NotScarlett

We have a winner!

Thanks so much for the travel tips! You guys are the best, I knew I'd get a wealth of information from y'all.

The randomly selected winner is Dani of Knit 'n' Nascar. Congrats Dani! Keep your eyes peeled for an email from me.

I've got a finished Wicked to show y'all, plus another FO that I mentioned I was working on in my last post. Pictures and details coming soon.

I may try to blog while I'm in California, just to kind of commemorate my trip....there will most likely be even less knitting content in those posts, so do not feel obligated to read by any means!

I'm almost all packed. The MP3 player is loaded up with podcasts and music, I've got a couple of books and magazines in the carry on bag, and plenty of gum.  Tonight will be filled with frenzied packing and cleaning activity at my house, as we leave for Jacksonville as soon as B and I both get home from work Wednesday night. B, of course, is all packed. I keep unpacking and repacking, and I cannot decide what knitting I want to bring. I want to bring socks in my carry on, but am afraid they'll yank my 32" metal circ I use to Magic Loop. I think those bad boys are going in the checked luggage, just to be safe. I know I'm bringing a scarf I'm working on in some lovely Malabrigo, but I'll feel better if I can decide on an alternate project to bring in addition to that one. Decisions, decisions.

Needing a vacation from prepping for vacation

Things are a little hectic for me right now as I desperately scramble to prepare for our trip. I'm still sick, but doing much better....now B has a bad cold. Not good. We're both SLAMMED at work, haven't even thought about packing yet, and have to be ready to hop in the car and head to Jacksonville at 5pm Wednesday night in order to make our flight out EARRRRRLY the next morning. We've got a ton of stuff to do around the house this weekend, and with the way work is going for both of us, we'll both be pulling some long hours before we leave town next week. I've got a million things rushing around in my head right now, and am feeling a little disoriented.

In the midst of all this, I decided to cast on something new. You know, because three sweaters, two socks, two scarves, and a bag weren't enough UFO's/WIP's floating around. I'm not posting a pic, or telling you what it is because it is a gift for one of my favorite kids ever, who happens to have a mama that reads this here blog. It's a surprise, and I will be packing it up to take with me to California so I can deliver it in person. I will post pics once it has been delivered, and let me tell ya, it is CUTE. I can't wait to show y'all!

Since I'm a bit of a mess right now, I'm enlisting YOUR help. I haven't flown since 2005, and I know a lot has changed in that short period of time. I will be checking out the TSA site, but am hoping some of you frequent fliers (or anyone who has traveled recently) can help me out. There's even a prize involved!

Leave me a comment with some travel tips. What should I know about security and what I can/cannot bring on the plane for a domestic flight? Any awesome snacks you recommend I bring since we aren't getting fed on the plane (and most likely wouldn't eat the sodium laden airline food even if we were being fed)? Any podcasts or new music I should put on the MP3 player for the flight? What do you bring or do to make airline travel more pleasant/easier on yourself?

To be entered in the contest, leave your comment before Monday, 10/29 at 12pm EST.

I'll pick a winner at random from the comments. The winner will receive a skein of sock yarn from me when I get back from vacation. Sound good?

Alrighty. I'm off to go a bit more crazy and get back to work. Comment away, I cannot wait to see what you guys come up with.

I have the worst timing ever

Just a smidge over a week until vacation. You know what that means, right?

I'm sick. Rockin' a sore throat, fever, runny noses, aches, chills, the works.  I'm not thrilled about missing work today, especially since I feel too bad to do anything other than lie around and feel crappy....that means no knitting, no reading, not even any TV watching. The combination of NyQuil, homemade chicken soup, and sheer willpower will have me well in time to fly though. At least that is what I keep telling myself.

And hey, you guys? Is there going to be anything left of California next week? My thoughts are with all y'all, hope everyone is safe and secure.

What the hell is an aluminum falcon?

Thanks so, so, so very much on all the lovely compliments on my new hair. I'm still enamored of the new look, and am really enjoy how easy it is to care for. Why didn't I do this sooner??!!

I've been tagged by the multi-talented and wonderful Dawn over at Crochet Compulsive to do one of those "Random Things About Me" memes. I'm pretty sure I've done this a few times, but I love Ms. CC, so I'm gonna do this just for her.

The Rules: Once tagged, you must link to the person who tagged you. Then post the rules before your list, and list 8 random things about yourself. At the end of the post, you must tag and link to 8 other people, visit their sites, and leave a comment letting them know they’ve been tagged.

FYI-I won't be tagging anyone, but feel free to play along if you'd like.

Now, since I know I've done this before, I'm gonna make this easier on myself and go with an overall theme for my random things, which will also reveal my true inner geek. Ready?

1. This is one of my favorite videos ever.

2. When anyone calls me from the office, my phone plays the Imperial March.

3. Luke Skywalker is a big ol' whiner. He's my least favorite Star Wars character.

4. An old boyfriend and his friends sat around and figured out which personalities in our little group of friends corresponded to different Star Wars characters. They decided I was the Emperor. It was supposed to be an insult, I think. I thought it was awesome.

5. There are two pieces of dialogue from the original trilogy that I regularly work in to my daily life. They are:

a.) Let the Wookie win

b.) I don't think he likes you at all. No, I don't like you either.

( I wish I could find a good sound clip of the second one...R2's beeps are what make it awesome.)

6. B is a huge, huge, HUGE Star Wars fan and is constantly getting challenged to trivia contests. He's never lost. He's so nerdy. I love that about him.

7. I have a Darth Vader action figure on my desk in my office. It makes noises and had a flashing lightsaber, which causes many of my co-workers to stop by and play with it. He's cool, but I desperately want this.

8. I'll close this with another video that cracks me up.

Alright. There you go. A little randomness for y'all.

Darlin' don't you go and cut your hair

It was so weird to wash my hair this morning.

It's the shortest I've ever had my hair, with the exception of when I was you know, AN INFANT.

I love it. I do not know what possessed me to get brave and go for it, but I love it.

B took a few pics of the front for me. As a photographer, he needs some work....he was telling me to make weird faces, then making me laugh so hard that these were the two "best" pictures we got. I'd say these are good representations of what I look like most of the time he's around though. We're total jackasses.

My new hair is super fun. In the not-so-fun category: Photographing your CPH that you have knit in one piece up to the armholes. Looking at the photograph and realizing something is a little off.

It's fixed now. I spent a lot of time doing cable surgery on Sunday afternoon, and the sweater, with the exception of a few columns of stitches that need to be tightened up, is now back on track. I've made a solemn pledge to always pay close attention when working on a cable project from now on. Cable surgery on this scale sucked ass.

I'm still looking for any short row shoulder/armhole tips....anyone? I know I'm not alone in needing a bit of a push in the right direction. Can y'all help us out?? Purdy please??

ETA: I got an email from Anthropologie a little while ago. This catalog is called Stitch and I am drooling all over my keyboard now. I don't know how much of the stuff I would actually find wearable (or um, affordable) for me*,  but I'm definitely inspired.

*There are elements of this sweater that I really love....hmmmm. Maybe some reverse engineering is in order.

Widescreen monitor=bliss

So, that little computer problem we were having?
Originally uploaded by notscarlett7

Here it is, a Friday night, and I'm sitting at home in front of the computer, do do de do, la la la....

Wait, what?

The little computer issue we were having has been resolved. This is our new friend Hal.

After consulting with some experts, B and I determined that our sweet little laptop had gone to the big computer dump in the sky. That baby lasted B many, many, many years. It was a good laptop. It will be missed.

Or not. Because this? So much better. It's not the most super spectacularly fancy computer in the world, but for the simple stuff we use a computer for here at home, it's perfect.

I think B might cry if I don't let him play with the new toy soon.

I'm still stuck on the short rows thing though. Anybody??

Calling all computer (and short row) experts

Hi, I need help. With computers and short rows. Not for the same purpose, though. Two different things. 

First, computer stuff. We know the hard drive in our laptop is toast. At this time, we don't have the money to spend on a spankin' new 'puter, but are in serious need of some kind of technology. Can we replace the hard drive? I mean, I know we CAN, but what do you recommend?  While there is nothing we need off the old hard drive, and B is mechanically sound enough to do the actual labor of replacing the hard drive, we run into a bit of a problem with set up from that point on. I mean, wtf do we do after we replace the hardware? How the hell do I get it to boot? Format the hard drive? See? Totally clueless. Also....this is an olllllld laptop of B's, and honestly, no one (meaning B) seems to know where the original installation disk for Windows is. Oh, and did I mention the CD drive is busted as well? Any advice here, y'all? We'll spend what we need to spend as long as it is within reason.

Now, short rows. Central Park is ready for some armhole action. I knit the body in one piece up to the armholes, and um, now I'm kinda stuck. I want to knit the armholes/shoulders using short row shaping rather than stair step bind offs, but dude, I am sooooo clueless. I read the Knitty article, checked out Nona's post, and have read a bit of the discussion on Ravelry about this, but I am lost. I went home last night and tried it, and yeah. I DON'T GET IT. Any of you sweater knitters out there used short row shaping for this purpose in the past? Could you maybe point me in the right direction, pretty pretty please?

In non-helpless news, Wicked is coming along, and fast.

I'm making the worsted weight version with short sleeves and no pocket out of some Araucania Nature Wool I had in the stash. Wool? You betcha. I figure it's short sleeved and will be perfect for me to wear a tank top or cami under on some of our chillier days, when they finally arrive. They haven't arrived yet, but today is glorious, with sunny skies, low humidity, and a temperature just under 80 degrees. REJOICE!

I'm channeling CAP.

The perfect weather cemented the lunch plans my boss and I had made earlier in the week. We went to the Greek Festival and stuffed ourselves full of dolmades, moussaka, and spanikopita. It was delicious, although the man sitting next to us in the communal dining tent almost made me lose my appetite...his graphic description of chitlins really sicked me out. Ugh. Anyway, I passed on the pastries since the line was extremely long and I know where I can get really good baklava without waiting in line. B and I may hit up the festival again tomorrow to gorge ourselves on dolmades, ouzo, and yummy Greek wine.

Five years

Requiescat in pace

C.W.O

12/27/77-10/12/02

Tempus omnia sed memorias privat

Monday Grumps

I took all these pictures over the weekend, of knitting, of FO's, of a swap package I received. While in the process of transferring them from my camera to my home computer, my hard drive went kerplooey.

Dead. Deader than dead. So dead, there is no hope of resurrection for the pictures or our poor, ancient, laptop.

Upside: we're going to get a nice, new, non-dinosaur computer in the near future. Not the near-near future, since hi, going on vacation soon, but yeah. In the near future.

Downside: No internet access at home. I seriously might cry.

Posting (and photos!) will be sporadic for a bit.

Confession

So Sad
Originally uploaded by notscarlett7

This photo contains the following

1. The two loves of my life
2. The horrrrrible shag carpet that covers the upstairs area of our house
3. A sparkly purple guitar named Rick James
4. Sampson's favorite ropey
5. My new obsession...you can see it there in the right hand corner.

Seriously. This takes more coordination than I currently possess.

B keeps telling me to pretend the drumsticks are just really big knitting needles.

It's not helping. Knitting is so much easier than playing drums, and I am so much better at knitting. In fact, I've even finished some stuff recently. Progress post this weekend.

Progress on the knitting, I mean. Not the drums.