Updates and Stuff

So! First off are the updates. Mainly, I added a E-mail Kristin link in the side bar so you can email me if you would like. I didn't even think to do this, but after trying to hunt up people's email addresses to invite them to the quilt block swap I realized that it was the smartest thing to just have a link in the sidebar. Secondly, I added a Wish List Link to the side bar, so you can see what I am into right now and hoping to buy have gifted for me. Once at the wishlist site you can also choose to send me anything off the wish list through amazon.com. I also have some pictures to share with you, which I will do now.

As you all have seen I'm in a little bit of a wash rag frenzy. Here is my first one (not blurry this time, I picked out the wrong pic last time I posted it) and my second which I gave to my downstairs neighbors. I actually made a blue variegated one and am working on a hot pink/yellow/orange one that reminds me of strawberry lemonade! I will post pictures of those tomorrow.

I have also stopped selling Avon, officially, no longer in active status, thank goodness. It was just sucking up time and money. I tried to get a hold of someone when I moved here so I could get some kind of support (like I did in Moline) and it just didn't happen. The only time I got a call from them was when I stopped ordering and let my account go inactive (basically it cancels its self out if you don't place orders). And the stuff she was saying, what a load of crap. I finally told her that there was no way I was going to sell Avon because I don't like their products and so I can't pitch them to someone else if I don't believe in it. I told her that I did it out of desperation and yeah I was good at it, but I'm not desperate anymore and I just don't want to sell it. It's not even, "oh I just don't have the time" it's "I just don't want to!" I had to practically hang up on her to get off the phone, it was ridiculous.

So, this is me ceremonially throwing all the Avon stuff into the bin... A whole trash bag full.
I still have many things left over that I'm scratching my head thinking, "There just has to be something I can do with this." For instance, there are the Avon bags in 5 sizes. Paper sacks in sm, med, lg and paper totes in med and lg... What to do with those. Here they are, if anyone has any ideas, just leave a comment, I would appreciate it.
And then there were the special addition fragrance bags... what to do with those? So I decided to cut them into loops, loop the loops together and create a ball of "yarn" to knit with, I was thinking some kind of potato holder or something... I mean Avon has to be good for something... Right? Well this is what I started to make.


I thought I would just make a long band and then fasten it into a square around a base to make a little recycled Avon box. I just hate pitching all this stuff into the trash... It just has to be good for something! This is what it looked like, five bags worth of "yarn," which was quite a bit. It was painful to knit, painful to cast on, painful to bind off, but I finished it.... But what is it....?

I tried to join it like I originally intended.
It looked like some kind of hat.... geeze..... So I ceremoniously threw it in the trash too, it felt good to do so. I think it was some kind of process that needed to take place, like my art side conquering Avon in order to get it out of my life.

I have another problem. I have a few perfectly good Avon products that I'm not sure what to do with. For instance. I have something like 30 cans of bug guard plus aerosol spray with spf 15.... It's good stuff... It works well... But what the heck do I need that much for (I originally had something like 100 cans, but I sold most of them, that was the plan for all of them, but then I moved, so now I'm stuck with 30+ cans of the stuff! There is also lipstick, tons of mascara, which I'm thinking about randomly sending out. I think I have 8 of the daring curves mascara or whatever it's called in black... I don't even wear mascara! Ah! Then there is the random jewelry that they send you and this lotion stuff that is supposed to make your butt cellulite free and firm... Yes they randomly sent that to me too... Seriously, does that even work! I am getting bitter just talking about it. So, what to do with all this stuff, literally just stuff. If you have any ideas let me know, any suggestions welcome, I'm at a loss.


Oh and this is one of Jason's lenses that made me decide to go ahead and get a Nikon so we can share.

It's so great to have a camera again, although I'm probably going a little over kill right now... Don't worry, it will calm down to one or two images a day when a start school in a week. For now though I'm going to enjoy it and practice.... I will not say that I'm a great photographer.... In fact I'm not good at all, but I will get better, just you wait and see! Anyway, I better get going on things, the parents are coming in to town this weekend and I have discovered that Mr B has been storing his food all over the place and I'm afraid it will attract bugs (we already have a spider problem, I don't want ants or cock roaches too!) so it's time to vacuum behind, under, and in everything! And by the way there are about 8 squirrels playing the front lawn and it is sooooo cute! Have a good Friday!

Junk Post

So, while I was visiting Ames, IA for a bit, I was under the impression that this was my last chance of using a camera for well, until Jason came for a visit to DeKalb, or some other digital camera toting tycoon came along to help me out. I just love posting pictures for everyone to see, I know that when I read other people's blogs the pictures just seem to add something to what they are saying. Anyway, I decided that I didn't want to go a month or more without any pictures to post so I saved some up... Sneaky me. Well, the night before I was going to leave Ames, I came to the conclusion that seeing how I'm an art student I can no longer do without a camera (that's right, I don't even have a point and shoot film camera). So I bought one. I looked a lot first of course and nothing seemed to work. And after being spoiled with a camera that I knew I could not buy because Jason has a Nikon D-70 which is like what the pro's or the step right before the pro's would use and was too expensive for me. So I'm looking and looking and as I'm browsing through Nikon's site I come across the Nikon D-50... What is this.... Could it be the little brother to Jason's camera? So I asked him and he said that really the only difference is the memory format (the D-70 uses a compact flash card which is fancy and high tech and able to hold lots of pictures and the D-50 uses a SanDisk which is also fancy and high tech and able to hold lots of pictures, but not as many pictures and it's not quite as fast as compact flash). I was sold, I mean, there are a few less buttons and features, but it is basically the same camera. The thing that really got me was the fact that 1) it was a few hundred less and 2) me and Jason can share lenses! Woot! He has a lot of really nice lenses too, so that would save me a lot of money because he already has fancy zooms with all the fixings so to speak.

Okay, so this is I think the third painting that we did for my painting one class. The assignment was to pick out some candy, put it on a piece of paper and blow it up to fit into a 30"x30" canvas. It was actually a lot of fun and I learned a lot about light and reflection in shadows and lot of other things along the way. I was almost finished with it and my instructor comes up and says, I think you need some candy corn.. Right here. I was like J-E-R-K! He had totally threw me, which was good, but still a little annoying. So I painted in some candy corn where he put them down. The whole thing is actually to scale too. Exciting, candy. So Jason really likes this painting, I'm really not sure why except that it is kind of bizarre to hang up and he likes bizarre things. He is now the proud owner of a Kristin Roach Painting 1 painting, woo. He actually hung it up and was excited about me bring it with. Who knew candy could make him so happy.


Here is a scarf that I bought, that was way to expensive, but I bought it with a gift card so I'm okay with that and isn't it pretty! I have yet to wear it though, I was expecting it to go in my hair, but it's to slick... So it goes. I guess around my neck in the fall... Darn, I wanted a head wrap.


This picture is really ridiculous. This is my tea stash... That was with me in Ames. Okay so not only do I have to much tea, but I take to much tea with me on vacation, and than I buy tea while I'm there so I take too much tea home .... But really, what is too much tea, I mean, it only take up one shelf in my cupboard... That's not so bad. It really doesn't look as bad as it is. I really just grabbed the tea tin that is pictured and what is shown is it's contents. Okay, so it's not really supposed to be a tea tin, it's supposed to be the flour tin and the "tea" tin is the where I keep my sugar and the "sugar" tin is where I keep the flour.... Funny how those things work out.
I came up with a top secret Idea about making a book holder for my books so that way I can knit and read, eat and read, sit and read, stuff and read! Here is the finished product... I'm not going to give away my top secret patent pending idea on how I hold the book, but I will show you how I fancied up the back side with some embroidery. These are the proto-types so they are sloppy and not professional, but they work. Only one problem, they don't work for hard covered books, so I'm in the process of fine tuning and when I get done I will sell them in my online store so every one can do stuff and read, oh the opportunities for great reading!

Awhile ago I posted a bunch of pictures about books that I had found at the ISU resale warehouse. I forgot to post this one and it was my favorite too! There are all these little sections on how to monitor the weather.... In fact everyday weather and how it works... How odd because that is the title... hehe... As it should be. There are all these great illustrations in it too and also, my favorite part is "how to make your own weather station." What Fun! If I had kiddos I would totally do this with them, I mean, monitoring weather with kitchen items doesn't really change from the 50's to the 21st c. It just doesn't. So this is going in the kid's book section of my library for later kid related fun. It will go next to my other book called Winter Outdoor Activities that is also for later kid related fun. (my sister needs to have a kid so I can be an auntie soon, although I have a feeling I am more likely to have a kid than she is, but we will see, that's not for a long time off.


I actually just took this picture last week in DeKalb, from my apartment. There is this squirrel, he has yet to tell me his name, but we are acquaintances and we chat from time to time. Well really he just chatters all the time and I get a kick out of listening to him. All last summer he laid on the branch, fully sprawled out, with his little legs hanging over the sides of the branch. It was about 100 degrees so I don't blame him. At one point though I thought he had died because he laid there from about noon to 6 pm without moving. I was so worried that my little friend had died of heat stroke and that there would be a decaying squirrel in the tree right outside my window (I'm almost level with the branch and it's about 12 feet away from my front window). But he was okay in the end and it looks like he survived the winter, right now he is foraging for nuts in the front lawn.


And with that I am done for now, I want to get outside myself and take Mr beuler to the park and knit a bit while he forages for who knows what. I will post later, I want to show you my fancy new dish clothes and my garland.

Have a good Thursday!

Quick Post!

Oh my goodness, I can't take it anymore... but I must. I want this book so badly, it's rediculous! The Mason-Dixon Knitting book is a must have for me, so for now anyway I'm going to borrow it from my local yarn shop's library. I love that little library. That's where I originally saw it a few days ago. I made a washcloth... well two and have cast on for a third... and I want to make almost every project in that book! They have all of my favorite types of patterns... washrags, blankets, rugs, rag rugs, felted boxes, etc... all of those wonderful things that you could never have enough of, and I mean, who doesn't need a washrag? What a great quick gift! Anyway, I'm trying to get a wishlist set up over at amazon where you (oh precious reader) can buy me books if you feel so inclined... well okay so I know it's a long shot, but why not try for it. The generocity of others is amazing as I found out with the bike-o-thon fund raising bit. I was somehow able to raise $205 in 2 weeks! Thanks to those who donated! Okay so I've had a little too much coffee this morning and I'm typing like a crazy person, or a person hyped up on coffee, so I'm just going to end this "quick post" here.

Rain Today.... meh.

So it rained all this morning, no park time for me and the little guy, oh well. So instead I started and finished a washcloth from the Mason-Dixon Book... I want that book so badly. It is not only a mess of great patterns, but it also has wonderfully funny and insightful commentaries for each pattern. Almost all the patterns have to do with things you would use around the home such as washrags, blankets, and rugs.... my favorite things! And of course, once I really got into my washcloth making, it stopped raining and sun came out... those jerks, threw my whole morning off! hehe, not really, it was nice to sit and knit and drink some tea and listen to some good ol' npr this morning. Here is a picture of the view out the window that i sit at while playing on my computer (the only reason that I am able to spend so much time on it at all is that i can feel like I'm practically sitting outside under a tree and can see the neighborhood kids playing baseball in the park across the street).


Oh, a note on the washcloth. I finished it, but because I was using some sugar n' cream cheap-o yarn and some really, almost like jute string wool. I desided to just make it half the size since I end up folding my washclothes into forths anyway. Also because of the jute sting wool it's almost like a scrubby pad... which is good and is actually what I was planning on... strange, it actually worked! Hehe, that's rare. Anyway I'm thinking about cutting it in half and sending the other half to my mom or something like that... I'm not sure.... Reusable scrubby pad, now that is a good thing! I go though so many of those with all the crusty pans I was (I'm getting better at washing them right away, so it's not so bad).


Well I'm off to the post office to send out some packages (a present for Jason, IA and a present for Jessica, VA).

Macro Morning

So I really like going to the park with mr beuler every morning, it gets him warn out before I leave to work and it gets me outside with my camera. I used my macro lens only this morning, I'm starting to get a feel for it. These were the only pictures that turned out okay... about 17 outof 117, but so it goes when you have a ferret yanking on your arm!













So another announcement, the first essay for Ambitious Indiscriminate Reading is up and I have started working on the next one... well thinking about what I'm going to say for the next one anyway.

Also, the Quilt Block Swap is underway! If you would like to sign up for the July swap the deadline is June 25th (last Sunday of every month). Just drop by the site or email me at quiltblockswap@gmail.com.

A Morning at the Park

So Mr Beuler and I went to the park this morning. It was so nice, not too hot, nice and sunny with lots of shade provided by the trees. I fiddled with my camera while the little guy dug around in the dirt. Here are some test shots using different shutter speeds and f-stops.








































Here is Mr Beuler after running around for an hour, he was so tired, but "I will keep my eyes open, I am not going to miss anything"













And here he is when I was trying out the macro lens













So then after this little trip, I decided to work on my projects a bit. Here is a picture of the baby afghan and also my wavy line sweater. I actually only have 3 more squares to finish before I start crocheting them together. I'm going to trim each one in a row of single crochet and then crochet those together with either red, yellow, or one of the greens, I'm not sure yet.

































So, that's been my day so far, I have a lot more to do today though. Mainly I want to finish my essay on the book that I read (What Happened to Art Criticism?) for my other blog Ambitious Indiscriminate Reading. It's almost finished, I'm not guarenteeing that it will be the best read in the world, but it's an okay summary of the book. I am also going to block my sweater, oh boy! Well that's it for me today.

Knitter's Tea Swap!

So I came home from a three week vacation feeling kind off lonely (returning to an empty apartment with no Jason around is kind of tough the first couple times) and I found the most wonderful suprise! My package from my swap pal came and she spoiled me roiten! So, not only did she give me sock yarn in colors that I love, but she some how managed to get me my favorite tea that the republic of tea makes! I love ginger peach and i love loose leaf! She also managed to pick out some of my favorite goodies (I'm guessing she must be near a trader jo's), I love dark chocolate and carmal corn. The carmel corn tastes like it has some cyanne peper in it... so tastey, just a bit of spice! But for some reason she decided that all this was not enough and also got me a gift certificut to jo ann's for $15! What a suprise that was! How exciting! And I just happened to get a coupon in the mail to Jo Ann's for 40% off one item, that worked out so well. Thank you so much to Kathy over at Kniti Gator, you kick some serious butt my friend!

Pita's Again

So awhile back I was procrastinating in as many ways as possible and came across a book named pita the great. I decided that instead of writing my research paper I should make flat bread. They worked out really well so I made them again for Jason today. Unfortunately they did not produce the pocket like they should have because I was lacking a rolling pin and wax paper. I lost two of them to paper towel sticking problems. Oh well. They are still tastey and Jason is devoiring them before dinner is even ready.












And here is a picture of Molly looking kind of ticked off. She was watching me take pictures of the pitas, so I took a picture of her too.

Somewhat Cowl Finished!

So, I finished by June 1st like I said I would and here are some pictures to prove it.

Ambitious Indiscriminate Reading

I just finished reading a book called What Happened to Art Criticism? by James Elkins and could not help feeling a little hopeless that I would most likely remember what he wrote and some of the main points that he made, but I would not be able to remember that is was him who wrote them or the name of the book they are in. This is a sad state to be in. My memory is so poor when it comes to authors and titles that while writing research papers and just random essays I have a large amount of knowledge that I cannot use because I cannot remember who attribute it to.

In Elkins conclusion he states that "Each writer, no matter what their place and purpose, should have an endless bibliography, and know every pertinent issue and claim. We should all read until our eyes are bleary, and we should read both ambitiously... and also indiscriminately - finding work that might ordinarily escape us."

It was this little half of a paragraph that made me think hard about how I do read ambitiously and indiscriminately, but I feel often to no avail because I cannot remember what goes with what and where my ideas start and the author's end.

I have for a long time now wanted to keep a running list of books that I read and what I felt about them. I have tried it several times, but always run out of room or loose the notebook I was keeping my list in. So for the same reason that I started blogging about my craft/art things, I am going to start a blog about what I read. It is the perfect format for me to keep track of things and the archive will work as a "finished reads" index because the title of each post will be the title of the book or article that I am discussing.

Because I have a constant list of books that I am reading at any given time, I usually finish one a week. I am planning on posting one review a week with other smaller posts scattered around about other literary things (like books I buy, library lists, events, and other random things I find).

I'm very excited about this project and I hope that in among all the reading and writing going on I will improve my own writing so it will someday be more coherent and organized.

The name of the blog is Ambitious Indiscriminate Reading, there is a link in the sidebar permanently, and the address is http://ambitiousindiscriminatereading.blogspot.com. The first review should be up by tomorrow evening, so check back then if you wish. I really hope to get some feedback from this project too. Let me know if you've read the books I am reading, if you think what I am saying makes sense or is a load of junk. I want to know how you felt about the books that I review dispite what I may say.

That is about all for now. I may put together a more craft related post later, but for now the laundry is calling me.

Until next time!

Cat Attack!

Jason and I have an indoor cat named Molly (mostly his cat because she live with him in Ames, but I helped rescue her and help him take care of her as much as I can from afar). She loves to go outside, but we really can't trust that she will come back or not get killed, so we take her on walks like someone would their dog. She's become quite a good little walker. We decided to take her for a short walk the other night because it was so nice out and kind of hot inside. We were going along just fine and she dropped, tail flat on the ground and looking pretty scared. I bent over to see if she was okay and when I glanced up there was a huge cat (I mean small long haired mountain lion really) coming at us from between the parked cars. I have been around cats my whole life and have seen many cat fights, but usually if a person comes up and makes a noise, the other cat tends to run off or at least stand down. You can imagine my surprise when this cat not only kept growling and hissing, but continued to approach. Molly has only hissed once in the year that we have had her so to hear her start to growl and hiss back was really surprising too. The other cat moved in for the attack and Molly crouched down for the defense... The big cat sprang, but before he could get a claw on her I grabbed her up and out of harms way (this cat would have kicked her butt, she may be young and with claws, but not only has she never been in a fight, but she was on a leash which is kind of a disadvantage). The big cat was pissed! He then decided that if he could not fight with Molly, he would pick a fight with me! He lunged at me, claws out, and thank goodness I was not wearing a skirt! He grappled onto my thigh and waist hissing and spitting what I'm sure were nasty cat words. Jason pulled him off and we ran away... Yes, two full grown humans ran away from a cat! I set down Molly when we were closer to the house and looked at my arms, they were covered in claw cuts from my fingers to my shoulders. All in all Molly was fine, but I ended up with 4 wounds worthy of band-aids and many more long scratches.

Here is a picture of how it went.

Book loot!

So Jason and I went to the ISU surplus warehouse today and I found some amazing stuff. Mainly there was all this scientific experimental stuff that I would like to just have around for still lives and photo references, but that is not a good enough reason to buy any of it. Jason might actually be able to use it for what it was made for or for parts, but that is his department not mine. They did have a range of affordable dining service stuff that I wanted a ton of, like these little saucers... But I have enough dishes. Jason did decide that I needed a insulated pitcher to put my hot water in for tea so it won't go cold, or coffee for the same reason and it was only $3! What a deal. I also scored 5 books at 25 cents each, amazing price, and that is what I have pictured here.

This is a German book that I found, why the library decided to get rid of a book printed in the 1920's I will never know, but I don't mind adding it too my library. The font look pretty old and I love the illustration on the front. I think I might photocopy it and make a monotype print from it. Jason's old roommate just got back from being in Germany for a year and has become fairly proficient in speaking/reading it, so I'm going to ask him to translate at least the title for me.

This is an old book on drawing outdoor (which for the record I already know how to do), but I do have a fondness of old "how-to draw/paint/make art" books. This one has some pretty nice illustrations.
This is a French book I found called Image de l'homme (image of man or man's image). It is actually a student version so there is vocab in the back and footnotes for complex parts of the text, even if it is dry reading, it would be helpful to my studies so I picked it up too.


I also found a book on historical images of Pakistan... It has amazing illustrations and old looking maps in it... A whole mass of visual references and inspirations. I can't wait to have time to read some of the text.
I also found this book about Leo, who is a late bloomer and his parents are waiting for him to bloom and than he finally does. It reminded me a lot of when I was a kid, not the drawing part, but the reading and writing and messy eating (I am still a messy eater). My mom used to call me here little mum (the flower), because she said it just takes me a little longer to bloom, but I'm just as beautiful (mum's are one of her favorite autumn flowers). I wasn't able to read more than a word or two together until I was about 10 year old, but by age 12 I was reading complex books by adult standards and even now I hold reading very dear to me and read everything I can, fiction and non-fiction alike.


I also want to show you a picture of Jason and I's lovely little lady.... She has no feet! Oh no!
She's actually been pretty sick lately with an ear infection, but after being on some meds for 2 days she is doing a lot better. The infection was causing a lot of waxy build up, sneezing, and coughing. She also got her shots, but she was about the best cat I've ever seen at the vet, Jason didn't even realize that they had stuck her because she stood so still. What a good little kitty!