They're Backstabbers, Backstabbers!

Oh the dangers of carrying around double pointed needles in a felted bag! I stabbed myself in the back (very painfully) twice ('cause I just can't seem to learn that lesson the hard way the first time) today. But what about that knitting I've finished?
One BSJ, needing only buttons to finish it. This is so cute I can hardly stand it. But wait, you say -- what was that I saw peeking out of the top of your porcupine bag above? You're absolutely right, Sherlock, it's another BSJ (This one needs a collar and buttons sewn on.) Both are made with Moda Dea Sassy Stripes which may be the perfect yarn for this sweater if you're looking for machine wash/dry for your sister-in-law who couldn't be bothered/trusted to take care of a real wool sweater. Size 5 needle makes for about a 6-12 mos size, it took two skeins almost exactly. I can't tell you how much I love this sweater pattern. I have more of the Sassy Stripes in the stash (they were from a yarn store that went out of business, I got them for $1.50 a skein with the thought I'd make baby things from them) and I'm trying not to go stash diving right now for two more skeins to make another little sweater. Not to say that cute little sweaters are completely off the menu. This is Vesper Sock Yarn "Lovely Lollipop Sky" (from the Summer Sock Club) with a coordinating solid. Hmmm. Whatever could I be thinking of?

Updating

Well, it's been awhile since I updated the blog. I was going to update with some pics of my latest FOs, but Older Son has lost the cable for my camera so I can't download any pictures. I'm not pleased. Blogging will resume when I can get pictures.

Antics!

I'm so glad that I decided to do Antics! Looking for humanitarian oriented things to donate my time and money to has really made me find things I'd overlooked before. So far I:
1)Donated these two books to Read! 365 (they were thrilled to get them -- they said that there was a real need for books for older kids.)














2)Made a financial contribution to The Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. This organization came up this week first as an informational seminar at work (which I had to miss because I was in a meeting) which put it on my radar, and then I just happened to get a solicitation in the mail! Kismet!
3)Contribution to UMCOR - The United Methodist Committee on Relief. I was discussing the Antics with Dave this morning and saying how I was looking to donate to a charity geared towards helping children globally and we discussed UNICEF. Well, Dave doesn't like their politics lately, so he wasn't keen on that (I have no issue with their politics, and I didn't ask for specifics from Dave. We don't see eye to eye politically and this was something I decided it was better just not to know). So I asked him for an organization he would be happy with (it's his money too, you know) but he really couldn't come up with one. I thought of UMCOR and asked "What about UMCOR?" He had no problem, so I went to their website to find out how to contribute. And look at THIS, you can send them relief kits. The Layette Kit includes a baby sweater! They specify button in the front, and I'm also assuming (though they don't say) machine wash/dry. So I'm using this yarn (Moda Dea Sassy Stripes) to knit a BSJ. I'm also buying supplies for a Back to School Kit or two (Celtic Queen says they have the crayons at Target for 19 cents!) while the supplies are out there on sale. And I think I know some people who might have some fabric in their stashes that could become a Sewing Kit. Anyways, here's the deal. If you send me your hand knit sweater I will pony up the rest of the supplies to make a layette kit and send it off to UMCOR. I'm going to say until I get some kind of confirmation that the sweater has to be machine wash/dry so that means synthetic or cotton blends. Button up the front -- how about the 5HBS (which is supposed to be knit for charity anyways, right?) or Tulip & Rocketry (Heather knit a gorgeous Rocketry using Cotton-Ease), or Babies & Bears. That's just a few, there are tons out there.

I Was on Fire! (Till They Put Me Out)

I was finishing up my stuff today at work in record time. I was firing off e-mails left and right saying things were done! One of the Project Leads sent me an e-mail teasing that I was showing off. I replied that I was on FIRE and that I was about to run out the door before they told me I had to re-do everything. You guessed it - within minutes I got an e-mail from one of the other Project Leads saying I had to re-do my stuff (not my fault, though!) So there's tomorrow gone. But when I did finally manage to stagger out the door it was to sunshine and rain which meant - you guessed it - a rainbow! I snapped this pic from the shuttle window. You can barely see the rainbow if you look really hard. When I got home I dragged my wheel out again to spin -- I got Dave to take a pic of me this time. He spent a fair bit of time trying to get my point and click camera to do fancy stuff. "It's just point and click, Dave." "No, I think I can adjust the flash." (He thought the pic was too flashy.) "I don't think so." "I'm sure I can, there's an adjustment for some other thing." (Dave presses buttons on camera for awhile. Laurie grows impatient.) "Let me see the picture." Dave hands over camera. "That's fine." "You think so?" "It's good enough for the blog." Sheesh. And here's my progress for the day (I had to turn off the flash so the colors wouldn't fade out.)

Still Spinning

I set my spinning wheel up on the front porch again today and spun some more sock yarn. I really like spinning out there -- but it does get warm. That bodes well for later this fall, and for the past couple of days (the weather's cooled off nicely here). I listened to Market Place again (Kai!) and then Dave came out and chatted for awhile. When he left I spun a bit more and listened to some jazz. Here's my work so far. A very pleasant evening. Pictures from this weekend. Celtic Queen and I went to Bloomin Yarns (where I ordered yarn to make Sidelines from the new Interweave) and we met up with Heather. I let the Celtings use my camera. Love this! Elder Celting immediately took a picture of himself! Then of me and CQ (behind the plant). Younger Celting wouldn't let his brother get a picture of him, but he let me snap this one.
When Younger Celting got the camera he took this picture of the giant felted mitten (both Celtings and Heather's son were intrigued by this. I think it's a boy thing.)

Sushi and Spinning

I had to stop at the grocery store on the way home from work today, and because it's a Giant Eagle Market District they had sushi. I was hoping to score some sashimi, but no luck. There was some nigiri sushi, but it looked like it had been sitting there awhile (no demand for sushi in Pittsburgh? Heather, I'm sure you're shocked) so I passed on it and instead picked up a dozen California rolls. Rushed home with them and gobbled them down before Dave got home. Well, I offered to the Sons. Older Son unequivocably refused, but Younger Son tried one, decided he like it, and snarfed down three more. As I was eating it I said to them "Don't tell Dad we had sushi when he gets home, because I'm eating it all." Dave gets home about ten minutes later, and after being in the house for all of five minutes says "So I guess you're just having sushi for dinner, then." I don't know which one of them gave me up (but I'm suspicious of YS). See if I cover for either of them.

Then, full of sushi, I decided that I really needed to spin. So I set up my spinning wheel on the front porch and spun some more sock yarn while listening to Market Place (I heart Kai Ryssdal). Sushi causes an irresistable urge to spin. Who knew?

B-day Stuff

I got a couple of gift certificates to bookstores for my birthday. So in round one I got these. That's all 5, count 'em FIVE Planet of the Apes movies there, and Seasons One and Two of The Outer Limits. 'Cause you know we're all about the 60s & 70s sci fi around here! (And you know I watched all those movies already. I'm trying to pace myself on The Outer Limits, though.)
Tonight I was headed out to the bookstore to pick up a copy of this for a co-worker's baby shower (she knows she's having a boy). I love this book, but could never read it to my sons on account of I was crying too much by the end. I had a couple of gift cards from Heather and a 40% off coupon, so Heather, this is what you got me! As soon as I'm off-line I'm going to dig into it. Can't wait! Oh, and I found my first charity for my Antics! Yippee!

The Antics

OK, I'm with Yarn Harlot on this one. I'm NOT doing anything for the Summer Olympics. I am completely boycotting these games. I think the IOC was wrong, wrong, wrong to sanction the games there, and think it's wrong, wrong, wrong not to mention hypocritical of the US to participate after their boycott of the 1980 games for less provocation, IMNSHO. I refuse to acknowledge these games at all. Needless to say I won't be participating in any "Olympic" knitting. I've decided I'm going to be doing the "Anti-Olympics", or "Antics". So what does that entail? Hmmm, haven't quite figured it out yet, but I'm thinking something community/human rights oriented. I'll keep you posted. And a sad note: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn passed away over the weekend. I could revist some of his works for the Antics. Maybe you could too, lest you forget.

Shopping With Laurie

I squeezed in a little shopping on my trip to Maryland, too. I was very good and didn't buy much (and none of that was for me). We visited an old railway station that has been converted to a local arts and crafts mall. This spinning wheel wasn't for sale, but I took a pic because, you know, it's a spinning wheel. There was handspun yarn for sale, but I was very good and didn't buy any (even though I generally do like to support that kind of business venture). I don't think the wheel was operational anyways, it looks like the footman as well as the drive band was missing. Here I am with a real train car. A train did pass while we were shopping, but I wasn't quick enough to get a good picture. We also looked at lots of antiques, but if I wanted old stuff I'd stay home or go visit my mother in law. There were several "Hmmm, we have something like that at home, so it's [only] worth that much?" moments. I snapped this picture of the sign for a local yarn shop thinking I might visit on the way home, but as I said, I was being good, so I didn't. Besides, if I was going to buy souvenir yarn it would have been the handspun. (No, I forgot to write down the name, it was from a local farm.)

Laurie Looks At Her Roots (Which Are Decidedly Gray)

So Dave and I travelled to Deep Creek. We stayed here, at the Alpine Village motel. When I stayed at Deep Creek as a child, it was at a friend of my mother's cottage, which was decidedly rustic. As in no indoor plumbing. As in you have to use an outhouse. Yeah. So when we turned off the highway there was Alpine Village in all it's splendour and I used to think "When I grow up and have lots of money I'm going to stay at the Alpine Village because they have real bathrooms." And in a strange twist of fate, I think we had the same experience I would have had staying at the Alpine Village in the 70's, because I don't think the decor has been updated since then. (And the place is for sale - all that retro decor can be yours for just 5.75 million dollars!) But there was further to travel down memory lane -- let's not forget that rustic cabin! Sorry for the blurry pic, but it was the best I could do from the car. We were at the end of a private lane and the guy inside looked like he was about to put down his beer can and come out and see what the &(^% we were doing on his property. I forgot to check for the outhouse (but that wasn't really visible from the drive anyways). And finally, a truly infamous site in our family annals, the miniature golf course where Celtic Queen got her head split open (we believe that my Evil Twin did it) by an incautious back swing. I still haven't quite gotten over the fact that although I was the first to notice her injury and rush to her aid, and the one who picked her up and sprinted the entire width of the golf course with her dripping blood the whole way to where my mother was waiting for us, that I wasn't allowed to go to the hospital with her when she got stitched up. In fact, she may even have asked for my Evil Twin (the one who conked her on the head) to go with her.

Sure He Looks Cute Now

I came home today from work after being off for a week and saw this. Sure he looks all cute and fuzzy, but you know he was checking out the fiber stash. So what did I do on my summer vacation? Dave and I went to Deep Creek Lake, MD. The sky looked like this when we left: and I did have that little run in with a bear, but for the most part it was smooth sailing. We enjoyed the lake vistas (Dave taking lots of pics with his new expensive camera {toy}). We drove out to see
Swallow Falls. I snapped this pic while waiting on Dave, who had hiked over to get some pictures from the base of the falls. I tried to call and tell him the kayakers were coming down, but couldn't get reception and so he missed them. I did a bit of knitting and shopping, but more on that tomorrow!

Mamma Mia!

What a great night! I celebrated my birthday with my friends, which is the very best kind of celebration! Heather, Celtic Queen, and J helped me celebrate. We had dinner (Chinese) and then went to see Mamma Mia! Great movie, absolutely hilarious, and way better than I thought it would be. Round up your girlfriends and go!
That was birthday gift enough for me, but I also got my next installment of the Vesper Sock Yarn Club. I can't show the yarn, because I get it straight from Ms. Vesper so I have it before everyone else, and she asked me not to spoil it. So I won't. Except to say that it matches the ribbons it was tied with. And the chocolates it came with. I can't wait to knit this up. I AlSO got (from J) a ball winder (yay! I really, really wanted one. I was just thinking about it the yesterday! I'm resisting the strong urge to start winding yarn cakes at 11:30 PM) and some Borders gift cards from Heather which I think I will use to get myself an ABBA cd....

Gratuitous Knitting and a Survey

Last Friday was Knitting Night! Yeah! Ms. E brought this gorgeous sweater to show us. She made it for a little guy, and it is Knit Picks Shine, iirc and I think it's the DK. She had just started it at the last meeting two weeks ago. "Based" on a pattern, but I'll say she designed it herself, even if she won't. She chose the colors, came up with the stripe pattern and added the front pocket too. Are those not the perfect murky man colors? This is one fabulous sweater, what an amazing knitter. Makes me humble. Everyone else there was working on more great stuff, and there I was with my lousy dinky little Mod Pods and a sock. I need to get more productive. I'm thinking of buying a new chair. (Part of the prob at home is that I have nowhere to sit comfortably, so I end up laying down and reading, computing, or watching TV. Great for my back, but not the best knitting position.)
Moving right along though, I'm thinking about my anniversary this year. So here's the question (and I'm going to try to do a poll). How should I celebrate? It's still six months away, but if we're going to do something we'd have to book now, because it's a date that fills up (New Year's Eve). And it's a big anniversary, too -- Twenty Five Years. (Whew, I think we deserve a couple of medals just for not killing each other!) So, what should we do? Here are the options:
1) Dinner out (this is what we do every year)
2) Dinner with 50-100 of our closest friends (like a second wedding reception)
3) Romantic get-away to a local resort or bed and breakfast
4) Full on second honeymoon trip (I'm thinking Europe, but maybe Australia or China)
5) Ditch the husband and take a trip with a friend. (His anniversary gift can be the digital camera {toy} he bought himself that cost as much as a two week trip for two to Europe.)

Spinning Around

I decided after work today that I was bored with laying around and watching dvds, I wanted to do something, so I dragged my wheel out to the front porch and spun for almost an hour and a half. I was pretty sore afterwards (I need a pillow to support my back in that chair), but I feel like I've accomplished something! I had to work for about two hours, and I was able to do that in a prone position so I feel mostly better now. Now if I can just continue with that schedule I should be good. My goal is to spin up the yarn I need for a pair of socks (I have half done already) and then move on to my Spunky Eclectic fiber. Moving the stash around always makes me feel better. In other depressing news, I got my first review and pay increase. According to the Dept of Labor I'm only 1.7% behind after adjusting for cost of living increases. Nice, huh?

Keeping My Cool

I thought I would pass this along in case you're the other person without air conditioning in North America (or in case your husband turns up the thermostat on the air conditioner when he thinks you're not looking.) This picture shows (in addition to my feet and a very rare glimpse of my knees) what I call "Sheet Floating". You place a fan right next to your bed, so it's blowing directly across the bed. Then pull your top sheet up so it is just level with the edge of the bed. The sheet will act as a giant sail and grab all that air and circulate it around you. Deliciously cool. If you do it right, it's self-sustaining and the sheet will just float over you practically indefinately. You may need to hang on to the top corner of the sheet -- it sometimes wants to fly away. It's been my experience that my higher thread count (300) sheet is more effective at this than the cheapo set so if you can't get it to float on it's own or just needed an excuse to indulge there it is.

I Need Medicated

I think I'm broken. Yesterday I didn't want to knit. I haven't really been in a fiber-ish frame of mind for about a week now. Sure, I still knit every day, but it's just a few desultory rounds on my travelling socks. This past three day weekend I was looking forward to knitting my heart out and maybe finishing up Mod Pods, but I barely touched my knitting. Maybe I'm depressed. I don't feel particularly sad, though. Just not like knitting. But still, I think I need to call the doctor and get some kind of medication for this. I want the good stuff, too. So I either want to knit again or don't care about knitting or anything else. Soma all around!
PS We had a good time on the 4th, I kicked the boys' butts at Wii Boxing, we ate lots of picnic food, and we did the Mentos and Diet Coke thing (pictures may follow. Dave took them with his new very expensive camera and said he would send them to me but he hasn't yet.)

Hey 19

Well, it's that time of year again. Only 19 more shopping days until my birthday! Because my family and close friends read this I'll get the listing out of the way up front. So what do I want for my b-day this year? Well, I always like the surprising and unusual. Not enough to go on? Ok, here's a more detailed listing:
DVDs. This is a whole sub-genre. Star Trek TNG Season 3, Northern Exposure Season 4, The Monkees, Quantum Leap Season 3.
I like books but books are really a personal choice thing. A gift card to Borders will give both the pleasure of a book to read and of shopping for a book (twice the bang for your buck, there.)
I heard These guys on NPR this morning and now I want their cd.
Christmas cds. (I have the standards, I'm looking for the unusual and sublime. Or anything released in 2007/2008, I didn't get any new cds last year).
Chanel perfume. I'm jonesing for Cristalle or No. 29, but anything in the Chanel line would be well received.
Sparkly hair ornaments.
Dinner out and a movie would be perfect too.
Hmmmm, not more stash, I think. The amount of stash around here really is getting out of hand, and though it pains me to say it, it's starting to get me a little down. I'm having some performance anxiety with all the stash. I feel as if I need to be using it more quickly. Whatever. But speaking of stash I got my next installment of the Spunky Club. It's called "Flowering Weeds". I like.

Unfortunately, She Was Also Wired For Sound

I'm wired up. I finally got my remote access account and token for work. Or as Dave puts it "Laurie told her boss she couldn't get all that work done in 40 hours a week, so they gave her remote access and now she can work 24/7." It's a bit of a mixed blessing. More convenient in some respects (I'm not waiting around late in the afternoon for stuff, I can leave and log in later from home.) Less in others. (I'll end up working alot more hours.) I've been discussing this with Dave and CQ lately, I think the 40 hour work week for white collar workers in the US is a thing of the past. I know in my current job I'm exected to put in at least 2.5 hours of extra time every week, usually more. And that's just to be considered doing my job. If I were in a union, that wouldn't be the case. I've never had a salaried position where the work week wasn't 45-50 hours a week. But what can you do? Pretty soon we'll all be working for Wal-Mart, one way or another, right?
I found my notions bag! I was doing a bit of weaving in the living room (I've been a bit hit or miss with that, I haven't been feeling up to it, but I did pretty well tonight) and I adjusted my chair a little and there it was! It was weird too, because I know I'd looked there before. (In the living room near the loom.) I'm happy to be reunited with all my notions, and I wanted to let CQ know I had it back, in case she was worried about how I was going to make it through life without my Chibi, tape measure, and Swiss Army knife.

Phenom

While making the exchange of the Celtings on Saturday, Celtic Queen and I went to Bloomin Yarns, which was right around the corner from where the party we were going to was. Did you know they have Berocco Comfort yarn in both DK and sock weight? I couldn't resist. I also picked up a skein of Opal Hundertwasser yarn. Hmmm. What do you think I'm considering knitting with my purchases??? CQ got some yarn too, but I was so enamored with my own yarn that I can't remember what she got. She has her own blog anyways (not that she updates much. Tell her she should.)

The Celtings had a great time. Turns out Eldest Celting is a volleyball phenom. Never having played the game before, by the end of the day he was the only kid playing with the 18 and above crowd. Halfway through the day my BiL came over and said to me "Did you know Eldest Celting can play volleyball?"
I thought he was joking and said, "Well, he never played before today..."
He interrupted me. "No, I'm serious, he can really play -- I kept hitting the volleyball to him and he kept hitting it back, every time." He seemed a bit shaken. Easy enough to understand when you consider that the Sons are...let's just say a little challenged when it comes to sports.

The Celtings are Coming

There has been some knitting going on here, although at a snail's pace. I finished another couple of Mod Pods, and turned the heel on my latest Travelling Sock. I have also received the first installment of my Vesper Sock Club which is Fab-U-Lous! I can't show the yarn because I got mine early (because I know Julia and she gave it to me at knitting last week) and I promised not to spoil the surprise. This might be the best part of being in the club: I feel like such an "insider" -- like I've been invited to sit at the cool kids table at lunch! I have plans for mine already (and the color's perfect!) Julia also gifted me with this Firestar nylon. mmmm Multi-colored sparkly stuff. I think I've died and gone to heaven.

The Celtings are coming to stay with me tomorrow evening so their parents can enjoy a well-deserved evening alone. We will be attending a graduation party in the afternoon where we will eat lots of junk food and drink plenty of sugary soda whilst running around until we get so overheated we fall over, then we'll retire to my place where we'll eat more junk food and watch Star Trek TNG whilst laying around on the big bed in our jammies, followed by sleeping and then going out to breakfast on the way home in the morning.