Has anyone seen my brain?

Well, if Skew didn't teach me that my brain is not functioning at full capacity, the Abbey (by Lisa Grossman) is apparently going to. I love the Tsock Tsarina, and the tsocks usually are so abundantly clear that I just jump right in and happily knit along.

I finished Skew. I made so many mistakes. I knit the foot too long, and ripped back. Past the foot, there are two mistakes in there somewhere that I decided to just leave. At one point, I would have had one too many stitches if I had done the increase that should have been done. So I skipped it. At another, I would have had one too few if I'd done the decrease. Skipped that. And, yes, the worry that I wouldn't have enough yarn was correct - I couldn't do 1.5 inches of ribbing. But .675 inches works for me. I need to tighten my kitchener and weave in ends, but they look fine. As long as you don't look close enough to find the two mistakes, which I didn't! I'm incredibly happy with the end result, but they took way too long. Way too much struggle. (Of course now I can pretty much recite the pattern from memory...)

Having freed up my 1's, what else was I supposed to do but start in on the tsocks with gargoyle on the tippy top? Yes, gargoyles. I must have gargoyles. First, though I have to grow a hyacinth and build a cathedral. No problem. Simple pattern stitch on the hyacinth. The whole foot is a hyacinth. And it all starts with a toe. A toe whose instructions should have been abundantly clear to me. And they weren't. I had to chart the darned thing. And I struggled to do the chart! Where is my brain?!?! If someone out there finds it, please send it home. Maybe feed it some chocolate chip cookies first. And then promise it I'll make it no-bakes when it gets here!

How many things can go wrong at once???

I guess I really don't want to know the answer to that one. Enough has gone wrong this week already, and more would be a bit much to handle...

My beloved miniature panther went walkies on Monday, and I haven't seen her since. I've just read some stuff about when I should be walking about and calling her, and that's 10pm - 2am, when it's quiet. Unfortunately, it's not a good idea to be wandering around alone then, so I'll have to recruit some help (and wandering around alone calling out "Evil" probably isn't the best idea either...). Tomorrow, I'll be doing flyers (finally managed to get to the store for printer ink...), and maybe someone will see her. I miss her most at night, when we go up to bed and she gets her 20 minutes of petting time. I find that I don't want to go to bed...

And Skew. Skew is killing me. The first attempt I was finding my brain saying, "Yes, this yarn is lovely, but it really isn't quite stripey enough..." When I got to the heel part and found that I had 2 too many stitches, I decided it was a sign that I should use a different yarn. Well, I had split some Lion Brand Magic Stripes yarn into two balls on the weekend, and so I figured that was a sign that I should use that yarn. So, I sallied forth. 3 rows left in the "heel" and then I noticed how very little yarn was left, and I panicked. I didn't think it was enough to finish the socks. So I pulled them off the needles. Well, having read the pattern, and realized that I'd be doing a bunch of short rows to fill in one side of the ankle, I now think that it would be close. So, put the socks back on the needles you say? Ah, no. I tried them on. I folded up the heel bit to see how it would look (because I will have a pair of these socks!), and found out that yea though I followed the pattern to the letter, yea though I had 7.5" pretty much exactly when I started the gussety bit, the socks are too long. By about 8 rows. So... I will be putting the socks back on the needles, but 8 rows back from the gussety bit. Which, of course, means I'll have more yarn when it comes to that short row section. But, darn it, this sock is being very annoying in the amount of "oops" that I seem to be having with it...

Some things have gone right, though. I remembered to file my state and school district taxes. With 23 whole minutes to spare, I finished the last bit. Oo-ee. The federal return was done some time ago because I was getting a refund. But, I owed Ohio, so I put off doing it. It's is done.

I also cut out the bits for a pigeon photo studio for Keith, and the plastic that I thought would just shatter in the table saw actually cut pretty well. A little wonky because the plastic could just barely slip under the fence at one point, but still quite usable. And since it cut so well, I cut out pieces to make covers for the fluorescent lights next to the medicine cabinet in the bathroom - the old ones were very yellowed and one was broken. Went to Lowe's to try to find something to make a corner out of, and found the perfect thing. For somewhere around $1.50. Perfect and perfectly affordable - that was impressive.

I even mowed the yard and didn't get a migraine afterwards! I did, however, forget to put on the mask I need to wear for lawn work when I raked the hay (the grass was awfully long...) later on in the day, and did get a minor headache. Which pretty much confirms the "I need to wear a mask" theory that I've been operating under...

Hopefully tomorrow will go better than today did...

Yip... I'm so skewed...

Okay, there I was with a pair of worsted toes on the needles, ready to be made into another pair of quick socks. But, I wanted to do something different with the heel. Something that was way out of the ordinary. I hadn't even decided what to do with the body of the sock, but I figured once I found my funky heel, I'd make that decision....

I found the funky heel! But not in a worsted-weight pattern! Enter "Skew"

OMG! Did I just die and go to funky sock heaven or what?!?!

So, now here I am with a pair of worsted toes on the 5's and I'm at the "mid-toe" section of Skew on 1's in standard sock yarn. And I am thrilled to pieces. The yarn I picked is not quite as stripey as I'd like, but it's still damned gorgeous. And I have learned two increases that were floating in the back of my head, just out of reach of ownership, and now they are MINE. And I like them so very much I don't think I'll ever use "make one left" and "make one right" on my toe-ups again. Nope. "Left-leaning lifted increase" and "right-leaning lifted increase" are the ones for me! So very happy!!

Now, if only my digestive system would come back onlne, I'd be golden!

But, at least I have the beginning of some really groovy socks!!

It hasn't been a year!!!

Ha! For the handful of you who care to read this, I would like to point out that I have not let my blog go for a year. Oh, no! 363 days, but not a year! Ha!! So there!! Nya!!

So much has happened in my life. I lost my job. Which bit. Big time. And I will get another quite soon, I'm sure.

I fell in L-O-V-E. Big time. No holds barred. Even when I get angry with him, I love him. Keith Joseph Caserta II. I get all silly when I think of him. When he smiles, all kinds of worldly crap fades into insignificance. And he does this really cute happy dance... He rocks!! And he's affectionate. And he's sweet. And he cooks me dinner. And makes coffee in the morning (which he does not drink). And he holds my hand in public. And... well, HE ROCKS!

I rolled my Jetta. Das Vroom-vroom ist kaput. I got a big check from the insurance company. I meant to buy a very practical station wagon. I bought a 2000 Jaguar XJ8. It's dead sexy. Unfortunately, experiencing some technical difficulties right now, but I'm persevering on the repairs. Last week, I replaced an O2 sensor. And whilst the hood was up, I hunted for the battery. Ah, the battery. Nice big thing. Has cables connected to it. Right up front by the headlights in every single car I've owned. Except this one. Yup. The battery is... in the boot! (Gotta tell ya, love the "boot open" warning message...). I feel much better having found the battery, which is under a panel, right next to the spare tire. Always nice to know where it is. Really distressing to be hunting under the hood for what seemed like ages, tracing back to its origin anything that was remotely large enough to be a battery cable.

I am no longer absolutely commited to staying in Athens. That was a big one. Reference items one (job) and two (Keith). Keith breeds and sells pigeons (mostly homers and rollers) and dogs (beagles, German shorthair pointers), and it is helpful for him to be located near an interstate. Or preferable a bunch of interstates. And western Ohio fulfills that need (70, 71, 75). So, I'm actually okay with moving. Why? Because I'd be moving somewhere WITH Keith. He lives in Dayton, and it's rough. I like to be around my things and in my house (with my cats!), and he really needs to be home to take care of dogs.

His "personal" dog, Dingle, is the cutest darned thing! She's come with him to my place a couple of times. My two cats, Evil and Bertimus Maximus, had interesting reactions to the little Dingle. Bert hid. For 3 entire visits, Bert found a spot as far away from the dog and stayed there. Bert found ways to relax and not have the dog be between him and the litter box - he stayed on top of the washing machine. Bert tried his best to not notice that Dingle liked the cat food a lot. Evil, on the other hand, figured out after about the third time trying to sneak past Dingle that the dog would ignore her. Because Keith told Dingle to ignore her (yes, Dingle is that good!). And on the third visit, Evil actually got close enough to sniff the dog! Nowadays, Bert still tries hard to stay away from Dingle, but not to the point of not being seen when she's around. And now Dingle seems to be trying to get around Evil without getting close. Too funny!! And I bet Evil is just eating that up!!!

Well, that was fun. Hopefully, I'll get back in the hang of this blogging thing. As a perk for having read this blog, here's a pic of Keith and Dingle as a puppy...

I am such a dork...

So, there I was. Saturday night, happily watching Doctor Who on BBC America. And suddenly a commercial for Graham Norton's talk show. With Greg Kinnear. And they mention that Greg's last has name has become a verb...

Well, heck! I knew all about that appearance. And that they talked to Stephanie, AKA The Yarn Harlot, and sent her a picture of Kinnear "self-kinnearing".

Between Doctor Who and Graham Norton were two episodes of "Ashes to Ashes" (which I enjoyed greatly). And... well... I was ready to go to be about half way through the first episode of A2A. And I knew, having stayed up to watch Graham Norton in the past, once I started that show, I'd watch to the end.

But... Well... It was THE Harlot! Had to stay up just to listen to her phone conversation!!!

I'm such a dork....

So, there I was thinking that the blogs I love to read are currently not getting updated with much frequency. And I was thinking that I was so missing them. Then it occurred to me that if I wanted to read updated blogs, perhaps (Just perhaps, mind you), I should update my own! Been quite a while, and quite a bit has happened…

Hospitalization. Such fun. My thighs stopped wanting to keep me vertical, and the express care doctor I saw was worried that it could be something very bad – Guillain-Barre Syndrome. Which, yes, could have been quite bad indeed. Luckily, I responded nicely to potassium being intravenously pumped into me, and all seems okay. I still seem to have some issues with electrolytes, and will have a follow up appointment with my regular doctor. After I get a bunch of blood drawn. And I have found a most marvelous sugar- and dye-free electrolyte replacement: http://www.nuun.com. It will be so nice not to have all that sugar and dye going into my system. I’ve had a couple of quarts so far, and it seems to be very effective. And it really tastes icky when I don’t need it. So, life is grand!

Single and available. Once again, I’m on the market. Guido and I talked and determined that we were both miserable and yet both wanted to remain friends. I find that totally awesome, because I do care for him and his son very deeply. And I would hate to lose his friendship – or his son’s. It was perhaps the gentlest and quickest breakup in my existence. I think we decided to split about 5 minutes into the conversation. And then continued to talk for over half an hour. Awesome. Sad, though. He really is a very special person, and I’m going to miss getting those big hugs on a regular basis. But, I’ll still get some hugs. Just not regularly.

Projects started and projects finished. And what is it with all this knitting I want to do? I’m up to my eyeballs in plans for making things. And I keep putting aside the complicated things for instant project gratification. Really have to stop doing that! One pair of socks that were supposed to be a Christmas present for 2008, that I wrapped on the needles!, ended up fitting my much bigger feet. So, I have started a second pair, having analyzed all the issues with the first pair that caused them to be too long in the foot. And made some changes that will make the work flow a little better for my sensibilities. I’m going to try very, very hard to get the Christmas socks done ASAP. Why? Because the first sock kit of the 2009 Tsock Flock is about to arrive and I want to knit it something fierce!! “Fearful Symmetry”. Oh, baby, what a sock!! And then I want to immediately jump into a sock in the same pattern, but a different color scheme – Panther in the Grass. Bertimus Maximus Tsocks! Evil Tsocks! Happiness and joy will abound!!

And now that I have my weekends back again, I’m going to try to kick the furniture creation and refinishing into high gear. What furniture? Let’s see… I have to strip a small rocker, a large rocker, a chair with arms and a small shelf/cabinet. Then, I need to repair the large rocker and refinish it. I won’t actually know what I’ll be applying until I see what the wood underneath looks like. The small shelf/cabinet needs another shelf and/or doors. The armed chair needs a wood finish and reupholstering, as does the small rocker. Just reupholstering, we have on deck a recliner, a Danish modern living room set, consisting of a couch, two chairs and an ottoman. I have a bench seat that needs a new cushion. Window treatments for 4 rooms. And (and this is really interesting), other than stuffing, I have pretty much everything I need to do all of them. I’ve had much of the fabric for a very long time. Very long. Especially some of the windows. And I just keep putting everything off, because it’s really hard to cart everything for a reupholstering job to my ex’s house. And it also seemed wrong to take a project with me that would consume an entire weekend. So, I just kept putting them off. “Maybe I’ll stay home next weekend…” I’d say. But I wouldn’t . So, the goal for the next several months is to get caught up on all the projects I’ve planned. Oh, I forgot creation: two blanket chests (2 sizes, from a single sheet of birch plywood) and a little writing desk that will be designed after the one my brother has in his house that used to be in my bedroom at one point (a family of 5 children – I think at least 3 of us had claim to it at some point in its life!). It’s just about the perfect size for my intended use. And I can hardly wait to design and build it. First, I have to get someone back in Pennsylvania to take some pictures of it so I can work on plans! My poor brother has a crazy job that can’t really been done in a normal workday, and is working at home a lot. So, I’m going to see if I can get my nephew to come through for me! Oh, please! I really would like to get that desk soon.

Why do I want the desk so badly? I want to have a little writing nock, and little space that’s just for writing, and not for getting online, or for eating, or anything else. I want to start writing again. (Yes, I may use the little net book that I’m using right now to type this blog entry to do writerly things, like type blog entries, but I have bigger writing fish to fry!)

I think it’s time to start The Artist’s Way again. Now, when I’m single. Now, when I keep having dreams that would make excellent books, but don’t follow through on them. Now, when my head is full of a ga-jillion knitting patterns that I want to make and write up. So, yes, it is time to be creative. To reawaken the creative side of me. To find that joy that I used to have when I would sit and write. And, yes, I can sit and write for a long time, as evidenced by this blog entry!

So, there’s a glimpse into where I am in the Universe. I’m looking forward to seeing how It unfolds!

Oh. look! A blog entry! It has been a while, hasn't it? And my little blog is supposed to be a nice place for me to babble at my leisure. And I haven't been babbling much. Bummer, man...

Things have been up and down. We're going to gloss over the downs and focus on the ups, because it does make life seem a bit sweeter that way!

One nice little up - I broke down and bought myself a new portable computing device. Now, I know that I should have invested in a laptop, but so many of the ones I've found out there are way more computer than I need. I just want a little bit of power, not a huge honking chunk of it. (Well, no... world domination wouldn't be bad, so long as I had good underlings...). Enter the Acer Aspire One. This thing is so darned cute! The keyboard is wee, but it's not really that much more wee than the ancient laptop I had been using. So, not a problem. The screen is wee. Ancient laptop. Need I say more? And really it has a decent amount of memory and disk space. And I found out that, yes, I could connect to the internet via the Ohio University wireless network in my office. That doesn't suck. Not one bit. And, did I mention it's cute? I did try to mitigate the cuteness factor slightly by going with the metallic brown (they say it's copper, but...). Anyhoo, I'm typing this entry on the wee net book whilst relaxing in bed. Can it get much better than that?

Knitting. Oh my friend, my enemy. Somethings have gone really well with knitting, and somethings have gone poorly. And somethings which have gone poorly have in fact gone well. The socks I was knitting for my niece Ashley are now the socks I'm finishing for me. The foot seemed a bit long when I was working it, but I just kept going. Now that the heel had been done (and I made a mistake there by accidentally doing the heel flap in stockinette), I have found that the foot is in fact too long for a women's size 7 foot. But, it's just about perfect for a women's size 9. That would be my foot. Things I find that I"m not liking in the pattern: you're supposed to do slip 1 knit 1 on the heel flap, and continue the resultant ribbing-like pattern up the foot. But... there's an even number of stitches. So, there'd be a "purl" on one side of the flap and a "knit" on the other (corresponding to the knit and the slip, respectively). This does not appeal to me. Also after 5 rows, you're supposed to start ribbing on the instep stitches. Also an even number. So, I'm going to do a second pair for Ashley and keep these for myself. On Ashley's socks, I'm going to put an odd number of stitches where the flap and instep are (between cable patterns). And then I won't have these problems. I'm knitting most of the ankle on my socks in stockinette, and I'll figure out how to do groovy ribbing when I get there. I'm supposed to add a stitch in the cabe pattern portions; I think I'll just subtract one from the instep and "sole" stitches...

I haven't finished Dad's argyles. I think the fack that I have to start out with 4 frelling inches of ribbing is somewhat off-putting. But, I intend to get over that very soon...

So, what have I been doing? Playing. I knit another pair of camo mitts to replace the ones I left behind in a Subway restroom somewhere in Maryland. I knit a pair of mitts out of a really groovy yarn that had a navy chenille strand and a variegated eyelash strand for my friend Karen. They are lovely, fluffy, and toasty. I started a baby blanket for one of my office mates, because I could.

And... I started a net book bag! I'm kind of winging it on that one, since I couldn't find a pattern that mostly fit the dimensions I wanted (this sucker is 9 inches across its largest dimension!). A lot of patterns for knitted bags that I have are worked in stockinette, but since I prefer knitting to purling, I decided that garter would be just fine. And. I bought the knitting edition of Piecework. (Finally!!), so I have printed instructions for Portuguese knitting. Which is kind of funky and fun. I tried a couple of times, and it was okay, but not great. However, for some silly reason, reading the article and looking at the minimal pictures included (really... no cast on, just how to knit and purl), suddenly things clicked and made sense. And I even managed to do a knitted cast on! Anyhoo, by knitting this bag entirely in the Portuguese method, I hope to learn it. I'm having problems with keeping my right had relaxed. It's so used to doing so much of the work (I knit English style, just in case you were wondering). My right forefinger keeps wanting to crook to get ready to throw the yarn, which is the role of the left thumb in Portuguese knitting. And once that happens, I develop a death-grip on the yarn which really messes up the tension. But, I'm persevering! I'm going to do this whole bag via Portuguese knitting. So there. Nya!

I've also started working on other things I shouldn't be working on - mitts for a friend of Karen's (who saw Karen's mitts and thought they were awesome... and who has problems with circulation in her extremities, so these might help...). And I'm working on the socks that correspond to what my "students" are (or will be) knitting. Sort of. Corinne showed me a different heel turn which is very boxy but simple. And I think I'm going to suggest the the students use that turn rather than the tapered one I always use. Will I also do that heel turn? Only time will tell. I'm still pretty far from the heel flap right now.

I've also been smittien with the fountain pen bug again. I found a seller on eBay that has some dirt-cheap, made-in-China pens. And they're actually not bad at all. Bought two pens for the whopping sum of $2.49. They're nice and weighty, though the nibs could be a little smoother. Still, pretty decent writing implements. Also, from same seller, 50 cartridges of brown ink that will fit any of the fountain pens I own. Decent, though not permanent, ink. I'm digging it. I'm still waiting on a glass pen I ordered to arrive. Had to try it. Couldn't resist. And found a pen that came with two bottles of ink for a reasonable price. Also bought scented ink sampler. Hopefully, the synthetic scent won't mess with me. If so, then I already know who would like them!

There's still more stuff to write about, but I'm finding that I'm starting to get drowsy. The old eyelids are trying to close. And yawning has commenced.

But, I had so much fun writing this in bed, that you can be sure there'll be another blog entry soon!!!