Ha, I went to the news channel 3 web site and they have a comments section where you can leave a comment or ask a question etc.  So, I gave them a piece of my mind at how dissapointed I was that they were not using their ability to have so many peoples attention to give hope and a more positive perspective/outlook, given the tough times people are facing, at least by leaving out snide personal remarks.  Anyway, it got my goat and I had to say something so I did.  So there

What the heck!  I couldn’t believe it when one of our local news announcers said, tune in next time to see who is next on the chopping block.  What a insensitive comment and not only is it insensitive but it only adds to the fear and gloom that people are facing.  I think I’m going to send them an e-mail expressing my opinion, not that they will care, but it just gets me how the news media has been adding to the fear and dispare by reporting on more of the negative.  They have the power to decide on what they want to report on and could at least offer glimpses of hope and encouragement in their stories.  Geesh, what a tacky comment .

I found this pattern that was stashed in one of my boxes in storage and WOO HOO its the pagoda tam that I’ve knit so many times but lost the pattern.  Got the pattern way long ago out of a magazine.  What is cool about it is that you knit it on two needles and the stitches make it sort of like origami and it forms before your eyes.  Then it needs to be stitched up the side.  Here are pics of it flat before sewing it up. 

Up there is the underside of the hat and below is the top of the hat.

It forms more of a peak at the top and in the one they had a pic of in the magazine they have a tassle swinging from it.  This tam is nice and roomy and you can pull it down over your ears when its cold.  Here’s a pic of it on me own mug being held together with clothes pins with the sewing thread still dangling from it, LOL

Its really cool how the use of stockinette stitch and reverse stockinette stitch is used to get the fabric of the tam/beret to fold into the shape of the hat.  Way, Way Cool!    

Remember the movie, 9 to 5.  With Lilly Tomlin, Jane Fonda and Dolly Parton.  I love that movie well remember how when they took over the office and started implementing all kinds of cool programs for the workers to make the work environment so much more pleasant and productive.  Like the split shift, at work daycare, plants allowed on the desk  etc.  Well, I’m split shifting it with my friend Pattie to care for Gishy.  Gishy is a Canadian french bull dog.  Pattie got her from her sister in TN last time she was there to visit.  Her sister breeds them and then finds homes for the mommas after they have 3 or 4 litters.  Well, Gishy is 7 years old and Pattie has 3 cats and things haven’t been so great when Pattie is at work and the critters are left alone at home to fend for themselves.  So I suggested she bring Gishy over to the shop and let her hang out with me during the day and then come and get her and take her home at nite.  Well today was her first day and at first she was hanging at the door or wondering around looking for Pattie.  I found one of those pet kennel/carriers so she can go and get in that when she wants or when I want her to, LOL.  I took her with me to do towels and walked her like crazy two times around the block and to 7-11 and back while the towels washed and dryed.  Ha, when we got back she took one tour around the shop sniffed at everything then went into her crate and crashed and snored like a drunk sailor while I did my last two customers.  LOL, she didn’t even budge when I turned on the blowdryer.  The only thing that we need to work on is for me to know when she needs to go out for a tinkle.  She had two accidents on the door mat, YUK.  But thats what happens when ya got critters around.  Here’s her pic.  Ain’t she cute?

I think I’ll try and knit her a sweater. 

Way to go America!

I’m so filled with hopeful anticipation for this country.  Welcome  Mr. President Barack Obama to your first day as president.    

Here is a picture of the ofrenda/alter that we set up for the day of the dead party.  Usually in Mexico it is a two day event one day for the children and one for adults.  We had it on one day for Adults, children and pets.  The ofrenda is where people bring pics of their passed on loved ones and display them.  People go into the room to see the pics, some people share stories and memories some people just spend some time in the ofrenda room and others just put a pic up and leave.  It’s all very touching.  In the rest of the house is much conversation and music, moocho pot luck food brought by many wonderful people for all to enjoy.  Someone down the road actually brought some hooch (home made kick-a-poo joy juice), which cracked me up.  I didn’t partake of that but saw the faces of some who did, LOL.  My favorite part was getting to meet the vocalist and keyboardist. 

Here they are set up in the log room as we call it.  An older section of  the original house.  It has a loft upstairs and is a nice cozy section with room for some fancy foot work if one is so moved to get down and boogy .  I couldn’t resist and got to shake my groove thing a couple of  times   The keyboardist was awsome and so was the vocalist.  She was this tiny gal with a sultry voice and they did a couple of Burt B songs.  They also did some of the keyboardists own original music that was really good and great to dance to. 

This is Katrina.  The honorary decked out skeleton.  She has her portorait painted on a big sheet by one of R’s artist friends and here she is……..

Is that some hat or what . 

Don’t forget to VOTE!!!  I voted already since I’m out of town.  It was so nice to see how many people were out doing the same thing and I didn’t mind waiting.  All, I have to say to what they McCain people keep throwing out about what Obama said about spreading the wealth around is really stupid.  What I think Obama meant by that is to make things more fair across the board for everyone.  It really makes me laugh when McCain talks about how, you can keep what you got.  What, keep the foreclosure, the falling 401k’s, the fact that healthcare is unaffordable for so many americans, give me a freekin break.  Is that what we can keep!  We can keep on keepin on just like weve been doing and now that things are like they are the keepin on has become more like trying to just keep things going period.  I just don’t get what the McCain people keep pushing about how we don’t want governement messing with the health care system.  As if it would screw things up even more than it is or that it means some sort of communist take over.  Give me a break!  The very health care system that Sarah Palin and McCain are taking advantage of is the system that they don’t think all of us should be able to partake of.  If its good enough for them why wouldn’t it be good enough for us.  Any who, let me get off my soap box.  Just get out and vote!!!!!!!

Okay, heres the pic of the fingerless mitts using my own handspun, homemade needles made from dowels, and the pattern used to make these is from Lostarts fingerless mitts pattern, which is awsome.  I like how these came out.  I spun the yarn for these on my handspindle.  Of course they don’t match because they were made from one continuous ball of yarn that was spun randomly for a fun blending of colours.  I call it random rainbow yarn .  I hope to be having random rainbow yarn on my ETSY sight some time soon with fibers and handspindles.  These mitts are fun to make and they make a great set with a mini triangle bandana scarf so you can rock on with your bad self and make a statement.  The other day I went to costco and was wearing socks with my sandles since it was cold.  I got some interesting looks and a woman actually belted out the word, IDIOT, LOL, ah who would have thought such a fashion statement would cause such a stir.  In Japan they do that all the time and I just learned it and loved it and kept it going.  I know we ain’t in Japan any more.  Hmmmmmm, wonder what would happen if I wore my sandles with some funky homemade socks.  Please don’t call Stacey and Clinton on me, Ack.  That show is so FUN to watch  

Finally some pics of knitting .  Can you believe it, LOL.  The two scarfs both the orange and multi coloured are made with lash yarn spun by my friend Sandy Ryan over at www.Homesteadwoolandgiftfarm.com .  Sandy is so talented and a great gal to boot.  Don’t the lash yarns work up nicely to make these scarfs.  Sandy this yarn is awsome !  The striped scarf is made out of some of Sandy’s crazy quilt yarn.  Its got all kinds of fun fibers in there .  The shawl is made out of some of my own handspun with fiber purchased from those pampered sheep at Sandy’s.  I think I’ve show this pic before but I actually went and worked in the loose ends and so now it can be officially called finished.  Its a single ply yarn spun from randomly selected drum carded batts worked up from various kinds of sheep.  Its nice and squishy .  The colours remind me of autumn or a sunset.  This was knit up using Lostarts pattern for the triangular shawl.  I got several others on the needles right now so will have to get those done as well.  You can knit a mini one that makes a great mini scarf and when you wear it it looks like your in the wild wild west with a bandana around your neck.  You put the point in the front and wrap the two ends around your neck and it sticks together back there pretty well if its wool.  I suppose you could put a button or something or knit a bobble and push that through.  Plus you can pull it up over your face if you got a hat on to sheild your lower part of your face.  I’ll post a pic of one of those later.  Now off to see how I can take a pic of the mitts I knit out of my homespun using Lostarts pattern for fingerless mitts.  Will report back later.  Happy Autumn everyone

Here’s a homecoming queen up do that I hope helps to win her the crown .  This gal has got some hair and it took awhile to get the curls in there but isn’t she dazzling?  Do you like the jewels on the side.  She was going to be riding in a convertable waving to the crowds as she and several other perspective kings and queens make their way onto the playing field before the game.  Can’t wait to find out who got picked.  She’s a winner in my eyes and makes a lovely model .  Its so fun to see the enthusiasm of these young people as they prepare for the next faze of life.  Ha, ah, that is sounding like I’m getting old or something, LOL.  Where does the time go.  It just keeps marching on so gather ye rose buds while ye may .

Well, with all this health scare stuff its disappointing to not be able to afford health insurance any more but it sure has put a bee in my bonnet about making some career changes so that I can get a job that has some kind of benefits.  I’m concidering going back to school to finish my elementary ed. teaching  degree.  I sent for my transcripts and will be talking with a councelor to see what I would have to take to finish it.  I pretty much got my first two years in so am anxious to find out what I find out with the counselor.  Any who, in todays world its just challenging to be able to get health insurance on your own.  I’ll always keep my hair license since you never know when you will need it and it comes in handy to make money on the side if you need to. 

In the mean time I’ve been finishing up some knitting projects and will take some pics and post them in the next couple of days.  Remember the alien illusion scarf that has taken me 3 years to finish.  Well, its all done all 6 faces of it and now I’m deciding if I want to put fringe on it.  What do you all think?  Should I go for the fringe?  I’m not a real big fan of fringe but it seems to make the scarf, hmmmmmm, in a quandry about it.  Election Day Nov. the 4th is right around the corner so don’t forget to get out and VOTE, VOTE, VOTE!!!!!

Wow, I’ve learned so much about the price of medicines and how you have to really ask for a generic or an other alternative if what your getting is out of your budget even with insurance.  I have a medication that has been prescribed and I have been getting it at Riteaid.  Well, I have never filled it as a full perscription since it was more than I could afford so would get it each month as a half perscription (cost for half 30 pills 78.00 dollars) and use it as needed to last a month.  Well, when all the stuff hit the fan and then was faced with more bills and faced with the reality that I may not be able to afford/keep up with the premium payments of  the coverage plan that I have.  I thought well let me ask the Riteaid pharmacist what the medication would cost if I had to get it without insurance.  They said it would be 250 dollars for the current half perscription and if I wanted a full perscription it would be 500 and some change .  I was like, ARE YOU SURE.  They said, YES.  So then I asked if there was a generic.  To which they replied, NO.  So I left feeling rather dissapointed.  I didn’t sleep well that nite and got up and decided to get an appointment with my nurse practictioner (love her) and ask her about it all.  So I explained my situation and she said, she was sorry she prescribed the form of what I’m taking because it is expensive and yes that there is a generic just not like the one I was prescribed.  She did say, it was unfortunate that the drugist did not mention that I could get a generic by going to my doc and asking for a different prescription of the same thing but with a different name.  Ha, so then she had this big screen computer that she was typing all this in.  I mentioned I was going to try and get my perscription filled at Costco so she pulled up their pharmacy and sent them a perscription thru e-mail so it would be ready by the time I could get there.  How cool is that.  The best thing was that when I got there I wasn’t sure what it would cost but was hopeful.  I went up and asked about it the drugist said it was filled and I could pic it up and that it would be $17.91 cent for a 3 month supply (180 pills)  I almost fell out on the floor and that was without health insurance.  I couldn’t believe it.  $17.91 for a 3 month supply at Costco compared to half of a months prescription of the other stuff (same thing/different name-maker) at Riteaid for $78.00 dollars.  WOW!   can you believe that!  It sure pays to ask about such stuff and I had been paying the $78.00 dollars for half a months prescription for several months.  Sometimes you wonder about these things.  But hey its all a learning experience.  Okay, I’ve done enough whining about all this so I need to get back to knitting content and fun stuff.  Thanks to all those that put up with it all, LOL, and thanks for the good wishes and advice, SMOOCHES to all of you