folks popping in....is it real or is it made in China? Oh well, I figure it this way for me, if I can't see with my own eyes in this weird new world, then personally I don't believe it! And that's all I have to say about that...thanks forest gump!

Huge Pet Peeve...with a Secret

       I have a very huge pet peeve in this life! It's actually the only pet peeve I really care about. And it pisses me off to no degree. How people view themselves, the gotta have trends, am I too fat, am I too thin, am I ugly, why can't I attract a date, what's wrong with me, who am I really, am I like able, am I not worthy of friends, attention, love and soooo much more!! Everyday this  man above puts his life on the line for other humans I'd say that's more than enough.

 

THIS LITERALLY PISSES ME OFF!   YES, I SAID PISSES!

The fact that we judge ourselves based on what we see, what were told, wrinkles are bad, aging is bad, look at how she's dressed, eat this, dont' eat that, look at how fat they are...well let me tell you the readers. I have seen more heavy people with personalities that will blow the roof of people like Pamela Anderson, Angelina Jolie, and many more I could list. Looks do not compare to that man in the photograph. Looks does nothing as we age when we need to rely on our talents and personality.

 

Let's look at all the celebrities that are so afraid to age they look like wax people who belong in a museum. Finding this a goal in life is not only disturbing it ridiculous to even compare or attempt to be one of these people. Aging is a part of living. I am hugely proud of my mid-section, hugely proud of my wrinkles and even more proud to go out in public just as I am. I am alive, I live, I breathe to which so many children in St. Judes' can't do and would trade any life no matter what age for one more day. Everyone is beautiful in there own way we must remember this always.

 

How can I speak as I do....I will tell you a secret, but, I will not show you any photographs ever. It's my private world, it's there private world, it belongs to us. And only us! I learned this at work one day when they were born. Many females laughed and made fun of it...that pretty me finally had something ugly. Yes, that's what they said. So I put up photo's of the birth certificate, the documents of there diagnoses and photo's of us. Then one day the boss pulled me aside and said, "what are you doing, you have nothing to prove to anyone in life, at the end of the day when they go home, they don't care about you" and that's when I took it down and said no more....no more...never again.

 

On March 8, 1997 I gave birth to 29 week old down syndrome/autistic twins. Each was just a tad over 2 lbs. I was shattered, my world collapsed, and during there stay at the NICU there was not one moment I didn't want to run to them and say I'm so sorry. There was not one visit I did not tell them I was so sorry.

And there was not one moment from the day they came home, I didn't find myself loving them more everyday. They taught me more in one life time than anyone can image. They taught me more about myself than life itself. They taught me to see the world through there eyes without blinders...to notice the smallest things, and that the tinest accomplishment was the largest in life. Whether rolling a ball every time like they never did it before. And seeing me every morning was like seeing me for the first time, always came with a smile and tons of excitement. They opened my heart to the world.
I had skipped the amino and placed my faith with God and he delivered more than I could ever have imaged.
 They are also my hurdle, they are the reason I eat chocolate they are my biggest most challenging loss in this life...Happy 16th Birthday little ones where ever your are....

 

Maybe the problem in this world is there are not enough people facing a personal struggle that is larger then themselves.

 

The man who took the photo above takes them of everyday life, yes people, everyday life...the way it actual exist. Please copy and paste link...you will love his photographs.

.http://www.thephotoargus.com/inspiration/32-beautiful-photos-of-everyday-life/

Stop the MADNESS...and A Great Pattern Link

I wasn't going to begin with this particular topic, yet I sitting her finishing a project and all that's playing on TV is anti-aging products...which makes me what to ask. Did they really think about this back in the 18 and 19 hundreds? Oh gee, I am down by the river washing clothing, I bend to rinse in the water, she sees herself..omg look at those wrinkles on my face. ah...not!

 

I really don't believe it was near the extent it is today or if it even existed at all. I don't believe they had time to be so self indulgent. Which leads me to this...we are even more occupied today by technology woman wanting to be in CEO position, etc. So how is it we find more time? Ah yes, good old marketing on your iPhone, on TV, on billboards, computers, in stores...and the list goes on...I say hey look, I earned all my wrinkles and whatever else appears I am proud, they tell my story. And, isn't that what life is about your own personal journey. So I may have love handles, love handles, nice wording. LOL...so I am not perfect but like whoopi goldberg said in The Color Purple (one of my favorite movies) I made be black, I may be ugly, but, dear god I'm here, I'm here. One would think the most important part of life is everyday you wake up your still here....sharing your life with those you love. There is love of money all things material and then there is love of being alive, being human, sharing your love. I prefer the love of being alive, even if I can't wear tight pants and my boobs are making there way south, dear god I am here, I am here. If you truly care about me you will love every part of me no matter how aging, changes my body. And, if he should go for a younger girl, hey, he's got issues, not me.

Now, on to another topic...OH DAMN NOT AGAIN.... Post menopausal yes, ladies, do the symptoms of a monthly cycle really ever go away, for a few lucky ones yes, to them I say, bugger off...for most no. Here I am in my week were I would normally have my cycle before the stopping point, and I am still doing the same things. Oh YES, I have added a few...hot flashes which I found if you stop the caffeine really tapper off along with keeping your feet cool when they hit. But, here is my peeve...I use to get migraines with my cycle and sleep two days. Now I sleep two days but without the cycle and the migraines. To this I say "What the What" it's like going into a cocoon for two days and darkness is my friend. It's 5 to 7 days of this crap! Plus to top it off..if you piss me off that week I will verbally tear you a new A**hole and I know I am doing it, but can't get control until it decides to stop. It's like an outer body experience...Hello, we can create all this technology and can't stop this!! Oh sure they gave me Prempro warning me of all the side effects especially blood clots. Well, 6 months later I was in the hospital, two blood clots in the main arteries from my lungs to my heart. Now I am stuck on blood thinners...HELLO!

 

And if one more person knits a hat, scarf, or cowl or shawl...I am going to scream!! Literally. Now for all those knitters and crocheters don't get your yarn in a twist over my comment. I completely understand it's relaxing and easy...yet every time I look for something different to knit all I find are hats, scarfs, shawls and cowls. How many different ways can they be knitted or crocheted. Now I am not the most talented at making patterns, what the heck it's not my forte. But please make something different like this....

 

 

 Look at the detail it's truly amazing, challenging, makes me want to pick up my needles and give it a go. Oregon Hand Warmers, an Alice Starmore design. The gloves alone would have people asking where did you get those? It's almost like cooking...if you're a common person the same food gets boring as you age.

 

So now you have an idea of the post menopausal women who isn't lucky enough to have it all stop when it really stopped. FYI...I am 8 years post and it still keeps going.....and going...and going... when it's 30 degrees outside I am sleeping with no heat on and a turbo fan whirling away....someone please stop all the madness!

Popping in to update...you must see this pattern called Secret Garden. I have to give it a go!

Pet Peeve # 2 ....Plus Knitting Pattern

This new age, this new world we are living in is not only weird, but can be a bit annoying. Yes, I have another Pet Peeve. Now don't get me wrong, they don't annoy me to the point of pulling out my hair....but come on... some things are just down right ridiculous!! Eat this, don't eat it now, eat that, no forget it we found something wrong with it...I say this..just eat and forget about it!! I mean come on is that the only topics Good Morning America, and all the rest can come up with...oh wait, let's just repeat the same things over and over.....note to self, must email shows... record players are no longer used, get off the needle. Translation: it goes round and round across the record...

                                    

I mean come on...I am by far NOT a huge TV fan (oh wait... must watch Vampire Diaries and Scandal) always used for voices... since I live alone or do I? hmmmm....after all this is an old house. I only speak to the living please! I have been knitting since 6 a.m. this morning... on every talk show that has graced the same station...it's the same thing over and over.  Don't be fat, be thin, don't be thin, put on some weight, buy this kindle HD, wait my son just bought me at Christmas the last Kindle...look she's having a baby, it's the baby bump.

Oh she says, I am so excited and scared...of what! Hey you... today they have epidurals, try squatting in a hole like a Eskimo!! How many times do I have hear how to take care of a baby or a child, come on it's been going on since the beginning of human life....It's human nature...Gee, I watched my grandson's pop out like a thermometer in a turkey and all my daughter in law said, I feel pressure.

 

Okay, Okay I know it's TV is all about marketing, it's selling product, etc...But hey, would someone realize there are those of us in our late 40ties and 50ties, speak to us please....not about Peri-menopause, not menopause, not condiments, not one more are you over 50ty commercial you may need health insurance, wait no... you need joint medication...Come on...show me something new....alright, already, I'm aging..I know...but I still wanna LIVE, LEARN, LAUGH, and have FUN! Hey I have an idea...how about a knitting show, craft show, crocheting show around the clock!!

 

And darn it... as long as I bathe, have on clean clothes, who the he!! cares what I look like.. but me!! If life truly is short, sorry gals, I'm going out eating chocolate :0) The odds a majority of us getting national focus is 1 in probably a trillion. Not my priority. Happiness is mine and doing what I love everyday. Like spending time with my family, talking and sharing something with you!

 

LIKE THIS... "LORELLE" Knitted Flat - Fingerless Mitten

 

 

 There is a lady I meant, Lorelle, who is Italian at the craft store. She had on this beautiful knitted button down sweater. We got to talking and much to my surprise, she didn't use a pattern. I know there are a lot of people out there who can knit without patterns that I have always admired. Lorelle was surprised by how many people in the U.S. need to have a pattern.

Well everyone, she's been working with me by phone, via email, and I am so excited as I am learning so much. Thus I created another pattern for you that I just LOVE...with her help it's the easiest ever. If you think you can't knit a mitt, you will be surprised!  And, I named it after her. One ball will make more than one pair.

MATERIALS

 Paton's Classic Wool (Worsted)

 U.S. 7 needles

Tapestry Needle

Gauge is not important

Stitch knowledge - Knit - Purl - Stockinette SS -M1 increase  Knit Picks has a good tutorial on M1

                                 You can adjust mitt to size/ this one fits a palm of 7 1/2 inch

Cast on 34 stitches - if you close your seam with mattress stitch cast on 35 to end on knit and work pattern including the extra stitch at the K 17 it would be K 18.

Work K1-P1 rib for 18 rows
Work SS for 4 rows

RIGHT MITT
K 17, M1, K3, M1, Knit to end
Next row Purl
Work SS for 2 rows
_____________________
K 17, M1, K5, M1, Knit to end
Next row Purl
Work SS for 2 rows
______________________
K 17, M1, K7, M1, Knit to end
Next row Purl
Work SS for 2 rows
______________________
K 17, M1, K9, M1, Knit to end
Next row Purl

There will be 42 stitches on your needle
Knit 28, turn work, Purl 11

Work for Both Mitts
On the 11 stitches , work k1,p1 rib for 4 more rows or until you've reached desired thumb length.
Bind off very loosely. If you bind off tightly move up a size needles.
Cut off yarn leaving about 18 inch tail for stitching up thumb from top to bottom.
After sewing thumb continue using tail pick up two stitches at base of thumb and knit to the end of row. Rejoin your ball of yarn purl row.
Work remainder of mitt for 12 rows or desired length.
Work 6 rows of K1, P1, rib bind off. Again if you tend to bind off tightly move up a size in needles.

Cast on same number as for right mitt...
LEFT MITT
K 14, M1, K3, M1, Knit to end
Next row Purl
Work SS for 2 rows
________________________
K 14, M1, K5, M1, Knit to end
Next row Purl
Work SS for 2 rows
________________________
K 14, M1, K7, M1, Knit to end
Next row Purl
Work SS for 2 rows
________________________
K 14, M1, K9, M1, Knit to end
Next row Purl

You should have 42 stitches on your needle
Knit 25, turn Purl 11
go to section WORK FOR BOTH MITTS and continue.

If you have any questions or need help simply leave a comment.

Enjoy knitting!