I wish I could go to The Wild!

But I'm going to Montana instead. I may or may not do any of the following:

• Knit


• Spin


• Talk to relatives if they're not being annoying


• Shop for yarn


• Wander in the toolies and look for moose


• Run away from any moose I come upon


• Blog

Back later.

As it turns out

I still remember how to knit!



I knitted the cuff on this sock on Sunday afternoon, decided it needed to be shifted 2 stitches, ripped, and reknit. I expect I might actually finish it tonight at Knit night. It's Dizzy Blonde yarn in the JenLa colorway, in the Charade pattern. It's a little snug over the ankle, prolly due to the PSSOs, but once I get it on it fits very nicely. It doesn't count toward SoS, but it does count toward my summer goals.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, my Lene socks, which will be my main traveling project next week, DO count for SoS, even though I've already knit a whole one - it is too snug and must be ripped. Sigh.

A new post to make the whining go away

Or at least not be the first entry on the page.

Oh, but first - whoever keeps finding my blog by searching for variations on "lusty grandmother videos" - whatever you're looking for, my blog ain't it. So sorry to have wasted your time.

So. Last night I was all whiny and weepy. I puttered around on the computer and whined to Cookie that she didn't blog to entertain me yesterday, and she responded with a nice rant that made me laugh, and a pat on the head because that's what you do when faced with mental people. I didn't want to watch TV, do laundry, clean the kitchen... WTF would I do with myself for a whole hour before bedtime? I'm sad to say that reading didn't even cross my mind, even though I owe Lene a book meme thing. (I also owe her socks. GAH.)
OH YEAH, I used to KNIT! Well, I didn't feel like knitting quite yet. It was too far to go out to the car like 20 whole feet away to get my knitting bag. I did, however, remember that I wasn't crazy about my handspun sock yarn, and had read that Etherknitter replied hers and liked it better. Hmmm, that sounded easy and brainless, so I did it.
(I would like to take this moment to say that even though everyone has told me I could use 3-in-1 oil, and didn't have to buy the expensive Ashford oil, I had to buy it anyway to get some other parts I needed that were only sold in kit form. That oil ROCKS. I hadn't touched my wheel in two months at least, and it still spun quite well without oiling.)
Anyway. I replied my sock yarn, and discovered there was now enough room on the bobbin to finish plying the last little bit of singles I couldn't fit when I first plied. I added them on, and discovered to my delight that the bobbins were fairly even. I'd split the roving by weight, but one bobbin looked fuller than the other. However, when I finally plied the last bits, I was left with



about three yards. Woo!

I wound it back onto my swift (soooooooo much better than a niddy noddy!)



Washed it, hung it to dry (which happened in about 10 minutes, thank you obscene heat and no humidity). I thinks I likes it.



One sock's worth, about 225 yds/55g. Heavy fingering on average, though the yarn itself varies from DK to cobweb. Heh. Brown sheep roving (I think), dyed by me using Wilton's royal blue and black. (I intentionally did it all wrong so the dye would break, which gave me the nifty purple.) I have yet to spin the singles for the other sock's worth.

Fluffy thought the whole process was boring. She couldn't even be bothered to hold up her head to watch.



And now, a random photo of a gecko belly.

Waaaaaaaaaa!

The DH just took the Bug and drove off for an overnight "camping" trip. They'll be home by noon tomorrow. This is the first time I've been away from Bug overnight since he was a fertilized ovum, and I'm not taking it very well. (I started crying before Bug's car door was all the way shut.)
Additionally, if Noob would allow me to drink water without getting sick, I'd appreciate it. It's too hot to give up drinks.

Anyway, if you need me, I'll be here, having a pity party and watching Bob the Builder.

If you're gonna spew, spew in this...

I miss Garth...

Anyway, I decided the other day that if I'm going to be sick regardless of what I eat, then by FSM, I'm going to eat something good.



Pumpkin spice muffins, with one lightly frosted with cream cheese for added deliciosity.

I know you're jealous, so I'll tell you my recipe. You won't even believe it.

1 box of spice cake mix
1 15oz can of pumpkin
1 egg

Mix, bake at 375 for 15-ish minutes, take out, enjoy.

Go forth. Make. Eat.

(As an added bonus, these don't seem to make me sick.)

Wow

You want lurkers to come out and comment, just announce a pregnancy! ;-) Thanks for all the congrats, well wishes, and commiseration. The energy is creeping back into my life, though sadly, not for handwork, and the nausea is reduced, though not gone entirely. I went back to work in the office yesterday, and three different people told me, "Wow, you've really lost weight!" LOL I overdid it a bit yesterday, so today I'm back at home in my too-big, untied-drawstring pants, hiding out in the A/C and listening to water music. (Currently, either Yanni, George Winston, or some of the Lifescapes things you can get at Target. Ottmar Liebert is on my work-music playlist too, but his music puts me in mind of late afternoon Mediterranean heat and dancing in the piazza, and it's just too hot for that right now.)


C'mon, Sunday.

Soon, though, we leave for Montana. I will be forced to restart the handwork, because we are driving. (Yes, even with gas prices as they are, it's cheaper to drive than to fly.) Four full days of driving, out of the nine we will be gone. That constitutes a lot of car knitting. I have plans to restart and finish Lene's socks during that time (first pair for Summer of Socks, yeah!), and I'll be bringing the Charade socks out of my JenLa yarn. It's quite possible that's all I will bring, though if the mojo strikes hot and fast, there's a nice little yarn shop there, and the Mountain Colors factory (complete with baskets of millends, for $1 an ounce) just up the way. I wasn't really looking forward to this trip. I'm one of those who, when I feel bad, I curl up in the fetal position and DON'T go with the flow. However, I just looked at this



and now I'm excited for the trip. Wooo Montana!

K is for (I'm skipping J)...

Knocked up!



Yup, it's true. All that whining, pissing and moaning I've been doing about being tired and having no mojo? It's all being sucked into the Noob. Now I can be more specific, whining about no mojo, no energy, morning sickness nausea all freaking day long, etc. (A side note: how does anyone ever become bulimic? It's nuts. I've lost 5 pounds so far and IT. SUCKS.)
Today we had the first ultrasound (known to us old hags as the Nuchal Translucency test, part of the barrage of genetic shit they try to make you take because you're an old bat if you're going to be north of 35 when the baby is born, most of which I'm ignoring) and the wee beastie wiggled all over the damn place and forced the tech to swirl around and around trying to get just the right angle. It took forever, which was cool because I got to watch Noob wiggle and flop and flutter, but she kept trying to make him/her roll over just a little, by forcibly jabbing the wand into my belly. Not a fan of that particular aspect, but still! Much activity, much wiggling, tiny hands, tiny feet, some hiccups, and that crazy little fluttering heart. I heart the heart.
(Incidentally, the Christmas counter is not actually for Christmas - this noob is due on 12/25.)

A little facial profile for your viewing pleasure.

PSA

If you're working from home for a little while, and you don't turn your computer off at night, and as you're drifting off to sleep you think, "Gee, I haven't saved in a while, I should maybe do that, and probably back up too...", GET OUT OF BED AND DO IT RIGHT THEN. OR, don't whine when you discover that fairies or Bugs reset your computer during the night and all your last days' work is gone.

It's all Cookie's fault, as usual

I think Stacey used that title for her goals too, but hey, whatever works. Cookie's one of those pushers who is subtle enough that you don't even realize the brainwashing. It's true. Try to resist her.
Anyway, the idea behind this is to list out goals for summer knitting. I joined the Summer of Socks and promptly lost any and all mojo for yarn and needles, so this is going to be designed to ease me back into the swing of things, slowly. (When I say I lost the mojo, I lost it completely. Monday I wound a bobbin of plied yarn into a skein, and that is the first time in over a month I've touched yarn except to move it out of my way. That mojo was GONE, yo.)

ETA: the original contest linky is here.

So. My goals.

• Finish all socks on the needles. I can think of two offhand, but I think there are more.


• Knit one pair for me, out of something I dye myself. (I have the dye bug for cotton now since BigAlice and her lovely article.)


• Knit either BYOB or Traeth.


• Crochet more tiny lace angels for my aunts' Christmas gifts. My goal is three each, a total of six.

That is the extent of the main list. I'm not going to kill myself knitting or berate myself for making crazy goals. (Hell, at this point, if I knit one whole row on anything I'll call it a success.) If time permits and/or my mojo comes back all screaming-eagle, I have a few more ideas, in no particular order.

• Knit a pair of socks for DH.


• Knit the baby-sized practice socks from the Cat Bordhi mind-blowing book.


• Finally get off my butt and make Morning Glories.

Need some help before I go nuts

Like quick, because I'm pretty close to the edge already...
Recently, a blogger (I believe it was a knitblogger) posted about finally learning the name of a flower. It's got a nearly spherical cluster of purple star-shaped flowers on a long tall stalk, that comes out of a tuft of leaves that look like giant grass. I see it all over the SoCal coast when I visit. Does anyone know either what this flower is or who that blogger was? It's threatening the last shreds of my sanity.

ETA: Y'all came through. The flower I was thinking of was Lily of the Nile, though a couple of you pointed me to Allium, which are pretty excellent-looking too. I thank you all - my remaining bits of sanity are fragile indeed. :-)

I just really think you should read

this.