Two Black Sheep

Flying

I'm not an outdoor Gal.  I love air-conditioning.  I crave one or two real camping trips, but that's it.  No sunning on the beach.  No hikes into the forest.  But lately I've taken to the outdoors.  I must rephrase that last sentence: Lately I've been hijacked into the nature and I don't mind.  The boys love to be outside.  I'm not sure what we do most of the time.  Tuck tries to bounce a basketball & Gus works on his dribbling skills.  Yesterday, we pulled out our pitiful baby pool.  That's how we spent yesterday.

Because of all this outdoor time, I've been taking more photos.  SK is helping me with some editing skills & I'm learning to crop most of my photos.   I know it's summer & most people don't comment during the summer, but I need some bloggy help!  I would love to try out a new Nikon 50 mm f/1.8 lens, but the AF won't work on our camera's body.  Being a complete novice, I rely on the AF a lot!  I'm trying to switch into Manual & work on focusing on some fast moving kids.  The photo below is done without the ease of AF.  Some photos are clear.  Some aren't.  Would this be a worthwhile purchase?  Or is trying to manually focus on kids a losing battle?  Help, please.

Say Hey (I Love You)*

*I can't get enough of this song!  Find it.  Buy it.  Enjoy it!

Ava talked about my LA debacle in the last post & that's what I'll blame for my silence.  It wasn't just my West coast trip that knocked me on my ass.  It really was the amount of travel leading up to LA & it was just the icing on a big ole shit cake.  My body doesn't deal with travel the same way it did ten years ago.  It takes me time to recover.  After being stuck in O'Hare for around 16 hours, my body shut down.

But knitting came to the rescue once again.  I had been told that I wouldn't be able to get home for 48 hours.  So I literally wandered around O'Hare trying to figure out how to prove them wrong.  As I sat in the four hour Customer Service line, I was able to almost finish the leg of a sock.  I listened to other people's travel nightmare's.  A woman was also coming home from a trip out West.  She spent a week with a wonderful man that she had just met.  No fighting.  Just wonderful dinners filled with engaging conversations.  When he dropped her off at the airport, he told her that he wasn't ready for a relationship.  During the story, her phone would ring because he was concerned.  She ignored all calls.  She also told me about a TSA agent that made her open all of her IV eggs (I don't remember the correct terms.  I was exhausted at this point).  She was hoping that one would work, and she begged him to let her through. Once opened it'd be over.  I think she was planning on donated or sell anything that was left-over.  Who knew this stuff happened? 

When I was told that there was an option, I walked Concourse C until I found a 3-person bench to sleep on.  Thankfully, I remembered that I had another knitting nugget in my bag.  I started the Featherweight Cardigan before my PA trip.  I'm using Malabrigo Sock Yarn for this project.  I decided to take the LYS' advice & alternate two balls of yarn.  It makes sense since it's kettle-dyed.  It makes greater sense because it provided a nice little pillow for my O'Hare sleepover.   While I stood in line, I met a very nice man that was trying to reach his wife & four kids for a vacation.  He kindly offered me his sweatshirt to use as a pillow, but I flashed my knitting. 

Back to normal in Ohio.  So normal that I started another project!  I decided to treat myself to a little birthday gift.  Ulmus is in progress.  When I first saw this pattern, I wasn't sure about it.  The rustic nature of the body paired with the lace border, didn't make sense to me that day.  But I see it now!  The haze is gone, people!   I flipped through pages & pages on Ravelry.  Now the very thing that I didn't understand months ago is the very reason I needed this shawl!  I love the non-lace body.  Sturdy, but beautiful with the alternating of the two colors.  And the lace gives it a sweet touch. 

Comfest is this weekend, so I'll be drunk on indie music & mugs of beer.  Hippies galore.  Don't worry, Ava.  I'll keep my top on.  If I would join the hundreds of women that get their chests painted, I would skip the unicorns or butterflies.  No fairies or forest scenes that are very popular at Comfest.  I'd have the artist write, "These boobs nursed two very hungry babies.  Worship the floppy!"

Lola

Livin' Things

I was going to let Lola do a recap of her Los Angeles odyssey - and truly, if you remember your high school epic poem studies, it really was an odyssey in the most basic sense of the word - but something tells me that I should wish her a happy birthday instead. So, Happy Birthday, Lola!

Things you should know about Lola and me when we were growing up:

• I didn't really like her . . . resent is too strong of a word, but I liked being an only child;
• our mom made me baby-sit and didn't pay me since it was family;
• any kind of bizarre food combo, I made and Lola (and the others) had to eat it;
• some of my favorite photos of her involve costumes of one type or the other; and
• occasionally the games that we played involved lots of running so that she (and the others) would tire out faster (see number two).

Lola and Tuck at the girls' grad party . . . and I love this photo!

Things you should know about Lola as an adult:

• it's rare that a day goes by when I don't talk to her, and I don't pick up other calls when I am talking to her (fine . . . sometimes if the girls are calling I will);
• she has one of the best grasps on how to parent without smothering and has two awesome little boys to show for it;
• she's the one who makes the more "bizarre" foods now, but they all turn out really good;
• some of my favorite photos of her involve her eyes being closed; and
• I blame her for the latest Wii craze . . . but in a good way!

So, enjoy your day, Lola! Happy Birthday - sit on your ass all damn day . . . after your weekend, you deserve nothing less! And with all that hype, you really need to pull a post together.

A

PS - Before you settle into the couch, mail me that shawl . . . I'll block it in the newly cleaned attic, which is where I am headed (wish me luck!).

Beyond Belief

The school year ended for me on Wednesday, and it was bittersweet for a change. One of my best friends took a job at our Central Administration, which means I will see even less of her next year than I did this year. Several teachers were furloughed due to budgetary reasons, and others reassigned. Two good colleagues retired after a combined 70 years of service. And sadly, for me at least, several students said good-bye for what I know to be the last time as one was a foster child and two more were living in shelters. Usually I am really happy when the end of the year comes, but this time . . . kind of a little sad as well.

One final grad photo . . . humor me!

A few weeks back, Mountain Knits and Pearls hosted classes by Annie Modesitt. Considering my personal days were eaten up by a Kings Of Leon concert, Dad's convention, and graduation (umm, that was the last post), I was only able to take the afternoon class on knitting techniques. While I was really looking forward to her combination knitting class, I was supremely chuffed with the knitting techniques class. Talk about fun and informative! The I-Bobbles that Annie demonstrated were worth their weight in gold (and considering I was using Cascade 220, that would be worsted people . . . little knitting humor for you). I've used them on every bobble produced now on the Great American Afghan. The edging that she showed us would only make sense for a knitter since it didn't roll at all. Good-bye stupid looking garter edge, hello perfection . . . meow, indeed!

Those bobbles are beautiful!

Lola has been in Los Angeles for this week on business. Our parents were super concerned about her driving in LA as she had a tendency to get lost as a teenager but hasn't had any problems with it during her ten plus years on the road. Why they were concerned is beyond me . . . even the Flyer told them that she would be fine. After talking to her on Wednesday, she said it is worse driving in Detroit than LA. About two weeks ago, she bought the Wii Active and started the 30-Day Challenge. Not to be left out, I picked it up Wednesday after school got out (fine, after I had lunch and drinks with my team and then came home and slept for three hours) and started yesterday. Learning from my sister, I opted for the low intensity workout. Ummm, EA Sports? How about a "you are a couch potato and really need a no intensity" level? That would be really nice, thank you very much. Not for nothing, but the trainer, who I am dubbing DTB for "Digital Trainer Bitch", doesn't need to complimenting me on my form so profusely. A little, "Keep it up" now and then would be fine . . . not as much, "Wow! You have stellar form!" since I know I don't. Either way, it is giving me a good workout and making me slightly more accountable.

The horizontal i-cord there? Genius!

Knitting news? Not much, but I did finish my friend L's first Monkey sock. I love this pattern (hell, it's memorized), I love this yarn (Cascade's Heritage Hand Paints - can they do anything wrong?), and I love this friend . . . it's a trifecta of love!

Off to mow the lawn since today looks like the only rain free days for about the next five and then laundry . . . housewife is back, Flyer baby! Enjoy the weekends, again!

Ava

Send Me On My Way

Official High School Graduates

Considering that I spent most of the weekend in fear of the weatherman and his "lovely" predictions, graduation went off pretty well for the most part. No torrential downpour during the ceremony, no real outbursts or family issues, no drama . . . just fun and moderately nice weather (which is always a bonus in our non-air conditioned house). Many thanks to everyone in the family for coming out but especially to my friend L for offering to have the graduation party at her house. She honestly will never know how easy it made my weekend (think full blown panic attack, otherwise). Consequently, I am three repeats in on her thank-you socks . . . and still typing that word wrong.

Caps and Silly String Flying High

On more interesting news, the Flyer and I took Lola, SK, and the Other Sister to the casino (and won $108 on the slots) after graduation and maybe it was happiness and joy (and lots of lager), but Lola and I told our sister about the blog . . . and felt like total idiots. In true Black Sheep fashion, we let her pick her name; from now on, we will refer to her as Daphne . . . maybe we'll get her to knit. I have a feeling that's not likely, though.

It's Official . . . Daphne Blacksheep

Three more days of school before we can put an end to this school year and begin planning anew.

Ava

PS - "Send Me On My Way" was the girls' class song . . . and I couldn't think of a better one!

Thank You

Thirteen years ago, they walked through the doors of Ramsey, holding hands and wearing matching outfits. I was officially a mess, a blubbering idiot who didn't even realize that someone from church said hello to both me and the girls.

Last full day of school for Betty and Veronica

Friday night they will walk across the stage, independently but wearing matching outfits. I will still officially be a mess but not quite so blubbering.Congrats to the class of 2009 . . . especially the ones I love the best.

Ava

PS - Blog silence brought to you courtesy of the family . . . shhhh!

Heard It In a Love Song

About two weeks ago, I posted a long (LONG) list of things that I would like to get knit this summer. Most of them were afghans. Something about living in the Northeast, where winters can be unpredictable at best, neccesitates having afghans and other warmth at night. The girls, and truth be told, the Flyer too will tell you that if I would only give in and turn up the thermostat a little, we wouldn't need the extra layers. But, in addition to the whole morbid fascination with the great Hereafter that Lola chatted about a few days back, our mother raised us to tolerate the cold. I think I've mentioned that at our grandparents' farm, we - Lola, the Other Sister, and me - would sleep in one full-size bed in the winter not because we loved each other so much, but because we were afraid that we might freeze to death otherwise. Frost on the bedroom walls will do that to a person.

So, back to the afghans. I have about three currently in pieces of some kind or the other. The girls will each get one as a lap blanket for school in the fall. Why a lap blanket? First of all, dorms are notoriously hot . . . hotter than they can even realize in, which will make Veronica happier than I can put into words. But a lap blanket also because I just can't knit any more on these projects without going batshit crazy. The only two that will make it to full-size afghans are the Great American Afghan and the Rambling Rows Afghan. Thankfully, only one of those has been started: the GAA. It started out as a class at the knit shop and one that I resisted for a good, long while. I know myself - monogamy is great in marriage . . . not in knitting. However, now that the class is over, I am forcing myself to finish the damn thing, one square at a time. Tricia taught the class and sent out notes for each meeting, so I am simply ticking my way through the order that she established for the afghan (albeit not in January like the current square was intended). For some reason, most of the squares that are finished have been light gray, but you can see other lovelier shades in the completed pile. I concentrated on shades of green, aqua, gray, and a few shades of gold to balance it out (thanks, Joanne!). If I continue in this manner, I just may have an afghan to keep me warm come November . . . but don't quote me on that. The lovely Olive's Afghan? The Tuesday knit night group decided to knit an afghan for Erin, who is getting married in August. We (fine, me) created this elaborate story about knitting for a raffle in Ohio and got Erin to knit a strip for her own afghan . . . hopefully she has forgiven us.

The girls have pretty much been out of school since last Thursday as they don't have to take finals. Other than three days worth of graduation practice, they are done with the whole high school thing. The Flyer and I have been cleaning and weeding and cleaning and weeding for the past two weeks now. There are muscles in my body that I long ago thought ceased to work. Every day brings a new project that I forgot about and a matching bruise, which serves as a reminder that I am a crap housekeeper. One of the good things that came out of this whole cleaning binge was Freecycle. Several items in the house were still in good working order, and once listed on our local Freecycle group, went really quickly. If you haven't given it a try, I highly recommend it.

The family begins trickling in on Thursday afternoon when the Other Sister flies in from Nebraska. After that, it should be wine and beer for four days straight with liberal amounts of food and tears. I told Lola that I think I need to get a good long crying jag out of the way this week . . . but something tells me that it might be an impossibility as I have my end-of-the-year field trip, awards ceremony, and grade level field day this week . . . the girls may be done with school, but I am about a week and a half away from channeling my inner Alice Cooper and shouting, "School's out for summer!"

Ava (who promises to post more about the class with Annie Modesitt)

PS - I'll get my own personal final playlist up sometime soon, and while I love the Marshall Tucker song "Heard It In a Love Song," it won't make the list. The group is in town for the newly created Pocono NASCAR fest for the first race weekend . . . and it's a traffic nightmare.

The Thrill is Gone

 Do you remember the moment when you realized your family wasn't normal? I do. I was sitting around a bar table late in my college career. Someone mentioned never seeing their father naked. "I have," I innocently responded. By the shock & horrified looks on their faces, I knew my family wasn't normal. My parents weren't creepy or hippies. They just didn't care.  Besides my parents never closing a bathroom door, there are other things that make us not normal.

Our fascination with death is another one I thought most families shared.  Nope. We're special like that. We're a morbid family. SK loves to point this out.  And it bothered him for so long.  We talk about death more than any family I've met.  I guess I thought that every family had a picture of their dead Uncle Gene sandwiched between pictures of their trip to Disneyworld & that year's Christmas photo.  My mother hates when we argue (funny because it always happens) & she figures that she can control us from beyond the grave. A long time ago, someone wanted something when they died & she quickly say, "Put your name on the back of it." Currently, all of the big pieces have a name scribbled on the back. 

My father is very worried that no one will properly give his eulogy & he wants to record one. I'm sure it's already done. Our parents decided that this topic would be perfect for the 2008 Christmas season. After dinner, they asked us to gather in the basement so we could watch his eulogy. He told everyone that he really wanted us to watch his eulogy so he could see our reaction in person. Tweak it.  See which dead jokes get a laugh & pepper it with more.   After minutes of arguing the wrongness of this, we all gave in & stomped downstairs. Mom put in the DVD & it turns out she created a movie of every Christmas that our family has had. You might be saying, "How sweet." Yes. It was. But what would have been sweeter? Being told that it was a stroll down Christmas lane & not a Death lane!!

Death is used on all levels. The inevitable. We know their wishes & who's got the wills. And the guilty. Whenever we suggest that we'd like to stay home for one Christmas in three years, we hear this tune from our mother: "That's fine. We don't have many Christmas-es left in us, you know." Our mother was saying this when she was in her fifties! Fifties, for god sake!

Because it's been made very clear to me that Mom won't always be there, I've got to make some changes. Who am I going to call when I need to know how many yards of fleece to buy for a blanket? How long does cottage cheese really last past the expiration date? Am I going to have to purchase commercial receiving blankets for new babies? Commercial ones are never big enough to swaddle. Who's going to sew a zipper in for me? This week, I made a Big Girl decision. I'll sew my own zipper in. My mom would have whipped it in with her machine. Perfect stitches. The zipper wouldn't snag on the wool when you pull it up. Not mine, people. I used a needle & thread. But I did it. It isn't perfect. Hell, I've only done it this one time!  Next time I'll try hemming my own pants.

L

p.s. SK has given in to our family.  Once when we were alone & he told, "Don't worry.  I put my name on the bottom of it."

p.s.  To further point out our wackiness: Ava & I often talked about what should be on our funeral Play-List.  Mine is as followed:

Thrill is Gone: B.B. King
Fancy:  Reba Mcentire
Nothing Compares: Sinead O' Connor
Last Good-bye: Jeff Buckley
Fancy: Duh?
Yours: Blues Traveler
Pussy Control: Prince
I'm a Slave for You: Britney Spears
Fancy:Yep, again.
Gypsies Tramps & Thieves: Cher
Hallelujah: Jeff Buckley
I Surrender: Celine Dion
My My My: Johnny Gill
Fancy:  Uh-huh.
Top of the World: Dixie Chicks


I'm sure there's a ton I missed.  I should write them down somewhere important.  And yes, I know the some of the titles sound good & morbid, but the lyrics aren't.  I just love those songs. 

I'll get some actions shots of Vivian as soon as I get my Mom to sew down the other side of the ribbon.  She is still alive after all. . .

Dirty Blonde

We got a hammock as a wedding gift.  We used it for one season when we bought the house.  Then it was shoved into the rafters of the garage.  This past weekend, I begged SK to pulling it down.  Probably one of the best weekends we've had in a very long time.  While the kids were napping, we loaded it up with pillows & blankets.  And when napping was no longer an option, the entire family spent at least a half hour rocking in the sun.  Tuck almost fell asleep & Gus just alternated between his parents.  When the boys went to bed, SK & I poured some drinks & hit the ropes again.  Today, Gus fell out of it so I'm afraid that his Hammock Loving days are over.  I'll lure him back in somehow if it kills me.

Since Ava & I keep missing each other, I'm asking on the blog.  We briefly talked about my dilemma earlier today, but I keep forgetting to send the details.  I know Two Black Sheep opens as her homepage, so she'll get the message (wasn't this the entire reason we started a blog?).  Consider yourself asked, Ava!  I'm getting the new project itch.  It isn't really strong, but I can feel it bubbling.  I'm thinking about starting the Featherweight Cardigan.  I'm in need of a car knit since we'll be making the drive to PA soon.  Noro Rambling Rows is too cumbersome.  I'm not sure I want to work on one sock the entire time.  Before I go to the LYS, Ava do you have 1,400 yards of lace-weight that you'd be willing to part with for a fee?

Your loving sister,
Lola