Entanglements, Afghans, and Socks...

Yeah, I know - One of these days my titles may make sense. But I think you'll follow...

So, the entaglements part: I have to think about doing something I don't really want to do. One of the members of our women's group is being a royal pain in the kiester. I mean, really bad, and it's bad enough that some folks are quitting the group. I spoke to one of our long-time members and she suggests that, even though I know Gal A will "deny, deny, deny," it's probably better for the 2 of us to have a sit-down.

Now, given the fact that Gal A has been a witch to me in the past and is somewhat of a bully, I'm truly inclined to let this pass on to the next leader of the group, who is this gal's friend and has no history that I know of with her.

Chicken? Maybe. I'm truly not afraid of confrontation. It's just that I have a lot going on: working on a workshop, starting yoga training, dealing with simultaneous fundraisers from 2 different organizations. It comes down to: What do you want to spend your energy doing?

And I really don't want to spend my energy on someone who has issues about taking responsibility when I know what the conversation will end up being. I have 5 more months to deal with this gal and then I can just be a member of our group. I do think that after this recent issue, the peer pressure will get to her. So many people were appalled at her behavior that even though she's dense, she's gotta see it. I hope. Many of us are doing "damage control" and if it doesn't work out, then it doesn't work out. We can't keep people if they're determined to leave, and honestly, if asked, I'd be perfectly fine saying, "So-and-So gave too many members a hard time and they didn't want to be around her." We pay hefty dues, and we don't want to have to deal with that kind of crap.

So, let's move on to something else...Maybe by now Blogger has the pictures working. Whoopeee!!! They work!! So this handsome dude to the right is the hawk that was perched on the power line in my back yard. Hubby caught it with my new camera... He's got a bunch of shots of him, and I'm hoping that the poor fella found his lunch.

And this to the left is a long-ish shot of the orange afghan. No, it's not done yet, but I'm nearly there. I actually put it aside for some socks. I just needed a break from size 13 needles and double-stranded worsted.

Also, please don't give me credit for mitred squares. This is a pinwheel pattern from Encore's "8-hour afghan" series. And I'm here to tell ya - I can't do this in 8 hours. First off, I can't sit and knit for that long - they'd be prying me out of my chair. Second, size 13 needles ('nuf said - knitting with tree trunks). Third, somehow I don't have the attention span. I need to be watching a movie or something and then something distracts me or Tippi wants petting, or the mail's come... (sigh)

I don't have a picture of the socks yet. I will take one tonight. They're a purple heather and I'm knitting them on size 4s, I think. I have to check. It's a tighter stitch than the yarn calls for, but I'm trusting the pattern-maker, who says this means you get sturdier socks. The Van Gogh are now resting, having been frogged because I screwed up the lace. And I figured I should ease into the toothpick-sized needles. FYI, I still love Kollage square needles, but I put the socks back onto wooden needles because the 7" Kollages were giving me fits with their super-sharp tips - I had to wear a bandage on my left index finger as I use it to manipulate the right-hand needle and blood on hand-painted yarn? Not cool.

I can't remember if I posted this already, so if I did, forgive me. This is the headband and the SOAK for Kid #1's girlfriend. She liked it; but was a bit confused; thought it was a hat. But that's ok. Of course, I made it thinking she was blonde - which she was. She's let her hair go back to its normal color, which is kind of caramel. It should still be fine. It's a young girl's item and I think she'll wear it. If only one time, showing me she's using it!

The smoothie thing is going well. It's like a salad in a jar, and I'm honestly full and don't snack. Here's my latest:

GREEN SMOOTHIE:

3 large leaves romaine                  1 cucumber, peeled                      3/4 c. almond milk
1 handful baby spinach                 1 pear, cored and quartered       2 T. flax seed

Put all that in a blender and whiz up till it's the consistency you like. Oh, and I added about 1/2 t. fresh ground cinnamon.

You don't need any extra sweetener, no other spices...this whipped up and was my lunch the other day. It makes about 20 oz. I store it in a large mason jar and just drink it for lunch or dinner. Cool.  :)

Anyway, that's about all from here. We may have finally gotten "winter" but it's going to fluctuate again. Where's the snow????