"You Big Dummy!"

So last summer, there was a series of cell phone commercials that started with, "'Beep'! So-and-so's phone calling. We're here in no-bar land, so So-and-so didn't get your message that..." and they'd go into stuations where so-and-so might have wanted to get that call. In one case it was to tell the friend the home alarm security code, another was that you're supposed to thaw the turkey before putting it in the deep fat fryer, and another was to tell the news crew that the blasting site for a building demolition changed to... um, where the news crew was at that time. But the one that is appropriate here is the one where a young girl has Michael Phelps posters all over her walls, and her 'beep!' message is that because she couldn't get the call, she didn't know that Michael Phelps was in town, schmoozing with the locals. No, this isn't a drool-over-Michael post.) At the end of the commercial, the 'beep!' talker is screaming at the girl, and the last thing she says is, "You big dummy!"




That's me. Big dummy. I had my camera available to take pictures of my aunt's Red Spice sweater. I took pictures of the sweater. Close ups, mostly, of the old sweater, the one that doesn't fit her. I forgot to take pictures of the new, in-progress sweater so I could post on Ravelry. It's good that I took the pictures of the old one, because at some point, I'm going to need to remember how I assembled it... and since I have to unravel the old one to knit the new one, my point of reference will be gone. But it would have been nice to take a picture of my progress so far, while I had everything laid out on the table in the sunlight streaming in through the window.
Ah, ya big dummy.



I adore my Silkie Monkeys. I get all warm and squishy just thinking about them; you can imagine what happens to me when I actually put them on my feet. So, since I finished my Checker-Bordhis and my Monkeys, I get to cast on another pair of socks! Only I didn't. In a marvelous (and completely unprecedented) show of restraint (or stupidity) (or dumminess), I didn't. Instead, I went to my hibernation pile (thank you, Chickenknittle) and pulled out the toes of my Pigeonroof Studios socks. I like this yarn. It is wonderfully soft and the colors are gorgeous - totally unlike any other color and type of yarn I've been attracted to in the past. When I tried to knit with it, though, I couldn't find a pattern that would show off the yarn to its best advantage. I must have tried 4 different patterns, and ripped them all back to the toes after 6 or 7 rounds.


Last weekend, though, I thought I'd give it one more chance, and started working on a pattern that's very reminiscent of Janice Kang's Early Spring pattern. It's not perfect - I think it shows the colors better than the pattern - but it's kind of growing on me. I just finished the second repeat, and think it might work.


And that, dear friends, are the only two - yes, two - active projects I have right now. I'm trying to be sort of faithful to my knitting. Actually, I'm trying to actually get some finished objects off my needles, and realized that if I stopped flitting from one to the other, completion might actually be possible. Imagine that! So one pair of socks, one sweater. My aunt is starting her chemo treatments on Monday, though, so I reserve the right to interleave a chemo cap or two in there should she start to lose her hair (she's been told this variety of chemo doesn't necessarily induce complete hair loss; YMMV).


Off to feed my sweetie and prep for the Invasion of the Knitters tonight - lentil soup on the menu!

Well, Where the Hell Have You Been??

Oh. I guess maybe it's me who's been MIA, huh? No reason. Enjoying not having deadlines for RP. Enjoying knitting. Enjoying not having to set an alarm.

Well, all that's over with now. RP's back at work, which means I've got design team meetings to attend and documents to update. Which, after close to 5 weeks of not having much of anything due on a tight schedule, is not pleasant. I really should have been born to aristocracy - alarm clocks are for the little people...

We plan to watch the inauguration ceremony and associated pomp and circumstance. I'm pretty certain I'll cry. I've already gotten a little choked up when I read that Obama is going to be sworn in using the same bible that Abraham Lincoln used. Think about it. That's pretty seriously cool.

Knitting, knitting... Trying to be monogomous to one (maybe two) (okay, maybe three or four) thing at a time. So far, that's gotten my Checker-Bordhi socks completed, and I'm making great progress on the Silkie Monkeys. Soon as I'm done with those, I'll tackle Aunt's Red Spice sweater in earnest. And I did decide that Tuesday nights will be "knit your fucking swatches!" nights. 

On the writing front, Monday nights will be "finish your fucking novel!" nights, so those of you waiting on pins and needles to hear how Betha gets out of her latest adventure may not have to wait until 2019.

That's it. Tomorrow, history will be made. I'm pretty jazzed.

2009? Already?

A new year, a new set of resolutions to work on for a week until they become one with all the other resolutions gone by the wayside.

But first - what about last year? What happened to the Year of Finishing Dangerously? Well, I wish I could say I ran through all my stash and now have nothing left... but that would be such a lie. There were some stash enhancement opportunities in 2008.

In my defense, I will say that many other people helped me out by gifting me with lovely, lovely yarns... In particular, Erin at Bobbin's Nest absolutely spoiled me with random packages of gorgeous yarns - Hazelknits, Chasing Rainbows, Mini-maiden. And my Wednesday and Thursday knit gangs, who not only gift me with their knowledge, but also Jitterbug, Claudia's, and Araucania, among other things.

Further in my defense, others gave me gifts of checks or gift cards. In particular, my MIL's birthday gift came the day before Teri's 50%-off sale at Madonna Needleworks (RIP) and I felt compelled to help Teri sell out her yarns. Oh, yeah, and there was the bonus from Regina, part of which went to help Erin lighten *her* yarn load at the before-inventory 35%-off sale this past Monday. And at Michael's 70%-off end-of-year clearance sale. And at JoAnn's Big New Year's Sale (plus 10% off your entire purchase including sale items).

Okay, fine. I fell down. Once. Okay, maybe twice. But I did manage to make some headway into the 'old' stash:
- That weird Muench yarn: Using it as a border around a plain white stockinette pullover. Almost done. (Still leaves 9 balls of the damn stuff, though.)
- 2007's birthday Malabrigo: Hey, Teach! is almost done knitting. Back is done, fronts are 3/4 done, two short sleeves and seaming remain.
- Kraemer Little Lehigh Pebbles: Finally finished the Lacey Vee tank that had been in progress since 2005!
- Berrocco Ultra Alpaca: Picchu-Picchu sweater is in progress. I was using it as my "practice Continental" sweater. Unfortunately, after my thumb surgery, I'm having some 'tingling' issues with my index finger that makes it very difficult to 'pick' off that finger. Putting the sweater into hibernation until we figure out what's wrong with my finger - and hopefully fix it!
- KnitPicks Shine Worsted: Hibito is in progress! Put this on hold while I went through my Christmas knitting, but will pick up after Hey, Teach! is done.
- Crystalline Lattice socks, Lorna's Laces: Finally finished these, gifted to KB.
- Bistro Shirt, Rowan Summer Tweed: Another project that had been on the needles for a long time - done!

Yeah, there were a few other projects that I started and finished using new yarns.

For 2009, I think I'll try this knitting-from-stash thing again. Thanks to Chickenknittle's help reorganizing the yarn room, I remembered that I have wonderful, wonderful yarns to choose from right in my own house. I think I'll even put the stash up on Ravelry... maybe a print-out of everything I have will help restrain me when I'm in a yarn store. (Stop snickering!)

Happy new year, everyone!

Ancient Scroll

Well okay, maybe not 'ancient,' but they have been on the needles for a while. Scroll Lace socks, done in Hazelknits Artisan yarn (nylon & merino) in Plum Glace'. Great pattern, easier than I thought it would be. Knit toe-up (natch), and sized for a woman's big (10.5? 11?). Chickenknittle likes her socks high up her calf, so the first time I finished them, I wanted to compensate for the fact that legs get a little wider going up the leg. Oops, I over-compensated and when she wore them for a couple of hours, they got a little slouchy; can't see the lovely pattern when they're all squished down around her ankles. So I undid the 2x2 ribbing in favor of a 1x1 ribbing (oh and I may have decreased down a few ::cough:: 8 ::cough:: stitches). She tried them on today and they fit like they were made for her. Which they were. Duh. :-)

And, even though she had a wicked bad head cold, she still came over and helped me reorganize my yarn room. Everything's nice and neat, but the best part is that there are empty spaces that are crying out to be filled with MORE YARN! Just in time for the Bobbin's Nest pre-inventory sale!

Blessed (slightly belated) Solstice, Chickenknittle. Thanks for all your help today, and I hope you're feeling better.

Thankful, But Disappointing

Christmas Day was quiet and lovely. Waking up next to DH always makes it a good day. And with the current economy, I really shouldn't complain about going to a nice restaurant for Christmas dinner... but I must.

A formal letter to the restaurant will be written today or tomorrow, but it started with a shard of glass found on my bread plate, then continued to store-bought dinner rolls, having to ask (twice) for a fork, a cold prime rib, and a liquid creme brulee. Unfortunate, especially given the price they charge for 'special event' days like yesterday. The server wasn't attentive enough to notice that I wasn't eating my appetizer (no fork), wasn't eating my steak (no fork), cut my steak but had stopped eating it and pushed the plate to the side (cold), or had cracked into my creme brulee but had put that aside, too (liquid). Luckily, the food - once problems were rectified - was superb. (And I changed my main course from prime rib to something else - I didn't want to take any more chances.)

No, I'm not going to name the restaurant. This was highly unusual for them, and I do mean *highly* unusual. We normally get excellent service there, even on other special event days. So, while we're chalking this up to an aberation, it still demands that they get a letter.

So, despite the clunk of a dinner, it was a wonderful day. We're together, we have wonderful friends and family, and have been able to keep a relatively steady income through the year.

Oh, and Santa went shopping at a yarn store, and I got some Mountain Colors wool/mohair/nylon sock yarn in a gorgeous colorway. Yum! (This was on top of my other Santas bringing me some Jitterbug, some Malabrigo sock yarn, and some Arucania Magallanes. More yum!)

Hope your holiday was happy!

Quick!

The last three days were spent at the new Clement Hotel on Monterey's Cannery Row. It was one of the nicest vacations I think we've had in a long time, which is really weird since it's only about an hour from home. But there was no writing work to be done, no housework to be done, no alarms to set, no cooking to worry about... absolutely nothing to do except walk up and down Cannery Row, wander around the Monterey wharf, watch the people ice skating on the postage-stamp-sized ice rink they put at Custom House Plaza, go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, wander over to Pacific Grove (and visit Monarch Knits), have room service bring us food, and sit, and take naps, and read, and relax.

Three nights away, back home in time to have Chinese food for Christmas Eve dinner, then wake up together in our own bed for Christmas Day. Nice.

Right now, though, DH has stepped out to do Christmas shopping (he will *always* show his guy genes on 12/24), and since we've been away during the time I thought I would wrap presents... I gotta do it now! Before he comes home! Hurry! Quick!

(Oh, lots of progress was made during the Monterey foray: Did 3 more inches on "Hey, Teach," cast on Silkie (in 'Moody Blues') for Monkeys (and got through 1.5 pattern repeats, just in time to start some Cat Bordhi Upstream increases), cast on Paton's sock yarn in 'Denim Jaquard' for socks in a basket-weavy pattern (almost time to start the arch expansion for those, too), finished fixing half of one of ChickenKnittle's Scroll Lace socks that were a little too loose around the ribbing, finished one of FIL's slippers and started the second one. Like I said, lots of progress.)

It's A Big 'un!

Yep... The big 6 - 0... No, not me, wise guys! DH turns 60 today. All he wanted for his birthday was to have dinner with his 'nieces.' That's inside-joke-speak for me and KB. On recommendation of KB, we're going to R_______ J____ R______ in Los Gatos. (It's a surprise... I don't want anyone to leak where we're going!) Lots of good reviews, so it should be quite delightful.

And, in honor of his turning 60, on Friday he gets to have his first colonoscopy! Oh joy! Oh rapture!