Sickness

I've been fighting a cold for about two weeks now.  Last week, it was bad for a couple of days; couldn't breath, ears all plugged, aches and pains, the works.  Now it's mostly just a stuffy, runny nose.  It's much, much better than it was and it clears up a little more each day but still, I'm looking forward to it being gone for good.

It's incredibly cold today. I forgot just how cold it can get and it isn't even the coldest yet!  I wish I had a remote car starter.  

When I left work tonight, it was with great joy because I have Monday and Tuesday off.  Four day weekend, here I come!   It'll be nice to do nothing at all.  I haven't done that in a while.  Not since February.  I'm gonna make Izzy's hat and I'm going to nap and I'm going to read.  I'm greatly looking forward to a few days off. 

And maybe remember to post!

Sweet Nectar of Life

OK, I'm sure it's no surprise to you when I say that I have a very addictive personality.  It's a good thing I've never tried cocaine.  I sure as hell can't afford that habit!  I'm addicted to the fiber arts and the written word...and many a TV series or book series could be called addictions for me.  I would not enjoy it if any one of those things were taken away and I'd probably have withdrawal.  But that would be all in my head and I could learn to live without it.

One thing that I'm actually addicted to, however, is coffee.  Like a real dependence on it.  My first cup of coffee in the morning makes me sigh and relax.  It is the nectar of life.

I have my routine.  After my shower, when I'm all dressed and ready to go, I putter downstairs, pop a K-cup in the Keurig and a minute or so later...oh, the joyous dark and satisfying brew is in my cup.  I sit at the table, drink my coffee, surf the web on my phone, and dread each tick of the second hand that brings me one moment closer to having to leave my coffee and go to work.

Don't get me wrong, there's more coffee at the office.  And fortunately for me, the people in my office are avid coffee drinkers too, so we get the good stuff to brew.  We even have a machine that, magic of magics, makes an entire pot of coffee in less than three minutes!  It's the most glorious thing.  And if I had an extra 150 bucks lying around, I'd get me one of those too.  Yes, of course I priced it.  Almost bought one anyway.  But I couldn't justify the expense when my own coffee maker makes a pot in twelve minutes (of course I timed it) and really, that is not too long to wait.  Because really, as awesome as Keurig is, I like to have a whole pot waiting for me if I'm going to be around longer than thirty minutes.

I'm a three cup person.  Of course, I will happily drink more.  But three cups is about what it take to get me feeling normal, happy, and sated.  I'm not talking about those dinky 6 or 8 oz cups either.  Oh no!  I'm talking about the great big 16 oz mugs that I adore with a passion.  My favorite proudly proclaims me a Crochet Goddess.  

So, now that I've enjoyed my morning cup of java, I will head to work.  And have my second and third.

It's Not My Fault!

I blame Izzy, who has a birthday, who needs a present.  And I blame the muse, who, upon receiving the birthday invitation, immediately smacked me in the face with a hat pattern.  It's gonna be sweet, with ribbing and cables.  Inspired by one of my favorite sweaters.  I swear this time I'll try very very hard to remember to take a picture!

So, yeah.  Something else crops up with a deadline and pushes all the other things that I want to/should be working on back some more.  But I have Monday and Tuesday off from work already for a little R and R and seeing as how her birthday is not until the following Monday, I think I'll be able to get it done.  I'm currently toying with the idea of twisting the cables at different intervals.  Like every fourth row on one and the eighth row on the next.  Or twisting every eight rows on all but staggering it so that its every fourth row on alternating cables.  We'll see.  I haven't got the yarn on the needles yet so I don't have to make a decision just yet.  

But there's a birthday party in the future and that is always fun!  Yay!

On a semi related note, the work Christmas party is a week from Friday.  I'm already terribly nervous.  Crowds of people make me uneasy to begin with.  Crowds of people I don't know are worse.  And this is not just my office, but all the employees from each of the 12 locations.  I don't know any of them except for the ones that I work with directly.  There are a bunch that I talk to on the phone occasionally.  But I've never actually met them.  So, yeah, my nerves are in a knot already.  And I was going to skip it, I was, but I'm a grown up now and grown ups do these kinds of things.  And at the very least, the company is kind enough to throw us this bash in appreciation for all that we do and the least I can do is return the favor and show up.  

But still, nerves.     

There Are Some Things I Should Remember By Now

Like the fact that I should never, ever, taunt my muse.  Yet I did.  And now I've spent the entire day with my poor brain being assaulted and battered with idea after idea after idea.  Very random stuff too.  Like, I'm not even sure where it came from or what triggered it.  I just know that if I could type for twenty four hours a day, I would be able to to write three complete series in a weeks time.

Alas, that is not to be as my super power is not speed typing.  Instead, I have been taking notes and I will file it all away.  It may see the light of day.  It may not.  I told the BFF I was going to get a "voice"ectomy because they were driving me stark raving mad today...but we all know that if that was even possible, and I actually did it, I actually would go stark raving mad because the silence would drive me to it.  And, after I was committed, they probably wouldn't allow me to yarn because, let's face it, there are a lot of sharp and potentially dangerous accoutrements involved in the yarn arts.  And without the voices and the yarn...well, there'd be nothing left of me but a whimpering mass huddling in the corner.

Christ, my mind goes a lot of place.   

I hit the store after work.  I had a list.  I did not deviate.  I am proud.  Now the kitties can have clean boxes and I have more shampoo.  Yay!

Yesterday, we did one of those murder mystery dinner parties.  We skipped the fancy dinner and costumes.  Much more comfortable in sweats eating pizza.  But everybody had a character and we played it all out.  Tato was the murder.  I got it right.  Brub's character was German and he did the accented English and everything.  It was good times.  We're thinking of getting another one.

OK...So

Started Toby's fingerless mitts and since he was here today, he could try them on for fit.  Now I know exactly how much longer I need to make them so that they'll fit his hands well.  I've got most of one done...SSS has already kicked in but I'm staunchly ignoring it.  Pushing through the pain, as it were.  The good news is that he likes them very much and he's very excited about. them

Speaking of Toby, he's reading for me right now.  And he says he's only able to read a little at a time but "so far, I'm really enjoying it."  This is good news for me.  I'm sure he'll have constructive notes when he gets to the end.  We'll see.

And speaking of writing...I've got all sorts of characters running through my head right now and they aren't making a lot of sense.  I've chosen to allow them free reign and mostly ignore them for now.  I'll just go ahead and let them percolate and see what comes up in the end.  Seriously, I can't make heads or tails of them right now.  I have absolutely no idea what the muse is thinking at the moment.  She's driving me crazy.

I can't believe November is just about done and Christmas is right around the corner.  Fortunately this year, as I've said, I'm  not driving myself nuts with tons of projects to get finished.  It's going to be a lean Christmas for us this year, but the best part is we will actually all be together all day for the first time in a while.  No one has to go to work (Sis and Tato have those kinds of jobs that are open all the time, no matter what).  I'm so excited about that.  It's gonna be awesome!

And I have some time off next week!  Yay! 

Thank Goodness for Mom!

Mom is awesome.  I've known this for quite some time; she's a pretty well rounded awesome.  But Saturday morning?  She proved her awesomeness once again.  You see, I got this yarn (Cascade soft spun) and it came in hanks.  No big.  I have me a ball winder and usually with a bit of help from the chairs, I can get the hank laid out and wind it up no problem.  But of course, this stuff is 100% Peruvian Highland Wool.  Guess who didn't read the label before she bought it?  Now, if you know anything about natural animal fiber yarn, you know that it sort of..sticks to itself.  There's all sorts of yarn science as to why, and it's the reason it felts up so prettily, but when you're trying to wind it into a ball without the help of a swift?  Yeah, it's a pain in my lily white ass.  But Mom, who hung out in the kitchen because she wanted to see the ball winder in in action, jumped right in to help hold the hanks and make it so that they wound up evenly.  And when the the third hank got all sorts of tangled and was a knot?  Mom to the rescue, with patience she could have only learned from raising an incredibly precocious child (yeah, I'm talking about me).

At any rate, we got the hanks wound into center pull balls and I started Toby's fingerless mitts.

And then I discovered that it's very loosely spun yarn.  I may have mentioned previously that I knit Portuguese style which requires that yarn to be looped either around the neck or on a knitting pin.  I use the pin method most of the time.  And, as I said this is a loosely spun wool.  It's practically just roving.  This makes it lovely and soft and wonderful to touch...but it also means that if I'm not careful it pulls apart!  I was shocked when it happened, just because I hadn't expected it, though I know enough about yarn that I should have.  It's OK, though.  I just need to keep my tension a wee bit looser.  I haven't had it happen since. 

Oh, and I wanted them done by Sunday because Toby will be here and I can gift them but...yeah, I don't know if its gonna happen.  I'll certainly try!

Grumpies

Sometimes I get a major case of the grumpies.  There's no other word to describe it as fully as that.  I get surly, cranky, all around snarky.  I don't want to see people or talk to people or do anything at all.  I just want to mope.  

I spent the evening eating pretzel m and m's and reading and playing Plague, INC.  Which is totally my new obsession.  It may be kind of macabre of me but there's nothing more satisfying than infecting the entire world with a disease and watching them all die.  

I also had a brief moment of thinking I'd make everyone stockings for Christmas.  I highly doubt I could get five done in time.  Maybe I'll plan that for next year?

I did work on Sis's scarf for a minute.  I love the way the yarn feels and how quickly it works up.  I do not love that you have to constantly untwist the yarn if you forget to turn in the opposite direction at the end of each row.  And honestly, when you get into a rhythm, it's so easy to just keep turning in the same direction.  

A Wee Bit of News

The BFF's birthday was a roaring success but sadly, I once again forgot to get pictures.  So, you'll have to take my word for it that not only did the Dr. Who Tom Baker-esque scarf come out awesomely, but it looks positively smashing.  I was a little worried as I was making it because the stripes are not the same amount of rows (I really like things that are symmetrical) and the colors didn't look like they should go together.  But they so do!  I love it enough, and have enough yarn left over, that I just might make one for me.  Maybe.  The dreaded SSS may not allow it.  And speaking of SSS...

The next project on the docket, even though I still haven't finished Lyse's afghan or started Bunny's afghan or finished Sis's afghan, is to make a pair of fingerless mitts with mitten flaps for Toby.  He's really doing wonderful things for me and it's starting to get pretty darn cold.  So, I'm thinking I really need to get on that.  This weekend, I have some major cleaning to do which includes reorginizing of the stash and tracking down all the needles that have found their way out into the ether.  Once I have a good handle on the needles and yarn  and patterns in my possession (yet again.  Because it seems this is a semi-annual event) then I'll get the mitts on the needles.  I've made a couple of pairs of these in the past, and even though my SSS really doesn't care to do it again, and makes me worry that I won't finish both mitts, I do know that I can make them fairly quickly.  It only takes five or six hours a mitt.  Of course, he's got big man hands so I may need to tack on a few hours to the projected completion time.  

And like I said, cleaning.  The one part of that I actually enjoy (besides the music blaring to keep my brain occupied) is the organizing of all the projects, yarn, patterns and other accutrements of my favorite hobby.  I love taking a look at all that I have, in part, because my brain starts thinking of new projects.  My brain does love a good work out.  And really, once I have a handle on the "things in progress" I may have to make me a real live schedule to get things done.  That's the plan anyway.  And I do love a good plan.

This year I'm not going crazy and making a ton of things for christmas for people.  In years past, that's been my thing.  Other than a scarf made out of Starbella in Spring Bouquet for Sis, I don't really have anything else planned.  And really, I would have needed to get on that already if I were to have had things done.  So this year, it's store bought gifts...and maye a Krafts by Kris gift certificate or two.

Incidentally, the empty store front down the street a bit where I always imagined my yarn shop would be is no longer empty.  Even though I have no capital and no business acumen, I still wanted to open a yarn shop and I wanted to do it there.  Oh well.  When I passed it tonight with Brub and saw that it was a nail salon, Brub promised that if he should ever win the lottery, I could have my yarn store.  Something to look forward to, I guess.

All right, maybe it wasn't as "wee" as I thought.

Rock the Vote

No matter who you vote for, make sure you vote!

There's no such thing as a wasted vote; everytime you step up to the polls, you're opinion is heard.  It's worth it.  

Oh, and if you don't vote, you can't complain!

Get thee to the polls everyone!  It's important! 

Now that I've officially rocked the vote myself, I'm going to spend the rest of the evening watching the numbers roll in while I finish that scarf for the BFF!

Hello, November...I've been waiting!

Thank all that is good and holy in this world, October is over.  I'm not a fan of the month.  I'm just not.  I don't know why.  Nothing horrific or damaging has happened to me in October. But I wait with baited breath for the month to end and am ever so relieved when I wake up on November 1st.  Everything is better.  Plus, November has Thanksgiving and I've gotta tell you, that's one of my favorite holidays.  Not just the meal, thought that's pretty awesome, but I love the togetherness and family time that day.  Puts a smile on my face that lasts a pretty damn long time.

I have ten days to finish the BFF's birthday present.  I think I can get it done without much fuss or muss.  I'll play a movie tonight and see if I can't get another section finished.  Maybe this weekend I'll get it completely done.  Then perhaps our favorite model will consent to getting his picture taken with it. I'm still pretty damn excited about it.  Can't wait to see the finished product.

Toby has the first book in the supernatural series I'm writing.  I'm waiting to see what he thinks about it.  I know enough now to know that he will read the whole thing before he makes a comment.  I also know that he is a bit of a slow reader and that he's also very very busy.  It's going to be an excruciating wait.  

I want to make a scarf for me.  I have the whole thing designed.  I just need to knit it.  How do I justify making something for myself when there are many other things out there that need to get done?  I don't know that I can justify it...that doesn't mean that I won't do it anyway.  Depending on if I have enough left over yarn, I just may make me a matching hat!  I don't have a scarf/hat combo and winter is coming.  

And I really, really need to make Toby's fingerless mitts.  Perhaps I can reward myself with the hat/scarf combo once I get Toby's done?  That sounds like a plan to me!