Wednesday, June 21, 2006

So mad

Ugh. Why do people bomb crowded streets? What do bombs solve? I am so angry right now, if I could get off this planet (other than the conventional way) I would do so, and never look back. Take DH and the Bug and go live on the moon. Why in the name of all that's holy is a car in the middle of a crowded street (with no one in it) a legitimate target for missiles? With all the technology and sneakiness we as a species are capable of, why must anyone blow up children? This world really sucks serious ass sometimes.
A comedian once joked about how this planet had been around for eons and eons, and how likely was it that a few plastic bags were going to kill the whole thing. It's funny on the surface, but when you think about it, what we are doing is not killing the planet. We're killing ourselves. This little rock will continue spinning around this little star long after the things that keep us alive are too contaminated or used up to support us as a life form anymore. And then the planet will start over. That Statue of Liberty scene at the end of Planet of the Apes is cliché now, but I wonder if even that much will be left when we're gone.
Anyway.
I worked on sonnet some more last night. I had to stay home from SnB because the hacking cough that DH had (which I thought was from smoking and he thought was from allergies) is actually pneumonia. For some reason, I found this deeply funny. I still haven't figured out why. Anyway, I sat home last night with him and The Bug and knitted on Sonnet, which is now starting to smell like feet. I gotta finish this thing and wash it good, before it suffocates us all. If it was monsoon season, I'd leave it out in the rain. Rainwater is fresher than groundwater and Tide. Oh well, no rain for us for months yet, so Tide it is. Soon, please!

Monday, June 19, 2006

Back to the knitting

I did some knitting over the weekend. I knit on a fringed wrap for my MIL for Christmas. Doubled bulky acrylic in pink and variegated purple, with the occasional row of purple fun fur thrown in for good measure. I think it's pretty awful, but I made something similar for my little niece last Christmas and MIL loved it. I hope she likes this one as well, because it's so awful it might be killing me to knit it.
I also picked up Sonnet again. I didn't write about it, but last week at SnB, shortly after the waitress had delivered a giant, real-whipped-cream-covered mocha, I gestured wildly about something or other and dumped the whole thing in my lap, where sat Sonnet. Sonnet soaked up most of it, so I rinsed her out as best I could and set her outside to dry. Some will wax poetic about how wonderful clothes dried in the sunshine smell, but not in Arizona. In Arizona, anything dried outside has a crispy, faintly burnt smell. (105 degrees and 9% humidity will do that to a garment. My mother used to dry our jeans on the patio outside, hanging over the backs of chairs. They were so stiff that they'd keep the form of the chair when you picked them up. It wasn't until I dried them in the dryer with Bounce for the first time that I really actually liked wearing jeans.)
Anyway, I digress - I put Sonnet back on the needles and knit three crispy, faintly burnt rows. It's going to be hard to finish this one smelling the way it does. The edges of the yarn are still a little brown too, from the coffee that didn't all wash away. I just have to finish the front panel so I can bind her off and chuck her in the wash. It will take some fortitude. Or maybe some Febreze.

Sunday, June 18, 2006

Happy Father's Day!

That's right, today is the day that fathers everywhere get pampered and waited on and get to watch sports all day long and...
Hmmm, that sounds like every day!
(I'm actually kidding - my husband cooks and takes care of the Bug and all that good enlightened-man stuff. Does not do dishes, though. Won't even put a dirty dish in the dishwasher if it's empty and open.)
Due to bad timing and bad money management, I The Bug will be giving his daddy his gift in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, I leave you with this. (More nerd humor, gotta love it.)



Who's Your Daddy?

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Because I'm easily entertained

And I am required by years of training (read: watching the movie over and over) to spout lines at random in conversation...

Miracle Max

Which Princess Bride Character are You?
this quiz was made by mysti

Monday, June 12, 2006

Forgive me, Yarn Goddess

For I have crocheted.
Yes, I play for both teams. (HA!) Saturday I knitted all day on Sonnet, and have turned the second side. I have several inches left to knit on the body, and then off to the sleeves. Saturday night, though, I was bored with blue. I was bored with the big heavy thing sitting in my lap. I had looked all over, earlier in the day, for my set of crochet hooks, to pick up a stitch I'd dropped on Sonnet. So I sat there, bored, and noticed some cotton. Variegated pink and purple and white. All the colors I hate, in one yarn. (Well, I like purple.) All the colors my mother-in-law loves. Before I knew it, I had hook in hand, and I was crocheting a pink, purple and white variegated face cloth. I hope she likes it. I feel a little dirty.

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Two in a row!

Yes, two posts in one week, it's amazing!
I took a brief moment to download my photos. Now, I know that it's cheesy to take a bunch of sky pictures for Project Spectrum's blue month, but really, I think these are some cool skies.



A still life: Neighbor's dog in blue chair

Black-and-blue sage (which is actually purple)

A sunset

A tiny bit of blue sky - gotta look closely

Sonnet in blue

I got sonnet out Tuesday to take to SnB. Frill isn't SnB knitting for me, and I was kinda bored with my two socks on two circs. I'd intended to start Bombshell from Big Girl Knits (GREAT book) but the yarn I wanted to use is sport weight, the pattern calls for worsted, and I was too lazy to do the maths. I will work it all out later. Maybe I'll just do the wrap sweater instead... Anyway, I got sonnet out and switched it to my Addi 8s and knit away, happily. I am most of the way across the back, with maybe only an inch or two till I shape the armscye. (That's a word from Eunny - according to Answers.com it just means "armhole".) I'm not sure how far I need to go now - I finished the last pattern row last night, and now need to check my pattern. It really is a pleasure to knit. I love the needles, I love the color, I love the feel of the yarn (Patons ribbon something - it's discontinued). I can't wait to buy buttons for it. I can't wait to finish this puppy to wear it. I think it will be a little big, which is how I'd pictured it. I like cardigans I can cuddle up in. I'm happy to have this out again; I'd forgotten how much I enjoy it.

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Outed

Well, the Yarn Harlot outed me. People have occasionally read my blog, but a scant few knew about it IRL. Now I can't hide anymore. (Not that I was saying anything I didn't want read; it was more a vague feeling that I'd think they'd wonder what the hell I had to say that was important enough to write in a blog.)
Anyway, now I have to be witty or something.
...
...
...
Hmm, not gonna happen.
Last weekend we went to the lake. I have quite a few lovely pictures of rain clouds over the lake, the sunset, what have you, but they are currently residing in my camera. I have been a busy bee since we got home, and it's not going to let up any time soon.
Monday I went hiking with the Bug in Sabino Canyon. I didn't even get into the canyon - I went to the top of the hill where the canyon "begins". There was a big orange sign about mountain lion activity and entering at your own risk. I had been planning to turn around there anyway, but that was added incentive. It turns out that there had been a couple of mountain lion sightings during a fire on another part of the mountain range, but nothing recently, and even those sightings were distant, with the cats moving away from those who'd seen them. I did not discover this until I'd thoroughly freaked myself out reading about what to do if attack was imminent. (Turns out you're supposed to RUN AT the mountain lion who wants to eat you, stopping short of its claws. Yeah, that last part, I get. The first part? Not so much.) Anyway, the ranger said I'd need to be more careful of snakes than of mountain lions. Snakes, I can deal with. (Really, how can you be that afraid of something you can step on?)
Yesterday was SnB. We went to a new place, and apparently their coffee is stronger than the old place - I might not need four espresso shots in each latte. I tossed and turned all night!
Tonight, margaritas with more stitching friends, and tomorrow, back to the canyon. (This time I'll bring a big stick.) Friday, one of the stepdaughters comes for a visit on her way to live with another of the stepdaughters in Oklahoma; Saturday, barbecue; Sunday, friends renew their vows after 40 years of marriage (40 FREAKING YEARS) and lunch with Dad. And maybe someday, knitting!