Believe it or not, eating out at the BK lounge is a real treat for me. I am the only carnivore in a house full of vegetarians. Help! And Yes, I do realize that I am a total goober.

I made it Through The Rain

I found my mojo!!! It came in the mail AND, I am wearing it to the next Stitch 'n Bitch. Someone has selflessly sent me (all the way from Las Vegas, Nevada - you know who you are) her hat that says mojo on it. but now, sadly, she is without hers. Oh, the things we do for our kids, eh? Thanks mom,(oops did I say that out loud) Thanks, but I wish it could be that simple. Even though I hadn't felt at all like casting on and knitting something, (anything!) lately, (notice my use of past tense verbage, there?) I made myself read read read about knitting, in hopes of getting back that feeling again. With all my reading, I am now quite familiar with the SnB forums and I proudly proclaim to be an official blog stalker. Yes, so if you have a knitting blog, beware of me! I am gonna leave comments and don't say you weren't warned.

On Kelle's blog I took the (What kind of Yarn are you?) quiz and learned that I am mohair. Yes, you read that right...I am Mohair. A little LisaD. trivia here guys,.... I am allergic to mohair. This means what, exactly? I'm allergic to myself? Oh, it all makes perfect sense now. I am my own worst enemy.

Hey, and thanks for all the e-mails I've received back from you all saying...."Oh very funny blog entry Lisa." or "Tee-Hee, Ha-ha", or "Oh, you just crack me up, lise." I sincerely thank you, but I don't think you all realize just how serious my dilemma was here. I mean, I was in the depths of despair, on the verge of losing my creative mojo. Unable to even see the light. All hope was quickly fading away. It was like, like, well you know, feeling like you are a small bug in this big world about to be squashed under someone's chunky heel (of course all of this is happening in slow-mo) with literally no way of escaping the horror of becoming sidewalk paste. No, this is not me being dramatic, friends! My pain was real. Real. REAL, I tell you!!! (gasp, sigh) I mean I could've lost my clickety sticks diva chicks membership for good, here.

At any rate, I suppose it's that kind of feeling of being overcome with such sense of futility and defeat that only another Knitting Diva would fully comprehend. And so thank you Meleah, Kelle and Tipper for your nice words of encouragment and comforting comments and suggestions that you left, reassuring me that I was not going loopy (as I was convinced)......and a very special shout out to Amy for threatening (ever so nicely) to kick my butt in hopes of snapping me out of it. Only a really dear friend knows how to enforce a tough love intervention like that. I cherish you, dear friend/Diva chick. And to everyone else....well....Don't get so freaked out over posting a comment here once in a while, ok? Yeah, go ahead and make my day. I need the validation every once in awhile.


Okay, back to the rain. I found my way through it when I came across my Teddy bear knitting book (the one that got me hooked on knitting in the first place) and I am now inspired to make my dad a "Grandpa Bear" for Father's Day. (If you're reading this, Dad... act surprised when you get it in the mail,ok?) For me, all it took was one look at that bear book and I want to knit again. I need to knit again. I found my spark. Oh Joy! I can't stop smiling. I'm off to the store to buy some yarn...right now. Goodbye. iAdios! See ya later..alligator...I just need my keys and some money....and Uh-OH, Hmmm,I seem to be out of money.....can anyone spot me a fiver? Yeah, right.... Five bucks? Ha...LOL..not nearly enough for the kind of yarn I want...... BTW, have I failed to mention that I am also a yarn snob? But that dramatic soliloquy will be saved for another rainy day. Right now, I need a job! WILL WORK FOR YARN!

My lavender drop stitch scarf....made way back in April.

Socks for Grandma

Tryin' To Get the Feeling Again......

Aargh! I just realized (get this) that I am NOT a knitting diva. Boo (sniffle) hoo! I can tell you this with 95% accuracy because, in the last two weeks,(and because I am still 5% in denial) that I have only knitted one pair of socks. And to add to the shame of my knitting unproductiveness...those socks turned out to be too small for my daughters feet......

and so. my ego. deflates. Ouch.

I should've taken my MIL's own advice to perhaps hold off and not work this expensive stuff (the beautiful, aqua surf, reggia,striping yarn - hmmm yum) until becoming a better sock knitter. She was right again. Double Ouch.

I am. sufficiently. humbled.
BUT wait, here's the part where I try to justify my non-diva-ness.

My excuse:

I have been home in bed sick with the flu and a severe sinus infection...And when I say sick, I mean really ill. Dragging my ass outta bed only to shuffle to the bathroom or to ring the brass bell on my side table to alert my DH (darling husband) to bring nourishment, like pronto. (okay, so I made up that last part .......As if?)

Still, getting sick is not a problem for a TRUE knitting Diva. Which, I have claimed to be on several occasions. (now kinda embarrassed about that) Last year I spent $14.00 of yarn money to have "Clickety Sticks Diva Chicks" professionally decaled on my pajama top for daily affirmation. (yes the same shirt that I haven't changed out of in like um...7 days now. Ew..Ick.) Okay, so I am no longer a Diva. But, I refuse to give up my shirt! I prefer to remain 2% in denial (eek! The denial percentage is lowering) Somewhere in me there has to be true Knitting Diva potential, right?

Anyway, given the fact that I had an amazing amount of down-time at home in bed (every knitting mother of 3 kids's dream -minus the flu part) I was shocked to find that I didn't even have the energy to hold a pair of needles long enough to finish a single round. Or rather, I would've been shocked if I had had enough energy to be. C'mon people, catch up here....I was really really really sick.

But seriously now, a true knitting diva... (despite any problem and/or life threatening situation) would have been able to summon up enough inner strength to in the very least make a pillow out of all that beautiful merino wool that is hidden in the back of my (oops! I mean HER closet) that her DH doesn't even know exists, to prop up her ailing head. Not to mention that a knitting diva wouldn't be caught dead without her needles close by. No. NOT ME! Uh-uh. Actually,instead of me holding my needles, they were there to hold me UP. Yes, in the form of a bun on my head to keep my hair from falling in my face dangerously close to all the oozing snot. Who knew that dpn's could also double for hair pins? Oh, and BTW, thanks for coming to my pity party.

Daybreak! I am now on the right path to feeling much better. My energy level is up again :-) Yay! I can get back to knitting and felting and fondling skeins of yarn, reading about yarn, shopping on-line for yarn, etc, etc. Only one problem. And it's a doozy...I don't wanna. :-( No really,I just don't feel like knitting. No joke. No desire. None. Nada. Huh? Come again?... Sad to say it, but it's true. I've lost my mojo!! I don't even know what mojo is...but it sounds cool, and I am pretty sure that is what I have lost. Something is wrong with me. (sigh) Is this common among knitters? Am I the only one to suffer from it? Is there like an official term for it? ie; "Knitting burn-out syndrome" or something? because I have never heard of an obsessed knitter not wanting or in the very least feeling that driving inner need to constantly knit something. OR, even worse....maybe the spark has just worn off. Could it be that simple?

Not good. I need to get that feeling back again. Can anyone offer help, before I completely lose my internal battle and throw out my p.j.'s.

Llama Mama!

I went to the sheep and wool festival today in Lake Elmo with my DH and 3 kids. My mother's Day gift from them. No, really! All I asked for was for us all to take the 45 minute drive in to Lake Elmo and have a look around. I was curious to see how wool was cut off the animal and spun. I guess I was thinking it was going to be much grander than it was. In reality, it was much smaller scale than I'd imagined. I did have a good time though, that is until we got to the vendors and I started shopping....and then of course, that was when the kids started complaining about how hungry they were, or that they had to go potty, or I'm so bored, or my pinky toe on my right foot hurts. You know how it goes. So,needless to say, I didn't get much shopping done, but I did happen to buy a beautiful and expensive skein of merino and four sets of dpn's. I even found a size 0 that I had been trying to locate for some time now. The color of the merino I bought is called Piggy. Isn't that a cute name? I think I am going to felt my little Olivia a purse out of it.

OH and I almost forgot to mention that we nearly came home with a $50.00 Alpaca.(not a bad price for a llama, I thought.) Especially one that I could sheer yearly and make matching sweaters for the whole family out of for our christmas photo. Finally! a practical pet that the kids and I can agree on. But then I realized that our homeowners association may not be too happy with one of the resident's housing a llama on the property. "No, really, guys, it's a fancy breed of dog." A Happy Mothers day to all you llama mama's out there.