Soggy & Crispy

Here are a few more photos of Soggy and Crispy.

Crispy typing up recon reports:


While Soggy keeps an eye out for trouble:


In their off time, Crispy and Soggy enjoy chatting with the local ladies:

(Soggy is quite the ladies man, and Crispy has his charming moments too.)

Reconnaissance Report, 18.09.05

Captain Crispy reporting in. Sorry for the long wait... our host has been hogging the computer, and not letting us use it. We are currently negotiating to improve the situation, and she has agreed to allow us access tonight.

We have devastating news about our vegetable liberation attempts! Every weekend we venture out to liberate more, but they seem to be disappearing from the crisper recovery unit. We would ask the Canadian Lieutenant Bacon, but he has also gone AWOL under mysterious circumstances.

To comfort us, our host has been cooking us delicious dishes, such as this item she calls "pizza":



We were also unable to locate a detox facility for the olives. We tried contacting the only one in the area, but the receptionist informed us that they do not treat "black olives". We were so incensed that we did not inform her that they were actually kalamata olives. We did not want them being treated at this discriminatory facility, and left.

We may not need to find a facility... their numbers have been diminishing too.

The sleeping accommodations here are quite nice:



The sleeping bags seem to be have made for extra tall VLA members, and have a bizarre pocket half way down, but other than that are quite comfortable. There are a vast number of sleeping bags to choose from, each suited for different weather and camouflage situations. We are currently utilizing the cotton blend sleeping bags, but we are looking forward to winter when we can comfortably use the merino sleeping bags. In the above photo, we're testing out a wool blend pair.

On the Saturday of the labour day long weekend we attempted to go to the farmer's market to liberate vegetables there. We were very environmentally friendly... we travelled by public troop transport, and then by foot. (Well, our host travelled by foot. We travelled by backpack, which was considerably more comfortable.) However, we were too late. It turns out the farmer's market only runs until 12, not 1:00. We have not had a chance to retry this mission, but are planning to as soon as possible.

Soggy and I would like to say we are devastated by the news of the disaster caused by hurricane Katrina. Those poor trees! And all the other vegetation! This mass slaughter has shocked us to our meaty cores. Our host is in tough financial times, but we, together with our host's friend, went to an ice cream fundraiser, and did our part by eating an ice cream cone each. (All proceeds went to hurricane Katrina victims.) Here we are with our host's friend:



We were thinking... do you think it would be helpful if we went around to all the squirrels in the fall, to collect donations of acorns for New Orleans? Do you know of a charity we could send them to if we did so?

Over and out, Captain Crispy.

Reconnaissance Report, 27.08.05

We went on our first mission today. In the interest of keeping the proper military chain of command, I assigned myself the rank of captain. My brother, Soggy, now has the rank of sergeant. Our host has not been assigned a rank, given her civilian classification.

With the assistance of our host, we travelled to the benignly-named Earth Fare Prison Camp to liberate as many vegetables as we could. Due to the cost of the operation, and our limited resources, we were only able to save two yellow tomatoes, eighteen green beens, a red onion, a midget head of garlic, and some very pickled olives. To disguise the purpose of our mission, our host also purchased some non-vegetable sustenance: turkey jerky, feta cheese, and chocolate. (We consulted the USDA food guide, which assured us that chocolate is not a vegetable.)

Here we are returning from our mission, aboard the local public troop transportation:

The vegetables are in the bag. For their safety, we decided that they should remain concealed until we had returned to our home base.

The vegetables are recuperating from their captivity in the Crisper Unit under the care of Canadian Lieutenant Bacon. (We assume that's his name and rank... our somewhat confused host introduced him as "Leftover Canadian Bacon".) Lt. Bacon is a very well rounded individual, and is protected by a hermetically sealed plastic bag, in case any of the new recruits have any infectious diseases. We are looking into local detox facilities for the olives.

Over and out, Captain Crispy.

Reconnaissance Report 25.08.05

Crispy reports the local foliage provides good camouflage:



Soggy reports that the exercise equipment is adequate:



There appears to be a distinct lack of vegetables on the premises, but the bacon bros' new host hopes to remedy that soon.

Over and out.

Mail!

Mail!

Yay! I got my *awesome* reveal package yesterday! Look at all the yummy yarn! The cascade 220 is raspberry red (yum!), and the glitterspun is the exact colour of Dorothy's ruby slippers! (I *must* make a pair of ruby slippers for my christmas tree!) The blue yarn is *very* yummy! It's three yarns wound together, and will make a gorgeous scarf! I love the little mirror thingies, and there is a story behind the bacon band-aids. ;)

I was lucky enough to have the amazing Regina as my secret sister! Since I said I enjoy BLTs, she sent me the bacon brothers, Soggy and Crispy, honourary members of her Vegetable Liberation Army (VLA):



The bacon band-aids are cammo band-aids in case Soggy or Crispy get injured on one of their missions. Since I may now reveal my sister, I can show these two as well. (They came in the first package.) They have been sending back recon reports. Since they are no longer under-cover, I will post the reports here on my blog. (Regina plans to post them too.)

Weasley Sleeve, 23 cm

Weasley Sleeve, 23 cm

This is how far I got on Weasley's sleeves as of last night. (I'm only showing one here... the other is off to the side.)

Weasley is still a joy to knit. :)

Stockinette

Zeneedle is having a contest, asking our opinions (good or bad) on stockinette. Here's what I posted in her comments:

Stockinette is very relaxing. Yes, even meditative. I like the rhythm of the knit stitches, and my purls are getting almost as good.

Way back, when I first learned to knit, I thought stockinette was boring, but the real problem was that all I knew how to knit was scarves, and I was young enough to be knitting for the product. It wasn't the stockinette that was boring, it was the scarves.

I've recently relearned how to knit, and I'm using Weasley to do so. I expected the vast quantities of stockinette to be boring. However, I really enjoyed doing the back, and when I got to the letter on the front, I realized just how much I liked plain stockinette. I'm now glad to have returned to the plain sleeves, although the occasional increase tries to trick me.

I'm also learning how to knit lace right now. I find doing a single repeat a struggle, and have to really concentrate. I'm exhausted after the one repeat, but I can knit stockinette for hours. Lace is work. Stockinette is relaxation.

Stockinette is comfortable to wear, with no lumpy bumps. It's not busy, so allows a lovely yarn to be displayed.

Stockinette is all about the process. But the product is wonderful too.

Felted Slippers

Felted Slippers

Here's my finished slippers. I may add some decoration later, but I count them as finished when they become functional. ;)

It turns out I'm not so insane after all. Here they are on my feet:



I forgot to take a photo with my feet beside the slippers. They're bigger than my feet, but still comfortable, and they seem to stay on. Nothing wrong with a bit big... then there's room for snuggly socks. ;)

Pink Eye

Yesterday my left eye was quite pink. It was really bothering me around 4, so I decided to have it checked out. I figured the best way (without seeing a doctor) to tell if it was "pink eye" was to ask a parent or two. They always seem to know about contageous diseases.

The diagnosis by "Drs" K, A, and T was "eye strain". The prescription? Go home early and rest my eyes. So I went home early.

When I got home, I tried to figure out what I could do that wouldn't need eyes, since it was quite a while before bedtime. Since it wasn't *too* long before news would be on, I decided to listen to TV with my eyes closed. Somehow time skipped from "The Ellen Degeneres Show" to half way through the 6:30 evening news.

I went the "bowl of cereal" route for dinner. Not exactly healthy, but really low prep.

After dinner I went back to watching TV with my eyes closed. There weren't any time warps this time. However, Wednesday TV is pretty bad. (I only get broadcast, which leaves me with rather limited choices.)

Since none of my WIPs were ones that I wanted to attempt with my eyes closed (can you imagine knitting lace without looking? *shudder*), I thought maybe it would be a good time to continue felting my slippers. I don't need eyes to massage slippers in hot, soapy water.

However, after 20 minutes, there was very little progress. I decided to return to the washing machine route, and scrounged my laundry basket for two loads, one lights, the other darks. My slippers are now done, and blocking! Yay! They even shrunk enough, and seem pretty good when I tried them on in their damp state. I took photos, and I'll post them later today.

I used my eyes and read a bit before bed. (Hey... I had been good up until then!)

This morning my eye is not as irritated, but is still bothering me some. I think I'll spend the day reading a book on matroids. That should be easier than staring at the computer screen, right?

Wuss

Straightening my arms hurts at the inside of the elbow. Not too bad, but annoying. A stretchy, "I've exercised this recently" feeling. I think I'll wuss out, and skip the gym tonight. I'll do some stretches at home to make up for it, and to help recover. I'll go to the gym tomorrow, which will make twice this week, and I'll work up to three times per week.

I'm a wuss.

Personal Research

Observation #1: Going online in the morning contributes a great deal towards me showing up late for school.

Observation #2: Making observation #1 hasn't remedied the situation.

Hypothesis #1: Getting up early would allow me to go online *and* get to school at a reasonable hour.

Hypothesis #2: Hypothesis #1 will never be implemented.

Conclusion: Find a way to convince myself that I can wait an hour to read my e-mail in the morning.

Methinks my arms doth protest too much

...and my knee is whining too.

This'll make going to the gym tonight somewhat interesting. I wonder how many cybex machines focus solely on the stomach and lower back?

I didn't ride my bike yesterday morrning, because my knee was complaining then too. I don't want to aggravate it, because then it will be really painful for a long time. Best to let it rest, and then start it working after it stops complaining.

Yes, I like playing with words, and that includes butchering Shakespeare. ;)

I forgot to bring my Sears stuff with me, so that will have to wait until tonight or tomorrow.

Tonight

Tonight was SNB. Another lovely evening, complete with free yarn being given away by a member who had too much! :) (I snagged 6 balls of chenile, and one of a pretty pink acrylic.) Weasley's sleeves gained another 6 cm, and Jess's second sock is chugging along merrily. I loaned a VHS tape of last week's Gilmore Girls and House to the person who drove me home last week, and she drove me home again tonight! Knitters are so nice!

However, things were not quite so joyous at the home front.

I had set up my VCR to tape this week's Gilmore Girls and House. (I get home a bit after House starts.) The VCR was not making recording noises. I look at it. It has spit the tape out. Nooooooooooo! No Gilmore Girls this week! (I only missed the first five minutes of House... that was fine.)

What was up with the VCR?

Well, I had to use a different tape this week, since I was loaning last week's tape to my knitter friend. When I was setting up the VCR, there were three other tapes that were easily reachable: 2 with taped computer science classes (if you know you'll be missing a class, and the class is in one of the right rooms, they can tape it for you), and one regular blank one. I knew that some of my regular blank tapes had problems, so I decided to tape over a class. After all, it's been about five years since I took that class, and I haven't looked at them after my initial viewing.

Well, it turns out that after taping the class for me, the tech person broke off the little "recordable" tab, so that it didn't accidentally get recorded over. Very nice of the tech person to make sure I didn't miss my class. I am peeved that I missed my Gilmore Girls, though.

*sigh*

Plus, this means my knitter friend also won't get to see this week's episode. And she gave me a ride home and everything!

Anyone know of a good synopsis of what happened?

However, I did get a bit of good news... one of the balls of orange yarn I ordered from Beehive Wool came stained, and they're sending me a replacement. I had sent them an e-mail today, stating I was unhappy at receiving a stained ball, but was on a tight budget and so didn't want to send it back. I asked what their policy was in situations like this, and they sent me a really friendly e-mail asking for the colour and lot numbers, so they could replace the ball.

I'm very happy with Beehive Wool now. I'll keep you posted on the new ball. :)

Grrr

I'm annoyed... it turns out my dishwasher is costing $50 more than I thought it would. The salesperson said I qualified for free standard delivery (via rebate), but it turns out I don't. I would have had to buy a *Kenmore* dishwasher to qualify, and my dishwasher is *GE*.

I'm peeved with the Sears salesperson. Do you hear me Sears? I'm peeved with you, and giving you a little bad press because your salesperson didn't know how the rebate worked. Please make sure your salespeople understand the rebates!

No, they probably don't hear me, but I'm still peeved about the $50.

Notice to people selling me stuff: if you screw with me, I'll give you bad press on my blog. You may not care, but I will anyway.

;)

Good News with the Bad

Rita and Katrina sure did suck bigtime for Gulf Coast residents, and sucked smalltime for those impacted with higher costs of gas and other items, but they've brought a small amount of good news for me: the Canadian dollar is going up. According to NPR this morning, it's expected to be on par with the US dollar by a year from now. Apparently our oil sands are attracting a lot of interest. The oil costs more to extract, but there aren't any hurricanes in Alberta. Our oil sands even top the amount of oil in the middle east.

Why is this good news? Come Christmas, I'll be withdrawing on my Canadian savings to pay for tuition and living expenses down here. If the Canadian dollar is up, it costs me less.

Speaking of the exchange rate, my milk substitute now costs $4 USD here, and $3 CAD at home. Yeah, right, the Canadian dollar is worth less. :P

Weasley Progress

Sleeves: 10 out of 47 centimeters. (I decided I didn't need to rip out what I have. The cuffs seem to have plenty of stretch.)

Of course, progress will slow as the sleeves get wider.

Gym

Yay me! I went to the gym today for half an hour. :) I must have done it right... my arms feel like jello. (Today was upper-body.)

You know, it's hard to shower with jello arms.

Note for next time: make sure house key is easily accessible upon arriving home... I got five mosquito bites while digging for my keys.

Now to cook dinner... with jello arms...

Weasley Cuffs

Weasley Cuffs

You know, I think I'm going to rip these out tonight.

I had measured the cuffs of a sweater I like, and those cuffs worked out to 54 stitches at the given gauge. As the pattern is written, the largest kid-sized Weasley starts out with 50 stitch cuffs in a smaller needle, then increases to 60 right after the cuff.

I wasn't sure how much the smaller needle was going to affect the gauge, and since the sweater I like has quite loose cuffs, I figured it would be fine.

When I tried the cuffs on last night, they were snug but not tight. I'm more of a "loose cuff" person, but I figured these would be okay.

However, I was thinking just now... I really like pushing my cuffs up to near my elbows, and snug cuffs would probably be too tight for that.

Maybe I'll put one on scrap yarn to see what it will be like. I really didn't like doing the first row after the cast on, so I'd rather not do it again unless necessary. However, it's better to rip now, than after I've finished the sleeves.

Instructions Needed

You know those insulated coffee mugs? They *so* need to come with instruction manuals.

This morning I brewed some tea in the mug, then popped the lid on. Then I made my lunch (including making hummus), did the rest of the stuff I needed to do to get ready for school, then took me, my stuff, and my mug out to the bus stop.

I slooooooowly try to get a small sip to see if it's cooled down enough.

tilt... nothing

tilt... nothing

tilt... nothing

tilt... nothing

tilt... MOUTHFULLOFBURNINGLIQUID!!!SPITONGROUND!WHEREOHWHEREISCOLDWATER???

Um, yeah... tea still too hot to drink.

After I get to work, I decide to have another go.

careful tilt... nothing

careful tilt... nothing

careful tilt... nothing

careful tilt... nothing

careful tilt... AAARGHBURNINGLIQUID!!!

Yes, I am now wearing some of my tea. Luckily it's green tea (Tazo green ginger, with some of my special stash of Barbados sugar), and I'm wearing brightly coloured clothing, so hopefully it won't show when it's dry... or stain.

I'm going to try adding some cold water. Next time, I think I'll add an ice cube after brewing.

Oh... interesting (to me) factoid... this is post #1000 on my blog.

Weasley Progress

Weasley Cuffs

Sunday's knitting lesson included a little ribbing. 2x2 ribbing, that is.

I also learned an increase. In the last row of ribbing I needed to increase from 50 stitches to 60. I decided to try the M1 increase.

For later increases on the sleeves, I think I'll try the bar increase. But that's for another day.

Neck 'n Neck

Weasley's Neckband

Round and round she goes,
Where she stops, nobody knows.

Except me. And anyone else who decides to get really close to look for the end. But right now, just me.

Just two sleeves, a couple of seams, and I'll have my first knit sweater!

PS: Note how few zits I have right now!

Double Pointed Knitting

Double Pointed Knitting

I learned another new trick tonight.

A Cautionary Tale in Seaming

Misseamed

Note: Just because you have the front right shoulder matched to the back right shoulder, and the front left shoulder matched to the back left shoulder, all with correct sides facing, doesn't mean you got it right.

I picked out one seam, and did much better on the second try:



(The sweater should be wide enough... it's just curling up in the photo.)

Note now added at the bottom of the "woven shoulder seam" section in my copy of The Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques: "make sure not twisted."

Boxes II

Boxes II

The boxes had friends. There's now five more in my living room.

Now I'm waiting to hear what to do with them.

In the news...

U.S. running out of space for Katrina trash
CBC News
The environmental destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina can be measured -- at least partly -- by the volume of material that has been cleaned up since the storm hit the Gulf Coast more than three weeks ago.
Full Story

Suggestion: Use the trash to raise the ground level in areas of New Orleans. (Those areas where everything was flattened anyway.) Lots of cities are partially built on trash heaps... two examples include New York and Toronto. (I didn't google these, but I'm pretty sure both have used trash to extend "land" out into the water.) I think there's also towns in the middle east that are on hills... because they've existed since biblical times, and as one house collapses, they level it out, and build on top. Of course, those houses were built from mud bricks. Slowly, over time, a hill forms under the town.

Sockapal2za

I forgot to post this the other day... it looks like Jenifer likes her socks! (Surprise! I made her two pair!)

Word of the Day

It turns out I can also learn new words by reading blogs. Today's word is dilettante, courtesy Etherknitter.

A dilettante is an amateur, a dabbler in art or field of knowledge... either that, or a lover of fine arts. I would say Etherknitter was using the first definition.

I like learning new words. I'm also subscribed to Dictionary.com's Word of the Day, but I know many of those... or have absolutely no use for them. Of course, you probably have very little use for moiety. ;)

Oops.

Nope, I didn't go to the gym tonight. Oops. I was going to, but I had a bit of an upset tummy. Monday. I'll definitely go Monday, and I'll ride my exercise bike both tomorrow and this weekend. I will. Yes siree.

I think, tonight, I'll try to finish off the front of Weasley. Weasley's been feeling neglected, and is looking at me mournfully from the coffee table. And I'll be wanting my Weasley this winter.

Speaking of winter... heating costs won't be that high if it doesn't ever cool off! What is this? It's officially fall (which means we are really in mid-fall), and the temperature is in the 90s! Tomorrow is supposed to be 95F! Sheesh. Yeah, right, "heating costs." More like never-ending AC.

I remembered to turn the AC down last night, and slept much better than the night before.

Well, on to Weasley. :)

In the news...

Vatican to bar homosexual priests-New York Times
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Homosexuals, even those who are celibate, will be barred from becoming Roman Catholic priests under stricter rules soon to be released, the New York Times reported on Thursday.
Full Story

Um... wouldn't it have made more sense to bar pedophiles and other rapists, or even those merely breaking their vow of celebacy (with either gender), instead of celebate homosexuals???

I don't blame them:

Basra refuses to deal with Britain after raid
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The Iraqi city of Basra will not cooperate with Britain until it receives an apology and compensation after a British raid to free two soldiers, Basra's governor and other senior officials said on Thursday.
Full Story

Word of the Day

I learned a new word today: moiety. In chemistry, a moiety is a specific segment of a molecule. For the more conventional meaning, check out answers.com.

This is the advantage of reading papers on or near your computer (hooked up to the internet). The one I'm reading right now referred to the pyrophosphate moiety of PLPP (pyridoxal 5'-diphosphate). Knowing what moiety means really helps to understand this part of the paper.

I love google.

And yes, I'm procrastinating. Back to work I go.

Boxes

Boxes

I have been visited by boxes. A friend of mine has had to leave the country. She's trying to get into a nursing program at a different university (this department wasn't a good fit for her). I'll either be sending these boxes to her new location, or back to Taiwan.

I guess I don't need to sweep that corner.

Hmmm... unless I decide to move them so Paulina has a place to sit and eat when she's visiting. Maybe I'll clean their "final resting place", move them, and then clean where they are now.

Plans for this weekend: cleaning.

Are the Chemistry Guys Hot?

Fire Truck

...because there's been fire trucks outside the chemistry building *twice* this week as I was headed home.

More Squares

Afghan Square #27


Afghan Square #28

I made two and a half more squares last night. I didn't bother taking a photo of the half square.

That second one (#28) is supposed to be a butterfly. I'll forgive you if you think it's a flower.

Kelli: the half square is light grey, and will have a red maple leaf on it, if all goes as planned.

Worry

I have a friend in Houston, and I'm worried about her. She wants to leave, but her husband wants to stay to take care of the house, and she doesn't want to leave her husband. I wish her husband would leave Houston with her. They have family in Austin, so it would even be like a little vacation!

There's nothing they can do during the hurricane, and afterwards, the house will either be there or it won't. (And if it isn't, at least *they* will still be there.)

They aren't in the low lying areas of Houston that have mandatory evacuation, but *still*. Rita is not someone you want to mess with! She's looking nasty.

They live in a newer house that is supposed to be built to certain hurricane standards, but Rita is currently over that... and they had enough problems with the builders cutting corners, that I'm worried about whether the house is actually up to snuff. Personally, I would let the house test its durability by itself, and go to where it's safer.

I sure hope they're going to be okay.

Update: Yay! They're getting out! I'm so relieved!!!

Lunchtime Blogging

Dang... I wanted to write a couple posts with photos, but flickr is thwarting my goal of only doing this blogging during lunch. The message at flickr is:

Flickr is having a massage.

Flickr is closed for emergency maintenance - sorry about that.

You know, I think I could do with a massage and some emergency maintenance too.

Tips For Getting To Work

Josie sent me a link to a post of what not to do.

Two that particularly resonate with me are:

• Do not start thinking you are never going to finish.
• Do not start worrying about all the time you've already wasted.

Of course, another one that I should pay attention to is "do not check your email," and one they forgot is "do not read your bloglines."

Yawn!

Yawn! I seem to have hit the "afternoon downtime" about now. However, I'll be leaving for my fitness orientation in less than an hour, so I'd like to work between now and then. I need a quick cure for the yawnies! I think I'll try a lap around the third floor.

Silly Quiz

Oh goody... I'm allergic to my inner cute animal...

You Are A: Kitten!

Cute as can be, kittens are playful, mischevious, and ever-curious. Your mischevious side is part of what makes you a kitten, as is your dislike of getting wet! Kittens are often loving, but are known to scratch or bite when annoyed. These adorable animals are the most popular pets in the United States--37% of American households have at least one cat. Whether it is your gentle purr or your disarming appearance, you make a wonderful kitten.

You were almost a: Bear Cub or a Pony
You are least like a: Chipmunk or a GroundhogWhat Cute Animal Are You?

Crabs

Afghan Square #26

This is my latest afghan square. (I bet P likes this one too. ;) )

This little fellow made me think of two memories...

The first is walking along Qualicum Beach on Vancouver Island. There were all sorts of itty bitty crabs about the size of pocket change, and if you stood by them, they would raise there little big claw in challenge. There were *tons* of them on the beach, and they were *sooo* cute! All different colours. Hmmm... must dig up a photo... here we are:









The second memory was of my visit to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. There's a chain of "crab shacks" there called Dirty Dick's, and their main marketing slogan is "I got my crabs at Dirty Dick's." (I'm not sure if people go there more for the food or the t-shirts...) Now, I got the double meaning of "crabs" right away, but it took me a day or two to figure out that "Dirty Dick's" also had a double meaning. :P Yes, I can be slow.

Well, I'll be sleeping with this little crab (eventually), but hopefully I won't have to worry about any Dirty Dicks. ;)

Murphy

I'm good friends with Murphy, and am familiar with his "laws".

Yesterday the forecast was for scattered thunderstorms late last night. There was even a weather warning forecasting possible 1" hail. Yikes! I don't mess with 1" hail. However, Kelli thought such weather was highly unlikely. Did I go to SNB or not? Well, it wasn't raining at 6:20, and the radar looked okay, so I decided to go out.

Just as I was leaving to catch the bus, I got a nosebleed. Joy. Do I go anyway? If I waited for it to stop, I'd miss my bus. I decided to go anyway. So I grabbed a stash of kleenex and a baggie for the "used" ones. Thankfully it stopped just before the bus pulled up, and I was able to cram the evidence in my backpack before too many people saw me.

SNB was fun! (As usual.) Several people complimented my sockapal2za socks, and thought they suited me. ;)

I knit another repeat on the qiviut lace scarf (before too many people arrived), and then switched over to my orange crayon. I'm close to half way through the crayon now.

I'm kind of annoyed with the orange yarn, though. I ordered the replacement orange, and one of the balls arrived with some stains. It looked like there were just a few near the end of the ball, so I used it anyway, hoping that was the case, and that I wouldn't need quite all of this second ball. No such luck. Within a few inches starting on the inside, I found another stain. I'm thinking this must be a regular thing, running all through the ball. I don't want to pay for shipping to send it back and get it replaced, but I'm going to e-mail the store with a complaint. The stains were obvious on the outside of the ball, and I don't think it's nice that they mailed me a stained ball. It should have been returned to the manufacturer... it's definitely a manufacturing problem. Grump. The stains aren't *too* noticeable with the stitch pattern I'm using, and baby blankets will probably get stained anyway... so for now, I'm just using it. I'll see how it looks when I'm done the crayon.

Well, around the time I was supposed to leave SNB for the bus, the sky opened up. *Heavy* rain, and lots of lightening. *Not* my favourite thing, waiting for the bus in pouring rain. Luckily one of the other people at SNB (a non-smoker!) was going to be driving past my place, so she offered me a ride home. Yay! (Murphey fell down on the job there.) It turns out she really likes Gilmore Girls too, so I'll be loaning her my recordings. (Yes, Murphey, the only TV shows I really care about are on Tuesdays, during SNB.)

When I got home I watched Gilmore Girls and House while finishing up an afghan square (photo in another post) and then went to bed.

Murphey struck again... I forgot to turn the thermostat down, and had kooky dreams and woke up in a sweat. After I changed and changed the thermostat, I slept much better... but there wasn't much night left by then.

Doc

Well, yesterday I called the doc Kelli recommended... and ouch! He's "out of network", so I'd have to pay the full amount until my insurance kicks in, and then a portion. I need to look up my insurance to see what the details are, but here's the doc's approximate rates: $350 for the first appointment (about 2 hours), and then $150 for follow-up appointments (45 minutes to an hour).

I'm sure glad my dishwasher doesn't charge those rates!

I'm thinking this is out of my price range. When I go to see my regular doc next (which is soon, I need to make an appointment), I'll check my most recent thyroid numbers, and then compare them to the stuff on the web. (Thanks for the links!)

In the news...

I'm confused.

Brits use tanks to blow apart Basra jail, rescue pair
British soldiers used tanks to break down the walls of the central jail in the southern Iraq city of Basra late Monday and freed two Britons who had been arrested on charges of shooting two Iraqi policemen.
Full Story

Here's my questions:
1. What were undercover British commandos (if they were indeed such) doing shooting at Iraqi policemen?
2. Why didn't the British army just go up to the Iraqi police, explain the situation, and ask for the men back?
Aren't the Iraqi police supposed to be allies? WTF?!?

Here's another that baffles me.

Canadian priest admits to more sexual abuse - in France
A Canadian priest with a criminal record for sexually abusing minors confessed Monday to charges of raping a young member of his Normandy parish. Rev. Denis Vadeboncoeur had moved to France in 1988 after serving a prison term in Quebec.
Full Story

I had talked with my dad (who is Roman Catholic) about this sort of stuff a while back... about why the priests were allowed to continue being priests even after they committed horrible acts. My dad said that Catholics believe in forgiveness, and privacy of what is admitted in the confessional. Thus, the priest confesses his "sins", says his hail Mary's, and continues on his merry way. (Those are my words, not my dad's.) I don't understand this whole "say a few hail Mary's as punishment" thing. Yes, it is good that people feel bad about their sins, but that doesn't stop them from doing these things again! In fact, if all their punishment is just saying a few hail Mary's, and they know that, why *wouldn't* they continue their evil ways? Yes, they know it's bad, but that didn't stop them the previous time. If people are incapable of making correct judgements, and end up harming others as a result, their right to make their own judgements should be taken away from them. There's nothing preventing them from saying their hail Mary's from a prison cell. And once they've served their time, don't try to hide their past... you're only making it easier for them to reoffend! Sheesh. Yes, people should be given a chance to straighten themselves out and start over, but putting them in a position of trust? Um, do banks hire known thieves? Do day care centers hire known pedophiles? I sure hope not! If these idiots want to go back to the church, put them in some secluded monistary somewhere where they don't have access to people they can hurt.

Just my two cents for Tuesday.

Feeling Good

I'm sitting here in my brand new sockapal2za happy socks, and I'm feeling pretty good. I think the half crayon evening and decent night's sleep helped too. :)

I'm not sure if I'll go to SNB tonight... it depends on whether it's raining as forecast. I'm lazy, and don't really enjoy going out in the rain... except when I *want* to get wet, of course. ;)

Crayons

Crayons

Red and yellow done (except for lettering), orange on it's way!

Surprise!

Surprise!

I came home to fun mail today! (It totally makes up for the eye-tic and headache.) Guess what it was?



The sockapal2za socks from my secret pal Barbara! My feet are very happy. :)



These socks came all the way from Alaska! Cool... I'll have to take them back some day... I'd love to see Alaska. :)

Thanks Barbara! I love my socks!!! :) (They're wild and crazy, just like me. ;) )

Feelin' Funky

I'm feeling kind of funky today... I was really slow moving this morning, then my right eye started twitching (it was doing that a bit this weekend too), and now I've got a bit of a headache, and my vision seems a bit odd. I think the twitchiness is caused by tiredness. The funky vision is probably due to the headache. I'm not sure why I have a headache. I got one yesterday in the Gardens too. I think I'll try to get to bed early tonight, to see if that helps.

Flag

The last flag appears to be gone... I was going to use it tonight when I went grocery shopping (in the dark), but I couldn't find it. Even with my flashlight.

Luckily no one felt like running me over.

Okie... time for bed. Sleep well! (I plan to!!!)

Slippers in Progress

Slippers in Progress

I started the fulling process yesterday. The above photo shows them after one trip through the wash... not much fulling yet.

Also, I figured out what to do with all those old, plain white, sweat socks I have kicking around... I made a foot model. (One sock, layered with duct tape and then cut off, stuffed with other socks.)

Here's how I bundled the slippers for the second through fourth washings:

The "foot" is in the slipper to help it full to the correct shape, and also to provide extra agitation, and the net bag holds the foot in the slipper. I then put the slipper in a zippered pillow case to keep my washer from getting clogged with wool fuzz.

Here's the slippers after four washings:

They still need quite a bit of fulling. They've fulled well in places, and not so well in other places. I think I might finish the fulling by hand... once I convince myself that standing over a hot sink is something I *want* to do. ;)

Speaking of which, the divine Ms Dee has been washing my dishes beautifully... I'm so happy I hired her. Here she is, basking in the afternoon sun:

Afghan Square #25

Afghan Square #25

Another square. This one isn't too exciting... except that it doubles as a swatch for a cardigan I have planned. (The cardigan uses stash yarn.) I'm glad I swatched... the sc comes out at a different gauge than the hdc, so I'm going to have to do some increases after the line of X's you can't really see here.

The cardigan will be raglan, top down. I plan to start with the hdc, do the row of X's while still in the yoke section, and then switch to hdc.

I'm basing the cardigan loosely on a knit one I saw at Zeneedle's blog a while back. ...Aha, there it is. It's called "eyelet cardi".

Current Sock Project

Current Sock Project

There is a slight problem with my current sock project... after winding the ball of Knit Picks Colour Your Own sock yarn, it didn't want to go in my sock project bag.

So I started the sock, to try making the ball smaller:


The ball is still a tight fit, so I'll need to keep taking it out for a bit while working on the sock.

I'm loving these butterflies... Jess, what do you think so far?

Do you have a point?

Yellow Crayon

Yellow crayon doesn't yet. I've been kind of slacking... on both this, Weasley, and the qiviut scarf. However, I have made progress on my wool afghan.

I guess there's only so much I can do.

You know, every time I start typing "qiviut", I think "cool, a q word for Scrabble that doesn't need a u," and then I get to the u. I still think I'll try to use it next time I play.

Gallivanting in the Gardens

S&K in the Gardens

Today S, K, and I went for a walk in the NC Botanical Gardens. The gardens currently have a "sculpture in the gardends" event going on.

This was my favourite:


Kitty was pretty cool too:


Have you ever noticed that at a certain stage, lotus seed pods look rather like shower heads?


Mr Frog knew how to stay cool:

(It was hot and icky out today!)

Dream

I had a strange dream last night. It got me rather upset (while I was asleep and obviously not thinking right), which I think also contributed to my tiredness today.

I can't remember the whole dream, but in it, a former roommate A (yes P, that A) decided that since she had done favours for me when we were living together (huh?) that she would get me to do her a favour. Problem is, she didn't ask. She just assumed.

Now, this was a very bizarre favour. She needed a place to store some stuff. This stuff included a gazillion rolls of toilet paper, a flat of drink boxes, and a whole bunch of other stuff. She decided that under and on top of my desk at work was the ideal place.

When I wasn't there, she moved my laptop, putting it in my backpack, but without it's sleeve. That got me really peeved! She *touched* my laptop, *and* she didn't use the sleeve! Then she crammed all that junk under my desk, and piled some more on top.

I was so mad when I got to my office. I decided that I didn't care if her stuff got stolen, it wasn't staying in my office. So I moved it all out to the hall outside my office.

Have you ever noticed that dreams aren't terribly logical?

Neighbours

Blargh. I was up late last night... no reason in particular, I just wanted to finish what I was doing before going to bed. Foolish me. My neighbours started some sort of rhythmic pounding at 8:30. I considered pounding on the wall, but 8:30 is probably a reasonable time to assume it's okay to make noise, and they aren't really making all that *much* noise. They're just doing it right beside my bed (on the other side of the wall), and I'm sensitive to noise when I'm sleeping.

Grump.

I'm not ready to be up yet.

Although perhaps I should be... Suzanne is coming at 1, and my mom calls Sunday mornings.

I'm *so* not ready to be up yet.

Fleece Artist Socks

Fleece Artist Socks

I love the colour of these socks, and the way the green made a spiral. I tried them on briefly, and I think they'll be really comforatble. It would have been nice had they been somewhat longer, but that's how far the yarn went.

The yarn is lovely, but has the occasional slub. Most of them I ignored, but there was a big, 4" one that I had to cut out. I don't know if I got a bad skein, or if this is standard for Fleece Artist.

Power of Two

Two more squares for my blanket: