Domestic Geek

I'm watching the Bonnie Hunt show right now and her musical guest today is Labelle. Man, those women still have pipes! I can't believe that Patti Labelle is 64 years old. All three of those women look amazing and it's inspirational that they're still doing what they love. Patti sang the National Anthem at one of the World Series games this year. I bet that was cool.

While surfing around, I came across the web site of a store in St. Charles, IL called My Eclectic Mess. This is exactly the kind of place I've dreamed of owning. It doesn't specialize in any particular craft, say scrapbooking or knitting, it encompasses a multitude of different crafts. Her web site is adorable, too. Really fits with the theme of her business. If I ever end up back in that area, I'd definitely like to check it out.

EDIT: The retail shop is closed as of April 2009, but she still does business online.

When I was shopping at a yarn store that was rather far from me, the owner asked where I lived. After telling her Aurora, I lamented that I'm not really close to any yarn stores. The closest one is about 9 miles away and I don't care for that particular store much. The store that is actually in Aurora is 10 miles away and is kind of off my regular beaten path. Anyway, she told me that she had heard a store was going to be opening in either Lowry or Stapleton.

Well, I just read on Ravelry (an online knit/crochet community to which I belong) that the store is open! It's called Modern Ewe and is located at 200 Quebec in Lowry (6 miles from home according to Google maps). As I practically drive past there on my way to work, it is definitely convenient for me. Sadly, the store is not open tomorrow, but I'll be checking it out later in the week. I really hope it's a cool store and some knitting groups form there. As much as I love the group that I currently attend, sometimes I don't go because it's just too freaking far to drive.

Last November I participated in NaBloPoMo (post every day for a month). Since I've not had much blogging motivation lately, it's the perfect time to join in and get that little extra umph I need to write here. I'll admit it is going to be a little tough during the three day work stints I do, but hopefully I'll get them worked in.

So what has me frustrated today? CBS.

I don't know what is up with them, but right now I think they suck. Are they trying to use broadcast flags again or something? Two weeks in a row now, Ghost Whisperer has not recorded. I even checked the schedule before I left for work yesterday and the PVR said it was good to go. Now, normally a missed recording would not upset me because I would go to the network website and watch the missed show online. Well, guess what? CBS doesn't have full episodes of this particular show available. They also don't have episodes available on iTunes. Uh, are you trying to piss your viewership off? Partner this with Jay Mohr no longer on the show (that Gary Unmarried show is a load of poo) and I'm about ready to forget about it.

Last week I thought it was my fault because I had the PVR programmed to record new Ghost Whisperer episodes and perhaps it wasn't tagged as new (even though it supposedly was). So this week I changed the setting to all episodes. No go. I was looking forward to sitting down and watching it tonight all day.

Well, next week Marcus is going to try something else and if it doesn't work, I guess Ghost Whisperer lost a viewer.

Yesterday I decided it was time to get back to working on the crocheted Popcorn & Cranberry Christmas garland (Ravelry Link) that I've had as a WIP for almost 10 years (I started it when I got the issue of Crafts back in 1998). Heck, it's been over two years since I drug the project out of storage and found the instructions. If I really concentrated on it, maybe in the two months before Christmas I will finally have enough of this stuff to decorate the tree!

Well, I sat myself down in my rocking chair, refreshed my memory by reading the pattern instructions and set to crochet. OMG, I've turned into a yarn snob. I worked on this last Christmas season with no issues, but after a year of knitting and crocheting with "good" yarns, this acrylic baby weight crap I am using for this project felt horrible. It's coarse on my hands, it splits, it doesn't slide well on the hook. *sigh* Maybe this is why it has taken me a decade to produce such a measly amount of garland.

I should have realized I had turned into one a few days earlier. I was making a practice pom pom for my eyelet hat with a gizmo I bought (more about that in a future post) and grabbed some acrylic from my bin. I kept holding that pom pom after I finished it and felt that something was off. I almost didn't make one for the hat at all, but I did and it is fine. Now I realize that I prefer the feel of natural fibers.