Saturday randomness...

• I'm entering the 2010 Ravelympics on Ravelry.com. I'm not quite sure how the medals are awarded, but I don't really care either. I'm entering the Aerial Unwind, Felting Freestyle, Hat Halfpipe, Lace Luge, Mitten Moguls, Short Track Shawls, Single Skein Speed Skate, SnowCross, Sock Hockey, Stash Compulsory Dance, and WIPs-Dancing - all with yarn I already have languishing in my possession. I hope to end the two weeks with lots of finished objects and a greatly reduced stash. Another good thing is that most of the projects are small and I am working every day for the duration, so - with luck and lack of busy lesson plans - I'll be able to do quite a lot of work while subbing.



• OMG! My dad just came in with a package from Virginia. The mail man must have just left it at our front door. It's from a guy who owns a plant nursery up there and we bought a bunch of trees and plants from him to landscape part of the farm last summer. We're pretty neighborly with him and his wife, although they aren't really neighbors in the strictest sense of the word because they live quite a few miles away. We send them pink grapefruit from our tree every few months because we don't eat them and they love the stuff. Well, they just sent us a huge package of vegetable relish of some sort (can't really tell by looking and we haven't opened the jar yet), fresh pressed apple juice (!!! like in a big Mason jar!!! It's AMAZING!!!), dried apples, dried pears, dried summer squash slices, dried cantaloupe, dried pinto beans, and dried cayenne peppers! What an unexpected treat!!!



• In other news: I'm preparing the garden beds for the Spring planting... We'll see how much of that I'll be able to get done before it will be too late to try to plant anything. We have volunteers from last year coming up all over the place... So far some sort of winter squash (too early to tell what), some parsley, a carrot (how that happened, idk because they didn't flower last year and it's obviously recent growth), lettuce and mustard greens. What I'll be planting is tbd, dependent on how late it's getting and how much time it will need before harvest compared to how long I plan on sticking around here after school lets out first week of June.

The usual...

A random update...

• I've been a little sick for a week or so... I thought at first that it was the crazy wet and cold weather we had last week, and then I thought maybe it was the weather and/or indoor allergies, which would be unusual but not unheard of, but it was just too annoying and persistent. It's probably a sinus infection, according to the nurse at the clinic... and now that I have antibiotics, I think it's getting better. I'll know better by tomorrow afternoon, as I've only been taking them for 24 hours and while I think I feel better, I couldn't say for 100% certainty.



• We just heard today that my brother is moving home from California to go to school. He'll be here on Monday. Not totally sure how I feel about that yet... I hope he does well.



• Meanwhile, I've been preparing my application for the Graduate Certificate program I want to do to get certified. It's due by March 15th. I have everything finished and together and sitting on my desk in an unsealed envelope, except the letter of interest/statement of purpose. They are quite vague about the requirements for it, and in fact, somewhat contradictory in the instructions, other than the very limited "250 words or less" specification. I've emailed the program requesting a clarification of instructions, but I have yet to hear back.



• I'm loving work... I find it rewarding and enjoyable and I feel valued, competent and helpful. I think that's important.



• I've been knitting a little bit. I just need to finish up a few decorative touches and I'll have two baby hats done for a friend who is expecting. She's a Firefly/Serenity fan, so I've made her a Jayne hat, as well as a hat for which I just happened to have yarn in my stash. I've also given her booties... Next is a blanket, but I haven't completely decided on a pattern yet. I have until mid-April. Other than that, I want to work on a few things for myself. I need a new pair of fingerless mitts. I think I want them to be a little longer than the Fetching mitts that I have already. The only problem with the Fetching mitts is that they aren't quite long enough to cover my arms to where my coat sleeve ends whenever my arms aren't just hanging at my sides, you know? I might make cuffs too. I also want some anklets, and another hat.



• I need to send my Hitchhiker to be converted into a double-treadle. I keep forgetting to pack it up and send it...



• I want to spin. My unspun fiber stash continues to grow unabated and is so very tempting. I'm running out of room for it too... I can't wait until I'm able to get to VA to try out a Mach II. The more I think about it, the more that little number is #1 on my list of potential new wheels.



• I'm obsessed with Star Trek again. I'm a Trekkie. I'd never deny it, just like I would never deny being a huge and hardcore fan of Jane Austen and the works of JRR Tolkien. I liked ST: Voyager for a while there, until it started to get silly toward the end. DS9, since it ended, has been my favorite ST series for the execution of the overall story (frankly, I thought it was masterfully done)... I remember using the philosophical concept of IDIC in some capacity in a paper during my sophomore year of high school. Never watched Enterprise because I thought it wasn't very well done. The writers of that show just weren't particularly interested in going along with previously established canon and just made things up as they went along if it served the story - lazy, tsk, tsk. And I was never into TOS very much until the new movie came out last Spring, but now I've watched every episode of TOS on YouTube (it's up there under CBS's shows) and I would be lying if I didn't say that I want to get some Vulcan ears and go to conventions. It's a sickness and I don't want the cure... Couldn't make it to DragonCon this year, when Shatner, Nimoy, Stewart and Mulgrew, among others were all there. It was unfortunate, but it was just too expensive for me. I'll get there eventually though.



• The garden needs doing, but the weather was awful for a while there, so I'm behind on that work. Hopefully, this weekend, I'll get a lot of work done. Can't plant things yet, but I need to redefine the planting beds and put in the soil amendments and figure out what I'm going to plant.



• I can't remember if I've written about it yet, but I'm taking Hebrew lessons on Wednesday evenings. I really like it and it's about time I learned...

Happy Turkey Day!!!

Or... Happy Thanksgiving! :D I hope everyone has a wonderful day with plenty to eat, but no stomach aches!

And now for a video:



I love our president. Just sayin'.

We're having Thanksgiving tonight. Tomorrow, I'm going to Busch Gardens because there will be almost no one there. Friday, I hit the stores for some awesome shopping. Yes, I am insane. *glee*

He's okay...

At about 11:20 this morning, my dad got into a car accident. If he wasn't wearing a seatbelt, he probably would have been killed (everybody, always wear your seatbelt!). Someone who was speeding ran him off the interstate (and they didn't ever stop), he lost control of his car, hit another car (apparently driven by a nice young woman who goes to USF - she wasn't hurt but her car was pretty badly dented on one side and it spun around on the shoulder of the road), went off the road, and then his car flipped over and landed on the driver's side against a barbed wire fence next to a cow field. He climbed out through the passenger side window. He's got a bruise and cut on one elbow, a cut on his forearm, and a cut on the top of his head, where he must have hit something, although he doesn't remember doing that, and his knee that he injured almost two months ago while working in the garden got banged pretty good against the driver's side door and now it's as bad as it ever was again. Poor Daddy... but no concussion and he's okay and glad to be breathing.

We don't know if the car is totaled yet. It's been towed to the Toyota dealership he bought it from back in '01 and we'll hear tomorrow or the next day from the insurance adjuster as to whether or not it will be declared "totaled."

The school secretary tracked my mom and I down in the teachers' lunchroom about halfway through our lunch period to tell us. Scared my mom half to death. Luckily, my dad had called the school and there was a phone in the teachers' lunchroom, so she got to talk to him right away. I was going to leave school and go get him to take him home, but my dad's cell phone died before he could tell her exactly where he was (isn't it awful when that happens? Like, that's what people have cell phones for, but sometimes they just die right when you really need them), and Mom didn't want me to go on a wild goose chase up and down the interstate trying to find him because he had been at the dentist in St. Pete and might be anywhere or might be picked up by the tow truck before I got there. He had said before the phone died that AAA was sending a tow truck to get his car, and that if his phone died, he'd call her again when he got to another phone, either the tow truck driver's or when he got to the Toyota dealership, if he couldn't get a ride home and needed me to come get him. However, (again) luckily, the tow truck driver very kindly offered to drive my dad all the way home even though our house is about 8 miles away from the dealership and he didn't have to do that, so Dad called once he was home, not much more than an hour and a half after the accident happened.

:-/ and :D

I'm getting fillings Thursday. I have two cavities. One each in #30 and #31 (bottom right molars). Never had cavities before. I'm a bit nervous about this, but not freaking out, which I count as a good thing.

Flossing is very important.

In other news, I hope to finally finish the Owling Mitts I've been working on off and on all summer tomorrow or maybe the next day. I'm making them for my friend Laura who requested them for her birthday. She requested them after her birthday though and it's too hot in the summer for mitts anyway (obviously), so I don't really feel bad for getting them done about 5 months after the date has passed.

I've got a lot of projects that I'm wanting to start asap. Two shawls, a pair of socks, a hat. I don't know what I should start first. The hat would take like a day, two tops, once I get the glass beads strung (need to find my beading needles), so I should probably try to get that out of the way first, since it's a belated birthday present for one of my sisters.

I also have a French Market Bag that's more than halfway done. I should try to get some work on that done as soon as I can. The circular needle I have it on isn't quite long enough for it, so when it's left for any length of time, the stitches near the needle tips come off the needle and some work with a crochet hook is usually required... I'm too cheap to shell out the cash for the longer circular needle though since I'd use it so rarely.

In other news: The Supernatural season 4 DVD sets have been released. Cheapest at Best Buy, but for $2 more ($37.98) can get it at Target with a bonus dvd with 30 minutes of the Q&A at ComicCon 2008. That's where I got mine. It was great to see Jensen and Jared, Kripke, Sera Gamble and Ben Edlund on the panel. I highly recommend it. I also thought the documentaries they've done about different mythological creatures they've been using on the show in recent seasons were really well done and very interesting. It was great to find out more about the sources that TPTB have been using for the show's mythology and the myths behind some of the creatures.

What I've been up to...

I'm going to the dentist on Tuesday. I really do think I may have some cavities. Possibly three... I really blame the acid-reflux. I'm a little nervous about it...

I've signed up for the Subject Area Exam that I have to take to get certified to teach. I'll be taking it on the 24th of October. I'm also applying for the grad certificate program at USF to help me in obtaining this ultimate goal. I have to go over to school on Monday to talk to someone about the application process.

I uploaded all the photos from my vacation. DC, VA, and SC. They're captioned and whatnot so, hopefully, people other than myself can make out what has been photographed.

Heartfelt Blogger Award

I'm not sure if I totally understand this award and how it works, but if it's just to share the blogs that I really enjoy reading, then I'll happily do that.

Do you reach for a cup of cocoa or tea when you're relaxing, seeking comfort, sharing a plate of cookies with family and friends? You know that feeling you get when you drink a yummy cup of cocoa, tea or a hot toddy? That is what the Heartfelt award is all about: feeling warm inside!

Put the logo on your blog/post. Nominate up to 9 blogs which make you feel comfy or warm inside. Be sure to link to your nominees within the post. Let them know about the award by commenting on their blog. Remember to link to the person from whom you received your award.

Ilana of The Cauldron nominated me, and even if she hadn't, I'd still have to nominate her.

Also...
Susan at A Bit of Earth.
Lara at Thoughts Like Fallen Leaves.

Knitting...

I've finished knitting the shawl I'm making for my sister. It took considerably less yarn than the pattern had indicated. Now I have an entire skein of Malabrigo Lace, plus a little more, left and nothing to do with it. It's my sister's colors and very much not mine. I might hold on to it in case I come up with something else to make for her, but I might also put it up for trade/sale on Ravelry (*loves that feature*). Now, I'm waiting for the blocking wires to arrive from KnitPicks. I decided to order them since I really think it will be much easier to use them to block rather than just using pins and my bed. I want this shawl to look really good.

I'm also working on mitts for my friend Lara. She wants gray owling mitts. I'm using Mirasol Qina. I love this stuff! I think it's my favorite yarn at the moment. I'm worried about the mitts not fitting her though, so I've had to put them down for now until the next time we hang out and I can get her to try them on.

So I am out of projects to work on, since I have no yarn available for anything else and no idea what I could make with what I've got on hand. I guess I'm just uninspired to come up with something.

And, even so, my fingers are itching for a project.

I've ordered yarn from KnitPicks as well. Bare Peruvian Highland Wool. 15 skeins. I'm going to use it for the Lace Chuppah pattern that was in one of the Interweave Knit magazines a few years ago... Am I nuts to be working on a Chuppah when I don't even have a boyfriend, nevermind an impending wedding? I don't know... Maybe it will bring certain energies in my direction. One never knows. But I'm going to make it anyway.

The order hasn't even been processed yet, so I probably won't get it for at least a week.

An update on the pumpkin theft...

... since I've just discovered seconds ago what it is that happened. And get this because it's hilarious.

My brother went to a wedding today. Can't remember if I had mentioned that or not. So he and two of his friends were driving to the wedding together and one of them showed up here without a gift to bring. So my brother - genius that he is - says to his friend, "Hey, take a pumpkin!" And doesn't bother to ask me. Or anyone else. If that's okay. And his friend - being the kind of guy he is - doesn't think there's a damn thing wrong with taking a pumpkin. To a wedding. As his gift to the bride and groom... ... ... What? If anyone has ever wondered about my brother and his friends and just how stupid they are sometimes, this should give you some indication.

So I didn't even have to ask them. They walked in a few minutes ago and my brother said to me, "I took down that sign. That was really tacky." And I said, "Well, someone stole one of my pumpkins last night or this morning and I don't want them doing it again." And he was all, "Oh, no, we gave it as a wedding gift." And I was all, "What? You took my organic, heirloom, perfect french pumpkin? And you didn't even ask if you could? We thought it had been stolen. Do you even know how much an organic, heirloom pumpkin that size is worth retail? It probably weighed 30 pounds!" And they were very apologetic, though they did say it couldn't have been more than 15 pounds, to which I said bullshit. It was at least as big as the one you got at Walmart last year (or was it the year before?), Ilana. So. His friend has agreed to buy me several hundred pounds of cow manure at the hardware store tomorrow. Because I have a hard time getting it myself since it's only sold in 50 pound bags, and while I can lift and move them, I don't like to, so I'll let them do it. And that will repay me for this inconvenience.

Vacation update... short and sweet...

My mom, my sister, my niece and I went up to Floyd, VA yesterday to go antiquing and we bought a rocking chair, some paintings and some dishes for the cabin, and it was snowing up there. O.O First time I've ever seen *snow* falling from the sky. It was bizarre! It wasn't cold enough to accumulate on the ground though - only 34 degrees. Today, I hung out with my sister at the bead shop she works at part-time. Tomorrow, I'm going down to Greensboro to go to the yarn shop there. It's irresistable! Truly...

Spring knitting...

So... It's getting warmer, and more so than in previous years, I feel like I need to knit in cotton right now. So for the time being, I've put aside all my wool and I'm concentrating on warm weather work.

I've made a steering wheel cover for my sister, using the pattern that I came up with for my own.

I'm finishing up some cotton pocketbook slippers.

I'm going to start on a Spring Beret as soon as I'm finished with the slippers.

And I'm plotting my next endeavor. I think I'm going to make a few summer dresses in different sizes for my niece. I haven't decided on a pattern yet. I'm looking at Summerlin, The Two Summer Sundress (get on Ravelry if you want to see it), or the Babydoll dress from Knitty. I want to make something she can wear now and this summer and something that she'll be able to wear next summer maybe. The Two Summer Sundress has the advantage of doing this all on its own. It's made to grow with the child and be worn during two consecutive summers. *nods* It's also made out of Peaches & Cream or Sugar n' Cream, both of which I have on hand in many colors.

Updates and news...

Short bit of business first! My sister, Lara, now has a blogspot blog... It may be found here. :D Be sure to check it out...

Also, Ilana, she's in love with the pumpkin soap you made. As part of her Christmas gifts, I gave her half of what you sent me this past summer and she's clamoring for more already. LOL!

On to updates and news:

So I worked my first day as a sub yesterday. I subbed for my mom while she had to go to a professional meeting downtown. 8th grade, physical science honors. Boy, was it ever exhausting! I slept for 14 hours after I got home... Kids, man- Oy! It wasn't bad though. I think it was mostly just that it was the first day and whatnot that it tired me out so badly... Still don't have another job lined up. But it's early yet...

I saw My Bloody Valentine 3D on Wednesday night with Joe. I loved it. I had never seen a movie in 3D before and I thought the effect was pretty cool. I don't usually like horror movies, despite my love of Supernatural, but it was precisely because of my love for Supernatural that I couldn't pass up the chance to see Jensen Ackles in the 3D on a big movie screen. (Slight spoiler here) His character in this, "Tom," was similar in many ways to his character in DeVour, "Jake," although MBV was much better. (End of spoiler.) Jensen can do no wrong in my eyes. I thought he did a fantastic job. Kerr Smith - who I last saw in Dawson's Creek - also was pretty amazing. Overall, a typical slasher flick, which lives up to the "Bloody" in its title... so if you go in for that sort of thing, or if you love Jensen, make sure you see this in the theater. I - being a bit of a wimp when it comes to this sort of thing - did not watch the death scenes, but I enjoyed the movie nonetheless.

I also have been spinning... the superwash alpaca-merino blend I got from etsy. It's very soft, but not so easy to spin. It's like a merino roving I got several years ago now that put me off spinning merino for the longest time. The fibers are so smooth and slippery that they have a tendency not to draft very easily, so it's a bit fussy... I can't tell you the number of times that the yarn has broken between the bobbin and my drafting hand and I've had to stop and pull it back out through the orifice and try to get it joined to the roving again... So totally not my favorite thing to spin. The resulting yarn, however, is very nice, and I think it will make some very yummy socks. I've spun 210 yards from 3 ounces, and now am on my 4th of the 12 ounces I bought. Pictures will be up on Ravelry, if not here, as soon as I take them.

Updates and New Years...

It's almost New Year's Eve, today being December 30th... Today is my sister Heather's birthday. She is 13. YAY! Happy birthday, Heckie!

I've been spinning my "wine" Ashland Bay merino. Another 98 yards of worsted. It's all yarn now, no more of that roving left. I think a beret/slouch hat for myself... But this seems to be my answer for every bit of yarn I get my hands on nowadays, so who knows what it will end up being. If I'm not careful I'll spin all my stash before NaSpinMoMo on Ravelry... That's a lie... I don't think it's possible with the leaps and bounds my stash has grown by in the last month, and will continue to do so for at least a week longer, most likely (keep reading)...

I brought three knitting projects with me on vacation - I can't remember if I mentioned this before - and when I sat down to start at least one of them last week, I found I have no needles with me for any of them, despite the fact that I've brought all my knitting needles with me. And despite the fact that there is an LYS somewhere near here, I've yet to get over to it when it's open to buy some needles of the correct type and size. Fail, Rachael, fail.

But that's okay because I've found other things to do with my time. Like trolling etsy and ebay for pretty things. I've ordered four rovings, and alchemied another one on etsy (because i just couldn't find what I wanted in the right color/fiber). *facepalm* What was that about not increasing my stash until I had knit it down? That's okay though (*shifty eyes*) because this stuff is for very specific projects. At least that's the intent. I want to make socks for the boys... Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, that is. In their favorite colors. Stripes. Some thick socks to wear on cold days in their trailers or in their house while playing Guitar Hero or whatever it is that they do... Why not. I'm going to aim for a dk or worsted weight and I don't expect that to be too very difficult. I'm also making them matching hats (hats that will match their respective socks, not hats that match each other's). Yes, more hats. Don't judge me. Of course, I have no idea when I'll finish these or when I'll give them to the boys because I don't expect to go to any more conventions any time soon. Susan wants me to come with her to the Vancouver one perhaps, and while Vancouver is beautiful, I have no money for a con that expensive in my hometown, let alone one that will require the addition of round-trip cross-continental, international airfare costs. So maybe I'll give them to Jared at EyeCon again. A day ticket there, I can swing that if I really want to... I just wish they'd up their security and have the damn thing at a time of year when Jensen would maybe want to come too... But I totally understand why he doesn't and if I were him, I don't think I would either. Not that I fault Jared for coming... I guess what I mean to say is, I can see why Jared wants to come to the EyeCon conventions and I can see why Jensen doesn't and I totally support their decisions and think it's perfectly right for them to do what they do... So, yeah... Superwash roving for socks, regular roving for hats. Ordered and on its way here...

Other than that, today I'm just waiting for my parents to get here. They're on their way back from the cabin to where we live in Florida and on their way through SC, they are stopping by the Burough. They should be here any minute...

And that's about it... So if I don't get a chance to say so before then: Happy New Year! May it be a year full or rewards, love, understanding and peace.

the holidays...

So, as most everyone who knows me knows already, I'm away from home for the holidays visiting relatives in South Carolina through the New Year. Tonight is the third night of Chanukah and I just lit the candles a few minutes ago. As there are no appropriate windows here to put them in, I've got them on the table next to the laptop computer I'm typing on... Also don't want them out of my sight in case something might happen to them. I'm cautious that way. No one else is here just now. Susan hasn't come home from work yet to the best of my knowledge and Jason had to run down the hill to help a friend of his track down a doe he just shot while the chicken for dinner is marinating.

Btw, I'm copying and pasting the transliterated (and for those who might be curious what these strange words mean, the translated) Chanukah blessings here so I don't have to keep looking them up somewhere on the web every night. (I have a hard time remembering the Hebrew for the second half of it.)

Baruch ata Adonai, Elohenu melech ha-olam
asher kideshanu be-mitzvotav, ve-tzivanu le-hadlik ner shel Chanukah.

Blessed are you, Lord our G-d, King of the Universe,
Who sanctified us with His commandments and has commanded us to kindle the lights of Chanukah.

Baruch ata Adonai, Elohenu melech ha-olam
she-asa nisim la-avotenu ba-yamim ha-hem ba-zeman ha-zeh.

Blessed are you, Lord our G-d, King of the Universe,
Who wrought miracles for our ancestors in the days of old at this season.

(The third I've copied and pasted here is only said on the first night.)

Baruch ata Adonai, Elohenu melech ha-olam
she-hecheyanu, ve-kiyemanu, ve-higiyanu la-zeman ha-zeh.

Blessed are you, Lord our G-d, King of the Universe,
Who has kept us alive, and has preserved us,
and enabled us to reach this season.

In other news, the package that Ilana sent me arrived a little bit ago. YAY! Thank you, Ilana!!!! I haven't opened it yet. It's sitting on the table downstairs with all the other wrapped gifts waiting to be placed under the tree because I was thinking maybe I should wait for Christmas... but... I'm thinking I'll go open it in a little bit since it's a gift for me, and it's Chanukah now, and I don't want to wait, I want to see what it is. Why not? Why not, indeed. :D

Post-Election Pumpkin Puree...

So, a hearty "Good morning, Mr. President-Elect Obama!" I can't sleep. T'ain't happenin' right na'h. Far too excited!

Last week, my dad bought a Cinderella pumpkin... aka what is properly called a Rouge vif d'Entempes. (I've always liked them. They're so pretty...) He bought it for my mom to explode in her one of her science classes the Monday after Halloween. But I convinced them to let me go out and find her a carving pumpkin, rather than have her explode a beautiful, huge pie pumpkin like that. Found 'em at Albertsons for $0.99 each. So I get to do as I like with the Rouge vif d'Entempes...

After the election had been called, and President Obama had made his speech in Chicago, I needed something to do with my hands. Knitting was not enough. Sewing, pppffffttt!! The newly-successful-at crochet, uh-un. Time to massacre a pumpkin. So I looked back on my dear friend Ilana's blog to when she massacred a similar pumpkin last year (Very useful link you've got posted there, btw!) for tips on how to tackle it, and I got to carving... Several hours later, I've got a ton of pumpkin puree and the kitchen-- actually, the whole house smells so good! One of the things I dislike the most about carving pumpkins is the smell. It smells kinda gross. But this one! OMG! So sugary and yummy! Like pumpkin pie without the spices!

Now, all I need is some recipes to make with this yummy stuff... Suggestions are welcome... And I might go out and get some small, Connecticut Fields pie pumpkins and puree those as well...

Oh, and I'm saving the seeds. They're going in the ground in January, if I can manage it. I want to try growing them "off-season" for Florida because large vining squashes have never been successful for me in the later Spring and Summer, when all the literature says they should be planted here. If I had room out there right now, I'd plant a few tomorrow, just to see.

For the knitters that read my blog...

My sister is now making stitch markers and offering them for sale at her etsy store... She takes custom orders too, if you'd like particular beads/stones/colors/charms to be used for a set, or you need larger or smaller rings to fit your needles. For those she currently has posted, it's $8 for 6 markers, $15 for 12. They are crystal and sterling silver and the rings are 10mm.

Well, crap... and yet, yay!

We'll start with the crap: We had a storm at my house a few hours ago. Really terrible thunderstorm... the windows would shake from the thunder and it sounded like it was right on top of us. So, naturally, I shut my computer off and took a nap. What else is there to do when it rains like that? Well, the power went out for a few minutes, and even though I have a surge protector on my computer, the power surge we got just before seems to have fried the monitor. The monitor is completely dead. So no monitor on my computer just now. Am having to use the laptop. Can't watch all the Doctor Who I got earlier this week either. :-( Very sad about that as I've been drowning in the Doctor for the last three days. Got up to the third episode of the second season.

Also, it is now only by the grace of my parents' most supreme generosity that I'm going to get to go to EyeCon on Sunday (not this Sunday - the 28th) to see Jared's Q&A and so I can give him the hats I made for him and Jensen, and get a new monitor so my computer will be usable once again. We very unfortunately don't have any old monitors lying around. We used to, but the last of the old monitors was given to Good Will about 6 months ago. Ah well, lord knows they put it to better use.

But YAY, it looks like I will be able to go to see Jared at EyeCon. Some of my friends from school will be coming too, with luck.

Also, on the job front, looks like I have all my i's dotted and t's crossed and I'm just waiting for USF to send me my transcripts to send in with my application. Once that's done and the application is sent, the rest will hopefully go smoothly and by October I will finally be working. In the meantime, I'm thinking of volunteering for Obama's campaign...

But the best YAY! today has of course been getting the package that Ilana sent me! YAY!!! She sent blueberry jelly (YUM!!), two yummy soaps that smell good enough to eat, and earrings that her mom made. The earrings are very pretty. Little freshwater potato pearls that are "peas" inside silver pea-pods! So cute!!! :D

Also, according to the news, Obama is gaining in the polls in West Virginia (and in Florida too). Still not winning (yet), but not slipping. YAY! Looks like your volunteering is helping, Ilana! :D

New Knitty, New Day!

I slept most of today because my brother was freaking the hell out over the end of the world due to the particle accelerator outside Geneva and that made me freak out too and stay up to watch the sunrise. I hate it when this happens. My sleeping was already messed up, but now it's just really messed up. I think I'm going to try to see if I can take a nap sometime tonight, get up early in the AM and stay up all tomorrow like normal people do, and then I'll sleep normally tomorrow night. I really need a job so I can't do stuff like this anymore... Working on that. I went to see Prof. M yesterday to visit and to ask if she'd be a reference for me, which she was more than happy to do. Now, I just need to get a copy of my transcript, and get ahold of my next door neighbor, who's a neurosurgeon and so very diffiuclt lately to catch at home, to be my other reference, and I can send in the job application. Mission tonight, write an e-mail to my neighbor and order a transcript online if possible.

Anyway, a new Knitty was published today.

There are pretty patterns...

I especially like Versatility... It's like Wisp and Convertible, both of which I also like. Never made Convertible, but I did make Wisp... I just need buttons for it and to block it again because I screwed it up the first time.

Camden is interesting... I like the long fingerless mitts being able to be attached to the short-sleeved sweater. Makes it very versatile. And using KnitPicks yarn makes it much cheaper to make than most of the sweater patterns at Knitty...

Kinetic is fascinating!

Slither? I wants it, precious, yeas... I'm probably more likely to make these than something like Camden because it takes less time (I would hope)... Although I probably won't end up making either simply because I'm lucky if I ever finish anything for myself. LOL! Like many knitters, I make things for other people with much higher frequency than I make things for myself.

Hug is whimsical and delightful, if slightly disturbing... And Tatiana is also whimsical and made of love, but impractical for me since I'd never get any use out of them

Waves of Grain is so beautiful! I love it! I also love Abby. So pretty (and handspun)! I'd love to make either of these for my sister Lara. I think they would suit her so well! I think she'd also love Maple, and it's so on my list for the next time I just have to felt something and am brave enough to try colorwork again...

Garden Gate is gorgeous! But I'm no where near brave enough to attempt them. Baroque, though, looks exciting, and I am seriously tempted to try making those.

I definitely think I can find some handspun in my stash to make Oncleows with! Too cute!! And perhaps I'll be more likely to wear shorter skirts and capris more often to show them off.

OpArt! Is so on my list of things to make for my niece! I know Tim Burton will eventually come into her life, and this is wonderfully Tim Burton-esque without being so scary. LOL!

And cool features...

I think I need this from Knitty's list of Cool Stuff: Bramble. My friend Laura would freak out if she got one of these for her birthday! :D And OMG - look at these cute things at this person's Etsy!

Awesome 1840's knitted nightcap, translated pattern. YAY! :D

And silk reeling... tempting, very interesting, but I think I've got enough fiber related hobbies at the moment.

Must pimp...

I just got a package from my sister, Lara, containing all the things my mom and I ordered from her last week. It is all SO BEAUTIFUL! OMG! I'm like falling over with the pretty. *happy squeal*

So, seriously, if you like jewelry and pretty things (or you know someone who does), or you need one of those aromatherapy eye pillows to help with headaches, cramps, nausea or insomnia (they can be heated in the microwave, chilled in the freezer or used at room temperature), she's your gal! Check out her stuff at her etsy store, Eternal Autumn. She also takes custom orders of all sorts - whatever you want. Just message her through her etsy store. She's always happy to consult.

Here are the pieces I got if you're curious... Apples in Autumn, Persephone's Pomegranate, Fallen But Not Forgotten, and an aromatherapy pillow. My mom got two pieces (which I WANTED!): Art Nouveau Innocence and Ice Siren of the Arctic Seas.

Baby Bathing Suit - All done!

Yay!! I've finished my niece's birthday present. She will be 1 year old in August, so also Yay! for not procrastinating for once.

It's a bathing suit/romper and matching hat. the colors are much brighter than they appear in this photo, but it's the best my camera phone would do...



Well, its finished except for the buttons to hold the straps and also the crochet around the arm and neck holes so that the knitting won't curl, which Susan will kindly do for me when I see her in probably less than a month. Because I might be able to do things like this with needles, but give me a crochet hook and I'm all thumbs!

The hat might need a simple crocheted string thing to tie under the chin, not sure. Because it looks like it won't stay on by itself, though I followed the pattern exactly. But that would be simple to do if necessary I think.

The pattern is here for those who might be interested. Sorry if you click and lionbrand won't let you look at it. They like people to sign up with for their mailing list before they let people into their patterns.