back of beyond

Brand New Day*

2012-01-06T21:48:00.000-05:00

Knitting goals for the year:

-fornicating reindeer hat for coworker's brother-in-law
-fornicating ______ hat for coworker's husband - thinking horny toads? Not sure, may need to chart this
-socks for Tina
-socks for my sister
-socks for HWIA
-wrist warmers for ME, ALL MINE.
-wrist warmers for TSD
-sweater for me
-baby stuff galore!
-cowl for boss
-wrist warmers for A2
-socks for me
-repair all dying, holey socks on dresser

*Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog

You Told A Lie

2011-10-09T23:07:00.001-04:00

I've had the itch to write lately, but not a lot of topics that demand expression through this particular outlet. At lot of it seems to be short bursts of mental activity, well-suited for twitter as a result. Such as my theory that cats have some sort of homing-device to find full bladders.

Of course, I've not explored the reasons why cats might want to find full bladders, what sort of reasoning(s) they have for happily walking all over the bladders in question.

Which is now reminding me of an article I read on the death of the footnote - the purpose behind such a skill could be observed in a footnote. After all, the purpose is yet unknown, but the skill has been fairly well established, yes? Since we're just academically stretching our muscles and making observations, further musing could take place in the form of footnotes, rather than paragraphs of tangential thinking.

In other news, I'm tired and avoiding bed because I have to do night check first. My hair is still wet and pulling out the blow drier in order to top off hay and water seems a bit much to me. Maybe I'll just break out the cover-alls for the first time this fall/winter. October 9th - not too early, yes? Given that my winter hat has seen regular use already, I'd almost argue I'm behind schedule.

I've been knitting, but mostly a little bit on this, a little bit on that. I did finish a pair of socks, but have sleeves and button bands left on a baby sweater, half a sock, etc. etc. etc.

I would not be surprised to find that I have a touch of ADD/ADHD. I've found that my mind works in such leaps and bounds that even I have trouble keeping up. I can sit and read for hours still, so I'm not too worried. But unless there's something good on the radio, I get bored at red lights. I don't have the attention span for IM anymore - if they don't respond right away, what's the point? and off I go to something else and get irritated when I'm drawn away from that back to the IM conversation only to have it pause for the mere seconds required for someone to type out a reply.

I've recently been reading Les Mis while listening to the musical. Gotta say, loving all the (plot-moving) parts of the novel that were, by necessity, left out of the musical. Also, wishing to discuss the novel. Need to find a read-along or something.

And because every post ought to have a picture:

2011-09-21T22:40:00.000-04:00

Man, when I decide to forget about something, I manage to forget about it.

In other news, I recently spent some $3,000.00 on a three year old cat. The correlation between the two numbers has not been lost on me, and I fear what his old age will cost me. However, he's rather cute and lovable and snuggly and I suppose I can forgive him for his stupidity.

(This is not the injured party, though she would like to get some share of his reward for pain and suffering for her life was also disrupted and that is Clearly Not Allowed.)

For, you see, he injured himself jumping off the kitchen counter. Well, falling off, if I am to be honest. He made a mad scramble to jump off because he knew he was about to be scolded for being where he KNOWS he does not belong, and chose a piece of paper on the corner of the counter as his launching pad. It failed to provide the support he required and evidently cats need at least four feet vertical distance to get their feet back under them.

The more you know, I guess?

In other news, I have finished my father's Christmas Socks. I still need to weave the ends in, but that shouldn't take too long. I've also purchased my mother's yearly calendar (www.despair.com - love their stuff, as does my mother.) and a welcome mat for their new home. Three Christmas gifts done, way too many to go.

I have, however, started figuring out my Christmas Knitting. In theory, it would be a good idea to do that a bit earlier in the year, but I work best under pressure. Or something.

I have to say, the iPhone 4 takes some very nice pictures. I'm very interested in what the iPhone 5 will be capable of managing.

Other random observations:
- Beer is a wonderful, wonderful thing.
- Good friends are worth everything they ask or require.
- Friends who can't be bothered to call or text more than once a year? I am done with you.
- My mind continues to be as weird and random as ever.

Midnight Coward*

2011-05-18T02:01:00.000-04:00

No, I really have no idea why I'm still awake at this hour, but take comfort in the knowledge that I don't have to work tomorrow.

There's been a radio commercial I've heard a few times that creeps me out. Ehrlich Pest Control has re-written a few well-known nursery rhymes to better follow the company's goals and purpose.

The first two, involving Little Miss Muffet sitting next to a dead spider and a mouse never running up a clock because the Ehrlich man killed him, are sung by adults.

The last one, Three Blind Mice, is sung by young girls.

Three blind mice, three blind mice,
See how they run, see how they run,
They all ran away from the Erlich-man
Who left them dead in the back of his van
Three blind mice...

The music fades and the girls begin laughing. That's the part I find most creepy - the kids aren't laughing from genuine amusement, but because they were told? asked? to do so. As a result, the laughter sounds forced, false, really fucking creepy.

I'm waiting for an internet news story to appear about a parent suing Ehrlich because darling Junior was just completely traumatized by the new endings to his favorite nursery rhymes. Surely it won't be too long, right? Yet, brief research shows me blog postings dating from 2009 about the commercial. Has our sue-happy society failed me?

Also, the problem with staying up this late, minus the complete fuckage of my sleep cycle, is that I end up starving and unable to sleep until I nom on something. Oops.

*Stars

Madman*

2011-05-16T23:32:00.002-04:00

Lately, I've been seaming. Lots and lots of seaming. I don't mind seaming - it is fairly mindless work, all things considered, and goes fairly quickly. Much faster than knitting, at least. I did finish season 6 of The West Wing, though, so I'm now waiting for the final season to arrive in the mailbox.

Somehow, I managed to sprain/strain my ankle while sitting on a horse. As a result, I had to take the last week off from running. I'm afraid to go run tomorrow - afraid of how much I'll have lost in a week, afraid how much effort it will take to re-build this habit, to get back to the point where I don't have to talk myself into heading out, where I'm not counting the seconds until the damned run is over. It would be much easier to remain at home, curl up on the couch with a cat or two and a book.

Of course, the past week's lack of running seems to have screwed with the sleep cycle I finally had managed to wrestle into some sort of submission. Since I wasn't heading out in the early evenings, I was falling asleep on the couch, waking up in time to do night check and realize that I wasn't going to get more than 5 hours of sleep before the alarm in the morning.

I have a lot of socks on the needles at the moment. That makes me happy. However, I've been reading a lot more lately, and I've never found a good way to read a novel and knit. Textbooks, sure, as they tend to hold themselves open and have more text per page, requiring fewer pauses to turn the page.

The kitten has not messed with the Once Missing Sock since I spend a few hours untangling it. I'm tempted to put it in one of the failed hiding spots, to see if I can tempt him. I'm not quite sure I'm ok with the idea of him growing up and no longer messing with stuff. After all, I still call him the kitten, even if he did have the nerve to grow up and become a fairly decent-sized monster, though still under 10lbs.

He fell asleep on me the other day, curled up with his head resting on my shoulder as I myself was curled up on the couch. I glanced down and disrupted his peaceful slumber by bursting into laughter as he was sound asleep with his mouth hanging open. I'll admit to being happy that he doesn't snore.

I have a black light for various reasons, most of them being cause it is fun to play with from time to time. I used it the other day after taking a shower and discovered a number of spots on my arms and hands that were glowing bright yellow. Upon reflection, I realized that those spots were where some doxy had fallen after I attempted to squirt the powder contained in some 50 50mg capsules, mixed with water, down a horse's throat. Still, that's a bit scary - that those spots would glow hours past a shower.

*Charlotte Martin

If I Had More Time*

2011-05-13T19:10:00.000-04:00

Last summer, I attended the wedding of a CPaAGer. Some time in June, I think. Shortly after the wedding, I put a sock-in-progress in a Very Safe Place, as the kitten had been finding it in the various hiding spots. Hiding spots such as on top of the fridge (he's not supposed to be up there..) and behind the microwave (he's not supposed to be on the kitchen counters.)

Evidently, it truly was a Very Safe Place, as I have since looked in places such as the bread machine, the freezer, all kitchen cabinets, all closets, the oven, etc. No dice.

Wednesday, I was cleaning and dusting and vacuuming and filing and other boring, adult like things that I should probably do a bit more often, and found the sock-in-progress. In a lunch box.

Incidentally, that lunch box was borrowed from a friend and used to transport some freshly fallen snow to TheUrmily during THON our senior year when she danced and was upset that she couldn't see the fresh snow. I have no idea who lent me the lunch box, no one has claimed it, and uh... that was three years ago. I guess they don't need it back any time soon.

Anyway, that sock was supposed to be a finished ahead of time giftmoose gift for my sister. (She got wristwarmers instead. She was very happy with them.) Wednesday was her birthday. Odd, that.

I started an eye of partridge heel and ... yeah, I hate heel flaps. I really do. I ought to spend more time with Cat Bordhi's books and memorize the various different ways to knit heels on cuff-down socks. Or just continue to be happy with my short-row heels.

In other knitting news: Finished dad's first sock. Had enough yarn AND it fits him. (he did ask if I could make the leg longer. I flat-out refused.) Happily for me, the sock ALSO fits HWIA, so that will make it a bit easier to knit socks for him, as I'll have some idea of the insane number of stitches needed.

The kitten is lucky I love him because I ended up spending more than 2.5 hours on Wednesday evening untangling the yarn of my sister's sock. I ended up cutting the yarn and just winding little balls from each end of the original ball of yarn. I put them on Sharpies and would work a bit on one end and then slip the yarn under the clip of the cap when I went to work on the other end. Worked very well.

*Tarkio

Brainy*

2011-04-26T21:40:00.000-04:00

My father has very large feet. At least, compared to the people for whom I normally knit socks, he has large feet. Plus, he has trouble bending over to REACH his feet, meaning all of his current socks (none handknit, thankfully) are all stretched out and resemble tube socks.

I feel like I've been knitting socks for him for ever and ever and ever and ever, but it can't have been that long. Ravelry tells me I started January 6th and I'm on the toe of the first sock. I texted my mother - there is something so very weird about that statement - to ask the length of dad's feet, in inches. I have decided not to think about the fact that she had an answer for me in under two minutes. If nothing else, I knew that dad was nearby to offer up a foot for measurement.

I'm a bit concerned, though, as I am only a quarter of the way through the toe, and ... well, see?

6 grams. I do have two extra skeins of yarn, if needed, but HWIA also requested socks and he also has large feet (oh, be quite, 12 year old male who lives in my head). He approved of this yarn and I was kinda hoping to make socks for him with the same yarn. Because that wouldn't be weird at all.

Also? I don't recommend pulling a sock on for a photo shoot and then suddenly realizing that you didn't put the memory card in the camera. And then hobbling over to get the card and hobbling back. At least, not if you love to knit socks on DPNs.

Much better to just get the card in the first place OR remove the sock while retrieving the card.

*The National

King of Anything

2011-04-23T21:32:00.002-04:00

I have been having a lot of fun with a photo app lately. It is making me wonder if there's a pin-hole camera app out there yet.

I've also been trying to run again. Motivation is difficult to come by, after a day at the barn. But I've been borrowing my neighbor's dog and my best friend's husband and between the two, I manage to get out at least twice a week, if not three times. I hate running during a run, but I love it afterwards. My shins continue to hate me afterwards, but I think they'll eventually shut up.

I've been knitting more. It is weird to realize that I keep thinking I need to watch more tv, but that means more knitting time. I left the tv on the other night when I went to do night check and when I came back inside and open the door, I froze for a second at the sound of voices upstairs.

Rumor has it that we're in spring. I'm not convinced, given the number of days I've spent cold. But things are blooming and the world looks pretty again. Plus, it keeps raining rather than snowing, so there's that.

Random thought: how many people actually scrub their ears when they bathe? I remember reading about mothers nagging their children to scrub their ears (and behind their ears) when they took their weekly bath... but I don't know if I have ever actually scrubbed behind my ears.

I'll have to start doing so lest I feel dirty.

Lit Up

2010-11-17T20:10:00.003-05:00

Dear horses,

You're turned out during the day so you can be supervised. As a result, I'd suggest NOT doing anything stupid as I am then forced to bring you in and shove you back in your stall. If you want to be out, then be sensible. Also? Stop growing so much hair. I'm starting to get really worried about how nasty this winter is going to be, based on how hairy you all are.

resigned,
the bringer of nomms, wrangler of hoses, and mover of horses.

Dear body,

Yes, I know - winter is coming. But please to be ignoring that little fact and stop with the random aches and pains that seem to serve no more point than to tell me that it is raining. Or below 40. I already know that and don't need a reminder. When you can predict weather rather than just telling me the obvious, I'll reconsider.

yours with ibuprofen,
me.

Dear cats,

You have water. And food. Drink that and eat that, rather than licking the bottom of the bath tub. And yelling at me every time I move towards the kitchen. Guess what - the kitchen is in the center of the apartment. 50% of my movements are thus towards the kitchen and yet, not destined for the kitchen.

love,
the one who cleans the litter boxes.

Dear sock that went missing,

Please come back. I promise to pet you and love you and I have even found the missing DPN to make sure that my gauge will be spot-on. It is hard to give you the attention you deserve when you are in hiding.

love,
the one who needs to finish up Christmas knitting.

Dear apartment,

Please clean yourself. Or at least, spit out all the hay and straw. That's half the cleaning battle. I doubt that the cats can be persuaded to stop shedding, so we're just going to have to deal with that.

love,
the one who lives here.

Dear HWIA,

Thanks for living up to your name. Please continue to do so. But if you want to stop making me snort beer out my nose, that'd be cool too.

love,
me.

Dear you,

You continue to defy my ability to describe/summarize you. I think I like that. I know I like you. Please call me soon, ok?

love,
me.

Gotta Stay Postive

2010-08-26T00:50:00.003-04:00

I evidently very much fail at this whole "keeping a blog" thing. I think I'm supposed to actually post on a regular basis. Much like I'm supposed to actually water my plants. Instead, I seem to carrying out a not-very-well-regulated experiment on how many times one can bring basil back from the brink of death.

Life ... continues. I work, I eat, I shower, I knit, I read, I waste hours online, I go to bed way too late. Lather, rinse, repeat. (How many people actually do repeat?)

I have two scratches caused by a cat chasing another cat.

I am evidently a grown-up in that I want a vacuum cleaner attachment for my birthday.

I have now played laser tag while wearing a suit twice. Some of my friends are crazy enough to not only indulge me with such hair-brained ideas, but to do so twice. And to eat dinner at strange places such as a pub located inside a grocery store. In suits.

My family spends way too much time at IKEA. I realized this when a few of us randomly decided to go tonight ... and ran into two more. Either that, or we're all part of a hive mind and should start to wear tin-foil hats.

My best friend is getting married in October. I am maid of honor. This means that one: YAY! Wedding! and that two: I have to plan a bridal shower and a bachelorette party. I think I have a better handle on the bachelorette party. Alcohol, a penis-shaped object or five, make t-shirts before heading out. Bridal shower, however, will require invitations and a location and a date and and and. Blargh. I'd say good thing I love her, but she's helped me move many, many times. Even helped me get a couch stuck halfway in and halfway out of my apartment. (And thankfully, unstuck once we sawed off 1/2" of a corner...) I guess I owe her. And hey, excuse to wear a awesome dress! And maybe even some pearls.

I need to start taking pictures again.

a comparison

2010-06-28T21:45:00.002-04:00

in the snow.

in the rain.

Not the exact same view, but the same trees and fence line are obscured by shit falling from the sky.

I almost like the snow better, as it didn't leave me without power (and a cold beer) for 30 hours.

Silver Linings?

2010-06-27T17:23:00.002-04:00

I've developed great reaction speeds to hearing the kitten throwing up. As this happens on a very regular basis, I've had lots of chances to hone my reaction time.

So has the kitten.

The good news? Chasing him around the apartment tends to prevent him from throwing up. Or, I manage to catch him in time to get him over a tile surface.

Don't Rain On My Parade

2010-03-28T22:10:00.003-04:00

Dear horses,

Why do you all seem to drink more water when it is raining out? Does the sound of rain makes you thirsty?

in wonderment,
the bringer of noms, wrangler of hoses, and shoveler of poop.

Dear CCLS,

Requiring my full name, library card number, AND a PIN just pisses me off. Mostly because the odds of me actually remembering the entirety of my library card number are slim-to-none and since you require three fields, my web browser doesn't recognize the info as a password and thus, won't save it. Also, renting out DVDs disc by disc and NOT specifying VERY CLEARLY in the online catalog which disc is which is just cruel. And I used to wonder why I never make time to go to the library...

a MLS graduate who greatly dislikes your system.

Dear body,

Get with the program. These random aches and pains? I'm going to ignore them until I can't, and then I just throw ibuprofen at them anyway. Don't you like your daily vitamin? And all the water I've been managing to drink? Oh, you just want warm weather again. I'll see what I can do about that.

the person who has no say in this matter, evidently.

Dear cats,

When you jump up on the bathroom sink and yell at me, I assume you want a drink. If you want something else, such as attention or love, don't demand it on the bathroom sink. You and I speak different languages and I'm doing my best here. Oh, and kitten? Stop sneaking into my purse to fish out the ball of yarn.

the person who knows full well that she's not actually in charge.

Dear weather,

I'm tired of having to change my underwear and pants multiple times a day. Please to be stopping with the multiple-day rain storms, mkay? Also, isn't it spring? Shouldn't there be a few awesome days of great weather?

the person who is tired of wearing a load of laundry a day.

Dear HWIA,

Thank you for living up to your online nickname. And a lot of other things, all of which tie back into you living up to your online nickname.

love, me.

On that first night

2010-02-11T22:53:00.004-05:00

There is a lot of snow on the ground. Too much snow. Way, way too much snow when you have to shovel it and plow it and there is no where for it to go. Good news is that it is already melting. Bad news is that those puddles are currently frozen. I am refusing to take bets as to how many times I fall tomorrow morning though.

Pictures:

It's A Small World After All

2010-02-01T00:04:00.004-05:00

Back in May of 2009, my father and I saw the following vehicle in Shop Rite's parking lot:

I am fairly certain I saw it AGAIN, tonight. Either that, or there are two minivans in this area that are running around with a piece of siding replacing the fender. I really do wonder if that passes inspection or if they just haven't had to have the car inspected again yet.

Quote

2010-01-25T17:39:00.001-05:00

"The best moments in reading are when you come across something--a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things--that you'd thought special, particular to you. And here it is, set down by someone else, a person you've never met, maybe even someone long dead. And it's as if a hand has come out, and taken yours."

-Alan Bennett, The History Boys

Random thoughts

2010-01-19T13:34:00.000-05:00

Does oil evaporate?

How long do "Blind child" or "Deaf child" signs remain up? I assume that the family has to ask for the signs, but what happens if the family moves? When the child is 25? Does the local township keep track of these things, or can you probably ignore 30% of such signs?

Who came up with the idea of cooking tapoica? Did they realize it is poisonious raw?

Sunbathing in britches and half-chaps isn't quite the same as laying on a beach, but I'll take it. Especially in January.

Well, then.

2010-01-15T20:47:00.000-05:00

I started the day by accidently throwing Honey Nut Cheerios at my boss as she drove us to the barn and I ended the day by accidently locking her dog out of the house.

I'd ask if it is tomorrow yet, but tomorrow starts at 5am.

2010-01-07T20:17:00.000-05:00

Somedays, happiness is as simple as a hot shower at the end of a long, but good day. Sore muscles, because they've been used. Falling asleep without difficulty when you lay down because you've done a hard day's work.

Curling up in bed with a good book. (The only thing that is missing is a purring kitteh or four. )

I'm Florid but it is hard to tell at night. There has been frost on the ground in the mornings and I'm wearing just as much clothing here as I normally do at home. But it made it past 50F today, and it is sunny. Plus, the sun sets later in the day.

Right now, I'd say there's a chance of making it throught this winter without my seasonal major blahs. The sun helps. The warm helps. The job helps.

It is good to be me. Even if I am way behind on the Christmas knitting.

Hang Your Holiday Rainbow Lights

2009-12-31T21:27:00.005-05:00

Here's to endings.

Here's to you, the person who is always there - you often don't understand, you often don't get it, but that's beside the point. You get that it matters to me and thus, it matters to you. You're always there with ice cream when I need you to be. I hope the new year is full of awesomeness, even though I know you've got a few very tough decisions to make soon. However, you've got a few really fun decisions to make as well. (Thank you for not making me wear purple.)

And you, the person who mostly gets it, gets me and the way I think. While you might not have the life experience to be my sounding board, and I have to tell you when you know if scrambled eggs are done, your advice is almost always spot on. Thanks for always listening, and for putting aside the fact that you hate hugs.

Thank you for giving a 20 year old such a huge responsibility. I hope you're proud of me, but I can't imagine that you'd continue to give me that responsibility if you weren't. You gave me a chance that summer, and that has opened so many doors for me. Thank you for everything over the years.

Each and everyone one of you makes me laugh, makes me think, makes me happy to be a knitter. Someday, I hope to meet all of you, starting with the CHARGE! in the summer. You are all wonderful, caring, and generous people. I offer you cake. (I'd offer penis if I had any, but alas.) (Well, maybe not alas. I like being female and I don't share my toys very well.)

Thank you for watching crappy TV with me, for watching the cats, for seeing any movie with me, for always being up to do something when I needed to either be not-alone or get out of my apartment. Let me know if you ever move back to PA.

And to the men in my life:

I miss you. But I have to be honest and admit that while I really do want to be friends again, I am not surprised it hasn't really worked. As a friend, you kinda suck at keeping in touch. Thank you for four good years, though, and for being what I needed for that time. Thank you for answering the phone when I call. While we might not make an effort to see each other, I know that I could call you if I needed to, and that means a lot.

I think you are a bit the male version of me. Your fiancée is a very lucky women, but I think you both know that already. Somehow, you've always been able to understand me and typically have spot-on advice. We don't see each other that often, but somehow, you're still there when I really need your shoulder or your advice. Thanks to your fiancée as well, for sharing you so well.

I'm still not ok with the fact that you're gone. No one told you that it was time, but you never did want to listen to us. I miss you, Old Man. Thank you for being such a stubborn jerk and making me earn everything you gave me. You taught me way more than just how to ride. I'm sorry I didn't charge my phone that night, and that you suffered longer than needed while I slept. I refuse to feel silly for including you in this list, for you certainly had a huge impact on my life. I promise to get that bracelet made soon.

I really think that you and I have a shot at being good friends. Thanks for being honest and I'm glad you really DID mean it when we discussed friendship. You truly are a good man. I can't wait to see the bachelor pad in all it's de-popcorn-ceilinged glory. Plus, you still owe me a Super Mario Brothers 3 tournament.

I owe you a lot more than you expect, I think. You reminded me of a few truths about myself that I had forgotten. Thank you for entertaining me at work and for the hugs. Let me know when you end up in Philly, for I know you will at some point.

I miss you, now that you have a social life and aren't around as much. But I actually got to meet you this year, and for the circumstances surround that, I owe you a lot of ketchup. Thanks for always being around when I need you, for talking me through things, and for everything ever.

And here's to beginnings that show promise and hope. Here's to February 1st.

Hope

2009-12-30T23:38:00.000-05:00

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,

It asked a crumb of me.

-Emily Dickinson

Every Rose Has Its Thorn

2009-12-14T22:31:00.009-05:00

really cool plants in the Conservatory at Longwood Gardens

On Thursday, my father and I drove to Virgina to help my mother clear 15' of 'road' in the middle of her 12 wooded acres.

We left at 9:30pm for a five hour drive.

I did, however, discover that I have very good aim with an ax. And that it is very weird to look in your review mirror and see a severed tree trunk floating in midair ... and that it is chained to the back of your pick-up truck.

for some reason, the shadows from the other side of this window caught my eye

I also learned how to change the alternator in a 1999 F-350 Diesel truck, should anyone ever need any assistance in that way. And that if your headlights slowly dim while driving, odds are good that your alternator is going and that you won't make it very far before the vehicle will shut down all on its own. And that such an event can cause your departure time to shift from 8pm on Saturday to 2pm on Sunday.

star lights that looked a little less cool in person.

Also, they make me think of Ikea.

All in all, I would call it a successful weekend as we got a lot of work done with the trees and no one was killed. In this family, spending 48+ hours with each other and no fighting is a major accomplishment.

The Christmas knitting continues - I will need to write another FO post for the pair of fingerless mitts, and I also need to finish up the second pair of socks. I'm on the toe of the first sock, so there is hope. Something won't be finished in time, but I think that shall be my father's hat and he'll just have to deal.

Magically lit berries. It was beautiful out that night, if cold.

A few random observations:
1. Cats always Know when you are making the bed, and appear out of no where. I swear that I had checked the room for kitties and shut the door, certain that there were none present. Somehow, they made it through the closed door to jump up on the bed and "help."

2. It doesn't feel like Christmas without finals and papers and school. Nothing to really look forward to, other than Christmas in and of itself. And while I like the holiday, it isn't my favorite.

3. Winter sucks. Somehow, I forget every year that I get the Blahs around this time, thanks to the whole day-light savings, shorter days and longer nights, wet winter weather, and the stress of the holidays. Having remembered that this is actually normal for me, I'm finally starting to shake it off, but you'd think I could figure that part out as it happens every year.

4. The smell of a kitteh who has been outside for a while is wonderful when you're curled up and drifting off to sleep.

5. The kitten's paws still smell like popcorn.

Finished Object: Monkey Socks

2009-12-10T19:51:00.007-05:00

I'm currently pissed off, frustrated, tired, and so the negative-emotions list goes. So pictures:

The Specs:
Pattern: Monkeys by Cookie A.
Yarn: Classic Elite Yarn's Alpaca Sox.

Color: Number 1856, lot 5346 - Greens, blues, a bit of purple, and some PINK.
Needles: Knit Picks nickle-plated DPNs, US Size 1ish.
Start to Finish: Uh... Some time in the fall of 2009 to November 28th, 2009.

For: My mother, for Christmas

Notes: I did these toe-up, using the star-toe from the New Pathways for Socks book. Garter stitch heel because I didn't want to be bothered trying to hide the wraps. Not sure about the ribbing at the top - I wanted to try to keep the flow of the money pattern, and I think it works. Had a hard time binding off loosely, so I did a round of yarn over, knit two together, a plain knit round, and then a bind off that involves knitting two stitches, then knitting them together. It works, and mom won't care. Not sure I like the way the yarn stripped, but mom likes it, so who cares? They might be a mite short in the foot, but that's the problem with this pattern. Not all that adjustable.

Camera Obscura

2009-12-02T00:16:00.004-05:00

Really, I need to get off my lazy butt and take pictures. And then find the 12-in-1 card reader and upload them to the computer. To upload them to the internet.

No wonder I'm so lazy. Too many steps involved!

But there is a finished pair of Monkey socks, toe-up, in yummy alpaca, that need to be photographed. The ends are already woven in and everything.

There is nearly a finished pair of fingerless gloves, but I'm gonna have to break into the second ball of yarn to finish the last inch or two of the hand and to knit the thumb. And then weave in the ends.

And then knit a second pair, and fine-tune the pattern that I made up on the fly. Or I could just buy a third ball and call it even. I think the yarn is like, $4 a ball. I can afford that. I think.

Also, pictures of the fornicating reindeer hat. And I need to cast on a second pair of socks, which are a Christmas gift for a not-family member. Which means they actually need to be done somewhat on time.

Good thing I have dad's new toy to play with, then ... a Canon EOS Rebel Ti1. Or something like that. Pictures tomorrow, I think. For tomorrow is play-with-new-toy day!

Random picture whatever hell day it is

2009-11-25T01:38:00.003-05:00

I am evil kitten, see me glare.

Longwood Gardens, at dusk. I love playing with the settings on my camera.

I am currently in love with silhouettes.

Hello, Mr. Grasshopper. How are you?

I just bought a new-to-me camera - Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W170. I'm still figuring it out, but so far, I really like it. The options are pretty awesome, even if the menu is set up in such a way that I can never remember where, exactly, something was. And the beep is very annoying, so the first order of business was to turn that off.

Maybe we'll actually get some pictures from Thanksgiving this year. Or maybe I'll be too busy trying to finish Christmas knitting to have a chance.

Random Tuesday Night

2009-10-27T23:17:00.003-04:00

I really have nothing to say, but feel the need/urge to write.

Of course, I'm also feeling the urge to grab a calc text book and to start relearning calc. Evidently, I feel the need to do a task with a clearly defined goal and method.

I signed up for LiveMocha, to teach myself Hebrew. For a while, they didn't actually offer Hebrew 101, which isn't too surprising - the website is free, after all, and Hebrew isn't that common of a language to easily throw together lessons.

I finally logged in to find that they now have Hebrew 101 - for those with little to no experience with Hebrew. "Great," I thought, "that's me!"

Yeah, no. The first lesson? On pronouns? Has words written out in Hebrew characters.

They never teach you the Hebrew Alphabet.

In other news, I am slowly falling victim to a cold. Tickle in the back of my throat, wanting soup, slight headache? Yup, got 'em all. I'm just glad that the slow addition of symptoms means that I do NOT have a version of the flu. I have no plan to get the flu and many, many plans to avoid in. (No, said plans do not include a flu shot.) I don't work with the public for a reason.

Speaking of needles, I can now sedate a horse with intravenous medication. And the horse, in theory, is the only one that ends up woozy.

I'm riding in a horse show this weekend. I refuse to be sick for that. I am a bit nervous, as the LAST time I rode this horse in public, he bucked me off. Goals for the weekend: don't die of illness, don't fall off, no refusals or rails in cross-country and stadium.

There is a stink bug on the bed next time. Kittens are being woken up, sheets are being changed.

A random thought or two.

2009-10-15T22:52:00.003-04:00

I am convinced that almost all automatic telephone systems start with "Please listen carefully as our menu options have changed."

Which basically is about as helpful as "new traffic patterns ahead" when you've never driven on that road before.

Energy*

2009-10-10T22:12:00.002-04:00

Yeah, so I thought no longer being in school would mean that I would have free time? THAT was a silly thought.

Rather, I have free time now and don't feel guilty for NOT doing homework, so I do fun things like riding, rock climbing, reading books, watching TV, knitting, and hanging out with friends.

However, I miss writing. And the knitting mojo is back in full-force so I think it is time to dig the blog back out of the grave again. (ooo, zombie blog!)

Things I am currently doing:

working. I like work, I like most of the people with whom I work. I like the 9:30am start of my day and the flexibility to up and take off for a weekend.
which brings me to: football. I LOVE football season. Sure, Penn State's not playing nearly as well as they could (or should), but I got to see them play in Illinois.
which meant that I got to see the vast majority of my friends from Illinois. They are good people.
I'm having a blast at the Holocaust Awareness museum. Yes, I realize that sounds ... wrong, but I feel very strongly about the cause and enjoy the work. It is very very reassuring to realize that I have found something I can be happy doing for a long time. Now, to find a paying position doing such a thing.
there is a new boy in the picture. Thanks to CPaAG, he is known online as Captain Awesomepants or CAP for short. I rather like him.
I purchased an NES. Ah, childhood. I need to find a copy of Super Mario Bros. 3 and play that. Like, soon.
there is an awesome Belgian beer bar in Philly. I would like to live there, but I think the commute to work would suck.

Life is good. I'm finally coming off the high of moving home and having all sorts of good things happen. Which means I'm also finally back to being grumpy and having bad days, but over all? Life is DAMN good and I am happy. Plus, I'm finally sleeping well for the first time in a few years again. That ALONE is worth it.

I love fall in Pennsylvania.

Now, to watch Eddie Izzard on DVD while knitting in bed and snuggling with cats.

*The Apples in Stereo

People Have A Way*

2009-08-13T18:16:00.002-04:00

A random mishmash of thoughts:

I am back in Pennsylvania. There's even a rumor that all of my stuff is back in PA as well, and that I need to go pick it all up tomorrow. I am not so much looking forward to that.
I need to go running. Which means it needs to stop raining.
I need to do laundry. I am out of shorts, and soon will be out of skirts and pants as well.
Kit is very happy to be able to go outside, not so happy about the rain aspect.
I will be cataloging reference resources for a museum. This boggles my mind, but is seven kinds of awesome as well.
Orbitz can suck it. And then pay me for the privilege of doing so.
There are a lot of people I need to see, and soon.
There are a lot of people I want to see, and won't - not for a while.
I've been here less than 48 hours and I'm already trying to figure out how soon I can move out on my own again. Even roommates will be acceptable.
Dinner tonight shall be sushi with awesome people, one of whom is leaving in a week for college. How'd that happen?
One thing I've figured out about life: there's never enough time. Never.
I need a good, solid bear-hug.

*matt pond PA

We Are Nowhere and It's Now*

2009-08-01T00:35:00.007-04:00

Huh. Imagine that. Dead silence for a few months. Like that's never happened around here before.

The universe has a cruel sense of humor and timing. But hey, new friends are always a good thing ... and new friends who give excellent hugs are even better.

At the Getty, in LA. Drinking wine and enjoying awesome weather and better company.

I finally got new sneakers.

I've been running 3-4 days a week. Up to about 2.5 miles. I really love it. I'm hoping to continue this in PA, and have scouted out a few running groups, races, and trails.

While Mom was out here, we went to a local cemetery. There were some beautiful old stones.

I move back to PA on August 11th. That is very soon.

I don't want to leave IL, but I also do not want to not be in PA. Why hasn't a personal tele-porter been invented yet?

The Getty has some beautiful grounds; I enjoyed them more than the art inside.

I am getting really excited for the coming football season. I might even drive back out to IL for the PSU/UIUC game.

Yes, I am insane.

CPaAG has some of the nicest, most caring, and thoughtful people around. RAWR!

The idea of being done with school at least for a few years is finally starting to sink in. What is life like without homework? Or papers? And with free time to read for pleasure?

However, with two part time jobs and a volunteer position at the Holocaust Museum in Philly, I might not have that much free time.

I don't think I spent nearly enough time in Chicago. Guess I'll have to come back.

Summer went by very, very fast. Almost too fast? At least, these last few weeks have been too fast.

I went to Chicago, I went to LA. Lei came to visit, Phil came to visit. Mom came to visit. I spent very few weekends at home.

Rusty colicked and had to be put down on Thursday, May 28th, 2009. He was 33.

I did get to say goodbye to the old man.

*Bright Eyes

On Accountability

2009-05-12T19:50:00.004-04:00

Evidently, the weather has decided to look at a calendar and behave accordingly. Which is awesome, til I look out the window at work and pout cause I'm stuck inside when it is beautiful out.

Today, however, I went for a run after work. All that walking to class has paid off, as I managed to jog a respectable .4 miles before needing a break. And I haven't actually been running in a couple of years. All told, I managed a good 1.5 miles, and probably ran about 40% of that. Sadly, my leg muscles gave out before my lungs really did.

Really, I'm only posting this here cause a) I want to be able to go back and look at this info later and b) I don't want to fall off the wagon in a few weeks, like I normally do.

However, I really need to go get me some solid running sneakers.

Sometimes, I forget how much I love poetry.

2009-05-06T00:41:00.001-04:00

Of things vnseene how canst thou deeme aright,
Then answered the righteous Artegall,
Sith thou misdeem'st so much of things in sight?
What though the sea with waues continuall
Doe eate the earth, it is no more at all:
Ne is the earth the lesse, or loseth ought,
For whatsoeuer from one place doth fall,
Is with the tide vnto an other brought:
For there is nothing lost, that may be found, if sought.

Edmund Spencer, The Faerie Queen, Canto II, xxxix

Meijer vs Wegmans

2009-05-03T20:01:00.003-04:00

I like creme brulee. There's nothing better than an excuse to play with fire in the kitchen, and it tastes awesome.

So it is no surprise that I decided to try some of Meijer's creme brulee ice cream. At the very least, it would be ice cream, even if it did taste nothing like creme brulee.

However.

I was distracted by the realization that "WEGMANS" was written on the container. WTF, mate! Wegmans is an East coast brand which I miss way too much out here in the midwest. They have the best sushi for a grocery store, and great bruschetta and bread and mac'n'cheese. NOM.

Weird. They also both use the same picture of creme brulee with the tiny spoon and violet on the saucer. My google-fu has let me down, as I haven't been able to find anything about a merger, or being owned by the same company. There were a few mentions of supermarkets teaming up to deal with supply train problems, so I suppose that could be it.

Creme brulee AND a taste of Wegmans. NOM.

I would walk 500 miles

2009-04-27T01:32:00.007-04:00

Another shot from last weekend up at Greene Valley. I love water.

Another glorious weekend over. Lei came to visit and we were our typical boring selves. Xtension Chords concert on Friday night (and I was rather disappointed, as the group used wireless body mics rather than corded standing mics, and as a result, you could almost NEVER hear the soloist(s). GAH). Then, doughnuts and shopping and ice cream and good TV and a puzzle for the rest of the day.

And then we made cakewaffles this morning. Any day that involves cakewaffles can't be that bad at all. Plus, it is suddenly and gloriously spring. (Well, late spring, what with the 80-degree temps, but that is ok.)

I'm itching to be outside, in the sun and the breeze. I want to go running, but I need new running shoes or I won't be able to walk in a few weeks. I've promised myself that once the really crazy part of this semester is over, I'm allowed to start working out seriously again. I miss riding like crazy all the sudden. Here's a picture of the best horse EVER.

He's currently 32? 33? years old and still going. He is happily retired and still hates to have his face cleaned. He recognizes me and never knows if I'm good news or not. So I just feed him treats every time I see him and give him a great big hug.

And since my mind is now back at the barn, here's an awesome picture from last summer. I heart the macro function of my camera.

In other news, Schrodie has taken to sleeping on top of the cabinets above the fridge. This is bad news, as I had moved my stash on top of the fridge so I could stop coming home to discover that SOMEONE had unwound balls of yarn all across the living room and really really really wants to help rewind it again. Oddly, his help always makes the job take longer.

Just two more weeks, and then almost everything will be over. One class is over already, another one will be done by Friday. The reading levels have really tapered off, which is good as I have to write a 10 page paper this week and put together a presentation on said paper to be given on Thursday. At the very least, two pages of that paper will be taken up by a transcription of this:

And in still other news: It was the Blue/White weekend, and I didn't get to go. BUT, it looks like a few PSU football players did well in the draft, so I'll have a few more teams I need to watch from now on, to follow my PSU favorites. Like the Hawks.

And The World Is Made of Engery*

2009-04-21T18:10:00.005-04:00

I had the best weekend in quite a while. Drove up to Chicago-land, to spend the weekend with Farmer John. We watched lots of How I Met Your Mother, made yummy food, and went hiking in the Greene Vally Forest Preserve. Sadly, it was not quite spring yet, so there was a lack of pretty flowering stuff and the day was kinda cloudy and overcast, but at the very least it was warm.

We saw a baby snake! He wouldn't stick his tongue out for the camera though. Maybe he was actually a teenage snake?

I got kinda frustrated as many of my shots didn't turn out as I had them in my head. However, I think a lot of things could be quickly solved with some cropping and other simple editing. One of these days, I'll get around to doing that sort of thing in iPhoto. Til then, will be lazy and just post pictures anyway.

PLUS, I got to meet up with a few Chicago-land CPaAGers from Ravelry, and I got to spend the morning (while Farmer John was, of course, playing frisbee) knitting and sewing the zipper into my Urban Aran. I need to pretty up the zipper, but other than that, the cardigan is mostly done. You know, just in time for spring. I'll need to ask those who took pictures if it is ok if I steal them and put them up here. So more on that topic later. At the very least, I promise FO pictures of the Urban Aran.

Now, to face/deal with the homework, etc. that I ignored in favor of actually relaxing. I made the mistake of making a list of EVERYTHING that needs to be done between now and the end of the semester. It didn't fit on one page. However, three things have since been finished and crossed off the list.

Why I never manage to get anything done: There is always a cat that wants to sit on me. But she was purring. (And as I type this, the kitten is curled up and using my left arm as a pillow. [snickers: I have Zombie Nation playing, as I am missing PSU football lately, and he's looking around for the source of teh noize. I don't think he likes Zombie Nation.])

Also: I knit Sheldon for a coworker's baby. Another coworker is pregnant with twins. Two girls. I want to knit her something similar in cute- and -easyiness levels. Sugguestions? I found a cute goldfish (ravelry link) which I think would be cute in a slightly varigated yarn. Any one known of another cute, easy, and free fishy pattern?

*The Apples in Stereo

Is It Spring Yet?

2009-04-13T17:49:00.002-04:00

I've decided to just start dressing as if it is already spring.

Ok, fine. I need to do laundry.

Score: weather: 1, self: .5 (I get a point for having clean clothing to wear, but lose half a point for being cold all day.)

Maybe It's Time*

2009-04-11T23:54:00.006-04:00

As it is the weekend, I put clean sheets on the bed today. (Ok, fine. I also am avoiding a paper. Whatever.) I'm not sure how it works, but no matter how dead to the world both cats are when I go get the clean sheets out of the closet....they are both awake and want to help make the bed seconds later.

Kit, per usual, ended up under the sheet and blanket, and was willing to play. Schrodie sat and watched the lump under the blanket move around, but never thought to play with it. When he finally would have been able to actually play with Kit.. he didn't even think to do so.

Kit is currently curled up right in front of me, using my left arm as a pillow. Schrodie, feeling left out, has moved from the floor by my feet, to the top of the printer, to the stand for my iMac. He doesn't quite fit as well as he used to, so he keeps stretch and shifting to get comfy. And then the tail twitches. Silly kitty.

and people wonder why I wanted three comfy seats just for me? there always seems to be
a kitty occupying at least one of them, meaning I would have to sit on the floor if I didn't have three.

I am nearly done the Urban Aran. HURRAH! (that's what Kit is sleeping on, above.) I need to finish seaming the sleeves, sew them in, and find and sew in a zipper. I might also need to make the sleeve cap a bit longer, as I am certain that my row gague is off and things don't look like they will work out well. I am certain that truely Spring Weather will arrive the second the thing is complete, so I am trying very hard to finish NOW.

I knelt on the sidewalk in front of a random house to get this shot.. had to use the macro
function, meaning I was only a few inches from the flower. I got a number of funny looks. I giggled.

In other news, I have finished all homework for this week, minus a 40 minute play-with-online-games-and-such-for-museums assignment and above paper. I have also made brownies and baked yummy bread. (Note to self: hide bread AND brownies from kitten.) And cleaned. And wasted time online. What fun!

I also read God Bless you, Dr. Kevorkian by Kurt Vonnegut. I had forgotten how much I love Vonnegut's humor and outlook on life. And I uploaded a few pictures from an old zip drive:

I think what I love most about the above is the fact that
a) this was taken the summer before most of the above's senior year (my junior year)
and
b) all but ONE of us went to Penn State. (Will, second from right, went elsewhere)
Atkinson, Wark, Jimmy, Cederberg, Weaver, Scott, myself, Will, Stratton

Oh, high school. I've been finding a bunch of pictures from high school lately, and have realized that I was one of those weird people who actually LIKED high school. That said, I wouldn't do high school again. College, yes. In a heart beat.

3 out of 9 in this shot attended schools other than Penn State
Again, Will, and the other girls.
Will, Devin, Atkinson, Cederberg, myself, Megan, Weaver, Scott, Jimmy

Also? Have just realized that the first year of both high school and college kinda sucked the most and then it just kept getting better from there. Wonder what that means for grad school? For life?

*window twins

I'm Not Dead Yet!

2009-04-06T18:00:00.006-04:00

Um. Hi.

I am (finally) back from the dead. Well, mostly. I ended up rather sick over spring break, and ended up spending 3-4 days in bed. Sleeping. Eventually, I got bored enough of the view of my room to start sleeping with my head at the foot of the bed.

As a result, spring break was kinda a wash. I basically got nothing done, other than a few fun things that I refused to give up, such as a trip into Philly with a certain person, nommy sushi with barn people, and my half/un birthday party. Totally worth it, I think. I shall continue to celebrate my half-birthday, as that one evening - still kinda sick, very very tired, and not drinking - was more fun than my last four birthdays combined. And I didn't even get any presents! (although, Sister made me a PB&J sandwich the next day, which was awesome.)

I knew I was sick when I didn't want to go to the barn. Or knit. And fell asleep after every two or three paragraphs, no matter what I was reading.

I am back to knitting, now, though. I have a completed back, two completed (and matching) fronts, one completed sleeve, and one almost-completed sleeve (only 18 rows to go, and decreases on most of those rows). Soon, I will have to start sewing things together and then knit the collar. I think I shall totally not follow the directions for that and just start somewhere. Oh, and I suppose I ought to get a zipper or something. Since I really kinda don't wanna do button bands and stuff. We shall see, I suppose.

My sister ripped a hole in her Bayerische Socks. Too big to simply repair, too central a spot to just mend and not care how it looks. Thankfully, it is rather near the toe of cuff-down socks, so I was able to just unravel from the toe and re-knit. I didn't bother to wash the yarn or anything, and it looks rather funky. I am a little afraid, as I am ready to kitchner the toe shut again .... and I never ran out of yarn. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE? I will need to check it against it's mate and make sure that I (mostly) did the same things as before.

Schroedie, playing fetch:

(it is hard to hold a camera steady and throw a fuzzy pink mouse.)

Things recently learned (or relearned)

2009-03-18T22:33:00.005-04:00

If you ever have to choose between having a cat hair in your eye or an eyelash, go for the eyelash. Even if you are not allergic to cats. Considering the size difference between the two, you might think the eyelash would be more painful, but that is a dirty filthy lie.

While Kit is a person in cat clothing, Schroedie is a puppy in kitten clothing. Evidence:

he plays fetch
he has destroyed a flip flop (which, sadly, is no longer available.) and regularly attacks shoes
he sits up and does other tricks to get treats
he walks on a leash
he greets me at the door when I come home, all excited to see me and, presumably, tell me about his day

The internets are full of weird and crazy and mean people. Thankfully, there are also amazingly kind, sweet, and thoughtful people that will knit you socks just because you asked. Often, those groups of people exist in the same places on the internet. They just tend to gravitate towards sides of the room, if you will.

The biggest problem with life is a lack of time. There isn't enough time to work 8 hours, work out for 1, cook and eat a yummy dinner, do homework, knit, take pictures, practice the clarinet, learn piano, ride horses, etc. etc. etc. And there never will be, so when you have a chance: take it.

Pictures of babies can make everything better, even if just for a few minutes.

Friends will often pop up out of unexpected places.

A coworker's life goal is to purchase a trailer and then die in a tornado in said trailer. S/he thinks that will be a fast way to go, and relatively painless.

Eye Candy Sunday

2009-03-15T20:56:00.002-04:00

Or: Something To Do Other Than Write A Paper:

all straight out of the camera, I think these were with the cybershot.

I really really am ready to be DONE with school.

Coloured Plastics*

2009-03-13T16:52:00.006-04:00

I am sick, and while still able to breathe, am regularly attempting to cough up a lung or two. And cold meds? They tend to make me kinda loopy. Honestly, I'd rather be drunk - then I'd at least have had the chance to enjoy a few good beers or whiskeys or what-have-yous. (Is there a drink called "what have you"? If not, I should create it and lo, it shall be awesome.)

So, I'm home, sick from work, losing my voice just in time for a presentation that I have to give in class on Monday morning. Should be fun.

Look, knitting (and a kitten...)

Urban Aran, with kitten for scale. Fronts, back, and most of the sleeves are complete. I still need to order more yarn to finish the sleeves and collar... Something tells me that I won't be wearing this til the fall. Which is really no surprise.

Print O the Wave:

Basically, it is a large lump on the floor, as I am sloooooooowly working my way around, attaching the boarder. Had a few complete brain meltdowns in my attempts to figure out what, exactly, I was supposed to be doing. Not sure that I'm completely correct, but so far, I like what I see. (well, minus the endless repeats of this over and over and over again, for the rest of all time.)

OpArt:

I have started this like, seven times. Not even kidding. And ... first, I am NOT going to be knitting garter stitch in the round on a blanket that has at least 700+ stitches on the last couple of rows. Nope, not happening. Secondly, it puckers and no matter what I did, I could never find a way to join the new color that I liked. And when I went back and wove the ends in, no matter what I did, it looked bad and felt worse. I love the concept though, and I think I've figured out a way to translate it into crochet.

Oh, yes. I've gone over to the dark side. I have become a hooker. But only for this one baby blanket.

Yarn:

I came home one day to find a skein of Lorna's Laces forming a yarn puddle on the carpet. The kitten had gotten bored and basically, gutted the skein. I'm still finding bits and pieces of the label here and there, but managed to untangle the whole thing and wind it into a ball.

The yarn basket now lives on top of the fridge. I'm hoping he doesn't figure out how to climb up there.

And of course, continuing my habit of coming home and checking under the bed to see what, exactly, is not supposed to be under there. Current list includes the following:

-one tomato

-one plum

-one tupperware container that had held lunch and had been sitting in the sink, waiting for me to empty the dishwasher so I could reload it. He managed to pry the lid off and eat all the left-over rice from that particular lunch.

-four or five different skeins or balls of yarn, stolen from my stash.

-various articles of clothing, dug out of the dirty laundry pile

-my glasses - luckily for him, they never seem to land lens-side down

Of course, he is currently curled up on the desk in front of me, using my left arm as a pillow. Good thing he's so cute.

*Doug Randle

An Open Letter (or several)

2009-03-08T16:51:00.006-04:00

Dear Wind:

Please stop. The power flickering on and off keeps resetting the modem and wireless router, which means I keep getting kicked off line. In case you didn't know, about 90% of my homework has to be done online. YOU ARE NOT HELPING.

No love,
me

Dear Schrodie:

When I try to play with you, it is because I know you get bored and need something to do. Do not sit there and stare blindly at the lazer dot on the floor - chase the damn thing. You are more than willing to run around like an idiot when I'm trying to sleep, so when I'm playing with you would be a great time to run around as well. Also? GET OFF and STAY OFF the kitchen counters. And I will be happy to keep throwing the toy so long as you bring it back. If you want to play fetch, then follow the rules.

Frustrated, but also somewhat amused,
the person who feeds you

Dear laundry:

If you could some how find your own way to the washer and dryer and return clean and at least mostly dry, I will be more than happy to fold you and put you away safely.

Thanks
the person who is considering going shopping rather than doing laundry

Dear professors:

Yes, we all love stories. But if you are going to require us to travel to campus (some of my classmates traveled from places such as South Carolina or Rhode Island), then maybe you could try TEACHING us something at 8am on a Saturday morning? If I wanted story time, I could go to the local library.

Also? We are library students. I really hope that we do not need to be shown how to search a database. And if we do? That should not take up 45 minutes of class time. If you really feel that we will need those sorts of skills for this class - and I admit that we do - require students to complete 504 - Intro to Reference before taking your class.

with no thanks for wasting an entire Saturday,
a student

Dear vacuum cleaner:

I am very happy that you are feeling better again, in time for our weekly session. But, do you think you can manage to make it through the entire session? If not, please let me know so I can make sure to prioritize.

thanks in advance,
the clean freak

Dear Spring Break:

Please hurry up and get here. Not only will I then be about half way through the semester, I will have completed a number of assignments and, in theory, my work load will be reduced but for three final projects. I can handle three final projects. (oh, and a few papers, but whatever. 3-5 page papers on romance novels and mystery novels will be easy.)

Also, I am greatly looking forward to you, Spring Break, and mentally need the time off. There are also certain plans that I am REALLY excited about, and they all seem to involve Philly. And a certain person.

waiting not-so-very-politely,
me

Reasons Why It Needs To Be Spring Already:

2009-03-05T01:13:00.002-05:00

It is 12:13am and I just stood outside, in my pjs, for 5 minutes. Because I could not breathe inside. BECAUSE OF THE [insert really long and descriptive string of curse-words here, and know that I have said EVERY one of them] DOWNSTAIRS NEIGHBOR. Who smokes. In her apartment. That shares heat registers with mine. Of course, I'm fairly sure I'd get stuck with the smoke smell even if we DIDN'T share registers, but still. Be warm and keep all your fingers or toes or regularly wake up, unable to breathe? Take your pick!

I suppose one could argue that it is not HER fault, but the landlords. For allowing her to smoke. (When, by the way, my lease forbids me from smoking, as does the next-door-neighbor's.) They have acknowledged that it is a problem but ... well, they don't know how to SOLVE the problem. Here's a thought: just give up and make it a smoking building. Then you'll have smokers. Who won't care. And won't want to call you at 3am when they wake up, unable to breathe cause of the smoke smell. The thing that really confuses me however, is the fact that my landlord took over the building from someone else. At which point.. I don't think they were required to honor the previous lease. And even if they WERE, that was three years ago. Does this woman have a five year lease or something?

I wonder - is this the type of information they were required to disclose before I signed the lease? Or, can I argue with them, if they choose to continue to be their wonderful, asshole selves and not refund my security deposit in full, that they owe ME money for the damage done to my furniture, etc? But it needs to be spring so that a) the heat is turned off, as that just makes the problem worse and b) I can open windows.

It also needs to be spring so that I can start running, outside. It was almost warm enough today, but gloves were still required.

I am tired of being cold and unable to breathe cause it is cold OR being warm and unable to breathe cause of the smoke smell. Plus, I would like to ENJOY being in the place I will call home for the next six months.

Is it can be spring time?

I'm a Cuckoo*

2009-02-27T00:22:00.007-05:00

I am well on my way towards becoming what is considered a Crazy Cat Lady. And I am ok with this.

I figure as long as I can avoid becoming this scene from Death Becomes Her:

I'll be ok.

That said, I don't get it. If a friend mentions that they are apartment or house hunting and they are trying to find a place with a yard, or close to the park, it seems to be a logical reaction. They are just being a good pet owner!

However, if you mention that you think your next apartment ought to have stairs - you know, so the cats can run up and down like crazy - people look at you sideways and back away slowly. Kitties seem to love stairs. Kit likes to take half of a plastic Easter egg, sit at the top of the stairs and then drop it down the stairs. Ideally, it bounces once on each step and she beats it to the bottom. Since we do not live in an ideal world, she ends up trying again and again to perfect her self-assigned task. Steps nearly blew Schroedie's mind when he first encountered them and it was quite entertaining to watch him figure out how they worked and then to bound up or down with his little kitten stride.

He's not quite so little anymore, though - still much smaller than Kit and probably about 6, maybe 7 pounds now. He is rather long and lean though, and still seems to have big ears and a long tail. And his energy levels are STILL through the roof.

He needs a bigger place and/or a buddy to play with all day. Since I'm not moving any time soon (well, not for at least six months) and can't get another kitten... I try to play with him when I'm at home but he tends to just sit and stare at the laser pointer and chirp. Not so much with the wild chasing on a regular basis.

So I've decided to try to leash train him. While I should have started much sooner - about 8-9 weeks, actually - I'm hoping he's still young enough to adapt pretty quickly. And then I can take him for walks and to the park.

He's taken to the harness surprisingly well. He attempted to chew and groom it off, realized that wasn't going to work, and allowed himself to be distracted by a toy and a treat. As I type, he's asleep across BOTH of my arms, his head bouncing a little as I type, still wearing his harness. I figure a week or so of the harness when I'm at home to make sure he doesn't get stuck on something, then we'll try the leash.

And hey, if the leash training fails, the harness seems to have a slightly calming effect on him.

*Belle & Sebastian

In part, why I love Mondays:

2009-02-23T18:07:00.007-05:00

While discussing readers' advisory and how to find books for patrons, I decided that there needs to be a book-version of Pandora.com. Lo and behold, a Google search for "Pandora for books" turned up a site called Booklamp, available at http://beta.booklamp.org. They aren't completely up and running yet - which is sad, but I can also see the enormous amount of work that will require - but they do give visitors an idea of how the site might work.

A search for similar books to Orwell's classic novel 1984 turned up a number of results. Most interesting, however, was the top result: the US Patriot Act, written by the US Congress, is a 98% match.

During a class lecture on modern missions of the Library, discussing the self-improvement model of libraries, with mention of Benjamin Franklin's social libraries of the 18th century, a gchat conversation between myself and a classmate:

me: I think Franklin's idea of self-improvement was to get laid, ladies man that he was
classmate who does not yet have a niffty nickname : isn't that the point of all self-improvement?

Ok, a sad point to make: done with class, I took the time to read the FAQs for Booklamp.org and 1984 matching the Patriot Act was simply an Easter Egg. (http://beta.booklamp.org/forum/faq.html - scroll to bottom of page; it is the second to last question.)

However, I still reserve the right to giggle.

More Homework Humor

2009-02-18T20:08:00.003-05:00

Found in tonight's readings on Books of Hours, as I attempt to put together a thoughtful, pretty, and interesting presentation on ... Books of Hours.

"The preference, for instance, for particular psalms or lessons for Matins mattered little to laymen, but personal devotion to individual saints was an essential part of medieval religious life--such devotion affected daily routine. Medieval society seems to have suffered from inadequate dental and medical care' it compensated for this by a deeply rooted devotion to St. Appolonia (or St. Appoline) because, we may suppose, her dental problems ceased after her teeth were drawn by her tormentors." (DeLaisse, 205)

Well, he IS right - the medieval times were not known for their hygiene or their health care. Say what you will about the American health care system - and there's a lot to say - it is a huge improvement from the medieval times.

Quote from The Important of Books of Hours for the History of the Medieval Book by L.M.J. DeLaisse, pgs 203-225. I think it is from a journal or a book, but as I was handed a photocopy by my professor, I can't quite say. I will correct my citation when/if I find out more.

Hello, My Name is Grumpy

2009-02-17T21:43:00.007-05:00

I feel like I spend all weekend trying to Get Stuff Done for the coming week, only to then spend the week Trying To Catch Up. No wonder I never want to do anything on a Friday night - my one and only chance to sit back and relax for a few hours, without feeling guilty.

This is what I get for taking a crazy course load and refusing to sacrifice (all of) my sanity. (Just most of it.)

In other news, the weather has been crazy up-and-down lately, going from beautiful blue skies one day to cold, damp, and rainy but still with hints of blue another.

notice the rubber ducky? He? She? lives on the dash of my car and I have not been able to figure out if it is a
male or a female. Shirt is cut rather ... risque for a female, but those eyelashes are just not male.

I just want spring - to be able to go outside and enjoy nice weather on my lunch breaks, to walk to and from Thursday nights without risking slipping on ice, breaking a leg, and freezing to death.

That is the weather I want - picture is from something in the Philadelphia Museum of Art's collection, but hell if I can remember anything about it. (Hrm, possible final project for Museum Informatics? Upload your pictures from the museum, and the site will (hopefully) give you information about the art?)

In happier news, I have solved the problem in Print O The Wave, turned the heel in the second sock, and gotten around to ordering more yarn for Urban Aran. And started OpArt, for the same classmate/coworker as Sheldon. (The baby was born last night, 11:05pm, 7lbs, 7oz, 21". How big does the blanket need to be then?)

Hrm. I seem to be all over the place tonight, writing is uber-sloppy, AND I'm grumpy. Hello, February, how are you?

why I need to buy more yarn:

2009-02-12T02:11:00.004-05:00

I need a new project, and soon.

I ought to finish Sizzle, so I can wear it this spring/summer. But eh. I don't wanna knit 1.5" of seed stitch on the neckline and sleeves. Plus, I feel like I messed up when sewing up the sides, so I'll have to re-do that as well.

I messed up somewhere on attaching the border to Print O the Wave, and have a devil of a time when I attempt to tink back, let alone rip back, the edging. This, of course, is a fairly easy fix - I just need to sit down for a few minutes and take care of 16 stitches.

I don't want to start another Sheldon, because that's TV knitting - I need to be able to look at the pattern, count stitches and rows.

I ran out of yarn for Urban Aran, sadly - fronts and back are complete and I'm halfway done the sleeves. I might be able to finish ONE sleeve with the yarn I have left, but that leaves me with half a sleeve and the collar to finish and Knitpicks isn't shipping more of that particular color until the 16th. I should consider checking Ravelry, but I think I need three more balls and that might be hard to find there.

The gloves are frustrating me - I don't know the magical formula for knitting fingers and messed up. But ripping back and starting all over is SO ANNOYING. That one can just go sit in time out for a while as I try to figure out the trick.

The socks I'm currently knitting in class, at the movies, while reading, are coming along very well. However, that means that I will soon be done and ... well. Then I need to find another boring project to work on. But I'll also have another pair of socks. Hrm.

I swatched for a baby blanket with shiny new metal DPNs from Knitpicks... and I'm going to blame a certain young kitten for the fact that one of those needles is missing. No idea where it is. I even crawled along the floor for a while, checking to see if it fell into any of the cracks in the floor.

I came home the other day to find that he had pulled 13 of my bamboo DPNs out of my knitting basket. THIRTEEN. Luckily, I managed to find all of them - most had been batted under the rug. Of course, I'm missing three - but I think they are back in PA - and have no idea which ones are what size, between US 1, 2, and 2.5. Now would be a good time to buy a gauge, I suppose.

Pictures to come later, of all my projects. You know, when I'm bored and avoiding homework this weekend.

rambling, rather than reading for class

2009-02-10T21:22:00.005-05:00

Today's high was something around 60F, and it was sunny. I'd be completely ok with spring starting in early February. Well, until I realized what, exactly, that might mean for the environment....

In other news, I finished Sheldon today - at work (baby shower at work today, for pregnant coworker/classmate). I remembered to take crochet hook, needle, legs, black yarn to embroider his eyes, etc. And COMPLETELY forgot to take anything with which to stuff his legs. Quick thinking had me taking care of his eyes first and then using the left-over yarn from the leg tails and his eyes to stuff the legs. However, he turned out uber cute. As soon as I can figure out how to get pictures from the cell phone to the computer withOUT using up a picture message, I shall post pictures. Or just knit another one, cause I require a Sheldon in order to live.

I will say this for the midwest: it has some amazing sunsets. UofI's Hartley Gardens is right near the office, and during nice weather, it is a great place to sit and eat lunch. Far enough away from campus, the gardens tend to be fairly quiet. And, they provide a nice open space over which to watch the sun set. Lately, I've been getting out of work just as the sun is setting so I hang out for a few minutes and watch the sun set. It is almost enough to make me forget about the cold for a few minutes. You know, until I can't feel my fingers anymore.

I got a sony Cybershot DSC-S750 for Christmas. I wanted a little pocket camera to take everywhere with me. With 7.2 mega pixels, this one takes somewhat sharper shots than the Canon, but I love the manual ability of the Canon. It is kinda hard to "trick" the sony into the aperture/shutter speed that I want AND have my subject still be in focus. The start up speed is also kinda slow, but it is nice to always have a camera on me without carting around the big one.

This one, however, was taken by my cell phone. I had forgotten the little camera at home and made due with what I had. I'm actually fairly impressed and forced to think back to the first digital camera my dad bought, which only had 2 mega pixels.. same as my cell phone. Weird.

In other news, I have a kitten curled up between my arms on the computer desk. I'm gonna need a bigger desk if this keeps up, as I am eventually going to run out of room for the random assorted crap I keep on the desk, the mouse, the keyboard, the pretty pretty iMac and a kitten. Plus, he keeps sitting on the keyboard while staring at the mouse cursor. I really ought to download one of those pet games and get a kitten and watch as his mind is blown by the noise as well as the sight.

And just because I can, one of my favorite shots from this summer: A fairly cool early morning, right before bring the horses in, alone on the farm. I miss those early mornings, just me and the horses, before it is hot and ugly out. I didn't even notice the bird til I had uploaded the shots to my computer.

More Conversations with TheUrmily

2009-02-07T14:58:00.001-05:00

You know, it's a good thing that it [iPod shuffle] is rectangluar.. otherwise, it would look like a tampon. And then you'd have a musical crotch... It would be kinda weird if you had music coming from your crotch... But then your vagina would have something to say. It could sing "Let's Talk about Sex!"
- a conversation involving tampons, iPod shuffles, and references to The Vagina Monologues.

Silent Poetry Reading Day

2009-02-02T19:37:00.002-05:00

Today, along with Groundhog's Day, is Silent Poetry Reading Day. (Details available here.)

Drummer Hodge

I

They throw in Drummer Hodge, to rest
Uncoffined - just as found:
His landmark is a kopje-crest
That breaks the veldt around;
And foreign constellations west
Each night above his mound.

II

Young Hodge the Drummer never knew --
Fresh from his Wessex home --
The meaning of the broad Karoo,
The Bush, the dusty loam,
And why uprose to nightly view
Strange stars amid the gloam.

III

Yet portion of that unknown plain
Will Hodge forever be;
His homely Northern breast and brain
Grow to some Southern tree,
And strange-eyed constellations reign
His stars eternally.

-Thomas Hardy, published in his Poems of the Past and Present in 1901.

Seen in the movie The History Boys.

Time to play catch up. Again.

2009-02-01T22:47:00.004-05:00

Evidently, I am blogging again. I think it has to do with the serious lack of free time. What better way to actually fix everything in time other than to blog?

Wet kitty. Sad kitty. Cute kitty.

So, quick catch up:

I moved to Illinois and started grad school.
School is awesome, I love my classes, library studies was totally the right choice for me.
My landlord everything that my classes are not. In short, had serious electrical problems for the first month+ that I was here. Despite calls every couple of days, they dragged their feet in solving my problems and attempted to make me feel like a jerk for being upset about the fact that out of an entire one bedroom apartment, three electrical outlets worked, along with four lamps. Those four lamps were only located in two of four rooms, and same with the outlets. Their solution was to run an extension cord from an outside outlet. For a month. And I'm going to stop writing about this cause my blood pressure will soon skyrocket.

His favorite place to sleep, still. I'm gonna laugh when he doesn't fit anymore.

TheBoy and I broke up. Maybe one day we'll figure out how to be friends, but not right now. Long distance is tough and it amplified all of our problems and eventually, we got tired of fighting the same fights, dealing with the same problems and never seeming to get anywhere. So, that's sad and stuff, but it is what it is and then you move on.
Because I can't do anything the "easy" or "simple" way, my expected graduation date has moved up. To August 2009. Which means I will graduate with a masters degree at the age of 23. Which also means that I'm taking 18 credits this semester.
Classes include: Adult Popular Literature; Higher Education and Learning Professionals; Libraries, Information, and Society; Museum Informatics; Medevial and Modern Manuscripts; and Rare Books and Manuscripts. So far, I love all of them

Second favorite place. Mostly so he can mess up the computer with those cute little feet.

I got a kitten. He's currently about 5-6 months old and very cute. He also also very much trouble. His (full) name is Indiana Schrodinger III, or Schrodie for short. Or Little Man. Or The Little Shit. Or Trouble. He responds quite well to "HEY!" by this point in time.
Kit hates the kitten. He doesn't get the whole personal space concept, but they're doing quite well. They even occasionally curl up near each other.
Over all? I am happy.
I hate winter in Illinois. Hence the graduation date change.

Homework IS fun!

2009-01-30T22:55:00.003-05:00

I may be doing homework on a Friday night, but I am still greatly entertained. See:

I'm reading about the role of the library, if libraries should allow and encourage fiction reading, and library usage. In the process, I've found these gems:

"Compared with library users, for example, nonusers are more apt to dislike change, do not want to try new things, avoid foreign locales, and are suspicious of communists and hippies." (emphasis mine)

And:

"Here in rank order are the activities, interests, and opinions that correlated most strongly with nonuse of the library by women:

All men should be clean shaven every day.
I get satisfaction out of cleaning.
TV is my primary source of entertainment.
I often wish for the good old days.
I like the look of a large lamp in a picture window. (again, emphasis mine.)
I don't feel safe outside home at night."

Those two statements have me snickering into my beer as I do homework. Who says grad school isn't fun?

Quotes from: Ross, Catherine Sheldrick, "Ch.1.1-1.3. The company of readers", in Ross, Catherine Sheldrick, Lynne (E.F.) McKechnie, and Paulette M. Rothbauer, Reading Matters: What the Research Reveals about Reading, Libraries, and Community. Westport, Conn.: Libraries Unlimited, 2006. Pp.1-27.

alive-ish

2008-07-05T21:04:00.003-04:00

Um, hi. I'm still alive, though some might doubt my sanity more than usual.

Working and living at the horse farm again for the summer. Prepping for the move to IL. Attempting to enjoy my time with TheBoyfriend before moving. Getting an awesome farmer's tan.

And watching TV via my slingbox and wondering... what happens to the cakes that do NOT win on the Food Network Challenge show? (Just saw the end of the Princess cake and the start of the Villain cake episode.)

Also, enjoying the new washing machine downstairs.

Post-Brewery Blogging

2008-04-12T01:02:00.003-04:00

Weee, tipsy blogging. Not drunk blogging, as I am still able to stand on one foot and touch my nose with my eyes closed and not fall over. Sober persons attested to this fact and thus, I am only tipsy. Which is sad, but tomorrow is another day. And next weekend is Blue and White Weekend, and not only will TheBoy be here, but a ton of other people will as well. And it shall be fun.

That said, I got a graduate assistantship. I think my references basically completed the interview for me, for I know they called at least one of my references before my interview. And I think they went into the interview planning on hiring me, so long as I didn't totally mess it up. So, I have a graduate assistantship for 20 hours a week in the fall. For those twenty hours a week, they shall pay me about $17 an hour. While I will need to dip into savings to pay tuition the first few semesters, I think I will mostly be able to live off of my salary and that includes paying rent.

Now I have to answer super important questions such as: TIVO or no TIVO? I think it is about $13 a month. I DON'T KNOW. I get the impression that TIVO is one of those things that you can't not have once you have it. Am I willing to make that leap, knowing I will be working for about oh, $30k a year after graduation? Hrm, I shall have to debate this one.

That said, I finished the second sock of a pair of socks of which I have not posted pictures. If it were not 1am, I would take pictures now. So, just know that they were knit out of KnitPicks yarn in the Waffleweave Pattern that I wrote and that lo, they are awesome.

And as a reward, I am attempting to start a sock from New Pathways for Sock Knitters - the riverbed sock. I really dislike toe-up socks, and I am remembering why. I attempted to start the sock at work last night and just massively failed. I could not handle the figure eight cast on, let alone Cat's LLink and LRink increases. I just gave up, used Judy's Magic Cast On, and used an increase that I could manage for the first round. We'll see how it goes from here. And for my self that manages to forget things, yarn is ArtYarn's Ultra Merino, 6ply, with US 1 needles.

And I picked up US 2 needles today, so now I need to decide if I will be knitting the Eagle's Flight socks again. As much as I hate the idea of frogging YET AGAIN, I kinda can't handle the idea of NOT knitting those socks perfectly. So, we'll see. If I can't bring myself to wear them as is, they shall be frogged and re-knit. I have proven to myself that I can knit a sock in about a week and I most certainly do have the pattern memorized by now...

Orts and Bits

2008-04-06T22:29:00.006-04:00

Really, do I ever write anything that is not some sort of random collection of the things floating around in my head? Finished Object posts, you say? Those don't happen all that often anymore, so I'm going to say "not really."

That said, on to the random collection of stuff that is floating around my head:

Sleep: I have gone to bed after 6:30am more times this semester than I have before midnight. This is not cool. This needs to change. (I do not see how this could change in oh, a month and a half.) If I am not asleep by 1:30am, I am considering just not sleeping tonight. I woke up around 2pm, so really, it would only be at the start of a three hour class that I would be awake for over 24 hours - that's totally doable. And then I can nap for an hour on the way to a rock climbing field trip and then climb for three hours. I SEE NO FLAWS WITH THIS PLAN.

School: Ugh. Do not care. I graduate in a month and a half. GRADUATE. They'll give me pieces of paper that make it official and everything! (Fools.) However, there are some ... 55 pages that need to be written between now and then. GAH. On one hand, I want to graduate and not thing about papers or anything, on the other hand? Graduate? Only real people, ready to face the real world graduate. Also, those people have learned something in the last four years or so. Have I learned anything? I do not know.

Ballet: Was awesome. I probably would have gone to that show even if I weren't taking a class that required me to do so. TheUrmily, however, ditched me in favor of BATTLESTAR GALATICA. There is nothing more that I can say here, other than to also mention that she canceled Thursday plans for Mad Mex because it was raining. Just .. fail.

Apartment: In theory, they have mailed the lease to me. I have not yet had it show up in my mailbox, but they most certainly went ahead and cashed the check I sent them. However, we suddenly have a new problem: Any assistantship I might get would start on August 16 - the lease starts August 18th. Tomorrow, I shall beg them to let me move in three days early. They keep claiming that they'll have plenty of time to clean and paint and remodel between July and August 18th, so what would three days be, now really?

Running: After trying to be nice and offer someone an onion ring, I have been roped into a weight loss challenge. Apparently, the goal is to lose 9lbs by the end of April. That's about 21lbs a week, which I think is pushing it a bit. I think I have talked the rules committee into accepting a weight loss goal of 7lbs for me, which I fee is much more reasonable and also, healthy. But, if by the end of the month, you have not met your goal of 9lbs, you owe $5 per pound remaining. Those who do make their goal get to split the pot. (Also, I find it interesting that a) I am the only female involved and b) this is a challenge set up to work best if some fail and some don't fail. We don't like it when everyone succeeds, it would seem.) So far, I have no idea how this is going, as I have eaten chocolate in some form or another every single day. And on Monday I had a milkshake.

However, in hopes to not owe $45 at the end of the month, I have started the Couch to 5K program. Someone else has already done all the thinking, I just have to follow instructions. To help me do so, I purchased an Eddie Izzard show in CD and have been running to that. I will admit, it is somewhat difficult to run when you are laughing, but it is much more fun. Also, you get great looks as you jog along, giggling merrily to yourself. As you pass all the frat houses. Ah, college towns.

Knitting: Oh, right - the theoretical point of this blog. I stopped by the yarn store the other day to purchase what I THINK are the correct size needles for the ill-fated Eagle's Flight Socks. Only, they didn't have them. No, seriously- they did not have them. WTF, world? Apparently, US2, 2.75mm, have been on backorder for some time.

So I came home and very carefully redisprited the tail I had left myself during my cast on. And now, I can wear the sock without cutting off circulation to that foot. I am still debating if I want to rip out the toe and reknit a slightly longer toe, so that the foot will be the correct length. I think I will end up doing so, I just can't face the idea of messing with that sock anymore.

I am also currently turning the heel of the second KnitPicks sock that I am knitting for Klunk- that one should be done in a week or two, and then I get to play a new pair of socks! I am excited.

Time to wrte another to-do list. I write a mean list - pity I rarely manage to cross anything off. And I can't even add things like "eat chocolate" to my list anymore.

See Below

2008-03-29T16:04:00.003-04:00

Random Saturday Update Only Because I Am On Campus And Attempting Homework But One Cannot Do Homework That Requires Both Paper And A Computer In This Building Because The Computer Logs You Out After 30 Seconds Of Inactivity And Thus, You Cannot Write Anything Down Without Then Having To Log In Again Posted A Day Later Because The Computer Hated Me:

-Eagle's Flight socks: they will not be the exact same size. I no longer care, as dude, they are socks. You wear them on your feet. They stretch out over the day and smell by the time they join the laundry pile. So long as both fit and seem to be intended for the same general size of foot, I shall be happy. Besides, I think my right foot is a little bit larger than the left, and thus, I can argue that really, I just knit socks to reflect that.

-Dandia on Fire: these people are crazy and I will be forced to eat pizza (or not eat at all) twice in one day, while standing in the back of the auditorium, flipping a clipboard (minus the clip) up and down to block a projecter during an Indian Dance competition. Also, Harry Potter? IS NOT PART OF A TRADITIONAL DANCE FROM FROM A STATE IN INDIA. Neither is Michael Jackson's Thiller or The Pink Pathner.

-Macs: I have apparently forgotten how to use a Windows system. While having trouble with DVDs not reading in the DVD player, we hooked up a windows laptop and lo, I was lost. I find that kind of sad and also, very frightening. Do people normally lose brain cells that quickly?

-Grad school: I applied for, and was accepted, the seeminly awesome apartment in Champaign. They are mailing a lease to me so I can sign away all of my savings, to be spent in only one year! However, I am excited and happy that I got the apartment. I think signing the lease will make things seem that MUCH MORE REAL and dude, I am also freaking out about this whole thing because I am suddenly VERY MUCH AWARE that Illinois? Is not, in any way, shape, or formed, what one might be able to consider "close" to West Chester.

-Paying for Grad School: I applied for a bunch of assistantships that were listed on the website for Illinois on Thursday. By Friday, I had already receieved an e-mail asking when I would be available for an interview. Either I look really really impressive on my resume, I wrote kick-ass cover letter in about 5 minutes, or they just want to fill the position. All of those seem to be good things for me, but now I'm freaking out about the phone interview. 45 minutes? On the phone? Answering questions while mentally telepathing "HIRE ME. YOU WANT TO HIRE ME. IF YOU HIRE ME, YOU WILL BE HAPPY." Seriously, an assistantship will be the difference between loans and no loans. I have, in various bank accounts, enough money to have about $500 a month for the two years it should take to get my masters. That's all well and good, but rent and utilites will be a bit over $700 a month. Not to mention food, the cat, or oh, I don't know, paying to tuition. Or the car. Or anything else.

An assistantship would mean that I'd only have to pay the difference between in and out of state tuition - about four thousand, if I take 12 credits or more. Plus, I'd get about an extra $600 a month - enough to cover the rest of rent, to eat, buy cat food so the cat(s) doesn't(don't) eat me, and take care of the car. Of course, I could also get a regular old job, but an assistantship would also allow me to get exprience and everyone keeps telling me that experience = good when applying for jobs.

-Sunday: is going to suck. I have to lead class discussion for three hours on Monday, which means I have to actually read the assignments for this week. And meet with a classmate to put together questions. And write a 2-3 page response paper. And all of the assignments for another class that I have ignored all semester because, really, why do them before they were due.

They're due Tuesday.

Gack, time to run back to work and continue working on my natural pallor from spending all free time on weekends in a dark theatre.

It is a really good thing I like these socks..

2008-03-26T13:52:00.010-04:00

So, I managed to knit an entire Eagle's Flight sock in less than a week.

While nearing the toe, I started to get really nervous, as there wasn't a lot of yarn left. I do have faith in knitters and the Internets, but I wanted to finally FINISH these socks so I could wear them.

Knitting in the dark, on a bus headed back to State College from New York City, I finished the second sock. And lo, I was happy, for there was just enough yarn to finish and weave in ends. See?

And then I looked closer. A lot closer. And realized that these two socks must not have been knitting on the same size needles, for though they had the exact same number of pattern repeats and rounds in the toe and the heel.. they were not the same size. So, of course, I ripped and restarted.

And got about this far when I realized that I must not have used US 1 needles either, because there was no way that sock was going to fit my medium/large feet.

So, in conclusion:
- I had just enough yarn.
-I did not use US 1 needles for the first sock.
-Which means that I used US 2 needles, for those are the only DPNs I have for socks - US 1 or 2.
-Which means that my pink plastic needles that I thought were US 2s are not US 2s, or rather, because they are so slippery, my gauge is not quite the same.
-Which means that I no longer have a set of bamboo US 2 DPNs.
-Which means I am re-knitting the second sock - for third time (though, the 6th time I have cast on and started the second sock) - on US 1.5s that I am borrowing from a friend.

Also? Blogger hates me, as I had to upload the pictures for this post four times.

Apparently, these socks require mulitple attempts.

Decision Time, Baby

2008-03-21T14:35:00.002-04:00

Blargh. I hate making decisions about big stuff. Little things? No problem. What should I wear today? Well, that's easy - the same basic thing I wore yesterday: jeans, t-shirt or tank top, hoodie. Occasionally I'll really change things up and throw on a nice hooded cardigan sweater, but not too often.

Grad school, however, is a Big Decision. An adult decision, actually. I will have to move to go to grad school. And since three of the four schools are NOT located close to home and I've kinda already decided against the school located close to home, it seems that I have decided to move myself and my stuff some 11-12 hours from home.

Illinois or Indiana? I think Illinois. Hell, I've been seriously inquiring about an apartment in Illinois. On paper, the place looks great. One bedroom, hard wood floors. New stainless steel appliances. A dishwasher. Pet friendly, free parking, located close to not only campus, but downtown as well. On the bus route and students get free passage on the city buses with their student id card. Furnished options, so that I don't have to attempt to move furnishings and/or purchase them once I arrive in Illinois.

However, I received pictures of the unit(s) today from the landlord. And uh, all those awesome things above? Minus the location, the number of bedrooms, and the fact that the floors are wood, all of the above is a giant lie. The apartments are, to put it bluntly, complete and total dumps.

It seems that they took control of the building in the last three months or so and are planning massive upgrades to the units in July. Well, July is only one month before August, which means that they have slightly less than two months to paint, refinish hardwood floors, install new white cabinets with dark (maybe even granite) countertops, plus a dishwasher, a microwave hood, a gas stove, and a fridge with ice maker. Plus completely re-doing the bathroom with a new toliet, sink, tile, and bathtub/shower. That's a lot of work and not a lot of time. What happens if they don't get it done in time? Do I have to live in a construction zone for a few months? Cause that would NOT BE COOL.

However, if they DO manage to pull it all off, I will have a really nice apartment that includes free parking and allows me to take my cat with me and get a kitten while out there so Kit has company (and someone else to hate). If I want to spend $625 a month in rent plus $125 in utilities - gas, water, and electric, I could have an eat in kitchen and a 20x20' porch as part of a second floor apartment. Not to mention the cost of tv and internet.

I dunno, it is a lot of money. Of course, finding an apartment that has a washer and dryer located on site, if not in my apartment, plus a dishwasher plus free parking plus pet friendly... that hasn't been easy.

I stumbled across this place on Craig's List. And I fell in love with the pictures and what the apartment included. However, the apartment doesn't yet include all that stuff, but they promise that it will.

A lease is binding. At best, I could hope to sublet and eat the difference if I really really needed to get out of the whole thing.

I dunno. I know what I want, but I am not sure if it is a good idea to sign a lease on an apartment without ever actually SEEING the apartment. But... waiting til May? That's a long time to wait and I KNOW that the apartment will not be available then.

And I doubt that they'd let me out of the whole thing if I visited and didn't like it.

If only they actually answered the phone, rather than replying (quickly) to e-mail. That would make me feel a little better.

Eagle's Flight Socks

2008-03-18T23:34:00.005-04:00

Last time we checked in on the Eagle's Flight socks, I had finished the first sock, knit past the heel of the second sock and then... I lost the second sock. Sock, needles, yarn, and all.

After trolling Raverly, I sent a message to a nice person who had used Opal's 4-Ply Uni Solid in color 1263. She was so very kind to mail me her remaining yarn, with which I have started the third sock. I am fairly certain that I will have enough yarn to finish this sock, and I am thrilled to be knitting these again.

Of course, I also have no idea what size needles I was using before, so I had to guess. I also attempted to cast on in a moving car in the dark. Actually, the casting-on part was the easy part. The hard part was the second patter row, working into yarn overs located right before and after a purl section. That I attempted while sitting at a bar, drinking a very yummy margarita. I think the fifth time was the charm.

I am currently kicking myself for not blogging these socks more. Just think of the trouble I could have saved if I had noted the size needles! Or you know, never have lost the sock at all.

But at this point, that seems like wishful thinking.

And because I uploaded them for perhaps no reason, please accept the following photographs:

The loveseat that my father took off the hands of a friend after said friend's mother died. We have two other loveseats in the house. He also accepted a matching couch. I am trying to convince him to buy a slipcover.

My current favorite new member of the household. Meet Scooba. He happily does kitchen floors so I don't have to. Well, minus the whole ripping out old floor, replacing with new titles two days before Christmas bit. Even after all that, I still love him.

Oh, right. The blog

2008-03-18T23:04:00.002-04:00

Um, hi. It has been a while. Mainly because I have been too lazy to drag my camera out and take pictures and really, who wants to read a picture-less post?

I'll try to make this quick, as there's a lot to catch up on.

Things that Have Happened Since I Last Remembered That I Have A Blog:

-Spring break. It was a week. It was short. I got food poisoning - not recommended. I was busy. I don't understand how I can be trying to pack so much stuff into one week when I often find myself bored and lonely on a Saturday night simply because I FORGOT THAT IT WAS SATURDAY and therefore, other people would be around and able to do something. Having Wednesday as your Friday is not always a good thing.

Um, yes. Spring Break. There was sleep, there was spending time with TheBoy. There was TheBoy's birthday and lots of yummy sushi. Mm... sushi. And there was lots of time spent at the barn. I realized just how excited I am to be going back to work at the barn for the summer. I love the people, I love the environment, I love the access to a swimming pool. Getting paid is also a really nice concept.

I also spent all of Spring Break bemoaning the fact that since I was home, I was not at school to check the mail AND WHAT IF ILLINOIS RESPONDED?

Um, they did. I got in. I still haven't quite processed that yet. Or the fact that I applied to four grad schools - without taking the GREs - and got into four grad schools. Even though two of the four never received my transcript. My letter of recommendation writers ROCK. I should knit them socks.

Ok, the whole bullet (and quick) idea has gone to the wayside. You'll get to read whatever I remember to write as I type. Lucky, lucky you.

Yesterday, on Craig's List, I found a listing for a couple of AMAZING looking apartments. Three buildings managed by one real estate company, with multiple units in each building. New(ish) stainless steel appliances. A dishwasher. Laundry facilities located in the building. Parking included. They will accept up to two pets per apartment. Hardwood floors. The pictures look really nice. Furnished.

Of course, I am waiting for a catch. I might have already found it, for I tried calling the number listed on the website and NO ONE ANSWERED. I called about once an hour for 4 hours or so, and never did I hear a live person. I don't think that requiring a person to leave a message to get back to you is the best method to actually get people to rent your apartments. It just seems weird to me. So, great apartment that I really really really really like the look of, and I can't get ahold of anyone. Also, not sure if it would matter because I am in Pennsylvania. The apartment is in Illinois. That's not quite a weekend trip and I don't want to sign a lease without seeing the place. I doubt they'd hold it for me. So, I don't know.

So, to sum up the squee factor for this post:

-Accepted into Illinois

-Accepted into Wisconsin

-Accepted into Phi Beta Kappa, the honors society

-Got to see TheBoy

-Ate Sushi

-Am going to NYC on Saturday to eat sushi, go to Dylan's, Serendipity, and a museum that has yet to be decided

-there was something else, but I can't remember.

Squeee!

2008-02-27T12:38:00.002-05:00

A few squee-worthy announcements:

I was accepted into the University of Maryland's MLS program.

I was accepted into Indiana University's MLS program.

I bought an iMac and it arrived this morning. BEST reason to get out of bed EVER. Also, I now love my FedEx man. (When I orderd my iPod last year, neither I or my roommates were ever home when they tried to deliever it. I had to sign for the package, which is fine, but I was not willing to presign for it and have them leave it on the floor outside of my door - anyone could have walked off with it. To make a short story not as long as I could (ok, that sounded better in my head.), FedEx ended up giving my cell phone number to the driver, who called me and gave me a 20 minutes head's-up so I could skip out of class early. Same guy delievered the iMac this morning, and thus, I love him.)

Oh, and details for those who like to know such things:
24" display, 2.8 GHz processor, 500gig hard drive, 2gig memory, nice graphics card.. the works.

It is pretty and shiny and I love it. Best of all? I shall not need Vista! Really, my hatred for Visita is irrational and at least partially unfounded, but it remains as is. I refuse to change for those who have come to accept Vista as the latest OS for their computer. Me? I just bought a computer that is at least a few hundred dollars more expensive then a comparative system running on Windows. Cause that makes sense in my mind.

Anyway.

Also, I finished a sock that I was knitting for a friend. Because I loved the colors of the yarn so, I took the leftovers and knit a blanket square. 4", starting with one stitch and increasing one stitch every row until I have four inches, then decreasing every row. Most boring knitting ever, and I loved every second of it. I'm hoping I get a similar amount of yarn left over from the second sock, so I will have TWO squares. I know, the excitement is killing me as well.

I ripped and re-started the second Rotating Rib sock. Still no idea if I'll have enough yarn, and yes, I realise this is a reason to knit toe-up but I hate knitting toe-up and please see above, re: irrational hatred of things I should not (necessarily) hate. But, I did three fewer repeats on the leg this time around and am willing to go back and chop off three repeats from the other sock as needed. If I don't need the yarn for the socks, maybe I can make another square.

The square making? It is a sickness. I know understand Ann and Kay of Mason-Dixon Knitting.

No pictures yet, for I have yet to attempt to contect my digital camera to the shiny new computer. That, and the printer, ought to be connected, but I'm having such fun downloading my Absolutely Must Have Programs, such as AIM (well, actually, Adium) and Opera. Next, FireFox, for I strongly feel that every computer should have three web browsers. And now I am just happy that IE is NOT one of my options. Take that, crappy web browser that is dead and sucks! (Again, the hatred. I apologize, but really people? Do you LIKE Internet Explorer or do you just not have a choice or what? I am confused.)

I just realized that I have a number pad again! Number pad, I love you. You make typing addresses and such so much easier.

Oh, back to the squee-worthy stuff:

I seem to have gotten my knitting mojo back. Apparently, all it took was that square. I've finished more than two repeats (out of 17 that makes up one half, so really, I've done like, nothing) of Print O The Wave and it is pretty and I love it. (Does anyone else sense a theme here?) I have, on occasion, knit the same row three times before figuring out that the mistake must be in the pattern row one down, and so tinked all the way to that row to fix the problem, oh, three or four times now, but I am content.

And apparently, I am a process knitter, for I am knitting for the sake of knitting lace that is pretty, not something that I'll ever use. And that is ok.

Ok, back to moving things from one computer to the other and playing with my new toy. And eventually, I suppose I ought to go to class and take a quiz.

A List, of Sorts.

2008-02-20T21:17:00.003-05:00

I'm currently frustrated with EVERYTHING I am knitting and thus, attempting to decide what else to work on.

Eagle's Flight sock? Oh, right - I LOST IT. I am still attempting to find yarn to knit a mate for the first one. Anyone have Opal 4-Ply Uni Solid in color 1263 just sitting around, waiting to be useful? Let me know.

Rotating Rib: I don't know if I have enough yarn to complete these. Which - wha? The cuffs, they are only 6" long. Sure, it is a rib, and that uses a little more yarn, but really? I got past the heel and then realized that I think I used the wrong sized needle, because something was off with the size. So, I ripped and am starting again, this time with a larger needle. I am also holding out hope that this will magically increase the amount of yarn so I have enough.

Sizzle: The knitting is finished. Now, I just have to seem it. I started the seeming ... and something went wrong. The two sides appear to be different lengths. To which - wha? So I put it in time out.

Print O' The Wave: Oh, yeah. In a fit of "I have nothing to knit, oh no!" I started Eunny's Print O' the Wave in some of this. So far, so good? Maybe? I think I missed up the invisible cast on on the 38th (And final!) try. Not sure if I'll have 80 stitches with to knit the other half. We shall see. Also, this requires reading the chart, and thus, is for tv watching. I'm not sure about class, but I think it might require too much counting. Maybe if I printed the chart WITH the repeated section four times? I dunno, but not so much with that right now either.

So, I leave you with a picture of the snow taken at 4am from my balcony. I have no idea how this actually turned out cause there's not a lot of light at 4am and I was shivering, but oh, do I like it. It was calm and peaceful and you could hear the snow. And then you could hear the old beat up pickup truck attempting to get out of his parking spot and failing miserably, but that's one of the joys of living next to a parking lot, no?

Apparently, the universe has a sense of humor

2008-02-12T16:44:00.000-05:00

I'll admit that I'm fairly lucky and rarely get pimples or break out.

So I had to laugh when I finally got a giant red zit right smack on the end of my nose - I'd been waiting for that to happen, since every one seems to have a "giant zit that no can ignore!" story.

And then... while staring at myself in the bathroom mirror, I found my first gray hair. On the same day I got my first giant zit.

Getting older is so much fun.

Lost: One Sock in Progress

2008-02-12T00:52:00.000-05:00

I lost my sock, people. Sock, the rest of the yarn, and a set of bamboo double pointed needles. I AM NOT HAPPY ABOUT THIS.

I know for sure that I had the sock with me in class last Monday. I have a memory of shoving it (gently) into my bookbag at the end of class, but not of zipping up my bookbag. Then, I took my bookbag to work on Tuesday and pulled out two books and the newspaper, but not the sock. I suppose the sock could have fallen out while doing so, but ... I think I would have seen that happen, as my bookbag was hanging on a coat rack at the time.

I didn't realize my sock was missing until Wednesday, when I went to leave for class and checked to make sure that I had something to knit during class. I haven't found it in my shoe box of an apartment, so I'm thinking I lost it.

I went to Lost and Found on Thursday, but explaining what a sock in progress looks like to the clueless girl behind the counter? Was not easy. Tomorrow, I shall return again, with the completed sock and say "It looks like this. Just without a toe. And 5 needles. And a ball of yarn (hopefully) attached."

I looked around at work, no luck. I think they have a separate lost and found, but I'm not sure if anyone would have .. found it. It would have been under the coat rack and that's not a regularly cleaned place.

What does one do with a completed sock, when one has literally LOST THE YARN for the second sock? I think I wrote down the color for the yarn, but not the dye-lot. Also? Am not checking for I do not wish to learn that I did not record the color in any way, shape, or fashion.

I'm thinking I shall have to beg for someone else's remains of said color of yarn. And hope that dye-lots are not too far apart. I think I might weigh the completed sock so I know about how much yarn I would need, plus a bit for casting on and grafting the toes. Think I can do that at the post office and take a picture without getting in trouble?

Um, so, about that blogging thing?

2008-02-04T23:22:00.000-05:00

Given the number of times in the last week that I have idly wondered why I felt so ill around 11:30pm only to realize that I had eaten a handful of cereal back around 11:30am and NOTHING SINCE, I'm also not too suprised with the lack of knitting.

Well, the lack of knitting OUTSIDE of class, that is. Sadly, taking notes does not lend itself well to knitting, nor does class participation.

I'll be back when I can remember to eat more than one meal a day and can get myself back onto a sleep cycle that does not involve falling asleep in the AM and waking in the PM.

Sad, but true.

2008-01-28T23:20:00.000-05:00

I realised tonight that tomorrow, I will do the dishes because there are no more clean spoons and all the dirty spoons are at the bottom of the pile in the sink.

And how else is one supposed to eat ice cream, I ask? Or at least, serve it, because the ice cream scoop is currently somewhere in the midst of that pile as well.

Why I Will Never Fall Asleep before 3am for Spring 2008

2008-01-24T02:19:00.000-05:00

(picture at the bottom for those who wish to skim. Not that I blame you.)

This semester is going to kill me. At the very least, it is going to kill my sleep cycle.

I only have class three days a week. Three days in a row, even. A three hour class on religious conversion in the Early Modern world of the Middle East on Monday. An hour class on research methods on Tuesday, followed by a frantic dash across campus to my car to meet a classmate and drive 1.9miles to the local YMCA for an hour and a half of rock climbing. And a three hour class on ethnicity and class on Wednesday.

There's also a web-based class, for which I have five exams and two papers. Oh, and attending five events held at my place of employment. No, I see no problems with saying "sorry, can't work then. Instead, I have to spend my paycheck on tickets for that event." (just a tad bitter about that one, huh.)

There's also that pesky little thing called my "undergraduate honors thesis." Which is due April 18th. People, I HAVE NOT YET STARTED. I have to write 40? 80? however many pages by April 18th. Good news is, binding margins are 1.5" on the left hand side. I shall love that half an inch, I imagine.

I think ten pages a week until spring break is TOTALLY reasonable and doable and yes? No? Should I just go cry in a corner now and forget all about it?

The research methods class, while also promising to be very boring and good lord, that woman talks a lot, seems like it will help me with my thesis. The class is designed for honors students to have help with the research part of their thesis, or even deciding on their thesis topic. Hopefully, that shall provide a nice kick in the butt to get working.

There's also the whole "applying to grad school" thing. Because I decided to apply rather late in the game, I didn't have time to study and take the GREs. I found four highly respected and ALA accredited programs that do NOT require GRE scores from students with a certain GPA (or higher). Universities of Illinois, Maryland, and Wisconsin and the Indiana University. My first pick is decidedly Illinois, and of course, that's the only one that's complete as of yet. Of course, that's also the school with the earliest deadline and such. After that.. I don't know. Maryland is close to TheBoy and rent, for a not-nicely-located-to-class studio apartment will be some $800 a month.

Illinois? Three blocks from campus, hard-wood floors, fire place, dishwasher, utilities included, and I can have a cat? $550 a month. For a one bedroom. That I wouldn't have to share. And includes parking. AND a washing machine and dryer. That's just from scanning Craig's List, people. Imagine what I could find if I tried!

Of course, there's that part about whole writing essays and trying to pimp yourself, at which I suck. "Accept me because otherwise, I will live in a cardboard box. Also, I can read." That's pretty much what I want to write, but somehow, I don't feel the admissions committee is going to love it.

In summary:
Four day weekend = awesome
Three day week, with classes starting at 2:30pm = not getting up before noon
Thesis = the death of me
Applying to grad school = pimpage of self, at which self sucks

Time for a kitty picture?

(This is Kit, known as the World's Most Opinionated Cat. I'm surprised her mouth was shut in this shot, because she was NOT happy with the camera in her face. Hence the squinted eye. And the tail, which was most decidedly twitching.)

Back to Our Irregularly Scheduled Knitting

2008-01-21T17:49:00.000-05:00

So, knitting.. I've been doing a bit of that of late.

First, I finished a hat in a few days:

Odessa, by Grumperina. I used left-over Andean Treasure from knitting Blaze. Less than one ball later, I have a warm and fuzzy head covering. Only problem, it doesn't cover my ears. I'm considering picking up and knitting a longer ribbed band, to hopefully cover my ears. So far, I've just been wearing the hat.

I omitted the beads because I didn't have any and I wanted a hat NOW. I love the different orientation the stripes take, just by the increases and decreases. It was a fun, quick knit and I got to try out my new KnitPick Options kit. (Which, by the way, I LOVE. LOVE.)

And then.. the first of the Eagle's Flight Socks:

I've even cast on for the second sock. I really like this pattern - it is a six round repeat, and half of the repeat is simply knitting or purling the stitches as they appear. I tried something different on the heels for this sock - I like the results.

It is a little hard to tell in that picture, so I highlighted the changes with blue in this one:Looking at all of my purchased socks, I realized that many of them had a weird y-shape in their short-row heels. I figured that they knit a normal short row heel as normal, wrapping and turning as they worked towards the middle. When I had about 1/3 of the stitches wrapped, I started working back out the normal way - double wrapping, then picking up and knitting the two wraps and double wrapping the next stitch. I did that for four stitches total - two on each side, and then started decreasing again - single wrap and then turn around and head back to the other side again. I re-worked the four stitches I had worked earlier, then continued normally again.

I realize that doesn't exactly make sense, but I'm not sure how else to explain it. Has anyone seen this type of heel before? Instructions for it? Once you understand how to knit a short row heel, I think it makes sense.

But that results in the y-shape and helps the heel really cup around your heel. It isn't that much more work, but the sock fits a bit better. A few socks I've knit with short-row heels ended up a little tight in the heel/instep area, and this seems to fix that problem. All in all, I'm looking forward to wearing these socks.

I realize that there are holes in my heel. I've only recently realized that you're supposed to knit the wraps as you work back out. I've tried it a few times, and never liked the look. So I tend not to do so. I recently got a copy of New Pathways For Sock Knitters, so I'm going to try those instructions and try that. But the holes are a result of the way I personally deal with the wraps, not the addition of my "y." So don't like that keep you from trying it yourself.

Look at the pretty scalloped edges that the pattern creates at the top, too:

What I did over my Christmas Vacation...

2008-01-18T13:11:00.000-05:00

Anyone else remember those annoying essays you had to write in elementary school, about what you did over summer/winter vacation? Now that I'm older, I actually have interesting stuff to write about for such an essay.

First, we redid the kitchen floor the Sunday before Christmas. My mother visited for Christmas, driving up from VA, and one of her pet peeves with my father is his promises to do something and then... not doing it. When they bought the house 30 years ago, he promised her a new kitchen. So far, the floor is the closest he's gotten to delivering on that promise and it happened a year after she moved out.

My dad bought himself a Scooba, because he hates to clean the kitchen floor. Saturday night, we put Scooba to work and he did an awesome job cleaning a kitchen floor that had not been cleaned in a year. Vacuumed yes, but mopped? Nope, no way in hell. Scooba did such a great job that my father decided Scooba should have a new floor. (My mother, she did not find that funny because she does a better job than Scooba and she never got a new floor.)

We'd invited my best friend and her mother over for Christmas Dinner that night, and to exchange gifts between them and Mom, as she had to drive back on Christmas day. They were due to show up around 6:30 or so.

First, we ended up in Lowes around 8:30am, to purchase industrial floor tile, paste, wall coving, etc. Then we had to rip up the old flooring:

You can see why we all hated that floor. Ugly, ugly color, and it had worn completely through to the subfloor in a couple of spots. It came up pretty easily, and often in one piece. Then we placed screws along the seams of the plywood that was the underfloor, to make the floor surface more level. (I say "more level" cause that floor is not going to be level unless they completely redo EVERYTHING.)

In this picture, you can see the entirety of the kitchen, and why my mother wanted a new one. On the left side, you see the built in oven. On the right side, towards the bottom, you see the fridge. Doorways into and out of the kitchen are next to each of those, and then two blank walls finish the "box" of a kitchen. Because of the doors, you can only place the table in the far corner from which I took that picture. I think it would be easier to have two people in my current hallway of a kitchen than it is to have two people cooking in the kitchen at home. In other words, it sucks. Also, that's all the storage space available in that kitchen, and the only counter space is above the dishwasher. And no, I don't know why the dishwasher is missing its front panel.

My dad placed the first few tiles, and I ended up doing the rest as he cut the edge tiles to fit. My sister took over my camera and took a couple of action shots. The title is industrial tile, and you'll find it in grocery stores, schools, hospitals, etc. That particular color actually goes fairly well with the rest of the house, if not the kitchen. But then, we need a new kitchen, so whatever.

The final project, with new plastic wall coving, new title

Here you can see the other two walls of the kitchen and HOW USELESS OF A DESIGN it is. Also, the microwave cart that we bought around the time we first got a microwave. I think we used to store the doors underneath the cart. Here, I was standing in the one doorway. The fridge is on my right. At the end of the wall that the table is against is the other doorway, perpendicular to the oven.

Tina and her mother showed up around 6:30, as promised. However.. no one had started dinner yet, because we were still working on the floor. In the end, we didn't tile under the fridge that day, but went around with wet paper towels and mineral spirits, trying to clean up the glue that oozed up between tiles as we walked on the floor and then got tracked everywhere. Tina ended up throwing out those socks and my mother had to spend some quality time with the mineral spirits and her shoes.

(On Christmas Day, after my mother left, my dad and I tiled behind the fridge. Tina and her mother came over for dinner AGAIN, that day. And again, they found us on our hands and knees in the kitchen, covered in sticky stuff.)

I still haven't taken a picture of the current sock project...

2007-12-12T19:17:00.000-05:00

...so you get pictures of a project finished awhile ago.

I started another pair of Monkeys back in the beginning of November and finished by Thanksgiving. As they're meant to be a Christmas gift (along with Bayerische), I finished them and then.. then they sat. And looked cute, and very green, but I figured I ought to come up with a way to wrap them up.

I looked for sock wrappers or sock gift tags and found nothing. (Google, how could you fail me?) So I ended up opening a Word document (something I'm avoiding because it is the end of the semester and thus, I have papers to write. The logic, it is perfect) and created my own.

See?

I am brillant at photographing white stuff.

I was all excited cause I even got to pull out my box of crayons and color in the holly leaves and berries. (Also, I was being Productive and yet, not writing Papers. How could that be a bad thing!?)

Also, I drew the lines in the holly leaves by hand.

They are for TheBoy's mother, because she really liked the Monkeys I knit for myself, I really wanted to knit another pair of monkeys, and she gave me a Christmas present last year that I was totally not expecting, and thus, failed to give her something in return. So I knit a pair of socks, with color suggestions from TheBoy (Green. Just ... green.) and I'm gonna wrap them and sneak them under the tree and hope I don't see her at all from Christmas til January 14th, when classes start. (Of course, that's assuming she doesn't figure out that the handknit socks are from the ONE person she knows that knits and that TheBoy doesn't out me.)

(I really like parenthesis. Can you tell?)

I don't do well with the whole "Oh, you shouldn't have!" response to gift-giving. Maybe so, but I did, so can you just enjoy the darned things and we can move on and I can not be embarrassed anymore?

And my typical random picture that was pretty and I wanted to include, for no really reason at all:

Sunset at the barn a few weeks ago.

Finished Object: Bayerische Socks

2007-12-09T23:43:00.000-05:00

(we will ignore my unmade bed, my blindingly white legs, and the horrible light.)

The Specs:
Pattern: Bayerische by Eunny Jang.
Yarn: ZwegerGarn, Opal. Yum.
Color: Number 62 - a brown with a orange hint to it. I hate it, my sister loves it.
Needles: Plymouth Bamboo DPNs, US Size 2.
Start to Finish: January 2007 to November 2007. I forget exact dates.

(seriously, I have spent all daylight hours for the last three days in the back of an auditorium. Where lights were off or blue.)

For: My sister. Which is why its a good thing she likes the color.
Notes: Love. Much, much love. Charts are easy to follow (and eventually, memorize). They really didn't take THAT long to knit - I knit the first one in about 3 months, the second in less. They just spent a lot of time waiting around, just hoping to be loved. They look a thousand times better when worn. I made two mistakes - both on the first sock. But, my sister doesn't care and odds are, will never be able to find them again.

I want to knit a pair for myself, but I don't think I'd ever manage to actually FINISH them. Le sigh.

In Other News :

This is my to-do list for the week. Apparently, I plan on writing three papers, studying for a final, going to the barn four-five times this week, and getting a hair cut. Also, watching TV.

Sunday will be the fun day, as the first of the papers is due on Monday, December 17th.

After that? Two papers due Wednesday and a final scheduled for 8am Friday, December 17th. I am hoping and praying that they will let me take the final earlier. Tuesday sounds like a good day.

Conversations with The Urmily

2007-12-02T22:21:00.000-05:00

Driving home for Thanksgiving:

"Deer!" (randomly, out of the blue.)
"What?"
"There was a sign."
"Did it have a picture?" (I was thinking of this.)
"No. It was pink."

Not dead. Yet.

2007-11-28T21:06:00.000-05:00

I've been staring at empty blogwriting pages for a few months now, but not so much with the writing of the blog bit.

In part, I'm over-whelmed with the amount of catch up that I feel I should do. So I decided to just skip the catch up and if you have questions, lemme know. (Assuming I have any readers left...)

I have no current knitting pictures, since my camera has been ignored for a bit. So you get pictures from Europe, as I ease back into the whole blogging bit.

(market square in Krakow, Poland)

The semester is winding up, final papers are staring me down. Only three? Four? I'm not even sure, which probably isn't the best of signs.

(parking lot over looking an old church in Prague, Czech Republic)

But also looming is my thesis and all the work I need to do for that cause I haven't done as much work for that as I should have this semester. GAH!!!

(river dividing Buda and Pest in Hungary, on the day of the Red Bull Air Races)

And looming over all THAT is that scary thing called the "real world." I've decided to apply to ONE grad school for fall 2008 and if I get in, I'll go then. If I don't get in.. I'll go the following year, which was the original plan in the first place.

(Auschwitz-Birkenau train track. This is actually the track that everyone thinks leads to the main camp, but Birkenau was a satellite camp.)

So I'm just gonna write final papers and personal statements and thesis stuff and so forth. And knit the stress away, when I have time to do so.

um....

2007-08-30T09:11:00.000-04:00

Hi, my name is confiance and I suck at blogging.

Vacation, work, work, classes starting, homework... all have kept me from having enough free time to remember that I have a blog. My hard drive crashing has also resulted in me needing to download all sorts of things. Like my camera software, which is why you get no pictures.

Mostly, I just wanted to let my sock pal know that I got my socks and I LOVE LOVE LOVE them! Thank you so much! The yarn is awesome, the pattern is awesome, and the colors are awesome. AND they fit perfectly.

I'm sorry I let you get nervous - I didn't actually get them til Saturday, because I was on vacation when they arrived and someone else got the mail for me while I was gone and they weren't around til Saturday. And then I tried responding to e-mails and they kept bouncing back for some reason.

So blogworld, view this as a long-due post/e-mail to the most awesome sock pal! I need to take pictures, but first I need to find my camera. (You'd be amazed at home much that is a theme for my life right now.)

Ok, gotta go - class starts in ten minutes.

Just checking in

2007-07-28T01:32:00.001-04:00

Wednesday morning, my hard drive crashed.

This afternoon, my new hard drive arrived. After some difficulty what with pieces not seeming to be the correct size and shape, I figured it out and installed the new hard drive. And reinstalled Windows. And then updated my graphics driver so that I could actually use ALL of my screen, rather than a 5x8" section in the middle. And installed a bunch of other things, like my web browser of choice (Opera) and other programs, such as virus protection and sypware detection and so forth.

And now I have to attempt to remember all my bookmarked websites. However, there was a reason I bookmarked them - so I wouldn't have to remember them.

Funny how that works.

But that would explain the lack of posting and the lack of pictures - I haven't installed all the stuff for my camera yet. Or ripped all my songs off my iPod. Or any of the other thousand things one must do to set up a computer to their specifications.

Minus working a 7 hour shift tomorrow, leaving the barn at 7am for a horse show on Sunday (and taking a mostly white horse, meaning I'll be up and at the barn by 6am to bathe the horse), I should be up and running in now time.

And thanks for the comments on my last post.

I got nothing

2007-07-24T23:23:00.001-04:00

(written late last night, posted late tonight.)

Much whining, not so much knitting or interesting stuff. Read at your own risk.

Where to start?

I haven't written in a long time, mostly because I wasn't quite sure what to say. Not knitting much - just frantically working on sock pal socks (started the second, and know I can finish before August 7th, so long as I keep up the pace). Not reading much - must knit. Not sleeping much - must knit.

I'm here, til I leave for Europe, and then back here again (well, except for holiday breaks and the like) til after graduation in the spring.

In addition, I've felt sickly since Thursday. You know that feeling that occurs about 4 minutes before you violently lose the contents of your stomach? That comes and goes, along with a headache. Nothing seems to really make me feel better other than sleeping, but per usual when I'm sick, I am either at work or doing something else that requires I remain awake when I most want to sleep and yet, can't fall asleep when I finally collapse into bed at night.

(Man, I really love long sentences.)

Excuses, Excuses.

2007-06-28T14:14:00.001-04:00

I work 4-6 hours at either the toy store or at the library, each day. Four days a week, I go to the barn, which is another 3-5 hours. Three days a week, I go to the gym, which tends to be about two hours.

There's also cleaning and reading and research for my thesis and other such fun and exciting things.

As a result, not much knitting. And not much blogging. I'm sorry, blog!

So I'm gonna do the 6 weird things meme (or less, if I can't think of 6), even though I haven't been tagged, since that will give me blog fodder.

1. I eat M&Ms in twos by colors. Two blue, two green... There must be two of the same color. Unless I have ONE of EVERY color left over at the end, I never finish a bag. I'll give away the "unmatched" pieces, but I can eat one of each color at one time. (I just tend to do so an even number of times.)

2. I make my bed every day. Fluff pillows, arrange blankets just so... I hate the look of an unmade bed. But even more, I LOVE the feeling of climbing into a bed with new sheets, and other than washing my sheets 7 times a week - which would cost WAY too much money - I just make my bed every day.

3. I love apples, apple juice, apple butter. However, I cannot stand apple sauce. I hate mushy apples and that's all I can think of when I try apple sauce. I seem to have a texture-based issue with many foods. Like calamari - I actually like the taste, but not the texture. It is like chewing on rubber bands. Same with mushrooms.

4. I hate odd numbers. Well, 1 is ok. And 9. But I dislike the majority of the others. I'm gonna blame my lousy division skills and say that I hate not knowing if a number is a prime or not. (And yes - I did once try to memorize the list of prime numbers. That didn't work out so very well.) Also, the others just ... sound prettier.

5. I hold my pencil (and pen) funny. Rather than letting the writing utensil rest on my middle finger, I use my middle finger to help steady it on my ring finger. I've got a nice little bump on my ring finger as a result. Holding it the "normal" way always feels weird and my handwriting gets worse.

Of Mice and Men

2007-06-21T12:39:00.001-04:00

What I planned on doing today:

riding lesson
clean bathroom
clean kitchen
take out recycling
straighten room
knit
read three chapters of my book
go to the gym and kick my own ass

What I will Most Likely End up Doing Today:

read half a chapter of my book and fall asleep
attempt to straighten my room and give up half way
curse a lot
attempt to knit and discover that your middle finger is really quite required for the whole process

And the reason my to-do list will end up so very NOT to-did?

But there's a valid reason for drinking before noon on a Thursday:

You see that line about a third of the way down my nail? It was bent backwards - and STUCK - at that line. I managed to rip off a large portion of my nail during my lesson this morning.

Doesn't it look pretty?

Good thing I went bowling last night, otherwise I'd be bowling left-handed. Also, that happens to be my middle finger, so I've been walking around like I'm giving people the middle finger.

Yesterday, I was bucked off. Twice. By the same horse. I had bruises by the time I got home. They look funny (but don't photograph well - believe me, I tried) because the surface of the ring is uneven, so I have "dotted" bruises. A couple scrapes as well and some really nice and sore muscles to boot.

I can't wait to see what happens tomorrow when I ride.

In knitting news, I tore out the majority of Sizzle. I tried it on again and finally convinced myself that it is too short, too wide, and not something I would wear. So, back to the seed stitch border to start again. I went down a needle size, figuring that will help with the "too wide" part. I also knit an extra inch before starting the decreasing darts and will knit an extra inch or two in the shoulder straps, I think. Also, I knit that back when I was twisting my purl stitches by purling incorrectly for the way I knit (or vice versa, depending on how you want to look at it.)

I finished the sock I started while watching Knocked Up and offered the pair - once I finish it - to my sister. I'm knocking around ideas for my sock pal's socks, but I want to start at the toes and knit my way up. And use little to no lace. I'm thinking of modifying the Bayerische pattern to use the two cable patterns that I really like. I think I'd have time to finish them. Right?

Random Friday

2007-06-15T18:25:00.001-04:00

I work a grand total of 13 hours next week - and that's a GOOD week
I need another job.
I also need a shower, as TheBoy is on his way over with dinner. (Well, if the place is open - they have a weird habit of closing early on days such as Friday and Saturday.)
Apples and peanut butter still makes me happy.
I lost a needle somewhere in/on my bed. So far, I've refused to worry about it, but am annoying as it belongs to the needle set that already has one of five broken.
I feel off Dan's bed the other day - The Urmila had attempted to help me up - and ended up upside down, stuck between bed and wall. Yesterday, my neck was killing me. Today, it is better. I love sleep.
I've been knitting. Just on projects that everyone has already seen before.
I've decided that I WILL FIND A PATTERN for my sock pal this weekend so I can start knitting so I can finish by August to mail it in time.

Ooo - food's here. Gotta run.

Finished Object: Branching Out

2007-06-14T11:53:00.000-04:00

About time I finished this project....

The Specs:
Pattern: Branching Out from knitty.com. No known mods - I think I messed up the first five rows of garter stitch, but that doesn't count.
Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool, 65% wool, 35% silk. 192 yards/50g ball. I think I used all but half a yard or so.
Colors: That's a very good question... I can't find the label, but I think it was sandstone or oatmeal or something of that nature.

Needles: US size 8, 14" metal straights from Boye. By the end - after I knit some many pairs of socks, I found the needles too long to be comfortable. Or make it was the limited width of the project for the needle length.
Start to Finish: Um, started some time back in 2006, I think around the beginning of April. I cast off on 6/3/07, so one year and two months for a very simple lace scarf.
For: Again, a very good question. I HAVE NO IDEA. Any suggestions?
Notes: Lace is fun, chart reading is a lot easier than it was when I first started this project. Now I really want to try my hand at a shawl but I know I would never wear it. Lace is a lot easier than it looks and pointy needles are the best thing in the whole world for lace.

(that little bit of yarn to the side is all that is left over.)

Free time = no blogging?

2007-06-12T11:26:00.001-04:00

Hi Blog!

I know, I know - I suck at this whole updating thing. And it isn't even like I'm all that busy. I wake up whenever, get breakfast, make my bed, take care of little things around the apartment. For example, yesterday I ironed the sheets I put on my bed. (What? There was a wrinkle along all four edges of the flat sheet that would NOT wash out. It almost didn't IRON out with steam on the highest setting.) I read, I eat, I go to both the gym and the barn. Four days a week or so, I head to work for 3-4 hours. (I really need to find ANOTHER job.) Oh yeah - from time to time, I knit as well.

See? This is the sock that I started in the theater, watching previews before Knocked Up started. Great movie - I loved it. At first, I thought I had twisted my join and would have to start again, but I decided to just keep knitting cause it would be too distracting to do so during the movie.

I really like the top edge, with the little bit of white/black bit:

I might give them to my sister, as I finished her first sock and cast on the second one and haven't touched it since. Just not quite feeling the Bayerische love these days.

Yarn arrived in the mail yesterday!

One skein Lorna's Laces in Hawaii for me (I'll be able to make a decent pair of anklets out of it) and two skeins in BlackWatch for my sock pal! Now, I just need my copy of Favorite Socks: 25 Timeless Designs from Interweave to pick a pattern. Something interesting and beautiful, but not lacy. Any suggestions?

And I'll leave you with a bonus image of BranchingOut blocking on my bed. I need to post the finished object entry so y'all can see how pretty it turned out. One of these days?

Catching Up

2007-06-05T00:22:00.000-04:00

I still need to block Branching Out. I'm waiting for a day that I wake up (and GET up) early enough to be sure that it is dry by the time I go to bed, as I think I have to block on my bed. I'm uber excited though, since blocking lace is magic! After I block it, I have to figure out where it shall live. I'm thinking TheBoy's mother shall be able to find a good use for it.

I'm not sure about the color, though. I loved the color online, but now it looks rather ... blah. Maybe I'll knit a swatch with the VERY LITTLE I have left over and see how that works.

In other news, I've been given Timmy for the summer - the horse that can jump 4'6" with no problem. He's awesome and I'm having a blast, even though I'd rather not sit again for a few days. There's talk of doing an A rated jumpers show in July, which is already scaring me. Those turns are gonna be TIGHT and Timmy is either fast or nimble and both are needed to do well.

Tomorrow, I plan on attempting to find a sock pattern (or to create one) for my sock pal. I also need to figure out my next "big" project. I have to finish my sister's second Bayerische sock and I started a new pair of socks the other day - I'd finished the monkey socks and we were going to a movie. You know it's bad when you think you twisted the join during your cast on and PLAN ON CONTINUING to knit ANYWAY, just so you have something to do during the movie. (I didn't twist, but I did get some 4.5 inches of cuff done during Knocked Up.)

For now, to bed with my lap top and PSU's subscription to Practical Horseman.

Finished Object: Monkey Socks

2007-06-03T23:39:00.001-04:00

The Specs:
Pattern: Monkey Socks, from Knitty. I didn't modify the pattern at all, which surprised me, as I hate heel flaps.
Yarn: Claudia's Handpainted, fingering weight. 100% Merino wool.

Colors: Ocean Depth, which has some awesome shades of blue, green, and purples. LOVE this color. However, I have not been able to photograph it correctly. Much more vibrant.
Needles: Plastic 5" US size 2 dpns, set of five.
Start to Finish: May 14-29. Very fast for me.
For: Me!

Notes: I am in love with this yarn so very much. I really hope it wears well. I'm kicking my self for not using my favorite heel - short row - since I have yet to figure out a way to knit a heel flap that actually fits my feet. I really like this pattern, but it has caused me to start sketching and swatching for a different sort of pattern, just without the purl stitches. We'll see. I also ended up breaking the point off of one of my dpns - I was poking my father in retaliation of his poking me. The needle is still usable though, you just have to watch which end you use when that's the free needle.
Final verdict: love, love, love.

(ps: I cast off for Branching Out tonight as well. And I have a bunch of other updates, as well. Stay tuned!)

Quick note

2007-05-23T23:52:00.000-04:00

Just dropping by to let you guys know that I won't be around much - I'm currently at my Dad's and didn't even bother to bring my computer home as I can never get online at his place.

I'm kitty-sitting for my best friend while at home and will be reading blogs with her computer while the kitten purrs in my lap, though, so keep posting!

I'll be back - hopefully with lots of progress - some time in the beginning of next week.

Random Monday

2007-05-21T23:16:00.001-04:00

Really, if I change the day of the week of my random posts, that means nothing, right? Right.

Downtown is DEAD. And it is AWESOME. I love State College without all the people. Sadly, classes have begun and there are some more people around now, mostly those who will be freshmen in the fall and I'm remembering why freshmen are annoying. But oh well.'
I've been knitting. A lot. I finally started the second Bayerische sock and am at the point where I need to start looking at charts again. Hopefully this one will be faster than the first, so long as I can dedicate time just to this sock. Maybe one hour of tv three nights a week shall be for this sock? I'd like to finish it uh, soon.

I finished one sock with my awesome Claudia's HandPainted yarn. I am SO TOTALLY in love. The colors rock, the yarn rocks... Oddly, this is the first time I have EVER gotten 8sts/inch for a pair of socks. It seems very weird to hit gauge. I'm using Cookie A.'s "Monkey" pattern from Knitty. I really like it with this yarn. However, I'm in the middle of a swatch altering her pattern.. If I like that, I might use it for my Sockpalooooza pal socks. I can't decide if it is "overly lacey" though. Any input?

Oh, yeah. I think I finally found a yarn for my sock pal. Now I just need to wait for a pay check to be able to buy the yarn. She likes very deep, saturated colors and I tend more towards pastels and the like. Picking a color has been HARD.
I've decide to take only the Bayerische socks, the second monkey sock (I'm halfway done the cuff already) and the Branching Out Scarf home. Not that I ever have time to knit, but you know. That way I'll HAVE to knit on Branching Out. And then I might finish it.
I went to the library today. Main Campus libraries don't have anything by Neil Gaiman, yet branch campuses have Nora Roberts. WHAT IN THE WORLD? Tomorrow, I'll stop by the library downtown, which actually has a contemporary fiction section.
I got Guilliver's Travels, a couple of Jane Austen books, Weithering Heights by one of the Bronte sisters, I can never remember which one, and a few Philip Roth books, which for some WEIRD reason, the library actually had. I find it amusing that my "pleasure" reading includes books the average person would never think to read.

And that's all, folks. Bed time for me.

Finished Object: Blaze

2007-05-20T19:01:00.000-04:00

The Specs:
Pattern: Blaze, from Knitty. I made the body a little longer, as with the sleeves. I have a long torso and long arms and hate having to tug sleeves down a lot.
Yarn: KnitPick's Andean Treasure, 100% Baby Alpalca. YUM!
Colors: Fog, a really nice grey.
Needles: Susan Bates US size 5 circ for hem and neckline, Boye US size 6 circ for body and yoke, 5" wooden DPNs in US sizes 5 and 6 for the hems of the sleeves and the rest of the sleeves.
Start to Finish: Beginning of January 2007 to Monday, May 14th, 2007. I actually finished the knitting long before - the end of April, but as I blogged before, the neck line needed a little help and it took me a while to figure out what, exactly, to do about that.
For: Me!
Notes: I love this yarn, very soft and smooth and not overly itchy. I'll probably wear a tanktop underneat because that's what I always do with my sweaters, just in case I get way too warm. I hate 5" DPNs - they stab me in the palm of the hand with every stitch, no matter HOW I try to knit. But I'm super happy with the results.

Trying to take pictures of yourself can get ... interesting:

Or you end up with shots like this:

And the neckline, once I strung a pice of "elastic line" that is NOT AT ALL ELASTIC through it:
(Michael's didn't have any elastic thread ANYWHERE.

Finished Object: Waffleweave Socks

2007-05-14T13:40:00.000-04:00

The Specs:
Pattern: Mostly my own, but I stole the waffleweave pattern from Thermal, at Knitty. Ten rounds of knit 2, purl 2 ribbing, two rounds of purl, then started pattern down leg. Short row heel, some sort of toe -- I don't know the name but it involves decreases, not all of them at the sides. I dislike pointy toes, I like rounded toes.
Yarn: Austermann Step with Aloe Vera and Jojoba oil. 75% superwash wool, 25% nylon.
Colors: 16, some blues and greys with an underlay of white throughout. I really like the color pattern with the stitch pattern.
Needles: US size 1s, bamboo, for the very top of the cuff; plastic US size 2s for the rest of the socks.
Start to Finish: Um.. Good question. I started sometime in the beginning of April, finished today on May 14th, 2007. I'm getting faster at this whole knitting thing, it seems.
For: My mother
Notes: I really like this yarn. It is smooth and soft and fluffy. The yarn stretches a bit when knitty, so the resulting fabric is slightly loose and nice and fluffy. If I went down a needle size, I'm sure that would not happen. But it was fun to knit with, even though I don't think the aloe vera really had any effect. But my mother will like them, so that's ok. I really do like short row heels in garter stitch, but I ought to start experimenting with other heels.

A close up of the stitch pattern:

This is what it looks like, on a foot:

The color is probably most accurate here, in the cuffs of the socks:

Random Thursday

2007-05-10T20:43:00.000-04:00

I am done. DONE. No more finals, no more papers. I am currently waiting for grades to come in, but at this point I can't do anything about it, so who cares?

Reasons why today rocked:

I slept until I woke up. I know, I know. But I woke me up, not the alarm clock, not the trucks emptying the dumpsters (very loudly) at 8am. This is a new and novel concept and I enjoyed it very much.
It rained today, a pouring torrential downpour. I had already shut the windows of my car, so I just enjoyed the rain storm, thunder included.
My riding lesson was awesome. Timmy was calm, collected, and focused throughout ... oh, let's be honest - throughout the beginning. But he was very fancy for those 10 minutes of warm up.
I'm realizing that my confidence level has skyrocketed, as I didn't blink at Earl's .. creation of a hogback jump using the ring fence again. Of course, I still grab a few handfuls of mane as we approach that jump, but that's ok
The baby was in a very frisky mood, cantering, rearing, and bucking. So cute to watch! She's gonna be a handful as she gets older, as she's so independent already. Lady has to call the baby back, since the baby has no problem wandering away.
I only had one final today and I barely had to study for it. All told, I need a 95 on the final to get an A for the class and I'm pretty sure I pulled that off.
I have 9 pattern repeats and the toe to finish up the waffleweave socks. I think that might happen tonight.
I bought yarn! I shall share details later.
Grey's Anatomy starts ... now.

Four Reasons I won't Be Blogging:

2007-05-07T17:58:00.000-04:00

Warning: Not for the Squimish.

My schedule for this week:

My left pinkie:

My left middle finger, the first side:

My left middle finger, the second side:

(that's a blood blister. That one doesn't hurt nearly as much as the others, but is just as annoying.)

I rode 6 miles in 1 hour and 21 minutes yesterday. It was supposed to only take us 1 hour and 27 minutes, but we went a little fast. In my case, we went a little fast AND sidewise, which is why all the blisters are on my left hand. Also, the left side of my body is a) sorer and b) sore in more places then the right. Thanks, Timmy, for demonstrating that you are a left-sided horse and for cantering in place, sideways, for that hour and 21 minutes. (Even with all that, I had a blast and would do the same thing this weekend if I had a chance.)

Random Saturday

2007-05-05T15:56:00.000-04:00

Yeah, so I missed random Thursday. We're gonna blame that on spending some .. 3-4 hours at the barn, a two hour Grey's Anataomy special, and Special Topics in Calamity Physics, which is my current book.

the first Bayerische sock is completed!
the second sock has been cast on. I'm still on the ribbing, but that's ok.
I'm past the heel for the second waffleweave sock. Maybe I'll finish this thing by mother's day. Maybe not, given what I have to do between now and then.
I have an 8am final on Monday
I have a paper due at midnight on Monday
I have another paper due at 5pm Monday
I have not yet started either paper
I have to be at work at 7:30pm on Monday
I might be going to a paper chase tomorrow, early like
I'm tired, my feet hurt, and I have to be at TheBoy's in an hour to go to a party hosted by his 70 year old proffessor. Apparently, everyone wants to meet me.
I ought to try to work on a paper between now and 5pm.

Here's what I did for part of those 3-4 hours on Thursday:

It looks really easy, but that's cause Timmy is awesome.

Clearly, I need help:

2007-05-01T23:10:00.000-04:00

This is what I currently have on needles:

Sizzle, Bayerische socks, waffleweave socks, and Branching Out.

I've got one row to go and then I can cast off the neckband for Sizzle. After that, I have a few ends to weave in and the sleeve trim to do - but I might not do the sleeve trim. The sleeves a little tight as is right now and I'm not sure how much of a problem adding the trim would cause. Though, I suppose finding out will only take an evening.

(The color, not so very correct in that picture.)

After a three hour long class and a few hours of television this evening, I'm working the toe decreases for Bayerische.

I need to stop and do some maths here - I have 46 stitches on the sole, as my sister has large feet. As a result, if I decrease as the pattern tells me to, the decreases will be in weird places. I think I might just put some of the sole stitches on the top two needles and decrease in pattern from there, so that the toe doesn't end up looking too funky. That, of course, means I need to tink back two rounds, since I forgot to think about that BEFORE I started the toe.

As I've finished Paradise Lost AND Paradise Regained, the waffleweave socks are kinda lagging behind:

(Six inch dpn included for scale.) I'm on repeat 12 of 18 before starting the heel. They move pretty quickly and I have a movie to watch tomorrow, so they should be near the heel soonish. Maybe even before mother's day? Nope, not gonna happen.

And no picture of Branching Out because I promise that it looks exactly the same as it did the last time I posted a picture. Whenever that was.

And here.. here is almost all of my stash.

From left to right in some sort of order: Louet's Gem in navy, KnitPicks dye-your-own dyed with koolaide, a skein and a small ball of Lorna's Laces, two cakes of Claudia's Handpainted yarn, some Sock it to Me Collection sock yarn, more of same, and some Opal.

The Opal is for my mother, the blue sock it to me is for Tina, the Claudia's is for ME, ME, ME, ALL MINE, MAY NOT TOUCH, and the rest is pretty much up for grabs.

And the rest of it....

I have enough yarn for 8 pairs of socks and 5 skeins of the yummy purple alpalca that knits up into the most awesome swatch ever.. About 1000 yards. AND NO IDEA WHAT TO DO WITH IT.

I really, really, really, really want to knit a shawl. A lacey, needs to be blocked to make the pattern beautiful shawl. Problem is, I would never use it. No one I know would ever use a shawl. I'm thinking that I might offer to knit a shawl and donate it as a prize for someone's drawing for something good, like Steph's Knitters Without Borders.

So, conclusions:
a) I need to buy more yarn.
b) I need to knit a few more pairs of socks for myself
c) I need to finish Branching Out
d) I need to decide what to knit next.

Any suggestions? (Donations of yarn also glady accepted. I might even knit what you want and send the knitted item back to you!)

Almost a Finished Object

2007-04-30T14:58:00.000-04:00

I cast off Blaze yesterday!!!!

However... It is not quite yet an FO. The top... it has problems. Such as, it doesn't stay quite where it belongs. See?

(You have no idea how hard I was laughing during that shot. Nothing like taking a good look at your own cleavage.)

There is also this problem:

I can't go any higher with the knitting, but I really don't quite like that. I COULD rip back my cast-off and the neck shaping and the last pattern repeat and throw a few decreases in here and there and hope that would keep it where it belongs.

However, what I think I'm going to do is run a small strand of elastic around the inside edge. Also, blocking might help a bit.

Other than the neckline problem, Blaze is looking awesome:

The back view...

The side view...

And the front, not-yet-floppy, view...

Now, I just need to find the time to run to Walmart or Michael's and find elastic to finish it off. And weave in all the ends. And block it, maybe? Blocking requires waiting for it to dry, and we all know I'm not so very good with the waiting. Also, I have no where to STORE it while it is drying. YAY small apartments.

Random Thursday

2007-04-26T13:08:00.000-04:00

I actually enjoy handing in papers when I feel like I wrote a solid argument. Also, clever titles make me happy.
I have an 8-10 page paper due tomorrow morning at 10:10am. As of right now, I have some notes, a three page rough draft, and need to look through some 400 pages of Paradise Lost to pull out relevant quotes. Of all of that, the quotes are going to be the worst.
I only have one day and one week of classes left. This semester just FLEW by without my noticing.
Lack of sleep, over a long period of time, can feel an awful lot like a hangover. Personally, I'd rather drink to earn the hangover, but there's no time for that.
A Margarita, a huge platter of fries, and a salmon club sandwich is an awesome way to end a rainy Wednesday.
I've realized that the end of this semester is slightly easier than last semester, as all the craziness is occurring BEFORE finals week. Can't I just have another semester of 5 exams to take for which I need to actually STUDY? You can't study for an essay exam on Paradise Lost, since there is NO WAY I'd be able to re-read the whole thing.

I tried Blaze on last night, after realizing that I need another half a pattern repeat. Here it is:

You can't see it, but my bra straps are showing! The neckline, what with decreases and being knit in a smaller needle, should pull the top in a bit, to keep it from looking funky. In that shot, I think the needles don't really help too much.

It falls down a little bit as I attempt to take pictures, so I think I COULD get away with knitting the neckline now and calling it done, but I really ought to add that pattern repeat. Bras are required when in public and I want to show this sweater off. Also, I hate the bra strap peeking out from a wide-necked sweater look. And the tanktop under wide-necked sweater look. GAH! I'm so close to finishing, but that makes me want it to be perfect all the more. I've spent some 4 months on this sweater, it better be awesome.

This is not homework

2007-04-23T16:08:00.001-04:00

Even though today's high was something in the 80s, I'm still slogging along on Blaze. I have 15 rows to go.. but with nearly 300 stitches per round, that takes a while. Maybe I can wear it to work over the summer, as I tend to freeze in air conditioning.

Soon, I'll need to pull Sizzle out and finish that. Then I can wear that one to work as well. I think after everything settles down a bit. One rough draft and a final paper for FR, one final paper for 301, one final exam for 301, one final paper for 497C, one final paper for 409Y, one book report for 176, one final exam for 176, one take home final essay for 303, and one quiz for 497C and I think I'm done for the semester. Of course, I also think I'm forgetting something.

The finished waffleweave sock:

For some reason, the sock does not lie flat. I haven't blocked it however, and it fits a foot perfectly, so I'm not too worried about it. You can also see that I've started the second sock. I'm about two pattern repeats into the 18 repeats that make up the cuff. I don't see it taking too long but I also don't see me having that much time to knit.

Bayerische is slowly coming along. See:

Because of the crossing of stitches every single round, I've had to distribute stitches in a slightly ... uneven and strange way. DO NOT LIKE. It is almost enough to make me consider two circular needles, but that will prolly never happen.

The sock is pretty there, but it totally blooms on the foot:

The color is close to true in the first picture, this one is a little washed out. It is seriously hard to get a decent picture of a sock on needles on the foot with weird numbers of stitches on each needle and NOT accidentally getting a corner of your drying rack which is currently home to some 14 bras and pairs of underwear from the last two weeks. Love the internets, but I'm not posting pictures of my underwear. (if you have other requests of things that I could also show my parents, let me know.)

I think I'm going to try to finish the waffleweave socks, then Bayerische. THEN, I can cast on a pair of socks for me.

That's part (and a small part, at that) of the windows in the Urmila's uncle's house. SO COOL.

Random Thursday

2007-04-19T18:16:00.001-04:00

I'm fairly certain I have a job for the summer. Training shall happen between now and the end of finals week, at which she'll decide if we get to stay. Even if I hate the job, I'm planning on staying because I am lazy and don't feel like attempting to find another job.
I have an interview for a paid internship at the library during Finals Week. I am one of two people being interviewed and one of the interviewers taught my archival management class last semester. I'm feeling like my odds are fairly good.
I recently found out about a scholarship for Libral Arts majors, focusing on Jewish Studies and the study of the Holocaust in particular. The requirements pretty much fit me exactly. My GPA (a 3.75) might be a problem. Yes, I feel that a 3.75 is "low." I want to graduate with a 3.8. To do so, I need to get a 4.0 for three semesters running.
My lesson today rocked. Jumping BIG fences is fun! Jumping in and out of the ring and running around like an idiot is even more fun. I am so very much looking forward to the summer at this barn. I will, of course, miss every one from the barn at home like crazy, but living with my father and siser will drive me crazy.
I have started two of the five papers due next week. Clearly, I'm right on top of things.

Knitting Randomness:

I finished a sock! The first of my waffleweave socks is finished, ends weaved in and everything. Start to finish, that sock took 2 weeks, 3 days - not bad for a college student who only knit the sock while reading Paradise Lost, Mr. Sammler's Planet, Of No Interest To the Nation, and while watching The Lives of Others. It took me forever to figure out the math for the toe decreases, as I wanted a garter stitch toe but did not want to do my normal short row toe.
Blaze is slowly moving along. I ended up having to rib out another two rows when I realized I had moved cables in the wrong direction for no real reason. That being said, I think I only have 1.5 repeats left to knit. At that point, I might add another repeat as I want to be able to wear a bra with this sweater and no have bra straps showing. Broad shoulders can be a bitch.
I found a lace pattern for the cardigan I want to knit for myself. Now I need to find the yarn. I really think I might end up knitting this one on size two or three needles, since I think I will like it better then - assuming I ever finish it. I have hopes of wearing it to work over the summer. Like, the end of August. Maybe size 4 needles. I need to sketch it out, figure out where the lace parts shall end and solid parts - useful for the whole seaming issue - will start.
I skipped Hist 409Y this week, so no work on my sister's socks. I'm going to finish the waffleweave socks, mail them and the pawprint socks to my mother, and then finish my sister's socks. Then, and only then, will I cast on my Claudia's Handpainted Yarn. That's some serious motivation.
You are not allowed to hold me to that later, when I cast on Claudia's yarn and ignore my sister's sock.

Let's play Catch Up

2007-04-15T15:23:00.001-04:00

Not this week, but next week, I have a paper due every day of the week. For five days of classes, that is five papers. I've avoided putting together a page count, because then I just might cry.

I started a new pair of socks, with the Austermann Step yarn, in a waffleweave pattern. I have no idea if I've blogged about these before and I'm too lazy to look it up. But here's the current state of the sock:

I've decided that I really love garter stitch short row heels. Somehow, the row gauge of garter works well with my theory of 50% of total stitches for the heel, and knit and wrap 66% of those, leaving the remaining third for the middle. I forgot to center the instep pattern with columns of purl stitches framing it, so after I knit the heel, I ended up ripping the whole heel out to center everything. I'm much happier now. (And actually, I think the foot is longer now than it was when I took that picture. In an inch or two, I should be ready to start the heel. YAY for Paradise Lost reading, which I'm currently avoiding by writing this post.) These socks are for my mother and I think she'll really like them.

I'm avoiding Blaze. I'm angry at myself for not finishing Blaze before spring arrived. (Then again, Spring HASN'T YET ARRIVED, so I'm still not late. But I don't think I'll finish in time.) Thursday night, I was knitting away on Blaze and discovered one fewer stitch than required. Well, one fewer going by the tried and true method of going around and checking to make sure there were four purl stitches between every two knit stitches. Lo and behold, I was missing a stitch. I checked and didn't discover any dropped stitches.. Ripped back a few rounds and didn't magically get the correct number of stitches. I don't know what happened, but since there aren't any dropped stitches, I really don't care. I just picked up an extra stitch in pattern and kept knitting.

Of course, I ended up ripping out about an inch worth of progress. In one three hour long class, I tend to only mange 5-6 rows of knitting and I tend not to raise my hand but just blurt things out. GAH!! I could have avoiding ripping, just added a stitch and kept on going.

While I had the thing on multiple needles, though, I did take the time to try it on. It fits! YAY! I really do need another 3-5 inches though, or the thing will become an off-the-shoulder- sweater and I just can't pull that look off.

Last night, the Boy and I were watching Firefly and I wasn't knitting, per usual. He asked why not and I replied that I just didn't really feel like it. He became convinced that I was about to fall over and die. Annoyance with Blaze, not being able to look at charts and knit Bayerische while watching TV, and not wanting to hurry my reading sock knitting along left me with nothing to work on. Also, my pinkies hurt from the double reins of Timmy's bridle and knitting really doesn't help the pain.

Now that I've wasted a good two hours, I'm going to go read ... something and try not to fall asleep. This week is going to be hellish and next week is going to be even worse.

Finished Object: Pawprint Socks

2007-04-10T17:55:00.000-04:00

The Specs:
Pattern: Basic toe up socks, using Judy's Magic Cast On from Knitty and a pawprint motif from WendyKnits! (I'd link, but I'm lazy.) Short row heels and twenty rounds of knit two purl two ribbing at the top.
Yarn: Opal Dreamcatcher, Color 1235, 75% superwash wool, 25% nylon. I used the majority of a skein, but I could probably get a pair of baby booties out of the rest of it.
Colors: Color #1235, a dark blue, dark gray, white, and bright blue stripping yarn.
Needles: Size US 1s, bamboo.
Start to Finish: Started back in November, I think on the 14th, and completed on April 2nd.
For: My mother
Notes: I hate toe-up socks. Never again. The cast on is way too fiddly and I had major trouble getting the bindoff to be stretchy enough to let human legs wear the socks but firm enough to keep the socks from falling down. I loved the color and enjoyed the pawprint motif, even though I regularly messed up when I forgot where I was, what I was doing, how to knit.. You know, the usual. I am very pleased with how well the pattern matches. I also realized that I need to start writing down my numbers so that all aspects of my socks will match. Like how many stitches to wrap for the heel, for example. That's an AWESOME number to write down, because that's also a hard number to count on a finished sock.

And let us ignore the pasty-whiteness that is my skin color. It gets darker in the summer, but I still have my heat on since I dislike frostbite.

Yarn Harlotry

2007-04-02T21:11:00.000-04:00

So, weekend recap:

Friday was spent doing homework, more homework, homework, and more homework. Eventually quit homework in favor of the gym, shower, dinner, and out for a few drinks and then to see a friend's band play.

Saturday morning, Urmila and I left around 8:45am and got to Cleveland a little after 12:30. We grabbed lunch at the bookstore. After waiting FOREVER for the check, I returned to the area that had the highest concentration of knitters to discover all the chairs were gone and I'd have to stand in the back. I ended up right behind this...

...which is the book upon which I will most likely be writing my thesis. I need to read it again and I SO considered buying that copy.

Luckily for me, Steph soon showed up.

Seriously, how many pictures exist of Steph taking pictures of a sock and a crowd? I would argue that the answer is "not nearly enough."

She was everything you'd expect from her blog, and more. (Actually, her voice and manner of speaking reminded me - very strongly - of someone from back home. I just can't think of who, unless Steph and I have known each other in past lives and somehow.. that seems like a bit of a stretch to me.) I pulled out the pawprint sock and knitted away - it seemed fitting to knit a sock while listening to the Yarn Harlot. And currently, after only another 800 lines of Paradise Lost, the sock is less than ten rounds away from completion. I am trying SO HARD to actually Do Homework and not knit. Because if I finish the sock, then I'm going to have to cast on another. And well, that's just a slippery slope that I can go flying down tomorrow, as my three hour long class has been canceled.

Um, so back to the Yarn Harlot. She only said "arse" two or three times. And I am so glad I can knit without looking, or else I would have missed this:

I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO PETS YARN. I feel normal now!

I stood in line for only an hour or so - amazing, I know! - and got my two books signed. I'm so mad that I forgot to bring my copy of Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much - but hey! Just an excuse to go see her again! She 'bout knocked me over when she said that she recognized my blog name - THE YARN HARLOT RECOGNIZED MY BLOG NAME. That means she's BEEN here. And as I stood there, with my sock and my camera, she asked if I wanted a sock picture. That I looked like someone who wanted a sock picture. Of all people, Steph should recognize such a thing.

After that, Urmila and I went to her uncle's house... where I later took this:

That house (and the people who own it...) are going to need a post all of their own. But that is ok, because I met the Yarn Harlot, spoke to her, and didn't fall over dead at the end of it. (Or, if I did, I'm not aware of it so let me stay unaware, s'il vous plait.)

A preview

2007-04-02T01:01:00.000-04:00

A full update tomorrow, I promise!