Has it really come to this?

When it comes to cars, I have come to accept that mine is less than straight-off-the-lot new. In fact, mine is falling apart. But it’s been a good car. It gets me where I need to go with little or no difficulty. However, its appearance is lacking. Quite a bit lacking in fact. When I took it in to have the oil changed I could swear I heard those guys laughing about that state in which my poor Jeep is in. I’d like to see them try keeping a car that’s 12 years old rust-free in Central New York where salt is a season all it’s own.

Anyway, the oil change went off without incident, or so I thought until I got to D’s place and noticed that one side of my hood wasn’t latched down. How I didn’t notice this on the ride there, I have no idea. So I lifted the hood to see what the problem was. Turns out that the guys were a little rough with my baby and broke the bolt that attaches the latch to the hood. Granted, that bolt was probably close to rusted through, but really, with a car this old, you have to be gentle.

I couldn’t really do anything about it at D’s so I ignored it until my drive home when it became more than apparent that it wasn’t exactly safe to have the side with the broken latch flapping in the wind. I had visions of the hood coming up in my face like in that scene from Tommy Boy. If you’ve seen Tommy Boy you know exactly what I’m talking about. Thankfully, those engineers at Jeep know a thing or two have a safety latch in the middle of the hood so I really wasn’t in any danger of this happening.

When I got home my dad and I had a little chat about what to do about my hood. Since it wasn’t the weekend and we didn’t have the kind of time it might take to fix this, he came up with a temporary fix.

Now I’m not one to care much about appearances. For instance, I can accept the fact that my doors are sort of rusting through…


I can even accept the fact that my wheels are not what you’d call shiny….


But when there’s a bungee cord holding the hood of my car down, I feel the need to hide my face with the embarrassment of it all…


I guess it could be worse, at least it’s not duct tape.

New York in the Rain

D and I went to New York City this past weekend. Though it wasn’t at all spur of the moment for him, it did take me up until Thursday to decide if I wanted to go or not. In hindsight, I gotta say it was a great decision.

We went because one of his roommates from college is moving from NY to San Francisco in a week. When confronted with the choice to either drive to NYC or fly to San Francisco, I’d say that driving the 3 ½ hours is probably the cheaper of the two. Of course, with gas prices the way they are, I might be wrong. Anyway, it was fantastic. We left Friday afternoon, stayed through until Saturday afternoon and then drove home. I never knew you could pack so much into just one day, but we did!

Saturday we went to the International Auto Show (see, I knew I’d be dragged to one of those eventually, though I have to say it wasn’t half bad.) I got to see the new Honda hybrids, which I covet. Someday, Honda hybrid, someday. D got to see the new Shelby Cobra mustang which he covets, and we both were happy in our own car heavens.

D had asked me before we left if I wanted to go to the top of the Empire State Building. Seeing how I’d never been to the top I said sure. Unfortunately Mother Nature had it in for us that weekend. You couldn’t even see the top because it was so cloudy and oh, did I mention the rain? So we nixed that idea and decided to go from the auto show right to dinner and then home. The crappy part was the auto show was on the other side of town from the place he wanted to take me to dinner and there was a torrential downpour with gale force winds going on outside. Fun stuff.

Armed with nothing but our flimsy collapsible umbrellas we headed for the subway which was about halfway between the show and dinner. I don’t know if I’ve ever been so unintentionally wet in my entire life.

D stopped us on our walk (if you’d like to call it a walk, I’d like to call it the most exhausting trudge through the wind and rain. And wrestling a flipped inside out umbrella is a treat I can tell you!) I didn’t realize we were outside of the Empire State Building until he clued me in. Then he said “I wanted to tell you this at the top, but since we aren’t going up anymore I’ll tell you here…. I love you…”

*Swoon* - that was me by the way! At that point I completely forgot about the rain and the wind and the fact that my pants were soaked up to the thigh, if you think I’m kidding take a look, see that line, yeah that's a water line...

I was happy there in our little umbrella cocoon and I don’t think I stopped smiling for the rest of the night. And I’m not just talking the little smile either, I’m talking the grin from ear to ear, make your cheeks hurt smile. Maybe it was just my imagination but it seemed that the rain let up a bit then and it wasn’t nearly as burdensome to walk to the subway.
Here’s the subway shot, notice the soaked hair but just don’t give a damn smile?

Yeah, it was a great day.

What’s that you say? You came here for knitting? Oh, ok, I’ll show you some knitting. Here is Retro Prep #2 all finished…

Ok, when I say all finished, I mean, totally ignore the fact that there are ends to be sewn hanging down from the sleeves. Oh, and pay no attention to the grey turtleneck which obviously looks horrid and I’d never wear under it. I was at work and it seemed like a good time to take the picture.

I’ve also been working on a little something for D. I made up this chart while I was bored at work (bored at work? Psssha, that never happens…. Note the sarcasm) You just gotta love Excel…


And I started it in the car on the way to NY…

It’ll be a scarf when I’m finished, but I can’t guarantee I won’t go crazy when I get to the plain stockinette stitch part. However, I can’t really start anything that’s too involved before I go to England. That’s t-minus 7 days and counting by the way! I think this will probably occupy me until then, whaddya think?

Sometimes, I just don't get people....

Yesterday I had to call Animal Cruelty because some fucktard decided to chain their obviously unfed dog up outside and I happened to notice it. I’m telling you this dog didn’t look like it had eaten in weeks. Ridiculous. Seriously people, if you can’t afford to feed it, don’t freaking get an animal! It was a pit bull which some people equate with power but when your sickly looking pit bull can’t sit down because it hurts the bones that are practically sticking through it’s skin it doesn’t exactly convey a sense of power now does it?

Sometimes I feel more for animals than I do for people because most of the time people can do something about the situation they’re in and animals, more often than not, can’t. Anyway, that was a fun little ordeal.

On a much lighter and more cheerful note, I was googling yesterday (because my days have officially gotten so boring than I must google to keep myself entertained) and I, for the sheer curiosity of it, googled Skein Street. Do you know what I found? I found a link to a city council type document and it mentions a Skein Street. What’s this, there’s a real life Skein Street out there? And here I thought I was being original when I thought up a name for my blog! Ha! Apparently not. This particular document that I found was talking all about the placement of public toilets and that they thought a good location for one was on the corner of Skein Street. Weird, no? And would you like to know where in the world Skein Street is located? It’s in Aberdeen, Scotland. Maybe when I go to England I’ll take a little trip over there and have my picture taken under the Skein Street sign. Paassha! Ok folks, I’m cheezy, I’m just not that cheezy!

Speaking of England its t-minus 12 days and counting till I get on the plane and head over there! Can you believe it? I swear it felt like it was a long ways away and here it’s practically running me over! Good thing I’ve already bought the yarn for the project I want to work on. I find it funny that the first thing I thought about bringing was a knitting project so that I can knit on the plane and on the trains and in the Chunnel (cool huh? I’m taking the Chunnel to France!). I wasn’t thinking about clothes to wear, I wasn’t thinking about my camera, I wasn’t thinking about the fact that my hair dryer won’t work with the English electrical system…I was thinking about knitting. It’s a disease, one that there’s no cure for and I’ve come to accept that.

And while we’re talking about knitting, I’m nearly finished with Retro Prep attempt #2. Only a little bit of the neck shaping left, then I have to knit the collar and bind off the underarms and I’m finished. Except for the blocking, of course. And the sewing in ends. I chose not to think about the steps that don’t involve actual knitting. I’m a rebel like that…

Why I blog...

Recently I’ve been wondering why I blog. Mostly I’ve been wondering because another blog made me think about the entertainment value of my blog. Is it funny enough? Is it well written? Does it matter if it’s well written if the content is good? Does it have enough pictures? Are the pictures of anything that anyone else would care about? Why would anyone even want to read my blog? (Can you tell I was a Philosophy minor in college? Yes, I admit that I think too much, but admitting it is the first step to recovery)

I started getting a little self-conscious and thought that my blog isn’t nearly as entertaining as others. But really, is that why I have it? To entertain? The conclusion that I came to was, not really. It dawned on me that I have this for no other person than myself. It’s great that I do have readers (believe me I appreciate you all for your wonderful insights) but this blog is not for them. It’s for me. It’s for me to express my love of knitting and occasionally write about my life and what’s been going on in it. (I realize that recently I’ve been writing much more about my life than about my knitting and but hey, I’m knitting some pretty boring things at the moment) And I find that I like to read blogs that are more personal. Ones that do talk about life, rather than ones that are all knitting all the time. After all, how much knitting can one person read about without having anecdotes to go along with it?

I used to write in a journal. I say ‘used to’ here because as soon as I started my blog, my journal writing fell by the wayside. My blog is very much like my personal journal. Obviously I leave out the part where I talk about my inner feelings and perhaps the parts that are a tad bit too personal for anyone on the web to find. But, in essence, it is the same thing.

I don’t know about you, but I’m the type of person who is drawn to things that are therapeutic. Knitting, as many of us know, is extremely therapeutic. I’ve heard it phrased “knitting is cheaper than therapy and you get the same results.” I’ve also read somewhere that people who write in journals tend to be more balanced (maybe that’s not the right word) than those who don’t because you write out what’s bothering you, you think through the problems, etc. I have found this to be so true. Even with the bad things that have gone on recently (for instance, my venture to the allergist, and me cutting my finger and needing stitches, etc.) they don’t seem so bad after I write about them and I can even find the humor in it.

I suppose my point here is, even if I had the most boring blog in the world and I mean so boring that it physically hurts to read it and you’d rather be poking yourself in the eye with your size two double points, it wouldn’t matter, because it’s all for me. And the most ironic part about it is even though it’s personal and all for me, I’ve met some pretty amazing people through it. The kind of people I’d like to know in person. And I feel like I’m a part of something great, like a community, which really is a nice feeling.

I think I’m going to step down off this soapbox now. And next time I start getting so long winded, somebody just slap me, k?

And the winner is.....

Keri!!! Hope you enjoy that beautiful roving. It's gonna be hard to part with it, but my mother always taught me that it's better to share!

I was going to take pictures of me pulling the name out of the hat, etc, but I didn't get home until late last night and sleep seemed a little more important at the time. Though ironically enough I didn't get much sleep because the cats decided they wanted to play all over my bed, while I was trying to sleep in it, pretty much all night long. I'm trying to remember the good things about having cats but they seem to be slipping my overly-tired brain at the moment.

D and I had a wonderful weekend. Saturday we bought him yarn for his new sweater. Despite the fact that he would have done wonderfully on the Knitty sweater pattern, we decided to go with something a bit simpler. If you scroll down to the bottom, the sweater name is Pete. I also think the fact that it's on size 11's and will work up relatively quickly helps. Gotta love big needle projects.

He's doing very well, by the way. Though I thought he might be concentrating a little too hard on the K2, P2 rib when I noticed the sweat starting to bead on his forehead. I had to assure him that he wasn't going to break anything if he messed up, that's the beautiful thing about knitting, completely fixable depending on how willing you are to rip. Which he did end up doing at one point. His tension was really loose so he ripped out the first five rows that he did. I think he's back to where he was and maybe a row or two more now, with much better tension. Woohoo for the new knitter!

We spent some of the weekend out in Rochester at his parents house. His mom was incredibly sweet and bought me Easter presents. She gave me some of my favorite teas and a very cute mug. Mom's are great aren't they? And I got to meet his grandparents and one of his aunts, all of whom were equally impressed that D was knitting.

His family is a lot like mine when it comes to big family dinners. Lots of food, good conversation (though theirs steered in the direction of brothels and hitch hiking; how it got there, we're still unsure, but it was funny none the less) and they had the game on in the background. Instead of the traditional Thanksgiving football, they had the Easter basketball. Too funny.

So that was my weekend. Nice and relaxing, a lot of knitting done, a lot food eaten. I'd say that was a weekend well spent. Congrats again to Keri!

Milestone Weekend Part III

I hope you all are ready for the final installment of Milestone Weekend. Some might say I saved the best for last, but I'd say the whole damn weekend was great!

On to Part III

I had the sneaking suspicion that I was one of those ultimate enablers. After all, I've taught roommates, aunts, nephews, brothers, mothers and pretty much everyone in between to knit. I loved teaching them because then they'd understand just a little bit why I'm so obsessed with knitting. It's a hard thing to explain to someone, better to show them. But there was one person that has always eluded me in my quest to teach everyone to knit and that was the boyfriend. Quite an elusive creature, I tell you. They'll stare for hours at your fingers working intricately on something as plain as stockinette stitch, but they'll never ask you to teach them.... That is, until now!

I finally taught D how to knit. And you know what? I think he's hooked, and quite proud of his neon orange swatch!


He is ambitious too! Would you like to see what he wants to do for his first project? Something like this. We scoured a bunch of my knitting magazines to find a sweater that really popped out at him, but unfortunately a lot of them were a little too "loud" for his taste. I never really noticed how hard it is to find decent sweater patterns for men. All we were coming across were Aran cable patterns or fairisle or weird necklines. There just don't seem to be a bunch of simple, plain sweater patterns for guys. However, the sweater from knitty is definitely a contender for his first project. We'll see if we come across any others that suit his tastes.

I'm so excited for him!

There you have it, now you know all of the "firsts" (get those minds out of the gutter!) that happened last weekend. It was definitely one of the more eventful weekends that I've had.

This week however, has been less than eventful. The only thing that happened was the fact that I got sick around Tuesday and ended up staying home on Thursday which pretty much consisted of me lying on the couch, watching movies and eating soup all day. Oh yeah, and using up a box of tissues. I'm feeling slightly better today, but definitely not 100%. Bring on a weekend of relaxation cause I'm gonna need it!

By the way, you still have a shot at the dyed roving if you're interested. The drawing will be this weekend and I'll reveal the winner on Monday. Good luck!

Milestone Weekend Part II

I know your hearts have been aflutter with anticipation of what other milestones (I'm cautious to use the word "first" now) happened last weekend. Your wait is over! I present Milestone Weekend Part II.

As many of you know D and I have gone bowling several times now, and each time I have tried to break 100. Well, I finally did it! It's quite a dramatic tale (more like melodramatic, but whatever). I was determined to do it. It was now or never. I strapped on those purdy shoes and stepped up to the ball return. I lifted my 8 pound ball (had I found a 7 pound ball with finger holes large enough I would definitely have chosen that one!) and I bowled the best game of my life! Did I mention I'm a complete weakling when it comes to bowling? My best game is usually my first game, then my arm gets tired and my fingers can't grip the ball well anymore, hence the dropping of the ball on the foot. Anyway...

Not only did I break 100, I blew 100 right out of the water!

116! Yeah baby!!!!

And not only did I blow that 100 right out of the water, but I also beat D!

I have a sneaking suspicion he let me win, remember when he had a score of 197, I even think he broke 200 at one point. You just don't go from getting consistently high scores to getting below 100. But hey, I was pretty happy, so I suppose I don't mind.

I got the 116 in my first game of the night.... I then went on to play quite craptastically the rest of the evening. That was fine. I got my 100, I'm all good!



In a totally unrelated story, I'd like to introduce you to my new purse:

In a moment of complete silliness I named it Pursey, not to be confused with Percy. Percy is a guys name, my purse is most definitely not masculine in any way.

I think it's my most favorite purse to date, and I'm not a huge accessory type person. Usually any old purse will do, but I became enamored with it the moment I spotted it! And at 30% off, you can't go wrong.


Yet another installment of Milestone Weekend to come... Stay Tuned!


Don't forget, if you'd like a shot at that dyed roving, let me know! The contest is on until Friday!

Let's Clarify....

It has come to my attention that something I wrote in my last entry is, ummmm, conveying the wrong message and evoking less than wholesome thoughts among my readers! Granted, when I realized this I laughed my ass off because, let's face it, that's funny. When I said it was a weekend of "firsts" I wasn't thinking about the first time I...well, you know. It didn't even cross my mind that usually "firsts" imply, ummm, happenings in the bedroom...Well, I assure you, these firsts have nothing to do with that. It'll all become clear when Milestone Weekend Part II and Part III are written. As for now, you're just going to have to wait on the edge of your seat in anticipation of what other "firsts" happened. I promise, they're good, maybe not bedroom good, but good.



P.S. Don't forget to leave a comment if you want to participate in the Dyed Roving Contest!

Milestone Weekend Part I

As the title implies this weekend was a weekend of milestones. Why you ask? Well because there were a lot of "firsts" and because there were so many firsts I had to break it up into parts...

Part I

I took the plunge this weekend and tried dyeing my own roving. I only did it in little bits because if I was going to botch it at least I was only going to botch a little bit of it.

First I started out by soaking the roving in a mixture of hot water and vinegar.

Kinda looks icky doesn't it?

While I waited for that to soak (they recommend at least a half an hour) I prepared the dye I wanted to use.

I know you all have heard of using Kool-Aid to dye yarn and fiber, but I tried something a little different. I just wasn't satisfied with the lack of colors Kool-Aid offers so I used Wilton cake dyes. It's basically food coloring paste. All you do is mix it with hot water until you can't see through the mixture, add a little bit of vinegar and you're ready to go.


I laid the soaked roving out on some plastic wrap and spooned on the colors until it looked like the dye had soaked through the roving. After that I wrapped it up, put it in a pyrex casserole dish and popped it in the microwave for two minute intervals. Two minutes on, two minutes off, etc.

When the liquid in the plastic wrap looks relatively clear, you take it out and let it cool.

I know it's hard to see, but here it is about to be rinsed.


And once the rinsing was done, I hung it to dry over night.


I know you can't wait any longer to see it when it was dry so I won't leave you in suspense anymore...

I could not believe how vibrant the colors came out. And of course I couldn't wait to spin some up...


Here are some of my other attempts at dyeing...




Because I have more little bits of dyed roving than I know what to do with I'm going to have a little contest here on Skein Street. Ok... less of a contest, more of a raffle... except you don't have to pay, so more of a contest, except you don't have to compete..... Anyway, moving on... Would you like to know what you're playing for?

It's an ounce of dyed llama/alpaca roving. I know it's not much, but it's certainly enough to practice spinning if you're just dying to learn! Just leave a comment saying you'd like a shot of this fine fibery goodness and I'll draw a name from a hat at the end of the week (very sophisticated-like).


Stay tuned for Milestone Weekend Part II...

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

I have been inspired by Michelle because I don't know about you, but I've been getting pretty freakin annoyed with the whole Blogger commenting system. Some days you can comment, other days you can't. Well no more of that my friends! Enjoy!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

I hope everyone is having as exciting a holiday as I am. Of course I'm being entirely sarcastic. I'm just finding that I'm not getting into this holiday. You can tell I'm not. I'm wearing purple, mainly because I forgot it was St. Patrick's Day. Obviously the spirit of the Irish decided to pass me by this year. I think this partly has to do with having to be at work all day, and by the time the work day is over I'm going to be tired and I won't feel up for celebrating. And now that I think about it, celebrating is not such a good idea when I have a concert tomorrow night. I can just imagine trying to sing feeling as wonderful as I'm sure I'd feel having spent the night celebrating Irish-style.

That is perfectly alright though. I'll be home enjoying some much needed free time. I'll probably throw in a movie tonight and spin or knit. Though I've gotten to the point where the things I'm knitting are just not inspiring me anymore. Basically I'm knitting in the round and that means all knitting all the time. No cool pattern to follow, just knitting. It's ok in it's own right when you have a really complicated project that you're working on as well, everyone needs a mindless project every now and then, but right now both of my projects are plain knitting in the round.... boring...

I also think that part of it is I'm more used to knitting projects in pieces where there are definite progress indicators. For instance, you finish the front, then you finish the back then you finish one sleeve, then the other. With this stinking in the round stuff it just seems endless. Ok, maybe that's enough venting for me.

Some of you asked where the pattern for that blue sweater is from and it's in the fall 2002 Interweave knits. It's the same magazine that the Retro Prep is in. I'd just thought I'd throw that in here somewhere.

Oh! I have some exciting news that has definitely lifted my spirits from this funk. I talked to a college roommate of mine who lives in VA. Back in the day I taught her how to knit and she's never looked back! Anyway, we were talking about possibly getting together soon and through all this talking we've planned on me flying down there for Memorial Day for the three day weekend! How exciting is that??? And you know what else? D is coming with me!

We were even talking about some of the things we're going to do when we're down there and you know what we came up with? Check out this bad boy! That's right, we're planning on going to King's Dominion! I haven't been to that amusement park since I was probably about 11 years old, and I remember having so much fun! Hell, I haven't ridden a roller coaster since I was in high school and used to love, love, love roller coasters!

So, needless to say, with the Europe trip coming up and a trip to VA, I'm pretty eager for spring to come!

HAPPY ST. PATTY'S DAY EVERYONE!

Productive Weekends...

I had quite the productive weekend in terms of knitting and spinning. In terms of everything else, I pretty much did nothing. I love how I have these grandeose ideas of what I'm going to get accomplished in a weekend and then I just don't feel like it when the weekend actually comes around. 'I'd rather knit'...That's what always pops into my mind. Or the other general neglect-everything-but-this thought is 'I'd rather spin' And let me just tell you I spun like a crazy woman this weekend. I plyed together the singles that I've been working on and this is what I ended up with.

This picture is extremely deceiving because it looks like a lot but really, it's not that much. Here's a closeup...

I just love the way it's turning out. Plus, now that it's been plyed (or is it plied?) and the twist has been set, it is so soft. I don't even know what I'm making with it yet, but I guarantee it's going to be fabulous!

I also worked on the wonderful Retro Prep attempt #2. I mostly worked on that in the car. D and I drove to Rochester Saturday night to go to dinner with his parents and his brother and then to their house to watch the SU basketball game. It was the final for the Big East tournament, which, I'm happy to say, they won in quite an entertaining game. I brought my knitting in so I could maybe do a couple of rows while watching the game, but I surprised myself and didn't touch it once. The game was that thrilling. Who knew I could be this into basketball? I did however knit on the way out there and this is about where I am on Retro now

Notice the one finger holding down the edge... That little turd wanted to roll up on me while I was taking a picture. I'll put it in it's place when it's blocked, don't you worry!

Sunday was the concert which went fabulously. However, I was stuck next to the tone-deaf woman for the entire thing... I actually had several people come up to me during intermission asking me how I was coping. Apparently everyone avoids her like the plague but since I'm relatively new to the chorus I was unaware that she could make the hair on the back of your neck stand up and that you should avoid her at all costs.... I tell you, this concert coming up on Friday, I will NOT be standing next to her. I'm sure she's a wonderful person, she just can't sing and it was throwing me off the entire concert. Besides that, however, it went really well. D came with my parents because he wanted to hear me sing. What a sweetie.

Last night I finally got around to blocking Clapotis. I finished it last Friday night but was much too busy spinning, knitting and singing this weekend that I didn't get a chance to block it. But here it is all pinned out. For perspective, that thing is about as long as I am (5'4").

And here's what it looks like all folded up. Mmmmm, just look at those colors...

All I have left to do is sew in the ends.... I'm definitely not looking forward to that. If there is one thing that I dislike about the process of knitting, it's sewing in ends. I love to knit, I love to block, I love to sew knitted pieces together, I just hate to sew in ends. Oh well, just gotta suck it up.

So I was looking through my Interweave Knits book and I saw this sweater...

I think this is going to be the next sweater for me. However, I'm definitely going to shorten it. I swear the thing looks like it goes well past her butt and I'm not into sweaters like that. The only real modification I have to do is work out the side shaping so it'll still look good about six inches shorter. We'll see, it's just idea at this point...

It's Friday!

Pictures as promised... and by the way, aren't you excited that it's Friday?

So I was having, um, technical difficulties this morning (read: my stupid computer at home is old and therefore a piece of crap) so I almost didn't get these pictures up, but lucky for me it started working just in time...

Retro Prep attempt #2 is coming along nicely,

I have a pretty good feeling that this color will actually make it look like I'm wearing a sweater, what do you think? As with the last Retro Prep, god rest it's soul, this picture makes it look more like a hat than a sweater, but I assure you it will be a sweater and not an overly large tam. I'm finding with this sweater that even though I'm holding two strands together the stitches are turning out excellent. You can't even tell.

Like I said, I've been kind of working on my mom's Dale sweater, slowly but surely I'm making progress on that...

Sorry about the crappy picture, it was the best I could do when there's no natural like to show off the pattern.

Last night I was working on this...

I've been biten by the spinning bug again. I knew it would happen. This is the second spindleful of yarn that I've spun and I'm hoping to ply the two together this weekend sometime.

So I was there in the kitchen spinning and talking with my mom while we waited for dinner to finish cooking last night... this is sort of how the conversation went.

Mom- "So you're really getting into this spinning thing huh?"
Me-"Yep."
Mom-"I take it you want a spinning wheel for your birthday?"
Me- *jaw drops on the floor and eyes light up with excitement*-"Hell Yeah!!!"

The only drawback here is that my birthday is in August, however, my parents have been known to buy my birthday presents early and then when my birthday comes around I get taken to dinner, etc, but no big present. Ummm, yeah, that's how I'd like it to happen this year! I'm itching to spin with a wheel.

I'm already planning in my head what I want to do with it (because it's probably going to be an Ashford Kiwi) I've seen them painted beautifully and I'm thinking about how I want mine to look. Of course, patience may be lacking and I may just want to put the thing together before staining or painting it. I suppose we'll find out when I get one!

Not much going on here...

I'm beginning to wonder why it is that every time there's a dress rehearsal for chorale that I get stuck next to the woman who is tone-deaf. Did I mention I have a concert this weekend? Probably not. Well, I'm mentioning it now. I have a concert on Sunday, then another concert on the following Friday. This is why I haven't posted any pictures in awhile. I've been stuck going straight to rehearsals after work.

Back to the subject at hand...the tone-deaf woman. I don't know if any of you have tried to sing while there's a person who couldn't hit the pitch if their life depended on it singing into your ear, but I can assure you, it's difficult. The worst part about this woman is I don't think she knows she's tone-deaf because she sings with all the confidence of an opera singer, and all the volume as well. So I'm standing there trying my hardest to sing the right pitches into her ear so maybe she'd pick up on them... no luck there. I'm thinking I'm going to have to change my seating for the concert because it is just too hard for me to sing accurately with that in my ear.

So as you can imagine, not much knitting has been done recently. Oh wait, I take that back, I did knit on Monday night when my parents, D and I drove down to Binghamton to go meet my brother for trivia night! We had a blast! I just sat their knitting and answering questions. Did you know that India Ink is made in China? I did, but no one heard me when I said it so we got that question wrong! Anyway, I worked on Retro Prep attempt number two. I have to thank Michelle for sending me those links to where I might find some more in case I *gulp* run out! You're the best!

Tonight I actually may have some time to post some pictures for tomorrow so stay tuned!

OH! I forgot to mention my last skein of Odessey came for my clapotis! I'm gonna be finishing that bad boy sometime this weekend! Woohoo! Very excited!

Let's just say... it hurt a little...

As mentioned in my last post, I will one day break 100 when I bowl... Saturday, however, was just not that day. Though a ton of fun was had, it was just not meant to be... About twelve of us got together that night; there is just nothing like getting a bunch of people together to bowl because you all know that it's not about the score, it's about hanging out... and possibly a little bit about the blacklights...

There was one particular game that we all played and I almost got 100. You see, I was well on my way. I bowled a strike and a spare in the first couple of rounds and by round four or five I had already scored 60 or so points. It was a definite possibility. D did not fail to notice this and would tell me every round that I only needed so and so points each round to score 100. Granted, that kind of pressure can make a person crack but I don't think it was this that led to my demise... I think it was the fact that just as I was about to bowl on the sixth or so round, the ball slipped out of my hand and fell on my foot... Yep, that's sure to throw off your game... I've been assured that it was a hysterical thing to see, and that, for me, makes it slightly less painful because why else am I here if not to make people laugh? I hopped around a bit, waited for the pain to subside and finished out the game with a high score of 93. See, even with a bowling ball falling on my foot I still played the best game to date. That, my friends, is determination...

I have a very nice bruise developing on the joint of my big toe, but surprisingly enough, it really doesn't hurt that bad...Then again, I think I was only using an 8 pound ball. Were I able to lift and consequently use a heavier ball this story might be less humorous.

As for knitting, I been working on my mom's Dale of Norway sweater that I haven't picked up for a good month. I feel it's been neglected due to Clapotis obsession. Fortunately for my mom's sweater, the last ball of Clapotis has still not arrived so I will continue to work on that for awhile... Ok, so that's a bit of a lie, I had startisis and was itching to work on something that wasn't knit on size 3 needles and didn't take 15 minutes to knit all 260 stitches of one round. So I turned to my stash and found some yarn that I have had in there for going on three or four years. It's an old Rowan yarn that was discontinued even when I bought it. It's called Rowan 4ply Botany. I realize I'm playing with fire here because if I run out of yarn, I'm pretty much screwed, but I think I did the math right, we should be good. I am attempting to make yet another Retro Prep (because my failed attempt is laughing at me and I have to show it up). I think we won't have any problems with this one....

.... famous last words right?

Basketball, Bowling and Blazing...

When it comes to weekends that make for good blogging stories, this one takes the cake.

Saturday afternoon D, his parents and I went to the last SU basketball home game of the season.
Not only did SU win, but it was the 700th win for coach Boeheim. It was also Senior day where all the seniors of the team were honored with framed jerseys. If I had started being into this whole basketball thing earlier, I might have teared up seeing them play their last game.

So what happened Saturday night??? We went bowling baby! All those fashion gurus better look out because we were sporting some very classy shoes….

Seriously, they’re all the rage. I have a sneaking suspicion that this particular bowling alley is known for it’s rock ‘n bowl or as they call it “Cosmic Bowling” where they turned down the lights, turn up the music and let the black lights shine because after closer inspection of my bowling shoes I noticed the stitches had been colored with a highlighter so they would glow under the black lights. You just gotta love the look… And the off-white shoes…those are D’s. Let me clarify, those are D’s father’s bowling shoes from the 60’s or early 70’s. He was definitely stylin’.

It became quite apparent to me that I am not what you would call a “good” bowler. I’m not even a mediocre bowler. I noticed this at the end of our third or so game when D had bowled a 197 and I bowled…..

Yeah, a 69. My high score for the evening was an 87. I'm not ashamed, I realized that I was demolished in that game and that someday... someday I will break 100. A girl can dream right?

But when all was said and I done we had ourselves an excellent evening.


Now Sunday’s story is funny, only because no one was hurt. Otherwise, I’d be writing you telling you how upset I am…

It was a gorgeous day Sunday. I spent most of my time in the living room knitting while D slept off his exhaustion from being so great at bowling the night before (apparently it’s tiring to be that good) While I was knitting I had a nice yankee candle going to spruce up the living room.

A few hours had gone by, D got up and I went with him to the kitchen. Of course while I was leaving the living room I thought to myself “maybe I should blow out that candle” and then I thought “nah, it’ll be fine, I’m only leaving it unattended for a few minutes…” Hindsight’s a bitch isn’t it?

I got caught up in doing something, of course at this point it slips my mind what it happened to be, but as I was walking back into the living room I smelled something funny. It took my brain another few seconds to realize what the smell was…. Burnt hair… Why the hell does it smell like burnt hair?!?!

You want to know why?!?!? This is why…

Poor Ramses thought it was a good idea to check out that burning candle and didn’t realize until it was too late that his tail had caught on fire! I’m telling you it was charred. Luckily not too badly and not even close to his skin (which is why this story is acceptable as “funny”)
If you didn’t get a good look here’s a better one next to a look at his big fluffy tail prior to burning it…

It’ll take a little while for it to grow back in, but he’ll be fine and hopefully he’s not scarred for life. I can’t imagine being a cat, looking behind me only to see my tail in a blaze of flame!

As for knitting news I worked exclusively on my clapotis this weekend… that is until I ran out of yarn…

Here’s how much I have left to do…

I was slightly worried I wouldn’t have enough but I was optimistic… Funny how optimism isn’t always enough isn’t it?
I love this yarn, look at it close up…

Wouldn’t you love it too? Luckily Patternworks came through for me and I was able to order one more skein to finish it. Yep, I'm a lucky, lucky girl...

Just a Quickie with some Pics

I have pictures! I'm sure you're jumping out of your seats with excitement... Okay, that might be pushing it.

Like I said I finished the mittens I was working on (finished meaning blocked them but haven't sewn in ends or knit the lining)

I really like how I reversed the colors. It really makes them unique, yet they still look like they belong together.

And since I finished (I'm using that term quite loosely ) the mittens I decided to start clapotis. I've actually gotten pretty far on it.

I took the Harlot's advice and decided to purl the stitches you're supposed to drop because basically it's the same thing as keeping track of a knit stitch using a marker... She's so smart! I'm loving how the varigation is playing out in this. It's not flashing or pooling weirdly, which I love. And each ball is totally different than the last one. It's great!
Here's a bit of a close up on some of the dropped stitches.

There's something so satisfying about dropping a stitch on purpose and watching it unravel all the way down to the beginning. I can't explain it, you're just going to have to try it for yourself!

Who got stuff done this weekend??? Not Me!

Motivation… it’s something I lack right now. This weekend was nice and laid back, yet I had plans to get all sorts of things done, mostly on Sunday and none of which actually ended up being accomplished. I even got up a half hour early this morning to start some of the things I neglected this weekend…I bet your wondering if getting up a half hour early actually motivated me to do the things I wanted to… well, it didn’t.

Sure I had an extra half hour this morning but all that managed to do was make me linger in the shower for a few (read: fifteen) minutes more than normal. And take my time while I ate breakfast. The only thing I did manage to do this morning (don’t ask me why I felt motivated to do it) was clean out the cat boxes. Not one of the most glamorous or clean chores that I had, but definitely one of the most necessary.

I wanted to start my laundry this morning. Ok, I actually wanted to start and finish my laundry Sunday…nope, that didn’t get done. I’m afraid I’m beginning to reflect my college self where I would wait until I get down to my last pair of clean underwear before I decided it was necessary to do laundry.

I also wanted to clean up my room a little. Possibly vacuum…. Nope those didn’t get done either. Though I experienced an extreme lack of motivation when it came to household chores, I did find I had a lot of motivation to knit. I finished my mittens (read: finished the outside knitting, blocked them, yet haven’t sewn in ends or knit the linings) and I felt that was permission enough to start clapotis. It looks sooo good (uploading pictures onto the blog was another thing I was planning on doing which didn’t get done).

Other than knitting, what did I do this weekend??? Well, Saturday morning I met with the fantabulous Rachel for some knitting at the coffee shop. Then we took a quick trip over to the LYS for a perusal of the goods. After that I went home to relax for a bit, then it was over to D’s place. We had plans this weekend to go out to dinner with his parents. This was the first time I met them and they are so sweet! His dad is quiet, yet will chime in when he feels he has something to say, which usually ends up being something funny. His mom has a cute, bubbly personality which made me laugh. I can see how D turned out to be such a great guy.

My plan for Sunday was to stay home and get stuff done. What actually happened Sunday was D and I went to breakfast at the local diner, I did some knitting, then we decided to go to a movie. If you haven’t seen Hitch I highly recommend it. I laughed so hard! I can say with confidence it’s the best new movie I’ve seen lately. Of course, it’s the only new movie I’ve seen lately.

So we’ll see if I can muster up some motivation to do at least some of the chores I need to do tonight after work. My prediction is, I’ll start laundry…but not necessarily finish it….

Let's all just take a moment of silence...

Well dear readers, I have a very sad story to tell. It's heartbreaking actually. This is not a story for the faint of heart, I assure you. It all started yesterday when I was working on the sleeve of Retro Prep... poor, poor Retro Prep... I'm surprised at myself for not noticing this before I even started the sweater, but that, as they say, is my own fault. As you know, I've completed the body up to the underarms and I had almost finished the sleeve when I had the very bright idea to try it on.

The fit was fine, it really was turning out quite nicely, great stitch definition perfect gauge and that's when I noticed it.... I noticed that I couldn't really tell where the sleeve ended and my hand began... Could I really have made such a stupid mistake???? I've started a sweater where the color is so close to my skin tone that were I to wear it in public people would do double takes just to make sure I wasn't walking around topless! That's right! If I finish this sweater it's going to make me look naked! Damn my pastey white skin tone!!! And so it is with great sadness that I lay Retro Prep to rest...

That is, of course, until I figure out what to do with that yarn! My mom bought it for me for Christmas a couple years ago and I've been trying to figure out what to do with it. So I thought Retro Prep would be perfect... *sniffle* Anyway, I was thinking about getting a ball or two of a chocolatey brown color to stripe in it. Of course, that also means I have to take the whole thing apart, which I'm just not ready to do yet...

That's so very sad when that happens, but fortunately I had other projects to keep me busy...

Last night after I took out the needles for poor Retro, I finally got over the motivation block I've been having with the mittens. I sucked it up and made the thumb. Once you get over the thumb it's amazing how quickly the rest of the mitten goes. However, I pooped out at about 9:00pm. That's right, I was so tired I couldn't knit anymore! I was so tired I didn't go to Chorale practice last night. It looks like all of my running around has finally caught up with me.

Just a quick little side note. Monday, while I was at work, I was minding my own business at my desk when a coworker came in with a huge box that was just dropped off by FedEx....a huge box for me.... This particular box had something like ProFlowers written on the side of it!!! AHHHH!!! My face turned bright red when I realized that D sent me flowers at work on Valentine's Day! How sweet is he????

So now I have these to brighten up my week!

What a Weekend...

First off… HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!!! Of course I realize that Valentine’s Day is just an excuse to spend money and buy greeting cards and flowers. I think somewhere in there you’re supposed to show the one you love that you love them (even though that’s something you should do anyway all year long, but whatever…) Despite not liking the commercial part of the holiday, I’m excited to be spending it with D. (Not that we didn’t just spend an entire weekend together!)

Speaking of the weekend, it was fabulous! I can’t even begin to describe it to you…. Wait a minute, yes I can!

I’m skipping right to Saturday because I really don’t think you'd be all that interested to hear me talk about how I slept in the car on the way down. So Saturday we left at around 10:30 or 11am to go to the SU Basketball game against Villanova that started around noon. The game was awesome! In fact, it seemed like there were more SU fans there than Villanova fans! How funny is that? So this is where D and I sat in relation to the court:

We got there early so the seats weren’t full yet. And it really is as steep as it looks in the picture. If you weren’t careful you’d go rolling down the bleachers. At least that’s what I saw happening in my mind every time we got up! The game was really great by the way. It wasn’t edge-of-your-seat exciting because SU was up by so much for the majority of the game however it was still a lot of fun to watch. Needless to say they won!

Afterwards, we went to lunch in Downtown Philly at a really cute Mexican restaurant. Delicious! (kind of wish I didn’t have the pretzel and a bit of pizza at the game so I could have had more room for yummy Mexican food, oh well) So after lunch I was supposed to go to the auto show with D and his friend but guess what? D’s friend brought his girlfriend along and she and I went shopping! How stereotypical is that? Leave the men to go look at cars and let the womenfolk shop.

A nap was definitely in order after a day like that! Plus, I needed my energy for a night out on the town! It was so much fun (I feel like I’m repeating myself here, but seriously, it was so much fun!) We went to this little night club just outside of Philly. Boy it has been awhile since I've gone out and had a blast!

Sunday, the incredible D took me to the “best cheese steak joint in Philly” so we could load our arteries with tons of grease! *drool* Just thinking about those cheese steaks is making me hungry!

You’ll never guess what we did next…. This is all because D is so fabulous and was willing to take me there… We went to a little yarn shop in downtown Philly called Rosie’s Yarn Cellar! How cute this place was! And the best part was D was genuinely interested when we got in there. No hiding in the corner for him (though that would have been more than easy to do, there were so many little nooks in this place!) They had a class going on when we got there so it was a little crowded, but still so cute! And don’t get me started on the selection! So I obviously couldn’t walk out of there without getting something so I reached for this:

So who wants to venture a guess as to what I’m making with it? I’ll give you a hint… everyone and their sister is making or has made it in the past several months. Ok, here’s another hint, it starts with “C” and ends with “lapotis” Yep, I’m joining the ever growing group of people who have made the clapotis! I seriously couldn’t resist.

From there we drove home. I knit the entire way home on the sleeve of my Retro Prep… Not a very interesting progress picture so I’m just gonna say that I’m almost done with the first sleeve and will be starting the next one as soon as I finish. So I don’t have a picture of the sleeve, but I do have a picture of the second mitten.

So there you have it. I haven’t worked on it in awhile but I’m at the thumb, which always feels like I’ve hit a brick wall in terms of motivation. Does that ever happen to you? You get to a certain place in a pattern and all motivation just stops dead? Well, that’s where I’m at. I haven’t worked on it in about a week. As soon as I make the thumb and attach it I know it will fly by, but it’s just getting over that hump!

Lastly, I have an exciting little thing to share... On our way home while I was just knitting along, D turns to me and says "I'll probably want to you teach me how to do that someday"!!!!! I tried very hard to curb my enthusiasm, but in all honesty I'm soooo excited!!!

Keeping it Busy -- The Understatement of the Year

I just wanted to let everyone know I've been extremely busy. Here's a list of the things I've been up to (and will be up to):

1. The fantabulous Rachel had a birthday party Saturday night which was extremely fun (though I wonder if it wasn't just an excuse for her to meet D! Just kidding Rach!) One thing I learned at that party was Rachel and her DH can make a mean vegetarian pizza! mmmm... I'm drooling just thinking about it!

2. Sunday night was the Superbowl party at my parents house. Can't say I'm a huge fan of football, but it was fun to hang out on the couch and listen to everyone else get all excited about it!

3. Monday night D and I got together after the basketball game because he wanted me to meet a friend of his. This turned out to be one of those "remember when this happened" type evenings... Don't know if you've ever had one of those, but I can tell you, you learn some interesting stuff about your SO when they get together with their friends...

4. Last night was Chorale practice. This was a special practice though because I decided (though I'm questioning the sanity of this decision) to try out for a solo in one of the pieces. So I spent a lot of my free time this weekend practicing and last night was the big night. I think I did alright, but I suppose I'll find out later. Actually I think I did it more to prove to myself that I could, which I'd say is pretty good motivation.

5. Tonight I'm going over to D's and we're cooking dinner and relaxing on the couch. LOST is on and it's a new episode! (It's about time!) This seems as though it's going to be the most low-key thing I do all week!

6. Thursday evening a friend of mine from up north is coming down with her boyfriend and we're all getting together for dinner. I can't wait because it's been close to a year since I've seen her!

7. Friday right after work D and I are driving down to Philly to stay with a friend of his for the weekend. This encompasses a lot of things. Apparently we're going to the SU basketball game against Villanova while we're there which I actually am looking forward to (I've never been a big sports fan but I suppose that enthusiasm is contagious). Immediately following that we're going to an auto show (I can't say that this was my first choice but whatever, his friend had tickets and wants to kill the afternoon by going there) Who knows what else we're going to do, but I won't be getting back until Sunday afternoon.

Phew! So this is why I haven't posted in awhile and why I probably won't be posting for awhile so please don't hold it against me!

P.S. You know what the best part of the Philly trip is?!?! If you're a knitter I'm willing to bet you know, but I'll spell it out anyway! D's driving and I'm gonna knit the whole way there and back! I can't wait to show you the progress I've made on my mittens! They totally rock!

Help! I've been tagged!!

I’ve been tagged today… That’s right, tagged. Have you noticed those little lists everyone in blogland has that are all about music, etc. well, I have to come up with my own little list. I should have known it would happen, it was only a matter of time… Ok so I’m not really all that upset about it, I think it’s kind of fun, sort of like those 100 things about me lists. Thanks for tagging me Amy!

1. Total amount of music files on your computer:
Oh dear, do I really have to count? Well, on my computer at work I have about 30 or so, but at home…. Well, home is a totally different matter… I think a rough guesstimate would be somewhere around 350… Hey, we all went to college and when I went I had this friend named Napster, but then he got caught doing some illegal stuff, so then I made friends with this guy named Kazaa…
2. The last CD you bought was:
Well it’s a good thing you asked me now because just last week I bought the Postal Service - Give Up CD. I will admit that that was the first CD I’ve bought in, ooooh, I’d say about a year. (I’m a huge fan of burning CD’s)
3. What is the song that you last listened to before reading this:
I don’t know, my coworker is playing some songs on her computer and I don’t know what they are or who they’re by (but they’re good)…. Maybe I should ask her…
4. What are your five favorite songs and why they mean the most to you:
1. Walk With You by Dispatch. If I ever get married I want to play that song at my wedding. (Maybe I should mention that it’s about 6 minutes long because there’s this flute solo at the beginning…. Hmmm, that’s a long time to dance….) Of course, anything by Dispatch is awesome.
2. See You Soon by Coldplay. I love this song, it’s not sad, but it definitely hits something in me when I hear it. I just wish it were longer. When I do hear it, I have to play it over and over again!
3. Two Step by Dave Matthews. Ok, it was a tie between, Two Step, Spoon and Crush with him. Ok, maybe that also included Gray Street. Ok, so I like a crap load of his music, what can I say?
4. Porcelain by Better Than Ezra, this song is sad and again it really hits me whenever I hear it.
5. My newest favorite at the moment is The District Sleeps Alone by the Postal Service, why do you think I bought the CD??? I kept hearing that song and I loved it every time I heard it so I just had to buy it!
5. What 3 people would you pass this baton on to and why?
Good question, who wouldn’t kill me for sending them what is, in essence, a chain letter…. Rachel, would be one, and that’s because I asked her and she said it’d be cool with her! Beth, because I think we have similar taste in music and I want to check to see if I’m right….Ok, I really don’t think there is anyone else who hasn’t already answered these questions so I’m gonna have to cop out and leave it at two!

I hope that satisfies everyone's curiousity. I wonder how long it'll take for the next "chain letter" to come around!

Woohoo for Weekends

Oy, do I love those weekends! Let’s all give a hooray for weekends! (I realize that it’s Tuesday and the weekend seems as far away as say… Spring… but whatever, weekends are still great and they deserve their dues)

This past weekend was spent hanging out with the wonderful permagrin generator who will now be known as D because I’m much to lazy to keep calling him the permagrin generator… It was definitely one of those lazy weekends where you just sit around and watch TV in your pj’s till 1pm. I tell you, it’s so nice to meet someone who enjoys being lazy as much as he enjoys going out. Balance is everything.

Saturday he dropped me off at the coffee shop (isn’t that cute? He drove me there!) so I could knit with my ladies! We had a really good turn out. It was fabulous. This is what I worked on most of the time because it’s mindless and I was more interested in talking than paying attention to a pattern:

See, it looks more like a sweater and less like a hat now!

Sunday D and I went to the movies and saw “In Good Company” Excellent movie that definitely had its moments. On a side note, have you ever been stopped by a reporter outside of the movie theater? Well D and I were. She asked us what we thought about the commercials they play before the previews. Oh boy, I could have totally gone off… I, for one, hate commercials in general. They’re annoying, they don’t make sense, and I’m a logical kind of person. Every time I see one that is completely illogical it grates on my nerves to the point where I have to tune them out or I will become a raging lunatic. And now that commercials are at the movies I try to get there when the previews start just to avoid the lunacy.

Of course, I didn’t tell her this, I just told her that I didn’t like them. She then asked if I could remember any of the ones we saw…. You know what? I couldn’t. But I could remember most of the previews we saw before the movies. See that you evil advertising and marketing people!!! Your dirty commercials don’t work on me!!!

Last night D came over and we played Trivial Pursuit 90’s edition. Oh my, I had no idea I knew so much useless trivia from the 90’s. Great game though! It was so much fun. So if you’re ever wondering what to do on a Monday night (besides watch sports when they’re on) I highly recommend whipping this game out.

Because I promised you a long time ago that I would show you pictures of my mitten that I’ve been working on forever, here it is:


I thought this was a very Harlotesque picture what with the stone background. Plus it shows some great detail (that’s the new digital camera for you!) I was thinking that for the mate to this mitten I’d switch the red and the purple. Not only would it look awesome, but it would also guarantee that I’d have enough yarn. That’s me…always thinking!

It's WHAT below zero?!?

Have you noticed that everyone’s talking about the weather? In particular the freakin’ cold weather? Oh yeah, it’s cold. Would you like to know exactly how cold it was when I woke up this morning? According to the news it was -16. That’s 16 below zero… Fahrenheit. Oh yeah, and without wind-chill. Of course, they didn’t mention what the temperature was factoring in the wind-chill. I think they thought it might scare everyone into staying indoors… Screw work, it’s just too cold out!

Yeah, that was my mentality this morning….Unfortunately I have an overactive sense of responsibility that managed to drag my butt out of bed. Out of my nice, warm, comfortable bed I might add. My poor car was having that mentality too. Fortunately I was able to pry the cold grip of winter off her and start her up. She didn’t like me much. I could tell because I had to turn the ignition three times before she finally gave in. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who didn’t want me to go to work this morning!

Aside from the artic temperatures, there are several things to be quite happy about today.

1. It’s sunny out. Do you even remember the last time you saw sun? I’m thinking it was back in August, but even then I could be wrong.

2. It’s Friday. Lord knows I love Fridays!

3. The weekend will be here in another 5 hours! And I have another great weekend coming up. There will be knitting, there will be hanging out with perma-grin generators, there will be no blizzard on the way…. Life is good.

Craptastic is My New Favorite Word

Did you ever notice how craptastic weather has a way of ruining plans? Well, ruining is a strong word, perhaps changing plans is a little better. This weekend the weather was spectacularly craptastic. We probably got over a foot or two of snow. All I know is that I was driving like a granny in my 4WD Jeep! It’s amazing how fast 25mph can seem when the snow is coming down like mad. That never ceases to fascinate me. What also always blows my mind, are the people who think they can drive normally in weather like that… That’s right buddy, keep driving 50mph and just ignore the sliding, I’m sure you won’t hit that guardrail.

So I braved the craptastic weather for several reasons. One, there was knitting to be had downtown. It seems nothing can keep me from knitting with the girls on Saturdays. Not even the fact that while I was sitting there my ass became a frozen popsicle and my fingers could barely move. Ha! That doesn’t stop a real knitter! It only makes her (or him) stronger!

Also, I had plans to meet with the perma-grin generator that afternoon. Apparently, only two things could make me think that it’s perfectly OK and sane (though that is questionable) to be driving in that weather: Knitting, and Perma-grins. It turns out, that not everyone feels this way….shocker. And when I say everyone, I mean his friends that were supposed to join us for bowling.

Bowling was doomed to be another event that I mention in my blog before it happens and then, inevitably, doesn’t come to be…. Damn you blog curse!

Even though we didn't end up bowling and the weather was craptastic, he and I still ended up getting together to hang out. We got snowed in at his place, we watched movies and talked (isn't it just dripping with cheezy romantic overtones?) And, in striving to keep this a knitting related blog, he watched me knit for a little while, just to see what it was all about! Its funny how people who don't know how to knit become slightly mesmerized when watching a skilled knitter. Have you ever noticed that? They just sit there and stare.... kind of with the deer in the headlights look. I haven’t asked him if he’d like to learn yet. Perhaps I should save that for another day…

All in all, it turned out to be a great weekend, despite the weather and the blog-cursed plans!