Good to be Back

Once again let me say, i am so happy to be knitting again! I've been a knitting fool, made a few projects from the start, and finished a couple from a long time ago. it feels good to have my creative outlet back. i wish i could paint or sculpt, i think that would at least make some money now and then. but god gave me needle crafts and needle crafts I'll do. you can see all my latest on ravelry.com.

i should keep track of all my creations and publish a book same day. yeah.. that would make some money. then i could go on knitty, common threads, and be in magazines! lol what i dreamer i am. how do you get that done anyway? hmmmm

the royal family has been feeling a bit neglected since i started knitting again. here's a pic of a guilty me and the prince tiger snuggling. he's such a baby.

Knit Along

about a week ago, after much thought, i decided to pick up my knitting needles again. i am sooo happy to report that my hand didn't go numb once! i have been knitting ever since. i even crocheted for hours and it didn't bother me. i am back on the crafty horse. YAY!

i was talking with my bff, Sinn the other day and she suggested a kal. whats that? why that's knit code for knit along which means you pick a project and work on it at the same time. i never did one before because i get intimidated by the skill of others. i know I'm not as fast or skilled as other people. a kal with my bff oughta be a good start. she's a great knitter and i could learn a lot from her.

so anyway, she suggested the pattern and as i looked in my stash i found the yarn and the amount the pattern called for! that never happens to me! I never have much money so i end up buying one or two skeins which is not enough to make anything really. but i lucked out this time. she had actually sent me this yarn like last year and i had been saving it for something special. so yoohoo i have the yarn, enough of it, the pattern and now a special kal.

i followed the pattern this time (mostly) and I'm almost done, just gotta do a bit of finishing work, then I'll post it on ravelry.com with picks. I'm not sure if i like it or not, but it does give me ideas.

so glad to be knitting again!

Independence Day 2008

Hello and Happy Independence Day America!!!! Happy 232nd birthday!!! What a nation we have become! I hope that in November i can finally say that we have our first African American president! I pray that he will be not only that, but also a great leader. I'm sure that he will be better than the ass in office now.

Anyway, i started the day with a bit of TV and laundry, then went to the in-laws for dinner. My sis-in-law is an excellent cook. then it was downtown OKC for some good old fashioned fireworks with the masses.

we were among the first handful of people to arrive at our location along the Oklahoma River side. It had been years since i ventured into that part of the city and the last time i saw the area it was still overgrown and sort of yuck, ya know. but let me say i am soooo happy with what the city has done! it was absolutely beautiful and freshly trimmed. The skyline was awesome, i You can see a few OKC buildings. cant wait to go back on a random day for a photo shoot. If i were a professional i would have a good location for my clients.

here's a pic of my Si at the place we staked out.

You're probably wondering where this place is along the river. I'll never tell!!! Lol But seriously, for anyone reading my crap, anywhere along the river is a great place to exercise, hang out, or take pictures. I'm not much of an outdoors kind of person, but I'm sure there are wonderful animal and outdoorsy things there too.

We got there kinda early and watched everyone arrive. some people were lighting fireworks while we all waited, so then that brought the cops. I'm trying to keep a low profile since there's bud dry in my big gulp cup. lol Fortunately they weren't interested in what i may be drinking, they wanted to ticket the people lighting the illegal fireworks! I'm kinda glad they came along when they did though, some one's firecracker fell over on it's side and started going into the river. what if it had gone in the opposite direction? someone or some one's baby could have been seriously hurt.

The people watching aspect of it all was the most fun part. But the fireworks display sucked balls! Horrible. it started, it stopped, it started again, seconds between bursts, then just as you think its about to start gettin good, it stops. all this within 20 minutes. I was left with a 'What the hell?' feeling as we left the park. sucked, sucked, sucked, sucked, sucked, serious balls.

But i still had fun because I'm drunk! Happy 4th America! SMOOCHES!!!!!!!!

Sinn's Visit and OKC Gay Pride 2008

Today was a sad day, my beautiful best friend went back home to Pennsylvania.

She was here with her wife and daughter for a whole week and i loved every second of it! we talked, we laughed, we ate, we drank, we walked, we watched TV, she knitted, we shopped, we sat in comfortable silences. i have to say they were a complete joy to have around.

this is her with her wife on the left, and beautiful daughter on the right .

Prince Tiger has a new girlfriend and mommy couldn't be happier! The royal family was very pleased, being very social and cuddly.

The Oklahoma City Gay Pride Celebration on June 20th was fun. Here are a few pics from the parade.

Gay bikers and... gay cops? lol

lots of banners, floats and beads.

I know you cant really see what the sign says, this guy is representing gay teachers!

Here's Mary with Miss Gay Oklahoma. I still cant believe she ran up to the car like that!

gay dogs to the right!

and more gay cops! lolAfter we watched the parade we drove up the street to the real celebration. I was in awe when i saw the crowd. There was a sea of people and this picture doesn't do it any justice. Trust me when i say to multiply the people in this pic by 1000. If i had a better camera and weren't facing the sun i would have gotten a great shot of the mass party.

I have been on a happy high all week and I am so sad that they had to go back home. I couldn't ask for better house guests. There was always something to do and a lot of things i didn't get to do. there never seems to be enough time. I will miss them. I hope they had fun because i did, and cant wait till the next time.

And because i couldn't post them all here, there are even more pics of the OKC pride parade on my flickr page, http://www.flickr.com/photos/bastet74/ . I have to say that i am very impressed with the number of pictures my phone was taking and holding. Pic after pic and never a full warning! when i got home to download it all i had 345 pics! It was handling things! lol

Thanks everyone for reading and as my niece said, "Keep being gay".

Sangin n Dancin

Hi people! Well, me and my hands are feeling much better these days. i had to blog today because I'm feeling particularly well. its like I've almost got my mojo back! but then there's the problem of what to do with it when it does come back. i wont worry about that now, though. I've got a swing in my step and a song in my heart. "Ooh Celie! I feels like sangin!" lol and let me add to that dancin!!

i cant wait till my bff arrives next week! yes, yes it is time for our once a year visit! I want to do so many things this year. a photo shoot with her family, the gay pride celebration on the 20th, a tour of the city! our city has been under remodel since the 90's but things are really cookin now. i gotta show her all the upgrades around town that we cant afford to use! lol what else?? knitting shops and stitch and bitches, oh we're gonna talk and have fun.

i wish i could move up where she lives. seems like everyone here has legal and/or drug problems. I'm starting to stereotype the people in the place I've lived all my life. i grew up with a good part of the population so it pains me to feel this way. i think i need a change of scenery to separate myself, unfortunately that will have to wait. i know, i am the one that needs to change and adapt. i am working on it as always. things really are looking up for me these days. i wont go into it though.

I'll close for now with a photo of the Prince Tiger caught in his mommy's shoes! Prince Tiger has a shoe fetish!

Carpal Tunnel Surgery (a patient's pov)

Well i had the surgery as planned and i think it went well. I'm still in the process of healing but I no longer have that pain that used to wake me up at night. Well, in the right hand, anyway. The left hand still keeps me screaming now and then.


Since I'm naturally nocturnal, I made sure to go to bed early the night before because as with most surgeries there is no eating or drinking after midnight. I felt well rested that morning as they were putting in the iv's. they gave me 2, one on each arm. one was to give me medicines like Zantac for my acid reflux and a sedative. the other went into the right arm for the local anesthesia. I layed down on a special table that made both arms spread out like a T. I was supposed to be awake for the whole thing, but i was out as soon as the anesthesiologist pushed the sedative. lol next thing i know they're waking me up and putting me in a wheelchair.


I still felt loopy when the nurse was giving me my home-care instructions. She was showing me a few basic hand exercises to do and she said to do them 10 times each per hour. Now that sounds like a lot but seriously, only takes a few seconds. They are letters from the American Sign Language alphabet; b, e, a, and s. Easy for me since i already know a bit of ASL, long story on how.

I think i should list some cons of this surgery in case someone is curious about what to expect. If my doctor is an example of the average he will give you no information on what to expect other than it'll hurt for a while. First of all, I had to keep the bandages on for 8 days after the surgery. I said 8, eight long itchy days! I couldn't get it wet so i had to cover half my arm in plastic before getting into the shower. and everything is done with one hand because, as u can imagine, the other is very weak. if you are planning this surgery please have someone around that can care for you, you will need them. everything like brushing my hair and teeth, opening jars or bottles was difficult, I'm right handed so pretty much everything was done with my left hand. eating and drinking was also an adventure in ambidexterity. and not to be vulgar, but i had to learn to wipe my kitty with my left hand after going to potty. its harder than you think. lol i completely understand the reason he didn't do both hands at once. a person would be completely disabled for a while, to the point of needing serious bathroom help.

it has been a few weeks now and it itches less. the only things that have bothered me so far would be the weakness and itching. i have a high tolerance for pain and the meds help of course. when i went to my follow up he asked if i was ready to do the other hand yet; i had to decline. I've just regained the ability to use the right hand pretty close to normal now but i want to wait another month or two until i get full strength back. so i guess we'll see in a couple months.

P.S. i am not a nurse, only a patient. but if you have any questions about my experience or what else to expect, please email me.

"Eh, what's up doc?"

Yeah, it's been a couple months, but i hadn't felt much like writing. I am feeling much better these days as long as i don't think about all the problems with my new shack. That's a whole other issue.....

The reason I'm feeling better starts about 6 or 7 weeks ago when i started having the most unbearable back and chest pain. i went to the emergency room in case i was dying; i am a 30something smoker so i know the deal. After a few hours of sticking, poking and prodding they concluded that i was suffering from HEARTBURN!!! oh my gosh. how embarrassing, right.

After a bit of a chuckle with the e.r. doc i started to talk about some of my other problems hoping he'd refer me to some specialists since my primary doc refuses. Since he was in a hurry, as all e.r. docs are, he told me that i did not need a referral. apparently i can see any doctor that takes my insurance. what a revelation! like DUH! why didn't i think of that before? since then, I've taken his advice and made several appointments with a few doctors.

I've already uncovered one serious misdiagnoses not to mention general neglect of my overall health. One of my new doctors is an orthopedic surgeon that will soon change my life. As all my good stalkers know, i have suffered with carpal tunnel syndrome for years and have had to give up my passion for yarn and fabrics. well folks, i am happy to say that i am having carpal tunnel surgery Tuesday! this is the first of two because this surgeon wouldn't do both hands at once for some reason. but who cares?! right?! i am finally going to have some relief and maybe even pick up my needles again!!!

I just watched the whole surgery on ORlive and i am a bit weirded out, but i just had to see what he was gonna be doing. here's the link to the surgery in case anyone's curious. http://www.or-live.com/hartfordhospital/1618/. And fyi, ORlive (http://www.or-live.com/) is a website that shows actual surgeries, so its not for the squeamish. i find it helpful to look at surgeries that friends and relatives might be having and even myself now. so anyway, its a cool site i have on favs next to webMD.

Thank god for the heartburn that sent me to the emergency room that gave me the doc that told me that i needed no one's permission to see a specialist! so now that that problem is being taken care of I'm going to pursue legal advice on that misdiagnoses and neglect. needless to say i wont be seeing my old doctor anymore. how do you fire a physician? I've done it in the hospital before for relatives but all those were in the face "you're fired" literally. i want that same satisfaction in this case. i suppose i could write a formal complaint against him to the medical board. i think I'll talk to a lawyer before i start writing angry letters tho.

It seems now that medial woes could turn into legal woes. and as long as I'm gonna be talking to lawyers i think I'll look into suing my landlord and housing authority. Below is a picture of the foliage that grows in my kitchen window, or rather through my window. apparently the housing authority thinks this is ok.

Besides the in-house atrium, the whole house leans to the south like its about to fall over, there is an ant and termite infestation, and i have painted particle board edged with ridged metal flooring for kitchen counter tops. the landlord's response to the insects was "oh i have ants real bad this year too." and then she hands me a styrofoam coffee cup of boric acid (no lid). what the hell am i supposed to do with that? "BITCH YOU HAVE TERMITES IN YOUR HOUSE!!!!!" is exactly what i wanted to scream at her. but i doubt angry shouts would work either, so I'm just gonna get some legal advice at this point.

And now, after 3 long years i finally have a new cell phone! The samsung beat, it has everything i wanted on it, pics, mpegs, mp3 player and it came with a memory card! i love it! yes things are looking up these days. and add to that my best friend is coming to visit for our local gay pride celebration in June. I cant wait to see her and her family!

The Move and Pencil Revisited

I'm finally getting things settled into the new place. There are things that you just never know about a place until you move in. None of my stuff seemed to be fitting where i wanted to put it, and that's because this house is crooked and run down like the place i just left. i swear i have the worst landlord in the city. they are the most half-ass, ghetto rigging, do the least to get by people I've ever had the misfortune of renting from. And there seems to be no obvious reason for their misery, i assume that they make a very nice profit since they own many rental properties and constantly flip other houses throughout the city. if i had first and last money for another place i would have gotten away from these slumlords i have now.

this is the slowest unpacking process ever! I've been here for about 3 weeks now and still have several boxes to empty, no idea where to put things like bathroom towels, and absolutely no pictures hung. i need to get back into shape, it's never taken me more than 2 weeks to settle into a new place before. the carpal tunnel thing keeps me from doing a lot too, though.

the royal family has settled in with almost no problems. Prince Cracker was very upset the first few days, here he is hiding from paparazzi cameras in the left photo. he has since relaxed and reports that he actually loves having more space to run and play. Here he is napping on his favorite rug.

Seen here, napping together, the rest of the royal family are equally pleased..

Since the move i haven't been able to knit because my hands just wont take it, but i did get to finish an old project the other day. Do you remember the pencil scarf? Well I've finally tweaked it into a

pillow! its was really easy and can be used for so many different things. it made a pretty good draft blocker in this pic.

That's all for now, I'll close with a photo of the Prince Tiger on one of his several thrones. Isn't he handsome?!

On The Move

Well everybody, i finally dotted all the i's and crossed all the t's for this move and I've been packing for a couple weeks.

I was planning to write about it last night but I had run into a couple of snags and was on the verge of changing all my plans. I have serious disagreements with the way the landlord cares for their own property, but I realized that I'm stuck for now and there is nothing I can do. This move is my last move into a rental property anyway, I have plans to buy a house in the next 2-3 years. And since there's a whole new set of issues with home ownership, I'm going to become very educated on the subject in the mean time. This house seems better, but you never really know until you live there a while. I hope it's not as drafty as the one I live in now.

I'll be out by Saturday night and that means I'll be offline until Tuesday. I was supposed to be hooked up on Monday, but the cable company called me today to offer a deal i could not refuse. Apparently they had over-booked their installations for Monday and since i don't mind waiting a day, they are upgrading me to digital basic and i get free installation of both! This is the best experience I've ever had with this company or any other lately. But, since I've been duped before by companies like this, i recorded everything on my machine just in case. I hope that everything goes smoothly, i do miss the wonderful DVR. So far, so good and even better with the free cable install!

My kitties are loving all the boxes! I couldn't resist taking pics of them enjoying themselves.

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The reclusive Princess Angel, seen here in this rare stock photo, was unavailable for comment on why she missed this royal family photo session. Sources say she was too upset to attend over the recent loss of her favorite and only cat tree.

Sin is the Best!

Look what my best friend, Sinnomen, sent to me! It arrived at my door yesterday by way of our united states postal service. I am truly lucky to have a friend as thoughtful and generous as she is. Even though we have been separated by more than 1100 miles for years, she remains my closest friend. I hope to have enough money to move where she lives someday soon. (If anybody reading would like to contribute to my moving fund please email me at the address provided on my profile page.) ; D

Anyway, the ever so thoughtful package contained several items:

a knitting magazine that has some nice patterns,

a wonderful new project bag that i can't wait to use,

a pretty gold blouse to wear when i get the chance to have a night out someday,

and a lovely handmade, cotton, lavender hat to wear on cold winter days like today.

So thank you Sin! You made my day, you're the best bff!

V-Day

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

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I just wanted to show off my brand new, ultra comfy, cotton, winter nightie. A V-day present from my sweetheart. Its soooo soft and warm, I love it!

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The Pencil Scarf

Hello again world! I know it's been a while since i posted anything but i've been a bit busy these days. I'm planning a move and i just need to get all my ducks in a row. All i'm waiting on now is a definate move date which should be within the next 2 weeks.

Anyway, since its been so long i thought i'd go ahead and post/publish my first pattern here. Let me know if you have any questions, it is my very first pattern and i am still learning. :) I've also thought about making this into a pillow. I'm sure there are a few things that could be done with this pattern. Let me know what you've done with it! Thanks!

Pencil Scarf
by: Kitty

Yarn: Acrylic or any worsted medium weight (4)
Needle: 6mm
Gauge: 4sts and 5 rows = 1 square inch

Note- Slip the first stitch of every row as if to knit, except when changing color; knit the first stitch of every color change. So every first st of every row is a knit st.

Use 2 strands held together throughout and with every color change.
Color A: red
Color B: Gray
Color C: yellow
Color D: cream
Color E: black


With color A (2 strands held together) CO 20 sts
Rows 1-16: knit across rows. (garter st)


Drop color A, join color B (however works best for you)
Row 17: purl across row (ws)
Row 18: k across row
Row 19: p across row to last st, k last st
Rows 20-24: k
Row 25: p across row to last st, k last st
Row 26: k
Row 27: p across row to last st, k last st
Row 28-32: k
Row 33-36: repeat rows 25 and 26 two times

Drop Color B and join color C
Row 37: k 2, purl 5, k 1, p 4, k 1, p 5, k 2 (ws)
Row 38: k across row (rs)
Row 39: k 1, purl 5, k 1, p 4, k 1, p 5, k 2
Row 40: k


This is where you can make it as long as you want. Repeat Rows 39 and 40 for pattern until desired length.

Drop color C and join color D after finishing a ws row.
We’ll call this row 140: K across row with new color.
Row 141: p across row to last st, k last st
Row 142: k
Row 143: p across row to last st, k last st

The next row begins a series of decreases.
Row 144: k 2 tog (knit 2 together), k to the last 2 sts, k 2 tog = 18 sts
Row 145: p across row to last st, k last st
Row 146: k 2 tog (knit 2 together), k to the last 2 sts, k 2 tog = 16 sts
Row 147: p across row to last st, k last st
Repeat rows 144- 147, should have 12sts on the needle

Drop color D and join color E
Row 152: k across row
Row 153: k
Row 154: k 2 tog (knit 2 together), k to the last 2 sts, k 2 tog = 10

Repeat rows 153 and 154 until you have 4 sts on the needle, BO in pattern. Weave in ends.

Finally!

Hello everyone! Yes, I finally started a page here and this is my very first blogger post. I had been avoiding creating a new account and password because its just so hard to keep track of the accounts and passwords i already have. I had to give in since my favorite craft site is linked to blogger.

Anyway, since this is my first post, and blogger makes things pretty easy here, i should dive right in and share with you, the world, the beautiful new shoes i got on sale today.

They're so cute I'm afraid to wear them because i don't want them to get dirty. I love anything baby phat! Mostly because of the kitty logo, and secondly because her designs are gorgeous.

I even have a tattoo of her logo on my back.

Well everyone, this is me and my blog so far. Stayed tuned for more from the litter box. Smooches!