Relevance

Capricorn's horoscope for today:
Be the best witness to your own life. Double-check your activities to make sure you are spending time on the things that really matter. Ask the opinion of people you consider "good."

It seems that this is the current theme for things in my life right now. My coworker who is into astrology says that I should wait for Neptune to come out of retrograde before starting anything (big) new.

Many Karens in a Small World

I've run across NikkiKnits' blog before, and enjoyed it the 2nd time around, too. Everyone's done the Vanity Google, right? I got a big kick out of "(Your name here) needs..." that she had posted. Take the top 10 and list. Let me know what your favorites are!

KAREN NEEDS... (Courtesy of lacabezagrande.com)

1. Karen Needs to Grow Up!
2. Karen Needs A Lobotomy Fund
3. Karen needs to determine status of what we do and don't have.
4. Karen needs to learn the basics of spending and budgeting.
5. Karen needs to do is to develop some basic saving habits.
6. Karen Needs a New Job
7. Karen Horney
8. Karen needs money to buy the roller skates she desperately wants, so she becomes a partner in Pete's window-washing business.
9. KAREN NEEDS A MAN!
10. Karen needs Dr. Pelvic's knowledge, she needs to finish her thesis, and she needs his recommendation.

I found 2 Karen's (a knitter & non-knitter (her list above)) who had done similar memes and found another Karen in Australia who also happens to have a background in design. The funny thing is she has a link to loobylu and another knitter, and I hadn't found her name directly through another knitter's blog. What a small world.

I'll have to check out Chef Karen later.

"Karen" was probably one of the top 10 girls' names in the 60's. My grandmother's name is Esther, which she feels is an old-lady name. I wonder if, when I am her age, "Karen" will seem like an old-lady name because of name burn-out and it died off. When I was high school, a close group of friends were Karen, Karen, Sharon, Erin and Maral. There were 3 Karens in my French class, too. I had to go by middle name. Occasionally when there are too many Karens, I'll go by kd to make things easier ('cause they wouldn't call me Ren at Pottery Barn when I had a side job to hoard housewares and the other Karen had left.) Sometimes I just seem like I'm deaf until you yell my name twice. That way I know you're calling me, not someone else down the block.

'nuff said.

Cute Crafty Creature Creations

I love bopping around the blog-0-sphere and seeing what others have been up to. Some refreshing things I have been returning to are:

• Jess Hutch.com's fabulous new booklet of knitting her creations (hot off the press!) They are refreshingly offbeat. I have been waiting for this with anticipation. Her blog also has a link to knitted Zombies!

• Knitted Babes (fresh off the boat from England). They come as a kit or there is a book available complete with wardrobes. I recently adopted Dot Pebbles. They have cute gift potential!
• Poor Miss Finch has had a continual work in progress in adding to her doll family. Her inspiration is from an Interweave Knits' past issue. Click to see her most recent.
• LoobyLu's sponsors a Month of Softies and has her own creations.
  

My mother used to knit my Barbie clothes as a child. Now that I am no longer a newbie knitter, I'd like to try something similar. Knitting a doll is in the same vein - I can hardly wait!

As Halloween Approaches...

Hat-a-licious
Two weeks ago I had finished a pumpkin hat for a coworkers' daughter who has a penchant for wearing elasticized shorts on her head. This is due to a lack of hats. She is a hat lover in the earliest phase. A godsend to me, as any hat I've ever made for a child has been ripped off just as quick as it was put on. It's not just because she is old enough. My nephew of the same age still goes hatless. It's because she chooses to. She's a doll and everyone loves her! My dear, I will make you anything you want! She's a fan of over-the-ear styling.
Julian
My girlfriends & I went up to Julian, CA this weekend. They are known for their apples and hospitality. It was refreshingly crisp and quite chilly at night. Just as the daffodil bulb needs a chill to sprout next spring, I needed it to feel like Fall had begun. We had a tasty dinner at Romano's, a small Italian restaurant. We were lucky to have made it in right as the shops were closing and got the last non-reserved table. It was by the door, so dinner was a little drafty. We went back to our hotel room and enjoyed Kir Royales with chocolate. The next day we finished stopping by the little shops and antique stores and bought some apples and apple cider before heading back. Two years ago, So Cal had horrible fires raging, including Julian. It was good to see that it was spared.

Inspiration for Completion
We made a commitment to get together once a month and do crafting or project completion. It's especially enjoyable to do it with friends. One will be doing photo sorting, another organizing, and perhaps all-- starting a T-shirt quilt so that all of the sentimental ones are no longer laying around taking up drawer space. It looks like scrapping wasn't a popular option. It really is a chore to get everything together and then drag it to another location.

Fair Isle Rental

NPR brought to attention a meager monthly $600 (USD) home rental in Fair Isle by the National Trust in Scotland. There isn't much job opportunity save for knitting. Is that a bad thing?