the knitting nederlass

Our first Mother's Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Nederlass) — Wed, 12 May 2010 01:01:00 +0000

Picture by Shawna at www.sweetriverphotography.blogspot.com

Count dowwwwnnnnnnn!

noreply@blogger.com (Nederlass) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 17:54:00 +0000

Check me out, filling out that pink shirt! The first pic was in early February; the last was taken June 2nd, with about 26 days to go until baby's due date of June 28th.

And look, I'm in the final picture on the baby meter in my last post. (I think the thing starts back at the beginning when 9 months are over, so if you read this after July, it'll probably seem like we've started all over again. ;)

Just a little update for those of you who might still be checking out this blog. So much has happened since December!

First of all, I'm having the best pregnancy a girl can wish for; no crazy afflictions, not too nauseous during the first trimester, no hemorrhoids, varicose veins or high blood pressure, a very healthy baby boy, and no complications. We are planning on having a home birth -something that's very common back home in the Netherlands-, so I'm really looking forward to that, and yesterday my midwife said our Little Man is being very good, working his way down into my pelvis already AND facing the correct way. So far for me and Little Man.

Big Man on the other hand did not fare so well. For those of you who don't know already, on a trip to Mexico in February he got a little overzealous in the waves, and he and his body board got smacked into the beach one too many times.
Realizing he was "getting too old for this shit", he got out the water. The next few days he complained of a sore back and a bit of a headache, but we didn't think anything of it.

Then two weeks later -on March 7th- he sneezed, and that's when all hell broke loose. We were standing in the neighbors' kitchen, and I noticed him slumping to the left, his face drooping, and when I asked him what was the matter, he couldn't speak without sounding like he'd had a few too many.
I recognized the signs of a stroke immediately -yay Dutch public service information- and had the neighbors call 911. (I was too busy freaking out to be even remotely coherent, thinking I was going to lose my sweetie right then and there, at 6 months pregnant.)

Off to the hospital he went; they got him in a CT scan and on blood thinners within the hour, and that is without a doubt what saved him. They did a ton of tests in the ER, before sending him to the Critical Care unit, and it was obvious that he had lost complete use of the left side of his body. Turns out -we think- he probably tore his carotid artery in Mexico, which had then tried to heal up, thereby causing a blood clot that shot loose, went traveling, blocked the artery and then shut off the entire right side of his brain.

I spent a few agonizing nights on the floor and futons of the ICU waiting room, not knowing how to face the house alone, and was overjoyed when he started to show signs of progress and was transferred to the neurology unit, where they started getting him ready for physical therapy.
By the time he'd been in the hospital for a week or so, he was already able to walk 125 feet with a walker -that we referred to as 'Texas Ranger'. (The thing that kept him going? "I am too young to be using the phrase' My walker'")

By March 18 he was released to in-patient physical therapy at another care facility, and he continued to do really well. He was by far the youngest patient there, and the PT folks were very thrilled to have someone to work with whom they knew would actually make a full recovery.

We finally got him home late March, and while he still walked with a cane, he was determined to get back to his normal self as soon as possible, because he's stubborn like that. And he totally did!

Today, almost three months after having a severe stroke, he is mowing the lawn in the backyard, and we've just been going through a pretty heavy home remodel to get ready for the baby. (Yes, we're a bunch of nutters.)
He's already off his cholesterol meds -since his levels are great- and tomorrow's follow-up MRI will show if the torn artery has healed up well enough, and whether he's ready to go off the blood thinners as well. He's cleared to drive (!) and back to almost full strength on both sides! You'd certainly not notice anything if you didn't know.

Though I'd certainly not wish this on anyone, there's nothing like a good ole emergency to help put life into perspective and make you realize just what's really important: in my case Dave, our little Monkey Butt, and the great group of loving and concerned family and friends that rallied around us. (Did I mention the home remodel? They organized a work day where they completely made over our entire downstairs. We have some incredible friends.)

Yup, I think we're ready to have this baby now. :)

And then.... we were three!

noreply@blogger.com (Nederlass) — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 04:43:00 +0000

Estimated Due Week: June 28th-July 4th next year!

Coming to a America!

noreply@blogger.com (Nederlass) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 01:49:00 +0000

Ok, so technically I already AM in America, but today was special: We had my immigration interview with the USCIS (the old INS) and were APPROVED!!!!

After submitting tons of forms and proof of joint finances, basically after proving that our great marriage is actually real -duh- I will now be getting my Green Card in, say, less than a month. Oh, and it isn't green...

This also means that I will be able to travel again, since I was stuck here for the last 14 months. (Poor me.)
There will definitely be a trip to the Netherlands in my near future, plus, I'm getting my ass to sweet warm Megggggico in February.

Ha! I'd wanted to restart blogging with a bang, so there ya have it. Bangin' away in the US of A!

I'm sorry, Prunila

noreply@blogger.com (Nederlass) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 20:42:00 +0000

The crowd has spoken; I was just not feelin' it with the Pentathlon sock as it was, so went straight to the LYS this morning, got new yarn, and RIPPED her:

Isn't it pretty? It's solid and hopefully just light enough to really make the sttches stand out. I love the twist too!

Bit if a bummer because I did spend days on this puppy, but I'll just view it as a practice sock. I got too many damn things on the needles anyway, and the yarn ain't going anywhere.
So now I'm going to finish the Serendipity's first, because they're kinda on a time limit; the Rockin' Sock Club's March package should arrive in about two weeks.

It's nice and sunny out, so I think I'm going to do some knitting out on the front porch. Oh yeah, and why do cats always have to jump right in the frame the minute you're trying to take a good close up of your projects? I present to you Panda, Miles (RIP), and Ginger:

(I'm sure Mingus is guilty too, but I couldn't find any evidence just now...)

Boo!

noreply@blogger.com (Nederlass) — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 22:59:00 +0000

I hate it when great patterns and great yarn just.don't.mix.
I've been working on the first sock in the Sock Knitting Pentathlon Competition 2008, the Jacobean. Beautiful pattern, and really straightforward. A great TV knit, yet not simple enough to be boring. It's my first toe-up, first Magic Cast On, and first wrapped stitch short-row heel.
Anyways, this lovely Dicentra yarn that had been waiting in my stash for something gorgeous turns out to knit up much more stripy than I'd envisioned and, though still gorgeous, is completely obscuring the pretty diamond pattern:

Now what? Ok, in the greater scheme of things, this is not a global tragedy, but it's making me sad. I don't (think I) want to start all over in a new -solid- yarn, just because this has taken hours already and now we go way back. Plus I love the yarn regardless, even though it has bumps and things going on that can hardly be made out to be a pattern.

So. Rip it, or double-dip it? (That makes no sense whatsoever, but it was the only thing I could find that rhymes with 'dip'.)
What do you think?

Much belated Valentine's Day meme

noreply@blogger.com (Nederlass) — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 03:10:00 +0000

Ooh, just noticed today that Sabbath tagged me for the Valentine's Day meme! I figure I can still do it since it's still February with this weird leap day thing going on. Plus they're cute questions. So here we go!

How long have you been together? On and off almost 4 years (We met in May 2004)

How long did you date? About 3.5 yrs

How old is he? 41

Who eats more? Ooh, he's a snarfer, but I'm the fat one. He likes to keep a bag of Salt n Vinegar chips nearby at all times. The minute I start eating like him, I balloon.

Who said “I love you” first? Moi. After two day. Playing hard to get there.

Who is taller? We're about 3.5 inches apart. He's the taller.

Who is smarter? I think we're a pretty fair match, but of course he says he's the smartest. He definitely has a MacGyver thing going on, and is quite well read, but I beat him in languages and anything artsy, so there.

Who does the laundry? Moi mostly.

Who does the dishes? I do. (Or, I'm usually in charge of anything dishwasher related.)

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Standing at the foot of the bed, you'll find me on the right.

Who pays the bills? Heh, he does. I don't have any authorization here yet. I still take care of a few of my old bills in the Netherlands.

Who mows the lawn? He does usually.

Who cooks dinner? We take turns. He makes a mean fried rice, but I'm the experimenter.

Who is more stubborn? Oh, definitely me. He claims he doesn't want to get into an argument so he gives in and then goes and does what he wants anyway.

Who kissed who first? That one was so organic, I really couldn't tell.

Who asked who out? We met at a trade show, so there wasn't much dating involved; I just kinda grabbed him by the collar and yanked him into my cave

Who proposed? He did. Took him long enough though.

Who is more sensitive? Me.

Who has more friends? Me.

Who has more siblings? He's got one younger brother, I got one of those and a younger sister.

Who are you tagging? Hmm, I think it's a little late for that. In stead, I will leave you with this most interesting and probably NSFW link about Steak and Blowjob Day.

Knitter 1 - Neck warmer 0

noreply@blogger.com (Nederlass) — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 19:11:00 +0000

Ha!!!! Take that, Cherry Garcia!
I cast on again immediately after my debacle with the twisted neck warmer and finished a non-twisted version on the bus ride home from Seattle yesterday:

I like it, but I'm not in love with it like I was in love with the yarn and the way it looks flat. Maybe it's the curling, maybe it's my short neck, but I feel you can hardly see the best bits. Perhaps I should install some metal rings around it and work my way up; a superlong Burmese neck would show off these cables a lot better.

In other news: check out my very first drop spindle spun cuteness:

As Dave so eloquently put it: "Righ there it looks like yarn and there it looks like sheep", but I don't care, my love for this little skein is pure and unconditional.

Thanks JoAnn, Charity and Therese!

Messing up a perfectly good neck gaiter

noreply@blogger.com (Nederlass) — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 20:04:00 +0000

Goddammit.

I was so sure that twisting your work would make it impossible to knit on. (Where did I get that idea?) Apparently though, it is perfectly possible to continue knitting and knitting and knitting and actually finishing and binding off to find out you've made a not-so-cool and completely unintentional Moebius strip.
Aaaaragghhghhtt!!!
And I was so proud I'd finished this Cherry Garcia neck warmer in less than a day. Grrr, I'll cast on again today. No pic of the embarrassing thing because I was too frustrated to take one before I frogged and returned it to ball state:

In other startling news: The Cardigan of Doom is all put together, baby! All's I gotsta do is weave in a few -20?- ends, and she can be sent off to Mom in the Netherlands.
I'm going to find her a nice pin or clasp to close it, and add a suede cord, like they show in the Rowan booklet:

I also cast on for a Candle Flame Shawl, as I promised my best friend Angelina a lace shawl three years ago. I love how it looks so far, and the pattern is very easy to memorize, yet looks real fancy like. Should be even better when blocked:

But, unlike Jonna commented to my last post, no, knitting is not all I do around here. ;)
In fact, it's been a long time since I've actually been able to sit down and do nothing but knit for at least an hour. For one thing, remodeling the house keeps me pretty occupied:

And because I'm still not allowed to have a job, there's the volunteering: volunteer recruitment for these guys (St. James ESL), and socializing kittycats at these guys. Ah, and then this huuuuge house needs to be kept nice 'n clean too. Sucks to be me. ;)

UPDATE: Oh hey, look at that: My mug's been pasted onto the St. James ESL website! Just scroll down a little... That's HOTTT.

When this sock is a-rockin'....

noreply@blogger.com (Nederlass) — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 06:29:00 +0000

Woot, just finished my first sock of the January shipment in the Rockin' Sock Club! I'm loving it! The fit is great and they will look pretty spectacular in my new Mary Jane Crocs ~~--Spoiler pic added so as not to ruin the experience for fellow Club Rockers--~~:

Not so sure about the star toe though: ya kinda feel it when you're walking on it, plus my poor size 0/2 mm bamboos got a bit of a beating trying to sneak in all those k2togs when there was (were?) only a handful of stitches left... Even though Ginger didn't seem too worried about it:
(Check out that post-wedding pedicure tootsie!)

So. Just popped in to post my pics and then it's on to numéro dos! I'm planning on cranking these puppies out by the end of next week so I can work on my other WIPs. (Pressure from a royally stacked Ravelry queue? Huh? Wah?)

Got a few really interesting stash enhancements through swaps last week, that I will definitely show off in my next post! Purples and reds, silky and mohairy goodness. Stay tuned. ;)

P.s. Medical was absolutely clear; no syphilis, HIV, or tuberculosis. Go figure.

Settling in

noreply@blogger.com (Nederlass) — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 21:53:00 +0000

Such a bad blogger I have been! But in my defense, we've been on a Minimoon and I also had a recurrence of the Plague of Death that attacked me on the wedding day and again in the second week of January.

Our wedding day was beautiful --even though we forgot to pick up my bouquet and his boutonnière-- Doh! (Here's us at the florist, picking them up wayyy after the ceremony)

The ceremony was performed by our good friend Elise in a big white, beautifully decorated tent in the back yard, and both our families and best friends had flown in from Chicago, San Diego and The Netherlands. Everybody stayed for Xmas and they all had a turkey dinner feast on Xmas Eve. (While I was watching crappy TV in bed; I was too sick to knit.)

I still can't believe we planned the whole thing is less than a month and it turned out so great. The dress was great, he looked incredible, the pieces of Xmas tree that we picked up by the side of the road were perfect for decorations, which my mom and her elves put together:

All in all, an absolutely kick-ass low-key wedding!

NYE was spent in Denver, where we saw three rockin' YMSB shows in a row. I was behind the wheel for most of the way up there and we drove through some spectacular winter scenery:

We trucked to Vail, CO on New Year's Day and spent a few days in the snow with the in-laws. I took a two-day skiing class and actually made it down the Green slopes. Whodathunkit?

Now we're settling into married life. I still can't work here in the US, but we're getting the immigration stuff together. I just had my medical exam this morning!
A blood test for HIV and Syphilis -sheesh-, a skin test for Tuberculosis and a nice double barreled gun for Measles, Mumps, Rubella and Tetanus:

Oh the things we do for love! (Or for the big rock on the end of that hand, hee hee ;)

As for knitting, I'm back baybee! I found a great SnB here in the next town over, and now they're also starting one in another neighboring town. It's great meeting new people and getting out of the house!
I've been experimenting with Fair-Isle/stranded knitting, and even put in my first short-row heel. I'm spending wayyyy too much time on Ravelry, but it gives me so much inspiration that I've got enough in my queue to last me a lifetime!
(And check out the cool progress bars in my sidebar.)

Last Friday I received my first-ever Rockin' Sock Club package and I actually almost made it to the heel of the first one. It's a lace pattern that makes the red, pink and brown yarn spiral around beatifully. Pics soon..
It's an absolute blast to work with the Blue Moon Fiber Arts lightweight; it's soft, fluffy and knits up really neatly. Love the Serendipity pattern too, but I do notice I need to do a lot of tinking with lace patterns. Had that problem with the Monkey too. I don't really "speak" lace yet, if that makes sense. I don't memorize the pattern quickly, nor do I intuitively feel what's next. Oh well, 2008 has only just begun. This will be my year of new knitting frontiers and finished projects!

Ok, now I'm back to convincing Dave I should go to Sock Camp. Cat Bordhi, Cookie A. AND the Harlot are coming and I just. really. need. to go.
I've been calling it "Pony Camp" all week, and it's driving him bonkers.
Yay, married life! :)

What I did on my Christmas vacation...

noreply@blogger.com (Nederlass) — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 03:51:00 +0000

UPDATE: Some first pics by the best man here!

Dear Cat

noreply@blogger.com (Nederlass) — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 04:27:00 +0000

We love you very much, but what is so fascinating about our kitchen and why do we have to kick, scream and hose you out of it 29 times a day? It was bad enough that you kept climbing into the trash can, shredding a dozen bags in the process. We figured our tasty trash would be safe by stashing it neatly behind two cupboard doors under the sink.
Apparently not:

Cuddly Panda, I won't stand for this any longer.
And I don't care that you look like this:

In fact, that is the only reason we still keep you around.

Hugs,
Mom

Aaaarrrrghhhhhhh!

noreply@blogger.com (Nederlass) — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 06:15:00 +0000

Now I knew I was tempting knitting fate by working on Cat Bordhi's Bartholomew's Tantalizing socks during a full-on political intrigue-y episode of HBO's Rome.
I KNEW, because I kept ending up with the wrong amount of stitches and had to frog a large part of Sock 1.
But apparently I can't knit AND sing along to oldschool rock on the radio either, because the pretty weave stitch in Sock 2 -that I had picked up because Sock 1 was pissing me off- was starting to look not quite right...

And here is where Ravelry came in super handy. I got online, searched for les socks and had a good peek at other Ravellers gorgeous attempts. And sure enough, I'd messed up AGAIN!

Aaaaaarrrgh! Just when I was telling Dave how I'd ended up in a knitting black hole, I had to go on and frog all my progress on Sock 2 of that evening.

Sigh. Guess that'll teach me for not doing as Cat ordered: knit the practice sock first.
Noooooo, MJ had to go jump right in and play with the big guns...
(Is there something wrong with me? Why can I not read? I finished elementary school, shit, I have a college degree! Where did I get my rows screwed up? Am I being punished for singing along to "Rock you like a hurricane"?)

So this is what an evening of reverse knitting looks like:

One more week to go before my family arrives here for Xmas, and knitting on these puppies then would surely spoil the surprise since they're a gift for my little niece.
Tomorrow is my twice weekly commute into Seattle, so I'm gonna get back in the saddle and get more done so I can give you an update. Let's pray nobody starts a conversation with me on the bus. ;)

P.s.

noreply@blogger.com (Nederlass) — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 02:05:00 +0000

I'm going to be updating the side bar when I find the time; add new projects and links and all that good stuff.
Thanks for sticking around! :)

Heeere kitty kitty

noreply@blogger.com (Nederlass) — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 01:18:00 +0000

So I promised you loads of critters pics as soon as I found my cable. Well, tadaa:

Check out the new additions to our k(n)itty family on their first snow hunt here in the scenic Northwest:
Meet Panda, the runt of the litter who divides his time between being "daddy's precious little angel" and "goddamned demon spawn from hell", mainly because he can't (or won't) stay out of the kitchen, our dinner, and/or garbage cans:

Then there's his ginger sister Ginger -mmmyeah- who's twice as big as her baby brother AND gets the part where she has to look back at mommy when she's trying to take a few good pics:

...which is why she gets more airtime:

There was evidence of duckies prancing around in that first bit of snow too, making for some very artsy footprints:

Now some of you might think, yeah, that's nice and all, but did you go and trade in your big fat orange cat for a cuter, younger model?
God no! Here he is, in all his Jabba the Hut-glory, on our new sofa:

"Bring Solo and the Wookiee to me!"
He is and always will be our A number 1 kitty. :)

Does he get along with the young 'uns, you ask? Oh, I'm not worried:

We have a lot of hot kitty on kitty action going on here! Mingus is the best big brother they could ask for.
And just because us gingers gotta stick together, I'll leave you with this:

Next up, knitting content, but right now I wanna upload some stash to Ravelry. Which is still total crack, by the way.

Happy Sinterklaas!

A cat ate my bagel!

noreply@blogger.com (Nederlass) — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 03:38:00 +0000

What's up wit dat? Since when do cats eat bread?
But anyway, I have loads of new kitten pics to share, including some wicked ones in the snow. Gotta find me an upload cable first though. ;)

I'm forcing myself to put a little update on the bloggy, because if you thought December is a busy month, try organising a big fat catered party in your backyard for 60+ people... (Yeah, whatever Martha, it scares the crap outta me!)

(I'm kinda cheating here actually, because I had the foresight not to try to finish a gazillion hand knitted gifts before Xmas. Now THAT would've really made this month into a deadline suckfest.
My heart goes out to all of you who got suckered/suckered themselves in this year!)

Hmm, what else? Too busy to even think about sitting down to knit, but I'm going to try again tonight. As some of you on Ravelry may know, I'm working on the incredible Cat Bordhi's Bartholomew's socks for my wee niece Sofia, who's started to say her first words. 'Mooi' (pretty) and 'mijn' (mine) are the current favorites.

December in scenic Washington State was starting out nicely -photographic evidence as promised to follow- but today it's been raining all day, Seattle-styleee. So much so that some roads were closed. First time in my life that I've seen cars drive through water coming up to their windshield. Wow.
Plus the weather is much more sensational here anyway, if only for the super dramatic weather forecasts. You'd think an alien attack was upon us...

Phew! Way more soon!
This eclectic train of thought was brought to you by party deadlines, Seattle rainstorms, hormones up to 11, and waaaaayyy too many Dutch truffelpepernoten!

Ravelry is crack! CRACK I tell you!

noreply@blogger.com (Nederlass) — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 19:11:00 +0000

Hello lovies,

Ooh, I may have seen some of you on Ravelry already! I was just added three days ago, so now I'm in a mad scramble trying to get me a fancy profile. But, you know, this blog screen thumbnail thingamajig was staring and staring at me, so I figured I'd give ya a little update.

I am currently writing this from the comforts of my sweetie's house in beautiful Washignton State. Let's just say we're better than ever and I couldn't be happier. More info on that soon to follow!

I've been knitting quite a bit, after a dry spell of a few months; just busy with work etc. Hmm, what else? My niece is growing like crazy, and still a world famous supermodel. ;)
Had a great great great summer, spent at festival, shows and finishing of with Burning Man no less. Halloween here was awesome, Dave and I were the coolest Vikings ever, and the last couple weeks we were involved in preparing the Seattle afterparty for Burning Man, SeaCompression. Pics pics pics to follow! Hey, I think I'm back!

In the mean time, add me on Ravelry yo!

Taking a blogging break

noreply@blogger.com (Nederlass) — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 12:54:00 +0000

I've decided to take a little blogging break. Just a bit of a sabbatical. I've got so much going on that it started to feel like a bit of a chore that I was putting off, and I don't want to leave you hangin'. I'm not quitting the blog by any means, but I also don't want to feel guilty for not having written a damn thing in weeks. ;)

(Come to think of it; I've always been a terrible diary keeper, never lasted for more than a week, so I'm amazed this thing's been around since June 2004.)

My new job is going great, keeping me busy 40 hours a week. Spring is returning, I'm loving my new place and there's been some interesting developments in Loveland too. No new guy on the scene, but I'm actually back in touch with my Yankee Doodle. (Hey, don't make that face ;) He came to visit me two weeks ago and we spent eight wonderful days together playing tourist in Amsterdam and beyond.
Now, don't worry, I haven't forgotten about last fall. I won't turn like a leaf and start dropping everything I'm doing here at once, but after many talking sessions I decided I'm willing to see if we can give it one more go. He'll be back in June for my best friend's wedding and I will spend a few weeks in the US for Burning Man and...More..... Definitely to be continued...

Thanks for stopping by everybody! Your comments helped me through some really crappy times. I'll be sure to check in every now and then to let you know I'm still alive. ;)

"Because I am smart as hell"

noreply@blogger.com (Nederlass) — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 17:19:00 +0000

Got the job!!!
I had my interview at KPN, the Dutch AT&T, this morning and it went great. They asked me if I could on start on Monday, this Monday, so I'm beyond thrilled and really glad that I won't have to worry anymore about where my rent's gonna come from this month.

Now technically, this means I will have been "between jobs" for exactly 12 days. Or 8 week days, depending on how you want to look at it... ;)

Ha! Suck on that, Previous Employer Whose Name I Won't Mention Here!

Job interview on Thursday!

noreply@blogger.com (Nederlass) — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 13:41:00 +0000

More hours, more pay, more "me" and at walking distance from my place! Needless to say I'm going for this job 100%!
I'll keep you posted...

In the mean time, here's a fun blog meme:

The rules:
If your life was a movie, what would the soundtrack be?

1. Open your mp3 library
2. Put it on shuffle.
3. Press Play.
4. For every question, type the song that's playing.
5. When you go to a new question, press the Next button.
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool.
7. Don't skip songs.

Ok, here we go:

1. Opening credits: "Pure shores" – All Saints
2. Waking up: "Hemingway Delira" – Buena Vista Social Club (I like this
movie already)
3. First day of school: "Love Roller Coaster" – Red Hot Chilli Pepers (Ahh, the sound of my high school years)
4. Fight song: "Pieces of me" – Ashlee Simpson (Oh boy...)
5. Breaking up: "Nuthin but a G Thang" – Dr Dre & Snoop Dogg (Uhh..)
6. Happiness: "Guantanamera" - Celia Cruz (Mmmmmmm, damn right)
7. Life's okay: "Love Machine" – Girls Aloud (Can you tell I'm not cheating here?)
8. Mental breakdown: "Ich Will" – Rammstein (Mental breakdown allright...)
9. Driving: "The Reflex" – Duran Duran (I am so, so truly sorry...)
10. Flashback: "Last Train" – Travis
11. Getting back together: "Girl" – Anouk
12. Wedding song: "Mass Destruction" – Faithless (Hm. Fair enough.)
13. Birth of first child: "God is a DJ" – Pink (Ain't that the truth?)
14. Final battle scene: "Brights Lights" – Matchbox 20
15. Death scene: "Those Sweet Words" – Norah Jones (Awww..)
16. Funeral song: "Roxanne" – The Police (Guess I won't be wearing that dress)
17. End credits: "Theme of Amélie" – Yann Tiersen/Amélie Soundtrack (Perfect!!)

Who's going to give this a go?

Who's your daddeh?!

noreply@blogger.com (Nederlass) — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 19:58:00 +0000

Damn right..

Crap

noreply@blogger.com (Nederlass) — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 11:12:00 +0000

Just when you think the road is clear...
I lost my job yesterday. Several reasons, but I don't feel like disclosing them here right now. I didn't see it coming, which is a sign of faulty management in my book, but that's not going to get me my job back. My colleagues were astounded (some even appalled) so that softened the blow a little.

So. I have the day off today. And tomorrow. And the rest of the week. Lots of time to knit and relax, but no concrete way to pay the rent next month..

It might all be for the best. Had a good talk with my dad yesterday, about where I'm going in life. After all, he wrote a book on the subject.. Go buy it! ;)

My temp agency sent my CV to the Police again... Let's see if they want me back.

UPDATE: Thanks for all the sweet comments, ladies!
You'll be pleased to know that I enjoyed a lovely day off and managed to work on my flooring trim. ;)
I'm taking it one day at a time; it is what it is. I might shrug about it later, so why not start now? I've totally been through worse..
Burning Man is a concern though, but that's ways away. I hope to lose only a month's worth of pay, so if I live extremely frugally these next few months, I should be able to work something out. (Dude, that means I'll actually have to use my STASH! Gah!!)

I love Bulgarian BonBons

noreply@blogger.com (Nederlass) — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 22:24:00 +0000

My first Secret Pal package arrived!
I had to go look for it first because the mailman had dropped it off at one of my neighbors. This is the second time that I had to bug this poor old Moroccan lady for my mail... Yikes..
But I think it was worth the hassle:

Lookie, that's a fancy interior design mag; very handy right now, a pack of Celestial Seasonings tea, a lemon and sage soap, a funky patch, some cool Japanese candy, a red sketchbook to use on my travels*, and, judging by the silly finger puppets, someone has been to IKEA! ;)

But seriously -no, seriously- the best bit has to be the gorgeous hank of SILK in a color that has my name written all over it. (Well, actually it reads Jazzberry, but hey.) I love the color so much I made it a centerpiece in my living room:

Thank you Bulgarian BonBon!

* You almost got me there, BonBon; for a second, I actually thought you'd sent me a Bible.... ;)

Never broke my promise...

noreply@blogger.com (Nederlass) — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 18:14:00 +0000

...'cause I totally took these pics on Sunday morning. ;)
Plus I finished the hallway. Yeeehaaw! Buddy of mine added trim all across the living room floor, and I think I watched him long enough to take care of the other rooms myself. That's something for next weekend though; I don't wanna raise a neighborhood riot if I go and saw things up every week night.

So with out any further ado, here's my new stash:

On the left we see a lovely soft Alpaca from Drops in the color 3720, a lovely powdery pink. This one ball is all it takes to make a fancy pair of fingerless glovesies like the ones that Car at my SnB has been cranking out.
On the right, a gorgeous powdery -it's all about powdery in this post- indigo sock yarn by Klazien. It's a scientific impossibility to go to a show and not leave with some Klazien. So, a solid, elegant sock yarn it is, and I plan to use it on ~~these lacy socks~~ Juta's Stockings from ~~Not Just Socks~~ Nancy Bush's Folk Socks from Estonia that YvonneP was working on. So what if I'm a copycat! We probably won't get them done in the same century anyway.
Plus I got some lovely stitch markers with metal balls of yarn, handmade by Miss Storm Op Zolder herself. Sorry, they were too small to photograph properly, but there's examples on her website with cute little spinning wheels and such.

As you can see I'm slowly trying to migrate away from the bright reds and purples. They're just getting too damn predictable! It's not that I don't like 'em anymore, but something a little less loud and a little more sophistimecated would be nice for a change. After all, I'm turning thirty this year. *Reaches for heart region*

Then again, this stuff was taunting me from the big wicker baskets at the Wolhalla stand, and when Jo-An gave me the sweetest compliment all year, I totally caved:

It's Opal Neon and it's bright purple and red and blue and I'm going to love it and pet it and call it George.

And thanks for all the shiny happy comments you guys. Niek, you crack me up!
Satayyyyy on the house!!!