A year in Review (kinda)

So, I haven't blogged in about 5 months. I got lazy.

Anyway, here's a view of some projects I've done this year:

January:
Ice Cream Arms












February:
Greebo & You





















March:
I got nothin...

April:
Again, nothin. What was I doing those two months?

May:
OMG IT'S PINK!!




















June:
Got lazy again.

July:
Hid from the heat, I guess.

August:
Nessie 1















September:
A Rug (crocheted!)















October:
Mermaid















November:
Andrew's Epic Whip















December:
TV Scarf









Now, I have a PLN for 2011. I have eleven projects (1 per month, with 1 month for rest). I have it pretty organized too. Want proof? Okay:

Technical (Directional) Difficulties

Amy and I went on our second-half-of-the-year yarn crawl today. And got some wedding prep stuff. Sounds like a good trip huh. It was. Even with our, ahem, mishaps.

Mishap #1:

On the way up, we managed to babble our way past our exit. Oopsie! We saw the exit before and the exit after (which we took).

Mishap #2:

Somehow, we managed to drive from Indy to Beech Grove without realizing it until we were there. The main things that pointed this out were the sign with "BEECH GROVE" on it and the street signs became brown instead of the green we're so very very used to.

Mishap #3:

Still looking for the right friggin road. (Psst. I was looking for the wrong blasted STATE. I kept looking for Washington Ave. instead of Virginia Ave.) Finally ended up stopping at a gas station for directions. Easiest way to get this point across? Stating "I've lost my road!" We were only off by about 5 blocks all in all.

So we finally get to Mass. (No not church, it's the wrong day :p I'm talking about Mass Ave. Knit Shop.)

Mishap #4:

Eek! There's NO PARKING available! We asked a kind lady about alternate parking options and she was very helpful. We got a decent parking place.

After a pleasant hour or so, we realized we were pretty hungry. This was easily remedied, as we'd already decided on where we were eating. I had checked out directions before (twice!), so had a pretty good idea of where we needed to go to get to the restaurant (previous difficulties notwithstanding).

Mishap #5:

No problems getting to the interstate, or finding either of our exits. Unfortunately, we didn't ever think about the exit being CLOSED! So, backtrack to the other interstate and more familiar surroundings.

Off to the restaurant we go! I don't think there were any more mishaps after we ate. We were only slightly miserable due to food intakes. Most of the rest of it passed in a happy food/flower/creativity haze.

And now I need a nap!

Where'd the Aspirin Go?

The planning. It has officially begun.

We looked at a few places for the whole shebang, got some ideas. Rejected some others. Looked for a rainbow and that elusive pot o gold to supplement the fund. Tried some really nasty fizzy wine.

I've decided not to wear a veil. Instead, I'm going to wear the stole that I'm knitting. I might just get it done by the date too. It's ... um ... 652? rows long. Given, every other row is a 'rest' row of mostly purls, so that helps a bit. But the actual pattern rows are lace and beads. Now that I have the hang of stringing a bead onto a stitch, it's going much more smoothly. I've made it to row 89....

The fish are still going as well. I think I have something like 23 fish made and about 11 or 12 of them sewn together.

Where did April go?

No, seriously, where did it go? I'll probably be saying that a lot for the next year, I imagine. (helpful hint: if I'm looking harried and walking about a thousand miles an hour, it's NOT a good time to stop me to chat, not even to offer help.)

Anyway, I did get a project done. I made this nifty lace up cardigan thingy that Ames desperately hoped wouldn't meet my expectations (sorry Ames):

Now I'm kind of in knitting limbo. I want to make something quick, easy, and requires little to no thought processing. Of course I can't find anything that suits my standards right now.

Now here's a real good photo question for you...

What the hell is she holding on to here??

I'll give you a hint: It's probably NOT what you're thinking, you pervs!

(Answer with photo in next post, which will be a lot sooner than a month from now, I swear!)

Got My Malabrigo

So a few weeks ago, Ames and I did our yearly trip to Mass Ave. We got our yarns, had a great meal, got semi-lost, found the trail again, and then went home to be slightly miserable from eating too much. It was great.

I have almost one sleeve of my hoodie done. Man, but it is slow going - unless I have a movie playing...

The cat is driving me to drink, I swear. She keeps yelling at me to get up! Earlier and earlier each day. I've taken to throwing things like the pillow at her, but it doesn't help. Much. There's an 89% chance that she's plotting to kill me in my sleep. I think there's a 105% chance she's just wanting to make us crazier. Good thing she's cute.

All I Wanted Was Some Malabrigo

Yesterday I woke up feeling a little froggy for some new yarn. I really wanted to get some more Malabrigo Worsted to make a little something selfish. The nearest yarn shop that sells it is about an hour away. So I called my friend Squee and invited her to come with me. Great! Yarn company and a chance to show off my ring!

All goes well in the beginning. We stop for road sodas and are on our way. We get on the interstate - no problem. Mom returns my call en route so we're both chatting at her while I drive. Again, no problems.

Suddenly, I start fishtailing. At 70mph. With traffic in front and behind and a friggin semi next to me. Big Problem!

As soon as I figure out something is wrong, I turn on my hazard lights and pull over. Unfortunately, I'm in the passing lane so I have to pull off on the wrong shoulder. Luckily, it was wide enough for my vehicle.

Squee is giving Mom the rundown of everything that's going on and I'm just hoping traffic clears up enough so I can get to the proper side of the road.

We get over there, I get out and lookit the tires... Yep, one of my back tires has blown. Which is weird, because the tread is still really good on them. The air was fine when we left so it couldn't have been that. Upon closer inspection, the radial? blew out and I could see lots of the wire threads just hanging there.

So, now to change the tire. I have the spare in the trunk. I heave out my little hydraulic pump jack and kneel down to place it. Did I mention I have on a long skirt? Anyway, I get the jack in place and begin the process of changing the tire. (Thank You Mom! for making sure I know how to do this!) Guess what. The jack doesn't have the juice to lift up the car. Bugger.

Luckily, a nice gentleman stops and offers assistance. All I really needed was a jack, but he went on to change out the tire for us. Thank you so much, sir!!!

Next order of business: Find A Tire Shop! But first, to get to the nearest exit. That is NOT something I want to do EVER again! We had to drive ELEVEN MILES. On the INTERSTATE. On a DONUT! You can't drive more than about 45mph on one of those. By now, my nerves are pretty much shot. All thoughts of the lovely Malabrigo have been removed forcefully from my brain.

We get to a tire shop. They're closed on the weekends. *grumblegrumble*
We get directions and go to a second tire shop that we were assured is open on Saturdays. They're also closed. *grumblegrumblemutter*
We find Wal-Mart. *grumblecursegrumble* Fine. Whatever. Wal-Mart it is. By this point, I just want to get the blasted tire and go home. If I'm changing out one, I might as well change them all. And what the hell, let's get the oil changed while we're here.

**TWO AND A HALF HOURS LATER**

Car's ready.

Total price: $386.77

By this time, the yarn shop would be closed by the time we got there. And I had to use the yarn fund plus about half of what I had saved for a spinning wheel for the tires. So the wheel must now wait another month or two...

At least no one got hurt.

And I still want my Malabrigo!

A List of Ten:

As all of the witty, insightful things I was trying to recollect about the last year have fled my mind, I'm going to Diversionary Tactic #7482: A List of Ten Things. "Ten what?" you ask? Doesn't matter. So long as there's ten...

10 Places I Get Lost in on the Internet (in reverse order):

1. Ravelry (if you don't know this site, then you probably aren't a fiber enthusiast)
   
2. TV Tropes (will ruin your life)
   
3. Blogs (too many to list individually)
   
4. Zero Punctuation (for the sarcastic game review that won't spare your sensitivites)
   
5. Nostalgia Critic &
   
6. Nostalgia Chick (okay, 5 and 6 are technically the same, but I can't check one without checking the other)
   
7. Pogo (one day I will hit a JackPot...)
   
8. Armor Games (when I get bored/frustrated with Pogo)
   
9. Google (most things start here...)
   
10. Knitty (again, for the fiber enthusiasts)

And this, my dear three readers, is part of the reason my blogging became so sporadic.

Happy 2010

Compiling

I'm currently compiling my 'Year in Review' post for Thursday. This involves lots of thinking, and rereading previous posts as well.

I think I may be going cross-eyed (and possibly cross-brained, too). Maybe this year's post will be full of photos?

New Shows!

So, here's my new weekly listing:

Monday: House, Castle
Tuesday:
Wednesday: Eastwick
Thursday: Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice
Friday: Dollhouse

Weekend: Vampire Diaries (maybe)

What are you watching this season?

Hi there

Remember me? Yeah, I've been pulled away from the blog for a while. Life and things.

Let's see, I've been riding the bike once or twice a week, once on the weekend (when possible) and once to and from work.

I got about 4 inches lopped off of my hair, but unfortunately haven't taken a picture of the new 'do yet. I'm working on it. There will be a before/after photo as soon as I get a chance.

Oh yes, remember about a year ago when I posted about the trike race at work? No? It's back there somewhere, I swear! Anyway, it's that time of year again! And yes, I have a team ready. We race next Thursday evening. It should be interesting, as half of my old team no longer works here. I'm hoping to remember my camera to get some new pics to add.

I've been playing D&D or variations thereof with OH and 'the guys'. So far, I've only died once. That's pretty impressive for me!

That's what I've been up to, how about you?

Too hot to think

We've reached the upper 80s-early 90s now. And, considering it's about 20 degrees warmer inside where I work, I've come up with my excuse for not blogging so much recently:

"Can't brain today, I haz teh heat-deth."

Stay cool and hopefully I'll have some pretty pictures soon.

Back to it

I was on vacation last week. Or, rather, staycation. It was nice to not have to go to work. I was able to do some things around the house that I usually don't have the time or inclination to do. Like rearrange the living room. It kind of scared OH when I messaged him with what I was doing, due to my ... grace.

And, I'm writing this post on my nifty new LAPTOP! Woo hoo! Which means that I'm not chained to the desk upstairs.

On the knitting front, I've made quite a dent in my Stormqueen shawl/thingy. I only have about 40 rounds left to do, plus the edging. But I had to put it down for a little while now that one round is 500+ stitches (and still growing). But it's real pretty :)

I'm now on R123. Or maybe 125. Right in there somewhere. Here's a photo of it at R90:

Eeeeee!

I just ordered my very own (and first ever) laptop today! In about a month, I should receive it. Oh, and I got more yarn to add to my stash too!

Unfortunately, Murphy had a chat with Karma, and my luck has pretty much sucked the rest of the day. Nothing major, except maybe the dryer, but you know how all those little things can pile up.

Right?

My Leg Muscles Atrophied

Apparently. And here's why:



But to be fair, OH joined in my insanity:



I'm thinking that if I work my endurance level up and time frame down, I can ride mine to and from work some in the spring/summer/fall. Like I said, INSANITY!

And they don't quite fit in the downstairs closet like we'd hoped. So now I need to do another round of Spring Fling Frenzy, apparently.

I'm Slipping...

I'm starting to slack on my posts. I try to post at least once a week, but some weeks I've got nothing interesting to say. So, I wait. Then I forget when something noteworthy happens. My apologies, my dear three readers.

OH and I went through a Spring Cleaning Frenzy today. Yes, it deserves the capital letters. He'd already started by the time I got home from vising Mom. We'd been planning to get rid of the short couch (loveseat) and clear out the downstairs closet so we'd have room for the bicycles we're planning on buying in the next few weeks. He had the area cleared between the short couch and the door, had cleaned out (mostly) under the cushions, and swept the floors. I came home, finished up under the cushions and we carted it over to the dumpster (which luckily is close enough for us to drag stuff to, but far enough away if someone throws out the smelly stuff). Less than 3 hours later, when we were carting out (yet) another load of junk, the couch was gone. Dumpster divers to the rescue, I presume.

It's a little bit creepy when said divers practically accost you on the way there, though. I shudder to think what the inside of their home looks like....

So now we have more walking space in the living room and the crack room. And two functional closets again!

Karma's Bitch

That was me Friday evening.

It all started with me having nothing to do at work wanting to go home early. I managed to talk my boss into letting me go home. It would boost our daily efficiency (which the higher-ups are really really keen on right now, even though their program/s to track this is so fubar-ed, it's not funny) by having less man-hours for the shift. And I'd been doing my job so well that no one was even making eye contact with me lest I point out something else for them to clean (ha).

So, anyway, he said yes and I danced a little happy dance (in my head). I ran an errand, off-the-clock, and then headed home. Insert Karma's bitch-slapping of me here.

I had a little accident.

Seriously, I had a minor traffic accident less than two blocks from work.

I had nothing on in the car to distract me. Radio was off. Cell phone was ... ok, cell phone was on my leg, but I wasn't talking on it. Or texting. I had it on my leg because it was gouging a hole in my hip pocket. Eyes on the road, hands on the wheel, seat belt on (always), etc. I was even doing the posted speed limit (30 mph).

Then this big red Dodge pickup truck appears in the oncoming lane. And decides he needs to turn left. In front of me! Without signaling!

My thought process went like this: OMIGOD! While my foot automatically slams the brakes (thank the powers that be that I changed them just a few weekends ago. Yes, I changed my own front brakes, with some help from my uncle.) and my hands yank the wheel as far left as it will go. The next semi-coherent thought while I'm swerving like hell is Don'tletmehititdon'tletmehiDAMMIT!

Then there's the sound we all know and dread. Screech/crunch! Accompanied by a bit of a jarring. Luckily, no one was hurt. It was a minor fender bender.

I got out of the car to check out the damage. My front bumper is cracked a bit, the hood has some denting, the front fender? (right over the wheel) is pretty banged up, and the passenger door won't open. Thought: SHIT! I was thinking about a new car, but NOT YET!

The other driver admitted fault (and it's in the police report) so my insurance won't go up. Did I mention that no one was injured?

Moral of the story: If you're going to worm your way out of work early on a Friday evening, think twice because Karma is there playing hi-lo with Fate as to whether or not to smack you down a peg.

(ETA: And I gained 3 years of age, thanks to the local paper....)

Rewarding

Sometimes, I hate my job. Most of the time, it's just a means to an end. And then there's the occasional highlight.

Two of my coworkers are returning to their home country. They'd been at the plant for a few years (I'm ashamed to say I don't know how many for sure) and, as far as I could see, were liked by everyone. They always came in on time, rarely missed, did the job, and didn't have a problem with anyone.

Yesterday (Friday) was their last day of work. My boss stopped me early-ish in the shift and gave me a 'side project'. Now, this phrase can be anything from walking the department and pointing out all the housekeeping things we all just don't see to helping word an email. This time the project was to collect a dollar from everyone willing, then go to the store and buy cupcakes and soda so we could have a miniature going-away party for the couple. It was so sweet! And I'm not just talking about the cupcakes.

Here's a helpful hint. If you want to see fully grown adults look like they're five again, hand them a cupcake with fluorescent icing. It's kind of hilarious.

One year later

Okay, here I am, one year since starting this blog. We've seen lots of evidence of insanity. And some new experiences. Some memorable events. And, hopefully, I've given my three readers some good chuckles when they needed it and sometimes when they didn't.

The following photos detail a trip I made yesterday. To the land of "What-the-hell-were-we-smoking?!"


Ames and I wanted to try out something we'd seen/read about a long time ago. Duct tape dressforms! Since buying a 'real' dressform is slightly out of our budgets. Plus, do you actually know anyone who is the same shape as one of those things without some heavy duty corsetry??


These photos are of the making of Beige Babe (har. My superhero name.)

Needless to say, for our first try, these suckers weren't too bad. Mine still needs a bit of tweaking, like getting it onto the stand so it isn't sitting on the floor confusing the cat.

You can also see some of the goofy entering the hilarity that was us. Did I mention that we were stone sober at the time?


Oh, and how often can you fondle your own boobs when they aren't attached to your body? I couldn't resist.

Ames might or might not share her photos and it isn't my place to share what's hers, so hold your breath (heavens know we did in process).

Not bad for using vaguely-remembered blog posts and internet searches, huh.

Life, the Universe (of Yarn) and Everything

Yes, I've been gone a while. No, I don't want to rehash it. Suffice it to say that it involved my Mom, the Hospital, Scalpels, Staples, and a lot of knuckle-gnawing. Things are better now and I want to share some of the nicer things that have happened in my absence from blogging. The first photo is a progress shot, badly taken, of my Coachella tank top. I'm loving the way the yarn is feeling. 65% silk, 35% bamboo. Yum! Oh! And it's on a cone, so very few tails to weave in due to not having to join a new ball of yarn! Win!

There's two stories to this picture...

I'm telling the funnier one here. That swirly knitting thing there is a hat, knitted in the round. But wait! you say. Doesn't knitting in the round use more than 3 needles or a circular needle or something?? Well...yes. Yes, it does. Usually. Unfortunately, the 4th needle for this hat kind of ... died.




Yes. Died. See this bent and twisty sad looking piece of metal? Yeah, that was my 4th needle. It got used for some ... repair work ... and didn't quite make it through alive. No, it can't be bent back into its original straight and pointy-ness. Trust me. I tried.


Oh, but the next picture cheered me up to no end! I kind of needed some S.E.X.
No, not that kind of sex. Stash Enhancing eXperience(s). So, I went online and got lured in to some sample packs of summer yarns. And then, Ames and I went on a Yarn Spree! This photo is a melding of the two experiences. No, I'm not telling how much I spent. But I did stay within the budget I set myself (somehow). Oh and some of the yarns aren't shown, but that's because they are duplicate cakes and one is being used for a "secret project."

The last photo is, I guess, my birthday gift to myself. A drafting table (that tilts!), a stool to sit on. 3 different types of drawing tablets (only one shown, but if you look in the bottom left corner you can see just a little bit of another one), and a whole lotta pencils! Colored pencils, drawing pencils, some charcoal sticks...

And, of course, I haven't had a chance to sit down and actually use any of it yet...

So, see. I haven't fallen completely off the face of the planet! I'm still around. Just doing a little more lurking that chatting.
:D

Exhaustified

I haven't blogged in a bit due to family matters. Mostly, those are resolved, but I am exhaustified. I'm too pooped to even put up a cute kitteh photo.

Needless to say, I am currently incapable of writing anything really spectacular at the moment.

Please enjoy the peace and quiet while systems are restored.