Next Year will ROCK

So, on Sunday I cast off the second sleeve of the Chocolate Decadance sweater. So lots of hemming and seaming, as I'd like to wear this while at home next week! See the pretty hem? Ooooooo



Also, to answer previous questions, no, I did not color my hair, 'tis the lighting and NaNo was OK. It was my first year, and I got 32,000 words. Next year will be better!

BUT! BUT! BUT! Dan got us tickets to go on our vacation this spring and it's even better than Niagara Falls! Look where we'll be in March!




BEIJING! CHINA! Fei chang hao! Wo gao gao xing xing si le!

I want to climb one of the Daoist mountains. Either Huang Shan:




Or Tai Shan:



I know they look zhen de li hai (super hard-core) and they are, but there are stairs carved into the mountains (I love China) and little old ladies will totally kick your ass while climbing. You'll be all panting for breath and they'll just run by you.


On Saturday I leave for home for Christmas and will be there for a week! YAY! Packing space is at a premium, so I'm going to cast on for Birch! Finally! Because 3 balls of Kidsilk Haze does not take up much room. But, alas, when typing the above, I typed "bitch" a portent of things to come? I hope not.

So if you really love Christmas, come on and let it snow...

Last night, I had all sorts of big plans.

I was going to bake gingerbread cookies for the library party today. I was going to go running. I was going to work on my short story. I was going to take a nice long bath.

Last night I... ate an entire pot of macarroni and cheese. I drank some wine. I realized that I had unopened cookies from when I went to the grocery store. I watched Love Actually (and bawled at the funeral scene in the beginning!). I wound up some yarn. I cast on for the legwarmers from Last Minute Knitted Gifts but didn't like my color combination, so I ripped it all out and went to bed.

And now it's snowing snowing snowing and all the schools are closing early, but I'll be driving along the Beltway about the time this starts turning into lots of ice.

This Week in Knitting= AWESOME PANTS

You know, where pants is an adjetive meaning "Super", not that I'm knitting myself trousers.

BUT on Sunday I was big and brave and screwed up all my courage and went to the DC Stitch 'n Bitch at Warehouse Cafe by Mt. Vernon Square. I went all by myself. I didn't know anyone there, but I've been missing my Ann Arbor knitting friends like crazy. I went and then found they only took cash, but that was ok, because even though I only had $2, coffee was only $1.54. And I joined the group and it was fun and I'm totally going back. I'm so happy. I was giggly the rest of the night.

AND THEN! Today I discovered even more knitters than I knew about at work. And wanna-be knitters and it turns out there are underground plans to start a work-based knitting club and maybe a teen knitting club, which is cool, because we have some awesome knitting books in this library, let me tell you.

It was a good weekend in knitting.

Also, we went to Adam's Morgan yesterday for Amsterdam Falafel. OH.MY So super tasty.

Yet Another Candle I Tried to Eat

Dan brought this home from a fundraising dinner and I found it on the counter. Because it was his, I DID NOT EAT IT, but doesn't it look good? Aren't I good for not eating the cupcake? I'm supergood, because I asked Dan about it, and he informed me that it is, indeed NOT a cupcake, but instead a candle. What is it with me trying to eat candles?!



In other news, I got a haircut today. Here is the old hair (please disregard the dirty dirty mirror)







Here is the new hair (with Dan's arty photography)







Here is take 14 bajillion on Dan's socks. See, I'm on the heel now, just turning it. La la la. You will also note the lack of elf toes. This is what I did today instead of cleaning the house. I have my priorities straight.

I'll Rochembeau You For It

I really wanted this post to be me revealing my secret pal who is ALSO a children's librarian (which I became during the course of this last secret pal cycle THAT'S TELEPATHICALY CRAZY, SP6 HOSTS) but I'm a complete idiot and can't seem to find her email with the link to her blog. Dear awesome SP6, please email me again, because I totally forgot to bookmark you AND you're awesome awesome awesome.

I'm going to turn the heel on Dan's second attempt sock (Actually, I think this is the 3rd or 4th attempt. Not counting the languishing argyles.)

Here's a story from warmer times:



So, earlier in November, some darlinink friends came over from England and we took them into town to see the sights. Here is Adam on the left and his friend David on the right and me in the middle, enjoying the attention of a some cute Brits with Northern Accents! (oh course, Adam's gone very posh on us and is starting to start a bit like a Londoner)

The highlight, of course, was the statue of Rochembeau. We coudln't quite remember where it was, so we tramped all over in the dark, looking for it, because once they heard there was one, hoo-boy! Here they are trying to kick each other as hard as the can, square in the nuts.



They then tried to explain themselves to some frightened passers-by. They made it worse.

Don't mind them, they're from Barcelona.

Atttack of the Killer Vacuum

So, remember when I said that Dan's sock was too big and I had to rip it out? I mean, look at this!



My finger is the tip of his toe. Aiya!



But I didn't want to rip it, so I was working merrily along on the second sleeve of chocolate decadance.

But then something very bad happened. I spilled an entire bottle of beer on it.

Then something even worse happened a week later.

It went through the vacuum cleaner. The entire sleeve went through the vacuum cleaner. I screamed. Dan freaked out (as it was an accident and he felt so very badly, because he is supremely lovely).

See how that needle is broken clean from the cord?



See how the other needle is splintered and frayed?



See how there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG WITH THE KNITTING?!



Somehow, my sleeve survived! But it's on hold as I get another size 5 bamboo circ.

MY SECRET PAL ROCKS THE CASBAH

Erm. I forgot to switch the orientation on this picture. Anyway, my secret pal has been in overdrive spoiling me. Here is a package I got a week or two ago! Love love love the yarn. And the soap. And the turkey craft book. And the Nancy Drew Guide to Life that is not in this picture because I was hiding it from my mom who wanted to keep it!

And here is the package I got on Saturday, after showing my parents the sights and sounds of DC. My mom was very excited and super-jealous. (And you will be too, when you see these treasures!)








These are candy cane knitting needles by Susan Bates. I did NOT try to eat these. ;)




The yarn came in this guy who is super-cute, no? And perfect size for carrying sock projects!





BEAUTIFUL STITCH MARKERS! OH MY LORD HOW PRETTY ARE THESE?!



mmmm.... sock yarn... *drool*....




And my little Pinocchio measuring tape that did not make it into the big picture because he was in my knitting basket as he got pressed into service as soon as I opened the box!

PS

Wow. Two posts in two days!

Anyway... I also realized that the picture of yesterday's package didn't fully show the very pretty drop spindle and BOOK that came with it. I will try to spin again.

And the first package from my secret pal? The one with the RYC book? And the missing dashboard diva? I should also point out that the package also contained some Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. BUT I ATE THEM. Because I am a Jelly Belly monster. I would also like to mention that I'm quite disconcerted at how much I enjoy the soap flavored ones. Erm. Yes, I am a freak.

And to answer Emily's question re Chocolate Decandance... still working on the second sleeve. I really havn't been knitting lately, because my hands have been pretty sore.

And not that next month is going to be any better. NaNo will eat my life.

And about my commute-- living in one suburb and working in another does not lend itself well to public transportation. It would require 2 hours, 2 trains and a bus, and given that I work 2 nights a week... I instead spend about 30-45 minutes on the Beltway.

And here are some things I learned about DC:
1. Beltway gridlock doesn't always refer to Congress. The other day, it took me 30 minutes to go 2 miles
2. Capital Hill, is, in fact, a big hill.
3. Living South of the Mason-Dixon line means that fall just came on Monday.

In which I find my camera, and get yet another package.

Hello Blogging Knitting World!

Guess what I did today? I found my camera. So here is a picture-ful post for you!

Today was a good day, as I got home from work to find that I had a package! From my secret pal!

See the pretty package?



And opened it, in all it's Halloween-y goodness and thought well, I'm going to have to post about how I was all set to come home today and go running! And my secret pal ruined it so now I'm blogging and eating candy instead! Because my, do those gummy pumpkins look good!

See? Don't they look like gumdrops?



I thought they did to. But, um, they're not. They're candles. Luckily, I discovered this BEFORE I tried to bite it. Because me? Spazzy McSpazzerton? Normally? I wouldn've eaten it.




Luckily, there was sugar in the package! AND pumpkin peeps come with cake icing so you can decorate them!!!!



Plus, there's yarn! and needles! and a pattern! And excellent!

And here is the last secret pal package. Except minus the Dashboard Diva, because she's on my desk at work!



AND! Here is the final package from my last secret pal, which I think (hope!) I talked about, because, with the awesomeness, and it is also missing a trio of Burt's Bees handlotions because they're at work, where I use them multiple times a day, because as much as I love books? Very drying on the hands.



And, now we're pretty settled in here in DC. So here is my knitting area!



My overflow yarn stash!



AND LOOK! BOOKSHELVES! No more mondo-pile!



And then tonight got even better, when I went to get beer and found Tiger Beer! I've never seen Tiger in the States! TIGER TIGER TIGER!

Now, if only the Astros would win the game tonight!

Worst Blogger Ever

Sorry.

Just started a new job at a different library in the system.

The new job is awesome, but the commute is looooooooooooooong, as it's on the other side of DC than the one I live on.

I'm in a bit of a knitting slump right now... bit irksome.

But my secret pal? Last week, maybe the week before? MOST AWESOME PACKAGE EVER.

Needed to get that out there.

Should go back to awesome new job.

Goodbye circ desk! Hello reference!

Hyperventillating at the Fabric Store

So, at the advice of a frequent library patron, I checked out G Street Fabrics today in an attempt to buy serger thread. And got super overwhelmed and just had to leave.

Of course, they are offering a class on entrelac, which has to be the one knitting thing I've never attemped. And like, the one knitting thing I've never taught. But I have to work that day.

le sigh

New Book

I got Knitting Over the Edge today.

Exciting.

Rowan = love

So... I got those 2 balls of Kid Silk Crack with my Rowan subscription, but I'm not a big fan of the froth scarf.

Do you know what I am a big fan of? The River shawl in the same magazine. Yes, the one that takes 2 balls of Crack.

Life is good.

Except, to answer Kate's question, no Rhinebeck for me, as I'm caught in the weird milieu of not being allowed to take any vacation until after Thanksgiving, but still refusing to work on Yom Kippur, so having to work on Saturday to make up for the day I'm missing to atone. Luckily my boss also has to occasionally miss work for religious reasons and was very accomadating to me taking high holidays off and letting me work Saturday so I still get all my hours in and make HR not mad at me.

Also, don't you completely love my complete misuse of the world milieu? I do.

All aloney, on my owney

So here's most of the KARYS crew on the night Rachel left town




And here's me and Rachey when the cool kids went to the bar after dinner.

I miss the yarn shop. I miss knitting with people. I found the DC area's knitting group page and was interested in the Sunday afternoon DC group (because I work Wednesday nights and can't get to the Silver Spring gathering) but the leader never emailed me back because damned if I know where the Warehouse Cafe is or if the group even still meets!

But, in other news, I'm moving up in the library world and will start working reference soon. Reference in the children's section, which'll be, um, interesting, as I know nothing about childhood literacy, but they should train me, no? And no more Wednesday nights, so I'll have to check out the Silver Spring people...

oh, and Rita seems to have pretty much missed Houston, everyone's good down there!

Suck City.

So, things here are a little crazy.

Interview on Wednesday. I think it went well, but who can tell with these things?! I did however, get to wear my suit, and I can work my suit like no one's business.

Realized that I gained so much weight this summer that my clothes are starting not to fit. DAMN. Who knew that living off pizza and beer for a glorius few months would catch up to you? So my life has been less knitting and more working out.

But yesterday my new Rowan came (it took me a while to get my renewal form in. Moving makes things like that fall through the cracks!) anyway... new Rowan makes me happy. Also, I don't know if I said this on my SP6 questionaire, but I am lusting after the new RYC collection. I want ALL of the pattern books and have none of them. Just FYI.

But then today, our family realized that there was no way they could get out of Houston. Everyone's out of gas, it's taking over 16 hours to get to Austin (a mere 160 miles away). So they're hunkering down for the storm. Our thoughts are elsewhere right now.

SP6 Questionaire!

My secret pal emailed me and already has ideas! Crazy! Anyway, here's some info all about moi

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer higher quality and/or natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Or is it all the same to you?

I like natural fibers, but am not a brand snob. So I'm more down with cheap 100% wool than expensive acrylic. There are, of course, exceptions to everything that play by no rules.

2. Do you spin? Crochet?

My spinning makes people cry. I crochet a little.

3. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, pets, fibers, perfume, etc.)

As long as you don't send me medication, I should be good to go on the allergy front.

4. How long have you been knitting?

Almost 8 years now. Crikey.

5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?

Of course. See if this link works!

6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)

I like really spicy scents or very crisp, clean scents. My favorite lotion is Blue Q's Queen (and I just ran out and am not sure of where to buy more here in DC. Do you know? TELL ME!)

7. Do you have a sweet tooth?

Yes.

8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do?

I sew. I got a serger for my birthday. I like things that involve glue guns. I'm getting into embroidery and cross stitch.

9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)

Modern folk. Alt country. Indie. World stuff. I'm pretty open.

10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand?

My favorite are navy blue and pale pink. I wear a lot of brown. I like earthtones. Yellow makes me look ill.

11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?

1 husband. 2 gerbils.

12. What are your life dreams? (really stretching it here, I know)

The ones I'm working towards: To be a reference librarian and/or archivist of a kick ass Asian language collection

The pipe one: Knitting designer

The dream one: Getting paid to make out with Colin Firth

The Miss America one: To be happy and fulfilled. World peace. No hunger.

13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with?

I am a Rowan whore. Especially when it comes to Kid Silk Haze. YUM.

14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?

Really super cheap acrylic that feels like you're knitting with plastic. Not a big fan of the novelty yarns.

15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s?

I'm not really obsessed with anything write now. I guess sweaters of my own design in smaller guages. Vintage-looking stuff.

16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?

Depends on my mood. I like sweaters.

17. What are you knitting right now?

The Chocolate Decadence Sweater for me (luxury to the max!) and a pair of socks for Dan. Except the first one ended up being WAY TOO BIG now that I've finished turning the heel, so I think I need to rip it and try again. I need more reinforcing stuff, though.

18. What do you think about ponchos?

Meh.

19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles?

Depends on the project. I use both regularly.

20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?

Hardwoods, then bamboo, but it also depends on the yarn I'm using...

21. Are you a sock knitter?

Well, I knit socks...

22. How did you learn to knit?

Through a non-credit class offered at my college. I made a hat.

23. How old is your oldest UFO?

That I tell myself I'll actually finish at some point? It's from England, and that was 3.5 years ago now?

24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird?

I like Leela from Futurama and The Family Guy

25. What is your favorite holiday?

Christmas, followed by Thanksgiving.

26. Is there anything that you collect?

Books. Yarn. Hobbies.

27. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?

Rowan, Rebecca, Interweave Knits, Vogue, Knitters, Cast On, Creative Knitting

28. Any books out there you are dying to get your hands on?

Anything by Zimmerman (except Opinionated Knitter, I have that one), any of the RYC stuff Rowan just put out

29. Any patterns you have been coveting, but haven't bought for one reason or another??

The RYC stuff.

ETA: 30. What are your foot measurements, and what kind of socks do you like?

I'm not that picky when it comes to socks. The ball of my foot is 9.25" and from heel to second toe (my longest toe) is 10". I wear an 8.5/9 shoe.

Oiy

See? Me? Still here? I know I've been off the map lately. Maybe tomorrow with a more in-depth post...

In general... I um, finished the back of chocolate decadance and started the sleeve. I also started working again on Dan's socks.

I have lots and lots and lots and lots of books to review.

And I'm really tired. But I did get bookshelves, so yay!

Hi! It's me! Remember Me?!

Hi all.

This is just a quick post to say that I do totally still exsist.

I've been working at my new job, which is at a public library, so lots of knitting book reviews coming soon! I'm just still getting used to life here in Maryland and unpacking ALL THAT YARN. (I just spent a few hours unpacking knitting related stuff. Oh my.)

Also, I just want to give public props to my secret pal! She was awesome. I feel bad, because her secret pal was not so awesome. Her last package rocked and I will take a picture soon! But lots of yummy yarn and cool soap and marinara seasoning and a recipie for tomato sauce! How awesome is that?!

Ai yai yai

Well, I've enjoyed my time with my secret pal so much that I've already signed up for Secret Pal 6! You should too. You know, if you knit and blog...





In more knitting news, I am a chocolate decadence IDIOT. So, I'm increading up to the bust and am thinking to myself, I need to get up to 106 stitches, then knit for an inch straight, and then start the sleeve decreases. And then I count my stitches and #$&(*&#@ I have 108.

Gah.

So, I rip out to the last increase, including the increase row and then knit an inch straight and then I look at my pattern notes to see how the sleeve decreases go... GAH!

I was really supposed to increase to 108 after all. I haven't ripped out the inch yet. GAH!

@#$! %^&%^$ @#!@# ^&*&^* @!#!@#


In other news, here is our book pile. We went to IKEA to get some bookshelves for the pile, but DUDE! IKEA's a little overwhelming. We finally just took a catalog so we could think about it some more...



Also, I want to say to anyone thinking of reading the Thursday Next books by Jasper Fforde, you really should. I finished Something Rotten before moving out to DC, and the whole series was AWESOME!

Manly Scarf

Look! I'm back on the high speed internet! Woo! Check out the manly scarf! Pattern's up here!

(Also, check out Dan's arty photography!)

But I'm here in DC, trying to unpack stuff. Man, Dan was right when he said I have too much yarn... I'm still trying to figure out where to put it all.

OH! Check out what my secret pal got me!

Book Meme

No knitting content at all. I stole this from Kim

Bold if you've read it.
Italicize if you've read part of it.
Underline if you want to read it.
Add a book, if you like


#1 The Bible
#2 Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
#3 Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
#4 The Koran
#5 Arabian Nights
#6 Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
#7 Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
#8 Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
#9 Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
#10 Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
#11 The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli
#12 Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
#13 Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
#14 Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
#15 Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
#16 Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
#17 Dracula by Bram Stoker
#18 Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin
#19 Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
#20 Essays by Michel de Montaigne
#21 Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
#22 History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
#23 Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
#24 Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
#25 Ulysses by James Joyce
#26 Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio
#27 Animal Farm by George Orwell
#28 Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
#29 Candide by Voltaire
#30 To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
#31 Analects by Confucius, (in classical Chinese, even!)
#32 Dubliners by James Joyce Joyce
#33 Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
#34 Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
#35 Red and the Black by Stendhal
#36 Das Kapital by Karl Marx
#37 Flowers of Evil by Charles Baudelaire
#38 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
#39 Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence
#40 Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
#41 Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser
#42 Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
#43 Jungle by Upton Sinclair
#44 All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
#45 Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx
#46 Lord of the Flies by William Golding
#47 Diary by Samuel Pepys
#48 Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
#49 Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
#50 Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
#51 Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
#52 Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant
#53 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
#54 Praise of Folly by Desiderius Erasmus
#55 Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
#56 Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X
#57 Color Purple by Alice Walker
#59 Essay Concerning Human Understanding by John Locke
#60 Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
#61 Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe
#62 One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
#63 East of Eden by John Steinbeck
#64 Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
#65 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
#66 Confessions by Jean Jacques Rousseau
#67 Gargantua and Pantagruel by Francois Rabelais
#68 Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes
#69 The Talmud
#70 Social Contract by Jean Jacques Rousseau
#71 Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
#72 Women in Love by D. H. Lawrence
#73 American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
#74 Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler
#75 Separate Peace by John Knowles
#76 The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
#77 Red Pony by John Steinbeck
#78 Popol Vuh T.S. Eliot.
#79 Affluent Society by John Kenneth Galbraith
#80 Satyricon by Petronius
#81 James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
#82 Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
#83 Black Boy by Richard Wright
#84 Spirit of the Laws by Charles de Secondat Baron de Montesquieu
#85 Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
#86 Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
#87 Metaphysics by Aristotle
#88 Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
#89 Institutes of the Christian Religion by Jean Calvin
#90 Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse
#91 Power and the Glory by Graham Greene
#92 Sanctuary by William Faulkner
#93 As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
#94 Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin
#95 Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig
#96 Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
#97 General Introduction to Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud
#98 Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
#99 Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Alexander Brown
#100 Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
#101 Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman by Ernest J. Gaines
#102 Emile Jean by Jacques Rousseau
#103 Nana by Emile Zola
#104 Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
#105 Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin
#106 Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
#107 Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
#108 Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Peck
#109 Ox-Bow Incident by Walter Van Tilburg Clark
#110 Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
#111 The Odyssey by Homer
#112 Harry Potter: The Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling
#113 The Pelican Brief by John Grisham
#114 Sphere by Michael Crichton
#115 War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
#116 Tales of the Otori by Lian Hearn
#117 The Bacchae by Eurpides
#118 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
#119 Starseeker by Tim Bowler
#120 The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
#121 Sabriel by Garth Nix
#122 Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard
#123 The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
#124 The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
#125 Macbeth by William Shakespeare
#126 Othello by William Shakespeare
#127 Why I Am Not a Christian : And Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects by Bertrand Russell
#128 The Metamorphoses of Ovid
#129 Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
#130 Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
#131 A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
#132 Empire Falls by Richard Russo
#133 Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
#134 The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
#135 Frankenstein by Mary Shelly
#136 Emma by Jane Austen
#137 Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Potter!

So, this is only knitting related in that way that we were all talking about this last night at my very last knit-in.

I'm happy with my result, excpet, for a really long time I was in ENTP. I can't help feel kinda sad that I've successfully killed the poet in me to let the anal-judgemental cataloging freak take over... gah. Oh well. I could be Kim!


Harry Potter Personality Quiz by Pirate Monkeys Inc.

Off Pops Jack!

I tried to teach a group of 8 year olds how to knit at a birthday party on Saturday. I don't know how successful I was but it was a lot of fun AND managed by shut-up my ovaries since two close friends of mine announced their impending mother-dom last week.

On the other hand, watch this space for more bonnets! Or not. One of the mothers was in on the last slew of bonnets. But damn, those things are fun to knit...

In my other knitting news, I'm almost done with the front for Chocolate Decadance. I've done the neckline and have picked up and knit a few rows of the top hem. I think I'll have to sew the hems before I start the back though, or at least the top one, as I don't know what to do with the stitches and I want to sew them live, not bound off, and I don't think I have enough stitch holders...

Tonight's my last A2 Knit In! :( So you should all come, because on Sunday? I'm outta here.

Beth-- I understand what you mean about swatching. A sleeve can also be a really good swatch. Just not when you're the designer, because you have no place to start.

Also... I completed my class on Creating Web Pages. It was a good class. I fully and highly recomend it for anyone who wants to learn some HTML. Anyway, I want to put my skills to use, so I've been thinking of adding to this site some lessons on how to do cool things, like a German Twisted Cast-On and cables, etc etc. Are there any things you want to learn? Let me know!!!

And here's a little knitting rhyme...

Into the hole
Around the back
Through the loop
AND OFF POPS JACK!

Commento Respondo

So........................

I thought I'd respond to some comments, because I've been meaning to and keep forgeting and then am too lazy to go back and do it.

Plus, I've hit that mid-afternoon slump at work, so yeah. Watch me goof off.

Anyway...

Ellie-- I understand that your post office knows who you are, but say there was a box that was addressed to an unknown person at your address and they new it wasn't the person next door to you. Would they automatically send it back? Or would they at least attempt to deliver it first?

Beth-- (do you blog Beth?) About making the gament the gauge swatch. I do do this with things that don't have to fit. But I had to do several swatches for the Chocolate Decadence sweater to see at what gauge I liked the fabric drape. So I could see how silk knits up (as I don't get the change to knit with a lot of 100% silk) but also, as this is my own design, I needed to get some semblence of how many stitches per inch I was getting so I even knew where to start with how many stitches to cast on. I'm also being overly anal with this sweater as the yarn was a very special yarn splurge, and this sweater WILL be perfect, in order to justify the yarn and the decay on my bank account.

And thanks to everyone on the job congratulations!

ALSO Knit In is tonight! At the Sweetwaters on the corner of Washington and Ashley. Lots of fun! (And I get to have a slumber part with Emily tonight. Very exciting)

Sirius Black is my Whore-Crux

Blah blah...

What a week, at least knitting wise.

On Saturday, I discovered that, as per usual, my gauge changed when going from swatch to garment... blargh. I think I really just need to start knitting bigger swatches. Yarn Store Boss Lady told me that all the designers are now doing 8x8 instead of the old standard of 4x4. I think I need to do 12x12. Grrrrr. Swatching=oh so useful=oh so sucky.

So, I had to rip out that Chocolate Decadence sweater. Rippity rip rip.

But I was at the yarn store, so I found a new and exciting way to rippity rip rip. And this worked because I was at the end of the ball... I just slid out the needle, put the yarn end on the ball winder, and wound my sweater into ball. Lovely.

And! I've now actually knit up to exactly the point where I ripped on Saturday, this time with 10 more stitches on the needle.

My gauge only changed by 1/2 st/inch. But, oh! The difference it made.

In other news, Saturday was the yarn store sale. I think I did very well, considering. I only walked away with things that were 50% off. Which means I now have a lot of Calmer. Dan's freaking out that we don't have enough space at our new place for all my yarn, so I best get to knitting it up!

Spoke Too Soon

You know how I was freaking out about the not-job having in DC.

Yep.

Spoke to soon.

Me=employed.

In a public library, which I haven't worked in before. I'm excited.

Swank.

Oooo! Picture! and a funny? story

See me in my new hat? Sexy, no?

Also, you can see the beginnings of Chocolate Decadance, there in my hands!

Thanks to Kim for the photo, who took it for me at Knit-In. Yay!

I'm thinking of dying my hair a darker shade of brown.

Me=in need of a job. I'm starting to freak out. Just a little bit.

But here's a funny (?) story for you.

So, I'm housesitting in a real live house. Not an apartment. HOUSE.

I decide the order myself a birthday present on Amazon. I send it to me at the house.

Me, being the person I am, track my pacakge compulsively, because, man, I couldn't wait to hear the Acoustic Brazil CD. So, imagine my suprise when the tracking this says they tried to deliver it but no one was home and so they left a mesage... now, of course no one was home. They tried to deliver it at 3.21, and me? with the day job having? was at work.

Anywho... the surprising bit was that there was no message left at all. And besides? When did the post office stop just leaving boxes between the screen and storm doors? Because, me temporarily living in a real house? TOTALLY WOULD HAVE FIT.

So, I go down to the post office, to get my box. I'm slightly worried as my ID shows I have no claim to packages sent to that address, but I have the print out saying that the post office has my package. I have the print out from Amazon saying that I told them to mail the package to the new address, but that my credit card is still billed to the old address. The old address, being, of course, the one on my ID.

But of course, to do this means I have to leave work early, because the post office closes at 5. So I get there and the lady can't find my package. She says its because my name wasn't on the mailbox is why I didn't get the notice.

Excuse me?? IT'S A HOUSE. No one's name is on the mailbox. NO ONE'S. The only thing on the mailbox is... nothing! It's a mailbox! WTF?

So I get to hang out and talk to her manager who tells me that they probably send the package back because I "didn't tell anyone" I was living there. Since when does the POST OFFICE care?! I'm there for like, 2 weeks. And that I should put my name on the mailbox.

I once again stated the fact that NO ONE'S NAME IS ON THE STUPID MAILBOX BECAUSE IT'S A HOUSE not an apartment building with a row of metal boxes!!!! And that I was only there on an extrememly temporary basis. She then said that everything then should be sent c/o guy whose house it is.

Gah. But she found my box in the "to be sent back pile"

Am I completely off base that this is totally whack? I mean, what if I had a kid with a different last name? Do I need to notify the post office of such things or will all presents be returned to Grandma?

Does this make sense to anyone else? Is your name on your mailbox?

-5^2

Yesterday was my birthday.

New resolutions abounded. My new years resolutions are all very practical.

1. Read 52 books
2. Make 20 non-fiction
3. Lose 20 lbs
4. Start retirement saving
5. Be nicer.

My birthday resolutions are more, um, whimsical?

1. (Blatently stolen from Keely) If I'm going to look like I live in a catalog, at least make it Anthropologie, and not the one I actually look like.
2. Write in my journal every day.
3. Think about religion some more.
4. Publish more designs on the website.
5. Be better at sewing, because I can't afford clothes from Anthropologie.
6. Redesign the website.

To facilitate this, I bought a new hat and a new journal.

I love the new hat. (But of course, it looks much better on me than the model. Trust me.)

In the land of knitting, I finished the waist decreases on the Chocolate Decadance sweater...

And in other random blathering about myself...

This is what I am currently

Reading

Listening to

Lusting after



Also, KARYS yarn sale! This weekend! Yarn fun!

Progress!

So, I apologize for lack of photos, but I don't really have internets at home and my work computer doesn't have the software to download pictures off my camera.

Ohhh... maybe I should bring all that to knitting tonight. I bet Sweetwaters has interweb access!

Anyway, guess how productive I was last night?

Only in the knitting front, the gerbils still need their cage cleaned but!

Colinette vest=almost done. All the knitting's done, now it's just weaving in all those #@%$%&%#@ ends and knitting the button band and arm bands.

I'm suprised by 2 things:
1. How quickly this actually knit up when it wasn't on time out for being the wrong gauge and therefore way too big
2. How much yarn I have left despite the fact this is 8" bigger than the biggest size listed.

The Chocolate Decadence Sweater:

1. Redid some maths
2. Bought new needle
3. Knit the hem piece. Am now ready to switch to larger needle for body fun!

Actual Knitting Content!

So... for those who don't know, I am currently between houses.

We have moved out of our Ann Arbor apartment and into the one in Silver Spring, except that I'm still in A2 for a few weeks, living with a friend (who is currently in Europe) out of a suitcase.

So, I brought limited yarn, but I thought I'd fill you in:

1. Dishcloth yarn. Have one on the needles, but ready to do some bigger projects again.

2. Dan's socks. Broke the damn tip off the needle! Also, really small needles and my hands are jiving right now. Also, store out of that size.

3. Chocolate Decadance sweater: swatched, and mathed-out for the pattern, but need a smaller needle to cast on and do the bottom with. Will purchase tonight.

4. Colinette Vest: has been taken off of time-out! And is now being worked on. Did almost the entire back after the arm-hole split last night. Hope to finish this up this weekend. I'm afraid I'll run out of Isis as I've wasted a bit and want to do all the trim in it, but I think I'll just break down and buy another skein.

An Open Letter

Dear Art Fair,

Or as snotty Ann Arborites insist we call it, Art Fairs, because god forbid they merge into one and only shut down one large portion of town instead of lots of little bits of it.

Anyway,

Dear Art Fairs,

I hate you.

Most of your stuff is crap and I can't believe you make a living selling something like that.

I hate the fact you double my commute time.

I hate the fact you take all my parking at work.

I hate the fact that you bring in lots of people from out of town who don't realize that 4 way stops and 1 way streets work the same way in Ann Arbor as they do in your stupid city.

I hate the fact that I can't do anything whe you're here.

I hate the fact that for an entire week, I have to plan my life around you.

It's not Art, and it's not Fair.

Dear Art Fair,

Please die.

Thank you,
Jennie

OIY. And I couldn't go to knitting on Tuesday because I drove around for 15 minutes trying to find a parking spot for under $10. I normally don't pay for parking on knitting nights. Or, if I do, it costs me aorund $3. And I could have parked further away and walked a bit, normally not an issue but I couldn't get to further away because of all the hordes of idiots that had taken over downtown and Art Fair hadn't even started yet. Grrrrr. So I went home in a huff.

I did do some group knitting last night with people from the shop.

I snapped off the point of my Brittany size 1.

Grrrrrr.

ARGH!

See, this is not really a post.

This is a post of excuses on why I'm not posting.

This is what has happened since my last post:

1. Flew to DC in back in a day for a job interview that was for a different job than the one I thought I was interviewing for. This happens when you apply for multiple jobs with the same people.
2. Lots of work.
3. HARRY POTTER.
4. Massive power outages
5. My dad coming to help me pack
6. Dan coming home to finish packing
7. The movers coming to take all my stuff to DC
8. Dan going to the airport, changing flights, coming home from the airport and going back the next day.
9. Moving into my friend's house while he's in Europe
10. Figuring out where all the light switches are. And the garbage can. And the pizza cutter. And the corkscrew.
11. HARRY POTTER

See, I barely have time for knitting, let along blogging about it!

Plus, I have rhumatoid arthritis and in the past few years, it's gotten steadily worse in my hands. Knitting, I think, helps my joints. The thing with arthritis is that if you don't use your joints, you'll lose them, so I try to get all my joints going. It's a delicate balance to know when to stop though, because your joints will never be able to do everything that other people's can and if push them too far, you'll cause damage. But all that wrapping of dishes this weekend and taping boxes and packing and blah over exerted my hands, so I really haven't been knitting because it just plain really hurts. I think my hands will be back up to par in a few days, but until then...

Did I mention Harry Potter?

That BOOM is my head exploding

OK!

My London cohort has been accounted for an are alive and well and some are even coming to visit in September. Hot diggidy damn.

This weekend was a mad family reunion and only the back of my neck got sunburned... hmmmm

Lots and lots of packing.

Enjoying the few days Dan was here.

Lots and lots of packing.

Not so much knitting.

I did, however, work on a dishcloth yesterday while at the opthamalogist. Another patient was knitting, too! I can also knit while my eyes are fully dialated. This impressed the doctor.

The next week is going to be lots and lots of packing and craziness and interviews (!!!) so, the blog might be a bit sporadic. I aplogize in advance.

And as to Beth's comments on my last post...

I agree that the government's "run for your life" attitude is because of the public's "run for your life" attitude but I believe that the government should take a role in shaping the public opinion. I think it serves them politically to have us living in fear. The problem is that living in fear only hurts us. We have to live prepared. Not prepared to run for our lives, but prepared to stay calm and evacuate in an orderly fashion.

There are a few other factors in the British reaction to the bombings. One is the sterotypical stiff upper lip that England, most notably London, is known for. You go on with your life and don't really let emotion show through that much excpet to the ones you're closest to. The other one, and this (in my humble opinion) played a HUGE role in the success of evacuation and the search and rescue operations last Thursday is that London is prepared to deal with mass transit disasters. There have been some awful accidents on the tube before and the more I reflect on what happened, the more I realize that if, god forbid, I should ever be involved in a subway disaster, I would hope it would be in London. I haven't taken the tube that many times, but even I know what to do in case of an emergency. That, and London just has more terrorist experience. This is a different brand of terrorism than the IRA or the devastation of the Blitz, true, but they just have more experience.

How long, how long must we sing this song?

This morning has been a flurry of communication between my friends across the country, reporting on our friends across the sea.

Friends that are luckily lazy and overslept and missed trains they should have been on.

Friends that got to work early and watched buses explode from their offices down the street.

Friends who have very long walks home tonight.

And the friends we're still waiting for word on.

What can you do?

But on NPR this morning, I heard an official say:

Well, we always knew it was a matter of when, not if. The terrorists only have to get lucky once, you know, and we have to be lucky all the time. The British public understands this.

Which an American official would never tell us. Never be so frank as to say that all we can do is be prepared to deal with fallout. Have a plan for when it happens to reduce casualties. A better plan than screaming "run for your lives" when a plane violates the no-fly zone over the capitol.

Oh London. London. London. London.

Secret Knitting

So my friend Kate came over tonight and fixed my bike! And all I had to do was let her raid my patten library so she can knit her boy a sweater.

Not only is my friend Kate awesome at fixing bikes, but she's wicked smart in other ways. Like the Econ way. She used to work for the Fed, but now she's a PhD student here in A2. Her boy? Also wicked smart. As in he's a theoretical physisict. So, obviously, he's also CRAZY. Ha ha ha. Just kidding. He does have a really long beard though.

Also, Kate and I learned how to knit in the same class, making her my oldest knit-buddy.






Also, my most awesomest secret pal sent me a PACKAGE!







That package has 3 skeins of yarn (2 Peace Fleece!) some buttons, a cool cross stitch kit that's a postage stamp, a change of address kit AND the latest issue of InKnitters, which isn't in the photo, because it was on the coffee table, because I was reading it. She sent it because it has an article on beaded knitting, which is convienent, because remember my secret knitting? Remember that Japanese book I'm lusting after that you can buy me here?







Well, check it out!













Weird things about this. I would swear those are my sister's hands, except, she's not in this STATE (but will be tomorrow! YAY!) But I don't think I've ever really thought about her hands, but when I saw these pictures, I just thought, those aren't my hands! They're Abbey's!

Also, I was making a coy-looking-off-into-the-distance face when Kate took these, even though I new my face wouldn't be in them!!!


Also, I've been knitting more discloths for Project Scrubbie: