i'm ba-ack home

I'm home! Yay! And back to work. Boo!

Mom is all worried that I won't sing the (now) two songs on Friday with 'feeling'. This is my mom getting married and I won't sing with feeling?? I'm trying to decide who needs the Valium more - me or her! She e-mailed me back - she's nervous.

The trip home was uneventful - the pooch calmed down after we crossed over into Iowa and was fine until about Wentzville. That was much better than the last long trip, where he was a quaking mass of fur in the back seat for the last 2 hours of the drive.

I saw 5 trucks with gigantic wind turbine blades loaded on them - 2 blades per truck - going the other direction from me on I-29 and I-70. I passed a wind farm in northern MO right off the highway, and I'm guessing that's where they were headed. The blades are HUGE. The open end was nearly the size of the semi tractor. Yay for wind power! I looked up wind farms in MO, and I think the one I passed was the Cow Branch Farm in Atchison County, which is under construction. According to the site, those blades I saw were 140 feet long. 14 stories!! Wow! None of the at least 6 visible turbines were in operation, which was unusual, since I thought it was a fairly breezy day. I didn't manage to get a pic of them since the towers weren't visible from the southbound lanes except for a glimpse right at the highway exit. I could see them in the rear-view mirror a few more miles south on the interstate, however. I'll look for them again when I go back up to visit Sue!

I bought yarn in Omaha (shocked are you? I didn't think so) and discovered that a yarn store is apparently closed. I got to meet Joe the Enabler from Personal Threads and bought some Koigu for the first time. We tried to see if Touche was open, but a. the phone number is disco'd, and b. we didn't see it on Maple. Alas. We did visit String of Purls on Sunday, and the owner was very cheerful! Sue complained that she bought more yarn that I did. Wasn't my fault! LOL! Sel made a comment about 'self-enabling' that I agree with. ;-) I told L that I was very good on the way home - there's a yarn shop right off the highway in Columbia that even had highway billboards telling me that I needed to stop. I resisted!! I'll have to go visit them on another trip. Maybe February or something.

Here's the haul from the weekend:

1. 100g ball of Schaefer Yarns "Anne" in an un-named colorway (forest green, magenta, olive, purple, brown). It feels yummy - 60% merino superwash, 25% mohair, 15% nylon. Sue says it's My Color.
2. 2 50g hanks of Koigu "KPPPM" in Crisp, Clear Colors #P852-139 (yellow, olive, orange, blue, purple, wine, grey), 100% merino.
3. 2 50g hanks of Koigu "KPPPM" in Country Sligo #P537-3 (green, yellows, tan, brown, olive), also 100% merino. Froggy colors!

I finished the first super sekret sock last night, and immediately cast on the second. The Jaywalker pattern is pretty cool! I think I'll be making Keshia's froggy (not the Koigu) socks in this pattern - she wants anklets, and the yarn is DK weight (I think), so I'll have plenty. Maybe enough left over for a lace pair. We'll see. I thought it was rather funny that every time I pulled out the sock in the presence of other knitters, they knew exactly what pattern it was. Go Jaywalkers!

Sue showed me the Grafton needles she picked up, and told me she likes the Knit Picks ones too. I'll have to check those out - I've been really concentrating on the socks now, so we'll see. Maybe as a Christmas present to myself.

Still no yarn for the Big Blue yet! Nancy's gonna call Brown Sheep again and see what the holdup is. Too bad it's only 500 miles WEST of Omaha. I jokingly asked Sue how far it was and she gave me a horrified look - "It's almost to Wyoming!" Now, that would be a nice destination....all that yarn! squee!

Last but certainly not least *drumroll* the Big 12-ruling Missouri Tigers are #1 in the country! woot!!! They are playing Oklahoma on Saturday for the Big 12 championship - and when, yes WHEN they win they'll probably be playing West Virginia for the NATIONAL TITLE. Missouri hasn't been ranked #1 in the country since 1960! Forty-seven fricking years! I can't tell you how exciting this is. Just...wow.

Okay, I've blathered enough. Cheers!

oops

Well, phooey. I knew I'd forget SOMEthing.

I forgot the OMG I-need-a-scarf scarf. Wah! Remembered it on the way back to the hotel room for the night. Alas.

Look! Plu has his own bed this time:

Awww. He did pretty well on the trip, too....after we're reached Kansas City. Oi!

Missouri beat Kansas tonight at Arrowhead in KC....36 to 28. The nail in the coffin was the safety in the Kansas endzone leaving 17 seconds on the clock. The poor KU QB had a fist-sized hunk of turf stuck to his helmet after the play, and the Mizzou fans were losing their miiinds. I'm sure there will be a ton of partying in both KC and Columbia tonight!!

Teh Sue has deemed that we must go to Mimi's Cafe for brunch tomorrow, so I must leave you with this short post :)

Cheers!

PS: I now remember how much I despise dial-up. Zzzzzzzzzzz....

a funny HP related comic strip

I found this on another blog, and the strip's author's site has archives back to 2002, so.....here's the link! They did a week's worth of comics on HP:

Unshelved

Heee!

I still have a little organizing to do *cough* before I hit the road this afternoon, but I may be posting from Omaha. Cheers!

the giant bowl of kisses

I wasn't kidding about The Bowl of Hershey's Kisses. You can see it here on Sheri's blog!!

Click me for the Loopy Ewe Blog with The Bowl

Yes, that is a red sofa behind it, and Yes, the coffee table is very close to the sofa, so No, this is not a trick of the camera. It really is that big.

Getting ready to make the trip to Teh Sue, so I'll be gone for a few days. Happy knitting!

bad girl update

Well, one of my errands was running over to Loopy Ewe for an item for Teh Sue, and I just could NOT leave there without yarn. *drool* *waves to Susan and computer elf who stayed and waited for me!*

• One 4oz hank of Scarlet Fleece superwash merino/nylon in colorway Easter Basket (brown-black, rust, oranges, gold).

Le sigh. There was a good thing....their stash is bigger than mine! lolol! And look! They're on the big sign now, too:

Amongst all the title companies and the Sleep Institute.

They also have the biggest bowl of Hershey's Kisses on the coffee table I have ever seen!

Okay, back to work for real this time. I think we (the SRT) have the building to ourselves. It 'feels' like it does on Saturday, when we're the only 4 people in the building. It doesn't help that it was getting dark at 3:30 and that it is chilly and rainy outside. Sounds like a good night for hot chocolate, a book, and a blanket. Or - in my case - hot chocolate, Pluto, my knitting, and an audiobook!

Cheers! :)

new yarn review & a link

Sorry, was going to post last night and got wrapped up in a project. Anyway, here's the info on the Potter Covers yarn:

• 100 g hank of superwash merino/nylon/bamboo (60/10/30) sock yarn in the colorway Prisoner of Azkaban (lime green/light purple-blue, grey, peach, yellow cream)

It's very sooooooffftttt. The pattern is "Sirius Black", and it has two main features: his Azkaban ID (that's what was tattooed on his chest, btw) on the leg and the foot...is a paw! With pads on the bottom! Very cute. I may have to do this pattern again with a light solid, or maybe a contrast for the details. *ponders*

I can't wait to get my hands on the last three. I think I've said that before - but I loved the covers for OotP, HBP, and DH.

The podcast I mentioned yesterday - well, it slipped my mind to look up the URL, so I googled it. It's a Podshow 'cast, and the temporary site is here. There are some 'keepers' in the first group - I'm marathoning these, and I'm only up to Episode 12b, I think. The second half of the "Musicals" postings. I did skip the slash ep - just sooo not in the mood for Snape/Harry or Draco/Harry. Ick.

I finished PK's second sock, and now am pondering wristlets with the remaining yarn. I also need to send Wooly Treasures a shot of Ash's socks, as that was the yarn I used. If you buy yarn over Etsy or online, do you send pics of the finished product back to the dyer? I'm curious if other people do that....

Got to run errands during lunchtime, so have a nice Thanksgiving!

news and news

It's been a couple of days, and I have news from here and there. Good and bad, but that's the way of news.

First the bad news.

My mom has been living with J since I was 21, and I'm near 40 now. Well, about 2 weeks ago, Mom called and told me that J has been diagnosed with stage 4 throat cancer. Yes, this is and isn't a shock - he's been a smoker for about 60 years, and he's been having trouble with his voice for several months, but yeah, it's a shock.

Needless to say, the holidays this year are going to be nuts. And, to add to the mayhem, Mom and J are getting married on the 30th. As in 10 days. Mom has asked me to sing at the ceremony, and I have no clue what to sing. Help! It might also help if I could sleep for more than two hours at a time. Humph.

Okay, that's enough bad news.

The good news!

I have cable television again. Yay! I had to go get the DVR because they didn't have them until last Friday, so I went to Commons and picked it up. I love it! I can watch Knitty Gritty and Good Eats now that I can record them while I'm at work! squee! I am such a geek.

I finished listening to my marathon of Filkcast - Potterstyle on Saturday, and no-one had guessed the "Name That Filk!" for September (I did) so it rolled over to October. I figured that SOMEone would have guessed it by the time I'd listened to the October 'cast, but I e-mailed the answer in anyway. No, I'm not going to tell you what the answer is - you'll have to listen to find out.

Imagine my surprise when I got an e-mail back that said "Congrats! You won!"!!

*is still in shock, and waits until the laughter and pointing dies down*

I told you I was a geek. It's just been uber-confirmed. ;-) The prize is a guest host spot on the next podcast. Wow. So. I think we're going to try to record on the 27th, as that's the day after I get back from Teh Sue's. Like I told Delana in my voicemail to her, I've been a filker since...um...what, 1991ish? I was a performer of Star Trek filk and other various genres, playing and singing at conventions until dawn. This is going to be very cool!!

I have finished Ash's Zephyr socks, and am on the last half of the foot of the second sock of PK's ankle socks. Unfortunately, I realised that I hadn't crossed the cables correctly on the second half of the lace pattern (the pattern is Breeze from Knitty, btw) and so all the cables cross the same way. Meh. I don't want to go back and re-work the first sock, so she'll have to live with right-twisted cables. Who's gonna know besides me and thee? I rest my case. I'll try to take pics (yeah, you've heard that before) and post them for your entertainment.

The weather looks like it's going to co-operate on Saturday's drive up to Omaha - the thing is going to be TRAFFIC. OMG. The number three team in the country (that would be the MISSOURI TIGERS! WOOT!!!!! GO TIGERS!!!) and the number two team in the country (that would be the Kansas Jayhawks...boooooooo!!!!) are going to be playing at a neutral site (that would be Arrowhead Stadium, in Kansas City) at 7 PM Central time (that would be about the time that I'll be DRIVING past said stadium on the way to Omaha). It's going to be mass mayhem. I HAVE to find my tiger tail for my car. It's very exciting! I think the last time that the Tigers were ranked in the top 5 in the US was like, 1969. I know they haven't been in the top 10 since 1981. *bounce*

I'm listening to Lime & Violet (actually Carin & Violet, happy drunken birthday, Lime!) and they're talking about knitting audiobooks, which are cool. I think I might need to see if I can find them. They're called "Knitting Out Loud". I think they're Stitch 'N Bitch Handbook, America Knits, and Knitting Memories. Violet was gushing about it on podcast #48, and I agree with Carin - Jim Dale does a very good job of reading audiobooks. :) Speaking of enablers, Sue has informed me that she will NOT be forbidding me from buying yarn. L thinks I'm crazy. *g* Guess what? I AM crazy.

I was also very good this past weekend - I didn't buy ANY yarn. I did, however, get my newest Potter Covers yarn in the mail! Unfortunately, it's at home, and has not been properly petted and drooled over, as I was in the middle of washing windows (hey, it was 75F, and my windows were filthy). I'll review it when I get home from work. The pattern is interesting-looking - very Sirius Black.

Oh, one more HP quickie - I was wandering around iTunes and ran across a 'cast that plays HP vids and mostly pimps other HP podcasts. I'll link it on the 'yarn review' post, as it's at home, too.

Okay, that's enough news for now.

sock pattern ponderings

Hi all :)

Just a short post (yeah, I've said that before, and it turned into War and Peace, so shoot me) due to some musings about sock patterns for the latest yarns....

I've decided that the Fireplace Embers yarn reminds me of the Gryffindor common room. I really have no idea why, it just does. Yes, L will be thwaking me again, but oh well! I've been thinking about a good lace or cable pattern to use for for this yarn, and I'm leaning toward a chevron lace out of the Vogue Dictionary of Knitting Stitches. A book that I've checked out of the library often enough to tell me that I need to BUY it. Um, yeah. Anyway, I'll need to decide if I want to make it an allover lace or a panel. *stretches the brain*

No idea what pattern for the Harry yarn yet. I'd posted earlier that I was considering the "Lombard Street" pattern for the Ron Weasley colorway, but that might be better for the Woodland/Harry instead. I'll have to go thru my sock pattern stack again, methinks.

The unnamed Somoko yarn needs a good fir-cone pattern to carry on the old-forest theme, I believe. Maybe I'll take it with me next weekend on my trip to the far frozen north. I mean, um, Nebraska. teehee. Let's hope for driving weather! Perhaps they'll have some idears.

Speaking of L, since she will be away from home as of next Tuesday (Wednesday?), I'll be hand-delivering the omg-I-need-a-scarf! scarf when I visit Teh Sue and L Thanksgiving weekend. I will promise not to buy yarn in Omaha. Unless someone twists my arm. Which I know she won't ;-)

I've been listening to back podcasts of Filkcast - Potterstyle which have been pretty good - most of the filks I've heard so far have been different than the ones that were on the SwishandFilk site. I can't get to the Filkcast homepage (it's on MySpace, and that's a no-no here) but you should be able to - here's an alternate site if you need it. The podcast is not as polished as it could be, but it's okay.

I'm stalling - the prize for the department winning the Halloween contest is a buffet, and they're running late. It was supposed to start at about 2:30, which is way past lunchtime for most of the department, so everyone is starving.



Cheers!

knitty couture

Hi! Well, I went to the new shop in town and *dramatic sigh* bought yarn. Surprised? I didn't think so.

The new acquisitions:

1. 2 50gram balls of Interlacements 100% superwash merino "Tiny Toes" in Fireplace Embers (chocolate brown, tan, red, orange-gold, ash grey)*
2. 2 50 gram balls of Interlacements 100% superwash merino "Tiny Toes" in Woodland (dark green, olive, golden brown, chocolate brown, black)* - I think this is my Harry yarn. Yay!
3. A ball of Fleece Artist "Somoko" (65% merino, 20% kid [mohair?], 10% nylon, 5% silk) in an unnamed colorway which somehow reminded me of the huge old-growth trees just north of Vancouver, BC. Hard to describe. Dark olive to deep forest green, chocolate brown to golden-tan, and indigo-ish blues. Very rich colors, and very yummy feeling.
4. A hank of 100% superwash merino from Sunshine Yarns in colorway Chinese Fireball (reds, black, greys). Hi Dani! Hope you liked Alaska!! :)

The asterisks are due to the fact that for some odd reason, the links first show that the security certificate for the window is not valid. It's alright, there's nothing bad about the site. Really. Go look.

I did take a look at the Chairman of the Board but I liked the Woodland better. I still want to go to Loopy Ewe and check out Easter Basket. If it's not too bright, I may have to have that one, too.

Knitty Couture is a small shop, lots of yarn on the walls! and lots of hand-dyed stuff. Yum. It looks like they carry mostly natural fibers - very little that I saw in the way of anything else. I think they had every shade of Cascade 220 on the market! I've got them linked over on the sidebar, and they have Sundays hours but are closed on Mondays.

Okay, I'm done for now - L keeps thwacking me for making her click on yarn links (I am NOT controlling the mouse!) and so I must go.

Cheers!!

flash update *sneezes*

Just an update, not much happening here. Besides my allergies, that is. ACHOO!

I got my swift in from krebsbach4 on Etsy. Wow. Instead of taking an hour for me to wind a ball of sock yarn, it takes me about 10 minutes. YAY. She only has ONE LEFT, so if it's gone by the time you click on the above link, you may be able to e-mail her and ask if she's going to be selling more. It's really nice!

I've been wandering around The Loopy Ewe site today, and now I want to go LOOK. She JUST moved into an office space like 2 miles from where I work, and I reeeally want to go look. Maybe I'll e-mail and see when drop-in hours are in effect ;) Like I need more yarn. LOL I *am* going to Knitty Couture on Sunday, tho.

With luck I'll have the omg-I-need-a-scarf scarf finished by the end of the evening tonight - I actually don't have to go do anything after work, and I'm almost afraid to start recording Chapter 27 as it is a huge chapter. I don't like to break chapters up, even tho there's more than one section, because I like to be consistant. Ergo the planned re-recording of Chapters 1-5. I've become a bit more comfortable with the recording part of this project, and so that needs to be re-done.

Like I said, this is a quickie, so...cheers!

PS: If you go to visit Loopy Ewe from my blog, it's good for me! Maybe not good for your credit card, but good for me. ;-) Go. Register. Shop.

i was a baaaad girl

Well, PK backed out of the drive/ride on Sunday, and this meant only one thing: Open House! wheee! I was very very (very) bad. But Oh! I so had an excuse!

Weaving Department at Myers House was open on Sunday for the annual Open House (I asked - it's usually the Sunday after the St. Louis Weaving Guild's Annual Sale), and both the Barn and the main House were open. They were *packed*. At 12:30, you nearly couldn't move in the Barn - they had everything at 60% off (the Barn is the discounted stuff) and a bin full of $1 balls. Can you say "feeding frenzy"? Hehe. I snagged quite a bit for scarves! I escaped upstairs into the House and bought yarn for a Wonderful Wallaby for A (Encore Colorspun, in Sky), some nice mohair for a scarf, and then discovered a new yarn.

Nancy just got Classic Elite Yarns "Alpaca Sox" in on Saturday.

Me loooves this yarn. 60% Alpaca, 20% merino wool, and 20% nylon. Yum-ee. I bought 2 colorways - Pebbles and what they call Hot Pink. My Pebbles is very true to the colors on the link, but the Hot Pink is darker - it's a lot closer to a light burgundy than a magenta. You can see the difference in the color card off the CEY site (linked above). It's a lot closer to Gryffindor colors than what that link shows! *grins and ducks from L's thwacking*

I also bought Sensational Knitted Socks and More Sensational Knitted Socks since I've heard from several sources that these were the sock books to have. I can practice my short row toes and heels!

Lots of good times, food and yarn were had by all, and everyone was exhausted by the end of the day. Phew!

We have a new yarn shop in town! *plays fanfare* I haven't been there yet, since they are closed on Mondays, but I'm planning on going to 'look' *cough* on Sunday. It's called Knitty Couture, and they have all kinds of sock yarn. *fans self* I think I may have found my 'Harry' yarn. The official colorway name is Chairman of the Board and the yarn is "Tiny Toes" by Interlacements Yarns. I'll need to really see it to be sure, but I think that's it. There's another colorway in the same yarn - Taiga - that is starting to try to get my attention, as is Tapestry. This is bad. Very very bad. And that's just ONE of the yarns they carry.

I'm gonna be in so much trouble. LOL!

Recorded up to um...oh yeah, Chapter 27 - The Seeker. L-at-work wanted me to keep the chapter name for 26 intact, so that chapter is entitled "The Very Late, Really Long Chapter from Hell". And it was. Oi. I've started editing again - I'd stopped, and was only recording for a while there. I have about 9 chapters to edit, and have decided to re-record Chapters 1-4, maybe 5. I changed headsets around that time, and the first chapter sounds terribly muffled to me now.

I'm finally getting my cable back (pauses for the hysterical laughter echoing across the planet since I WORK for a cable company and didn't HAVE cable) - okay now? - next Monday. I'll have to wait for a DVR, since they're out of them till the 16th, but I want one, what with the stuff coming up on TV and the fact that I work till 8PM. Must...see...ABC Family...version....of....HPSS.....

Still waiting for the yarn to come in for the Big Blue - not like I don't have any OTHER projects going, you know ;-)

No pics from S yet from Halloween - I think we're waiting for Daddy to put them online.

Okay, that's all from me for now.

Cheers!

mini-update

Well, I took the plunge and bought the Chinese Fireball. I hope it's housebroken ;-)

Actually, the story that I'm narrating has a Chinese Fireball in it - and it is being ridden by Draco Malfoy. I think the name of the dragon is Mordor, but I could be wrong. I'm not up to that part of the story yet; I recorded the four parts of Chapter 20 last night, and have 24 more 'chapters' to go. Oi!

No idea what pattern I'm going to use for the Fireball, but I'll think about it. Possibly the Monkey socks by Cookie - altho I'm thinking of that for the Rusty Bucket colorway too. We'll see.

I'm almost finished with a friend's "omg-I-need-a-scarf" scarf - see what happens when you mention something like that in a chat room containing knitters?? Hehehe.

Tomorrow is my LYS's open house - unfortunately, it's also the day that PK and I were going to take a leisurely drive down old Route 66 to Rolla. The leaves are changing, it's going to be almost 70F tomorrow, and this will probably be the last weekend that the weather will cooperate before going downhill. PK's going to take the bike, and I'll be in the car with the windows down! I'm guessing we won't be back in time for the open house. Alas. St. Louis people, go enjoy it for me!

That's all for right now - it's lunchtime!

Cheers!