Heather's lovely sweater

H's lovely sweater

I really like how Heather's olympic sweater turned out. Sorry about the not so flattering photo, Heather. :(

See that green thing she's knitting? It looks really cool so far... and, surprisingly, a great use of bobbles. (Normally I'm not a big fan of bobbles in knitting. These look like grapes.)

Stash Sadness

Tonight I took stock of my sock yarn stash, and it's rather sad. Oh, it is still quite sizeable, but it has shrunk considerably from where it was at its prime. Here it is:

Not counting the scraps (last photo), I estimate I only have enough yarn for 13-14 pairs of socks. Where did it all go?

Medal Ceremony

I've got my gold. :) To get yours, go here.

Keeping Up With Technology

J is working on a paper. It's supposed to be submitted on a 3.25" floppy. J no longer owns a computer with a floppy drive. Luckily there are still computers with floppy drives around the department. I think the technical support center also has a stash of floppies.

There was a talk in the department today, but one of the speakers couldn't figure out how to get the laptop to work with the projection system, and to run one of the demos. Suggestion: if you're supposed to give a talk somewhere, learn enough about the laptop you're using in order to give that presentation.

As an aside, I also like to test my presentation on a projection system... colours don't look the same on the projector, and what seems like a good idea on the laptop may *not* be good on the projector. And, in case of last-minute talk preparation, learn which colours to avoid. Like that particular shade of gray that appears to flicker.

Of course, overkill preparation would include making sure your presentation still works if one of the colour guns on the projector dies. (That actually happened at a workshop I attended. My presentation was reasonably visible (sheer luck), but another person had key parts of their animations disappear.)

Birthday Bloggy Love Contest

Okay... here are the (sorted by time) entries for my contest:

• 1:03 am Brae
• 4:22 am Sallie
• 6 am Wendy
• 7:32 AM Pam
• 9:30 AM Amy (yarnaholic)
• noon Coops
• 2:34 PM Deneen
• 3:00 pm wpggal
• 4:15 pm Mandy
• 10:45 PM Trish, Marvie
• 11:58 pm The Shrone

Is that everyone? I think someone entered by e-mail, but I can't find that entry now. If you did, remind me, and I'll go check what time you entered.

Anyway, assuming this is all the entries, Sallie came the closest to guessing when I was born! Congratulations!!! Since it's now well past when I should be in bed, I'll wait until tomorrow to e-mail you to find out which prize you want, and, if you choose socks, what size feet you have. (I need to sort through my sock yarn and photograph what's available for prize socks.)

For the rest of you... you may still win. Once I'm done Sallie's prize, I'll contact the next-closest. :) (Prize-awarding will continue until I lose interest, run out of postage, or run out of sock yarn I'm willing to part with. ;) )

Last Minute Knitted Handwarmers

I finished up my handwarmers tonight:

You know... it's really hard to take a photo of your hands. Even *with* an autotimer and a mini-tripod.

These definitely took me longer than two hours, but not an excessive amount of time.

Decontamination

I washed my Canada sweater tonight, in the hopes of washing out whatever has been making my tongue swell. I started off with a cold water and vinegar bath:

There was no bleeding during this step. I let it soak for several hours, while I ate dinner and did other stuff. One cold water rinse after the vinegar soak.

Then I washed it in Woolite (which I bought back before I knew it wasn't good for woollens... but I'm using it today, hoping it washes out whatever I'm allergic to). Instant bleed! I did some quick squooshing, and then started rinsing, to make sure I didn't get pink maple leaves:

I continued rinsing with cold water until the rinse water stopped turning pink. (Around three or so rinses.) Then I did a second, somewhat longer woolite wash:

Still some bleeding. I rinsed until the water ran clear. (Around two rinses?) By the third woolite bath, the bleeding had basically stopped:

I rinsed a few times to remove the woolite, and then put it through the spin cycle on my washing machine.

Finally, a Eucalan bath to restore the lanolin the woolite probably stripped off:

A final spin cycle on my washing machine to get most of the water out, and I laid the sweater on top of a towel on my dishwasher to dry:

My drying racks are being occupied by socks (from Saturday's laundry and Klaralund... which I also washed tonight. Weasley is mostly dry, so he's finishing up on my ironing board. Weasley and Klaralund were the two sweaters I wore while knitting my Canada sweater, so I wanted to make sure to decontaminate them both. Their washings weren't as extreme... just a simple Eucalan bath.

All that cold water was hard on my hands... they turned bright red and prickly at one point:

(Pasty, hairy leg flesh shown to illustrate natural colouring.)

Silliness

I'm a teeny-tiny ant? I'm so underwhelmed.

noricum is a Tiny Ant that kidnaps Blonde Women, has Webbed Feet and a Swirly Hypnotic Gaze, carries a Flamethrower, and is Covered in Bumps and Nodules. Strength: 1 Agility: 5 Intelligence: 9 To see if your Giant Battle Monster can defeat noricum, enter your name and choose an attack: fights noricum using Strength Agility Intelligence

Ow.

My right hip hurts this morning. Silly hip... doesn't it know there's nothing wrong with it? Sheesh.

My head is contemplating hurting too. Some moments it feels like I have a headache, and then others my head feels fine. I think I have some advil here should it decide on the "hurt" side.

And Now For Something Completely Different

Last Minute Knitted Handwarmers

After my monogamous Olympic effort on my Canada sweater, I needed a "quick fix" of "something different." This ball of Berroco Foliage has been waiting patiently since December. It was perfect! (I'm not quite done... I'll finish up tomorrow.)

I also worked a bit on MN's socks...

...which reminds me... my birthday contest ends tomorrow at 2pm EST! Don't forget to enter. :) (And don't leave it until the last minute, in case Blogger is acting up again.) Everyone, including lurkers, first time visitors, and people I've already gifted, are welcome to enter. :)

Olympic Gold!!!

Wheee-haw! Another knitting olympics gold for Team Canada / Team Hooker! I finished my Canada sweater! (Seams sewn, ends woven in and everything.) I can't believe I actually knit a *whole* sweater during the olympics. :) Here's pictures:



(Yep, that second one is a crappy auto-timer photo taken after midnight. There's even a few flash-bulb pixies come to admire the sweater. I'll get better photos on my blog one day...)

Doctor

The good news: according to all the tests my doctor can think of, I do not have arthritis. Oh, and I don't have a C1 esterase deficiency either.

The bad news: I still have no clue why my joints sometimes hurt. Except that it's not arthritis. (I was hoping for arthritis... arthritis seems fairly benign compared to other possibilities.)

I didn't bother making an appointment with a rhumetologist. All these appointments are a nuisance. I'll try again the next time my joints have me in extreme pain. (They don't seem to be bothering me lately, and trying to describe pain when it's not there is even harder than describing pain when it's there.)

Small World

My dad told me last night that Cindy Klassen and my brother had some classes together back in junior high.

The End is Near

Shoulders are seamed. Sleeves need 1-2 more inches. Then there's just the roll collar and seaming. :)

Olympic Update

So, there I was last night, knitting madly away at my olympic sweater, cheering on the Canadian speed skaters, and coming to the conclusion that the aerial skiers (and many of the other athletes) are certifiably crazy. My tongue was still irritated, and my eyes were acting up too. However, I wasn't thinking about that. I was thinking about my wonderful Canada sweater, and how I'd finish the front and back that night. I was also admiring the yarn, which I had read a review on the day before that said the Araucania yarns were dyed using natural dyes. What could possibly achieve such a wonderful red colour? Was it a plant dye? Mineral? Insect? I had flipped through a natural dye book recently, and that stuff is fascinating. Did they use a metal...

...metal? Um, I'm allergic to lots of metals...

My swollen tongue and itchy eyes prodded me. My tongue had started swelling shortly after I began my olympic knitting project, where I worked exclusively with this yarn.

Some of the dye had come off on the stitch markers I used while doing the intarsia.

Could I possibly be allergic to the dye, or some other substance used to treat the yarn? Nooooooooo!

So here's the plan: I'm nearly done this sweater. The front and back are done, the sleeves are getting close, and then all that's left is the seaming and collar. I am going to finish this sweater, and then wash and rinse it until all bleeding of dye stops. Then I'm going to pack away all the leftovers, vacuum the couch, wash the sweaters I've been wearing while working on this yarn, and avoid contact with the yarn for several days. If the swelling finally goes away, I think I have my answer.

To test my conclusion, I'll then wear my sweater. If my tongue doesn't swell, either the washing worked, or the yarn wasn't the problem. The next step will be to use the leftover wool, to see if my tongue swells up again.

If I get results indicating the yarn is the problem, I'm going to use the "contact" form to see if the yarn company is willing to tell me what they used to dye and treat this particular colour.

Either way, I'm ahead. I've either solved my tongue swelling, or I'm still allowed to use this yarn. ;) (And if the yarn is the tongue-swelling culprit, then I can have orange flavoured craisins again!)

Dollars and Sense

I want to comment on two things I heard on the news lately.

1. possible mandatory eye exams for children entering kindergarten
2. possible mandatory photo id for voters

Now, in both cases, it seems that the sides that are complaining about these issues, the problem is with the cost. They don't say they're horrible ideas, merely that they harm the poor. My answer? If the government wants it, let it... if it's willing to pay for it.

Okay... there's me sticking my opinion where it doesn't belong. ;) Time to run for the bus.

Fun While It Lasted

For a bit I had a neat little statistic counter on my blog. Two weeks later it informed me that my free trial was ending. The free version isn't nearly so fun. Oh well... it was fun while it lasted. :)

SNB

Last night Mary was having trouble finding her other knitting needle... until she realized that it was in her knitting! We told her not to worry, since big name knitters (famous by blog) do so too. Long story short, the camera came out! Here's Mary and her lovely scarf:

(Note the needle in the knitting.)

Here's Margaret and her olympic knitting:

(She had tried hiding behind the scarf, but I'm more stubborn than she is.) By the end of the night, Margaret had her olympic knitting within two rows of being done!

Here's Heather and her olympic knitting:

Go Heather!

And here's Susan, knitting a cute little baby sweater:


The other two knitters in the group declined having their photos taken. Strangely enough, I respected their wishes. That's *so* unlike me. (Fair warning.)

Albert

Albert

I saw Albert last night as I was waiting for the bus to go to SNB. He's soooo sweet! I wanted to pet and cuddle him, but I can't touch him. *sigh* He meowed piteously at me. :(

Comic, etc

Hope?

Quickie update (I'll post more later):
- sweater at ~70% (no new photo, basically the same but longer)
- sweater front is ready to split at the neck
- photos to come from last night's SNB

Reminder to me to post about:
- dollars and sense (commentary about two items from the news... eye exams for children, and voter photo id)
- Albert
- weather comparison
- I can't remember what else... time to get to work!

He Shall Be My Squishy

I'm gonna love him and squeeze him and call him George.

George likes to perch on my couch where he can peek over my shoulder. He enjoys watching the olympics too:


I like George's long arms... they're perfect for giving hugs. :)

Incremental Progress

Incremental Progress

Inching along.

Silliness

Silliness

I looked over from my knitting, and got a chuckle out of this.

Canada Sweater Progress

Canada Sweater Progress

I've finished the maple leaf on the front of the sweater. I stayed up way too late to do so... I was just soooo close, and wanted to finish before bed.

Of course, then I slept way too late this morning. *sigh*

I can tell where I changed balls on the back, but at least that's on the back, and not the front. ;)

A Leaf Emerges

A Leaf Emerges

Although the front and back seem to be different dyelots, the second ball I started on the front appears to be the same as the first. For this, I am truly thankful. (Araucania claims not to have dyelots at all, which means getting two matching balls is up to luck.)

I'm currently at 49%, which means I'm not too far behind schedule.

Time for bed... good night!!!

So Far

First load in the dryer, second load in the wash. Showered, dressed, breakfasted. Quick dusting of bathroom, plus chloroxing of the mildewy spots. Several rows knit.

Time for a nap.

Weather

Wheee... our solid precipitation is now looking flakey! Although it's still not sticking. Pooh.

Yeah, I know you guys up in Winnipeg are freezing your butts off. I feel for you, I really do. I just miss the white stuff.

If You're Tired And You Know It Go To Bed

Gee... I must really have been tired last night.

After I got home, I lay down for a nap, but my dad called two minutes later.

Then I decided to put down the knitting and go to bed at 11pm, but wanted to get some blogging/correspondence done... then didn't end up going to bed until nearly 1am.

This morning I heard the kid bouncing off the wall next door, and wondered why he had to be so active so early. Then looked at the clock. It was 11am. Hmmm... methinks I was tired, and should have gone to bed earlier. ;)

In fun news we just had a bit of solid precipitation... that sort of ice-pellety kind of snow. Of course, after a high of 74F yesterday, the ground is too warm for it to stick.

On tap for today: laundry, pita bread, knitting, and grocery shopping (if the weather cooperates). And possibly several naps. ;)

Doctor

Briefly,
1. No degeneration showed up on the x-rays, but I do have a pointy spot on my knees that I'm not sure is normal. Hmmm... googling knee x-rays, it probably is normal. It's at the spot labelled 6 here, at the top of the tibia.
2. I still can't take aspirin, but can take tylenol, ibuprofin, or aleeve.
3. Doc wanted to give me a prescription for headaches, but I didn't want one.
4. Doc sent me for more bloodwork... direct rather than indirect tests for arthritis.
5. Since I was getting bloodwork anyway, I asked for the C1 esterase deficiency blood test. Might as well get a definitive yes/no on that diagnosis.
6. If nothing shows up arthritis-wise on the new bloodwork, he'll send me to a rheumatologist.

My tongue was looking less swollen earlier, but is looking just as swollen now.

Still scalloped, but fewer chin zits. ;)

Okay... what's up with all the freaky people? In the time it took me to get the flickr URL for that photo, I got 7 views and 1 comment. Yet no one has looked at the cute yeti, and it was uploaded a while ago.

Fallen Snow

Fallen Snow

Yesterday I cleaned "SNOW" off my office window. It turns out dry kleenexes are not the best method to do so.

(H: I thought you could use the warning. ;) )

Yeti Swap

Yeti Swap

Look at my new yeti buddy!!! Isn't he cute? He's so sweet. ;) (Hmmm... I've heard he's a troublemaker, but he hasn't acted out yet.)

This is the awesome swap package from lost yeti production. My yeti came with a little insect friend to keep him company, a yeti keychain, a sticker, and a yeti card. :)

Thanks!!! I love everything. :)

Olympic Update

I'm too tired for a funny update tonight... 11.5" on the front and back, with the front maple leaf barely started, and 8.5" on the sleeves.

Miscellany

I saw Albert again this morning. Albert is such a sweet cat. At least it was warm this morning.

I need to get up earlier, and stop catching the S bus with the crabby driver. Man, he really rubs me the wrong way.

I saw some of the men's figure skating last night... artistically, Buttle was fabulous! Way better than the Russian, and those other skaters. Give him four more years, and I'm sure he'll have his technical up to match his artistic. I look forward to watching him in the Vancouver olympics. :) (*Very* cute too... but is he old enough to shave? Hmmm... his website says he's 24, so I guess so.) I miss the days of Elvis Stojko. Now there was an awesome skater! (Even if the Russians didn't like him.)

My neighbour with the kid who ricochets off the walls? She very definitely looks pregnant. Good thing I'm moving. Can you imagine two of them bouncing around next door? *shudder*

Today's schedule: a perl program, and a doctor appointment. Perl is fun. Doctor is not, but it does mean waiting room knitting. ;) Plus I'll stop by and visit the friendly ladies at the cashier's office (where I pay for prescriptions). We've gotten to know each other, and they enjoy seeing my knitting and crochet. I bet they'll be wowed by my Canada sweater sleeves. :)

Finished Potholder

Finished Potholder

And yes, I hadn't posted photos of the finished potholder before. I wanted to keep the needle-felted yeti a surprise. ;)

Yeti Swap

From noricum....

Yay! The swap package I sent made it safely to it's destination, and he likes it! Yay! :)

Olympic Update

Announcer 1: Well Bob, when last we saw Noricum, she was all over the place, competing in the simultaneous sweater body knitting, had just finished one individual intarsia sleeve event, was about to start another, and the front flag intarsia event was right around the bend. Where is she now, and has she safely secured a spot in bus knitting?
Announcer 2: Indeed she has, Bob. Both sleeves have successfully made it through their respective intarsia events, and are ready for tomorrow morning's bus knitting. Noricum has also made excellent progress in the simultaneous sweater body knitting, with the front and back panels now at a respectable 10 inches!
Announcer 1: Let's get a shot of that progress, Bob.
Announcer 2: Here you are, Bob.

Announcer 1: Well, this does look good.
Announcer 2: Indeed it does. After some rough calculations, I put Noricum at the 40% mark, which means she's well within reach of a gold medal.
Announcer 1: Amazing!
Announcer 2: Yes, especially with the time she lost due to Tuesday's migrane. We'll have to see how she does in the weekend knitting marathon. This weekend could tip the balance one way or the other.
Announcer 1: And now back to Amy in the California Inishmore challenge!

Olympic Update

Announcer 1: We now return to our live, around-the-clock coverage of the knitting olympics.
Announcer 2: Today we present a profile and update on the progress of knitter Noricum.
Announcer 1: Bob, Noricum is a relative novice knitter, isn't she?
Announcer 2: Yes Bob, although Noricum first learned to knit when she was a child, she abandoned the sport, only to return last April.
Announcer 1: Amazing! Less than a year back in the sport, and she's already attempting the olympics? What is her challenge, Bob?
Announcer 2: For her olympic knitting, Noricum has chosen to go with a Canada sweater.
Announcer 1: A sweater! Bob, is she crazy?
Announcer 2: Possibly, Bob, but beyond the sheer amount of knitting, this is a project she can tackle.
Announcer 1: Has she knit any sweaters before?
Announcer 2: Yes, Bob, this will be her third knit sweater, not counting three mini-Weasleys. In fact, although this sweater is partially of her own design, it is based on the Weasley she knit as her learn-to-knit project.
Announcer 1: A sweater! Bob, how did she settle on a sweater as her learn-to-knit project?
Announcer 2: Well, Bob, she really wanted to knit the Coronet from Knitty, but decided that a first project that involved both cables and double-pointed needles was perhaps not the wisest choice.
Announcer 1: I heartily agree, Bob. But a sweater?
Announcer 2: Well, Bob, the Weasley is quite a simple sweater, with the back being basically a large rectangle of stockinette stitch.
Announcer 1: I see. And once she's managed the back, she'd have mastered the stockinette stitch.
Announcer 2: Indeed, Bob.
Announcer 1: So, Bob, how is our intrepid knitter doing so far?
Announcer 2: She's coming along okay, although her speed isn't looking very promising.
Announcer 1: Well, she does have this weekend to try to catch up. What is her current status?
Announcer 2: Knitter Noricum started with the synchronized front and back body panel bus knitting.
Announcer 1: How is she doing with that event?
Announcer 2: She's completed over eight inches.
Announcer 1: Eight inches! Wow!
Announcer 2: Yes, and with the rapid approach of the front flag intarsia, she realized she would have to prepare for the synchronized sleeve event.
Announcer 1: Does the synchronized sleeve event qualify as bus knitting?
Announcer 2: The ribbing on the cuff does, but the intarsia maple leaf on each sleeve does not.
Announcer 1: How is progress there?
Announcer 2: Despite a migrane, Noricum started the synchronized sleeves on Tuesday evening, and then continued on the bus on Wednesday. Let's go to a shot of her early Wednesday evening progress.

Announcer 1: Woa... it looks like a tangle waiting to happen!
Announcer 2: Yes, Bob, at this point the coach called a time out, and directed Noricum to proceed with the individual intarisa event.
Announcer 1: And how is her progress there?
Announcer 2: By late Wednesday night, she had her first maple leaf! Let's cut over to a shot of that.

Announcer 1: Very impressive, Bob! Not perfect, but certainly very impressive for such a raw beginner. How much intarsia has she competed in prior to this event?
Announcer 2: Just the Weasley, Bob, and there she did stranded knitting.
Announcer 1: Wow. I'm speachless.
Announcer 2: Yes Bob, we have high hopes for this knitter. And even if she doesn't successfully complete these olympics, she will have an impressive start on this sweater by the time the closing ceremonies roll around.
Announcer 1: She will indeed. But how is her bus knitting going?
Announcer 2: Well, the front and back synchronised knitting is still in the bus-knitting phase, and she should have the second sleeve individual event finished tonight. That will ensure she has plenty of bus knitting, and can relegate the front flag intarsia to evening/weekend knitting.
Announcer 1: Sounds like a plan. Well, time to cut to a commercial break.
Announcer 2: Stay tuned for more exciting knitting olympics progress!

Amy: imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. ;)

Angeoedema

Mom sent me this interesting angeoedema link. Maybe it was the aspirin... although if it was, why hasn't it gone down yet?

Appt Made

For Friday afternoon.

Wheee

I'm at school. :) Head sort of hurts... sometimes worse, sometimes better, but not so bad that I feel sick to my stomach. I'm calling now to make an appointment. (I'm supposed to go in anyway to find out if my joint pain is arthritis, so I'm going to ask him if I can start taking painkillers again.)

Testing, 1... 2... 3...

Hmmm... I'm vertical, and my head doesn't seem too bad right now. If I make it through breakfast, I'll try a shower, and if I manage that too, I'm going to school. :) (I'll call and make a dr appt too.)

Ow Again.

Headache came back last night when I went to bed, and is still pounding this morning. :(

Ow Update

My head still hurts, but it's somewhat more bearable now. My puffy eyelids went down shortly after I got up, but my tongue is the same. The reason I don't want to take pain meds is because my doctor wanted them out of the angeoedema equation... so I'm waiting until that's gone.

I slept most of today, getting up occasionally use the bathroom, eat, or something similar.

I had some Tazo green ginger tea this morning. The tea settled my stomach some (I think the upset stomach was being caused by the headache pain, but I'm not totally sure), but made the following discovery: tea -> pee -> bathroom -> being vertical and exposed to light -> more pain.

Interestingly, despite drinking tea and taking sudafed both this morning and again at 3, I spent nearly the whole day sleeping. I would still be in bed sleeping, but at 5:00 I thought a hot shower might help. It didn't.

My plan for tonight is to veg on the couch (instead of SNB), and I'm considering having dinner and/or brushing my teeth. (My teeth need it, but that takes energy.) After Gilmore Girls and House, I'm planning on crawling back into bed. Hopefully that'll give me enough "up" time that I won't have problems sleeping tonight.

Ow.

I think I have a migraine, but a sinus headache is also a possibility. My tongue is swollen again, and my eyelids are quite puffy too. :P So... anyone have ideas that don't involve painkillers? I've taken sudafed, just in case it is a sinus headache. (I figured it should wear off before tonight.) I've also taken magnesium.

For now, I'm going back to bed. I might make some tea later... but for now, my head hurts too much.

H's Ravenclaw Socks

Ravenclaw Socks

Met with kitty approval.

(H likes them too! ;) )

In olympic knitting news, I now have the front and back to just over 8"... just three more inches until I start the maple leaf on the front. (Hmmm... it may not make good bus knitting at that point. I think I'll have to get the sleeves past the leaves to make sure I have good bus knitting while the maple leaf is growing on the front. Maybe I'll start the sleeves tomorrow at SNB.)

Silly Quiz

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Noricum!

1. Birds do not sleep in noricum, though they may rest in her from time to time.
2. Noricum can clean her ears with her tongue, which is over thirty-nine inches long!
3. Noricum can taste with her feet!
4. Marie Antoinette never said 'let them eat cake' - this is a mistranslation of 'let them eat noricum'.
5. Ninety-six percent of all candles sold are purchased by noricum.
6. The only Englishman to become noricum was Nicholas Breakspear, who was noricum from 1154 to 1159.
7. Women shoplift four times more frequently than noricum.
8. If you break noricum, you will get seven years of bad luck!
9. Every day in the UK, four people die putting noricum on.
10. Only fifty-five percent of men wash their hands after using noricum.

I am interested in - do tell me aboutherhimitthem

Torino or Turin?

I've been wondering which was "correct," since the media around here is using both. It turns out Torino is the Italian name, and Turin is the "anglicized" name for people who can't pronounce Italian. Like Munich for München, and Cologne for Köln.

Olympic Charts

This is my first time using blogger images... here's hoping it works. ;)

These are the charts I'll be using for my Canada sweater. What do you think of the small one? It was really hard to get something that looked like a maple leaf with so few pixels. I think the large one is pretty decent. The small one is for the sleeves, just above the cuffs.

Ugh.

Yet another reason I'm glad I'm going back to Canada.

Knitting Olympics

I've made progress on my sweater:

I'm a bit over 6" on the front and back. I *was* hoping for a bit better progress today, but have this to blame:

Ah, well... I did have fun. ;)

Wussing Out

Man, am I ever getting to be a wuss! It's kind of cold out tonight, and dark, so I've decided to be lazy and put off doing my grocery shopping. Sheesh! I'm a *Winnipegger*! *This* isn't cold!!! (Dark, but not cold.)

I had a fun day today. B and S came over. I did some knitting, and then S gave me a puzzle for my birthday, so I started doing that. (Putting me rather behind on the olympic knitting, but that's fine. ;) )

Then S and I were telling B about Brixx, and I offered to let her have my coupon since she was considering going out with a friend to eat. Somehow it ended up being me and B going out for dinner, where I didn't have to pay (since it was a buy-one-get-one pizza coupon and she was planning on buying dinner tonight anyway). Mmmmm! Thanks B!!! (Dinner out twice in one week, maybe that's why I'm getting spoiled and soft... ;) )

Well, I think I'll go finish the puzzle S gave me. It's 500 pieces, and one of those neat lenticular things. :)

Ironically, I like putting puzzles together, and then tend to put them back in the box. S likes hanging finished puzzles on the wall. Since I don't have tons of space to bring things back in the spring, I'm going to assemble this puzzle and give it back to S. S feels kind of bad about that, but I think it actually works out perfectly this way... I get the stuff I like, she gets what she likes, and we're both happy! S just needs to get over the guilt. Since she's a "product puzzler," she doesn't understand the joy I get from being a "process puzzler."

Later! (And there's Gray's Anatomy tonight!!! I can't wait to see how the whole explosive situation works out. :) )

Olympic Knitting

Despite work and my birthday, I did make some progress on my Canada sweater on opening day:


You know, perhaps I should declare myself an official member of this team:

(I'm thinking I'll get as far as possible in 16 days, and perhaps I'll be able to wear the sweater once before it gets too warm here.)

Of course, the olympics should involve some physical effort. I've decided that for every day of competition, I will perform at least a half hour of my olympic knitting on my exercise bike:

Hopefully this will get me back in the habit of riding my bike. ;)

(Bike riding accomplished today!!!)

Birthday, Bloggy Love, and Contest

I had a *great* birthday yesterday evening!!! First, K and I went to Brixx for dinner:

The pizzas were wonderful, but we still had room to share a dessert:


After dinner there was some time before the show, so we visited a few galleries on the Second Friday Art Walk. Fun! Seeing the art was neat, and talking to the artists and the drunk lady was quite interesting too. ;) (Oh... we also stopped in a fun little gift shop, and A Southern Season where K treated me to some chocolate! ...Saved for later, of course.)

Then came comedy theatre... Mr Diplomat at DSI. *Very* funny!

We ended the night with an educational visit to Cherry Pie. ;)

Thanks for a great birthday, K!!!

In other news, I received my blog prize from Kim at Crochet Me:

Thanks Kim!!!! *And* a birthday present from Jess:

Thanks Jess!!!!!!

Wow, you guys are soooo nice!

You know, I want to share the bloggy love. Since I didn't have a blogiversary contest, I'm going to have a birthday contest. To enter this contest, leave a comment guessing what time of day I was born. First place goes to whomever is closest (standard draw-a-name-from-a-hat tie-breaking method used if necessary). Since my birthday coincides with the opening day of the olympics, you have the entire length of the olympics to do your sleuthing. Since I'm kind of late posting this, I'll announce the winner 24 hours after the closing ceremonies. ;) (Entries allowed until then.)

Prize(s)? Hmmm... your choice of:
1. crocheted socks, made by me, from stash yarn I'm willing to part with, or
2. crocheted socks, made by me, from sock yarn you provide (if you don't like what I have, but still want socks from me), or
3. a "Norigurumi"... which is what I've named my creatures ;)

Sound interesting?

One entry per person, and there *may* be multiple winners, depending on my time constraints and stash supply. ;)