Monday, September 29, 2008

*snuffle *wheeze

I'm getting there - for the most part the cold is gone; there is just some lingering congestion. I feel like my ears are popping whenever I yawn and that is a very disconcerting feeling. I made the mistake of taking a Benadryl tablet after lunch and spent most of the afternoon in a fog. An uncongested fog, but fog nonetheless.

Mom's comment problems solved themselves when she switched to Mozilla - so I am not sure what the problem was in the end, but she has worked around it.

Can I tell you how happy I am that new television shows have started again? True Blood, Heroes, Bones, and tonight, Chuck! (I have such a crush on Zachary Levi, and am a bit perturbed that I am eight years older than him!) My knitting is speeding up and my behind is slowing down... must... find... a... balance...

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Quick Question

Has anyone besides my Mom have trouble recently leaving comments on my blog? She says she gets a javascript error. I'm still getting comments from others and I haven't changed anything to my comments platform, so I am not sure what to say. If you are getting this same error message, please email me at jochibi AT yahoo DOT com.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Quiet Friday

Well, what else would you call it when you have had a cold-medicine induced sleep for the last three hours and your spouse and child have high-tailed it to the Y to play and leave you alone? I hate being sick. This came out of nowhere. Two afternoons ago I was outside picking stuff in the garden and I sneezed twice. That night I said to Andrew that my throat hurt. The next morning I was a phlegmy, drippy, watery-eyed, throat-clearing, gutteral-whispering mess.

Knock on wood no one else in the house has caught it yet.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

WIP It Wednesday: The Cool Pool Edition

I love it when pooling actually turns out the way you want it to:

Cool Pool Hat

I've got a few other projects on the needles right now, but some of them have to be kept secret as they are intended for someone even more secretive than me!

Andrew and Willow went out for a bike ride after work (well, more like Andrew spotted Willow while she rode her bike) and the cat had to sit at the window and wait for them to come back. He didn't take kindly to me trying to take his picture:

Lucky 1 9.24.08

"Woman, put the camera down if you know what is good for you!"

Willow riding her bike

It's a little blurry because I was taking the picture on the sly through the screen - but Willow was riding all by herself. Next step, no training wheels!

Sunday, September 21, 2008

First Day of Autumn

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns."
- George Eliot

"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower."
- Albert Camus

"No Spring nor Summer Beauty hath such grace
As I have seen in one Autumnal face."
- John Donne

(Quotes from eGreenway)

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Lazy Saturday




You Are France



You are very proud of the culture you come from. You can't help but be a bit snobby.

You cherish your food, history, language, and art. You feel like other people can't match your taste.



Elegance is important to you. You rather stay with the past than love a new trend.

When in public, you look good and say the right things. Only your close friends and family know the real you.



D'accord!

*************************




You Are Treason



You are motivated by greed. You yearn for power and riches.

You are easily tempted, and are sometimes desperate to get what you want.



You are only loyal to yourself. You don't really have a strict code of ethics.

It's hard to admit, but you would turn on your closest friends or family members for the right price.



Really? I like to think I have a strong code of ethics.

******************************************




You Are 90% Yankee, 10% Dixie



You're so Yankee, it's possible you've never even been to the South!



That 10% must be from living in the US for the last ten years...

Friday, September 19, 2008

Ouch

It had to happen sooner or later. The weather was finally cold enough today (it struggled to hit 70'F) that I couldn't really justify wearing sandals and wore dress shoes all day instead.

My poor feet!

It's hard to reconcile - on one hand I love it when the weather turns cool because I am so not a summer clothing person - but on the other hand, I hate covering up my feet.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Three Hat Weekend

Some weekends are just like that.

First off the needles was what was supposed to be my UPS hat:

UPS Hat

Supposed to be. I was worried about the hat being too deep as it designed as a man's hat, so I jumped the gun on the decrease shaping and now the hat is too shallow for me... but fits Willow perfectly. She and Papa will look like twins.

Next came the Boy Hat:

Boy Hat

I hadn't intended this one for anyone in particular - I toyed with the idea of giving it to Raul because he loves orange, but he may have a thing or two against acrylic hats (nothing but the best for Raul, you know!) The hat doesn't stretch out enough on Willow's head, but it does have some cool decreases:

Boy Hat Top

The last hat was an mindless hat. Willow had a birthday party to go to yesterday and I knew I was going to be sitting around for two hours, so I quickly cast on for a Rolled Brim Hat out of some leftover balls in my small-ball box. Everyone has one of those, right? With all the balls with maybe 20-30 yards left on them? Anyway, this one is mostly made out of leftovers from a baby outfit I made for my friend Teri's daughter, Mikayla:

Roll brim hat

The only problem was there wasn't quite enough yarn to finish out the top of that hat, so I dug through my small ball box and found this little bit of superwash merino I had dyed with Wiltons icing dye and it matched fairly well:

Roll brim hat top

Mikayla is 16 months old now and the hat may be a little big for her, but I give it to her anyway - a girl can never have too many hats.

Unless you are me and it has been a three hat weekend... and you still don't have one of your own. Oh well - doesn't really matter today - it is 90 frickin' degrees outside!

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Sock Meme

A Sock Meme

Stolen from Karen:

When did you first learn to knit socks?

I taught myself about four years ago.

What’s the first sock you ever knit?

The first socks I ever knit were based on Ann Budd's sock pattern in her The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns: Basic Designs in Multiple Sizes & Gauges. They were knit out of red Wool-Ease and they were for my Dad. I seem to remember they were a bit small for him - I believe he gave them away.

Favorite Sock Pattern?

I still like the Ann Budd pattern best because it allows for multiple gauges - it doesn't matter what yarn I use. Plus it walks you through it step by step - and I really needed that idiot-proof method when I started.

Favorite needle method?

Two circular needles - although I still haven't mastered casting on for socks using the two needles. I usually cast on with the dpns, do a few rounds, then switch to the circulars.

Favorite sock needles?

Knit Picks Circulars in the Options line

Who do you knit socks for?

The last few pairs have been for me, but I have knit two pairs for my Dad and a few for charity. I have a last sock in a pair of Jaywalker socks (Ravelry link) that were supposed to be for me but they are too narrow for my feet, so they will go to my sister Teri once done.

How many pairs have you knitted to date?

Maybe about ten.

What is on your sock knitting to-do list?

Yes, the Spring Cable socks and the Cut and Paste socks.

What kind of socks to you like to knit?

Pretty much plain vanilla socks. All my socks so far have been top down - some day I would like to try an easy toe-up sock. Can anyone recommend a pattern?

Striped?

Only if the yarn does it all by itself.

Colorwork?

Not deliberately. I am not a fan of doing colourwork in any knitting medium.

Plain Stockinette?

Please and thank you.

Cabled?

I definitely want to try (see above planned socks).

Lace?

Not my style.

Anklets?

I have never made any, but most of my store-bought socks are anklets, so I am not adverse to them.

Knee Socks?

With these cankles? To quote Karen, "Not in a million years."

Solid colors?

I prefer semi-solids to solids - just to make it a bit more interesting and less uniform.

Bright and crazy?

Have you seen my Silk Garden Socks? Business up front, party in the back.

Faux Fair Isle (the yarn doing all of the work)?

The only kind I would even attempt.

Okay, I don't deliberately tag people - but if you are interested, let me know you picked up the meme so I can see your answers.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Blah Blah Blah Blah BLAH!

Frickin-frackin - GAH!

I was having such a good day at work. Met a deadline I was worried about, was pleased with the results, got some work done.

Pick up Willow from school and there is a note from her teacher about the work she did (not) do in class and what she needed to finish at home. There went my plans of looking for new shoes and going to the grocery store.

Lectured her all the way home on how school is her job and it is her responsibility to listen to the teacher and do her work when the teacher says, not when she feels like it.

Got home, set her up at her homework station, and she started working. It took her ten frickin-frackin' minutes to finish the bloody work she didn't finish in class. Made dinner from what I could find in the freezer and gave her more work to do.

Saw the new Knitty and the only thing that remotely sparked for me was Hermia and even that one is a half-hearted spark.

Off to supervise more 'extra' homework.

Bah humbug.

Monday, September 08, 2008

Feme Meme

Stolen from Bezzie.

I've highlighted all the books I've read, and starred the authors I've read, but not specifically the book listed. If they're highlighted and starred, then I've read more of that author's catalogue in addition to the book listed.

Allison, Dorothy. Bastard Out of Carolina, 1992 ***
Angelou, Maya. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, 1969
Atwood, Margaret. Cat's Eye, 1988 ***
Bainbridge, Beryl. The Bottle Factory Outing, 1974
Bambara, Toni Cade. Gorilla, My Love, 1992
Barnes, Djuna. Nightwood, 1937
Barker, Pat. Regeneration, 1992
Brookner, Anita. Hotel du Lac, 1984
Brown, Rita Mae. Rubyfruit Jungle, 1973 ***
Buck, Pearl S. The Good Earth, 1931 ***
Byatt, A.S. Possession: A Romance, 1990 ***
Carter, Angela. Nights at the Circus, 1984
Castillo, Ana. So Far From God, 1993
Cather, Willa. My Antonia, 1918
Chopin, Kate. The Awakening, 1900
Cisneros, Sandra. The House on Mango Street, 1984
Compton-Burnett, Ivy. Elders and Betters, 1944
Desai, Anita. Clear Light of Day, 1980
Dinesen, Isak. Out of Africa, 1938
Doerr, Harriet. Stones for Ibarra, 1984
Drabble, Margaret. The Radiant Way, 1987
DuMaurier, Daphne. Rebecca, 1938
Emecheta, Buchi. Second Class Citizen, 1974
Erdrich, Louise. Tracks: A Novel, 1988 ***
Fitzgerald, Penelope. At Freddie's, 1985
Flagg, Fannie. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, 1987
Frame, Janet. Yellow Flowers in the Antipodean Room, 1969
French, Marilyn. The Women's Room, 1977 ***
Goldstein, Rebecca. The Mind-Body Problem: A Novel, 1983
Gordimer, Nadine. July's People, 1981
Gordon, Mary. The Rest of Life, 1993
Hall, Radclyffe. The Well of Loneliness, 1928
Head, Bessie. When Rain Clouds Gather, 1968
Highsmith, Patricia. The Talented Mr. Ripley, 1955
Hobhouse, Janet. The Furies, 1993
Hulme, Keri. The Bone People, 1983
Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God, 1937
Jackson, Shirley. The Haunting of Hill House, 1959
Jhabvala, Ruth Prawer. Heat and Dust, 1975
Jong, Erica. Fear of Flying, 1973 ***
Kincaid, Jamaica. Lucy, 1990
Kingsolver, Barbara. The Bean Trees, 1988
Kingston, Maxine Hong. Tripmaster Monkey, 1989
Kogawa, Joy. Obasan, 1981 ***
Laurence, Margaret. The Fire-Dwellers, 1969 ***
Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird, 1960
Lessing, Doris. The Golden Notebook, 1962 ***
Lively, Penelope. Moon Tiger, 1987
Loos, Anita. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, 1925
McCarthy, Mary. The Group, 1963
McCullers, Carson. Ballad of the Sad Cafe, 1951
McMillan, Terry. Mama, 1987 ***
Manning, Olivia. The Balkan Trilogy, 1981
Miller, Isabel. Patience and Sarah, 1969
Mitchell, Margaret. Gone with the Wind, 1936 (Started, but never finished)
Moore, Lorrie. Anagrams: A Novel, 1986
Morrison, Toni. Beloved: A Novel, 1987 ***
Mukherjee, Bharati. Wife, 1975
Munro, Alice. Lives of Girls and Women, 1971 *** (One of my favourite Canadian authors)
Murdoch, Iris. A Severed Head, 1961
Oates, Joyce Carol. You Must Remember This, 1987 ***
O'Brien, Edna. House of Splendid Isolation, 1994
O'Connor, Flannery. A Good Man is Hard to Find, 1955
Olsen, Tillie. Tell Me a Riddle, 1979
Paley, Grace. Enormous Changes at the Last Minute, 1974
Parker, Dorothy. The Collected Dorothy Parker, 1973 ***
Phillips, Jayne Anne. Black Tickets, 1979
Piercy, Marge. Braided Lives, 1982 *** (You should read 'Woman on the Edge of Time')
Plath, Sylvia. The Bell Jar, 1963 ***
Porter, Katharine Anne. Ship of Fools, 1962
Powell, Dawn. The Golden Spur, 1962
Proulx, E. Annie. The Shipping News, 1993 *** (Fantastic book!)
Rand, Ayn. The Fountainhead, 1943 (Always mean to read her books)
Renault, Mary. The King Must Die, 1958
Rhys, Jean. Wide Sargasso Sea, 1966 (Very dreamy - read this before I had ever read 'Wuthering Heights')
Robinson, Marilynne. Housekeeping, 1980
Roy, Arundhati. The God of Small Things, 1997
Sarton, May. Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing, 1965
Shields, Carol. The Stone Diaries, 1994
Shreve, Anita. The Weight of Water, 1997 ***
Silko, Leslie Marmon. Almanac of the Dead, 1991
Simpson, Mona. Anywhere But Here, 1986
Smart, Elizabeth. By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept, 1966
Smiley, Jane. The Age of Grief, 1987 *** (Read 'Moo' for fun!)
Sontag, Susan. The Volcano Lover, 1992 ***
Spark, Muriel. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, 1961
Stead, Christina. The Man Who Loved Children, 1965
Stein, Gertrude. Three Lives, 1909
Taylor, Elizabeth. Angel, 1957
Tan, Amy. The Joy Luck Club, 1989 ***
Tyler, Anne. If Morning Ever Comes, 1964 ***
Urquhart, Jane. Away, 1993
Walker, Alice. The Color Purple, 1982 ***
Weldon, Fay. The Life and Loves of a She-Devil, 1983 *** (Way funnier than the movie!)
Welty, Eudora. Selected Stories, 1943
West, Rebecca. The Return of the Soldier, 1918
Wharton, Edith. Ethan Frome, 1911
White, Antonia. Frost in May, 1933
Winterson, Jeannette. Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, 1985 *** (Probably my favourite author on this list - read her books!)
Woolf, Virginia. Mrs. Dalloway, 1925 ***

*************************************************

Okay, if you decide to do this meme, please let me know in the comments so I can check out your list.

Thanks, Bezzie!

Sunday, September 07, 2008

Sunday Catch Up

Despite getting rained out this weekend, it went pretty well. We were supposed to have my company picnic at Dorney Park on Saturday - but we took one look at the rain when we woke up and decided we weren't driving two hours to get rained on and then drive two hours home. Instead, we called up some friends of ours (who were also supposed to go to the picnic) and they invited us to go see the 3D version of Journey of the Center of the Earth. I am not sure if I have ever seen a 3D movie before - documentaries yes, but not a movie. In any case, the movie was a lot of fun.

I stayed up very late (let's just say I didn't get 8 hours last night, and that includes sleeping in and having a two hour nap this afternoon...) to get things straightened out on the Offset Wraplan. I ended up scrapping the directions for both the button band and collar and doing it intuitively. I still need to get some buttons for the sweater - but in the meantime I've used some nickels to show where the buttons will be:

Rose Garden Offset Wraplan

I also started another UPS hat last night - this one for me in Brown Sheep Lanaloft (which reminds me a lot in texture of Manos del Uruguay yarn).

UPS hat

It will be a sturdy winter hat. I think I want to make another in a light - maybe part cotton - yarn. I have bushy hair and the length it is right now I have to 'do' it regardless what I want to do. If it were longer I would just pull it into a bun or ponytail to do yardwork. I want a hat I can pull over my hair to keep it out of my eyes, but won't overheat my head in the process.

Okay - I will leave you with another video by Willow. I thought I had right-sided it before I downloaded it, but apparently it didn't come through that way. Don't hurt your neck! (ETA: Turn up the volume on your computer to hear it - it is quiet.)

Friday, September 05, 2008

Music Meme

Top 100 Hits of 1990/Top 100 Songs of 1990

Pilfered from Pam (who, I have to say, has come up with some cool memes of late!)

The rules:

A.) Go to Music Outfitters.
B.) Enter the year you graduated from high school in the search function and get the list of 100 most popular songs of that year
C.) Bold the songs you like, strike through the ones you hate and underline your favorite. Do nothing to the ones you don’t remember (or don’t care about)

1. Hold On, Wilson Phillips
2. It Must Have Been Love, Roxette
3. Nothing Compares 2 U, Sinead O'Connor
4. Poison, Bell Biv Devoe
5. Vogue, Madonna
6. Vision Of Love, Mariah Carey
7. Another Day In Paradise, Phil Collins
8. Hold On, En Vogue
9. Cradle Of Love, Billy Idol
10. Blaze Of Glory, Jon Bon Jovi
11. Do Me!, Bell Biv Devoe
12. How Am I Supposed To Live Without You, Michael Bolton
13. Pump Up The Jam, Technotronic
14. Opposites Attract, Paula Abdul
15. Escapade, Janet Jackson
16. All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You, Heart
17. Close To You, Maxi Priest
18. Black Velvet, Alannah Myles
19. Release Me, Wilson Phillips
20. Don't Know Much, Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville
21. All Around The World, Lisa Stansfield
22. l Wanna Be Rich, Calloway
23. I Remember You, Skid Row
24. Rub You The Right Way, Johnny Gill
25. She Ain't Worth It, Glenn Medeiros Featuring Bobby Brown
26. If Wishes Came True, Sweet Sensation
27. The Power, Snap
28. (Can't Live Without Your) Love and Affection, Nelson
29. Love Will Lead You Back, Taylor Dayne
30. Don't Wanna Fall In Love, Jane Child
31. Two To Make It Right, Seduction
32. Sending All My Love, Linear
33. Unskinny Bop, Poison
34. Step By Step, New Kids On The Block
35. Dangerous, Roxette
36. We Didn't Start The Fire, Billy Joel
37. I Don't Have The Heart, James Ingram
38. Downtown Train, Rod Stewart
39. Rhythm Nation, Janet Jackson
40. I'll Be Your Everything, Tommy Page
41. Roam, B-52's
42. Everything, Jody Watley
43. Back To Life, Soul II Soul
44. Here and Now, Luther Vandross
45. Alright, Janet Jackson
46. Ice Ice Baby, Vanilla Ice
47. Blame It On The Rain, Milli Vanilli
48. Have You Seen Her, M.C. Hammer
49. With Every Beat Of My Heart, Taylor Dayne
50. Come Back To Me, Janet Jackson
51. No More Lies, Michel'le
52. Praying For Time, George Michael
53. How Can We Be Lovers, Michael Bolton
54. Do You Remember, Phil Collins
55. Ready Or Not, After 7
56. U Can't Touch This, M.C. Hammer
57. I Wish It Would Rain Down, Phil Collins
58. Just Between You and Me, Lou Gramm
59. Something Happened On The Way To Heaven, Phil Collins
60. Black Cat, Janet Jackson
61. Can't Stop, After 7
62. Janie's Got A Gun, Aerosmith
63. The Humpty Dance, Digital Underground
64. I'll Be Your Shelter, Taylor Dayne
65. Free Fallin', Tom Petty
66. Giving You The Benefit, Pebbles
67. Enjoy The Silence, Depeche Mode
68. Love Song, Tesla
69. Price Of Love, Bad English
70. Girls Nite Out, Tyler Collins
71. King Of Wishful Thinking, Go West
72. What Kind Of Man Would I Be?, Chicago
73. Get Up! (Before The Night Is Over), Technotroic
74. Here We Are, Gloria Estefan
75. Epic, Faith No More
76. Love Takes Time, Mariah Carey
77. Just Like Jesse James, Cher
78. Love Shack, B-52's
79. All Or Nothing, Milli Vanilli
80. Romeo, Dino
81. Everybody Everybody, Black Box
82. I Go To Extremes, Billy Joel
83. Whip Appeal, Babyface
84. Oh Girl, Paul Young
85. C'mon and Get My Love, D-Mob With Cathy Dennis
85. (It's Just) The Way That You Love Me, Paula Abdul
87. We Can't Go Wrong, Cover Girls
88. When I'm Back On My Feet Again, Michael Bolton
89. Make You Sweat, Keith Sweat
90. This One's For The Children, New Kids On The Block
91. What It Takes, Aerosmith
92. Forever, Kiss
93. Jerk Out, Time
94. Just A Friend, Biz Markie
95. Whole Wide World, A'me Lorain
96. Without You, Motley Crue
97. Swing The Mood, Jive Bunny and The Mastermixers
98. Thieves In The Temple, Prince
99. Mentirosa, Mellow Man Ace
100. Tic-Tac-Toe, Kyper

**************************************

I didn't know growing up on the West Coast made that much of a difference, but there are so many of these songs that I just don't know. My tastes at the end of grade 12 ran more along the lines of U2, The Smiths, Sinead O'Connor, and Depeche Mode.