Team Squirrel!

You may or may not know about the plight of squirrels everywhere. Poor, harmless squirrels that are forced to share the earth with us humans. Squirrels that can't go grocery shopping or pop a Lean Cuisine in the microwave when they just want something to eat. Squirrels that must fend for themselves and eat things like stale bird seed and whatever fruit or nuts they find lying around. Yes, I'm talking about those cute little guys with the long tail that only survive by whatever cleverness they can muster up in those tiny little brains.

If a squirrel manages to get some seed from a bird feeder or even climb up a tree and take advantage of free organic fruit, I say way to go squirrel! Unfortunately, some squirrels have to deal with mean, grouchy humans who flip out over a single cherry! One cherry! Humans who make death threats followed by stories of barbecuing and grilling squirrels! There's just no explaining that sort of insanity.

Therefore Team Squirrel has been formed. Join Team Squirrel today if you want to show your solidarity against squirrel haters! Add this badge to your website/blog to show everyone which team you're rooting for!



Squirrel haters need not apply.

The day that changed my life. No, seriously.

Did I ever tell you about the first day I met Faythe? We met a long time ago on my first day of sixth grade. See, my early years were spent moving around from town to town in Oregon and Texas when finally, one day Mom, Aimee and I moved in with our Grandparents in Deadwood,* Oregon. We traveled some 25 miles away to Mapleton to go to the same schools most of our relatives had gone to and sadly (or happily, you decide) were taught by the same people my aunts, uncles and cousins were taught by. To be honest, the only thing I remember on my first day of school is my encounter with the only other non-Caucasian kid in my class (and possibly the entire school), a skinny girl with long curly brown hair.

It was recess time and I was sitting on a swing minding my own business when Faythe walked over to check me out. Conversation was slow and shy but eventually we got down to the business of being best friends. It wasn't long until we were kicking Crayon colored rocks water-proofed with Scotch tape around the field during recess. Oh, yes we were definitely suited for each other. We also spent time inventing our own language (of which I only remember one word), learning to juggle and laughing hysterically while people stared at us in disbelief and/or annoyance. I can still hear our loud laughter echoing in the bathrooms as we laughed at...well, nothing. I believe there was even a time or two where we were separated in the classroom and forced to sit as far from each other as possible.

Well, as time has proven, no distance can keep us from being friends and from occupying ourselves with our own forms of entertainment (one of which may or may not include hoarding yarn for our retirement years). And even though we're separated by thousands of miles, we still laughing uncontrollably, causing people to stare at us while we type loudly to each other online. I think it's safe to say we'll always be best friends.

So here's to you Faythe, "Oy!" Thanks for making my life a more interesting one! Even if your heart is supposedly black. :)

Happy Birthday!





*I wanted to point out that the Spotlight section in both the Deadwood and Mapleton links are suspiciously missing. Unless you have lived there.

A kidnapping

I'm not sure what's up with Faythe and Apollo. Whenever she's around, he turns into a pimp wanna-be! There was much singing about ho's today and even some pimp walking. He even got out of control with his business strategy of offering a punch card to John's and giving awards for frequent uses. *sigh* Faythe, of course, cackled evilly and encouraged him as he went off on his tangents. Even in restaurants and other public places!

After lunch at a Thai place, we went to Cabrillo Monument and then to Bonita Knitting Store. I gave Apollo $5 to go buy himself something while we got yarn. We later found him sitting in the car eating chips and drinking a soda. He seemed happy and content as we drove towards home, until he realized something was awry. The conversation then went something like this:

Apollo: "Honey, you missed the exit."

Me: Silence. "Oh, really!"

Faythe: Silent breathy cackling.

Apollo: "Um, you missed the other exit."

Me: "I see!"

Faythe: BAHAA HA HAHAA HA!

Apollo: Broken and defeated, "Oh. My. God."

Me: "But hey, I gave you that $5, right?"

There was much grumbling and pimp talking at this point until we got to Two Sisters and Ewe where we left him in the car while he played "I Got Ho's" loudly. Happily the store is still offering most of their yarn at %30 off so we decided to try out yak yarn, which is surprisingly soft. It seems like it'll make a great sweater.

After yarn shopping we went to Claim Jumpers where Apollo proceeded to tell the waiter all about the kidnapping and the child safety locks I had imposed on him. HEHEHE. Even the waiter seemed to be a bit perplexed about yarn shopping.

It's been great having Faythe around, I've only thought about work once or twice and not even for very long. I feel uplifted! I'm sure Apollo feels the same, it's given him a chance to work on his pimp walk.



Photos to follow.

Thank you

This year for Christmas, Faythe got me some glass double pointed needles from Sheila and Michael Ernst. They're gorgeous!


I haven't had a chance to knit with them. At first I was worried about the fact that they're glass but after handling them a bit, they seem strong enough. Plus they have a lifetime warranty for repair.

You should see them with the light coming from behind. So pretty! Thanks Faythe. :)

More evidence that Faythe is crazier than I am

Have you read Faythe's latest rant? Apparently she had food poisoning and spent much of her time on the toilet. The funny part is how I got an email from Faythe's Mom with her side of the story.

"It went okay until Faith got sick and she wouldn't listen to me when I told her to limit her food intake. She just kept on eating whatever she wanted."

Hilaaaaaarious!!

Losing the battle

I bought some yarn with a specific person in mind. My goal was to find something springy, not too dark nor a pastel. Though I usually stay as far away from the Socks that Rock Multicolor Wave as possible, the Watermelon Tourmaline seemed to be exactly what I was looking for. The plan of attack was to knit up the Rock and Weave socks.

When I got the pattern, I realized I was an idiot and didn't read the part on the website where it said "mediumweight." ARGH! I bought lightweight. So I made a new plan and switched to a different pattern. *sigh* I started the cuff and realized there might be a slight problem with pooling. Of course, I live most my life in denial so I kept knitting. Well. I wouldn't mind if the colors mixed thoroughly, but this stripey pooling thing that's going on? I don't think so! I even found an awesome pattern, Wollmeise Socks, but it didn't stop the pooling. The solution? I set it aside, wound up some awesome Stonewash STR and cast on Daisy Socks.


After some head scratching and blaming myself for my inability to recreate the pattern as written, I realized there were a couple different errors in it after all. Yay, not me! I fixed them and emailed the author - she confirmed there were indeed errors. I usually tell myself to trust the pattern and to just knit it. Unfortunately, this time it caused me to doubt myself and to even ask Faythe for her opinion. I don't know why I did it, I try not to. When it comes to leaving yourself open to sneering and finger stabbing, one should never ask a Malcontent for their opinion! And yes, I can feel her pointy finger stabs across the Internets. Damn you Faythe for leaving me with that childhood memory!! Anyway, this colorway reminded me why I love the Shaded Solids so much. When stretched a little, as if worn, the flowers really pop out. Loving it!

Happy Birthday Faythe!

This is what I expect you'll do when you come back from your trip to Vegas - pass out on the floor from all the pampering! I'm not so sure about the blank look though.

Hope you have lots of fun on your birthday...btw, did you know it's also Fantasia Barrino's birthday?

Update on Faythe

Was I the only one that noticed what appears to be a six-pack of wine in the picture on Faythe's blog?

We have company!

I forgot to tell you guys, The Balls arrived this weekend from Spokane, Washington for a visit in sunny San Diego! Since they've been here I've had to work so they've been hanging around, which they tell me is customary, and sweating a lot. It seems the sweating is due to the warm weather here in So Cal. It took a few days for them to become climatized, but now they're good to go! Though still sweating.


Today is our first day out touristing. Apollo is a little unsure about taking The Balls out in public, but I'm sure we'll all have a good time. I have a feeling I'll be spending more time with them than he will. HEHEHEHE!!

I think Faythe curses me as soon as she says, "frog??"

You may be wondering whatever happened to the pink sweater I was cable knitting. Maybe not. Either way, there was an incident involving me not paying attention and a cat face that was not round, but instead square. This incident required frogging. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind ripping something out and doing it over, but when I put a lot of time into something - well, I'd rather not talk about it. After Incident A occurred, Incident B occurred and I was forced to rip back to the ribbing.

Whenever an Incident occurs and I pour out my sorrow to Faythe, I know I'll inevitably see word, "frog?" in my conversation with her. *sigh* Yes Faythe, frog. grrr

If you know it'll annoy Faythe, take pictures

I'm quite pleased with myself.

First, I found my food scale and with Faythe's advice, am using it to measure yarn to make sure I have enough to finish Peanuts sweater. It looks like I'll definitely have enough. I may have to use the left overs from three different balls, but that's fine.

Second, I borrowed a cork screw from Big Mac! I had a rough couple of days recently which ended with my frantically rummaging through kitchen drawers looking for a cork screw while staring angrily at unopened wine bottles. There may have also been a couple tries to pull out the cork using a knife and some other random kitchen gadgets. Happily, Mac is letting me borrow his...I'm so happy!

I knew this photo of wine in a glass would bother Faythe. HEHEHE. Anyway, it tastes pretty good. I was a bit surprised myself as I've never really been one to voluntarily drink red wine. This 2004 Borsao Campo de Borja was recommended to me by the folks at Cost Plus World Market as a good red wine for beginners.

OK, back to the sweater. And the wine. I think I'm going to sleep well tonight!