The Smart Little Chickadee

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!

This is why you should read the newspaper

It's Saturday, and I was trying to clean, as my area in the living room has been overflowing for a while. What with all my knitting projects that are currently on the needles, plus things that are not-quite finished, mail, magazines, and newspapers, the couch, coffee table, and floor around said furniture are all covered with stuff. I am (was) trying to address that issue this morning. Shifted some yarn around, and started trying to remove the easily-removed sections of newspaper.

Okay, maybe I should explain. Anyone who knows my family, knows that my dad is a newspaper hoarder. So that runs in the family. I have a hard time just dropping an unread newspaper into the recycle bag. Hence, when I get my Sunday paper, if it isn't read immediately, it is stacked until I get a chance to glance through it. Today was a day that I was glancing through old papers. In the November 4th PD, a headline in the Driving section caught my eye. Ever since the Auto Show this summer, they have been running "My First Car" stories. (They first solicited stories in May? June? and response was so high they have kept up with it since.) Well, the headline read, "1986 Honda Accord." My first thought was that I wasn't the only one with such a car as my first. Then I saw the picture. It was Holly!

I'd submitted a story back at the original deadline, I think in June. Anyway, if I had read the newspaper on the day it was published, I would have been able to get an additional copy or two, because I know my dad would love to add the article to his stack of papers.

So now, when you google my name, the second link is Holly's story, as told by me in under 300 words. It was printed three days before I got my new Corolla (which now has over 1500 miles on the odometer).

Anyway, since I haven't posted in a week, I should provide an update on the project front. The NaKniSweMo Sweater is missing only a sleeve (and buttons), so I should be finished in the next few days. The second (and first official Christmas) pair of clogs are almost ready to be felted, the Foliage hat is ready to have the body done (although it will wait until after Christmas, unless I need my size 7 DPNs before then), and I am starting the colorwork of the second Eesti Trail sock. Still need to frog the toe of the first, but figured I'd do the second before I did that, so the third toe (heh) will be the last thing I do. Six days to complete the pair. It can be done.

What else? Oh! I wanted to post a few days ago about the valiant hunter in the house. Little kitty was pawing at the sliding glass door. I opened the door, thinking that the cold would scare her away. The screen wasn't closed, like I thought it would be, and when I opened the door, kitty tried to go out, and a big moth flew in. I prevented kitty's escape, and closed both the screen and the glass. The moth, as moths are wont to do, flew up towards the lights in the kitchen ceiling. Zuzu was tracking it, looking up, meowing, running around, and climbing on the recliner to get as close to the ceiling (and moth) as she could.

I decided to enable the hunt, and turned off the kitchen light, turned on the living room light (a tall lamp next to the sofa), and watched the moth meander towards the light. Zuzu tracked the moth, and immediately jumped onto the back of the sofa. Moth fluttered around, near the ceiling, as Zuzu stood up and pawed the wall. Moth dipped down just low enough, and Zuzu pounced. There was a six-inch smear of moth across the wall, and enough moth remnant made it to the floor for a kitty appetizer. The Amazing Mothkiller munched on the moth, and then got settled on the back of the recliner to await the refill of her food dish. Mike was outside brewing, and came in to see the moth smear. He went back to the garage, and I looked at our kitty's face. She looked very smug, but had something dangling from her mouth. I grabbed a paper towel, and cleaned Zuzu's face. She'd missed a leg.

Later, I decided to take a picture of the moth smear before I cleaned it. Zuzu hopped up on the back of the sofa, as if to show off her trophy. What do you think?
Anything else? Not sure, but I should probably get back to cleaning. Then knitting. I have deadlines! But the next few weeks don't look too tremendously busy (at least not yet), and most of my outings are knitting-friendly, so I should be able to get a lot done. And I work the weekends up until Christmas, so that's even more knitting time. But I should get started now. I hope everyone had a lovely Tofurky Day!

Odd sighting

This morning, on the way to work, I saw a deer on a railroad trestle. Standing up there, looking down at the road underneath. I really wanted to take a picture, but you know, traffic, plus my cell phone was in my pocket and not totally easy to access. The deer was perfectly centered, and looked like a classic deer portrait, except that she was above the road, on a cement trestle. Not the usual setting, which is why it would have made a great photo. Oh well.

Zuzu woke me at 4AM, as usual. I fed her, and dozed off again on the couch. Had some weird dreams. First was being chased by scary people in huge SUVs, then I was in a university building where someone kept offering a full-time job working for Yahoo. I wanted that job, I think, but wasn't sure that it would save me from the scary SUV people.

Started yet another project last night (two, actually, three if you count the sock I started that afternoon, although it is the second sock in a series rather than a new set). Started Foliage in fuschia Malabrigo. Did the crown, and am ready to move to circular needles and start the body. It will probably go straight into hibernation, though, as I started it as part of Malabrigo Junkies' Cast On Week.

Also started a clog. Cast on and did the sole's foundation row. Would have done more if Ravelry hadn't been so distracting. I have lots more to do (see!)


That's right, the holiday yarn has arrived! I was half hoping to get the sweater done before the clog yarn reached me, but that's okay. I should also get my Yarn Pirate Booty sometime soon, as it shipped yesterday. I've been saving sock yarn until after Christmas, mostly. I will then have a ball winder and swift, to make winding the yarn a lot easier. Then I can start knitting fun socks for me. Although I think I will do another sweater in January, just because. Call it stashbusting, or making room for more stash. Oh! I need to find my Miss Chickpea coupons, as the knitting group is making an excursion tomorrow. So I should also focus on my sweater, so I have enough done to justify buying enough Malabrigo for a sweater (at 10% off). And maybe some sock yarn, just because I love it.

Anyway, must get to work!

Oh, for those of you not on Ravelry, enjoy! (You can see that Zuzu does)


Sweater

Sock

Clogs

Cookie Monster Scarf

We have a winner!

Okay. Decisions have been made. Permanent decisions (at least for now). For NaKniSweMo, I will be making the Top-Down Raglan Cardigan by Laura Chau, and knitting from my stash (for once!) I fell in love with Wisdom Yarn's Poems at a shop in PA (I should never visit my mom on days that she works, as I'm forced to amuse myself), and bought enough for a sweater. I'd planned on making a Taos Diagonal Jacket with it, as it also stripes, but will give in and get the Taos when I finish the Top-Down cardi. I'd also considered Malabrigo, but was looking at some of the other yarns people had used for the pattern, and decided that I needed something with more interest. I don't want to knit a solid sweater, and if I'm going to be knitting in my sleep, I don't want something that I have to calculate stripes/match colors on.

And for Christmas, well, I think I'm cancelling (or at least postponing) some of the socks. I will be making clogs for the guys, instead of socks. (Clogs are *MUCH!!!* faster than men's socks, even on worsted.) So mark at least four pairs of socks off the list. Maybe the adult women will get clogs, too. I need to make a pair from my stash (I have enough Wool of the Andes that this shouldn't be a problem!) to see how they work and how well the yarn felts, (also get an idea of sizing) and then I can order the yarn I need from Knitpicks. It's significantly cheaper than Lamb's Pride Worsted or Cascade 220, but I should still have enough of an order to get the free shipping. If not, I can certainly add some sock yarn! (It was hard to *not* shop after I saw their teaser for hand-dyed yarn. I am such a sucker for hand-dyed.

What's really sad about the Christmas stuff is that I made stuff for Mike's family already. In January. I used the Knitpicks Hot out of the Oven free pattern and made potholders and oven mitts for each family. Difficult? Time-consuming? Not at all. But I thought it would do, as I found some really cute flowerpots (also in January) with veggies and so on, and Mike could type up his pizza crust recipe, and I could stuff the pots with herb and veggie seeds, as well as the yarn items, and we'd be set for Christmas for his family. Guess not. And I was so proud of myself to have had the Christmas gifts done (with the exception of the seeds) in the first part of the year. Too bad.

Oh well. As usual, I'm wasting time on the computer when I should be working on something. At least Ravelry provided some inspiration this morning. Current project update: Charity Sock #2 has a turned heel, but I haven't yet picked up the stitches for the gusset. It needs to be done by Monday. I've actually been working on Stripey Sock #2 over the past few days, and it is about a stripe or two away from finishing. I've been reading during the drive time lately (rush hour - not while moving!) so I haven't been knitting, but I can get back to knitting as I'm skipping a book club thing tomorrow (easy to do, I guess, as I haven't been, but I'd wanted to go especially since the book they picked was the one I'd just requested from the library... ) and don't have to finish the book by Thursday PM.

Anyway, I've now just wasted even more time, and I really need to get ready for work.