just maryse

And We're Back!!

started back in 2009, last year we took a break.  but this year we are back with bells on.  IT'S OUR 4TH ANNUAL CROCHET POTHOLDER SWAP!

if you've participated in the past, you know the drill.  send in potholders, get some back.

if you are new to the swap and are wondering, WTF is this swap?  then you are in for a treat.

 

 

the rules are pretty simple and you don't need to sign up ahead of time.  SO YOU KNOW IT'S PERFECT! for the complete rules please go to the potholder swap 2013 group in ravelry.  if you don't belong to ravelry, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!!???

in the past, we asked people to send in 5 potholders.  this year we're asking for 3.  so if you thought about participating in the past and were a little afraid, maybe you might want to try this year.

 

so go to the ravelry group for the rules and get your hooks out and start hookin'.

My First Official Photoshoot

i've been thinking of doing this for quite some time. like i said in my Goals for 2013 post, it's time that I use my fancy camera equipment for something more than shooting my stash and FOs for ravelry.  so i want to thank amy aka Spunky Eclectic for being my guinea pig.  (i've taken photos of friends for headshots and such, but this was first official paying gig). 

we went out early and it was cold.  so so cold. but we had a good time and amy was a good sport. i only wish she hadn't been wearing that damn hoodie.  heh. 

SPA 2013 was fun of course. there was eating, and shopping and knitting and crocheting (i finished my first design prototype of 2013) and chatting with friends. it was much too short though.

oh well. back to work.

 

 

February 1 Goal Update

so it's been a month or so since i wrote up my goal/resolution post. how about a progress report. heh. 

1. so the walking.  yeah, um, no.  i don't know what is wrong with me but i have a mental block with the walking. no excuses. i gave myself a break while my father was still around. but it's been 2 weeks since he's left. and i'm still sitting on the couch. i give myself an F.

2. weight watchers. hey i'm still going to meetings! but the last weigh-in was a disaster. it was princess time and all and i'm still working on getting my thyroid levels right. anyway, so i get an B for showing up to meetings, but a D for weight loss.

3.  pattern writing/making. so i'm working on a design right now.  of course the goal is actually to publish it, but i may revise this goal a little.  creating stuff is what motivates me. writing them up as patterns is secondary. plus i've finished some socks and done some spinning. i get an A for the month

4-7.  these are long term goals that i'm currently working on.  i give myself a "satisfactory" for now since i've actually started working on all of these projects.

so that's about it.  i know. kind of boring. heh. sorry.

 

 

I'm off to Freeport, ME in a couple of hours for SPA, Knit and Spin. Have a good weekend!

 

First FO for 2013

you know what happens when you hang out with a friend, without your ipad, while watching 8 episodes of Downton Abbey?

you finish a pair of socks, that you've only been working on since September.

my obsession with color is well-known, but sometimes a creamy, grayed neutral is an excellent palate (or palette - heh) cleanser.  these socks are made with noro silk garden sock using my basic sock recipe. i love them.

but it's not all about beige around here.  i've also been crocheting some circles with leftovers.

mmm colory.

Mid-January

the family is finally gone. we had a nice visit in spite of my whining. i know i'm a horrible person. i shouldn't be this way. but let me tell you. it's hard watching your parents grow old, and sometimes it makes you so sad inside that whining is preferable to crying. anyway, my time and space is my own now, as it should be, and i only have to share it with j.  heh.

my excuses for not working on my goals gone, i'm kind of behind schedule of course. but one doesn't change engrained behaviors from one day to the next. plus it's january. and well. it's hard getting up in the morning.

i'm back to being crafty. i've closed the computer a bit, put down the ipad and started working on crafty things.

 

my first spinning of the year. it looks wonky but it'll knit up fine.

 

socks that were started awhile ago in 2012 but are close to being done.

 

an old blanket perfect for napping.

a fiber crafter is back.

Goals for 2013

after doing some ruminating over the past few days, i've come up with some goals for the year. lately i've been thinking that maybe i cut myself a little too much slack. i lack focus. and that would be fine if i didn't care whether i was accomplishing anything or not in my non-work life. but i do want to get stuff done. so i wrote some things down.

1. walk 500 miles.  this is a big goal for me since i'm pretty sedentary now. but it's a measureable, concrete goal, that doesn't expose me to humiliation like signing up for a 5K might. but it's one i can make happen.

2. keep at it with WW and go to meetings. i joined December 1 and i've lost 4.5 lbs.  considering that this was during the holidays with my family  visiting and i'm pretty stressed out right now i'm happy with my progress. i also like my meeting leader. she's funny and smart and sensible and moves the meeting along with humor.  again, going to meetings is something i can control.

3. i want to publish 8 patterns.  the number 8 sounds rather arbitrary but i read about it here. 8 is supposed to be good luck.  i have 2 patterns coming out in the spring already. i will decide later if those are included in the final tally.  heh.

4. i got a new camera. the nikon D7000 and it is lovely.  but unlike my D80 and D90, there are all sorts of new features and controls that i need to learn about.  hence the manual in the photo. i'm reading that mof0 if it kills me. heh. no official photo project this year, but it's time to get a portfolio together so that i can make a little $$ at this  hobby.

5. related to this, i'd like to make this website look a little better and more useful.

6. there's the potholder swap coming up.  more info on that in the coming weeks.

7. find a new job. yeah this is a goal that i have no choice but to work on. i have to pay for all of the things some how ;)

so that's it for now.

 happy new year to all of you.

 

Goodbye 2012

and another year has come and gone.

blah blah blah. heh.

i went back and read my post from a year ago. i had plans. creative plans, plans for my health and well being, etc. but when my mother died last february i kind of lost my mojo. my resolutions went out the window. i stopped taking photos, i barely got any crafting done.   it's still weird to think that she's no longer with us, especially with my father and brother visiting right now. anyway. so there's that.

but it's a new year, and i want it to be a happy, healthy and most of all productive one:  personally and professionally. 

i hope the new year is a happy and healthy one for you too.

A Birthday Present for You!

thank you for your ideas. and thank you for the birthday greetings.  j says that we are at an age when we shouldn't care about birthdays. and what i say to him is ... LIAR!

i'm taking all of your ideas to heart. there are some good ones.  AND SOME WHERE CLEARLY THE COMMENTER DID NOT READ THE POST CAREFULLY.  but their ideas were good ones too and fitness is definitely something i'm working on improving.  jmo, climbing everest?  really? yeah, um, no. that doesn't sound like fun AT ALL to me.

anyway, to thank you for commenting, i've randomly selected one of you to win a little something.  and the winner is .... CHAWNE! 

i just sent you a ravelry pattern.  i hope you like it.

anyway to everyone else, merry christmas, happy holidays, and as a friend of mine would say, "and all of that happy horseshit."

 

Ideas Please

so tomorrow is my birthday and it's a big one. it's got a zero in it, yes. and yes, i don't know how i got here. it's gone by so fast. yadda yadda yadda.

i always use my birthday as a day of evaluating. i try not to dwell so much on the past. i've gotten better at doing that. i mean, the past is past and there's nothing much i can do about it. but in looking forward, i do like to come up with a plan.

i've got some personal plans in mind. my job is ending at the end of july so i'll have to look for another job. figure out what i want to do since it appears i am in fact a grown-up.  (not old enough to retire though. so shut up.)

but i don't really have any creative plans.  and i'm kind of at a loss of ideas.  so what do you think i should do in 2013? i'd like to get my photomojo back. and when i look at the projects i completed this past year, it's kind of a lame list. not much went on. so there's that. OMG WHAT SHOULD I DO?

if you send me some ideas, i might have a prize to give out.  you know, like a birthday present.

so leave me a comment and tell me what you'd like to see me do.

thanks,

maryse

Fury

i've read a few blog posts in the past couple of days where the overall theme is that "there are no words."  well i have a word. fury. that's my word. since friday's shootings and Sandy Hook, i've felt sadness and horror but most of all i have felt fury.  i am furious.

i am furious at the gun nuts out there that are so fucking crazy about their fucking guns. i can't even express how angry and disgusted i am at this group of people who think their right to own an assault weapon is more important than these babies' right to a safe life. i spit on them. i kick them in the nuts. even if that means that they shoot me in the head in retalitation. because you know that would be a reasonable response for a gun nut.

i am furious with the mother nancy lanza. i am sorry that her son killed her because her life is over. but also because no one can take her by the lapels and shake her and ask her "what were you thinking?"  why did she have those guns in her house? and why for god's sake did she take her troubled boy to target practice?

i am furious at those who ignore the whole gun issue and instead attack those with mental illness or those who provide services for the mentally ill.  "were there signs?" well maybe there were and maybe there weren't. but if these people hadn't had access to guns, it wouldn't have mattered. and the irony? those gun nuts are oddly similar to those who don't think their tax dollars should be spent taking care of those who can't take care of themselves.  

i am furious to those who say stupid things like "guns don't kill people, people kill people." you know what? you're wrong.  guns kill people. guns sole purpose is to shoot things. people. animals. targets.  that's all.  they have no other use. people who make the analogy that we should ban cars then because people die in car accidents are idiots.

i am furious at our politicians who are so afraid of the NRA that they won't even bring up any gun control issues. DO SOMETHING FOR GOD'S SAKE. even if the gun nuts in congress keep voting against any bill. GUN CONTROL NEEDS TO BE IN THE PUBLIC DEBATE.

i am furious at Mike Huckabee and his ilk who said just hours after this horror that it was banning of school prayer that lead to this.  YOU SIR ARE A HEARTLESS BEAST AND ANYTHING BUT A MAN OF GOD.

i am furious when i think of the 26 people who lost their lives, and the 20 or so sets of  parents who lost their babies in such a violent and senseless way. and the fear and horror that so many other children lived through. my wish for them is that they can one day be ok again. i'm not a parent but i don't have to be to imagine the pain.  the horrible, bone breaking, heart wrenching, soul sucking pain.

i am furious when i look at these faces.