gaysknits

four...

containers of turkey soup are in my freezer, three bags of sliced turkey are in the fridge, two bowls of stuffing near by and only one wishbone remains on the kitchen counter as a reminder of the mess that was once there!  i'm already sick of turkey.  what was i thinking when i bought a twenty pound turkey to cook for two? what was i thinking?   thanksgiving is traditionally the kick off to the christmas holiday and the seemingly endless shopping that holiday brings.  i can honestly say that most of my life i've hated christmas. i've tried to like it...really i have and some christmases  have been likeable enough but generally speaking i still hate the whole thing.  it's not just the bah humbug thing it's more than that.  it is stressful.  what else but pressure could drive thousands of otherwise sane folks to the parking lots of walmarts and kmarts and best buy and macys the day after thanksgiving to stand in line to be the first one on the block to buy a such and such to give to so and so who will more than likely say ehh thanks and return it the day after christmas to buy a better or a different such and such or else keep the cash!  what else but pressure could do that. as if the shopping isn't stressful enough i can't even seem to tolerate the planning of the who will eat what where and when.  someone will be left out and some one will be unhappy and some how i feel like at the very least can make that not be so. this wasn't meant to be a rant and it will not be a rant but let me say before i stop ranting that i have tried many different ways to change that whole cycle in my own life and i always end up jumping back on the bandwagon because it doesn't feel right if you don't.   i wish i could be happy about christmas this year. as happy as i am about this lady eleanor. i am just starting my third skein of atacama and i just love the feel of this yarn. i only wish i had bought more of it in another color a brighter color so i could make another something out of it. but there will be more yarn and more other things to knit so i need not plan a second of anything as historically i know i will never knit a second one of anything.  i am having a fun time knitting this pattern and it would even be more fun if this yarn were self striping and left me with a block of solid color now and again and surprised me with when and where that were.  but i still love this yarn and am happy  about the whole resluts thing.  i have finished washing and blocking the cabo hoodie for the little guy and on friday as we were leaving his house he ran to the door after all the goodbyes "oh gay...about my sweater?  did you finish it yet?"  " i did and it'll be ready for you the next time you come over."  thumbs up...big smile.  aaawwwww...so i'm going shopping now...told you i always cave!  later...love   g

today is the day i really need...

a nice warm wool scarf!  yesterday we went from balmy to down right cold in one day and today it is snowing...big fluffy  snowflakes. i took a little walk down to the back forty and snapped a few pics before my fingers froze so i had to scrape the dog poo off my shoe and come back into the house where it is warm and cozy!  happy  black friday and enjoy your shopping if that's what you dare to do today!  we will be spending part of the day with the daughter and her crew celebrating her birthday. later...love   g

this morning i was taken back...

to a time long long ago and far far away!  when i woke up this morning i was taken back to a november weekend years ago when my little guy was little and a friend named buffalo was visiting unannounced from sweden. a fire swallowing wine guzzling yogo doing acting troop member friend from sweden who only visited once in a blue moon.  i remember that weekend clearly not just because of all the standing on our heads we did or all the wine we drank or all the talk of fire swallowing we did...there was no fire swallowing done just talk of it...but i remember the temperature of the air out side.  it was balmy.  it felt like such a surreal fall day,   the leaves were blowing down the street and dancing in the drives and the sun was shining and the air was warm and the sky was sunny.  there were no jackets that november no hats no scarves no mittens just a long flowing skirt and a cotton shirt with the sleeves rolled up.   today i woke up and was quick to start making stuffing with real cranberries to stuff in my turkey which is in the oven roasting...on thanksgiving day...contrary to any promises i made to make turkey whenever i felt like it.  fact is i felt like it today so...there you have it.  in the midst of this morning activity i looked around to find the guy missing.   i found him in the garage and what he was doing also took me way back to a time long ago...a guy sitting in his van listening to the beatles on the car stereo!   we have been talking a lot lately about downsizing our stuff and our cutting back on our possessions.  i think the reality of that for me is that i will have to have a lobotomy to downsize or start to not accumulate so much stuff but we figured we could start with out vehicles.  our many gas guzzling big ass vehicles.  we have the motorhome aka the coachman, we have the truck aka the dakota, we have the suv aka the trailblazer, we have the only economical one in the bunch...the motocycle aka the yamaha.  our plan was that the guy trade in the suv for a van which will accomodate the german who is getting older and fatter cannot get up into any of our vehicles.  the husky needs a lot of room to move around in and the german lives to sit!  he accomplished this goal yesterday and the guy is now the proud owner of a town and country van with stow and go seats, third row seating and seats that flip and become tailgating seats for watching fireworks and eating icecream and such!  next step is to sell the motorhome which we use as a van anyway.  the last leg of the plan is that i trade my truck in for a hybrid...only thing is my truck is only a year old and it will not be financially in my best interest to trade her in yet and certainly not on a prius which  i don't really like anyway.  but i will downsize as soon as feasible and i figure in the next year or two lots more options will be available to me.  rather than hauling the kayaks in the truck they will be put on a kayak roof rack maybe even on the hybrid both of which have yet to be purchased...the roof rack and the hybrid and voila!  for now the van gets better gas mileage than the suv and way better than the motor home and the truck gets driven infrequently so we are already ahead of the game.   later this weekend we have a plan to install an oriental rug in the van and a coffee table and have wine and cheese and discuss instalation of a solar heating panel on the roof of our enclosed porch which is not yet completely enclosed but we have good intentions!  hmm there's plenty of room in that van so maybe we can have a new years eve party in there...a traveling news years eve party!  have a happy thanksgiving and later...love   g

i'm one of the lucky ones...

with a big fat turkey in the fridge that i don't have to cook until and unless i feel like it!  i'm having dinner at my brothers house on thanksgiving and he is hands down the best in the cook in the land...i should say he and his wife are or  should i say his wife and he are but at any rate the eats will be good.  i am bringing the sweet potatoes which are really yams prepared using the old family secret recipe and other than that the guy and i plan to have turkey and stuffing whenever i get around to cooking it!  told you i was one of the lucky ones.   today i have a date with my allergist and a date with the guy at the pet store and maybe a trip to macy's and a little car/van shopping.  maybe...all these are maybe's.  i have 5 days off work and i am giddy with the possibilities of how i will spend the time and lazy with the possibilities of how i will not!  today i must announce that there will probably be no exciting knitting news for some time as i am knitting a lady eleanor shawl.   it may take a while!  so far i am on my second skein of yarn...arucania atacama...and am this far.  i thought this was so confusing when i started it but so far i am liking knitting it!   i can't wait to get to the end so i can put on that fabulous fringe that is just so beautiful and makes the shawl so special...i think!  the yarn normally used is a self striping one so some of the little squares are a different color but i bought this yarn and i have enough of it and i really like the way it looks even though the effect is a bit different.   i contemplated adding a square of brick every now and then and tried it but didn't like it at all.  i like it this way so this way it shall be.  i have gone shawl crazy these days  and have another i am contemplating making but that will be a secret until i start it.  it is very exciting...i think and colorful and i have to decide on which yarn i will use and will start it then..and hopefully soon.  i want a yarn that is not itchy so wool is out! i want a yarn that will be light weight so cotton is out.  i want a yarn that will hold it's shape so bamboo is out.  i am thinking superwash wool or wool blend or cotton blend.  i may have to consult the experts at my local yarn store.   bonnie has a weatlh of information in that brain of hers and i may have to tap into it.  by the way any and all opinions will be welcome!  i want yarn that is on sale too because i need lots of it and in lots of colors so...it will be a bit tricky.   speaking of shawls i got out the as yet unfinished scribble in mohair and this is really almost done but i am going to knit til i run out of yarn so it is really long!  i still love this simple little pattern and the effect of using a thick and a thin yarn together. the thin is a cerise mohair and the thick is a striping mohair and the color changes are really spread out over the length of it grays, pinks rusts and with a wrap of silky white.    this will also probably be itchy because of the mohair but am hoping to use it as a shawl as well so no worries.  i'll leave you with some pics of both of these projects and for now i'll say...later...love   g

i'm not usually one to wear...

anything stinky or smelly.  i don't usually wear any fragrance, perfume, cologne, body spray or hair spray.  i do like ginger essence a lot but it doesn't last so i don't count that as perfume.  i also like opium a lot and don't wear it often because it lasts a million years and is quite heady so sometimes i even bother myself!  i get chest pains if some one walks by me or sits near me wearing anything that smells more than your average b.o. or the deoderant or irish spring that covers it up.   today was the exception.  me and the guy were in the market for a new coffee maker and found oursleves in kohls and on the way out decided to stop and smell the cologne. they have these little pieces of paper for testers in great abundance  so we sprayed every single scent we could onto one of those peices of paper until we found one we like.  the guy is wearing an abundance of givency pour hommme which he likes quite a lot and i like it as well. i am wearing the mens cologne chrome which i like a lot for men and really i would wear this if i wore cologne.  the young lady fell head over heels for candies which smells yummy like cotton candy and for flirt which is in a bottle covered with kisses and smells quite like cotton candy too.  we liked them both and couldn't choose one over the other. on the way out the door after finding nothing i would be caught dead in i stumbled onto a naturals frangrance that my just be a kohls line of body cremes and washes but it is vanilla with ginger and ylang ylang...ohh i like it soo much!  so i am wearing chrome and vanilla, the youngladygrandaughter is wearing candies and flirt and the guy has sprayed his jacked with a lot of givenchy which should linger for quite some time!  no one pinched their noses when we walked by and an awful lot of dogs were quite enchanted with us as we wandered though the pet store. dogs are very sensitive to perfumes. my german has some he likes and some he despises.  i give him those samples that come in the mags or in the mail and he either rolls on them until he's covered with the smell or he chews the cards up.  the thing is i can't tell which he likes and which he doesn't like.   don't dogs roll in deer poop and dead fish bones and rotting carcasses lying about in the woods?  when they roll in that stuff is it cause thay think it smells good or they think it is just disgusting.  hmm...the youngladygrandaughter and i did a little shopping over the weekend but only for some clearance long sleeved tees to wear with our juliets and a polka spotted dress which she is wearing over jeans as we speak to the concert she is attending with her mother and a friend.  the guy and i are settled in for a long winters tv watching session and a glass of red wine.  i will be knitting my lady eleanor.  i am using arucania atacama which is some pretty soft alpaca.  this yarn doesn't stripe like some of the yarns used for this shawl but i really like the way it looks so i plan to continue knitting this  pattern with this yarn.   i'm in the market for some striping noro or some such thing for a clapotis but i have not made up my mind about that.  i took a pic of the cabo hoodie made for the littleguy and it still needs some ends weaved in and a wash and block but...that is for later...love