Here's hoping...

That this year doesn't fly by too quickly--I'm thoroughly sick of holiday knitting. So much so, in fact, that the latest acquisition of Wool Ease Thick & Quick -- originally intended for use as holiday 2010 knitting (hats!) -- will be used in a multicolored vest for ME, dammit. I actually need some practice knitting an item larger than a cowl, that has some shaping (armholes, neckline), in order to get a handle on these parts of sweater knitting before I start on Plaidman's sweater. He & I looked through The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns by Ann Budd, to see & discuss the possibilities. I have never knit a sweater, so I'm looking for one that will have simple construction with minimal shaping, but that will still allow me to throw in some cables (he likes cables, and I can do cables!). I have a large pile of Blue Sky Alpaca Silk, in three shades of green. No, his sweater will not be plaid. I am so intimidated by the idea of sweater knitting! But it is the main reason I wanted to learn to knit, along with knitted lace, and of course socks, oh and don't forget shawls....shoot, if it can be knit, I want to knit it!
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Some time ago, I was on Ravelry in one of the forums, reading a thread & noticed that Debbie Stoller had an entry in the thread. Well, Debbie's book Stitch 'N Bitch was my ticket to Knitterhood -- she taught me to knit! And I have been so pleased & grateful, I just had to send her a message saying so. I wouldn't care at all if she didn't respond, I just had to let her know how much it meant to me to be able to do all these neat tricks with string & sticks. But she did respond! And very graciously, too. I suspect she may be a really nice gal, so if you haven't read her books, please do. She's also launching a line of moderately priced natural-blend yarns, of which there are three currently available. One is a wool & acrylic, another is alpaca & acrylic, and the 3rd is bamboo blend. I haven't seen or fondled them yet, but I intend to look for them the next time I'm yarn shopping.
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Ok, now the bad news: Plaidman has been laid off. Thanks to the stimulus package, he'll get a little more $ each week than he would normally have gotten. And he's still a non-smoker, so he's saving a lot of money there. Of course, the reason he's a non-smoker is his development of heart-related problems, for which he has to take lots of expensive medication--and he has other medical issues, again requiring expensive medication. But hey, he doesn't snore as loudly as he used to! I noticed that within days of him quitting--now I think I may be a louder sleeper than he is!
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Well, I have somewhere else I need to be pretty soon, so TTFN!

Sooo nerdy...

My Category: Quetzalcoatl
-= click to take @ NerdTests.com =-

Nearly clean plate

*** Delayed due to aggravation, this post is now about six weeks late getting online -- better late than never? ***THIS IS MY 5OTH POST! I'm still working on ONE LAST X-Mas gift for a coworker. I'd gathered together all the accessories I'd knitted, and realized that I actually had enough for all the coworkers, & carried them to the office. I blithely handed out one to each, and let a few take more than one (I had extras!!). It was only later that I realized I'd forgotten to give one to BH! Drat! So I still have that in progress, as well as the last pair of slippers mentioned in the previous post. Now, one pair of the finished slippers were supposed to be for my niece, so I'll need to finish the last pair as her size. It may be a while before I do that. I'm still stuck on making cowls! and I went back to Michael's for more (a LOT more!) of the Wool-Ease Thick & Quick, which is just super for cowls. I joined a cowls group in Ravelry. I may be sliding into an addiction here....but it's so satisfying to complete a project in just a few hours of work. And I've been able to use my new toy, a Christmas gift from the Plaidman: a manually operated ball winder! Another fun gadget, and many more Brownie points for the Plaidman! Last summer, I stopped into Big Lots just to see if they might have some yarn. They had Moonlight Mohair and Lion Suede, for $1.50 a ball--so a lot of that came home with me! I'm making BH's cowl from the Moonlight Mohair (actually, this is her "other" cowl: all the other coworkers got to pick out their gift from a selection, so I'd like BH to have the same opportunity), after trying it in an easy lace pattern worked on the needles suggested in the pattern. That first one turned out to be a bit snugger than what I think BH would like, but I learned that a) I need to use a bigger needle and b) I can cast on enough for another repeat of the pattern and c)the pattern as written takes more than one ball of MMohair. So I'm working it in one Main Color (Sahara) with two Contrast Colors used as narrow stripes (Purple Mountains & Everglades). It's AWESOME!! No pics yet, but as soon as it's finished I'll snap some. I got shots of the cowls, which I had fun editing too. So I thought I'd just sprinkle them throughout this post, which will definitely slow down the posting--Blogger on dial-up, can't go fast!
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In other news, the Plaidman is still a non-smoker! This makes me so happy, I'm not at all sure you want to see how happy I am. But I'm a little ashamed too: I've been meaning to use fabric refresher in his car, to get the smoke smell out, but just haven't found the time and will coinciding. Now it's full dark outside, and we have feral cats out there..I ain't about to go out there! DiscoDame is still living on borrowed time (& money & shelter...),i.e. living at home with the folks & sucking the very life out of us -- Situation Normal. She went to a shower for a friend's second (illegitimate) child, which was held at a buffet where you have to pay to get into the dining area. Yes, in addition to paying for a present, or in her case a whole sackful of presents. This is the same friend who feels free to call on her as an unpaid babysitter for the first child. This friend doesn't seem to realize that any funds DiscoDame has are derived from her parents' paychecks! I've expressed my indignation to DD, and suggested several times that she should ask for $ whenever she cares for the kiddo--she might not get it, but it would send a message to ask!
What's really funny: Miss Friend works for WalMart, and put her baby on their gift registry! Like we're all gonna go buy her a bunch of stuff she could get with an employee discount. She also put Baby2 on the Target registry; I think DiscoDame bought her gifts there. But for heaven's sake, how nervy can a gal get? First off, a baby shower for a second child -- used to be considered gauche, since one presumably hung onto the goodies from Baby1's shower. I know, nowadays every baby gets a shower; they're all special, etc. Next, hosting the shower herself--is DD her only friend or relation that cares enough to have a shower? 18 people showed up to celebrate (mostly family--maybe DD is her only friend!); could not one of those folk be persuaded to host a party? And the most galling offence has to be holding this shindig at a venue requiring payment to enter. That's just too much. Whatever happened to getting together at a friend's/relative's home, just a dozen or so folks, hosted by the homeowner with basic cake & ice cream, mints & nuts for nibbles, on paper plates with plastic dinnerware?
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Well, I thought I'd put pics in this post, but Blogger isn't doing that at all, sorry! I will save this in draft & try again another time.

Still here.

Very busy; Christmas knitting in progress. Can't say much about it yet, but progress is being made. Found some relatively quick & easy patterns, plan to repeat as needed. The progress so far: 5 completed hats, 3 neckwarmers done & 1 well started, 4 pairs slippers knitted & 1 in progress -- these will need to have nonskid coating on the bottoms. I think 3 more neckwarmers will fill the bill for the coworkers' gifts. I have gone back on my idea of using the Moonlight Mohair for the neckwarmers, since the patterns I'm using call for chunky yarn. I found Wool Ease Thick & Quick on sale, & bought two balls each of six colors -- they were just about half price, so it's a good deal. Good news/bad news:The Plaidman still doesn't smoke; DiscoDame still doesn't have a job. Anyone out there need a web designer?

Thanksgiving traditions

I'm not expecting guests, and I'm on vacation. So why am I cleaning house? It may be part of my upbringing (thanks, Mom!) that major holidays are always preceded by lots of housework. One of the projects I've tackled is going through the stacks of paperwork that the Plaidman has accumulated. So far I've been through 5 stacks of old & new bills, trying to find the most current versions. No wonder we've been plagued by creditor calls; there's no system for keeping current. The Plaidman would just put mail down on whatever surface was handy, and add to that stack until it fell over. I've thrown out no fewer than five 4-gallon trash bags of just the envelopes (most were unopened!) and ads enclosed with various bills; anything with names & address & account numbers will be shredded first -- provided I find the power cord for the shredder. [quik check: anyone else thinking of The Shredder from TMNT?] I think I should take over the mailbag duties, and institute a system for keeping track of what's currently due. Things might not get paid, but at least we'll know where to find the bill!
I have been working on holiday knitting for the folks at work, and I've come to the conclusion that I need to transfer to a smaller department! So far, I've got 3 finished hats + 2 in progress, 4 pairs of slippers + 1 pair in progress, and just need 6 more items to fill the bill! I believe I'll work up some neckwarmers -- they look pretty quick to knit. I got a slough of Moonlight Mohair from the Big Lots store (I think I paid $1.50/ball--woot!), which would likely make some nice gaiters.
Actually, I want to keep the MM but bought it for the purpose of gifting, so I'll follow through on my intentions. Le sigh. No rest for the weary! So I'd better get off the computer & back to work. Happy Thanksgiving, give your folks a hug for me!

Did I win?

I was just over on The Student Knitter (studentknitter.blogspot.com), and want to win her first giveaway--so! If you want to win some yarn, go check out her 100th post for entries.
I haven't been on the innerwebs for a while, due to some computer problems, and I'm sooooo glad to be able to get back online! The Plaid Patrol has been frantic for access to the web, for the past two weeks. Which is only half as long as Plaidman has been an ex-smoker!! Yes, friends, he's done really well with the over-the-counter smoking cessation aid, much better than he did with the prescriptions he'd tried. I truly believe he got a bad scare about his heart, and that changed his attitude about the smoking. I lost my mother to the effects of smoking more than ten years ago; her lung cancer was found incidentally to treatment of her heart problems. Ever since, DiscoDame & I have been after the Plaidman to quit.
Speaking of DiscoDame..have I mentioned that she's finished her courses at the junior college, and now has an Associate degree in Computer Science? I have a college grad living in my home! but not contributing to the household economy! God only knows when she will......
We're getting ready to go the washomat, & Plaidman has a button that needs to be reattached before we go. No rest for the weary!
Sure hope I win that yarn!

Home again, home again

I'm ba-a-ack! The Plaid Patrol returned to base this past Wednesday, from the great state of Texas. We were there almost a week! ALL of us! My poor sister, bless her, mortgaged the farm (practically!) at WalMart just to feed us all. She had her troop (BIL & the nieces two), the Plaid Patrol (Plaidman, Boss Lady & DiscoDame) and the patriarch himself (aka Pup) for dinner Thursday thru Saturday. Pup left for San Antonio after breakfast Sunday; he was a little antsy about leaving Mrs. W alone for so long. We didn't play tourist, but boyoboy DiscoDame (chronological age 26, going on 7) sure did play with her cousins! The three of them were joined at the hip almost the whole time. This gave Sis some time to get a few things done, since she didn't have to entertain the 4 year old (aka Princess T). So we sorta vegetated...which may be just what we needed. The Plaidman smoked his VERY LAST cigarette while backing the car out of the driveway, on the way to the airport! He'd equipped himself with some Commit lozenges; he's officially been a non-smoker for 8 days now! Start the fireworks! Well, maybe not. The nieces weren't too sure what to make of Uncle Plaidman; he wasn't saying much since he had a lozenge in his mouth most of the time, and was trying to keep his hands busy by working on a crossword puzzle book. He got his props though: Sis found a toy castle she'd bought years ago for the older girl, that had never been assembled--but Uncle Plaidman got to work & soon the girls had a second castle playset! That same afternoon one of Sis' clients came by the house for a treatment, with her own two little (about 3 yrs & 5 yrs) girls in tow. The five girls (you're keeping up? no? ok, two nieces 4 & 11, two visitors 3 & 5, and DiscoDame!) were all on the floor playing. How cute!
Probably the most interesting part of the visit, for me, was going to Sis' salon for a treatment. She's got a skin care salon, which is so tiny that it looks like a large closet with it's own exterior entrance. I have visible capillaries, and she treated them with a tiny electric current. There was a little pain, but I can definitely see a difference. And this is one of the few "defects" in my appearance that I've always thought I'd do something about if I had the money--only I didn't need money! Sis said she normally charges about $300 (US) for the treatment I got, for free. Next time I visit, we'll treat a few more of 'em.
Monday, Sis & the nieces carried the Plaid Patrol down to San Antonio, where we met up with Pup. Then we all went to El Mercado/Market Square, and had a terrific lunch at Mi Tierra, followed by a cruise through the Market (shopping!!) and then Sis & her family went back to Austin. Pup took the Plaid Patrol back to his house, where we all went back to vegetable mode. Tuesday, Pup & I visited with Mrs. W, then he went back to his house (two doors away!), collected the rest of the Plaid Patrol & his car, and we all went out to the Olive Garden for lunch. After lunch, we went to the San Antonio Shoe factory outlet, which is a fun destination even if you're not shoe shopping. They have a little "country store" & gift shop within the outlet, and outside they've got a fabulous collection of antique cars & trucks. I'm wearing my new shoes right now...and Plaidman wore his to work yesterday & today. DiscoDame got some nice black sandals, sort of semi-dressy. I have no idea why she thought she needed them. Anyway, we dropped Mrs. W at her home & pretty much returned to slumping, with intermittent packing. Wednesday saw us out the door by about 7:15 to catch a flight just after 10 a.m., and here we are all safe at home.