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Monday, September 28, 2015

The birthday

I've survived another year.  And I am so d**n silly sometimes.  At the Box O'Docs, I'm in the coding department.  This used to be part of a larger department, we had about 22 people all told.  My current supervisor had this whole department, which had several functions.  Then it got broken up, and now she only supervises the coders -- much better for her!  Anyway, the former big department still invites the coders to participate in their fun activities; it's always been one of the best-fed groups in the company!  And they celebrate birthdays big time, putting crepe paper buntings and mylar banners and balloons in the celebrants' cubicles.  Well, I'm a nut and sometimes not as observant as I could be, and I had gotten the impression that all this decorating was occurring the Monday before the actual birthday so it could be enjoyed all week.  The Monday before my birthday I did not find my cubicle decorated.  I fretted a bit, just a bit.  Tuesday, still no decorations.  I began to get upset, to the point that had trouble going to sleep that night.  Wednesday, still no %^$#@& decorations.  I began to get a little steamed.  Then I wondered if maybe only the Big Dept personnel were getting the gala treatment, and finally decided that must be the case.  So I went home and didn't think of it again, and when I showed up for work Thursday my cubicle was covered in birthday stuff.  My supervisor brought over a vase of flowers and a cardboard tiara and a great handful of Mardi Gras beads.  I put on the beads and tiara, and worked happy.  When I got home my photographer took some decent pics.
I took off the Mardi Gras beads, the very snug blouse & cami, changed to a more comfortable knit tee, and opened my presents: The Rowan Pure Wool Worsted Collection pattern book, and Debbie Bliss magazine issue 15.  And then, we went out!  Plaidman had told the ladies at Bliss Yarns that he'd try to bring me by, so we went there first.  I got some more presents!  I now have blocking wires! Woot!  And I got a lot of DK weight yarn, for two projects.  And yes, I was still wearing the tiara.  So next we went over to the Greek Deli (very original name..) and the fellahs behind the counter looked like deer in the headlights when they saw the tiara.  It was so fun.  So this is a birthday to remember.

Sunday, September 27, 2015

Unwinding

        That's pretty much all I've done today.  Sorry, the Workday Outfits update will have to wait 'till tomorrow.  I had today off work, after working a half day yesterday.  And after work, I rolled on home for lunch, then the Plaid Patrol headed for the Tennessee Crafts Fair.  I did walk around past about 70% of the booths, with stops as available to sit & rest.  None of us bought any handcrafted items.  I think the Plaidman was determined to rein in any more spending on birthday swag for me!
            Which is totally cool, since we made a stop at Bliss Yarns on my birthday -- and I got nine stamps on my discount card!  I am the delighted owner of a set of sweater blockers from Fiber Fantasy, nine balls of Rowan Pure Wool Superwash DK, 3 balls of Cascade Yarns Roslyn (also DK), and a ball of Lana Gatto Super Soft which looks very close to UT orange.  All this was pretty close to $200.00.  And my yarn buying moratorium is officially over.  As to why it's all DK weight: I did go through my yarn stash as I was clearing it from the closet, and saw that I had lots of lace weight, fingering, worsted, and bulky yarns -- but no double knit weight at all.  And I actually bought all these yarns with specific projects in mind!  Not my usual method, which is to go pet lots of yarn and buy a bunch of the most appealing.
         Well, I've got to finish this.  I'm working 6 days next week, and probably will for about a month.  ICD-10 is just around the corner, and all our coders are being pressed for 50 hours weekly.  I sure hope it's only for a month.

Monday, September 21, 2015

Not quite an ordeal

One thing we did Sunday that was both pitiful and funny:  We gave each of the cats a bath!  Miss Hinky Boo went first, and she was very well-behaved.  She got a tiny bit antsy at about the 4 minute mark (suds have to stay on for 5 minutes), but as she was very securely held (thank you, Plaidman!) she couldn't escape.  After the dreaded rinse, she was wrapped in a towel and carried out to the 2nd storey deck to dry -- which probably upset her more than the bath itself!  She's not keen on outside.  Then it was TomTom's turn through the bath, rinse, wrap & out to the deck.  Normally he appears to grow another 4 legs when he's bathed, but he too was surprisingly calm.  Hinky got about 1/2 dry -- just her front half, that is -- and demanded to be let back inside!  And of course she sought comfort in her Mommy's lap; good thing I hadn't changed out of my "cat-handling" clothes.  I was pinned to the couch for a good hour, trying to dry her back end with an old T-shirt.  My, but she's a pretty thing when she's all clean and fluffy. 

Sunday, September 20, 2015

The 300

This is my 300th post.  I've updated the Challenge page, for anyone still looking at it.  I had planned to dress up as a pirate yesterday for ITLAPD, but got super busy in the craft room instead.  The big hat would have been in the way...Anyway, the closet got emptied, the second set of shelves are now about 70% full, and I still have to find a way to get the rest of the yarn put up there.  But I did get to sort through everything that was in the closet, and found a dozen small WIPs!  Most were in either shopping bags or small paper bags, so they were completely under cover.  Now they're all in clear bags, some zippered and some Zip-Loc.  So the pressure is on!
I bound off the Jadeite Color Affection!  and I love it so, even if the top edge is awfully tight.  I have learned how to make such an edge looser & softer, so if I frog the first one & redo it I'll have a nicer edge.
There are now 12 Fuzzhog pelts in blue, white and gold, ready for stuffing & seaming.  I've started another two (I work the faces two at a time, then work one little body at a time.)  So, once these two and 6 more are ready for stuffing, I'll go into assembly line mode & get them knocked out.  These are for Miss A's cheer squad, and they are already late... oh well.

Monday, September 14, 2015

Another day

But not just any day...it's Monday.  I bound off the Jadeite Color Affection on Saturday!  Now it just needs a bath & blocking, plus weaving in a few ends.  Note to self: read a lot of the comments on Ravelry before starting a project!!  I am so disappointed by the tight top edge to this shawl, and so many other Ravelers have commented on it as well.  Thankfully, some of them came up with solutions! So, I've decided that the Honey Color Affection really ought to be frogged & reworked with one of the solutions from Ravelry.  Also in the larger needle size -- and with the rows that somehow got left out the first time I knit it.  Sheesh. 
I did add to the Workday Outfits Challenge page; you'll have to scroll down to the bottom.  Disco & I need to work out how to add distinct posts to this page -- maybe I should be posting in the main page, then copying to the other page?  I am so not tech savvy. 

Friday, September 11, 2015

Took a quiz

Yeah, my cousin's on Facebook, and she likes a lot of the silly quizzes/polls that tell you your spirit animal (I'm an eagle) or what you'd be if you lived in Middle Earth (I'm a hobbit).  So good to know these things.
We haven't set up the chromed shelving yet, but I did make some progress on clearing out some of the "stuff" in the craft room.  I'll do a little more in there tonight, and through the week as the spirit moves me, so that during the long weekend ahead we can get serious with the shelves.

About every blue moon...

I find something I like in the Avon catalog.  And I found a couple of winners!  The Avon Lady just brought over my order for 1 each of goldtone and silvertone 36" chain necklaces.  I unwrapped them, and I'm very happy to say that they look great!  I will be adding these to the "art installation" this evening. 
We're having a lot of outage issues with Xfinity from Comcast -- it crashed & burned halfway through the first quarter of the Steelers game last night!!  I'm kinda ticked off at Comcast.  I'd nominate them for a Raspberry.

Monday, September 7, 2015

Le sigh . . I need two more days

We made a serious dent in the work to be done in the craft room.  I now have two chrome shelving units installed!  We had to empty several boxes of general "stuff" that had found its way in there, which took most of the day Sunday.  Finding permanent places for all that stuff required some rearranging of the medium sized bookcase in the living room, plus sorting through a ton of paper that had to be trashed, shredded or stored.  And then there was the gathering of all my knitting books, knitting magazines, crochet books & other crafty printed materials; and putting them all away on the big bookshelf in the craft room.  The Plaidman built that bookcase himself, with an especially tall lowest shelf that would hold oversize books and magazines.  That shelf is about 80% full, as are the next two above it.  I found books I'd forgotten I had.  I took some videos, but as they're too big to load I'll have to do some editing.  Anyway, I was able to corral some of the clutter in there by putting my big & medium translucent crates on the shelving.  Most of the mess is now just along one wall, where I'd like to put the desk.  But I will need more time than I have left this weekend; in fact, I've got to hit the hay now.  Goodnight, all!