NotScarlett

Outta Here

B and I are outta here, headed to Tampa/St.Pete on a much needed getaway. We're celebrating our anniversary, my birthday, and just taking a break from day to day life. Why Tampa? Well, we narrowed our choices down to five different places, and based on our calculations, decided Tampa would be the best destination this time around. (Seriously, there were calculations...travel time, mileage, budgeting, etc. We like to PLAN, hardcore.) We're hitting Busch Gardens, thanks to my sister and her magical ticket acquiring powers (thanks, lobbyist dude!) as well as several museums...and there will be much shopping. Leslie (hi!) has given me several ideas and recommendations about visiting Tampa, and I'm very excited about this trip. And car knitting. YAY for car knitting.

We'll be back in time for the weekend, since B's band will be rocking out on Saturday night. I'm hoping to have a belated Earth Day celebration on Sunday and work on our garden. You have no idea how much I need these five days of relaxation right now....it's going to be fantastic.

In the meantime, I'm reading blogs, counting the minutes until this workday is over, and saw this thing over on Delia's blog. I must say, it's pretty accurate. I really am a nice, friendly, person. I promise.

Check it out.

You Are An INTJ

The Scientist You have a head for ideas - and you are good at improving systems. Logical and strategic, you prefer for everything in your life to be organized. You tend to be a bit skeptical. You're both critical of yourself and of others. Independent and stubborn, you tend to only befriend those who are a lot like you. In love, you are always striving to improve your relationship. You have strong ideas of what love should be like. At work, you excel in figuring out difficult tasks. People think of you as "the brain." You would make an excellent scientist, engineer, or programmer. How you see yourself: Reasonable, knowledgeable, and competent When other people don't get you, they see you as: Aloof, controlling, and insensitive

What's Your Personality Type?

Geekery and More Tiny Knits

Thank you so very much for all the lovely, thoughtful, and fun birthday wishes. I was spoiled, spoiled, spoiled on my special day, and it was wonderful. ** B and I plan to continue the festivities with a super long weekend starting next Wednesday that will begin with a few days in Tampa. I'm really looking forward to getting away for a while.

In the meantime, I think I've maxed out on baby knits for a while. Someone's little boy out in So. Cal. is getting a heap o' hand knits from his Auntie Sarah. Socks, hats, bibs...even a sweater. Check it out.

Improvised baby socks, knit in Lorna's Laces Shep. Sport in Edgewater
Pure & Simple Pullover by Lana Hames, from Weekend Knitting , in Cotton Ease
Baby Bibs O' Love from Mason-Dixon Knitting, in Sugar & Cream

(All these projects are Raveled here)

Next up? Feeding my new addiction. You know, because it's so practical for Florida.

**One of my favorite moments was when a ginormous bouquet of a dozen long stemmed red roses was delivered to me at work. The flowers were (and still are) gorgeous, but there were two things that really made it special....first, there was a huge shiny helium balloon with all kinds of crazy cartoon zoo animals on it attached to the vase, and second, B signed the card "Brian Actual." Yeah, we take our geeky fan status very seriously 'round these parts.


ETA: Another geeky fangirl moment. I think my head just exploded with this news. First you scoop up Helo, now this??! I love you, Joss.

Mama's Little Tax Deduction

How did THIS happen??

28? Really?

Hope not ALL of you are cursing the day of my birth and waiting in lines at the post office for that whole OTHER thing that happens on April 15th.

;)

Clapotis Odyssey, or, an Ode to Twisted

After a long delay, I finally finished my Clapotis. I can, in all honesty, say that this is by far my favorite knit. I'm pretty impressed with myself, I truly think this is the most gorgeous thing I've ever made. The combination of pattern and yarn turned into something too wonderful to adequately describe with words or photos.

I'm very proud of this knit; I remember the first time I tried to knit this pattern I was still fairly new to anything other than the knit stitch and decreasing, and I found it totally impossible. Now, after the mini-clap, the first full sized clap, and this luscious, luminous, lovely clap, I find the pattern so simple; even soothing in it's repetitiveness. The mini-clap and the other clap left me feeling a bit "meh" about the pattern, I just didn't GET what the big deal was, why everyone in the knitblog world was making one, two, or more of these things. Now though? I totally understand. Knitting this Clapotis was a joy. I feel so corny saying that, but it is the truth. 

I think my yarn selection was a key factor in how much I enjoyed knitting this baby. The mini-clap was knit in this crazy Swedish yarn that I randomly found in a clearance bin at a LYS...it's a great lightweight little scarf, and the linen/cotton/wool yarn is richly textured. While knitting with that yarn, I felt like I was knitting with paper, and I really had a hard time enjoying the process since the yarn made my fingers itch.  The first full-sized clapotis was made with laceweight wool (not merino, mind you) from Handpaintedyarn.com that I held doubled. I'd imagine knitting with sewing thread would feel better in your hands. (Let me tell you...that clapotis is now a lovely piece of felt. It was pretty rough yarn, and I wore it twice, never washed it, and just from hanging over an un-used chair in my office, it magically felted.)

After doing some sample and test knitting for Meg of Twisted Fiber Art, I knew I had to knit a clappy in her Netherfield colorway. I knit up a pair of Monkeys in that colorway as a sample for her so she could see how a new base yarn behaved, and it was truly love at first sight. The colorway is self-striping, and I thought it would be interesting to see how the bias of the pattern worked with the yarn. The stripes are very subtle in this colorway, going from light to dark and back again. The lighter sections, rosy gold and pale green, seem to glow. The darker sections, with bits of rich green and deep burgundy,transition in to the lighter sections without turning anything "muddy" or overpowering the more delicate colors. The contrast is glorious; the colors remind me of glimpsing a sunlit meadow through a dark forest. I HAD to make a Clapotis with this stuff, clearly, it is magical. 

I used Meg's DK weight yarn, Duchess, for this project. It's a very soft, luxurious, merino that takes dye beautifully and has a twist I would define as "just right." Not too tight, but definitely not loose. (don't you love it when I use technical terms?!) I knit this on US size 9 needles, which made my Clapotis quite large and gave the whole thing a fantastic drape.

There's been a bit of a frenzy over Meg's yarn in recent months, however, she's got a lovely group over here, and will soon be opening her own online store rather than selling on etsy as she used to. If you're able to get your hands on any of her yarn, you will not regret it! Her colorways are honestly like nothing else I've seen, and her base yarns are yummy.   

I dream of wrapping myself in my clappy and sitting on a beach somewhere, early in the morning when it is still nice and cool, drinking a cup of tea and watching the sun rise.  For now though, I'll have to  settle for sitting on my couch with B and the dogs,  watching BSG and gazing longingly at the Clap, waiting for cool weather to come again.

Doggie Update

Tonight marks exactly two weeks since the accident. How's Cricket? Fabulous. We've been letting her have some time in the yard each day, and she loves to hobble around and sniff sniff sniff. When she gets tired, she sits at my feet and looks up at me as if to say "Screw this, I'm tired." At that point I scoop her up in my arms and take her back in the house. Nina has been doing the same thing, and nothing makes Cricket happier than being outside with her mommy.

She's walking really well, but still a bit gimpy, which is to be expected. With the exception of a few deep cuts that haven't healed all the way yet, she doesn't have a mark on her from the accident. She finally got a bath, which makes petting her much more pleasant...she was a stinker.

We're letting her come out of her crate in the evenings when we are home and in the living room to supervise her, and as long as she stays on the cushy memory foam doggie bed and doesn't try to get up she seems to be ok. Sampson decided he needed some quality time with his sister, and they spent a good long while cleaning each others ears and mouths. It was cute....not that I'm saying I'd clean my sisters ears/mouth, but for dogs, it's cute...right? Anyway. Here they are. I think they're working on their manifesto, with all that secret telling. I'm watching you, dogs.

P.S. Is anyone as excited about BSG coming back on tomorrow night as I am? I saw on the SciFi channel's website that they are showing the season premiere online tomorrow starting at noon. I'm so tempted, since I'll pretty much be alone in the office all day....but no. I'd rather wait and watch it at home. SO EXCITED.

How to catch a good man: drink til you puke*

Four years ago today, you took me out for dinner and drinks. April Fool's Day...how appropriate for us. We talked music, movies, books, life, everything. I was really nervous. I drank a lot of sake. I had never had sake before, and was just utterly amazed at how much I could drink without even feeling slightly tipsy. Then I drank some whiskey. Then the sake snuck in and hit me over the head with a sledgehammer. I eloquently choked out " I think you better take me home now." Always the gentleman, you helped me to your vehicle, so concerned for my well being, having no idea that in my nervousness I had gone waaaaaay overboard with my booze consumption. I think you just thought I was pretty punk rock and could hold my liquor.

Then I barfed all over your truck, myself, my front porch and my living room. My sister asked you "what the HELL did you do to her?" when you dragged my sloppy drunken ass in the front door. You sat in the living room and drank beer with my sisters friends while she tried to help my semi-conscious self get cleaned up. In my infinite wisdom, I decided I MUST SHOWER NOW. I stood there, under the warm water, trying to sober up, but it was a lost cause. Then the room started to move. I broke the shower curtain rod when I grabbed the curtain for support and fell out of the tub. I don't really know what happened after that, but the next morning I woke up asleep on my bedroom floor with a bucket by my head and a really, really, really bad feeling that I ruined our date.

Four years later, you still tease me. Four years later, I still feel like a jackass. The only difference is, I have stories to tell about YOU now....aaaaannnnd I don't try to outdrink anyone anymore. Every day I love you a little bit more. Thanks for being everything I always wanted, my partner, my teammate, my best friend, my voice of reason, my better half, my equal in word games, my comrade in bizarre humor.  Thank you for loving me for exactly who I am and never asking me to be someone I'm not. Thank you for putting up with my attempts to save the world, my inane and frequent improvised songs to the dogs, my constant clumsiness, my passion for tzatziki, and my stringent house cleaning standards. I couldn't ask for/dream of/invent/create in a lab a better match for me than you, and I am grateful for your love and support every single moment of every single day. You're so wonderful that sometimes I'm jealous of myself. HA!

Happy Anniversary, B.

xoxoxo

*ok, obviously not really...but, you know, it seemed like a good title.