Life lessons

This morning I learned some important lessons. 1. If a coworker tells you that you will understand in twenty years when you stare at them blankly at their horror and confusion when you bring a turtle you found in the road to your pet friendly job, you should most likely stop trusting them. 2. Try not to make promises to turtles. You can always tell they are really disappointed in you. 3. Do not trust the taste of a person whom drinks diet mountain dew on a daily basis. 4. People who do not try food because of "texture" are whimps (really i was already aware of this lesson, but I thought I would remind everybody).



As my birthday year draws to a close (birthday years, much like fiscal years, do not finish at the calendar end of the year for me) I have been thinking deep thoughts and plucking white hairs. I regularly look at other people in my age bracket and think they look like an adult, while I do not. I compare my visual age to theirs and almost always I fall short. The first lesson of my day brought this into question for me. I am an adult, I own a car and pay my bills. I own a very small business. I have both an IRA and Roth IRA. But if looking like an adult means not saving turtles out of the road or playing with toys or looking for the enchanted, whimsical, and silly in life, then fuck it. I don't need it.

When I visited my favorite bench on my lunch break today, this is what I found.




I think it is a sign from God. That or some little kid was raptured from this very bench.





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Jurassic Park hoof style

We have been having very exciting days and nights recently. First off B graduated from college. I did not understand this when I graduated, but when you do pass from the path of active education into mental stillness (full time adult work world), lots of people feel as if your diploma is partially theirs too. The people that help you through that time deserve mini diplomas to complement the big one you get.









Anyway, B was given too big parties, lots of food, and a fancy IPhone. With all of her new time off we have been playing a lot.



















We visited the Lazy 5 Ranch near Mooresville the other day. In B's words, "Why would anybody bring kids here, this is terrifying.". It is a lot like Jurassic Park, where they chain the goat next to the fence so that the T-Rex will come and eat it. Except that the dinosaurs are hoof stock, and the goat is a bucket of food you hold out your car window. My car now has a few hoof scratches on it and some mud inside now. But it did make for a very fun and interesting day.

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I am serious, do not ask me to knit for your dog.

Nothing makes me happier than when a couple is expecting, and they request a silly baby knit. I mean not just any baby, a baby I would have already been knitting for anyway. Not just some soon to be parent people who find out I am a knitter and just assume that I would love to knit for their soon to be bundle of joy. And then suggest to me WHAT I should knit for the spawn. Even though I just met them. Because I have nothing else to do with my time. Because of course I am bored and lonely if I am a knitter. Did I mention I really hate that?




Anyway if I know you and I like you a reasonable amount, I will most likely knit for your fetus, if you ever get one. I will not knit for your dog though, so just because some people consider their pets to be their children does not mean I will be giving them the same attention. Sorry, anyway, some friends with an embryo requested a silly baby hat for their soon to be. I have been waiting for a perfect excuse to knit this .



Mind you, the reviews of the squid hat proclaimed that this pattern is written in a way that involves constant diligence by the knitter. Turns out they were telling the truth. That's ok, because the photos I will take later of the Squid hat eating the head of the newborn will be more than worth it. Too bad we all have to wait a couple of months for that. Soon friends, soon.





My version of the squid hat, which I call the Squii hat is made from stash yarn from the left overs of the Southwest Baby Sweater. This is more of a desert squid than the one pictured above, ready to pounce on you from sand dunes, or sand castles if it is on vacation. I would avoid sand in general, at least until it has had it's infant feast.

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One day I will wake up and all the righteous people in the world will have been raptured and I will get to stay here and play with all their stuff.

For those of you that may be on the fence on the whole concept of global warming, take a moment to consider the recent outbreak of severe storm systems. In North Carolina we encounter a strong tradition of dangerous thunderstorms from mid april to late October or early November. In the summer the only relief from the constant elevated humidity is your afternoon thunderstorm.




Photo from http://www.nc-climate.ncsu.edu/climate/tornadoes.html


While these storms are occasionally dangerous and could include hail, people do not normally die from them. Once every few years we will have a tornado that will do a little damage, but nothing like this spring. Anybody can believe what ever they want about the science about global warming. All I know is that we used to have a spring before it became full blown summer, and that over a hundred people are dead from a series of storms we would not normally be hit with. I'm just saying, maybe reconsider this whole environment thing. That or prepare for the end of days. Was there a tornado section in the bible?


On a happy note, I love this dog...




I work with Coco's owner and every time I walk past her she cocks her head to the side and is happy to see me. This dog likes me more than my own dogs do. Jerks.

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You can't eat merino. (I mean you can but I don't think your gastroenterologist would like that very much)

Happy Easter blog friends. Business has been booming, and I have been a busy bee. I have been working on a huge order for Gate City Yarns for some weeks now. I realize more and more that the difference between a real life full size business and my home industry is a lot of extra hands and way more equipment than I can fit into our unventilated kitchen. I found myself motivated to purchase BRAND NEW 12 quart dye pots, and I mean really brand new not just brand new to me. I have been working with them for a few weeks now but I am not sure if they are working out for me. I am developing blotching issues with some of the merino I have been dyeing. I have been working my way through a whole list of possible causes: ph balance, too small of pots, restricted water movement, and foaming among other things. Every time I think I have it figured out and fixed, the next batch will look like I space dyed it. When you make food for a living, if you mess a dish up you just eat it, put what do you do with a bunch of busted wool?



I have also been doing a lot of sewing recently too. I tried to make a super cute box bag like the one I saw on the Cast On blog, but I cut the corners the wrong direction. So now I have a super cute bag that is just strangely shaped. I also made a cozy for my iPad.



While I have been working on one knitting pattern only for the last few months (this is not my style, normally I have three or four patterns I am working on at the same time) I decided to start a pair of boot socks out of some Liberty Wool I have been hiding in the back of the yarn store closet. Liberty Wool is really popular right now, so much so that we have trouble keeping it in the shop. I love the greens in this yarn and have been using guilt to keep myself from knitting it before now. But life is all about moments of weakness and learning to embrace them. I live without a single yarn regret.





Here is a bonus photo of our sad puppy after a bath:




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