Needed a day..

I needed a day today. So I took one. I'm okay with that.

I sat on the couch most of the day, watching TVontheinternet (which is absolutely the best invention of all time) and knitting. We stopped at the merc on Wednesday before dinner with dad (I needed some buttons!) and I picked up some of the most fabulous sock yarn that's ever existed. It's Jitterbug Toscana, and the colors are absolutely amazing. It's jewel tones (sapphire and ruby and gold) in a field of greens (emerald and sage and shiny rose leaf) and it's so shiny it blows my mind. I was going to do an all over stitch pattern that I thought would look nice in the striping, but I was so enamored with the colors that I got totally distracted and forgot. But it's okay. The fabric feels so thick and warm and delightful ... I'm utterly in love, and I've just started the arch expansion. What's funny is I've got 4 skeins of sock yarn sitting on the shelf, and I've just not been in the mood for socks - until I picked this stuff up off the shelf!

I was supposed to take the bike back to dad's house this evening - umm, except for the rain. So that's just not going to work out. Raeface is half finished with the baby blanket for Talan, and she's real excited about that. We ordered yarn for our first sweaters this week. Mine came, but her's is back ordered. Now I just have to pick a pattern - I've got it narrowed down to two, but I'm still just not sure. I'd like to make Twist + Shout, but I'm not sure I've got the right color for that one. Then there's the sweater from the cover of Big Girl Knits. I think that's the one I'm going to go with. It looks easy enough, I can do it in the round, etc. Yeah, probably. Umm, I just realized that I'll probably need to order more needle tips if we're both going to be knitting sweaters. Hmm. And while I'm at it, I should probably order size 2 and 3 cable needles for working magic loop socks. (Even though I utterly adore my dpns. No, really. I love them.)

Rae's aunt is having her annual halloween party this weekend. Thanksgiving is coming up soon, and that makes me anxious. And depressed. Thanksgiving is depressing. I think we decided to tell everyone that we're at someone elses family for the weekend, and just hide at home, eat turkey sandwiches, bake bread, and ignore people. Last year was just too hard. It was too hard to not have my mom around. I think I just need to stay home, and make the food we loved the most, and not have any other people around who ask questions when I start to cry. ... I'm just not ready for that. (Uh, funny, though, that Christmas doesn't bother me, doesn't depress me, nothing. Thanksgiving, though, I have problems with.. )

Last week work was almost more than I could handle. ... I think.

We had a big private college project that went out on Wednesday that I got drug into. It wasn't really my project, but at the last minute I started making phone calls and looking for quotes, doing some pricing analysis. It was okay, though. I'd gotten a commodity price update on Monday, and used the extra stand-by time to do a update for the SPD guys. I got to go to a pre-bid on Tuesday; that was exciting. I like going to walk thru's - even if the site is currently just a dusty parking lot. I like getting to meet people, and see what everyone else has done on the project already (I usually don't find out about the things until the morning of, so I haven't done any work at that point.) We had a turnover meeting Friday morning on a project that we think we'll be awarded - so we're putting time and resources on getting this project started, but we don't have a contract (or even an intent to award!) yet. Lovely!

Raeface and I re-organized the living space this weekend. We got a closet cleaned out, the couch moved, more yarn storage set up, etc on Saturday. We moved the rat cage, and now I've got a sewing table - that's exciting. No more ironing on the fold up TV tray! I've got stuff I've got to grab from Dad's house - Grandma's curtains, a dress I started (well, years ago) and I think I'd like to maybe make some simple clothes, perhaps. And probably a baby blanket. Oh! Pajamas for Keaton for Christmas! Maybe a helmet bag for Josh for Christmas.. That would be nice. Except then I'd have to do something with a zipper. Or it would snap together - snaps I could do!

The christmas bowls are almost finished. I finished half of Renee's King Max crown - the headband part is finished, and it just needs the points now. I'm close to complete on the first left wrist warmer. The Twisty Turns hasn't been worked on for a while now. And I think I'm going to work on the Klein bottle bag before I pick that up again. Small projects just kept getting in the way! But now that everything is (more) organized, maybe things'll work better...

Ahh! Erin had a baby! I love him! He's reallyreallyreally cute! (And now I want a baby. But that's not happening. Not for a while. Raeface and I talked a lot about that this weekend. Babies, family, where we're at, buying a house, etc. We decided that we still like each other. :))

Saturday was packed full of goodness. Zilla and I went to breakfast and took a walk, then she went to work and left me alone for the day. I cleaned, tidied, washed all the laundry, dusted, etc. And I knitted a lot. I made two obnoxiously hot pink cozies. And I love them. I might not be able to give them away. They still need buttons, but I'll get there. After Buttface got home, we peeled zillions of billions of apples and started the applesauce process. Okay, so only slightly less than a bushel - less than half of what we have to peel.

Sunday we got up early and went out to The Wilds for the day. (Some of) Rae's family went with us. It was Experience Columbus, which meant there were way more people there than normal. And they had private tours scheduled, which meant there were fewer buses than normal. Which means we spent forever waiting for buses to get us from place to place. The weather was really nice - not too hot, but definitely warm. Too warm for a sweater, but cool enough to carry it around just in case. I knitted a bit - got through most of a left wrist warmer before I realized I didn't have waste yarn with me for the thumb (annoying). We got to see some neat animals - rhinoceroses, giraffes, Pere David donkeys, Persian ongers, camels, zebras, antelope (several species), and - my new favorite - the takin. They were fantastic. They've got a back end similar to a bear, a face like a goat, and horns. They can swim, climb, run, jump, and go anywhere on the property. The girl who told us about them said they were the most aggressive /dangerous animals in the place, and special electric boundaries had to be installed because they were trying to get into the people cages. I think that's my favorite thing about The Wilds - the people are in cages instead of the animals. And the tour guides make sure the visitors know that.

Due to the busing delays, we didn't get home until after the SNBA Gala had already started, so we didn't end up going to that. By the time we would have showered and changed, the thing would have been closer to ending than beginning. I was a little bummed - even though the thing would have been full of privileged white men making their money off the backs of poor people, I would have liked to have gone. Katie Reider was going to be honored with an award, and that would have been nice to be a part of.

But since we didn't go, I got out the sewing machine and made Zilla's Halloween costume real fast. Then I started my grandmother's Christmas present - just some throw pillows, but it's absolutely the perfect fabric for her. Then I remembered that I promised her some curtains (the fabric is sitting at Dad's house somewhere) and I need to get those done to send with the pillows. I think I want to make a ruffle for edging on one pillow, but I'm not sure how to do that...

We have a big weekend planned. Today should be pretty relaxed, as far as a work day goes. I might run down to the yarn shop over lunch to pick something up for a swap. Something quick, and brightly colored. And feltable. And buttons! I love buttons. We're going to a comedy show tonight with my brother. And before that happens, we're going to stop at Dad's house to get one of my mom's sewing machines. Then I'm going to start hemming things, and maybe finish a dress I started making a long time ago, and bang out a couple pillows for Christmas. Maybe I'll use it for Christmas cards, too. We'll see. And I've got to make Renee's halloween costume. We already bought the fabric - it's all a matter of 4 quick seams. Then the show at Shadowbox tonight should be a good time.

Saturday is going to be all about finishing cleaning I started last weekend. I need to get the ceiling fans, take out the ac units, and clean out our middle room. We're going to use the living room as storage (yarn, books, movies, etc) and laundry hanging space over the winter, and live in the center room. I'll get that going this weekend.

Sunday we're going to the wilds! And that's exciting. And then we're going to the SNBA gala event. I don't know what that'll be like, but I know I've got to wear a dress. (Well, anything dressed up, so I'll wear a dress. And be pretty.) Hopefully we won't be out late, though. I don't like being out late on a weeknight.

welp.

Busy weekend. Friday night I was ... doing something, I'm sure. And Raeface called to see if I wanted to go to the Indigo Girls concert that night. It seemed rude to refuse karma tickets, so we went. We're not entirely sure where the tickets came from, but they came with backstage passes. When we got there, we ended up giving those to someone who promised to find someone who would appreciate the experience a little more than we would. The opener was ... well, really gay. That general acoustic guitar and feminine whiny voice thing. And it didn't seem like she'd played Columbus before - she kept insinuating that people must not have liked her because they were talking. Ha. We didn't stay for much of the Indigo Girls, though. After you've stood all day at work it's not much fun to stand through a show. And I was just exhausted.

Saturday we went to breakfast at Cafe Corner. I love the eggies in a basket. And then I cleaned most of the day. I did laundry, moved furniture, swept under the bed. I didn't get to dust the ceiling fans, but I will soon. I'd like for most of the dust to be out of the house before I seal it up for winter. That evening we went bowling with my little brother! Now, other than gym class, I've probably only bowled maybe 4 times in my life. And I didn't do too badly - well, I scored 22 the first game. And the second I was in the low 80s. Sunday morning, though, my shoulders were sore - they made me bowl left handed for half the first game, but I just wasn't strong enough to keep doing it that way.

Sunday morning we went apple picking and Lynd's Fruit Farm. We got an entire bushel of apples, for making apple sauce. And for eating. Then we went to my Dad's house to do some laundry (blankets, the couch slip cover, the heated mattress pad, etc - more getting ready for winter) and we (partially) cleaned out my closet there. It's time to start working on getting all my crap out of the house. A lot of the stuff I'll donate, especially if I haven't used it for a year. But the fabricy stuff, and the books, and the childhood mementos I've held on too ... well, those at least need to be condensed.

The big problem is that the room is filled with my mom's stuff. When I moved back in, we never managed to get all her stuff out of the drawers and dressers in the room. Most of the stuff we took out of the closet was her stuff. It's hard seeing parts of her, being so close to, well, it's just her stuff. But its stuff that exhibited her personality - both the surface stuff (likes, hobbies, etc) and the deeper parts (the need to hide things, the inability get rid of things, squirreling things away, etc) too. I had awful dreams about her last night. I think I re-lived finding her that morning a dozen times last night... It's been over a year now, but I guess those are things that take time to fully work through...

We're going to knit night tonight. We didn't go last week because of the ill. She's feeling better, but I'm still calling her pus pit. And disease girl. And bacteria babe. (She acts like it upsets her, but I can tell she doesn't mind. She's laughing, inside.) But we're going tonight. I'm going to rush home and cast on for the two left wrist warmers, because one of the ladies said she'd learn me magic loop. And I decided I'd rather start with the wrist warmers instead of socks. Heel turns frighten me. At least, heel turns combined with new methods intimidates me a little bit. Regardless.

Umm. The economy (and our government) scare me. Sarah Palin scares me. Pirates in Somolia ransoming a ship full of tanks scares me. I think it's time to move. I just did some math, and I, personally as an individual, own approximately $32,848 of the national debt. (I won't even deduct the percentage of money that was spent on the Iraq 'war' (conflict? police action? religious conversion mission?), which I don't agree with and didn't vote for. (If I had the means) I'd write the US Treasury a check for my financial responsability and immigrate.

But I don't have the means, and most of the people I know don't have the means. And I'm really not in the mood to immigrate today. Instead I'm going to start working on putting together my business plan. And gathering information on grants. And reading books on water conservation and filtration. And then, even though it'll scare me, I'm going to quit my job. That's the only way I'll ever get anything done.

In other news,. If I stretch real hard, the Twisty Turns wrap goes around me once - kind of. So that's promising. I've got a ball of sock yarn I'm itching to start working with - but I don't think I want to make socks with it. I think I might want to do a scarf verion of a Clapotis. I think that'd be durn purty. The yarn is purples, greens, and browns. At least, that's what I'm seeing in my head.

My focus at work might be altered for a bit. We think it's likely we'll be awarded a 10 million dollar project that's got a retarded fast schedule. So, if that comes to pass, I'll jump over to project management and help get that going - maybe some scheduling, helping draw up a budget, getting submittals in, etc. I think it's a great opportunity to use some of the other skills I paid a lot of money to learn. :)

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. :)

I finished my Ravelymic socks, though a bit late. I kept forgetting that the deadline was not at midnight my time, but midnight Bejing time (which was noon my time). So I was a couple hours late. That's cool. I still finished them. And then stayed up a little late to roll the next skein into a ball. It's Cherry Tree Hill Yarn, Supersock superwash 100% merino, Slate color. It's really pretty. The texture is interesting - it's almost looks like a 'tightly spun boucle' I guess. It's got nubbins on it. The color is lovely. I've decided to do a lace sock with this one - the solid color without a pattern would be a bit boring, so I'll step outside my box and try to stretch my skills. Which means these socks could take much longer than my week each average. (Which I'm seeing is a pretty long time to knit a sock. Eh.) I'm deciding between Knitty's Sweetpea and Knitty's Falling Leaves. But I might not actually use those specific patterns, but rather translate those stitch patterns and then incorporate them into the Ridgeline sock pattern. I really liked the way those socks turned out - the little increase triangle on the sole is really nice. And the foot went pretty quickly - faster than I remember the Coriolis going.

I think I'm also going to toss out some child socks for Keaton and Talon (*shudder* Who names a person Talon?) and maybe Haley. They have little feet, and I can probably make a pair (or 2) for each of them out of the leftovers from the last two balls. Since I don't tend to make cuffs, I probably actually have enough leftovers for another pair of adult footies in each ball. Problem is that I don't like the ugly Austermann yarn, and I don't think there is quite enough of the pretty blue/brown/orange yarn for another pair.

So, it's been about a month. Nothing really too exciting has happened. Raeface's little brother stayed with us for the last 6 weeks, or so. But now he's back at school, so he'll only be here for the weekends (and even then, only for a bit of the weekends) so that's nice. It wasn't awful having him here, it was just a bit stress inducing. Having a third person in our tiny apartment was rough, and as he was aaaalllwwways here, the only alone time was in the car to and from work.

Speaking of work, it's official. I've been gainfully employed for over a year. And I'm not bored, which is the most impressive feat of all. The last time I'd been at a job for a year, well, it was making coffee. That hardly counts. So, congratulations for me.

As far as knitting, that's been fun lately. I finished a pair of socks for me. They're 100% wool, superwash. Cerulean, chocolate, and tangerine. On size 3 needles, 7 spi. I used the Simple Coriolis pattern from the Cat Bordhi book. I widened the swirling band to 5 stitches. They're a little big though, and I wish they weren't superwash. Eh, whatevs. My next pair is for the Ravelymics. I'm using Austermann Step (with the aloe vera and jojoba oil in the yarn, which is nice and nifty but doesn't quite make up for the splityness) and the 1st sock is done, the second about 1/3 the way finished. And they're actually ugly as hell. In the ball, the yarn is really pretty - lime, orange, cream, and nutmeg. What I didn't see were the black spots. Which are really ugly. But the pattern is nice. Another Cat Bordhi - Ridgeline this time. I'm doing something new this time. A different toe than normal, a new pattern. I like it, even though they're ugly.

Wow. Sometimes life really, really sucks.

Death is everywhere right now. It's hanging a shroud over me, clouding the details of everything I see. I'm too distracted to work right now, at this moment, and I've actually got something fun on my desk right now.

Yesterday morning, Katie Reider passed away. She'd been battling serious health problems, but everything had been looking up. Even with the health issues, the loss of Katie is shocking. She passed early yesterday morning, and people in Columbus knew by 10am. Then the lesbian phone tree kicked in, and there was a gathering last night in Goodale Park, which was appropriate. There was some of her music, and kind words from many people who knew her well.

I didn't know her well. We'd met, of course. I've seen her perform a few times. The most memorable, though, was at Little Brothers. I was underage, and drinking. I went outside for a cigarette and didn't have a lighter. There was a group of people off to the side; I approached and they did have matches - Katie Reider matches, at that. We started talking about how cold it was, and my lack of a jacket. Then someone else walked up to the group and joined the conversation. They started talking about the sound check - at which point, I say - Oh, you're one of the bands? And they say yep, we're the Katie Reider Band. And I turn to the newest girl and say, What do you play? and she responds, Well, I'm Katie Reider! Slightly embarassed (but too drunk to realize it) we all walked inside. Ten minutes later, the bassists wife brought me a shot of burbon, and told me I should come to more shows.


And then Raeface called me at work this morning with the news that a co-worker of hers (my personal favorite at the bar) -- his grandmother died, likely yesterday as well. She'd been in poor health, but they weren't expecting it. And, a regular customer at the bar had passed within the last few days as well.

See? Death everywhere. So hold on to your love ones; it's looking to be as depressing a summer as last year...

Uhh, so she did kick my ass. That's okay. I'm used to it. She's generally better at games than I am. Except Othello - which we play so I can win sometimes too. (I'm really not a sore loser. I just hate losing every single time on every single game. That's all.) The funniest part is that she haaaaates 80s music, which, of course, is what Guitar Hero is filled with. I pick Warrant and Kansas and Cheap Trick - she just groans. She likes some of the songs, though. It's all right.

She played last night while I started a pair of socks. We went to Heavenly Creations Tuesday night so I could pick up a top whorl spindle (suggested because apparently most beginners don't start with a bottom whorl) and I picked up a skein of Encore (which I think makes perfectly good house socks - it pills a bit on the bottom, but that's okay - besides, I don't have the patience to make a pair of socks at 10 spi (which is what the Comfort sock ended up at) so the worsted weight is good for me) that's absolutely beautiful. I've been wearing her socks lately (which makes her yell at me) so I'm just making myself a pair. Ha. Anyway, the colours are so pretty that I almost wish I was making a scarf instead of socks. You'll have that, though. But I don't really have anything else in my stash to make me a quick pair of socks with (just the Comfort sock, which, again, I just don't have the patience for right now). If we don't do anything tonight, I think I'm going to sit down and watch some YouTube on spinning - perhaps with a top whorl, the videos will make a bit more sense. And maybe I'll have the focus to sit down and watch them. Here's hoping!

I'm so glad this week is almost over. I've got a job that should go out tomorrow afternoon, then another one to start Monday morning. This pace is a little slow for me - I find that I'm saving things to do later so I don't end up with a whole lot of left over time at the end of a project. Really, I think I could probably do 1.5x the work load they give me - I won't tell them that, though, because if they did that I'd likely accidently end up with 3x the amount. Eh. With all the time I spend with the boys because they're idiots, it all works out.

My bike has a stupid flat tire, and I hate it. That's all.

I've been working on the Murky Falling Water scarf a lot lately. It's a pretty easy knit at this point. We went to a flea market over the weekend, and it was great to do in the car on the drive. The flea market itself, however, was wretched. Now, I like flea markets and buying used "vintage" and generally old things. I love the tables filled with odd glassware and old tools. But, uh, the booths filled with dollar store cast-offs .... I could have done without. There were 4 or 5 places selling used DVDs. A "grocery store" selling close to expired cereal and baking mixes. Several pet store - with real animals, which is what confused me the most. The place is only open on the weekend - how are those animals being cared for during the week? Regardless.

I stole my brother's Guitar Hero the other day. Buttface was up laaaate playing. I think she plans on playing all day today, as well, that way she can kick my ass when I get home tonight. That's okay.