Twilight and Sookie Stackhouse

Saw New Moon. Yeah, I am so not the target audience on that one! I was rooting for the Vamp over the Were, but only by a hair (pardon the pun). "Rooting" is probably too strong a word. Maybe I should say I was less indifferent about the Vamp than I was about the Were.

Michael Sheen, Christopher Heyerdahl, Dakota Fanning and Graham Greene were good. Greene has 3 lines, gets killed off and was pretty much wasted. I adore that man!

There was something in Fanning's performance that reminded me of Claudia -- Interview with the Vampire "I know! Not in the house!"In general the Volturi provided a moment of interest.

Teenage angst! OMG!!! I wanted to yell "Bite her, for godsake!" just to get it done. Bite me if I ever have to see that movie again!

Maybe the books are better?

The Sookie Stackhouse books certainly are better. I must say I love Eric. Smarmy weasel vampire with a sense of humor and a tad bit of caring. Bill -- pain in the ass from the word go.

I think I need to rent True Blood. Anna Paquin certainly has changed since "The Piano" and the ads for the Internet.

In the meantime I am knitting mittens for Amy. She gave me hand-spun, hand-dyed alpaca and I will give her back mittens and the rest of the yarn. I told her two weeks and this Sunday is the deadline. No worries.

I had to play with the shaping a bit. Once I got that the rest was about 3 hours each and it's all over but the tucking in of threads.

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Nantucket Jacket III

I don't remember exactly when I started it. Not exactly the day or the time. I don't remember casting on. I had gotten the back finished and was 1/2 way through the fronts when I stopped. The Nantucket Jacket.

I love the style of this jacket. I love the pattern. I love the yarn I chose. So why did I put it down and forget about it for so long?

Who knows!

I started it some time after New Year's 2007. I started my new job in February of that year and I remember knitting this during lunch. I had knee surgery a month or so later. Dan died later that year. In the meantime there was an office move. But how this got put away, I don't know.

About a month ago, mom and I were going through my stash and she saw this poor orphaned project just lying there. I pulled it out and started to work on it again. I bought the buttons and last night I finally finished sewing it together and put the buttons on.

Today I am wearing my brand new sweater. Yay!!

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Nantucket Jacket II

A UFO done. The Nantucket Jacket is finished and (woohoo!) almost ready to wear! It's good for the office because the "heat" isn't.

Blowing cool air is blowing cool air no matter what the thermostat says. It's the breeze and sitting in the draft that will get you. Whoever had the brilliant idea of making the units blow constantly and only at medium should be made to sit in front of this damned thing in the winter!

So luckily the Nantucket Sweater has a nice big shawl collar. I think I might knit this again but this time make it a bit longer and make the sleeves 3/4 instead of 1/2.

Bergschaf yarn is marvelous and never should have been discontinued. Okay, so there was the small detail of the mill or warehouse not paying taxes and forcing closure of the company because they couldn't get their stock out. But that's just details.

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The Shroud of Turin

A friend of mine is getting her doctoral. I've thought a long time about going back for mine but as I did some research I found a problem: I can't find anywhere near me that teaches what I want to learn! So I think I might have to get an honorary Internet doctoral -- meaning I spend a lot of time looking around on the Internet and reading everything I can find on a topic and let it go at that. ::sigh:: Not what I had in mind.

If I could do whatever I wanted and study wherever I wanted I would have to do a combined course of study anyway. Here's how it all came about:

Several years ago I was looking at Time Magazine's cover on a piece they did about most recent Shroud of Turin study. I wonder why, as a total non-science person, I knew they were not doing the tests correctly but the science people didn't know.

I knew that the Shroud had been in a fire and the part of the Shroud they said they were testing was from a later date than the body of the Shroud itself. I know that there's an organism that eats smoke and that, even if a thread of the main body was chosen, it would have to be cleaned before testing or all that would be tested was the leftover Medieval organism. I know carbon dating for a piece of fabric from that age is less reliable than if that test were done on a 3 billion old piece of pottery.

What I did not know was the Shroud was made of a bast fiber woven in a herringbone twill and that there is what looks to be a weaving error across the forehead.

So there I was; looking at the photo of the face on the Shroud. That got me thinking: before this piece of cloth was imprinted with the image and however it was imprinted, it was simply a piece of cloth. Is the weaving error what caused it to become a shroud? Was it intended as a table covering or dress fabric but because of the error it was thrown into the shroud pile? Or was it intended as a shroud when it was woven? Was the error (if it indeed exists) put there on purpose as some cultures do?

These questions are ones that can no longer be answered with absolute certainty. The one who knows has been dead for a couple thousand years. We might be able to give a good guess but that's all it would be -- a good guess.

So the inter-discipline would be anthy and curation. I'd like to study fabrics of the middle ages, know how to preserve it, know the history of different fibers in different areas and know when something's a fake because that fiber wasn't around in the time period. I'd also like to know how people used the fibers and how they felt about not just the fabrics but the people who created them.

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Knitting UFOs

Mom and I were looking through my stash to see if there was anything she could use. Since she knits worsted weight sweaters for toddlers and I knit lace shawls, socks and generally do fine work, I was betting there was nothing in my stash that would interest her.

However, we cam across one of my UFOs. It's the Nantucket Jacket from Interweave Knits that I started almost 3 years ago! I had the back done and was almost to the armholes on the sides but that's as far as I got. I think I might have gained too much weight for it now but I won't know until I finish. Mom keeps saying she'd like to have it if I can't wear it and her wish might come true!

I have started working on it again and am really enjoying it. Even though I am looking at the sock, thigh-high stockings, mitts and a plethora of other projects in both weaving and knitting that still have to be done.

To make matters worse, I am planning projects. That's what comes from pawing through the stash. Planning projects! I have to find more storage space for stash I keep acquiring and planning. I found the yarn and the patterns for several more projects. I bought it all at the same time for patterns that came from the same magazine. None of them got started except the Nantucket Jacket.

The other day I got some beautiful Sari silk yarn. That's for some warp threads in a weaving but what it will be used with and when it will be used are up in the air. There is some ribbon yarn at Knitter's Underground I have had my eye on for over a year. I haven't gotten it and I'm not sure what I'd do with it if I were in possession of said yarn. I don't know that not knowing the use is any reason not to buy the yarn anyway but there's the excuse for not buying it.

I think I need to find an independently wealthy sugar daddy or win the lottery.

Oh! I had forgotten I got that yarn for the autumnal entrelac bag! Gotta go!

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Colony Collapse, Center for Disease Control and knitting socks

I have colony collapse disorder (CCD) on the brain. And too Center for Disease Control (CDC).

I was reading a sock pattern and it says "k2, p2, k3, yo, CCD" ... say, what?

So I read it again. "k2, p2, k3, yo, CDC" ... that's still not right.

What it really says is k2, p2, k3, yo, CDD" for "center double decrease". I guess we've done a few too many stories about colony collapse and H1N1. Not in the same story, of course, since I doubt swine flu has anything to do with bees. Anymore than it does with knitting, come to think of it.

When the whole "swine flu" thing hit the news, our unit started getting calls from students and parents alike. I thought if I got one more call asking if they could continue to eat pork, I was going to respond "Not if you keep kosher."

I guess that's why the CDC and media now try to refer to the strain as H1N1 -- so people don't associate it with pigs. Parents were concerned that the dining halls would serve pork and their child would get swine flu. They have much more to worry about if Johnny or Susie get sneezed on, share a drink, kiss or use someone's pen than if they eat pork. Unless, of course, they keep kosher.

Now I'll get back to CDD and try to keep bees and swine out of it all.

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My Miss Iggy

I have to face reality. My little kitty is getting on in years. The vet sent a reminder about scheduling a "geriatric" check-up.

True, Miss Iggy is somewhere around 13 or 14 years and she's getting some white hair but she really doesn't seem to have changed much over the years. She still gets her 20 hours of sleep a day. She still keeps me up all night playing the "in-and-out" game. She still loves to chase what moves and she loves tossing her catnip bag around. Miss Iggy is as picky about her food as she ever was and her favorite napping spot is my mom's lap.

I do not think of her as "geriatric." She's my baby; she's not an old lady.

One thing has changed: I debate about taking her for a check-up. Her shots are necessary and I don't hesitate to make the appointment for those. But a check-up? Is that really worth all the stress it puts her under? I'm not all that sure.

Miss Iggy is one-of-a-kind. Even in the cat world where "quirky" is the norm, Iggy stands alone. She came to me in a roundabout way. Iggy -- or Cassie, as she was then known -- started life as a stray. When she was about 2 she was adopted by a woman who now lives in the next building down. Things went well for Iggy until the woman decided she would foster dogs for a local pet rescue.

The dogs were big; Miss Iggy was small. This did not make for a happy family! The dogs would not leave her alone. She would try to take refuge in a closet but sometimes that was not enough. The woman had to resort to drugging this little cat.

One day Iggy saw her opportunity and she took it! Out the door and again into life as a stray. The guy living next door to my mom left his door open all the time. Miss Iggy adopted him right away. She walked in, jumped up on his bed, said "Lucy, I'm home" and went to sleep. He had everything she needed: a nice place to sleep and no other animals. She could provide the food if he didn't.

When Andrew went away on term breaks or for business, Miss Iggy came to me. When Andrew got a job elsewhere, I acquired all Miss Iggy's accouterments and after a two week disappearance, I became the chosen one. Except for when I went to work. Then mom became the chosen one.

Now things are even easier on our little girl. Since mom and I now live in the same place, Iggy doesn't have to run back and forth between our condo units.

My friend Alex had a cat that her family decided had to be put to sleep. Alex was understandably distraught. I certainly would be!

For a long time Alex waffled about getting another cat. She adores them but for a while she would cat-sit for others and not have a kitty of her own. Sure, there are all sorts of considerations you have to take into account when you have a cat, but owners tend to take that in stride just as anyone with any other pet does.

The difference is: it's true -- dog's have owners; cat's have staff. So I look at Iggy as an example: she chose me to wait on her, hand and foot. I'm sure there are many people who would have taken her in and been glad to have such a sweet-tempered little lady allowing them to share her space.

Alex finally did take in a cat. It was one that she would have over when his human would go away. Alex is now his human and she couldn't be happier. It happened in the best way, just like it did for me. Not with a lot of planning, but as the perfect alignment of chance, timing and opportunity. The cat chose her as his servant and she accepted the job.

Alex is happy with Mr. Filou. Mr. Filou is happy with Alex.

I am happy with Miss Iggy and I think Miss Iggy is happy with me. Just as long as I don't take her to the vet for frivolous check-ups. And if I could please not take her for shots. While I'm at it, start reading her mind so I know what she really wants for supper and not go through the several cans til I get it right.

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Yarn, Tupelo honey and CCD

I was a bad girl. I went to the yarn shop in Duncansville. I was going to go with Ruth but she was sick. Mom decided she wanted to ride along. What a lovely day it turned out to be!

I wasn't going to buy yarn. I really wasn't! No! REALLY!! But Carla got Louet's Gems in and she had it in lavender and one with a lavender stripe and she was gently waving them back and forth at me and I could hear them calling my name and ...

well ... I caved. Alright? I caved.

Mom was pretty good about it. The color, I mean. I could hear her mentally screaming "NOT PURPLE!" but she didn't vocalize.

Then we went next door to the tea shop. I treated mom and myself to a fresh-brewed iced tea. Heavenly. That's also when I picked up my Tupelo honey.

As it turns out, Tupelo honey is very expensive for honey. All honey has increased in price since CCD (colony collapse disorder). Even the naff stuff you get from the supermarket has gotten more expensive. Just because the bees aren't given special pollen to collect doesn't mean its any easier or that more are around to do it.

We(Penn State in general and University Relations in particular) have been putting out stories on CCD for a couple years (big surprise since several of our researchers are leading the investigations into the cause!) but out at Ag Progress I learned a couple of things: CCD isn't any closer to be solved because more possibilities for the cause keep popping up; it doesn't affect all colonies in the same area; honeybees, while being "general" pollinators, do not pollinate every flour, fruit and vegetable. The bumbles take care of the tomatoes. Now I'm sure if there was not much else to select from, a honeybee might deign to stop by a tomato plant but that's not their pollen of choice.

Of course CCD isn't affecting the other bees because they aren't the communal creatures honeybees are. By the same token honeybees are the ones with the honey.

All this talk of pesticides in the hive wax makes me wonder about burning beeswax candles. I really hate the idea of not being able to have my beeswax candles.

Back to the Tupelo. I did have a moment of guilt thinking about the hard work the bees did and the decreasing number of bees. However that moment passed rather quickly. There is also another honey I saw that I need to get then next time: rosemary and lavender! I have no idea how that will taste since the honey doesn't taste like the pollen doesn't taste like the flower.

Poor bees. No two ways about it, I'll be snapping up more of their yummy honey. They'll just have to learn to deal. After all, this is about me and not them, Uh hu. Sure.

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Ball game, yarn, Tupelo honey and a movie

Last night I went to a ball game. I love the Spikes. The atmosphere is great. The people sitting around us are usually very nice; lots of fun at the park! Last night was no exception even if we did lose. The one pitcher walked the based loaded and then walked one home.

As if to try to make up for it, the Spikes rallied in the 9th but still lost by one. I won't mention which "one" that was.

Sometimes I take my knitting to the park with me and I knit while in a line or while waiting for the game to begin. Once I knit during a game while I was trying to finish off a pair of baby socks. I don't have to look at them much while I knit so I really don't miss any of the game.

I'm glad I didn't try that last night. Pop fly fouls kept coming in our direction. Even near the concession stands it wasn't safe. I was in line and a guy yelled "HEADS!" We all ducked because we had no idea where the ball was. It hit the roof of the stand, so yeah, close enough!

This weekend I'm going to a yarn shop but I actually have an ulterior motive. There are new yarns in the store but I'm really going to that area for the tea shop next door. They carry Tupelo honey. I've been jonesing for that since I was at Ag Progress Days earlier this week. Something about standing around hives, looking at all the combs of honey, gave me visions of Tupelo, dancing through my head.

Tomorrow afternoon I've decided to go see Julie & Julia. Looking at the theatres around here it was decided we have three choices: District 9, G.I. Joe or Julie & Julia. I'm betting J & J will be leaving first so I'd best see it before it's gone. The other two aren't going anywhere any time soon.

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Yarn Harlot and knitted socks

I was reading Yarn Harlot's blog today. (Yes, along with reading her books I read her blog!) She knit a pair of socks for a friend and did something too cool for a fellow knitter! http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/archives/2009/08/14/dear_tina.html

So it got me to thinking about socks I have knit for people. One woman requested toe socks. After I knit them for her she complained they were uncomfortable. Ok.

Most people say thank you and that's that. This is the reaction I always expect.

Alex, however, gave me a far different reaction. She emailed; she texted; she showed them to her mom, who in turn oohed and awed over them. Alex wears them on special occasions or when she wants to feel good in a trying situation. She treats this as though I did something amazingly special for her. All I did was knit a pair of socks with love.

Alex is a friend of mine I first "met" on line. Later we had the good fortune to meet in person. Since then I've seen her a handful of times. She lives in Germany and I live in the States.

Alex and I keep our friendship going but there are weeks that go by when I don't hear from her or her from me. Yet I know she's there, living her life in Germany as I live mine in the States. There's something I find very cool about that.

When I offered to knit the socks I got her foot measurement and then chose the yarn very carefully. I knit the socks, all the while thinking of Alex putting them on and what she would think.

I used Opal yarn. Made in Germany and returned to Germany. A gift of warmth and friendship to be worn by a German woman I rarely see. There's something amazing about that.

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Second guess

Every once in a while a yarn comes along that is so wonderful you have trouble figuring out how to use it. That was the case with Blueberry Patch. So I made my own pattern.

Now I look at it and say "I think maybe the basic sock would have been really nice as well." So maybe I need to get another skein of that yarn and knit plain socks. The Yarn Harlot says that buying sock yarn isn't really adding to your stash. I don't just believe that; I LIVE that!

I really have to take the time and photograph the yarn. Then upload it to Picassa and then Ravelry. It is a must. I am working on a shawl and don't have any pictures. Worse, I finished a shawl aside from blocking and don't have pictures!

I'll be wearing the Cone of Shame if I don't correct this soonest!

Last night I watched "Lost in Austen." Very cute. I love Jemima Rooper. She was great in that and in "Hex." Christina Cole was in "Austen" and "Hex" too but this time the roles were a bit reversed. Alex Kingston played Mrs. Bennett. I recognized her as Dr. Corday on ER. Hugh Bonneville was the father. I had seen him in "Notting Hill" and "Vicar of Dibley." There were several other actors I recognized. They were all well cast except perhaps for Jane.

Now I have to go drop the DVD in the mail so I can get the next from Netflix!

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In search of ...

THE perfect sock pattern for a particular yarn. It's such a lovely hand-dyed yarn -- Blueberry Patch by Spinning Bunny. I can't wait to start using it! I have two colorways and I know I'll be making socks but I need just the right pattern.

I want a pattern that is nice to knit, won't take all my concentration and will show off the yarn nicely. A Cookie A. pattern -- such as Monkey -- might be a good choice. There are also some patterns in her book and in some magazines that would be nice as well.

I also have a project in mind for some of my Imagination yarn. A friend of mine bought me a skein of Wicked Witch. That's enough to do a sock with or a scarf. I'm thinking about doing a pair with the toe and heel of one in Wicked Witch and the body in Frog Prince. Then do the other sock in the reverse. I'll do these in Monkey because solid Alpaca is a little too warm. I have to do lace.

I think I might also buy some Mermaid Lagoon to go with the Looking Glass I have. I really love how buying sock yarn isn't considered adding to stash. That's a yarn stash rule and one that cannot be broken! I'm sicking to that story!

Oh!!! Maybe I'll do the entrelac socks out of the Blueberry Patch!

The search must continue until I finish the Monkeys on my needles. Then the rubber hits the road and I have to start with that yarn!

Lacy Bed Socks from Romantic Style? Traveling Stitch Leg Warmers (turned into stockings) from Knit So Fine? No. I'd need another skein at least and possibly two.

::digs through book, magazines and web pages::

Plaited Points? Hedera? Diamante?

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Knit or read?

I hate making the choice. But it's rather necessary.

I know. I know. Audio books. The problem with that is I don't like having the book read to me. I want to read it myself. Jim Dale reading "Harry Potter" aloud might be awesome but not for an entire book. Let me make the voices talk in my head.

But if I'm reading I'm not knitting. If I'm knitting I'm not reading. I might be reading about knitting but I'm still not knitting.

Then, of course, neither are spinning or weaving. There are just too many things I want to do and too many things I need to do. That's not even counting in what I spend 40 hours a week doing - working!

Aside from all the projects I want to knit and the books about knitting I want to read, the projects I want to spin and weave, the books on weaving I want to read, there are the books like "Unraveled" and "Jane Austen Ruined My Life" and "The Decaffeinated Corpse." All three are waiting for me right now. I'm actually reading "Pride & Prejudice & Zombies", "Pride & Prescience" and "Jane Austen Ruined My Life" at the moment. I sneaked in a peak at "Unraveled."

I need to find a way to warp the time-space continuum, dammit! More time, less silly stuff like cleaning and organizing to do. That's what I need.

I think a nice vacation would be good right about now.

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World wide knit in public day?

I don't get it. I've knit in public for years. I'm known on my bus route as "the woman who knits on the bus." Recently another woman has started doing that too and we are "the women who knit on the bus."

There are other women on the bus who knit but apparently they don't KIP.

When I ride the bus I have to choose the project carefully. If it's something very intricate that takes a lot of room (for different types of yarn or for the pattern charts) that's not very practical. The bus is crowded, I need too much room for the chart unless the chart is small, and I get sick if I have to read much while the bus is moving.

I get sick from the bus moving anyway but that's because of the driving and the twists and turns of the route, but that's another issue.

Socks are a great project for bus travel. I'm working on a pair of monkey socks using Tofutsie yarn. I like the yarn but there isn't much give. It is what it is -- much like linen but softer. And you'd never know it was made from crab shells except for the lovely sheen.

The one thing about knitting on the bus is the fun watching reactions. When I started riding the bus -- and therefore knitting on the bus -- about 10 years ago people would wait until the seat beside me was the last empty seat and then they would sit there. They were quite uncomfortable about doing it. I guess someone wielding pointy sticks intimidated them.

As people became more comfortable with the idea they would sit and ask about my project. Then came the point when people would bring a project along just so they could get a quickie lesson! That was when I knew I crossed the line from "scary, crazy lady knitting" to just "crazy lady knitting."

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Knitted beginnings

Mom and I were talking this morning, reminiscing over my beginnings as a knitter. When I was about 4 years old, mom taught me to knit. I started down that slippery slope at a very young age I know but I got the hang of it. Every doll I owned had a scarf, as did every flat surface in my bedroom. My dolls all had blankets as well.

A neighborhood friend of mom's also wanted to learn to knit but she insisted on learning to knit socks on four needles. None of the "basics" for her! So one day Lil comes in with a tangle of yarn going in different direction with newly invented stitches -- her sock. She asks mom what was going wrong. I was sitting in the rocking chair in front of the TV, watching Romper Room and knitting without looking at what was on the needles. Lil threw down her work and said "Oh, just forget it!"

I never went any further with knitting and finally stopped altogether when I was in middle school.

Years went by and one day while living in New York I was watching an old Cary Grant movie -- Mr. Lucky. Yep, the one where Cary Grant knits. I felt that urge once again. The next time I went to visit mom I asked if she would give me a refresher course and also teach me to read a pattern. She did.

Back home I went. I needed to find a yarn shop IMMEDIATELY! And find a pattern for a sweater to knit for my fiance. I wanted to knit him an Aran sweater for Christmas. Next time visiting mom I showed her what I got and asked if she would help me put it together once knitted. She said sure.

I took it back when finished and that's when she told me she never expected me to finish it because it was a very difficult pattern. It was at that point I decided never to be afraid of a project just because I had never done it before.

Now I have become a "collector of techniques." I love learning different ways of casting on and off, cuff down, toe up, different heels, magic loop, English, Continental, combined, etc., etc.

I asked mom this morning if she will once again teach me her cast on. She and I don't do the same cast on (weird!) and I want to learn her's. Just like old times.

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Again with the stash!

I've been thinking there has been something missing. Like most of my yarn! As I think it over, I tell myself that I don't have that much yarn out at the storage area. I can't imagine that I have put yarn where I can't readily look at it and touch it.

As it turns out I have at least five large bins, at least three small bins and a couple of boxes out there with yarn in them. Yikes! I wonder if I can get the large economy size bag of moth balls. Do they sell the stuff in 20 lb. bags?

I have to get out there and catalog the yarn I have. On the other hand I had some very pleasant surprises. I had yarn and projects that I had forgotten about in the year since I moved.

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Yarn and movies

I can't think of a better combination!

Saturday I went to Delightful Ewe with a friend. What a wonderful day! It started with a stop at Sheetz for latte. The drive was nice and the weather was good. Partly sunny/cloudy at first. Then the sun would break through and it was beautiful.

Ruth had just gotten her car back. It was all nice and fixed and painted.

The next stop was the yarn store. We browsed; we knit; we bought. Like I really need any more stash? And your point is? Besides, 15% of all sales went to Relay for Life. I bought the needle I need for the Magic Loop. I have 2 different colors of sock yarn I can use so I'm all set.

We went to The Meadows for a custard sundae. Heaven or just short thereof! I love that custard stand. While we were in there the sky opened. A total downpour for just a couple minutes. As we came out I noticed the plant shop beside Sheetz is open. I think I'll have to bring mom down there to take a look.

Then we went to a tea shop next to the yarn shop. My second beverage passion, right behind coffee. I got two types - Earl Grey Winter White and Ice Wine Black. I just had a cuppa Earl Grey. Nice -- but not for the first drink of the day. I'd especially enjoy it in the afternoon or evening, I think.

The trip home was likewise lovely. We still had to leave the windows down a bit because of the paint smell but it wasn't bad.

I was home for about 1/2 hour and had to leave for the movie. A'ndrea and I decided to see Angels & Demons. Ruth was possibly going to meet up with us.

Another good movie! Star Trek last week; Angels and Demons this week. The only thing that really bothered me was the use of the Presence Lamp. Freaked me out and creeped me out! There were some minor continuity problems, mostly between Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons and nothing much in the movie itself. I will probably rent it on video because I really need to see the Hadron Collider bit again. The one possible continuity problem that did bother me in the film was during that part. Talk about "things that make you go -- HUH?"

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What have I done???

Just the same old, same old! I was called and asked if I would teach a knitting technique. I said yes. Now I have to go get a book to teach myself how to do it. I learn and teach pretty well that way.

I have the advantage of already knowing the basic technique. When I hit the heel, the sh*t hits the fan. But I look at this as an opportunity to continue learning something I've wanted to continue learning anyway. And in the process I can test out a toe-up technique I saw.

Thank god for Barnes & Noble and the internet!

Last time I was in B&N I found the knitting magazine I was looking for. Who ever heard of a magazine that doesn't have subscriptions? Well, this one does not! Luckily B&N carries it. Yea!

As I walked though the store looking at books I came across one that I thought was a cuter title and premise. Little did I know it was a bodice ripper!! lmao!! Not what I was intending to read. I usually go for a more sedate chick lit but it's a fun read anyway.

I bought "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies." What a blast! However since it is true Regency period with zombies thrown in I am reading it like I would any Jane Austen book -- slowly to savor it.

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The Great Fall

::sigh::

All knitting -- and just about everything else -- is on hold for a little while. The evening before last I took a bit of a fall. Ok -- it was a great fall.

It all started at lunchtime. For some reason after lunch I started feeling nauseous. I was going to call mum to see if she would pick me up but then a friend said she would drive me home.

I get home and lay down. The cat (Iggy) wants out. I get up to let her out but it's raining and she wants right back in. I let Iggy in.

I lay down. Iggy wants out. I get up to let her out but it's raining and she wants right back in. I let Iggy in.

I lay down. Iggy wants out. I get up to let her out but it's raining and she wants right back in. I let Iggy in.

I lay down. Iggy wants out.

And here's where it all goes terribly pear-shaped.

My right knee decides we're having too much fun with the in and out game. Knee buckles ad I try to remain upright. I fail miserably.

Beside the bed just a few feet away is a freestanding fireplace. In front of the fireplace is a cute, rather expensive cat bed shaped like an Adirondack chair that Iggy refuses to use. Between the bed and the fireplace is Dedo - a small stone gargoyle.

So it goes like this: cat meows, I get up, knee buckles, I fall down -- on top of the cat bed. My back hit the fireplace and my thigh hit Dedo's ear.

My mom, who jumps and yells "Are you alright???" if I close the shower door a little too hard, did not react. The cat sat at the door, yelling to get out.

Mom finally come out of the bedroom a couple minutes later to let the cat out and sees me on the floor, struggling to get up. With my knee across in front of me this is a little more difficult than usual. I'm also trying very hard not to throw up. Mom asks what I'm doing (you know, aside from cursing) and the cat yells to go out. Mom comes over and offers to help me up. Uh huh, and thanks but having mom fall on top of me would hardly be helpful. And the cat is yelling to get out.

Mom goes over and lets the cat out. I manage to maneuver to a position where I can get off the floor. My right shoulder is badly stoved and I can't move it. My right knee is banged up. My right thigh feels like I've been stabbed -- by a gargoyle's point ear! And the cat is yelling to come in.

I'm normally a right-side sleeper but not now. The bruises didn't look bad Wednesday when I took my shower. When I went to the restroom at work I caught a glimpse of the one bruise and O M G!

So now two days later I have a blue stripe across my back and a bruise on my ass that looks like a purple/black silhouette of Saturn (rings and all) the size of a cantaloupe! And I'm sure at this moment at home the cat either wants in or out!

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Fountain Pen Shawl

There's a lovely lace shawl pattern in Interweave Knits called the Fountain Pen Shawl. I started it a couple days ago. I'm making it out of JaggerSpun Zephyr in Elderberry. I got it at Knitter's Underground and it's absolutely perfect. The pattern called for Lorna's Lace, I think. That's the same blend, weight, yardage and gauge but much less expensive.

It calls for size 6 needles but I'm using size 4 of my very favorite circulars -- Addi Turbo. Addi makes lace needles that have a sharper point than the regular circs.

I'm also using the stitch holders I got from "Stories of the Traveling Stitch Markers" on Ravelry. I'll use them for the lace and pass them on to the next person in PA. Then we'll report to the group about the knitting and the markers. Fun idea that I had to try.

I'm into the 3rd repeat of the body pattern and what have I learned?

STOP KNITTING WHEN TIRED!!! If I keep making the same mistake on the same row and have one too few stitches, I really need to put the knitting down and walk away. Otherwise it's: knit the row, tear it out, knit the row, tear it out, knit the row, tear it out. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Iggy's pretty good about laying there and not playing with the yarn. There have been a couple times when she just feels the need to roll over and stretch. If she gets tangled you can't really fault her because she was asleep when it happened, right? And if she decides she just has to bat at one of those dangley,glittery markers, well she's just protecting me from possible attacks. Who can get angry about a cat protecting you?

That's her story and she's sticking to it.

So for me it's back to knit a row, purl and count a row, knit a row, purl and count a row, knit a row, purl and count a row until it becomes knit the row, tear it out.

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Commission

I went to have my hair done the other day and my stylist saw I was knitting. He asked how long the sock project would take and then he asked if he could commission me to knit a pair of mitts.

We talked about what he would be using them for, fiber content, color and such. I sent him some links yesterday so he could take a look at some yarns.

Then the shocker: he said he would do a color and cut as payment. I guess I looked stunned and he said he would pay more if the cost was higher. I told him, no the cost certainly wasn't higher and I was already thinking of where to find the yarn I had in mind so I could send a picture.

Turns out the yarn I thought of is discontinued but I found a good substitute. I just need him to now say yes or choose another. Then I can make the measurements and order the yarn.

When we talk again I'm going to alter payment a bit. What he's suggesting is so way overpayment to the point of ridiculous! I can't possibly accept.

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Never say never

I got the yarn for the Christmas stockings. I'll have to start those before too long since there are to be four of them.

The woman will put the names and the embellishments on them. All I have to do is the Christmas tree and alter the pattern a bit to match pictures I've been given. That shouldn't be too difficult. It's right before the heel of the stocking.

In the meantime I have sock books coming and more sock yarn.

More! More! Stash! Stash!

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What was that I said?

"I trust no one would mind if I vow at this moment never to do these stockings again." That's what I said.

And yet when I got the email today I said I would do at least two more. What an idiot! But I'd be getting paid and I think I figured out solutions for the sticking points.

Did I throw away the pattern?

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Mad weave socks

I'm almost finished with the socks! One more repeat and I'm ready for the toe. I can't wait! I love the color and the stitch but I hate the heel and toe instructions. I did the heel as the pattern said but I'm doing my own toe. My toe pattern fits much better than the one in the instructions. I tried that toe with the other sock, ripped it out and did it my way. I'm not doing that again. I see no reason to redo work without good cause.

The next pair I think will be with the yarn A'ndrea got for me.

At the moment I'm between chick-lit books so I'm reading "Charlie Wilson's War." The movie was excellent as is the book, but the book is more detailed. I'm enjoying the read.

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Weird kitty tricks

I don't know what's up with Miss Iggy recently. Maybe she has decided to amuse me.

The last couple days she has crawled into some odd places. Places she never showed any interest in before. The first place was between my night stand and two small chests She climbed over a chair and crawled in there. Then she just sat for a couple minutes:

 

  

 

Then today she was sitting beside me on a chair. I got up to get something out of a Captain's chest beside me. The chest has a roller door and small shelves inside. Miss Iggy looked at it and decided to try it out:

 

 

She looks so sweet in there but she didn't like me recording it for posterity. A few minutes she crawled out and went into the closet in mom's room. I think she likes the closet because that was her refuge from the dogs at her first home. We have a bed in there for her and we keep the door partially closed to give her some privacy.

Her favorite beds are still mine, mom's or my purple computer chair.

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