Asparagus & Mayonnaise

Hold on please!

2012-01-06T20:18:00.002-06:00

Sorry! Things are amiss. I'm working on it. Please be patient!

She's done it again, but she has to stop (temporarily)!

2011-07-09T11:57:00.001-06:00

The fabulous Gator and I are moving into a condo across town on July 22 and we have nothing yet packed. And I mean nothing. In fact, the house is in such disarray that the mere notion of straightening and cleaning before I can pack it makes my shudder uncontrollably. What have I been doing that the house has fallen down around me? Well, as you can see, I've been designing a little bit for the last month or so. But now that's coming to a temporary stopping point because... you guessed it:

Pattern available in the sidebar!

Yes, this is it, the bag that started it all! And it's finally done, done, done! I love this bag with such wild abandon that I get giddy at the mere thought of leaving the house with it slung across my shoulder. This may be because I am a bona fide dork. But the bag is pretty awesome. :)

The construction of the Messenger Tote is a little more involved than the Backpack, but I hope the pattern directions are clear. I certainly spent a long time editing in an effort to make everything as clear as possible. My next project is to put together a photo tutorial of the general Spring Petals creation process. All that front-loop-only, free-back-loops rigamarole. I've had some really great questions from crocheters who are trying out the Backpack and the Dragon Egg that are going to be incredibly useful when putting together the tutorial. But, unfortunately, the tutorial will have to wait for a few weeks. Oh yes, all that packing and moving and unpacking. Yeah, that.

The funny thing is that we've lived in this condo before, when we lived with Gator's folks while we both went back to school at the same time (awesome idea, btw, everyone should try it! Um, yeah...). They've since bought another house and moved in, so we're going back and will have the condo all to ourselves. It's going to work out great all around, but moving is never, ever fun.

Darn it, now that I've written this post there's really nothing for me to do but start. I think I'll start in the yarn storage room, which is a complete disaster again... Hee!
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The Dragon Egg

2011-06-26T17:44:00.001-06:00

I'm just going to town making things with this stitch -- and I'm not done yet! The latest iteration is a smaller version of the Spring Petals Backpack with a simple drawstring closure that not only can be made as a cute little wristlet (and totally girly-ed up in the right colorway) but can be geeked out into a way cool dice bag!

The dice bag was really the inspiration for this one. Gator and I have been big fans of A Game of Thrones (and the whole A Song of Ice and Fire series) since they first came out. Since Gator called the Spring Petals Backpack the "Easter Egg", and since the petals resemble dragon scales, and since dragon eggs figure prominently in A Game of Thrones, and since Gator is a big ol' gamer from way back... Well, you see how we got here. Dragon Egg dice bag it is!

The pattern is available in the Patterns! section, as always. I hope you enjoy it!
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Spring Petals Backpack (aka The Little Sister Bag)

2011-06-10T21:52:00.001-06:00

Finally!

If you don't know or don't remember (or, possibly, don't care), I started designing a crocheted bag many moons ago. When I couldn't decide what kind of handle to put on it, I allowed myself to be distracted by many smaller projects and by designing a similar, yet different, bag altogether. The original bag is still not complete but the one I've been calling the Little Sister bag is finished, written up, photographed, renamed, PDF'd and uploaded for your crafting enjoyment. :D

It's now known as the Spring Petals Backpack and has a permanent home in the Patterns! section. I think it's happy and cheerful and ready to make your summer even sunnier!

Oh, and it has a Ravelry button!
Please note: This pattern is offered as a Beta version – it has not been test-crocheted. I have done my best to be clear and accurate, but you know how it is. Please let me know if you find any problems with this pattern!

Enjoy!
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Lest you think that last post was some sort of April Fool's...

2011-05-16T21:28:00.001-06:00

No, I'm not dead. Again.

I just can't seem to keep up the momentum of the regular blogger. I don't know why. Heck, I can't even seem to keep up the momentum of the regular blog reader. So many of you have such lovely blogs, and they are accumulating nicely in my feed reader, and I will get to them, I will, but man, lately I have just not been into the blogosphere. No explanation; just not feeling it. It's not you; it's me.

But now I poke out my wee noggin to let you know that I am alive and well and relatively busy. Also, I figured I'd update you on my progress on my New Year's resolutions. In a word -- FAIL. Well, except for the golf cart thing. WIN in that category. So, hey, it's not all bad. :)

But, rather unsurprisingly I suppose, I'm not any stronger. In any respect. I have a detailed plan for getting stronger. It's sitting on the table next to the television. Where it's been since January. I still have seven months, right? Hope springs eternal around here.

You know, I really thought the one thing I would be able to do with no problem would be crafting completely selfishly. I mean, if you know me, then you know selfishness is one of my biggest foibles. Well, enter foible number two: Love of praise. Giving beautiful, handmade things away makes people say nice things about you. Apparently I want that more than I want the stuff. Egads, I'm a selfish, needy egomaniac -- but at least I'm a self-aware selfish, needy egomaniac, right? ::facepalm::

So let's skip straight to the show-and-tell, shall we?

I made two more bunny nuggets for birthday pressies:

Then I moved on to making lace bookmarks. Gator claimed the purple one for his own.

Undercover bookmarker by Kathryn White
Size 10 crochet cotton / size US8 steel hook

This one went to Gator's grandmother for Mother's Day:

Fan Bookmark by Crochetroo
Size 10 crochet cotton / size US8 steel hook

Since then I've been making a variety to sell at the church festival this fall:

Icicle Bookmark by Priscilla Hewitt
Size 10 crochet cotton / size US8 steel hook

Fancy Filigree Bookmark by Cheri Mancini
Size 10 crochet cotton / the little hook that comes with Frost 'n Tip hair highlighting (I'm not kidding -- it's about a size US7 steel crochet hook. Handy!)

In the middle of all of that, I learned to tie prayer ropes. It's tricky, but once you get into the groove, time kind of flies right by. I used red and black acrylic microfiber yarn for the first one because I thought it would slide more and make it easier to tie the knots. I was wrong. I'm not a huge fan of that one, but Gator is. Then I made the green and blue one from wool. I was a bit surprised that it was easier to work with. I also like it better without the tassel.

They are commonly all black, but I'm not ready for that level of difficulty. Using two colors really helps keep the strands organized. I especially like that the green and blue knots look like little Earths. :)

I read and viewed several tutorials, but the one I found most helpful was this one:

Yes, the green and blue one is for me. Selfish crafting FTW!!

The giant necklace revisited

2011-04-01T18:19:00.000-06:00

Remember when I was thinking about handles for The Purse and I tried a worsted weight cotton version of OlgaJazzy's Cable Braided Necklace? I decided it wasn't the right handle for The Purse for several reasons, one of which was that I didn't really want to mix crochet and knitting on this particular project. Which got me thinking if this braided cable technique would work at all in crochet. One thing that works so well in the knitted version is that stockinette stitch naturally rolls up. Crochet doesn't do that, so I had some doubts. Finally I decided to just bite the bullet and try it out.

I think the final product has more of a rustic look than the original elegant braid, but I think it definitely has uses.

I was afraid using all single crochets would make the fabric too firm and perhaps not "braid" well, but I was also afraid that double crochets would be a little too floopy (it's a technical term) and irregular. So I went the Goldilocks route and used all half double crochet. I'm now thinking I'd like to try a swatch in single crochet after all.

Here's the other side, btw:

Here's what I did (US crochet terms):

Strip (make 2):
Chain 11.
Row 1: Hdc in third chain from hook and in each ch across (9 hdc).
Row 2: Ch 2 (does not count as first hdc), turn. Hdc in each st (9 hdc).
Rows 3-8: Repeat row 2.
Row 9: Ch2, turn. Hdc in first four st, ch 1, skip next st, hdc in last four st.
Row 10: Ch2, turn. Hdc in first four st, hdc in ch-1 space, hdc in last four st.
Row 11-13: Repeat row 2.
Repeat rows 9-13 as many times as needed for desired length*. End with row 13. Fasten off.

The assembly is just like OlgaJazzy's knitted version, but you do have to curl (or roll up) the strips before pulling them through the holes. It's a little more work to get everything to lay just right, but I think it works just fine.

*In my swatch, the strips were 17" each and the assembled braid was 15". To extrapolate that to any length your little heart desires, enter the wonderful world of ratios!! For example, if I want a 24" bag handle, I construct the following ratio:

15/17 = 24/x (or, 15 is to 17, as 24 is to ?)
Now, cross multiply (you do remember how to cross multiply, don't you?)
24*17/15 = 27.2
So I would make strips a little over 27" each to make a 24" strap.
Your mileage may vary, so always do your own swatch!

And that's all there is to it!

Except I still haven't finished The Purse. Although, I did start and have almost completed The Purse's Little Sister (all but the strap, or course! Bwahahaha! I have so many issues), which may make her appearance here first.

If I can ever stop making Bunny Nuggets, that is...
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Beauty and wonder

2011-03-25T17:03:00.000-06:00

Hi!

So, it's like this: I felt like crap for about a week, which caused me to get really behind, and I'm suddenly crazy busy, yadda, yadda, yadda. I'm imperfect. Like you care.

This, however, is perfect.

(Click to embiggen)
via XKCD

Work in progress

2011-03-06T15:59:00.001-06:00

My file host was hacked. That's what started it all. I'd been storing my graphics and pattern PDFs on FileDen (which I'm not even going to link to) and then they all just disappeared. And when I went to login and figure out what was wrong, Google kind of freaked out and wouldn't even let me open the site because, they said, bad things were afoot.

So I researched a new file hosting service. A somewhat daunting task in the morass that is the innerwebs. Many hours later, I settled on Fileave and am pleased so far. But since I was uploading all this stuff again, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to freshen up the little sidebar headers and update my pattern PDFs (they still had my geocities site URL on them). And then, since I was doing all of this, I decided that the sidebar list of free patterns should have pictures of the items right there by the link because... Well, because they just should. And then, I thought, that's going to make the sidebar really long and cluttered and I should just have another sidebar. And then I realized that the last time I had hand-coded HTML from scratch was about 2000 and I'm not 100% sure about cascading style sheets and not 20% sure about XML. Which is what this template uses.

I almost just scrapped this design for something else entirely, but I like my little ladybugs and grassy things and my retro mod girl font! So I'm going to work with it. A little (read: a lot) of trial and error and I got me a third column. Of course, now the blog is wider than the header graphic, but as the title of this post suggests -- quite blatantly, even -- the evolution shall continue. But for now, it's good enough to upload and go with for awhile.

So that's what I've been up to.

Since the title of this post is also perfect for a little show-and-tell, I'm going to whip out some photos of WIPs I haven't shown you yet. I started these during my anniversary week of vacation back in January, and they've pretty much sat in this state ever since then. They'll get picked up again, but for now they're just happily hangin' out.

First up is the Mist Stole, which I think is quite delicious in this rich plum color.

It's not going to look as super awesome as it truly is until after it's blocked. Which gets me thinking that I should totally invest in some blocking wires. Which, in turn, makes me think I should ask you all, my darling blog buddies, do you use blocking wires? Do you have opinions and preferences and anecdotes that you would share? I would be ever so grateful!

Next up is a WIP that is actually a WIP from waaaay back that I never told you about because... Well, because I kind of forgot about it. Hee! So, have you ever made a ton of granny squares because you thought you'd make this giant, elaborate all-tiny-granny-squares blanket, only then they stopped making the yarn you were using and you didn't have enough to finish, so you put all the squares in plastic bags and stuffed them in the bottom of your stash because you figured some day you'd either a) magically find more of the yarn that was no longer being produced, or b) just kinda figure something out? No? Just me then? Figures.

I've had over 150 of these little darlings crammed in the bottom of a Rubbermaid tote for about seven or eight years. My original plan was going to call for over 500 of them. I was using Red Heart Jeweltones, a kind of shimmery yarn, in a lovely jewel-y blue and a complimentary ombre. And matching that shimmer with another yarn was just not happening for me. During my last stash reorganization, I pulled them out and demanded myself to just do something with them. So I've taken the road of least resistance. I bought some Caron One Pound in light blue to make the rest of the squares and I'm joining them all with some Caron white using the flat braid join, which I'd totally forgotten that I lurve. Here it is so far:

What you can't tell from the picture is that it's going to be big. Yeah, baby. This is no little throw. This is a man-sized blanket. In charming pastels. Hehe. And it's all mine, kids. Do you know that the last time I made an afghan to keep was before 1999? I think it's time. Of course, it may be 2012 before it's done, but that's something else entirely.

Now I'm off to design... crab salad!

Huh? Oh my, she's cooking. From her imagination. Somebody help us all!
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Experiments with a giant necklace

2011-02-28T22:01:00.000-06:00

The crud seems to have creeped away for the most part -- thank you for all your kind words and well-wishes! We're feeling much better around here today!

I still didn't feel like picking up any of my WIPs, though, because Bertram the British Bunny nugget kind of got me excited about small, inconsequential projects to break up the large projects that require a lot of thought.

But the large projects that require a lot of thought keep creeping into my brain, so I tried to just take a small detour. The purse I'm working on is turning into more of a tote, and I'm soon going to have to figure out what type of handles will work best. I've had several ideas that I like in general, but they tend to have annoying problems that I can't figure out how to solve. So the thoughts continue to percolate.

In what I thought was unrelated news, I've lately become slightly obsessed with Olgajazzy's Cable Braided Necklace.

photo from Olgajazzy
I have a completely unrelated project idea related to this super awesome faux braid technique, but I started to wonder what it would be like if made from worsted weight cotton. Maybe this would be a good design for some bag handles at some point!

So I tried it out this evening. I made two strips of different colors. I made the strips only six holes long -- this is just a swatch. My immediate thought was that it might be cool looking, but would probably still be too small for a comfortable bag handle, even in the heavier yarn.

As I started the really fun process of pulling the strips through one another (Olgajazzy has great pics of the process in her blog post; I shan't duplicate) it quickly became apparent that I will totally be using this technique for bag handles at some point. First of all, this just looks awesome:

Bear in mind that this was a quickly-done swatch -- the pull-throughs aren't very even, but that can easily be addressed. Isn't it cool? I love the way it looks in complementary colors. And here's the best part:

Great size for bag handles! And it's all rounded and cushy -- it feels good in my hand. Yet with nice, flat ends that are easy to sew onto another surface! Necklace, schmecklace -- I've found the true calling of this fabulous technique! I'm not convinced it's the best handle for The Purse, but this will show up sooner than later, I promise!

Now I might be ready to dive back into the big projects! Geronimo!
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Just don't dip them in hot mustard sauce!

2011-02-27T16:03:00.000-06:00

What do you do when you're hunkered down at home, feeling poorly and can't focus on any one thing for very long? Make a bunny nugget!

I was zoning out this morning, reading some of my blog feeds, and I came upon a post by KPiep about having a knitting dream. The dream culminated in a burning desire to make bunny nuggets. Huh? Bunny nuggets? So I followed the link to Ravelry and lo and behold bunny nuggets are just about the cutest little things ever. And I will say, once again, that cute can only be good. KPiep mentioned that her husband desperately wanted one for his desk at work, so I decided to ask Gator if he was at all interested in having a bunny nugget of his own. Oh my.

I don't know what it is, but apparently men freaking love bunny nuggets (p < 0.05, n=2).

So Gator picks his yarn and he gets his nugget. And I do agree that it's pretty cute-as-can-be. In a manly way, of course.

I particularly like how is tail is almost as big as the rest of him. Hehe.

Bunny Nuggets by Rebecca Danger
Red Heart Super Save Flecks and size US6 dpns

Now it may be nap time again. What have y'all been doing this weekend?
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Best laid plans, or The creeping crud

2011-02-26T08:12:00.000-06:00

I had plans this weekend, kids.

Not Disneyworld or anything, but plans. Go here, do this, accomplish that.

Then Gator got sick.

Not health scare sick, just a stop-you-in-your-tracks head/chest cold of general misery.

And now I'm getting it. Argh. Grrr.

I guess this calls for tea, soup, and OTC cold drugs. Lots of those.

And Lego Harry Potter. ;)

Gadgets and widgets and things, oh my!

2011-02-20T19:05:00.000-06:00

A little while ago, Sandy asked about the little progress bars I have in the sidebar. It's quite a nifty little blog widget that I found via Cogknition a few years ago and I must say that I really enjoy it. If the bar represents a pattern found on Ravelry, I add the project button underneath for added flair. There are two different progress bar scripts available on the Ravelry Goodies page, one of which includes a photo of the item in progress. Plus they have a few other goodies that you can grab for your blog (including how to grab those project buttons).

Coincidentally, I've been looking at other blog widgets and add-ons recently because I've been thinking of re-vamping the ol' blog. While I am still really happy with the cheery ladybug theme, I've come to think that a three column blog would really suit me better. I may just adjust this layout for three columns, or it may be time to venture into a different look altogether. I'm not sure; the idea is still percolating in me wee noggin. If I do make any changes, I'll let you know -- I know from experience that if you follow in a feedreader I could strip this puppy down to nothin' and you'd never know. :)

But since I am turning some ideas over, I've been trolling the innerwebs for some additional widget-y goodness. And since I'm on Blogger, some things have to be "Bloggerized" -- a process I leave to the "experts" (read: anyone who has any idea why things on Blogger must be just so, because I really haven't a clue -- I learned HTML in 1997 and my skills are stuck back there). I like mintBlogger's list of add-ons because it is pretty boring and sane. I'm really not looking for a bunch of random stuff that, in my mind, is the equivalent of making words flash and play music unbidden just because you can. And there's a lot of that out there. Never mind that I have cute yet useless things like a Yahoo Avatar and a little Fish Pond (have you fed them???) in my own sidebar as we speak. But I do like the idea of having a button that would translate my whole page into another language. I think that would be pretty cool. And I'm interested in doing something useful in the comments realm, but I'm not sure what yet. And maybe some other stuff.

But for now, I'm just dreaming and going back to working on The Purse. So I'll ask the rest of you: What are your favorite knitty/crafty or bloggy widgets?
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Makes you stronger

2011-02-19T14:20:00.000-06:00

Hmmm. Designing is hard.

Not like OMG, I can't do this; it's waaaay too difficult, but it is very time consuming and there's a lot of trial and error and ripping out and starting over. And thinking you've finally got all the kinks worked out and then there's just this one thing that doesn't really become apparent until you're well into the project but it just will not do and so you have to rip it all out and start over again. That kind of hard.

And that's why designers of free crocheted purse patterns get paid the big bucks.

I'm hiLARious.

Actually, I kind of wish that I had documented that process so far so that I could show the pitfalls and all the thought and work that goes into one little purse. But, of course, in the heat of the moment things just got ripped and wound as fast as possible in order to get back to the creating. The camera was never thought of. (She says as if this process is all over now and everything is just going to fly right along. Truth is, there may be lots more opportunities!)

I do want to talk more about the specifics of the process, but I think I'll save that for when I can show you what I'm talking about. And until the prototype is finished, I'm being all very mysterious and secretive. 'Cause that's not annoying. Hee!

I will tell you that it's crocheted, it's a purse, it utilizes a novel stitch, and it's very colorful and cheery. And I can't wait to have it finished so I can show you!!

In the meantime, I do get to show you something else that's colorful and cheery -- the Patchwork Sampler afghan that I made for my dear friends Jane and Pat who got married last year. All those blocks went together fabulously and a little red border really brought it all together and I love, love, love it. So do they!

I love that it's nice and big -- I've been going through this serious phase where I'm annoyed that none of my own afghans are big enough. The one I'm making for us right now is going to be big enough that I will never have to chose between warm feet and warm neck again! But I digress! This is about Jane and Pat's afghan! That, once again, I have no really good photos of because of a serious case of Winter! So all the photos were taken indoors and the red looks weird and the stitches are kind of washed out.

In real life it is Pretty! and BIG and cushy and waaaarm. All in all, a resounding success. And it is being well loved in Seattle. I cannot ask for more.

In closing, if there's one thing that is keeping me from getting the new purse design done as quickly as I would like, it is the wonderful Valentine's present that my sweet darling husband gave to me on Monday and is slowly taking over my life:

Yeah.

The hilarious thing is that I've not read any of the books nor have I seen any of the movies. So I only know about this franchise what one soaks up as part of pop culture. Granted, it's a Lego video game and it works pretty much exactly like Lego Batman, Lego Indiana Jones, and my favorite and the one that started my obsession with these games: Lego Star Wars. In fact, Gator realized that, in his mind, he'd been calling my new game "Lego Star Wars Harry Potter". Hee! I am having a blast with this one.

Now, I'm going to finish this purse and hope it doesn't kill me.
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Non-knitting blogs (and I don't mean this one...)

2011-02-15T11:46:00.002-06:00

I’ve intended to blog about four times in the last week, but here’s the absolute truth: Given the choice between blogging and making something to blog about, I choose the making part every time. Which I suppose is a good thing. If you think this blog is boring when it’s just Show and Tell, imagine how boring it would be if there wasn’t even that. Yeah, I thought so.

So I’ve been working hard, but I don’t have anything to show for it at the moment. I spent several weeks cranking out beautiful things I’ve wanted to make for awhile (and there are more of those, never fear!), but it’s made my brain start blossoming with all sorts of ideas. So I’m doing some designing. I said last year that I wanted to design two snowflakes and maybe something larger. Well, I designed one snowflake and that’s it. Still, one snowflake is better than no snowflakes, and I feel that it was my best design yet (even though it wasn’t really creative in that it was copying nature). But I’ve been lurking (and not lurking!) about on a new crop of blogs I’ve found, and I’m full of new inspiration. Most of the design process so far involves swatching. Lots and lots of swatching. New stitches, how they like to lay, how they work with different yarns and hooks, increases, decreases, the whole shebang. Not glamorous, and not ready for prime time. But I think the results will be worth something.

In the meantime, Ten on Tuesday is accomplishing its task as a blog fodder generator. I actually like the topic this week although I had trouble locating ten non-knitting blogs that I regularly read and enjoy and are possibly new to you. Yes, I read LOLCats but I didn’t think that was really list worthy. Silly is fine, but I tried for at least not silly and ubiquitous.

So here, in alphabetical order (I really hate ranking things), are my ten favorite non-knitting (or any crafting, for that matter) blogs:

BibliOdyssey: This blog contains the most beautiful collections of art and curiosities. Primarily it showcases recently digitized collections of illustrations, etc. from libraries and museums around the world. When this one comes up in my feeds, I’m always very excited!
BoingBoing: An overwhelming amount of pop culture, politics (primarily net-related), and geekdom. So many posts a day that there’s no way I can keep up with it, but when I do have time to sit and scroll through, I always find something I want to know more about. Also, more than once I’ve known the answer to the Bluff the Listener challenge on Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me! because of reading this blog.
Club Jade: Home of the Star Wars fangirls I used to run with. Snarky, geeky, genre-specific fun.
Criggo: Their motto is, “Newspapers are going away. That’s too bad.” This is a site in the grand internet tradition of holding the world up to a scrutiny that we, ourselves, could never, ever pass, and then making merciless fun of it. In this case, newspaper copy editors, classifieds buyers, police blotters, and local admen get the brunt of it. But really, some of this stuff is just pretty darned funny.
The Different Drummer Soundtrack: The Different Drummer lives an interesting life full of choices I wouldn’t make for myself and that’s what makes it all so very readable. He lives in a co-op (he’s lived in several, actually) in Madison, WI, he’s joined the Baha’i faith and he moonlights as a DJ. He’s introspective and willing to share so much of his life with his readers.
March of the Platypi: A big city ER nurse tells tales that don’t break the HIPAA rules. I like to think that venting on his blog allows him to make it through one more shift doing the work I could never do in a million years. Updated sporadically, so it’s easy to keep up with, but I miss him when he’s gone.
Mystagogy: Eastern Orthodox lives of saints, theological essays, current events, and sundry, Churchy stuff. More than I keep up with regularly, but it's a good resource.
Smitten Kitchen: I’ve never once made any of the mouthwatering recipes on this site. But I always, always intend to. The photography of the food makes me drool, and I think they love mushrooms almost as much as I do. Oh man, I’m salivating just thinking about it.
The Time Hack: An interesting year-long experiment testing the idea that we perceive time differently in different situations. Specifically, the gentleman is doing something he’s never done before every day this year to see if we really perceive time “more slowly” the first time we do something. Also, a growing list of 365 things one person has never done before that they are A) willing to do and, B) willing to talk about in a public forum. Granted, some of the things are kinda lame.
WWdN (Wil Wheaton dot Net): You may remember him as Wesley Crusher from Star Trek: The Next Generation or you may remember him as Gordie from Stand By Me, but Wil Wheaton is all grown up now and he’s really open about his life, his career, what a gamer geek he is, and how fortunate he feels for the life he has. Also, he’s just a big ol’ dork like me. And I totally respect that.

That's all for now. Next time, an FO. No, really. It's already finished and received and cuddled and everything. :)
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Chronologically

2011-02-08T16:35:00.000-06:00

Ten on Tuesday: 10 Favorite Oscar-winning Movies

The topic is not specific, but I have taken it upon myself to narrow this down to Best Picture Oscar winners. Or else I would have just thrown my hands up and not played at all.

Mutiny on the Bounty
Gone With the Wind
Casablanca
Lawrence of Arabia
The Sound of Music
A Man for All Seasons
The Last Emperor
Dances With Wolves
Schindler’s List
Braveheart

I've only seen three of the best picture nominees this year so far -- I'd better get to it!
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This is what you get...

2011-02-07T21:34:00.000-06:00

...when you take a week of vacation then get three snow days the next week.

Frankly, not as much as I'd hoped, but we'll all survive.

I finished Gator's soft, warm purple hat and he loves it! I think he's super cute in it!

Snowboarder Hat That Rocks! by Irish Girlie Knits
Plymouth Yarn Baby Alpaca Grande / size US 11 dpns

I had trouble getting good lighting -- even though we were outside on a sunny day, actually stepping into the light would have resulted in my poor darling husband being groin-high in a snow drift. So to see the color more accurately, observe what I did with the leftover yarn:

One-Hour Earwarmer by Paulina Chin
Plymouth Yarn Baby Alpaca Grande / size US 10 straight needles

This yarn is deliciously soft and the color is a nice complement to my baktus, but I'm afraid I made the earwarmer a little too big because it stretches quite a bit and has a tendency to fall down over my eyes (which Gator finds adorable). I will have to come up with a fix, I'm afraid.

While on vacation, I finally did something that I've meant to for a long time. I watched all the episodes of Firefly and the movie Serenity. (As an aside, I just ran across this piece of awesome today.) I really enjoyed them and I think I may have to schedule a re-watch of the whole thing in the near future. While watching, I picked up the barely-started purse I had cast on and finished it up!

Wooly Bully Bag by Lori Puthoff
Patons Classic Wool / size US 10 1/2 circular needles

So this has been a nice little run of selfishness, but I kind of fell off the MeMeMeMe! wagon a touch. Our church is having a fundraiser that includes a silent auction. I wanted to donate something for it, and since everyone seems to like my shawls and scarves and bags, etc., I decided to donate a little lace:

Anjeli by Angelika Luidl
Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light / size US 7 circular needles

I know the photos are (once again) not the best, what with it all laid out on a, let's call it vintage, bedsheet and all, but I did the best I could before I had to hurry and take it to the church. If I can, I'll get a snap of the lucky buyer modeling it!

I have a couple of other things in the works and I finally get to show off something that I've been waiting a long time post, but those are for another day. Thus concludes my edition of "What I Did For My Winter Vacation". Oh, and I made baked custard.

Did you get a snow day last week? What did you do?
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...and touch the face of God.

2011-01-28T19:26:00.000-06:00

My fifth and sixth grade science teacher was Mrs. Cackley. She was a great teacher, the kind almost everyone likes. She was on the young side of middle age, trim and active. She was enthusiastic about teaching and had little trouble controlling her classes. She was tragically widowed and openly shared with us her experiences of watching her husband as he was electrocuted while sandblasting their boat. She was unapologetically religious is that way that just made her a really nice, compassionate person. Yet she was not overly prudish -- during an anatomy lesson she called testicles "balls" so we would know without question what she was talking about -- and let us giggle a bit. A few years after she was no longer my teacher, she remarried and I went to her wedding on my own because I just thought so much of her and I wanted to see her happy. Then later she moved away because her new husband, a pastor, was called to a new church. I've never seen her again -- I don't even know if she's still alive -- but I've thought of her often.

There's a reason I tell you this.

I was a sophomore in high school, in Spanish class. It was a small section, I think there were only twelve of us. I was wearing a red paisley flannel shirt. The counsellor knocked on the door, came in and gave the teacher, Mrs. Dietrich, a piece of paper. We watched her read it and watched her face change and her hand go to her throat. Apparently the note said not to make an announcement, not to disrupt class but Mrs. Dietrich, bless her heart, couldn't do it. She told us that there had been a problem with the space shuttle launch and that Challenger had exploded and all aboard were lost. It was sickening. I don't remember how the rest of the day went; I don't even remember how the rest of Spanish class went. I do remember seeing the crash replayed on the television in the library, which had been set up so some people could watch the launch in real time. I remember some of the girls were crying. They were thinking of the astronauts and particularly of Krista McAuliffe. I was thinking of her, too, but mostly I was thinking about Mrs. Cackley.

When the program began, the call went out for nominations for the first non-astronaut. It was to be a teacher, with an emphasis on science teachers. I was so excited when I heard about it. I knew the perfect candidate -- Mrs. Cackley! She probably wasn't too old, she took great care of herself -- she would be great! And I could think of no one who could better translate an experience like that into a first-rate education opportunity. I went so far as to write a draft of a nomination letter. Eventually I decided that the odds were stacked against her -- they wouldn't pick a teacher from such a small, rural place. They would want someone to take their experiences back to a big school within a large population base. Or maybe the chosen candidate wouldn't return to a regular classroom at all, but start out on the lecture circuit going from school to school all over the country a giving presentations at all-school assemblies. That was all probably true but, in all honesty, high school and teenage life got in the way and I set it aside. In the end, I never mailed the letter.

Twenty-five years ago today, I was never so glad that I failed to follow through. But I knew somewhere there were students who had followed through and had just watched their beloved Mrs. McAuliffe flash brilliantly in the sky and just... cease. I knew I wouldn't have been able to deal with that.

Whenever the subject of Challenger comes up, I see the explosion in my mind's eye and the astronauts walking in slow motion towards the shuttle like they show on the news these days. But even though those images are burned into my memory, they're big, abstract things that seem very far away. The things that really make my heart hurt are the thought that it might have been Mrs. Cackley -- I wanted it to be her! -- and the look on Mrs. Dietrich's face when she read the note. Because those were my teachers -- the ones that had a direct effect on my life. That's close to home. That's real. That's why they started a Teacher In Space program to begin with.

I hope you're well, Mrs. Cackley. I hope you've had a rich, wonderful 25 years. I'm so glad you've had them.

20

2011-01-23T08:05:00.000-06:00

Well, today is the day! Twenty years ago my fiance came to my workplace and told me he had just received his orders to join his National Guard unit for immediate deployment as part of Operation Desert Storm. I told my boss (who happened to be Gator's best friend) that I was leaving for the day and Gator and I went to the courthouse and got married. The judge who married us was hearing an apparently protracted case and he called a recess so he could perform the ceremony. He left the courtroom saying, "I'm sorry, I have something better to do." It was a palimony case. Thanks, Judge Bruce Normile. We're still going strong.

Also, Happy Birthday Aunt Judy, Laura, Curt and Mori. Lot's of good stuff happened on this day. :)

Ten on Tuesday!

2011-01-18T20:26:00.000-06:00

I'm going to try out this Ten on Tuesday thing. Basically it's a blog fodder generator wherein one is given a topic each week and then one lists ten things that apply. A huge chunk of Blogdom plays and so one can flit about the blogosphere and see what everybody has to say about the same topic.

I was going to start last week but the topic wasn't very interesting to me, so I didn't start out too well. We'll see how often I play.

Without further ado...

Ten on Tuesday -- 10 Favorite Games from Childhood

(This may rapidly fall into the category of oversharing. Or just explaining why I am the way I am...)

1. Careful -- Never heard of it? I'm not surprised. I've never encountered a person outside of my family who has any idea what this is. And we never called it "Careful" (at least I didn't), I always called it "The tower game! The tower game! I wanna play the tower game!" Oh, I was a joy to every babysitter I ever had...

2. Don't Break the Ice -- My cousin, Chris (to be referenced many times herein), had this game and I couldn't get enough of it. In fact, he gave it to me for Christmas one year and I was never so happy to get a hand-me-down gift. Gator and I still play it (a new copy -- alas I don't know what happened to the original one).

3. Payday -- Life was okay, Monopoly got annoying really fast, but I always loved Payday. One summer my neighbor, Kelly, and I played it about 4,583 times.

4. Five Card Draw -- Mom sometimes played bridge in the evenings and left me home with Dad. I wanted to play games. Well, Dad knew how to play poker, so he taught me. I was maybe six. It was a while before I realized it wasn't "Jacks are better". In fact, it may have been a little while before I realized it wasn't "Jaxxerbedder". Which may have explained why it took me a while to catch on...

5. How Dare You Push Me Into the Pool -- A cousin Chris original. Small hill between Grandma's house and the neighbor, Mr. Fisher's, yard. Crouch on top of hill. Take turns saying, "How dare you push me in the pool!!" with your most outrageous indignant accent while being pushed down the hill by the other player. Hilarity ensues. Cousin swears he has no memory of this. He's five years older than me and I remember it perfectly. Pants on fire, there, cuz?? ;)

6. Go to the Head of the Class -- I had a bunch of my sisters' old games (see #1) and this one was another fave. I loved the thick cardboard pupil-head markers but as I often didn't have anyone to play the game with, I mostly just begged Mom to read questions to me out of the book.

7. Feds 'N' Heads -- Ah, the innocence of youth. Aforementioned neighbor, Kelly, had older brothers. One of them had this game that came as an insert in Playboy magazine. I had no idea what it was about at the time (Maybe gangsters? There was something about getting caught with a bag of oregano, and that was a good thing...), but I came to find out later that it was about... drugs. I just thought it was a fun and funny game. Also I just found out that you can download and print out the entire game here.

8. The Brain -- More of a puzzle, I realize. See #6 where, boo hoo, little Sus played by herself a lot. She didn't mind at all when she had cool things that didn't require 2-4 players like this little gem. My oldest sister gave it to me for Christmas one year and I got so fast and good at it that I could do it over and over without even thinking while watching TV. I still have it and I'm still pretty fast. Muscle memory is an amazing thing.

9. Clean Machine -- Another Cousin Chris original. He had a beefy, muscly, "real"-haired G.I. Joe of much toughness. I had... a fifties Ken doll with a somewhat sunken chest and a painted-on crew cut (yes, it was my sister's). They battled and the loser had to be thrown into a mud puddle. Aside from being able to tell just by looking at them, Ken always lost because (as my cousin's rule declared) the mud puddle would ruin G.I. Joe's hair. We played it all the time (when there were mud puddles) and I remember liking to play it immensely. I just can't figure out why...

10. TV Shows -- Charlie's Angels and, more importantly, The Bionic Woman. OMG. Another neighbor, Marla, and I had an elaborate Bionic Woman story arc with an arch nemesis named Mrs. Octopus who was very powerful and scary and lived in Marla's closet. Yeah, we ran in the house, but we ran in slow motion and with sound effects.

So there you go. They ask for ten games and instead you learn 10 things about me that you didn't want to know. Wonder how much I can disturb you next week!
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FO Friday!

2011-01-14T19:37:00.000-06:00

As promised, I'm jumping back on the alliterative horsey to bring you a Finished Object Friday post!

I've been wearing my Last Minute Purled Beret pretty consistently. It's colorful, it's cute (especially since the blocking eased out and it no longer looks as much like a Guinan hat), and it goes with pretty much everything. But it's not as warm as I would like. And it has been cold lately. It's not Wisconsin down here or anything, but a high of 13F is pretty chilly wherever you are. So I wanted a meatier hat. But, you know, cute. Oh, and ear covering was of utmost importance.

So allow me to introduce my Spicy (the color) Capucine! Super cute, super thick and warm, and good ear coverage. A winner all around! Even if my co-workers now call me everything from Amish Girl to Little Red Riding Hood. Hee!

Capucine by Adela Illichmanova
Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick in Spice
Size US11 straight and double point needles

So now I'm very inspired to finish Gator's purple hat so he can enjoy some warm-ear new hat love, too! Off I go!
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WIP... Thursday?

2011-01-13T20:09:00.000-06:00

It's happened! It's happened! I finished all my gifty Works In Progress (except for the one that was a dismal failure and I gave up and frogged -- No, Sis, not that one!) and I've been being selfish!!!

Goal #3 of the new year well under way! (For the record, goal #2 is probably going fine, as well, but I won't bore you with the "Today, I did some sit-ups" post.)

So I finished the gifty things (which I can't show you until they are received, and for one of them may be a bit) and as soon as I was done, I cast on a new project! And the next night I cast on another new project! And the next night I finished the second project and cast on a third project! So much activity!

That means that I have two new WIPs to show you! And I know you can't wait, because they are ridiculous. Yes, they're cast on and thus qualify as WIPs, but, well, have a look for yourself:

Yeah. I know. There's not much to show. The red up top is going to be the Woolly Bully bag and below is the beginning of a Snowboarder Hat That Rocks! Yes, those are purple earflaps you see there. And, yes, since it's purple, it must be for Gator. :)

I know I mentioned a project I finished, but that makes it a Finished Object and no longer a WIP, and tomorrow is Friday, and since I botched the alliterative WIP Wednesday, the least I can do is go for an FO Friday! Hee.
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Hungry Like the Scarf

2011-01-08T13:25:00.001-06:00

2011 is off to a roaring start! Things have been busy at work, I've been a little handworking bee, and a new design idea is percolating in my wee brain (though I'm not even swatching it until these UFOs are done). I've managed to keep my first goal of the new year, as well, so I'm calling the first week of '11 a success. :)

Earlier (read: last year) I promised some pics of the only FO I have right now that I can actually show you. (Yes, I'm still gift crocheting things from last year. It happens.) I actually started this last February and only finished on Christmas Eve. It's kind of my year-long Christmas present to myself. It's not fancy at all. It's the ubiquitous Baktus scarf that 5100 other people on Ravelry are sporting these days. Good, mindless TV knitting. Yes, it's just a triangle. I said it wasn't fancy. But I did take it outside on a pretty day and try to get decent photos of it. I even tried to be artsy and everything.

Yes, I know; I failed. Although the sky is blue and clear and the sun was shining, it was cold and windy and this was the best I could do before I said screw it. I did manage to get a shot of it on me before my fingers froze completely off.

Baktus by Strikkelise
Zitron Trekking XXL in colorway 333 (brown/purple) with US2 needles

No, it's not fancy, but it's warm and it goes with everything. I'm very pleased with it. It's got me very excited to get to all the delicious selfish projects I have lined up. Including that new design I'm working out in my head... Mwahahaha!

This afternoon, Christmas is coming down. I listened to Christmas carols while I put everything up, but the piped-in music at HyVee this morning has got me in the mood for some serious Duran... You all just wish you could see the interpretative dance that's going to accompany this little task!

No, no you probably don't. ;)
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It occurs to me...

2011-01-03T19:52:00.001-06:00

...that I HAVE NEEDS, PEOPLE!

visited 40 states (80%)
Create your own visited map of The United States

visited 10 states (4.44%)
Create your own visited map of The World

Not that I'm all like, "I must go to Michigan!!" (Not that there's anything wrong with Michigan, mind you.) But it is very weird that some of the states I haven't been to are (technically) in the Midwest. And while I know I've been fortunate enough to see more of the world than many people get to, I still want more. There's the entire southern hemisphere and most of the eastern, after all. (I know this map makes it look like I've been all through the eastern hemisphere, what with Russia curving around half the globe like it does, but I promise I was waaaaay over in Europe the whole time.)

So yeah. New goal for this decade. At least hit the rest of the freaking United States, already. And Nunavut. I don't know why, but I'm dying to go there. It didn't even exist when I learned all the provinces and territories in middle school. So to me it's new and shiny and I want to see it. And I will try to get to Asia or Australia or Argentina or even some place that doesn't start with "A" that represents a part of the globe I have not yet encountered. That one may be more difficult.

For now, Michigan will have to do. Maybe next year.
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Happy New Year, or Thank God That's Over

2011-01-02T17:13:00.000-06:00

It's a new year! I have plans and a vision and this year is going to be awesome!

Okay, I know that this is just the kind of annoying New Year talk that lasts about a week -- a month if you're really lucky -- and then is thrown aside and turns into the regular old midwinter blahs. Been there done that. But this year might be a teensy bit different in that over the years I've learned to tailor my plans and vision to something sustainable. And this year I'm hanging on to my goal with every fiber of my being.

Yes, this year I have plans and a vision of not crashing into the lab with a golf cart and breaking the front of the building. At this point, anything that does not involve doing that again would qualify as awesome.

Oh, it's a tired old saw, I know. You try to take the golf cart down to the parking lot to collect your co-worker who has blown out her knee so she doesn't have to walk all the way to the building, but it's really cold and the golf cart is acting weird and doesn't want to go and then it goes all of a sudden and you go to stop it but your foot hits the wrong pedal but you don't know it and you can't figure out why you're not stopping and so you floor it and then you run straight into the front of the building and the tires are still spinning because you still can't figure out why you haven't stopped and Oh God, the facility manager is crazy about his golf cart and what have you done to it so you get out and check and it is perfect -- pristine -- and then you turn and look at the building and the wall of windows in front of you is now about four inches east of where it was when you started. And the door to the building is twisted and won't close. Oh, and about a dozen guys from facilities management had just gotten there to run some tests on the generator and fans and they're all standing there looking at you. So you smile and wave. I mean, why not? Then you run to the bathroom and cry. Sorry, co-worker, you have to walk up on crutches after all.

So that was my last Wednesday. How was yours?

Yes, my goals this year are simple. No repeat of that, and I'm a happy girl. When, exactly, did it come to this?

By the way, the building is fixed now. The fixing was a little ridiculous itself -- some guys came and kicked it back into place. Yes, Missouri tax dollars build only the best. Oh, and for those of you concerned -- since I do work in a biocontainment facility -- this was just the front of the lobby area that broke. Beyond that room is where the steel and concrete begins. So, yay for that. But still. ::facepalm::

Actually, I do have a couple more goals for this year, but they're not nearly as interesting.

Get stronger -- Physically, I mean. And I'm not quantifying "stronger". Just stronger than I am right now will be fine. I'll work on it and do the best I can. Just stronger.
Be selfish -- Okay, some of you are totally rolling your eyes right now and thinking, "Oh, yeah, Sus, that is just what you need to do, sweetie." Let my qualify -- this is about handwork, people. Last year was a lot about making things for other people. Which is fine! I like making things for other people! I do! But this year, I'm making stuff for us. I have a queue a mile long of things Gator and/or I would like to have -- or need, really -- that I have the materials and the means to make, but I don't have the time because I've always got deadline handwork. Not so much this year. I've got two things to finish up in the next couple of weeks and then it's all us for awhile. The world will keep turning and everything.

So, that's it. My hopes for 2011. They get more humble every year. Funny, I get happier every year. Related? Gee, you think? ;)

Love and blessings to you all in the new year! Hugs all around!!
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I hope you had a merry little Christmas!

2010-12-26T19:12:00.000-06:00

Christmas has been wonderful in our household -- mostly quite laid back, which I totally appreciate. I didn't get everything done, but I got everything finished that had to be done. Basically it's been one of those years where, if I'm in front of you on Christmas, then your stuff is done. If not, we'll work it out. I try to keep telling myself that there are twelve days of Christmas, after all. Plus, I'll take presents to my side of the family on some nice weekend in the next month or so. I do that so I have a good excuse to see them again soon. Not so I have some more time. I promise. ;)

The presents I completed before Christmas basically consist of two aprons for my MIL, who just moved into a new house and is decorating her new kitchen. She requested aprons in red and black.

They're not fancy, but I tend to get into a real perfectionist groove that ends up making everything take a ridiculous amount of time. Also, I was totally winging it and I suppose a little more planning on the front end would have saved me some time. Oh well. I do like the finished product, though.

Here is where I would like to take a little of your time to rant and rave at a crafting corporate giant: Really, JoAnn Fabrics? I know you're all about low-paid, marginally-trained workers just sliding their shears down your little aluminum guides as fast as their little fingers can cut, but come on! That fabric was so off the grain when it was cut that I lost over a quarter of a yard squaring it up so I could use it! That's why the pocket is so shallow on the dark one. I paid for that quarter yard! Your policy is lazy and you suck. And you're not even that cheap anymore. The only thing you currently have going for you is convenient hours of operation, but I fear that will no longer save you. I live quite nicely without WalMart in my life; I can live without you, too. Remember that, JoAnn. Your days are numbered.

OK! I feel better now!

We had a lovely round of receiving, too. You can't see everything that's on display under the tree (does anyone else have this tradition, of putting the opened presents you receive under the tree to take the place of the wrapped ones you gave?) in this photo. Also, this year was heavy on the gift cards so it doesn't look that impressive (not that I'm complaining!).

Gator's main gift was a total surprise and so fun to give. It isn't under the tree, though; it's charging in its station:

Yes, that's a coconut in the foreground. I always get a coconut in my stocking, don't you? ;)

My main gift also isn't under the tree. Mainly because it won't fit. Hehe.

Thanks to a gift certificate to my LYS from my MIL, and Gator encouraging me to go wild at the Michaels yarn sale, I have so much handwork-y goodness in my future! Let's just break this down, shall we?

one ball Classic Elite Silky Alpaca Lace in red
four skeins Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light in green
two skeins Cascade Heritage Sock in plum
two skeins Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine in navy
three balls each of Patons Classic Wool in royal blue, cognac heather, jade heather, and bright red
three skeins Lion Brand Fishermen's Wool in nature's brown
two balls Wool-Ease Thick & Quick in spice and one ball in claret
one skein each of Caron One Pound in white and sky blue

Whew! Quite an array, and enough to keep me busy for quite some time! Everything except the Classic Wool is earmarked for specific projects that I want to complete this year. We'll see how that goes. Remember the yarn storage room? How do we all think it got that way? But for right now, I'm super psyched.

I have another FO -- kind of my Christmas present to myself -- but I'll show you later after I get some decent photos. Yes, I'm delaying because of the photos, and not just so I have a ready-made topic for my next post. I promise. ;)

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!!!
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Catching up with the holidays

2010-12-19T22:35:00.000-06:00

I know I've been quiet lately, but it's no fun to blog when you can't show anything you've been working on! Oh, Holidays and your gift-crafting -- always keepin' me down!

Yes, I can blame anything for my own laziness, it seems.

What I have absolutely no excuse for is the lack of Thanksgiving pictures, and I can at least try to rectify that. We traveled to my hometown for the holiday and were partakers in what my family is affectionately calling our "Big Fat Greek Thanksgiving". Why would we be calling it that?

How about a lamb on a spit in the front yard? Yeah, that might be why.

My youngest niece decided she wanted to host Thanksgiving this year and she was the hostess with the mostest.

Her husband is from a Greek family and he's a great guy but maybe a little odd...

In other words, he fits right into our family. If anything, he might be a tad on the normal side comparatively.

Never fear, there was turkey, too, and my brother-in-law carved it just like always:

Gator and two of my other nieces had fun with the littlest great-niece:

Little Miss E was very busy all day, but I did manage to catch her just hangin' out:

Since I was behind the camera all day, I decided to try for a little hubby smooshy face, but after many, many attempts, this was the best I could do. Not my fave pic but you can't have it all, I suppose.

All in all a wonderful Thanksgiving and a great visit with my fam. I wish I could do it much more often!

Now I'm back to crafting for Christmas and not showing anything until afterwards. Eh, you're busy too, I'm sure.

Oh, and by the way, the lamb was delicious!
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FO? You don't say!

2010-11-24T09:14:00.000-06:00

We're just about to head off for my hometown for Thanksgiving, so this is just a wee update. Much crochet has been had in the land of Sus and the lowliest of my WIPs last Wednesday is now an FO! w00t!

Yes, I know it's a dreaded tissue box cover. But it's a gingerbread house. I think these are ssssooooooooo freakin' cute! And cute things are always good, forever and ever, amen! The construction is kind of a pain at times, but I think it's so worth it. I stayed up way too late last night finishing it, but I'm giving it away this weekend, so you see how it is. We all know how completely awesome I am at waiting until the last minute for virtually everything in the world, ever! Yes, there's at least one thing I totally rock at!

Now we're off for a four hour drive through gray and rainy weather, but at least it's not supposed to freeze. Safe travels to anyone else who's on the road today!

WIP Wednesday (with bonus turkey butt!)

2010-11-17T18:35:00.000-06:00

Whew! Things have been busy around here. Mostly in a good way -- good friends, good family, good work projects, good Broncos(!) But no pictures to show for it, and not much handwork, unfortch.

I got stymied on the afghan because I was trying to come up with a way to piece the strips together in a way that would allow me to use one piece of yarn to whipstitch the whole length of the strip and have the yarn not show when it didn't match either of the adjacent blocks. I didn't come up with a way that I liked. So I'm changing yarn every time I encounter a new block on the strip. Which is fine. I've only sewn the left-most strips together so far.

But while I was thinking about it I just set the whole thing aside and picked up the somewhat-abandoned Baktus. I'm about 2/3 done now and, even though I weighed the yarn meticulously with my kind of crappy postage scale to determine the half-way point, I am still fairly frightened that I will run out of yarn before I am finished. I really hope not.

Both of those projects are getting temporarily set aside while I pick up another abandoned project and finish it before Thanksgiving. This gingerbread house has been nothing but a lone wall for many months and it needs to get built right away!

In fact, I'm going to work on it right now.

But WAIT!! Not before I show you the awesome present my blog buddy Judy sent me!

No Thanksgiving decoration is complete without the wonderment that is the handmade turkey butt fridgie!! It is funny, cute (and we know how I feel about cute), and festive! It makes me smile every time I go to the fridge!! Even though when I open it I will find that the chocolate cake fairies still haven't left me a present. Darn chocolate cake fairies!

Okay, now off to make a gingerbread house!
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This is just way too cute

2010-11-04T19:37:00.002-06:00

Once again, I will extol the virtues of cute things and Star Wars things and, most importantly, cute Star Wars things. Happy!

::sigh:: I lurve Lego Star Wars.
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In other news...

2010-11-03T18:49:00.000-06:00

...I spent the day Saturday at a conference and presented a poster (read: giant brochure) for our core facility. It was very sciencey.

...I've finally completed all the blocks for the big ol' stashbustin' afghan and have started piecing! I think that some of you probably are cringing at the thought of piecing a sofa-full of afghan blocks, but I actually enjoy the process quite a lot. I have four strips so far, and I think it's wildly colorful and cool.

...I am very tired this evening and am seriously considering going to bed at 8:00. I've already fallen asleep in my chair once this evening. It is my Papa's chair, though, so that seems apt.

Good night!
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Missouri cheeseheads

2010-10-27T21:15:00.000-06:00

Hi! I'm having a snack and have decided that you would just love to know about it! Bloggers = narcissistic? Hecks, no!

So today was payday and that meant I partook of the glorious tradition of going to the grocery store after work. With Gator. This is an important aspect in that no two humans on the planet enable each other more than we do. Example: Gator was jonesing for some good cheese. Either of us shopping alone? One kind of cheese. Shopping together? We end up with five kinds. It goes on. But, while discussing the cheese options, I realized that what I wanted wasn't good cheese, but gooooooood cheese. You know, the kind I was raised on (Saturday afternoon snack!), which I haven't had for a long time and when I lived in Wisconsin they didn't even sell it. Like it was an affront to their cheesy ways. Yes, I'm talking about Price's Pimento Cheese Spread. That which tastes like no kind of cheese that exists outside of their little half pint tubs. That which has identifiable chunks of cheese-like substance suspended in a creamy cheese-like spready-stuff. With red bits I can only assume are meant to represent pimentos. Oh, they swear on their website that it's made with real cheese but, if it is, they disguise it well. In a good way. Needless to say I bought some.

While watching some Futurama, I busted it open, spread it on some saltines (the only way to eat it!), and reveled in the awesomeness. And missed my mama.

(Full disclosure -- I only spread it on the crackers so I could take a picture. The real way to eat it is to just dip the crackers right in the tub, but I figured you really didn't want a picture of that. Like you want this one.)

Okay, I'll lay off the random food photos for awhile. ;)
_____

Happy Halloween! (Early and with crafting!)

2010-10-26T21:23:00.000-06:00

Random additional decoration coming up!

Day of the Dead Crochet Skull by Darlene Harris
(including Little Crochet Flowers by Ali Burdon)
Red Heart Super Saver; Size US G crochet hook

And with that, a good night!
_____

Linkspam disguised as blog content

2010-10-23T21:14:00.002-06:00

I've been a tired, tired girl this week! I went back to work on Tuesday, and I've pretty much been coming home and falling asleep in my chair every day after work until I finally give up and move it to the bed. So, not a lot of hot crochet action, in other words. I did make several more squares today for the patchwork afghan but there's really nothing to see.

But I have been collecting some random linkspam that I will take this opportunity to ~~inflict on you~~ share with you!

Want. That is all. Okay, that's totally not all -- check out the rest.

Also want, but in all honesty it would just sit in the corner with my guitar (since it won't fit in the drawer with my recorder). But this is serious geeky music goodness.

Awesome timesuck. Yeah, it's an advertisement, but this company wins at the innernets!

May I get married again just so I can have this cake? (If you don't get it, why aren't you reading XKCD??)

I haven't carved a pumpkin for a long, long time. I may have to start again.

I haven't bought a new swimsuit for a long, long time. I've certainly never spent this much money on one. I may have to find a way for this to change.

The Internet Archive has a bunch of fun stuff, but the Moving Picture Archive has some serious gems. Especially some of the fabulously cheesy corporate propaganda created by Jam Handy and super duper old-school filmstrip-type lovelies like Are You Ready For Marriage? I'll never be bored again.

I will now finish watching Mizzou beat Oklahoma then head to bed. Still tired. Goodnight!

_____

I love the phrase "Skeletal remains dancing on the sideboard"

2010-10-18T18:01:00.008-06:00

I had planned to go back to work today, but after a very uncomfortable outing to church yesterday, I decided to take another day and have a slugfest. I mean, I really did nothing. I stared in the direction of the TV, but I couldn't tell you what I watched. I took a three hour nap. I surfed nothing in particular. Total slugfest. I hope I'm ready to rejoin the madness tomorrow.

Yesterday afternoon was only slightly more exciting. While sitting in my comfy craft chair, crocheting away, I heard a strange noise outside. I sounded like someone was shoveling snow, but of course there is none. It happened every few seconds until I finally went to the window and peeked through the blinds. Ah! Not a snow shovel at all!

Six hot air balloons! The monkey one was close enough I could hear the burner as they made themselves go higher. It had been much closer to the ground when I looked out the window, but by the time I got my camera and shoes it had risen quite a bit. I could still hear it, though. We see balloons quite frequently, but six at once is fairly uncommon. So that was a nice surprise!

While I was outside with my camera, I decided to copy my blog buddy Becky in showing off my seasonal decorations. I lurve seasonal decorations. I've had my Halloween decs up since the weekend after Labor Day. On the day after Halloween, the Thanksgiving stuff will go up. And as soon as we get back from my sister's after Thanksgiving, well, you get the idea. Now, Becky has a couple of nice vignettes of decorations that look festive and photograph well, but mine are kind of scattered about. And I don't have a great deal, but I really dislike nekkid doors. I always say I'm going to make more holiday stuff, but the queue is long and it just kind of never happens.

A maniacal Jack o' Lantern is nestled amongst the bushes next to a fierce alligator...

A creepy black wreath of foreboding festoons the front door...

The inside of the front door as well as the door to the garage harbor representatives of the unnatural...

Bad luck and spooks abound on this bookshelf...

Skeletal remains dancing on the sideboard add a macabre punch to mealtimes...

Hee! Did I mention I lurve seasonal decorations?? Do you have some?? Show me! Show me! (I'm from Missouri, I can't stop saying that.)

Please show me?

It's ending to smell a little like...

2010-10-16T23:05:00.006-06:00

I have a co-worker who whistles subconsciously while walking through the halls. He has a dozen or so go-to tunes, but he does get stuck on one from time to time. At least two of the songs in his repertoire are Christmas carols and they break out regardless of season. In fact, July and August were big Sleigh Ride months. I find this trait endearing and I don't mind the year-round caroling, that is, until the songs get stuck in my head. So when, in thinking of a title for this post, I thought it might be cute and apropo to go with "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...", I slapped my head and started saying, "No, no, NO!!" Now that song will be stuck in my head! Argh!

Hehe. You're welcome.

Look down! Back at me!

Surgery recovery continues and things are going pretty well. Especially when I either stay up or stay down. It's the in-between that still gets me, but we're progressing. So I stay up for a bit, puttering in the kitchen or running a broom over the floor (this place is a dried grass magnet, I swear!), then I sit down and veg out, surf the 'net or crochet a bit. I've been working on the never-ending afghan but, as promised, I took a break to make a Christmas stocking.

I made all the motifs on Friday, then pieced them together Saturday morning. ~~I didn't get a very good photo (red is so hard to photograph accurately!), but this will do.~~ I re-photographed it in natural light (go figure!) and it looks a lot better. I think it's colorful and fun a good size for collecting lots of Christmas loot! I hope the recipient of this bit of holiday cheer likes it!

Polka Dot Christmas Stocking by Priscilla Hewitt
Stash acrylic yarn
Size US H hook

I like it and am quite happy with it. It's alsoreally nice to have a completed project to look at and stroke and share and talk about in the midst of a long afghan project that has felt like it would never end.

Now back to the afghan with a little more pep! 14 blocks to go! It's beginning to look a lot like an afghan! Hee!!!

You're so, so welcome. ;)

Can I make "sofa-full" a standard measure?

2010-10-14T12:13:00.004-06:00

A long-held belief of mine has just been sent down the tubes. I was apparently one of many who thought that one had a year to send a wedding gift. According to Emily Post and Miss Manners, this is not so. Not that I ever thought it was an awesome idea to wait a year to send a gift, but I like to make beautiful things for people, and sometimes beautiful things take time. Often longer than the time from the receipt of the invitation until the event, anyway. So it turns out I've been an even crappier friend and relative in many instances than I thought. Oh joy. Having said that, I don't actually think that anyone has ever received a late handmade gift from me and thought, "Well, this would be awfully nice if only it weren't so freakin' late!" I do realize it's all just a bunch of nebulous guidelines for a bunch of folks just honestly trying to do their best. And so I soldier on. But I'd really been relying on that one-year thing. Ah well.

One of my very best friends got married a few months ago. Not only was I unable to attend, but I didn't get the gift done in time. It's still not done. But I've been trooping along on it and am at least on the downhill side now. It's a patchwork sampler afghan and because I'm only using yarn from the stash, it may be a little trippy. Which I think will suit the happy couple just fine. At least I certainly hope so. I have 3/4 of the squares done and am hoping the last 1/4 will go a little more quickly (oh, we always hope these things). I'd been feeling like I was just working and working on it and not getting anywhere, so laying the completed squares all out for a photo made me realize that I have actually accomplished quite a bit. Blogging can be therapeutic in so many ways!

So if my recent lack of handwork content has made you wonder what I've been up to, now you can see for yourself. One sofa-full of afghan squares, coming up!

That's 47 squares and I have 16 to go. Then layout, seaming, and edging. But I may have to take a small break to make a Christmas stocking. Thank goodness I have a few more days off and streaming Netflix!

I shudder to think what other dearly held beliefs might be wrong...

_____

The story continues...

2010-10-13T21:18:00.005-06:00

Hi there! So, you know how I've been complaining and complaining about how this hurts and that hurts and woe is me and that other thing hurts and I have uncontrollable digestive problems? Yeah, I bet you're sick to death of that. Well, hopefully this is that last of those!

Current complaint: It feels like I've been stabbed in the gut four times. Why is that? Well, mostly because I was sort of stabbed in the gut four times. Legally, mind you, by a trained professional who was dearly compensated for having the privilege. Oh, I'm ever so dramatic, aren't I? I had my gallbladder removed yesterday in a laparoscopic procedure that involved four incisions into my abdomen, all of which now sort of hurt a lot. Oh, there's Vicodin, which may be responsible for my current ridiculous blogging style, but it doesn't really keep much pain at bay. Which is pretty annoying, actually.

Really, the surgery went smoothly, and recovery is going just as it should be, and I don't really have anything to complain about. In fact, I have quite a lot to be thankful and happy about. You see, gallbladders are pesky little things. Not only has my icky little diseased organ likely been the cause of many of my digestive problems for the last few years, which isn't surprising at all, but gallbladder pain refers in interesting ways. Like into the right side of your back and shoulder. Seeing a connection here? Not that I didn't have real rotator cuff issues, but we couldn't figure out why, after months of PT and all kinds of stretches, exercises, and obvious strengthening, I couldn't get rid of the pain. Granted, I'm taking Vicodin, but I have had zero shoulder pain since the surgery, even when I woke up this morning hours after the drugs had worn off. So I'm hopeful, hopeful, hopeful that two birds have been struck by this stone. Or the removal of these stones, so to speak. Happy dance!

This was my first surgery and my first admittance to the hospital. I've really been extremely lucky in my life. So I'm not used to having to "get well soon" or being the recipient of beautiful pretties such as my darling coworkers had sent to me today:

Aren't they purdy?? The flowers are just really lovely. Let's zoom a bit, shall we?

*lurve*

The next post will have handwork content. I promise. No, really. For true.

_____

We had a visitor!

2010-09-23T19:18:00.004-06:00

My sinuses have been trying to crawl out of the front of my head all day (most of the time I actually feel pretty good, but you'd never know it if you only read this blog), so when I came home my plan was to heavily medicate and crawl into my bed. Before I could, Gator urgently bid me come out on the back patio and "see something". It's like nature knew I was feeling poorly and sent a tiny emissary to cheer me!

He was so small and unafraid -- he almost tried to hop right into the house as I was taking pictures of him. It's actually Gator's and my first encounter with a baby wild rabbit (which, in retrospect, strikes both of us as kind of odd). I looked it up on this innernets (so it must be true!) and since he no longer has a white blaze on his nose, he is old enough to have been kicked out of the nest by his mother, so we're going to try not to worry about him too much. He's pretty fast, but I also read the depressing statistic that 95% percent of all wild rabbits die before they are six months old. But we're not going to think about that.

Here's another photo of our sweet little friend, with Gator's feet for scale. So adorable and wee!

Live well, tiny visitor. Stop by whenever you'd like; you're most welcome here.

_____

There's a lot going on here

2010-09-12T15:00:00.009-06:00

Just in this post, mind you. Not in Real Life, goodness forbid!!

Last weekend, I decided that I was tired of Gator disparagingly referring to the spare bedroom as the "yarn storage room". Granted, it's where I keep my yarn, as well as my sewing machine and ironing board. We don't actually have a bed for the spare bedroom, so that's pretty much all that's in there. Oh, and empty boxes. Lots of those. But it's not like the "office", which is so full of his hobby crap that I can't use my own desk, gets referred to as the "wargaming miniatures storage room". Although I think I'm going to start. So there. Ppbbfftt.

So, last Sunday, I had a fit of grownuppedness in which I did not merely hurl insults back in kind, but I actually put empty boxes in the attic, went through all the stash, organized, labeled, stacked, and now the room is quite clear of yarn-type debris. In fact, it's an almost totally clean slate upon which to create anything! Also, yes, that is my giant tower of yarn bins, thankyouverymuch, and that's not even counting the bins of fabric that fit in the closet. Those are, yes, just yarn. One of them is just #10 crochet cotton. I know. It's a sickness.

So I get it all cleared out, clean slate and all, and guess what the conversation turned to?? Yep. All about how we should really turn this into a game room. Billiards? Fooseball? Of course not, sillies! War games! Argh! It's such a good thing that he's such a sweet, charming, lovable boy. And he is. :)

While I wading through the stash, I came across a source of frustration that I had shoved in the corner in an attempt to make it go away. But it didn't go away and I had to deal with it. Again, Argh! Almost two years ago I started a delightful pair of No-Purl Monkeys with my very first skein of Trekking XXL. I was loving them! Then I found a big ol' knot in ball, connecting two lengths of yarn. What up, Trekking people? Who taught you to make balls? One of the true beauties of making a one-skein object is the distinct lack of end-weaving! Grumble, grumble, moving on. So I continued with my hunky dory sock until it became obvious things were not hunky dory... See that distinctly brighter orange spot on the upper left, there? Yeah, that one?

Well, it turns out that not only does the knot join two lengths of yarn, they are apparently not of the same dye lot and very quite possibly even not the same colorway. So, I say, SRSLY, WTF, TREKKING PPL!?!? You do not even warrant full words. You are supposed to be professional yarny people who sell things people say nice things about! I know! I read many reviews of your products! A little splitty sometimes, sure, but overall a good, solid sock-making experience!

I'm not mad, Trekking, just very, very disappointed in you. Now go to your room and think about what you've done.

So I frogged the sock and can maybe get even two coffee cozies out of the frogged bit. The rest I still may be able to get a pair of anklets out of. And I can send two colors from one skein to Becky for her sock yarn blanket, if I ever get around to being a good friend again. Right now, though, this yarn is so seriously in time out that I don't even want to look at it for a bit.

Hi, I have very intense feelings about my yarn! I am that kind of crazy!

So, does this mean that there will be no delightful sock-yarn coffee cozies until I can stand to look upon my wayward Trekking innards? Why, no! It does not! In fact, there may be a simply gorgeous sock-yarn coffee cozie in my very near future! And how's that, you may ask? Well, it is thanks to my wondrous blog-buddy Laura! She had a contest on her blog a while back and asked folks to identify the uber-cute mug her parents gave her upon completion of her Physical Therapy coursework. Because I am a complete science dork and made up waaaayyy too many crazy ways to remember things while pulling all-nighters for gross anatomy, I was the winner!

Here's my awesome prize -- A sweet note, a scarf book, a sock book, and a tiny skein of Malabrigo that I am so excited to cast on! Let's just look at that charming little skein a little more closely, shall we?

Mmmmmm... Knitting pr0n...

In other news, I am still cursing my arm daily (the Biothrax injection in that arm didn't help matters any) and starting an elimination diet to see if I can figure out why my stomach is upset all the time. Also, I continue to putter along on the wedding afghan and have finally completed half of the blocks. More in the way of visual reports in the near future. Now I'm off to cook my last pork for at least two weeks. Oh, and drink my last beers... :(

_____

Just don't ask me to explain

2010-08-21T14:53:00.008-06:00

I am old. I say this with complete comfort and an embrace of the curmudgeon-ness that accompanies it. The most pressing way this elderliness is manifesting itself lately is music. Man, I just can not find a way to care about most new stuff on the radio, be it on the rock station, the alternative station or the “cool” station here in town. And don’t get me started on Top 40. I was a teenager in the 80’s and still like a great deal of what I listened to then -- U2, REM, The Smiths, Adam Ant, Duran Duran. You get the idea. On the other hand, I love some good rock-n-roll. I’m a huge Rush fan (going to see them tomorrow -- w00t!), have mad props for Iron Maiden, dig on Queensryche, Gator and I had a little tribute sing-a-long when Ronnie James Dio died -- again, you get the idea. Irish music? I’m there. Other random stuff that prevents me from getting prettily pigeon-holed? You betcha.

Even most of what I consider new stuff that I like well enough to spend money on I realize with a bit of disbelief is already 3-5 years old -- Fall Out Boy, Panic at the Disco!, The Faint. It’s kind of like when I realized not long ago that almost all of my go-to clothes were over ten years old. How do these things happen?

Yes, I’m old, but it seems very strange to me in a kind of weird way. Now, I know the cliché is that you get old, look to the younger generation, and say, “That’s not even music -- that’s just noise!!” I don’t have that. Not at all. Well, okay, there’s that death metal crap that Gator listens to sometimes where the lead “singer” is really just a lead growling throat screamer -- I mean, there’s no tune or anything! But I sort of digress. From the point I was choosing to make, anyway. Death metal notwithstanding, most new music bores the crap out of me. I mean, I can’t even stand to listen to the entire sample clip on Amazon. Bored! Moving on! Nothing remotely interesting happening here! It’s frustrating, not only because listening to the radio can become torture, but because it’s uncomfortable to talk to most people about new music. Inevitably, someone will start talking about some person or band that I know only because I remember that I couldn’t switch away from it fast enough, and I find myself cocking my head at this person and thinking, “How can you, who seem like such an intelligent person, actively listen to that crap on purpose???” And, yes, someday this intelligent person may be one of you darling people that I love.

So, actually, all of this is really just background for what I’m going to do next. I’m going to inflict my music opinion on you. Yes! More than I already have! But, you see, the great thing about doing this on a blog is that you can cock your head at me and wonder about my sanity safely behind my back. Or skip it altogether. You have so much control here!

I feel about music the same way I feel about literature and the visual arts. I don’t come for the technique. Yes, I understand that without some technical expertise the finished product will be crap, but I figure that kind of comes along with being a professional. You can have awesome technique and still produce a crappy final product. I also don’t come for the subtlety of tone in the third beat of the 41st measure or the artful metaphor on the last page of the sixth chapter. For the most part, I don’t come for an artist’s statement. I have a brain and can read primary source material. Soap box to somebody else. What I want is to be moved. It doesn’t have to be dramatic or life-changing. If I want more, you’ve got me. I don’t have to know why. Frankly, I don’t care why. I want something that strikes a chord. No deep analysis. It can be totally stupid and nonsensical, but it’s got to make me want to listen/read/see it again. Period.

Amazon has hundreds of free MP3 downloads that I sift through occasionally. I try to do it monthly, but I just realized that I hadn’t done it since about February. Oh, look! Sus sucks at being timely about something! And something she actually likes to do, even! Imagine that! (Egad, how do any of you even put up with me?) Here’s my extremely scientific methodology: I start the clip. Within about four seconds I decide, based on my level of boredom, whether I will commit to downloading the song or skip directly to the next clip. All the songs I download (this is a very small percentage) go into a playlist and onto Ippy, my iPod for a few days of repeated listening. Then I cull out the ones that are actually boring or otherwise annoying after all, and everything else goes in the permanent lineup. I’ve purchased a couple of albums due to this (BLK JKS, Har Mar Superstar) but, honestly, I often find that even if I like one or two songs by an artist, the rest of the album does nothing for me. So I play my free songs game and have a grand ol’ time.

And now I will ~~force it upon you!~~ play before a live audience (sorta)!

Without further ado, here are my picks for best free singles on Amazon.com, August 2010 version!

Beautiful People by The Books. Freaky, geeky goodness. Mathy, numbery geeky goodness. Droning in a human computer kind of way. The horns at the end get me every time.
Devil’s Got Your Boyfriend by Tracy Bonham. My hips can’t sit still during this one. And they don’t lie, kids. Deep, throaty and dark vocals. Bright, sweet, innocent overtones. Needs both, but they’re both there so we’re good. Very, very good.
Diamonds are Forever by Chaka Khan. ‘Nuff said.
Jennifer by Ashton Nyte. This guy sounds remarkably like Peter Murphy. I really like Peter Murphy. I’m not put off. But I’m not sure I can classify his as “new” to me because of it.
Keep Your Eyes on the Road by Lone Wolf. Completely addicting. Great opening riff; not just you basic verse/chorus construction. Serial melodies, let’s call it. Probably the best of the bunch.
Left of Center by Serj Tankian. Oh, you brilliant Armenian! Not as frenetic as most of his work with System of a Down (love!) but still full of his special brand of energy. Rock on with your bad self, Serj.
Lost Weekend by The Qemists. Reminds me a great deal of The Faint which, for goth rock, is pretty rockin’ good. The Qemists are more upbeat and rowdy, though. I don’t know -- It’s hard and I like it.
Mary Magdelena by Viva and the Diva. Imagine Sinead O’Connor became a caricature of herself (oh, wait…) and started singing with Concrete Blonde. I don’t know about you, but I’m interested. I wouldn’t want a whole album of it, but I’ll take this one and listen over and over and over…
Requiem for a Dying Song by Flogging Molly. Irish punk rock. You just try to keep me still during this one.
Suicide Messiah by Black Label Society. Now here’s some metal I can get behind.
When I’m Wrong by Doc Hammer’s Weep. Nice mix of synthesizer and guitar. Reminiscent of The Church.
Yes Yes Yes by Elsinore. Toe-tappin’ pop fun. Catchy and straightforward. Nothing wrong with that.

And there you have it! A selection of free mp3 downloads that I like. There are several whole sampler albums for free on Amazon as well (I especially like the middle eastern stuff), but that’s another post altogether. Maybe you’ll find something you like as well. If you do, please share!

Woe is me (feel free to jump directly to the picture)

2010-08-16T14:18:00.006-06:00

So I am home sick today with a head full of cotton wool soaked in vinegar (or at least that's what it felt like this morning), and that seems like a perfect opportunity to go on at length about how my aging body is betraying me and how that is affecting my life including, most importantly, my handwork. Now that I've slept like the dead for the better part of the day, that is.

About eight months ago, my right elbow started hurting. Soon, I couldn't even straighten my arm without intense pain. I went to the doctor who determined that I had lateral epidondylitis (tennis elbow) that was actually due to a (probably very old) rotator cuff problem. Physical therapy for my shoulder was prescribed and a cortisone shot in my elbow so I could stand to do the exercises. Theory being that once I strengthened the shoulder, the elbow would resolve itself.

I'd never had a cortisone shot before so I didn't know what to expect. It worked like a dream and after two days my elbow was completely pain-free. I breezed through physical therapy and everything was peachy. Then I opened a bucket.

To be fair to myself, it was a weird bucket. Five gallons with a sealed lid that could only be removed if you cut several spots around the top with a pair of snips. I apparently didn't snip sufficiently because when I went to pull the lid off, I felt what seemed like a separation in my elbow and intense pain. It swelled up but I iced it and by the next day it was a little better. Since this happened at work, I went to work injury where they assured me I had just strained a muscle, put me on restrictions for a week and the pain slowly lessened to nothing. Two weeks later I had a completely clean bill of arm-related health.

Then the cortisone wore off.

Since then I've been trying not to go back to the doctor, but I've been in constant pain. I do not just want another cortisone shot and another round of PT. I'm a Smart Girl (tm), so I've been researching some of my problems on my own. I've learned that my pecs were very shortened and I've been stretching them which really does seem to affect my elbow. I am sore in every trigger point of my right latissmus dorsi, but I've so far been unable to find a lasting way to relieve this. And, let me tell you, the effects of this muscle are far-reaching. My teres major is pretty pissed off. And my triceps are none too happy. I read, I stretch, I exercise, and sometimes it seems to help. But it just doesn't last. I'm not quite ready to give up, but that day may come. But if their response is another shot and another round of PT, that copay will be the last of my money they'll see.

The reason I tell you all of this: It's really cut into my handwork. It often hurts to crochet or knit. So I'm not getting much done. Which particularly sucks because I have this big project I'm working on for an extremely dear friend who got married last Saturday and I'm not even half done. Now I realize that Miss Post says I have one year to present the happy couple with their gift, and it's not that I've never utilized this convenient rule of etiquette in the past, but I really should have been able to get this done. And that just makes me sad.

So that's my story -- things are pretty slow around here. But while the cortisone was still chugging away, so was I. I showed some in progress pictures earlier in the process, but I failed to show the finished product -- an imminently pretty cross stitch for my mother-in-law. And I got it done in plenty of time for Mother's Day, complete with mat and frame.

Click to embiggen
It's not high art, and it's not a show of immense skill, but I think it is just very, very pretty. It was a kit that I luckily stumbled upon in a clearance bin, and it was hilariously called a "Weekender". This is about like the redonculously named "Square-A-Day" tablecloth that I've ranted about before and remains the bane of my handworking existence. Seriously, who are these people??

So now I continue to plod along on the big wedding project when the arm doesn't stand in the way. But at least it's not titled something that constantly makes me feel like a slow, inadequate crafter with too much of a life. I'm free to impose all of that upon myself.

Reason I love the interwebs #239

2010-08-07T19:40:00.006-06:00

None of this is brand new news. I'm just now getting around to posting it.

You may recall that, some months ago, I designed a crocheted snowflake. Before I posted the pattern, my dear blog buddy Judy beta tested it. In thanks, I whipped up a small, pretty, useful knitted gift -- the Soap Sweater. It's soap, encased in a wool sweater that will felt as it's used and I think they're darling.

Soap Sweater by Cynthia Hall
(cable pattern from Very Cably Mittens)
Patons Classic Wool

I sent it off to her, it was well received, and everything was lovely.

And then, maybe as a thank-you for the thank-you gift, or maybe because I'd complimented others she had made (okay, maybe I'd done that about 27 times, but it wasn't a hint, I swear), or maybe just because she is awesome, I was gifted with the wonderfulness that is...

...wait for it...

...the incredible lavender chicken potholder!!!!!!!!!

Isn't it glorious? Doesn't it scream, "my kitchen is a delightful place to be!!"? I've had it for awhile now and I still get giddy every time I see it. Yay! Thank you again, Judy; I lurve him! I am thinking of naming him Ramon.

And that is why I love the 'net. It's where my friends live. :)

_____

90

2010-08-06T08:54:00.000-06:00

Today is August 6, and yesterday was my father’s birthday. He would have turned 90, and it had passed completely unnoticed. This is the first time that has happened. The truly bizarre thing is that realizing this made me realize that I had also completely failed to notice the passing of the anniversaries this summer of his and my mother’s deaths as well. It’s been thirteen and fifteen years, respectively, and I don’t especially want to commemorate these dates. However, it does seem strange and jarring once you realize that you have effectively forgotten to commemorate them. It’s a double-edged sword – on the one hand I like to think it means I’ve gotten on with it as I’m sure they would like me to do. But on the other hand it feels selfish, as if they’re not important enough to warrant the smallest of gestures, not even the raising of a glass and saying, “Here’s to you, Papa!”

Here’s to you, Papa.

Does it really matter what day I say that?

Oh look, a chicken!

2010-04-27T18:11:00.005-06:00

I warned you that I had things to show you from my downtime. And I'm doing it right away, even, before I'm distracted by something shiny or yarny or whatever. And since I'm still treading water with the whole loss-of-bloggal-direction thing I'll just jump right in. So, more show-and-tell it is, then! Lucky you!

My cousin got married recently and I wanted to make her something different and fun. She's not just starting out in the world; she has all the household stuff she needs and so did he and I'm sure they've merged everything delightfully and, knowing her, it's all way cooler than I would have purchased anyway. So I tread off the beaten path and made a pillow from a pattern I'd been enamored of for some time. I picked a funky color scheme and I'm pretty pleased with the result. Apparently, so are they! I didn't get a good photo in natural light, though, before I sent it off, so the show-and-tell is not optimum. I imagine we'll all survive.

Terra Cotta Pillow by Kathleen Garen
Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool and Vanna's Choice Solids
Size US H hook

As you can see, my version is totally not terra cotta, and I like it a lot better. And without the mind-numbing flash, you can't see the pillow form through the stitches. I swear. Yes, another in the long line of arguments for natural light photography. When I ever claim to be anything other than the most pathetic of photographers, I'll let you know. Hugs.

Actually, I say that, but the other project I made for them did manage to get decently photographed. Oh, you thought I only made them a pillow? For shame! I also sent them -- just as the last snow melted and it started to get nice and warm -- a smitten!

What's a smitten, you ask? I'm so glad you asked, for I shall tell you! And show you, even!

So you know when it's cold, and you're outside with your sweetie, and you want to hold hands with him, but it's too cold to be bare-handed, but you don't want to just hold hands through your gloves because that's not as romantic as touching skin, but brrrrrrrrr! it's too cold for all that open air skin touchin'? You know that one? Smitten to the rescue! One mitten for two hands! And in the shape of a heart, no less!! Freakin' brilliant, I tell you.

Smitten by Julie Weisenberger
Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick and Quick in Claret
size US 11 and 13 dpns

I'm in love with this adorable thing. I may make a hundred. Okay, that's totally a lie, but I'll make one for Gator and me. Someday. Probably.

Until the next shiny thing comes along.

_____

Who are you, again?

2010-04-26T17:56:00.006-06:00

Howdy! I'll just get right to the angst.

I simply don't know who you are, anymore.

Ah, melodrama. But it's very true, in a way. I started this blog when I found out that I would be moving away from my husband for a matter of possibly years and I wanted to show him what I was up to in the big city known as Beer Town. I invited the world along, and we had a great time. I met new people and they seamlessly became part of the audience. I found out that other family members were relying on this blog as their main method of knowing what I was up to. Friends that were often featured in my posts from Milwaukee are now reading to keep up with me now that I'm back in College Town. But I've lost my main audience. Gator is here with me everyday and we share all the wonderful little daily things that make marriage awesome. So I don't have to show him what I'm up to via the innernets, I just turn around and say, "Hey, Honey!"

I have no intention of giving up the blog. But I just haven't figured out who I'm talking to, exactly. Crafting blog buddies are always supportive of my handwork show-and-tell and I figure they are interested in the minutiae of my crafts, because I'm interested in theirs. But I don't assume that my sister is all that enthused about snowflake after snowflake and pictures of my dinner when I go out with friends. Okay, I don't assume anyone is enthused with pictures of my dinner, but Gator always thought it was pretty cute when I did that and now he's only, like, six feet away from me, and I don't know what to say on here anymore.

This is going to be a process. And it's still going to be mostly show-and-tell, because that's what I do. I make things. And there's just no way a blog about me is not going to be heavy on the things I make. And until I figure out what else it's about, that may be about it. I don't blame anyone who gets bored. But I figure no one will get as bored as they would if they came by again and again and saw nothing but the Olympics post. And the Olympics were a long time ago, I know. I mean, Evan Lysacek is already halfway through Dancing With the Stars, fercryinoutloud.

Plus, putting the angst right out there makes it smaller, so they say. We'll just see how that works out, won't we?

So in the meantime, show-and-tell, it is!! I've been very busy throughout my blog silence, but as it is Monday, we shall, of course, focus of Snowflake Mondays!

It's certainly been snowing up in here, as evidenced by numbers 4 through 11 from 99 Snowflakes!

It's kind of odd to see flakes all lined up like that, I think. And some of these, I must admit, are not shining examples of flawless blocking. But I bet they're awfully lovely on someone's tree this winter, regardless.

But that's just a teaser -- an aperitif, if you will. Back in February, I stated that I wanted to design two snowflakes this year. Well, one down! It was super fun and I think I'll be doing more than just one more this year. It would be great if I found time to design one a month, but I'm not going to hold myself to that, especially once it gets really nice out and I'm out and about more than crafting. But I'm very happy to be back on the design end of things, even if it's something as small as a flake. Instead of winging it, like I did with the Fancy Star flake, I was guided by a photograph of an actual snowflake. I like the idea of that because I'm a little turned off sometimes by snowflake patterns that are really just small doilies and not reminiscent of any snowflake ever found in nature. Not that they aren't beautiful, but it's just not the road I want to take.

So, without further blathering on about crap you don't care about, I present:

Crystal Fantasy Snowflake
(available as a PDF file in the sidebar)

Finished Size: Approximately 4 1/4" diameter using size 10 cotton and a 1.6
mm (US 6) steel hook.

Note: This pattern uses American crochet notation.

STITCH GUIDE
Picot Cluster: (Ch 7, slip st in fifth ch from hook) 3 times, (ch 5, slip st in
fifth ch from hook) twice, slip st in ch below third slip st from hook and in next
ch, ch 5, slip st in fifth ch from hook, skip next ch, slip st in ♥ next 2 chs; repeat from ♥ once more.
______________________________________________

Ch 6, join with slip st to form a ring.

Rnd 1: Ch 9, ♥ dc in ring, ch 6; repeat from ♥ four times more; join with slip st
to third ch of beginning ch-9. 6 ch-6 sps.

Rnd 2: Ch 1, sc in same st, ♥ ♪ ch 3, dc in next ch-6 sp, ch5, slip st in second
ch from hook and in next 3 ch, ch 3, dc in same sp, ch 12, slip st in fifth ch
from hook and in next 6 chs, work picot cluster, ch 11, slip st in fifth ch from
hook and in next 6 chs, ch 1, dc in same sp, ch 8, slip st in second ch from
hook and in next 3 ch, dc in same sp, ch 3, ♪ sc in next dc, repeat from ♥ four
times more, then repeat from ♪ to ♪ once; join with slip st to first sc; finish off.

Block and stiffen using a 6-point blocking pattern.

This design was inspired by one of the over 5,000 micrographs taken of
snowflakes by amateur photographer Wilson A. Bentley in the late 19th
century. He was the first person to photograph snowflakes and the results are
still stunning.

Photo by Wilson A. Bentley. Property of the public domain.

And there you have it. I like it much better than my first snowflake design, which I figure is how it should be. Happiness!

Super huge hugs, thanks, and kudos to my awesome blog buddy Judy who beta tested this pattern and made me sound more competent than I am. You totally rock, girl!!

Next time I'll tell you about the non-snowflake related things I've been doing! Won't that be fun?

Whoever you are.

_____

Olympic snowflake Monday

2010-02-15T18:57:00.003-06:00

I'll probably be a little quiet for the next couple of weeks while I watch a lot of skating and skiing. It's not personal, I promise. You should probably just go enjoy some skating a skiing too. It's pretty fun.

It is Monday, howver, and snowflakes are appropriate to the Winter Olympics, so I'll show off the latest - #3. Riveting, I'm sure, but that's what you get around here. If you haven't figured that out yet. :)

Ooh! Skiing! Bye!

_____

When you procrastinate your ways to procrastinate, what does that make you?

2010-02-11T20:55:00.009-06:00

Yes, it's true, sometimes I can't even procrastinate efficiently. Remember waaaaaaay back in, oh yes, March, when I told you about the fun little game I played on Facebook wherein I made gifts for five people by the end of the year?? Yeah, that one! Well, the last gift was received earlier this week! In February! So, either "end of the year" meant December 31st and I failed miserably, OR, "end of the year" meant twelve months from the day I joined the meme, in which case I made it with weeks to spare. I'm just going to put the blinders firmly on and say it's the latter. Even though I'm pretty sure it was originally worded in such a way that I don't really get that out.

I already showed you Byron's java jacket, but I'm going to re-show so it's a complete set. And, you're a rather captive audience, hmmmm? Hehehe. I also made small modifications in the same pattern for gifts for Julie and I'm Still Calling Her "New Friend" Veronica. I love these so much. I can't believe I haven't made myself one yet. The little cable is my favorite. :)

Quick and Basic Coffee Cozy by Andrea Piernock
Patons Soy Wool Stripes and Classic Wool
Size US6 dpns

I also showed you the beginning of Don's gift, but it went through a bit of transformation after it's last cameo... Don's a cool guy and a bit nerdy (which is why I love him so). I remembered him talking about a certain graphic novel many years ago when it first came out. And when the movie version of that graphic novel came out last year, I hoped that a commemorative hat would do the trick! Turns out I was right! I'm so glad he likes it. :)

Time Thief Watch Cap by Antoinette Buchanan
Unknown yellow acrylic blend with felt applique
Size US8 dpns

Speaking of nerd boys I love, Gator's best friend Wiggins was also on the list. Yes, we call lots of people by the last names around here. We're fun that way. Anyway, as a classic geek, I figured he could always use another place to stash some dice. And a dice bag shaped like a die was just too good to pass up.

D4-Shaped Dice Bag by Claire Nordlow
Red Heart Super Saver yarn
Size US8 straight needles

That's five! Whew! In the interest of full disclosure, it was the dice bag that did me in. I wanted to finish it before I started the last two gifts, but I was stymied. It was a little big fiddly to put together and get the numbers even. So I procrastinated it. I only finished it around New Year's. It turned out it wasn't so bad in the end. And I love the finished project. It was totally worth it, I think.

That's how one procrastinates the procrastination. You'd think it would take more talent than that, frankly.

_____

Flurries of fury!!

2010-02-08T18:24:00.006-06:00

I swear, people are crazy. When I was a kid, we got a snow day about once every four years. And it's not because it didn't snow! I remember getting stuck in the school bus on hills, in driveways, in ditches. We were late sometimes, and sometimes we all got off the bus and went into the student's house whose driveway we were stuck in and their parents gave us all hot chocolate, but school wasn't canceled. If it was, you could bet there was a drift in the pasture twice as tall as I was.

It snowed last night, an inch or so, enough that Gator had to brush it off the windshield of the truck. So, of course, there was no school today in about four counties. It did snow all day, but by 8:00 a.m. it was melting faster than it was falling. I came home to less snow on the ground than there was yesterday. There's already talk of no school tomorrow. Who are these people?? I know, I've fully entered curmudgeondom and will soon be talking about how far I used to walk uphill both ways. But really!!!

Once again, I have snow of a different variety to show -- #2 of 99 Snowflakes.

It's a little bit larger than the last one -- certainly larger than I thought it was going to be. I'm not even sure it qualifies as a mini-flake. It might be an actual grown-up.

I've been thinking about flakes a lot. I realized recently that my own design, the Fancy Star Snowflake was on the Snowflake Crochet-a-long at Crochetville last year. I liked designing it, but I totally winged it. I just picked up a hook and started. I'm very interested in sitting down and planning one out. I've been looking at pictures of real snowflakes for inspiration. I'm setting myself a goal and you are witness to it: I would like to design two more snowflakes this year and offer the patterns for free here and on Ravelry. I would also like to design one other thing, but I'm not sure what yet. I'll keep you posted.

I've actually got lots of things to show you, but I've been waiting because some of them hadn't been sent and received by their new owners yet. I'm still waiting just a bit but then I'll bore you with endless show and tell as is my wont. :D

In the meantime I'll update you on the cross stitch which I've spent quite a bit of time on this week. Again, I'm realizing how slow I am at this.

I like it, though. I just hope I can finish it without getting stressed. I hate for my hobby to stress me out. That's kind of the opposite of the point.

During the Super Bowl (Oh yeah! Geaux Saints!) I started Baktus. I'm gonna love this. Easy peasy knit, awesome and useful little scarf when you're done. And perfect for in front of the TV.

It's great for showing off fun sock yarns somewhere other than on your feet. If you're into that sort of thing. It appears that I am. Hmmm.

Punch Tow Truck!

2010-02-07T12:10:00.004-06:00

We were on our way home from work and stopped at a red light. All of a sudden Gator punched me in the arm. As this is actually not usual behavior from my beloved, I said something along the lines of, "Hey! What the -- ??"

"Slug Rooter," he said nonchalantly.

"What????"

He pointed out the front window to a van approaching the intersection. "Slug Rooter."

Sure enough, there was a van just like this crossing in front of us.

I just didn't realize you get to make up new Slug Bug variations on the fly.

Now I know.

Amy Amy!

2010-02-04T19:29:00.003-06:00

Since I've moved back to Columbia, I've spent very little time with my friends here. Partly it's because I just kind of holed up with Gator for awhile when I first got here. Conflicting schedules are to blame in some cases. But, really, a lot of it has to do with the fact that I just kind of drifted out of contact with a lot of folks over the last three years. They got new routines with other people, got into new relationships, moved, had kids, etc. And now that I'm back, I'm just not a normal part of their lives anymore and it's hard to find time to smush one more thing into a busy life. I get it. I don't take it personally. Technically, anyway. I know I'm as much to blame for the drifting as anyone. I went off and had an adventure. I made new friends. Just because I decided to pop back into town is no reason for anyone to drop everything and accommodate me. But, even though Gator is awesome and my very best friend and I like him better than anyone on the planet, he's... Well, he's a delightful homebody. And a tiny bit antisocial. (Those that know him can stop chuckling now. I know. I understate.) I like to gad about! I like to do fun things with all manner of fun people! I like adventures! I'd like to have adventures here in College Town and then maybe, maybe, I can learn to love it more and not pine endlessly for Beer Town. And as much as I love being with Gator, not having girlfriends to gad about with makes me lonely.

So I became determined to hook up with my old friends, even if I had to become a nuisance. The other problem is, I lost my old address book with everyone's phone numbers in it. If their number wasn't programmed into my landline phone (and it only held 10 numbers, so those were mostly family and almost none of my friends were in it), I didn't have their number anymore. I didn't have a cell phone before I moved to Milwaukee. Yes, I know. I wish I still didn't have one, ridiculous things, but that's another post, I reckon. ANYWAY, I had to pester my friend Amy via Facebook for weeks and finally we managed to exchange digits (I know, it shouldn't be so hard but somehow it was!) and set a day and time to get together!

Last night we went to Murry's, an awesome little restaurant here in College Town that I had not been to in almost four years. It's exactly the same as it was, which is kind of comforting. We had one of their most famous menu items: Green pepper rings. They are like onion rings, but green peppers. And they're covered with powdered sugar. Yes, you read that right. Powdered sugar. Oh, I know what it sounds like. It sounds horrible. It sounds like the worst idea ever. But. They. Are. AWESOME. There's some sort of magic that happens when the ingredients touch each other and they are transformed. It is a delicious example of something being far greater than the sum of its parts. I should have taken a picture of the dish itself but I did not because I was too busy eating it. But I did take a smooshy face picture of me and my AmyAmy (that's what I call her):

Our hair didn't used to match that well. Hehe. We picked right up like we hadn't been apart at all. It was really great. We talked and talked and talked. And ate, of course. The seafood linguine is really great there, too. :) We've already got plans for more fun!

So the College Town adventure has begun! Next I'm going to pester my friend Sarah, again via Facebook, into seeing me! I'm gonna get all re-friended up in no time!

_____

Let's try a little Snowflake Monday, shall we?

2010-02-01T19:14:00.006-06:00

Awesomeness of awesomenesses when I got home tonight -- broken hot water heater!! I never thought I would miss the creaks and clanks that thing used to make whenever I washed dishes. Oh, but I do! Not that I will be sad if it has to be replaced with a brand new one that doesn't make all those noises, mind you.

Only light yoga tonight, 'cause I'm going to work dirty!! (Yeah, like that's never happened before. Ha!)

Now back to your regularly scheduled handwork discourse! (I know you were worried I was going to further discuss my hygiene.)

So last year I totally fell off the Snowflake Monday wagon (pretty much everyone else did, too, so I didn't really feel too bad). And, come the holidays, guess what? I had no snowflakes to give to people! Amazing how that works! So I'm going to try to get back into the habit of making one flake a week and posting them on Mondays. I've got a copy of the book 99 Snowflakes and I've decided that this year I'm going to start with number 1 and see how far I get. The only problem with that is that the first several flake patterns are for small flakes...

That's just fine though because, as we must always remember, size matters not. Next week there will be another little tiny cute flake! And I will love it and stroke it and pet it...

I was at Hobby Lobby on Saturday to get a pillow form for the now-finished Not Terra Cotta Pillow (pictures coming later) and I "stumbled" upon the clearance section. I have a serious thing for clearance yarn. Pretty much, if it is marked way down and it's yarn, I will buy it. They didn't have any regular yarn, but they did have crochet nylon, which is awesome because I just saw a pattern in a magazine (Gator sweetly got me a subscription to this odd little 'zine) for an awesome little purse made of nylon -- and I had none in my stash! Whew! Glad that was rectified!!

But that is a project for much, much later! I also found a cute little cross stitch kit for $4 that will make an awesome mother's day gift! I haven't done a serious cross stitch project for some time and it feels a little foreign, I must admit. And, apparently, I am really slow at stitching these days. This is several hours' worth of work from Sunday:

It seems pretty pathetic to me. But it will be very pretty when it's done. It even came with a pre-cut mat board and I got the frame for it and everything (they were 50% off!)! So, now all I have to do is stitch! After I do some hopefully-non-sweat-inducing yoga.

_____

Saturday Sky

2010-01-30T11:10:00.005-06:00

More alliteration! w00t! Plus, the resurrection of a meme I haven't participated in for... well, a long time.

It's about 19F and clear as a bell. Pretty day.

And yes, those are Christmas lights. We are classy like that. Snap.

_____

WIP Wednesday

2010-01-27T19:59:00.006-06:00

Alliterative blog post titles make me happy, so I'm taking this opportunity to regale you with a view of my works in progress on a cold and grey Humpday. In other words, WIP Wednesday!! w00t!

I don't actually have many WIP's right now, unless you count that needlepoint heron picture that's been halfway done in a bag for eight years or the candlewicking picture I started making for my Grandmother in 1982. And we're not counting those, mmmkay?

Right! So on to the only four WIP's I have going right now!

This is a pillow and it's a wedding gift. The sides will get tied together when the back is done and that will make a fringe. I quite like the design.

The pattern said it was "advanced" and I thought, "that simple geometric pattern is considered 'advanced'?? Pshaw!" And, while I still wouldn't classify it as "advanced" necessarily, it is much more challenging than you'd think. The way the chart is followed is veeerrrrryyy different and takes a lot of getting used to. But I think the result is worth the aggravation. As you can see, the front is complete and I'm just finishing up the back. I'll get a pillow form this weekend, tie and sew her up, and voila!

I started this tissue box cover, but I knew it was going to get put on hold when I started it. So it may remain in this very primitive state for some time. But it is officially "in progress" so I must include it here. :)

If my sister is reading this, then she is waiting for me to acknowledge the very existence of this next WIP. It's her tablecloth that I agreed to make for her several years ago and it is far, far, far from finished. It was in time out for quite a while, but I've taken it out and have worked on it off and on again. The pattern comes from an old pattern book that she got from an aunt's estate and has the redonculous name "Square-a-Day Tablecloth". I have spent a Saturday doing little else but working on a square for this thing and let me tell you: If crocheting this were my actual job, on which I spent a solid eight hours in a day with no lunch or bathroom breaks and didn't stop to chat with anyone or pee, there is no way on God's green earth I could make one of these squares in one day. There must have been some supremely awesome Speed in the 50's, and all the grannies must have been on it. Although, I suppose technically a day is 24 hours. So, sorry, Sis. It's out of time out now and I'll keep plugging away at it, but it's gonna take some more time. I've almost completed three of the twelve squares.

Who knows, maybe I'll find a groove and just start crankin' 'em out. Stranger things have happened.

Now, this is the one that absolutely kills me. I started a purple (of course!) afghan for Gator over ten years ago. I got about a third of the way done and we moved. The afghan and the rest of the required yarn ended up stored in a trash bag. And then we moved again. And again. It ended up in a storage unit for awhile. When I went to get it out of storage, I couldn't find it. Now, this storage unit was one we shared with my In-Laws, so things got shuffled around a lot when I wasn't looking. So I looked some more. I asked my In-Laws. I looked some more. We emptied the storage unit a few years ago and it was nowhere to be found. I figured, hey, it was in a trash bag after all, somebody threw it away by mistake. Disappointing, but far from the end of the world.

When I moved back to Columbia from Milwaukee, I went to my In-Laws to get some stuff of ours they had stored. Guess what? It was in the bottom of a closet! No one really knew when or how it got there! So now I can finish Gator's Amethyst Blankie!

This photo is actually pretty tragic -- the color is waaaay off. It's really a very rich plum that I like very much. But mostly I lurve the combination of crocheted cables with the super cushy waffle stitch. Yum!

So there you have it! I've spent Wednesday evening showing off my Works in progress and now I'm Wiped and can no longer remain Wakeful as I need my Wits about me tomorrow at Work so I can earn my Wage.

Hee!

I crack myself up!

What I do 2.0 (sorta)

2010-01-25T18:57:00.007-06:00

You may be wondering just what I do in my sparkly new job. Also, you may not care a fig. In that case, all is not lost today because I'm really only going to describe my work in about two or three sentences. Maybe four. Just skip down to the pretty pictures now. I won't mind.

Actually, I'm going to let the rest of the innernets give you the details -- then you can read as much or as little as you want. Ready? Basically, I'm an aerobiologist and flow cytometrist in a core facility for researchers who study pathogens and the immune response to infection. In reality, it's a brand new facility and we're still just setting up and don't have any real pathogens yet and I'm still learning to run my $1,000,000 worth of equipment. In case you were wondering where your tax dollars are going. I take really good care of them, I promise. :)

Make that $1,000,250 because I also got a new digital camera for the lab and I've been playing with it, checking the best settings for extreme close-ups, playing with the lighting, etc. You know how people take photos of ordinary things very close up and/or from an extreme angle and then it becomes "Art" photography? I really think these types of photo are pretty predictable and uninspired. I usually end up liking them anyway. I never claimed to be a particularly sophisticated art lover.

I went off on this artsy tangent because -- surprise! -- I took some of this very type of photo in my aerobiology lab. I want to blow them up really big, frame them, and hang them in the lobby and front hallway of our facility. This probably won't happen, but I can at least share them with you! Aren't you the lucky ones! ;)

Tunnel of Glove -- the inside of one of the gloves on my glovebox.

Triumph -- a row of glove ports on the box.

Rabbit Row -- animal cages.

Aspen -- the lid of the sonicator.

Parade -- rivets around the pass-through port of the glovebox.

And yes, I do find them predictable and uninspired. And yes, I like them anyway. Don't worry. I'll be keeping the day job.

Can we actually do this now?

2010-01-24T20:27:00.004-06:00

So I've been trying to post to my blog since Wednesday. That's when the internet problems began. So I'm finally posting, but I admit I'm kinda phoning this one in. I feel bad, but I promised Aunt Judy a picture of a baby and by Jove she's gonna get a picture of a baby. Even if it's late. Hooyah.

Gator and I didn't do any traveling over the holidays. This is nominally because we needed new tires on the pickup, but it was mostly just because we don't like to travel over the holidays. The weather's usually bad, the roads are full of idiots, etc., but I digress. The result of this is that I had not seen my sister or nieces for months and months and I had a new great-niece that I had never met. Also, there were presents for the great nieces and nephews that had not yet been received.

About a week and a half ago, we finally got the new tires for the pickup. So I messaged my sis and nieces on Facebook that I would daytrip to Kansas City, meet up with as many of them as could come, deliver presents, meet a new baby, and a wonderful time would be had by all. This went over very well and fabulous plans were made, including a visit to the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art. Yay! Super fun!

So the day comes, I get around, the weather's crappy but that's not to stop me! I get to my niece Liz's house in KC and finally get to meet the newest of my greats -- Miss Eleanor!

She didn't want to look at the camera too badly, but that's okay because she was sweet and charming and let me hold her for an hour and didn't fuss once. (Here she is being held by my other niece, Becca, who is not Ellie's mother -- just to avoid confusion.)

So we're going over the line-up for the day and Liz gets to the part where the kids will open their presents... and my heart drops. In all the truck-ready-crappy-weather-getting-ready that morning, I forgot the presents. 'Cause I'm a moron dorkwad. So we had to explain to children who had been super excited to come get presents that they weren't getting presents. Oh, but they were still going to a Museum!!!! That went over great.

So I'm going back to KC soon, to meet up with my sister and nieces and great nieces and nephews and redeem myself as the cool great aunt. Which is important to me. Because "the cool great aunt" is not a term you hear every day.

Unless you're my Aunt Judy, and then you are the cool great great aunt. Which is just cool. Happy Bday, Jude. Love you. :)

Heat wave

2010-01-13T21:16:00.005-06:00

Wow, we went from -12 to 50 F in, like, a week. Freaky deaky. I tend to not complain about nice weather, but I have two new yummy accessories and I'm not going to get to wear them if it stays this warm. And, remember, it's really all about me. ;)

On Christmas Eve, SpikeTV broadcast the original Star Wars trilogy. Of course, I have four copies of these movies (two VHS versions and two DVD versions), but whenever I come across them on TV I have to watch them. And they've become holiday standbys, which I lurve. Especially since Darth Vader speaks to me every time I turn on my Christmas tree. Which I also lurve. Hee!

So it was all Christmassy and Star Warsy and it was cold out and I was cozy and so I made a hat! It's very warm and cute and it has a huge flower and I love it! But now it's warm again and I'm wishing for just a little bit more cold so I can wear this more.

Beanie Brim Cap by Hannah Levine
Lion Brad Jiffy in Charcoal
Size USJ hook

One of my favorite go-to wool yarns is Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool. Almost three years ago I used it to make a cabled scarf and two years ago I used it to make a cabled hat. That left a desperate need for cabled mittens to go with. Had to fix that, right?? So I spent the first two days of 2010 filling the cable void in my accessory wardrobe.

Very Cabley Mittens by Kelly Porpiglia
Lion Brand Fisherman's Yarn
Size US6 needles

I think knitters and skiers are the only people who wish for more winter. We're so crazy that way!
_____

I'll take "Things That Came in the Mail Today" for $200, Alex

2010-01-11T19:53:00.006-06:00

So, hi, howya been? Cold enough for you? Yeah. Me too.

::looks around::

Yeah, we're just going to pretend those last nine months of silence didn't happen. Moving on!!

Here's some pretty things I made! Observe! Allow me to distract you with photos because my new camera cord came today!!

In August I moved away from the town that I love more than any town I've ever lived in. I left awesome friends that I adore. I came back to Missouri, which I don't adore. I got a new place with Gator, the love of my life, whom I adore more than anyone ever. Which is very, very good. I just fail to see why I can't have both Gator AND Milwaukee and will feel this way for ever and ever Amen.

So I left MKE in August and I didn't have time to make awesome going away presents for all my dear friends, most notably the Smart Girls (tm), because I was busy doing fanciful things like writing a thesis and having a lot of fun with said Smart Girls (tm). But I did make my thesis advisor a yummy silk and viscose scarf (zomg, that yarn is to DIE for!!!).

Breast Cancer Awareness Scarf by Heather Bagni
Rowan RYC Natural Silk Aran Yarn
Size US6 and US8 needles

I also made a little something for my neighbor and friend Ron, who helped me out a lot and showed me a ton of great things in SE Wisconsin and was generally a great guy. He sails on tallships twice a year in different exotic locations like Spain, Fiji, Rio de Janeiro, etc. I know, must be rough, eh? So I made him this:

It's pretty darned straightforward stitching, but the frame was a total find (love you, Michael's!) and makes it look much more awesome.

So then I moved back to Columbia. Into a duplex. A duplex previously inhabited by three undergrad guys. That was not cleaned before we moved in. Or, most probably, before they had moved in. Or the people before them. After crying, screaming, calling the landlord, and going into what Gator calls Completely Polite But Completely Terrifying mode, we did get the landlord to deal with the inch of moldy slime in the bottom of the refrigerator. And the oven was "cleaned" (but it was much better).

So began the systematic scrubbing of the duplex. Honestly, I'm still not done. But there's only so long I can stay in that mode before I just have to start vegging out again. Oh, and we got a Wii, which totally cuts in to the cleaning time. And I started knitting and crocheting again after a brief hiatus.

My friend Tricia's SO Tommy really liked the bear I made for Gator last year. So I finally made one for Tommy, too. Here Tommy's orange bear sits beside his purple brother, Bearsly, who actually sleeps in our bed every night. Aren't they the cutest things?

Animal Pillows by Jennifer Down Under
Red Heart Super Saver Yarn
Size I US hook

I only made one handcrafted Christmas gift this year, which is kind of weird, actually. My niece is a total Twilight fangirl, so I made her the scarf that Bella wears during the baseball game in the first movie.

Bella Swan's Baseball Scarf by Nancy Fry
Caron Simply Soft Yarn
Size US8 needles

I think it was a big hit. :)

So that's a little of what I've been up to. Stay tuned for more and, before you know it, you'll be all caught up with me!

And they say all people who blog are Narcissistic. Pshaw.

She knows.

2010-01-07T20:26:00.004-06:00

She knows she hasn't posted for freaking ever. She knows her graphics all went away (because they were hosted at Geocities). She knows.

She wrote a thesis, she graduated, she moved back to Missouri and her hubby, she started a new job. She got a Wii. She's still unpacking (yes, still). She's still cleaning grime from the nooks and crannies of her new place (omg, it was soooo gross when we moved in!).

She lost her camera cord. She has been knitting and crocheting, and taking photos of the FO's. Said pictures are trapped on the camera. She has ordered a new cord. It has not yet arrived. She is cheap and only gets the slow kind of shipping.

She feels like so much has happened that she doesn't know where to start. She will probably just show you some things she made instead.

But not until the cord arrives.

And then she will stop referring to herself in the third person.

But it was awfully artsy, wasn't it?

My new favorite thing ever

2009-04-15T17:22:00.003-06:00

Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent

I'm gonna eat your head!

2009-03-22T12:31:00.008-06:00

It's Sunday again, a wonderful time when I realize that all my high expectations of productivity for the weekend are going to fall considerably short again and so I just give up and have fun and rest and say screw it. So I'm going yarn shopping with V this afternoon and then we're going to watch the Marquette - Mizzou game, which I have bad, bad feelings about. But Gator is pulling for Mizzou (his MLS alma mater and current employer), so either way somebody in my marriage is going to be happy about the outcome, which I guess is something.

Gator is also quite happy with his more-than-a-month-late Valentine's present, which he received this week, just as it was getting too warm to warrant such an item. Of course. He really likes it, or at least he says very supportive things to me with great enthusiasm. Hee! I sometimes thing he's pulling my leg because I'm not sure any man can honestly be as freakin' awesome as he is. I wish I had pictures of him modeling it, but these shots are just going to have to do.

Yes, it's the wildly popular Fish Hat (Dead or Alive?) from the winter issue of Knitty! It's just Red Heart from stash, but since I had a bunch of purple and other manly colors, I think it came out quite well. Since Gator is a gamer from way back, I thought it apropos to make the stripes according to random rolls of a pair of six-sided dice. Fun, no? Here's the mini-gallery:

Fish Hat (Dead or Alive?) by Thelma Egberts
Red Heart Super Saver
Size US8 dpns

Now I'm off to burn another afternoon with fun rather than work. Sigh. I fear the day I'm no longer going to get away with this crap...

Oh, look! Shiny and wonderful ways to procrastinate!

2009-03-18T06:11:00.005-06:00

So, I did something stupid. But fun! But something that captured my fancy and has the potential to derail my recent good job at staying focused on my research and spin me off into the lovely, comforting world of handwork, handwork, handwork! I played a game on Facebook where I promised to make handmade gifts for five people. And while the rules state that I can make a mix CD, or bake something, or glue together bits of whatever, I am and always will be two things: a) a handworker, and b) a perfectionist. So, you see how this could potentially tip the delicate balance of my life. But so fun! How could I refuse? I love making things for people, and I love an excuse to make something for someone I would not otherwise have a reason to shower with little bits of love. They will necessarily be small things, but still! Fun!

The first project is a hat, but it will be a silly, fun hat (the rules said the gifts could be weird) that I don't know if the recipient will actually wear, but I like to think that my bizarre sense of fun is contagious and will soon take over the world. So I don't worry about it too much. The basic hat is finished and I hope to embellish it and bring it to life this evening (even if I ought to work on a presentation tonight instead. ::sigh::):

It's a very basic hat pattern, but a very bright yellow. I hope the finished project is as awesome as it is in my head. Admittedly, things often aren't as cool in real life as they are in my head. But hope springs eternal and I soldier on. FO in a couple of days!

Last night, I knocked out this little coffee cozy. I had some Soy Wool Stripes left over from the bag I made last fall and this project was perfect for it. So simple, so basic, so completely useful! I love projects like this.

So, that's almost two projects down. I have the next one planned, but I may not start it right away. I do really have to put together that presentation and get a bunch of research done so I can make a poster for a conference next month. You know, little things like that...

Hope you had a wonderful St. Patrick's Day! I didn't do much (except make the coffee cozy) but that was okay because I went to the Milwaukee St. Pat's parade on Saturday. It was a lot of fun and I felt like that was my St. Pat's celebration. Even if I did go to Mader's for a late lunch. Maybe not very Irish, but very Milwaukee! (Mader's is a German restaurant and a Milwaukee institution.)
Yesterday was a gorgeous day, however, so it was a wonderful holiday and I enjoyed every minute of it!

Off to do more of that research stuff! Ta!

Break? What break?

2009-03-16T05:10:00.005-06:00

Today is a lull in the stream of recent days of real or imagined meaning -- Friday was Friday the 13th, Saturday was Pi Day, yesterday was the Ides of March, and tomorrow will be St. Patrick's Day. But today, as far as I know, is nothing special. Except that it's the first day back from Spring Break at Marquette. Of course, as a grad student, I didn't have a break per se, just a break from TAing so I could do another big overnight experiment which I've just about recovered from. Boy, those just wear me out.

I haven't done a whole lot of knitting lately, but I did finish a fun project that I can't quite show you yet. I'm sending it off to Gator today, so in the next few days I'll be able to post about it. Since it's his Valentine's present, you get the idea of just how behind I am.

There has been some other knitting going on -- but I'm not overly excited about it at the moment. I've plugged away at the Breast Cancer Awareness scarf:

I've finished one half and finished the first chart of the second half. When the second half is done, the two halves get grafted together. It's a cool pattern, but it's going to have to be aggressively blocked when it's done. We'll see how this yummy yarn blocks up.

Yesterday, after I finished Gator's gift, I immediately cast on a new hat. It's just a basic watch cap, but will have some fun embellishments when it's done. I'll leave that as a surprise.

I'm still tired and preoccupied, so I'm not very witty or bloggie these days. Hopefully I will get my mojo back soon.

Have a great day!

18

2009-01-23T08:07:00.004-06:00

In keeping with the number titles, I give you the number of years I have been married as of today. Happy Anniversary to my Sweetie! It sucks being apart on special days like this (who am I kidding, it sucks to be apart every day!), but we are taking heart in the fact that this is the last time. I will be done with school this July and we will be together again, no matter where we end up. Anywhere. Just together. I'm psyched.

So, as a good wife, I finished Gator's anniversary socks and got them mailed off earlier this week. I'll save the picture of the FO for when he has received them. He knows they're socks, he knows they're blue and striped, he saw a pic of their beginnings earlier, but I want to save the final pic for after he's opened his present. :)

Finishing the socks left me with no knitting on the needles. (Yes, Sis, the tablecloth languishes. It's a problem. It's also crochet, not knitting, so my earlier statement is correct. ::grin::) I have going-away presents lined up for some of my professors and friends, so I leaped into a project that allows me to finally use some yummy clearance yarn I've been stroking longingly for over a year since I bought it. It's viscose, linen, and silk and it feels very posh. It's a little nubby, but still totally delicious. I'm using the Breast Cancer Awareness scarf pattern, but I admit it's just because I think it's pretty and not because I am trying to crusade with it. Not that I wouldn't do that, it's just not my goal with this particular item. So far, I am very pleased with the results.

I modded it a bit by leaving off the bobbles (not really a fan) and adding a repeat of the first part of the chart, which I think really adds something. I like.

So now I'm off for another day of discovery (or something) and preparations for another long weekend of staying up all night with my cells. The fun never stops around here.

But thinking about how lucky I am to have the most awesome, supportive, and interesting husband in the world sure helps.

___

63

2009-01-17T22:18:00.003-06:00

SUPPOSEDLY if you’ve seen over 85 of these films, you have no life. (I can totally find other ways of not having a life. Trust me.)

There are 239 films on this list. Copy this list, go to your own blog, paste this. Then, put x’s next to the films you’ve seen, add them up, change the header adding your number, and click post at the bottom. Have fun.

(x) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(x) Grease
( ) Pirates of the Caribbean
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest
( ) Boondock Saints
( ) Fight Club
( ) Starsky and Hutch
( ) Neverending Story
( ) Blazing Saddles
(x) Airplane
Total: 4

(x) The Princess Bride
( ) Anchorman
(x) Napoleon Dynamite
( ) Labyrinth
( ) Saw
( ) Saw II
( ) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
( ) Anger Management
(x) 50 First Dates
(x) The Princess Diaries
( ) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Total so far: 8

(x) Scream
( ) Scream 2
( ) Scream 3
( ) Scary Movie
( ) Scary Movie 2
( ) Scary Movie 3
( ) Scary Movie 4
( ) American Pie
( ) American Pie 2
( ) American Wedding
( ) American Pie Band Camp
Total so far: 9

( ) Harry Potter 1
( ) Harry Potter 2
( ) Harry Potter 3
( ) Harry Potter 4
( ) Resident Evil 1
( ) Resident Evil 2
(x) The Wedding Singer
( ) Little Black Book
( ) The Village
( ) Lilo & Stitch
Total so far: 10

(x) Finding Nemo
( ) Finding Neverland
( ) Signs
( ) The Grinch
(x) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
( ) White Chicks
( ) Butterfly Effect
( ) 13 Going on 30
( ) I, Robot
( ) Robots
Total so far: 12

(x) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
( ) Universal Soldier
( ) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
( ) Along Came Polly
( ) Deep Impact
(x) KingPin
(x) Never Been Kissed
(x) Meet The Parents
( ) Meet the Fockers
( )Eight Crazy Nights
( ) Joe Dirt
( ) KING KONG (The Original)
Total so far: 16

( ) A Cinderella Story
( ) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
(x) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumber & Dumberer
( ) Final Destination
( ) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
(x) Halloween
( ) The Ring
( ) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving X-MAS
( ) Flubber [the original]
Total so far: 18

(x) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
(x) Practical Magic
( ) Chicago
( ) Ghost Ship
(x) From Hell
( ) Hellboy
( ) Secret Window
( ) I Am Sam
(x) The Whole Nine Yards
( ) The Whole Ten Yards
Total so far: 22

( ) The Day After Tomorrow
( ) Child’s Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
( ) Ten Things I Hate About You
(x) Just Married
( ) Gothika
(x) Nightmare on Elm Street
(x) Sixteen Candles
( ) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
( ) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
(x) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask
total so far: 26

( ) Bad Boys
( ) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
( ) Lucky Number Slevin
( ) Ocean’s Eleven
( ) Ocean’s Twelve
( ) Bourne Identity
( ) Bourne Supremecy
( ) Lone Star
( ) Bedazzled
( ) Predator
( ) Predator II
( ) The Fog
(x) Ice Age
( ) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
( ) Curious George
Total so far: 27

(x) Independence Day
( ) Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
( ) Darkness Falls
( ) Christine
(x) ET
( ) Children of the Corn
( ) My Bosses Daughter
( ) Maid in Manhattan
( ) War of the Worlds
( ) Rush Hour
( ) Rush Hour 2
Total so far: 29

( ) Best Bet
( ) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
( ) She’s All That
( ) Calendar Girls
(x) Sideways
(x) Mars Attacks
( ) Event Horizon
(x) Ever After
(x) Wizard of Oz
(x) Forrest Gump
( ) Big Trouble in Little China
(x) The Terminator
(x) The Terminator 2
( ) The Terminator 3
Total so far: 36

( ) X-Men
( ) X-2
( ) X-3
( ) Spider-Man
( ) Spider-Man 2
( ) Sky High
( ) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
( ) Catch Me If You Can
( ) The Little Mermaid
( ) Freaky Friday (the original)
( ) Reign of Fire
( ) The Skulls
( ) Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2
( ) The Hot Chick
(x) Shrek
( ) Shrek 2
Total so far: 37

( ) Swimfan
( ) Miracle on 34th street
(x) Old School
( ) The Notebook
(x) K-Pax
( ) Krippendorf’s Tribe
( ) A Walk to Remember
(x) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
(x) The 40-year-old Virgin
Total so far: 41

(x) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
( ) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
( ) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
(x) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(x) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(x) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Total so far: 45

(x) Baseketball
( ) Hostel
(x) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
(x) Elf
(x) Highlander
( ) Mothman Prophecies
(x) American History X
( ) Three
Total so Far: 50

( ) The Jacket
( ) Kung *** Hustle
( ) Shaolin Soccer
( ) Night Watch
( ) Monsters Inc.
(x) Titanic
(x) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
( ) Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willa74
Total so far: 52

( ) High Tension (Haute Tension)
( ) Club Dread
( ) Hulk
(x) Dawn Of the Dead
( ) Hook
( ) Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
( ) 28 days later
(x) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
( ) Waterworld
Total so far: 54

( ) Kill Bill vol 1
( ) Kill Bill vol 2
( ) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
( ) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) the Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
( ) Army of Darkness
Total so far: 54

(x) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(x) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(x) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(x) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(x) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(x) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
(x) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
( ) Ewoks The Battle For Endor
Total so far: 61

( ) The Matrix
( ) The Matrix Reloaded
( ) The Matrix Revolutions
( ) Animatrix
( ) Evil Dead
( ) Evil Dead 2
( ) Team America: World Police
( ) Red Dragon
(x) Silence of the Lambs
(x) Hannibal
Total: 63

Wow. Those that know me well will be amazed that I've even seen that many. Now, if I had to count how many times I've seen the original trilogy of Star Wars movies...

_____

Can I go to sleep yet?

2009-01-11T11:04:00.006-06:00

Don't be at all surprised if this post is completely unintelligible. I've been up all night working in the lab again and I'm 29 hours into a 30 hour experiment. I feel like many parts of me are made of rubber. Like neurons, for instance. And they're about to snap back at any moment. But I must remain alert for another hour and a half before I can walk home (in the bracing cold, which I'm sure will wake me right up and then I won't be able to sleep -- argh), so I decided to write a little something.

I finished my second Seraphina shawl, which is a good thing because it gets cold in my apartment! It's the only thing about living in a tall building with lots and lots of windows that I don't like. I have afghans to wrap up in, but they're just so bulky. This will be much nicer when I'm curling up with a knitting project or thesis reference. I love this colorway so much -- I wish I could find more of it. I took dozens of pictures of it in all kinds of light (that were available) and I just can't get a good representation. It's such a rich chocolate brown and bright, cheery sky blue (Carolina blue!) but the picture is a little dull. And you can't really see the poofiness of the boucle yarn, either. It's very, very yummy.

Seraphina's Shawl by Doni
Joann Sensations Rainbow Boucle in blue/brown
Size US I hook

So now I have only one project that I'm seriously working on, but I'm getting ready to start another. Both are for Gator, so I'm not showing anything until he gets them. I may have to start something else too, just so I have something to blog about!

Although I wouldn't be surprised if I need to rant sometimes about my new TA assaignment...

_____

The twelfth day

2009-01-05T08:41:00.009-06:00

It's Epiphany, which means the tree should come down tomorrow. :( It's not that I'm so sad for Christmas to end, it's just that I really really like the fairy lights in the dark evenings. Maybe I should just string some up for the rest of winter. I should be able to find some super cheap. (The tree is pre-lit, so it's not like I can just [easily] take the lights off the tree and string them up alone.)

It's been a fun twelve days, though, full of get-togethers and much food and drink -- all of which I have no pictures of because I SUCK, but rest assured a marvelous time was had by all. :)

Now that the holiday is over, though, I can show you the gifts I made for Gator and his mom. Teena got the waterlilies drop-stitch scarf, which I think turned out lovely. She says it will match her new coat quite well.

Drop Stitch Scarf by Christine
Red Heart Super Saver Ombres in colorway Monet
Size US 8 straight aluminum needles

Gator's present this year was pure fun. I've made him hats and a scarf and socks and I was running out of ideas of things to make for him that he'd actually appreciate. It came up during a phone call that he would like a stuffed animal ('cause he's totally secure in his masculinity and super cool like that), so I tried to find something that was big enough to be cuddly. I found the Animal Pillows pattern on Ravelry, modified the nose so that it's more of a muzzle, and totally winged it for the eyes (the googly eyes alone were much too small!). It's purple because that's his favorite. I call him Pudgy, but he calls him something else that I can never remember. I think he's pretty awesome and good for hugging, though.

Animal Pillow by Jennifer Down Under
Red Heart Super Saver solids in lavender
Hook size US I (5.5mm)

As for me, I got some really cool and awesome gifts this year, but the one I want to really show off, the one that makes me go "Squee!!", is my new microwave!!! It's full-sized but not too big, and has a moisture sensor so it will automatically determine how long something needs to cook based on its steam production! Science!!! It works really well and it's pretty, to boot!

This is what it looks like inside (this picture is mostly for Gator, who hasn't seen it yet -- sorry it's so boring, but be glad I didn't take close-ups of all the buttons and stuff):

While I was at the store picking out my wonderful new microwave, I also hit the 75% off Christmas decorations aisle. I controlled myself pretty well, I think:

This is all-metal and is pretty heavy. It's bright-colored and super cute. A fun addition for $3.75! Bargain!

This one, I admit, I have no idea what I'm going to do with. But I think it's incredibly neat-o. It has an eye at the end of each ray, so I can hang it quite easily, but it's pretty big and I'm not sure where a good place would be. Since we'll be living someplace new next Christmas, I'll worry about it then. In the meantime, it's quite festive on my floor.

I've also been working steadily on my latest Seraphina shawl and Gator's new socks, but photos of them will have to wait until next time. Oooh! Anticipation!

I've also been having non-stop lab frustrations, and I had better go face some of those right now. Thanks for attending my Christmas show-and-tell! Have a great one!

_____

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

2008-12-24T21:26:00.008-06:00

First of all, I'd just like to point out that this is a real card that you can buy. Why did I not know this months ago??? (Click to embiggen)

It's been a nice and quiet Christmas Eve here in Beer Town. I mostly listened to the radio while I knit and crochet, made some more shortbread, had nice visits with a couple of people who live in my building, and surfed the innernets without guilt of any kind. Wonderful.

Now that the gift-related handwork is done for another year, I started right in on a couple of projects I'd been itching to get at. Gator gets a new pair of socks. I've started the heel flap:

I've also started another Seraphina shawl, this time made with Joann Sensations Rainbow Boucle in an awesome chocolate brown/robin egg's blue stripe. So squishy and yummy! I wish I'd found this yarn a long time ago!! I also wish this colorway was not apparently discontinued. I think I'd make about four dozen things with it!

Aside from the card I featured above, the other TOTALLY AWESOME thing I discovered today on the 'net was the Droidel. Oh yes, kids, your eyes do not deceive you -- that's "dreidle" spelled like "'droid". As in 'droids. As in R2D2. It's things like this that make me almost not hate George Lucas anymore. Almost. I had to print it, cut it out, and glue it together POST HASTE!!!

Then I had to spin him and scamper about my apartment singing,

"Droidel, Droidel, Droidel!
I made you out of paper!
And when I'm good and ready,
with Droidel I will caper!"

(apologies to the real dreidel song and anyone who thinks I'm making light of a significant tradition. I'm not, I swear. I genuinely think dreidels are cool. I just happen to think that just about anything can be improved by the addition of R2D2. And it makes me ridiculously happy. Happy's good, right?)

Another happy Web-related Christmas bonus: Amazon has a bunch of free MP3 downloads and right now that includes a bunch of really great Christmas music. Another thing I wish I'd know about a lot sooner. But better late than never!

Tomorrow I'm going to my friend Rachel's home for the day to eat, play Wii with her kids, eat, watch movies, eat, and possibly pass out in mid-crochet. And I'll probably call Gator every fifteen minutes or so. I love you and miss you, honey. Merry Christmas, my darling. :)

I wish you all a wonderful holiday full of peace, love and laughter. Merriest of Christmases.

_____

Baking for the holidays

2008-12-22T09:25:00.005-06:00

The end of the semester and the beginning of the holiday season has left me little time to blog -- sorry! I have been doing some knitting and crocheting, but as this has been all gift-related, I can't show you anything until after they have been received. But I can show you this:

Spritz cookies -- recipe straight from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook -- just like Mama used to make!

And classic shortbread using the recipe that came with the super-cute shortbread pan.

There will probably be more shortbread on Christmas Eve. I forgot how simple it is!

Hope your Holiday prep is going well!

_____

2008-11-22T23:35:00.007-06:00

It was a gray, cold day here in Beer Town, but not as bad as it has been. But my Saturday Sky (I know! I haven't posted one of these for ages!) is not much to look at. I included some pretty church for interest.

Thursday was my birthday (39, if you're wondering) and I had a fabulous day! There were presents, food, and lots of cards! I almost ran out of room for all of them on my sideboard!

It's a bit humbling, really. I'm not sure I'm a good and thoughtful enough friend to warrant the outpouring I received. There was some serious love I was feeling. So nice, though! Many, many thanks!!!

Yesterday was laid back, but today was another fun day. V and I went shopping, then we had a terrific supper at County Clare, then we went to the Marquette v. UWM basketball game -- a cross-town rivalry that was a really good time. Marquette won (we were heavily favored) so I got to cheer a lot. We were pretty sloppy and high-strung during the first half, but we calmed down and got the job done during the second half. Especially the defense, but the offense really improved, too. Nice playing.

Then I came home and found this on Wil Wheaton's blog. HILARIOUS.

And now I'm going to bed. My life is very good right now. If Gator lived with me, it would be freakin' perfect.

_____

Ways in which I'm stupid

2008-11-17T20:15:00.005-06:00

Well, I'm sure there are many, but let's focus on how this stupidity translates into bad knit blogging, the most potent stupidity known to knitters with connections to the innernets everywhere!

Last Sunday, I finished Inga's Haekelbeutel and was so excited to felt it. I'd never felted anything before! So I looked up instructions for machine felting on this here innernets (I'd read it all before, I just wanted a refresher before taking the plunge), gathered up my stuff, and headed up to the laundry room. I pinned it up in a pillowcase, selected a few pair of jeans to keep it company (and help with agitation in the front-loader) and set it going. Yay! Now all I had to do was pray that it felted well and shrunk up a lot, because it was SO very large and in charge, you guys were just going to laugh when you saw --

Oh.

No.

Hmmm. Yep, that's what I forgot to do. Take a picture of it before I put it into the machine so I could show before and after felting pics and you could see the dramatic difference. If there was one, you know. And, as it turns out, there was one. A big difference. Not that you'll truly appreciate the difference what with not being able to see it and all!! D'oh!!!

Well, anyway, here it is after two rounds in the washer and dryer and some shaping with the trusty steam iron (which you may notice I would use on everything if I could). I'd still like it to be a little more even, but it's terribly difficult to work with. Suggestions?

It's all thick and squishy and yummy and the stitch definition is nowhere to be seen. I still intend to line it, but I couldn't wait to start carrying it anyway!

Inga's Haekelbeutel by Inga Joana Mertens
Patons Soy Wool Stripes in Natural Navy
US size I hook

I've already purchased yarn to make a spring/summer version...

...that I will photograph before felting!!!

_____

Recovery

2008-11-13T07:32:00.008-06:00

I've mostly recovered from my sickness -- just a little bit of coughing and sniffling left. But much better!! I no longer have that hit-by-a-truck feeling! This is a vast improvement!

So, since Anne and Andy have gotten hitched (and Anne successfully defended her dissertation on Tuesday -- Yay, Dr. Anne!!!), I can show finished pictures of their wedding gift. I had showed some of the in-progress photos because I wasn't sure it was actually going to be their gift for a while there. Here is the funky fresh ripple afghan in all its glory:

I made it as long as my sofa so it would be nice and big for cuddling up under. I also tried to photograph it with an artful drape like they do in the pattern books, but I think I ended up with more of a "here's what it looks like wadded up on the couch" vibe:

I attended Anne and Andy's gift opening brunch, so I got to see them open it:

I hope they cuddle under it to many a rousing football game this winter!

Pattern: Easy Ripple Afghan by Susan B
Yarn: worsted weight stash acrylic of many types
Hook: size US H

I also started on a Christmas gift for my MIL, that I'm calling the Waterlilies Scarf. The Easy Dropped Stitch Scarf pattern looks really nice in the Monet colorway of Red Heart and really does remind me of his waterlilies paintings. If the sun ever shines here again, I'll get a nicer photo that shows off the color. But for now, this will have to do:

Much catching up to do in the lab -- hope you're all having a fun and productive week!

_____

About 27 kinds of awesome

2008-11-12T07:33:00.000-06:00

In which I try to distract myself from sickness

2008-11-10T09:17:00.009-06:00

I'm home quite sick today, but as the medicine hasn't kicked in yet and I can't sleep for the coughing, I thought I'd make a quick post. I'll mostly let the pictures do the talking today.

Nov. 1 was my friend Anne's wedding. It was a total blast.

Aren't they adorable? It was an autumn-themed wedding with different rich shades of brown as the main colors. The (cheese)cake was stupendous:

I was a posing fool. I posed with Rachel:

I posed with Veronica:

And I posed with the bride herself:

I wore the Maui shrug that I crocheted (mostly) during the Olympics. I liked it. It made my little black dress more festive. You can kind of get a sense of it, but the photos that really featured it didn't come out. I'll have to just play dress up one day and have a photo shoot. Someday.

The wedding was awesome and I had a great time. Congrats Anne and Andy!!

Then Tuesday night, while I watched election returns, I finished all the blocks for my Inga's Haekelbeutel:

Yesterday I pieced them, but I'll save photos of that for later. Can't blow all my news at once -- you never know when I'll have news again!

Okay, I think maybe I can try sleeping now. ::cough, cough:: Well, maybe not.

_____

Olfactory delights?

2008-11-05T21:11:00.002-06:00

Since I live in a high rise building with 108 apartments, there are always many aromas mingling in the hallways, especially during mealtimes. But the elevators usually smell like one of two things: pizza or cologne.

Tonight, however, as I rode the elevator up to my apartment, I was assaulted by an odor that I had never encountered before. As I rode, I tried to analyze the scent and was unsuccessful during my journey. But as I turned the key in my door it came to me.

The elevator smelled like urine-soaked pine needles marinara.

Figure that one out.

_____

Happy Election Day!

2008-11-04T06:56:00.002-06:00

I'm off to vote this morning, then I'm going to volunteer at my polling place this afternoon. Then probably crochet and knit like a fiend while listening to the returns tonight. I fear it will be a stressful day.

_____

Those crazy kids

2008-10-30T19:19:00.008-06:00

Just as I was sitting down to write this, I heard something that sounded like an oddly percussive motorscooter or something. I wasn't really paying attention. Then I heard it again and thought, "no, that sounds like a snare drum. Why would I be hearing a snare drum?" I live on the fourteenth floor* of an apartment building in downtown Milwaukee. This drumming seemed very odd. But I looked out my window and, sure enough, on the sidewalk across the street was a dude standing there playing a snare drum. Not like he got lost from his pep band or anything, but standing straight, playing his drum on a stand, while a girl stood facing him holding some sheet music. Two other girls stood off to the side as if in rapt attention. I watched as he played for a bit, then he finished. The girls clapped and jumped up and down, the guy picked up his drum, plopped it in a case, turned to the car parked right beside where they were standing, put the drum in, got in himself, and took off.

Bizarre.

But then again, my friends and I once re-enacted the entire mad tea party from Alice in Wonderland in the middle of a Perkins restaurant. So it's not like I can talk.

But this isn't really what I wanted to talk about. I wanted to tell you about the awesome time I had last Saturday night once I'd recovered just a bit from my Very Long Experiment. As you may or may not know, Tuesday was the start of Diwali, the Indian Festival of Lights. The Indian Student Association is very active on the Marquette campus and they have quite a festival to mark the event. As some of my grad school compadres are from India, I accompanied them and had a terrific time!

First there was dinner:

I'm not a huge fan of Indian food, but I do love to try new things. Mostly I like hearing my Indian friends talk about the dishes I'm eating and telling me how they're made and stories about food and their families and their way of life. I guess I like the culture of food more than I like most food. But not always -- those big fried things are my favorite -- they're called samosas. They are pastries filled with potatoes, onions and peas spiced up just a bit and deep fried. Heck, it's practically Wisconsin food!

I got some of the required smooshy-face pictures. First, Radhika and me...

...and then Priyanka and me!

After dinner was a big dance program, which I couldn't get pictures of because my camera doesn't like to do that. It's very persnickity, that camera. The dances were wonderful!! Afterwards, I got a photo of a couple more of my friends that danced in the Bhangra -- they were amazing! Here's Anjali, their friend whom I don't know, and Jasvinder all decked out!

Don't they look gorgeous?

It was a great time and I'm glad I went, even if I should have been catching up on my sleep. It's been a crazy busy week and I'm still not caught up. So I think I'll just go to bed right now.

As long as there is no more random drumming outside my window.

_____
*Since there is no thirteenth floor in buildings (just like there's no thirteenth row in airplanes), the fourteenth floor is really only thirteen stories off the ground. So, I actually live on the thirteenth floor, regardless of what they call it. I'm not fooled, I'm telling you. Not for a minute.

_____

Warning! Boring! (it's what I do)

2008-10-27T19:47:00.010-06:00

I spent all of Friday night in the lab. Yep, I'm just that kind o' party girl. As part of my "35-hour-experiment-from-hell" (well, it's actually much long than that, but the truly hellish part is only about 35 hours), I had a little slumber party with a bunch of ciliates. Oh, the fun! And, anyway, I got it into my head that some sick, bored person out there might like to see what kind of things make up long, drawn-out science-y things on the cutting edge of cell and molecular biology! (Actually, this is on the cutting edge like Kansas is on the ocean. But I digress.)

In short, feel free to skip this post.

It all starts on Friday morning, 5:00 am. I mix cells so they will mate and shake them around for a half an hour so they'll all mate pretty much at the same time (yes, that's really how we do that). Then I monitor the cells for several hours. Most of the late morning and early afternoon is spent making control slides and continuing to monitor the mating. I get to go home at 5:00 pm for a bit of a nap. Then the real fun begins.

Picture it: Friday night, 9:00 pm. I open the incubator and am confronted with the solutions of mating cells I prepared eeeaaarrrllly that morning:

I add growth medium to one of the flasks:

Then I start taking samples from both flasks:

And put them in little tubes.

I put the tubes in the centrifuge and spin them so all the cells go down into the bottom:

Then I suck off all the fluid leaving a little ball of cells at the bottom of the tube.

Then I wash the cells with 3 different washes of methanol (mix up the cells in methanol, let them sit, spin the cells down and suck off the methanol, repeat, repeat):

And then I finally drop some concentrated cells onto slides which I will stain, photograph and digitally analyze later.

Repeat every two hours for eleventy million hours. (Oh, okay. Fourteen.) Then repeat every twelve hours for a week. Because this is how many slides I'm making:

I don't know right now. A lot.

And now I have to go make some more. Ta!!

_____

At least today's word is scientific...

2008-10-21T21:57:00.008-06:00

A week ago Saturday we had an Anti-Bachelorette Party for my friend Anne who is getting married on Nov. 1. It was an "Anti-Bachelorette" party because, for some outlandish reason, Anne is not into barhopping while wearing a tiara made from replicas of male anatomy. Go figure, right?

So we congregated at Veronica's apartment, provided Anne with mimosas on-demand, played games, and watched The Wedding Singer. We did give her a bridal tiara and a magic wand, but we did not require her to wear them in public (nor were there any body parts of any kind represented therein).

Anne loves the game Apples To Apples, so we made a custom version of the game that contained words pertaining to her and her fiance, along with some standard wedding terms. It was a big hit.

Anne did not wear her tiara for the requisite smooshy-face pictures. Darn her.

An important thing I learned was that, with my hair pulled back and a sparkly tiara perched high atop my head, I look frighteningly like Toni Colette as she walks down the isle in Muriel's Wedding. Of course, my forehead (fivehead!) is even bigger...::shudder::

Veronica looked adorable, as always:

And we learned that Rachel's hair was not meant to hold such an insubstantial trifle of a tiara. She requires a full-on crown. Pity we didn't have one.

We ate, we drank, we made merry, we sang along to 80's music, and a grand time was had by all. You simply don't need a giant inflatable penis for that.

_____

Yes, I said "doody"

2008-10-20T16:48:00.005-06:00

There are two amazing things about this post:

I'm posting two days in a row. This hasn't happened since sometime in July. I even think I have something to blog about tomorrow. It's like I'm on fire or something!
I have a snowflake for Snowflake Mondays. (Judy! Lookie!) This hasn't happened this year. It's horrifying. Or, rather, it's going to be horrifying when the holidays come and I realize I have no snowflakes because I was a doody-butt slacker all year and didn't make any flakes. ::sigh::

But today -- today -- I am victorious! I have one cute little snowflake!

#15 from 99 Snowflakes by Leisure Arts
Design by Helen Milinkovich Milton
Made with size 10 Knit Cro-Sheen by J.P. Coats in White
and a #6 steel hook

Yesterday I also started a new fall purse. It's also the first time I've worked with Patons Soy Wool Stripes and can I just tell you how much I love using this yarn? It's all slick (though not in a bad way) and cooshy (another technical term) and doesn't ever split. Awesome! So, I'm making Inga's Haekelbeutel with SWS in Natural Navy and I'm gong to felt it when I'm done. I've never felted before but I have a friend who has and she said she would help me. So I'm very excited! I've only got two squares done (I'll need sixteen), but I like the way the yarn is pooling so far. I don't think any of the squares will be alike, which is just fine by me.

So I'm just flitting along up here and all is well. And now I'm going to watch my beloved Broncos play on Monday Night Football, knit dishcloths and stop obsessing about my upcoming experiments. Maybe this posting every day thing will become a trend!!

For Pete's sake, don't hold your breath.

_____

Shawl we dance? (I should be shot for that one)

2008-10-19T17:24:00.009-06:00

Yesterday I finished the Seraphina Shawl and it was a lumpy, stiff mess. I had really hoped that the weight of it would cause it to smooth out and drape better, but those were pipe dreams at best, I now realize. Here, I'll demonstrate:

Ew. (And yes, it was a hat day, what of it??) It didn't even look much better when I smooshed it out (technical term) on the floor:

See? Even smooshing couldn't make it lay flat.

So I blocked it.

"Now, wait a minute," you're thinking, "you said you were making this from acrylic! Acrylic doesn't block!"

Okay, so let me rephrase. I steam ironed it.

ACK!! Ironing acrylic???? I know, right? But I have this method, and it works pretty well, and I haven't started a fire or died of fume inhalation yet, so I'm going to continue to use it in certain circumstances.

Here's what I did:

Lay the shawl out on the floor, as smooth as it will get.
Fill the iron with water and set to "wool" (so it will steam).
Very Important: Lay a pressing cloth over the portion of the shawl you are going to start with! I use a clean flour sack dishtowel.
Make sure the steam is roiling out of that sucker.
Run the iron lightly! over the section of the shawl covered by the cloth, hitting the steam button for all you're worth the whole time. Do not put any pressure on the iron; just let it do a bit more than make contact with the pressing cloth. And steam. Really go for it. Your thumb should kinda hurt from pressing the button so much.
Set down the iron and remove the pressing cloth quickly. Pull and shape the fabric while it's still hot. You'll be surprised how much more supple it is now. Of course, that's because you just melted it a little bit, but we're not going to worry about that. Concentrate on the suppleness!!
Continue moving the pressing cloth to other areas and repeating the ironing and shaping.
Thrill to the sight and feel of your much less lumpy project!

It's ever so much nicer now! It drapes much better (and it's bigger now, too!):

And it lays out nice and flat:

And it drapes nicely on the sofa, too:

Seraphina's Shawl by Doni

TLC Heathers yarn in Blue Moon

Size K hook

So, yes! I am completely unrepentant that I ironed my acrylic project. I'll do it again, too! So there! Ppbbfftt!

:)

_____

Festival farewell

2008-10-05T18:05:00.011-06:00

It was another uneventful week in the lab (except for that annoying yeast infection in all my cell cultures, but I really hope I have that under control) and another fun and busy weekend -- thus insuring that I will not become a dull girl because of all work and no play.

Friday night I went with Veronica, Rachel, and Rachel's family to the Lakefront Brewery tour and then for a fish fry. Rachel's son brought a date for me -- a giant stuffed alligator to stand in for Gator, my DH. He was quite the star of the tour, too! He loved posing with me:

We had a ball. Rachel's kids have taken to calling V, Anne and I their "Crazy Aunts", which I absolutely adore. I try to live up to this as much as I can!! Plus, there's nothing like chasing 8- and 11-year-old boys down the street so you can hug them good-bye and give them cooties! Hee!!

Saturday was Party On The Pavement and Art Walk in Racine, WI. I went down with my neighbor and we had a great time. First we walked around part of the residential area down by the lakefront. At Gateway Technical College there stands the first statue erected of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln portrayed together:

We strolled past the Hardy House, a Frank Lloyd Wright original:

This crazy pink Victorian explosion was the second house in as many blocks to have a sawed-off classic Milwaukee Harp Street Lamp in the front yard. I love these lamps. Apparently there is a way I can get my own one day. That is good to know.

I love the cool facades found on many Masonic Temples:

It was a gorgeous day for October -- the sky and the lake were clear and beautiful!

Soon, we headed to the festival. There was awesome Spanish food and tasty beverages and quite a crowd down at Monument Square:

Most importantly, this crowd included Chewbacca!!! And he spoke Shyriiwook fairly well!

Yes, that was pretty much the highlight of this dork's day! :)

We only got to enjoy a little bit of the festival nightlife before we had to catch the last bus back to Beer Town:

Back home, I listened to the Brewers beat Philly only to listen to them lose today and end their season. It was sad, but I'm glad we didn't get swept in the series and at least had one post-season win. At least that's something.

After the Brewers lost I watched the play-by-play internet coverage of the Broncos game, which they won. Apparently the Brewers and Broncos are not allowed to win on the same day. I hope this means smooth sailing for the Broncos here on out.

It's been cool but pretty up here lately, but today it's been nothing but rain all day. I'm glad I got my partying in when I did. I fear it's the last festival of the year. :(

_____

Rolling scientists gather no moss

2008-09-30T20:21:00.008-06:00

Things have been busy here in Beer Town. I've been reorganizing the lab since late summer in between running experiments and TAing cell biology. But, never fear, I found plenty of time to play and frolic in the waning late-summer days!

I walk a lot here in the city, but a couple of weeks ago was the first time I walked in an organized fashion -- my first 5K! Al's Run is a major event up here -- there were over 15,000 people running, walking, and racing wheelchairs this year. It was a beautiful day for a 5K, but for a walk, it wasn't much of a challenge. Not only is it not very far, but there were so many people, strollers, wagons, etc. that I never got beyond what I would call a leisurely pace. It was a little frustrating, frankly. But I was walking with friends and once I was able to let go of my frustrations, I had a great time. The shirts were cute, too:

You can see that I was proud of the fact that I'd become a number:

Yes, that's the reaction for the hydrolysis of ATP on the back of my shirt. The Biological Sciences department had a team. That was our artwork. We are complete dorks.

More fun was had last Friday night when several of my classmates went to Caffrey's a local pub for happy hour. We weren't very good at darts, but we had a lot of fun trying. Here, my friends Xi, Priyanka, Radhika, and Mae give it a go:

And while I do truly, truly suck at darts, it turns out I'm not half bad at bar shuffleboard. Who knew? I think I'll be playing that more often!

Last night I went to the rally to send off the Brewers to their first playoff series against the Phillies (sorry, Mr. Yarnthrower, but I really hope your boys lose!!). The turnout was enormous and I couldn't see a thing. I could barely hear a thing, either, but it was fun to be there nonetheless. Also, I have no pictures, but they would have just been of the backs of the heads of the 14,000 people standing in front of me, so just close your eyes and picture that for a moment. Wow, it's like you were there!!! We didn't hang around for the party after the players left the stage, so as we were walking back to the bus stop, we were pleased and surprised to see the players buses come to a stoplight right beside us! We waved, they waved -- it was the best part of the afternoon! Turns out I'm a science dork and a sports dork!! Tomorrow I'm watching the first playoff game with my friend Anne, even though I kinda have to sneak out of work to manage it (it's an afternoon game). It will be worth it! Plus, I figure, watched cells never mate, so I'm really helping my experiment by leaving and ignoring them! It's actually a scientific strategy! I'm a genius! Just give me my degree now, please!

Well, since that's probably not going to happen, I'll just plug along in the lab and spend most of my evenings doing handwork. The last couple of nights it's been the Seraphina shawl. I love this pattern, but I wish I had softer yarn to work with. This is one of those times in life when one cannot justify yarn expenditures when there are four Rubbermaid totes of yarn in the front closet and one's stipend just went down. So, it's stash acrylic and it's a little stiff. It's a very pretty color, though -- TLC Heathers in Blue Moon -- and much prettier in person than in the pic. I think the weight of the finished product will help with the drape.

So that's what's been keeping me so busy. Which is good, because moss is so hard to get out from between my toes.

_____

Bad news football; good news baseball

2008-09-28T18:10:00.009-06:00

So maybe I just shouldn't watch football this season.

I hadn't watched any Broncos games until today and they were undefeated until today. Maybe I'm bad mojo. This is, of course, ridiculous -- my presence or absence in front of a television screen has nothing to do with how the players perform miles away from me. But as far as sports superstitions go, it's completely reasonable. I will ponder this possibility and decide what to do before next week's game.

Since I have no television of my own, I had to go to the Union Sports Annex to watch the game -- they have Sunday Ticket -- and it just so happened that the screen showing the Brewers game was right next to the screen playing the Broncos game. It was maddening. It's bad enough watching two different football games at one time, but to watch two screens showing two games of altogether different sports, both of which I was heavily invested in, was really difficult. Plus, the football game was horrible, while the baseball game was terrific. An emotional roller coaster if ever I've been on one.

Anyway, the good news is that the Brewers won and the Mets lost, so the Brewers are going to the playoffs!! We're all very excited up here in Beer Town, to be sure. Go Brew Crew!!!

Oh, and I made one and a half dishcloths while watching all of this. True multi-tasking, I'm telling you. I had completely depleted my random dishcloth stash when I visited my family this summer, so I really needed to start stocking up again. I think I'm up to around four. Many more to go!

Okay, so I know I promised State Fair pictures a long time ago. But somehow this pressure has become too great and I've just not been blogging instead of doing all the photo manipulation required to present such a post. And, since Yarnthrower reminded me that I made a New Year's resolution to not feel guilty about my blog, I'm permanently throwing that to the back of the back burner for the sake of blogging in general. So there, guilt! Away with you! Ppbbfftt!!

On to a little progress report! The Maui Shrug is indeed finally finished (the one I tried to do for the Ravelympics and failed horribly) but I don't have pictures yet. It really needs to be modeled to be seen properly, and that will require enlisting the help of a second party to snap the pic and looking decent myself for the picture. This will require planning. So it may be a while. I can't help it. I'm vain yet lazy. It's a terrible burden, I assure you.

My friend Anne's bridal shower was a couple of weeks ago and I finished all her gifts in good time and went on to have a blast at the event itself. It was held at a wine bar and there was quite a spread. And I couldn't believe all the gifts she got -- what a haul!! And that was just the shower!!!

My addition to the haul included dishcloths,

potholders,

lid hats,

and a market bag.

I put it all together and made fiber content/washing instructions tags for everything.

She loved it! Here's Veronica, Anne, Me, and Rachel at the shower. It was great!

I have also finished the wedding gift for Anne and her finace, but finished pics will wait until after the giving. Just in case.

Tonight I started the Seraphina shawl. I've never felt the shawl love, but this pattern is calling to me for some reason. I've only got a tiny bit done, so I'll save pics for next time. But I'm really enjoying it so far. In fact, I think I'll get back to it right now!

_____

Fail

2008-08-27T07:01:00.003-06:00

Yes, I failed.

For Ravelympics, I picked the Maui shrug, which I though was an easy pick (even though you're supposed to pick something that would be challenging to finish during the Olympics) but the joke was on me. I didn't finish it. I got the body piece finished, but I did absolutely no finishing or construction. So, what I have to show you is a somewhat long rectangle.

Beyond this, I've also failed to post about the things I promised would be soon in coming in my last post. Three strikes and I'm out?

Which brings up an interesting topic -- how long after an event is too long to post about it on a blog? Not the sharing of childhood memories or past events that tie in nicely with some current topic, but just the kind of stuff we go around and take pictures of, thinking, "I going to blog this". The WI State Fair was weeks ago, but is it ever really too late for pictures of amazing quilts and Elvis impersonators? Yes, but how about the photos of me with Tom Bodett and Carl Kasell from when I attended a taping of Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! last fall???

Miss Manners just doesn't address these kinds of things.

_____

Promises, promises

2008-08-13T07:50:00.007-06:00

There's a lot to tell you about, but I'm in a flurry-of-activity place right now, so I'm going to post a little bit and make promises that I will post more really soon. And then we'll just see how that goes. :)

I tagged a project for the Ravelympics, though I didn't join any teams or anything. It'll just be between me, myself, and my blog readers. So, about five of us. It's the Maui Shrug, and I started it during the Opening Ceremonies at my friend Rachel's house while drinking wine and eating cheese and grapes. She knows how to throw my kind of party, that Rachel. I'm using sport weight yarn instead of worsted, so I went up a hook size and the result is that the pattern has less definition than the example in the pattern and considerably more drape. It will be close-fitting, so I think it will work out fine. I've made some progress, but I'm going to have to crank it up if I want to get it finished and blocked (such that acrylic will, but it will a bit) before the Closing Ceremonies. Here's my progress so far:

That's about 18 inches and it needs to be at least 42 inches. Here's a closeup of the stitch pattern:

I would have more done if I could work on it while I actually watch the Olympics. Why can't I, you ask? Well, because I tried crocheting while riding the exercise bike, but it just doesn't work very well.

Don't even ask, I'll just tell you.

I don't have a TV in my cute little abode, so to watch the Games, barring a party at the home of someone with a TV, I have to watch in the exercise room of my building (or I could go to a bar, but then I'd have to buy something, and I've become such a miser lately). If I watch in the exercise room then, ostensibly, I have to exercise. Most especially if someone else is there. Often there isn't and I can take nice, long breaks. But during my 2 1/2 hours of watching last night, I rode for 1 1/2 hours total. And during my breaks I was all sweaty. So, no crocheting. But I'll get the shrug done -- I still have plenty of time to sit around on my backside and listen to All Things Considered. Never fear.

Along with my increase in bike riding, I've also started a new little fitness regime. Last week I started the One Hundred Pushups program, wherein one trains to do, oddly enough, one hundred pushups.

Yes, I know. One hundred pushups. Every time I say that in my head, it sounds like Dr. Evil saying "One million dollars". And it sounds like a ludicrous thing that I, the queen of sloth and no-upper-body-strength, could never ever do. I'm doing "girl", or knee pushups, obviously, and for my initial test I could only do three. Three. And they were some of the crappiest pushups you've ever seen, too.

So I'm a week and a half into it, and I'm happy to announce my humble little progress -- in my max-out for the last two days I've achieved seven very respectable-looking pushups. Yes, I'm pleased as punch with seven. It is, after all, a 133% improvement in a week's time. And they're no longer crappy! My high school gym teacher wouldn't even yell at me to keep my butt down!

It's a "six week" (LOL!!) program, but it will likely take me the rest of the year. But I don't mind. As long as I stay reasonably motivated, I think I can really do this. I'll keep you posted.

That's all for this morning, but watch for coming posts about the Wisconsin State Fair (including Elvis impersonators!!) and my dream about The Apocalypse! Yes, it's all excitement, all the time, here in Beer Town! Have a great day, and don't get too wild out there!

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Thankfulness

2008-08-03T10:28:00.006-06:00

I'm playing hooky from church to get some stuff done around the house before I go to the State Fair today. Even though I'm staying home this morning, I should still take a few moments to be thankful for all that I have. I will share this very incomplete list with you.

My sweet, loving, supportive husband, who I love very much.
My relatively good health.
A wonderful bunch of friends in Milwaukee who are fun and caring and who keep me from becoming a hermit, which is something I tend to do.
The ability and opportunity to do graduate studies in an exciting field that makes me happy and has obvious application in the "real world".
An awesome family of really cool people who put up with my foibles and love me anyway.
A great adviser and faculty in a graduate program that is close-knit and supportive.
A fun neighbor who likes to show me around parts of the city I've never been before.
The ability and opportunity to make pretty things for the people I love.

Taking the time to consciously give thanks is the most important part of going to church for me. And like I said, it's a really incomplete list. But those are the things in the front of my mind this morning.

With that last one particularly in mind, I have a couple of FO's to share. Even though they're both for me. Not that I don't love myself, it's just not what I meant... Oh, screw it. You know what I mean. Just look at the pretties, would you? ;)

I finished the Primavera socks and I like them very, very much! I think this is a pattern that will be used again! They're just lounging by the pool for a bit this morning...

Pattern: Primavera Socks by natalja.
Yarn: Berroco Comfort Sock in color 1811 (which I think is discontinued). Fingering weight; 50% nylon, 50% acrylic. This yarn is very soft, but a bit splitty. Overall I enjoyed working with it, but this pattern is more frustrating with splitty yarn. I managed pretty well once I got the hang of the "tricks" needed to overcome the problem.
Needles: Boye aluminum double points, size 2 (US).

I recently got new sunglasses and, as is the current style, the lenses are quite large. I love them and call them my Diva Shades. But I needed a case for them so they don't get scratched up in my purse. My other glasses cases were not big enough for the awesome largeness of my new shades. It also had to work up quickly because I wanted it now! I'm impatient like that. Enter a single skein that I got on clearance at my LYS last year and had never figure out what to do with:

Pattern: I made it up. Thinking of writing it up, even though it's really simple and you can probably tell what I did just by looking at it for 0.5 seconds. What do you all think?
Yarn: Lana Grossa Maxi in colorway 612 (also discontinued). Bulky weight; 100% virgin wool.
Hook: Size J (US).
I had the button lying around and it worked great. I like this very much. I hope I have enough yarn to make a little case for my digital camera, too.

Okay, must get ready to go to the Fair, where I will watch pigs race and eat many foods on sticks. It's going to be glorious! And people say that Americans have no culture. Bah!

I'm very thankful that you've visited my blog today. I'm thankful for those of you with whom I regularly communicate and for the lurkers I know are out there. I hope my blog does something for you. It does a great deal for me. Thank you!

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Random loose ends and progress report!

2008-07-28T16:34:00.007-06:00

Oh, I forgot to include one of the awesome activities of my last day in Santa Barbara -- I ate at In-n-Out Burger! I hadn't been to one since we lived in Las Vegas in '00 and it tasted just as good as I remembered. My fave is the hamburger, animal style. I had to take a pic of the awesomely simple menu.

I love that they have, like, four things and then a secret menu for mixin' it up. And they make all their french fries from scratch -- we watched them putting potatoes in a little fry-making contraption which is totally low tech and very cool. Yay, In-n-Out Burger!

Okay, moving on to the handwork front, which is the main purpose of this post. While I was in Missouri, I kept finding clearance yarn. It was tragic. So tragic, in fact, that I had to buy a whole bunch of it and cart it home in my luggage. It was no small feat getting it to fit. And to think of how much ridiculously marked-down yarn I wanted to buy! I settled on this:

That includes four $.50 Red Heart skeins, four $.99 Baby Bee skeins, some clearance sugar n' cream twist, 40% off sugar n' cream ginormous balls, half-price Tofutsies in a discontinued colorway, and a $2 ball of mystery wool that I thought was pretty cool. The Austermann Step sock yarn I actually paid full price for. So this got crammed into my already overladen luggage and thus my stash is enhanced! Yay, bargains!

So, in order to get crackin' on some of this new yarn, I'd better get bustin' on some of my current WIP's, no? No worries, I have been. The second Primavera is coming along nicely:

I've also made significant headway on the Ripple afghan which started as a gift, then it was going to be for me, but now has gone back to being a gift:

My advice about ripple afghans? Weave in the ends as you go. I'm cursing myself roundly for leaving myself such a ginormous task for the end. It's not going to be pretty.

I'm off this evening to see Casablanca, which (can you believe it??) I've never seen. There's a restaurant down by the river that is showing it tonight on their patio. It's going to be a nice evening; it should be a very good time!

Oh, and I saw the X-Files movie. It wasn't good. But David and Gillian were, and it was very 'shippy, and I liked it. I'm eager for it to come out on DVD so I can watch it over and over so I can analyze the hell out of it. I can't do that in the theater. Yes, yes, that whole Phile Dork thing was spot on. ;p

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