Pillow Talk

An FO.  I finished a project!

How disappointing would it be to browse the web, type in "pillow talk" and come up with a blog about knitting and crochet . . . crocheting?  I'll have to look that up.

Maybe we fiber bloggers should take a stand and shake things up a big.  We need to work on our PR - kick the granny thing.   . . . make things more sexy and edgy.  You know?  Like . . . like being featured in a tampon advertisement.  Ok.  So maybe not tampons, but that's how I found out about this cool cat.   She does amazing work.

This is Jesse Hemmons.  She is a gangsta yarn-bomber. 

“Street art and graffiti are usually so male dominated,” Ms. Hemmons said. “Yarn bombing is more feminine. It’s like graffiti with grandma sweaters.”

Yarn bombing takes that most matronly craft (knitting) and that most maternal of gestures (wrapping something cold in a warm blanket) and transfers it to the concrete and steel wilds of the urban streetscape. Hydrants, lampposts, mailboxes, bicycles, cars — even objects as big as buses and bridges — have all been bombed in recent years, ever so softly and usually at night. - from an article in The New York Times

If you want to check out this wowser yarn bomber, you can see her website at ishknits.com.  It's worth a look.  She will inspire you to run out to Ragstock and buy up a bunch of sweaters so you can start yarn-bombing your town. 

And regarding that cute pillow up there:  I made it from some funky cheap acrylic yarn and two, even cheaper, IKEA pillows stacked together to make one big fabulous couch throw. 

NERD ALERT!

"Bilbo Baggins.  I'm looking for someone to share in an adventure."

Yeah.  I knit.  I watched Star Trek and thought Worf was hot.  And yeah.  I am a total Tolkien freak.   I am a suburban housewife that spends a lot of time either at work, a dance studio or on the sidelines of a football field with my knitting needles and crochet hooks hidden deep in my bag.  But even deeper - my well-worn copy of The Hobbit, by J.R. Tolkien.

LOTR* fans, behold The Hobbit trailer.

And guess what?  Peter Jackson is on board, as well as Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins, Ian McKellen as Gandalf, and Andy Serkis as Gollum.  Due out in theaters on December 14th. 

If you can't wait that long, you can join in on Hobbit Day by having a Hobbit type feast with your buds and walking around barefoot all day.  True story.


*Lord of the Rings, man. . . keep up!

I've gone caveman . . . cavewoman, actually.

I've gone Paleo.  For those of you still living in caves, Paleo is a reference to the new diet fad (yes, it's a diet fad no matter how you slice it) that regulates your intake of food based on what our Homo sapien ancestors ate as we evolved into humans.  Apparently, they did not eat grass.  This means that pancakes and pizza are not on the menu.  In fact, all dairy, gluten and grains are not an option.

Why would any rational human being give up cheesecake?  Apparently, after 30 days of eating like Fred and Wilma, I will be a few pounds lighter, have almost no bloating (and don't we all), lower bad cholesterol, higher good cholesterol and an overall feeling of wholesome happiness.  If you are rolling your eyes, you're kindred spirits with my book club ladies.  We discussed this Paleo thingy last week and I volunteered to try it out. 

Kirsten, which I've been pronouncing as "Keersten" behind her back until I asked her and she corrected me - it's pronounced "Kersten") is a crazy fun lady at my book club that can best be described as my patchouli loving, raw milk drinking, free-spirited Republican friend.  She is brilliant and funny and articulate and makes me wish I had a higher I.Q. and as many past lives as she is certain she's had.  Anyway, she's been on this damn diet and I have seen with my own eyes that not only does she look wispier these days, but also looks calm and healthy.  Those weren't the eyes of a starved, crazed, pancake-craving she-wolf. 

So here I am on day 4.  Significant changes?  Meh.  Well.  There is the no-bloating or feeling yucko after I eat.  I hadn't noticed I felt that way until I didn't feel that way.  There you go.  There is also the uncomfortable conversation you have with your significant other regarding achem . . . things coming out "down there" and its variations, but I will spare you that and save it for my spouse.  I don't feel hungry.  I'm eating like a horse.  I have had this insanely intense craving for chocolate which is new for me and easily staved by sneaking downstairs at night and eating a square of Lindt dark chocolate with sea salt, but since it's in the middle of the night, it doesn't count.

Softpedia

This diet can go two ways.  I'm going to bloat up to 200 pounds like this paleolithic sculpture and my cholesterol will shoot into the you-need-to-take-meds stratosphere - OR - I will be pushing this diet on all of my friends and family who will listen to me and hopefully see that I no longer sport my muffin top. 

More to come . . .