Have a Hug.

There seems to be a large amount of disgust concerning tomorrow, Valentine's Day. I can understand this. It's a day originally intended to honor a saint (the church has about ninety zillion of these; I think it's more unusual to have a day that doesn't honor a saint or something, but I digress) that has been changed into a huge money-making marketing machine. Granted, every holiday has, in case you haven't noticed, but I agree that commercializing days is a bad idea in general. And then there are those that say it makes singles feel inadequate. Well, on my single V-days, I give presents to my family, and they tend to give better chocolates than any of my boyfriends ever have. Okay, it seems to celebrate coupledom and all that entails, and there is no equivalent for those who aren't tied down. I get it. It's depressing as all hell. But that's only if you let it be.

I figure, let it be a day that celebrates love, in all its forms. Get a heart-shaped rawhide for your dog! Call Grandma and tell her she's a sweetie! Take advantage of next-day, 50% off chocolate assortments! You deserve it! Rent some horrible movies and stay in with some popcorn and a box of tissues (weeping for girls, wanking for guys, either way, you'll need 'em.) Get wasted on REALLY good wine with your best friends. Whatever. Just don't hate the day for what its become, hate society for encouraging it. Share some love, instead! And pass the truffles.

Cheap shopping. WOO HOO!

Okay, it's yarn-related, and boring to non-knitters. Might even be boring to other knitters. This is just a warning. See? I can let you know ahead of time.

For those still reading.... all one of you.... hi. I swung by Jo-Ann's today, just to see what was in stock because, after all, there's no shame in expanding the stash when you find decent stuff on the cheap.

I did.

There were these knitting gift packs, complete with circular needle, crochet hook, and all that happy stuff, and four decent sized balls of either variegated or self-striping wool yarn, and they were marked down to eight bucks. Whee! I got one in a blue-yellow-grey colorway, and one in an extremely girly red-pink-PINK one. Also, they had a sale on Paton's Classic Wool, which I love, so I got two balls. Total spent? Twenty-five bucks after tax, and I got ten balls of feltable loveliness. Oh, baby.

I've been on Ravelry an awful lot lately - I love love LOVE browsing the UGHs. Nothing like enjoying other people's knitting disappointment, eh?

Also, on a non-fiber topic, classes start super-soon. Huzzah!

I just spent an awesome four hours

Okay, so I'm not feeling so very good, so I figure I'll hole up at home, check the e-mail, yadda yadda. And I find the Girl Genius comic series (by the amazing Foglios, Phil and Kaja) is online, and I go and read a little, and then some more, and then.....

You go read some. It's just the best thing ever. Hooray for Girl Genius!

Quite productive, knitting-wise

So I've gone ahead and finished a few projects, only one of which was in the "Please finish these before you die" pile. Let me show you some pictures, world.



First, a cute handbag made with some "vintage" (read: old) wool I had in my stash, with a design done in ribbon yarn. I used the Vertigo pattern for this, and so should you. The second is a hat I made for the Kid, who is currently very into Flags. From all countries. And states. And any other thing that requires a flag. He loves them. And I love him. So he has a flag hat.


The next two are close-ups of an item I just sent off as a gift, so no full images in this space just yet. (Ravelry, on the other hand, has them. Bwa ha.) But suffice to say it's cool as all hell.

I'd also write something, but my brain's going a mile a minute right now and it's hard to keep up with myself. But I'm back in school starting super-soon, and it's a wonderful thing. Also, looking forward to Valentimes.