I'll be back soon!

Hey everybody! Things are hectic, hectic, hectic!

I'm in NYC right now taking care of some business. I'll tell you all about it when I get back.

8 Random Things

Right now I'm swimming in wool yarn. I'm working on a magazine submission (yeah! another one) and I need to get it finished by next week. Wool all day and all night, and my projects have been put on hold. In the meantime, I'll try to entertain you with the " 8 Random Things " meme. I was tagged days ago by Andrea . It may have taken me awhile but I didn't forget.


1. My ultimate goal in life is to be a stay-at-home mother and wife and run a business out of my home. Say what you will but I've done the corporate thing and it's overrated. Now if only I could find a husband....

2. I have recently found the joys of Almond Milk and I'm never going back. I'm lactose-intolerant and researched the many evils of the photoestrogens in soy milk. Almond milk is definitely the way to go.

3. Bad thunderstorms give me panic attacks. I once drove through a bad storm on I-75 and missed getting hit by a tornado by 10 mins. There's nothing like having pieces of trees and houses hit your car while the rain is going completely horizontal instead of vertical.

4. The very first thing I wanted to do when I went to college was to buy myself some General Foods International Coffee . My mother would not allow us to drink coffee and to me that was a sign of being an adult. She later told me that see knew I , of all her children, would be a coffee drinker because of how much I like chocolate. All 3 of her children are coffee drinkers. At least she tried.

5. I cut my hair again. The last haircut was inspired by a character in the "Transporter 2" movie and Pete Wentz from Fall Out Boy. No one had the cut when I got it and I've had it since June 2006. In the past two weeks, I saw 4 women with my haircut. I knew it was time for a change.

6. In a few weeks I'm going to dye my hair bright red. My current color is going a little orangey.

7. I really would like to have a garden. My grandmother used to grow collard greens in her backyard in the middle of the city. I thought it was the coolest thing ever.

8. Right now I have an obsession with all things British. I've watched Hustle, MI-5; listen to Floetry and Craig David and now I'm into Lily Allen. British accents are kind of cool.

I couldn't finish it.

I'm going to attempt to give a quick review of the book The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood. The reason it is going to be brief is because I couldn't finish the book.

As far as books go, it was a well-written book. It's about a woman named Mary who is grieving the loss of her child and how she uses knitting as a tool to cope with the loss. In many ways this is Ann Hood's story, as she lost a child in a similar way. Through her time knitting she is able to meet several woman, hear their stories, and use all of this to tell her story. The book is well-written and Ann Hood is a great storyteller. She is capable of making the stories of each woman interesting, as well as making the concept of knitting seem like an additional character in the book. I would suggest this book to other people.

Now I will say this and want it to be understood before I say it, that this is due to personal preference and not the author's writing. I didn't finish the book because I didn't want to. I knew I didn't want to finish it after the 2nd chapter but I pressed on through the 10th chapter before I stopped. I'm primarily a reader of mysteries and some general fiction. The deep look at a woman that is struggling with her grief is not what I personally consider a leisurely read. It was a continuous journey of sadness and depression. I understand it but I use books as a way to escape and this was not a place I wanted to escape to. I'm the same way with movies, television, and blogs. Like I said, Ann Hood is a great writer and I could probably read her other books, but this particular story just wasn't for me.

Just peeking in

Hi everybody! How was your weekend? Did all you mothers have a great Mother's Day? I sure hope so.

It's been busy here at Chez Saun. Big things are happening here and I wish I could tell you everything but alas, it will have to wait a little while. It's going to keep me really busy for the next few weeks and my posts may be sporadic.

I hope to have a review up of "The Knitting Circle" by Thursday. I just have to finish the book by tomorrow so I can return it to the library. I only have 260 more pages to go. Guess what I'll be doing tonight?

Before I go, I'll give you a peek of what was waiting in my mailbox on Saturday.


It's mine and it's in the new Knit.1 Summer 2007 issue.

Distractions

Thanks so much for all the complements on Corazon Azul. Nik was able to help me take some better photos yesterday which turned out great. I should have the pattern up in a week or so.

In the meantime, I'm going to focus on my latest distractions.


I had every intention of finishing the Habu tunic but the library called to tell me this book was available. It will be my first knitting related read. I was #60 on the waitlist but I guess I lucked up. Due to the popularity of knitting related books I only get 1 week to read it. I also got distracted by the Karabella Vintage Cotton that I purchased from Stitch DC a few months back. I've been itching to work with it. I just love the ruby color. I'm mixing in some beads for a little sparkle. I'll show you a little more once I've figured out the exact stitch pattern.

Well I'm off to enjoy the weekend. It may rain so it will be perfect reading weather.

It only took forever

I'm not quite sure why, but these socks took me forever to finish. I started them in October.
It would only be fitting that I finish them in May when the temps are too high to wear socks.


I'm not sure how long my next set of socks will take but this is what I'm using. It's the Socks That Rock in Stonewash that I bought at last years MDSW. Since I couldn't go this year, I figured breaking into the yarn I bought last year would only be fitting. Would you know that I have not touched any of the yarn that I bought last year. Yes, it's sad, but that also tells you reason I didn't go this year. I don't need any new yarn.


I can tell you one thing that didn't take me that long to finish......" corazón azul".

I finished the body on Sunday and the sleeves Monday. I must say that I really do like the KnitPicks Shine yarn that I used for this project. It's a nice cotton/modal blend that is soft. Much better than a pure cotton. It looks like it will develop a slight halo after a few washings but I think that's typical of cotton/cotton blends.

Now I need to get back to my Habu tunic. I got a little frustrated with it. I was tired of the straight stockinette and tried to add a lace motif, but that turned into disaster. Ever time I saw it, it made me think of a dress for a 3-yr old. Even though it's boring, I'm going to stick to the stockinette. Sometimes, simplest is best. Hopefully I'll have it done by Friday so I can show you what it looks like.

The mind and body

Knitting is many things. It is creative and stylish, but one thing it definitely is not is a a cardiovascular workout. The only thing that gets a workout is my wrists but no man I know goes around saying "Oooh girl, look at those sexy wrists". They're checking out everything else.

Truthfully, for me, it's not about the look so much as it is all-over health. I'm not in denial about my body shape. I will never again look like I did in high school. Age and metabolism have guaranteed that. What I want is general good health. Given my recent bouts of insect-induced sickness, I have decided to focus on my health and boosting my immune system. I want to make sure that I am eating right and getting a good amount of exercise.

Yesterday I went to the doctor for a general physical exam. I got all of my vaccinations and tests up to date. I also went out and bought some new multivitamins.

The other thing I have decided to do is better utilize this online tool.


This is a link to the SparkPeople.com website. It is an online health and wellness program that I was introduced to through my job. It is almost exactly the same as the Weight Watchers online program except it is absolutely FREE. They give you a diet plan in stages, help you track your calories and exercise, online motivators, goal-setting, send you emails/articles, and have an online community. It doesn't hurt to try it. Like I said, it's free.



Olga inquired as to what I was working on this weekend. This is one of the ideas that has been swimming in my head since February. It's a lacey top made from Knitpicks Shine Worsted that I'm making in the round. I became obsessed with finding this perfect shade of blue/azure during the beginning of Project Spectrum. Knitpicks was the only place I could find it. I came up with the main motif which right now I've nicknamed "The uterus". That's definitely not what plan to call it but right now the stupidity of calling it that makes me laugh.


I'm thinking I'll call it coração azul or corazón azul, which is "blue heart" in portuguese or spanish.