Weekend Wrap-Up Parte Due

And now for the scattered and smothered part of my blog. Things that happened this week that either made me crazy or gave me great delight. I trust you will be able to figure out which is which.

In the "where have all the proofreaders gone?" category:
Seen at Target on Thursday night - a beverage dispenser which I'm guessing was being marketed to redneck moonshiners because, right there on the box in front of the few literate people left in the world, a picture of said object with the word "lightening" emblazoned on it. Mary took a picture with her cell phone because we were in such "shock and awe"...hopefully, I can upload said photo here at a later date. People, people, people - you "lighten" your hair but when there's a storm you could get zapped by "lightning" whilst drinking "white lightning"...sigh.

Even worse, in the same category, I present for your consideration, this full-page ad (sorry it's not clearer) in a quilt magazine that I discovered at Borders later that same night. I guess "lightning" struck twice. This makes my head hurt...but let's just talk about it "tom-morrow", okay?

Switching gears, after I saw the "tom-morrow" atrocity, I needed something to make me smile. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a British magazine with French and Saunders on the cover. Oh glee! It was about 15 minutes until closing (I know this because Ded had just made the announcement) so I had to hurry through the article, shushing all who tried to talk to me at that inopportune moment. Okay, maybe I'm one of the last people to discover this but, much to my delight (and I'm sure hers, too) it turns out that Dawn French is married to Lenny Henry.

Lenny Henry is the comedian who played "Chef" in the Britcom of the same name. If you're never seen the series, run (don't walk) to your nearest DVD supplier and scarf up the boxed set. Picture Gordon Ramsay with a fairly inept kitchen staff and tone down the language a bit and you end up with Lenny Henry's role. The thought of him married to Dawn French makes me giggle.

Next...this week I disovered plurk. After listening to Miss Violet go on and on about it, I had to check out what in the world this plurk thing was. I guess it's sort of like having your facebook status meet instant messaging..but on steroids. It is seriously addicting so, if you don't want to be forever chained to your computer, don't (for the love of all things sacred), I repeat, don't go there. (Yes, dear reader, if you are observant, you will see that I have plurky-type-stuff in my right column. I have gone over to the plurk-side.)

Last, but not least, Mary has caught the Amigurumi bug. Although she was in bed (okay, sofabed) all day yesterday, alternating between severe pain and that feeling-no-pain light-headedness, she managed to crochet a carrot, hamburger with onion, and a mouse AND watch the entire first season of House.

I was not as productive but I did finish two bangle bracelets for Mary (see her mouse check them out here). And, for a final quickie, after much frustration, I discovered a handy way to keep my yarn in check whilst working on Mary's slouch hat. (note the many watchful eyes of the adipose...they let me know if I've dropped a stitch)


That's all for now. Wave goodbye to the cute little adipose.

Weekend Wrap-Up

Let's see - what's been going on this week?

In the knitting world, I've been in design mode for a few days with mixed results. One of the fingerless gloves turned out very pretty but the lacy patterning on the front made it a looser gauge and now it doesn't fit as snugly as I would like. I was taking a stitch design written for back-and-forth knitting and modifying it to circular, also. Trial and error, but I did get it to work after forgetting to reverse both the type of stitch and the positioning. One without the other just doesn't get it - close, but no cigar. So, back to the drawing board on that one. I also have a possibility of supplying a friend with some items for her online store so I'm working on prototypes on that front.

Last night, I began work on a slouch hat for Mary from a pattern I bought from Ysolda. It has a tubular cast-on, something I've never done before. So, thank godness, Ysolda also has a great instructional video right on her website with directions. Now, normally, that would be enough for me as I'm much better with visuals than trying to make heads or tails out of written directions. The problem, however, was the fact that I was learning something new whilst working with black yarn. Yes, let's make it difficult to see what's going on by choosing the darkest possible yarn and starting at about...oh...two or three in the morning. I think I ripped it out about three times before I finally got it right. Looks great now but geez. I'm just sayin'.

I bought four patterns from Ysolda this week and might actually end up with something for myself from that lot. She has gorgeous items - check them out. The ones I chose, in addition to the Gretel hat, were Leisl, Coraline, and Snow White. There are lots of pictures up on Ravelry for the Snow White and this sweater seems to look nice on every body style so I thought I should give it a try.

Also, I had a 40% off coupon at Borders so I got Custom Knits by Wendy Barnard because top-down sweaters are my favourites and there are lots of designing ideas that I know will come in handy. Another book that just jumped into my hands was Luxury Yarn One-Skein Wonders by Judith Durant. Books like this are great "jumping-off points" for days when my design brain is in full gear.

I've been alternating my podcast-listening with episodes of Firefly this week as my "something to do while I'm knitting" activity. Because doing just one thing at a time is just not enough. Then there are the times that I am listening, reading knitting blogs, and knitting. Although I can do it all at the same time, it really does slow down my knitting a little bit. And definitely don't try that if you're also attempting a lace pattern. No way.

I'll be taking a knitting break here and return later for parte due.

What Does Your Taste in Art Say About You?

Your result for What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test...

Conscientious, Fulfilled, and Spiritual

24 Renaissance, 13 Islamic, 18 Ukiyo-e, -35 Cubist, -44 Abstract and 22 Impressionist!

The Renaissance was a cultural movement that profoundly affected European intellectual life. Beginning in Italy, and spreading to the rest of Europe by the 16th century, its influence affected literature, philosopy, religion, art, politics, science, and all other aspects of intellectual enquiry. Renaissance artists looked at the human aspect of life in their art. They did not reject religion but tended to look at it in it's purest form to create visions they thought depicted the ideals of religion. Painters of this time had their own style and created works based on morality, religion, and human nature. Many of the paintings depicted what they believed to be the corrupt nature of man.

People that like Renaissance paintings like things that are more challenging. They tend to have a high emotional stability. They also tend to be more concientious then average. They have a basic understanding of human nature and therefore are not easily surprised by anything that people may do. They enjoy life and enjoy living. They are very aware of their own mortality but do not dwell on the end but what they are doing in the present. They enjoy learning, but may tend to be a bit more closed minded to new ideas as they feel that the viewpoint they have has been well researched and considered. These people are more old fashioned and not quite as progressive. They enjoy the finer things in life like comfort, a good meal, and homelife. They tend to be more spiritual or religious by nature. They are open to new aesthetic experiences.

Take What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test at HelloQuizzy

Just a Quickie

I just got my word of the day email and this just made me LOL so I had to share it.

defenestrate \dee-FEN-uh-strayt\ (transitive verb) - To throw out of a window.

"'And if you can defenestrate you must be able to fenestrate, mustn't you?' she finally said.'Throw yourself back in through a window?'" -- Peter Guttridge, 'No Laughing Matter: A Nick Madrid Mystery'

So how did you spend your election day?

I thought I would go visit Captain Chiropractor today since it's the beginning of the month and I need a tune-up and realignment. After I called and left a message, I decided I would get a nice hot shower, go vote, and then stop to get my adjustment. Ah, how plans do go awry.

In said nice, hot shower where you think that your muscles are going to say "Aaahhh! Thank you" instead my muscles in my left shoulder said, "AHA! Gotcha!" and I yelled out in pain everytime I moved my left arm. This did not bode well for the rest of the day. After somehow managing to get myself dried, dressed, and caffeinated, Joanie called me from Capt. Chiro's office and said to come on in.

Blessed relief! First the ice treatment, then the fun rolling table, and some bone crunchy crackly goodness. My lower back feels better and the pain in my shoulder is gone with just some residual achiness. I got a stern look when I admitted I'm not drinking as much water as I should but I shall try to do better. I love that Capt. Chiro wants to be a superhero because every time that he is about to crunch down on me, he hums the Superman theme. I have the best doctors in the world. (My neurologist is a roller coaster addict. Does that tell you anything about the kind of specialists I have in my life? Funtime.)

So, then we tooled over to the park to vote. Now, this is the first time I've had to vote at this location and I was a little skeptical when I saw that I had to go to the park. Hmm...do we have voting booths spread out amongst the trees? Should be interesting. I originally had a book and my knitting with me but, after seeing the average-sized amount of cars there, I decided just to take my book with me. All the volunteers there were so nice. I can't believe they get there at 6am and were still happy (punchy?) when I got there after 4:30ish. I ended up having to wait in just one of the lines and I read all of one page in my book (and I read fast). We had touch screens which are pretty cool. I guess I was in there for maybe ten minutes.

Then we went to the other park (the nice park farther down the road a piece) and I knitted by the lake and enjoyed just hanging out with the ducks and geese. Ded walked around a bit since he likes to let the ideas for his writing come together whilst walking but I wanted to sit and knit so I worked on a washcloth that I started earlier at the chiro's office. It started getting cool and I didn't have a jacket on, so we headed out around 6ish.

So, now I'm back home and I plan to knit on the second fingerless glove, probably listen to a LimeNViolet podcast or two, drink water!, and put some pictures on the blog later this evening. That's about it for now.

On a somber note, I found out today that Everything is Not Just Smooty. My daughter posted that "the artistic director of the theatre I used to work at commited suicide yesterday?!?!" I just want to send my condolences to everyone who is affected by this. I don't think I met Robin when I was up there, but I know that this had to come as a shock to all those great folks who worked with him.

UPDATE ---

Fingerless gloves are finished and here are pictures. This style is my own design and made into a shorty glove for people with shorty hands. :-) The top of the glove uses a pattern from The Harmony Guides and the palm is in stockinette stitch. There is about a 3/4 inch ribbing at the top and bottom. I am really pleased with the way they turned out.



I will definitely be making some of these for my Etsy shop and there will be a longer version (aka the director's cut) which will probably come up about an inch further on the fingers and an inch or two up the arm.



Yes, I am available for hand modeling. :-)