I am a very lucky girl!

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."

Arsetickled Numpty

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!

More memeliness and other random stuff

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?

1. Carry
2. Cheryl
3. Cyd
4. Emmms (though we should be patient - she's got a lot going on right now!)
5. Ktb
6. Mary
7. 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.

No Rice for the Zuzu

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!

Book (and other) excitement

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.

Day of the (almost) FO's

Finished the charity socks today.
Took them to Miss Chickpea's and dropped them off, along with a matching hot pink scarf that had been lingering in the scarf bag. Finished Sock #2 first, then frogged the tip of the toe of Sock #1, as I'd made it too pointy. It really wasn't that bad; only three-four rows needed to come out. No charity hat this year, although I will keep the yarn and can work on something after Christmas.

Finished the body of the stripey tote bag, too, plus one strap. Should be able to finish the second strap tonight, as they don't take very long. Needed my size 13 circs for all the clogs I'm making, and as the bag was so nearly done it was easier to finish it than to take the bag off the needles.

Oh, and finished reading "Spook" today, too. Very enjoyable.

What else? Haven't dug out the yarn for my test clogs yet, but probably will tonight. Should also take a picture of the mound o'yarn that will be my November sweater. Hopefully I'll have enough left over to make a hat and maybe mittens.

Upcoming projects:
NaKniSweMo Sweater
Mike's hat
Clogs for Christmas
Eesti Trail Socks (Nancy Bush October Sockdown - need to be finished by Nov. 30)
Baby hats (good friend plus neighbor both expecting winter babies)
Jaywalker Socks (must jump on very cute bandwagon...)
Lots of other socks (even though sock yarn is not stash, it's taking up a lot of space)

Anyway, must finish handle!

Oh, and we had a lovely party yesterday. I made enough food for twice our usual turnout (which is my normal party preparation), and since we kept things small this year I had way more than it was physically possible to eat. Mike and I will have leftovers for a week. Good thing about smaller parties - I actually had the chance to enjoy more than half a pint of beer. Not too much more, but some. Loved the chocolate stout cake. And pirogie casserole. That was probably the hit of the party. Aside from Mike's homebrew. Everyone loved his beer.