so sick...

I have been hit by a monster flu. You don't want to know. Suffice it to say that I called in to work tonight, put my pajamas back on and have been trying to keep 7-up and saltines in my body every since....with varying degrees of success.

On top of that, I've got the headache from the hot place which is from lack of caffeine. Can't remedy that because I'm sure the coffee will just come right back up.

I'm not even feeling like knitting. That tells you how sick I am.

six more things....

Even though I already did this once, I'll do it again! Just for you Deawn!

So here are six more weird things/things you may not know about me.....

1. I love pickled herring (and I'm bringing some to SnB on Thursday!)

2. I have nurtured a deep passion for Star Wars. I admit that the acting is terrible in the prequels, but I love them all anyway.

3. Same thing for Star Trek. Wasn't a fan of DS9, but if it's the only Star Trek on, then I'll watch it.

4. I really want to make costumes from both Star Wars and Star Trek (and Firefly) and go to conventions. I'm a geek.

5. Every year before Iowa Ambassadors of Music (a high school band/choir) goes on their European tour, they're told a story about me and my butt. If you want to know, just ask.

6. I hate waiting in lines, but especially at the post office. It's the one place I don't feel comfortable pulling my knitting out of my purse. I'm always scared that they'll see me as some kind of threat with the pointy sticks.

and a bonus weird factoid
7. Speaking of post offices.....the last time I was in one, I was sent to the "disgruntled customer window." And I thought I was being polite.

just keep knitting...just keep knitting

32 days!!!!!!

And I'm going to have to invoke one of my exceptions to my yarn diet this week. I had another co-worker ask me to make her a scarf too, so that means I've got to go buy some more Malabrigo....gee darn! Her winter coat is green and I've got nothing green in my stash that will work.

Got the first re-knit trekking sock done over the weekend. Took me 4 days to re-do it. I think that's a new record for me getting a sock done.

Started the second Marble Arches sock and am into the second repeat down the leg.

I guess that's it. I'll try to post pictures later this week.

Oh! And I switched over the new blogger. Not sure if I like it yet or not. I'll have to wait and see.

*whine*

Really really really don't want to go to bed. I was just getting into a good knitting groove on my sock and was right in the middle of watching GoF. But if I don't sleep now, then I'll end up staying up all day....which isn't good since I have to work this weekend and stay up all night. Lovely. Off to be with me. But first (just for Minnie).....

28 days since I last bought yarn!!!!

That's 4 weeks people! I deserve a cookie!

more stuff done

First off, just to get it out of the way......26 days since I last bought yarn!!

Sat down tonight with a dvd of Regency House Party (I love PBS/BBC "reality" television) and finished the co-worker's scarf from Malabrigo. Tis pretty! It's been washed and is currently blocking in the craft room. I'll have pictures once it's dry.

Finished the pinwheel baby blanket of doom at work Monday night. Just had to weave the ends in. Now I need to wash and block it. It'll go in the washing machine with my other laundry today (gotta love Red Heart).

I finally got back to the Trekking sock. I am loving the subtle color shifts with this yarn. The burgundy color is dark enough that when I'm knitting on it overnight (even with good light) I don't always catch color changes. Then I'll pick it up when it's daylight out and get to see this beautiful thing with all these color shifts. Amazing. I'm glad I'm just doing a plain sock with this yarn....then the colors get shown off.

And my sock marathon update. There is no update. I'm still working on the trekking sock (see the above paragraph), but it's going slow. I'm going to try and get the heel turned today/tonight and start my way out the foot. But I also want to make my other Marble Arches STR sock. Remember this?


That's the one I want to make the mate of. I'm just having the same issues I had with the first one......the cast-on is 156 stitches. Yes, I typed that right. I'll get over it soon and probably work on that this weekend at work. The new nurse I'm training is taking the whole group of patients, plus she'll have the charge nurse duties, so that will leave me with nothing to do....except knit. Yay!

almost made it

I almost made my goals for the weekend. I didn't get to the post office, but I am planning on getting everything boxed/put in envelopes so I can get there Tuesday morning after the dog's vet appointment.

And I didn't get the ticker up on the blog because I can't figure out where to put it in the code. I'm using Ticker Factory so if anyone can give me some explicit directions on where to insert the ticker code, I can stop giving you call daily updates on how long it's been since I bought yarn.

Other than that, I got plenty of sleep, the dining room table and kitchen are clean, I've knit on both the baby blanket and the sock, and I'm done plying the roving on my wheel. One of my bobbins had quite a bit more on it than the other, so I must have spun that half a little thinner. Oh well. I still want to get that wound onto the niddy noddy and set the twist so it has plenty of time to dry. Then I can bring it to SnB on Thursday.

Off to cuddle the dog a little. She's been jealous tonight of all the time I've been spending with Grace (my wheel).

done

Popped in the Shindig episode of Firefly and finished off the baby blanket. I've still got to weave in ends, wash it and block it, but the whole not-quite-mindless knitting in circles while trying to stifle the gag reflex to the Red Heart is over. Halleluiah!!

I'm going to bed for a couple of hours. And I am so not going outside to move snow before church. I'll just drive over the stuff in the driveway and worry about getting it off later. Maybe one of my neighbors will do it for me!

I HATE CLIFFHANGERS!!!!

Just finished watching the first season of Smallville. Of course they would have a cliffhanger!!! Now I've got to go netflix the next season and move that to the top of my list even though I've got about eleventy bajillion movies in my queue. AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

That said.....ahem....

The pinwheel baby blanket is about 100 stitches from being done plus weaving in the ends. I stopped at 49 stitches per section since I was fearing running out of yarn in the middle of the bind-off and having to tie on a new skein.

Only have part of the last chunk of roving left to spin, then I can ply the two bobbins tomorrow night. I may meet all of my goals this weekend!

#7 is under control

Definetely have #7 on my to-do list taken care of. I thought that I had set my alarm for 2 PM, but evidently set it for 2 AM and didn't wake up until 4. So, sorry Mom! Didn't get to SoP today....maybe tomorrow before I have to help supervise the middle/high school youth at the ice rink.

More Smallville discs came in the mail today, so tonight is going to be spent knitting while watching those and getting all of my stuff ready to go to the post office.

some stuff done

The kitchen has been cleaned/picked up and dishes are drying in the dishwasher. I sat down and listened to the latest Cast On while spinning up some more of the Meteor fiber. I've only got two "chunks" (don't know the technical term....bits of roving) left and then this second bobbin will be done. I've been knitting on Brooque's baby blanket too and I've got about 10 more rows and the picot cast-off to do and it'll be done. Decided that the scarf for my co-worker is going to be something that I strictly knit on at work, so that's off the list for the weekend. And I got 8 hours of sleep today, so I'd say taht I'm doing pretty good on my list. I think I'll hit the dining room table tonight and get that cleaned off. Maybe then I'll work on my taxes since all of my forms have now turned up in the mail. Yay! I love feeling ambitious!

Plans for later today include more spinning, and driving to SoP to see if the Rowan yarn that my mom ordered from them at the beginning of December has come in yet or not.

Speaking of Mom....she got into a little bit of bartering with a lady in my hometown. This lady raises sheep and llamas, has been spinning, and has all kinds of fiber. I've got a bag full of CVM Rommeldale wool from her and it's heavenly. Well, this lady wanted Mom to knit a bag out of yarn she had spun. She asked Mom how much it would be and Mom got into bartering mode. She sent me a picture of 5 different colors of llama roving and I picked out two. So she's going to get me a bunch of fiber in exchange for knitting this bag. Awesome!!

And since I can't figure out how to put a ticker on the top of my blog, I guess I'll tell you all here. I haven't bought yarn since December 29th (when I went a little wild at Personal Threads). That makes it 22 days since I last bought yarn!! Yay for me!! I just needed to be my own personal cheerleader there.

Off to clean and knit some more!

goals for the weekend

#1 - Get to the post office. This means mailing Sarah's Christmas present, Erin's Christmas present, the socks for Diane (which means I need to wash them), and my hair that I'm donating to Locks of Love (yes....I know I got my hair cut at the end of August....what can I say....I'm a procrastinator)

#2 - Clean the kitchen

#3 - Clean off the dining room table.

#4 - Figure out and/or ask someone how or where I insert the code for one of those ticker/count-up things so I can actually keep track of how long it's been since I bought yarn (20 days people!!)

#5 - Finish spinning the roving on my wheel and ply it.

#6 - Knit (on the sock, the baby blanket, and the scarf)

#7 - Sleep.

Let the sock depression set it

My Trekking XXL sock? Went the way of the frog pond at work Monday night/very early Tuesday morning. I was into the heel gusset, tried it on, and it fit.....but it wasn't comfortable. The new nurse that I'm orienting held the sock as I ripped it out.

And since that time, I haven't touched sock yarn or any dpns. I've been knitting on the pinwheel baby blanket and a malabrigo scarf for a coworker. I'm just not doing very well in the sock marathon. Thought I was breezing along and then WHAM!! Screeching halt.

Maybe I'll restart the sock tonight while I watch some more Smallville.

*yawn*

So I've been up since about noon right? That leads to a bigger problem. I'm tired....right now. I'd love nothing better than to go to bed, but I know that will throw my sleep schedule completely off and I'll be zonked for work this next week. *sigh*

The knitting is progressing. I'm slowly working on Brooque's baby blanket. She had a little boy last Sunday, so the pressure's off. And like Minnie said, I apparently don't have the Yarn Harlot's talent for baby's not coming until their present is finished. I want at least 60 stitches between the yarnovers and I've got 39 at the moment.

Of course I haven't been making too much progress because I finally finished the "ugly socks" for Diane and started some new ones. These are just a plain stockinette in Trekking XXL (either 66 or 76...can't remember which....the burgundy one) on size ones. I've been watching episodes of the first season of Smallville and it's been going fast. I'm about an inch away from starting the heel flap right now, but I've run out of discs for Smallville (I netflixed it and have to wait for the next ones) so I've switched to the baby blanket while watching Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals. The King & I is currently in the player.

Speaking of The King & I.....I've got something a little weird to confess. I love to sing Broadway showtunes. I'm sure that not many of you know that. But when I started the dvd up, I was very tempted to run upstairs and lace myself into my corset, just to see if I could sing along with Deborah Kerr through the whole thing without passing out. I pushed the urge down (don't want the neighbors thinking I'm too much of a freak), but I'm still tempted to try it sometime. Hmm....and the weird ideas just keep coming.

well, that's disappointing

I'm up now because I had been planning on attending the CoC meeting today. But it's canceled due to weather. So the question now is this......do I stay up and get a bunch of stuff (like laundry, dishes, cleaning) done or do I go back to bed and sleep more?

I guess I'll try to get a couple more hours of sleep and then get up and do all that stuff. It just seems like whenever I try to plan on becoming less hermit-like my plans are always thwarted.

And they're back!!

I'm sure by now that everyone's read about the problem that Blue Moom Fiber Arts had with their bank. So I won't rehash that here. That being said....


THEY'RE BACK!!!!!


The website is back up and running and you can re-register (or register in the first place) for the Rockin' Sock Club.

And since I'm off this weekend, I'll try to get pictures and knit a lot of stuff.

Celebrity look-alikes

So I finally did this. The picture of me is old....it's from when I was in a friend's wedding in 2005.

accomplishments and a neighbor cop update

Finished stuff before the neighbor cop update.

I completed the first sock that I'm test knitting for Miss Lime. I'm probably going to hold off on knitting the second one since I've got to be concentrating on the pattern the whole time I'm knitting. It hasn't been the most portable of projects. Plus I've got to have some easy sock patterns so I can whip through a bunch of sock yarn for the L&V 2007 sock marathon.

I also just finished spinning half of the Meteor roving that Eliza had dyed. Now I just need to spin up the other half and ply it. The spinning is going so quick with the woolee winder.

And now for the neighbor cop update/New Year's Eve party story.

Got myself all pretty-fied and walked across the street about 7:30. Turns out that no one was there except HIS WHOLE EXTENDED FAMILY....which included two sisters, one brother-in-law, mom, dad, a couple cousins, 2 nephews and a niece. I got introduced to everyone and then was grilled by the parents for the next 45 minutes or so until other people started showing up. His dad had actually let me in the door and greeted me with "Who are you and where do you live?" and "Are you the cookie or pickle girl?" (Evidently an older lady across the street from me had taken some pickles she had canned herself over to the cop.)

The place slowly filled up and I worked my way through food and a few drinks (actually Tony kept bringing me a new bottle every time mine started to run low). I talked to a few other people....then about 11 or so I'd had enough.

Let me explain. His house is a typical bachelor pad. Wood floors, very little furniture, and nothing on the walls to absorb the sound. It was really really loud. My ears were starting to ring and a headache was forming. So when another neighbor went to leave, I did too. Tony did make a point of excusing himself from the conversation he was having to say good-bye though.

So that was my new year's. I think his parents like me. Got a lot of teasing from his dad and his mom and I were trading nursing stories. When I told her what floor I worked on, she was pretty surprised that I hadn't thrown my back out yet from all the lifting we do. So the interrogation wasn't too awful. Tony just kind of hung around in the background through the whole grilling session though. Hmm....interesting.