Browbeaten

Okay, three times in two days I have read about this, and Norma has guilted spurred me to participate. It's fun to think about not only messing with the Muggles, but throwing their sociology experiments a loop. Knitters have long been underground in polite society (mostly because we're too busy Knitting To Warm The World or something) so it's time the researchers took a look at the wonderful effects to be had by playing with wool and sticks.
Here's the research link.
Here's the place to ping.
Here's a little more background, if you like. (Scroll down to "Unleashing the Knitters".)

26 days, people. IT is coming.

Y'all, it's time to panic

Do you see that counter? As of the time I'm writing this, it says 27 days and some hours. That counts down to the midnight boundary of Christmas day, so we actually have about 28 days on the nose. Folks, that is just Not. Enough. Time.
(As an aside, is anyone else sick of that Overuse. Of. Periods. thing? It's just so expressive and easy - a Chandlerism in the written word.)
Anyway, that means there is much knitting to be done. Yesterday was the first day all long weekend I was able to knit. I finished the block for a comfort blanket (my own "design"!) and did almost a full repeat on Tendrils. It felt really good to have the yarn in my hands. My sinus infection still rages on, but the good folks at Alka Seltzer have provided me with a fine product that masks nearly all the symptoms so I can function until I get some antibiotics. Normally I like to ride these out, but this one whupped me right good on Friday and Saturday. That's Alka Seltzer Plus Cold and Cough. Go now. Buy the pills. Buy stock in the company. I have no affiliation, just a deep gratitude and abiding love for my purple happy pills.
In the last post, Judith suggests putting my Christmas tree in a playpen. This would be a perfect idea, except that I do believe the Bug would just view it as a challenge. You know, like if someone put a big fence around Everest. A friend told me about those frosted glass bulbs that are actually plastic but don't look it, so I will be scouting them out at Target later this week. I remember them from last year and loved the colors.
And now for something completely different - the coolest entry on the List of Things That Should Not Be: Smells Like Teen Spirit. I'm looking this up on iTunes.

It's been a loooong time

Yes, it's true, I didn't even have the grace to post about what I'm thankful for. I will tell you that one of the many things is this: no matter how they drive me crazy, whenever my family walks in the door for An Event, the first thing anyone says is, "How can I help?" Brilliant family feature, I must tell you.
A new thankfulness item on my list this year is AlkaSeltzer Cold and Sinus tabs. Ahhhh. I awoke the Morning After with sinus pressure so bad my teeth hurt. Blinking was excruciating. DH had to go out and run errands, and the darling man went to the pharmacy of his own accord, asked the pharmacist for a recommendation, and then brought me some with a glass of water. Sterling man, my husband. My body still feels somewhat trashed, but I no longer feel the need to lie around with a warm washcloth over my eyes, and I can actually focus on things. It's been wonderful. I still haven't knit more than a stitch or two in three days, first from stress, then busy-ness, then pain, but there is a light ahead. I hope when I get there I can find either my car keys, my cell phone, or both.
So, that is that. No knitting, only whining. Next weekend I have to throw a baby shower (why on earth did I sign up for that?!) and then it will be smooth sailing until next spring. Christmas will not be too involved this year, although with The Bug's newfound love of climbing, I may just have to decorate the tree and then lay it on the ground.

Saturday, at last

So, the last five days have nearly killed me. First, we moved to a new building with cubes instead of offices. This is actually mostly okay with me, since I sit at the end of a row of cubes and have only one cube neighbor, and I used to be fairly isolated in my old office. The not okay part is the fact that the woman in the next cube thinks that cubes are created to foster togetherness rahter than inhibit slacking, and thinks nothing of joining in any conversation within earshot. She'll stand up and lean over the wall if someone stops by to chat briefly with me, and twice I've heard her question people as they're walking by conversing about something. She is THE nosiest woman I've encountered in a long while, and has no concept of appropriate boundaries. (This is exacerbated by the fact that I have an overinflated sense of boundaries and get really tense and annoyed if someone gets in my space.) I'd hope she'd read this and get a clue, but a) I don't tell real-life people about this blog, and b) she wouldn't get it anyway.
Second, I started a new schedule at work, so I arrive at 6:30 and leave at 3pm. This is cool, because the afternoon just FLIES, but that morning has gotten long enough as to be soul-crushing.
Third, the bike riding is working out well so far. I have only been making the round-trip once instead of twice. I'd thought I would ride home for lunch, but at this point in my riding and my new schedule the lunch ride isn't feasible. My commute is 2.5 miles round trip, which is a nice short trip that still gets me a little exercise. The ride home is nicer than the ride there, since I ride a different way to avoid traffic. It's such a pleasure to get on my little bike and cruise on home through the neighborhood, past the park, down the little hill and into the driveway. Plus, the mornings are cool enough that I think I need to knit myself some mittens. Heh. (I know that 2.5 miles is piddly, but I suffer from two of those luxuries few outside the first world know: overabundance of food and complete sloth. I gotta work up to it.)
Anyway, all of this adds up to some serious exhaustion and not so much on the knitting. Yesterday I managed four rows on Tendrils and thought I was doing feats of Herculean strength. Today I hope for some napping, some house cleaning, and a little knitting. (The house cleaning is necessary - the cleaning lady is on vacation until the week after Thanksgiving, and I couldn't find anyone else to cover for her, so the house looks like the set of Lord of the Flies.)

On shapes

I would like to state that I am in terrible shape. Well, my shape is mostly spherical, which is not a bad shape as shapes go, but I would prefer something a little more svelte. Anyway, toward this end, I recently started riding my bike to work. Recently meaning yesterday. It's a short ride - today it took 7 minutes - but I arrive huffing and puffing and generally in a disgraceful state. I can see the bloody building from my front yard (the 7 minutes is due to the presence of a gated community between me and the building) and I arrive sweaty and breathless. Oy. The only reason this is going to work for me is that it is ONLY seven minutes. I can do that. I can do that no problem. Then if I want a little more later, I can go around the back way, or go up the street further and cut back, or what have you. When I get REALLY good, my intention is to ride the additional 2.5 miles round trip with a little kiddie trailer, and pick the Bug up from his daycare. We shall see. In the meantime, seven minutes, four times a day.
And can I just tell you something? Even though it's only seven little minutes, my sit bones feel like I rode a marathon. With as much padding as I have on my butt, you'd THINK that I wouldn't feel it as much.
No knitting content to show. Tendrils and Clapotis proceed. They look like slightly longer versions of the last photos you saw. Switching buildings, working hours (now I work from 6:30 - 3) and modes of transportation have served to tucker me out right good, so I hope that sooner rather than later I will have the energy to stay awake at night and knit. (Last night was SnB, and I only had energy to watch my friends knit. It was sad. Apparently I looked so tired that one woman was concerned that I wouldn't be able to drive the two miles home without falling asleep.)

I would like to direct your attention

Please note the counter in the sidebar. 42 days, people. Six weeks, plus a few hours. That is not nearly enough, I promise. Six freaking weeks.
I cut the Bug's hair yesterday. I think it's pretty cute. Suddenly he's a redhead. I'm not sure why, but he looks so much more like a little boy and less like a baby to me now. Anyway, a few photos.


Small boy with yarn.


Ten years off my life.

Please note in that second picture - he's not just standing there, he's walking from end to end.

Clapotis proceeds apace. I have about four rows before I start the straight rows and get the entertainment of occasionally dropping stitches. I am easily entertained. No doubt that if I were Wannietta or The Harlot, I would have been done days ago, but I am a slooooooow knitter.

I am also considering throwing away the Heinous Purple Thing. I have plenty of that purple yarn, and I really think there's a project that would be less heinous. If I don't rip it, I'll never finish it, and then MIL won't have a knitted Christmas present.

Eye Candy

But not in the usual sense.


I'm such a good sport.


Remember Ed Grimley?


If only ALL the little gargoyles were this cute.

In the land of the living.

So, that barfing flu was actually probably food poisoning. I was feeling much better the next day (DH swears it was because it was SnB day) but he and The Bug got some cold/flu thing that still has them feeling ucky. Good thoughts for me that I don't get it, cuz UGH.
Tomorrow, our company is moving my department to a brand new, shiny happy people facility. We go from offices to cubes, but I don't care, because the new place is blocks from my house. Hooray, riding the bike to work! YAY! Anyway, since all of my office things will be in transit, I get to work from home for the day. This means I will get to catch up on the laundry while working. I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to being caught up on the laundry.
Last night during the second daily viewing of Cars (DH does love him some Pixar) and Criminal Minds, I cast on for Clapotis. The yarn is even lovelier knitted up than in the skein, if possible. I lurve it.

Softly shimmering little triangle of yarny goodness.

Jessie wasn't kidding when she said it stank, though. Anyone know how to make silk smell better after dyeing, because OMG, it's pretty rank.

Oooh, and I forgot that I read The Conjurer's Bird, by Martin Davies. Excellent book! I loved it. Good mystery, good adventure. Loved it. Buy it, read it.

Chaotic Rants Of A Card Carrying Dreamer

I have the barfing flu today, so I am home trying to not think about barfing. Bug made it extra hard this morning while he ate his banana slices. Bananas make me gag on a good day, but when I'm already feeling gross AND the bananas are in the hands of a toddler... oy.
I am feeling a tad better, though (woohoo, drank a whole glass of water without barfing) so at some point I imagine I will have time for fiberly pursuits.
This last weekend, we went to a little wool festival in Tucson. It was on one woman's farm, and there were all of about ten vendors. It was fun, though, and Bug liked the animals. DH even got him to pet a freshly shorn lamb, but sadly, no pictures were had.
I only bought this:

Scratchy fluffy Shetland.

The spindle is an Ashford that Bug got me for my birthday a while ago. (Such a big boy - his 13 month old self got online and ordered it all the way from Montana.)
Anyway, I have yet to spin anything on it, since the only fiber I had before this weekend was silk, and I'd been warned that I should probably know what I'm doing before I tried to spin it.

Oh yeah, and Deb is doing that November calendar thing. I apologize for the glare on this picture - there was no way to position it that didn't cause some, and this is the best.


I do love me some moosies.

The picture was from a calendar of all moose. A Year of Moose or some such. Given to me by the friend who gave me the moosey sweater for Bug. Mooses. Rock.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go recline on the couch with the back of one hand on my forehead. That water doesn't seem to want to stay where it is.

Oh. My. Gawd. Y'all.

Jessie is a color genius. This is three skeins of Henry's Attic Andromeda (50/50 wool and silk) she dyed for me when I couldn't find the color of Lion and Lamb I wanted for my aunt's Christmas Clapotis. I haven't taken the picture below yet (it's dark, I'll add the picture tomorrow before I post) but I can guarantee that no piddly amount of camera skills I have will do this yarn justice. I can't freaking wait to knit it.


Sorry for the lack of artistic posing - the Bug was headed for the yarn.

Below, 6 skeins of elann.com Peruvian Highland wool, in rainbow colors. For a Dulaan hat pattern that has been swirling around in my head. Yeah, someone has probably knit it before, but I haven't seen it, so in my reality, I thunk it up all by myself.



Not pictured: the skeins of Knitpicks yarn I ordered on 10/24, that shipped on 10/25. La's opinion notwithstanding, I like Knitpicks yarns. But seriously, do they pick "extra slow" at the post office or what? It shipped on 10/25 according to the website, and it's not here. The Elann.com yarn and A Piece of Vermont (Jessie) yarn both shipped on 10/30, a full FIVE days later, and BOTH of the later packages arrived first. Really, it's my only complaint about knitpicks thus far.
(Okay, after I wrote this post I wound five balls of Andean Silk into center pull balls and strung two with beads. Out of the 10 balls I ordered, three had knots. I think that's a little excessive. Even for cheap yarn.)

After all the new and wonderful yarns, it seems almost anticlimactic to show you Frill.




No, I don't know how to wear a stole gracefully. Why do you ask?

Bug-a-BOO!

The Bug's second Halloween has passed. He was a little more alert this year.

Then:

Bug as Wombat

Now:

The Flash!

We had fun carving pumpkins last night, and of all of them, the Bug and Boo ones were the biggest hits with the kids. (Mommy! That one says Boo! Look, it does! And that one says BUG!)


Punkins!

We went to four neighbors' houses, and then got in the car to go visit friends with a boy Bug's age. We didn't get two blocks before he conked out in his seat, so we turned around and went home to dole out more candy. All in all, a fun evening.
(Well, except for when I started to pin out Frill and found a hole with two live stitches right in the middle, but we won't talk about that.)

Do you see what I see?

That little counter in the sidebar is now showing less than 60 days. That means less than two months. That means the time to panic is getting C-L-O-S-E-R.
Over the weekend I finished the knitting and weaving of ends for Frill. I have yet to wash and block her, but I hope that will happen soon. In the meantime, there is still Tendrils (10 repeats and counting) and HPT. Jessie has just sent my yarn for Clapotis, the partner for Tendrils. Good grief, I hope it is a faster knit than Tendrils is.
On another note, can I tell you that I have rediscovered the library? When I was in high school, we were urged to buy books so we could take notes in them. (What a way to kill the joy of reading.) I got in the habit. I got in the habit of being super-selective about my reading. I learned to scan the artwork on the cover and read bits here and there to decide whether a book was worth the obscene price they're charging these days. (It amazes me how often it has worked out that if I like the artwork on a fantasy book, I have liked the book, and vice versa.) Anyway, recently (last week, I think) I got a library card with the idea that I would check out Generation T. Since then I have picked up a couple books that looked like they might be good, checked out a couple that I wanted but couldn't find locally, and have two more on reserve. Brilliance! If I don't like the book, who cares? It's free! My only complaint is the lack of popular knitting books in my local library. I suspect publishers don't like pattern books in the library to minimize copyright infringements - no way to control who's making copies that way. Anyway, I love it. I was reminded about how I used to go to the library with my mother when I was a kid. It was always a fun outing, always exciting to browse and find new books. And what a privilege it was when I was given my very own library card! I had forgotten. DH thinks it's mildly weird that I am so excited about it. I hope I remember all the time now. I hope I can pass on the excitement of a smorgasbord of books to The Bug.

fly by

I have nothing to tell you except that THIS is the cutest dolly in the whole wide world.

Knitting content

But it's not mine.
The Bug and I have been under the weather. Well, the Bug has been under the weather for a solid month now. First the cold from Montana, then an ear infection, then pneumonia (!) and now a viral throat thing. This kid should have more immunities than a whole continent, but unfortunately, new bugs keep finding him.
DH has been in Montana for the last few days for his mother's birthday, so the Bug and I have been flying solo. Given the extra work (how do people do this by themselves every day?) and the yuckiness, no knitting has happened here.
However.
My good friend has made the Bug a sweater. She and I share, among other things, a love of all moose-kind. So, naturally, what better for her pseudo-grandson than a moose sweater?




As always, click to embiggen.

I dunno the pattern, I dunno the size, she made the chart up herself, and I think she said she knitted it from Lion Brand Microspun. It's just a little too big for him right now, which means it should fit him for most of the winter, and hopefully any bits of next summer when he needs a sweater too. At the beach, maybe, or at the lake. When it's too small for him, I think I'll frame it.

(As I sit here typing at my hideously messy desk (it's not my fault, there's no storage) I have discovered that the Bug is tall enough that he can reach everything that I have pushed back from the edge. When did he get so tall?)

16 inches

That's what I have left on Frill. 16 inches before I graft the second frill on, block the puppy, and never think about her again.



For blocking considerations, though, I may stop after nine more inches (for a total length of 80 inches) and call 'er good.

It turns out that I am not terribly in love with the stitch pattern.



It's very easy, but I think my desire to do the pattern was more about the colorway of the sample in Knitty, here. The pattern is simple enough, I am just not in love with it the way I was when I saw the pictures of it the first time. Since it is not for me, though, I don't have to love it once it's done.

Anyway, this is the weekend of Rhinebeck, which I sadly cannot attend. This is also the weekend DH is road-tripping with his youngest daughter and friend, helping them to bring youngest daughter's car from our house to her mother's house, where it shall live out its days as the receptacle of all the detritus from the life of a teenaged girl. It was a good vehicle for us, and I hope it's happy there. So, while DH is visiting family and seeing beautiful countryside, and the rest of you are engaged in a wool orgy of epic proportions, Bug and I will be here all by our little lonesomes, knitting and/or trying to shred balls of yarn. I am looking forward to hearing all your exploits and seeing the pictures of your haul. Fondle some fibers for me, please.

a meme

Cuz it's a contest, and I can't not enter a contest.

1. Where is your favorite knitting spot?

My cushy chair with ottoman. I have good lighting (at night - during the day my knitting is backlit by the picture window) and my stash is in boxes next to the chair.



You can't really see the chair, but you can see the stash boxes off to the right and the lamp posts behind (one is an Ott light, YAY). It's also right next to the fireplace. Aaaahhh.

2. If you suddenly could never knit again (shudder) - what would you do instead?

Go back to quilting.

3. If you could travel anywhere in the world - where would you go and why?

Ireland first. It's GREEN, people, and I live in the DESERT. Then a really long time in the Caribbean, wandering from dive spot to dive spot. Then Toronto, to Lettuce Knits. I think that store has everything.

4. When you were little - What did you want to do "when you grew up?" Are you doing it?

For the life of me, I can't remember what I wanted to be, but I guarantee it wasn't what I'm doing now. (Well, except for the Mom part, that rocks.)

5. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?

Moose tracks or Chubby Hubby.

As a funny, I clicked the link that said "Translate this site to English" on my Yahoo toolbar. (I'd never noticed that there.) Amazingly, things were changed, and it gave me this:

1. Favorite Where is your knitting spot?
2. Yew you suddenly could never knit again (shudder) - what would you C instead?
3. Yew you could travel anywhere in the world - where would you go and why?
4. When you were little - What did you want to C "when you grew up?" Are you doing it?
5. Favorite What is your flavor of ice cream?


Oy.

Hellos and goodbyes

I was going to title this post Lazy Sunday, but I do believe that was last Sunday's title. I sense a theme.
Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes! There were roses, lots of fettucine alfredo, and an Ashford Spindle that has yet to arrive in the mail. Can't wait.
Anyway, I must say goodbye to an old and dear friend. He served me well for many years and kept me going when I was at my wits' end.



He gave it up the last time yesterday morning while trying to steam milk for a latte. I wish his end was dignified, but he went out spewing steam from every orifice. He will be missed.


Well, he was missed until yesterday afternoon, when my new love came a-calling.



He's so shiny.

Bug says, "Sometimes, dinner is just too boring.

Happy Birthday to ME!

And to Dave.
The bedroom has been put back together, but the guest room is still a roiling mess, and the rest of the house looks like a band of Cornish pixies swept through. (In reality, it was just one little Bug.)
The wedding we were to attend is not in the cards for us, so I have a free afternoon. I need a nap in the worst way, and I think I might actually have some time for one. DH is taking me out to lunch and we're going to run to JoAnn's to get the supplies for the Bug's Halloween costume, but other than that, it's just me, a nap, and maybe some knitting. Tomorrow is supposed to be rainy, so more knitting time for me!

It turns out

That DH didn't want to rip out the carpet and let the girls walk around on asbestos-filled tiles from the 50s. Weird. Anyway, I called about extraction. I was given a quote and an appointment time. I left work early and met DH at home and we ripped all the furniture out of those two rooms. (How long has it been since YOU looked under YOUR bed? Yikes.) Anyway, the extraction people arrived right on time, amazingly enough, and wandered around those two rooms testing for water. There was A LOT. It went under the walls and soaked the closets. (Did you know that walls and floor are only minimally connected?) They got to work.
When my bedrooms look like this,




The rest of the house looks like this.





Turns out that there was too much water. They sucked out all they could, left big giant fans, and told me they'd be back tomorrow to finish the job. Oy. The three of us camped out in the living room.
(An aside: Bug scoots around a lot when he sleeps, and I was concerned he'd scoot off the edge of the bed, so I moved the recliner against the bed, and was happy to see that the seat of the recliner was at the same height as the top of the mattress. When I woke up this morning, the Bug had scooted, face down, on to the seat of the recliner and turned around so his head was on the bed and his legs were on the chair. It was pretty damn cute. I'm extremely glad I put that chair there!)
Anyway, the guys say they'll be back at lunchtime to finish the cleaning part, and I will have shiny clean carpets that should be dry in time to move back into our bedroom tonight. We're both pretty sure we're going to leave the guest room ripped apart and let the stepdaughter and her friend put the stuff back where they'd like it. We're pretending to be accommodating, but really we're just lazy.

PS - it's after lunch, the carpet is clean, and the creepy guy is gone! YAY!

Serenity

That was a really kick ass movie, by the way, which is causing me all sorts of weird dreams involved Reavers and yarn. There was no yarn in the movie, although that would have been the only thing to make it better.
No, the Serenity I experienced was brief and wonderful.

• It was two hours at SnB.
  
• It was Sarah reminding the waitress, who is also cool, that I like piles of whipped cream on my nonfat latté. (what?)


• It was actually knitting to the end of the ball of yarn.
  
• It was winding one of the other balls on my little swift and winder at home.



• It was NOT the discovery that I have two balls of Frill left, not one.
  
• It was NOT the discovery that the toilet has an issue shutting itself off when it refills the tank after a flush.
  
• It was NOT the realization that the toilet ran for close to two hours while we were out to dinner.


• It was NOT the fact that two hours gives the water a LONG time to seep into the carpet of both my bedroom and the guest room, which will be in use on Friday.


• It was NOT the realization that my carpet is so dirty underneath that it looks like mud and smells like wet dog.

New carpet to be had when I can figure out where DH, the Bug, three dogs and I will live while all the bedrooms are ripped up.
Very soon, there will be a break in the busyness and by all that's holy, I will have some good knitting time.