Fiber Lily

Swap Q & A

2010-03-31T08:13:00.002-07:00

Are you a knitter or crocheter? Knitter

What is/are your favorite projects to create? Socks

What is your favorite yarn type (wool, cotton, etc?) Any yarns you don’t like to work with? Favorite: Superwash wool. Don’t like: Mohair

What is your favorite color ? Least favorite? Favorite: green, blue, red, purple, brown. Least favorite: pastels and neons.

What is your favorite thing about the city you live in? Favorite: The mountain views and the laid back attitude. Least favorite: Eventhough we have 1 million people living here, it still feels like a small town. Everything closes by 9pm, except on Sundays when everything closes by 6pm. Everywhere I go, I run into someone I know.

What is your favorite thing to do when you visit a new place for the first time? Ask a local where the best place to eat is located.

Do you have any other hobbies, besides fiber craft? Photography, I also dye yarn and occasionally sew.

Do you collect anything? socks, sock yarn, bottle caps, interesting photos, handmade stitch markers, sock knitting needles, cotton cloth (esp. pockets from cargo pants), project bags, and flair buttons w/ interesting/funny sayings.

Do you like sweets? Yes. Chocolate, taffy, pralines, oreos, sweets that combine sweet with spicy. I don’t like black liquorice or apricots.

What are your favorite scents? Citrus, jasmine, mint.

What is your living situation (married, kids?) Do you have any pets? Married, no kids, 3 cats, 1 dog.

Is there anything important your pal needs to know (pet allergies, food allergies, etc?) No pet or food allergies. Allergic to smoke.

Once More and Yet Another Time

2010-03-13T22:48:00.005-07:00

Yeah, I did it again. I signed up for another swap today. This is a book and yarn swap on Ravelry. It was weird because I was just sitting on my couch, knitting away on my SM4 (Rnd 1) sock and listening to the Socks in the City podcast, and all of a sudden I started thinking about how cool it would be to swap books and yarn. So off to Ravelry I went searching, and sure enough someone just started a book and yarn swap. Sign ups are currently taking place, with the last day to sign up being April 1, 2010. I, of course, signed up right away. The good thing about this swap is that it's pretty laid back, the only requirements are that you send at least one skein of yarn and one book, and the book can be used. I have a ton of books that my MIL gave me that I will probably never read, as well as other books I have read and have no desire to keep around any longer, so maybe they can find a new home with my swap partner.

On another note, DH gave me the go-ahead to buy yarn and dye and is helping me set up my own dye studio in the garage. I am so excited! I've been wanting a dye studio for a couple of years now, and when we bought this house I was really hoping that I'd be able to have one, and now I will! I purchased 4 single pound cones of undyed sock yarn, which comes out to about 1814 grams, which should yield about 18 100gm 400yd skeins. On the dye end, I bought acid dyes in primary colors and black, which should allow me to make any color I choose. In addition, the grocery store had powdered drink mix on sale, as well as vinegar, so I stocked up. I also bought dye storage containers, measuring cups, measuring spoons, food coloring, funnels, stirring spoons, a shower curtain (as a drop cloth) and spray bottles at the dollar store. DH went to the hardware store today and bought everything he needs to make me a work bench out of an old door we took down from our house. He said that he would also put up some shelves for me, and he's planning on putting up 2 8ft strips of fluorescent lights in the garage so that we both will have light in there. So, don't be surprised if you see a post from me in the near future about an etsy shop filled with my hand dyed sock and lace yarns.

Dyeing

2010-03-06T18:53:00.002-07:00

I've recently been feeling the dyeing bug biting at me again, and so I've been trying some new things with the Kool-aid dyeing. I do have a couple of Jacquard dyes, but I don't have a dye pot that is exclusively for dyeing, or a place to dye in that isn't the kitchen/dining room at the moment. I am hoping that our garage clean out tomorrow will result in some dye space, then all I will need is a work bench, a large non-food dye pot, a hot plate, and/or a non-food crockpot.

So, Thursday morning I put some sock yarn to soak and began making dyes. I made a color progression from yellow to purple: yellow, orange-yellow, orange, red-orange, red, darker red, purple-red, and finally purple. (Warning: Dye colors in liquid form are darker than they appear on the yarn.)

However, I ran out of time to dye the yarn before going to work and it wasn't until last night that I snuck in some time to dye between stalking my spoilee and reading the Ravelry forums. Except, I didn't use any of the dyes I had made on Thursday. Instead, I just emptied packets of Kool-Aid right on top of the soaking yarn, did not stir it in, and left it to sit while we went to dinner. When we came home, I added some vinegar to the pot, stirred the yarn gently, and then dripped single random drops of food coloring on top. I waited a few minutes, then carefully transferred the pot to the stove top, and began to heat the pot. As the water became clear, I would randomly either stir the yarn, or drip different colors of food coloring on top. Once I was happy with the colors, I left the yarn at a steady temperature on the stove top for about 45 minutes to let the color set. After the time was up, I took the pot off the heat and let it cool overnight. In the morning, I drained out the water, rinsed and washed the yarn, and hung it up to dry.

What do you think? I haven't come up with a name for this colorway yet, since it's not completely dry at the moment, and the colors are always different when it's dry. Therefore, once it is dry, I'll take more interesting photos and try to remember to post them, along with a colorway name. So if anyone has name suggestions, I'd be happy to hear them.

Earlier, DH helped me re-skein some yarn, so right now I have some yarn soaking on which I will use the dyes I made on Thursday. I'll let you know how it goes. Maybe I'll even remember to take photos while I dye.

On another note, relating to yesterday's post, Iron Knitter Round 4 began today, and I have until March 20, 2010 to finish. It's a lovely cabled pattern called "Maeve," and I wound a ball of Malabrigo Sock in the Impressionist Sky colorway. It is a beautiful medium blue that I'm sure Moh is going to love. I'm going to be making these for Moh's birthday, since I know she wouldn't have liked any of the patterns for the other rounds. She really doesn't like lace, and though she might have been okay with the shops/houses on the colorwork socks, the legs came out so tight that I can barely get them on myself. So, since she's one to two shoe sizes larger than me, I knew those wouldn't work either. But I think she'll be okay with cables. At least I haven't heard her say anything bad about cables, unlike the lace socks where she asked why my socks had holes in them.

Sock Madness still has not started, but I did pick out a yarn for the first round. We were supposed to pick something "wild," and I think this fits.

It is Socks That Rock (http://www.bluemoonfiberarts.com) in the Spawn of Braun colorway. I wound it into a cake when I wound the Malabrigo, so it's all set to go for whenever Sock Madness begins. I'm just so grateful that I have two weeks to complete IK Rnd 4, during which time SM is supposed to begin, and I will have 10 days off of work. That should give me plenty of time to do both pairs of socks and work on my SOAB package. I can't wait!

I wish I may, I wish I might

2010-03-06T00:04:00.004-07:00

A list of wishes all in one place:

http://www.theloopyewe.com/wishlist/show/20448/?token=f487da86214c

http://amzn.com/w/1TLZXU8AV7CTT

http://www.knitpicks.com/cfCart/viewWishlist.cfm?wishlistid=3297854D-219B-8E23-CC71B995C4FE384F&medid=WLBL

Yay! Now I don't have to go to three different websites to remember what I've been looking for.

My Plate Overflowith

2010-03-05T20:17:00.002-07:00

Deep breath. It seems as though I may have too much on my plate this month. At least it keeps me busy, and keeps me from getting bored. The only problem is that I have been seriously bitten by the crafting bug and I can't seem to stop myself!

At this very moment I am in two knitting competitions (Iron Knitter and Sock Madness), I am doing a Mystery sock KAL, and I signed up for a swap with the SOAB group on Ravelry. The last of which has given me so many crafting ideas that my mind is whirring with the possibilities. So let's break it all down.

Iron Knitter
I have completed Rounds 1-3 on time and I'm currently in the running for the title of Iron Knitter. Round 4 begins tomorrow (March 6, 2010) at 2pm ET, which is 12pm here. I'm still not sure which yarn I'm going to use. I'll make a firm decision once I see the pattern. Hopefully, the deadline for IK Rnd 4 will also be posted tomorrow so that I will know if I should knit constantly all weekend, or if I will have time to clean out the garage.

Sock Madness
Hasn't started yet, but will start sometime within the next ten days. The only starting timeline they have given us is sometime between March 1 and March 15, 2010. Sock yarn for the first round should be "wild" and I think I'm going to end up going with STR in the Spawn of Braun colorway.

Mystery Sock KAL
I haven't even started yet. Clue #1 was released March 2, 2010 and Clue #2 was released today. I haven't picked out a yarn or beads. I think I'm just going to end up saving the pattern for a time when I'm not knitting 14 pairs of socks back to back, and at the same time.

SOAB Swap
I received my spoilee's info yesterday and spent a good deal of time last night, this morning, and this evening secretly getting to know her. I picked out quite a few things at the craft store to work on and I'm very excited to get crafting. I also read several Instructables http://www.instructables.com/ today which spawned another slew of crafting ideas for my spoilee. I'm so eager, I can't wait to get started! However, I'll have to work it all around the schedule of the two competitions. At least I have a whole week off of work, March 11-20, for Spring Break. So, that should give me some time to work on everything.

Whew. Okay. I'm feeling better now, and not so overwhelmed. Writing everything out really seems to give me some perspective. I wonder when I'll be able to fit in time to knit the blanket for Mel's baby due in June? Or Dad's socks by his birthday on May 24th? I guess only time will tell.

Updates and New Yarn

2009-09-18T11:31:00.003-07:00

Not much has happened in the Casa del FiberLily since last week. On Monday when I went into work, my boss had come up with a solution to the problem I spoke about last week. Her solution: the male teacher won't be allowed to take the kids off to other parts of the building alone. I explained to her that this didn't really solve the issue of me being accused of calling the male teacher a child molester. She stated that the male teacher didn't want the student to know that he had betrayed her confidence. To which I replied that the student needed to know that we knew she had told him something so that we could clear up what was actually said. She finally agreed to pull the student aside, and after conversing for about fifteen minutes the student went to class and she went back into her office. No word was said to me or my male co-worker. It wasn't until third hour when I had this student in my class that I was finally able to find out what had happened.

Apparently, the male teacher had seen me talking to this student and pulled her aside after class that day to ask her what I said. She told him that I had just told her to "Be careful" and he assumed the rest. She told me that this is what she told the principal and, when asked, confirmed to the principal that I had indeed NEVER called him a child molester. THANK YOU! That's what I've been saying!!! Of course I never received an apology for the accusation, but at least the principal now knows that he is a liar.

In other news, I have to wait until October 9th to find out if I do indeed have PCOS and RA for sure, since I'm currently waiting on the results of the many blood tests my doctor ordered last week. I'm pretty sure, like 99% sure, that I do indeed have PCOS, but at least I'll know for sure and my new doctor told me that there is treatment for it. Treatment! Why didn't any of the other doctors I have spoken to tell me this?!?!?

As a treat after the crappy Monday I had, I stopped at the LYS near work and bought myself three hanks of Cascade Heritage sock yarn. And then on Wednesday it was sock club at the LYS near my old apartment, so I came home with two hanks of Malabrigo Sock, even though I was last to pick and didn't get Archangel which is the one color I've been searching for everywhere.

Today is my day off and I've been really feeling the crafting bug. I want to make something! But probably not anything knitted today since I'm kind of looking for instant gratification. I think it's because I'm so excited about this weekend. On Saturday I'm going to on a road trip to Gilbert with my knitting friends for Swap-o-rama-rama, and Sunday I'm going to a knitting friend's house for a sewing party! Yay! However, I'm having a little trouble in the inspiration department. Any suggestions?

Accusations

2009-09-11T22:59:00.003-07:00

Despite my best efforts, I've been feeling really down since I left work yesterday. In fact, I bawled all the way home, and then more on my husband's shoulder when I arrived. Now, this is partially due to my current fragile emotional state, but mostly due to my asshole coworker. And right now I really just need to get it out there so that I'm not constantly dwelling on it. However, it's a bit complicated, so I may ramble on a bit.

It all started as I was leaving work yesterday. As I was packing up to go, my boss approached me and asked if it was true that I had been spreading a rumor about my male coworker being a child molester. Yes, you read that correctly, a child molester. Now, being a teacher, these are some pretty inflammatory accusations, and so I asked him why he thought that I would think that about him, and why he thought I was going around telling people this rumor. He claimed that he had proof, and when asked, told me that a student told him that I had told her that he was a child molester.

Now, anyone that knows me knows that I am a very straight forward person, and if I truly thought that he was a child molester I would have confronted him about it, I wouldn't have said anything like that to a student. So, I asked him what exactly the student told him, to which he replied he couldn't completely remember as it was told to him a week and a half ago! To which I then asked why he didn't come and talk to me about it when this student said this to him. He replied that he originally was just going to ignore it until the events that had transpired the previous school day.

Ok, time for some background. 1) The school I work at is in a business complex. Which currently has a construction site next to it, due to some new development. 2) It is school policy that NO teacher be left alone with a student, male or female. This is not only for the student's protection, but also the teacher's so that no violence or false accusations can be made against the teacher. 3) This particular male teacher on a daily basis has a tendency to take students alone with him to the back of the building, or into the desert behind the building, or into other parts of the building. Sometimes it's one student, sometimes it's more than one. He likes to be friends with the kids, and has done this since he began working at the school. Recently, he has told our principal that he and the kids are putting on a play and now he has her permission to meet with them in these areas to rehearse. 4) In addition to this, he has in the past invited a student to go camping with him, to which the student's parents replied with "No, you can't go. I don't know this guy. For all I know he could be a child molester." (It's school policy that the parents meet with the principal and not the teachers, so many parents have never met any of us.) This particular student has a nasty habit of making up things and spreading rumors, and thus came to school the day after his mother made this comment and told all of the other kids. Based on this information, another student told his parents that this particular male teacher was a indeed a child molester. His mother has since been telling any other student/parent that will listen that this teacher is a child molester. 5) The area where we clock out is near this teacher's classroom as well as the door to exit the school. This teacher's classroom shares a window with the parking lot.

Thus bringing us to present day, or rather two days ago. It was the end of the day on Wednesday and the male teacher I have been talking about and I were the only adults left in the school. My student finished up and went home. He still had two male students whose parents had not arrived. Not wanting to sit in my classroom alone in the back of the school and wanting to leave as soon as the last student left, I went and sat next to where we clock out. As I sat there I looked at the clock and looked out the window for any cars that might belong to his student's parents. This teacher then told me, "It's okay, you can go." To which I replied, "No, actually I can't. I can't leave you alone with a student. It's school policy. You know, in case he hurts you or something." He then told me that he thought that was sexist because if he was a female teacher this wouldn't be an issue. To which I replied that no, it was school policy that NO teacher be left alone with a student, male or female teacher, male or female student. He gave a little unbelieving "hmm" and went back to work. I few minutes later, one of his students finally left. Keep in mind that throughout this time I am not only looking at the clock, but I also keep looking out the far window into the parking lot, as well as zoning out because I am tired. After a few minutes he said to me, "You know, the next time a teacher is here with a student and I have to stay, I'm going to sit right next to them." I responded with a small snort and said, "Ok", because I totally wouldn't have a problem with that, and would probably actually find it a relief to have an adult to talk to while waiting for a parent.

Thus, bringing us back to accusation day. So, like I said, he couldn't totally remember what the student said, but told me who the student was, and said that she had said it was along the lines of "Be careful who you hang out with", and she had just come from being alone with him rehearsing. Now, once he told me the context of the statement I was then able to remember some of what I had told this female student. I remember that this female student and I had been standing outside waiting for the vice principal to open up the school doors, when the male teacher arrived and asked her to go with him. A few minutes later, a male student that this teacher is close to arrived and asked where the teacher and the other student had gone seeing her backpack by the door and the teacher's vehicle. I told him that I didn't know, and he left in search of them. A few minutes later the female student came back alone and I told her something along the lines of "Be careful where she goes around the building" thinking of cars, the construction workers, as well as any other unknown people that could be around and harm her. She replied with something like she wouldn't do that kind of thing, or something like that wouldn't happen to her. To which I replied that if something did happen to her it wouldn't be her choice. The male teacher and the male student then arrived back at the front doors and we were all let into the school. The female student then apparently told the male teacher that I had told her that he was a child molester.

Thus, because of her comment, and me having waited for his student to leave the previous day, he concluded that I indeed thought he was a child molester, had been telling the kids that he was a child molester, and therefore told the principal that I had been saying these things about him.

Yes, that's right apparently we are all back in middle school and people are spreading rumors and tattling on people without actually talking to people directly to solve the problem.

Therefore, I spent about a half-hour yesterday explaining to him and the principal everything I have just relayed here. And thanks to my current emotional fragility I actually started crying. At work! I was so hurt and devastated that someone would think these things about me, and instead of confronting me to resolve the issue, go behind my back and tell the principal. He of course didn't believe anything I had to say, so when school resumes on Monday the two of us, with the principal, are going to be sitting down with this female student to resolve this issue.

I, of course, being me, have been dwelling on the injustice of it all since it happened. I cried for about an hour, half an hour on the drive home, and about half an hour after I got home I was so upset. Thank goodness for my husband or I don't think I would have been able to get through it. He is my rock.

Anyway, on a lighter note. My Loopy Ewe Sock Club shipment came in yesterday. I was too depressed last night to open it, but when I did open it today I was very pleasantly surprised. Not only did I get a cool pattern, but also a notions bag, and a notepad with a sheep on it. And of course the best part was the yarn: Wollmeise!!!!! I almost screamed out loud in happy disbelief. I have been trying to get my hands on a skein of Wollmeise for at least a year and a half now. And here one is...in my Sock Club...on MY BED!!!!!!! Since opening the package and going to the doctor's (she is having a bunch of blood tests done to answer the questions I had) I have been feeling much better.

And now that I've gotten it all out, it's like a very heavy weight has been lifted. Hopefully I'll be able to sleep tonight. Sweet dreams!

Revelations

2009-09-09T08:21:00.003-07:00

I went to SnB last night to attempt to knit, despite the lack of cooperation of my hand, and was surprised that only one other person showed up. It was actually rather nice. We got to have long conversations about religion and relationships. However, somewhere during the midst of all of these exchanges I had a few revelations about myself. I realized how much resentment I had been feeling toward my ex while I was in that relationship for things that I had chosen to do of my own free will. Despite any coercion he might have inflicted upon me, it was still ultimately MY decision that caused not only the resulting resentment, but also the deterioration of the relationship. I don't know why it didn't dawn on me until last night that eight years ago I could have just said no.

Later, while she was talking about a friend's divorce, I had revelation number two. I suppose I had never really thought much about it until last night, but when she mentioned her friend's age (25, two years younger than I am now) I, making my usual mental judgements about how sad people are that get divorced in their early to mid-twenties, realized that my mother and father were only 22 and 24 respectively when they got divorced. Why is it that I never realized how incredibly young they were? Shikes! Why, when my mother was my age she already had two children and was going on her second divorce! I can't even imagine how incredibly hard that must have been. At 27, I have been married for two years and can't fathom having children at my age.

Although, now that that nice round number of thirty approaches, I can't help thinking about it more and more. I am both longing and terrified to have a child. I know that at this very moment I am not ready to be a parent, because once you're a parent, you're a parent for the rest of your life, and I'm just not ready for that. There are just so many things I want to do before I have children. For one, I want to have a career. I just can't imagine trying to raise children on my part-time teaching job. It's one thing to live paycheck to paycheck when it's just you and your husband, it's quite another to throw a child into the equation.

I guess part of what I'm trying to say is that right now I'm just spending a lot of time trying to figure some things out about myself. One of which is that I really need to start doing the things I want to do and not what I think other people want me to do. So if what I'm doing has to do with knitting, I'll talk about knitting, and if it doesn't, I talk about whatever I feel like talking about. Either way, I know that writing all this down is somehow helping me, and that's really what I need most right now.

Bad blogger! No cookie!

2009-09-07T18:05:00.002-07:00

I've never been that great at keeping a journal of any sort. After moving into our new house (Yay!), I came across my old storage trunk in which I found several old journals and diaries from when I was a child and teenager. The only thing all of them seem to have in common with this blog is that there are long gaps between entries. Many of which have only a few entries and then nothing...just blank pages. I'm not saying that this is any sort of an excuse, just an observation of my own behavior, and lack of dedication, to putting down into words the (what I consider) lame nuances of my boring life.

Anyway...I just finished reading "Julie and Julia", which was lent to me by a friend. I don't know. Something about reading about someone else's life and seeing too many similarities gets one thinking about what they can do in their own life to make changes. Since reading the book, I've been thinking more and more about continuing this blog. Not to mention trying to get my hands on a copy of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" just to take a look at some of the recipes she tries in the book. However, surprisingly, not a single woman I know has a copy. I've now begun reaching out to friends to ask their mothers/grandmothers/mothers-in-law to see if a copy can be found.

Despite this desperate search, I'm not thinking about doing a "Julie/Julia Project", but rather a project of my own. Something that will take my mind off of 1) having PCOS, 2) getting close to thirty, 3) the possibility of not being able to have kids, 4) not being entirely satisfied with my current job, and really wishing I had more of a "career", and 5) being over weight/general health problems. I have yet to find such a project, but I am still searching. Maybe something to do with my photography...maybe something to do with knitting. I don't know. Both would be hard due to a current case of "trigger finger", which the doctor thinks might be the first signs of Rheumatoid Arthritis. Can you imagine? Rheumatoid Arthritis AND PCOS before I'm thirty? I really hope that he's wrong. I have an appointment to see a different doctor on Friday, and I'll ask her to test me to see if it's really a possibility.

As for now, putting my thoughts down will have to do until I think of something suitably challenging.

Take a Deep Breath

2008-04-27T21:24:00.002-07:00

I know, I know, it's been a reeeeeeeeeally long time since my last post. I blame it all on Second Life, which sucked out all of my time for several months until I became employed again.

Greg's Flame Scarf is currently on hold due to the fact that the original was waaaaaay too big for a scarf thanks to (of course) not checking my gauge. The good news is that it is was the perfect size for a hat for my DH and now I'm slowly adding a skull in duplicate stitch. Should be a great birthday present in October...hahaha!

In the mean time, I finished DH's grey socks, my autumn socks, two hats for me, 3 mitered square coasters, 2 washcloths (1 for me, and 1 for my DH), and began, and have almost finished, the 1st sock of the Funky G&P Socks. I frogged all projects that have been on needles that I have not touched since last summer, and finally admitted to myself that I never would. And I have done a circular needle inventory. Whew!

I have so far pulled 95% of the stash into the living room in order to begin a stash inventory so that I can post my stash on Ravelry in order to keep track of what I do have, but mostly to separate the sock yarn from everything else. I am doing this mostly because I have this really strange feeling that I'm gonna find several 100g balls of the exact same sock yarn, and that everyone is gonna end up with matching socks for Christmas if I don't sort it all out.

Anywho, now that I have abandoned Second Life for real life pleasures (aka knitting and Ravelry) I'll probably have more posts and more projects to post about. Especially if my DH keeps bogarting the TV. How's a girl supposed to knit and watch TV if all that's on are video games?!?!?!?!

Crazy

2007-11-02T12:04:00.001-07:00

::Sigh:: It has been crazy busy here. The wedding is looming just a week away and MoH and I have been coming up with ideas of what we have left to do.

I don't have long to post since I have to make and send out invites for the rehearsal dinner, make the favors, and make a nice box for people to put cards in. So, I'll just say sorry for not posting in awhile, but I promise to post pics of how Greg's flame scarf is coming along once this whole wedding business is out of the way. It's nice to have a friend who lives in a cold climate!

Alright, until then....stay safe out there and knit on!

Yes? Are you speaking to me Red Heart?

2007-09-14T09:01:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to post more often, but time just seems to pass by so quickly when I'm knitting. Whole hours seem to just disappear. Strange.

On Tuesday my DH and I went down to Michaels to see what we could find in order to make wedding favors since the wedding is in less than two months. I ended up picking out a wood burner and some small wooden hearts which I have been crafting into key chains when I'm not knitting the new yarn I also picked up there. Initially I thought that the sample purse displayed was a great idea but when I woke up Wednesday morning and grabbed the yarn to knit it, it wouldn't let me make it into a purse.

It was very adamant about becoming socks. I finished the cuff and leg on Wednesday and worked on the heel and gusset on Thursday. I'm hoping to finish sock #1 today. No guarantees though since I have some errands to run today.

Remind me, how did we start talking about this?

2007-09-10T22:23:00.000-07:00

Life has a way of creeping up on you and then leaving you behind wondering what the h3ll just happened? That's pretty much been the story for the last two months. After the last post I was laid-off. Thus, with no job and no prospects, I spent my leisurely days knitting and watching TV while my DH went off to make a living for us both. Such is still the case, however on a whim I decided to sign up for some classes at the local community college so now I'm at least forced to leave the house for a minimum of two hours a day, five days a week. Combine this with the wedding we attended on Saturday and you have me feeling guilty about my DH going off to work while I get to sit home and knit, thus resulting in my cleaning of the kitchen, doing his laundry, and putting up the privacy filter on the living room window so that our new neighbors will stop looking into our new apartment. Doesn't anyone teach manners anymore? Any who...my DH surprisingly loves having me home since this results in him receiving a home cooked meal every night, hot and ready when he arrives home. (Also, since I kept my hands busy with the knitting, I quit smoking. One point for me! =-D) MoH, however, keeps calling me "domestic", like I'm reinforcing traditional female stereotypes, and that by staying home I'm going to bring down everything feminists and women's rights activists have been working against for the last 100 years. And while I would never admit this to her, or to anyone that actually knows me, I love staying home and being a housewife. I love having the choice to work or not to work. And while I feel guilty when confronted about my lack of career though I have a degree, when I am alone I feel such peace. When did the world change from allowing women to join the workforce and expecting women to join the workforce? Isn't that what women's rights are all about, giving women more choices? Not forcing women to conform to society's expectations of what a woman "should be"?