Bling

What's with bling anyway? Brenda Dane did a Cast-on commentary about bling which hit me as very poignant. And then in the next show she made a comment that someone wrote her and felt like she was criticizing women who wear diamonds.

The issue with bling is this - some people have it and some people don't. Some people have expendable income and some people don't. Some people who do have expendable income simply don't believe in walking around with 10,000 on their finger. Some people don't understand that a 2 carat ring costs more than some people make in a year.

So what's with all that? Does the man who worked his ass off to buy his fiance a 1/4 carat diamond ring love her any less than the man who bought his fiance a gigundo ring? Would you rather have a ring than a down payment on a house? Is the marriage doomed to fail if a diamond isn't big enough?

Seriously people. The worth is in the gesture - not the monetary value of the jewelry.

Like Brenda Dane said - I would befriend a woman who is dripping with diamonds - but is the reverse true? Are there people out there who judge you based on the size and/or existence of your bling? You're damn right they do - and what does that say about them?

So I think this is one time we can be glad it's relatively easy to spot the 'superficials' - not in the prevalence of their own bling, but in their reaction to the lack of bling on others.

Don't get me wrong, I want a pair of diamond studs as much as the next girl, I adore jewelry - the sparklier it is, the happier I am. But I will judge people by character, integrity, kindness and all those other rather out of style personality traits - not on the monetary value worn on digits. I guess I'm just old-fashioned that way.

And really it's just an American bigger is better sort of thing anyway...when we were in Paris we window shopped a few jewelry stores, and the engagement rings were - well - smallish. They were beautiful - but I would say the BIGGEST were a half carat. In major cities here they don't even display stones that are less than a carat. That just leads directly into a play on the consumerism in our society and I won't even go there.

Phew. I guess I've had that building for a long time. I maintain that the size of your bling has nothing to do with the quality of your relationship - and those that think otherwise deserve their own fate.

a few questions

why are mondays the longest day EVER. every week? and why oh why did Gap do that audrey hepburn commercial? she's so chic and everything that Gap will never be. don't get me wrong, I shop at the Gap every now and then, but it's SO NOT AUDREY.

I was elated for a brief period today b/c I called the program director at my community college and say 'hey - have you ever wanted to offer a knitting course at night, cuz I could teach that...' and she said HELL YEAH. okay, she didn't - but she was enthusiastic and told me to send in a description for the catalog and I'm off and running as a fledgling knitting instructor and I'm totally psyched!! I'm too sleepy to act properly psyched right now, but I promise I am.

and why do I always pick bedtime reading that sounds interestingly intellectual at the local b&n, but when it gets down to it - very rarely has the power to keep me awake once I'm lying down. I hear one of those calling me now...Gil's All Fright Diner, so I'm going to go pursue another chapter and a good night's sleep.

postscript: you might ask what on earth kind of reading I do if Gil's All Fright Diner is intellectual...it was supposed to be a break from the "intellectual" stuff I pick up. It's good, don't get me wrong, but it's not as engaging as I was hoping it would be.

Pretty new car

Check it out - isn't it adorable!?!? The mazda3s in Phantom Blue Mica - and it looks a little green in some lights. Over all it's just too cute and fast and very nice to drive! and I'm THRILLED. I loved my honda, but 10 years is long enough to drive one car.

The only issue is that it won't play my mp3 cds and it's supposed to...I may have to wait for DH to have time to figure that one out. SO CUTE! 

Blocking

blocking is harder than it sounds. Nobody ever told me that blocking was hard...it says in all the books 'block to measurements' - and that's all. nobody told me that my sweater would look like it had been designed for somebody with 3ft long arms when I got it wet or that I the perfectionist in me would want to spend 30 minutes making sure each sleeve was EXACTLY the same length.

so here it is! purple sweater finished and DONE. collar knitted up for the 5th, yes the 5th time, and I used, literally, about 5 ft of the extra skein I had to order when I bound off. and below is the pic of the pattern up close.
WOOHOO!!! I'M DONE! Now it just needs to get cold enough to wear it...

buttons?

okay - so here's the shawl, all blocked and ready to go with temporary buttons. I can't quite figure out what I want to do with that part. maybe some big wooden buttons?

but I adore the shawl, even if it comes across a bit lopsided in the pic, it isn't in real life as long as I get it adjusted right. and as I sit here in my jammies on a friday night I have it wrapped around me and I do hope it sees more elegant occasions in it's future, but if nothing else - it keeps me warm!

yarn in the mail

how awesome is it to get yarn in the mail? it's not like you don't know it's coming - you order it, you pay for it, and still, when it comes it's like the best Christmas EVER. you can check out the colors in day light, flourescent light, against your skin, next to the dog, whatever...and of course there's the texture - how does it feel?

there's something about translating what I saw online into the reality about opening the box that just can't be duplicated. of course, it's not always a positive experience...but usually it is.

I am waiting for yarn from knitpicks to make hats for people for Christmas, and a bit of sock yarn just for me. :-) It should be here tomorrow. Even though it's just for hats for Christmas, not for a gorgeous fair aisle sweater or anything glorius like that...still - yarn in the mail - it's just the best.

I am diligently working my way through Something Red, and it's coming out lovely. I'm working through the last few inches of the body, they have increased enough that it feels like each row takes 15 minutes to do...which it just might. I'll try to get a pic & put it up here.

yarn to dye for

okay - so how many people have used that little play on words? too many, I"m sure, but I"m going to use it anyway.

I did more koolaid dying this weekend. I've run out yarn now, so this is it for a while...

SO MUCH FUN! I can't wait to see how it knits up.



In other news...life is reasonably good.

for now at least - there are no tragedies to deal with, the sky is not falling, and nobody is ill. I have decided that having 6 months with no major incidents of any kind should, theoretically, allow me to regain my sanity - and THAT is a good thing. a very, very good thing.

so, in other news - there is no news - and thank God for that.

Oh & here's my big GIANT sock - I really think this would have fit andre the giant. So I pulled it out & started over and it's looking significantly more normal.

the good and the bad - but hopefully no ugly

On the plus side - I am 13.5 inches in to DH's sweater. It's not terribly interesting, but the pattern keeps me entertained. (it's bigger than it looks, it's all scrunched up on those circulars)

On the negative side I'm brain dead again. Why is it that being emotionally drained makes it impossible to think straight?



and for something pretty to end with - here is the shawl I did in Schaeffer Elaine in the Indira Ghandi colorway. I'm still trying to decide how to finish it in the front, ties or a button... I think the color is a little washed out in the pic, it is really, incredibly rich in person.