It has begun!

No, not Mortal Kombat, but the... ::insert dramatic music here:: ...SOCK!!

But first, Saturday Sky. For visual interest, I selected for my subject the only cloud in the sky...


Isn't it wispy and nice? It promises to be a lovely day. I'm sure all the folks who are venturing out to Summerfest will appreciate it! (Never fear, I'm going next week.)

Now, pictures of the elusive first sock ever in its unnatural habitat (it usually lives on the floor next to a teal swivel rocker, but the light there sucks):


I took Becky's advice and am starting with Silver's sock tutorial before I hunker down with other yummy patterns like Breeze and Crusoe. I only had to cast on three times before I was happy enough with it to continue. It's a simple 2x2 ribbing on the top, but I really like the way the yarn is pooling and that adds sufficient interest to the otherwise plain top. Yes, it's a tiny start, but it's a start!!

Today will involve some lab work this evening (Oooh, a rockin' Saturday night for Sus!), and a little outing today that I will blog about tomorrow. Stay tuned for pr0n...

Bwahahahahaha

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Sorry, no content today, too busy looking to the future

You are The Star

Hope, expectation, Bright promises.

The Star is one of the great cards of faith, dreams realised

The Star is a card that looks to the future. It does not predict any immediate or powerful change, but it does predict hope and healing. This card suggests clarity of vision, spiritual insight. And, most importantly, that unexpected help will be coming, with water to quench your thirst, with a guiding light to the future. They might say you're a dreamer, but you're not the only one.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Insane knitting!

And not as in, "Wow, look at all the knitting I've accomplished -- It's INSANE!"

No, not like that at all. In fact, just the opposite.

Now, granted, I've not been spending very much time knitting. I've gone to two day-long Brewers game events this week (we won both games and a BLAST was had by all!!!) and have been running around the lab like a madwoman trying to make up for the fact that I've gone to two day-long Brewers game events this week. But, during two hour-long phone calls to Gator, plus an episode of the X-Files on DVD, I have managed to successfully trim one third of the neckline of the Zodiac.



I have frogged this trim no less than six times. I told you this applied I-cord was my nemesis. The worst part is, I like making the I-cord. I just apparently suck at it. I lose my place and skip a step. I drop a stitch and pick it up incorrectly. It's really testing me.

But I shall persevere! I shall beat this silly I-cord! And then, I shall drink beer.

Fo' shizzle.

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I have many friends

Applied I-cord is not one of them.

My sunny weekend was mostly spent working in the lab, lying by the pool, napping quite a lot, and knitting the top of the Zodiac. Now I'm applying the trim and it is not easy for me. I'd never done applied I-cord before and I don't think I'm doing a very good job. I just keep praying that blocking with make it better. In fact, it's become my mantra for this entire project.

Armhole trim is done, now I have to do the neckline.


See how it's kind of wonky? I frogged and reknit part of it, but it did no good. Like I said, we'll see once it's blocked. ::sigh::

Overall, it's kind of cute, but I made the 3-month size and my gauge is correct, but it seems so small. I don't know if a 3-month-old head will fit through that opening. Ah, trepidation!


Today is going to be crazy busy -- the biology department is going to the Brewer's game tonight and I'm one of the people organizing the tailgate. Plus we're having lab clean-up this morning (if one hour of cleaning for the year can be considered "lab clean-up") and group meeting. I'm wondering when I'm going to get any actual work done. I'm thinking the answer is Not Today, Silly Girl.

Oh, and as you can see, I'm not doing so well with Snowflake Mondays at the moment. This too shall pass. I'm thinking next week. But, of course, that's what I thought last week. So, you never know! See, this is how I keep it exciting around here! So unpredictable! Cwazy!

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Worth 1000

No words, just this:

Morning glory

What a glorious morning here in Beer Town! Up here on the roof of my building, the sun in bright, the air is dry and the breeze is cool. Wonderful!

The pool is open for the summer (it's being cleaned right now -- they take good care of it):


The view is very clear this morning -- you can see right out to Lake Michigan -- and the buildings almost glow in the morning light (although I'm not sure that really comes through in the photo):



The Marquette campus is always beautiful and this view is only a little better than the one from my living room:


I'm sitting up here with a cup of coffee, my camera, and the awesome thing I found waiting for me in my mailbox yesterday:


Yes, the first issue of my awesome gift subscription to Craft: came yesterday! It's crammed full of wonderful articles, how-to's, and inspiration on every single page! I am having a blast pouring through it. Thanks again, Trish!! You rule!

While I'm up here with my camera and all this great natural light, I might as well photograph some yarn...

This is my progress on the Zodiac pattern from the latest issue of Knitty. I don't think I'll actually use the zodiacal design for the embellishment, as I want it to be useful for any child down the road. But I like the overall design and I'm sure I can find something cool to embroider onto it once it's finished.


I lurve Cotton Ease and was tres excited when it came back onto the market, but I must admit I'm less than thrilled with their palette. I wanted something gender-neutral and bright, and the store I was at was out of Lime (not that I would have necessarily picked Lime, but still). So I went with Terra Cotta. I like it myself, but I wish there was more selection. Plus, they don't have brown in their palette at all (the Taupe is really gray-ish). Brown! Don't they know how hot a nice chocolate brown is right now?? Those Lion Brand people, I tell ya'. I worry about them sometimes.

Oh... Uh oh. Do you see what I see? This could be very, very bad for Sus. Yes indeedy, that there is some... Sock yarn!!!


No, I'm not looking to get in on the Summer of Socks, but I swear the new Knitty was chock full of motivation for this ol' gal. Of course, I see socks everywhere on knitting blogs and I oscillate between not caring that much to desperately wanting to join in the fun. But the new Breeze pattern locked onto me hard, and Gator graciously bought me yarn and needles to dive in while I was visiting. But I've sworn I won't start until the Zodiac is finished. After all, babies wait for no socks.

Thanks for sharing in my delightful morning on the rooftop! It's been a treat. We'll have to do this again soon!

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Back in Beer Town

Why, hello there! It looks like you've done well while I've been gone! Love the hair. Been working out? You look great.

So I went down to Missouri and saw my boy! Yay! I had seen him for just a few hours in March but hadn't spent any real time with him since Christmas. I had a wonderful time. Mostly we just hung out and watched movies and ate out, but we did go to the wedding of my dear friend Ryan and had a blast. Now, you'll notice I have no actual picture of bride or the groom, but at least I tried. And someday I may even figure out how to use my camera sufficiently to get decent pictures of things that are more than three feet in front of me. Yes, that's right, I'm blaming the camera. That's just my way.

Gator and I at the reception:


My friend Amy was there:


I made fast friends with part of the Mardi Gras themed centerpiece:


I got to see my friend Nano who came from California to photograph the festivities (but he got a little break):


Other than the wedding, as I said before, Gator and I ate at our favorite local restaurant, George's. The owner is, conveniently, George -- an extremely outgoing Greek immigrant who, for some reason, loves my teeth and was glad to see me back in town. He posed with us for a pic:


Then we posed with our favorite waitress, Becky (not to be confused with blog buddy Becky):


While Gator and I watched several movies (Everything is Illuminated, Junebug, The Night Listener, Clerks II, Borat, American Splendor), I made a set of potholders for the biology department kitchen. Why we don't already have potholders, I'll never know, but now I can be sure that the ones we have are of the highest quality and are supremely attractive. Of course.



Gator's family all got together for Father's Day (of course, I don't have any pictures of that -- that would be too nice and make too much sense. I only sporadically take pictures that consist of fifty million silly shots taken in fifteen minutes then twelve hundred days of happenings with no photo record. It's my way.) I started the Zodiac pattern from the new Knitty for some friends who are expecting. I show pics of that tomorrow -- don't want to show you everything at once! You might suffer adverse effects from the excitment! Also, then I might not have anything to show you tomorrow. We must parse these things out, you know. Now you know my blog strategy. I feel so vulnerable.

After a tearful goodbye, I flew back to Beer Town. At the airport, I was distracted from my endless trek down the concourse by a clearance sale in an airport shop. A clearance sale at an airport shop! Things are truly bad when you're bargain huntin' the airport. Seriously. But! Cuteness! And usefulness! And clearance! A dangerous, dangerous combination, to be sure. The awesome polka dotted bag simply had to come home with me.


Isn't it cute? And useful? I'm such a fan.

So now I'm back and, after some recovery time, I'm back into the Beer Town routine. Or, rather, I'm making up my summertime Beer Town routine. Work at the lab, lay by the pool and knit, work out (yes, I said "work out". I claimed it was a new routine), clean, blog, knit some more (or crochet, whatever), try to keep up on the laundry, try to cook more, early to bed, early to rise, yadda, yadda, yadda. Soon there will be Brewer's games and myriad festivals to report on. It's an exciting time to be in Beer Town and I'm going to do everything I can.

But I'll probably forget to take pictures of anything good.

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Silence

I know I've been quiet for over a week. Sorry 'bout that. Being on the computer is one of the things that aggravates my shoulder, so I've cut down to mostly just school stuff. But -- fair warning -- I'm probably going to be silent a while longer. I'm going to Missouri to see Gator!! YAY!! I may find some time to blog, but if I don't, don't be alarmed.

I have had some fairly blog-worthy moments in the last week, though -- mostly in the form of awesome things coming in the mail! As I told you earlier, I won Becky's contest to rename her blog. As my prize, she sent me a big cone of kitchen cotton. I'm envisioning a garterlac blitzkrieg! Witness the beauty of the cone o' cotton in its natural mailing environment. Krikey! She's a beaut! Thanks, Becky!


Earlier last week, I received an awesome gift that I wasn't expecting at all. It's always exciting to get actual, bona fide letters in the mail, so I was thrilled when I received an envelope from my friend, Tricia. "Yay! Tricia wrote to me!" I thought. That would have been enough of a treat all on its own. But! There was more! Inside the envelope was a card:


A gift, you say? Wowie! Whatever could it be??


WOOHOO!!!! An awesome magazine subscription! I lurve the Craft: website, but have never bought a 'zine. Now I get a year of it! Plus! A magazine! In the mail! Every month! REAL MAIL! Trish is always so supportive of my craft fixation and now she's contributing to it! What a great friend! The happy dance continues every time I think about it!

As of last weekend, I've now been to the first festival of the season here in the City of Festivals, and I've been to my first Brewers game. I'm completely, utterly hooked on both. The summer is going to totally rock.

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