Beckie does DIY.

I made my own knitting needles!! Circular ones at that! I am so excited that I am so awesome! I was making a this for my daughter and I was down to the last section, when SNAP! the cable broke! I was soo pissed! These circular needles cost about 10 bucks; which may not seem like alot but keep in mind most knitters have several pairs of needles. The longer the cable, the higher the cost. The pair I had was 36"; pretty long. I was working with a bulky yarn, so the knitting was getting really heavy on the needles. I spent the rest of the evening pouting. The next morning I woke up with the MacGyver solution....you. must. make. them.

Lucky for me, the old man who previously owned my house left a few useful items around; one being string for a weed wacker. Like any good (albeit former) elementary school teacher, I know dowels can come in handy for a variety of things. Even luckier for me, I had close to the right size I needed. And of course, the power tools. I used the Dreme.l to shape and sand the dowels, my cordless drill to bore a tiny hole in one end of the needle, and my hot glue gun to secure the string in the hole. I let the needles set, then used a sander to smooth the joins. Lastly, I applied plumber's tape to the joins to prevent snags (though I still need to improve upon that).

I still prefer metal needles to wood; wood looks better to me but the metal needles knit quicker and don't snag the yarn as much. My jerryrigged homemade handcrafted needles aren't perfect; I need finer sanding paper to really get them smooth and more tape to wrap the joins. But, I have finished her cowl and it looks awesome! You know why it looks awesome? Cuz I'm awesome!

Beckie reads awesome blogs.

So I'm busy doing stuff that really isn't that productive, but such is my life for the moment. In the meantime, please to enjoy by way of a cool brown chick blog, Brown Girl in the Lane. I am no longer surprised when something I need comes to me, especially when it comes to me. I spent the weekend watching the first season of Game of Thrones. I put off watching it because I wanted to limit my TV time, and the reviews I read were very inconsistent. I was skeptical. But I was wrong. I can't wait for season 2 and I'm waiting for the books to come through library loan. Working at a university with access to an entire system of libraries is a huge perk for me! I know I save hundreds if not thousands by using the system. Yay me!

Anyway, Osha is played by Natalia Tena, an amazing (I need to start using another word besides amazing) singer/actress, is the lead singer in a band called Molotov Jukebox. This band invented their own style of music, gyp-step. That.is.amaz-balls. I knew none of this though when I marathoned through season 1 of GoT.

 My geekiness demands I know about the artist/sage/story of the art that speaks to me. I go way past the wiki baseline. I could be a detective; like Jonathon from Bored to Death (not really trying to pimp ech.bee.oh).  Back to point....Tena had me with the song intro which is featured in the vid. And the duck. I am this song. And I'm ok with that. For now.

Trying - Molotov Jukebox
I feel like I'm half complete
Trying to find my place in the sun and run and I run and I run but I can't compete
My friends say I'm fine but I'm fraying at the seams
and I just can't sleep
My nightmares I keep through the day and they won't go away
and I taste defeat
.. ..
Obsessed restless mind
I wish I knew the right way to fill out my time
but I let the alcohol flow and I put on a show but you know






More Natalia Tena here.