microblog 4
September 26, 2011
it’s 6:30 am.
i’m studying.
i have a fever.
i’m wearing a hat.
the dustland hat.
you should knit one, too.
(this is a microblog. bad web cam photos are part of their charm)
winners
September 24, 2011
well i guess i’ve let this drag on long enough.
it’s time to announce some winners.
first prize, my thendara, goes to tina b.
the random number generator picked her number.
congrats babe!
there was only supposed to be one second secret prize;
it was meant for the person who resposted the giveaway in most creative way. but how could i pick just one when
two ladies really stood out.
first there was tammy.
tammy got her coworkers to harass me into giving her my thendara.
i firmly believe in harassing people to get things you want.
i think it’s an only child thing.
while i couldn’t just give her my thendara
(that would be breaking the rules after all)
i have to applaud that kind of ingenuity.
then we have cynthia s.
she printed out my blog post
and stuck it out on a telephone pole.
that, bitches, is some fucking creativity.
so cynthia and tammy will be getting a copy of westknits book three
compliments of yours truly.
if either of you makes a thendara,
i’d love to see it.
until next time!
mircoblog giveaway
September 16, 2011
i don’t have much time,
but since so many people so belligerently kindly told me
that my thendara was worth it, i’ll give it away.
the bitches get stitches thendara giveaway
the rules: the only thing you need to do to enter this giveaway is share this blog post in some fashion. you can tweet it, blog it, google+ it, post on ravelry, whatever. there should even be some convenient buttons at the bottom of the post to make sharing easier.
then, just leave a comment letting me know that you did it.
we’re on the honor system here.
the prize(s):
my thendara (minus the mo, obviously), knit in sanguine gryphon bugga!.
there will also be a secret prize given to the person who(m?) i deem reposts this in the most interesting way.
good luck bitches!
edit: a winner has been chosen. thanks for playing!
p.s. you can currently pre-order westknits book three and knit one for yourself as well! go on. buy it. now!
this is just to say
September 13, 2011
i have made a,
stephen west
neck accessory,
thendara.
the yarn carried up
the side is
too tight,
it puckers.
does an imperfect
edge mean i
shouldn’t give it
away?
(seriously. i wanted to give this away on the blog, but is it wrong to give away something with a wonky edge? does anybody want it?)
microblog 2
September 13, 2011
i just spent a good chunk of time looking for my bag because in it was my computer and an article that i have to finish today. i absolutely could not find my bag anywhere, which frankly made me very aware of my bowels.
i did eventually find my bag
hidden quietly under some knitting.
what does this say about my priorities?
pass the straw. i need me some gold.
September 11, 2011
my first week as a phd student was rough.
i could tell you all the little whiney stories
that literally drove me to drink.
i could tell you about being behind in my reading,
or how my students were . . . less than talkative in class.
or how i (wrongfully!) received a parking ticket that i have to now appeal.
or how my online rent payment didn’t go through making it 8 days late.
or how mo snuck out of bed in the middle of the night to drop a deuce,
and i stepped in the puddle of pee that accompanied it.
but i won’t.
i’m classier than that,
and no one likes a whiner.
besides, i spent a lovely saturday afternoon with the ladies of the loft
that erased any negative feelings from the previous week.
this future spinner is the newest loft lady,
learning the ways of wool from her mimi, beth smith.
(who is far too young and hip to be a grandma!)
i’m not really a baby person,
but this one seemed pretty cool.
unlike some asshole babies i’ve met,
i could sorta see the appeal of this one.
but since she’s not for sale
i settled for taking my spinning wheel home with me.
this is mo’s little sister; i can somehow tell she’s a girl,
but i haven’t named her yet.
(suggestions?)
like any doting father
i think she’s the best wheel in the world.
the wood is absolutely beautiful.
she even has a knot-wood beauty mark.
she’s currently hanging out in my bedroom
until a proper place of honor can be made in the living room.
what’s that on the bobbin you ask?
why that’s what i’ll be wearing to rhinebeck of course!
more tears
September 6, 2011
i promise nothing bad has happened here.
i’m gratefully re-ensconced in my apartment,
keeping the cold at bay with a mixture of down,
french bulldog, and homework.
i took a wee break from reading what i’m supposed to read,
to catch up on those few blogs that make me smile.
but when i came to tina’s blog,
i could feel the cold-wet of tears in my eyes.
truly good blogs are a scarce these days,
blogs that post regularly enough to satisfy
and with quality content to merit their existence.
i try to share as much of myself on here as is safe.
i try not to hold back. (hell i was even naked once)
and it’s rare to find someone brave enough to expose themselves in that way, to let perfect strangers have access to your life
in a genuinely personal way.
and here we have tina,
not only writing a post so raw it moved me,
but sharing her life experiences in the colors she gives us.
a rare gem indeed.
don’t take it for granted.
reunited
September 5, 2011
and it feels so good!
a daylight search found mo trapped on our property. he is a little guy after all, and country life can be perilous for a city pup. when i came upon him, he was just lying there calmly, waiting to be rescued. when he saw me, he gave me eyes that said, “ok you’re here now. take me home.” after a few rounds around the house at lightning speed, he is now sleeping happily at my feet.
thank you all for your prayers and well wishes.
not only did it provide extreme comfort when i felt alone,
i have to believe that somehow they brought us back together.
xoxo
steven
worst day of my life
September 4, 2011
i don’t know why i’m writing a blog post right now. i guess it’s because i don’t know what else to do. and perhaps also, i’m so sick and twisted that i need there to be a public record of today . . .
this morning mo let me know it was time to walk him, that i’d slept too long. in the fog of sleepiness, i grabbed my spare set of car keys (not my actual set of keys) and locked myself out of my apartment. with no phone, and no wallet (and unfortunately no underwear), i had no way of getting in touch with my landlord on a sunday to let me in. taking a deep breath i bundled up mo in the car and headed to my office on campus where i was sure an ancient computer and phone would be my salvation. of course as soon as i parked i realized it was sunday, and without my keys there was no way in.
i went back to my apartment in hopes that if i parked very close to it, i could get my car’s built in blue tooth to connect to my car and i could call someone. of course who i had in mind, i don’t know. it was a pipe dream anyway.
so i decided that, since i had on my sleeping clothes, i hadn’t showered, and hadn’t brushed my teeth, i’d head to my parents house.
an hour and a half later i arrived at my childhood hope. my parents are out of town for their anniversary (i won’t even get into what i had to do to get into their house without my keys) so i looked at this situation as a mini trip to the country until monday tuesday when i could get ahold of my landlord and get into my apartment. i did of course check my lease and their website to see if there was some phone number i could call in an “emergency”, but alas there is none.
how bad could it be? sure i have no wallet and no phone and internet from about 2001, but i could make do. i printed off some readings so i wouldn’t fall behind in my school work, and i could prepare my little spiel for my first day of teaching on thursday. i took some meat out to thaw for dinner, and mo and i took a nap.
this is where things get serious. this is where you all will think i’m crazy for writing a blog post. like i said, i don’t know what else to do.
i headed out back with some pork chops to grill, and mo hung out on and around the deck with me. somewhere while i was concentrating on the grilling outside, and the food inside, i stopped paying attention to mo.
with a sinking feeling, i thought, “where is he?”
and that’s the question of the hour; where is mo? he has run off. in the pitch black countryside, i have walked up and down country roads, up and down neighbors driveways hoping to find him, or find the person who has him. i’ve even gotten in the car to drive a ways in all directions to scan the road for his body. i didn’t find one which might be today’s only mercy.
somewhere from the depths of my being, my catholicism came out. i’ve been invoking saints and jesus, begging anyone with any power in the world to bring him back to me.
i’ve stopped crying long enough to make a flyer which i will spend all day tomorrow putting up all over town.
tonight, i’m sleeping on my deck in case mo decides to come home in the middle of the night.
i don’t know what to do. my whole family is gone. i’m on my own in this, and i’m ill-equipped to handle it.
i’m a 26 year old man holding my dogs harness weeping, that kind of crying you only do maybe three times in your whole life when you’re completely overwhelmed by sadness, and nothing can comfort you.
if you believe in something, god, the universe, whatever, please pray for my momo to come home to me.
i don’t know what i’ll do without him.
taking knitting nerdery to new heights
September 1, 2011
maybe a week ago,
i was at a new friend’s apartment,
and the movie stardust was playing in the background.
i wasn’t really paying attention
until i saw a shockingly beautiful knitted shawl on some lucky extra.
i may or may not have squeed a little; perhaps i inhaled sharply.
which may or may not have required an explanation for this
new, non-knitting, friend. >embarrassing<
but still made note to google it later
so i could cast it on.
(i'm no dummy)
for i was sure that such a shawl as this had been noticed by some other knitter, and, as with all things, the omniscient internets would hold the answer and point me to the pattern.
imagine my surprise when the only mention i could find of this shawl was in a stray comment left by the pickyknitter on franklin’s blog back in ’09.
not.
promising.
since neither the picky knitter nor i have been able to track it down,
i am turning to you, dear blog readers.
i need to know the name of this shawl
and where i can get the pattern.
ignorance will no longer do!
i’ve rented the dumbass movie.
i’ve taken some shitty screenshots.
and now it’s up to you.
help a knittah out, bitches!
if you own this movie, or are crazy enough to rent it just to help me out, the scene begins at roughly 9:22.
edit: in the spirit of honesty, i feel i should disclose that i left out some information regarding my “research process” as katie puts it. when i saw how shitty the screen shots turned out to be, i was disappointed to say the least. in an attempt to provide clearer pictures, i got out my tripod, streamed the movie to my television, and attempted to take photos of the screen. the results were interesting, but not of a better quality. >not a photographer<
there.
that's everything.
Bitches Get Stitches 