Knit_n_NASCAR

No more two-timing

2006-07-11T01:28:00.000-04:00

Visit my new blog here.

[Well, it's really the same ol' blog - it's just in a new place.]

Mama said There'd be Days like This...

2006-07-05T23:46:00.000-04:00

When I walked into the office this morning and the door swung back unexpectedly, knocking my large iced coffee out of my hand and onto the carpet in the reception area, I should've just turned around and gone back home. If only I'd known then what I know now...

All in all, it wasn't a horrible day. It's just that at 45 minutes til quitting time, I was reminded of something that had to be ready the next day and a simple task that should've taken fifteen minutes ended up taking over six hours. The only good thing about it is that a lot of that time was spent waiting around for software to download so I got a fair amount of work done on Sniffy II. I only have about 3" of the lace left to go before I start the cuff. Is it possible that I'll have two more FOs by this weekend? Only time will tell.

I didn't manage to take any pictures of my Independence Day. It was spent with friends (both human and canine) at a cookout around the way. It was an extremely lazy day with good food, an unfortunate thunderstorm that took out the dish during the WC game. I did manage to give Sis her Mookie Pi (if only I'd taken a picture of her wearing it as a 'rasta hat'). We're still waiting to see if Mookie is gonna go for it - apparently she did some sort of Hokey Pokey, you-put-your-right-paw-in, you-take-your-right-paw-out kind of dance with it last night. I've been promised pictures if she ever actually crawls in.

Holiday Block Party

2006-07-03T22:45:00.000-04:00

After searching my room high and low looking for signs of Sniffy I - not to mention the 4:00 a.m. bedtime - I finally found it the next day snuggled up under my unfinished Gigi. I decided to take that as a sign to finish her once and for all. Lookie! She's being wetblocked as we speak. Hopefully something magical happens and she actually ends up fitting. If not, it's off to Frog Island.

Truth be told, part of the kick in the pants was the release of the July issue of MagKnits. I'm tempted by the Ballet Camisole, despite the potential chestical issues, and I told myself I couldn't cast it on until I finished up Gigi, so there you have it. I think I'll even use the yarn from the Project Formerly Known as Thorn for B.C. so I can maintain my yarn diet (day 2 and I was already jonesin' for a fix).

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE! My Big Sis's birthday present is finis! I like the way it turned out, I only hope Mookie and her mama feel the same.

Project: Mookie Pi
Pattern: Wendy's Felted Kitty Bed aka Kitty Pi
Yarn: Lamb's Pride Bulky in Blue Magic (2) & Silver/Grey (1); slightly less than all 3 skeins
Needles: Size 11 Denise Interchangables
Started: June 25, 2006
Completed: July 1, 2006 (wow, that's pretty good for me)
Modifications: I made the sides a little higher than called for and left off the frou frou edging. Sis claims that Mookie isn't that kind of girl

In other knitting news, I'm on the leg part of Sniffy II and it's pretty much my commuter project. More importantly I have to get crackin' on Penny. The World Cup is over on Sunday and I've gotta have that sucker knit and sewn together by then. If I can get the main part of the knitting done by Thursday night, I'll consider myself in good shape.

Almost Forgot

2006-07-01T15:16:00.000-04:00

Here's my Saturday Sky:
Not one of the more exciting skies we've had lately, but at least we can see some blue skies and occasionally the sun. Unfortunately, it's a WC semifinal day so I'm spending the majority of the day indoors. At least I should turn the heel on Sniffy II.

Who'd've Thunk?

2006-06-30T23:57:00.000-04:00

It's late-ish Friday night, and I just cast off Mookie Pi. She's currently in a hottub (i.e. washing machine) with a few towels and now I'll just have to wait and see how she felts up. No, I didn't felt a test swatch - I'm a rebel; I live by my own code. Undoubtedly this code will involve cranky tears in about 20 minutes but we'll see. I'm sure I also should've waited until tomorrow morning, but if I can get it blocking tonight, there's a fighting chance it'll be dry in time for the birthday girl. [Note: just started running it through the 2nd time. I'm trying to get rid of the stitch definition - hopefully the second wash will help with that]

Despite being no where near done with an actual pair of socks, I'm right on my own personal schedule of casting off UglyBroad #1 yesterday. Ends aren't woven, of course, but she's off needles. I'm almost at the heel turning point of Sniffy 2, so I think I'll work on that so at least I have one finished pair of socks and then I'll cast on UB #2 and maybe that toe-up sock I mentioned with the cool sock yarn my SP got me.

Speaking of socks, I got my STR in the mail today. Ain't it purty? The Jasper colorway is for a pair of socks for Steph; I haven't decided what I'm going to do with the Saratoga. I finally had to force myself to stop fondling it and set it aside to finish up Mookie Pi. I'd been considering taking a picture of my sock yarn stash, but then I saw Wendy's and decided I wasn't quite ready to run with the big dogs yet.

Watching qualifying (though I already know Chimmie is rolling off 9th tomorrow night). He's running this funky Shamu car for the Pepsi 400 - I do love the Lowe's car so it's gonna be weird to look for a different paint scheme on the track. I'm sure I'll make do.

Happy Half-Birthday To Me!

2006-06-28T21:38:00.000-04:00

I got the BEST present this morning for my half-birthday. Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird, it's a plane...it's the SUN! Sure, there's a dam about to burst in Rockville and the Potomac is still extremely high on its banks, but it's not grey! Hopefully this day without (much) rain will help give everything a chance to settle down (although our good friends at The Weather Channel seem to think there are more isolated and scattered thunderstorms on our way tomorrow and early next week).

Present numero dos: I got home with late night to find a package waiting for me on my dining room table. I'd show you a picture of it all nice and neat and unopened but the greedy gus in me sort of tore it open before I thought of that. I love goodies! Inside was a bottle of hand soap which is already sitting next to my sink - how you knew that sun-ripened raspberry was my favorite bath and body works scent? Nestled along side is a small bottle of Eucalan - I suppose now I don't have an excuse for not blocking Gigi anymore. Last but CERTAINLY not least is a skein of Sockotta in a blue, green & purple colorway. I'm thinking it's got Wendy's Toe-Up sock pattern written all over it.

So, in case you missed it, THANK YOU, SP, FOR THE AWESOME STASH!

I've gone a wee bit overboard with the Fleece Artist sock yarn. Two of these are gifts and one is for a pair of socks for Mom, theoretically. I blame that pair on Carol - she was making the Raindrop Lace socks and I couldn't help myself. It's gonna be the Year of Socks...quite possibly the Decade o' Socks with all the sock yarn I've managed to acquire. But it's so pretty!

The final stash aquisition picture - at least until my priority mail package arrives - is the KnitPicks Shimmer for my Candle Flame Shawl. It arrived yesterday, I just didn't think to take a picture. I've never played with laceweight before. Casting on is going to have to wait at least until I finish the Ugly Broads and free up my size 4 circs. My master plan is to have the first one and Mookie Pi have to be off needles by Friday. We'll see what happens between now and then.

Because Fabio's Wife Said So

2006-06-27T14:49:00.000-04:00

My friend Liz - whose hubby's name IS Fabio, for the record - emailed this to me and I thought it would be a good way to kill ten minutes before my meeting:

Four places I have worked are:

- Fugate Concessions: selling funnel cakes and elephant ears around the Central Ohio county and state fair circuit circa 1985-87
- Rax Roast Beef: No, we DON'T have Arby's sauce.
- high school and college libraries: thanks Pig (& Piglet) for introducing me to soccer
- The Gap & Starbucks: my yuppie lovechild days

Four movies I would watch over and over again: (Ummmmm)
- Princess Bride
- Blues Brothers
- Much Ado About Nothing (if only we could find a way to recast Keanu...)
- Usual Suspects

Four places I have lived:
- Allentown, PA
- Columbus, OH
- Gambier, OH

- 'burbs of Washington, DC

Four TV shows I love to watch:
- CSI (the original)
- Lost
- How I Met Your Mother (gotta support those KC grads)

- Grey's Anatomy

Four places I have been on vacation:
- Caribbean (pick a cruise, any cruise)
- London, England
- Outer Banks, NC
- Paris (in September, since Liz is playing the 'in the future' game

Four websites I visit daily:
- Bloglines
- Google
- lately, FIFAWorldCup
- NASCAR.com

Four of my favorite foods:
- French Fries
- oatmeal/chocoalte chip cookies
- fried chicken
- cheeseburgers
* Honorable mention: Bacon/Pineapple pizza from the Cove

Four places I would rather be right now:
- home on the couch knitting and watching the World Cup
- the beach
- Bryan S's parents' house in the Smokies (with requisite BBQ and friends, of course)
- Costa Maya, Mexico with my friends, taking turns getting out of the water to fetch the next round of Dos Equis

Four Friends that have been tagged that I think MIGHT respond:
Are there 4 people who read this blog?

Five days down, 35 to go

2006-06-26T15:44:00.000-04:00

Until we're all washed away, that is. Starting last Thursday, it has done nothing but rain rain rain rain rain. Actually, "rain" doesn't fully encapsulate what's been going on here in the Mid-Atlantic. Thunderstorms, torrential downpours, MUDSLIDES for goodness sake! And, of course, the Rio Garfield has reappeared in our basement. Good to know we'll always have our own water source in case of emergency. Fortunately our lovely concrete floor slopes gently towards the oh-so-attractive hole in the basement where the water pump thingy lives so we don't end up with three feet of standing water like friends of mine. That'll ruin your whole day.

I'm still packing my brain chock-full of World Cup-py goodness, but I'll spare you the gory details, especially of the Portugal-Netherlands match up. Suffice it to say, I think the Uruguayan ref from the U.S.-Italy game and the Russian ref were trained at the same academy.

Fortunately, my knitting hasn't suffered during my 4-hours-a-day-of-soccer-viewing. I decided that the best way to address my infidelity issues was to...well, to cast on another project of course! I realized I'd been dragging my feet on starting Joan's b-day present...Actually, that's not true - I realized Joan's birthday was in 8 days, so I cast on Mookie Pi. We shopped for the yarn a while ago and I just got around to casting on yesterday. I was a third of the way done as of bedtime, so maybe there's a fighting chance I'll finish it before the deadline. *snicker* Right.

Sittin' in the middle of Mookie Pi (I just like typing Mookie Pi) is Ugly Broad, take 2. I decided to cast on again with a larger needle so that the 'sock that doesn't so much rock' has a fighting chance of fitting over my calf. It's taking all of my willpower to stick with the crummy size 4 needle I already have and not use this as an opportunity to go drop another $15 on a new Addi Turbo. Now that I'm committed to D&H's European Vacation, I have to be a little more budget conscious.

Have I mentioned how much I hate road courses? I won't say anything about the result of yesterday's race at Infineon, I'm just saying that I really could've slept for that 4+ hours and been fine with it. Snoozeville. Next week is Daytona though. I luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurve restrictor plate racing. Bring it on! Must find project that won't require me to look at my hands too often for next week's knit & NASCAR - you can't look away from the tv for long at Daytona.

Infidelity

2006-06-22T21:54:00.000-04:00

Once again, I'm having issues sticking to my proverbial guns with regards to project fidelity. I had a feeble dream of finishing Sniffy before the Summer of Socks officially began. Yeah, because that would happen. Still, I'm about halfway through the foot of Sniffy2. I ended up working on it at Summers while watching the U.S.-Ghana game. I needed something to do with my hands that didn't involve strangling referees. I'm sure my tension was off for a little bit, but it will all come out in the wash.

Next item up for bid is the first official first day of Summer of Socks sock. I cast on Broadripple LATE last night/early this morning. The long-tail cast on and I just DO NOT get along. The garter doohitchey at the top I'm not crazy about but now that I'm into the pattern it's just kind of scooting along. It reminds me of the Jaywalkers in a sense, but it's more wavy lines and less sharp angles. I'm using KnitPicks Sock Memories - I'm not wild about the colorway, but I can only spend so much money on sock yarn (especially with Fleece Artist waiting for me at the happy place).

Pop's still in the hospital but recovering well from his surgery yesterday. General prognosis is good, but he's in some recovery pain now (esp. since they cut off his morphine - hmm, wonder if Patrick can hook him up). Ma is driving him insane, so he can't be doing too poorly. Work and roommate situations aren't the best and brightest right now either - all I can do is keep pluggin' along. *sigh*

I won't bother discussing the real World Cup. My Knitting World Cup project is half done. I sort-of finished the first go around, but the row gauge ended up being too much and so there's no room for the critical ear-flappage. Fortunately I have oodles of yarn so I'll just have to cast on another one this weekend and see what happens.

Weekend Update

2006-06-18T08:09:00.000-04:00

Nah, no Jimmie Fallon or Dennis Miller or even Chevy Chase - just li'l ol' me.

Friday night my friend Pam and I went to investigate a new restaurant/bar nearby, Mama Quan's Tiki Hut. We had originally discussed going to a Nationals game, but decided ultimately if all we wanted to do was sit in the sun and have a beer, there were cheaper ways. For my two cents, the best thing it has going for it is location; then the patio; and one can never poo-poo $2 happy hour beers. The food was decent, too - the sweet potato fries were awesome.

And then there was dessert. Pam ordered this ENORMOUS hot fudge sundae. Tim was our waiter that night and in charge of dishing up this mass of ice cream, fudge and whipped cream. Tim is VERY excited about his job. Either that or he just loved us. As long as we reaped the benefits, we were okay with his puppy-like enthusiasm.

Yesterday was soccerpalooza. Ghana-Czech Republic, U.S.-Italy & DCU-Revs. I had a screaming headache by the time I got home, but that probably had more to do with the Screaming Nazi shot Pauly made us do at the beginning of the day than anything else. As one cannot quit cold turkey - and certainly not during the WC - I'm off to see the Japan-Croatia game with Pamela in a bit, then it's on to NASCAR. Chimmie rolls off 4th.

The Next Big Thing

2006-06-15T23:58:00.000-04:00

In theory, tomorrow morning, Hol and I will purchase our vacation tickets for London & Paris this fall. In some ways I'm really excited, but there's a hint of sadness thrown in. I finally just had to take the stack of Italy guidebooks I'd purchased in the last several months and retire them to the basement. It's not that I'm not excited about going back to London or exploring the Lourve, but Florence & Rome had really been the master plan for this vacation and I'm having a little trouble letting go.

Have been doing a little knitting here and there. I think I'm going to have to alter the pesky Penobscot Bay hat. As usual, my stitch gauge was okay; my row gauge left a smidge to be desired. So, the hat for the most part is done, but I'm not sure if I'm going to add the ear flaps. It's already plenty long to tug down over the ears. In addition, I definitely need stranding/fair isle lessons. It's incredibly sloppy. But cute! I think I'd like it with more green, though. We'll see. I still have plenty left over to make another one.

I did a little sock yarn ordering today, too. Since we're plunkin' down cash for the trip soon, I'm going to have to go on a yarn diet of immense proportions. Didn't stop me from snapping up a little STR which I will photograph as soon as I can get my greedy little paws on it. I'm sure Hol will con me into getting some Fleece Artist when it comes into the shop. She's bad that way.

Speaking of sock yarny goodness, I've been making some progress on Sniffy. I do love the Spirit Trail Superwash/Nylon blend though. They're not even done yet but so far, of all the vast quantities of socks I've knit so far (uh, 2 pair), these fit the best by far. Maybe it's because they're toe up or perhaps because I frogged that sucker 92 times before the fit was just right. Of course, the chances of me being able to perfectly replicate sock #1 are fairly slim. And I'd upload a lovely picture of Sniffy but Blogger's being funky. Maybe tomorow.

Crack in the Round

2006-06-13T23:59:00.000-04:00

"This is a chocolate-iced Krispy Kreme glazed. This is the caviar of doughnuts,the Dom
Perignon of doughnuts, the Mercedes Benz of doughnuts."
"Bet Me" by Jennifer Crusie

I made the critical error of discovering that the Krispy Kreme located a mere two blocks from my office isn't just the storefront like I originally believed. They have the full-on doughnut oven, icing-waterfall setup. Bad, bad news, but oh so tasty.

I trudged up to Dupont Circle this afternoon and had lunch near the fountain. It was a beautiful 80-degree day and perfectly comfortable as long as the wind was blowing. A little sudoku, a little knittin' on Sniffy and I REALLY didn't want to go back to work.

Through some miracle, no one managed to spoil the Brazil-Croatia score before I got home. I ffwd-ed through bits and pieces of it so I could get to Pub Trivia before too much time passed (got there in time for the picture round). Patrick was extremely high on the morphine they'd given him for his broken arm and was HILARIOUS! The singing round alone was worth my $20 tab. Finally, my extensive knowledge of Barry Manilow pays off!

How much is too much?

2006-06-11T23:12:00.000-04:00

Soccer that is. I have watched all or part of all 12 WC games to date. I'll see a smidge of the AUS-JPN game tomorrow morning but then comes the one I'm REALLY waiting for: U.S. v. Czech Republic. I'm SO nervous about our chances, but I'm taking the whole day off work (so at least I can have a beer with lunch to settle my nerves).

The benefit to my non-stop soccer viewing is the amount of knitting I've gotten done this weekend. I got the heel turned on Sniffy but I can't figure out where to go from here. The lacy pattern on the Dublin Bay socks runs straight up the sides, which is where the split on my magic loop is. I'm sure it's as simple as just shifting a handful of stitches and moving on, but it's too late for me to focus. If only I could find my dpns, this would all be moot. Hopefully I can find them tomorrow morning before heading to Summers.

My KWC hat is coming along nicely. Well, sort of. I love the yarn, the pattern's a piece of cake, but I've never really done well with changing colors, and this project is no different. The odd white stitches that get worked every so often just don't seem to be the same size/shape/tension as everything else and I'm not sure how to fix it. I'm going to try to block it out and if it's still a mess, I'll keep this hat for myself and make a different one from Mr. G.

I still haven't figured out what time I'm going to head to Summers tomorrow morning. I'm thinking I'll head over during the first half of the early game so I'll head over at maybe 9:30, which just sounds ridiculous, but it's WC time - all bets are off. I'll take a book, I'll take some knitting (if I can get Sniffy to behave); I'll find a way to mark the time.

SPORTS SPOILER [highlight to reveal]: WC games were okay, today. Troy fell asleep at the end of the match and made a mistake which lead to a game-tying goal by LAG. We're still first in the league by a point, but it's still disappointing when we should've come out of CA with 3. Hopefully they can get it together by NE next week. Chimmie didn't have the best of days, coming home 10th and clinging to the points lead by 48. On on to Michigan.

Okay, I'm gonna get some sleep before the insanity of tomorrow. And ask Igor if he's seen my dpns.

Football's Coming Home

2006-06-09T23:28:00.000-04:00

I've had Three Lions '98 stuck in my head for the better part of two weeks (thanks a lot, Paul!) but I can finally sing it:

"It's coming home! It's coming home!
It's coming! Football's coming home!"

The 2006 World Cup started today and I cast on my Knitting World Cup project between the first and second games. I knocked out a couple of rows while TrackPassing the qualifiers for Pocono. I'm using KnitPicks' Andean Silk and so far I really like it. My stranding still leaves a bit to be desired, but I guess that's the challenge in the Penobscot Bay (Penny) for me. I don't think I'm going to take it with me to RiRa in the morning for the England game - I think Sniffy will have to accompany me.

The other knit-worthy news I got at work today is that my C*EYE*BER FIBER SOCK yarn arrived today and it's gorgeous. I have to force myself to set it aside in my sock yarn pile to await the SoS. I was considering using it for the Badcaul socks, but I really haven't decided yet. If anyone has any pattern recommendations, let me know!

Ewww, it's definitely time to go to bed. The John Basedow infomercials have begun.

Are you ready for some futbol?

2006-06-09T09:50:00.000-04:00

According to the coundown clock on the World Cup website, there are just under 2 hours until the start of the 2006 World Cup. The U.S. has a tough group with the Czech Republic, Ghana & Italy to face in the next couple of weeks, but here's hoping we can squeak out of group play.

I've been working on Sniffy for the last day or so - trying to to finish my last SIP (sock in progress) before Summer of Socks begins. I think my goal for the SoS is going to be to actually make two identical socks. This may be too much to ask for, but I'm going to give it a shot. I'm in the midst of the wrap-and-turn portion of the heel. I don't know why short rows confuse me so much but I'm utterly baffled.

And riddle me this: why did I loan my ball winder to Melyssa when I'm embarking on my Knitting World Cup project today which is all fair-isly and requires 4 balls of yarn that are currently unwound? I am so smart. S-M-R-T...

*apologies to ESPN Magazine for stealing their headline

Socks Gone Wild

2006-06-07T00:45:00.000-04:00

Oh yeah, two finished objects in one week. I'll pause here while you recover from the shock.

Pattern: Ubiquitous Jaywalkers by Grumperina
Yarn: Koigu KPPPM in purply goodness (one skein is decidedly darker than the other)
Needles: Um, 2 size 0 16" circular needles
Started: March 3, 2006
Ended: June 6, 2006 (wow, that's just pathetic)
Modifications: Um, no

I may have to start looking into knitting two socks at once, for fun with equal tension and all that jazz.

I'll turn into a grown-up knitter one of these days (but what fun would that be?)

In today's Adventures in Nerd-dom, I've been cutting cable for our new patch panel for the last couple of days. Yesterday it was a tangle of yellow of spaghetti, and this morning started with a nest of blue cable that just wouldn't untangle. It wasn't until we ran out of blue and had to switch to grey that I had my first giggle of the morning. Blue, yellow and grey eh? It's Team Lowe's cable!

It's not easy to be this big of a dork, y'all, but somebody had to do it.

Slowest Knitter in America

2006-06-04T23:23:00.000-04:00

It's unofficial, but I'm fairly certain that if there were ever any sort of competition, I could kick some serious slacker knitting booty. I'm just saying.

Having said that, LOOKY! It's a crummy photo (as usual) but it's a crummy photo of a FINISHED OBJECT! And for a KAL no less!

Pattern: Pomatomus socks from the Winter 2005 Knitty
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Peacock
Needles: size 2 32" circular needle (go magic loop!)
Started: March 25, 2006
Ended: June4, 2006 (wow, that's just pathetic)
Modifications: You're joking, right?

I loved this yarn and once I got over my chart fear, it was smooth sailing. Now, they're not perfect by any stretch of the imagination - one is slightly longer than the other and one is slightly looser. I have no idea how these things manage to happen to me, but as 2006 is the Summer of Socks, I'm assuming by September I'll have mastered this whole process.

My boys - DC United - played for the third time in 8 days yesterday and brought home another 3 points, extending their lead to 10 over KC and Columbus. We're away for our next two matches then back home towards the end of the month - here's hoping they can keep it up. The 2006 World Cup starts in a five days though U.S.'s first game isn't for just over a week. I can't wait!

NASCAR SPOILER! Highlight to reveal! [Well, that little trick worked from home...sorry bout that!]After having to use an owner's points provisional to make the field (nasty spin on qualifying lap), Chimmie rolled off, what, 39th? and had a crap day until about the last hour and a half where a combination of luck, skill, and great pit (or no-pit calls) by Chad got us back into the top 10 where we finished 6th on the day. Kenseth won (Waxler must be happy) but after having run in the low 30s all day, I'm THRILLED with a top-10 finish Matt made up about 30 points on us, but we held onto the points lead so I'll take it. Next week: Pocono.

All done. So, next up I have to finish up C's Jaywalkers (SO close!) and Gigi (ditto!) and I have to swatch Penobscot Bay before the World Cup starts.

Double-Secret-Probation Secret Pal

2006-06-03T00:59:00.000-04:00

Apparently I actually need to post my responses to the SP questionnaire instead of saving it as a draft and thinking, "Oh, I'll finish it later..."

1. My favorite yarn to knit with is:
- I don't think I really have a favorite. I've been on a sock kick lately and I love Cherry Tree Hill superwash merino sock yarn, but I like just about everything.

2. I really do not enjoy knitting with:
- I'm not much of a yarn snob but my mom asked me to make her a poncho out of Lion Brand Color Waves. That is the only yarn in my life that I've ever felt squeak between my fingers. Never. Again.

3. If I had a choice, I would banish this yarn from my LYS:
- Hmm, I'm not crazy about novelty yarns, but other than that I'm perfectly happy wallowing in their yarn supply.

4. If I could knit only one more project for the rest of my life, it would be:
- I'd have to say Alice Starmore's Inishmore. It's been my dream project for about 7 years or so and if I were to never knit anything else, I'd like to at least finish that.

5. My favorite flower is:
- I like spring flowers: gerbera daisies, daffodils, tulips, Calla lilies.

6. My current color obsession is:
- sage green or blue-grey

7. My other interests are:
- In no particular order: soccer (U.S. National Team & DC United), NASCAR (Jimmie!), reading, travel (I hope to go to London & Paris this fall), music

8. Something I wish I knew more about is:
- Hmm. Everything! I'd probably have to say travel. I didn't get bitten by the travel bug until a couple of years ago and now I feel like I'm playing catch-up!

9. A knitting technique I want to learn is:
- It's a toss-up between learning the Continental method and learning colorwork.

10. My favorite needles to knit with are:
- I almost exclusively use circular needles any more. I'm a big fan of Addi Turbo circs.

11. Do you knit socks?
- Yup!

12. Please provide your foot measurements*:
length (longest toe to heel):
instep circumference:
ankle circumference:
- I have mutantly large feet - I would never ask anyone else to make socks for li'l ol' me.

13. What was your favorite childhood movie?
- Wow. Um. Maybe the original Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

14. What is one thing in your knitting bag that you can't live without?
- My stitch markers and my locking row counter

15. What is lacking in your notions bag that you really, really want? (Cable needle, Kacha Kacha, Chibi, etc.)
- I tend to snap up gadgets as I see them, but the only thing I can think of is a circular needle holder. The only ones I've seen are the hanging ones with the slots for each needle size.

16. What is currently on the needles at your house?
- Oh my...um...Two pairs of socks (Jaywalkers and Dublin Bay). Inishmore (Alice Starmore), a Kitty Pi (with another in the wings). That's my no means the complete list but that's the active rotation. Oh! And Gigi (Green Gable) that's gonna come off any day now, I promise.

17. If you could do nothing but knit all day, every day, for the next month (and get paid for it!), what would you knit?
- All day? Well, if I was sufficiently air conditioned, Inny (Inishmore). It's wool so I would need to be cool enough, but there's enough going on with the pattern that I don't think I would get bored - and project boredom is an issue with me.

18. Least favorite color(s):
- I'm not big on pink (sorry Hol!) or brown. Everything else is pretty much okay.

19. Favorite genre of music? Or any way you want to answer that question...basically it's the what kind of music do you like question.
- I like just about everything except gangsta rap and extremely twangy country. I listen to everything from Top 40 to contemporary country to hip hop to classical to jazz.

20. Favorite candy or sweet:
- My current favorite is Take 5 candy bars. The Greatest Candy Bar Ever.

21. What is the most challenging thing you have ever knit?
- I'd have to say Inny (although she's not done yet). Learning to follow a chart, cable w/o a needle...although I'm about to embark on my first fair isle project so this answer could change.

22. How long have you been knitting?
- 10 years, give or take

Playing Catch-Up

2006-05-31T23:43:00.000-04:00

I don't even know where to start.

A week ago, I flew down to Atlanta to set off on this first of this season's camping trips - Camp Hedon. Leaving out the vast majority of the dirty details, it was a pretty good time, more or less. I spent the first 36 hours being my usual socially-awkward freak self and pretty much regretting the fact that I made the trek to north-central Georgia. My gut reaction was that C should've gone back to this first one on her own to do her whole reacquainting thing before I could expect her to even pretend to provide the handholding I need when surrounded by 150 strangers. I should've stuck with my gut.

At the end of the day, it was all good. I finally relaxed, got to know the small handful of people that C deemed worthy and had a great time for the latter half of the camping trip. I'm completely overwhelmed with mosquito bites and dirty laundry and stories that can't be repeated in polite company. Not to mention the rather intense game of Izzy Dizzy (which I always called Dizzy Bat - now I know the error of my ways). I think we need to all take a moment to admire the fact that B&S (our lovely host and hostess) have an outdoor tiki bar - complete with ceiling fans, neon beer signs, and a kegerator.

Not a whole lot of news on the knitting front. A bit of work on MP on the flights to and fro, but that's about it. I did use C's ballwinder to wrap up the yarn to finish up Hippo. In an ideal world, I'll finish up both Hippo & Gigi this weekend. And I should prolly knock out the birthday girl's socks. But I'm only one woman, so we'll see.

When an old injury flares up

2006-05-25T10:38:00.000-04:00

An old knitting injury, that is. The right-side of my shoulder/neck has been all twitchy for the last day or so. It's more likely the result of stress or bad knitting posture (not to mention the season finale of Lost last night) than the return of my Knitting Olympics gimpitude, but it's still not making me very happy.

In other knitting news, I didn't even THINK about picking up Gigi last night. Packing desperation took over every semi-functioning brain cell I have. Of course, when will I learn that I'm only going to wear my favorite pair of shorts, 5 shirts, and 2 long sleeve shirts all weekend anyway?

I head off to Hotlanta in a little under six hours for my first AH4 encounter. I'm still not sold on this whole flying-to-camp thing. I mean, how can I POSSIBLY take everything I need to go camping on an airplane? That doesn't even sound right.

This & That

2006-05-22T21:48:00.000-04:00

This was the view from my front porch this weekend as I lazed about knitting on our porch swing, working on Hippo. I contemplated trying to arrange a picture of my knitting, but decided the spring day was more than picturesque enough on its own.

Friday night was Shan's birthday party. A fairly low-key affair, at least for me. She, on the other hand, had a rough Saturday morning. I spent Sat. afternoon at Dr. Ho's graduation cookout/party & Sunday was spent cruising Old Town with my adoptive sister searching for yarn for a Kitty Pi for Mookie.

One of these Things is not like the Other

Note the snazzily exposed toes. Are you dazzled by the fading pedicure? How about the TWO INCH REMAINING TAIL OF YARN!!!??? So close, and yet, so far. We won't discuss the 4" of yarn remaining on the cast on edge. Nor will we discuss the fact that the long tail cast on that I used on both socks probably ate up all the yarn I needed. Enter: emergency rations. I stopped by KH this weekend and picked up an extra skein of ye olde Peacock just to be on the safe side. Unfortunately, I was so busy zooming in and out that I forgot to wind the 400+ yards so now I need to hunt down a swift before I can finish the last 3 inches. ARGH!

Almost There...

I cast off the hem to Gigi a couple of nights ago but can't quite bring myself to finish her. I think she's going to be a smidge too big and, and I don't ever really finish her, I can't be proven right, eh? During my weekend jaunt to the shop this weekend, I also picked up some Eucalan so I can eventually block it. Keep your fingers crossed. I've got some stuff to do tomorrow but hopefully I can get the arms done and start blocking her before the season finale of Lost.

Lookie what the nice delivery person brought me!!!

On the left we have my KnitPicks Andean Silk for the Penobscot Bay hat (my Knitting World Cup project). The blue in the upper left is Hyacinth but it's a smidge more purple than I'd really like. I may return it and order 2 more skeins in a different shade. On the right we have random sock yarn that I got to bump up my order total and a book on Continental Knitting. Of course, now I know it was destiny so I'd have extra sock yarn to participate in the Summer of Socks.

Last but not least, we have my tax refund check! As soon as Hol gets back from OKC we can get down to some serious vacation planning. W'HOO!!!

While the Cat's Away...

2006-05-18T23:11:00.000-04:00

...the mouse will sit behind closed doors and knit on Hippo all day. I've made it through the heel flap but haven't had a chance to turn it. Since I got through most of it at work, I figured that's where it should get photographed. Here we have Hippo serving as a sleeping bag for my Charming T.K. Koosh doll thingy. Given to me by a less-than-charming T.K. many many years ago.

I got a lot further along on Gigi last night while I was watching Lost last night than I thought I had. I'm still not sold on the fit - it's a little baggy and I'm not sure what the arms are going to do but I'm in for a penny here, so 'll just have to finish it up and see what happens. I have a birthday thang tomorrow night, but most of the day free Saturday and Sunday so hopefully I'll be done by this weekend. We'll see.

Since I have a bazillion skeins of sock yarn (and four more on the way), I'm seriously considering joining the Summer of Socks KAL. Since I have 3 pairs already on needles, I think that I may be preordained. Something more to contemplate.

Brought to you by the Letter B

2006-05-17T23:32:00.000-04:00

Blue - I'm having lustful thoughts for MamaE's June Bug. I'm obsessing over sock yarn anyway, might as well obsess over the purty stuff.

Borders - swung by yesterday and picked up a couple of Time Outs for London & Paris. Hol & I are still in the introductory stage of planning for a September trip. At this point, it's my fault because we're waiting for my tax refund to get here so I can sign it over to the travel gods.

BBQ - Aimee, Hol and I went to Red, Hot and Blue for dinner tonight after late night. Mmmm, pulled pork.

Boonedocks - Only one more week until I'm jetting off to Atlanta (yes, again!) for another camping trip in the rain with Stick. How do I let her con me into these things?

Bonus - A little present I got from Waxler at dinner last night. I know how much it must've pained her to touch these items but I appreciate her sacrifice because it's Chimmie-goodness.

Blogging - I'm toying with the idea of making a change. Stay tuned...

Okay, that's enough of that...

I'm going through a period of lusting for a new digital camera. My Olympus Camedia D-580 is perfectly fine (I did spend about 15 seconds trying to figure out how to take a picture of said camera...with a camera...it was all very convoluted). However, I've been longing for a camera that doesn't use AA batteries, that has a larger LCD screen and that is overall slightly smaller. I'm going to try to be responsible and hold off for a month or two and see if I get over it. Blogging has definitely increased my desire for a more portable one.

Knitterly update: Nothing photo worthy. I'm halfway through the third repeat on my Hippos and have about an inch or so left on Gigi before I get to the hem. I should start on the heel flap sometime tomorrow, I imagine.

It Takes a Village

2006-05-16T10:21:00.000-04:00

...to name a sock.

Hol & I laid the groundwork but Elizabeth takes the prize for adding that final touch.

"Did you know that the Liffey is sometimes referred to as the 'Sniffy', which, since you're making a sock...."

We have a winner.

KALs-R-Us

2006-05-15T23:48:00.000-04:00

Or not.

I'm back on KAL watch this week. Two hours of the Grey's Anatomy season finale can provide one with a lot of time for brainless knitting. I have 2.5" to go on Gigi until the next pattern shift. It would be great if I could have it all wrapped up by Memorial Day - and it's certainly feasible - but I don't know if I can manage to pull it off, what with my project fidelity issues.

I've managed to get through a repeat and a half of Hippo2 in the last 24 hours. I really like the Hippo toe better than the cast on toe of the Dublin Bay sock (which I've renamed Liffey* - Hol approves). Maybe I'll like Liffey's toe better once I've turned the heel and I'll have a better sense of how it fits. Anyway, I made a lot of stupid mistakes by simply not paying attention to the chart on Hippo. I think it's under control now, though I'm sure there's a wonky spot here and there.

Apparently I decided I needed another KAL that I can pursue at a snail's pace, so I signed up for the Knitting World Cup. My plan is to work on the Penobscot Bay hat from the Winter 2005 Interweave Knits staff projects page. I ordered the yarn that I may or may not be using for it today. I'll do a gauge swatch/practice round and see if that yarn is going to work or if I'm gonna have to order a different round.

I'm wiped after this weekend of workiness and this is NOT a good weekend to be run down. I'm skipping Pub Trivia again tomorrow night (sorry Patrick!) to have dinner with Waxler. Late night at KH Wednesday so Hol won't pout. Birthday outing Friday night for Shan and a couple of other parties on Saturday.

* Stream of consciousness explanation: the River Liffey runs through Dublin and empties into the Dublin Bay. Since I'm reversing the pattern of the Dublin Bay sock, figured I'd rename it for the river instead of the bay it empties into.

Brady Bunch marathons are deadly

2006-05-14T23:54:00.000-04:00

Damn you TV Land!!! That's really all I have to say on the matter.

Busy weekend in the life and times of moi. This was our big, biannual work conference weekend so I had a 9-5 day yesterday, then had to work this morning til lunchtime. This year's shindig was held up at Georgetown's Conference Center. The terrace overlooked Kennedy Hall and the sports field (where the Hoyas beat Navy this afternoon), but most of my quality time was spent in the Business Center being at the beck and call of the membership.

Joy. Rapture.

The best thing about the weekend was Chef Ken, who brought me cheesecake with mango and raspberry sauce for breakfast this morning. His wife is having a baby in 4 months; I'm considering making a baby hat as a thank you. Any man who brings me cheesecake before noon is my bestest friend, married or not.

As expected, I didn't actually FINISH the plenary socks. I did start them. Several times as a matter of fact. My stitch count was a wee bit off. Started with 72, knit some, tried it on, frogged, went back to 66 (maybe 68), knit some, tried it on, frogged. Eventually got back to 60 stitches which is about where I wanted it, I guess and now it fits how I want. I do still love the yarn though. Mmmm, Spirit Trail.

Not to be ignored, I messed up Hippo2 several times while watching the series finale of West Wing tonight. It's coming along but it's not particularly photoworthy. I need to get back to my KAL knitting - I should finish a project one of these days. Just for novelty's sake, if nothing else.

Edited 5/15: I was up until stupid 2:30 in the stupid morning watching The Brady Bunch. It wasn't my fault. They started the three-parter where they go to Hawaii and Bobby finds the idol that brings them all of the bad luck...

Sock It To Me

2006-05-11T22:41:00.000-04:00

I'll give you a moment to bask in the glory of Hippo 1. What? You want to see the toe? To use yesterday's Word of the Day, it's FABULOUS! I have very strong feelings about this sock. I haven't even succumbed to second sock syndrome - I cast on the 2nd sock right after Hol made me graft the toe and and weave in the end. I'm about halfway through the first repeat on the leg. I still have my fingers crossed that I have enough CTH to finish up.

Contrary to my original plan, I went ahead and cast on Dublin Bay socks today at work with the snazzy new Spirit Trail that I picked up this past weekend. They're going to be my socks that I work on at this work meeting all weekend, but I wanted to cast on while I could still get help online. Hold on to your hats, folks - I'm actually embarking on a knitting first: I'm modifying a pattern. Not an "Oops, I screwed up, oh well if I do it on the other side no one can tell" modfication, but an honest to goodness, "actually had to use dormant, dusty parts of my brain" modification.

I did actually put H1 down for a while and work on Stick's other Jaywalker (MP2). I had been at a tough spot in Hippo and I needed something where I didn't have to concentrate on the crazy chart/graph. The heel flap is done, but I have to do that whole heel-turning, stitch-picking-upping thing.

SPOILER ALERT

Okay, Steph, I gave you, like, 120 hours; if you haven't seen the race by now, shame on ya. I ended up having to watch the Richmond race on Tivo Sunday since I was playing at MSWF Saturday night (have I mentioned how much Sat. p.m. races screw up my scheduling?). Phyl and I discussed ditching the sheep and driving down to RIR to catch the race, but alas, it was sold out so we decided to drown our sorrows in sock yarn. Chimmie really struggled all day but managed to pull off a 12th-place finish. Everyone can sleep safe and night once more because Junior has a race win. Harv had it all but sewn up but his crew chief made a puzzling call. DCU also racked up their first loss of the season against the Crapids. I really have nothing to say about that debacle.

525,600 Stitches

2006-05-08T23:59:00.000-04:00

I just realized that in all of the Sheep and Wool frenzy I may have neglected to mention that I went to see RENT with EJ and Pam. P, Stick and I had gone to see RENT last year (maybe the year before) together. None of us had seen the show before and we were languishing in the cheap seats at the veeeeeeeeeeery back of the Warner. This time around we had much better seats (although a smidge too far off to the side for poor P), but we had the strangest thing happen.

We get through the first couple of songs and I can already tell I'm not going to love the performance but I'm looking for the good. Then we get to "Light My Candle" and all of the girls (and they were girls) in the row in front of us start looking around quizzically and I know exactly what their problem is. They switched Rogers mid-performance. This one is decidedly huskier and has a less prominent nose. There was never an announcement of any sort, just the ol' bait and switch. Granted, the first Roger's voice was straining big time during the first couple of numbers. Maybe he couldn't handle D.C. pollen.

MP2 has made a resurgence back onto the active knits list, but she'll likely be tumbling back into obscurity in a couple of days. I picked it to take to Sheep & Wool b/c I knew I had 5" of zigzag pattern and could do it without having to consult a pattern every two seconds. Hippo1 is on the verge of completion but I'm nearly at an impasse. I'm using a single large skein of Cherry Tree Hill (love love love this yarn) and I forgot to divide the skein before I started. This is a huge sock. Do I just bind off, trust that I have enough and cut it or is there some other miraculous way to tell if I'm going to have enough yarn?

Here's a better picture - hopefully - of two of the yarns I picked up last weekend. Tess's sock yarn and the Cormo Cross in Cathedral. There's quite a bit more purple in both of them - I don't know why I couldn't get it to photograph better.

It's All Her Fault

2006-05-07T21:19:00.000-04:00

And by "her" I mean Holly.

Here we have Hol posing with two of her best buds. This was pretty early on in our Saturday of Maryland Sheep & Wool-itis. She picked me up at roughly 7:45 in the morning and headed north, after brief but critical stop at Starbucks. After that, everything is just a blur of alpaca and sheep and goats and bunnies and wool. Lots and lots of wool.

For the most part, I just followed her around. Cormo to Brooks Farm. Brooks Farm to Tess's. Tess's to Cherry Tree Hill. We dodged the Koigu flea market and drooled over kettle corn. Hol snapped up her covetted Cormo and is planning an aran sweater. Maybe if I ever finish Inny and ever plan another aran sweater I'll spend the money for Cormo. Or maybe from A Touch of Twist (?) although I can't remember for sure. There was also a yummy yarn vendor across the way from Cormo, but I can't remember the name of it.

Final yarn toll wasn't quite as significant as it was for many other people, but it was a bit more than I'd intended to spend. Clockwise from 12 o'clock: Brooks Farm Yarn Four Play wool/silk (4 skeins), Spirit Trail Fiberworks Superwash Merino/Nylon sock yarn (2 skeins - for Dublin Bay socks), Cormo Cross (2 skeins - one in a purply blend and one in a blue-grey blend), Brooks Farm Limited Edition (1 skein, maybe socks for Pop) and last but not least, Tess' Designer Yarns Super Socks & Baby (1 skein). Buried beneath it all is my tote bag b/c H insisted that I simply MUST have something to prove I witnessed the insanity that is MD Sheep and Wool in person.

Last but not least were the people. I'm horrible with names so if I met you and am blanking, PLEASE don't take it as a personal sleight - it just means I'm dippy and was suffering a bit of sensory overload. There was the bloggers' get-together at Wendy's book-signing on the grassy knoll on the grounds. I'm horrible at estimating numbers, but I'd say maybe ballpark 150? I pretty much sat quietly in the corner with the 4-5 folks I knew (shocking). I DID meet Stick's secret pal One Crafty Bitch - there was much giggling all around. She seems like a great person and she and all the PGH bloggers had great tshirts (which I, of course, didn't think to take a picture of).

Late night, after we got some real food, we swung by a get-together for some out-off-town bloggers just outside of Baltimore. I'm going to end up spending the next several days trying to piece together who people were, but I think I Heart Knitting and frecklegirl and Lolly and AnneMarie and Vibegrrl were some of the attendees. I largely sat in a corner and observed (since I was just tagging along) but I did have a good time. The appletinis and hystercal laughter were a great end to the day.

There's a story behind this snazzy LCD, light-up Virgin Mary clock, but I don't know what it is. And I think that's a good thing.

Why Don't Sheep Felt in the Rain?

2006-05-05T22:49:00.000-04:00

[Just a little something I was pondering when I originally thought it was going to rain at MDS&W]

First off, I want to apologize to Steph. No, not you Steph, the other Steph. The one who actually cares about NASCAR race results. Those who know me know that nothing drives me insane quite like having the result of a race, game, tv show, what have you revealed. In my jubilation over Chimmie's win, I inadvertently revealed the race results to her before she had a chance to finish watching the race on Tivo. I'll make a deal with you - I'll give you 72 hours before I post results. After that, I can't be held responsible.

Igor checks out my progress

I've done a fair amount of knitting this week, though I've finished neither Gigi nor Hippo. I'm alternating pretty consistently. I work on Gigi when I don't need to watch my hands and Hippo is pretty much my portable project. Today it saw the Metro and the drug store while I was waiting for my allergy meds. Damn you pollen!!!

I'm leaving for Maryland Sheep and Wool in 8 hours. Why in the world am I playing with people who are making me leave the house on Saturday morning an hour EARLIER than I would for work any other day of the week. Then, of course, there's the little soiree that I'm crashing (as Hol's guest) afterwards. Just another situation for me to feel supremelly uncomfortable in. Ah well, there'll be alcohol, that should take the edge off, no?

Melancholy

2006-05-03T00:51:00.000-04:00

1 a: an abnormal state attributed to an excess of black bile and characterized by irascibility or depression b: BLACK BILE c: MELANCHOLIA
2 a: depression of spirits : DEJECTION b : a pensive mood.

I'm in a funk. My knitting's going okay, I guess. Chimmie just won, DCU's sitting in 2nd, I'm employed, I'm relatively healthy, CIC won pub trivia tonight - there's no real reason for me to be in the dumps.

I think I'm just lonely.

Rainy (Sun)Days then Mondays...

2006-05-01T23:31:00.000-04:00

...make for one happy camper!

I'm almost getting used to my boys holding off til the last lap to pull off killer moves to win the race, but not quite. I have to admit, I barely did a lick of work this afternoon while listening to the race on Trackpass (how do I love thee, Trackpass?). RR isn't talking to me right now - she'll get over it. Just because we took the lead away from Kenseth...

Gigi ended up being the winning project for working on while watching the race (thank goodness for Tivo). Even though I knew the result, I had to put down the needles to watch the last 10 laps. Gigi is way easier to work on while not looking at my hands.

I'm officially on to the Foot portion of Hippo. It's not quite photo-worthy, but it makes me happy. I'll work on it tomorrow and take a new shiny picture of it after we go visit with Patrick.

*photo courtesy of Racing One

Flutter, flutter, flutter

2006-04-30T17:17:00.000-04:00

As I was walking to work Friday morning, I started thinking to mysef that I was going to have to start work on knitting a blue tank top. I mean, I didn't have any blue summer-weight shirts and I really should...

...and then I remembered Gigi. Oops! I figured this was a sign I should get working on her again, so I laid Hippo aside and did some stockinette. She's coming along, but I don't like the sleeves. they're a little drapy. I think I may just keep going and then graft the armpit a little tighter. Maybe Hol can give me some advice next week. As of right know I'm going to keep knitting around and around. After all, the only workout I'm getting these days is this exercise in futility.

Saturday morning I headed off to Knit Happens for the booksigning of Wendy's new book. Apparently she's already turned the corner on printing number 3 and is heading towards 4 in a fury. I couldn't be happier for her success. This has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I was dubbed an FOW yesterday. Do we get membership cards? Discounts at KH? These are the important things that I need to know. Not that bragging rights isn't enough, mind you. I still don't feel I'm quite worthy of FOW status. Perhaps AOW is more my speed. I'm in apprenticeship to an FOW...

Last night was a rather disappointing tie v. FC Dallas; that one point allowed KC to re-take over first in the east. With rain sweeping through N. Alabama, there's no 'Dega news to report. Slow sports weekend all around.

The best news of the weekend is that Brian got back from Iraq on Thursday. B isn't anyone particularly special in my life - aside from a debilitating day in Sacramento - but I'm just glad to have him home safe. I met up with him and a few other people last night after the game for drinks. My fears about him attempting to break me again proved to be unfounded as it took him a couple of minutes to realize I was even at the bar. I suppose the emergency tonsilectomy he was performing on Tipper rightfully took all of his attention. Regardless, he's going to go take care of some business, head back to California briefly then plans to be back in D.C. permanently in June.

Stick, you're going to have to come up for the welcome home party. I'm not going through that alone.

Such is the life and times of a social butterfly - well, at least, the last weekend in April.

Tink is a four-letter word

2006-04-27T23:00:00.000-04:00

I have unknit the heel shaping of freakin' freakin' Hippo more times than I can conveniently count. I have to run a lifelline as soon as I get it stabiliized, but it's driving me bonkers. Although, I have to say I tried it on at work today and it felt like buttah. The next headache will surely be when I realize I don't have quite enough yarn to finish the second one. The question then becomes, would I rather frog the entire sock and take some length off the leg or spend $20 on another skein of CTH? That debate will have to wait for another day.

Here we have Hippo nestled with CIC's second place prize from Tuesday's trivia night (check out M's blog for details and sample questions). Patrick definitely loves us - that's really all I have to say on the matter. If only the tshirt weren't for Tanqueray. *shudder* Gin and I had a falling out in 1990 and I've never looked back.

I took a page out of Holly's book and moseyed on over to my neighborhood Borders on my way home from work today, and this is what I turned up - Wendy's book! It's there on the left next to a couple of books by Debbie something or another. I'll be heading over to KH for the book-signing on Saturday afternoon.

The countdown to Maryland Sheep and Wool is on. A bunch of folks are going to caravan up, but they're leaving pretty early and I don't think my ride will want to hit the road at that hour. I'm afraid they know something we don't know though. At the very least, hopefully they'll leave us some Cormo - if only so I can fondle some and see what's so great about it.

I think it's time to shelve Hippo for a while and work on Gigi. I need to do a little more so I can see if I have to frog her, too.

For you, Yvonne

2006-04-25T10:58:00.000-04:00

I can't take full responsibility for the contents - I do live with 3 other people:

Ooooooo United!

2006-04-23T00:08:00.000-04:00

Happy birthday, pop! Okay, now that that's out of the way...

Went on my first DC United roadtrip since MLS Cup 04 today. Headed up the Turnpike to the Meadowlands for the 2nd of 4 DC/Scum meetings. The weather was a miserable 50ish degrees and rainy. The Barra, La Norte and the SEs took up 3 busloads in the rain and we weren't disappointed. We took the lead right before the half and never looked back - the 4-1 victory helped us warm up on the way home.

There was one other thing that made the trip, the pending cold and the loss of a full day of knitting worthwhile:

Yes, that would be Jaime Moreno's jersey. Yes, I did have to fight off several people for it. Yes, I probablly only got it b/c Brian let go (thank you Brian). After 10 years, this is my first ever, game-worn jersey.

Of course, now after standing in the rain and cold for countless hours, I can feel a cold creeping on. I never said I was bright.

It's All About the Booty

2006-04-20T23:43:00.000-04:00

Not Ch-booty (although I do love the Ch-booty). Actually, we can discuss the booty for just a minute. The Ch-part of this booty belongs to Chad Knaus, crew chief for Jimmie Johnson, my li'l ol' NASCAR driver. Folks love him, folks hate him - I don't really get involved in the pissing matches, I have better things to do with my life.

Anywho, Pammy is really the one responsible for us choosing Jimmie as our driver. They share a birthday, you see. It's astrology - we really can't battle the solar system on this one.

Anyway, the interest started with Jimmie; the addiction started with Chad. The brains of the operation who - honestly - does push the boundaries a smidge further than NASCAR officials would really care for, but he's good at what he does. And has a fine Levi's-clad backside.

On the other hand, cube booty is what originally lead to that title. In a feeble attempt to make my sock photography interesting, I bring you 'Still life with Hippo and Cube Booty'* The lovely cross stitch, which mysteriously appeared in my office after a week's vacation, as you can see, is graced with flags, fireworks, crosses and hearts. Not that I'm against any of these things - I'm even pro Liberty and Freedom - but this entire cross stitch is just HEINOUS. If anyone wants it, just let me know, I'm more than happy to mail it to you.

Other items in the cube booty bounty include:
- my soccer-playing Tillamook stress cow from Santofer
- my Madrid bear
- a moose (in a sweater with moose on it) that I think also came from Santofer
- my posable doll from the Bahamas
- a scarab (?) carving from my boss's trip to Egypt
- my good luck 3-legged pig from my trip to Martha's Vineyard
- picture of me and my futurebabydaddy Zach (you didn't think Holly was the only one who stalked sports figures, did you?); and
- last and certainly not least, this TERRIFYING teddy bear in a white lace dress with gold lamé wings that, when you squeeze it, says in this very Talkie Tina voice, "I'm your guardian angel. I'm your special friend." I'm terrified of it, but I'm afraid to throw it away because it will somehow come back and attack me in my sleep.

* weirdness in the picture of the cross stitch; I guess the camera picked up all the little grids. It's not too bad once you click on it.

All KALs, all the time

2006-04-19T00:26:00.000-04:00

After much struggling with my conscience (not to mention the zipper on my work bag) I decided that Gigi was too big to be my commuter project and invited Hippo back along for the ride. Got a couple of rows done on the Metro this morning. I think that's realy going to be the way to go. I haven't progressed much forther on Hippo - just passed halfway through the second repeat. It is awfully purty though.

I'm the first to acknowledge that I need remedial blog photography lessons. Although spring in DC is lovely, we don't have any pretty tulips or daffodils or even azaleas in our yard. I can just imagine trying to imagine to my neighbors why I'm standing in the middle of their yard with my sock in their flowerbed.

As I mentioned, I'm plugging along on Gigi, as well. According to my calculations, I have 6 rounds to go before I'm done with this portion of the the program. I don't feel like I can try it on until after I have the sleeves done, so that will be a major turning point. Did my mods work or am I stuck frogging two balls of lovely Cascade Sierra. Only time will tell.

I finally got off my butt to sign up for the roadtrip to the Meadowlands this weekend. I think I'm going to end up on a different bus from the gang that I know, so I think I'm going to have to take along some knitting. Hippo would be more convenient but I really want to keep hacking away at Gigi.

Pub quiz update: After briefly holding on to the top spot, Clueless in Clarendon fell to 2nd place tonight. SO close! Damn those Beatles questions!!!

Law & Order: Special Stalkers Unit

2006-04-17T23:51:00.000-04:00

Docket number 3711.8

Plaintiff: Poor little old lady
Defendant: Holly

The charge*: stalking, assault, petty larceny

See, Hol and I went to the Caps last home game of the season tonight and at the end, the players gave their game-worn jerseys to select members of the crowd. This cute little old lady got herbabydaddy's jersey, much to Hol's dismay. After whimpering about it for a while, we left the arena to Metro home. When we got off at Pentagon City, the woman with herbabydaddy's jersey was right in front of us.

Have you ever had to physically restrain a friend from mugging a little ol' lady for a sweaty jersey? No? Well, you haven't lived. For the record, the Caps won, 6-4.

The rest of my weekend was tame by comparison. DCU took on the Dynamo and won 2-0 (go team go) and brunch at Joan's was fun and tasty (mmmm, more monkey bread).

As far as knitting goes, I'm about 8 repeats into a 17-repeat section on Gigi. I don't think it really looks any different than the last round of photos, so I'll spare you. My plan is to finish this section of Gigi before I dig up Kitty Pi.

The bad news here at Chateau Garfield is that seem to have a new four-legged friend, and NOT the good variety. I was doing dishes the other day and came across some little mousey droppings. I think he's made a couple of forays into my room and THAT gave me creeps enough to keep me up until 5:00 a.m. the other day.

* No, Holly wasn't really charged with roughing up Granny. Yes, I did have to restrain her through the Pentagon City metro station and the first story of the mall.

Rotate!

2006-04-14T01:27:00.000-04:00

Everytime I think of that word as an exclamation, it reminds me of taking volleyball in middle-school gym class.

Anyway, I haven't touched Kitty Pi since Steph left on Sunday. I talked to her last night and apparently she's already DONE with her knitting and tucking in her ends - I think this weekend will be her felting experience. GO STEPH!

For the last three days, I've really been working on my Hippo. Isn't he coming along nicely? I'm halfway through the second repeat on the leg and decided that was a good place to stop. Having frogged him once before, I think I have a better sense of how to handle the YOs, etc.

Today I set Hippo aside, and picked Gigi back up for a couple of rounds. I'm done with the lace section and have moved on to the increases for the bust. The Green Gables KAL isn't set to start until May 1, but a number of us have already cast on so they may push the start date up a week or so. I don't know that it matters too much for me. I'll end up frogging her and starting again so it's not a big deal to me.

I just can't figure a way to make the lace look nice to photograph. I don't think I made any monumental mistakes. Here's a detail of the shoulder:

Last but not least, last night I went to KH for the Mason-Dixon Knitting book launch. I largely went just for the heck of it (and the Yarn Harlot's post intrigued me) and I'm so glad I did. Kay and Ann were lovely and there are a number of patterns in their book that have me intrigued to say the least.

The next four days are all very whirlwindy for me: BBQ and late drinks with Claire and Liz tomorrow; DCU v. ickpoo Houston Saturday and Easter brunch and knitting Sunday. Thank goodness I'm taking tomorrow as a mental health day.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

2006-04-11T22:59:00.000-04:00

My patented self-portrait double-chin. Ain't it a beaut? Steph and I were exploring the inner-workings of the fabulous MetroBus system, bouncing our way back into midtown from the zoo last week, on our way to Alexandria.

We did quite a bit of pondering on our level of girliness, or lack thereof. She's way better off than I am. Despite spending ten bucks on new lip goo, I just think that in my mid-thirties, I'm still a tomboy at heart. I'm so much more comfortable in khakis and a tee shirt and a baseball hat than I am in cute shoes and makeup. I need a girly intervention.

And, in another fit of bad bloggerdom, I realized that I didn't take a picture of the groovy thanks-for-letting-me-spend-the-night-at-your-place present she brought me. I've never delved into the whole clog-making world but I may have to give it a go. It's a couple of skeins of Cascade 220 in a snazzy rust color and a couple of skeins of Noro Kureyon. I've bundled it all up safely for later use.

As for active knitting, yesterday I got through the first repeat of the Hippos, did the needle shift as prescribed and started to work my way around. Then I looked down and saw something that no knitter wants to see: a loop. A loop seven rows down. Not attched to anything. I looped a stitch holder through it and patiently tinked back to fix it. Finally got everything back under control around 2 a.m. I lost a full day of knitting but at least I'm back on track.

Igor doesn't want to talk about it.

Tonight a handful of us girls checked out Pub Quiz night at the new neighborhood Irish bar. We didn't do particularly well, but I think we're going to try again. They have Boddington's on tap so I'm happy (fish & chips wasn't very good though).

Alone at last

2006-04-09T21:39:00.000-04:00

That definitely isn't to say that I didn't enjoy my 4-day visit with Steph, I really really did. It's actually more a comment on the fact that all three of my roommates are vacationing in California for the next week and there's nothing more precious than alone time when you live with three other people. Of course, that doesn't mean I'm not ensconced in my room, I'm just saying it's an option.

I took Friday off work and we headed to the National Zoo. Steph had never been and I hadn't been since new latest round of pandas. Tian Tian put on quite a performance, but we could never get a good view of Tai Shan. Here we have Mei Xiang (Mama) zonked out and Tai Shan doing something very important involving bamboo. Clearly we wouldn't understand.

It rained on and off all day, sometimes torrentially. We made a pretty thorough sweep. We checked out cheetahs (cubs and all), sloth bears, lions, tigers, seals and sea lions, gibbons, bald eagles, elephants, giraffes, and capybaras, to name a few.

After the zoo, we did a round of our friendly neighborhood yarn stores, got the goodies to start our personal Kitty Pi KAL and spent some quality time at Knit n' Nosh. Steph has definite LYS envy. And a little bit of public transportation, although I definitely could've stood to spend a little quality time in a car and out of the rain and wind this weekend.

At least Steph got to see DCU pull out a win despite the wind and rain. She's completely addicted to working on her catbed for Squeaker and Kasey (is it Kasey? Casey? KC? I've never been sure). The bed I'm making for Ms. Charlotte is coming along nicely, though I also finally got back to work on my Hippo socks. I kept twisting the cast on but finally I got to the point where I can start to see the pattern emerge.

So now I'm juggling Kitty Pi, Gigi and the Hippos. Of course it would make more sense to just concentrate on one of them, but that would make far too much sense and is clearly not part of my M.O. Tomorrow will be Hippo Day. I really need to make some progress. I'm getting more and more ashamed of myself as a KAL member and only having just cleared the cuff.

Devo's Got Nothin' on Me

2006-04-04T17:17:00.000-04:00

When a problem comes along, you must rip it!
Rip it!
Rip it good!
Duh-nuh-nuh-nu'-nuh!

So, I'm sitting in my office getting ready to head out, and I printed out another copy of the Green Gables pattern to see if there was anyway at all I would be able to knit on it while at the free sneak preview of Lonesome Jim tonight. For some reason, I decided to actually READ the pattern this time around. As usual, nothing good ever comes of that.

What? No increases by my little green stitch marker? Oh, because it's in the middle of the back? Well, um, of course I wouldn't do 28 rounds of knitting putting an increase there - that would be ridiculous!

Um, excuse me, I just have to go check on some paint drying.

Frog...frog...frog...

*sigh*

Before and After

2006-04-02T13:36:00.000-04:00

Before...

It's almost 2:00 p.m. EDT. Coverage just started for Martinsville but I have to leave the house in an hour and a half to head to RFK. Conflict at its finest.

Well, truth be told, it isn't MUCH of a conflict. It's the beginning of the 11th season of MLS and a DC United home opener, especially versus the archenemy, does take precedence over any televised race. Now, if it was up against me having tickets for Daytona or Charlotte or something...that's a whole other story.

Yesterday was spent on a whirlwind tour around Alexandria, visiting both S'water and KH. I don't even want to think about adding up the receipt totals. All I can say is I'd better get my refund check SOON! I cast on Green Gable this morning with Cascade Sierra in a blue-grey, and finally sucked up and got the Alpaca/Silk for the Somewhat Cowl, though it's somewhat further down on my list of projects to cast on. I also picked up smaller needles so I could get the Hippo-pomatomus socks on gauge.

I only just confessed this to myself yesterday, but I'm going to have to frog Thorn. All of it. It's just too stretchy. The vneck is just a smidge too stretchy. So since I have to pull it all out, I'm debating whether to make it sleeveless or not. I just don't know if I can bear to look at all that grass green again for a while.

...and After

Wow, we didn't play well at all. Managed to tie it up at 2 in the 2nd half and the game ended in a tie. There were a ton of Scum supporters that came down and good for them. We could get 1000 people to travel for free, too. It was great seeing Steph (and Jeff) today for the game. I don't know if Jeff had a good time or not; Steph is used to that kind of insanity. At the same time she's more than a little bitter about losing the Quakes to Houston. She'll still be around for Chivas next week, so she'll get to pack in a little more soccer into her spring.

Chimmie managed to hold on for third place at Martinsville and regained the point lead. I'll take it.

Still working on GG (henceforth known as Gigi), but I keep having to tink back in the lace section b/c I keep messing something up apparently. Math is hard.

Knitting ADD

2006-03-31T22:37:00.000-05:00

I can't seem to focus on any of the 142 projects I seem to have adopted. I'm all twitchy looking for the yarn for Green Gable. I cast a swatch in the Cotton Fleece, but I'm not lovin' the feel, so I'm going to grab a skein of Cascade Sierra tomorrow and swatch that up and see what happens.

Then there are the Hippo socks. I got a new needle for them last night and now I have to do a swatch to make sure I get gauge so I don't have another debacle like the last attempt. I joined the Pomatomus KAL and now I feel like I really need to get moving on them so I don't start getting demerits. I don't want them to kick me out of the club.

Which leads us to MP. I'm just barely beyond the rib on the 2nd cuff and am on row 3 of the pattern. I don't want to completely drop them in a corner because I'm afraid I won't come back to them, and I'm sure Stick would like them eventually.

So, I think for the most part I'm going to work on starting GG and start on the Hippos. (Sorry Stick! I won't forget!). Tomorrow is going to be a whirlwind jaunt through Old Town to hit Springwater and KH, then off to watch the boys play with tools. I wonder if they'll have their tool belts out. Hmmm.

P.S. - Psst! This was my 100th post!

A frog, a hippo and a lemming walk into a bar

2006-03-29T22:53:00.000-05:00

A frog...

I decided I have to frog the Pomatomus sock. My yarn overs are wonky and I tried to pull it over my chubby calf and it had to do some MAAAAAAAAAAAAAJOR stretching. I still love the yarn and the pattern but it just needs to be worked larger.

...a hippo...

So, as I said, I'm recasting on that sucker. I have to buy new needles; I don't have a size 2 circular. I also joined the Pomatomus KAL today, or at least sent the mail to join it. We'll see what happens.

...and a lemming...

When I was at Borders today, I picked up The DaVinci Code (it's finally out in paperback). I managed to resist it through all of the 30% off sales and the mini-clubs devoted to swearing this is the greatest book ever for as long as I could, but I finally just decided to throw my $7.99 at Mr. Brown and be done with it.6

...walk into a bar

Tonight was Bob Saget's twin's birthday din-din at Rio Grande. Mmmm, quesadillas and sopapillas. Had a SHIT day at work so the margarita-rocks-salt certainly helped get over the hump.

Lustful Thoughts

2006-03-28T23:08:00.000-05:00

Years ago I fell in love. With a duvet cover. I was strolling through Bed, Bath and Beyond in Pentagon Centre and there it was. I'm not much of a flowery girl - quite the opposite for the most part really - but I HAD to have it. I didn't have the $60 or whatever ridiculous amount they were charging for essentially two sheets sewn together, but that didn't matter. I went to the store to VISIT the duvet cover.

Finally payday arrived and I scurried off to the mall to make it my very own. Now, I present to you, my spring duvet cover:

Oh yeah, I finished MP1, too.

They came from far and wide

2006-03-27T23:33:00.000-05:00

...or at least they will this weekend. This Sunday is D.C. United's home opener against the New York-New Jersey MetroStars/MetroStars/New York RedBulls or whatever the heck they're being called this month. Apparently the MetroScum - and they'll always be the Scum - rented a bus for their little minions to travel south for the opener. I have no idea what kind of numbers they're looking at but I like my numbers better.

Soefsoef is apparently flying out from Denver for the opener; I'm not sure if she's here for a business trip and it's just a coincidence or if she's just coming out to visit for a week. AND Steph is coming out for a half-work, half-play trip. YAY! I don't think I've seen her since she and Mr. Steph were here a couple of years ago for a whirlwind East Coast trip. She'll be here for both the MetroBull and the Chivas game the following week. I can't wait to see her! So far the only things I know we're doing are the two DCU games and we're going to the National Zoo on Friday to see Tai Shan and the rest of the animals.

I've been slaving away on MP. I have about an inch left to do before I start to decrease for the toe. If I don't have enough yarn for the toe this time, I'm just gonna finish the decreases in a different yarn. Maybe a lovely fun fur. Someday I will figure out an interesting way to take pictures of socks in progress. I tried to figure out if I could squeeze it onto Brutus' or Pooky's legs, but it was a no go. Hopefully I'll have at least finished MP1 by the end of this week.

I cast on my Hippo socks* Saturday night while watching Madagascar with the divine Ms. M. In between outbursts of, "Hey, that part was in my video!" I managed to cast on and start the ribbing using the Magic Loop method. I keep getting tangled up in the 40" cable, but so far it's working okay. Of course, I haven't actually read the pattern all the way through - that's like searching the house for your presents before Christmas morning. Anyway, I'm using the Cherry Tree Hill in Peacock. I luuuuuuuuuuv it. The photo's a little dark but you can start to see the little design starting to take shape. No more work on it til I finish MP1 though.

*The hippo socks, for those of you who haven't caught on to my non-stop renaming of patterns, is actually the Pomatomus socks for the Winter 2005 edition of Knitty. I can never remember Pomatomus but it reminds me of hippopotamus and...well, there you have it.

Salsa with a Twist

2006-03-24T13:06:00.000-05:00

You know, I was only mildly surprised to see a guy dancing salsa with the pole on the Metro as I came in to work this afternoon. You know, you don't get to see this kind of stuff during the a.m. rush hour.

Comfy pants

2006-03-23T23:40:00.000-05:00

Nothing like the delicate swish-swish serenade of comfy corduroy pants to make a gal comfy.

Of course, could live without the chub rub, but whatevah.

I just finished turning the heel of MP1 - again. I feel that under normal circumstances, one should only have to turn two heels per pair of socks, but I've always liked to do things differently. I'm a rebel that way. I had to ask Stick to remeasure her feet since when I frogged the sucker yesterday, I forgot to make a note of how long the foot should be. I'm just that clever - what can I say?

I think I'm going to have to start working on something else non-socklike while I struggle my way through MP. It's almost April - Stick's not going to want to wear wool socks before October anyway, right?

I cast on Lucy Lu while I was in Atlanta with some this Berroco Softwist in a dark green. It knits up super loose (of course, b/c I'm substituting yarn) but I'm going to keep trying with it for a while and see what happens. This photo doesn't really do it justice - makes it look too shiny, but that's it more or less it. And then I really want to cast on Pomatomus with my Cherry Tree Hill blue stuff. You know how I love to cast on.

I think I need to set new mini-goals for myself a la the Knitting Olympics. I work so much better with I have a deadline. Of course, for right now, I can blame Stick for her incomplete Jaywalkers. After all, I can't really do anything until she tells me how long her foot is, now can I?

It was the best of times...

2006-03-21T21:38:00.000-05:00

I'm back in D.C., all safe and sound. Despite a delayed take-off and a VERY bumpy flight, I got home safe and sound and home in plenty of time to order chinese food. Mmm, eggdrop soup on very unhappy scratchy sore throat. Doc says sinus infection so back to my friend Anti Biotix. Yummy!

So, I finally got around to finding some photos from the new Georgia Aquarium.

Some snazzy starfish and sea anemone and sea urchins and other things that we could reach in and touch but that I didn't. Then there were the cool beluga whales. These three kept swimming in and out of the photo frame but I couldn't quite get all of 'em in there.

Last but not least we have the snazzy Ocean Voyager display with its 23' x 61' foot viewing window and the two big ol' whale sharks whose names have completely escaped me (Stick, do you remember?)

RANT: I would've had a MUCH better time at the GA Aquarium if we could just have eliminated 75% of the people. I've been on this tear lately but people just don't give a shit about anyone but themselves nowadays and it makes me insane! Parents pushing their kids in front of people and we're supposed to just move out of the way so little Johnny can see the sea lions. Old women screeching about "Look at the penguin!" to a 2-year-old who just wants to go to sleep. People ignore the No Flash Photography signs b/c it's more important for them to have a good picture to take home to show people who couldn't POSSIBLY care less than to potentially negatively impact the little critters fluttering around in the water. Grrr.

Okay, all done. So far as I know, Stick likes MP. Unfortunately, I'm gonna have to frog the sucker to have enough yarn to finish the toe. Bastard sock.

...it was the worst of times

Sunday dawned grey. Very grey. We drove to Hampton in just over an hour, and then it rained. And rained. And rained. Stick amused herself with her new "big can coozie" and her snazzy 48 hat (I have SUCH hat envy right now) while we tried to stay dry. We eventually schlepped up to our seats (I'm not entirely sure why she needed two seat cushions...) and hung out under the overhang and prayed for the rain to stop. It didn't.

For 4 hours.

This is as much excitement as I saw at Atlanta Motor Speedway. They eventually ran the rain-delayed race Monday morning at 11 but there'd been another forecast for rain so we didn't drive down. We're not terribly bright.

Turns out -immie finished 6th and maintained his lead by 50 pts over eventual race winner Kasey Kahne. *insert token Kasey squeal here* Next week's Bristol so that should be the end of out Top-10 streak. LOL.

And now, I leave you with a picture of Ms. Riley, stealer of my shotgun seat and Queen of All Alarm Clocks:

georgiageorgiageorgiageorgia

2006-03-18T10:56:00.000-05:00

Aside from the aborted landing on my arrival at ATL, my trip was relatively uneventful. No issues with security, no issues with fellow passengers. Trip was entirely uneventful. My tummy has been relatively uneventful too, thank goodness.

Thursday went off pretty much as planned. We stopped at The Varsity on our way home from the airport - yummy chili dogs, HUGE parking deck for a drive-in of all places but fun. We then proceeded to spend, oh, 3 hours at Why Knot Knit? We were both desperately searching for a reason to buy yarn - we eventually walked out with a few hanks. I got yarn to try this pattern by Berroco. We'll see how it goes.

After that, we went to the 5 Seasons Brewpub to meet Stick's friend Steve for drinks. She hadn't seen him since she moved back south so it was good for them to check-in. Then we went to a restaurant that I've completely forgotten the name of. Three Dollar Cafe, maybe? Anyway, they didn't have their liquor license so they were sending people next door to buy booze and then they could bring it in and consume it. Random yet hilarious!

Yesterday was the Georgia Aquarium. The first, say, two-thirds were rather disappointing but the Ocean section and the tropical fish section (I'll get the real names later) were really impressive. The ginormous glass wall in the Ocean section was unbelievable; my pictures won't even do it justice. I'll upload when I get home.

So far the weather forecast is calling for rain tomorow and Monday. I am NOT amused.

All My Bags Are Packed...

2006-03-16T09:07:00.000-05:00

...I'm only semi-ready to go.

Mostly packed. Just a handful of things left to toss in my carry-on. As I mentioned to Hol last night, I've reached the final stage of obsessive over-packing. The stage where you just say "F*ck it!" and make sure you have the most important travel trinity: ID, credit card, cell phone. Any and everything else is gravy - unless you still have paper tickets, but that's so rare nowadays.

I figure I'll call for a cab pickup in an hour or so - I could technically metro to DCA but since my bag weighs 85 lbs, I figure I'll just spare myself and get irritated with my friendly neighborhood taxi driver as nature intended.

The only thing I have left to pack is projects. I have to find MP, and I guess I'll take Inny along for shits and giggles. I'm sure I'll end up picking up a little somethin' at WKK this afternoon - just to show moral support.

Okay, I have to bolt - can't miss my flight!

What's the Buzz?

2006-03-13T23:58:00.000-05:00

As promised, I listened to the sountrack to JCS today and I'm still not blown away. Unfortunately, "What's the Buzz?" is now stuck in my head. I am less than pleased about this.

My flight for Atlanta leaves in almost exactly 60 hours. W'HOO! That means about 62 hours until fun, embarassing happy dances in the airport. The bad news is, Atlanta has decided to cancel their food festival on Saturday, so now we need to schedule something else. We can still hit the parade and look for the ononon, but we'll see how things end up.

I embarked on the second stage of MP tonight, just to keep a certain level of confusion in my life. It'll have to go to ATL, of course, but I can't decide on my backup project. Inny may be too cumbersome; I don't think the Lava Flow is a good idea...hmmm. Maybe Inny is the answer after all. I have a couple of days to figure it out - maybe I'll cast on Pasha for JB, since apparently her mama's preggers again.

T minus 4 days and counting

2006-03-12T23:18:00.000-05:00

Four days until I head down to Hotlanta - I can't wait! A little water main break under Chain Bridge earlier this afternoon severely curtailed any illusions I had of getting some pre-vakay laundry done this afternoon.

My weekend was good, but fairly low-key. Friday night I did a little emergency shopping and had dinner with Melyssa & her friend. Saturday M & I went to Costco to buy B products then I lounged with Pammy and Angus and did a little work on MP. She's working on her Zeeby's bag and is well on her way to being thoroughly addicted. Pete called while I was over there - he's doing well in A-stan but is really bored. P & I are both okay with him staying bored. We watched Rent (the movie) while I was over there, and we're planning on getting tickets to the stage show at the Warner. The movie...well, I think it would've been okay if I hadn't seen the stage performance, but it was just weird. Can't wait to see the stage show again now that I finally know all the lyrics.

Today was another musical theater kind of day. After hanging out with E earlier today for movies and knitting, I dashed up to the Hill to see Jon K. in "Jesus Christ Superstar" performed by the St. Mark's Players. It was really hard for me to put Jonny aside as the guy I know and focus on Peter, the character was playing. I'd definitely go see another performance; I know they're doing "Bye Bye Birdie" but that's not until next Spring.

You'll note that I didn't say anything about watching the Vegas race. I'm actually watching it Tivo'd now. Kenseth and Jimmie are running 1, 2 - I figure that's how they'll finish barring anything extraordinary. Caution. Okay, only 20 more minutes of Tivo time people - I'd better get the checkered flag.

Umm, I just pulled a muscle in my ass jumping around like a crazy person. Jimmie passed Kenseth (sorry Bec), coming off turn 4 in a PERFECT replica of Carl in Atlanta or himself in Charlotte! W'HOO!

My ass really hurts.

MP is cursed

2006-03-09T22:50:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted this week b/c I haven't been doing a whole lot of knitting. Well, that's not entirely true. There's been a TON of knitting. And tinking. And knitting. And frogging. And knitting. And swearing. Alot. Still. Eternally. I'm irritated with myself, the yarn, Igor (who stole 3 of my dpns last night and had the nerve to stow them away in my work bag), you name it. I should really set the sucker aside for a couple of days until I can calm down but that would make too much sense. Maybe I'll beg Holly to fix it for me.

Okay, so I had a fashion police moment earlier today. I cruised to a department store on a futile search for a new jacket and on my way back to work, I saw a woman with her hair in a ponytail. No big, really - I wear mine in a ponytail virtually every day. I had to do a double-take, however, when I noticed that holding her hair back was a children's ponytail holder - you remember, the kind with the hard plastic balls with the air bubble in the middle. The kind where if you stretched them too far, they'd snap back and damn-near break your finger when it recoiled. While I was trying to wrap my brain around that, I saw ANOTHER woman wearing one.

Now, these were both women in their late-20s, early-30s, well dressed in skirts and blouses for work. And these huge honkin' ponytail holders that I'm sure are captured for posterity in my school photos from the 2nd to 5th grades. I fully accept the fact that I am not a fashion-forward kind of gal, but the return of that trend is just puzzling to me.

Update: I achieved temporary dominance over the evil MP from hell (there's your superlative, H) around 12:30 last night and promptly put it down before more damage could befall it. Maybe it's nocturnal and only wreaks havoc during the nighttime hours...

Mental health...?

2006-03-05T22:10:00.000-05:00

Not so much.

I took Friday off work originally as a mental health day. I've had a cold off and on...well, forever. Then I somewhat foolishly decided that since I was taking the day off anyway, I might as well go get my hair done. Four hours and $100 later...well, at least it's straight. I'm not crazy about the cut, I HATE the length but at least it should be managable in two weeks for the schlep to Atlanta. We shall see.

In a rather foolhardy move, I stayed up til 4:00 Friday morning watching WarGames (which I'd never seen beginning to end) and casting on Mystery Project (MP). I knocked out a few rows while getting my hair done, but I kept passing out under the hair dryer. After I finally finished up on U Street, I headed down to Knit Happens for Knit 'n' Nosh. Getting there at 4:00 is really the way to go. Plenty of time for wine, drooling over Carl E. and semi-bonding with Steph over NASCAR (despite her dislike for -immie, but who doesn' thate -immie these days).

The rest of the weekend was pretty tame. Watched a lot of TV, did a fair amount of knitting. I worked on Mimi from Knitty but a) he's not done and b) my workmanship is a wee bit shoddy. Shocking. Even Igor can't be bothered to check out Mimi.

The rest of the weekend was pretty tame. My big sis had some people over last night to help clear out her wine rack and being the kind hearted, generous and giving people we are, we rushed over to lend a helping corkscrew. Today was brunch and Shag, to start the season right.

Apparently we're roadtripping to Memphis this year. I'm not responsible for this.

And you thought I made him up

2006-03-02T22:15:00.000-05:00

Meet Igor. He's gnoshing on K2 while I get my act together and finish dinner and a snack for Knit 'n' Nosh tomorrow night. I made the Three-Cheese Chicken Penne Florentine - it was quite tasty. I pawned some off on my roomie and she enjoyed it, too, so it can't be too heinous. Of course, it took way too freakin' long to make, but other than that it was all good.

So, after I finished playing Julia Child and fast-forwarded my way thru Tivo'd CSI and unearthing Igor, I cranked out the rest of K2:
Pattern: Mini-socks on Two Circulars

Yarn: Um. I lost the ball band. I think it's Regia 4-ply. Color unknown.

Needles: 2 size 0 Addi Turbo circular needles

Modifications: I made them a bit longer than the mini-sock length - added about 4" to the length.

Started: Sometime in December, 2005

Completed: March 2, 2006

I'll try to see if I can figure out the yarn at KH tomorrow afternoon.

I'm getting my hair cut tomorrow morning but now I don't have any knitting to work on during the two-and-a-half hour process. Maybe I'll cast on the Mystery Project (MP) before I go to bed, so I can work on it on the metro and at the salon.

I will not stay up until 4 in the morning watching WarGames.

El fin

2006-02-27T01:31:00.000-05:00

It ain't pretty but it's done. I think there were seaming issues - well, I know there were seaming issues. We'll see what happens, but not for a couple of days. I don't even want to look at Thorn for a couple of days. I think the next couple of days are going to be devoted towards picking up all the random scraps of Thorn yarn, the 3 copies of patterns, tucking the needles away, etc.

OH! I've never done this before but I've seen it in other places so here goes. I'll perfect it later.

Pattern: Rose by Alexandra Virgiel
Yarn: Knit Picks Shine in Grass
Started: Opening Ceremonies, Feb. 10, 2006
Finished-ish: Closing Ceremonies, Feb. 26, 2006

The Knitting Olympics has been a very interesting experience. I've learned that I can actually finish a project in a reasonable amount of time. I've also learned that I have issues with competition, especially if it's with myself. I've dealt with tendonitis in both wrists/forearms and more sore shoulder and back muscles than I can conveniently count, just to try to get this done on time. Thank goodness for the miracles of modern technology.

I don't think I can face Inny for a little while. I think I need a couple of weeks of fluffy projects. Wrap up K2, start on mystery project, start on whatever project Holly cons me into later this week.

The CA race today was boring as all get out. Too many grooves, pack got way spread out, it was a real yawner. Jimmie didn't quite have the car to win, but was fortunate enough to have some other guys have some trouble and ended up with a 2nd place finish, behind Kenseth (so at least RR's happy). I'll take the good finish with a loose race car and the week off. Especially when 20 & 16 have bad weeks. Next stop is Vegas in two weeks.

I thought the flame extinguishing for Turino was a little anti-climactic. I'm usually ready to bawl like a baby but this was just so sudden. And the whole bride thing was just a little strange. I'm choosing not to discuss Ricky Martin. Do you think it felt strange to perform facing an audience of clowns? That has to be just a little strange.

Close but no Cigar

2006-02-24T00:30:00.000-05:00

I'm not gonna make it.

There, I said it.

Thorn isn't going to get finished by the end of the Olympic Closing Ceremonies in less than 36 hours. The only way it was going to happen is if I finished a sleeve today, a sleeve tomorrow, and seamed on Sunday. The body's done - always good news - but I hit a snag with the sleeves and I had to fire off an email to the talented designer to beg for her assistance. The master plan is to start the second sleeve at work tomorrow and hope I have a message waiting for me when I get home tomorrow.

Elizabeth has finished at least one beautiful baby blanket and has started on number two. I took this pic of the completed one while I was hanging out at her house on Monday watching Doris Day movies. Pay no attention to the crumpled Thorn in the corner. She was well into the next blanket - a neat corner-to-corner ribbed (or striped) pattern.

Since I can never manage to finish one project without daydreaming about the next, I started a list of projects I wanted to tackle in 2006. It's a little ambitious, a little comical, but mildly feasible.

Sweaters: Inny*, never-ending cardigan* (definites); Alice, Somewhat Cowl, Rogue (maybes)

Socks*: Jaywalkers, Lava Flow, basic

Misc: Pasha*, Booga Bag*, Coronet, baby blanket*, scarf. Penobscot Bay hat.

I already have the yarn for most of them; the Somewhat Cowl will probably be the most expensive but we'll see what happens. I'll undoubtedly end up buying a little souvenir yarn at Why Knot Knit next month (it would be rude not to buy something).

For Stephyliuhoo who is slightly more than 2

2006-02-22T16:19:00.000-05:00

Just over fifteen years ago, I was introduced to Steph against my will - I later came to find she felt the same way. Those who know me know the stark terror I feel upon being forced to meet new people and my trepidation at meeting Steph was no different, particularly since Tom was forcing us on one another. If you asked him today, he would tell you it was because he knew we would get along, being the all-knowing, all-seeing demigod that he is. She and I both know he was sick of us and looking to foist us on one another and leave him out of it.

Through the years, our friendship has grown from passing poorly-encoded notes back and forth on 2nd-floor Chalmers to all-night Gin games while listening to OMD to her feebly trying to teach me to drive stick-shift (and consequently killing her alternator...). The repeated roadtrips to Gambier, the addictions to soccer & knitting & DMB, the trek cross-country (and the exploding Doritos outside of Denver). The MLS Cup from Hell (eventually) and the gazillions of hours spent late night on the phone.

Now she's happily ensconced in Sacramento with her hubby, pup and two slightly neurotic cats. We don't see each other nearly as much as we once did, but Steph - I love you to pieces and wish you the happiest of birthdays.

WOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO!

2006-02-20T21:05:00.000-05:00

Atta boy! Yesterday was the 48th running of the Daytona 500 and Jimmie pulled it off, holding off Newman for green-white-checkered finish. The masses are unhappy - shocking! - but he didn't cause any wrecks, he made it through without Chad. I'm so proud of them. I couldn't even write about it yesterday - adrenaline level was still way too high. Controversy and all, it's just too bad Chad couldn't be there.

I was also having MAJOR Thorn issues last night. I could not decipher the pattern at all and was getting VERY frustrated. By the time I finally cracked the code it was around 12:30 a.m. or so, so I settled in to "The Thomas Crowne Affair" and "Speed" and hacked my way through it, finally turning in at 4:00 this morning. Good thing I had today off work.

Went over to E's house this afternoon and had some tasty frozen 'za and spent the day knitting and watching movies. She knocked off one of her baby blankets and is well into another one. I don't think I'm going to finish Thorn in time for the end of the KO, but I'd better get going.

Team IAHF Updates

2006-02-17T15:58:00.000-05:00

Okay, I know you guys out there are knitting, even if you aren't reading my blog, so it's time to chime in. Where do you stand on your Knitting Olympics' projects?

Thorn is at 11" and holding. I hope to get to the end of the body work tonight and start on the V-neck split tomorrow morning before heading out to celebrate Thea's birthday. How does one explain that they can't bowl due to a knitting injury?

After extensive blog-surfing, I've come to realize that our team was not the only one to stumble out of the blocks. Virtually every one that I read bore some mention of frogging or tinking or having to set aside out of frustration, so keep at it, gang! Here we have the Terrible Threesome examining Stick's work on the Kitty Pi-zza. Apparently she was so excited about being done with the bottom of her catbed that she just...stopped. Rumor has it she's almost done with the new-and-improved Kitty Pi with walls so we'll see what happens.

Elizabeth and I are going to take advantage of our 3-day weekend and so some knitting on Monday - I'll be sure to get some pictures of her blanket. Updates on Melyssa's scarf can be found on her blog. As for Steph, she's off for a romantic weekend with the hubby (and the puppy) to Cupertino so maybe she'll give us an update when she gets back.

I Did Not Have Knitting Relations with that Yarn

2006-02-17T01:10:00.000-05:00

I came across a knitting blog while I was at work this morning where the blogger mentioned that they were 'Kwaning' the Knitting Olympics - dropping out due to injury or risk of injury. I have to admit, I'm right there with them. I've been moaning for at least the last 24 hours that my back and shoulders have been bothering me, as well as both forearms, so the common sensical people in my life have been telling me I should take the evening off.

This is how I spent my night - Thorn was strictly a spectator...really...I swear. Well, maybe I just knit a little bit. I mean, have you seen the neurosis-inducing countdown clock on the Yarn Harlot's page? What's a pinched nerve when faced with that? Okay, so the Olympics were over by the time I took that photo (it's somehow even more fitting that it was a Bond movie). I blog-surfed and IM'd and knit just a few rows of Thorn to stay in the game. I had a heating pad stuffed down the back of my shirt to attempt to keep my back muscles relaxed. We'll see how I sleep. Thorny's comin' along though - 11" down.

Tuesday night was the February Cheap Eats outing. Miko was the lucky bachelor dining with 4 lovely ladies: Jo, Joan, Elizabeth and myself. Elizabeth dodged the photo by going to place our order steak frites order. Jo attempted to take my camera to include me in the next round of photos - I'm sure you can guess how that worked out. We had a rather lovely red wine, escargot (already out of the shell, thank goodness), our respective steak frites and a tasty plate of mini assorted desserts. Good times.

Every Rose Has Its Thorn

2006-02-14T00:03:00.001-05:00

Melyssa, Pam & I got together Friday night for a rousing kickoff for the 2006 Knitting Olympics. There was chinese food, spinach-artichoke dip, wine, chocolate and a whole lotta yarn. We cast on our respective projects while waiting for our chinese food to arrive. I - of course - had to frog and recast on (twice!) using the long-tail cast on method. Blech! I can NEVER manage to measure that out correctly. No, Melyssa hasn'thad too much wine already, I promise.

Angus and I were kicked off the scarf couch, but I think that ended up being a blessing in disguise as we witnessed the ball-winding debacle. I made a handful of mistakes over the course of the rest of the weekend which required frogging and unknitting, hence Rose's renaming to Thorn. I'm also knitting it in a bright grass green so Rose seems a little less fitting. I spent virtually all weekend working on Thorn and watching a great deal of the Olympics and some NASCAR on Sunday. I've got right around 6" done so far. Unfortunately I can't get a good picture of the detailing at the hem. I think it's a good thing I've got dinner plans tomorrow night; I think my wrists could use a breather.

*sigh* Chimmie finished 5th in the Budweiser Shootout but had his original Daytona qualifying run DQ'd and Chad bounced from Daytona this weekend. Temp crew chief, new spotter, no love at restrictor plate tracks anyway - this is not going to be a pretty weekend.

My apologies

2006-02-12T10:36:00.000-05:00

Looks like the meteorological community got it right this time:

<--- Before

Of course, couldn't it have managed to come down on Sunday instead of Saturday. Will likely still have work tomorrow.

After --->

Olympic Spirit

2006-02-10T11:06:00.000-05:00

(settle in - this is a long one)

I am a band geek.

Normally, one might say "I was a band geek," but a) Melyssa would laugh in my face for using the past tense and b) when you're as big a band geek as I was, it's hard to toss that all aside just because I haven't played my flute regularly in 17 years.

Today marks the Opening Ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino (not just the Knitting Olympics in Arlington) and I have had John Williams' "Olympic Spriit" stuck in my head for DAYS! It would've been fall of my senior year of high school, I think and we did this whole 'Olympics-themed' show in marching band, complete with replacing our feathered plumes in our hats with tiny colored flashlights so we could form the Olympic rings on the field and march in circles. This dramatic piece of choreography was performed to none other than "Olympic Spirit." I think we played the main Olympic theme, too, but Spirit sticks out in my mind.

Sam says it's nearly time to Cast On for the Knitting Olympics! Not even all of Team "IT'S ALL HER FAULT" can get their act together.

Stick will be casting on her Kitty Pi at 2:00 p.m. EST
Steph will be starting her Zeeby's Bag at 5:00 PST (don't get carsick!) on her way to the U.S. v. Japan soccer game in SanFran.
Melyssa, Pam & I will cast on once the official Opening Ceremonies have begun on NBC tonight at 8 - that should give us plenty of time to scarf down Chinese food.
Elizabeth will be off eating her brother's cooking (mmmm!) and will work on an existing baby blanket that she's trying to muddle through (the backlog is unspeakable).

Our good friends at the National Weather Service have issued a Winter Storm Watch for tonight through tomorrow evening: "A SWATH OF SNOWFALL OF 5 INCHES OR MORE IS LIKELY ACROSS THE AREA...WITH ACCUMULATIONS UP TO TEN INCHES POSSIBLE." Uh-huh. Suure. This could mean one of two things: it's either going to rain for the next 48 hours, or we're going to get two feet of snow. Regardless, it should make for good knitting time.

Last Minute Knitting

2006-02-09T23:49:00.000-05:00

I'm trying to plow my way through the heel of K2 before tomorrow so I can at least be that far along before tossing it aside for the next two and a half weeks (or until Rose becomes too unwieldy to take on the metro, whichever comes first).

I did a quick sweep of the room and did manage to find the other six balls of Shine for Rose, so at least I don't have that to worry about. They were hiding under my unfelted BottomsUp bucket hat so I went ahead and threw that in the wash (after a year, maybe two, of sitting in the bin). I ran it through twice, but I think I may have been a little overzealous. It almost appears to be more bowler-like in shape than buckety. Bucket-ish? Poor little Pook - forced to model a lopsided red felted bowler. At least he's a good sport about it. Brutus would've laughed in my face.

So, do I get to count the BucketBowler as an '06 completed object or does it get attributed to '04, which is when I probably finished knitting it? It might have been early '05, I suppose.

I think after the KO are over, I may have to embark on a UFO tour. Finish the scarf I started while Melyssa and I slaved over fixing my computer (well, she slaved; I knit). Inny, Kermit & Banff - obviously. The top down cardigan REALLY needs to be addressed. Well, I'll have a better sense of what I have on tap after this weekend.

To hell with stashbusting

2006-02-08T23:45:00.000-05:00

Went to late night at Knit Happens tonight - I had to buy a needle for Rose for Friday. However, one little ol' Addi Natura wasn't going to be enough to get Hol's initials scribbled on my Insatiable Knitter card so I HAD to buy this yarn. Isn't it purdy? Will I ever make anything out of it? Well, that's always the trick question, no?

The crew at late night named the goat which roams through my room and gobbles up things I need - Igor. Of course, I immediately made the requisite Young Frankenstein 'EYE-gor' reference and we all giggled. Life's good with yarn and humor.

I frogged my last attempt at Soleil and dug out ye olde ball winder so I can make nice neat little bundles in preparation for Rose. I still feel like I'm missing skeins somewhere along the line, but I can't figure out where else they would be. I'll go digging through the usually hiding places tomorrow night and see if I find any double-secret hiding yarn. I know it's going to take more than six balls of Shine to pull this off. We'll see what I can dig up.

Last but not least, we have the mystery yarn. Between Inny and K2 and Rose and the rest of the crap I have on needles, I'll have to make the time to make something fun with this:

Yes, it's blurry on purpose. It just adds to the mystery.

Stroll Around the Grounds Until You Feel at Home

2006-02-07T15:37:00.000-05:00

I've been listening to Simon & Garfunkel's Greatest Hits all day - I'd forgotten how much I like this CD. It always makes me think of my friend Cat and freshman year at KC.

And it's helping me stay calm. I just checked the gauge on the swatch I made for Rose and I'm a full stitch off - looking at 4-4.5 sts/inch instead of 5.5. Methinks I should've put Inny and Kermit down last week and swatched a little sooner. I'll drop it another needle size and try another swatch tonight and hope for the best. I'm supposed to go to yoga tonight with the roommates so maybe I'll try to knock it out before then (and not use training for the Olympics as my uber-lame excuse for blowing off the gym). If I was super coordinated and confident, I'd work on the swatch while at the gym, but I just don't think I can pull that off. I still haven't recovered from the tragic World Cup viewing while on the treadmill incident of '02.

And I lied - I went ahead and cast on Kermit part deux (henceforth known as K2). I decided it was probably better to go ahead and start up right away rather than leave the yarn and needles languishing. Although, I think my sock theory of starting sock 1 of a new pattern before finishing sock 2 of the old has some merit - wouldn't you think you'd be less likely to get bored with the pattern? No? Well, okay...

I had to perform an emergency cableotomy on Inny last night. Apparently I repeated a two-row pattern of a cable and didn't notice it early enough to make my life easy. I should've taken pictures of the procedure, but I was afraid to put down any of the three dpns or two circulars I was using in order to pick up the camera. In the end, all's well that ends. I think she'll be okay; she's in recovery.

Voila!

2006-02-05T22:14:00.000-05:00

Okay, it's slightly mutated but I finished Kermit part 1. The toe grafting is a little wonky and of course I haven't woven in the end - I am still me after all - but it is all done. It'll prolly be a little while before I cast on the 2nd one. I'll prolly work on Inny and then Rose for the Olympics before I head back to the 2nd sock.

P & I spent the day in knitting mode. First we went on a field trip to Knit Happens where she got her first touch of Cashmerino (I think). It was love at first fondle so she decided to get some to make her own scarf with - she can't wait to start on it for the Knitting Olympics. After we left KH we headed back to her place and spent the afternoon watching part of The Truth about Cats & Dogs, The Breakfast Club and the first half of Super Bowl XL.

Knocked out a few rows of Inny this afternoon, too. There's still no way I'm going to finish the back before Friday but if I can knock out a couple more inches, that would be groovy.

Memo to my Doctor's Office

2006-02-01T23:24:00.000-05:00

The next time you tell me to drink 32 oz of water first thing in the morning and not use the bathroom until after my sonogram, it is the worst kind of sadism to have a FREAKIN' WATERFALL FEATURE/FOUNTAIN hanging in the waiting room! That's just cruel!

Memo part deux: trans-vaginal exam? Not as much fun as it sounds. I'm just sayin'.

Nine more inches to go on Inny. I'd love to finish the back, front, whatever side this is before the Knitting Olympics start. I just don't think it's going to happen. I still need to swatch Rose sometime in the next nine days, too. So much knitting, so little time.

The roomies and I went to yoga last night and today we're all pleasantly achy. Not in pain, like I was last time, but just kind of stretchy sore. We were supposed to go to the gym tonight, but thta didn't exactly pan out. My goal is to go to the gym 9 times this month - once every three days. It sounds like a ridiculously easy goal to attain, yet I'll be I somehow manage to blow it. Only time will tell.

VERB! That's what's happenin'!

2006-01-31T13:56:00.000-05:00

It finally happened - what every English major dreams of. My name has now become a verb. Not my real name, of course, but my less-than-double-secret-name, Jingle.

I was informed this morning that apparently, in certain circles, "to be jingled" means to have other persons have intimate physical relations disturbingly closeby. For example, "Liz is worried about being jingled this weekend because she is in a condo with mostly couples." The high council is still working out the exact usage, but this is the gist of it.

And YOU - and you know who you are - don't even THINK about blaming this on me!

Monday meanderings

2006-01-30T22:32:00.000-05:00

It's Monday night which means I'll be hard-pressed to turn off Animal Planet's Animal Cops (Michigan, SanFran, Houston, etc) marathon. I don't know why I watch this show - it usually just pisses me off. I could never be responsible for dealing with people who abused animals. I'd be arrested for beating the crap out of somebody.

Blew off SnB - again. Went to dinner and did a few rows of Inny tonight. Here's where she stands:
Slowly but surely. I was going to make the 'long version' but I think I may measure the hem-to-armhole distance on something that I know fits and see if it's closer to the short version or the long. Yes, I'm saying this largely because I'm tired of knitting it already. I am SUCH a process knitter. "What? I've mastered the 36-row repeat? Bored now..."

I worked on Kermit while waiting for the staff meeting to start this morning. People were most impressed, although I think it was more the self-striping yarn than anything else. I've turned the heel and have about an inch, inch and a half before I get to start to close on the toes. The picture makes it look kind of wonky - actually, my knitting makes it look wonky - but we'll see if it works.

Apparently there's some low-grade chatter going on about going on an Alaskan cruise in '07. I was fairly excited about going to Puerta Vallarta, but this may actually take precedence. I HATE cruises, but they keep coming up with ones I want to go on! Actually, an Alaskan cruise would probably be the last one I would take. At a glance, it looks like the price range is around $800-1000, not including the flight out to the West Coast. I guess I'll start saving money for that as soon as Italia is in the books.

Speaking of Italy - we have a SUPER tentative master plan. Leave the second week of Sept. and head to Venice, spend 3-4 days there, take the train to Firenze for a couple of days there, then train to Rome for another handful of days. If it ends up being too tight, we may cut out the pitstop in Firenze and maybe I'll just go back for a couple of days after Melyssa has to leave. She's a little more hamstrung by vacation time and work schedule than I am.

And your Team Hangover captain is...

2006-01-29T22:54:00.000-05:00

moi.

[Thanks to Beadslut for the nifty button that perfectly describes my day]

Last night was the holiday party and for some reason I decided to be stupid. Didn't eat enough, didn't drink enough water, and drank too much beer. Damn you Coors Light! I don't even LIKE Coors Light. There was dancing and drinking and kick-ass brownies. And contraptions that I couldn't begin to explain the uses of.

See, the party was at an S&M club. How I let myself be dragged into these things, I will never know. But aside from the various and sundry padded benches and what have you scattered about the cavernous, warehouse-y structure, it was kinda no big deal. Thank goodness for the shuttle buses though - finding my way to and fro sketchy SW is so not my idea of a good time.

It wasn't a particularly late night but apparently I did a fair amt of damage in a brief amount of time and I've been paying for it ever since. The good news is I talked to Santofer this morning (when they called at noon and woke me up). The four of them are on vacation in Phoenix for the tail end of her maternity leave. They were on their way to the zoo. Our lives are in such two totally different places.

I was finally able to pick up needles around 7 tonight so I started playing back my Tivo'd The Italian Job and worked on Inny. Just over 13" and counting - just about halfway done.

I'm sure this is my fault, too

2006-01-27T18:03:00.000-05:00

You'd think I would have a ton of frequent flier miles with the frequency with which I clearly fly to Atlanta to hold a gun to Stick's head, no? She has decided to do a cat bed or two for her kids (and maybe L's) running rampant in Buckhead for the Olympics. I merely suggested it as a possible project. Yvonne has started a Team Cat Bed and Ms. Stick says she signed up for the team. However, I just checked out Yvonne's blog and she says she hasn't heard from anyone. So we'll see what happens.

My extra yarn for Rose and Inny was delivered to work today, but now - as usual - I'm second-guessing my Olympic event. I'm being seduced by Alice from Magknits. I was thinking of doing it in a mossy green and khaki instead. I may swatch the design this weekend with some of the scrap yarn I have leftover from the Blanket Which Shall Not Be Named. It's still two weeks from today so I have plenty of time to decide what I want to do; although I'll have to buy yarn next week if I decide to go with Alice.

Workin' hard...

2006-01-26T15:21:00.000-05:00

...or hardly working?

After an incredibly productive morning - rebuilt computer and ordered new backup power sources - I've reverted back to type: blog surfing and instant messaging. I'm just putting off scheduling my sonogram and making my to-do list. Of course, I did manage to knit 15 rows of Banff while waiting for Windows Updates to load - it's the modern-day equivalent to watching paint dry.

I found this while cruising the long list of Knitting Olympic participants and their blogs and stole this from Suzy:

The list of places I've visited in 2005:
[I'm going to forget half the places I went; it's just what I do]

Columbus, OH
Dayton, OH
Philadelphia, PA
Baltimore, MD
Atlanta, GA
Providence, RI
Fenwick Island, DE
wilds of Central PA

Charlotte & Concord, NC

Amish Country & Long Pond, PA

Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Costa Maya, MX*
Ocho Rios, Jamaica*
Georgetown, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands*
Princess Cays, Bahamas*

[* cruise ports]

Inny, Inny - who can I turn to?

2006-01-25T22:54:00.000-05:00

Inny and I have had a fairly tumultuous relationship but I'm finally learning what she needs from me in order to be happy. She doesn't mind sharing my attention but she does want to receive the majority of it. She has no qualms at all about lulling me into a false sense of security before fouling me up with something as basic as a moss stitch. Most importantly, I've learned to work on other projects while watching Lost; I knocked out an inch or so on Kermit. Who says I can't be trained?

I went to KH tonight for late night - either they managed to drink all the wine before we got there or tonight was a dry night. Both are unthinkable. I did manage to knock out a couple of rows of Inny; I've finished about half of the first side so far. I shudder to think of the shoulder shaping, but I'll jump off that bridge when it comes.

This weekend is the holiday party and I'm just not that excited about it. Probably b/c I haven't been out and about in forever, but I could just as soon stay home and watch tv. When I first started knitting, it was to give me something to do with my hands while I was watching tv (so I wouldn't eat). Now I almost feel like I watch tv to have something to do with my eyes while I'm knitting.

Bought my ticket for Atlanta yesterday - all set for St. Patty's/race weekend. I think we're going to go check out the new Georgia Aquarium and maybe go on a tour at Coca-Cola. It probably won't be anywhere near as snazzy as the tour at Guinness, but little would be.

There's something seriously wrong with me

2006-01-22T23:41:00.000-05:00

I essentially spent the entire weekend knitting. I alternated between ye olde Inishmore and Kermit, but probably spent more time on Inny. All those knits through the back loop and mini cables and chart reading. And do you know where I made the biggest mistake?

Moss stitch.

I spent an hour fixing a moss stitch mistake. I thought long and hard about just leaving it but I knew it was going to be another of those situations where it was going to drive me bonkers every time I looked at it, so I attacked my work with a dpn, a crochet hook and a Yeungling. It all worked out in the end.

As for Kermit, I clumsily turned the heel and have done a couple of inches along the foot, but it's slow going. I somehow lost a stitch somewhere in the heel-turning portion of our program, going from 70 to 69. I've chosen to ignore it. I'm getting good at it.

So, apparently everyone has a Knitting Olympics project in mind except for moi.
Ketchup Girl - multidirectional scarf
Steph - Zeeby bag or something with her hot pink yarn
Stick - hmmm, she may not have decided yet either
I'm going to need to come up with something soon so I can email the Harlot and figure out if I need to get any yarn/needles.

I am NOT an Enabler!!!

2006-01-20T16:20:00.000-05:00

Having said that, the Yarn Harlot has brainstormed the 2006 Knitting Olympics. We all know my rousing success with completing objects so this is either setting myself up for disaster or it's going to provide me with the encouragement and the deadline I need to get my act in gear. Who am I kidding, I'm just doing it for the blog button.

Now, the rub is that I have to come up with a project that I think I have the faintest hope of finishing in 16 days, from Opening Ceremonies to the extinguishing of the flame (which always makes me cry). I could cast on Soliel or Banff or my long-forgotten Booga Bag, or head to the Klubhouse for something new.

*ahem* Since I thought the Knitting Olympics was a clever idea, I forwarded the idea to a couple of friends, just to share information. At least one of these friends has managed to confuse me sharing a tidbit of information with being held at gunpoint and being forced to buy new yarn, needles and patterns and embark on an impossible quest. It must also be noted that aforementioned twisted friend forwarded the idea to two additional people, yet THEIR involvement is also my responsibility. I'm not entirely sure how that works, but I try not to delve too deeply into the inner workings of her mind. It's a scary place.

I don't really have any plans this weekend so it looks like some quality time with Kermit (the sock that's been frogged repeatedly) and Inishmore.

Back to the OR

2006-01-19T13:32:00.000-05:00

Unfortunately, Señor Calcetín developed complications overnight and is back in surgery this afternoon.

The good news is, Hogan is doing extremely well on her bolero jacket. Here she is posing with her work so that Stick could send an update.

My allergy to exercise is rearing its ugly head. I strolled over to a friend's house to watch Lost last night and today - Snotfest '06. Joy.

Vegas, baby!

2006-01-18T10:37:00.000-05:00

No, I'm not heading to Nevada anytime soon, but Chad & Jimmie are - in more ways than one. In addition to heading to Vegas for testing in two weeks, Chimmie is apparently going to be on an episode of NBC's show, Las Vegas, tentatively scheduled to air the first week of February. Mmmm, Josh Duhamel and Chimmie all in one episode. Good times.

After frogging 3" of Inishmore on Sunday, I cast back on Monday morning and have only gotten about 5" into it. I'm a slow knitter under normal circumstances, but this particular pattern takes me about 20 minutes per row and that's not counting having to undo the odd mistake. Once again, I performed a minor boo-boo while working on Inishmore and trying to catch up on Lost. How long will it take me to learn that the two just don't mix?

I swung by Knit Happens on Saturday afternoon so that M could get a replacement sheep and I could ask my sock mentor about those crazy backwards yarnovers. She said I was doing it right - YAY ME! - but as I was pulling the sock out of my bag to bring to work this a.m., apparently five or so stitches and yarnovers committed wooly suicide and leapt off the needle. If I have any chance of saving it, it will be under the flourescent lighting in my office. Surgery is scheduled for lunchtime.

Checklist part deux

2006-01-16T10:31:00.000-05:00

Bears rolling belly-up in their last performance of the season - check
Frogging 3" of Inishmore because somehow it's behaving differently than the test swatch - check
Forget to reset alarm so that I'm woken up at 7:00 a.m. on a day I don't have work - check

I'm cruising right along, no?
And I forgot to mention the American tragedy I witnessed a couple of nights ago. I was channel-surfing latenight on Saturday and noticed that Top Gun was coming on at 1:00 a.m. There are certain movies in the world that I find it difficult to turn off, regardless of the time, regardless of whether or not I own it on DVD - Top Gun is one of them.

So, I flip on over to WGN and settle in, promising myself I'd flip it off after the volleyball scene, thereby giving myself a definite bedtime. I'm cruising along, muttering the lines aloud in the silence of my room, complaining at all of the fun "Edited for Television" omissions that have been made, then we get to the pre-volleyball scene. You know, the one where they're in the classroom and she's advising him on his work ("If I reversed on a hard cross I could immediately go to guns on him...") and she invites him to dinner. Blah blah blah, "It takes a lot more than just fancy flying," she walks away, he smiles, and what is SUPPOSED to happen is he gets up to walk out, Slider mimics the model airplane going down, he mockingly says "Crash and burn, Mav?", Mav leans in, sniffs, says "Slider, you stink!", Slider slyly sniffs his underarms, Sundown laughs at him, Slider slams the model airplane down on the desk and you hear the opening bars of Kenny Loggins' "Playing with the Boys" as we switch the volleyball scene.

What happened was, "It takes a lot more than just fancy flying," end scene, then Mav's driving up to her house on his motorcycle.

EXCUSE ME?!? Now, I'm all for editing for content and even editing for time on television but you do NOT cut the volleyball scene out of Top Gun. Drop a flyby, drop a few seconds out of each dogfight, but the volleyball scene? That's just wrong.

Checklist

2006-01-15T16:39:00.000-05:00

Beer - check
Hint of Lime Tostitos - check
Salsa - check
Bears gear - check
Coffee - check
Inishmore - check
Cookies - baking
Bears v. Panthers - kickoff pending

So far, the Seahawks, Steelers and the Broncos are through to their respective conference championship games. Let's go Bears!

I'm debating the wisdom of working on Inishmore while watching a big game and drinking beer, but since when have I done the right thing? And the Panthers have already scored; I don't think passing on the beer is an option. At least it's in my snazzy -immie bottle coozy.

Ketchup Girl RULES!

2006-01-15T11:58:00.000-05:00

It's a Sunday and I'm posting from home. AWWW YEAH! M came over Friday night after work (and minor bribery in the form of chips, a swirl and soft tacos at Rio Grande) and after hours of head-scratching and DOS for dummies, we managed to save enough of my critical documents - read pictures and music - to comfortably reinstall Windows and embark on a weekend of software CD plugging.

Knoppix rules and people who create viruses just need to be beaten. That's all I have to say on the matter.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

2006-01-13T16:34:00.000-05:00

...while also the title of a Clint Eastwood movie, pretty much sums up my weekend.

The Good: MY YARN ARRIVED!!! All that ceaseless worrying about having to actually complete a project I have on needles was for naught! Lainey's just gonna have to wait til the Inishmore makes me cry;

The Bad: I have got to attack my room. It's out of control. There are bills to be paid and software to be found. And the laundry. Dear God, the laundry; and

The Ugly: The laptop. I have no words for the fear and trepedation that my home computer situation breeds in my soul. Fortunately, Lauren & M may have some software that will make at least file salvage possible before beginning the arduous process of rebuilding the sucker from the ground up.

Wish me luck - on all of the above.

This cannot be happening

2006-01-12T11:44:00.000-05:00

So, Tuesday night I noticed my computer was a little squirrely so I decided to do the responsible thing. I toddled off to Staples after work yesterday and bought updated anti-virus software then dashed home to install it. Dropped the CD in the drive, clicked on cdstart, followed the onscreen directions, did the requisite reboot then....SPLAT.

Nothing.

Big pretty wildflower wallpaper and that's all she wrote. Can't access anything. Drives unmapped, extensions disassociated, the whole kit and kaboodle. It really just makes me want to cry. Not to mention kick myself for letting my system go so long without definition updates. There's no anger quite like that which is self-directed.

M had a simlar thing happen to her a couple of months ago so I'll be throwing myself on her mercy this weekend. Hopefully not all will be lost.

The only good news to come out of yesterday was flipping on restrictor plate testing last night and seeing JG and -immie tucked up nose to tail at Daytona. Just made me smile. Can't wait for Daytona. 38 days and counting.

Year of the Sweater

2006-01-11T12:12:00.000-05:00

Some time ago I decided I was finally going to try my Inishmore, but I didn't want to undertake a big ol' sweater all by my lonesome so I told all of my little knitting minions that 2006 was to be the Year of the Sweater. Since I get blamed for everyone's activities anyway, I figured I'd just drag them down with me.

Stick, not being remotely obsessive or compulsive, is already done with the back and one front panel of her Bolero Jacket from Debbie Bliss. On the opposite end of the spectrum, M & S haven't even chosen their patterns yet. M is on the verge of narrowing it down between a hoodie, a pullover and a cardigan, and S has some expensive, hot pink yarn that she bought last year and has no idea what she wants to make.

Me, I'm just waiting for my Snickerdoodle to get here so I can start on my Inishmore this weekend. Knit Picks claims it shipped yesterday so hopefully it'll get here by Friday. I didn't shell out for expedited shipping though, so I'm not holding my breath. I can at least show you what my practice swatch looks like. Not too shabby if I say so myself. I haven't decided if doing my sweater in a lighter color than the swatch is good or bad; we'll just have to wait and see.

Da Bears' playoff game is Sunday afternoon. I think VAM and I are going to head to Bailey's to watch it but I may bring my feeble attempt at a sock with me. Although I know the knitting community winces at the notion of taking yarn into a smoky sports bar, the fact that these suckers are going on my feet (which don't exactly smell like roses...all of the time) makes me a little more flexible.

!@$#%^&* Asparagus

2006-01-10T10:13:00.000-05:00

Stick is often reduced to helpless giggles after receiving text messages that read, "!#$%*&! asparagus pee!" Somehow I always manage to forget that I've consumed asparagus and am briefly terrified by the thought that something has crawled up inside me and died in order to produce such a rancid odor. Nah, it's just vegetables.

Steph affectionately refers to me as WebGirl, and in an effort to live up to my name, I went about researching asparagus pee this a.m. From The Straight Dope:

Serious scientific research in this field dates back to 1891, when M. Nencki tentatively identified a compound known as methanethiol as the culprit. The odor appears within an hour after eating just a few spears of the offending vegetable.
According to Allison and McWhirter (1956), the ability to produce the odor is controlled by a single autosomal (i.e., non-sex-related) dominant gene. In a sample of 115 persons, 46 were rendered fragrant by asparagus and 63 were not. (This leaves 6 mysteriously unaccounted for. Urology is an inexact science, I guess.)
In 1975 one Robert H. White, then with the chemistry department at the University of California at San Diego, found that the odor-causing chemical was not methanethiol after all.
Instead, using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Bob was obviously not one to screw around), he found that the aroma was in fact caused by several S-methyl thioesters, specifically S-methyl thioacrylate and S-methyl 3-(methylthio)thiopropionate.

So, I have a mutant smelly asparagus pee gene.

Awwwww yeah!

2006-01-09T21:53:00.000-05:00

Testing at Daytona started today. Watching Speed's condensed coverage now - JG was fastest but Chimmie was right behind him in this morning's practice session; Chimmie was 2nd to B. Elliott in the afternoon session. As usual, -immie deflected the praise to the guys in the engine shop and the rest of the team who worked hard in the off-season. Just love him.

I needed to take a break from knitting. I finally finished the third disk of Lost (season 1) but apparently I got a little too wrapped up in what was going on with Claire and Sawyer and Jack and the rest of the folks from flight 815 that I either dropped a stitch or did something else colossally stupid and now I have to unknit about 250 stitches to try to figure out what's going on.

I'm not amused.

Wine might help.

And I wonder why I'm single

2006-01-08T11:59:00.000-05:00

This was yet another fab weekend of putting myself out there into situations where I can't help but meet single young men. Let's see, Friday night started with Jason's going-away party, part 4. We went to Il Mee for Korean BBQ - mmmmm, meat. I thought it was pretty tasty but not everyone was impressed. I definitely ate more than I should have. The curse of the all-you-can-eat buffet.

After din-din, big sis, P and I went to see a late-night showing of Walk the Line. I'm not totally sure what my reaction is. I mean, I liked their performances I guess but maybe I didn't like the direction? I can't quite put my finger on it.

Saturday was just as lame, maybe moreso. A mani-pedi with Melyssa and knitting/movies at her place after. I finished my Hermione - YAY - and did a couple of rows on the Inishmore of doom swatch. Today was more knitting with different friends. I showed my friend Pam the basics of knitting and purling and we watched Must Love Dogs. I just love John Cusack.

Apparently Pete is en route to Afghanistan. He left Mississippi last night, spent some QT in Jersey today and should be over the Atlantic now. Although he and I are barely friends anymore, I'll add him to the list of people serving in our armed forces that I now have to worry about - Lickie, Craig, Bastard and Turtle to name a few. I'm sure there are others serving that I've forgotten but I hope they're looked after as well. I'm just sick of having to worry about it.

I'm watching Dr. No (shocking!) and they just paddled their canoe ashore right next to Dunn's River Falls - hey, I've been there! And here comes the famous shot of Honey Ryder/Ursula Andress coming out of the sea. They haven't shown the pier where our cruise ship docked yet.

I've more or less stopped complaining about my single status and more or less have determined that I'll be single for eternity and have tried to figure out what I can have instead of cats that will still fulfill my spinster requirements. At the same time, I fully acknowledge that I don't do anything to meet people. No personal ads (answering or placing), no letting friends set me up on blind dates, no bar trawling, no taking classes, joining groups or even going out to places were I won't just hang out with the same people all the time.

Even though I fully acknowledge that it's my own personality foibles that keep me locked in this pattern, I don't know what to do about it. Everytime I try to go against my nature to be more outgoing and more personable and more flirtatious I just end up feeling like a fraud and even more uncomfortablein my own skin than I usually am. Who knows.

Living up to the name

2006-01-06T13:20:00.000-05:00

It's been pretty hard to live up to the name of this blog lately. NASCAR's in the midst of its brief offseason and I haven't really sat still long enough to do a whole lot of knitting. Whatever delusions I had of accomplishing much knitting over the course of NYE weekend were quickly put to rest - there was Guinness present.

I did work quite a bit on my Hermione the other night and just need to dig out my dpns so I can finish up the crown. Fortunately, D.C. hasn't been particularly cold this winter so I'm not dying without woolen headgear. Next up, I have GOT to work on my Inishmore test. The Inishmore is like my Holy Grail - my Eleanor - of sweaters. I probably shouldn't even waste my time but if I never cast the sucker on, I'll never know. I definitely have to cast it on before the season starts, because I'll never be able to do all that detail work while watching a race. Socks and Banff are good race-day knitting.

Daytona testing starts next week. There will be half-hour snippets on Speed next week, but I haven't decided if I'm going to watch or not. I'll prolly Tivo them and ffwd to see if there are any Chimmie sightings.

The most exciting NASCAR development is that Stick bought our tickets for the Golden Corral 500!!! W'HOO! And that teensy matter of her working her connections to get us pit passes for race day! Now I just have to keep her unbroken through St. Patty's so we'll be ready to play at o'dark-thirty on the 19th. What do you think the chances are that she won't have fun and we won't have to go through another round of, "Jingle, it's all your fault"?

My New Year's Resolution...kinda

2006-01-03T22:12:00.000-05:00

My dad and Hallmark inadvertantly provided me with my New Year's resolution in the form of my birthday e-card. Cheesy, but here goes:

Embrace each day
Laugh often
Smile like you mean it
Seek your own style
Think your own way
Dance
Dream
Believe in how strong you are
Trust your gut
Be unique
Be sweet
Be sassy
Be yourself

It's a lot to take on and at LEAST as difficult as "losing weight" or "going to the gym" - quite possibly moreso for me. We'll see what happens.

Happy New Year!

2006-01-02T22:03:00.000-05:00

Once again, I need a vacation from my vacation. Lake Anna was big fun with only minimal drama; for the most part, everyone had a blast and we're looking into group rates for Betty Ford or any other detoxing center of our choice.

Things I learned in the last 96 hours:

None of our brains work the same way and I think that's a good thing - Apples to Apples.
Nearly everyone cheats at drinking games
Motley excels at bodily functions
We all snore
40 Year-Old Virgin is way funnier with subtitles on
None of us could ever chug syrup without becoming violently ill
For some reason, lying on a dock at o'dark-thirty in the morning is both a good idea and hysterically funny
After a while, blue tarps, baby oil and kitchen utensils seem like perfectly normal sex-essories
No trip is complete without hard hats/protective headgear: see testing KEG's protective gear or sliding down the steps headfirst on a cot mattress
It is possible to laugh your way to tighter abs - my gut is killing me.
Who needs shenanigans when you've got plastic wrap and aluminum foil?
We make excellent guinea pigs for Bang and Snatch's wedding presents
Next year's house needs more furniture and more bedrooms
Stick really shouldn't shoot tequila. Ever.
Do it!
I seriously overestimated the amount of quiet, knitting time I'd have at my disposal (but I did manage to get a little work done on my Hermione)

Is it just me...?

2005-12-30T00:30:00.000-05:00

Or do normal people not stay up all night to pack the night before they have to travel to locales far and near? This trip is a little more complicated because I'm cooking and packing kitchen supplies, etc. - I can't believe the mixer broke in the middle of making 'nog! I hope it's drinkable. We'll see tomorrow.

Since I'm already procrastinating, I'll tell you about my birthday. =) S & W schemed a smallish dinner party at W's house for about 15 people or so and I had a GREAT time. Having a birthday that falls in the 'valley of death' as I affectionately refer to it is sometimes difficult to pull off but they did it wonderfully. Frankly, any excuse I have to eat W's cooking is good by me. He, Steve & untold others prepared this asparagus soup with potato and chicken stock and other stuff, handmade summer rolls with shrimp, mini burgers cooked on the grill and finally, the City Ham from Good Eats. It was fabulous!

I got a handful of presents but it was really nice just to have good friends and good food around me as I entered my mid-thirites.

Warm, fuzzy feelings

2005-12-29T15:43:00.000-05:00

I love to fly. LOVE it! I wake up at the crack of dawn like a little kid on Christmas morning whenever I have to travel, get to the airport early and am all excited to hop on my plane, buckle my seat belt and let 'er rip. This is largely why this story just makes me laugh instead of freak out.

Tuesday morning, I got to the airport a good two hours early, spent some quality time with my McGriddle and my coffee while waiting for my flight to be called, then boarded my plane with the rest of my Zone 4 posse. We finally get all snuggled in and ready to go and the first officer gets on the horn and does his little song and dance.

"Blah blah blah, Seth is our captain this morning, I'm First Officer Joe and Lindsay will be serving you in the cabin today."*

Whoa whoa whoa! First thought: Dear G-d, 2Lips is in charge of flying the plane. Second thought: I'm all for maintaining a certain professional distance between my flight crew and myself. I don't need to be on a first name basis with them, we're not going out for drinks, I'm not getting them a Christmas present - we can maintain a certain level of mystery in our relationship. Please, you be Captain Jones and First Officer Smith and I'll be your happy passenger. That's all I'm saying.

So, I chuckled to myself (as I so often do) and dozed through Lindsay explaining the safety protocol on our Embraer whatever whatever commuter jet. Although I know it bothers a lot of people, I especially love takeoffs and landings (especially at National; I know - I'm sick). So, we're sitting at the end of the long-ass runway at Port Columbus International Airport and Joe gets back on the microphone to inform us we're first in line for takeoff. Excellent, here we go.

We make the last turn to lineup at the end of the runway and pause momentarily. They do whatever magical pilot sh!t it is they do up front, and the pitch of the engines gets higher and I feel the thrust throw me back into my seat. I grin to myself as the plane starts to roll...

THUD!

For the record, NOT a sound you want to hear during takeoff.

Engines throttle back and we make a lazy left back off the runway.

Here comes our friend Joe: "Well, folks, some of you may have noticed but the cockpit door just fell open. We've got that all taken care of now and we're going to circle back to the end of the runway and we should be up in the air in just a few moments."

Um. The cockpit door fell open? Excellent! I get funny looks from security folks for my knitting needles, but Elmer Fudd and Yosemite Sam can't manage to lock a door.

Feliz cumpleaños a mi

2005-12-28T14:55:00.000-05:00

Today's Birthday Dec. 28: It's your year for maverick moves, some of which won't even make sense to you. But you have an idea, and enough faith in it to fall forward - someone will catch you. January brings a historic encounter. Family figures favorably into finances. Investments in February are golden. Wedding bells ring in April. Libra and Scorpio are adoring partners.

WHAT?!?!?

Let's reflect on how very wrong this entire horror-scope is.

Maverick moves - oh yeah, that's me all over.
Family figuring in finances? - well, if you count the money I got from my grandmother for my birthday, I suppose that's not entirely cracked.
Investments in February? Is that when I'm buying my plane ticket to Italy?
Wedding bells in April? I don't know who they're talking about but it's certainly not moi.
The only Scorpio I know is Dr. T and the only person he's adoring is S (and I don't even know if she's a Libra), so I'm not sure where they're going with that either.

So, insane horoscope aside, so far it's been a good day. My boss took me to lunch, I got the aforementioned $ from my grandmother (which went straight into the vacation jar), I got the NASCAR pets calendar from Rebecca (Killer and Junior are hanging on my wall as we speak), and I get to hang with friends and food tonight. I'm just hoping they don't break me too badly - I do have to work tomorrow.

Knitting...no, really!

2005-12-27T20:15:00.000-05:00

So, I really need to get knitting. I didn't do as much as I'd thought I would over the holidays, despite my whirlwind tour of greater Franklin County in search of accoutrement. There was a situation with the Hermione hat that I didn't get worked out until I was at the airport this a.m. I did some knitting last night on the Inishmore test but I was at the point where I needed to change to a larger needle size and I didn't have it.

Holly was also good enough to give me another (I think I'm up to my third) copy of the sock pattern. I have to figure out what I'm going to take to Lake Anna. I have to take my socks because I'm apparently teaching Stick - LOL, riiiiiiight.

OOH, speaking of Stick (and to add in that hint o' NASCAR) she got us kick-bootie pit passes to the Atlanta race in March! W'HOO! Yet another addition to the Stick ROCKS! encyclopedia.

However, don't believe her if she (or her mug) says she's an innocent bystander. Lies. All lies.

Home again, home again, jiggity jog

2005-12-27T16:16:00.000-05:00

U.S. Airways got me home safe and sound about 20 minutes ahead of schedule this a.m. Had to wait almost an hour for Stick's plane to land, but she eventually got here too and we loaded up her rental car and headed to Old Town for lunch at Union Street and a fly-by at Knit Happens. She dropped me off a little while ago and now I'm home procrastinating upending my luggage into the washing machine and attacking my room (the goat) to make it spit out my keys, which disappeared before I flew home.

We had a good visit with Sweetie for Christmas and the day after. I was actually surprised that more family didn't do a fly-by while we were there, but I saw two of my cousins and my uncle while we were there. I still have to mail my aunt and cousin their Xmas presents. I SO don't have my act together.

Somehow over the course of the next couple of days, I have to manage to celebrate my birthday, work two days, use 3 coupons, bake for the trip to the lake, make a new packing list, do laundry, pack...I clearly have no time for this!

Happy Chrismukkah!

2005-12-25T21:07:00.000-05:00

With all the napping I've been doing lately, I haven't quite had the time (nor inclination, really) to do any blogging. Ohio has pretty much been the thrill-a-minute it always has been. Thursday passed without incident, just yarn store hopping. Friday was pretty tame for the most part. I met up with Tom, his girl Sandra, her friend Mike and Jon-Jon for drinks at a cool new bar called the Surly Girl Saloon. We had a couple of drinks and some munchies there before I headed home around 2. As usual, my mother started the evening by not only giving me the "Be careful out there" speech, but told me to call home THREE times during the course of the evening. I'm sorry, Ma. I can handle big, bad Washington, DC - I'm pretty sure I've got a handle on Columbus.

By and large the evening was a lot of fun - the only sour spot was at the end of the night when Tom told me I wouldn't be invited to their wedding. First off, they're not engaged yet, but they're on the verge - she was "hoping for hardware" by the new year. But when I was finally able to talk to him when she wasn't around he said he was basically doing it for her and it would probably be super-small - just family. I can respect that, I s'pose, but it still hurt my feelings a smidge. Once more, proof positive that he means more to me than I do to him. Then again, he could've just been getting me back for all my chit-chat about NASCAR, country music and the fact that I don't totally dig France.

We didn't drive down to Dayton 'til this morning. Something about strained sleeping arrangements since my cousin is currently living with my grandmother. A handful of family just left so the house is quieting back down again. I'm sure things will pick back up tomorrow - my uncle is supposed to come back by for sure.

Countdown is on: 36 hours til my flight leaves for D.C.