IntrinsicTina

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This weekend Rod and I took time to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary (without breaking the bank nor taking time off from work). Though we both would've liked to left for far flung places on Friday night, we opted to take the evening easy and leave at first light for our overnight in Portland. After searching online for days, I found a delightful Victorian Bed and Breakfast called The Lion and The Rose located in the historic neighborhood of Irvington, near the Rose Quarter. It was a good choice and turned out to be the time of year to get a great deal. Since we knew we wanted to bop around eating at local places we opted out of the breakfast portion (though we suspected it would have been wonderful to eat among those wonderful antiques in that opulent diningroom). This decision made our room cost a mere $99 for the night and our room, the Garden Room, was so cheerful, light, and warm that it felt special for having made it as a married couple for the past 10 years. After...

Calorimetry - scientific term describing the measurement of heat lost or gained. Also the name of a fabulous and versatile little headscarf to hold in the heat without covering the whole head. Perfect for those with long hair. I have also discovered these nifty little blasts of color are perfectly suited to keep out the cold if worn as a cowl. I like mine for the motorcycle. When I stop and can shove it back over my head and mask "helmet hair". These have become very popular with ladies working at the nursing home who want to compliment their cute little scrubs without completely sacrificing style. I've made a number of these delicious little beauties because they are so rewarding with their eye-catching colors and short row simplicity. Not to mention that shopping for cute buttons is a newfound passion. I'm probably not finished creating these. They make perfect gifts.

I decided to do a little shopping today since Thursday is my 10th wedding anniversary. Rod and I talked about doing our shopping in Portland (to save the sales tax) but I began thinking about how the majority of my shopping trips go with my husband...they suck! He gets bored easily and let's just face it, he doesn't want to spend the money. I'm glad I took this route even though I will likely "pay for it" later in disapproving looks and backhand comments. I shopped the clearance racks (of course). I knew I had gained weight and expected to be buying big stuff and didn't want to spend a lot on stuff that I hopefully won't be wearing for very long. (Do you hear that psyche? I expect to go DOWN in size.) However, it is one day before my dot (a.k.a. period) and I wasn't exactly rockin' the racks. Crap!!! I guess that means my weight isn't just gonna evaporate away on it's own. I might have to actually make a commitment. I guess I got...

2 76 77 What can I say? Apparently a designer lurks within my heart. Every once in awhile I get an overwhelming urge to make something without following a pattern. The yarn just screams to be worked into a specific shape for a specific purpose. I was sitting there minding my own business, contentedly following someone else's pattern when the feeling could not be ignored a moment longer. I dropped my knitting WIP (work-in-progress) and picked up my crochet hook and a wad of leftover yarn that my mother had given me then rooted through my own stash of leftovers to come up with this soothing combination that goes very well in my own living room. Since I liked it, I thought I should write up the pattern. No sense squandering divine inspiration by hoarding it all to myself. The pattern follows: Potted Plant Sleeve By Tina Flink Sleeve Using base color. Ch 50, join with sl st in first ch. Round 1: Chain 3 (this is the first dc), dc all around, adding one dc into bot...

Murderer! Apparently it is possible to "kill" your yarn and I did it, though I will plead to manslaughter since there was no intent to "kill". This morning at my LYS, a fellow knitting aficionado, began showing me the finer points of using the mattress stitch to join garment pieces. All at once I had an epiphany, this garment looks too wide and short. I panicked. I already knew that the length-wise gauge was off, adding one more diamond shape would have gotten me to get the proper length, but let's face it...we don't know what we don't know. I had already decided that a half shirt was perfectly acceptable and my daughter, the intended recipient, would likely wear it to the beach with her blue jeans. A quick measure confirmed my newest fear. The garment that I'd been loving working on, frogging, re-knitting, measuring and toiling over grew 2 inches in girth. It was a tragedy! Did you get that? A TRAGEDY! "How could this happen to me?...

My back is out...big time. I hurt completely around my torso, when I move and when I sit still. Last night when I felt my back "go", I was walking around a chair on my way to unplug a light, no twisting, no lifting. I just felt a quick and steady pain that increased to the point that my knees buckled slowly bringing me to a position on my hands and knees with no slack in pain. Every movement brought intense pain and though it was excruciating to remain immobile on my hands and knees, I instinctively knew that I needed to remain in that very position lest I not be able to get back up. I swore that I could feel my stomach and my ovaries and pain radiated from them as well. I tried to control my breathing though I was exhaling and inhaling through gritted teeth making loud sheeshing sounds. Since it was late and I was on my way to bed anyway, I crawled from the livingroom to the bedroom, loudly breathing and whimpering, while my husband brought a couple of Ibuprofen. My sm...

Easter Sunday dinner was at my house. We had two new faces in our crowd. My sister, Renee' appears to have a new beau (Dan) and my brother's girlfriend brought her grown daughter (Raena). It was great. We had a new audience for all the old shtick. Mom got to tell (some) of the embarrassing stories that she loves to embellish upon year after year and I got new victims (er, friends) to cook for. This year, through the wonders of the internet, I learned to cook my ham in the crock pot. Also new to my Easter repertoire is fresh baked cherry pies with Vienna vanilla ice cream on top AND chocolate-dipped strawberries. I also took the opportunity to use some very old china formerly owned by my former-mother-in-law (which will be passed down to my daughter). Kind of an odd holiday without the presence of small children to decorate for and put together imaginative Easter baskets. I didn't put up any tacky decorations save for the Easter Lily Rod bought for me and the tulips gr...

So, I'm working on this diamond tank top and I get to the second half of the second diamond and then it hits me.....This pattern is wrong! The diamonds aren't lining up correctly. Actually the diamond was too small by one whole row. I got help with the first diamond so I'm thinking, "Did my friend, Diana, do it wrong?" No, she did not. She made a bad pattern work. I figured out how to make it work properly, silently cursed the designer (or Family Circle for printing it wrong) but definitely not happy with whomever is causing me to have problems with this pattern. Then...I frog my work back to the second half of the first diamond. Yeah, my husband thought I was nuts, too. But when something isn't right and you're giving it as a gift...you take the time to make it right...and so I did. So glad that I took the time to make it right. I learned that I am capable of correcting a bad pattern. I learned that I am capable of making the tough decision to ...

Just when I thought I was all alone and lonely, I picked up the phone and I wasn't so lonely anymore. Friends are just the best when we can turn the frown upside down and uplift each other. My friend, Sunny, brought sunshine into the rainy day of my life by listening to a letter I composed with the thought of sending it to an estranged friend. She pointed out that we are not to be sorry for our feelings. Our feelings are our feelings and they are valid and necessary. We are allowed to be sorry for our actions, or inaction as it were. I agree. Another friend, Gabe, temporarily housebound due to illness, made my day by allowing me to commisseurate with him about how awful we feel about being unemployed. He showed me how we were alike in this regard, feeling useless and ashamed, but taking heart in the that this likely temporary. I also lamented the loss of a friend and the estrangement of another and told him about the steps I was taking to amend the estrangement. Validation from tr...