I'm hyper, therefore I craft

Let's KAL, shall we?

2012-02-01T21:04:00.003-05:00

I am finding myself being drawn in to KALs this year. Signed up for a Fronkenshteek KAL last year, and because I am a slacker, am just finishing that now.

Signed up for Janel Laidman's Knitterati club, and have been working on the mystery shawl from that. Thinking about casting on for the socks, too.

*Really* looking forward to casting on for the Hazel Knits/Hunter Hammersen KAL. Need to finish Fronkenshteek first.

Also got sucked into the Great Cowl KAL.

Have also been knitting some non-KAL items, such as a hat for the Trout Club auction. (Check out my Borrowed Buddha!)

Also knit a lovely slouchy hat for me.

Went on a scarf kick for a while and made a Hitchhiker and a Spectra.

That may be it, so far. January was a good month for staying in and knitting. Today was a lovely day for sitting outside in the sunshine, which is very unusual for February. New possible goal: knit a mile a month. We'll see how long that lasts.

A Year in One Post

2012-01-04T18:03:00.003-05:00

Well, it was an interesting year. Mom had a kidney transplant in February, and I got the flu. Work had a month of complete insanity, where I worked for three weeks without a day off, working for more than 8 hours for most of those days. Good for the wallet, bad for the knitting goals. Went to several fiber festivals, including a few that were new to me: Maryland Sheep and Wool, Crooked River Fiber Fling, Michigan Fiber Festival. Also hit up the Great Lakes Fiber Show, and went to Rhinebeck again. Already have reservations for this year, woo-hoo! Ended the year with some hospital time - my dad had knee surgery on Dec 28, and on Dec 29 I drove my mom to be admitted with pneumonia. The enforced knitting time allowed me to meet my goal of 52 pairs, though. Yay for felted clogs!

I did not meet all of my goals, but did get a lot accomplished.

First, let's record the the annual book list so I can clear out that widget.

Books Read in 2011

001. The Luck Runs Out, Charlotte MacLeod
002. Wrack and Rune, Charlotte MacLeod
003. Stuffed Animals and Pickled Heads: The Culture and Evolution of Natural History Museums, Stephen Asma
004. Hillbilly Gothic: A Memoir of Madness and Motherhood, Adrienne Martini
005. Sweater Quest: My Year of Knitting Dangerously, Adrienne Martini
006. Ash, Malinda Lo
007. Breakfast at Tiffany's and Three Stories, Truman Capote
008. Labyrinth, Kate Mosse
009. Welcome to the Jungle (graphic novel), Jim Butcher
010. Old Filth, Jane Gardam
011. Zeitoun, Dave Eggers
012. The Gospel of Judas, Simon Mawer
013. Sepulchre, Kate Mosse
014. The Whistleblower: Sex Trafficking, Military Contractors, and One Woman's Fight for Justice, Kathryn Bolkovac with Cari Lynn
015. The Dragon Seekers: How an Extraordinary Circle of Fossilists Discovered the Dinosaurs and Paved the Way for Darwin, Christopher McGowan
016. Bee Season, Myla Goldberg
017. The Winter Ghosts, Kate Mosse
018. Case Histories, Kate Atkinson
019. The Owl Killers, Karen Maitland
020. Barnum Brown: The Man Who Discovered Tyrannosaurus Rex, Lowell Dingus and Mark A. Norell
021. The Man in the Wooden Hat, Jane Gardam
022. Emotionally Weird, Kate Atkinson
023. The Memory Keeper's Daughter, Kim Edwards
024. The Perfect Man, Naeem Murr
025. Behind the Scenes at the Museum, Kate Atkinson
026. When Will There Be Good News? Kate Atkinson
027. One Good Turn, Kate Atkinson
028. Zombie, Ohio: A Tale of the Undead, Scott Kenemore
029. The Thirteenth Tale, Diane Setterfield
030, Started Early, Took My Dog, Kate Atkinson
031. Agnes and the Hitman, Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer
032. The Postmistress, Sarah Blake
033. Gentleman and Players, Joanne Harris
034. An Unquiet Mind, Kay Redfield Jamison
035. Company of Liars, Karen Maitland
036. Lover Mine, J.R. Ward
037. The Silent Miaow: A Manual for Kittens, Strays, and Homeless Cats, Paul Gallico
038. Return to Sullivans Island, Dorothea Benton Frank
039. Lowcountry Summer, Dorothea Benton Frank
040. Lucy's Legacy: The Quest for Human Origins, Donald C. Johansen and Kate Wong
041. You Might Be a Zombie and Other Bad News: Shocking but Utterly True Facts, Cracked.com
042. Kraken: The Curious, Exciting,m and Slightly Disturbing Science of Squid, Wendy Williams
043. The Carpet People, Terry Pratchett
044. The Wild Things, Dave Eggers
045. Last Call, Tim Powers
046. The Unlikely Ones, Mary Brown
047. Swallows and Amazons, Arthur Ransome
048. Magic Bites, Ilona Andrews
049. Magic Burns, Ilona Andrews
050. Magic Strikes, Ilona Andrews
051. A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend, Emily Horner
052. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, Catherynne M. Valente
053. Magic Bleeds, Ilona Andrews
054. Stranger Things Happen, Kelly Link
055. Heartless, Gail Carriger
056. The Red Tent, Anita Diamant
057. Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things, Randy O. Frost and Gail Steketee
058. Unearthing the Dragon: The Great Feathered Dinosaur Discovery, Mark Norell
059. The Cellist of Sarajevo, Steven Galloway
060. Nerd Do Well: A Small Boy's Journey to Becoming a Big Kid, Simon Pegg
061. Howl's Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones
062. Bright's Passage, Josh Ritter
063. How to Bake a Perfect Life, Barbara O'Neal
064. Flamingo Fatale, Jimmie Ruth Evans
065. The Egypt Game, Zilpha Keatley Snyder
066. Ghost Story, Jim Butcher
067. The People on Privilege Hill, Jane Gardam
068. There Will Be Dragons, John Ringo
069. Emerald Sea, John Ringo
070. Against the Tide, John Ringo
071. East of the Sun, West of the Moon, John Ringo
072. God on the Rocks, Jane Gardam
073. Hounded, Kevin Hearne
074. Feed, Mira Grant
075. Deadline, Mira Grant
076. Hexed, Kevin Hearne
077. All Wound Up, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
078. Hammered, Kevin Hearne
079. Snuff, Terry Pratchett
080. Tall, Dark, & Dead, Tate Hallaway
081. The Princess & the Penis, RJ Silver
082. Bedtime Stories for Children You Hate, Antoinette Bergin
083. The Tale of St. Picklas, Nicholas Pfeifer
084. A Walk in the Snark, Rachel Thompson
085. I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution, Craig Marks and Rob Tannenbaum
086. The Velveteen Rabbit, Margery Williams Bianco
087. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
088. Down and Out in Paris and London, George Orwell

As far as 2011 goals, well, I made 52 pairs and a few random things. I didn't knit any sweaters, and I didn't even finish those that I started in 2010. Argh. Add them to the list for 2012...

I didn't make my goal of 100 books, either, and didn't even touch anything cross-stitch related. I'm not sure if I knit more yarn than I acquired. Maybe.

Goals for 2012:

Knit my Blanket of Insanity. 5000 yards of bulky weight yarn, size 13 needle, and oodles and oodles of cables. Printed the pattern today.

Participating in a 12 FOs in 2012 KAL. I can finish 12 things, right?

Get back to sweater knitting. Possibly knit the Autumn Rose Pullover since the world is going to end.

Knit more socks. I don't have enough. Would like to make a pair a month, but we'll see if that really happens.

KNIT ALL OF THE THINGS!!!1!!1!! Maybe a goal will be to play the lottery more often so I actually have a chance at winning, so I can be independently wealthy and stay home and knit all day.

Finish things. I really have a lot of WIPs and UFOs, and I need to finish or frog many of them. Finishing would be preferred, but sometimes frogging is a better option.

Wear pajamas as often as possible. (Yes, I want to succeed at *something*, why do you ask?)

That's all I can think of now. May post later if I have any more brilliant ideas. Part 4 of my summer shawl KAL was released today, and I'd like to work on that tonight.

Actually, maybe I will share some pictures first. You like pictures, right?

First FO of 2012. Hat made from Claudia Handpainted Single Ply yarn won from the Pittsburgh Knit and Crochet Festival. Yarn stained my hands blue, and the hat needed four rinses before the rinse water was anything resembling clear, but the colors make me happy every time I see it, so it's a win.

Thrummed bunny slippers for my mom, made while she was in the hospital.

Scarf for my MIL. Really like the colors, and the yarn is not bad at all for acrylic.

Zuzu, because she still loves her alpaca blanket.

Clogs make good kitty capes.

And kitty cushions.

We also bought Zuzu new chairs this year.

Beaded shawls make good blankets.

Oh! Should also talk about Huxley. The fox in the cowl (at least the brown/grey parts) is knit from fox fur, plyed with cashmere. Many thanks go to the Wildlife Resources staff at CMNH for sharing Huxley's fur with me.

My friend Rebecca spun the yarn for that shawl. I love it!

My birthday project. Love the colors, just wish it was a tad bigger.

My friend Nicole spun the yarn for this scarf. I am so lucky to have such talented and generous friends!

First FO of 2011

I have been lax in sharing silly Zuzu pictures. She got a snuggie for Christmas last year.

She also got to attack an opossum. She would have killed it, too, if it hadn't been for that meddling glass door!

I also put things on her head.

I occasionally make her wear her snuggie.

Anyway, I should get knitting. To close, FORK YOU!!

Happy 2012!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T00:28:00.002-05:00

So. I think my goal has been met. 32 pairs of clogs saved me. In no particular order, here are the other pairs:
33. Thrummed bunny slippers
34. Hat and scarf for my MIL
35. Mittens for one niece
36. Mittens for the other niece
37. Socks for Mom's on-behalf-of kidney donor
38. Xanadu socks for Mom
39. Vanilla socks for me
40. Green socks for me
41. Weekend shawl and Traveling Woman
42. Blue and green cowls
43. Pair of black cowls
44. Pair of blue sparkly scarves
45. Two cable crush cowls
46. Two crofter's cowls
47. Two felted purses
48. Two fish hats
49. Hat and cowl set
50. Merope and Maia
51. Huxley cowl and Mickey cowl
52. Saroyan and Holden

Random FOs: A garter stitch scarf made with squeaky Big Lots yarn, a white elephant for a gift exchange, a beaded necklace.

Current UFOs: Summer shawl KAL (up to date with the parts that have been released), a Celaeno, Maia mitts, socks for my sister, strawberry mojito socks that just need heels.

There are a few old UFOs that I wanted to finish and did not, because I am lazy.

And now I am exhausted. Will attempt to blog more in 2012. Happy New Year!

Random blatherings and a contest

2011-11-11T20:40:00.005-05:00

I procrastinate way too much. Let's not talk about my goals for the year. Let's just say that I got distracted.

Have mostly stopped using facebook, because it annoys me. Thinking of posting "status updates" here instead. So...

Yesterday, my faith in humanity was restored just a little bit. I had to be at the library when it opened, and there was a line to get in.

Then it was shot to hell again when I went to the grocery store without a reusable bag, so I bought a cheap one (and cute, too!), and the checker promptly put it into a plastic bag. ::*headdesk*::

Finally, for reasons that I won't get into here, I bought a unicorn lollipop mold. Someday, in the near future, I will have chocolate unicorn lollipops. Maybe even tonight, as I have more energy than I should. I think that I will have a contest, rules to be determined when I think about it, but comments will be required for entry, so leave a comment if you want a unicorn lollipop. Comments may or may not be judged on entertainment value, so entertain me!

Edit: There will also be a moustache lollipop awarded. So comment away!

Failure, a.k.a. I Love Lists

2011-01-01T12:03:00.010-05:00

Well, I didn't manage to finish all of the sweaters in 12 months. I still have four to go, all relatively close to being done. That said, I definitely spent a lot of time knitting in 2010. The list is as follows:

Eight sweaters, one of which had to be frogged about halfway before it could be finished
Seven blanket squares*, and seamed the blanket - it was much more work than I expected
Four partial sweaters - all more than halfway done
Two pairs of fingerless mitts and one pair of cabled mittens
Two and three-quarters baby bibs
Two and a quarter scarves
One and a half shawls
One Very Large felted bag
Half a pair of socks

*I think I made additional blanket squares for other blankets, but can't quite remember and didn't keep track. Maybe that was 2009.

Reasons for failure:

Too many projects. I worked on many not-sweater projects for various reasons, and frequently had more than one sweater in progress at the same time. I know that different situations require different projects, but I feel like I didn't finish enough before starting something new.
Poor time management. I purchased a smartphone in April, and I think that really affected my knitting. I found (and still find!) myself playing solitaire more frequently than I should. Also, it is very easy to put down my knitting to look at the email message that just arrived. Or to browse Ravelry, just because I can.
Just plain laziness.

Things I learned:

I really like knitting sweaters, preferably seamless ones.
While I love hand-painted/kettle-dyed yarn, it is a PITA to switch skeins frequently. Will consider yarn selection a bit better.
I can knit A LOT! (Hmmm, maybe I should add a pair of Alots to the list.) When I participated in NaKniSweMo in Nov 2008, it was definitely a challenge, and I found it much easier to knit a sweater in a month now. And back then I spent weekends "working" on call, spending Friday night and all day Saturday sitting in an office knitting.
My knitting has improved in the past few years. My finished pieces, while still not perfect, look a lot better than my NaKniSweMo sweater.

Anyway, I still have hopes of finishing the mostly-done sweaters in January. But first, I think I need to test knit a shawl, because I have a serious case of startitis and all this finishing makes me want to start something new. Unfortunately, the yarn I had planned to use is a bit short on yardage, so I need to spend some time in the stash room figuring out what else to use. Will need to finish Spoke first, because the needle for the shawl is holding Spoke stitches ready for the edging. (And why, oh *why* did I work on Lia's sleeves yesterday when chances were good I could have finished Spoke?)

So. Goals for 2011. I want to focus on pairs, and attempt a sort of 52-pair plunge. That said, I do not want to be nearly as strict as the Official 52-pair plunge people, who insist that all pairs should be socks. Plus, I want to operate on a calendar year rather than the arbitrary year that they use, so this is a self-challenge rather than a group KAL.

Guidelines and Goals:

While I want to complete a pair each week, I am not limiting pairs to socks. Mitts, slippers, gloves, shawls, hats, and even bags can count as pairs. As long as there are two items, it's a pair. Items do not necessarily need to be identical, but do need to be similar to each other to count. A beanie and a balaclava cannot count as a pair, but two shawls of similar yardage and same weight of yarn will count. (I was tempted to try to knit 12 shawls in 2011, but that will wait for 2012. Along with the Autumn Rose pullover.)
WIPs will count. This is not cheating, this is encouragement to finish some of the things that have been languishing in my WIPs pile for far too long. Like socks! And the slippers that have been sitting around for ~~two~~ ~~three~~ EEP!!! four years waiting to have the cuffs sewn on.
In 2010, I discovered that I really like knitting sweaters. It was very tempting to extend my sweater-a-month challenge through June, especially since I didn't quite finish. I'd like to knit at least two sweaters, preferably four, in 2011, and those may or may not count towards the pair goal; I haven't decided yet. See Rule #1, similar weight/yardage sweaters can count, if I decide to count them.
Stash knit down! While Christmas 2011 will be another year of slipper gifts, and I will need to order yarn for those, I'd like to knit as much as possible from stash.
I'd also like to get back to cross stitch, at least a little. Ever since I learned to knit, my cross stitch projects have languished, and I'd like to finish at least two small cross stitch projects in 2011. I don't think these will count towards the pairs, but it's another personal goal.
Another personal goal is to read at least 100 books in 2011. If 2010 was any indication, I can still read a decent bit while knitting a lot.

Anyway, time to go dig around in the stash to see if I can find yarn for the test knit. Then finish Spoke to reclaim the needle. And if I can knit two shawls, that's a pair!

Perhaps I won't get to finish Spoke today after all. It has been claimed. That's what I get for leaving it on the floor.

Also, I might as well include the 2010 book list here, since there are so many lists already. In 2010,

I fell a little bit in love with Rob Sheffield,
read some charming but incredibly poorly-edited books about what might happen when Buffy the Vampire Slayer turns into a soccer mom,
was amazed by how Jill Ciment can create such amazing characters in such small books;
and laughed at several rewritings of classic novels.

I read some excellent books, and some trash, too. Fun stuff! Here is the list:

1. The Stupidest Angel, Christopher Moore
2. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
3. The Book Thief, Markus Zusak
4. Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bible!, Jonathan Goldstein
5. The River King, Alice Hoffman
6. Venus Envy, Rita Mae Brown
7. Snow Falling on Cedars, David Guterson
8. Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her, Melanie Rehak
9. Uncle John's Unsinkable Bathroom Reader, the Bathroom Readers' Institute (90% read in 2009)
10. I Capture the Castle, Dodie Smith
11. Tailchaser's Song, Tad Williams
12. Wishful Drinking, Carrie Fisher
13. Kit's Law, Donna Morrissey
14. The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls
15. Latitudes of Melt, Joan Clark
16. An Ordinary Man: An Autobiography, Paul Rusesabagina with Tom Zoellner
17. Soulless, Gail Carriger
18. I Don't Care About Your Band: What I Learned from Indie Rockers, Trust funders, Pornographers, Faux Sensitive Hipsters, Felons, and Other Guys I've Dated, Julie Klausner
19. The Rapture, Liz Jensen
20. Sand in My Bra and other Misadventures, Jennifer L. Leo, ed.
21. Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes: Life and Language in the Amazonian Jungle, Daniel L. Everett
22. Einstein's Telescope: The Hunt for Dark Matter and Dark Energy in the Universe, Evalyn Gates
23. The Tattoo Artist, Jill Ciment
24. The Last Train from Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back, Charles Pellegrino
25. Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story, Leonie Swann
26. The Glass Room, Simon Mawer
27. Carpe Demon: Adventures of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom, Julie Kenner
28. California Demon, Julie Kenner
29. Demons Are Forever, Julie Kenner
30. Deja Demon, Julie Kenner
31. The Fossil Hunter: Dinosaurs, Evolution, and the Woman Whose Discoveries Changed the World, Shelley Emling
32. The Law of Falling Bodies, Jill Ciment
33. Half a Life, Jill Ciment
34. Heroic Measures, Jill Ciment
35. Demon Ex Machina, Julie Kenner
36. Remarkable Creatures, Tracy Chevalier
37. The Wood Wife, Terri Windling
38. Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide to Romance Novels, Sarah Wendell and Candy Tan
39. The Island, Victoria Hislop
40. Changes, Jim Butcher
41. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Seth Grahame-Smith
42. The Help, Kathryn Stockett
43. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, Helen Simonson
44. Kushiel's Dart, Jacqueline Carey
45. The Swan Thieves, Elizabeth Kostova
46. Bite Me: A Love Story, Christopher Moore
47. Just Kids, Patti Smith
48. The Historian, Elizabeth Kostova
49. Stones from the River, Ursula Hegi
50. To Love and to Cherish, Patricia Gaffney
51. A Fine Balance, Rohinton Mistry
52. Ahab's Wife, or, The Star-Gazer, Sena Jeter Naslund
53. The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd
54. The Charlotte Gilman Perkins Reader, ed. Ann J. Lane
55. i know i am, but what are you?, Samantha Bee
56. The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Mohsin Hamid
57. Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition, Daniel Okrent
58. In the Forest of Forgetting, Theodora Goss
59. The Water-Method Man, John Irving
60. Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter, A.E. Moorat
61. Saving CeeCee Honeycutt, Beth Hoffman
62. Windflower, Nick Bantock
63. Bullet Points, Mark Watson
64. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson
65. The Girl who Played with Fire, Stieg Larsson
66. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest, Stieg Larsson
67. Bitten, Kelley Armstrong
68. Little Bee, Chris Cleaves
69. Foreign Correspondence, Geraldine Brooks
70. A Visit from the Goon Squad, Jennifer Egan
71. Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, Cory Doctorow
72. Little Vampire Women, Louisa May Alcott and Lynn Messina
73. The Anubis Gates, Tim Powers
74. McKay's Bees, Thomas McMahon
75. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls, Steve Hockensmith
76. Talking to Girls About Duran Duran, Rob Sheffield
77. Changeless, Gail Carriger
78. Year of Wonders, Geraldine Brooks
79. The Sheriff of Yrnameer, Michael Rubens
80. Jane Slayre, Charlotte Bronte and Sherri Browning Erwin
81. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, Patrick Suskind
82. The Believers, Zoe Heller
83. Heart-Shaped Box, Joe Hill
84. Vampire Vow, Michael Schiefelbein
85. Love is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time, Rob Sheffield
86. The Darkest Night, Gena Schowalter
87. The Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follett
88. Little Women and Werewolves, Porter Grand
89. The Great Typo Hunt: Two Friends Changing the World, One Correction at a Time, Jeff Deck and Benjamin D
90. Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World's Stolen Treasures, Robert K. Wittman and John Schiffman
91. Only Revolutions, Mark Danielewski
92. Mansfield Park and Mummies, Jane Austen and Vera Nazarian
93. Mr. Jefferson and the Giant Moose, Lee Alan Dugatkin
94. I Shall Wear Midnight, Terry Pratchett
95. Two Truths and a Lie, Katrina Kittle
96. The Passage, Justin Cronin
97. John Dies at the End, David Wong
98. Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human, Richard Wrangham
99. If I Stay, Gayle Forman
100. Half Broke Horses, Jeannette Walls
101. The Blessings of the Animals, Katrina Kittle
102. Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void, Mary Roach
103. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers
104. And the Heart Says Whatever, Emily Gould
105. Poplollies and Bellibones: A Celebration of Lost Words, Susan Kelz Sperling
106. God's Dog: A Celebration of the North American Coyote, Hope Ryden
107. Palimpsest, Catherynne M. Valente
108. The Killer of Little Shepherds: A True Crime Story and the Birth of Forensic Science, Douglas Starr
109. Kraken, China Miéville
110. The Kindness of Strangers, Katrina Kittle
111. Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging: Confessions of Georgia Nicholson, Louise Rennison
112. Fallen, Lauren Kate
113. Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far On Foot: The Autobiography of a Dangerous Man, John Callahan
114. Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change, Elizabeth Kolbert
115. Side Jobs, Jim Butcher
116. Blameless, Gail Carriger
117. The Man Who Loved Books Too Much: The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession, Allison Hoover Bartlett
118. Greywalker, Kat Richardson
119. Rest You Merry, Charlotte MacLeod
120. Bright of the Sky, Kay Kenyon

Sweater quest update and agenda

2010-12-28T10:01:00.004-05:00

Figured I should post an update on the sweater quest, because there are only a few days left. I have high hopes that I can finish at least two, possibly five sweaters this week, perhaps even more if I stop sleeping. Although knitting while sleep-deprived does not necessarily equal good results.

Anyway, here's the list, color-coded and everything:

Scoop Pullover: Completed, and in Tulsa, where it will get worn.
Sonnet: To be blocked, seamed, and have buttons added today. I hope.
Max: Completely done, and making people smile.
Einstein: Completely done, and getting compliments, especially on the buttons.
Vine Yoke: Still needs a sleeve and a front. On the agenda for Thursday.
Shalom: Worn yesterday to knitting. I must have monkey arms or a very short row gauge, as the designer mentioned that the sleeves would be very long, and they are 3/4 length on me.
Wrenna: Wore to the office holiday party. Definitely a gorgeous pattern and a quick knit, and I would consider making another.
Issara: Needs closures; hope to add those today.
Spoke: Finally finished the second front, and started the sleeves. Modified the sleeves because I was sick of 1x1 and to remove the giant bells. Giant, I say! Just need to finish the second sleeve, sew the shoulders, and do the edging. On the agenda for today between #2 and #8, and tomorrow.
Lia: Needs sleeves and yoke. Hopefully tomorrow, assuming Zuzu will allow it, as she doesn't seem to appreciate this sweater except as a blanket.
Gathered Pullover: Just needs sleeve caps knitted and sleeves sewn in. Went a bit overboard on the sleeve tubes (unless I really do have monkey arms), but it's time to start the increases.
Owls: Needs sleeves and yoke. Planning on spending Friday on that.

So. We'll see how far I get. Which means I should really stop typing and pick up the needles. Wish me luck!

The Smart Little Chickadee

2010-12-22T09:31:00.004-05:00

Short post here, because I don't have too much to say. Still plugging away on my sweaters, which are still mostly as described although I have been working on Spoke again, and my Owls is about ready for the sleeves.

Anyway, I know I've shared stories from the birdfeeder before, and this is another. When we got dumped on with snow (so much that they sent a backhoe to do the plowing - see below), we did not shovel the deck, so instead of refilling the feeder that hangs at the edge, I just stuck a feeder on the ground, right outside of the door.

Our snowplow for Dec 13-14

Well, it took a bit of time for the birds to find it, but they did, and were thrilled to have more sunflower seeds to eat. (And suet, as I hung the suet cage from the handle of the sliding glass door.) Obviously, the feeder gets emptied every few days.

This morning I noticed that the feeder was empty, so I opened the door to refill it. There was a chickadee watching from the beam of the deck roof. I refilled the feeder, stepped back inside, and that little chickadee was at the feeder before I had closed the door.

But not for long! Here comes Zuzu, curious as to why the door had been open without her knowledge. Off flies little chickadee! Apparently little chickadee knows that humans aren't generally dangerous, but cats frequently are. Hence the title of this post.

What else? I am very entertained with this. Potty humor for paleontologists! Or just silly stuff for kids and kids-at-heart.

In other slightly science-y news, I stayed up to watch the start of the lunar eclipse. In part because I was playing with chocolate, so I could share candies with my coworkers. I still have several things to make, but thankfully there are a few days until Christmas so I can delay just a bit. Haven't started with the dark chocolate yet, and I don't think my family will mind that I won't share many dark chocolate treats with my coworkers, as there will be more for them.

Crappy cell phone picture of the start of the lunar eclipse because I need to find my camera cable to download the better pics

Well, I should probably stop typing and start being productive. I have a lot to do before Christmas, and lots of knitting to be done before the end of the month!

GAH! How did it get to be December?!?!?!?!

2010-12-04T10:32:00.008-05:00

Yes, I procrastinate. Not one of my better qualities, but hey, I usually work well under a deadline (as long as no one is staring over my shoulder), so whatever. But EEK! Really? I am not ready for December! Would much prefer it to be oh, maybe September? Anyway, the sweater quest continues, with a few interruptions here and there.

Made Eugenia's mitts for the lovely AutumnBreeze as part of a swap. I hope she likes them! I'm not sure if she's unwrapped that far yet. (Pattern is Rav link.)

A friend's daughter is going through a bit of a rough time as a new big sister, so I made some fingerless mitts for her.

Which then sat in my house forever and ever before I finally got to the PO to ship them. Hopefully they'll still fit!

*Finally* finished seaming Mom's sweater, and she likes it. Yay! One completely-finished sweater!

Tangent: we went to the Rally to Restore Sanity at the end of October, and had a lovely time. Wish we had more time to spend wandering various Smithsonian buildings, but we saw the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef, which is what I wanted to see, so I was content. Will have to go back another time.

Back to the sweater quest... Sweater #2 is still waiting to be blocked, seamed, and buttoned. Sweater #3 and #4 are completely done. Yay!! Sweater #5 has had some progress made, and just needs the second sleeve and front. Sweaters #6-8 were mentioned previously, and about in the same shape. Issara needs closures, and then she's done.

Sweater #3

Sweater #4

Sweater #5

Sweater #9 is still trudging along. I would not have started if I had read the pattern the whole way through before starting. LOTS of 1x1 ribbing, which does not work well with the yarn I am using, as I like to do my ribbing using the Portuguese technique, and Freedom Spirit is too delicate for all that tension. Currently the sweater is in my car (well, the piece-in-progress), where it gets dragged out occasionally.

Sweater #10 is still waiting to be fixed, but I just need to figure out the start of round stitch and it will be good to go. May try to do the sleeves this weekend and then finish the top.

Sweater #11 turns out not to be a test knit, as I could not get gauge for the design. Turned to an older pattern that I've wanted to do for years, since I first saw it showing up on "real people" on Ravelry. Not that it's an ugly design on its own, but it really shines when worn by people with curves rather than stick-thin models. Anyway, it is still breaking my habit of green sweaters. Which isn't actually *too* bad, as I will end the year with at most six green sweaters to wear. Green sweater #1 ended up in Oklahoma with 'lista, and even though Sweater #5 is notoriously short so I added a few stitches to compensate, I wonder if it will be a belly sweater. Which means that it may need to find a new home, too.

Sweater #12 is another older design that I've wanted to do for a while. In fact, I started the project in 2008, but it got sent to time out when I realized that my gauge was much too small and I didn't care for how the yarn was pooling. Anyway, I am modifying the design significantly, to match my gauge and size, and skipping the waist shaping as my waist has disappeared lately. The yarn is still pooling, but rather than having large blotches of the yellow-green it is spiraling around the sweater. Which I can deal with. Should probably be alternating rows with another skein, since it's hand-dyed stuff (I love Briar Rose!) but am not. We'll see how it turns out.

I need to come up with a good strategy to get things finished on time. And here I am typing rather than knitting... Am currently considering adding a week to my schedule for every pair of things I made in 2010, since I am intending on devoting 2011 to pairs. Socks, gloves, slippers, mitts: pairs. That would give me an extra month, just about, because I made two pairs of fingerless mitts, one pair of mittens, and a pair of baby bibs. Longer if I count the pairs of squares I knit... But I am going to try to get things done this month. It is theoretically possible, at least as of the 4th. We shall see what happens. I don't know when I will fit in the Christmas candy/cookie-making, but perhaps I will go a few days without sleep. Or take a few extra vacation days. If all goes well, I won't go to work between Christmas and New Year's, but I am not counting on that.

Well. What else? As it's not a post without a Zuzu picture, here is my longcat:

Her front paws were near my ankles, and her back paws were by my hip. For a small cat she is definitely stretchy!

Back to knitting I go! Cross your fingers that I can finish something this weekend!

Muzzles for people and a sweater quest update

2010-10-19T21:14:00.006-04:00

Yes, I am fat. No, I'm not really happy about that, but the planet really likes me, so I deal. I've never been slender, although I have been fit. Sadly, to keep most of the fat away, I need to exercise about eight hours a day. I am not independently wealthy, nor a celebrity of any kind, and I like sleep, so I just don't have the time required for that. So sue me. Or better yet, give me a few million dollars so I don't have to work and can spend eight hours exercising every day.

Anyway, today I was showing someone my sweater in progress, and was told, "I don't mean to be rude, but shouldn't you be knitting a bigger size?" Ouch. That hurts. Really. You may not intend to be rude, but yes, actually, you are. Especially since my sweater piece is:
crackers) the back, which doesn't have extra bits to stretch around
argyle) not blocked
plastic cutlery) ribbed, which means especially stretchy

I am also knitting the largest size the pattern offers, and on a needle size that is larger than the pattern suggests. So yeah, your comment stung. My self-esteem is low enough, and really didn't need that hit.

Anyway, I now have a retort to use the next time someone says something like that. (And there will be a next time. There always is.) "Sounds like you need a larger muzzle."

* * * * * * *

So today sucked, although it was saved somewhat by a skein of a cashmere silk blend that was on sale, but the colors are not my colors so the yarn will probably end up in a swap or something. Or maybe it will make a gift. My mom would look good in those colors. Oh well. Yarn is good. Cashmere-silk yarn that is discounted 40% is even better.

And speaking of yarn, this past weekend was Rhinebeck! It was wonderful to see several of the friends who live in my computer, although many people were missed. I had a decent haul, including a skein of angora-wool "sock yarn" that I really don't think will become socks. Snagged some Bugga (thanks to Cyd and Golriz for standing in line!) and some STR, too.

Someday I may take real pictures, but meh, whatever. Cell phone pics work for this, right?

In knitting news, I finished my Issara in the hotel lobby on Friday night, and wore it Saturday with stitch holders keeping it closed. It's a bit more snug than I'd like for a coat, but it is wool so it should grow. (And yes, my gauge was a bit small, but I had already gone up a needle size and didn't want to make a coat with a loose fabric. Maybe this will convince someone that I need money so I can stop working and lose weight...)

My May post included all of the sweaters up to that point. Sweater #2 is still in the same place (needs blocked, seamed and buttons), Sweater #3 is done aside from buttons and ear stuffing, and now has pins marking where the buttons should go, so that won't take much longer, Sweater #4 has one of the seams done and just needs the second seam, the collar and buttons, and Sweater #5 is still hanging out, stalled because of spit splicing. I still have hope for the year, though.

Sweater #6, Shalom, Y'all, is completely done, including buttons! I have been wearing it, but don't have a picture with buttons.

Sweater #7, Wrenna, is also done, and I am wearing it right now. Sewed on the second clasp and learned that I need to pull up the sweater sleeves and pull down my shirt sleeves at Rhinebeck. Bought the yarn in Minneapolis. I love Mountain Colors!

Sweater #8 is the above-mentioned Issara, and I love it. May need to knit another one eventually.

Sweater #9 is the supposedly too-small one. Spoke. I did not read the pattern before I started, and the sweater is taking forever. If I had read the pattern I would have found something else to cast on, as k1p1 is boring as all get out and takes forever. The yarn is lovely, but is too delicate for pin-tensioned knitting, so my ribbing goes very slowly as my technique is terrible. Oh well. Eventually.

Sweater #10 is Lia, and would have been done by now if I had paid more attention to the sizing and not looked at the wrong numbers when I split for the arms. Need to rip back, but that shouldn't take too long. Bulky yarn and big needles FTW! My picture doesn't look like much other than a kitty bed, as Zuzu decided that it was time for me to stop knitting. If I hadn't screwed up I may have had another sweater to wear at Rhinebeck. Oh well. Next year.

Sweater #11 will be a test knit for someone (in blue, not green!), and i am not sure what sweater #12 will be yet. Probably something in bulky yarn, as I'll need something quick so I can finish everything else...

Also seamed a blanket for Mary somewhere in there, and knit a few squares for it, too.

Realized I never shared a picture of Gretchen's bag, so here it is, pre-felting:

Also knit two and a half baby bibs. Need to finish the third so I can get my needles back so I can make fingerless gloves for a friend's kid who needs some yarny love. She's a new big sister, and needs some attention of her own.

Even if I fail at my sweater quest, I have used an awful lot of yarn this year. And what else is Christmas break for but knitting? Kinda looking forward to starting the 52-pair-plunge, but am tempted to make another sweater or six.

Anyway, Mike is home now, so I ought to go upstairs to sleep. Tomorrow will be a better day. I hope.

P.S. I forgot the gratuitous Zuzu picture. Here you go!

Neil deGrasse Tyson Rocks My Socks!

2010-09-21T22:18:00.003-04:00

I am a science geek. I admit it. That's partially how I got my job, because if you spend enough time at a museum, sometimes they ask you to work there. (Luck, good timing and skill factored in, too.)

Anyway, my husband and I went to see Neil deGrasse Tyson tonight with a few friends and a theater full of people. It was a lovely evening, and as the event was organized by a local library, there was a book signing afterward.

After he signed my books, Dr. Tyson was kind enough to pose for a picture with my socks! He also shared that not only is he an astrophysicist, author and educator, he is a fiber artist: he crochets!

Not the world's best picture, but hey, it's better than my old cell phone would have done... (Socks are Nicola's Strawberry Mojito socks, and they haven't progressed much since NYC. Nearly ready for the heel, but I've been concentrating on sweaters lately. 2011 is for socks.)

Random note: Zuzu is licking my arm.

Anyway, I ought to go to bed, as I have a meeting in the morning... Just needed to share. SQUEE!!!!

Kiddie Rollercoaster-Tastic Day

2010-09-03T15:59:00.004-04:00

So. Today has been interesting. Up-down-up-down-up-down. Nothing big, just lots of little things making my mood swing all over the place.

Zuzu wanted me to wake up early, although she hasn't been eating well, so it wasn't that she wanted breakfast, just that she wanted me to be awake. (And cross your fingers that she starts to find her food tasty again.)
Made zucchini bread, because there was a giant zucchini left in the kitchenette at work, and I gave in and took it home. Two batches, one with cinnamon chips and the other with chocolate chips.
Discovered that I need more loaf pans. Three pans are not enough.
Saw a kingfisher outside, and ordered Neil deGrasse Tyson tickets. Whee!
Left for work, and spent an extra half hour in the car due to traffic caused by a chemical spill on 271. People are rude, and apparently raindrops cause them to forget how to drive.
Got to work, and distributed lots of zucchini bread.
There was cake at work! Cake! Pink cake! YUM!
When I sat down to work, I opened all of my tabs, did the daily media searches, and then the internet went out. My job is completely internet based. I waited for a bit, but then went home, because I can work here.
Sat in traffic on the way home, too, because even thought the accident was north, lots of people were driving south.
While in the car, listened to a groovy radio show that played some great songs.
Nearly ran out of gas, but got to the gas station in time. Yay!
The gas station guy liked my shirt (Down with Gravity!), and then started asking me questions like, "Where do you work?" and "Are they hiring?" when I really desperately wanted to go home and eat lunch.
Oh! I saw the garbage truck that advertises the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. It isn't affiliated with the Museum; apparently the driver just likes the Museum.
Got home, worked for a bit, ate my yogurt and string cheese, and then got distracted. Will spend more time working this weekend...

Anyway, that was today so far. I should have stopped for ice cream.

No other updates, as I have a lot to do this weekend... Have fun!

Get your velociraptor here!

2010-05-28T13:38:00.003-04:00

So. June 14 is Bring Your Velociraptor to Work Day.

I live near a place that I like to call the Velociraptor Store. Although they definitely have fewer velociraptors now than they did around Christmas, so the store may need a new name. Velociraptor Store is more appropriate than just "Toy Sale," which is how they promote things.

Anyway, in honor of BYVTWD, I snagged some extra velociraptors to share with those who don't have dinosaurs at work.

Leave a comment and I'll draw names, and try to get the velociraptors sent in time for the winners to take them to work. Deadline is June 6, whatever time I think about it.

All we want to do is eat your brains...

2010-05-14T09:41:00.004-04:00

Quick post, this. Was driving to the bullseye and neighboring box store yesterday, and saw the strangest thing. A cardinal was hopping across the street, chasing a mouse. Really? Do cardinals do that? Perhaps. Anyway, as I got closer, the bird flew off, well, at least made a short hop out of the road, and the mouse hung a U-ie and ran back across the road. At least it started. I'm not sure if it ran into/under my tires, but I may have made the cardinal's meal easier. It was the most surreal moment of the day.

Let's see, what else is going on? Speaking of surreal moments, visited Gretchen two weeks ago. On Saturday we were riding the subway back from Coney Island, after being part of a public display of knitting, when a Buddhist monk wearing a robe and sandals sat down across from us. He took our picture, because, you know, we were weird.

In other knitting news, working on my sweater quest. On #5 so far. Gretchen visited at New Year's and we knit the scoop pullover. I sent mine to Lista, as it was simply not flattering on me, although it looked lovely on Zuzu.

Sweater #2 was Sonnet, although I did a stockinette body rather than garter, as I wanted to show off the yarn better. It still needs blocked, seamed, and buttons.

Took a break in February for the Ravelympics. It was pointed out to me that I should be ashamed of myself, being a knitter without a scarf, so I made one. A nice, green Clap(otis).

Started an Icarus, but despite my crazy spreadsheet, I realized that I was going to run out of yarn. So I have some frogging to do, and then more lace to knit. No rush, though, so I'm trying to catch up on my sweater-making.

Sweater #3 is Max! Sadly, I haven't done the ears yet, and have been terrible about progress shots, so I'm ganking one of the designer's. I have a present to send to her, so hopefully she won't mind. Anyway, it just needs ears, blocked and buttons.

Sweater #4 is the Einstein Coat, as I was going to see Wye Oak and Shearwater and wanted something mindless to keep my hands busy while my ears were occupied, and what is more mindless than 400 rows of garter stitch? It, too, needs blocked, seamed and buttons, but it also will get a collar. I want to block it before I seam, since we all know that EcoWool can grow and grow, and I don't want bunchy seams. Plus I hate seaming, and procrastination is good.

Sweater #5, finally, is the Vine Yoke Cardigan. I have been drooling over this pattern ever since it was published, and I've had the yarn, but had too much other stuff going on to start it. Finally! I have the right front done and about a third of the right sleeve.

Oh yeah, and along the way I knit an angora-merino-silk neckwarmer for my mom. She gets to sew her own buttons on, because that way they might be attached sometime this century.

Also, I didn't really want to take a sweater's worth of yarn to NYC, so I brought socks. Strawberry mojito socks, even! Berrylicious! Nicola is a wonderful designer and a lovely person, and lets me test-knit even though I'm pathetically slow and stuff. Anyway, they are gorgeous and my picture does not do them justice. Not at all.

Oh! I forgot about Gretchen's bag! Yes. I made her one. I don't think I've uploaded good pictures yet, so none to share, but hopefully soon... I need to find my camera, as the pictures are still in it.

Anyway, I need to get moving to work. Eek! Too much to do! Have fun!

Things I do instead of sleeping

2010-04-25T05:51:00.002-04:00

1. Ponder that since Jimmy Buffett and the Jonas Brothers make me want to die, if all music created by people with the initials JB is RONG. (Answer: No. James Brown and Jonatha Brooke are acceptable. There are probably more, but hey, it's 5:30 am.)

2. Get woken up by a gentle meow from our lovely kitty, go to the guest room so she doesn't wake Mike as well, and snuggle with a lobster.

3. Listen to Zuzu become Angry Kitty since she is on the wrong side of the door, and clearly she is starving to death, and shouldn't I do something about that NAO???

4. Open the door and watch as Angry Kitty becomes Purrmonster and tries to wake me up by sitting on me and purring. Oh, there is also some headbutting of the headboard, too.

5. Lecture Zuzu that she gets kibble at 5 am, and she can't possibly starve to death in 20 minutes.

6. Get up and feed her anyway.

7. Make stupid blog posts, and try to take a nap.

2009 Reading List

2010-01-08T11:45:00.004-05:00

Books! Time to start the 2010 list, as I've already got one book to put on the list and am halfway through another. For archival purposes, here you go!

Books Read in 2009

130. A History of the World in 6 Glasses, Tom Standage
129. Nathan's Run, John Gilstrap
128. Heat Wave, Richard Castle
127. Finger Lickin' Fifteen, Janet Evanovich
126. Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters
125. Struts & Frets, Jon Skovron
124. Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth about Your Weight, Linda Bacon, Ph.D.
123. Animal Magnetism: My Life with Creatures Great and Small, Rita Mae Brown
122. An Echo in the Bone, Diana Gabaldon
121. It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Zombies!, Michael P. Spradlin
120. House of Leaves, Mark Z. Danielewski
119. Odd and the Frost Giants, Neil Gaiman
118. In Your Dreams, Tom Holt
117. The Portable Door, Tom Holt
116. A Breath of Snow and Ashes, Diana Gabaldon
115. The Good Fairies of New York, Martin Millar
114. Unseen Academicals, Terry Pratchett
113. Truck: A Love Story, Michael Perry
112. Juliet, Naked, Nick Hornby
111. On Stranger Tides, Tim Powers
110. Population: 485: Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time, Michael Perry
109. Prairie Tale, Melissa Gilbert
108. The Little Giant of Aberdeen County, Tiffany Baker
107. The Bolter, Frances Osborne
106. Good Omens,Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
105. Coop: A Year of Poultry, Pigs, and Parenting, Michael Perry
104. The Summer Fletcher Greel Loved Me, Suzanne Kingsbury
103. The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America, Bill Bryson
102. Or Your Money Back, Nicole Lorenz
101. My Sister's Keeper, Jodi Picoult
100. Off Main Street: Barnstormers, Prophets & Gatemouth's Gator, Michael Perry
99. The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, Lauren Willig
98. Haroun and the Sea of Stories, Salman Rushdie
97. The Time Traveler's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger
96. Decoding the Heavens: A 2,000-Year-Old Computer - and the Century-Long Search to Discover Its Secrets, Jo Marchant
95. Southern Discomfort, Rita Mae Brown
94. In the Woods, Tana French
93. Six of One, Rita Mae Brown
92. Rubyfruit Jungle, Rita Mae Brown
91. The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis (Does this count as 7 books?)
90. A High Wind in Jamaica, Richard Hughes
89. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, Fannie Flagg
88. Turn Coat, Jim Butcher
87. The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary, Simon Winchester
86. Lover Avenged, J.R. Ward
85. Small Favor, Jim Butcher
84. White Night, Jim Butcher
83. Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters, Matt Ridley
82. Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution, Neil deGrasse Tyson and Donald Goldsmith
81. Proven Guilty, Jim Butcher
80. Dead Beat, Jim Butcher
79. Sometimes a Great Notion, Ken Kesey
78. Playing the Moldovans at Tennis, Tony Hawks
77. Lover Enshrined, J.R. Ward
76. Twilight, Stephenie Meyer
75. Galapagos, Kurt Vonnegut
74. McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales, Michael Chabon, ed.
73. Lover Unbound, J.R. Ward
72. They Tore Out My Heart & Stomped That Sucker Flat, Lewis Grizzard
71. Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High, Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler
70. My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey, Jill Bolte Taylor, Ph.D.
69. Lover Revealed, J.R. Ward
68. Round Ireland with a Fridge, Tony Hawks
67. Lover Awakened, J.R. Ward
66. Lover Eternal, J.R. Ward
65. Dark Lover, J.R. Ward
64. Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash, Elizabeth Royte
63. Death By Black Hole and Other Cosmic Quandaries, Neil deGrasse Tyson
62. The Beak of the Finch, Jonathan Weiner
61. Blood Rites, Jim Butcher
60. Plum Spooky, Janet Evanovich
59. Death Masks, Jim Butcher
58. The Pistol Poets, Victor Gischler
57. The Zookeeper's Wife, Diane Ackerman
56. The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America's Favorite Planet, Neil deGrasse Tyson
55. Life Before Man, Margaret Atwood
54. Merlin's Tour of the Universe, Neil deGrasse Tyson
53. The Book of Lost Things, John Connolly
52. Summer Knight, Jim Butcher
51. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
50. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
49. The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman
48. The Customer is Always Wrong: The Retail Chronicles, Jeff Martin, ed.
47. Gun Monkeys, Victor Gischler
46. Shotgun Opera, Victor Gischler
45. Grave Peril, Jim Butcher
44. Make Love! the Bruce Campbell Way, Bruce Campbell
43. Fool Moon, Jim Butcher
42. Storm Front, Jim Butcher
41. Anybody Can Do Anything, Betty MacDonald
40. Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse, Victor Gischler
39. The Egg and I, Betty MacDonald
38. The Rose of Sebastopol, Katharine McMahon
37. The Book of Unholy Mischief, Elle Newmark
36. Fool, Christopher Moore
35. Delicate Edible Birds and Other Stories, Lauren Groff
34. Bobbie Faye's (kinda, sorta, not exactly) Family Jewels, Toni McGee Causey
33. Bobbie Faye's Very (Very, Very, Very) Bad Day, Toni McGee Causey
32. If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor, Bruce Campbell
31. The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific, J. Maarten Troost
30. Book of Dreams: A Memoir of Wilhelm Reich, Peter Reich
29. The Westing Game, Ellen Raskin
28. The Children of Cthulhu, John Pelan and Benjamin Adams, eds.
27. Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
26. Last Chance to See, Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine
25. Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street, Michael Davis
24. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, Max Brooks
23. Healing ADD: The Breakthrough Program that Allows You to See and Heal the 6 Types of ADD, Daniel G. Amen, M.D.
22. Free-Range Knitter: The Yarn Harlot Writes Again, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
21. March, Geraldine Brooks
20. I Was Told There'd Be Cake, Sloane Crosley
19. People of the Book, Geraldine Brooks
18. Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior, Temple Grandin
17. Housekeeping, Marilynne Robinson
16. The January Dancer, Michael Flynn
15. Quicksilver (Volume One of the Baroque Cycle), Neal Stephenson
14. Pretty Monsters, Kelly Link
13. The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill, Mark Bittner
12. Dragon Hunter: Roy Chapman Andrews and the Central Asiatic Expeditions, Charles Gallenkamp
11. Motor Mouth, Janet Evanovich
10. Alex & Me: How a Scientist and a Parrot Uncovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence - and Formed a Deep Bond in the Process, Irene Pepperburg
9. Metro Girl, Janet Evanovich
8. Fearless Fourteen, Janet Evanovich
7. Lean Mean Thirteen, Janet Evanovich
6. Wesley the Owl: The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and His Girl, Stacey O'Brien
5. Zombies of the Gene Pool, Sharyn McCrumb
4. Twelve Sharp, Janet Evanovich
3. Eleven on Top, Janet Evanovich
2. Fatherland, Robert Harris
1. Ten Big Ones, Janet Evanovich

Winners! We have them!

2009-12-29T09:05:00.003-05:00

I am such a slacker. And I hate leaving people disappointed. So, I went back to the toy sale, and picked up a few more orangutans. Lista gets an orang with velcro hands, so he can hang in her nursery, and Pixisis and Melcentrica both get Original Ooks. There may be a slightly smaller version for Carry if she likes, or perhaps for someone else who might want a Librarian of their very own. Comment away! (Although this time there might not be multiple winners, as I bought out their selection of orangutans. Also nearly bought out their selection of penguins. Emperor, King, Adelie, Magellanic, Rockhopper, Gentoo, and Humboldt. Perhaps another species that I can't remember. I really need to stay away from that place.)

Anyway, their packages are on the way, along with some other stuff that will be landing soon, and hopefully everything will be appreciated.

Really glad that stuff went to the PO yesterday, as it is snowing here and I am not yet convinced that I should leave the house. Yes, I have a project at work that needs my attention, but it has been waiting since August (not my fault! It showed up on my desk in December!) and can wait a bit longer.

Anyway, watch this space for more contests, hopefully in the near rather than distant future. Until then, i give you a gratuitous cute Zuzu picture. Enjoy!

Randomness and an OOK!

2009-12-03T17:50:00.004-05:00

So... It's been a while. Lots has happened. October was insane. Went to a wedding reception, saw Neil Gaiman, helped with a benefit for the Museum Women's Committee, did the Tour de Stitch again with Mom, baked 20 dozen cupcakes to take to Rhinebeck, hosted our annual shindig, and had a hot date with a book on October 25 when things finally calmed down. Somehow was able to work in that mess, and knit just a teensy bit.

November was somewhat quieter, but still busy. Saw William Shakespeare's Land of the Dead - ZOMBIES!!! - on the 1st, went to the Jell-O museum on the 6th, took a toe-up sock class with Cookie A on the 7th, and the rest of the month just raced past.

Anyway, can't believe that it's December. The day before Thanksgiving, went to a meeting at what turned out to be a toy company, and they were having their annual Christmas sale. Well, I went back today, and everything that they had over $1 was half off. Including Ook!

I picked up two, which is good, because Mike actually really likes him. He'll be lurking in our library. His counterpart, however, is upstairs in the former office, hiding with half a dozen penguins. Anyway, I think I'll have a contest for the Upstairs Ook. Leave a comment to tell me why he should live with you, and the best story (or a random number) wins.

Anyway, time to make dinner and watch Extract. Have fun!

StuffOnMyZuzu.com

2009-09-12T23:12:00.005-04:00

Because I don't like the StuffOnMyCat.com copyright bit, here is StuffOnMyZuzu:

Still running around a lot, still knitting a lot, still reading but not as fast as the first half of the year(have been keeping up on the list), and have been working a decent bit. I actually really like my job, which is cause for celebration. Anyway, need to be quick as it is past my bedtime and I have a Very Exciting Day of Laundry ahead of me tomorrow. Fun.

Finally...and lots of pictures!

2009-07-31T18:50:00.009-04:00

Well. This is my first weekend at home in months. Those of you who pay attention to my ramblings on Ravelry and/or Facebook know that my mom had bypass surgery on June 2. Quintuple bypass. With lots of complications. She was in the hospital for most of June. Anyway, she's doing muuuuch better now, and is home, and is driving, and is getting back to as-normal-as-possible life.

I should be making cupcakes for tomorrow's SAAZ blues and brews, but hey, it starts towards evening, so I have all day tomorrow... Today has been a lazy day, just because it could be. Finished book #90 today. Was definitely different, and somewhat disturbing. Started the Chronicles of Narnia, all seven in one book. We'll see how long those 800 pages take...

Anyway, I am posting because I finally awarded the winner of the PPZ magnet! A few weekends ago, Mom drew a name from those who wanted entered in the drawing, and Jesse won! I gave him the magnet on Monday at knitting group, and he was thrilled. (I should have had the camera out when I handed him the magnet - he had quite the look on his face!) Anyway, here he is, with his prize. Someday I will make brioche for that boy, too, just because.

Anyway, Zuzu is pestering me, it is nearly dinnertime, and I have daffodils to browse. (Thanks, CathyCake!) Maybe next year I can convince the deer to leave my tulips alone. Worst case I'll have something blooming in the spring.

Oh, I should give you an update on my knitting adventures. Knitted the pieces for Mom's sweater in two weeks, entirely in the hospital. Working on seaming it now. The shoulders are seamed, the sleeves are set in, and one sleeve is sewn shut. Just need to seam the other sleeve and both sides, and then pick up stitches for the neckline. Might make Mom a cowl to go with it, as the neckline won't cover up her scar, and she doesn't really want to show it off to the world. It was nicely blocked, and looked lovely until it spent a week in a bag. Will re-steam before giving it to Mom. The color is perfect for her.

Finished the first pair of beer socks, Oktoberfest, and unfortunately, the ribbing is too tight, so they don't fit over my heels. Need to frog and redo the foam. Not a good picture, but here you go:

Okay, this one is a bit better, but still not great.

Finished my Gin and Tonic socks, and they fit well. They're snug to get on, due to the fiddly cable, but once they're on they're lovely. Zuzu approves.

Did another Calorimetry, just because, with yarn I handpainted myself. Just need to get a button and sew it on. More hospital knitting.

The summer of alcoholic socks continues. I started some Irish Ale socks, designed by the lovely RedScot, who also designed the Gin and Tonic socks, and the Traffic Island socks that I never posted because I wasn't posting. Let's remedy that. Oh, might also start some frozen margarita socks tomorrow, depending on how simple the toe/foot is. Must remember to bring my headlamp so I can knit in the dark.

Also made two baby bibs for the baby that caused the maternity leave that resulted in my current job.

A dinosaur, of course, and a duckie.

Trying to work on a shawl, but think I'm going to start over as I am only 7 rows in and have 4 extra stitches. That's what I get for trying to do lace in a dark-ish room in public. Oh well. I can live with losing 7 rows.

What else? It's a bit later and I still haven't had dinner, Zuzu is still asking for a second dinner, so everything else will wait. Have fun!

Let's see who is still paying attention

2009-05-09T18:45:00.004-04:00

So I know I haven't posted in forever. Sorry. And I'm not going to post anything tremendously substantial today, either.

But what I am posting is a contest! Just a little one, but still fun.

I found a Pride and Prejudice and Zombies magnet at Oddmall today. It can be yours..... Anyone who comments before the end of May will be entered in the drawing for the magnet and other miscellaneous goodies that might be sitting around the house.

Good luck!

Caffeinated again

2009-02-28T23:42:00.003-05:00

So... In Reading, with my mom and sister. Luckily we have a suite, as I am camped out on the fold-out couch thinking about sleep while my body just doesn't wanna. Had a lovely dinner tonight, with the exception of the "decaf" we ordered with dessert. It wasn't. Decaf, that is. My mom had chest pains while walking back to the car, and I am still awake, even though I was exhausted when we got back to the hotel. Um, yeah. Now I am frantically typing as I kick my feet and consider how long it will take me to doze off.

I think I'm going to read, and see if that helps. No, because I am enjoying the book that I am reading, and while I purchased a copy of the book that I am struggling to convince myself to read before it is waaay overdue at the library, that book is in my sister's car, and therefore I can't get it, which is sad because even though I like it and love the author it tends to make me somewhat sleepy.

Anyway, yes, I have been knitting, and finished the bag part of the Market Squares bag yesterday (was it just yesterday?) while somewhere, um, dinner maybe? No, in the car. Nearly done with the second of the second pair of Fetching, this pair slightly modified to make them bigger because I wanted them that way, tyvm. Hopefully the last bits will get done tomorrow. Or maybe tonight, as I am still awake, dammit!

Oh, and I haz a dinosaur!! We went to the Works at Wyomissing for lunch. As it is a Dave and Buster's kind-of thing, and there was a short wait for a table, we played skee ball while we waited. Which isn't important, even though it was fun. It is especially not important since they did not have fake mustaches for me to buy with the tickets that I earned. Of which there were a decent amount, since I apparently kick butt at skee ball. What is important, is the Dino Drop game, which was near the entrance to the very loud game area, and oh so tempting. Mommie said that we weren't allowed to play until we had eaten all of our lunch, so after we ate, Wendy and I wandered over, and I managed to snag this guy:

I named him Rutherford. And sorry for the poor quality. Studip cell phone cameras. anyway, ktb and Jesh met him this afternoon at the chocolate shop, and he provided much entertainment at dinner.

Anyway, I am going to attempt sleep again, as it is nearly midnight and I really should, especially since I need to drive Mommie and then me home tomorrow. Oh, and my body likes to wake me no later than 6:30am. Fun stuff...

A morning in the life ~or~ The reason I avoid caffeine...and other stuff

2009-01-04T05:17:00.009-05:00

It is 5:18 am. Yesterday, I had two cups of (excellent, btw) coffee made from beans Gretchen brought from NYC. Enjoyed the coffee, but wow, the caffeine! Didn't notice it so much during the day, but when I went to bed? First, stayed up later than usual because the normal tiredness didn't kick in. Went to bed, and forgot to take my glasses off until I'd been there about 10 minutes. After about 30-40 minutes or so, I realized my feet were twitching. When I finally made them stop, my ankles hurt. Eventually made it to dreamland, which was a very bizarre place. I was hiding in an office and trying to download David Bowie albums. A noise startled me, and made me turn off the laptop screen to make the room entirely dark, although finally I woke enough to realize that the sound was like Zuzu moving her plate around. Mike was snoring.

Anyway, I felt like a breakfast failure yesterday, since we don't have many breakfast foods in the house, so time to make cinnamon rolls. And apple pies, because my apples are going to go bad if they don't get used. Gretchen likes apple pie - I mailed one to her once.

*************

6:12 am. Cinnamon roll dough is rising. Debating going to the store, but as the guest room is not far from the garage door, that might wake Gretchen. Oh! My sister is online... Chat chat chat chat chat... Piecrust!

6:45 am. Piecrust is chilling. No wonder I haven't tried using butter instead of crisco - it would take 3.5 sticks! Nearly one pound of butter in two piecrusts. Maybe after I find a job. Oh, and my pastry blender could probably be used as a weapon, in case you were wondering. Time to peel and chop the apples! Or give Zuzu some attention, since that is what she wants.

7:26 am. Pie is in the oven. Took longer than expected to find the apple destruction device, and when I found it the apples didn't want to die, so I had to skin and chop them by hand. Nutmeg exploded a bit, so the pie may be a bit too nutmeggy, but hey, worst case we make another pie later. Which we will, as I still have a few apples left. Gretch is awake and practicing knitting. I should catch up on the VLT. Or at least try.

8:13 am. Pie is out of the oven, and cinnamon rolls are shaped and on their second rise. Cream cheese and butter is on the counter, softening, for the cream cheese frosting. Moving pictures from camera memory stick to computer.

8:48 am. Gretchen says the pie tastes like Christmas. Cinnamon rolls are in the oven, getting started on the cream cheese frosting. Also thinking about getting dressed for the day. Nowhere near the end of the VLT.

9:05 am. cinnamon rolls just about done; time to eat one and run off to the art museum!

Sorry, too tired to really post

2009-01-01T20:56:00.004-05:00

Happy New Year! Yes, again I have procrastinated and not posted for quite a while. So what has happened over the past months? I am going to make you wait for a while to find out!

As usual, I got distracted and wrote a long, rambling email message instead of drafting a long, rambling blog post. Anyway, I want to clear my list of books read in 2008 so that I can start on the 2009 list, as I read a book this afternoon. Perhaps I will even add links tomorrow, but I am sleepy now, and thus too lazy to do that.

Books read in 2008, with most recently finished at top:
yeah, maybe I'll add numbers...

73 Uncle John's Triumphant 20th Anniversary Bathroom Reader, by the Bathroom Reader Institute
72 Anathem, Neal Stephenson
71 To the Nines, Janet Evanovich
70 Hard Eight, Janet Evanovich
69 Territory, Emma Bull
68 War for the Oaks, Emma Bull
67 We'll Always Have Parrots, Donna Andrews
66 Bimbos of the Death Sun, Sharyn McCrumb
65 Cryptonomicon, Neal Stephenson
64 The Other Boleyn Girl, Philippa Gregory
63 Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson
62 We Bought A Zoo, Benjamin Mee
61 Prelude to Foundation, Isaac Asimov
60 Hoot, Carl Hiaasen
59 Foundation and Earth, Isaac Asimov
58 Foundation's Edge, Isaac Asimov
57 "It Itches.", Franklin Habit
56 Seven Up, Janet Evanovich
55 Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World, Vicki Myron with Bret Witter
54 Hot Six, Janet Evanovich
53 Visions of Sugar Plums, Janet Evanovich
52 The Dead Travel Fast: Stalking Vampires from Nosferatu to Count Chocula, Eric Nuzum
51 Plum Lucky, Janet Evanovich
50 Plum Lovin', Janet Evanovich
49 Nation, Terry Pratchett
48 Naked Brunch, Sparkle Hayter
47 High Five, Janet Evanovich
46 Four to Score, Janet Evanovich
45 Three to Get Deadly, Janet Evanovich
44 Two for the Dough, Janet Evanovich
43 Second Foundation, Isaac Asimov
42 Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex, Mary Roach
41 One for the Money, Janet Evanovich
40 The Day of the Triffids, John Wyndham
39 Foundation and Empire, Isaac Asimov
38 Foundation, Isaac Asimov
37 No Idle Hands: The Social History of American Knitting, Anne L. MacDonald
36 The Return of the Solar Cat Book, Jim Augustyn
35 Tipping the Velvet, Sarah Waters
34 Affinity, Sarah Waters
33 Fingersmith, Sarah Waters
32 Douglas Adams's Starship Titanic, Terry Jones
31 Ya-Yas In Bloom, Rebecca Wells
30 The Fiery Cross, Diana Gabaldon
29 Dave Gorman's Googlewhack! Adventure, Dave Gorman (obviously!)
28 Drums of Autumn, Diana Gabaldon
27 Voyager, Diana Gabaldon
26 Black Postcards, Dean Wareham
25 A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson
24 Dragonfly in Amber, Diana Gabaldon
23 Outlander, Diana Gabaldon
22 Back on Blossom Street, Debbie Macomber
21 A Good Yarn, Debbie Macomber
20 Daddy's Little Girl, Mary Higgins Clark
19 The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove, Christopher Moore
18 Slapshot!, Stan Fishler
17 Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present, Harriet Washington
16 Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia, Elizabeth Gilbert
15 What's a Girl Gotta Do?, Sparkle Hayter
14 Petal Pusher: A Rock and Roll Cinderella Story, Laurie Lindeen
13 Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen
12 Johnny and the Bomb, Terry Pratchett
11 The Best of World Cafe: Great Conversations from NPR's Most Popular Contemporary Music Show, David Dye
10 The Onion Girl, Charles de Lint
9 Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, Jared Diamond
8 Even Vampires Get the Blues, Katie MacAlister
7 Wicked, Gregory Maguire
6 Wit and Wisdom of Discworld, Terry Pratchett
5 Cross Bones, Kathy Reichs
4 Small Gods, Terry Pratchett
3 The Light Fantastic, Terry Pratchett
2 The Color of Magic, Terry Pratchet
1 The Margarets, Sheri S. Tepper

Not quite a book and a half a week. I guess I can live with that. Anyway, off to start the list for 2009! And hopefully post tomorrow, well, maybe Monday, as Gretchen is visiting for the weekend, and we all know that means I'll be forced to live more in the real world than the virtual one. Which is probably good for a change.

Oh, but did I share Zuzu's LOL with you? We miss seeing Alejandro around, although we have woodpeckers and other birds to stalk now.

Happy New Year!

moar funny pictures

Rhinebeck and other AWESOME October happenings

2008-10-26T10:03:00.004-04:00

WOW. That word pretty much sums up Rhinebeck (otherwise known as New York Sheep and Wool, one of the biggest fiber festivals in the country). That, and AWESOME. And yes, it deserves all caps. It was a wonderful time, hanging out with some of the people who live in my computer. Mary and I left Friday morning with eleven dozen cupcakes (Pumpkin Spice with cream cheese frosting, Mexican Chocolate with Kahlua glaze and chocolate ganache frosting, Vanilla with just plain vanilla frosting, Ho-Ho filled with vanilla cream and frosted with chocolate buttercream and Nutella, need I say more?) and 2.5 gallons of beer (well, 2 gallons of beer, half a gallon of cider). We arrived around 7, connected with my last-minute roommate Hopi, and figured out where we were going for dinner. Ktb and her mom made reservations at a fabulous place called Gigi Trattatoria. There were supposed to be eleven of us, but Cyd's train was delayed, so Pixisis was anxiously awaiting a phone call to get her. The call came just after dinner. Bowen was there, up from Philadelphia, with a stop on the way to pick up Silver. Also in that car was Monica from Portland (yes, Portland, Oregon), who had flown in a day or so earlier. And we can't forget the wonderful Dan, aka Brewergnome! Definitely an enjoyable meal.

Saturday was the festival! We found Melcentrica in the lobby at breakfast - we ID'd her because she, Mary and I were all wearing the same shirt. (Cyd wore hers, too, but we met her Friday night at the hotel. Our room was party central, as I had the cupcakes and beer.) Then it was off, across the Kingston Bridge, to the Rhinebeck fairgrounds!

We met at Completely Pointless and Arbitrary central - the Tsock Tsarina's booth! She and Jennifer (as well as Glenna and the Tserf) were incredibly busy, but they always had a moment for a hug or a cupcake. Jesh was pricing her gorgeous spindles, and by the afternoon they were nearly gone. (I did get to snag a tasty peanut butter cookie, though!) We also met Franklin on the way there. He is as charming and wonderful as expected, and Mary gave him her well-received Delores creation. Once at the booth, I overheard someone talking about beer (they were pondering and did purchase the Oktoberfest in Chocolate Stout, as did I - Mike will someday have beer socks to wear to festivals), and wouldn't you know that it was Holly! After much squeeing and hugs, she introduced her husband and we made arrangements to hang out at the hotel after that evening's Ravelry party.

Made a few purchases, too - Nine Tailors and Imbas as well as Oktoberfest, and some beautiful Gnomespun yarn, and a Yarn Fairy skein of Holiday Yarns. Wandered off to the Ravelry meetup. Showed up a bit late (that was typical of the weekend), but met Ravelry leadership Jess, Casey and Mary-Heather, as well as a few others of the Rav family. (And shared cupcakes.) I didn't really take many pictures; I let others do that for me. Lots of those pictures can be found here, if you have any interest.

Picked up a bit of other yarn along the way, but really ended up investing in roving. Yes, I don't know how to spin yet, but if all goes well that will be remedied on Wednesday. I could not resist one bit of Corriedale. Oh, the colors! Beautiful blues and purples. I carried it around for something like 2o minutes before deciding that I needed to take it home. Picked up some incredibly soft undyed Merino as well - grabbed a bit for the amazing dyer Jen, then couldn't resist buying one for myself. Snagged 2oz of llama as well, and 8oz of Acacia, one of the lovely Burgis Brooks alpacas. She wasn't there, but Manny and Tito were. Mary brought home some of Manny's yarn, since Tito was only available as a blend. So yes, I have a lot of spinning to do, especially since Kelly sent me some roving from an Alpaca farm open house in North Carolina.

Anyway, Saturday was quite a day. We went to the Ravelry party, and showed up about 30 seconds after they ran out of goodie bags. It's estimated that there were 650 people there. Lots of fun (lots of door prizes - Mary won some beautiful Briar Rose yarn, and Kathe won Small Bob!), although it was quite cold. I was most amused by Hurricane Kitty beer. Because Kitties cause hurricanes all the time, you know. After the party, we congregated back at the room for more cupcakes and beer.

Sunday morning, Mary and I took off after breakfast. We delivered Hopi to her ride home, and followed some back roads to find the Fork in the Road. Then it was off to Kerhonkson to see the World's Largest Garden Gnome! I do have a picture of him, but haven't uploaded it yet. We'd pondered going to Hershey, but after getting stuck in construction in Scranton, I doubted that we'd get to Chocolate World before they closed (although looking now we might have made it). So it was an easy ride home - we just followed I-80, arriving home around 9:30.

Anyway, Rhinebeck was an adventure, and we're already making plans for next year.

It was a busy week before Rhinebeck, though. Gretchen showed up on the 11th, and we spent most of Saturday at the Rock Hall. After that was lunch at Melt, then visiting with Jessica and Mary after the Miss Chickpea knit-out that Gretch and I missed. Sunday we had plans to play in the leaves and maize maze in Peninsula and see Wade Chapel. Since Gretchen is unlike most of our houseguests in that she is ready to go before noon without prodding, I revised our agenda to start in University Circle. After two quick cupcake drops (yes, four dozen cupcakes is a bit much for four people), we were at Wade Chapel. Gretchen has always loved Tiffany, so we spent a decent bit of time admiring his genius and talking to the docent. We wandered up to the Garfield Monument, too, and braved vertigo to walk up and down the steps. Then it was off to the Art museum! Hadn't been since the galleries reopened. Definitely a good setup for their legendary collection. I'd nearly convinced Gretch to stop in at the Natural History museum (she knows how I am, and generally avoids such places with me) to see their wildlife area, but it was still before noon, so we wandered off to find lunch and such.

Mike had just eaten his leftovers, so there was no point in stopping at the Lizard near home. Gretch wanted to investigate an Archivers, and there was one in Montrose, so we stopped by for a pre-lunch visit. I put my blinders on and got out my knitting so as to avoid picking up yet another hobby. Anyway, no Fairlawn Lizard, as I try to avoid unfiltered Akron water. We were inspired to try Vegiterranean, but alas, they were closed on Sunday. On the way to the Peninsula Lizard (sense a theme here?), I got a panicked call from Mike: "Come home now. Zuzu got outside and I can't find her." We won't talk about the how, but he knows he was not a good indoor-cat parent.

Drove home, getting increasingly worried as the "I found her" phone call did not come, and started wandering around looking for our kitty. Mike was back behind the house. I walked around the pond, and asked everyone I saw if they'd seen Zuzu. Set some kids to search as well. No luck. I'd finally nearly given up for the moment, and was heading back towards to house for a blood-sugar boost, when I halfheartedly called for Zuzu. She bolts from her hiding spot in the thick weeds in the empty lot next to us (which is where Mike started looking) and plops down in our mulch. She'd been about 20 feet away, if that. I scooped her up and brought her inside. Whew. After Zuzu was found, we were off to the local Lizard for a late lunch, and then took Gretchen to the airport. Lovely kitty is now curled up on Mike's lap, covered with a sweatshirt, all adventures forgotten.

Monday afternoon my mom showed up. It was time for the North Coast Tour de Stitch yet again! Monday we hit Inn Stitches in Canton, Crafty Ewe in Broadview Heights, and Just Stitching in Strongsville. Tuesday we picked up Megan and visited the shops in Vermilion, Toledo and Findlay. Sadly, the planned yarn shop visits didn't work - one wasn't where we thought it was supposed to be, another was only a mail drop, and the third was going out of business and had been picked over pretty well. It was still a nice day, though. Wednesday brought a trip to the Red Apple in Madison, and we stopped at Wade Chapel on the way home. We spent about an hour soaking it in. Mommie was quite impressed, and thinks my dad should see it as well.

Wednesday night was Frightened Rabbit at Music Saves, which was a fantastic performance. Discovered that the video feature on my camera no longer works, but at least I have the audio to my favorite song of theirs - The Twist.

Thursday was work, then cupcake time! (After a failed trip to get new phones and dinner. Apparently Thursday night is a busy time both at the Independence Lizard and Verizon store.) Woke up around 3am Friday to finish before Mary and I took off to Rhinebeck. And that brings us to the beginning of the story.

**********
Time for the nostalgia bit of this post. (Because it certainly isn't long enough already.) Got to talking to my friend Ed at the Frightened Rabbit show, and found out that the Friday following (Rhinebeck departure day) was his anniversary (Happy anniversary - hope you guys had fun!). Which is near ours. How exactly near? Not sure. He got me thinking about our wedding, and why we don't know the exact date we got married. Yes, we have a piece of paper with the details, but we haven't dragged it out for a while. So here's the story:

Mike and I got together in October 1999. Well, we spent time together before that (college from December 1995-April 1996, then that summer of 1999), but it was decided in October that yes, this could be something serious. My grandmother got sick about the same time (she and I were supposed to go to Hawaii that October but she got sick so my mom and I went), and although she recovered for a while, she went into the hospital on Memorial Day weekend and didn't come home. March 2000 I moved home from Cincinnati, as I could afford either a car payment or rent at my current job, but not both. Since Cincinnati and I didn't get along, I gave up rent and moved home. June 2000, I am grandmotherless, living with my parents, working a temp job, and having nightmares because I was grieving. Figured out that I didn't have nearly as many nightmares when I had a kitty sleeping with me, so I started staying with Mike a lot more. No, we weren't living together, because I still got my mail at my parents' house.

Fast forward to late September 2003. Temp job turned into a permanent position, our friend and Mike's coworker has met and married a woman in Cleveland. Our options are either stay in Pittsburgh and either Mike or Tom finds a new job, or move to the Cleveland area and I am the only one out of work. So that is the plan. We like our life together, and have a committed relationship and a nice family with Zuzu. Mike tells his very religious mother that he and I will get married before we move into a new house together. Well. News to me! Anyway, I can kinda deal with the idea of a piece of paper justifying our relationship, especially if it will end the stress of family visits, so we decide to get married. We're scheduled to move to Cleveland in August 2004, we're partial to October, and we don't want the drama llama visit that seems to happen with any overly planned wedding, so we decide it's a go for October.

My dad was Psycho Penn State Fan at that point, with season tickets and tailgating themes for each home game. (He has since recovered a bit.) We looked at their schedule (which I just pulled up to research the dates), and October 18 was a bye week. So we started planning our party. We got the license, and made an appointment with a magistrate for Friday night, and dinner reservations for afterward. The ceremony was supposed to be small, with just close friends (one each) and family.

Gretchen flew in on Thursday (I think?), Mike had a bachelor party of keggerator cleaning and beer drinking with a few friends, Gretch and I create vast quantities of food. I think we were on the way back from picking up the one storebought cake (from Eadie's Kitchen, definitely recommended!) when I realized that the license needed to be at the magistrate's office before 4:30. We were 20 minutes in the wrong direction, so we called Mike. He and Tom hit the road, Tom in bare feet, with license in hand as well as a phone book and a cell phone, calling the office to say they were on the way. They were repeatedly told, "We close at 4:30." They finally find the place and pull up. 4:31. Tom runs up to the door (having put his shoes on while in the car.) The door is locked. NOOOOO!!!

Being as we did not want the sort of drama that occurred at my sister's wedding (a story in itself, though I will say that I had four people walk up to me and apologize for their behavior), we were upset for just a bit, then stopped at Cold Stone (which was still a new franchise then) for ice cream. That was our drama - and it ended with everyone having ice cream.

We all still went out to dinner, and had the party on the 18th, we just didn't get married. It was the running joke at the party that we missed our wedding, so therefore it was a pre-wedding reception. It was great fun, lots of friends that we rarely see showed up (like Kelly from NC, and Erica from Vegas), there was plenty of food (three pans even went to a women's shelter the next day) and beer.

The next Friday, the 24th, we took the afternoon off, and stopped in at the church next door to where I worked, and got married. Nothing fancy, no rings, no pictures, but we have the piece of paper that caused our car insurance to decrease.

To add to the date confusion, Mike's family had a party/reception for us, too. His parents are very anti-alcohol, so they weren't invited to our party due to all of the beer. His oldest brother's wife, a sweet and generous soul, wanted to have another party for us. It ended up being a weekend in early November, with no easy point of reference to find the date. At any rate, we have a week-long anniversary, with flexible starts and ends, as we have a hard time remembering the actual dates.

So there you have it. The story of our bungled wedding. We're celebrating our anniversary today (the 26th, I think), because we can. Anniversary pirogies and a Steelers game. Good stuff. We're still together, still happy, and still ringless (we still don't have serious ones, though I did get a dragon one with flashing eyes and a pair of adjustable ladybugs that we wore for about 30 minutes until they pinched too much). So thanks, Ed, for reminding me of the subject, and playing one of our songs today. This is why I got confused when talking about the dates.

Hope everyone enjoyed the Rhinebeck visit and nostalgia! Will post pictures of the goodies at some point.

I Aten't Dead

2008-10-10T10:08:00.004-04:00

Courtesy to the wonderful Terry Pratchett for the title. Really, I aten't dead, just busy, wondering what happened to the summer.

Yikes. It's been a long time. It was pointed out to me (not even very recently) that my drive-by posting was August 1, and it's now October. I hadn't realized that it had been so long. Anyway, what have I done lately? Should I categorize by month? Maybe.

July: I ended up in the Cooperstown area visiting the lovely and blogless Kathe during the last weekend of July. Very nice drive, wonderful visit. The cupcakes and beer were appreciated. We went to Ommegang, wandered around the nice bits of Oneonta, saw some entertaining signs ("25 years of relatively safe flying" and "KILTS"), and Kathe scored me a ticket to the Glimmerglass Opera where she works summers, so I saw I Capuleti e i Montecchi.

August:
Caught a few performances of the Cleveland Shakespeare Festival over the summer (Hamlet and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead), as well as a Tri-C performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream. August 2 brought the Weakerthans, which was a lot of fun. Made a metric tonne of cupcakes that day, too, as it was also SAAZ Blues and Brews. Mike went there, cupcakes and beer in tow, and apparently it was a great location (with indoor plumbing - yay!!) and an enjoyable evening. He got home later than I did, even.

Skipped the Stan Hywet Blues and Brews festival this year, too. I was all about skipping the beer parties in August for some reason. But what did I do? I think I dyed yarn. Managed to drag myself out on that Friday night to see A Lion In Winter at Notre Dame College. Was surprised at how entertaining it was. Met a girl who was new to our knitting group, and must have underwhelmed her, as we've never seen her again. Hit up a few Wade Oval Wednesdays, though not as many as planned. Darn work got in the way!

Mike and I saw Great Big Sea in Akron on the 16th. They're always a good show, and were in rare form that night, with random parodies and covers, and Lock 3 Live is a great place to go. We'd never been, but you can't beat free parking and $5 tickets. Will definitely go again next summer, depending on the schedule.

Ended the month with a cookout at Melita's. Very nice time, quiet but enjoyable afternoon. Got to show off the sweater that I'd finally finished!

September:
Had some knitting group drama at Studio-A-Rama. Enjoyed the evening, otherwise, and the person in question is no longer in our group (not like we'd ever met her), so no worries there. Joined the bandwagon and started a clapotis, which my mom promptly claimed shortly after arriving for her visit later that week.

Went to the Vatican exhibit with my mom. Had a very nice visit, saw all sorts of papal clothes and accessories. One robe looked like something Elvis would have worn.

Took a fabulous course called "Horrid Musicals." Watched Xanadu, Can't Stop the Music (the Village People movie), and The Apple (a look at the 90s music scene from the perspective of the 1970s). Best Thursday evenings I've had for a while.

Tried to see Dar Williams in Pittsburgh, but due to Ike causing a power outage the concert was cancelled. Had a nice lunch with my dad anyway. Gotta love Fat Head's!! Ike also blew one of our deck couch cushions into the pond. Luckily it floated the whole way across - Mike was out there with a fishing rod trying to retrieve it, but it swam right to him. Very happy that it floats!

Lecture season at the museum started again, with a talk on the polar regions and changes that have occurred there, with the next lecture on ecological design. Bought more yarn for the Museum Scarf, as it has been promoted to the Museum Set, and will include a hat and possibly mittens. Learned that the yarn gets really soft after washing. The set will be used to decorate a wreath for the Women's Committee mini-fundraiser, and hopefully bring a decent amount. Discussed the idea at an event at Dike 14, received good feedback, so the wreath will be decorated with knitted goods rather than Alejandro's sunflowers. Which is probably good, as the sunflowers didn't seem to dry as well as I'd hoped.

~ picture interlude ~

from Dike 14

Speaking of the Women's Committee, I am now the recording secretary. Or is it corresponding secretary? I'm not exactly sure, but I get to hang out at board meetings and such. Have also been recruited somewhat for a Membership Subcommittee at Kirtlandia, possibly because I am under 40.

Found out that I won't be working weekends this school year. I'm not exactly sure what I'll do with all the extra time, but I am not complaining. Couldn't complain about the job, but can't complain about not working, either.

Spent a Saturday dyeing yarn with the knitting group. Participated in a shop hop of stores throughout Northeast Ohio - explored a few new shops, had a lot of fun. A few of us (Megan, Mary) visited four shops that Saturday before dyeing. I tried to hold back, and did a decent job of sticking mostly to one skein of sock yarn per shop. Took a combination knitting course with Annie Modesitt at River Colors/Stitch Cleveland, and learned some new things.

Other highlights of the month were: seeing Neko Case at the Beachland (she was wonderful!), taking an Angels tour of Lakeview Cemetery, going to a book reading at the Akron library and meeting Chuck Klosterman and other Akron-area authors.

October (nearly done!):
Started the month by going to see Eliot Abrams at the Natural History Museum for an Archaeology night lecture. He was as brilliant as ever, and I wasn't paying tuition this time.

First weekend of the month was our annual October party. We chose the date when I was expecting to work weekends, so it was a bit earlier than we would have preferred, but we'd sent the "save the date" notices by the time I found out weekends were free, so hey, we stuck with it. We had a good crowd, about 30 people (cupcake to guest ratio was 5:1 this time), and I forgot food. Oops. Meant to put out a veggie tray, cheese and crackers, dip, and a few other things. Like chips and salsa. Really. I forgot the easiest bit because I was focused on ho-ho cupcakes. Luckily the beer cheese soup went over well. And that's nearly all of the past excitement - we're on to things that Will Happen!

This weekend, Gretchen is visiting! We'll hit up the Rock Hall, Lakeview Cemetery, and who knows what else. Maybe Melt. If we have time, we'll hang out with the knitters at the Miss Chickpea Knit-In in Hudson.

My mom will be driving in on Monday morning for the North Coast Tour de Stitch. We'll drive all over Northeast Ohio, from Madison to Toledo to Canton. Wednesday night is an in-store performance at Music Saves - my current favorite band, Frightened Rabbit! I am pondering staying for Jennifer O'Connor's show at the Beachland Tavern, but we'll see how awake I am. Thursday is a workday, and Friday Mary and I are off to Rhinebeck!

Seriously debating going to visit Kelly and Carry during the NC State Fair on the last weekend of the month. We'll see what happens. I will do my best to keep y'all informed.

Finally, I was tagged twice for the Six Random Things meme, which is very similar (IMHO) to the Seven Random Things meme that I did several months ago. Erqsome and ktb both tagged me, so I guess I'd better participate, eh?

The Rules:
1) Link to the person who tagged me (see above)
2) Mention the rules
3) Tell six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about myself
4) Tag 6 other bloggers by linking to them
5) Go to each person’s blog and leave a comment that lets them know they’ve been tagged

1. My hair changes color on its own. I was born with black hair, that fell out and what grew in was blonde, and it got progressively darker as I got older, with a reddish phase in my high school/college years. During the HS years, I dyed my hair red once and my mom didn't even notice.

2. I am a packrat, and tend to carry lots of unnecessary things with me. My backpack weighs enough to be considered a passenger by my car. (At least it is light enough not to require the airbag.)

3. I am a compulsive list-maker, whether or not anything will ever happen with the lists.

4. I am an overachieving slacker. I want to do everything, but lots of the time sleep wins.

5. I have a fear of having nothing to do. I generally have at least one knitting project (usually two-four) and one (or more) book with me at all times.

6. I have what some people consider an encyclopedic knowledge of 80s music, although I have forgotten a lot of it.

There. I really don't feel like tagging anyone else, so if you want to be tagged, tag yourself for me.

Anyway, I think it's quite funny that it's taken me several months to post, and I keep getting errors saying that Blogger cannot be reached and there may be errors in publishing. Oh well. I will keep trying. Have fun!

Drive-by posting

2008-08-01T22:51:00.002-04:00

Was very amused by this. Hope you enjoy!

You Are Pecan Pie Soda

Sweet, but totally nuts

What Jones Holiday Soda Are You?

Oh, the places I'll go?

2008-07-21T08:43:00.003-04:00

I am a road trip junkie. I am jonesing for a fix. I have this weekend free. Where should I go? I would like to go no further than 800 miles from Cleveland, as that is two tanks of gas, and that's about as much as I'd like to spend. I can also drive all day Friday, spend the day at my destination on Saturday, then drive back on Sunday. So.... Where should I go? Any suggestions are appreciated. Current thoughts: Mammoth Cave, KY; Minneapolis, MN, just driving west until I can't drive anymore.....

On a side note, Zuzu has an addiction problem. I am growing some kitty grass (oats and barley) for her, and lately she has been staring at the container hoping for a fix. This morning, she did not want breakfast, but she wanted kitty grass. I was trying to sleep, but she would not let me snooze. Finally, she climbed onto the table (she is not allowed on tables) to get to the kitty grass container. She pulled the whole seed bed out of the container and made a bit of a mess. I put the grass on the tall counter behind the sink, and it was out of sight, out of mind. Once she couldn't see her kitty grass anymore, she ate her breakfast.

Also, bought more cheap yarn last night. Three sweaters' worth of yarn for $60. Can't beat it. Will link to prospective patterns in the near future.

Oh well, work is calling, so off I go.

It's true - pictures get more attention than words

2008-07-20T14:20:00.003-04:00

In response to the comments from my last post:

Mary, if I ever get off my butt and make some T-shirts, you will get one. I'll have to bring you cookies at some point, too. Also, glad you took a kitteh. I hope Bobble comes out from under the fridge!

ChickenLil, yes, you are a slacker! :-) I tagged Ktb with the meme you tagged me for. I could probably come up with 7 more random things, but I am a slacker, too, and don't feel like going back to see what I posted originally. So I'm going to ignore the circular tagging, at least for now.

Emmms, the sock yarn is JL Yarn's Salvia. No idea what they are calling the colorways, but I call them autumn/harvest and winey. And the "Sun Tea" yarn was dyed with grape kool-aid. The colors split when you leave it alone for a while. Not sure if you're familiar with Sun Tea, but that's when you throw teabags in a clear glass container filled with water, cover it, and let it sit in the sun all day. So no, I don't drink purple tea. Or kool-aid.

And finally, Ktb, thanks for the compliment on the yarn. I am still thrilled that you adopted Miss Marple, too. I think I have a new career, as a kitteh pusher.

Anyway, consider the contest from the last post closed - Mary is the only winner, as she is the only one that read to the end and mentioned cookies. I might consider sending cookies to Ktb, but we'll see.

Speaking of contests, there's one you should know of. Brittany is running a contest to celebrate the opening of her Amia Yarn Company, and giving away some beautiful yarn. Love the butterscotch! May also need to pick up a yarn bowl. Anyway, enter!

So what has happened around here lately? The Indians broke their 10-game losing streak on Stitch and Pitch night! My mom visited last weekend, and we didn't actually do all that much. We spent Friday evening hanging out on the deck (with Zuzu in her harness), Saturday we visited a cross stitch shop in Akron, my favorite garden store in Fairlawn (The Precocious Dandelion), and then went to the Rock Hall, after stopping at home to visit Zuzu and wait out the rain. We'd hoped to visit Wade Chapel on Sunday, but it rained all morning, so I made sugar-free cinnamon rolls instead. Mom was quite happy to have cinnamon rolls with frosting that she could eat. I'm not all that thrilled with the Splenda taste, but hey, Mom deserves Happy Birthday Cinnamon Rolls, too.

Monday was knitting, as always a nice time. Tuesday was SAAZ Night Out at 69 Taps. Fun evening, although the frosty glasses were freezer-burnt and the Oberon was old. Skipped WOW on Wednesday, since Mike left me again this weekend. I ended up with a surprise afternoon off, so I played with the kittens and watched Jen dye yarn. I have been trying to spend time with the kittens before the Forever Friends Foundation takes them away. Of the five kittens, Mary adopted one yesterday, and Jen is going to keep at least one, possibly two.

Mike went to Athens on Friday for Ohio Beer Week. I was very jealous that he could have as many Burrito Buggy burritos as he wanted, and I could not. Friday evening, Jen and I had some much-needed yarn therapy, and visited a family that is moving overseas and selling a yarn shop's worth of yarn. We each walked out with enough yarn for several projects - and we hope to go back today. I have looked at my Ravelry queue, and will get yarn for several sweaters.

Yesterday was another Adventure in Yarn Dyeing. Valerie sent me a HUGE box of handspun yarn for dyeing and felting. I have some Jacquard Acid Dyes on order, but they haven't arrived yet, so the dyeing experiments involved kool-aid and Wilton's cake dyes. Mary and Jen came over to play. Quite a fun afternoon, and the perfect day for it. Afterwards, we ordered pizza and played with the kittens before Mary took one home.

Yarn from Valerie. Zuzu is included to provide scale.

Dyed handspun. Kool-aid on the left, Wilton gel on the right

I will be making a bag or kitty bed from the dyed yarn, to see how it felts. Yarn has been wound into a giant ball, and I cast on in the round, but haven't really started knitting yet. I have too many projects going on right now!

Oh! I should talk about some of the other wonderful things that showed up in the mail this week. Got some goodies in a sock-knitters' swap, as well as a surprise from Norway. (I am really getting to know our mail carrier.)

Beautiful zebra mittens from Elin, to match Zelda, the zebra hat she sent me earlier this year.

Swap goodies from Sherry. Love the sock yarn, and looking forward to testing the Paula Deen cookbook!

Have a road rage story to share. Was merging onto the express lanes of 271N. There was a guy, also merging, behind me, that wanted to go faster than I did. One would think that since there was no one in the left lane, he would have merged into the right lane behind me and then immediately moved into the left lane to pass. No. He stayed in the on/off lane, on the right. I had cruise control on, and did not change my speed. Apparently I was supposed to move into the left lane to allow him to merge, because he sped up just before the off lane ended, and stuck his hand out of the window to flip me off. Could I have changed lanes? Of course. Should I have moved into the left so that the angry guy could pass me on the right? You tell me.

What else? Have been hanging out around the house today, knitting, even. We had planned to visit a friend in Kent, but scheduling has been an issue. Waiting on a callback about the yarn, and will hopefully later tonight. I have not yet taken pictures of the yarn that I bought, but I will... I am lacking lots of pictures. Maybe that is how I will spend the afternoon. Or trying a strawberry cake experiment. We'll see. I should post this so I can get moving on to something else...

I will leave you with today's token cute Zuzu picture. No, that is not my leg.

Stretchy Zuzu

Where does the time go?

2008-07-10T13:35:00.004-04:00

Wow. Where has the time gone? I understand the passage of time, but the way the days just add up and suddenly a month is gone just baffles me. And really, I am not normally as grumpy as the last post would have me seem.

So what has happened in the last three weeks? A lot. Aside from having several miserable days at work, I've actually had a lot of fun. So yes, this will be quite the long post.

The weekend of the 20th was quite busy. Mike went to the National Homebrewing Competition and Conference in Cincinnati, so I was alone, but not unoccupied. Friday night was "Hamlet" with the knitting group. Mike called around 10 to check in, and I told him I went to see a boy. Hamlet's a boy, right? Saturday brought the Kirtlandia meeting in the morning, lunchtime with Zuzu and a trip to JoAnn with Jen, and dinner was a potluck at Elizabeth's. From Parma on Friday to University Circle and Elyria on Saturday - I did a lot of driving!

I skipped knitting the next week, because I needed to spend some time around the house - Kelly was coming to visit! For those of you who don't know, we've been BFF's since we were 8, which is more years than I care to acknowledge. Her plane landed around noon on the 26th, and thankfully I escaped work with just a few moments to spare. Kudos to CHIA for having 30 minute free parking!

You know when friends are visiting from out of town, there's a lot to do. On Thursday, we went to Melt for lunch. YUM! I will be going back there. After lunch, we visited the Christmas Story House. Which was fun, but I don't know that I'll do it again. I will go back to the gift shop and museum, though - must have some leg lamp chocolate bars. I refrained from buying any that day, as I didn't want them to melt in the car. After that, we stopped at Friendly's for ice cream, as a Rav-friend had been promoting their Reese's cup sundae. Yes, it is quite tasty. Thursday night, we went to the Rocky River Brewing Company for dinner with Mary and her friend Marcia, although I didn't eat much, as the ice cream had filled my tummy. The beer was great, though. As I've said many times, Matt Cole makes good stuff. Most exciting news of the day? I taught Kel to knit while we sat at the bar waiting for our friends. Mary's friend Marcia was especially amazed to find us knitting at the bar.

Friday was another long day. Off to Tommy's for brunch, the Natural History Museum in the afternoon, Indian food for dinner with Mary, and then back to Parma for "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead." The Cleveland Shakespeare Festival was playing that and "Hamlet" in repertory, which works quite well, as many of the characters overlap, and those with bit parts in one have larger roles in the other. I can now share details of one bit of my secret knitting - I finished the sun as part of the Mobile Menagerie that the knitting group was making for Patti's baby shower. The pattern was a bit odd, and suggested making the sun in two halves, and grafting together. I made one piece, as my grafting skills are not that advanced. Worst part of the whole thing was the embroidery on the face. I was not very happy at first, but was either satisfied or got tired of the attempts. What do you think? Thanks to Megan for the picture. (I didn't have time to take one before the mobile was assembled)

At the play, started another big alpaca blanket. It's good mindless knitting, which keeps the hands occupied while the brain is elsewhere. And a quick knit - I started it on the 27th, and am more than halfway done. Not sure who will get this one, but unless Zuzu steals it, it will be a Christmas gift. No pictures yet, but they will follow eventually.

Saturday morning, we were off early to visit Woolfest. I was somewhat disappointed, as there weren't very many vendors, and Kelly wasn't really inspired by any of the yarn. She bought a pair of alpaca socks, though. I found some nice sock yarn, and some Classic Alpaca. Jessica made a pair of socks out of that, and I couldn't stop petting them. I might make some socks with it, or I might make something else. Not sure. Whatever I make, it will be very pettable.

Woolfest goodies

After a light lunch, we were off to Patti's baby shower. It was wonderful to see Patti again. She'd been in Georgia since just before her husband came back from Iraq, which was in April. We've missed her! Sadly, Kelly got a migraine and lost her lunch, so we drove home through the rain and vegged the rest of the afternoon. She woke up around dinnertime, and it was off to the Lizard.

Sunday morning we slept in. Well, Kelly slept in. As always, I have a kitty to wake me. We listened to Chasing Infinity (a Sunday morning ritual in the Zuzu household - thanks, Ed, for playing the Zoo song!) and dyed some yarn. It was my first time dyeing, and obviously Kelly's as well. Jen had provided several useful links and documents, and after reviewing a few of them, I decided that the microwave method would work best. We used Kool-aid of varying colors, and dyed Kashmira yarn that felt like noodles when wet. I think we got some good results! We also used some Fisherman's Wool to try the Sun Tea method with grape Kool-aid, as supposedly its dyes break down well.

Yarn dyed with kool-aid. Note Zuzu snoozing in the background.

Sun tea yarn

We left the yarn to dry, and went to Aladdin's for lunch. Then it was off to the zoo! Tradition held, and we were rained on. (For those of you not in the know, when we went to Sea World it rained all day. We were soaked. Therefore we sat in the front row of the Shamu Show.) We had some good weather, though, and I think the threat of rain kept the crowds down. We had fun visiting the animals - it was only Kelly's second trip to a zoo, ever!

Oh yeah, I guess this is where I should say that Mike left us for the weekend. He went to Origins in Columbus. Funny, we were both at the Columbus Convention Center in June. He got home just in time to bring the yarn in out of the rain. We stopped at Romeo's on the way home to pick up pizza for dinner. Good stuff.

Monday we visited the Rock Hall, which is always fun. Went to Great Lakes Brewing for lunch, and then wandered around Whiskey Island for a while. Always nice to look at the lake for a bit. After that, we headed over to the Beer Engine for knitting. We were there early, so we got a good bit of knitting done before the rest of the group arrived. I made a few kitty toys for Sebastian, Kel's cat, and worked on the big blanket.

Tuesday morning we slept in, and headed to the Brew Kettle for lunch. (Yes, I made Kelly drink many beers during her visit. She has become a muscadine wine snob, and I wanted to make sure she knew about all of the beer varieties available!) Then it was off to the airport, and poof, she was gone.

Tuesday afternoon I hung out with Jessica, and we saw WALL-E. Cute movie, with several "Idiocracy"-type digs, and some 80s pop culture references. She'd had jury duty, and they finished Tuesday around lunchtime. Spent Tuesday evening with Mike, which was nice, since I'd hardly seen him during Kel's visit. Somehow, July started.

Worked two days, and went to WOW with the knitting group on the 2nd. Didn't do very much for the 4th; just hung out at home on Friday, and spent some time with friends on Saturday. Oh, used the weekend to knit a bag for a swap. On Sunday, Jen and Nick called and asked for help capturing the stray kittens in their back yard. These guys are so cute! And they need homes. Does anyone want a kitten? (Jen took the pictures)

Link to more

Anyway, kitten capture wasn't as difficult as capturing mama cat. Mama got trapped, but then escaped when they tried to transfer her into the carrier. She is quite nimble, and climbed up the walls of their garage into the eaves. Apparently she has escaped the garage, and has been hanging out near where Jen and Nick are keeping the kittens. The daddy cat has also been hanging around - we are wondering if mama cat is planning to have more babies in the near future. If all goes well, mama will be trapped again and fixed, so no more stray kittens.

We are nearly caught up! Went to knitting on Monday at Abuelo's, and to the zoo with Mary last night for ZooFriends night. We walked quite a bit, then stopped at Rockne's for a late dinner. I'd never been there before, and was pleasantly surprised with their food. Granted, they had very few vegetarian options, but the fruit salad was quite nice. I am told that their soups are good, but did not ask if they were vegetarian or not. The mushroom and brie soup sounds quite tasty, if I can eat it.

Oh, on Tuesday I started test-knitting a sock pattern for Emmms. Because I can't follow directions, I ripped out the toe Wednesday morning and started over that afternoon. When I remembered how to read, the toe went much more smoothly. I haven't made it past the increases yet onto the foot of the sock, but I am further along than I'd gotten when I decided to frog. Snapped a needle and gouged another, so it is now Magic Loop for me! I had pondered scrapping her three-needle directions, but was going to continue for the sake of testing the pattern, but my needles have forced me to go ML. Pictures will follow when there's something to show. Until then, here is the yarn:

Mountain Colors Bearfoot, in Juniper

Tonight is Stitch and Pitch with the Indians! Let's hope they can play a good game against the Devil Rays. Worst case scenario, I will get to visit with other knitters, including the HS girls I taught during the school year, and work on Emmms's sock.

This weekend, Mike is again leaving me, and my mom is coming to visit. He will be hanging out in Pittsburgh, with his message board pals, and Mom will be taking the turnpike west to Ohio. I know she wants to have some projects framed, so we will go on a framing spree, and maybe I can frame some of my projects and posters that I've ignored for quite a while. Should be productive, and Mom and I always have fun.

Oh! I should share the excitement. Have I mentioned Zuzu's Chipmunk Friend, Alejandro? (I was listening to Alejandro Escavedo when he told me his name.) Well, Alejandro has been spending time on our deck recently, helping himself to the sunflower seeds in the bird feeder. Apparently Alejandro is a gardener, because he planted little clusters of sunflowers in several of my vegetable plant containers as well as all around the house! I have a photo essay on my flickr, if you would like to see how Zuzu and Alejandro interact. And for good measure, here's a preview:

Well, the other morning, Zuzu was running frantically from the sliding glass door to the window and back. I wasn't sure what was out there attracting her attention, but I knew she had a Mystery Friend out there. Mike discovered on Tuesday that Mystery Friend is a raccoon. Rocky Raccoon was coming up on the deck and eating the sunflower seeds, too, right from the bag in which they are kept. The seed bag is no longer on the deck, and the bird feeder is no longer on the ground. Sorry, Alejandro, but you will need to climb if you want seeds. We don't want Rocky's sort around. Yes, we are species-ist. Raccoons and skunks are welcome to live in the woods and back yard, but are not welcome in the house, and since the deck is an extension of the house, they are not welcome there. I don't want my sweet, innocent (non-rabid!) little kitty to be corrupted by their sort. Chipmunks are fine; they are cute and good gardeners. And non-threatening to the Zuzu.

Anyway, I should move along. Kudos to you if you've read so far. Maybe I should post a contest here at the bottom, to see who is paying attention. I will send cookies to the first three people to comment or send me an email about this small, silly contest, as long as you promise me that you read *the whole thing*. Maybe I should even make T-shirts that say "I can't believe I read the whole thing!" Or "I read a huge blog post about mostly nothing and all I got was this lousy T-shirt." Thoughts? I will laugh if no one comments. Anyway, I am off to straighten up the house a bit. Have fun!

Just because you sat down next to me doesn't make me want to talk to you

2008-06-17T21:08:00.006-04:00

This week has been hell. Yes, it is only Tuesday. That does not make it any more pleasant, especially since I missed knitting yesterday. Zuzu's tail on my foot kinda does, but just because I love my kitteh. Anyway, met Mike at the local bar tonight, because I really needed a beer. (I had two. Woo. Gulden Draak and Weihenstephan. Wow, I actually spelled that right. Gold star for my forehead, right next to the "L" tattoo!)

Anyway, I am happy that our local watering hole has wifi. I was able to send a few work-related emails after escaping, as well as browse Ravelry, while enjoying some sweet beer to ease the pain. Shared some chocolate chip cookies, and was mostly antisocial, although I laughed at a Pat Benatar beer joke (Helles is for children). Until some guy walks in with a buddy, sits down next to me, and starts talking to me. "What's the bartender's name? Who was the other bartender? Is he still here? What happened to him?" Dear Mr. Man: Please note that I am staring at my computer, and not looking at you. I do not want to talk to you. No offense, I just do not want to deal with people.

So I left, and went home to hang out with Zuzu. I love my kitteh, and would rather spend time with her than with most people.

I also wanted to gripe about all the construction around our house. Some days it feels like you can't get there from here. We need to go south before we can go north, and east before we can go west. Here is a map to illustrate, although I feel like I am missing more construction. Blue arrows show the route when the roads were open. Green arrows show the detours. Map not to scale.

One last gripe: Went through the Toxic Hell drive through at 4:45 today to grab some lunch. They forgot to put cheese on my cheesy rice and bean burrito. They also did not give me napkins. If that lunch had cost more than $2, I would be really peeved.

Oh well. I should stop complaining and do something productive. Just wanted to vent for a while. Hope no one is offended. And yes, I shared cookies with the guy that I didn't want to talk to, as well as the other people that I ignored for most of the evening. But I brought the rest home, because I need chocolate too, dammit. And Zuzu needs love. Time to snuggle until all is right with the world again.

What have I done in two weeks?

2008-06-15T20:54:00.005-04:00

Not much, though there was definitely a flurry of activity. Meant to post last weekend, but it didn't happen. Had two meeups with my knitting group - three if you count the rained-out Aeros game, got a chest cold, had several miserable days at work, went cupcake and yarn shopping with Mary, and spent time with Mike for a change.

Yes, last week I spent most evenings with Mike. Which was good, but unusual. Monday was knitting, and he did not tag along. Tuesday was SAAZ, and apparently I flustered the Winking Lizard beer guy by sharing an idea. Wednesday evening we had dinner with Jen and Nick, and Thursday we wandered over to North End for some Gulden Draak. Good stuff. Friday was the ill-fated Aeros game, and sadly we were unable to use the infield tarp as a slip and slide.

Since I spent so much time with Mike during the week, I decided to leave him on Saturday. He brewed a kolsch, and his brother came over, so he was not sitting around the house moping. I also left a few chocolate chip cookies for him. (Yes, I baked cookies before leaving at 8am. 8 dozen, I think.)

I drove to Columbus for Knitters Connection. I didn't sign up for any classes, although next year it may be worth spending a few days in Columbus and learning some new things. I didn't plan far enough in advance to do that this year, so it was market only for me. Bought some yarn, as expected, and will share pictures later. Picked up some more natural alpaca, this time in a gorgeous brown tweed, as well as enough Briar Rose Sonoma (in green) for a cabled sweater. Also grabbed a few balls of Harmony, because I am currently obsessed with laceweight, even though I haven't really knit any lace yet, with the exception of some lace sock patterns.

Oh, I should also share news of another event at the Convention Center - the Midwest Haunters Convention. As I parked at the wrong end of the building, and had to walk 1/2 mile to get to the yarn market, I passed a large number of ballrooms and exhibition rooms. As I got closer to the knitters, I started noticing people with painted faces and unusual attire. Saw one woman who had forgotten her bottoms. Knee-high boots, black nylons, and no skirt or pants. Just black underwear. She was walking the same direction that I was, and it was very entertaining to watch the reactions of people as they saw her. Guys leered, and women raised eyebrows and made faces. Personally, I was more amused by the really tall guy dressed up as some sort of thing that once appeared on Supernatural.

Anyway, checked out the market, and called Maranie to get together for lunch. Well, she had injured her foot, so our visit included a trip to urgent care before a late lunch at Aladdin's. As Vicodin tends to encourage sleeping, she crashed soon after arriving home, and I was on my way. It was a gorgeous day for driving, and the radio was doing relatively well at keeping me happy. Along the way, noticed a sign indicating the distance to Mansfield, and wondered how my college friend Jen was doing. Checked my cell phone just in case I'd stored her number at one point, and luckily I had. Gave her a call, and was very fortunate to find her home and unoccupied. So I made the detour to Mansfield, and we caught up on the past almost-five years. (Somehow we hadn't seen each other since our pre-wedding reception. We won't wait so long again.) Played with her puppies and had good Mexican food. It was a wonderful evening. Made it home just before midnight.

I have been listening to a lot of music lately. Found the House of Hair on some station, and listened for the hour between Mansfield and home. Oh, the nostalgia. Dee Snider did a good job of reminding me of the fun bits of high school. I love therapeutic driving (and even with gas prices as they are, it's still cheaper than therapy), and was so happy to be on the road, even for fewer than six hours on Saturday. Yes, I am a sucker for road trips. Especially on my own, when I can sing along (badly, of course) to whatever I feel like hearing. Also listened to the Cure a bit recently (in the immortal words of Kyle Broflovski: "Disintegration is the best album ever!"), as well as the rest of the stuff that I normally enjoy.

Had a bit of a personal epiphany the other day: For someone who hates people, I am awfully social. (Does that make me an oxymoron? Or just a moron?) I hate crowds, and even large groups, though I can tolerate them depending on the circumstance. I love my personal space, and hate space invaders, especially when they are sick and I am trying to stay healthy. But individuals? As long as I can find some redeeming qualities, you're fine. If you're some random unknown guy driving badly in a minivan, I probably hate you. And I don't hate minivans, just bad drivers that I don't know, and people in general.

Apparently Zuzu had an adventure on Saturday. Mike was brewing in the garage, and he saw Zuzu in front of the house. She'd pawed open the screen door, and gone exploring. Luckily Mike found her, because I'd hate to have our beloved kitty go missing. She is grounded for a week, which means that she won't get to spend time with me on the deck until next weekend. She might have been looking for the ducks that were in the back yard the other day, or the chipmunk that has been hanging out on our deck recently. Hopefully she wasn't tracking the garter snakes that live in the mulch.

As far as knitting, well, there's not much I can talk about. I am knitting several things that are surprises for people who might happen upon this blog, so no details yet. I am nearly done with the museum scarf, as well as the clogs of many colors. Still haven't felted the final Christmas clogs, but will felt them with the technicolor slippers. They just need the second sole attached to the second slipper, and then to be seamed and felted. Have been carrying Firebird around with me, but as it's not really social knitting, I haven't worked on it at all lately.

Anyway, I should head up to bed, as it will be a long day tomorrow. My morning client will probably take more of my time than normal, and my afternoon client will take more time than they have lately. And then it's off to Melt for knitting. Fun stuff! Will post pictures when they are uploaded.

Productivity update...and pictures!

2008-06-01T07:33:00.003-04:00

Okay, as not to waste the rest of the day, this will be a very quick post. I am on track to finish the Christmas Clogs today - I am one clog away! If all goes well, they will get felted this afternoon. They can be felted together, even. If I am truly ambitious, I will start the Clogs of Many Colors as well.

Sadly, Geno did not help the Pens win last night. He's still cute, though:

Geno, the little penguin

I also made some stitch markers yesterday. I've been wanting to try, and had a jewelry tool kit, plus some beads, and wire, but no motivation. Well, some of these will be sent in swaps - shhh! don't tell! Although one set should be sent tomorrow, the other will wait until late June, probably. I tend to send close to the deadline. Actually, the package to be sent tomorrow is a bit past the deadline, but I made sure the swap organizer is aware of it. Anyway, here are some pictures, to prove that it happened.

Yes, I too can make stitch markers!

Second attempt

Third set; I think I like these best.

And finally, I took an updated picture of the Museum scarf/sweater gauge swatch. It is no longer exclusively worked on at museums, and has become car knitting. I need more car knitting. Oh well - once I finish a few things, I will find some more portable knitting.

Zuzu loves her morning sunshine!

Anyway, I am really not going to play on the computer all day. There is a clog to finish, and then felting to be done!

Wildlife interactions

2008-05-31T07:46:00.005-04:00

This morning, I looked outside to survey the landscape, take pleasure in the post-rain green, and I saw a rabbit. Haven't seen very many rabbits in our yard in the past, and I think I discovered the reason.

I was watching the rabbit graze on the selection of weeds in the brush just beyond the yard, when I noticed a small bird marching around in the same section of plants. The bird was not very big, smaller than the small rabbit's head, even. I look at the walk, the white belly, and realize that it must be a baby killdeer. Baby bird uses the distracting tactic of pretending to have a broken wing, and walks up to the bunny. Rabbit starts moving away, but apparently not far or fast enough, because next thing I see is the bird, with wing askew, running behind the hopping bunny. So that, my friends, is why we rarely have rabbits in our yard - the birds scare them away.

Anyway, it was a busy week for having little planned. Monday was the big event. (Thanks to Mary for posting a picture of the frosted cupcakes.) Tuesday I schlepped leftover cupcakes all around the east side of Cleveland (to Rebecca, in Mentor, to share with her knitting group; to Chagrin Falls to share with my friend Cathy, since we were scheduled for lunch anyway; to Shaker Heights to drop some off for the nieces, since Grandpa didn't share Tuesday's cupcakes; to Macedonia for Jen and Nick, because they missed Monday due to family obligations), stopped by the library to pick up a book and donated blood while there. Jen and Nick came over for dinner to help eat the non-cupcake leftovers (yay!), Mike poured me a beer, and I crashed hard on the couch. Monday was a very long day - 3am to 11pm, approximately, and Tuesday morning started at 6 (the post-kitty-feeding nap ended about then). Sleep was necessary. Wednesday was a long day - had an afternoon meeting at my morning client, and there were a few computer issues afterwards. They called me in from the parking lot.... Thursday was spent preparing for the server migration that didn't happen, and a good thing, too, because Friday was filled with other crises that couldn't have been ignored for user support.

Anyway, when I finally escaped work yesterday afternoon, I was very cranky. Jen sent me a note earlier in the day, asking if I wanted to visit the Pea. Of course! What better way to rid yourself of nasty work vibes than some yarn therapy, especially sale yarn therapy? I picked up Malabrigo in Vaa and Velvet Grapes, enough of each color to make the Hemlock Ring blanket. Theoretically, they will be the family Christmas gifts this year. I have enough Indigo for a blanket already, so one more colorway to go. Maybe. Actually, I already have yarn for another alpaca blanket, so perhaps my parents will get the alpaca (since one has already been made for my sister), and Mike's side of the family will get the Hemlock Rings. It's a beautiful design, and looks incredible in Malabrigo. (If you're on Ravelry, definitely take a look at the projects out there!) Apparently it's a relatively quick knit, not all that difficult, and looks impressive. And there are fewer of them to make, so they stand a chance of being completed before Christmas.

Oh, and to alert you to a tragedy in the yarn world - Malabrigo had a fire in their mill. We learned of it yesterday, when I unloaded 12 skeins from my basket, and the friendly Chickpea employees shared the news. I had to sit down. Hope they get everything back in progress soon.
Jen and I had thought about driving down to Medina to visit Studio Knit, but I'd called, as I am searching for some Malabrigo Silky and laceweight (for me and Elin), and they did not have what we wanted. Also, by the time we were finished at the Pea, we had only an hour to drive to Medina and shop. And 15-20 minutes is not enough time to explore a new yarn shop.

Anyway, that was the week. Not much knitting news. Worked on the "Museum" scarf in the car a bit here and there, finished Geno the Penguin (pictures to come later), and thought about starting the Great A'Tuin. Haven't wound the yarn yet, as I want to finish a few projects first. I have a few too many things on the needles to start more. I should finish the clogs, as they will go very fast - one pair that needs finished, then only one more pair to make as a gift, and then one for me. I could probably finish them this weekend. Maybe that should be the goal. I have a few more baby gifts to do - I think I will make toys, as they don't get outgrown before they are gifted. I need to finish my sweater - now I have the needle back, I can finish the sleeves and collar.

So, game plan: Work on clogs this weekend (and finish!). Work on sweater after that (until finished!). Baby gifts for two neighbors, and several friends (quick toy knits!). Finish Firebird. Start A'Tuin. Return to Baudelaire socks. Make Hemlock Blankets. Knock my Ravelry queue from seven pages into something smaller. (Yeah, right!)

Anyway, I should get moving - time to make the weekend productive! I am a sole away from having a pair of clogs finished. Will post pictures sometime soon.

Just a little crazy

2008-05-26T22:07:00.006-04:00

Those of you that follow this blog already know this: I tend to go overboard. It is just what I do. I love to bake, and I love to share baked goods. This is what I made today, starting around 4am:

Billy's Vanilla Vanilla (slightly ugly but definitely tasty)
Magnolia Vanilla (my favorite vanilla cupcake. Sometimes I even prefer it to chocolate)
Peanut Butter Cup with chocolate frosting
Wasabi-White Chocolate with white chocolate cream cheese frosting (skipped the plum sake filling)
Pineapple Goo (apparently you shouldn't use fresh pineapple in baking. I learned something today.)
Chocolate with chocolate frosting
Pumpkin Spice with cream cheese frosting
Mexican Chocolate recipe only made a dozen, and they went quickly, so they are gone. Need to get more kahlua and make more - they were tasty!

Anyway, made fifteen dozen cupcakes. For ten people. The cupcake to person ratio was 17.8. I sent people home with plates full, but I still have around eight dozen left.

Here is a picture of the table, minus frosting and two batches of cupcakes:

From the upper right, we have: Billy’s Vanilla, One-Bowl Chocolate, Pumpkin Spice, Peanut Butter Cup, Magnolia Vanilla, Wasabi White Chocolate. No photos of Pineapple Goo or Mexican Chocolate. Which is a shame, as the Mexican Chocolate ones were the prettiest. Will just have to get more Kahlua and make more.

Anyway, as usual, I have been busy. Friday we had a mystery shop for lunch. Never again at that location. Started cleaning the house - my goldfish bowl of a knitting area exploded all over the living room. I cleaned out the stash basket again, to remove things that are not currently on the needles and make room for things that are. Also started removing things from the coffee table. Big mess.

Saturday was the Great Lakes Fiber Show. Jessica and I met Vicky there, and ran into Rebecca. Also saw Mary, and several other area Ravelers. Had a nice time at the Rav meetup, chatting with everyone. Yay - just found out that Rebecca will take some cupcakes for her Tuesday night knitting group.

My haul from the festival:

From upper left: felted cat toy kit; cone of unknown green yarn; green laceweight, to be the Great A'Tuin (I wonder if the pattern has been posted yet); Wildefoote sock yarn in Bluegrass; Prime Alpaca (undyed), enough for a cabled sweater.

Good stuff. Sunday, we visited the nieces for the elder's birthday party. Fun to see the kids. Also stopped by MicroCenter to get a new power supply for Mike's computer, as it wouldn't boot on Saturday. Cleaned a bit more. Went to bed relatively early. Oh, also received a fun swap box in the mail. Will have to share more details later, when I have more time.

Today: Woke at 3, and started baking (after finishing most of the cleaning). Had four batches done by 7. Paused for a few moments to take a picture of the kitty sunshine.

Token Zuzu picture

Zach showed up at 1:30 to help Mike brew a pale ale; Jessica walked in at 2, Mary arrived shortly thereafter, and they helped frost the cupcakes. Thanks, girls! Pixisis, Melita and family, and Megan weren't too far behind. Oh the food!

Anyway, I am up way too late, especially having been moving nonstop since 3am. If you're in the Cleveland area and want cupcakes, please leave a comment with your email address, and we can work something out.

Meme revisited

2008-05-22T20:17:00.004-04:00

As promised, I am returning to Emmms' meme. Christopher Moore is much more fun:

"Gabe tracks rats with microchips in them," Theo said.
"It's only one of the things I do. Mostly, I count dead things on the beach."

Isn't quite as riveting as Melanie Omega, but hey, I feel better now.

Anyway, should get back to the knitting. Working on Geno. I never knew I was so lacking in white worsted weight yarn. Could report on last night's lecture, but will summarize that I discovered a new career for my mom: dental hygiene for dead people. Very intriguing lecture, especially the bits about cotton being found on teeth, which hasn't yet been published. Here's a bit of info; here's a bit more. Good stuff.

I am a very lucky girl!

2008-05-20T17:51:00.004-04:00

Yesterday was a very good day. Work wasn't bad, had a short afternoon, and came home to find goodies galore!

My Beer and Fiber Swap box arrived, with several bottles of Russian River and New Belgium beers. Sadly, the Lost Coast Downtown Brown did not survive the trip. And the yarn! Katrina really overdid things. Socks that Rock in Monsoon, hand-dyed Lamb's Pride, and a skein of unknown yarn of beautiful jewel tones. Oh, and some felt coasters, too!

My haul in the beer and fiber swap

The unknown yarn got a bath when the downtown brown broke. I rinsed it out, and wound it onto the swift to dry.

I'd just settled down to research cupcake recipes, when the doorbell rang. Our new mail carrier had an armful of goodies for me! We have:

Triple chocolate soap from Turtle Cove

Boysenberry sock yarn from Turtle Cove - love the colors!!

Deltafine lotions, soapsicle, and clove lip balm. Please note that there is only one lip balm in the picture. The other now lives in my purse.

Finally, we have my booty! Patina from the Yarn Pirate.

Anyway, I was happy to get so much stuff in the mail. Yes, I am a kid.

In other news, finished turtle-Stephen. He and penguin-Stephen are now in new homes, with HS girls. I finished the turtle this morning. Skipped the I-cord attachment, and just sewed. Easier and faster, and I was running out of time. Started another penguin this afternoon. My sister-in-law wants a redwing. I don't think so. May make her husband a penguin, as theirs is a mixed marriage, and I am on his side. Especially now. Go Pens! I am looking forward to getting back to Firebird, as well. And I want to get back to my Baudelaire socks, especially now that I know magic loop. Perhaps I can try two at once.....

Finished! Cell phone picture.

Oh, made 3 dozen cupcakes before work today. Took 2 dozen to the party for the kids, and had another dozen to share with non-school folk. Met my sister-in-law around lunchtime, so she could pick up the pressure washer that I couriered from Waynesburg, and gave her a plateful of cupcakes. Just basic chocolate and vanilla, nothing special. Those will wait until the weekend.

Had a nice time at the party, though. The girls liked their gifts, the cupcakes went over very well (I love walking out with empty containers!), and one very sweet girl gave me a hug. Today was a good day as well, even if I did swear a lot at other drivers.

I am very sleepy. Woke up at 4 two days in a row, and did not get my morning nap either day. Yesterday I was hoping to start the cupcakes, but Zuzu would not permit it. She wanted to snuggle. So I knitted. Today she wanted to snuggle as well, but I needed to bake cupcakes, so she settled in for a nap on the couch, under a blanket. Went to knitting group last night, learned to single crochet, and ate seaweed. Was able to carpool with Jen, which was nice. Stopped at Target on the way home for some cupcake carriers, as handles make a big difference. Was too exhausted to bake last night, so it had to be this morning. Yummy stuff.

Don't worry, Zuzu got her love even if we didn't snuggle this morning

Anyway, I have a few errands to run, plus a headache, so maybe I will just stay in and go to bed early. I don't really need to buy anything, right? I can grocery shop another time. Besides, my kitty is meowing and wants more attention.

Oh, and as far as the book meme goes, I would suggest Christopher Moore. When I think of it, I will post three sentences from "Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove."

I don't want to work, I want to pet my yarn all day

2008-05-18T20:34:00.004-04:00

First, thanks to EvilJulie, who showed me that you can add pictures to the Rav progress bars. And she probably doesn't even know that she was such a help...

Back from the Waynesburg Sheep and Fiber Festival. Lots of fun. Picked up a decent bit of yarn.

This is the haul:

Clockwise from the huge grey hank in the upper left: Grey 2-ply mohair homespun (nearly a pound!) from Sheepstone Natural Fibers in Darlington, PA, spun by Kris Savage; Red/burgundy/deep wine-nearly black wool, silk and viscose blend from Crabapple Llamas and Fibers in Latrobe, PA; green semi-solid superwash sock yarn from Knit Picker (not sure of location); multicolored variegate superwash sock yarn from Knit Picker; blue-green hand-dyed handspun merino from an unknown vendor.

Jessica and I had a really nice time. We left Saturday after lunch, stopped at IKEA and DSW on the way down (I bought a French press, plastic bag closures, and a small frying pan - no new furniture for me), and briefly popped into the festival around 5:30. The weather was bad, it was incredibly windy (tents were blowing over!) and many vendors were packing up. Jessica bought some gorgeous blue mohair/wool yarn for a bag, some pretty green alpaca for socks, and a hank of ivory silk light fingering weight. So soft! We dropped by Mike's brother's house, unloaded our stuff, and headed out to the only sit-down restaurant in Waynesburg for dinner - Bob Evans.

Went back to the house after dinner, and hung out with my sister-in-law and niece. And knitted. Worked on Stephen (the turtle). Finished the top and bottom of Stephen's shell, and started the "shell attachment panel." Forgot to bring Firebird, which was fine, as I didn't have time to work on it, anyway. Almost watched P.S. I Love You, as my niece and her friend had it on in the other room. Seemed like a decent chick flick; at least I appreciated the soundtrack. Camera Obscura, Pogues, Nellie McKay, I forget who else - oh, wait, of those, only Nellie actually appears on the soundtrack album. I won't be buying that one, don't think. Stayed up later than usual, but hey, I could sleep in, right? Um, no. Woke up at 6. Convinced myself to stay in bed until 7, and then went downstairs to knit. Rest of the house started moving sometime after 8.

Went back to the festival today, after a breakfast of cinnamon rolls. Word to the wise, let them warm up for a few hours before baking if they have been refrigerated. Or just make them fresh. I feel like I should have taken over my sister-in-law's kitchen and started from scratch this morning, as they would have turned out better. They weren't bad, just not as good as usual.

Anyway, I did my yarn purchasing today. Weather was somewhat better, although it was still windy. Love-love-love my huge hank of handspun mohair. Originally thought it might be a sweater; right now I think it might be a shawl. I need to figure out the yardage. Zuzu loves it, too.

Zuzu getting to know her mohair pal

Speaking of Zuzu, she and I were outside the other day. I noticed that when the sun shines on her fur, if you look closely, she looks like she's covered in rainbow glitter. Her fur apparently acts like a bunch of prisms and refracts light into many colors. She's my technicolor kitty! Not sure why it took me so long to notice that, but hey, I can be oblivious.

Oh well. I should head up to bed. But first, Emmms tagged me for a book meme. She is just a wild tagger lately! So here goes:

The rules:

1. Pick up the nearest book ( of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people & post a comment here once you post it to your blog, so I can come see.

1. It was hard to pick the book that was nearest. There are at least five within an arm's reach. First one I grabbed was Mary Higgins Clark's Daddy's Little Girl. I almost feel like I should explain. A librarian foisted it upon me, and I haven't returned it yet. Haven't read Higgins Clark since high school, when she seemed very formulaic. Read one, you've read them all. At least that was my impression when I was 17. But it was closest, so here goes:

"I'd like that. I was kind of expecting that I'd get a postcard from Houston or L.A."
"I never send postcards."

Kinda blah. Let's grab another. No, no details of what to use for a basic rolled-brim hat from Knitting for Peace. How about Where the Girls Are by Susan Douglas? Ahh, the start of a chapter called "Genies and Witches." Sounds promising. Let's investigate:

The Journal continued, "They have rights and opportunities today the likes of which the Western world has never seen . . . .Indeed, women today are in many respects much better off than men." In its special supplement of October 1962 entitled "The American Female," Harper's maintained that American women were "repelled by the slogans of old-fashioned feminism.
But Harper's also thought it saw a trend in 1962 and named it "crypto-feminism."

Somewhat better, but still not great. Probably the best I can do before bed is from The Best of World Cafe, an interview with David Bowie:

Well the genesis of that song--- I had, I've had sort of an off-and-on long-standing thing about Tibet and its accompanying philosophy, Buddhism. And I studied off and on for three years in the sixties when I was younger and it really meant a lot to me, especially what I gleaned from the philosophy of Buddhism. And I guess over the last couple of years, my memories of that period, and also pangs of guilt for not having paid more attention to the plight of Tibet and to the Chinese, was sort of brought into focus with the lectures and speeches that the Dalai Lama is giving particularly, over the last couple of years.

Oh well. I am sleepy, and not in the mood to tag anyone (and too tired to post links to books, too). So if you are compelled, tag yourself!

Finally, kudos to Andrew for pointing me to his blog post that features Cary Grant knitting. Love the picture. Good night!

I am the brillopants

2008-05-16T10:39:00.003-04:00

Thanks to Melissa for today's post title. I posted my favorite not-quite-a-pickup-line on Rav, and she told me that I was the brillopants. So I guess I am, since everything you read on the internet is true, right? So there - I AM THE BRILLOPANTS!!!!! I think that should be followed by an evil laugh, so Mwahahahahahahhahaha, too!

Anyway, I was a bit more concerned with the Pens game last night than I was with the blog. Still a bit down about it, but hey, they will finish the series in Pittsburgh on Sunday. Was concentrating on the game, and forgot to mention the Exciting Weekend Plans!

First, there is tonight's lecture. Read his book; good stuff. Then (and I am quite excited about this) Saturday, Jessica and I are heading to Waynesburg, PA for the Waynesburg Sheep and Fiber Festival. Mike's oldest brother and his family live in Waynesburg, so we'll get to visit them. If all goes well I will bring cinnamon rolls to be baked on Sunday morning. (Yes, I am still obsessed. I am starting to wonder if I have so many obsessions that I can never be truly obsessed with any of them, as there's just not enough time for it.) We'll drive back sometime Sunday afternoon.

What else? Nothing much, I don't think. Happy that it is Friday, but I still can't believe that it is mid-May already. Anyway, I should run off to find cash to spend this weekend.

Arsetickled Numpty

2008-05-15T20:15:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Emmms for the post title. She used the phrase on Rav, and I loved it, so have co-opted it here, just because.

As usual, it has been a busy week. Last weekend, went to my first Kirtlandia Society meeting in months. Fascinating lecture (as usual), this time on the Firelands Ground Sloth bones, which shows signs of human butchering even though it was carbon dated to pre-Clovis times, and there has been no other evidence to date of ground sloths being hunted/utilized by humans. It will be interesting to see the results of future studies on the bones.

Sunday, spent some time with Jennifer, and watched the Pens game. Made a penguin.

Stephen the penguin

Enjoyed the pattern, and will make another (to be named Geno). Will use a different, fluffier yarn for the belly next time. Stephen Colbert thinks that more animals should be named after him, so here's a penguin for the cause.

Here's also a turtle for the cause. Tanya thinks he should be called Dilly, but I will name him Stephen as well, just because.

Stephen the Turtle, in progress. Body is done, and working on one leg.

Stephen the turtle's shell will be a sweater. Very cute pattern.

Both animals will be gifted to the HS girls that I teach to knit (party on Tuesday!), so they may be renamed.

Have been working a bit on Firebird here and there. Have done a few more pattern repeats. I think I like blogging while watching the Pens game - I can touch type (at least mostly) so I can watch the game and keep rambling on..... Anyway, here is Firebird, so far:

Firebird; feel free to click on it to see the detail...

Just a few observations from the last week. Finally noticed the speakers in the corners of the front doors in my car - you know, where the little triangular windows used to be in old cars? Yeah. Took 12,000 miles to notice them. Also saw a woman in a dress that was startlingly reminiscent of a construction barrel. Wouldn't have noticed that fact except that she was standing just behind one. Made a mental note never to wear an orange and yellow striped dress, as I myself am rather short and stout. Also haven't seen quite as many right-leaning drivers lately. For a while, it seemed like at least 25% of male drivers on the road leaned toward the middle of their car. I don't know why, and the posture makes me hurt. Half of the time, the guys are on their cell phones, but not always. Do you get a better view from the middle? I am just curious.

Let's see... Monday was knitting. Small group of us; several people were sick and stayed home. Still a nice evening. Tuesday watched the Pens game at home while Mike went to the SAAZ meeting. He won the club's Homebrewer of the Year award. Speaking of his brewing, he had two beers advance to the second/final round of the National Homebrew Competition - his Munich Helles and Classic American Pilsner. Yay, Mike! Our friend Mark advanced his Scotch ale with habanero peppers.

Crap, Flyers powerplay. As Mike posted to his message board, he has been saying for the entire series: Fuck Filthadelphia! although Monk's Cafe is really great.

Wednesday (was that just yesterday?) had a long day at my morning client and spent the afternoon visiting University Circle. Went to the art museum to see the Arms and Armor exhibit - very cool, but they should give you magnifying glasses or binoculars, as there's so much detail that you can't get close enough to see. Spent the rest of the afternoon watching ducks at the Natural History museum. Dammit, Flyers just scored again. Was very inspired by the ducks (oops, needed to proofread that one!) - lots of gorgeous colors and patterns. I may have to design some knitting patterns based on various duck species. Yes, I am a dork. That likes ducks.

Anyway, this is the first evening Mike and I are spending together all week. We are both going to the DNA lecture tomorrow night at the museum, though, which should be interesting. Will work on my museum scarf, which is also a swatch for a sweater. This is the yarn I mentioned before; I do like it quite a bit. The pattern is used in the sweater body, and there are lots of cables and whatnot for elaboration. Only thing that worries me is that the pattern calls for size 8 and 6 needles, with the gauge swatch being on the larger needles. Well, I am a tight knitter, and get gauge on the smaller needles. I will need to check for errata to see if the gauge is really for the smaller needles.....

Plan on working on this only at the museum. We'll see how long that lasts. Although I will be there three times this week, and at least once more next week. Although first time I was working on larger needles, and needed to rip it out. Actually, frogged a second time, as my first smaller needles were still too big.

What else? I should focus on the game. The Pens need my love and attention - they are currently down by two. (edit - 3. Yikes!)

Oh, should include the token beautiful kitty photo.

She was looking so lovely one morning, soaking up the sunshine, and I couldn't resist.

Finally, my mom gave me her Wizard Snoopy. It was love at first sight. I have loved him since she bought him, I don't even remember how many years ago. Anyway, I guess she finally decided that he was meant to be with me, because she sent him home with me when I last saw her. He dances to his theme, and his crystal ball lights up. I will end this post with my favorite puppy:

I love Snoopy!

Another picture post

2008-05-08T20:28:00.003-04:00

Just a quick note here - uploading pics to Ravelry; thought some should get shared here. Especially this one:

Zuzu, looking less than stunning

And for knitting:

At my parents' house last weekend, finished a hat and headband.

Nice, soft, fuzzy hat - definitely man-sized. Too big for my head!

I am a bandwagoner - this is my Calorimetry

Here it is again - because I like it.

I am really liking my Calorimetry. Really.

Finished the ribbing on the bottom of the sweater. I really like it, as does Zuzu.

Sweater, sans sleeves (and collar)

This is MY sweater! Don't try to take it - my laser beams will get you!

Left my size 8 circular needle at my parents' house, so I can't work on the sleeves until I get it back. Planned on picking up a sleeve on Tuesday afternoon, but realized that the needle was missing, so started another hat. It's made of the yarn that I brought for the HS girls (they loved it), and it is growing on me the more I work with it. I doubt that I could pull off these colors, but they remind me of the Muppets. What do you think?

Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem...

Anyway, as I do not have my sweater to fill my suddenly empty evenings, I started Firebird. It's a lovely creation designed by the Tsarina of Tsocks, and definitely takes a lot of attention. I am learning new techniques, one of which is how to work on size 0 needles. (Also learned the Turkish cast-on, and look forward to using it again.) Look closely; there is a lot of detail.

Firebird hatching

Well, I need this to be quick, as I want to get back to the Firebird. Hope you enjoy the pictures/progress report. (And Zuzu's tongue.)

For a slow week, it was definitely busy!

2008-05-05T09:49:00.005-04:00

I'd expected a calm week last week. Why? I don't know. Calm is rarely a word that can be used to describe my life. Luckily there is rarely any real drama, but life is generally busy. I guess it was calmer than usual, as I was able to fit in a mid-week post.

Anyway, had lunch with my friend Danielle on Thursday, and discovered that I have misplaced a year. Don't ask how or why (maybe last year was simply that bad that I repressed it!), but I was convinced that her son is a year younger than he is, that our neighbors only moved a year ago (it's been two - at least), and as I found out that evening, that the NBA went to a 7-game playoff schedule a year before I thought they did. So does anyone want to fill me in on what happened in 2006-2007? Not sure where I misplaced that year, but it's gone.

Thursday evening watched the Pens game at North End (and during the period breaks they put on a basketball game, so I learned that the NBA was no longer using the 5-game playoff series), and was quite sad that the Pens missed the sweep. Worked on the sweater and yet another hat.

Friday I did something. Oh. Grocery shopping. Had a very sleepy day, and hit the stores just before closing. I think we also planted a tree. Or was that Thursday? Can't quite recall. Either way, Mike's mom brought us a crabapple tree. We had a bit of an amusing conversation about it:

Mike: Oh, we need to plant the tree.
Heather: Yes, I know.
M: But not in the Heart sense of the word.
H: That was a seed they were planting, silly!
M: Well, yes, but you know what I mean.

Okay, maybe I am just a dork. I was entertained. Pop culture references amuse me, especially references to bad 80s songs.

Saturday, made more cinnamon rolls (yes, this is something like the fourth batch of cinnamon rolls in a month), then delivered them to my parents. I'd mentioned to my dad that I might be heading out there again, and he requested cinnamon rolls. Hence the shopping on Friday - I needed butter. And powdered sugar for the icing. I have lots of icing left in the fridge from various cupcakes and cinnamon rolls and stuff. Anyone want icing and no cake? Will need to make more cupcakes just to use the leftover frosting.

Spent Saturday with my mom - went to the 380 auction and bought some vegetable plants, then stopped by the Bonnie Knits closing sale. 40% off yarn, books and needles. Bought more yarn that I don't really need, plus a few skeins to donate to the HS girls. Finished the hat, and started a Calorimetry. Yes, I finally jumped on the bandwagon. (For those of you not on Ravelry, the Calorimetry is listed as the most popular "hat", with over 4100 in existence. For reference, the second most popular hat has been made about 1500 times.) It's actually very cute. I really like it. (And will share a picture, probably in a photo-post later this week.) Loved the yarn, and have asked my mom to go back and get more. It would make lovely socks. (#204, for those of you checking the yarn link.) Really liked the way it stitched up.

Finished the Calorimetry Sunday morning, and finished reading "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. Left it with my mom, as I think she'd enjoy it. You might, too - go on and try it!

Watched most of the Pens game Sunday after a trip to the grocery store and Pat Catan's. Bought some crimp beads - I want to try my hand at some stitch markers, and had everything necessary except crimp beads. Now there is no excuse not to attempt a new hobby!

Chatted with Cheryl a bit before driving home Sunday evening. Nice to finally talk to her - we'll have to get together sometime when she's not exhausted from Maryland Sheep and Wool. Megan went as well, and they both highly recommend the festival. Someday. I did enough damage at Bonnie Knits, and have plans to attend two festivals later this month.

Now, Eryn's comment made me think about my random facts. My math was off - I am closer to 400,000 miles now, quite possibly past. Drove 120,000 miles on my first car (Holly died with 324,000 miles under her wheels); 200,000 on my second, and 13,500 on my current. I have no idea how many miles I put on my parents' cars, but my favorite high school pastime was getting in the car and driving. Anywhere. We would play the "Let's see where this road takes us" game, get thoroughly lost, and then find our way home. Made even more entertaining by the fact that much of the driving took place after dark. Anyway, I would guess that I have driven somewhere around 350,000 miles, probably more.

(Oh, and side note about the current car: The windshield has developed road haze. Not sure how long it took, as I didn't notice it until yesterday, and it was rather thick. But I noticed the windshield was dirty, cleaned the outside, and it was still hazy. Used a bandanna - and is it a "do-rag", as in something you use when you're doing something, or a "dew-rag", as in something used to clean the "dew" off of your brow? - to wipe the inside glass, and was amazed at how much dirt had accumulated.)

Also, for those of you keeping track, I visited 49 states the summer after college. My final year at OU was spent working 60 hours/week as well as taking a full courseload (I rarely had a quarter with less than 20 credit hours on my schedule), and I was burned out. Had the thought, "I'm already in so much debt, what's a few thousand more?" and decided to travel. Left mid-July, with a stop to visit my parents and spend my mom's birthday with her. I didn't tell them of my plans until that day - I didn't want them to try to talk me out of it. I did tell them that I was off to NC to visit my friend Kelly. Talk about an akward conversation:

Mom: When are you coming back?
Heather: I'm not sure.
M: When did you tell work that you will be back?
H: I didn't. I quit. I'm going to spend the summer on the road. This is the only time that I will have six months of no one asking me for money (grace period of student loans), and I want a vacation.
M: Who's going with you?
H: No one.
M: *Stunned silence.*

Yeah. They weren't really all that happy about it. My grandma, however, was thrilled. She thought it was a fabulous idea, and wished that she'd done something similar. I spent the summer driving, camping and staying in hostels mostly, as well as visiting friends (my stalker skills were finely honed - I could find almost anyone!), and sometimes sleeping in the car. Found lots of wonderful people just about everywhere I travelled. Met Grama in Vegas in August, and spent a few days running around the casinos with her. Drove to Alaska a bit later in the year than is recommended, but still had a great time. It was the one time in my life that I was mostly faithful about keeping a journal. Someday I'd love to turn it into a book, although that probably won't happen. Maybe it will just be another blog. Thoughts?

Grama was so happy about my trip that she decided that she'd take me to Hawaii. So I visited my 50th state (with Holly's gear shift knob in my purse) in October 1999. Sadly, Grama got sick and couldn't go, but my mom was able to take the time off and come along. Learned to play the conch shell (how's that for another random fact?) on the ship - Grama had booked us on a senior citizens' cruise. Lots of fun, and someday I'd like to go back.

Oh well - enough nostalgia. Back to the current day. I am still working on the ribbing for my sweater, but should finish tonight. There is the possibility of Metropark knitting this afternoon, too. Figured out my stitch count, but did not factor in the collar. At least I will have enough of the discontinued yarn for the sweater, and probably to finish the fingerless gloves.

This is the time of year when I wish I still had my outdoor job. The pay was not at all good, but it was a lot of fun. I was in the best shape of my life - there were days when the job consisted of a nature hike, with the occasional stop for digging, so the upper body got toned as well. I don't miss it so much in the heat of the summer or cold of winter, but these beautiful spring and fall days make me wish I didn't spend most of my workdays staring at computers.

Anyway, I should take advantage of the quiet time and finish that ribbing!

More memeliness and other random stuff

2008-04-30T17:29:00.005-04:00

Eryn just tagged me for the Seven Random Things meme, and as I was already going to post tonight, might as well do it now. Because if I don't, it may never happen. Looking forward to it, I think, as I have many random out-of-context facts to share. Other stuff to follow.

The rules:

Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.

Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.

Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

Let them know they are tagged by leaving comments on their blogs.

Let the Randomness Begin!
1. I have driven over 200,000 miles (probably closer to 300k at this point), the most being 45,000 miles in five months.

2. Somewhat related - I have visited all 50 states, but have not been outside of North America.

3. Like Eryn, I dream of having a farm in North Dakota. I would love to grow sunflowers, but I am probably too lazy to make it work.

4. When I was in high school, I was once part of the entertainment at a bachelor party. Somewhere out there is a videotape. (Used to shock "nice girls" with that story - that, and the story about dating a married man around the same time. Innocent stories that sound naughty.)

5. I have gone weeks, if not months, without watching TV.

6. When I am immersed in a good book, I want to do nothing but read. The library has been my downfall on many occasions.

7. Ever since I was a kid, I have loved to cook and bake. I once set off the smoke detector and woke up my whole family at 4am while baking pita bread from scratch. (My mom just brought that up the other day.)

Who to tag?

Carry
Cheryl
Cyd
Emmms (though we should be patient - she's got a lot going on right now!)
Ktb
Mary
Shirley

Still working on the sweater; have started the ribbing for the bottom. My cable broke as I was trying on the sweater, which was a bit of a mess. Was able to recover, thankfully, but it was a pain. Haven't yet figured out the number of stitches in the sleeves, but that is on the agenda for this evening. Did figure out how many stitches I can get per skein of yarn, so once I figure out the number of stitches in the sleeves I can calculate if I will have enough yarn to make long sleeves, or if I will need to make a short-sleeved sweater. Which would be silly, as it's mostly alpaca, and thus very, very warm.

Nearly bought enough yarn for another sweater today. Remember the pattern I bought at Knitter's Fantasy? Well, I have decided on the yarn I will use to make it. I will need 2000 yards of this, probably in Spice, but possibly in Moss or Lichen. I could even live with Fieldstone or Slate. Maybe even Sable or Cranberry. Thoughts, anyone? It's very sad that as the weather gets warmer I am still thinking of sweaters.

Weekend work is over for the summer. I am looking forward to grocery shopping on Saturday and staying home on Sunday. Easier to buy beer on Saturday mornings... Speaking of which, I should run out later tonight to buy beer for the Beer and Fiber Swap. I was supposed to have a package on the way today, but as Mike's anti-beer mom surprised us with a visit on Monday, I did not get everything purchased. My procrastination worked well for once, though, as my swapner has moved in the interim, and I can now ship to her new place.

So how about that Pens game last night? It was the first in the series that I'd actually watched, well, at least most of. Caught the post-game highlights of Sunday's game at my parents' house, after visiting with my dad and sharing the Happy Birthday Cinnamon Rolls. And cupcakes. And chocolate chip cookie pie.

Oh yes, I did try to burn the house down on Sunday morning. Made the dough for the cinnamon rolls, and while the rolls were rising, I made chocolate chip cookie pies. Unfortunately, they rose a bit too much, and some dough spilled out onto the bottom of the oven. Result? Lots of smoke. Luckily no smoke detectors were activated, as we were pretty quick to open windows and doors. Cleaned out the oven enough to bake the cinnamon rolls, but Jennifer and I started out a bit later than we had hoped. The surviving cookie pies were still tasty, as were the cinnamon rolls. And the cupcakes. Good stuff.

Had lunch with my mom at Mad Mex, which was quite tasty. Dropped off her car at the house, then the three of us drove to the golf course to visit Dad. Listened to the tail end of the Pens game on the car radio. Visited with Mom at the house for a bit, then headed over to Brad's potluck for a bit. Gave him the blue cabled hat (oh, at lunch Jennifer agreed to adopt Guacamole for me. She can wear the green; I can't.) and the second chocolate chip cookie pie. He asked his friend Emily to play a few songs for us, since we couldn't stay. I was very impressed - she has a lovely voice, and writes beautiful songs. We may need to have a house concert at some point...

Arrived at the Byham during Ron Sexsmith's first song. Knitted a bit between sets, and then enjoyed Nick Lowe. I admit it - I have a fondness for witty British men. Mr. Lowe has crafted some very fine pop songs during his career. Particularly enjoyed this one, with its Rick Astley reference. And this one is always a favorite. Oh, the floppy 70s hair......

Drove home after the show, and was surprised to find Mike still awake at 12:45. Went to bed, and Zuzu allowed me to sleep until 4:45. Nice kitty. Took a nap on the couch after her breakfast, and was only slightly late to work. Would have been on time, but Mike informed me that his mom was coming over at 8. Can't say I was ready for that. Or really wanted her around on Monday. I worked, came home, napped, went to knitting. Visited a bit in the middle there, and went to bed early.

Went to the Cuyahoga Falls knitting group on Tuesday, as part of our group is joining them for Stitch and Pitch at the Akron Aeros in June (June 13, if you're interested!), and the other girls wanted to meet that group. Nice people. Oh, also worked with the kids that afternoon. Taught one girl a yarn-over/dropped stitch pattern; she seemed to like it. Would love to have the sweater done next week to show them.

This morning I ruined someone else's commute. That is to say, I was the bad driver that some lady is complaining about. I don't think I did anything wrong - you decide. I was reading at a stoplight (you know, that engrossed in a book thing), and apparently I didn't move the instant the light turned green. I was 10-12 cars back, so one would think that immediate motion was unnecessary. In fact, I noticed that the light had changed, and was ready to move, but couldn't move until the cars in front of me started moving. She beeped at me anyway. Oh well. We both made it through the light.

Oh well. Just had a bit of bad news, but there's nothing that can really be done. I should get back to the sweater.

Mostly pictures

2008-04-26T13:13:00.003-04:00

Traffic yesterday was just stupid. That just needed to be said. Stupid people on the road when I was going to work last night, and evil construction that condensed four lanes to one over the span of about a mile. I got bored with sitting in traffic, so I got out the sweater. Did 100+ stitches while not moving. Took an additional 20 minutes to get home. Yuck. At least Zuzu was happy to see me. She was showing off her lovely kitteh belleh yesterday. Can you see where the fur is shorter, where it hasn't grown back completely after her surgery? We love our kitty.

Zuzu's lovely kitteh belleh

And can't resist this one, taken as she tired of her supermodel status and sat up:

Kitty in motion

Somehow made it to work early today. Have gotten a decent bit done on the sweater, so it is longer than it appears below. It's 25-30 rows longer now. 53.33% done, according to my estimate. Soon I'll figure out the actual number of stitches and have more accurate calculations.

Fibonacci stripe sweater

Here's Zach's hat, because I'm sure everyone wants to see the evil yarn. Did I mention that? Well, I have decided that I do not like Vanna's taste in yarn. (Vanna's choice yarn is quite painful to knit with, IMHO.) I do like the stripey pattern, though.

Zach's hat

And in the exciting news category, we present Zelda!!! Elin from Norway created a beautiful zebra hat, which was too large for her head. So Zelda was felted, and became too warm for Elin to wear. After a trip across the ocean, Zelda now lives with me. How lovely! I almost (but not quite) want the weather to cool off again so I can wear her. Elin is right - Zelda inspires song!

The beauty that is Zelda - Thanks, Elin!

What else? Deer have been eating my tulips. Mike tells me we have at least one snake under the deck. (I'd rather have a snake than mice.) Got a phone call and did another row on the sweater - 53.67%. Decided that my dad will have some Happy Birthday Cinnamon Rolls tomorrow. Why? Because I want to make more. I think there are also leftover cupcakes, so there will be lots of sweets for the diabetics. Plus I have some caramel corn leftover from Easter, and he has a craving, so I'll bring that along, too. Will probably make some chocolate chip cookie pies, as we may stop by a potluck tomorrow evening so the blue cabled hat can be delivered to its new owner.

Anyway, I should get back to the sweater. Must have lots done so my mom is impressed, and inspired to get back to her cabled scarf.

Cupcakes and other sweets

2008-04-25T19:17:00.004-04:00

It's been a busy week. (Surprise, surprise, I know.) I think I spent the remainder of Sunday working on my sweater (just under 50% done now - again assuming 60,000 stitches), but I can't quite recall. Feels like a long time ago.

Finished the Guacamole hat on Monday - does anyone want an avocado hat? I like the pattern, but don't think I can pull off the color.

Guacamole!

Zuzu didn't enjoy wearing the hat - would you?

Finished it with my knitting group then picked up the sweater. Was one of the last to leave because the sweater is an addiction. And knitted in the round, so there is no obvious stopping point. Ever. (Wait, why am I typing now?)

Tuesday was the New Pornographers. Good show, although I missed seeing Neko Case and Dan Bejar. I think my brain supplemented what my ears heard. Baked cookies for Ed early that morning - he tipped me off to the presale info; naturally I was grateful. And promised cookies. Also shared some with my HS knitters. And a few people at work. Zuzu woke me early, so I started baking. I think the cookies were done by 5:30 am. Stashed some dough in the fridge for today, too (will explain later). Even had a bit of time to do a few rows on the sweater. Went to work, then came home for lunch because I felt like spending time with Mike. Back to Cleveland for knitting lessons, where I worked on my sweater and explained knitting in the round.

After hanging out with the HS girls, I spent a few hours in the Euclid Creek Metropark, as it's pretty close to the Beachland, and it made no sense to go home and then back north. Sat on a bench and worked on the sweater. Witnessed a jogger chatting on a cell phone. Made me think of this song. Saw a pair of Metropark deer. No fear of people. Wondered if they were going to visit me during dinner, like my bison friend once did. (I was eating an energy bar - they might have liked a nibble.) Anyway, eventually moved along to Music Saves and enhanced my CD collection, in part with my bonus WRUW telethon premium. Met Ed, who proved to be as nice of a guy as he sounds. Gave him his cookies as well as a few treats for his cat. (Donate to his show! C'mon, you know you want to!) Enjoyed the conversation and then the show, as the NPs played many favorite songs (including a cover of ELO's "Don't Bring Me Down - ELO always makes me think of Xanadu - I really need to get to NYC to catch that on Broadway with Gretchen!), and was not quite groped. Very odd experience - a petite woman was making her way through the crowd, and was, um, overly friendly. She was gaining people's attention by touching their waists and shoulders in a very intimate fashion. Almost like she wanted someone to turn and kiss her. She did it to me, as well as the woman in front of me. And yes, we both felt somewhat invaded. It was odd enough that we chatted about it.

There has been a theme in my life lately: I have been knitting outside a lot. Tuesday afternoon, deck and Metropark. Spent Wednesday's lunch hour at a lakefront park, knitting. Used the time between work Wednesday and the museum lecture to work on my sweater while sitting on a bench in Wade Oval. Big news: I am no longer entirely pasty white! The backs of my neck and shoulders are now pink. And sore. Enjoyed the Wade Oval time, though. Saw a grackle trying a bird of paradise move - he puffed up his neck, showing off his iridescent feathers. Also saw a pair of mallards just hanging out in the middle of the oval. I know the Botanical Garden has some water, but the middle of the oval does not. Appreciated the lecture, especially since vicuna was mentioned. Chatted with a few Kirtlandia members as well. Got home, passed out.

Spent Thursday evening running errands with Mike. Lizard, Lowe's, Library, and grocery store. With a detour to Mark's so he could return a carboy. Went to bed early. Ahhh, sleep.

Argh. Just spent an hour on the phone. Not that it's bad, but I wasn't ready for the calls, and my sweater was still in its bag! No knitting! *gasp* Jennifer and I are heading out to Pittsburgh on Sunday to catch Nick Lowe. (Thanks WYEP!) Will probably have lunch with my mom, may hang out with my dad for a while (I should bring him cupcakes or something - today is his birthday) when he's at work on the golf course, may go on a Just Ducky tour. Fun stuff. May just spend time outside knitting.

Oh yeah. Made cupcakes this afternoon. Baked the rest of the cookie dough this morning, and this afternoon, per our friend Chris's request, made more of the vanilla cupcakes. Since he and I share a desk, he will have several cupcakes when he arrives on Monday. Or he might visit me tomorrow, who knows. Yes, the cupcakes are worth going in to work on a weekend. Reason for the cookies and cupcakes? One of the instructors always buys dinner for his students on the last Friday of classes, and last week, asked what I wanted. He had no obligation to include me, but as he did, I figured I'd bring cookies. Mentioned that to Chris, and he suggested cupcakes. As this morning's work went surprisingly well and as a result I got home at a reasonable hour, I made cupcakes. Yum. I think I may have another now. After I refill my water bottle. Some of them turned out ugly for some unknown reason, but they are all tasty.

Anyway, I should try to get a teensy bit of knitting in before I leave. And pick up my tupperware from downstairs. I work all day tomorrow, so I should be able to get a good bit of my sweater done then. Will post pictures when I upload more. Have fun!

Sweater obsession

2008-04-20T18:32:00.003-04:00

Finally started my Fairfax Fibonacci Sweater. (Another one.) I am obsessed. Started it on Thursday, and estimating 60,000 stitches, I am over 20% done. 21.65%, to be exact. (This is where my OCD exhibits itself. Thanks Ravelry and your progress bars.) I am nearly ready to split off the sleeves; just a few more rows to go. Should get there tonight. Here it is, off the needles. Self-portrait, so it's not the best shot, but you can see the colors and stripe pattern and whatnot. It's a top-down raglan, and I am in love.

Worked on the sweater Friday afternoon between work and the lecture (while sitting out on the deck with Zuzu), and could not put it down while at work on Saturday. Even brought it to the Brew Kettle to work on before and after dinner. I love the feel of the yarn (Andean Silk from Knitpicks). Would definitely use it again. So soft and slightly fuzzy, as well as beautifully colored.

Spent this afternoon (at the Beer Engine - yes, our visiting friend is a beer guy) working on yet another museum hat, as I finished one Friday morning and started another at the lecture. Very interesting lecture about songbirds and the patterns of their songs. Parking was insane - they were filming a Jamie Foxx movie, and there were several huge trucks parked in front of the museum. Plus the lecture was packed. Our friend Kevin came to visit for the weekend, so I got a late start. Had to visit a bit, you know.

finished cabled hat

Zuzu has been a lot of fun lately. She's been playing a lot, which is great to see. She's been tossing her woolly mousie around, and has thrown it onto chairs and the ottoman. We're really happy to see her play, because it seems like she's finally completely recovered from her health issues of 1-1.5 years ago. Yes, she's an older cat now (11), but she's back to being her kittenish self. She's also attacked my sweater bag (reusable Wegman's shopping bag), I think because she likes the texture.

Zuzu insisted on being in a hat photo

She also turned off the TV on Thursday. I was knitting and listening to music, and Zuzu climbed behind the TV to investigate something, and suddenly the room went silent. She'd stepped on the UPS and turned off the TV and media computer. And was so proud of herself. She certainly earned my attention!

Oh, remember The Server That Makes Me Cry? The replacement (that was due at the end of February) still hasn't arrived, and the client has decided that they are going to go with a more reputable company, thankfully. So hopefully soon all will be resolved.

I am going to shoot someone. There are people that ride dirt bikes behind our house, and the noise is driving me crazy. We are watching TV, and I still can hear the noise, with all windows and doors closed, and the TV volume about 50% louder than usual. I am calling city hall tomorrow to find out about noise ordinances. I can't stay inside all summer due to those idiots. Yes, I am a pacifist, and there are no guns in the house. So I doubt that the shooting will happen. And even though I usually don't wish harm on anyone, I really want one of them to fall on his head and break his neck so that they go away. If this continues, I'm going to make voodoo dolls.

Anyway, I should get back to my sweater! I wonder how quickly I can finish it...

Lazy Sunday

2008-04-13T16:00:00.001-04:00

Remembered one of the things that I've wanted to post but had forgotten. Gretchen sent me a note the other day to tell me that a Greek friend of ours had contacted her via Facebook. When I think of Lambros, I think of a beautiful spring day (Memorial Day weekend?) when we were bored and wanted to leave Athens. Lambros had a car. A white Ford Escort if I remember correctly. The three of us piled into the car, and Lambros started driving. Drove south with no real destination in mind, and ended up in Kentucky. Visited the Hillbilly Flea Market (we had to - who can pass up a place like that?), bought a few knickknacks. Still have one of the funky triangular silvered bowls that I bought, as well as the Easter Island head vases. Turned around, started back home. Again, such a beautiful day. Not sure who started it, but we stuck our feet out of the window. Three people in the car, and at one point there were five feet sticking out of the various car windows. Which is when we passed a state trooper. Of course we get pulled over. Trooper comes over to the window, spits, and starts drawling about seeing "elbows and assholes sticking out everywhere." As there's no real law against what we were doing, he can't give us a ticket. He continued lecturing, and told us that when we get tired, we should stop and stretch. He returned to his car for the obligatory paperwork, so we exited ours, and started picking wildflowers. Ahhhhh, the memories.

Today is very much a catch-up day at home. Mike is finishing the taxes (apparently we weren't completely done before, but we will be today), it's laundry day as well as grocery day (home by 10am - yay), and I should probably straighten up the kitchen a bit.

Made more cinnamon rolls yesterday. And cakewaffles. Good stuff. Jennifer came over for breakfast; even though she couldn't go to Knitter's Fantasy with us, she wanted to visit with the girls a bit. Tanya, Patti, Elizabeth, Megan and I all drove to Youngstown and wandered around the Yarn Market. Ran into Jeanne there - she was wearing a gorgeous sweater she made. (Hers is longer than the one pictured - and much prettier, in my mind. The images on the website don't impress me, but Jeanne's did.)

Saturday's cinnamon rolls, pre-frosting

And of course the question is, "What did you buy at the Yarn Market?" Bought some TOFUtsies in green and white, some Aussi sock in Oak Moss (green), Wildfoote in Desert Grass, Trekking in a blue-green variegate, and some really neat laceweight - Habu with metals. I bought some copper bamboo, and stainless steel wool. I really liked the sample swatch they had knitted up in the stainless steel silk (but liked the color of the wool better), as it held its shape. It was a simple garter stitch piece, but would stretch to be either a long, narrow piece or a short, wide piece. You could flare the ends or sides to make it wavy. Very neat.

Habu yarn - copper bamboo and stainless steel wool

I am far too easily distracted. Started this post three loads of laundry ago. It is now snowing. Please make it go away. Drama llamas are running rampant all over Rav. I really need to stop following links to the melodrama. It's not worth the time or concern.

Oh, took a picture of our finches yesterday. Wish Mike's dad had email so he could see it - he's the one that made the feeder that my nephew calls "Florida Yard Art." It's made from a garage sale ice bucket and serving platter, plus some wire screen. He makes them with teapots and other vessels, but I like mine the best.

Zuzu's appetizers

Our kitty has been snuggled with Mike all day, snoozing on his lap. I should get back to the knitting. Or curl up with a good book.

No Rice for the Zuzu

2008-04-11T20:42:00.005-04:00

Post title: Was portioning rice into tupperware for freezing, and some fell on the floor. Zuzu dashed over to investigate, because it could be food (we were in the kitchen, after all). She sniffed the rice, but decided that it wasn't edible. No rice for the Zuzu.

She has been a naughty kitty lately, and has taken to waking me at 3am. She curls up on my chest, purrs, and paws my chin. Ohhhh, see how nice this snuggling is? We should go downstairs and snuggle more, after you give me breakfast, of course. Yeah. No go. She did that for two nights in a row. We set her feeder to give her some kibble at 2am, and that seems to help. She would have let me sleep in until probably 5 this morning, but I think I'm now conditioned to wake up at 4:30, so even if she doesn't wake me, I wake myself.

Speaking of the kitty, she has been birdwatching lately. Apparently it is a great season to have bird feeders, because the migratory birds are back, but their food is still somewhat scarce. We've had lots of finches, but Zuzu's attention is really drawn by the cardinals. (I think it's because they look more like a meal, rather than the finch-snacks. Not that it matters, because she stays indoors, and her only wild food consists of insects. But a kitty can dream, right?) We have a pair, and they may be looking to nest on the beams of our deck's roof.

Really need to get the She and Him CD. I have been singing various songs of theirs for the past few weeks. Would be great car music, so I could sing along without being overhead. (I think the woman in the office next to mine is a bit annoyed at hearing my voice. She works Saturdays for the quiet.)

So I was going to post Sunday, but got swept up in a kitchen frenzy. Baked bread, cinnamon rolls, red pepper cornbread, and spinach-artichoke dip. Is that all? Feels like there was more. Cinnamon rolls were lovely. I will have to make them again. Challah bread and red pepper cornbread are favorites from Still Life with Menu by Mollie Katzen. Good stuff.

cinnamon rolls pre-icing

challah bread

Mike had a few friends over to play games, and while they made a mess of the basement, I made a mess of the kitchen. I think they were happy for all of the food, though.

What should I have been doing rather than baking? Working on the SAAZ newsletter, finishing those last two pairs of clogs (though I did get one pair felted), making more baby gifts (I'd forgotten how many I need to make, and have gotten sidetracked), and doing laundry. Now nearly done with the first of the last pair of clogs, aside from my clogs-of-many-colors. Have started thinking about them, and what fun they could be.

This week was busy, as we had knitting group on Monday. Abuelo's is a pretty decent Mexican restaurant - and if you ask when you're being seated, they will bring you a vegetarian menu. Gotta love a place that will do that. Plus, I've found most Mexican places in the area to be very bland. Mike finally got the point that I didn't care for one place when I told him that it tasted like Taco Bell. Why spend $7 when I could have the same experience for $2? Anyway, brought him takeout from Abuelo's, and once he understood that yes, the food was his and was not my lunch, he enjoyed it. We will go back.

Finally did the SAAZ newsletter Tuesday, day of the meeting. Oops. Hey, life happens. It didn't really take long to throw everything together, as there weren't all that many contributions. Left out a few small things, but didn't want to search for pictures or clip art to fill the rest of the page.

Baked cupcakes Wednesday. Four dozen. Vanilla with vanilla buttercream frosting, and vegan chocolate mocha with mocha frosting. Surprisingly, I think I like the vanilla ones better than the chocolate. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a chocoholic, but for some reason I'm finding the vanilla ones really tasty.

Bobmas Eve cupcakes

Thursday was Bobmas Eve. If you have to ask, you won't understand. Just over a dozen of us met at Bob Evans for a celebration of Ravelry. It was a lot of fun - matching faces to Ravelry user names. General consensus is that we'll have to have another, sometime soon. Perhaps at a place that serves alcohol. (What can I say, we like to have margaritas/beer while we knit!) Cupcakes were appreciated, but I still went home with two dozen. Left most of them for coworkers this morning, and brought a few for the guy who is covering for me tomorrow.

Mike drove to Columbus this afternoon to drop off beer for the NHC. He kegged beer on Tuesday, and several turned out quite well. Hopefully he'll do well in competition, although you never know who your judges will be. (They even let me judge one year, and after watching Mike torment himself over his returned score sheets, I will never do that again. I don't want to have my name on something that can cause such misery.) Anyway, it is out of his hands now - beer has been delivered, and he is home.

I'm at work now, and it's finally turned into a quiet night. Had to do a lot of running around at first, then had to talk someone through accessing their email account for the first time, oh, and then needed to change a projector bulb. Fun stuff. Finished "Collapse" while waiting for the slowest computer in the world to boot up and open Outlook so I could print the schedule.

Tomorrow is Knitter's Fantasy, in Youngstown. So we are having the traditional turnpike-route departure, and gathering at my house for breakfast before hitting the road. Cakewaffles and cinnamon rolls, probably. Vicky gave me some Vietnamese cinnamon, and it was fabulous in Sunday's cinnamon rolls, so will try it again with the new recipe.

Another News Item: It is the end of an era. I received a new card from Discover, and they changed my account number. I have been able to recite that number for years. Really. I have had the card since college, and always used it for phone orders (really mostly just donating to public radio stations - I'd feel the need to call while in the car, and didn't want to fumble with my wallet, so I'd use the number I knew.). Anyway, I tried to use it online today, and it was declined - they deactivated it! New one is now activated and working, but now I have another number to learn.

Not sure if there's anything else I should share. Oh, made another afghan square last night and shipped it out this morning. Some of the squares may have been lost, so mine is an extra. I just wish I had extra time to include some goodies in the package!

Oh! Chocolate Skittles! Found some in the store here at work, and bought two bags to share tomorrow. They frighten me somewhat, although probably not as much as the ones I saw on their website - Ice Cream Skittles. (Was craving chocolate last week, and didn't bring any baked goodies, so I checked out the candy rack in the shop.) Was amazed by the variety of M&Ms, too. No longer is are M&Ms just plain or peanut - there are dark chocolate ones, wild cherry and raspberry packets. I tried the dark chocolate, but wasn't really all that impressed. Will stay away from the wild cherry and raspberry ones - they are scary. Oh well. On that note, it's back to busy-ness!

Time to apply for the position of village idiot

2008-04-05T13:05:00.004-04:00

I have been very stupid lately. Or at least forgetful, if you want to be polite about it. Last night, I stopped at the grocery store on the way home. With a list. That had everything that I needed on it. Somehow, I still managed to walk out missing three items. I blame our friend Nick, as I ran into him there. He told me that Mike should be the one doing the shopping. I completely agree. Was quite distraught about forgetting the lasagna ingredients (like ricotta!)

Anyway, yesterday was a long day, what with Zuzu waking me at 4 as usual, work in the morning and then again until 10pm. Finally made it home around 11:00, unpacked the groceries, and blocked the afghan squares. Could not find my straightpins for the life of me, so I ended up using a packet of sewing needles. Probably could have used a few more, but so be it. Squares are approximately square. Mike was kind enough to drop them in the mail this morning, so they should reach their destination either Monday or Tuesday.

Went to bed around 11:30, and remember looking at the clock at 12:At exactly 4:06 this morning, I feel a paw on my chin. Zuzu wants breakfast. Fine. Stumble downstairs, feed the kitty, go back to the store for the missing items. Get home, start making the crockpot veggie lasagna for today’s potluck. I offended the kitty - she was meowing, pawing me, rubbing against my legs trying to get my attention. Silly me, trying to get things done! I was missing our snuggle time, and Zuzu wanted to make sure that I get my daily dose of purrs.

Anyway, I finally got everything assembled and curled up on the couch for about an hour. Zuzu was on my lap before I’d arranged the blankets. Oh, and when it was time to get up and get showered for work? Kitty didn’t want to move. We will have to do some serious snuggling tomorrow to make up for this deficiency!

Today is a long day following a long week. Work until 4:30, drive an hour to a potluck, spend time there, drive the hour home, and crawl into bed. To be woken at 4am again tomorrow. Oh well. I love my kitty. And Sunday morning we can sleep on the couch from 4:15-8:00.

Oh, car update. Will hit 11,000 miles today. Had the car since November 7. I'm actually not driving as much as I thought I would. Working weekends helps prevent road trips, though. Car seriously needs cleaned out. I want to find my giant knife that is lost somewhere in the back seat. (For those of you not in the know, when I brought the leftover cakes to my knitting group meeting, I brought a knife. It was on the backseat. Then I mailed the packages that were keeping everything in the backseat immobile, and the next time I stopped, the knife moved. I don't know where it is hiding. It's a good thing I rarely have passengers, because I wouldn't want anyone to get stabbed.

Found "Collapse". It was in Mike's office. I don't know why it was there, but we were talking about taxes (and Zuzu), and there it was, on the floor. I have been reading it before bed again. Nearly done. About halfway done with "Medical Apartheid", too.

At work right now. (Obviously.) Gorgeous day outside, and I am stuck in an office, thinking about how nice it would be if Zuzu wasn't traumatized by travel and could come spend the day with me. I'm on the fourth floor, near the roof, with a window that has a nice, wide sill, and a lovely view of the gutters where the birds hang out. Zuzu would have entertainment all day! Not that she doesn't at home, but still. (I guess I am feeling deprived of our snuggle time, too.)

This link was posted on Ravelry. We've used some of these terms to describe Zuzu. Very entertaining, and apt, too! Flippy's Cat Terms

Oh well. I should get back to knitting those clogs. Will remember everything else I wanted to post as soon as I publish. Mmmmm, the office smells like lasagna. Gotta love crock pots.

Book (and other) excitement

2008-04-02T18:53:00.003-04:00

Emmms over at Quelle Erqsome tagged me in a book meme. Because I don't want her to think that I am the slacker that I truly am, I am posting my responses here. (Also, I am hoping that it earns me bonus points in her Mustachioed Avengers contest, because I can use all the help that I can get.) I appreciate the tag, though, as I am constantly reading something, even if it's just the list of files whizzing by as they are scanned.

Anyway, here goes:

1. What book are you currently reading?

Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present, by Harriet Washington - heartbreaking accounts of racism in medical treatment. There's a lot more than just the Tuskegee Syphilis Study; doctors who are now regarded as heroes for their new techniques frequently experimented on slaves or free blacks before performing the procedures on whites. And experimentation without informed consent continues - by companies in certain markets who have been granted permission to experiment on anyone who becomes unconscious en route to hospital, and by the U.S. military. Very well-written, informative book; won the National Book Critics Circle Award.

The Best of the World Cafe: Great Conversations from NPR's Most Popular Contemporary Music Show, by David Dye - transcriptions of interviews from the radio programme. As a music lover, I enjoy learning more about the thought processes of those talented enough to create music. (Hey Emmms, I'm about to read the Neko Case interview!)

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, by Jared Diamond - currently on hold, because it is somewhere in the house. Upstairs, I think. Perhaps in the giant sack of things that went into hiding before the party. Great book about how some of us humans have mucked up our environment and how others have learned to live in a fragile ecosystem.

2. When you think of a good story, what are the first 3 books that come to mind?

Call it a cop-out, but these are some of the books I read and re-read again.

Beauty, by Sheri Tepper - fabulous reinvention of fairy tales. (You can probably add most of her books to this list, too.)

Most of the Discworld series, including the Tiffany Aching books. Just great stuff, entertaining reads, with so many cultural references that you're bound to miss a few, which leaves more to discover when re-reading. If pressed to recommend just one or two, I'd say (with references in parentheses) Soul Music (pop music), Moving Pictures (movies), and Maskerade (musical theatre).

Anything by Tom Robbins or Margaret Atwood. Probably most frequent reads are Skinny Legs and All and Cat's Eye (Oh, how that book made me cry on first reading... And thanks to Gretchen I have an autographed hardcover version. Someday soon I will get back to NYC.)

3. Which 3 books would you recommend for summer 2008 beach reading?

Pattern Recognition, by William Gibson - I really enjoyed this book. I am not entirely sure why. I will probably read it again this summer.

Island of the Sequined Love Nun, by Christopher Moore - the title alone marks it as an excellent beach novel, and Moore's absurd humor inspires giggles and belly laughs. (Or read any other book of his - all will make you laugh. If they don't, you are reading the wrong Christopher Moore.)

The Ground Beneath Her Feet, by Salman Rushdie - One of Rushdie's strengths is the way he uses language, and this book tells a wonderful love story (again with lots of pop culture references - now you know one of my many weaknesses. Oh, and U2 and Daniel Lanois recorded a song with Rushdie's lyrics for the movie Million Dollar Hotel. It was a bit freaky first time I heard the song, as I recognized the lyrics but hadn't known they'd been made into a song.)

4. Any knitting books you would care to share?

A Field Guide to Knitting: How to Identify, Select, and Create Virtually Every Stitch, by Jackie Pawlowski (because it's small portable, with lots of color pictures)
And someday, someday, I will make one of the gorgeous creations in Knitting Nature by Norah Gaughan.

5. What is next on your reading list? (I added this part; future meme participants can consider this optional)

The Onion Girl by Charles de Lint
Where the Girls Are: Growing Up Female with the Mass Media by Susan Douglas
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert

6. Tag three other knitters for this meme:
Penny, Eryn, Megan, consider yourselves tagged. Looking forward to seeing what you have to say.

***

And in other news...

Had awesome bedhead the other day. Like, totally. As in gag me with a pitchfork sort of awesome. Good to know that I can have huge hair without using any sort of product. At least until I brush it. (Yes, I was amused - so amused, in fact, that I felt compelled to share.)

Have been running around a lot, as usual. Knitting was Monday, in North Olmsted, and while I'd hoped to stop at home before going over there, work got in the way. Yesterday, I came home from work, cooked dinner, and left. Went to Miss Chickpea's and met a few of the Cuyahoga Falls Knitters and (crochet) Hookers group members as well as my friend Tanya. We bought a few things (I gave in and bought Joyce's favorite sock yarn - Mountain Colors Bearfoot as well as a skein of Berroco Sox; Tanya bought some Malabrigo), then she followed me home to use my winder and swift. After she left, I ate dinner and swung by North End to deliver Matt his hat (argh - forgot to take a picture!), and had a drink with Mike. Had planned on stopping at Jo-Ann's to get a needle felting tool, but got on the road too late.

Today I am catching up on all of the things I have ignored lately. Did the book meme, will fill out the questionnaire for the Beer and Fiber Swap, stitch a few squares for a group gift afghan, oh, and Mike did our taxes, so I need to review and send the darn forms in. With checks. I don't know that I like sending a check rather than asking for a refund, although I guess it's one of the necessities of being self-employed.

Watching the Pens game right now. Gonchar just scored, and they just played this commercial. Can't.Stop.Laughing.

What else? I always think of things when I'm not posting. I know I will have more to babble on about as soon as I post. Oh well. I should do those other things that need to be done, instead of just talking about them.

Multiple post weekend

2008-03-30T11:10:00.003-04:00

Couldn't wait to share the Muppet excitement of last night. (Well, I have been awake for several hours, so I waited that long, I guess, but still...)

Muppets History 101 was the funniest thing I've seen in a long time. Have discovered that I now need to own the first season of SNL (Skred and Lily Tomlin singing "I Got You Babe" plus some other other skits) and an Ed Sullivan DVD that is now apparently out of print. Somewhere, somehow, I'd love to get my hands on a copy of the British Muppet Show, as well as the promo reels that they made. So add all of those things to my wish list, as well as the pattern for Jim Henson's Kermit sweater. (And then the sweater. I may have to design one someday if I can't find an official one. Love the band of Kermit faces.)

Okay, so I have now been sidetracked for an hour, making Mike's breakfast (sleepyhead!), and searching for pictures of the Kermit sweater. Again, no luck. Anyway, stripey sweater with band of Kermit faces across the belly. If you see one, please grab it for me - I will pay handsomely for a sweater or pattern.

Anyway, am quite happy that I caught the show. If anyone out there has a chance to see any of the Jim Henson Legacy Foundation programs, definitely go.

Side note, finished the blanket this morning. 24" of yarn leftover. Longest cast off ever, as I was interrupted many times by Zuzu, who wanted to play. I think she was all worked up because we danced around the house a bit. That said, blanket is finally finished, folded, and can sit upstairs until Christmas. Worked on the cabled hat last night; it's looking good, I think. What next? Probably time to frog/restart the Fibonacci glove.

And Zuzu is telling me that I should do that now, because she wants to snuggle with me and a blanket.

Just wasting time...

2008-03-29T16:34:00.005-04:00

Had a perfect Friday afternoon yesterday. Stopped at Cold Stone for ice cream on the way home - who knew that their birthday coupon wasn't a BOGOF, but truly a free concoction? - had ice cream for lunch, and then curled up with Zuzu to work on my sister's blanket. We listened to the Weakerthans, and snuggled. Zuzu loves alpaca. Nearly finished - just two rows and cast off to do. Anyway, it was a wonderful way to spend a chilly, gray afternoon - with kitty, blanket, and good music. And the sun came out just in time to drive to work.

Worked Friday night, as well as all day today. New experience - I kinda audited a professional development class on bullying and the media. Very interesting. I should explain, though, as I don't normally get paid to sit in a classroom. (Usually I get paid to sit in an office and knit.) As the class focused on media literacy, the instructor had many videos as well as a PowerPoint presentation to share. As aware as she is about the media, she is not tremendously technologically savvy. So I sat there and knitted, and assisted with any media transitions and computer issues. I think the instructor learned a few things in the past day and a half, too.

While I was disappointed to be away from the computer so much, I did get a bit of knitting accomplished. Made a pair of clogs in their entirety (well, they are not felted), and worked on the cabled hat. Ready to start the third cabled row. Not sure if I will make a fourth set of cables or not. Depends on how I feel, where I am, and what time it is when I get to row 25. Also helped a few people in the computer lab during lunchtime. That counts as an accomplishment, right? Even though I couldn't replace the exhaust fan in a printer? (We don't have the part on hand, not to mention that I don't know the first thing about how to replace it. Might have been able to figure it out, if I had to, but can't do it without the part.)

Oh, mild amusement, at least to me: Was enjoying last night's lecture/discussion, and the instructor mentions a fabulous book by Susan Douglas. I start looking for a pen so that I can scribble down the info, when she mentions the title: Where the Girls Are: Growing Up Female with the Mass Media. No need - I already own the book. Will have to bump it up on the reading list.

Killing time now between work and Muppets History 101. Won Cinematheque tickets (did I mention that already?) for this weekend, which is convenient because it is the weekend that I had planned to go. Muppets History 101 is at 7:00, and it made no sense to get home at 5:00 just to turn around and leave again at 6:00, especially when I'm about 20 minutes from University Circle already. Only issue is that Zuzu is home alone. Mike is on the SAAZ bus trip/pubcrawl to Michigan. I set up her feeder, so she should eat while we're gone. Dry food even, which means she's even more likely to eat. Silly kitty prefers kibble sometimes. Although maybe having kibble for lunch and dinner will make her appreciate the wet food for breakfast tomorrow. And she will be even more thrilled to see me when I finally get home.

Anyway, they are showing Muppets Musical Moments tomorrow, and I may go, just because I can. I think I have most of the clips (Muppet Shows, right?), but it's always fun to watch on the big screen. I love the Muppets. (Never would have guessed, right?)

Let's see, rundown of the last week: Monday was knitting. Fun. Tuesday was quiet, I think. Wednesday went to a lecture with Jessica. Worked on the cable hat, as blanket was too big and has metal (clicky) needles. Had dinner with Cathy on Thursday; was quite good to catch up. Gave her her clogs, she gave me a lovely plant. So that leaves Friday, which was a lovely afternoon, which is where we started. And I should probably catch up on Rav, and get moving - perhaps I can do some more knitting before the show.

Currently listening: Weakerthans and New Pornographers and Push (old band from Pittsburgh - they came to memory because I don't like coconuts)
Reading: Medical Apartheid by Harriet Washington
Watching: Veronica Mars and South Park, or whatever Mike has on TV. And tonight - MUPPETS!!

Nostalgia, heartbreak, and the car stereo

2008-03-24T22:03:00.000-04:00

Discovered tonight that my car stereo's highest number is 62. Was driving home from knitting group tonight, and heard a blast from the past song, "Good" by Better Than Ezra. Hence the discovery of the loudest level. I feel the need to explain (and be the stereotypical, self-obsessed windbag blogger). Please skip if you have no interest in historical stories of love, loss, and recovery.

Mike and I met in December 1995, when I was in college, and shortly after he had graduated. His friend's roommate introduced us over winter break in Athens, the year that I started doing the family's Christmas baking. Tom (another friend I met that same day) described it as, "...heaven. There were blankets everywhere, and cookies on every flat surface." Suffice to say that after a bit of time as buddies, Mike and I started dating. I thought it was casual, but I was still very happy. Friends even commented on how happy I was - right, Kel?

He was searching for jobs outside of Athens (that paid better than his notoriously cheap boss - may he rest in peace), and had applied for a position in Dayton. Well, he got that job, and moved in April 1996. We broke up, as he didn't want a long distance relationship. I was devastated. But I couldn't blame him for anything, as I totally understood - I would have been the same way, had I been the one leaving. At any rate, I was heartbroken.

Still, I respected his decision, and didn't call very often. Apparently I should have called more frequently, as Psychobitch (the ex - and another story entirely, perhaps for another day, although it's probably Mike's to tell) called and caught him on a lonely, depressed day, and they got back together. Um, I was annoyed when I learned of that. (Understatement.) I was
also annoyed when I'd learned that he'd been in Athens for a weekend and didn't contact me. I found out because he had left his keys at Tom's place, and wanted me to deliver them. Yeah. I thought about being mean and nasty, but ended up being nice and driving to Dayton for a few hours in exchange for dinner. (We won't talk about the dinner - he still feels guilty about that.)

Anyway, we were sporadically in contact for the next few years. I grew up a bit, travelled the US and Canada, realized that yes, I really wanted him to be happy, even if it was with Psychobitch. (It wasn't.) Finally, about the time that he moved to Pittsburgh (1999), he finally ended things with her because, well, she was psycho. (Not really, I guess she's supposedly a nice person, but she will always be Psychobitch to me.) And they just weren't really meant to be together, which is again another story, also not mine to share.

At any rate, during our hiatus, there were a few songs that really called to me, and reminded me of our relationship. "Good" was one of them. Because things really were good (whoa-uh-oh-uh-oh it was good) when we were together, and I missed that. ("Time Ago" by Black Lab became another song that made me cry.) Do I regret the hiatus? Definitely not - I travelled, had a lot of fun and life experiences that I wouldn't have had if I'd been part of a couple. But it was definitely good (good, good, good, good) to reconnect with him in the summer of 1999. And things have only gotten better. (But I still tell him that I only stay with him for the sake of Zuzu, just on general principles. We've also talked about getting divorced just to help the statistics, but we're probably too lazy. Besides, nothing would change aside from our insurance rates.)

steps away from the way-back nostalgia machine

***

For those of you who care about fiber and so on, I started on the last ball of the variegated yarn for the blanket. Less than 40 rows to go, and the blanket will be finished. Had a nice time at knitting group tonight; saw a few people who hadn't been for many months. Shared some leftover cake; there is less leftover now.

Anyway, Zuzu is telling me that it is bedtime. I should listen to the kitty, as she is looking out for my best interests.

After a long day

2008-03-23T10:11:00.004-04:00

Yesterday was my birthday. With the party to celebrate the fact that my birthday was on a Saturday and that I didn't have to work.

Knitting group came over, we went to Miss Chickpea's and bought yarn, came back and exchanged gifts and ate cake.

Nine cakes. Just a few more people. Yum. I still haven't sampled everything. To be honest, there is a cake that has not yet been cut.

Here's what the table looked like when we started. (To be honest, we had some of the peanut-buttery-goodness-frozen-dessert-cake before the trip to Miss Chickpea's.)

We have, clockwise from lower right:

Plain cheesecake
Chocolate cheesecake
Peanut-buttery-frozen-goodness
Mocha layered cheesecake (complete with chocolate covered espresso beans)
Raspberry layer cake with raspberry frosting (pink)
Cassata cake (white)
Ugly Bundt cake - white with chocolate filling and glaze (ugly because the top stuck in the pan when removed)
Three-layer chocolate cake with chocolate ganache frosting
Four-layer yellow cake with chocolate sour cream frosting

We ordered pizza for dinner, and the boys ran to get it. (A change, as I am usually the carryout driver.) Patti brought salad with some tasty dressing she made, and we chowed.

Cakes went over mostly well, I think. Megan really liked the cassata cake's frosting, Jessica really liked the raspberry cake, Melita liked the cheesecake(s), and Nick really liked the peanut-buttery-goodness. Not sure what Patti took home, but she filled her tupperware. I still haven't sampled them all. Hope no one was freaked out my my very strong french press coffee.

Oh well. Zuzu was very well-behaved, although I think she did swat at a few people who were trying to pet her. It takes her a while to adjust to people. At some point during the evening she did sit on my lap, which was nice. She is now snuggling on her alpaca blanket.

Oh, I finished Chris's clogs. They were desperately crying out for red hearts on the toe, and now they have them.

Yes, I am rediscovering the joy of posting pictures. Hope you appreciate it.

About 60% done with my sister's blanket. Here, you can see how beautiful Zuzu looks on it.

Because she needs the love.

Oh, and the gifts! Patti brought some tupperware in a cute bag (I told her to bring her own tupperware if she wanted to take leftovers home since I was running low). I get to regift the bag back to her, as she realized that it said "Baby" on the handle. Megan brought some chocolate and some very cute coasters that she'd made from a thrift shop sweater (great idea!), and Jen had somehow found the time in her crazy schedule to make a needle organizer! I am thrilled - the needle shoebox can be retired. :-) I will have to post pictures of that once I get everything organized. Carl brought me a six-pack of mead, too. Mine, not Mike's. Although he will probably drink most of it, as I can only drink mead in small, small doses.

The gift exchange was fun - much yarn and needles were exchanged, as well as a project bag and even cash.

Anyway, I should have more cake, and get back to the knitting. Enjoy some cheesecake!

I am officially old.

2008-03-20T11:26:00.004-04:00

This morning, two days before my 34th birthday, I threw my back out. And in a totally wimpy way.

I was baking a cake before work. (Shut up, that's perfectly normal behavior here. Move along.) Made a cassata cake, at least made its parts, and will assemble on Saturday. Started cleaning up, and suddenly my back hurt so much I couldn't move. Muscle spasms or something. Somehow maneuvered myself to the couch after taking some ibuprofen, and didn't move for several hours. (Zuzu helped with this.) Called in sick to work, and my boss recommended a hot shower, as hot as I could stand it. Once Mike woke up and convinced Zuzu to move, I managed to get upstairs and into the shower. (Thanks again to our friend Chris for having the necessary tool to allow us to adjust the scald-guard so that I could take a HOT shower rather than a lukewarm one.)

Why did my back give out? No clue. Maybe too much whisking. Learned that my stand mixer makes beautiful meringues. Never really understood "whisk until stiff peaks form" until today. Hopefully the cake will taste as good as it looks. Anyway, rather than whisk the yolks in the mixer, transfer them to another bowl, clean the mixer bowl and then whisk the whites, I just whisked the yolks by hand. Were they as light and fluffy as they would have been had I used the mixer? No, but we'll live. Cake batter was definitely airy!

Anyway, feeling quite a bit better now, but still sore. Will probably take another hot shower later today.

Have some cream cheese softening for a cheesecake; hope my back will let me bake more today. There are several more cakes on the schedule for Saturday. Oh, and cleaning. We won't talk about that yet, I don't think.

Aside from me getting old, nothing eventful really happened between now and my last post, so this will be a short one. It's probably time for more snuggling with the kitty.

And just like that...it's winter again

2008-03-19T20:03:00.001-04:00

I am sitting at home, watching it snow. Wimped out on the museum lecture, as I headed home after work because it was cold and rainy and I didn't feel like camping out somewhere for three hours, plus a friend was supposed to come with me, so we could carpool back up, and the closer I got to home, the worse the weather became. Rain turned to freezing rain to sleet to snow. And snow it stays. The ground is covered, the cars are covered (Mike is brewing, so cars are on the driveway), and the road is covered. I am cold and depressed.

Okay, life is slightly better now. We just had dinner. Breakfast for dinner, to be exact. I am warmer. Mike's watching the Pirates play the Yankees in Florida. (On TV, of course. Do I need to specify something so obvious?)

Anyway, life has been full of bad drivers lately. Last week, after stopping at North End for a drink with Mike after work on Saturday, I was approaching a traffic light. Watched a Lincoln coming from the road to the left stop at the green light, get passed by a pickup, finally decide to make a left turn, and then veer into the left lane, right into oncoming traffic. Luckily the SUV that would have been hit was more observant than the Lincoln driver, and stopped. I think Lincoln decided to turn around after that.

After that, I needed to make a left turn. I used my blinker, and waited for the oncoming traffic to clear. The SUV that was nearly hit by the Lincoln started into the intersection, then stopped. I waited, as the intersection was blocked. Next thing I know, the SUV is making a left turn behind me. No blinker - in which case we could have both made our left turns simultaneously, and with the other clearly in sight. Oh well. The whole episode was clearly a case of "WTF?!?!?!?!"

Trying to keep this week calm. Skipped knitting group this week (Monday) to stay in and watch a movie with Mike. Little did I know that my Thursday dinner would be cancelled, and we'd get snow today, so I'd wimp out on the lecture. I'm sorry to miss it, as the lecturing curator is always entertaining. Last night we went to a Monsters game. A few WTF moments there, too. Most notably the mascot, an eagle. They are the Lake Erie Monsters. Logo is a Nessie-ish aquatic lizard-like creature. The costumed mascot was an eagle. WTF? The hockey team has cheerleaders. WTF? Okay, I gave in and looked at their site. They claim that the eagle is a seagull that has seen the Monster. Best part of that whole bit are the Mullets, who imitate the Hanson brothers while working on the ice. It was 80s night, so the music made me laugh, even though I still find it difficult to tolerate AC/DC. Damn you WEBN!!! Stupid station even bled through the stereo when I was trying to listen to CDs. Yet another reason I no longer live in Cincinnati.

Over halfway done with the blanket. It's just far too easy, although now it's a bit on the bulky side. Brought it to knitting on Tuesday afternoon, and the kids and teachers asked me to work on it, because they didn't quite grasp the concept of HUGE needles and fluffy yarn. A row is about 1/2" of fabric, so it goes quite quickly. Haven't worked on much else other than hats. Finished Matt's hat, with the exception of weaving in the ends. It is in the car, so that won't happen tonight. Started another hat, probably for Brad, because he was the recipient of one of my first hats, and I want to prove that I have advanced since then. Plus he likes blue and wool. I am using the Hat Attack ribbing pattern (p2-k2-p1-k2) to start, and will probably throw in a few cable crosses, but not in the binary pattern.

Haven't frogged/restarted the Fibonacci glove, although I did pop it off the needles so it can be frogged. I've decided that I will make the smaller size, too. Used it as an example to show the HS knitters stockinette stitch. They've mainly been doing garter stitch, but I taught a few how to purl. Not sure that they will remember it when they get back from break, but you never know. Too many projects, too little time. And here I am posting rather than cooking and knitting.

Yes, I should be making cakes tonight. Or at least cassata filling. I should have tomorrow evening, though, as well as Friday afternoon/evening. I am such a procrastinator. Haven't even really invited anyone outside of the knitting group to the event. I want to make at least six cakes, but there will only be um, 14? 16? people there. So if you're lucky enough to be one of the few invited, bring your appetite! Maybe I should buy more milk.........

Oh, found out that the makeup weekend for the work I missed is the weekend that I'm supposed to go to Knitter's Fantasy. Don't know if I will have to work or if someone will cover for me.

Zuzu is being a pest tonight. Poor Mike is very annoyed, as she will not leave him alone. Especially when he is trying to do some brewing calculations.

Anyway, I should get this posted, so I can work on something productive. I Will.Not.Ravel for the rest of the evening. Yeah, right. We'll see how long that lasts. Probably not long, as I need to research recipes online, and whenever I'm online, I log on.

Losing it

2008-03-15T15:26:00.003-04:00

So I have been losing things lately. DPNs (not just the missing 8s, which of course turned up as soon as I brought the replacements home, but individual needles, so I'll have sets of 4 rather than 5, stuff like that.), an Amazon certificate that I set aside for safekeeping, stuff like that. Maybe I am also losing my mind.

Have been too busy to knit very much lately. Even at work today, I've been too busy. (Imagine that, working at work!) It's about an hour before I leave, and I haven't touched all of the stuff I brought with me. Worked on a hat last night at a lecture. Very intense stuff. The speaker was great, but she kept me awake longer than I wanted. The Explorer lectures are usually about an hour, followed by 30 minutes of Q&A. She spoke for nearly 2 hours, answered a few questions, and it was off to the book signing. Looking forward to reading the book, but expect to cry quite a bit. It's awful what humans can do to other humans. I guess I did get home about the time I would if I'd worked, but I expected to be home earlier.

Made chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast this morning. Yum. Zuzu wanted my milk. (Gotta have milk with pancakes, right?) She kept trying to get close to the glass. At one point, I leaned back and held the glass in an outstretched arm, thinking that she'd have to leave my lap to try to get to it. Oh no, little kitty climbed up my chest and across my arm to get to the milk. It was as if she realized that if I couldn't move my arm, she had a good chance of getting the milk. She was right. I let her have a pawful for her effort. She's not supposed to have dairy because of the calcium, but a drop or two of milk can't hurt too much, right? There wasn't much in the glass, and she was so intent on drinking some, I couldn't turn her away.

Very foggy on the way to work. Was very foggy on the way home yesterday, too. It was hard to see our house, even.

Accomplished very little last weekend, of course. Vegging is quite the thing to do when there's so much snow. Most of it has melted now, just in time for us to get more. Hopefully not much.

Went to the North Coast Knitting Guild's meeting on Monday with the SNB. Learned about some decorative cast-on techniques, and got my picot in a twist. Took a Fair Isle class on Wednesday. Learned the difference between Fair Isle and Intarsia, and also learned what I'd been doing wrong when doing Fair Isle. Whoops. Most of what I'd done got felted anyway. Or was included in socks for Mike, and he doesn't care. But I know better now.

Worked on my sister's blanket a bit, too. I am 3/8 done. Have done no knitting today, even though I had high hopes of knitting a lot. Again, it's terrible how I've had to work at work. There's been a lot of work going on during the week, too. I don't want to talk about a certain brand of server. And if you have a problem that is important enough to require me to drive over to you, don't leave. Please. Enough venting.

Thursday was Member's Night at the Museum. Always a good time, talking to the curators and running around the offices and whatnot.

Oh, and won tickets to the Bang and the Clatter's production of Essential Self-Defense on Sunday. Should be interesting, assuming I can convince myself to leave the house.

Looking forward to having a small birthday party for my knitting group next week. It should be just the core group, those who have been part of the group for most of its existence. Looking forward to making lots of cakes, too. Cheesecake, chocolate cake, butter cake, and a few other kinds. I haven't decided on all of the recipes yet. Yum. Will include some cake in a swap package, too. (Which reminds me, I'll need to pick up a few more things to include in that, as well.)

Oh well. I should pack up to go home now. Perhaps I will finish my Fibonacci gauge swatch tonight, now that I found my size 8 DPNs. Although I'll probably start them over, since I think I can make the smaller size rather than the larger ones. Really looking forward to making that sweater.

One more thing - Won't You Be My Neighbor Days are coming up. Be sure to wear your favorite sweater on March 20! I will need to sew the buttons on my cardigan and wear it.

Listening to the SXSW coverage on NPR's website. The weather was so bad last weekend that even the radio station cancelled shows, so I missed my Sunday morning rituals. And to think I'd wanted to go grocery shopping. Save that for tomorrow, I guess.

Finished "The Wit and Wisdom of Discworld" the other day. Very quick read.

Haven't had time to watch much of anything lately.

Unexpected time

2008-03-08T19:09:00.005-05:00

Work was cancelled yesterday and today. Imagine that - we have had more than a foot of snow dropped on us since Friday morning. Luckily we didn't get the ice they'd originally predicted. Here's what it looked like earlier today. There is a car parked on the street in this picture. Can you see it?

We witnessed some kids try to go sledding behind our house this evening (why they ventured out at 6, when it was windier than it had been all day, as well as not long before dark, is beyond me). They lasted about 10 minutes in the knee-deep snow.

I have one vent about people driving in this weather. If you insist on driving a moving snowball, please turn on your lights so that you don't blend in with the rest of the snow on the road/in the air. Preferably, you would actually clear the snow from your car so that you can see and also be seen, but as you are too lazy to do that, please turn on your lights so your car appears as something other than white.

When I last checked in with everyone here, I was looking for my Size 8 DPNs. They were not in the baby hat bag, so I bought replacements. Haven't worked on the gloves yet - this Wednesday is a Fair Isle class, and as the gloves/sweater uses some Fair Isle techniques to weave in ends and whatnot, I decided to wait until after the class to work on them. Even though I really really really really want to start that sweater. Still have 3 pairs of clogs to do, and what did I do yesterday? I started a blanket.

I should explain. As my weekend work is rarely cancelled (never in 20 years or something like that), I was expecting to have to work. Being as I work until 10 pm on Friday, and start at 8 am on Saturday, I figured I'd pack an overnight bag, and crash on the couch in the office, rather than deal with the stress of driving back and forth in the snow/ice. I packed a blanket in the bag, but realized that I might still be cold, especially if they turn off the heat in the building overnight, so I brought yarn for a blanket. It's made from alpaca, and is a very loose knit (size 19 needles), so it knits up very quickly. Figured that I could get a good bit of that done while at work (not to mention when I was waiting for work to start - no need to go home during my afternoon break), and have that as a supplement in case I needed it Friday night. Luckily, work was cancelled, so I used the immortal words of Eric Cartman, "Screw you guys, I'm going home," and drove home.

At any rate, I have about a quarter of the blanket done, as I didn't work on it all that much yesterday. I read a book. "Cross Bones" by Kathy Reichs. Large print edition, which made the pages turn all that much faster. Finished it this morning, as I simply couldn't stay awake for the last two chapters last night. I am somewhat curious about the facts she used as a basis for the book, so I may be reading more nonfiction in the near future. As soon as I finish "Collapse" and "World Cafe."

Nearly finished Shawn's hat on Thursday. Was supposed to be a quiet evening at home, but wasn't. Started the hat on Wednesday, at the museum. Got the ribbing done during the T-Rex vs. Triceratops lecture. Always good to hear Michael Ryan. Always interesting to learn how well-read some kids are on the latest discoveries in the world of dinosaurs. Driving home that night, passed Cleveland Power, and misread their "Super Choice" lighted sign as "Super Chicken." I was tired.

Oh, Thursday Mike drove to the Grape and Granary to pick up some ingredients, as our friend Carl was supposed to come over and brew with him today. I went along for the ride, petted Homer the shop cat, and then we stopped by North End for a drink. Worked on Shawn's hat in the car and at the bar, and got to the decrease point, which is when I insisted that we leave. Still haven't finished it, but will do so soon. Maybe even tonight.

On Wednesday, during the day (at least I think it was Wednesday), was driving from one client to another, and saw lots of falling ice. We'd had an ice storm that morning, it warmed up during the day, and I watched snakes of ice fall from power/phone lines onto the side of the road, the road itself, and a few cars that were unlucky enough to be on the road when the ice fell. I was lucky, and enjoyed the visuals with none of the consequences.

Saw a Great Blue Heron the other day, so spring can't really be all that far off. Please, please, let spring be right around the corner.

Anyway, it's movie time. "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead" right now; "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" this morning, and "The Maltese Falcon" this afternoon. Mike also watched "Outpost," but I ignored it, which was probably a good plan.

Have lately been listening to Matthew Sweet, "Kimi Ga Suki", and Vienna Teng, "Warm Strangers."

Just for kicks, here's another winter picture. Enjoy!

How life has been...

2008-03-04T18:23:00.002-05:00

Please enjoy this video, as it is I've been feeling over the past few weeks, and will probably feel for most of March. Windmills of Your Mind - Muppet Show

Anyway..... Watching the Muppet Show tonight. It's a quiet evening at home, as I could have gone over to North End with Mike, but decided not to deal with the weather. It's not that bad, but ice is accumulating on cars and stuff. Ahhh, Veterinarian's Hospital....

Yesterday was a long day, as the server that is limping along while The Server That Makes Me Cry is waiting for its replacement crashed. Overheated, apparently. Luckily the data was safe, but it took until after 6 to get things backed up.

Just anti-slipped two pairs of slippers. Shipped a few out yesterday, with some goodies. Still have a few packets to send, as I didn't have everything packed up when I went to the post office yesterday, and I could only spare a few moments away from Server Hell. Will try to escape tomorrow, maybe.

Awww, I love Rowlf. And his cute little snoozing puppy. (Anyone who cares, I am watching Episode One of Season Two, with Don Knotts.) I wonder if they drugged the dog. Or sleep-deprived him for several days - poor puppy is really tired. Or well-behaved.

Nearly finished with yet another pair of clogs. Only 4 more to go! Hopefully I will get a decent bit done tonight. Worked with high school kids again today - my student picked up knitting very quickly. Within an hour, she had learned to knit and purl. She'll be knitting circles around me soon, probably.

Feeling a lot better now. Yesterday was a bit better than the weekend, but I still passed out on the couch around 8:30. I had wanted to have a beer, but was too tired (and apparently didn't need the assistance sleeping!). Perhaps tonight. Oh, made brownie cupcakes on Sunday. Good stuff. Remembered the flour this time. Had hoped to send some away today, but ended up sharing with the kids and other knitters.

What else? I really need to add some variety into my knitting. Let's see how many more clogs I can get done this week (it's only Tuesday, right, and I work this weekend), and then I'll start another new big project. I still need to find my size 8 DPNs for my glove/gauge swatch. I think that's the size I need, as 9 seems just a tad too big. Maybe tonight's plan should be to finish the clog-in-progress (just need to attach the second sole), and then organize, so I can find my needles and work on the gloves. Also want to start B.S. Johnson. Not sure what yarn I want to use, but I'll figure something out. Although I will probably start another hat tomorrow, as it's a lecture. Oh, crap - more babies are due. Which isn't a bad thing, but I need to get back on the baby hat kick. Oh! I bet my missing needles are in the baby hat bag. That's the size that I was using with the Cotton Fleece. And I still need to work on my socks. Maybe I'll do that instead of the gloves. I am far too indecisive. Suggestions, anyone?

Same as before

2008-03-01T11:45:00.003-05:00

I still can't get enough sleep. Slept for 12 hours last night, and just took a 60-minute nap. Feel kinda bad about yesterday, as I had been trying to help Mike with his brewing, but I went upstairs to change clothes, and couldn't resist the siren call of the blankets. Might have a few drinks (tea, water, stuff like that) and go back to bed. Yes, this cold is still kicking my bum.

On the last episode of this here blog, I'd had a relatively energetic Monday, and shared baked goods with my knitting group. On Tuesday, the weather was bad, and I felt icky, so volunteering was canceled and I came home and went to bed. Wednesday, I met with another local knitter from Ravelry, and another girl skipped due to car trouble. Luckily we met just a few miles from home, so no big excursions were necessary. Had some very nice tea at Panera, too.

Thursday, I was invited to see the Peking Acrobats. Wow. Went home sore from just watching all the contortions and balancing and feats of strength. Oh, and I was really tired, too.

Somewhere in the midst of all of that, I did finish two pairs of clogs and start another. Hopefully I will get some felted this weekend, as it's a rare weekend off, and start something else. I had high hopes of getting a start on a sweater yesterday, but that short burst of energy left me with a yawn. I do want to bake a few things, and get some packages ready to go - I have several things to mail, and want to free up the space in my house.

Oh well. Zuzu just had her lunch. I should make more tea and try to get some things done while I'm awake. We'll see how long that lasts.

Still reading Collapse, but am nearly done. Being sick certainly adds to my reading time. A bit more than halfway done with World Cafe. Hope to pick up Wicked again soon.
Still listening to the same batch of stuff, really, nothing all that new.
Watched Lost yesterday, and watched some older South Park episodes this morning.

Just can't get enough...

2008-02-25T20:49:00.003-05:00

Sleep, that is. Went to bed relatively early last night, slept a bit extra this morning (and Zuzu wanted me to sleep even more), and took a nap this afternoon (and Zuzu wanted me to sleep longer then, too). Started the workday with a "server down" phone call, but thankfully the server was fine, it was just the internet that was down. Could not get warm this morning. Hot shower helped somewhat, but not all that much. Finally had a hot breakfast and coffee, which worked a bit.

Tried to get my windshield repaired today. Don't recall if I mentioned or not, but my car took a rock to the windshield last week. Looks like a mosquito - small nucleus with a few legs. Runners, the repair guy called them. He told me that he shouldn't repair it because there was no guarantee that it wouldn't expand, and also it was in my line of sight. Personally, I think it's a bit below my sight line, but who knows. He was kinda short. Maybe he just didn't want to work today, either.

Met with my knitting group tonight, and worked on more clogs. As usual. Brought cupcakes and individually sized brownies. Found a Hershey's Kiss silicone baking pan, and used the brownie recipe on the label. Turned out rather well, even if I did overfill the the cups. Very cute. Dark chocolate brownies and vanilla cupcakes. There wasn't much to take home.

Oh, remembered to bring my Pittsburgh yarn to the meeting tonight. I love my cashmere. We're planning a trip to Knitter's Fantasy in Youngstown in April, and apparently my house is the central location, so I get to make a cakewaffle breakfast again. Yum. Speaking of yum, I have some really good oranges. I like oranges. Yum.

Anyway, consider this a short post. It is 9pm, and I am tired.

Radio show plug: Shindignation, on from 7-9 am on Mondays, on WRUW. Those girls make me giggle.

Long day, and nostalgia

2008-02-23T20:48:00.002-05:00

Worked all day today, then spent some time with the nieces. Picked up the sock blockers that my father-in-law made for me for Christmas. I will need to finish some socks so that I can try them.

Finished Foliage today. It became the hat that I could not put down. Elder niece loved it, and wants one. I have the better part of half a skein left; I could probably make a scaled down hat for her. Or just give her the one that's done. It doesn't seem all that big for her. Big, yes. Huge, no. The hat doesn't have a specified recipient, and it did look cute on her. We'll see. Maybe I will try to use the remnants on a niece hat. Only problem is that if you make something for one, you have to make one for the other.

Worked on more clogs a bit, too, but not all that much. Like I said, Foliage wanted lots of attention. Brought the Baudelaire socks, but didn't touch them aside from showing off the yarn to the nieces.

On the way home, listening to WRUW (College Pop, Starts with XTC), and was thinking about life back in Athens. Thinking about the era of my life that 10am was early in the morning. I remember one day, I believe it was a Sunday morning, when I had to work at the computer lab at 10am. This would have been winter 1995. Mike and Tom went to breakfast, I think at Bob Evans. I would have gone along, but had to work. They made my day, and brought me pancakes.

Oh well. I should get back to knitting. Must make lap space for the blinky kitty. Although she will probably stay with Mike. Maybe I will tempt her with a blanket.

Still reading the same stuff as yesterday, although you can add the current issue of Utne.
Watching: Lost
Listening: WRUW indie shows

Ahhh, breathe. Just an update...

2008-02-22T20:53:00.006-05:00

It has been a long week. Had an awful morning on Tuesday. Any day that starts with a "server down" phone call is not good. I won't go into more detail about the rest of the morning, but will warn everyone to back up their data if they try to defrag a computer that hasn't been defragged for years.

Tuesday afternoon, I volunteered over at Success Tech. There's a group of us that are teaching some of the kids to knit/crochet/whatever. I was a bit discouraged at first, partially bad day, partially I am not the world's best knitting teacher, but it took a while for my student to catch on. But when she got it, it clicked, and she was off and running. Anyway, that is a Tuesday commitment for the rest of the school year. Should be fun.

I should have gone to the SAAZ meeting on Tuesday night, but wimped out. I needed some quiet time with Zuzu. I had a few beers and played on Ravelry. Mmmm chocolate stout and belgian trippel. Yum.

Wednesday wasn't much better of a day, especially since I forgot my purse at home, and didn't have money for lunch. Nice part was that I went home early, and watched movies with Mike. I had to run some errands, but combined that with a pizza run for dinner. I think I knitted something, too, but I don't really remember. Oh! I started the Fibonacci fingerless gloves. They are a gauge swatch for my Fairfax Fibonacci Sweater, and I need smaller needles. Must find my size 8 DPNs somewhere. I am very confused about needle sizes - I originally thought that my Foliage hat was on size 9 DPNs, then on size 8s, but really it was on size 7s. I have been working on that tonight at work. I have done 1.5 of 3 pattern repeats of the body. Row-wise, I am just above 50% done. Since the crown has fewer stitches, stitch-wise I am not nearly that close to being done.

I've finished a few more clogs, I think. Made some red and white ones that are really crying to have red hearts put on the foot, but as they're for a guy, I may restrain myself. I might not, though - I haven't decided. I don't know why I am in a Valentine's Day mood. Especially since my big VD excitement was buying cheap candy. I don't celebrate Hallmark holidays, but I needed chocolate.

Thursday was another long day, and we won't talk about the afternoon. The evening was great, though - I met several girls from my knitting group at Moko Coffee downtown, and we went to see Wicked. Had a lot of fun, and really enjoyed the show, especially when I talked to an usher during intermission and spent the second act somewhere other than my original seat. I could actually move my legs there! The seats at the State Theater are incredibly cramped. Legroom is very limited. I am not the world's tallest person, but my knees were pushed up against the seats in front of me. Since my knees aren't very happy when confined, I was experiencing intense pain by the end of the first act. The lights went down, and I stood up. Anyway, the show was great. I am not a huge fan of musical theater, but was very impressed with Wicked.

Driving home last night was miserable. Nothing like being on a snow-covered interstate and exhausted. I have no idea how people could see their lanes, what with the road being white and all, but there were lots of people going 50-60 mph in the snow. Oh well. I made it home a bit after midnight, and went straight to bed. Zuzu woke me at 4, as usual, and I curled up on the couch after feeding her breakfast. She crawled under the blankets on the papasan chair, and snoozed there until I was ready to leave.

Anyway, took a nap this afternoon, and am at work now. For another 30 minutes, as I type this. It's been a quiet evening, which is good. I like having downtime at work. Not sure if I'll finish Foliage tomorrow, or get back to clogs. I still have Nina's hat to finish, and the Baudelaire socks to work on. Somehow I doubt that they'll be done before the end of the month. Maybe I will just hibernate them and start something else............ I really need to try Magic Loop. Must make more socks.

Next week should be calmer, as I only have events on Monday and Wednesday (well, maybe Tuesday, depending), and I have the weekend off. Things will be picking up again in March - three lectures the first three weeks, and an event every night during the week of the 10th. I think I have five events at the museum in March.

As I haven't done this for a while, let's try now:
Reading: Collapse, by Jared Diamond; Best of the World Cafe by David Dye
Listening: Challengers Executive Edition, New Pornographers; Magnetic Fields
Watching: After Sex; In the Valley of Elah; Supernatural

Double dinners

2008-02-19T05:41:00.004-05:00

We've all been eating a lot lately. Maybe it's the cold weather - we want extra insulation (even though us humans of the household have more than enough already!). Even the slender one of the household is always hungry. In fact, on Sunday, she was *very* hungry. I fed her dinner around 6pm, and she wanted more. She wanted more so much that she started licking the old crusty bits off of her plate. Oh, and I should note that the old crusty bits were underneath a bowl. Yes, our sweet little kitty knocked a bowl off of a plate to get to the nasty, dried food that was underneath.

What could I do? I gave her a second dinner. Kitty had a half can of food on Sunday night.

Last night, our knitting group went to Johnny Mango's. Don't know if most people got lost, but there were supposed to be 12 of us, and only 6 showed up. Ohio City can be a bit confusing, and I got slightly lost as I was approaching from a different direction - I'd been working downtown, and usually get there from further east. I ate far too much. Yummy food, when we finally got it. The waitress that originally took care of us disappeared at some point early in the night. She welcomed the first four of us, brought our drinks, but then she never came back. Finally Patti garnered the attention of another server, and she did a great job for the rest of the evening.

I finished one clog while there, and started another. They're not the happiest of travel projects, as there's lots of counting involved, but I managed. I really need to finish the Clog Project. I should be knitting now, but I have a purring kitty on my lap and my knitting bag is on the other side of the room.

Pink hat is finished; may drop that off today, depending on timeframe. I think I have three people on the hat list - it's good that there are several lectures coming up! There are three in the first three weeks of March. That might translate into three hats - who knows.

Yeah, I'm getting tired again. Woke at 3 due to micturition urges, and luckily Zuzu curled up with me after I returned to bed. I had a hard time falling asleep again, though, and at 4 she was ready for breakfast. She's been on my lap for a good portion of the morning, and is now snuggled under a blanket on my lap. You know, I could really be productive if I actually did things in the morning. Oh well. It's now nearly time to get moving. Awwwwww. Kitty just peeked out from under the blanket, and we had some serious purring going on. I love my little girl.

Early morning at Zuzu's house

2008-02-17T05:33:00.006-05:00

Everyone knows that Zuzu wakes me at 4am for her breakfast. Usually I can go back to sleep on the couch, and she snuggles with me after she eats. Today, Mike has a yeast starter on a stir plate in the kitchen, and it is making enough noise that I can't sleep downstairs. Went back to bed. Zuzu would have none of that. Meow, meow, meow, you shouldn't be up here says the kitty. Finally I gave in.

So it is 5:30 on a Sunday morning, and I am awake. Laptop balanced on one knee and a pillow, purring kitty on my lap. She loves blankets!

Joni Mitchell is on NPR. Found the program online, if anyone is interested.

Was thinking about our relationship yesterday. Called Mike, and our friend Chris answered. Mike was driving, and he is not a cell phone driver, so Chris took the call. They were off to Ogrefest. I'd forgotten their plans, and just gone to work. And no, I didn't need to talk to Mike. Chris did a good job of relaying the info. I'm not going to make Mike be a cell phone driver unless he wants to be... We're both independent people, and aren't threatened by the other doing their own things.

Anyway, I had a quiet evening at home yesterday. Watched "Muppets Take Manhattan", wound yarn and knitted. And went to bed at 9:30, because Zuzu wouldn't leave me alone downstairs. I have two pairs of clogs ready for felting - maybe today. Have a start on another pair. Knitted most of a hat on Friday - just need to do the crown now. I should start a list of people who want hats, as they are great museum/travel knitting. Plain stockinette is great for knitting in the dark. So... anyone want a hat? I will be using extra skeins leftover from clog making. Scary news? I ordered more yarn for clogs last night. I am running out.

I am going to start the fingerless gloves that serve as a gauge swatch for my next sweater. I do not want to wait anymore. Just need to sew the petals on Nina's daisy hat, do the crown of the pink hat (I can do those things this morning, probably before Mike wakes up), and focus on my Baudelaire socks. And clogs. But a glove should be do-able in an afternoon, so it won't distract too much. Really.

Oh! My camera came back on Friday! I can start taking pictures again! I haven't tried it yet, though, and can't move right now, due to a case of the cat. She's so snuggly!

Anyway, I should start knitting. I want to send out some packages on Tuesday, and hopefully one of those packages will be for Nina.....

Further explanation and productivity

2008-02-13T18:25:00.006-05:00

Realized that I didn't explain the catnip pants in the title of my last post. Sunday night, when I was getting ready for bed, Zuzu was rolling around on a pair of my work pants that were on the floor. She was higher than she is around catnip (and we don't usually give her 'nip.). I do not know why she was so nutty, but she was showing off her kitteh belleh. (Sorry, too many lolcats have passed across the screen recently.)

Stayed home from work today. Fighting a bit of a cold, needed some sleep (slept from 4-7, then 8-10, and will go to bed early), and couldn't deal with going out in the Weather. I have had enough ice and snow this winter. I could be on my way to a museum lecture, but am wimping out of that, too, even though I should drop off more food.

Did have a slightly productive day: I made my Pratchagan square, made some chocolate-chip cookie pie for the museum luncheon tomorrow (quiche is already there; I can show up at noon and bring the dessert), and have some laundry going on right now. Wet sweaters are heavy. What else have I done? Um, not much other than sleep and Ravel.

One of the things I like about knitting is that I can look at most of my sweaters and say that I could make them. Have I? No, but I could. Especially now that I know how to do cables.

Got my Hat of Doom today. It's a lovely shade of teal, and fits perfectly. I never realized that Lamb's Pride has mohair in it. I will have to use it more often. So I am dead - time to knit with the Zombies. Although I really should concentrate on my socks. Oh, and Mike's hat. I could probably finish his hat tonight, if I tried. I still really want to start another sweater. It's probably the Weather that we have been having.

Anyway, if I really want to start a sweater, I should work on some of the other things I have going on. I need to finish Nina's hat - all that needs done is to sew on the petals, finish some clogs and some socks. Oh, I could work on my Foliage hat, but it will probably stay on the needles for a while longer, especially if I knit a sweater.

Afterglow, exhaustion, and catnip pants

2008-02-11T22:02:00.000-05:00

Went to Pittsburgh yesterday for the 4th Annual Pittsburgh Knit and Crochet Festival. Such fun! Five of us crowded into Jen's Civic Hatchback for the drive to the South Hills. What fun! What yarn! What a long weekend! Worked all day on Friday, 8:30 am - 10:00 pm. Woke up at 4:00 on Saturday, then worked from 8:00 am - 4:30 pm (well, knitted my murder weapon while working on Saturday), then off to the beer festival until 10:30 pm, and up at 4:00 am on Sunday. I love my schedule. If only I could schedule more time for sleep.

Mike, I don't think you read this, but if you do, you can stop reading now. Not that you will care, but still. You don't need to know. You can find out in bits and pieces.

Details of the day:

Sunday morning, Zuzu woke me at 4:00 am, as usual. I gave her breakfast, and went about my morning routine, even though I was exhausted, since I didn't get home until 11:00 pm Saturday night. (Winter Warmer was fun, as usual.)

The day began relatively well, with the making of cakewaffles. For those of you who are not yet aware of the glories of cakewaffles, they are nearly-instant cakes, cooked in a waffle iron. Yum! Cakewaffle sandwiches (two cakewaffles with frosting in the middle) are much tidier than cake, especially when one is without plates and utensils. Made coffee and cakewaffles for the group, and had extras to bring along.

Rebecca was first to arrive, soon followed by Jen. Vicky and Melita arrived shortly thereafter. Vicky brought me some of her niece's handspun yarn, which is a gorgeous shade of brown, and oh-so-soft. And intriguing to Zuzu. We enjoyed breakfast, and were on our way.

Although the weather looked nasty, the roads were fine, once we were out of our neighborhood. The drive was uneventful, once we found our directions.

First thing after we got to the festival, we met a HUGE Angora bunny. Such a nice lazy lump, just laying still, enjoying all the petting. Very soft. And $150, for a small one. Which isn't really all that bad, but none of us took one home. I wonder how Zuzu would like having a rabbit in her house. Especially since the rabbit would grow to be larger and furrier than she is.

I had my eye on some of that booth's hand-dyed yarn, but finally passed. We wandered around a while before purchasing anything. So many choices! If there were fewer choices, I may have purchased more, especially from a vendor towards the back. They had a *huge* space, and tons of yarn. I eventually purchased one skein of sock yarn there, a blue-green-black variegated superwash wool blend with silk and viscose. Thought about getting more yarn for a sweater, but couldn't decide on what kind or what color - too many choices.

Spent a good deal of time debating some olive green cashmere laceweight. I kept going back to pet it. I finally did take it home with me. When I was making that purchase, I noticed another skein of green and white alpaca blend laceweight that became an impulse buy. Please note that I have never worked in laceweight, never really even considered it all that much, as I am not a girly-girl and don't really understand the need for shawls. I mean, they're pretty, but they're not really me. If I want to be warm, I will wear something practical, even if it isn't pretty. Well, the idea of pretty won me over yesterday, so I now have two skeins of laceweight. Now I just need to figure out what to make. Or maybe I will just snuggle with the yarn.

Walked past a vendor selling handspun. Nice fibers, but one skein in particular caught my eye. Thought about purchasing it, but after talking to the vendor, walked away with some natural fiber and a dye kit. I am going to try handpainting yarn. Should be interesting. I love me some autumn colors, so we'll see how it turns out.

Finally, a cabled cardigan caught my eye. Lovely green yarn, a hemp blend. The yarn was reasonably priced, and the pattern was gorgeous, so I walked away with a sweater-to-be. Other highlights: Vicky bought yarn for a cabled blanket. Jen found some yarn made out of corn. Melita found a beautiful variegate - I almost bought some, too. On the way out, we checked our raffle tickets. Rebecca won $5 in Vendor Bucks. She chose the vendor that sold me my sweater, and selected some roving.

After we'd finished, we drove up to the Galleria (cha-cha-cha!) for lunch. Wandered through the mall, which had changed a lot since the last time I'd been there. Ended up eating at Panera, and stopped at Starbucks before the drive home. We were all exhausted. When we left Pittsburgh, the sun was shining. As soon as we got to Ohio, the snow started. Luckily the roads were clear.

We were home around 5:00. And very tired. I was quite happy that my house was the central location, so I didn't have to drive anywhere else. Tried to take a nap, but that didn't work, so I made dinner, stared blankly at the TV for a while, and went to bed. On the trip, I finished Kel's clogs, so they are ready for felting.

Today was an adventure, as well. They are calling for nasty weather tomorrow. I am spending the night away from home, so I can be an emergency babysitter if my nieces' school is closed. I should really go to bed. I don't know why I am still awake. Baked quiches tonight for a luncheon at the museum. Jen and Nick came over to watch some show with Mike. And have dinner. We had salad and quiche. It was yummy. I should go to bed. Yes, I should go to bed.

I killed someone yesterday

2008-02-10T04:50:00.001-05:00

At least I started to. Call it Attempted Murder by Hat. I had a relatively quiet day (relative to normal workdays, actually on the busy side for my weekend job, but still lots of knitting time), which was good, as the Hat Attack pattern was released. I spent most of the day making a binary cabled hat for my target. I dropped it in the mail after work. My assassin can still get me, but my target is dead. Will she send me an unfinished hat to send to her target? I don't know. I killed her; that is all I can do at this point. We'll see how long it takes for my assassin to kill me.

I love my Zuzu. This morning, at 4:00, she was making all kinds of noise in the bedroom. Not meowing noises, but cardboardy rubbing noises, and I don't know what else. Really. I don't know what she does in the morning to make these sounds. Anyway, she is loud. Which wakes me. So I get up. To find her sitting innocently in the hallway, as if she'd been there all along, not making the racket. She is curled up on my lap right now. Love that kitty.

Yesterday must have been a violent day. I committed murder, and bit Mike. In my defense, he was poking his finger in my face. I never expected to actually bite it, let alone draw blood. I am too uncoordinated for that! Anyway, my lack of coordination caused me to get him when I wasn't really trying. He bled for a while. I feel so guilty. Is it wrong that I feel guiltier about biting him than I do about killing my target? She seems like a nice enough person, even if she does live in Texas. I am now serving my punishment for biting him, I think. I broke a nail, and my finger is bleeding. Ouch!

What else? Nearly done with Kel's clogs, but put them aside for Hat Attack. We're off (a fraction of my knitting group) to Pittsburgh today for the 4th Annual Pittsburgh Knit and Crochet Festival. Oh! I need to run to the ATM! Forgot to do that yesterday. I wonder how much cash I will need...... Anyway, they're showing up here within the next two hours. I should probably go now, so I can be as ready as possible. Yeah, I need to go.

I had a dream that David Cassidy was my father

2008-02-08T06:32:00.000-05:00

Zuzu was early this morning - 3-ish. I heard her, but rolled over, and went back to sleep. And we all know that that makes for the most bizarre dreams. I feel like sharing, so here we go...

I was trying to purchase a salad for lunch at some sort of cafeteria thing, whatever. They had mostly salads with chicken, and I wanted one with artichokes, no chicken. I dig through the stack of plastic cartons, and finally find a salad suitable for my lunch. At that point, I was very frustrated and cranky, as my blood sugar was very low, and I desperately needed to eat. (I blame Zuzu for food being on my mind. It's several hours later, and I still haven't eaten breakfast, with no ill effects.)

I take my salad to the checkout, at which point I realize that my purse is on a table a few steps away, and the cashier is being difficult about me stepping away to get it. I grab my purse anyway, and look for money. I can't find cash, and the cashier is being nasty, so I start crying. (At least it wasn't over a server this time, right?) I tell her that I really need to eat, and calls EMS. I don't want emergency attention, and "does she know who my father is?" Anyway, I grab a piece of plastic to pay for lunch, she gasps, and I end up bolting. I ran through this amazingly huge building, dodging people with cameras and others who want to meet me simply because I am the child of David Cassidy (I punched a woman who got too close, and ended up hugging someone who didn't know who of my dream father.). Now that I'm awake, I'd imagine that his kids get more of a nonchalant, "Oh, cool," reaction than Partridge-mania, but who knows.

Zuzu did succeed in waking me completely, using a new method that I hope she never uses again. Kitty drool. On my face. Yuck. Definitely woke me, though. She is now curled up on one knee, as I have the laptop on the other. Such a sweet purrmonster.

Obligatory knitting info? I got my target's name for HatAttack. She is in Texas. Oh well. I should force the kitty out of her nap and onto the floor, as I need to get ready for work. Long weekend ahead!

The things that make me laugh

2008-02-07T18:59:00.001-05:00

One of the groups I read on Rav has a thread where group members are posting pictures of their real-life selves. So I went through some old photo albums to find some pics of me to share. I laughed my butt off. There's the college graduation zebra ensemble (I was so fashionable!), various party pictures, pics from my Big Road Trip, playground pictures, and so on. Scanned some this morning, and sent a few along to some of the involved parties. Posted a few on Rav. If you think you may be one of the involved parties, or you can make me trust you, I might send a few along your way. Just ask. It can't hurt to ask.

I miss my grandma. Still. Always will, I guess.

Nearly finished putting dreadlocks on a baby hat. Getting ready for Hat Attack. Must bring yarn to work on Saturday. I wonder if I will kill before I get killed. Murder by Hat.

The yarn is in for Mike's hat, so I can finally finish that. And pick up some sock yarn, because I am an addict. I wonder if they would bring me my yarn in the parking lot so that I am not tempted. We are off to Pittsburgh on Sunday for the Knit and Crochet festival. I should save my money so I can spend it there. That's once a year; the local yarn store is there every day.

I have an RMA number for The Server That Makes Me Cry. The tech that called today said that it seemed like it had missed a step during manufacture. My inner 8-year-old replied, "No Duh." My outer self replied, "Is that so?" while bashing head into the steering wheel. I guess I should be happy that they're acknowledging that a mistake was made.

I need to get a whistler for my teakettle. But tea is steeping right now, so that is good.

Thought I saw Crazy Buick Lady today, but it was a case of mistaken car.

Oh, wanted to share how suggestible I can be. Another Raveler mentioned "You Give Love a Bad Name" by JoBoJo&Co, and I immediately started meowing the song to Zuzu. I don't know if she liked it, but she meowed along.

I still do not understand basketball. Double Bubbles? Bubble gum? Huh. But hey, the Pens are on now, in HD. Woo!

Zuzu has very good hearing. I opened her treat bag, and she came running downstairs. Put more treats in her new toy, and she is now pushing it across the living room floor. Anyway, time to watch the Pens.

I feel like someone is shooting at my feet, yelling, "Dance! Dance!"

2008-02-06T11:02:00.000-05:00

Whew. It is only 11:00 am, and I have already visited all of the buildings that I support at my morning job. 4 of them. Granted, one was a "keep you in the loop" kind of visit, and another one was just a 30-second errand, but still. Four places in three hours. Luckily my last 30 minutes seem like they will be calmer. (Assuming that I didn't just jinx myself there.)

The Server That Makes Me Cry has been put on queue for replacement, which is good as it's been awful since Day 1. It is currently less than a month old. And it truly did make me cry yesterday, with its random reboots during OS reinstall and whatnot. So today is a much better day, knowing that the manufacturer is going to replace the evil thing. Let's hope that they test the replacement.

What else? Got a bit of knitting done on Monday at SNB, as well as a bit yesterday during the failed installation. Um, not much else to report since Groundhog Day, I don't think. Just wanted to share with the world that I have been busy this morning. I should go through all of my posts and tag them and whatnot. Someday. Someday, when I am all caught up with everything else. Like that will ever happen.

Oh! Zuzu has a new toy. The container from her Pounce kitty treats. There was one treat left, so I set the whole container on the floor. She carried the container around, batted it a bit, and finally pawed the inside to get that last treat out. Now she has been sniffing the can and playing with it, in the hopes of getting all the crumbs out. It's fun to watch. If my camera was still alive and not on its way to Texas for repair, I would have taken pictures. I love my silly kitty.

Productive slug-itude

2008-02-02T16:47:00.000-05:00

Somehow I ended up with the weekend off. Actually, I should have every fourth weekend off, but sometimes it doesn't feel like it. But I do have this weekend off, and I am being a slug.

I have spent most of the day on the couch. I did a bit of cleaning, but Zuzu decided that my time would be better spent if I was kitty furniture. But I have still been productive! I finished two baby hats, seamed three sets of clogs, and am felting them right now. Only seven pairs of clogs to go! Oh, wait, that isn't counting mine, and Mike wants replacements. Not that his are wearing out, but the anti-slip stuff is coming off, since he got two doses. The silicone is showing through. I could apply more latex, but it might wear off, too. Although I might try it again anyway, so I don't have to make him another pair.

Since last week, I have finished several things. The Vertical Stripes hat for Gavin, Marley hat for Janet's niece, Upside-down Daisy for Margaret, Lilly's Hat for Nina, and I just need to sew on the petals for Nina's Upside-down Daisy. All patterns from Itty Bitty Hats, except Lilly's Hat. Have started some Baudelaire socks, but haven't gotten very far. Hope to finish them before the end of Feb., for the Sockdown challenge. Ordered additional yarn for Mike's hat. Ordered two skeins, so I can finish his hat and then make another. Our friend Chris would appreciate a similar hat, so I'll make one for him as well. It's good museum knitting.

Hat Attack is coming up. I need to swatch. Will probably use some extra clog yarn, as it's the correct weight.

Saw The Dark Crystal on Wednesday. New print. Good movie. Saw the Henson environmental thing last Sunday. Realized that I don't know much about Fraggle Rock. We never had HBO when I was a kid, so I missed it. They're going to show Muppet History 101 again at the end of March. I will have to go, since it was sold out first time around.

New item for calendar - the New Pornographers are coming to Cleveland in April! Thanks to Ed for sharing the presale info.

Work: Two and a half weeks after the server arrived, the licensing issues are resolved, and the thing is ready to go. Migration will take place on Monday. Fun!

Well, can't think of much more to say. Camera is ready to go to Texas for repair; I just need to drop it off at UPS. I should get back to finishing things. I think the washer is just about done with Dad's clogs. Time to throw in another pair!

Reading: Collapse, Jared Diamond
Watching: Airplane
Listening to: New Pornographers; Chasing Infinity Radio for their live songs