Friday, December 29, 2006

Benjamina Franklin

Well, there we were, amongst what I figure must be the throng of Pitt employees who were off this week, lollygagging at Barnes and Noble. 40 Guy was nowhere in sight, but he had a stand-in. A rather androgynous human appeared. We really couldn't figure out this one. It had blond Ben Franklin hair and donned genderless garb. A while later, through the thick layer of sweatshirt, I could detect some female-ness. I said, "Aha! It's XX, not XY!" Wow...

It was as though the heavens opened when 40 Guy finally did appear. He was doing weird things, like not reading, and swooning back in his chair, his 40-full belly protruding into the table edge. We think he may have been asleep. I'm not so sure. I'm wondering if it's all an act? What if it's the same 40 bottle he carries around with him, like Linus and the blankie?

We freaked when he stood up at the same time as us and lurked a minute. We were all prepared with our panic buttons in hand as we fled to our cars.

Even worse...what if 40 Guy IS a super hero and his special power is supersonic hearing??? We are so DOOMED...

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Now I can make something for ME!

I'm going to start this:
It's the Cast-Away Fringe Pullover from Teva Durham's Loop-d-Loop book, in Quarry (boucle) from Knit Picks. My goal is for the fringe to look like dreadlocks.

Finished the shrug at 9:30am xmas day!!! Pic isn't great, but I was NOT presentable at that time of day...

Sunday, December 24, 2006

Under the wire

Happy Festivus, Everyone!
Well, it looks like I might just make it in time for the endless cream shrug to be delivered tomorrow morning to my MIL! Just a couple more rows, binding off and weaving ends in!

When stitching the seams Friday night, I looked around at my surroundings in the bedroom and thought, "Why is it that when the husband is left in charge of the laundry, it looks like a bomb went off???"

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Manly mitts!

I modified Knitty's "Fetching" pattern. After making some of these girly fingerless gloves, I had to man-ify them.
The result is, no cables and a worsted weight. If anyone wants details, I can provide that. Yarn was Cascade Quattro.

Thursday, November 09, 2006

It's not everyday you get resurrected

That's EXACTLY what happened to me this afternoon. No kidding!

I had a doc appt then had to get some bloodwork done, so I go to pre-register. She asks if I work in the hospital, since I'm wearing my scrubs, and I wearily say, "No...I just finished the 11th day of my shift and I'm starting to shut down now that I don't have to do anything and I'm REALLY looking forward to going home." She does the usual, asking for my insurance card and the script. She pulls up my record and I hear her say, "Hmmm...it says, 'This patient is DECEASED.' I've never seen that before."

I laugh and say, "Well, I almost died a month ago after surgery." She looks concerned and says, "Really?"

"Oh, you know, drug allergy and everything that goes along with that...and nearly slipping into a coma..." I explain, still laughing. At this point in the day, my exhaustion has me delirious.

She asks me to confirm my demographics. What I say matches what's on the screen. She is stumped and calls over her supervisor who coaches her through a variety of screens, but then the SUPERVISOR says, "Wow, this is really strange. We're going to have to call MR (Medical Records)."

I'm enjoying playing along with the humor of the situation and say, "Can you find out WHEN someone decided to kill me?" They had obvious difficulty trying to find the last change date.

The registrar makes the call to MR. I hear her explain the situation which sounds really funny. It's something like, "I have a patient here to pre-register who's showing up as deceased in the system and I was told to call you to have her switched...yes, it's her...yes, we've verified her demos...she's sitting right in front of me!" Moments later, the supervisor asks her to take the person waiting behind me while they sort this out, and I move to the next chair. I say, "You know, this is like when you go to the grocery store and ALL you need is a loaf of bread and ALL the aisles are full of people with jam-packed carts..."

They nod knowingly...as I almost nod off. The supervisor asks me for my driver's license to make a copy, I guess so they can match my photo to be sure I'm me. FINALLY...a third registrar comes along, asks me for my script again, says it was a coding error, apparently a single digit mistake! She sends me on my way.

I go over to the lab and am overjoyed to find some decent reading material: Dog Fancy magazine. After a short wait, a cheery phlebotomist takes me back. He checks my labels against my script and says, "Hmm...one says Wray and one says Way."

I say, "Oh, that's nothing. Half an hour ago I was dead according to your computer system!" We both laughed. He said I made his day.

Upon leaving the hospital and seeing the parking lot jam, I thought, "Oh noooooooo!" But miraculously, I dodged all traffic jams on the way home. This was not only due to my rebirth but my excellent collection of lesser known short cuts. It was a joyous rush hour trip actually, laughing all they way.

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Tricksters

Well, here we are again on the day of the year when it's okay to let your kids bounce off the ceiling from too much sugar and enhance tooth rot.

We are new to our street, and have no idea how many kids to expect. I count about 5 youngsters on the street, which is a loop off a busy road. We have enough candy for 42 kids...I KNOW (hope) we won't get that many.

K will be on door duty while I try to keep our dog with the rabid-sounding bark contained in the kitchen. I will be able to see the costumed small humans from afar through the front kitchen windows. It's so annoying that this barrage begins at 6 pm. Most people aren't even home from work yet! I think we will eat on the fly, perhaps nuke some frozen soup. Oh joy.

Then again, dear Ashiko and I could hole ourselves up in the garrett craft room, which has a locking pocket door that she can't bust through. That way I may be able to catch up on some knitting!

I did try to scoop poop on the front lawn so the kiddies won't have to wade through the mire, but it was hard to see all of it through the fallen leaves. I'm not allowed to rake because I'm still healing. If I was really holiday-minded I would have made a cutesy sign that says, "Use the path, or the boogeyman will get you!"

Alas, off to the grind...

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Use your noodle


Inspired by Dooce (check out her entry from 10/23/06 titled Noodly Appendage) to take this pic of my mutt, Ashiko, donning some Noro scraps!

Just ordered from KnitPicks!

Since I've been SUCH a good girl and have finished NUMEROUS projects in the last week and a half, I decided to treat myself and order from KnitPicks (which doesn't break the bank!)

I got Quarry, a slight boucle bulky weight in North Sea (heathery blue) for the Teva Durham Loop-D-Loop "Fringed Pullover" with fringe that resembles sheep dreadlocks!

Also got Alpaca cloud in Stream (nice indigo), 100% baby alpaca lace weight, for "Ene's Scarf" from Scarf Style by Pam Allen.

And last but not least, I got some Andean Silk in Cream (alpaca, silk and merino blend) for an xmas gift.

Hubby (K) and I have a big date planned this weekend! He's going to drive me to Goodwill so I can scavenge for 100% non-washable wool sweaters to felt and make recycled totes or a blankie! Woo hoo!

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Foliage like Kureyon!

This is the western view from my kitchen. I can't help thinking how the foliage hues look like a skein of Noro Kuryeon!






And I'm going to have to frog these Koigu socks. They keep falling down! Have to get a decent pattern.

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Chipping away at UFOs

Well, it took me a few days to come around after going under the knife last Thursday, but I finally got to the knitting on Tuesday night. I finished another fingerless glove in yellow, but here's the pair for myself in green, Fetching

Today I FINALLY finished the felted slippers for my hubby. He's been watching me waltz around in mine for months now while his feet freeze. Now he can join in the woolly warmth. The pattern is Fiber Trends' "Felt Clogs" and the yarn is Cascade Quatro.

The before and after is astounding!

Also, in progress is Marley's Ghost in Noro Kureyon, colorway 138.

Friday, October 06, 2006

Turnpike ignoramus

Now I know what happens if you don't grab a ticket and erroneously enter the PA turnpike by going through the "Easy Pass - NO TICKETS" booth. It helps to NOT have any cash or a checkbook on hand should this occur.

If you stupidly do this mainly because of poor signage, you're tired, and you had two tangy margaritas, DO NOT FRET. For the record, the margaritas happened LONG before the drive home and the ingestion thereof was punctuated with a hearty meal.

The guy at the booth will tell you that you have to pay the "whole enchilada," so to speak. I just couldn't resist using that term after the earlier beverage reference. But I digress.

It DOES help to have proof of where you got on the Turnpike. For example, I was at Mad Mex in Monroeville and had a time-stamped receipt! This was emblazoned in my memory as I realized my horrendous error. I thought, "I'll show them! I can PROVE where I got on!"

Of course I told all this to the toll booth guy at the Butler exit, but he wasn't enthused. He was even less enthused when I said I COULDN'T pay because I had no cash or checks. He had to fill out my "CERTIFICATE OF PASSAGE" form. Then he nicely presented me with a scribbled 1-800 number to call and said, "Call this number, tell them EXACTLY what you did, and they'll send you the difference."

So the next day, I retrieve the 800 number and my passage form. I dial and sift through all sorts of recorded instructions until I find what I think is the right one for "Fare Collection." Of COURSE when I make contact with a human and tell them my story, they say, "Oh, you need to talk to...blah blah blah."

I get "blah blah blah" on the phone, whose name is Ted. After listening to my spiel that started with, "Uh...I did a dumb thing and...", he says, "Allright. Here's what you do. Put OK Per Ted at the top of the passage form. Write 1.00 processing fee plus your 1.25 fare, and send a copy of the receipt and a check for 2.25. That's it."

So that was a fun way NOT to have to spend $23.00! In fact it was WORTH the $1.00 processing fee just so I could write this recap!

Monday, October 02, 2006

Loopy drummerz

Not only do loops have to do with knitting, but loops are repeated patterns of sound. And what better way to have a loop of sound than with a bunch of crazy hand drummers at a great mind-freeing drum circle! We call ourselves Three Rivers Thunder and in nice weather you can find us jamming away at the "grotto" on Flagstaff Hill in Schenley Park. We've become a great circle of friends, and I highly recommend drumming as a stress-reliever. Of course this can't be done while knitting, but why limit ourselves?

A Few of Many

I started working on a feather and fan afghan about a year ago, shortly before my friend was due to have her baby. Silly me. It's 240 stitches across! Get's boring after a while! I DID buy Addi Turbos to make it go faster though. Well, needless to say, the baby is now 1 year old...sigh.
This was a nifty little eyelt beanie from...i forget the name of the book. I can tell later if anyone wants to ever know.

Also currently on my needles is a magenta mohair short row shawl/skirt from Weekend Knitting, a skinny entrelac scarf in Noro Silk Garden, a few stray socks waiting to join their mates...don't get me started about what's in the works, meaning what I have the yarn for but haven't even started yet! I'm telling myself that I HAVE to finish some of the works in progress first!

Sunday, October 01, 2006

Revamping!

Well, I can't remember my old password, and Blogger never sent it to me, so I'm starting from scratch. No biggie, since I only had a few posts started back in April.

6 years ago today, my husband and I were enroute to New Orleans for our honeymoon for a week. It was the first time there for both of us. We stayed at Maison Esplanade, a B&B just outside the quarter. I highly recommend. As far as I know, it's still in operation. Had a great time. That was the last time we were on a plane. Hmmm...

I haven't done nearly as much knitting as I should have recently, since we moved house in early August. The summer was pretty much absorbed getting ready for all that, and it seems to be a common theme among some of you out there that people are too tired after a day of work to do much else than stare at the TV after all the daily chores are done.

I have more than 6 projects going at once...have lost track of how many. I'm almost done with FETCHING, in a nice green. The only thing I'm not crazy about the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran is that my "less-than-lady-of-leisure" snaggy dry-skinned fingers really drag on the fuzz of the yarn. But hey, these are really cool fingerless gloves!