Reading Lately

So I haven't managed to knit much, still working on that second jaywalker sock, but I have managed to read some.



I just finished 'The Kite Runner' this week and overall it was a pretty good book. I did learn a lot about Afghanistan that I did not know before reading the book and so for that educational part alone it was worth the read. I don't think I will go on to read 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' unless someone really convinces me that it is worth he read.

currently I am reading this:


I'm only on page 75 but so far so good. I've read the previous books and I know I'm behind the curve, but it's fun light reading that doesn't require a whole lot of extra thought.

Since we are officially into fall, I want to start knitting my first sweater, but I'm not quite sure which sweater pattern i want to knit. I'm thinking something a little on the chunky side because i love big warm sweaters and chunky knits go fast. I've seen a couple of Twinkle patterns that I love and so I might have to look into buying one of her books.

Nothing much has been going on around here, work as usual. I'm trying to get together the items I will make for Christmas...I need to start now in order for them to all get completed by Christmas.

My babe is so sweet, he went out into his garden yesterday and picked me a beautiful rose


it smells soooooo good and from far away it looks kinda fake, but it's the real deal. I love my babe, he's the best!

Hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Back to the Knit

Here are some updated pictures of the projects that I've been working on. First is my finished jaywalker...yea me, one down, one to go. I've already cast on for number two and am into the pattern part of the sock, so hopefully this should go faster than the first one. The first one fits just fine, although i did originally start with the smallest size and then realized that it was going to be too small so ripped it and re cast on for the next biggest size, which fits fine.



I was working on the second sock on the holiday and my great uncle (who has only one foot because he had to have the other one amputated) had jokes about me only having one sock done. He said he though the sock was for him since he only has one foot and i only have one sock finished. So, for Christmas my plan is to make him a couple of single socks in different colors since he had jokes.

For my birthday i received a ball winder from my Aunt and Mom. I love my ball winder. It is such a relaxing activity to wind yarn. While i still wanna buy a swift, for now the edge of my ironing board works just as well. I really didn't realize how therapeutic it is to wind yarn until I had my own ball winder....it's such a beautiful thing




A couple posts back I said i caught the crocheting bug, well here is where my progress stopped. It's suppose to be a star baby blanket, but the baby that it was meant for is already here....sooooo she'll get it in a couple weeks. Crocheting tends to go a wee bit faster than knitting, but I'm not as good at crocheting as knitting.



hope everyone has a great weekend....i think i'm gonna buy some yarn or some books this weekend...we will see.

Sad Day

Today the Mayor of the City of Detroit is suppose to accept a plea deal. While I am not a "supporter" of the Mayor, I do feel that the suburbs and the media have been out to get him for a while. I realize that he did perjure himself and that certain actions must be taken, the circus that has surrounds these issues is totally due to the media, both written and television. None of the big business or suburban officials wanted a Kwame running the City anyway and now they have exactly what they wanted. Yea he was cocky and arrogant, and broke laws but all I'm worried about is how the City will recover from this. His fate is sealed, he made his decisions and now he is dealing with the consequences.

All in all with Ken Cockrel Jr.. being made mayor , it leaves Monica Conyers as President of the City Council....and that leaves us right back at square one with a Mayor and City Council President who don't get along....(if you don't know she called him Shrek).

Everything that I hear about Detroit in the media is negative unless it is an event sponsored by a rich white dude. So unless it's the grand prix relatively little gets out in the local media, much less the national media that is positive about Detroit. While my City is not perfect, what major City is? There are plenty of positive things happening within Detroit that never receive any media attention and that never will because those aren't the headlines that grab peoples attention. Positive things have been going on in the City of Detroit for years. I have lived in the City all my life and I've never been attacked or robbed on the street, my car has never been stolen, I've never been shot or stabbed, but these are the images that prevail in the media. There are people in the burbs who have never been to the City and won't allow their children to visit the City because of the twisted perception that they have.

I have seen on comments on the free press and on the detroit news online that the citizens of Detroit deserve what they get when it comes to Mayor, But if that is the case then the United States deserved what it got when it elected Bush...and i don't think that anybody feels that sentiment is true, so why for the City of Detroit. A lot of it has to do with the racism that is prevalent in our area. Because the City is predominately Black and the suburbs predominately White there are major tensions because even our elected officials can't even pretend to get along (sidenote: which is the reason our area still doesn't have any form of mass transit yet every other major metropolitan area does), and if our elected officials can't get along, our citizenry can't get along.

What most of those in the suburbs fail to realize is the if the City of Detroit fails, the region fails.

I personally am tired of the whole situation, tired of the media and tired of people who are not supporters of the City of Detroit constantly talking about the City of Detroit. Kwame is not the first politician to break laws, and he will not be the last, we have plenty of them all over the nation, from local elected officials to national elected officials.

Crocheting Bug

So, I decided that I wanted to work on my crocheting skills ( which are close to non-existent). I cast on for the baby start blanket and after reading a few blogs and searching ravelry I think I've finally caught on. I will add pictures as soon as I get a chance, they are currently on my phone. The blanket will not be done before my friends baby gets here, but I am just taking it as a practice baby blanket and if it turns out nice enough then I will give it away. We will see what happens. As for the jaywalker socks, i am finishing the first one today hopefully, I'm at the toes decreases and so it should go very fast. I'm ready to cast on for the 2nd one so i can wear the pair. Besides that nothing much is happening, work as usual.
hope everyone has a great holiday weekend!

quick update

I don't have much progress on the knitting front, I got up this morning and went for a bike ride with my hunny which was very nice. I have to now finish my paper. I only have about 2 pages left and my rough draft of my final paper for my master's.......so off to work I go. have a great weekend everyone!

Where I Knit

Yesterday was a gorgeous day in Detroit. I've decided to start doing an installment of posts called: Where I Knit. I will take pictures of the places that I sit and knit at. Detroit has some beautiful buildings and I spend a good deal of time in them. I spent time knitting yesterday on the upper concourse in the Guardian Building in Detroit. I forgot to take outside pictures, but the architecture is stunning. Here is a link to the building website. I took some pics of the inside of the building. It's a beautiful building and it also has a yarn store inside (City Knits)....Gotta love a building in downtown with a yarn store inside! (Also i took these pics with my iphone....i love my iphone!)


A little history on the Guardian Building
The forty story skyscraper was completed in March 1927 and was originally the Union Trust Companies flagship headquarters. Smith Hinchman and Grylls architectural firm designed it with head designer Wirt C. Rowland. Forty artisans worked on the intricate murals, mosaic and stained glass, tile work and marble in the lobby. If you get a chance to visit Detroit, I highly recommend seeing it if you can.





and i knit on my jaywalker sock, yeah it's been a while working on these. I had to rip the first on after I turned the heel because it was to tight to get my foot into. I went back and cast on for the next size up and now it's fine, a snug fit, but fine.




My best friend is having a baby girl due in the next couple of weeks, I guess i should get to work on that baby blanket before she gets here. LOL one of these days I'm going to actually get something completed way in advance of someones due date.

I've got a wedding to go to today and today is looking lovely just like yesterday. I hope everyone is taking advantage of these beautiful weekends. Beautiful buildings, beautiful yarn beautiful weekends...what more could a girl ask for.

Drinkin' the Kool-aid

so I haven't been blogging or knitting much because I have been drinking the Apple kool-aid. My hunny got me one of the 3g iPhone and I am straight lovin' this thing. I bought a macbook pro a few ears ago and I have an iPod and while I love them i adore the iPhone. I haven't had any problems with a the only thing negative I can say is that the battery life is short due to the amount of stuff I use it for. I have been so busy using and playing with it that I haven't done much of anything else, which in some respects is sad. But I love my new phone and I don't care!