One! More! Day!

So I'm sitting here this morning, just killing time before going into the office for my LAST day of work until Monday. Yay! As I am vacation-time-challenged, this time of year is always lovely with the "free" days off. Today will be spent wrapping up a few annoying work items, killing time with my good buddy Todd, and trying not to throw staplers at the people who annoy me. There are a few of them.

Then it's off to Jack's Meats for our free-range organic turkey, running home and putting linens on the guest beds, then baking some pies while I wait for my family to get here. Yay!

And now that I know I have another reader, I'd like to give a shout-out to dear friend Eric. HAAAAY! We missed you, buddy! I'll try not to be so knitting-centric.

STILL on the Needles...

Here's what you're likely to see on the needles for a while...although I'm hoping to complete some by Christmas...

Mom's Sock #1. I kind of got to a stopping point, because I wanted her to be around (she's coming up for Thanksgiving) to make sure I got the sizing right. She says just to make one like I'm making it for me. But she's got a larger foot than mine, and I don't want to take chances. So here it stays for now.

Joe's Cigar Glove #1. Once again, I'm waiting for a fitting. This is my hand, so it's a little baggy. Joe tried it on, and the knucks were fine, but I want to get the length of the ring finger correct. So waiting for him to get back from Sarasota today. Then again, we'll be too busy working on the house to do any fittings until after the family leaves.

Started this sock at the laundromat this morning. Because, yes, sadly, my dryer is toast. Well, technically it's just soggy bread. Because it doesn't dry or heat anything anymore. Tried the old tricks again, and I think it's more than just the heating element. Of course, I had one more load in the washer when this was discovered. So Sunday morning trip to the laundromat. The yarn is Sockotta, and it's okay. I like the patterns of the yarn, but the texture isn't my favorite. I think it'll make a nice bright pair of socks, though. I picked it up in St Louis when I was on a yarn high.

So that's about it. Joe should be home any moment, and the rest of the evening will probably be devoted to dusting, vacuuming, and detumbleweeding the house. If you have furry pets and hard floors, you know what I mean.

WW Confessions - Week 32 and Giving Thanks

I'm not going to spend a lot of time talking about my gain this week. Once again, I'm reminded of the following equation:

No exercise + drinking + too many bad foods - not enough good food = GAIN.

Duh.

But I'm very positive this morning. Part of it is due to this lovely blog I read from time to time, written by great folks who probably think I'm a stalker. Read this, and you'll be inspired as well.

Another thing - at Blazing Bagels this morning, getting my coffee, I ran into my friend M behind the counter talking to another customer with the tell-tale WW books in her hand. We had a great discussion to start off the morning.

And something else occurred to me this morning - maybe it's because I got to drive the "good" car to work today(that's what my hubby gets for parking behind me in the driveway) - I have a very good life. Very. Good. Life.

I'm having family and friends up for Thanksgiving - family I rarely see and friends I never get enough time with. I have friends online and close to home that bring me constant joy. I have a home that is drafty but filled with the warmth of fond memories and loving felines. So with that in mind, I'm going to stop being such a Poopyhead and just enjoy.

AUGH!!!

Exactly one week from today I'll be waking up with a house filled with five extra people for Thanksgiving! Augh! My house is a wreck! I know it'll be a lovely time, but between now and then I'm in HOLIDAY PANIC CLEANING MODE!!!

Deeeeeeeep breath...it'll all be okay...

Yeesh...

...didn't realize I was such a downer last night. Probably heavily influenced by spending a few hours on shelter financial statements last night. Really isn't that big of a deal, but I usually put it off until the last minute when I DREAD doing them. Plus it means our monthly meeting is not far behind, and to put it mildly those are always horrible. 2.5+ hours on a weeknight with people bickering over the tiniest little things. I'm one of the few with a fulltime job, and I'd honestly rather stand in line at the DMV than be at those meetings. At least standing in line I could knit a sock.

Speaking of knitting, I've been rolling along on Mom Sock #1 and Hubby's Cigar Glove #1. Had to frog some of the fingers due to total inexperience with the transitions (left some major holes between the fingers), but I think I'm getting the hang of it.

Finally felted my French Market Bag swatch, but it didn't felt so well. Now, being a logical person, I cannot jump to the conclusion that it's the yarn - it could be the fact that I now use a front load washer. I've read a few things online - how it takes longer but it still works, etc. So I'm going to give it one more try with my hedgie-felting-fave yarn. If that doesn't come out spot-on, then I'll be forced to save felting projects for a neighbor's house. Or hand felt. Maybe not.

For Lack of Anything Better Right Now...

UNO
You.
Can.
Only.
Type.
One.
Word.
No.
Explanations.

1. Yourself: tired
2. Your spouse: away
3. Your hair: restrained
4. Your mother: South
5. Your Father: deceased
6. Your Favorite Item: found
7. Your dream last night: wacked
8. Your Favorite drink: margarita
9. Your Dream Car: Outback
10. The room you are in: office
11. Your Ex: nonexistent
12. Your fear: irrelevance
13. What you want to be in 10 years? different
14. Who you hung out with last night? cats
15. What You’re Not? quick
16. Muffins: nah
17. One of Your Wish List Items: unindebted
18. Time: rushed
19. The Last Thing You Did: ate
20. What You Are Wearing: sweater
21. Your Favorite Weather: cold
22. Your Favorite Book: unread
23. The Last Thing You Ate: lasagna
24. Your Life: repetitious
25. Your Mood: somber
26. Your best friend: many
27. What are you thinking about right now? sleep
28. Your car: eh
29. What are you doing at the moment? typing
30. Your summer: over
31. Your relationship status: wondermous
32. What is on your TV? dust
33. What is the weather like? rainy
34. When is the last time you laughed? weekend

And with that, I bid you good night.

Fire, Fire, Fire, Light up ya Lighter

So Come on Come on, Sign up, Come on
This one’s nothing like Vietnam
Except for the bullets, Except for the bombs,
Except for the youth that’s gone

The show TOTALLY rocked. Almost 3 hours of jumping, yelling, and singing - college students and Baby Boomers, dread-heads and gray-heads. I was probably only 20 people from the stage, and I thought that the Mtn Jam show was amazing - this topped everything I'd been to in the last 10 years or so. Wow.

Fortunately I had scheduled today off, so I'm working on the house, which is a miserable wreck. You think I'm kidding?


Yeah. I thought so. This is our office nook leading into the laundry room (note the awesome new washer). So we recently realized we needed our armoire-turned-stereo-cabinet-office-storage to really be an armoire upstairs. Everything came out of it, and we moved the beast to the 2nd floor for blankets and clothes. And this is what I'm dealing with today. Yeah. Wish me luck.

Power to the Peaceful

Guess who we're going to see tonight...

Yup. Michael Franti & Spearhead. Way excited. Saw them at Mountain Jam, and to me they were the highlight. Am prepared to do lots of jumping and dancing and screaming.

WW Confessions - Week 31 - And Fiber Arts Avengers!

Not much to report this week - very slight gain, but my behavior wasn't the best. My goal is to lose a solid 2 lbs this week so I can hit that golden 30-lb mark (I had been so close I was just rounding up, but who was I kidding) and get a new freakin' star for my bookmark. But as my wise meeting leader says, "if nothing changes, then NOTHING CHANGES." So my going to Copperfield's once every few weeks for a handful of beers and their buffalo chicken wraps (oooh, food of the gods) isn't helping my cause. Neither is the occasional pizza. Or bottle of wine. Or getting up too late to work out. Or not getting groceries on time and running out of healthy food. Or just letting the healthy food rot while I'm too lazy to cook. Man, I need a mental adjustment. I need to change my evil, evil ways. So that's my project for this week - scheduling time to take care of myself.

On another COMPLETELY different note - I got an email from bestest friend Amy:
"Here is a link I've been thinking of sending you, to do with as you please -- I'm on a message board of mothers, and one of them has a son with a brain tumor (you can read about it on the link) and they're selling knitting patterns to raise money for healthcare costs. So I thought I'd pass the link along to you in case any of the patterns appeal to you. Do with it what you like. Use, ignore, pass onto others, whatever. Should go to bed. Have stopped using complete sentences."

I should note here that Amy is the mother of a toddler and should be excused from using complete sentances, or words for that matter.

And so I have a new button on the sidebar - I've looked at the site only briefly this morning, but aside from the extremely good cause, I'm all about badass knitters. The patterns look cool, and there are several ways to help - the most important of which is sending good vibes and love their way. And Amy? I am SO going to learn how to crochet and make BTU that lobster! It rocks! Rock Lobster!

Dammit. That song's going to be sticking with me today, I can tell...

My First Sweater...or, The Joy is Short-Lived

So I got this GREAT yarn at the Rhinebeck festival, and the lady who owned the business also gave me a pattern of a sweater I saw in her booth. It looked a little, well, sparse on paper. Like I might need to take a class or something to understand it. So I spent a whopping $2.65 on some nasty yarn to knit a mini-version of the sweater - smaller needles, 1/3 stitching in all directions...
I don't think it turned out bad at all. I wanted my most pliable cat, Otis, to pose in it, but he would have none of that. Smart cat. It's more of a tunic shaping, so there's nothing complicated about it. But I'd like to have more instruction on the seams, so maybe I'll try another mini-test-sweater with another pattern. Not that I expect perfection, mind you - just don't want TOO much crap going on.

On another note...Sigh...SIGH...

This is my new washer. It is awesome. I had a smile on my face when I told Joe I was going to wash clothes (for the first time in 2 weeks at home). And then I put the load in the dryer. I don't know if the dryer was intimidated by Ms Neptune or if it was sad from the loss of its faithful companion of over 10 years. But I've had the same load in the dryer for about 2 hours now, and nothing's happening. I'm so very, very sad. Mostly because we'd hoped to wait a while before plunking down the cash for another appliance. And now, even if I order it tomorrow, it will probably be another 2 weeks - even for pickup. I'm so very, very sad.

EDITED (20 minutes later) to add: HA! AHA! I freakin' FIXED it! ME! The liberal arts major! As opposed to the Tech grad! BWAHAHA! There is joy in Mudville! I have a dryer again! Yay! Yay me! Yay to my clothes! Yay to our checking account! Yay!

Waiting to Felt a Swatch

So I bought this lovely yarn back in March when I met Snarky for the first time in NYC. We went to the Green Market and found such wonderful things - including this bounty. Strangely enough, my house is closer to the farm than Union Square is. Nonetheless, this looked like nice happy yarn to me.

Oh, what to make, what to make...I was still SUCH a novice at that point. My snarky new friend also introduced me to That Which Is Called LYS, and thus created a monster. But I saved this yarn for something...special. My first thought - and attempt - was the Knitty Wavy scarf. Bad idea. I realized the HARD way that yarn with varying thickness is NOT good for patterns that require pretty standard stitch size to show off the stitches. Of course, I started this scarf several times (and got half-way through) before I gave up on it. It just wasn't happening. So that's why the balls on the right of the pic are a little darker - they've been handled too many times to count.

I'm still saving them for a happy project - now I'm thinking Knitty's French Market Bag. The problem is, I don't know how this felts. I have no washer, and felting at the laundromat is rather pointless (and expensive). Not gonna even go to the place of hand-felting. Nope. No way, sistah. And so my perfectly-on-gauge swatch awaits the arrival of my new Maytag Neptune (the Toyota version, not the Rolls Royce version). And let's hope I can get a happy market bag going soon.

Finally on the Needles...

Spending a few hours at the laundromat has its advantages...

On the left is Joe's first Cigar glove (in Cascade 220 The Heathers), and on the right is the beginning of Mom's socks (Tweed Cascade in charcoal). Playing it safe, I had them pick out their own yarns when we visited this most excellent yarn shop in St Louis. The glove is coming along better than I thought, but then again I haven't tackled the fingers yet - just held aside the thumb and pinky for working later. Mom's socks SHOULD be a no-brainer. My first socks were nice comfy socks in worsted. Then I went to sport weight, then to sock weight. I'm going to stick with worsted for now, since they're quick and comfy in this cold weather. I'll tackle more sock yarns when I get a few more socks under my belt. I'm still not as consistent as I'd like.

Totally different subject - since when was it appropriate for kids to BANG on the door at Halloween a mere 2 seconds after ringing the doorbell? I'm at the PC, only 5 strides from the door, and those little punks keep banging on my nice storm door. I'm turning into That Crusty Old Cat Lady On The Hill, I know it. But this Crusty Old Lady appreciated the 7-year-old in the Grim Reaper costume. At least he was polite, AND creative. He got two handsful of goodies.

WW Confessions - Week 30

Boy, I've been bad with consistently posting about this, eh? Well, I've been bad about attending meetings. I've been putting work first, which is really awful. So I went today, and after 2 weeks of non-point-calculating (going to STL and then being generally icky with a cold), I'm down 0.4 for a total of 28.8. So overall good news. Plus one of the ladies at work is back "on the wagon" with me, and that's always a help.

On another note - I had made a good friend at these meetings - we started basically the same week. She's about 10 years younger than I am, and she's desperately trying to have a kid. She serves in the Air Reserve, I think, so she attended the WW meetings in camo and humongo boots she'd take 5 minutes to unlace each week. In the beginning, we were the only two below the age of 50 at the meetings, and we really bonded. For a while, she'd been doing well, then she began getting really emotional (due to hormone shots and such), and the last time I saw her she was really down. Then one of the ladies at the meeting decided to get witchy about GWB and directed it towards her (hell, I don't care for the dolt, but I don't go to WW to talk politics). That was the last meeting at which I saw her, and it made me really sad. Kind of like AA, I'd only really known her first name at WW. Where had my friend gone? Did she get pissed off because that old bat got high-and-mighty with her? Did she start attending another meeting?

At the end of today's meeting, as I was packing up to leave, one of the older women spoke up. "You know that girl who used to come in with the army getup on? She came into my store the other day, and she was asking about everyone. I asked why hadn't we seen her, and she opened her coat - she's expecting a baby!" The woman reporting this then pointed at me and said, "she made special mention to ask how you're doing. She misses talking with you."

And there you go. Congratulations, Katy. I miss you too.

SP9 Super Short Story

Per my SP9 hostess, we are to create a fiber-related short story using only six words. Here's mine:

I mailed yarn today. Beware, Spoilee!

Much to Say, But I Don't Feel Like It...

Our trip pictures are posted here.

I'd post pictures of Joe's finished socks, but I really don't wanna talk about it. Just chalk up one more rule on Things Beth Learned The Hard Way: don't cast on at a beer tasting.

After our trip, and my whirlwind outing at Rhinebeck, Joe packed up for another business trip, and I was thrown into work mode right away. So my house is a mess, I'm catching a cold, I had a late night Planning Board class Monday, and today I had to leave the house at 5am to take some inventories in Newark. Got home at 1, took Nyquil and a nap, and now am going to try and put my SP9 first little present together. I got a good swatch done for the French Market Bag, but I can't see how this yarn felts, because MY WASHER IS BROKEN!!! Yup - it was an old one anyway, but Joe put in about 8 pair of jeans while I was having yarngasms upstate, and alas the spin cycle is no more. And by taking it apart to realize it really WAS toast, we pretty much ensured it's just a really big paperweight at this point. And since I don't feel like hand-felting a swatch because it reminds me how depressed I am over lack of washer, I'm gonna wait until we get the snazzy new washer. Good thing Joe got his bonus check.

Okay - that's about enough. I need a beer and some quality yarn time. Because at this point, I'm just too overwhelmed to do a damn thing with the house. If you see us on the news in one of those "I can't believe people live like this" stories, please understand.

Please, Sir, I Want Some More...

(Sung to the tune of "Food, Glorious Food" from Oliver!)

Wool, glorious wool!

Sheep, Llama, Alpaca

Just look at the yarn

And your lips will smack-a

Who needs money anyway

Who really needs food –

With WOOL,

Once again, WOOL,

Fabulous WOOL,

Glorious WOOOOOOOOOOOOL...

A few comments: Yes, it was wonderful. Yes, I spent way too much money. No, I didn't meet Yarn Harlot, but then again unless she poked me in the butt with a knitting needle and told me to hold her sock, I wouldn't have taken my eyes off of the feast before me. 4 hours and 2 trips to the car later, I still didn't see everything. But I do have plans for several hats, even more socks, and a SWEATER! So to all you yarny friends out there - you now have an open invitation to my house this time every year.

Oh, the Fun...

My normally wordy self has been absent for a few days due to traveling. I'll tell you more when I get all the pictures uploaded to my gallery, but it involved my mom, her friend, some yarn, lots of beer and wine, horses, and a city that is very happy about their Boys of Summer right now.

My poor husband was such a good sport, considering he was surrounded by knitters.

And yes, I'm frogging that scarf. Just not yet. I'm almost done with Joe's sock, and I have an adventure today that will push all negative scarf thoughts out of my head. Forever.

This Scarf is Goin' Down...

I was all about working on the Branching Out scarf (see below) at lunch today, and it's the first time I've brought the scarf out into fluorescent lighting. And guess what? Even though all of my Artful Yarns Virtue Cashmere skeins are the same color and lot - ONE SKEIN is of a slightly different hue - the blues and greens are duller than the other skeins. And guess which skein it is? #2 in the 2.87 I've used so far. Smack dab in the middle. Enough of a difference to notice exactly where the change is at the beginning and end of the skein. I hate them. I hate them all so very much.

So, what has Beth learned today, folks?
1) Fix mistakes as they happen. Don't let them fester.
2) Obsessively check skeins of yarn to make sure they look the same - especially after in knitting use. NO MATTER WHAT THE TAG SAYS.
3) Use a lifeline in lace projects from now on.
4) Stop staring at the damn scarf and just frog it already. The colors aren't going to change.

I want my mommy. :(

Haaaaay to my Secret Pal!

Just wanted to give a shout-out "Jawja-style" - even though she's in NJ - to my Secret Pal (Haaaaaay). We've been exchanging emails, but I haven't said much since I posted my SP9 questionnaire. I think it'll be MUCH fun, since this is the first SP for both of us, and we're just gonna have a blast.

After viewing this Branching Out scarf (scroll down) and seeing the genius of the lifeline, I'm really tempted to frog all 2.87 skeins of my scarf and get it right. Because if I'm gonna spend my hard-earned dollars on cashmere, I shouldn't hone in on my mistakes every time I look at that damn scarf, right? Egads. This is gonna break my heart. Anyone care to hold my hand while I rip this puppy out? Sigh. I guess I've learned my lesson. And as my SP9 spoilee says, one thing to learn right from the get-go is just accept mistakes and take care of them as they happen. **EDITED TO ADD: There's no way in heck I'm frogging this sucker. After looking at it this morning (it's been a while since I've actually looked at the darn thing), the mistakes are a lot bigger in my head than they are on the scarf.**

It's amazing how many 1-2 year knitters I've been reading during this. I think as a 1-year knitter that I'm just a total beginner. Now I realize that the only thing limiting me is myself. VERY cheezy but true. Limitations, be damned. I'm starting something new and exciting - TONIGHT! ;) **EDITED TO ADD: So, all I did was wind some yarn from a hank into a ball and start a swatch to see if the Andes wool I bought at Woodstock would do for the Knitty French Market Bag. I've read that it felts really well, and this colorway is so pleasant. So not an adventurous evening, but I'm getting there.**

Man - I've been a bit spastic in this post, eh?

Our Last Two Weekends

What have our last two weekends been like? Exhausting. Productive. Chaotic.

This is Joe playing with a rented toy. You see, we needed to put the recently-felled maple lumber somewhere to dry. So we needed another building or shelter. Because a large house, a detached garage, and a garden shed just aren't enough on our little 0.33 acres. So we opted to get one of those temporary shelters that people use for cars and (ahem) boats. In order to build the shelter, we needed a place to put it. So this little dirt-and-rock pile that had been hanging around since the Shed Demolition of 2003 needed to be moved and/or flattened.

Because you don't want the lumber right on the ground or exposed to moisture, Joe built a floor that the shelter would rest on. So last Sunday we went to Lowe's and got, oh, 24-2x8x12s and 7 sheets of OSB. The mud flaps on the truck scraped the whole way back from the store. Basically, Joe built decking first, then put the OSB on top of it. Here is Joe working with the wood. I just like it because it's a pic of him in coveralls. Mrrow.

The finished floor, as it looked this morning. This of course was BEFORE we went through the grueling task of erecting the skeleton of the shelter. And realizing it was really a 4-person job. And that the instructions SUCKED! And that the floor wasn't big enough. But two hours and many frustrated, awkward moments later - we did it. All by ourselves. But we were too tired to even go into the house to get the camera. We went in, had some beer, some fried chicken and mac & cheese (mmmmmmm...), and we've been watching TV ever since.

This will be a strange week, due to many things scheduled this week, resulting in a perfect storm of commitments. But I did finish my scarf - just finished weaving in all the ends. Once I wash and block it, I'll post a pic. But until then, I think I need to go pass out.