Day 3- Here Fishy Fishy!!!

In case you're wondering about the title, blame my friend Kat. She's having a baby, and I am making a blanket. Out of fish. My days are counted by fish right now.

Along with the fish, I present to you my other thing I'm working on- The Scarf. What? You think I wouldn't work on it?

Its day three, and I've run into a slight snag.

I'm out of Handspun.

You see, for the first six feet, I wanted to make it all out of hand made yarn. So.. I've gotten all of what I had floating around my room in it. Most of it was made by me. Godric's Fire and the following yellow/blue/green were not mine. The First was made by Kell, and the second sent by LupinGirl.

So, its going to be fun. I'm definitely going to have fun tomorrow..I'll be using the fun, bright fiber I bought from Bohemia Fibers on Artfire. Amy is really amazing, and I love all the batts. Really! I can't wait till the brown bags get here.. She's got some spunky stuff that makes me excited! Be ready for some tomorrow !

For now, this is where I stop until more is spun..

Look how much it grew~!

The red/yellow and green/yellow and blue/grey are brand new pieces today. Tomorrow's will be really obvious!

Cheers,
KJ

Day 2: Lets have some fun with math...

Okay, that was a bit of a lie. Its not so much fun with math, as staggering realizations.
If I knit one foot a day, and only one foot- It will take me 36.14 years to finish the scarf. I hope you realize that I'll go crazy if thats the case.
So, I'm hoping to accomplish 1.5 to 2 ft a day, therefore, not work on this for the next 36 + years. You get the idea right? more than 1 ft a day > 36 years.

Anywho..now that I've made you sit through that thrilling mathematical journey.. Here's the photos of the day! Someone (meaning not me, but Zabbers) thought that making a time lapse video of the scarf would be good. So...this will probably end up being photo 1 of that.

PS: all the black was written upside down. yup, I was that lazy. 

Tomorrow, there probably wont be much progress due to two things: The handspun I was working on isn't finished, and its needed for The Scarf, and I have a baby blanket to finish for my niece! Have a good night! 

♪Happy Birthday To Me...♫

Well, if you are reading this post, hello there? How are you today?


Today is July 27, and yesterday was my 21st birthday. It was spent in a different way than normal.. Instead of going out and getting sloshed, I decided to prepare for something. It was a different way to spend my birthday.

Yesterday, I went out, had a drink with my parents, got a cake with a clown on it, and then went home to do what I really wanted to do.


Yesterday, I cast on for the World Record.

Instead of explaining everything today, I'll let you in on tidbits as  I go through this, year after year type of deal.
Today, I'll just say Happy Birthday to those who I haven't wished it too, and raise a glass with those of you who are over 21, but never over 27 in my head.

Psst- Totally had Spiked Strawberry lemonade

This wasnt my cake. but its pretty boss.

And this is what I did for my birthday :) I got through all of my Clopin yarn, which is what I wanted to do.

 

And meet the scoreboard!! 

Why sticky notes?

I haven't worked at this since february..the marker's not coming off. 

Today, I have other things to work on as well, mainly spinning and a baby blanket for a friend. I might even go running this afternoon. It'd be fun, you know?

Anywho..I'll see you later for Todays update. I was tired last night. Hopefully, I'll get through "The Color of Blood" yarn, then I'll have to try to work on some more handspun for the first six feet, before I tackle That Stash.

Some Other Stuff

Her stomach had settled in a twisted knot, and she fought the urge to let the tears out. It was stupid that she was upset, she didn't even know why. It was somewhere between an old crush haunting her thoughts and upset at her birthday that hadn't come yet. Her heart felt heavy, as she looked at the images, the fire goddesses juggling flames, dancing before her eyes, or the fierce girls juggling knives and she felt something close to disappointment. Her own clubs- five pro clubs- lay in her room, and she felt a guilty jolt, knowing that they had been neglected too much lately. She was loosing the J, and that was somehow equally or more important than the K lately, in KJ. Somewhere between "I'm not a superhero" and "I wish I was a superhero again." 
Today was the day of floating in between, of neither here nor there. She was tired of standing, and summer at home was eating her away. She wanted something more, so much more. She wanted to run and dance and play, and teach girls that life was meant to be fun and free. She wanted to go to the city and juggle in the streets. She wanted to stay here, but have a sheep farm and share it with That Someone, whoever he was. She wanted to quit feeling sad and sorry, she wanted to be able to run marathons, or bike thousands of miles in less than a month. She wanted to quit being afraid of cars and highways. She wanted to burst out and tell her mother that she wanted to knit the worlds longest scarf, and tell her dad that she was K.J., and that she could juggle clubs and wanted to do so much more than that. She wanted a guy that she could just know was around, that understood that her life was already hurt, and that she would never be able to tell him All Of It. Somewhere between that motorcycle crash, and hearing the tones drop for an airplane crash. She wanted to own a yarn shop, but wanted to be a Paramedic, who would go and try to save lives all over the world at the drop of a call. 
Honestly, she wanted to be More. So Much More than where she was, sitting at the desk in the tight tank top and flowy skirt, realizing that she was crying, over something as silly as that guy not talking to her, and realizing that her goal of buying juggling knives this summer wasn't going to happen. 


Somewhere in the Land Of Between, between being who she was at that moment, and What She Wanted To Be. 

           And that something was So Much More. 

Day 11- Falling asleep

Last night I slept good. I woke up 8 minutes before the start of the tour, got some coffee and some food, and retreated upstairs to watch the tour. It was a very good day- one crash and no injuries. I've been yelling for a few days about this.. and well, here's how it would've gone down. Mind, this is me putting myself through what one of the riders went through in the tour..

Somehow, she had worked her way into another breakaway. This one was bound to succeed. KJ of team HPKCHC was in the lead five. Her heart was hammering- she felt invincible. She was riding smooth, and happy. She was a bit sore, that was sure, but the rest day was tomorrow- good recovery time. She was excited. They had made it through the late sprint this stage, and, slightly winded, she was doing good still. She was speeding now- there were only the policemen in front of them. A rider behind her yelled out a warning, but in front of her, the rider was slammed by the car that was trying to pass them. She felt the pain as it rammed her too, and she shot off across the road. Her bike collapsed, and she felt her head smash into the ground. She was thrown into the air again, off the road. She had no time to react, but found herself twisting, and flew backward. She hit an object, and felt something slice into her. She screamed in pain, her voice echoing across and back to the peloton. She struggled to move, unsure of what had happened...she knew she had to get up, and go on. And she did.. she got up and started riding again. 

Yup, two days ago, two riders were struck by a media car, and were really beaten. They both got back on their bikes and continued, through unbearable pain and bleeding from where the rider thrown from the road landed in a barbed wire fence. I'm still disgusted by it.

I didnt spin too much today- had some other things to do.

Day 10- "Rest" day- Harry Potter Style

What have I been up to?

Well, I thought I'd take you through the average day of TKJ.

Normally, at 4:30 AM, I am sleeping. My music is just turning off, and I am dreaming really weird things, like always.Like a haunted sheep/goat farm. Haunted Yarn? Indeed.

This morning, I was awake because a mosquito bit my sunburned face. It kind of sucked. But I get over it. I couldnt get back to sleep, suddenly aware that my face felt horrid. So.. I just tossed and turned, and then read a chapter of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire at 5ish, when the sun started to rise. It was a weird yet nice start.

Around 8, I normally wake up and get some work on the internet done. Then, I'll eat breakfast and go running.

At 8 today, I decided that I wanted to read more Harry Potter.

9:30 is when the block of cartoons that I watch in the morning comes on. Ben 10, Bakugan, Beyblade, Pokemon, and Hot Wheels Battle Force Five were on. I watched all of them and finished "grey". It was a good feeling.

12 is lunch and Deadliest Catch. When I am at home, I never waver from this 1 hour block.

This afternoon, I puttered around doing some cleaning. All while reading Harry Potter. In case you dont know, the Premiere is Thursday /Friday at Midnight. I have a day for each of the remaining books. Scary, aint it? So.. thats my day. I avoided yard work more strenuous then feeding the chickens, and thats all that there was. Finished Grey and started spinning laceweight.

I still have 50 pages of- you guessed it- Harry Potter.

So.. here's some photos of grey. This is what I've been spinning since day 2. I'm glad I'm done with it.


Here's some before the Grey

During the Grey

After the Grey

Needless to say, I'm glad its over. Here's to tomorrow- a day with The Order of the Pheonix and Laceweight! thats GREEN!

Tour De France- Day 7, the day of pain

The team sat at the finish line, as if they couldn't possibly believe what they were hearing. How could the all stars fall in a crash? TKJ was nervous, and waiting for her teammates to come in in the second group. The cameras flashed around her, but she ignored them. Who cared if she was That Rookie, she was busy waiting to see if her team was safe. Katiemc1229 pulled in, and she threw her arms around her, glad to see she was safe. "Thank God," she muttered. "I was so worried! The house would be in bad shape without you!" Seashelly pedaled in next, and KJ greeted her as well. "Good to see you're safe- cant have my future housemate hurt!" she added. Then, IsisonEarth came through, looking irritated that she was delayed so much. KJ greeted her as well, welcoming her to the finish. The HPKCHC team had made it through safely. 

Yikes! If you were watching the tour, then you know how bad it was today! There was a horrid crash, and its looking bad for Chris Horner. :( So.. lets hope that he's okay! The verdict is still out on whether he can race or not. So.. *fingers crossed* Here's the little bit of spinning I managed between classwork and watching the most intense bike crash I've seen yet.

Expect other things other than spinning soon. I need a break from this high fiber posting.

Day 6- Tour de fleece

"Yes, we've recieved news from the front. It seems just before the racers started today, that one of the HPKCHC team started quite a ruckus. Turns out, today she was waiting for a very important phone call from home! Now, usually, these racers would not mess with phones at all! It must have been very important..lets head down to the front..." At the front in the start line, TKJ was yelling and jumping excitedly. She's covered in bumps and bruises, and lots of scrapes. CG is also with her again, looking equally beat up. She seemed to be yelling the same phrase over and over again, and it seemed like all of the HPKCHC riders were also celebrating. Honing in, the camera caught one phrase. "IM A PARAMEDIC STUDENT!!" she shouted as she jumped, her voice getting hoarser as she yelled it out. Her team was cheering. "Right- it seems that her other occupation just got the green light! Let's give her a hand then.. TKJ, of the HPKCHC, on to fulfill her second dream!" 

 Yes. Finally, after a year, I am getting into the Paramedics program. Its a long and bumpy road, but MAN AM I EXCITED!! Its been a long day with waiting for the "call" (I was in her office when she told me congrats, and then my mother wouldnt stop calling so the program director told her that I was in, lol) and BAM! I'm wicked stoked. It'll be two years of intense study. Lets get this party started. :)

Day 5 Tour De France- There will be blood.

Today was nervous- you could feel it in the air among the riders. There was an anticipation among them. Team HPKCHC was well in the yellow- a good thing for a team. It would be up to them to set the pace today. It was hard to believe that their team was on the leader board. TKJ found that the spotlight had been thrust upon her- and she was terrified of that. It made her jumpy, and that was never good. The rain the day before had made them all wet and miserable and cold. Now- it was sunny, with high winds today. She was reminded of this several times. "Watch your tires" her more experienced teammates said. TriGirlJ spent extra time talking to them before they lined up. "Watch your tires, and waterbottles and things," she warned them. She nodded her head. "Its a tough thing, and it hurts. We're going fast- looks to be about 35 mph is the set." she said with a frown. KJ nodded. As they started, she set off. Keep to the front, watch your wheels, make sure to stay vigilant- and she was nervous. Very very nervous. She ended up in a group of some other riders from her team. CraftyGryphon was right behind her, and Andryl was to her right. She stayed constant. Then, the wind changed. It caught them in a cross, and she watched as the bike diagonal to her blew in from the left. Stuck in the pack, the wheel clipped her tire. With a CRUNCH, she flipped over the bike, and felt CG slam into her. Luckily, Andryl had been spared the crash. They sat, and she looked at CG, who was looking at her, concerned. Her ears were ringing, and she noticed that her helmet wasnt on her head. She looked up. "What?" she asked, dazed. She tried to stand, but the school nurse managed to catch them. "KJ- keep a seat," BoppingBeth said. KJ shook her head and stood. "I'm fine, I'm fine." she repeated. She knew she was bloody and her uniform was in shreds, but she had to keep going. 'I'm fine," she added. She wasn't, she was sore and hurting. Her shoulder burned. She had to finish today. If she was hurt, she'd drop out that night. But for now, she'd push through. With a disapproving nod, Beth let her go through. She knew what KJ was like. All young and rash. best to let her do it and fix her later. She got on a new bike and started going, with CG. SarahTheEntwife dropped back, and she noticed Andryl did too. This was their team. They stuck together, no matter what. CG and TKJ- both slightly bloodied and bruised, weren't giving up without a fight. 

Yes- Day Five of the tour is full of crashes, and two of the real racers had to fall out today already. Its been a bloody affair with ambulances and plenty of bruises, cuts, and abrasions. Don't worry, I'm not really hurt, but I had to just capture the idea that in the tour, you could be half dead, but you still dont want to give up. Wishing a speedy recovery for the dropped riders.

Day Three Tour De Fleece

"The teams are gathering today- it seems that they enjoy the chance to get to know so many cyclists from all over the world. It seems that the HPKCHC team really knows how to welcome others and make them feel at home. The sprinters lined up today are great to talk with, and trust me, with this over 100 mile ride today, its good to have friends from other teams and your own.  TKJ is in the head of the group this time- sporting a special jester's ride gear. How odd! She's been making friends with other teams quickly, perhaps from being noticed during her first day, as a breakaway rider.  With her are other young guns, RiverCameron, and Lambchop00. Neither of these beautiful women were in the team challenge, but are great additions to the race today! Lets head down to the warm up area, and see what they're up too...."

Ah.. the tour de fleece. They say that the first day is the hardest, but I think that the second day was a good candidate. when working with a team, you push yourself to match your teammates and meet their goals. Then, the third day dawned. And.. you're sore from the first two, making it tougher! So. the first two days I spun the coat hanger yarn of doom. now, I broke out my Circus Star- made by YorkieSlave on etsy. she's amazing! I suggest her everytime someone talks about a new spindle.
This is the Circus Star- who is still my favorite. She'll be joined by lucky later on this month.

 

I'm still in love with her. 

As for today- here's the spinning-

 Well, that Brings the exciting day three to a close! I'll see you tomorrow! Here, look at the socks I made! At least it isnt just yarn!

Tour De France- Fleece Edition. Team Trials.

"Surprisingly, the Rookie Line up for the knitting crochet house cup has done awesome so far in this tour! They played hard yesterday, and have a solid line up for team trials today. Lets take a look at the roster. First off, we have Jonboy1987. He's a strong candidate on this team. His attitude keeps the teams moral up, and he's been a solid anchor for the team in training. you can expect him to make a good pace when he's up front as well. Next, we have Kell13, who's a great sprinter. Her research into different equipment and components has really catapulted this team. Next up we have Nightrae, whose really made a solid effort in planning training and working out where the team fits in the line up. Fourth, we have FlyKitten, whose one of the younger powerhouses on the team. She's a go ahead type of girl who has shown no fear on this tour so far. Even with the big peloton crash yesterday, she finished par on course with the lead riders. HermioneWeasley is also a new name to this tour- she's a great asset to the group, and her undaunted attitude and can do spirit have really pushed them ahead in this race. Softnshiny has shown a lot of cunning when its come to how to work the main group of riders- even though they cant push each other, she's worked hard at using the slipstream of other riders to get her team in a good position. Kazpatch is also joining them- she's got determination to make this a good tour, and she's been doing an amazing performance! Jajigirl- while not a rookie- has become a good captain of this team and has really trained and helped the form of the younger riders. Finishing up the team is TKJ- an unknown whose attitude got her noticed when she got into the leaderboard early on. She's a bit odd, but with her completing this rookie powerhouse, we're sure to see some awesome things from this team. They're in a good place, and we hope that tomorrow- they are still there. "

Ah, the tour de fleece! Today, I finished up my Coathanger yarn. Unexpectedly, its really put me in the spotlight it seems. I just couldnt resist the challenge of spinning yarn with a coat hanger. So..today I'll just be glad that I finished it, and celebrate with my team for a good second day. Here's what I did today- plus the description of it underneath.

Here’s what I did. I dyed it so the white was red, and some of the blue to a deeper blue, and kept the black. I wanted it to be the two colors that blood is. Red And Blue. I spun it up with a coat hanger, and made it lumpy and bumpy, like blood getting pulsed through your veins (blue) and Arteries (red). Its tied and spun in with some pieces of gauze pads as well, and I just liked the way that the black contrasted both colors. 

Changing Gears: Tour de Fleece start up

The international team was warming up, checking their bikes. TKJ stood near them, surveying the other rookies. Hermione Weasley, Soft n Shiny, Nightrae, Kell, and so many more. She took a deep, steadying breath, looking out at the team. While she was a bit more experienced at the ride, this was the grand equalizer. This was their first tour. She spun the wheels, checking her tension. She had three bikes that she was using, and her first one wasnt the best. She spun the tire on it. On a whim, she had purchased an eco-bike, made from recycled parts. working and upgrading it was a bit of a never ending challenge. 




Hello!
Today is the first day of the tour de fleece! I started off bright and early, carefully bending and rebending a wire coat hanger to get a good spin on it. And- its been a blast! I'm working on getting a video of it, but a white wire hanger on beige doesnt work out to well for a video. So.. here's the start!

This is the best "It was a coat hanger" shot. The next one is of it in action.

And the last photo for today is of the yarn it produces! Plus, my wrist looks cool in this shot. Right? Okay, Yeah. I need to sleep more, but still.
Some yarn and dyed red hair later.. Its been a fun day.