mmm.

So. Rough weekend. Renee is sick - she's got an abscess in her throat so she's been really whiny. She finally went to the doctor on friday, and she's taking 1200mg of antibiotics every day for a while. Pretty gross. So it was a long weekend at home, making lots of soup and soft foods for her to eat, dealing with her whining, making her gargle, letting her nap, etc.

Then this morning we went out to run to the grocery for breakfast, and the window of the car had been busted out. So that was annoying. We walked to the grocery (luckily it's just half a block, but it was still too tiring for Renee) and made breakfast. Then she took a nap and I dealt with all the broken glass. Our landlord is letting me keep it in the garage for the next while or so, until the glass is repaired. He also let me borrow his shop vac to get the glass all cleaned up. Really, just annoying. Luckily, my deductible isn't too bad, and it should be easy enough to get taken care of. There wasn't anything in my car to steal (I'm not that dumb) and my stereo is, well, an AM/FM radio. So nothing is missing, other than the window.

Whatever. Spent the rest of the afternoon on the couch, knitting. I'm making a set of arm warmers for Renee's sister - Knitpicks Andean Silk in chocolate brown. They're pretty simple, with an eyelet pattern on the wrists. I wasn't paying attention, though, and I made two for the right wrist. It's a good thing I like them - because I'm going to be making two pairs (as long as I remember to make two lefts next time). Again, annoying. Just a little annoying.

Renee is working on more bowls. She's got 4 finished and ready for felting. The 5th is over halfway done. I think we only have 3 more left to finish the Christmas list. Then we're going to make one for halloween (a teeny tiny one).

I picked up a ball of hot lemon yellow WW wool for some gloves for her nephew. He'll like them because I'll tell him they're for hunting. Or something. Maybe I'll make a matching pair of socks for the baby. Eh. Renee is really into the Christmas knitting. Me ... well, not so much. Maybe something for a few select friends, but. It takes a lot of time. And, well, I have a better time working on the project if I know it's going to be used and appreciated, otherwise I get negative. And it takes forever.

PS. I love Pat Benetar. Long time.

About half the f'en icord is done now. And I decided to save the rest of the icord until the end of the project so perhaps some excitement of a finished item will carry me through. I'm probably about 2/3 the way through the increases, which is followed by about a foot of straight knitting. Half of which is reverse stockinette in the round. The thought of that makes me a little grumpy, but I decided that it would be a perfect chance to practice my purling continental style. Or something.

I watched the President last night. I hate him. I mean, I'm sure if we sat down and had dinner together and indulged in some light conversation, it would be fine. But the second anything political or economic came into the picture ... well. First, we don't tax the wealthy at the same percentage rate as the middle class. Second, the wealthy hide their money in stock market assets that are less taxable. Third, they make risky decisions that involve instilling false hope in the availability of the American Dream, and then tear it away because it wasn't actually within reach to begin with. Fourthly, when it all goes sour it screws over the people they were taking advantage of again. Then we all have to bail them out.

F'en Icord.

Okay, so it's not that bad. Now that I've figured out tension, etc for this bit. And, as soon as it's over, I get to start some stockinette flat knitting! Woo! But, after that, I get to wiggle it all around and I make a delightful klien bottle purse! And that excites me. I'm double stranding Cascade, Walnut and Heathered Sparro. They're lovely and mottled and pretty damn delightful, if I may say so. I'm going to like it, lots. Then I've got to rip out half an old sock, re-wind the yarns, and make some toes. Then Zaposa is going to teach me some magic loop magic. It'll be lovely. And I'll get a nice pair of worsted weight socks that are, magically, both the same length!

Fall TV is starting. Which makes sense, as fall did begin today. So we're watching the last season of Grey's Anatomy to make sure we're all caught up. We saw the premier of House last week - don't think I'm going to be as enamored with it this season. The surgery scene was just pretty weird. And Ugly Betty starts soon, and Numb3rs (which I'm totally going to nerd out on) and NCIS, which is stupidly showing at exactly the same time as Bones. Which makes me grumpy.

We might have just picked up a large project at work. Exceedingly large. Even though I was hardly involved, it still makes me excessively nervous. The whole thing was mostly a cluster, and so explaining that cluster to everyone ... well, let's just say that even we don't really understand all that went on. Seriously - we didn't have power for half the bid cycle, and that's just the beginning of all the murkiness. Eh.

Stupid babies.

It's a lovely saturday morning. At least, I think it is. We got to the bar early today, and I helped out Renee with some stuff - cut potatoes (and my finger a little bit), etc. Plus I'm doing laundry - it's just faster when you can dry a load in 30 minutes, rather than 12 hours. Since it doesn't take as long, I can stay focused on it. And I fold when I pull the clothes out of the dryer, which is better than leaving everything in a pile on a chair in the living room when we pull it all off the hangers. Eh. Then I printed out Twist & Shout which I'm utterly enamoured with. I think I'm going to use Comfort - that way it won't make me itchy and I don't have to wear long sleeves under it! Exciting. I might have to special order it, though - Mercantile doesn't tend to have large quantities of the stuff in the same color, and this sweater uses a whole boatload of yarn. (Plus, that way I get to pick a color they might not have in stock. I'm thinking an oaty brown, or a denimy blue would be nice. Something I can wear with anything.) I'm excited.

I think I'm about 1/4 the way through Twisty Turns. It wraps about half way around now, and it's got to go around a little bit more than twice. The ribbing isn't very even, and that bothers me. I know it'll block out, but I think I might end up having to block it twice. I'll have to block it wide and open to even the ribbing, but I don't think I want it with the ribbing all stretched out. I like it bunched up looking, and I think the weight will pull it out nice enough.

I'd like to take photos of all the stuff I've been finishing - I felted two bowls last weekend (or the weekend before, whenever) and three last night. The ones we just finished are pretty awesome. One is orange and brown (for an aunt who's a big Browns fan) and one that's gray, light blue, and bold blue. The handle is gray in the center, with the edging in bold blue (so the rim of the bowl part is bold blue with a gray stripe) and the bulk of the bowl is light blue. It's really damn pretty looking. And the third is with a moebius rim instead of a handle. The rim is bold blue with a red icord bind off, and the bowl part is the same blue. So the moebius is really nicely outlined with the red. (It makes a better hat than a bowl, I think. Renee doesn't really agree.) That one is for her sister who's having a baby. The shower is tomorrow afternoon. I've got a bunch of baby things to fill the bowl with (butt paste, baby spoons, some bottles, wash cloths, etc) and then we'll stick the full bowl in the baby bath we bought. Then maybe I can get some wrapping cellophane stuff and tie it all up like a fruit basket. Nice.

We're putting together one of the games for the baby shower. We're getting a bunch of baby food, and having a tasting contest. I decided I'm getting all green and yellow, and putting food coloring in the yellow stuff, so there are fewer clues. It's going to be pretty disgusting. Gag me with a spoon. *bleck*

We return to the living.

Or, at least, those with power. The electric is back on at work, which is delightful. I couldn't take one more day of writing things down and making the math with a calculator, so I brought in a laptop today (and an extra battery) but luckily don't need it. It's exciting.

Renee and I went to knit night last night at the Chocolate Cafe. That place is dangerous, terribly so. I think the ladies might think we're unfriendly, but we're not. I promise. It's just awkward to work into an established group. And neither of us have really foreceful personalities. Which is actually why we decided to go, because neither of the two ladies we met over the weekend had forceful personalities. So we went, and had a nice relaxing time. We worked on moebii. And one of the ladies was working two sleeves on one cable (she called it "Magic Loop" though it didn't look nearly as complicated as I thought magic loop should look) and she offered to help me set up some two at once magic looped socks - as long as I brought in some completed toes. Perhaps.

Ike-a-like.

So, hurricane speed winds have left half the midwest without power. Or, 300,000 of central Ohioans, at least. But we never lost power, as utterly ridiculous as that sounds. We lose power at the hint of a raindrop, yet in the middle of the gale, our power is solid. Awesome.

My office, however, still has no power. So the first half of Monday, we worked with rulers and flashlights. I worked at home all afternoon - after all, I had power, lights, and a computer. And today, I had an all day field trip to a power plant! Which was oodles of fun - especially when they decided to tell me about the extension. Could have mentioned that earlier, but whatever.

okay, okay

So, she can purl now. And she really wants to make sure I tell you all that, so you don't think she's afraid of the purl. ... She say's it's not as fun as knitting, though. She made a seatbelt cozy. At least, that's what we decided it was after she finished binding off. :)

And she's decided that I'm going to be a football widow this fall, so I might just finish that wrap I started after all! It's about 20" long now, round-a-bout. I'm pleased.

Bang.

So, it's finally happened. The world is going to explode. Renee is learning to knit.

..... We both knew it would happen. She used to crochet as a child, and picked up a hook I had lying around about a month ago. She started a little something, but didn't get very far. I'm working on a moebius bowl for her sister's baby shower (to fill with diaper cream, etc) and I haven't been feeling well. I was knitting in spurts last night, and once when I set it down she picked it up and went, "Which way do I hold the needles?" and that was all it took. She's totally a visual learner, so all she's had to do it watch my hands. She's done a long tail cast on, knitted cast on, and the knit stitch. I tried to show her how to purl, but she closed her eyes and started shrieking "Not yet not yet not reeeeeeadddddy!!" so I gave it back to her. :) Now when we go to the yarn store, she won't be wandering around listlessly! (But she'll probably use the rest of the acrylic in my stash first, eh.)

I mucked up the latest moebius bowl thing. Eh. I did something wrong when picking up the stitches around the brim, and things got twisted in a funny way. I ripped back, and the yarn ended up in a nasty little ball around the handle thing. Eeek. Whatever. It's all rolled up nicely now, and I've got the stitches on the needle again, but I'm not quite ready to knit it all up and try real hard to not twist it funny again. Goooooood times.

Anyway. Sick. Feels like an awful combination of an ear infection, a sinus infection, and the flu. I hate it. I'm too hot to sleep in the bed, too cold to sleep on the couch, to gross to go to work, etc. There's been a lot of movie watching, and I just gotta say - Matilda is awesome, and absolutely hilarious. Looove it.

Classes!

I've spent a lot of time at the yarn store lately. Well, more than usual, anyway. I went in last week to wind up some hanks for the Twisty Turns I started, and to pick up some gifties for a new knitter (knitcheck, point protectors, tape measure, etc) and ended up signing up for some classes! One I knew I was signing up for - a spindle spinning class! I'm terribly excited, but it doesn't happen until November. So I'm patiently waiting, playing a little bit with spindles/roving at home once in a bit. And I signed up for a moebius bowl class! It was on Saturday. I'd checked out the first Treasury of Magical Knitting from the library (moebius = fun, I was sure) but for the life of me, I couldn't figure out the damn cast on. Or what to do once I thought I had stitches on my needles. So I took the class, and it was magic. I didn't think I was actually going to like to bowl thing (that's a little too femmy kitschy chique for me) but, turns out, they're fantastic! I already finished the one we started in class, and then made a second one on Sunday. I decided they're what I'm doing for Christmas. I'll make a bowl for everyone, in appropriate colors, and then Renee can weave matching hot pads, and we'll stick a chocolate-chip-cookie-mix-in-a-jar in it. Perfect, easy, quick. I made her grandmothers first - it's dusty rose and rose leaf green. I used the green on our bowl (our walls are a trio of leaf greens) but I'm not sure what else I'll use the pink on. Renee's littlest sister is having a new baby, so I started another bowl last night for her baby shower - it's dark blue, with a dark blue twisted band with ruby attached Icord edging. It's not going to be handled, though, just have the moebius band around the edge. I'll stick cotton balls/Q-tips/diaper cream/etc in it - HA! and a snot sucker turkey baster thing. Those things are hilarious. I'll have to get around to photos.

So it was a fantastic class to take. Lots of easy gift potential, plus now that I can do the cast on, I can make myself a lovely twisted shawl. After I finish the twisted wrap I just started, of course!

Work is ... different ... right now. We got in drawings for 3 big projects all on the same day. Delightful. Whatever. We'll make it work, right? We each got a project to be in charge of. The two boys are splitting the two large projects, and I'm doing the mid-sized one all myself. Tuns out, one of the bigger ones is actually huge, and my mid-sized one is, well, tiny, actually. Plenty confusing and requiring lots of fucus, sure. But still not going to take up my time for the next two weeks. So even though we're busier than we have been, I'm still just taking up time... Which is boring, and kinda stressful. Whatever. :)