Look!

It’s the beginnings of a stole! The Mystery Stole! The first half of clue 1 went by fast. I worked on it at work (yes, at work, and you would too, if you had my job!) for two nights, and it was done with - perfect and beautiful. The second half of clue 1 did NOT go so well. I won’t detail all my issues, between a loose cast on row and forgetting to knit the center row, I had to rip back three rows, tighten things up, and begin again, which was a pain in the hind end, if you know what I mean. So I ended up getting like, 11 or 12 rows of the second half done last night. Will work furiously on it tonight and hopefully get it near-finished before my fingers cramp up.

In other knitting news, I’ve begun another dishcloth, using the bamboo stitch. Should be cute. I LOVE the colors. It’s in that Peaches & Creme yarn that’s pretty much like Sugar n’ Cream, but not, and it’s all bright green and yellow and white. Gorgeous.

I also taught A. to knit. She says she’s nearly finished with her first dishcloth. It’s all garter stitch, and she’s run into some amusing yarn-over issues. I’d post a picture of her knitting here, but she despaired that I’d place those “horrible, fat pictures” of her on the internet. They’re not horrible, or fat, but whatever. ;-) Pictures or not, she has learned to knit! Triumphant at last!

So it’s like I keep missing Thursdays. They just fly right by me before I even realize they were there. I guess that’s because my weeks aren’t set up like that. I work a 6 nights on, 3 off schedule, and between the night shift schedule and the rotation around the work-week, I rarely know what day it is at all.

Anyway, here’s my list:

Thirteen Things about I Learned This Week

1. I can indeed do a provisional cast-on, and I can indeed knit lace! I got the first half of the first clue of the mystery stole done, and am working on the second half now, after a bit of frogging.
2. 100+ degree temperatures make me crabby, groggy, and unhappy. It has been waaaay too hot here.
3. I really really like the song ‘Rock Star’, by Nickelback. Too much, in fact. It’s in my head right now…
4. PGP - or rather, GnuPG - is sweet. Too bad I have no secrets to protect, and no one to exchange coded messages with. Nevertheless, I think I’ll encrypt some of my files, just because I can.
5. I need to lose 5-10 pounds, or buy bigger jeans. ASAP. *Ugh.*
6. I do not put as much sugar into my tea as I thought! For ages, I believed I was dumping /loads/ of sugar into my tea, but I finally measured it, and it came out to 1 tablespoon, plus like, 1/8th - 1/4th teaspoon full. That’s just a smidge over the ’serving size’. Heh. Isn’t that something?
7. My grandmother is moving to an Assisted Living facility in town. Yay for her!
8. I totally missed the new moon. *sad*
9. I simply cannot get anything done until the last possible minute. I try and try, but procrastination is like, in my blood or something. On a positive note, I do good work under pressure.
10. The new 911 system at work scares the piss out of me when a call comes in. It sounds like a freaking siren! That is probably what it’s supposed to do, granted, but…
11. I’d really like to learn to use mutt.
12. I need to re-ground myself and touch base with my spirituality again before I lose it. These past weeks have been difficult for a number of reasons, and I’d like to regain that feeling of renewal. Perhaps this coming sabbat - Lammas - I’ll try that and see what I can do.
13. Gods, Lammas is like, in 3 days!!!!!! *gape* How time flies when you’re not paying any attention to anything. *shamed*

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

I’m in the mood to answer a lot of silly questions, so here goes!

A Lizzie Quizzie - from Stopping Traffic:

1) On a scale of 1-10, how well do you know html/css? Probably 7-8ish. I know it rather well, but I honestly have fallen out of practice and take longer to do things now than I used to, and spend more time looking things up that I used to know how to do.

2) What is your occupation (stay at homes, you rock!)? Do you like it? I’d LOVE to be a stay at home, but you know… I have neither hubby nor child, so that’s just not possible. I’m a sheriff/911 dispatcher for a very small county. As far as jobs go, it’s all right, but it’s not like, my life’s passion or anything.

3) Do you enjoy cooking? Are you good? Sometimes I enjoy it. Sometimes I’m good. My problem is that I am either The World’s Pickiest Eater, or #2 in line. I don’t like 95% of all veggies, and this makes it rather hard to be a “good” chef. Makes it hard to even find recipes.

4) Are you working on any projects (not job related) right now? What? Yup yup. I’m knitting. Well, I would be knitting, if I wasn’t so afraid I’d screw up everything with this bloody laceweight yarn. And I just finished a “project” where the goal was to learn about pgp/gnupg encryption to a workable state. Done. I’m also doing some other crafty things!

5) How well do you swim? Not so well anymore. I mean, decently, but I don’t think I’d be anxious to go boating without a lifejacket. It’s not that I don’t know how - it’s that I’m a friggin’ weakling.

6) What is your favorite indulgence? The internet. *smilesmile*

7) Are you a starter, a finisher? Do you enjoy the process? Starter, definately. And yes, I love the process! Finishing… gets harder.

8) Who is is your favorite sports star? I have none. I don’t like sports. End of story.

9) What is the last thing you MADE with your own two hands? Shimmer Branching Out. No, no! It was these yummy cheesy garlic biscuits!

10) The ________ doesn’t fall far from the tree. Apple? Er. Wtf?

———————-

Time for some Monday Madness!

1. I won’t eat past _____ o’clock in the evening. Heh. This is one of those things people who work graveyards like me can’t answer properly. Heck, I don’t even wake up until around 5-5:30pm. But really, I’ll eat anything, anytime. No “Oops, can’t eat past this time!” restrictions for me! No sirree.

2. My favorite subject for photographing is _____. Nature.

3. I use _____ most often to edit my photographs. Depends on what I’m editing for. For simple crops and such, I drop into GIMP, which is on my main computer and most easily accessible. Picasa has some nice touchup tools, but I’m just beginning to use them. For any heavy editing, I drop the file(s) onto my shared drive and open up Winblows. Windows, I mean. Yes. Because there, I have Photoshop. I think that GIMP can probably do everything I need, but I’m too lazy to learn when Photoshop is right there on the other computer.

4. If I’m having trouble sleeping, I usually _____. Grumble around in frustration, readjust curtains to block more light, toss a heavy handkerchief over my eyes, get up and go compute without any lights on for a while… and suffer.

5. When I’m hungry for a snack, I usually eat _____. Anything in sight. Pickles are good. Chips are wonderful… Cheese.

—————————–

It’s time for a new layout! I worked this up last night in the midst of agonizing cramps and a strange desire to collect all those little bloggy button badgey things. (See bottom left.) I even made some of my own before I halted the obsession and ran. I found I was needing more sidebar space, so I doubled it with a second sidebar! Woot. I like the colors, and the quote I found with the word ‘elixir’ in it. Anybody know where it’s from? Hey - using Google is cheating!

I caught this picture of my kitty Felony today and submitted it to the Friday Ark. She’s the only member-cat of this household that hasn’t yet been featured here, so… here she is, looking devious and evil, and a little bit high.

Yes, that is catnip. Muahahaha. I drug my kitties regularly, you see… Speaking of catnip, I washed one of their catnip mice in the wash. Wonder if that’ll do anything odd to it.

The Shimmer Branching Out scarf is blocked! Here she is, in all her delicate glory! Mom wants one for Christmas. I may have to oblige, but maybe not Branching out, and maybe not that color yarn. Just something lace… I get so bored doing the same thing twice! *laugh* She’s over 5 feet long, featherlight, and this is a somewhat crappy photo. I’ll see what I can do elsewhere later this weekend.

Feel free to compliment the scarf. Really! I’d like some feedback!

1. Sometimes, I hate being female. Usually about once a month.
2. I really, really, /really/ need a ball winder.
3. And a swift.
4. And some tea. God, I’m tired.
5. I have finished the SBO Scarf! It’s blocking as we speak, on my Mama’s basement floor.
6. My town is finally becomming E-911 compliant.
7. If being surrounded by computers gives you breast cancer the way my coworker’s husband believes, I’m doomed to an early death.
8. Even if doctors told me that, I wouldn’t change my lifestyle. Doomed indeed.
9. Three really /is/ a crowd.
10. Some people never change.
11. I’m glad to say that I’m not one of them.
12. I regret never trying a provisional cast on before this friggin Mystery Stole. Learning new things on laceweight yarn. Hah. What a joke.
13. I found a new yarn shop that rocks! It’s 90 miles away, but it really does kick some butt!

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

1. Raggedy
2. MInTheGap
3. Catherine
4. tbirdonawire
5. Ocean

I found this at Crochet All Day. Thanks! I’ve done more of these than I first thought, but I’m still rather dull, it seems. Need to work on that.

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said ‘I love you’ and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game - In Japan!
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg — how about a glacier???
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 10 provinces
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer then you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your cds (didn’t last long, but I did it!)
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Posed nude in front of strangers
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Got flowers for no reason (does it count if you buy them for yourself?)
84. Performed on stage (it was a short play… and in Japan…)
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Had a one-night stand
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror.
96. Raised children.
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Created and named your own constellation of stars
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an illness that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane Kinda. I steered! I think it counts. So there!
109. Petted a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol - All three!
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet - but always temporary. We’d catch them, keep for a couple days, and release.
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper - in Japan! And home…
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream - briefly. In Japan.
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146: Dyed your hair
147: Been a DJ
148: Shaved your head
149: Caused a car accident
150: Saved someone’s life

It’s here! It’s here! My yarn for the Mystery Stole! Okay, it was here two days ago, but it’s been a long two days, you know? Anyway, without further ado, here’s a pic. Sorry for the crap quality. Gugh, between having a cheap camera and piss poor interior lighting, I’m lucky it turned out as good as it did.

That’s KnitPicks laceweight…. *forgets name of yarn*… in color Vineyard. It’s 100% merino. It’s soft. My god is it soft… Now, to wind it into little balls for knitting. Har. I am so not looking forward to that.

Next up… I got swap goodies! These next three photos are from Sparkle Cookie, who chose me (luvs her) to send gifts to in the 2006 Wishlist Swap! I have recieved the most beautiful necklaces in the world. I sooo wanna learn to bead like that! The first is my favorite, but it’s a real hard decision to make. But there’s just something so special about those little leaves!

I’ve named it the Forest Necklace. The second one, below, I’ve named the Little Blue Flowers necklace. And it’s gorgeous, too. *pats heart*

Then, she sent a little surprise for the kitties!

How cute!

So I’ve been waiting ever-so-anxiously for my KnitPicks yarn to arrive. And it sooo hasn’t. It was supposed to be here Tuesday. It wasn’t. Nor Wednesday, nor Thursday. Today, Friday, it came. But… I slept like a log and didn’t wake up until the post office was closed. See, the post office here is open for such limited hours that my graveyard schedule makes it difficult to get to it during business hours. I either have to a) stay up late to get there in the morning and hope they get all the package notices shipped out to the boxes before I arrive, or b) wake up uber early, by 4pm, to get there before they close at a quarter after. I did neither today. And of course, it being Friday, the last day of the week it’s open, I missed it. And when I went to get my mail… there was a package slip in my box. *sigh* I have the worst luck in the world.

In other news, I have company. My friend Tabby is here for a week, visiting, resting from recent surgery on her wrist, and escaping life’s woes. I picked her up from the bus station 90 miles away on Wednesday. I also bought some goodies.

These are fabrics I got for various projects. The first three from the left are for aprons. The citrus and gingerbread men fabrics are for me. The flowery fabric is for A, who decided she wanted an apron as well. I told her I’d buy the fabric if she wanted to doing the sewing. The two fabrics on the right are for the bag swap I’m doing. It’ll hopefully turn out to be a messenger bag. :)

Next up, the apron pattern I’ll be using!

Then… progress on the SBO scarf! Look how pretty it is! I’m glad it’s looking good. I can’t wait to see it blocked, but I still have quite a ways to go.

Now, off to spend more time with company and all that good stuff!

It’s happened! I’ve finally got myself signed up for one of those oh-so-cool knitting swaps. You know, the ones that aren’t on craftster, the ones where it’s all knitting themed, and everyone sends such wonderful stuff to each other, and I drool and drool and drool. Uh huh. One of those. Anyway. I stumbled upon Yarn Aboard! just about a week ago, by sheer accident, and quickly signed up for the notification list. And sure enough, notification came late last week that signups would begin Monday!

And I miraculously remembered to sign up! *laugh* Actually, I didn’t. I just happened to see the email sitting there in my inbox, already read and everything, as I was logging off the computer, and I rushed back to sign up quickly. Heh. I already sent in my questionaire and everything. I’m excited like you wouldn’t believe. Or maybe you would. I know the vast majority of my non-crafty pals (which is, sadly, the vast majority of my pals in general… like… maybe all…) will just look at me and shake their heads in shame.

Ha! But I care not. Anyway. I’ve been obsessed with sock knitting lately. Yarn Aboard is themed for sock knitting, actually. Well, to be honest, there’s two themes. One for sock knitting, and one for spinning, but I’ve only touched roving like, once, and while spinning is one of my things to learn, I don’t have the financing for even a drop spindle, let alone hunting down fiber and stuff. Not at this time. But soon. I’ll drool for now, I guess!

Moving on…. I’ve had company for the last few days. A has become severely allergic to something. It’s not the cat, as we previously thought. We /think/ it’s the Glade Oil Plugin thingie she had jacked up to HIGH in her apartment. It fits the “I’ve got hives!” timeline just fine, and she’s got sensitive skin. Anyway, she /does/ have hives. They were somewhere near AWFUL on Friday and Saturday, especially. Today, they’re going away, because — big moment of unsurprise — she hasn’t been in her apartment! And oh yeah, she’s doped up on prescription allergy meds and crap. Yay. So she’s been miserable. Poor girl.

Grandma’s out of the nursing home and back at home. Good. I hope she’ll be all right now, and eat right, and drink plenty of water, all that. *crosses fingers*

I’ve finally began knitting my Shimmer Branching Out scarf again. I’d screwed up on the third repeat, and had to put it aside for a couple days to get over the frustration of having to rip it back. Yay for lifelines, though - only ten rows lost. Last night, I managed to knit 8 repeats. Woot! Tonight, I’ve done one so far, but am trekking along. I hope to get at least four done.

Tomorrow, my KnitPicks package should be here! I hope, anyway. Then Tabbycat comes to visit, so we’ll see if any of the mystery stole actually gets done in the next couple weeks.

So I am now the proud owner of THREE cats. Yes, three. First came my lil’ bitch, Felony, who came to me five years ago. She’s a black kitty with yellow eyes, and it’s terribly difficult to get a good picture of her. She’s not camera shy… she’s just not very photogenic, handsome as she may be.

Then came Sebastian, almost three years ago. He’s a handsome black and white longhaired giant, 13.5 pounds of fur and jiggliness. He’s really a sweetheart - tender and affectionate (to me - he’s rather jittery around strangers) and never too sulky or snotty.

And then, last night, at 2am, A rushed inside with the gray furball that used to be my grandmother’s cat. Since she went in the nursing home for a week to regain her strength after her fall, she discovered that she no longer coughs like crazy, and has determined that she’s allergic to her cat. A adopted the cat - but a day later, A discovered that she, too, was allergic to her. She broke out in hives all over her arms where she petted the creature.

Tsuki, as I’ve named her, is a Persian - and mind you, I’m not a big Persian fan, but she is rather sweet and shy. A picture of her:

That darned Persian face always looks so grumpy! *lol* But I love her eyes - copper and intense. She and Sebastian have been having little hissy fits. Literally. And staring matches. But she’s not really afraid of the other kitties. Just people. She’s been exploring the house inch by inch, and she’s taken up residence under my bed.

Inspired by all the kittiness, I whipped up a little catnip mouse toy with leftover gray yarn from the kitty hat I knit Tina. According to Sebastian, and Tsuki, who both play-tested it, it gets an A+ rating.

On a whim of hunger, I also whipped up a batch of lemon poppyseed muffins (from a mix) this morning before bed, and this utterly beautiful loaf of cinnamon raisin bread in my breadmaker!

It’s one of the few perfect loaves I’ve made! No collapsing anywhere! And it tastes oh-so-good. It’s a mix, too, but that’s just cuz I’m trying to use them up before the yeast goes bad. (Nothing like yeast failure to ruin your day!) My next cinnamon raisin bread will be from scratch. *crosses fingers*

Speaking of cooking… I bought (another whim) the Mary Jane’s Farm catalog/magazine on sale at the store - the food issue, all about recipes made with her special Farmgirl Budget Mix. The Budget Mix is a (somewhat expensive) mix of organic flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and it’s the base mix for dozens of recipes from cookies to crackers to scones to pizzas, to hotpocket-y items. Kinda like Bisquick, but not. I looked all day for a comparable recipe, but all the baking mix recipes I found have some form of oily stuff added (shortening, usually) and I doubt such a mix would work well with the recipes that have been formed to fit with a mix that *doesn’t* have shortening already added. So I may have to buy this stuff yet. I’m not really a very adventurous cook. Neither is anyone in my family. Altogether, the mix comes out to something like $1.30 or something a serving, which isn’t /too/ terrible, I guess.

Checked on my Knitpicks order. It’s been shipped, and is expected to arrive something like the 11th. *sigh* That’s 4 days after the Mystery Stole Part 1 is released, and I’ll never have the time with company coming to catch up. But oh well. I’ll just be a slow-late knitter, I guess! :) I’m excited anyway!