The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Hang onto your hats, this is a pretty disjointed post because I'm trying to catch up to everything that's happened since OFFF.  First, the good:

I gave a demo of chain plying at OFFF.  This is the skein that resulted, which was just skeined and washed up today.  If it looks familiar, that's because it's the leftover of The Big Blue Thing.  I won't knit more turquoise lace, but I will knit turquoise worsted.

One of my co-workers is married to one of the county judges; they went to England, Wales and Scotland in August and brought me back some yarn!  WhooHoo; souvenir yarn from across the pond!  There's some lovely Rowan tweeds and kid silk in there, which are beautiful yarns and certainly nothing to turn up one's nose at.  And a fabulous skein of Noro in a colorway I hadn't seen before (My co-worker picked it because she loved the colors, so she may be getting that back in the form of a holiday present.)  But the ones that really stole my heart are the ones from Wales; hand spun and natural dyed by an indie dyer!  There's purple camel (Do you realize how rare Welsh camels are?) dyed with indigo and cochineal; some blue dyed with indigo, and a cream, blue, green variegated dyed with indigo, Welsh heathers and moss.  Be still my heart!  And some natural undyed as well.  I don't know whether to knit with these or enshrine them behind glass.

Here's some fabulous fiber from OFFF.  I was determined not to buy anything and I didn't.  Well, except for some antique knitting needles which I'll show you later.  I was happily spinning from my stash and chatting with friends when dear Karen walked up an put this in my lap.  Isn't it gorgeous?  It's black alpaca and merino over dyed in a dark eggplant purple. It's pin-drafted so it should spin up like butter!

And while I wasn't shopping, darling Bethany came by with a huge bump of this: white CVM and lilac angora.  The seller wouldn't split the 8 ounce bump but Bethany couldn't walk away from it.  Of course, she knew I'd be more than happy to take half of it off her hands.  This picture doesn't even begin to show how gorgeous this is.

Oh, another "good" but no picture:  ToolMan had a stress test a couple weeks ago that showed a blockage.  He had an angiogram on Thursday which came out clean as a whistle; it was a false positive on the stress test.

Onto the "bad": I went ass-over-teakettle up the courthouse steps Wednesday afternoon.  Yes, I fell UP the stairs.  Outside.  In the rain.  No serious damage except 3 broken fingernails and my pride.  I did get checked out at Urgent Care, just to be sure and get some pain meds.  I'm still really, really sore and the bruises are spectacular colors of blue, purple and green.  I'll spare you pictures since most of them are on places no one wants to see.

The "ugly" is this sweater.  No, not mine; one of my young attorneys was wearing this on Friday, with the unraveling pocket being held on with a safety pin, fer cryin' out loud!  I made her turn it over and told her she'd get it back on Monday after I repaired it.  I can't stand to see an unrepaired knit, even if it is a store-bought cotton sweater.

Not sure where this fits in the scheme I started here, but I have been knitting, slowly and seldom with my bruised and sore left arm.  On the needles currently is yet another pair of EZ's Sideways Socks for ToolMan.  Hey, they're on those antique needles I mentioned a few minutes ago.  

I bought 5 pairs of them; each size is a different color.  The tips are super pointy steel for about 3 inches, then the remaining 7 inches are enameled.  They're great for traveling knitting; the tips are super slick but the body is much grabbier.  And the sizes are funny:  each pair has two sizes on the end cape.  These have "2" on one side and "2 3/4" on the other side.  There's a set with "3" and "3 1/4"; one with "3" and "3 3/4"; etc.  I showed them around to my friends but no one knew what brand they are.  Anybody out there have a clue?

I remember.

I remember waking up to the telephone ringing; hearing my sister-in-law's voice on the answering machine.  "Are you guys awake?  You need to see the news."  ToolMan and I jumped out of bed and turned on the television to see the reports of the first plane hitting the World Trade Center.

A few minutes later, the cameras showed the second plane hitting the other Tower.

Then the reports from the Pentagon and Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

We watched the towers fall.

And we felt the world tilt on its axis, changed forever.

The Lottery Ticket Paid Off!

Seven dollars. 

Weekend To Do List

ToolMan and I are looking forward to the long weekend; we've got lots of things to get done.  Here's our To Do List for tomorrow:

Shopping at Costco (the $200 dollar store)

Groceries at Winco

Get the laundry done

Vacuum and dust the living room

Make a fruit salad for the family get together on Sunday

Go to Urban Fiber Arts to deliver shawl pins (and for the Refresh Your Stash Sale)

Sew up latest pair of sideways socks for ToolMan

ToolMan needs to finish a couple more shawl pins

and after take-out Chinese for dinner tonight, we added one more thing:



Buy lottery tickets.

Proof that I am not the only wierdo on this planet . . .

I only wish this had sound!

Some kind of gall

I didn't have surgery today; my blood pressure was too high. So that nasty ole' gall bladder is still giving me grief. The high blood pressure is probably due to the nausea and discomfort of the inflamed gall bladder, so in addition to upping my regular medication they added some for nausea and pain. Of course, a few hours after surgery was supposed to have begun, my blood pressure was lower than it's been in months. Go figure. Surgery is now two weeks away. Again.

Things that do not go together . . .

Kids, white carpet, and playdough.

Swimsuit season, South Beach diet, and the local doughnut shop.

Teenagers, beer, and a drivers license.

Movie stars, paparazzi, and the right to privacy.

Alpaca fleece, my stash, and fleas.

Seeing things in a whole new way.

OK, so not really a whole new way, but I did pick up my new glasses this afternoon!



Yes, I went back to plastic frames, after nearly 30 years in wire frames; time for a change, don't you think? I pick up the other pair, shades with red frames, next week.

Good thing I got the new specs 'cause I'm going on a little adventure tomorrow and I want to see everything! Oh, and ToolMan will be going along to take pictures. You'll just have to check back on Sunday when I tell you where we went and what we did!

I was tagged . . .

Judy over at Persistent Illusion tagged me for this meme, so here goes:

1. Name one person who made you laugh last night? ToolMan; after all these years, he still makes me laugh and we still haven't run out of conversation.

2. What were you doing at 0800? Knitting in the car while ToolMan drove us to Scappoose for breakfast before the Blue Moon de-stashing sale.

3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago? Eating a lovely dinner of tossed salad and giant pasta shells stuffed with 5 cheeses and topped with a marinara sauce, made entirely by ToolMan.

4. What happened to you in 2006? Oh, last year was a tough one! ToolMan and I both had health issues, we spent a ton of money on the dog who had his own health issue, and I dealt with a major issue in my old law firm that eventually led to the permanent closure. One of my best friends, Carolyn, says at the end of a bad period, she always asks herself if she'd do it again; for last year my answer would have to be a resounding "YES", because even as bad as it got at times, I had great people around to help me through it all.

5. What was the last thing you said out loud? "Thank you for bringing me ice cream." That ToolMan has me spoiled rotten.

6. How many beverages did you have today? Hmmm, big glass of water when I wake up, hot tea at home, hot tea with breakfast, at least 5 glasses of iced tea since we got home around noon. That makes me sound over-caffeinated doesn't it? But I drink it straight (no sugar or cream), so at least it's calorie free.

7. What color is your hairbrush? Black and stainless steel with red bristles.

8. What was the last thing you paid for? A skein of burnt honey colored laceweight and a Sheep to Shoes kit at the Blue Moon de-stashing sale. If you weren't there, eat your heart out!

9. Where were you last night? At home, as usual, unless it Monday knit night at Bella Espresso.

10. What color is your front door? Right now, it's white primer, but soon it will be high gloss black.

11. Where do you keep your change? In a zipper compartment in my wallet. I usually don't have much change because I spend it. Unlike ToolMan who saves his. In ziploc bags. In the pantry. And in a kitchen drawer. And in a vanity drawer in the master bath. And in his nightstand. And in the car. And in the garage. Next time you see him, ask him about his spare change. I promise it's worth the risk to ask him!

12. What’s the weather like today? It was pretty nice today: crisp air, mostly blue skies, and just enough chill to need a sweater.

13. What’s the best ice-cream flavor? A butterfinger concrete from Andy's Frozen Custard. I'm lactose intolerant and that stuff is DEFINITELY worth the agony. If you haven't ever had frozen custard, I'm sorry.

14. What excites you? Anything fiberly, ToolMan (sorry, too much information there), traveling, learning something new, going new places, and doing new things.

15. Do you want to cut your hair? Yes, but I'll leave that to Joseph, my hairdresser. I keep telling him it could be shorter.

16. Are you over the age of 25? Pfffft! There's twice that many years in my rear view mirror!

17. Do you talk a lot? Sometimes, yes. But when it comes to revealing myself, then it's not nearly enough.

18. Do you watch the O.C.? Nope. The ads and teasers strike me as being soap-operaish and those don't appeal to me. Heck, I never even got excited about who shot J.R.!

19. Do you know anyone named Steven? Yeah, a couple actually.

20. Do you make up your own words? Yupper. And sometimes on purpose.

21. Are you a jealous person? Nope.

22. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘A’. Amy.

23. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘K’. Karen.

24. Who’s the first person on your received call list? ToolMan. I call him every day at noon from work, then again after work while I'm walking to MAX, and then when I'm 2 stops from home.

25. What does the last text message you received say? Gollywhompers, I've never gotten a text message!

26. Do you chew on your straw? Um, no.

27. Do you have curly hair? Only if I have it permed within an inch of it's life. Even then, it doesn't last very long.

28. Where’s the next place you’re going to? Bed.

29. Who’s the rudest person in your life? I can't really think of anyone in my life who's rude. If there were, they wouldn't be in my life for long.

30. What was the last thing you ate? Vanilla ice cream. But I had to share with Andy Rooney.

31. Will you get married in the future? No thanks. I had one mulligan before I got it right. Besides, there's no way I'd ever find a better mate for me than ToolMan.

32. What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the past 2 weeks? Memoirs of a Geisha. Great story and beautiful cinematography.

33. Is there anyone you like right now? I like lots of people, so the list would be too long to post here.

34. When was the last time you did the dishes? I don't do dishes because I have a dishwasher. I don't do windows because they don't fit in the dishwasher.

35. Are you currently depressed? No.

36. Did you cry today? No.

37. Why did you answer and post this? 'Cuz Judy tagged me. And it's all about me, Me, ME!

38. Tag 5 people who would do this survey. Duffy, Amy, Ellen and/or Sarah, Mims and/or Peggy, and Terissa.

One fine flock of sheep . . .

I don't think we'll be seeing this "breed" at OFFF.



These remind me of the drawings of sheep knitting a sweater from their own wool.



Do they still have party lines?



"I know they're talking about me, but I'm going to ignore them."



"I beg your pardon?"



"Hello?"



And, of course, the black sheep.

These are on display at the Museum of Communications in Frankfurt, Germany. They just crack me up!!

Curiouser and curiouser . . . .

Ok, for starts, I didn't make it to the KATU "Meet the Bloggers" shindig. It proved to be just too hard to get there from where I work on a weeknight on short notice. I know several knit bloggers did make it and some have posted about it, although no is sure what the whole thing was about, anyway.

Then, I woke up on Thursday morning with a raging headache, so I called in sick and went back to sleep. As it turned out, I'm glad I didn't go to work that day. One of the girls from my old office called to say our boss was intending to leave the next day. So Tool Man and I went over to see her and her SO one last time before they leave the country. She asked me to tie up a few loose ends for her, and I reminded them both to email and send pictures frequently. It was very sad seeing her this time; she's no longer the person I knew and loved. Oh, she knows who I am and who she is, but it's like someone took the core of her out. Her personality is subdued; as if the "thing", whatever it is, that made her who she is, has been removed. But I'm very glad I saw her one last time and gave her some big hugs to take with her.

I had intentions of getting this pile of fabric straightened out, inventoried, and photographed. Tool Man has been grousing about how the guest room looks. And I told Kathy and Chrispy that they were welcome to whatever is in here they can use. This is wonderful fabric from the boss, as she was cleaning out her house. I'll use some of it, but there's so much here and it's such nice stuff, I hate to have it sitting in boxes unused. There are wools, silks, linens, challis, suit weights, lining fabric, etc. in there. Enough to keep us all busy for quite a while.

I told Kathy and Chris there was a lot of fabric! We'll have to plan a day to get together and split this stuff up. Like I said, I intended to get this inventoried But, then . . . .

On Saturday morning, Tool Man suggested we go out to breakfast and drive to Carlton. You know what's in Carlton, don't you? That's right, Woodland Woolworks. Or as Duffy calls it, "Medina for fiber addicts." What could I say? It was his idea!

Tool Man wanted to look at the vertical reels.



He's plotting how to make one for me. I, of course, went straight to the stash room.



Then, I went to the weaving room to look at more yarn.



This place requires a strategy when visiting. Do not go directly to the yearn (er, yarn) sales room; it can cause sensory overload and lightheadedness. Instead, you must approach it cautiously and carefully, lest you become delirious from the fabulousness that is WWW.



So much yarn, so little time and money!



Hmmm, these drop spindles are really interesting.



Ahhh, look at the pretty colors of roving! Red and blue and purple and green, oh my!



Uh oh; I am almost overcome by fiber fumes! This is when one must depend upon their trusted companion to rescue them from certain destruction of the ol' credit card.

I retreated to the spinning room.



Which turned out to be not such a good idea. Because I found this little one that seemed really "cute." Then, I took my shoe off an tried the treadle. Bad, bad mistake.



It was as if my body had been invaded by some evil entity. I said, Look, it's scotch tension, and has several ratios. And a built-in lazy kate." Honestly, I don't know where that came from!

Tool Man looked at the price tag; then he looked at me like I had three heads. He gently suggested I might want to start with learning how to use the drop spindle and roving that I had been carrying around for the last 30 minutes. Later, he could probably build one of these for half of the retail.



Then, if I liked spinning (and was a very good girl) Santa might bring me a bigger one for Christmas. So, these came home with us:



A Schacht Hi-Lo Spindle with a 4 inch wheel, weighing 3 ounces; an ounce of purple merino top, combed 64s; and 3 ounces of navy heather top, combed 56s. Not that I understand what ANY of that means. I just bought these things because they spoke to me. Now, I just had to figure out what to do with them.

I did manage to restrain myself until I got the laundry done, some chores taken care of, and some resumes sent out. So, on Sunday afternoon, I read some stuff on the Internet and decided to try the spindle out.



Andy Rooney wondered, "What the heck is Mom up to now?"

People don't believe it, but I tell you, that dog talks up a blue streak when no one's around.



"Hmm, it seems to not be going very well."



"It looks like this might take a while. Better just settle in with a cold drink and a snack."

After several fits and starts, I made yarn! And even figured out how to ply it!

Cost: approximately $25.00

Product: approximately 10 feet of very uneven 2-ply yarn

Time spent: 2 days

Satisfaction: priceless

All knittin', all the time . . .

A week and a day after they were cast on, I'm already done with the first Magic Stripe sock and the second one is not only cast on, I've made it past the heel turn, finished the gussets, and started up the leg while riding the train to work this morning. And, hey! They're even the same size! Then, I remembered that I worked the entire leg in a k2p2 ribbing on the first one, but was doing straight stockinette on the second one. Fortunately, I was only 7 rows past the gussets, so I didn't have much to frog off. But, I discovered the error of my ways on the train home, so I didn't have anything to knit.

Good thing I had my MP3 player with Kelley's latest podcast and two episodes of Rhonda's Knitting News to listen to. I don't know why Rhonda stopped her podcast; she hasn't posted since March. I'll have to find some new knitting podcasts or audio books to listen to on the train. If you have suggestions for either of those (preferably free), leave me a comment. Anything's better than listening to other people's cell phone conversations on the train.

I had a funny thing happen to me last week on the train, but I forgot to tell you about it. I did share it with some of the knitsibs last Friday night, though. Usually, when I knit on the train, the seat next to me stays empty. People always rush towards the empty seat, but when they see the dpns, they stop short, hesitate, and move on. Or, if they're forced to sit next to me, they move at the first opportunity. But then, last week, an older lady got on, saw me, and deliberately came to sit next to me. She asked if I was knitting socks, and said she hadn't seen anyone knit socks in years. I told her that socks were one of my favorite things to knit, especially on the train, and that I sometimes knitted Socks For Soldiers. She asked when I learned to knit, and said she used to knit years ago, but hers was never as nice and even as mine. I thanked her, and she was quiet for a few minutes. Then, just as she was getting off the train, she turned to me and said, "I could knit Socks for Al Qaeda because mine would give them blisters and athlete's foot. Between us, we could win the war." And she didn't even crack a smile! I, however, was howling with laughter! I wish she'd take up knitting again, because I'd love to meet up with her in a knitting group!

I've decided that as soon as these socks are done, I'm going to use up the leftover baby yarn in the stash by knitting preemie hats and socks and mitts. There's no baby knitting on the horizon (unless Christie and mark have decided to add to their tribe), so it needs to be put to good use. And those will make nice small projects for commuting on the train.

Tonight when I got home, Tool Man proudly showed me the cedar he bought to make some sock blockers for me. He'd even sketched out a rough pattern with hedgehogs on the top. And he's working on a design for a vertical yarn reel that will wind even strands of yarn for dying. We support each other's addictions.

I had another funny thing happen to me this week. OK, not funny, like the other one was "Ha! Ha!" funny; rather funny, like "Wasn't that surreal?" funny. I was at work on Tuesday morning when a woman walked up to my desk and said she'd read my blog. I was completely bumfuzzled by that statement. OK, stop laughing! I realize that I post this on the web for people to read, and that anybody could be reading it; even people that I don't know, and will probably never know, and will probably never meet could read it. Intellectually, I know those things. But when I write this, in my head, I'm talking to people I know and who know me. I'm talking to you. And I hear you answer me. Yeah, yeah, I know; they have drugs now that can make the voices stop. Very funny.

But, it never really sunk in that strangers could be reading this. This was the first time that someone I hadn't met previously walked up and said things like, "I read your blog and had to come meet you", and "I knit, but not like you", and "I think you're funny." I was completely blown away by this experience; so much that I basked in the afterglow for a few moments. Then I called Tool Man to share with him. He was polite about listening, and congratulated me on my first "fan." But he did laugh when I told him that it never occurred to me that strangers could read my posts. Then he asked me how much money I've earned from the AdSense. When I told him, he said to get back to work since I obviously wasn't going to retire on earnings from my blog. I did; but I daydreamed about being Stephanie Pearl-McPhee.

In which I need constant supervision

Tool Man and I have always shared one cell phone; mostly he had it to use if he was out of the house and needed emergency towing or something. Well, with me working downtown now, we decided to go completely mobile by getting each of us a new cell phone and changing to a shared plan and turning off the land line at home. So we trucked over to the cell phone store, signed the papers, and walked out with shiny new phones (and mine is so tiny, and it's a lovely shade of blue! So cute!) Then I thought, "Hmmmm. I should send an email out telling folks we did this." That, apparently, is where I wrong. Again.

So, I wrote this cute email about the new phones and the changes and the whole shebang. And I sent it out to EVERYONE on my entire email address list.

With the WRONG phone numbers.

Looky what I found!

Yesterday was "Celebrate Hillsboro" day, so Tool Man and I took MAX to join the festivities. It's a street festival showcasing local businesses and charities. Last year, they set a Guiness Book record for the number of people wearing balloon hats. This year, it was Groucho Marx glasses.

The Mayor said the standing world record was set at 3,000 people in July by Springfield, Missouri. Well, since that was my old hometown and this is my new hometown, I had to get in on the action.

First stop: pick up our Groucho Marx glasses so we could join the group setting a new world record.



As soon as I put my glasses on, Tool Man took control of the camera. See that empty plaza behind me? It didn't stay that way for long.

Then I found the Farmers Market:



I found some of Washington Counties finest.



Tool Man said I was hard to spot in the crowd since everyone was wearing Grouch Marx glasses, so I found a clown



who made a hat for me.

Then I found this Humvee, but I didn't find any Guardsmen.



I did find some basketball players in the 3-on-3 tournement.



I also found a baby and his momma.



Then I found some ice cream.



And I found the craft booth. Would you look at the temporary tatoo on that kid's arm?



I looked for a job at the Courthouse, but they were closed.



I found a firetruck, but no firemen.



But I did find a sailor.



Then I found these people getting ready to set the world's record for the most people wearing Groucho Marx glasses.



And all these people.



And all these people.



Can you spot me in the crowd?



United Way handed out 3,700 pairs of glasses and a photographer on top the Civic Center took our picture. We have to wait for Guiness Book to verify it, but we think we beat the old number. And Hillsboro is now a town FULL of world record holders.

ADDED LATER: If you're one of the people in these pictures and you'd like to have a copy emailed to you, please leave a comment with your email address and I'll send it to you pronto!

Move along now, people. Nothing to see here.

Nothing.
Nil.
Nix.
Zero.
Zilch
Zip.
Goose Egg.

And that's a VERY good thing.

Fiber addict's eye test

Go ahead, click on it to enlarge. You know you want to . . . .

Hmmmmmm . . . . .

So when I checked Barbara's blog this morning, she took this quiz. So, I took it, too. Here's what my results were:

1. Reform Judaism (100%)
2. Liberal Quakers (99%)
3. Unitarian Universalism (98%)
4. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (95%)
5. Bahiai Faith (88%)
6. Sikhism (76%)
7. Orthodox Judaism (75%)
8. Neo-Pagan (72%)
9. Islam (70%)
10. Orthodox Quaker (68%)
11. Secular Humanism (68%)
12. New Age (61%)
13. Hahayana Buddhism (57%)
14. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (54%)
15. Theravada Buddhism (51%)
16. New Thought (50%)
17. Jainism (50%)
18. Nontheist (48%)
19. Scientology (48%)
20. Taoism (48%)
21. Eastern Orthodox (45%)
22. Roman Catholic (45%)
23. Seventh Day Adventist (41%)
24. Christian Science (38%)
25. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (33%)
26. Hinduism (31%)
27. Jehovah's Witness (11%)

Carolyn: You can stop laughing now.