NotScarlett

Haiku

Wearing hand knit socks

all frustration disappears

my feet are happy

 

Pattern: Top down stockinette w/3 x1 ribbing, short row heel, and four point star toe

Yarn: Sweet Georgia Speed Demon in Fondant, from The Loopy Ewe

Big ol' whiner

How about I cut my head off? You think that will stop the incessant sinus and allergy problems I've had for the last three months straight?

The latest: I woke up to find the glands under my chin/on my neck and behind my ears so swollen you can SEE THEM protruding. It is revolting. And that shit HURTS. Other than that, I have a mild earache, the usual allergy related stuff (watery eyes, bit of a sore throat, sneezing, congestion alternating with runny nose) but feel ok other than being completely and totally exhausted all the time for no apparent reason.

I'll be going back to the doctor, yet again, once my insurance changes here at work in the next few days. If they can't help me, I'm going to continue to go to the doctor until I find someone who can help. This is insane, it's making me insane, and I am tired of feeling like ass. I'm snapping at everyone because I am frustrated over the never-ending illness I've got goin' on. If one more person asks if I take vitamins, I will punch them in the mouth. YES. I take vitamins. I eat healthy foods. I exercise fairly regularly. I don't think any of those are the issue here. There is something honestly, truly wrong because this is just not normal for me.

Oh, and my sister is moving away at the end of February. :(

You know what, though? I knit some socks. In three days. THREE DAYS! It was amazing. I'm posting pics later. I LOOOOOOVE my new socks and cannot wait to share them with y'all.

Perfect Saturday

Today I have

*Made a big ol' pile of Thai food

*Eaten a big ol' pile of Thai food

*Taken a nap with my doggie

*Curled up on the couch with some knitting and listened to the rain

*Wished both of my moms (my mom and my MIL) happy birthday....somehow, B and I just realized last week that our moms share a birthday. Yeah, we're real observant. Geez.

*Mailed Stacey her finished socks.....more pics coming as soon as she confirms they have arrived.

I also took the dog for a walk this evening while wearing my new Calorimetry.

   

I cast on less stitches and knit a few less rows. I'm very pleased with the final result, as well as my warm ears!

Sampson wanted me to stop taking pics and play in the woods with him.

How could I resist him? I'm powerless in the face of his cuteness.

Back to the couch for me. More knitting and dog petting are on the schedule for this evening. B is at band practice and I have a hot date with the DVR.

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait

I was right about the weekend bringing good things. This weekend has been a vast improvement over last Monday-Friday.

The sun finally came out, so I was able to get some decent shots of Brindle, the yarn I custom ordered from Scout.

It matches Sampson EXACTLY. I tried to get some pics with Cricket when I was at my sisters house on Thursday night, but Cricket is so hyper she rarely sits still long enough to photograph, and then there was that whole allergy incident. I love this yarn.

When I came home Friday afternoon, there was a large, heavy box waiting for me on the doorstep. I opened it to find some incredible goodies from my KMKS partner.

Jaeger Matchmaker Merino for these, Vesper sock yarn, SWTC Oasis which is what the pretty little bag is made of, and DominKNITrix, which has some excellent tips about being the master/mistress of your knits.

Not pictured are the delicious homemade cookies which, um, mysteriously vanished, the make your own doggie biscuit kit, the Jelly Belly's which, oddly enough, have also vanished, and the adorable card revealing my pal's identity. (Did I leave something out?? I can't remember.)

Back when a certain someone first got me interested in the world of knit-blogging, there were two knit bloggers I started reading who inspired me. I was in awe of their knitting ability and the way they came across as so likable and real in their writing. I've been reading both of these bloggers for a few years now, and am still in awe of each one. Imagine my surprise when one of them turned out to be the person spoiling me rotten in the KMKS event. Thank you, Frecklegirl! You truly outdid yourself.

The other big event this weekend was one that has been a long time coming. B and I FINALLY got a new couch. This is not the couch we were going to buy, but one that came along out of nowhere and was such a good deal we couldn't refuse.

Black leather was not even on my list of acceptable couch types, but at the time, I didn't know I'd be able to buy a barely used black leather couch for two hundred bucks. It's been sitting in a storage unit for a while, and the previous owner had no place for it. There are a few very minor scratches on the bottom right hand side, but other than that, the thing is like new. It was also about two hundred dollars less than the (non-leather) couch we were saving up to get. All I have to say is SCORE!

Before I forget, has anyone out there had any experience treating allergies with acupuncture?

This week is FIRED

The latest occurred while hanging out with my sister over at her place tonight.

Nina: (Folding laundry) Hey, check out these new fabric softener sheets I'm using. They smell soooo good.

Me: (Taking the sheet she is dangling in front of my face and giving it a big inhale) Oh yeah?

Nina: Doesn't that smell sooo good? I can't remember what brand they are but-

Me, cutting her off: Wait, is that lavender? Is there lavender in that? Lavender oil or scent or something?

Nina: (eyes open in horrified shock) Shit! Shit shit shit. I forgot. Ohmygawwwwd I am SO SORRY. Are you ok? Do you need me to get you something?

Me: (eyes tearing up, throat itching, skin on my face feeling like it is being exfoliated with sandpaper but not wanting to hurt my precious sisters feelings and make her feel worse than I know she does already) Um, no, no. It's fine. I'm ok. Really.

Nina: I suck. I am so sorry.

I left shortly after that incident and am sitting at home after taking a Silkwood shower, waiting for the Benadryl to start working.

While I wait, take a look at some stuff.

Fun fur hats plus pretty socks.

Self-imposed blogging semi-hiatus to end shortly. Just let me survive the weekend.

I keep telling myself the weekend will make everything better.

This day sure is special

I've got knitting to show you. FO's even. I'll get to that as soon as there is some light outside so I can take pictures....there is no decent light due to the clouds and rain today. I much prefer this weather to Monday, when it was 80 degrees, pine pollen covered my car, and both magnolias and azaleas were blooming in my backyard IN THE MIDDLE OF JANUARY. Give me cold weather any day. Today? It's 56 degrees and rainy. Right now, the weather is the one redeeming quality of my day. I'm a little cranky, and need to vent. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Part I: Why I Was Late to Work This Morning

This morning before work I went to the post office to use the automated package mailing kiosk thing they have. Let me set the scene for you.

Two young moms are there, standing in the lobby, drinking lattes and chatting. Three children ranging in age from approximately 3-6 run around the lobby, in and out of the doors, making it difficult to enter the building. Another child, probably about 6 or 7, is standing at the kiosk, banging on the keypad with his fists and repeatedly sliding a credit card through the swipey thingie. I am close enough to see that yes, this is a real credit card. One of the running kids jumps up onto the kiosk and sits on the scale part. A postal worker comes out and approaches the mommies, and asks them if these kids belong to them. The following conversation ensues.

Mommy #1: Those two are mine, and those two are hers.

Postal Dude: Ma'am, can you please ask the children to stop playing on the kiosk?

Mommy #2: They aren't playing on the kiosk.

(She says this while all four kids are now crowded around the kiosk, screaming.)

Mommy #1: Oh, I guess they are. Hey kids, come away from there. Don't do that.

(Kids ignore her. One of the older kids kicks one of the littler kids. More wailing.)

Postal Dude (who is clearly at a loss for words): Um, ok. Well, I hate to be a bother, but we really can't have children playing with that...

Mommy #2: (cuts him off) Well, you shouldn't make it so low that kids can see and touch the buttons, you know they love to poke buttons, so why would you guys make a machine that kids can get to? That's not very smart.

Mommy #1: Hey, come over here. What is that in your hand? Oh my God, where did you get that? Did you get in my purse again? Get over here and give me that card right now.

Postal Dude: Ladies, is there something I can help you with? Do you need to mail a package or get some stamps?

Mommy #2: No, we don't need your help, and I don't appreciate you rudely accusing us of letting our kids play with your machine. They aren't doing any harm. I'm going to tell everyone I know not to come to this post office, this is ridiculous.

This nonsense all occurred withing about 5 minutes. Picture me standing there, looking lost. I ended up having to wait in the very line I was trying to avoid by using the kiosk because those kids broke the kiosk. Nice. Real nice.

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Part II: Questions I Have Been Asked in the Last Thirty Minutes:

I'm on a deadline to complete a massive data analysis. I'm at a very critical point in this project, and interruptions are not a good thing right now. Especially trivial interruptions from the person who gave me this deadline that she could answer herself using this awesome new thing called COMMON SENSE. Let me give you some examples....and I can honestly say, these are real things I have been asked in the half hour before I started this post.

"Sarah, how do I clean my keyboard?"

"Sarah, I think I disconnected something on my computer, but I am not sure what this cable goes to. Can you tell me?"

"Sarah, what kind of cleaning supplies do you use to dust your desk? Do you think I can use the same ones?"

"Sarah, I found this piece of paper in one of my files. Do you know why I put it there or what it is?"

"Sarah, is the phone list that the receptionist put in everyones company mailbox the same one she put in my mailbox?"

After the question about the keyboard, I contemplated stabbing myself in the eye with my pencil in an attempt to use a hospital trip as a way out of answering these questions. 

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Part III: Why My Work Experience as a Nanny Helps Me with My Current Job

Me: Hey, remember when we had that meeting about not doing blahblahblah?

Guy: Yeah.

Me: And remember how you signed this piece of paper right here that says you received the training in that meeting about not doing blahblahblah and that you understood that you are not supposed to do blahblahblah?

Guy: Uh huh. I remember that.

Me: Ok, well, right here? See this? You did blahblahblah on this day, this day, and three times last month. You cannot do this, it throws off the calculations for the entire system. Is there anything I can do to help you understand how to keep this from happening? It is really important that you do not do this, and I need to make sure we are on the same page.

Guy: Well, I guess I did do that. I know we aren't supposed to, but so and so said he was doing it, so I did it too just to see what would happen.

Me: Are you serious?

Guy: Yeah. Sorry.

Me: Please don't do this again. This is the fourth time I have had to talk to you about this. It's really simple, see this box on your palm pilot? Just don't. check. it. off. That means, when you see it? Don't. do. anything. Do you understand?

Guy: Yeah.

Me: I'm going to make you sign this so I have a record that I have once again addressed this issue with you.

Guy: Didn't I already sign one of those?

Me:...........................Yeah, and you ignored it, which is why we are having this conversation and I am making you sign another one documenting this.

Guy: I don't get it.

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Y'all, people amaze me. If you've read this far? I commend you.

I'm going to lunch now. Hopefully, it will be a nice, quiet, uneventful lunch. Thanks for letting me vent, bloggy world. 

Coolest Yarn Ever

Remember when I mentioned that custom order from Scout?

Check it out.

I screamed, loudly, when I saw the picture. I cannot wait to get it and hold it up to Sampson.  I'm gonna take it over to Nina's so I can show her and hold it up to Cricket. I have a cool project in mind for this yarn, and I am extremely excited.

Yes. I love my doggies. Do not mock me, y'all. My dogs are purdy, and if I want yarn that looks like them, I'll have it, dammit. B even sanctioned this yarn purchase, I told him about it and he agreed it would be super cool. It was a win-win situation for everyone.

Hooray for doggie yarn!

Quick and to the Point(less)*

In which we get parenthetical, sidetracked, and link-y.

In case you haven't noticed, I've been on a sock yarn binge. Christmas money, I heart you.

However, the Great Yarn Binge of aught-six/early aught-seven is slowly coming to a close.  I got my stunninggorgeoussoftasababysbuttandohmygodthatCOLOR Violet's Pink Ribbon merino sock yarn from Lisa Souza yesterday. I received an email from Scout about a custom order I placed that I should have soon and cannot WAIT to see and to share with y'all.  Then I placed that order for some Trekking 100 this morning over at Little Knits. Somehow, some super deeply discounted Regia Surf jumped into my cart as well. (Hey, had to make paying shipping worth my while, ya know.)  Oh, and those secret socks I am working on for Stacey may require an additional skein of Fleece Artist Merino sock in order to be completed. Which means I may have to be persuaded to place another order here sometime very soon. (Sock #1 is complete, sock #2 was started last night and is ready for the leg pattern to begin...I can't show y'all yet. Sorry.) Then, there's Etsy. I haven't bought anything there yet, I'm trying really hard to JUST STOP. Look at some of this stuff. See why it is so damn tempting??

Wait....didn't I just say the Yarn Binge was coming to an end? What I meant to say was, it is coming to an end SOON. Yeah. That's it. Hey, I'm working on building my stash, and planning on knitting lots of socks this year. Plus, it was gift money. Stop looking at me like that. Hang on, I gotta go shake off some Catholic guilt real quick.

Ok, I'm back.

I'm wearing Sienna and my Thujas today. On the way in to work this morning, I wrapped up in Danica and my Fetching. It was a bit chilly outside, and I've been making a conscious effort to stay warmer than usual in order to stave off another pneumonia/bronchitis incident while my immune system is so vulnerable and my lungs are still very weak. I would love to sign up for Runagogo, but I think I need at least another week to get well enough to hop on a treadmill. Anyway, I think I set a personal record for most hand knitted garments worn at one time. This is awesome because I love actually using and showing off the hand knits. At the same time, while I am incredibly warm, I HATE being warm. Give me cold any day.

I've been knitting, I swear. Mainly on the secret socks, which, as previously mentioned, cannot yet be shown on this here innernets device. (I actually had someone call me for tech support with his "this here innernets device" yesterday. I like it. I think I'll keep it.) Other than that, I've been um, yarn shopping, obviously, and playing lots of Tumble Bees, and petting my dog, and oh yeah, that whole "work" thing.

Crap. There's a new L&V up. I have to go throw my wallet in a well now, or maybe freeze it in a block of ice.

*I couldn't help it, I'm kind of fanatical.

Hot Yarn Action

Lingering cough, weak lungs, and chest pain? Unable to hit the gym for fear of having a full on pneumonia relapse? Extraordinarily homesick? Crappy Monday at the office? Boy at band practice and won't be home til late?

Some days, all you have to look forward to is checking the mail.

Pictured* from l to r: Yarntini Self-Striping in 4-8-15-16-23-42**, Yarn Pirate in Paris, Fleece Artist in Rainforest.

Another delicious order from The Loopy Ewe.

I feel so much better now. Thanks, Sheri!

* The townhouse next door was being shown to prospective buyers as I took these photos in my backyard. I had all three skeins hanging from some vines on the fence when the realtor and my potential neighbors stepped out onto the back patio and caught me mid-photo. Nice. I can only imagine what they would have thought if they'd seen me about five minutes earlier, standing at the dining room table sniffing the yarn.

**I kid you not, I have been lusting after this yarn in this colorway since September. I finally got some. I feel like Charlie Bucket.

Fasthand Fingerwizard

The title of this post is taken from an episode of a show I've become hopelessly addicted to over the past week. I blame my fiance for my new habit. Without B, I would probably not be interested in watching a cartoon about a death metal band. Wait, let me amend that statement. I DEFINITELY would not be interested. Since the musician of the house finds this show hilarious, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I came, I saw, I laughed. I laughed a lot. Thanks, B. Just what I need, another habit.

After watching the entire first season together (the first viewing for me, the eleventy sixth for B) Friday evening, we have developed the disturbing habit of speaking like these two, in this fake Swedish-Finnish accented English hybrid thing all the time.

When I say all the time, I am not exaggerating. We cannot stop. Neither of us realizes we are speaking this way anymore. At lunch today, I ordered my flautas in that ridiculous made up accent without even batting an eye. While shopping for cables for our new surround  sound system, I told B "I thinksk disk eez thesk onesk we needsk." At Goodwill, upon finding a (completely hideous and stinky) handknit Icelandic sweater made of "Authentic Lopi Wool" according to the label, I held it up and said, "Wowee! Loosks at dis!"

Someone please help me.

In the midst of my transformation into a cartoon character, I completed the first knit of 2007.

Behold, Bejeweled!

This pattern is fabulous. Simple and quick to knit, you get maximum beauty with minimum effort. That is my kind of project.

I'm considering making another one in some SweetGeorgia sportweight I've been itching to knit up. The colorway is "Fondant", and after casting on and frogging two different socks, I don't think the knitting gods mean for this yarn to be worn on the feet. (Right there? In my head? I said "feetsk." HELP ME.)

This pattern is a definite possibility for that yarn. I'm interested to see how other Bejeweled's turn out so I'll be checking the Flickr group/KAL for pictures, especially to see what variegated yarn does in this pattern.

I've also been working on those socks I mentioned a few posts back for a special someone in Northern California. Here's another glimpse.

I picked up some new yarn yesterday.

Can't wait to bust into this stuff and see how it knits up. Wool socks are not an option for me year-round, and I'm not a huge fan of knitting socks with cotton, so I'm excited about this yarn. Anyone out there used it yet?

Don't forget to head over to Norma's and submit those buttons for the Red Marker Project. Also? Don't forget your sense of humor. Remember, it's supposed to be FUNNY...the grammar police won't come after you. Promise. Or, if you'd like, head on over to JenLa and grab an anti-Red Marker button. It won't hurt my feelings, because I love Jen and La. Hell, if you really wanna shake things up, do both. Did I just blow your mind with that idea? I think I blew mine.