snood pattern (rough)

rnd1: ch 5, sl st into first chain to create a ring

rnd2: ch 3 (counts as first  dc) dc 5 times into the ring, sl st into third chain from beginning of round (6 st)

rnd3: ch 3, do 2 dc into each st (12 st) sl st into third chain at beg of round

rnd4: ch 3, *do 2 dc into next st, one dc into following st* rpt* around, sl st into 3rd chain at beg of round (18 st)

rnd5: ch 3, *2 dc into next st, one into next st, one into next st* rpt* around, sl st into chain at beg of round (24 st)

rnd6: *ch 5, sc into next st* rpt* around

rnd7: *sc into loop created, ch 5, sc into next loop* rpt* around

rnd8: *sc into loop created, ch5, sc into same loop, ch 5, sc into next loop*

rnd9+: rpt round 7 until desired length

final rnd: sc into all loops. sl st into first sc. bind off.

weave ribbon through final loops.

if you need to add more to the diameter of the snood, work rnd 8 multiple times until it is big enough around to sit comfortably on your head.

For Sale/Barter/Trade

I'm cleaning out my project room. This means that I have items that I am going to get rid of. Here's a list of what I have to offer.

Books:

• Learn to Knit     Author: unknown     Editor: unknown     Publisher: Leisure Arts     Copyright: 2011    This is a fair book for beginning knitters. It has step by step directions for 10 easy projects. Gives directions for left handed knitters as well as right handed. My rating: 6/10  Asking: $4.00
• The Complete Encyclopedia of Crafts Vol 2    Author: unknown    Editor: unknown                  Publisher: Columbia House   Copyright: 1975        Filled with craft ideas. I don't have the other volumes of this set. I haven't used it for anything, but it runs the gamut from wood working to embroidery to basket weaving.   My rating: 4/10  Asking: $4.00
• The Prayer Shawl Ministry Vol 2     Author: --    Editor: Susan White Sullivan, et al.                        Publisher: Leisure Arts     Copyright: 2008     Filled with really good shawl patterns that are accessible to pretty much any skill level.  My rating: 7/10    Asking: $4.00
• Gothic Gargoyles   Author: Bill Yenne  Publisher: Barnes & Noble Books    Copyright: 2000             A beautiful photo book of gothic gargoyles from around the world. Has minor wear and tear. My rating: 7/10  Asking: $5.00
• Baltimore: Then and Now     Author: Alexander D. Mitchell   Publisher: Thunder Bay Press    Copyright: 2001     A lovely photo book comparing images of the city of Baltimore, Maryland (USA) (as of the time of publication) to past images. In very good condition. Missing the dust jacket. My rating 7/10   Asking: $5.00
• The Secret of the Shadow    Author: Debbie Ford      Publisher: Harper Collins     Copyright: 2002    A pleasant read with some novel concepts on how to work with one's shadow aspects. In good condition. Missing dust jacket. My rating: 6/10    Asking: $7.00

Knifty Knitter set - includes 4 round looms, one long loom, and a bloom loom. also includes picks, project book, 1 ball acrylic (baby fingering weight) and 2 balls wool (sport weight) yarn.  Asking: $30.00

Claimed

I had a clean...

I had a clean kitchen ...   then I had to cook something.
I had clean laundry ....     then I had to get dressed.
I had a clean living room ....    then the kids got home from school.
I had a clean mind ....   then Beloved grinned at me.


I am pretty sure I could add to the list but I need to go clean something now.

New hat!

I'm going to blog a bit about the costuming I do for my LARP characters. I have one that is a madwoman. She has a few quirks. One of them is that she dresses in men's clothes. I'm not talking about just jeans and a sweater (though it is an option). I have a black suit that looks much like Beloved's. I'm planning on wearing that suit, a button down shirt, a tie (borrowed from Beloved), my leather long coat, and a hat.

Last month, I didn't have the suit. I was just doing the jeans and man's sweater. I had my leather long coat and my leather cowboy hat. As I was out grocery shopping last weekend, I snagged a plastic, velour covered top hat. My plan is to wear it next session with the suit and everything. I'm not going to be making it to January's session for the game, but that's ok. It gives me the time to get everything I need together.

If I can manage it, I'm going to borrow Beloved's tie tack and cufflinks. If not, that's ok. I'll still find away to make it work.

Here's my new hat! If I can manage it, I'll locate a real hat in this style at a second hand shop or something in a size smaller. Either way, this is going to be part of my rotation for this character. I also have my velvet fedora as an option. Who knows, maybe I'll manage to find some other awesome hats for dirt cheap. This thing only cost one buck.

2013 Blanket Project: Week 1

It will be interesting if I wind up with twelve blankets on the basis of the size of these squares. They are each 8 in long. So, this may add up quickly. I am still going to make one square each day, however. If I wind up with twelve blankets, I honestly have no idea what I am going to do with them.

Here are week one's squares:

Novel update!

Word Count: 35,474     Total Words Added Thus Far:  5,418     Total Needed for Goal:  64,526

I have a new character. His name is Fish-eye. He is a low level brute but he is going to serve as my eyes into how Askemb's men function. Fish-eye may not last long. I haven't decided it yet. Right now, I'm just trying to get back into the story.

First Novel of the Year!

I have picked up an unfinished manuscript and started work on finishing it up.

My starting word count is 30,056. My current word count is 33,054. My goal is 100 K by the end of the month. Wish me luck everyone.

Work, work, work!

So far today, I have put away all the kids clothes. I have made good strides on my crochet projects. I have gotten a fair amount of my paperwork stuff finished. I also have done a good amount of planning for my next children's manuscript. All I really have left to do on that front is start writing.

I feel like I could have done more, but each of these things took their own amount of time. I need to focus on quality of work versus quantity of it. From the quality angle, I have done very well today. And it is just now lunch time.

Educational listening.

I'm sitting here working on my crochet squares for today. As I do so, I am listening to TED talks. So far, I have learned about the importance of vultures in the ecosystem. I have listened to an inspiring story about a paraplegic regaining her ability to walk and acquiring her pilot's license (three times over). I have also listened to an interesting discussion on the value of fear.

I believe this is going to be my new 'thing'. As I work on my crochet squares, I am going to listen to something educational and learn something. An unofficial goal for myself is to learn something new every day. I think this will be an excellent way to meet that goal. It has made for a truly enjoyable morning.

So far, I have one square finished. I hope to finish the second soon. The work goes by faster when I am listening to something interesting. I changed my plan for the second square. I am just going to do half double crochet for the whole square. I believe I am going to make some very basic squares before I do anything complicated. This way I have a logical progression to my crochet squares.

Happy New Year!

Dear Readers,

I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year! I am going to do something a little bit trite here and list my resolutions for the year. I will be revisiting this post and crossing things off as I complete them. It is my hope that I will have all of these things accomplished this time next year and a new list of twelve items. In no particular order of importance, here is my list of twelve resolutions for 2013!

1. Use up all of my stashed wool yarn.
2. Re-teach myself Spanish.
3. Exercise 15 minutes a day.
4. Write daily in my journal.
5. Write according to schedule on my projects.
6. Submit two manuscripts to publishers by July.
7. Finish my fantasy manuscript.
8. Crochet one square a day.
9. Spin a mile of thread.
10. Donate to charity.
11. Stick with the FlyLady method of organization.
12. Fix my sewing machine.

I'm making a singificant amount of progress on goal number one. My scrapghan is coming out nicely. I plan on sending it off to Njordsheart soon. Here is what I have done so far. It is using all handspun yarns. Some of mine is included but most of this is from a random grab bag that my MIL gave me a while back.

My crochet square for today hasn't been made. I am going to make a very basic 8 inch granny square tomorrow. I am thinking about making an 8 inch square in basketweave stitch for my square for tomorrow as well. My goal with the crochet squares is to make enough to sew into a blanket by the end of the year.

Over the last week, I have been busy using up my acrylic stash. I made three lap scrapghans and a shawl. I'm not sure what to do with them. They are pictured below.

My youngest claimed the stripy one. I don't know what I'm going to do with the other two. Beloved tossed out the possibility of my selling them on etsy. I'm also considering sending one of them off to one of the women I correspond with as part of the Secret Sisters thing that we do.

I expect that as I progress forward in making squares for this eventual blanket, I am going to have a tidy pile of scraps to make into something else. I am putting up my current project and such for the night, however. It has been a long day today. Running around after children tends to wear a body out.

I hope that everybody stays toasty warm this frigid night. Everyone who is some place warm, think happy thoughts for those of us who are cold. May the gods bless you all with good fortune and health this year.

Christmas Eve (at ground zero)

I suppose patient zero may be more accurate but it feels like things have gone explody over the course of the last few days. My efforts to try to make my Grandfather's wish to see the whole family together for the holidays went down the crapper. All it took was one tiny little virus to do it.

Laughibly (and predictably) Beloved has the sniffles and I've been dragging myself around like some sort of zombie. My youngest, who was home from school last Wednesday with this bug, has been just this side of climbing the ceiling. Snuggle Bug, where do you get your energy from? Cuddle Bear has caught this thing too and he's just a ball of energy. Congested and coughing, but just on the run from the word go.

It seems, however, the divine providence may have been at play on this one. Apparently there are members of the extended family on my side who would have taken offense at my presence and the presence of my sister-in-law. So, it may just be that the gods decided to protect us all from an enormous cluster fuck of a holiday disaster. Because she had stuff come up too.

My holiday baking has been greatly reduced because of a double whammy of this stupid virus and a mild depressive episode. This evening, for the first time all day, I felt up to doing some housework. So I cleaned the kitchen, because it really needed it. I'm going to try to rope the boys into picking up the living room 'for Santa.' I'm thinking if I put it that way, they may actually do it.

I've been busy over the last few weeks working on Yule/Christmas gifts. I have a box full of stuff to give to people and I'm not going to be seeing them until after the holidays. I am not pleased. I was really looking forward to the kids' reactions to the hats I made them. I made slippers for my boys. I have a feeling this is going to be turning into something of a tradition for me. I made them slippers last year. Those slippers, however, went missing. Thus I made them new slippers.

I've something special for Beloved. I'm pretty sure that he's going to get a big laugh out of it. If I felt better, I'd probably make something else for the kids. They're getting books, a couple games, and a toy car each. I feel kinda bad that I'm not giving them more substantial toys. At the same time, we've purged unused toys (made them part of a care package for an impoverished family down the road) and life has continued with out even a slight hiccough. This tells me that there is just too much 'stuff' in the house.

My other big project this season was the surprise care package for the family up the road. Shortly after they moved in the wife said to me that she was concerned about Christmas. She told me about how they were looking at having to choose between groceries and gifts. Now, the school and their church did give them care packages. I had decided before I had even heard about this to put together one for her.

In the care package went a pair of stroller blankies for the baby (which she'd found out she was pregnant with shortly before their move), a handmade rattle for the baby, household goods, a handmade washcloth for each person in the house, and some holiday hats for her girls (who are the same ages as Snuggle Bug and Cuddle Bear). We had extra winter coats, so I gave those to her as well because they had only light jackets for the girls. I also took out the nifty felt bag that my Grandmother down in FL had sent presents up for Cuddle Bear in one year. I filled it up with toys that the boys just don't even touch. Thus, we sent over a very nice train set and a teddy bear for each child (including a Winnie the Pooh for the coming baby).

The woman was expecting the first bag. I figured she had enough chaos going on that springing this as a complete surprise was going to be bad. When I handed it to her, she teared up and gave me a hug. Then I pulled the bag full of toys out from behind my back and she just stared in wonder. She said that she couldn't repay me. I told her that it was a gift from my kids to hers. And that sometime down the road, when she meets someone in need, help them out.

I'm pleased with the results of this. I am also pleased that there is one more surprise waiting for the girls. E. and her girls went out and got them My Little Pony ponies. I'm planning on dropping them off with a 'Santa made a mistake, this comes here.' line. I'm really looking forward to seeing the delight and excitement on the girls' faces.

My boys have been getting excited about Yule/Christmas. For Yule, we put out some sugar and oats for Silepnir. Into their stockings, which we hung at the foot of their beds with some solemnity, they each got a little toy from Odin. Cuddle Bear still is talking about the magic horsie. He could care less about the All Father but he's really fond of Silepnir.

They've been making noises about Santa Claus. School has been getting them riled up on that front. It started with talk of Christmas Trees and went from there. So, tonight before the boys go to bed, we're going to put out a plate with a special cookie for Santa and a glass of milk. I'm going to try to hunt down one of my electric candles to put on the altar so Santa can find our house. ;)

I'd add more but I have miles to go before I sleep tonight.

Novel Excerpt

Armand fixed Johnathan with a penetrating gaze. “You are in pain. We must get Penelope to bring you your medication,” he said. Armand pushed away from the table and walked down the hall. Johnathan stared woodenly at the table attempting to take in the magnitude of the last month's worth of events. It boggled his mind how he could have gone from overjoyed at his plot with Margaret to reunite with Vivian to how he found him sitting in Louis Abril's house with Armand Pariseau as master of the household and Louis buried somewhere on the property.

Still caught in contemplation, Johnathan absentmindedly noted Armand's return with Penny by his side. Penny took out of her pocket an amber colored bottle. She shook a few pills into the palm of her hand and offered them to Johnathan. He picked up one of them and held it up in front of himself. He muttered quietly, “To sleep, perchance to dream. Aye, there's the rub, for in that sleep of death, what dreams may come, when we have shuffled off this mortal coil, must give us pause.”

“If you must quote Shakespeare at your medication, must it be so maudlin?” Armand said lightly, “The world's mine oyster. A far superior quote,” Armand chided. Johnathan gave him an annoyed look.

“The words of a buffoon...” Johnathan stared when Armand cut him off.

“Are more welcome during a time of trial then those of a prophet of doom,” he retorted, “Take your medication. Then we are bundling you off to bed with your lovely maiden. And this sweet creature shall ensure bold Andrew's rest.” Armand looked over at the rifle in his hand. Johnathan was half expecting him to make some sort of comment about it being an uncivilized weapon. Instead, he looked at it with a critical eye. “It was good that this was not needed today. It needs cleaned,” Armand said.

He thrust the rifle into Penny's hands as Johnathan took the pills. As he was swallowing down another mouthful of coffee, Armand returned with a cloth and a gun cleaning kit. With all the care of a surgeon preparing for his trade, Armand laid the cloth out and readied his supplies. Gingerly, as though taking a newborn, Armand took the weapon from Penny. As he began the task of disassembling the firearm, he looked closely at the various parts.

“Louis, Louis, Louis,” he muttered in disappointment. Armand was half way through cleaning the weapon when Andrew and Granville returned. He absorbed in his work, he ignored the arrival of the two men. Granville set the keys down on the table and walked back into the kitchen. There he sat down with his wife.

Andrew looked at Armand as he was cleaning the gun. “Penny said that the scope was off,” Andrew said. Armand nodded. Andrew looked over at Johnathan, who was glaring bleary eyed into his almost empty coffee cup. The medication had taken the edge off of his wits and left his thoughts just disjointed enough that he could not adequately express the utter disgust and disappointment he felt with the situation. Johnathan wanted to rage but he found he simply had no energy left for it. “You look exhausted,” Andrew said quietly.

Johnathan looked up at him. “I suppose I am,” he said, “If anything, we must check on Vivian.” Johnathan stood and started towards the front stairwell. He paused and looked over at Armand. “What is the plan if some one decides to come looking for us here?” he asked.

“They will simply have to discuss the matter with Louis,” Armand said, not looking up from his work. Andrew frowned but said nothing. The two men walked to the foot of the stairs. Andrew started to go up the steps behind Johnathan when he waved him off. Andrew watched as his master made his way up the stairs. Once satisfied that the man wasn't going to tumble to the ground, Andrew went off in search of something to eat. He hated to admit it, but stress had a terrible habit of making him hungry.

NaBloPoMo # 8

I'm so proud of myself. Today I broke the 4k writing mark in total words written for the day. I'm sitting over here doing a happy dance. I also learned something important today, burning 4 sticks of incense, no matter how nice it smells, does not agree with my lungs. It also fails to cover up the wretched smell that is in the entryway. Seriously, it smells like something died out there but neither I or Beloved can figure out what the source of the stench is. I am displeased.

NaBloPoMo # 6

Well, it's my birthday. My gift to myself was meeting my writing goal for today. I added two thousand words to my manuscript. I've a fair amount of housework that has been languishing but that can be dealt with easily. If I can manage it, I'm going to squeeze in more writing time tonight. I am two days ahead of schedule. I am going to see if I can make it three by the time I head to bed tonight.

NaBloPoMo # 5

I don't think I wrote anything in here yesterday. It's been a wacky day here. I fell about sixty words short of my writing goal for NaNoWriMo today. I am not upset, however, because I finally moved through the land of 'how the hell does this fit my plot?' It is my hope that despite the running around I need to do tomorrow, that I will get a good amount written. As the characters reveal themselves to me, I am finding myself unexpectedly charmed by some of them. The character of Andrew is proving to be delightful. What was going to just be a bit of proverbial eye candy has proven to have greater depth then I expected. It makes me hope to see more interesting bits develop as I work on this.

(Edited to Add: Apparently I did write in here, I just forgot about it. LOL)

Excerpt from this year's NaNoWriMo novel

“I saw god,” he said, “There was no heavenly choir or pearly gates, like my mother said there'd be. There was an old man dressed in BDUs holding a rifle with a bayonet fixed. Looked almost like our old gunnery Sargent, actually. He had one eye, the other was a bloody mess. He had no insignia of rank or anything. He pointed at me with his freehand and said 'report to Midgard, maggot.' Next thing I know, I'm laying on the ground coughing up blood.”

NaBloPoMo #3

I'm highly annoyed that the candle plate I have sitting on my altar cracked. I will need to safely clean up the broken glass after the incense burner is done. In the meantime, I'm just going to sit here and be irritated. A part of me says that I should have realized that the glass wasn't going to handle the temperature of the incense burner. Another part of me says that I couldn't have know for certain that it would have handled it. All I know is that the next time I decide that I'm going to burn incense in this fashion, I am putting the clay trivet under it. I know that can handle higher temperatures.

NaBloPoMo #2

I slept a good chunk of the day away this morning. I didn't sleep well last night. For some reason, I was having nightmares of the boys freaking out over us having a pet cow. I think it's just some addled nonsense that my brain came up with. Aside from having that nightmare a few times, I dreamed that I was writing. As I was writing, my words turned to utter gibberish. The then began deleting themselves when I paused to drink my cup of coffee. I think this is a manifestation of my fear that this year's manuscript is going to be utter garbage. I am pretty sure that fear was part of the reason why I was having a hard time writing this afternoon.

NaNoWriMo & NaBloPoMo

I'm participating in both. This is my first entry for NaBloPoMo. I'm pleased with the fact that thus far today, I've got almost 3 k words in on the manuscript. I'm hoping to add to it this evening after the kids go to bed. My goal is to try to average three to four thousand words a day. I will be milking my days free of children for as much writing time as I can swing. I am also going to be making an effort to get my three journaling pages done before I sit down to type here at the computer.

In other news, I have gotten more yule gifts for people. I am absolutely certian that one of my neices is going to go SQUEEEE over what I'm giving her. :)

It's that time of year!

NaNoWriMo starts tomorrow. I am picking up a project from a little bit back (the fetish novel) and working on it this year. I have decided that it doesn't matter if I'm technically 'cheating' at NaNoWriMo this year. I am just going to work until the manuscript is finished. I am also going to attempt to do NaBloPoMo this year as well. The blog entries are going to be short but I am going to make a concentrated effort to get more disciplined in my blog posting.

This is in addition to the journaling that has been a bit hit or miss over the last two weeks. I want to try to get myself back into the swing of doing serious writing. Over the last several weeks/months, I have been struggling to get things down on paper. My bouts of depression have been robbing me of my voice. I am going to do my best to push through this and get serious about this again. I have four different manuscripts languishing. This really needs to be corrected.