From me, To me

Every year. for my birthday, I always treat myself to something special. On Sunday, my friend Judith treated me to a mani-pedi, we had excellent Thai food (and Thai iced tea for me and Thai iced coffee for her)and browsed the stacks at Barnes and Noble. I bought myself:

Vogue Knitting magazine
Sew Stylish magazine
Vogue Patterns magazine

I've decided to make a decision to live my life now, and not wait for some day to be this perfect, happy person. I am going to find a way to incorporate more knitting and sewing in my life. I have the time, space, and resources to really pursue creating some of my clothing NOW. I don't need to wait for some day dream life in the future that will never happen.

2-at-a-time Socks by Melissa Morgan-Oaks

My friend Mary pretty much said you can't knit two socks at once. (She won't even discuss DPNs, which I find hysterical. This woman knit a fair isle sweater that is as beautiful on the inside as on the outside. She has knit stuffed toys. She has knit a Vera Wang style sweater for cats for Crazy Aunt Purl.) I'm motivated to try this technique. Will this (eventually) be a commuter friendly project?

Oh yeah, which made the purchase of this a necessity:

And to round out the order, I purchased the newest Gedifra Highlights. You know, just to justify the shipping.

THe Lobotomist by Jack El-hai.

I've been waiting to read this for some time. I've long since forgotten where I saw it recommended, but I remember it as another side to the main who pioneered the lobotomy as treament for mental illness. I have been doing alot of reading on the internet lately on this subject.

Quick and Easy Tarot (I'm honestly alittle embarassed by this. Not by the Tarot cards, I already have a set. And two books on the subject. I'm embarassed by the fact that I still need "cheat notes." But hey, if it works, it works.)

Each card has the meaning printed right on the card.

Nipolar Disorder Demystafied by Lana R. Castle

Exoect to hear more on this issue. It isn't so much a mystery to me, this book is somewhat basic for me. But I needed a place to start my personal journey, and this one is written by a patient.

PS The first time, I totally typed "lobata-MOIST." OMG.

Gift Giving

My Knitting Goals for 2008

I'm a big believer that gifts should be fun, not useful. You need to be careful around me, because if you mention once that you like something, I make a note in my Palm. And then, when your birthday comes around, I look at that list and find something special to buy. I buy toys, games, luxuries. Things that you want but would never buy for yourself.

Today I did a silly thing. I went to Amazon.com and bought every item on one of my wish lists: Sexy Knitting. I had the list down to five books out of all the recent offerings in the realm of "sexy knitting." Domaknitrix, for example, I had browsed in person and found to be wanting. And without a second thought I purchased them all, new.

It all started with Knitting Fashions of the 40's. My mother kept requesting "fun" and frivolous things to buy for me for Christmas. I asked her to buy this book since I knew I never would - I don't think I'll knit a single pattern in this book, ever 0 but I look to look at the pictures for inspiration. It's a very feminine, Dita Von Teese thing that I love.

Then, I became obsessed. I allowed myself some "grief-shopping" and spent $90 without a though and adopted:

Naughty Needles

Romantic Hand Knits

Knitting Lingerie Style

Sexy Little Knits

Sensual Knits

Now, I find spending money promisculously very arousing, but the really sexy thing is this: I'm going to knit these things. These sexy little things. Because I am a beautiful, sexy, attractive, desirable, adorable being. And I deserve pretty little things. And whoa! How neat! If I make them myself.

So the real fun gift from me to me is not the books but that warm and fuzzy self love.

Hello, 2008!

Add to my Amazon wishlist...

Jean Frost Jackets: Fabric, Fit and Finish for Today's Knits.


Wanted for: Chanel-style jackets. My other mother says that I need more "classic pieces" in my wardrobe.

Lost My Blogs!

In an attempt to safely secure my large collection of bookmarks, I have (of course!) deleted them all.

If anyone would care to share their favorite knitting blogs in the comments, I would be most grateful. Extra karma for blogs that feature cats or bloggers that are in or around New York.

Should I take this time to let everyone know that I had my first computer when I was like, nine years old? Over twenty years ago?? (My father worked for what was AT&T at the time, and was there to experience the creation of what we called "IBM clones." If all of this is ancient history to you, pick up Soul of the Machine by Tracy Kidder. This Pulitzer-prize winning book tells the tale of the birth of the home computer industry, and is also a great read from a management perspective. Good stuff.)

Let's all take a moment to thank AT&T, and Bell Laboratories, for their part in the computer revolution.

AT&T Computer, circa 1987. It runs Unix! It has a color monitor - green! Woot!