except for me and my monkey.

These are my “Me and My Monkey” socks. They were finally completed last weekend, after hibernating for a while. I have to say I was less in love with the pattern than most people seem to be.

It knits up beautifully though. And I adore the yarn (Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock) but I think I’ll be using them rarely. I can never seem to get enough yarn out of them for my big feet.

I have some other news:

That precious little girl is Moni. She was Sarah’s cat and came to live with Holden and I when it became apparent that she was happier around Holden, and Baxter, Sarah’s other cat, was happier without Moni. Moni immediately bonded with me and made herself comfortable, so I kept her on.

Isn’t she sweet? She is a Maine Coon about a year and a half. And other than the occasional knocking things over, she spends most of her time rubbing on me and Holden. Holden, for his part, chews on her.

- M

In order to get an “official” diagnosis of celiacs (and therefore have some doctors take me more seriously than they do with a food elimination) I may have to ingest gluten for about a week. I’ve decided to ignore the fact that I’m likely to be in intense pain and focus on how I’ll have a chance to eat all my last meals. It’s going to be a busy week:

Beer. Biscuits and gravy. Franziskaner. Kraft Mac & Cheese. Stoffer’s lasagna. Blue moon. Fish and chips with malt vinegar. Beer. Chocolate lava cake. Pizza. Microbrews. Anything at Taco Bell other than nachos. Tire bite beer. Hostess fruit pie. Poptarts. Guiness. Naan and samosas. Oreos. Crab rangoons. Subway meatball sub. Local beer. Cinnabon. Big soft pretzel. Beer. Ramen. Couscous. Cookie dough. Oberon.

Did I mention beer?

- M

This is a shameless plug for myself. However, it is for a good cause, so it’s okay. Right? Right.

Sunday, October 4th, I will be walking to raise awareness about AIDS and support to fight it, through AIDS Walk Michigan. Please donate. I’ll be walking along with my partner and our dogs, Holden and Hank. I’ll also be walking with the student GLBT group on campus, which I help advise. All proceeds go to local education and prevention programs.

Thank you so much. I appreciate your support!

- M

Mara Mori brought me
a pair of socks
which she knitted herself
with her sheepherder’s hands,
two socks as soft as rabbits.
I slipped my feet into them
as if they were two cases
knitted with threads of twilight and goatskin,
Violent socks,
my feet were two fish made of wool,
two long sharks
sea blue, shot through
by one golden thread,
two immense blackbirds,
two cannons,
my feet were honored in this way
by these heavenly socks.
They were so handsome for the first time
my feet seemed to me unacceptable
like two decrepit firemen,
firemen unworthy of that woven fire,
of those glowing socks.

Nevertheless, I resisted the sharp temptation
to save them somewhere as schoolboys
keep fireflies,
as learned men collect
sacred texts,
I resisted the mad impulse to put them
in a golden cage and each day give them
birdseed and pieces of pink melon.
Like explorers in the jungle
who hand over the very rare green deer
to the spit and eat it with remorse,
I stretched out my feet and pulled on
the magnificent socks and then my shoes.

The moral of my ode is this:
beauty is twice beauty
and what is good is doubly good
when it is a matter of two socks
made of wool in winter.¹

- Pablo Neruda

¹I’m resisting the urge to get this poem tattooed on my body.

For my birthday, I scored a Nintendo DS Lite (thanks mom and dad!). I love games – and sudoku – so I was thrilled to receive it. But, I was even more thrilled to get something that now needed a knitted cover. And, lo, I knit one:

I used this pattern and yarn left over from my clap.

Any other details will be on Ravelry.

And now I’m going to go play a bunch of games knit. Yeah, that’s it. Knit.

- M

My knitting Buddha half-sleeve is done:

It was done by Gareth at Mos Eisleys in Grand Rapids, MI.

I sat for six hours yesterday (which were far less painful than the first four) making for only ten hours to finish this.

The dove was done previously and he worked it in with the background. It will all be the same gray color when it is done healing. My favorite aspect of it is how amazingly happy the Buddha is:

The pawprint on his belly is for my dog who died, Maddi, the rye in the background is for Holden, and the hank up front is for Hank.

I finished it up this weekend because, guess what? It’s my birthday!!!

My amazingly incredible friends surprised me with a Batman theme¹. Also, my very own Batman:

Isn’t it great? He looks so fantastically stoic, as he very well should. It is another fun toy for my office. You can never have enough².

Tonight we’re going to see a derby game. Best. birthday. ever.

- M

¹I love Batman.
²I’ve given up trying to even appear adult.

So I’ve done it. I’ve gotten a half-sleeve. Or, at least, half of my half-sleeve. The outline is finished. I hope you can tell what it is, but just in case, it is a knitting Buddha. He has yarn. He is happy.

Included in that picture are a few extra elements. First, he is knitting continental style, which is how I knit.

Then there is a paw print on his belly, in honor of my recently passed golden retriever Maddi¹. The rye in the background is in honor of my current dog Holden², who we named after Holden Caulfield, from Catcher in the Rye. Finally, I made sure there was a hank of yarn in there, for Hank³, the bloodhound we will soon be adding to our family.

In a few weeks I’ll be going back to get it shaded.

So there Buddha sits, happy and with his pups, reminding me to stay patient during 12 inches of stockinette and that a dropped stitch will not end the world.

- M

1:

2:

3:

So now I’m officially up to a 4 gauge in my ears – and I’ve decided to stay there. It is noticeable without being ridiculous¹. I stretched up utilizing some amazing glass spirals from Glass Heart Studio on Etsy. She does AMAZING glass earrings, both in mini (which I purchased) and in standard sizes.

- M

¹ Incidentally I got ahead of myself and have some plugs in a 2 gauge from Omerica Organic. If anyone is interested, they are unworn and unopened and I’ll cut you a deal!

For those of you who have holes in your ears that may be larger than average, I have a fantastic suggestion for you. Baked by Ash is a seller on Etsy who does gauged earrings with polymer clay. Today I received my order:

Aren’t those fantastic? I asked for those colors custom and got the spirals free because she was having a sale. They are all in 4 gauge and about 1 1/2 inches long.

These can’t be worn in healing lobes or used for stretching, so I’ll have to wait until I stretch up to the 4 (with some glass spirals I also bought on Etsy) to wear them, but I can’t wait.

From order to the day I received them, it was less than a week. Her products are custom, quality, and inexpensive. Give her your business.

And I can’t ever profess all the love I have for etsy. *swoon*

- M

My first step was to get an old tattoo fixed so that I’m happy to show it off. I’d gotten it to inspire the idea of peace within my life, but it turned out too generic and cutesy.

Here is the original:

My artist (who is AMAZING) made it more stylized:

The clouds will lead into my eventual half-sleeve – a knitting Buddha. I can’t wait. He’s drawing it up right now.

- M