If I Had More Time*

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

More Conversations with TheUrmily

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.

Conversations with The Urmily

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."

Christmas came a little bit early

 It has been a very few exciting days around here.

But you'll get to read the same old boring topics.  YAY for you!

I've finished with all but one class - Hist 401.  Of course, this is the class for which I must write a 20 page paper.  I'm currently on page ten and about ready to curl up in a ball and cry in his office, begging him to just give me a B+ and I'll take it, thankyouverymuch.

Something tells me that I'm just gonna have to suck it up and write the paper.  

I've only received one grade so far and oddly enough, compulsively checking eLion to see if any other grades have been posted doesn't seem to be working.  I've decided to blame technology.

The realtors made a surprise visit yesterday to make sure we're all abiding by the lease.  One section of the lease (on the bottom of page 9, actually) states that only four people get to live here.  Oddly enough, that's the one section of the lease we can't seem to get Jendrew to follow.  Surprise of surprise, they were both here when the realtors knocked on their door and she got a talking-to.  About twenty minutes later, they both left.  She's returned once, to pack up toothbrushes and medications, and we've only seen them once since.  The atmosphere here is SO much more relaxed now. 

If he spends more than two nights a week here again, we're gonna have a little talking-to ourselves.  I am, in a sick and twisted sort of way, looking forward to that very much.

I'm fairly certain that she is pissed at us, believing that we called and complained.  I find it so very satisfying that a) she is angry for getting in trouble for doing something she is not allowed to do and that we have asked her, multiple times, not to do and b) that we had nothing to do with it.  Here's to hoping that they remain not here for the rest of the school year.

To follow that wonderful Christmas surprise (I promise, there is no sarcasm what-so-ever in that sentence), Ryan locked himself out of his room.  (We have taken to locking our bedroom doors when we leave because we have reason to believe that Jendrew went through Ryan's room while he was at mass.  Papers were not were they had been left and a rather mean-spirited note that he had written to relieve stress and anger was found on top of the papers it had previously been underneath.  Plus, there were a number of holes in his practice exam, as if the exam had been stabbed with a knife.)  All told, I think he spent about two hours waiting for a locksmith to let him back in his room.  I suggested billing Jendrew for the cost of the locksmith, but the idea was vetoed.

TheUrmily had similar issues this morning, but that was related to her car and the fact that she locked not only her keys, but also her cell phone and id card in her car, making it impossible for her to either call anyone for help or return to her room and ask a neighbor for the use of their cell phone.  

There is no knitting content because I have been doing no knitting.  I sit at my computer and I type and read and read and type and play a few games of Freecell so my mouse doesn't feel as if I no longer love it.  Ryan shall have to go home hat-less, as I think it would be better if he went home in such a state and I finish this paper before it is due.  (Time: 19 hours and 45 minutes.  And I think sleep might be a good thing at some point.  Perhaps?)

There will, however, be knitting content once I get home.  We'll see how fast one can knit an applied i-cord edging to a other-wise completed hat, finish the remaining 1/4 of a sock, figure out gauge for Blaze, start upon highly complicated chart-reading-requiring socks, and go to the barn and deal with family and maybe see the boyfriend for a little bit.  And let us not forget about the holiday parties which, by definition, involve food and alcohol that is (mostly) free.

bits and orts

I want to knit these socks.  I'm not very good at reading charts, so that might prove interesting. But they are beautiful socks.  

Problem is that I owe a pair of socks to Tina, a pair of socks to my sister, and a pair of socks to my mother.  Tina's socks are about 3/4 of the way done and I've already knit my mother a pair.  So I guess I ought to make my sister a pair.  And she also loves the pattern.  I suppose that I can knit them for her first, learn the pattern, and knit myself a better pair.  That works for me.

This is our Christmas Tree Topper.  Somehow, it was deemed
fitting that he should have something up his behind.
That ought to give you some idea of our sense of humor

So, for break, I have lined up : Kool-Aid dying.  I've got some 400+ yards of fingering superwash yarn from KnitPicks to be dyed.  

I'll FINALLY get to start Blaze, with the super yummy alpaca that I pet before going to bed every night.  Luckily, the boyfriend doesn't even notice when I knit in public anymore, so he's gotten very good at ignoring all the yarn sitting around my room.  And my actions towards it.

And then, I'll start the Bayerische sock.  I'm thrilled to find a sock pattern with a gauge of 9sts/inch since that's my typical gauge with Opal and that's the yarn my sister picked out for her socks.

When I was little, I used to build forts under this bush.
The best part was that my parents could never see me.

So, you want to hate me?  I'm almost completely finished my Christmas shopping.  I need to run down-town and pick up a poster for a friend, but I know that the store has it.  For the Urm-dawg, I'm going to donate money to a charity in her name.  I just need to figure out which charity would best suit her.  Doctors Without Borders would let me help out the Yarn Harlot, but maybe I'll just end up donating a bit to them anyway.  I need to get the Boy one more gift, but that might be done through iTunes, so no big deal there.  And of course, I need to wrap those that I've already purchased, but that won't take long.

Clearly, I am a throne for the cat.  This is a scan of a print
my sister took, when I fell asleep reading one evening.

Yesterday, I stayed on campus until 9:30pm, working in various computer labs.  I managed to get quite a bit of work done - I only have two papers and a final exam left.  So, I've calmed down a bit and am rewarding myself for managing to hand in two finals today.  I managed to get about 3 pages of the 5 page paper done, so if I can finish that tonight, I have tomorrow, Monday, and Tuesday to churn out 20 pages.  Totally do-able.

Right?

I lied

Word continues to mock me. The cursor, it sits there and blinks, waiting for me to actually WRITE something. Sometimes, it gets bored and wanders off, much like my mind (or even me, for that matter). I am stuck on BOTH papers. 

For the one, I'm just overwhelmed by the amount of information I've found. I'm writing about the domestication and early uses of the horse. There's more than enough information to go on for pages and pages, so its not like I picked a very narrow topic. Rather, I don't know where to start. I THINK I've got a rough outline, detailing the major ideas I want to discuss and a basic order for doing so. Hopefully, I can write a large portion of that tomorrow, after discussing it with my professor.  

For the other.. I have ideas, but I'm not sure where to go with them, where it is POSSIBLE to go with them. I might end up writing about The Picture of Dorian Gray, discussing influence and evil and good/bad angels.  I like the idea, I think I could carry it out for 5 pages, and I found a quote I really liked in the text.  If I can get cracking on THAT paper, I can go to office hours on Friday and see what she thinks and finish the paper and then worry about the 20 page paper over the weekend, cause writing 20 pages in two days is SO the smart thing to do. 

I've been trying not to knit.  I keep ending up staring at my blank computer screen, so maybe I should knit and let ideas float around in my head.  Hrm...  And I lied, I did break open the alpaca and knit a swatch.  And oh, good lord, am I going to LOVE this sweater.  The yarn is soft and squishy and yummy.  I don't think it will be itchy, but we'll have to see what happens when I finish it.  Worst case, I have to wear a tank top under it.  No big deal.  I'm supposed to wash my swatch.. has anyone had Knitpicks Alpaca grow/shrink when wet?   

I've started the ear flaps of Ryan's hat!  Since I put the other stitches on waste yarn, I made him try it on.  It seems to be a little bit big for him, but I think it will work out.  The addis I ended up buying are NOT a US #2, but 3mm.  So the fabric with them has a bit more drape, which I think works with that section of that hat.  I like it so far.  See?

   

Tina's sock is kinda being ignored in favor of the hat.  I think Ryan is leaving on Wednesday or Thursday of next week and I'd kinda like to be able to give it to him before he leaves.  So long as I can figure out how to knit an applied I-cord, I think that's do-able.  Clearly I'm going to be avoiding my papers enough to manage that! 

In other news, I looked at the apartment I'll have next year.  It is small - an efficiency - but actually really cute.  Unfurnished, room enough for a double bed, dresser, desk, large table, and still space to move around all of that.  The kitchen is TINY, there is about 8 square inches of counter space (really, just the edges of the cabinet the sink is in), and the kitchen floor squeaks.  I'm fairly certain that I'll end up hitting both elbows on the walls when I use the toilet and the shower stall isn't much larger.  But - it will be only me and occasionally a friend or two.   I have  a balcony (which, actually, is about the size of the kitchen).  And it is on the second floor, which is where I always seem to end up - at home, freshman and sophomore year, at the apartment over the summer, this year, and next year. 

I'll leave you with one of my favorite toys ever.  It's actually a doggie toy, but hasn't been touched by doggies.  There's a tube inside that makes squealing noises when you move it just so.  Mostly soft and gentle, this thing CAN cause bruises if you are tossing it back and forth with your roommate and kinda forgot to pay attention and caught it very close to your face, in fact - close enough to your face that the tube actually hit you on the nose between your eyes.  And then you might end up with a bruise that looks like dirt, judging by the number of people who asked me why my face was dirty that week.  But you know, stuff like that would never happen to me.

   

Russian roulette

Ugh.

The internet, it does not like me. Or my roommates. I'm not sure what we've done to anger the internet god(s), but something needs to give. So far, I've talked to tech support for the modem, return the old modem and picked up a new one, talked to India via Linksys and attempted to set up the router, and reset the router about 7 million times.

Reseting the router works for about 20 minutes or so. The worse part is that I HAVE a connection, I just can't DO anything with it. Grr. Angry. And also, sore. I have a bad habit of punching myself to get anger out. (Hey, it means I'll get my security deposit back later. And less likely to break a bone or something.)

So, I have about 15 minutes to type up this entry before I have to take a shower and run over to TheUrmily's for Studio 60. And then home and to bed and ignoring the internet, cause it doesn't want to play nice.

(I've spent way too much time dealing with this problem.)

So... Tina visited yesterday. At which point, I discovered that her feet are a LOT bigger than mine. To the point that the sock I was knitting for her? It didn't fit. So I frogged the whole thing and have decided to try knitting it toe-up. Not sure how that's gonna work, cause I might have increased too many stitches to make sure that the new sock fits. Went from 88 stitches to 92 and it seems a little... big. I guess we'll see. Worst come to worst, I can tink a bit of the short-row toe and make it fit, I think. We'll see. Experimental knitting, such fun!

I finished the first of the Lorna's Laces sock. Need to take pictures, but don't want to waste the time I have with an internet connection. Later, I promise. It fits nicely, though it might be a little short at the ankle... I'm thinking about picking up and knitting a few more rounds of ribbing at the ankle, to see if that helps the problem. Other than that, love it.

And Sizzle is still neglected... Poor Sizzle. I promise I'll do something with you soon. Before I start another project. Maybe. We'll see.

So, 21st birthday is tomorrow. I plan on watching the season premiere of Gilmore Girls and doing homework and going to be early. I live such an exciting life.

sunshine

I've made some serious progress on Sizzle. Back on ... August 2nd, I had this: Today, September 1st, I have this: A completed back of Sizzle, plus the start of the front of Sizzle, that little bit at the bottom on the needles. Color is pretty close, though I think it might be a little less blue and a little more grey. The yarn is actually that shiny, though. I'm totally loving it. This is what I'm totally looking forward to: Penn State Football. Kickoff tomorrow is 3:30pm, against Akron. We should win. In fact, I'd be scared if we lost. But, new quarterback, lots of new players on the field. Will be interesting to see how the team has learned to work together. My body also wants to kill me. Going from physical labor all day, every day to sitting on the couch, sleeping in, taking naps, etc., is killing me. I'm getting headaches from ponytails, since I've worn my hair down every day. My knees hurt, my back hurts.. I hurt. I think I need to drag my butt up to the gym tomorrow or maybe today. We sent Ryan, one of my roommates, to the grocery store. So far, he's about half-way done his list and has called me three times to ask about what he should get, how much, if we have this, if we have that. He cracks me up. Wonder what he'd do without a cell phone? Or if I didn't answer mine? TheUrmily should be up here in just under two hours, so I prolly have time to get a hair cut, should I so choose, a shower, and maybe even read a little bit. This free time thing is weird. Weird, I say!

just breathe

I don't have any pictures to show, sorry.

I have, however, started the heel on the second sock. I'm onto pattern repeat 20-something of the lace scarf, and I've started another pair of socks- simple knit2purl2 ribbed socks with Opal.

I also recently bought yarn and the pattern for Wendy's Sizzle. I'm very excited for the yarn to arrive. I think I ought to finish at least one sock first, though.

Problem is, I've finished season 4 of the West Wing. I need to find something new to watch on DVD then, so I can sit and knit in front of the TV still. I think Marie has Friends on DVD, but I'm not all that interested in Friends. Maybe I'll steal TheUrmily's House? That'll do me for a while.

I've got three dogs for the weekend- two big dogs, one little dog. One of the big dogs snores and has horrible gas. Sadly, I can't convince him to stay in the spare bedroom. He does know he's not allowed in my bedroom. It is kinda nice to have the company, though.

My life revolves around horses- who's where and when, who needs drugs, who needs to be ridden, who has lost a shoe. I had a day off a little while ago and walking through the barn that evening, checking on the one horse that is in due to an injury, I realized that I do more than just bring in horses, feed them, feed them again, and turn them back out. I know who goes where, when, and why. I know who gets fed what, who gets what drugs - and for how long. I know where the new horse should go, when Chris will not be around. I'm the glue that's keeping everyone else together. It's kinda nice.

Two of the girls who normally help us out each day will both be gone the next week. That means it will be mostly just me for a week. I'll have help in the mornings, but shall be on my own in the afternoon, to turn out and muck. Should be interesting. I guess it is a good thing that I have next weekend off- gonna go up to school with TheUrmily and visit for Arts Fest. Should be good times.


Ok, need to escape the dog. And go to bed. Maybe pictures next time. I've discovered that I get great signal strength from the pool.