Can you hear me now?

Our internet access is borked, only operating intermittently -- which means when the tech guy gets here it'll likely be working just fine.  This stuff has been going on since Thursday (? I think, it's kinda hard to keep track of the days when your calendar is inoperative...) and today is the first opportunity for a tech visit.  I was so excited about it that I actually vacuumed yesterday.  I guess I'll clean the kitchen today....
I'm still banging away on the EZ 100th Anniversary Camping Half-Circle shawl, now in the Willow Leaves lace portion.  I need to get another picture.  I'm pretty sure I'll have some yarn left over, but probably not enough for a little hat.
I can still watch DVDs on the 'puter; I watched four hours of a current favorite series (VIKINGS!!) on Saturday.  I love this show!  The casting is wonderful, the costumes are wonderful, the storyline is fabulous -- if you're watching tell me how many times you've wanted to smack Rollo upside the head and ask him just WTF is his problem.  But please don't leave me any spoilers, I'm only on season 2.  And of course we're still watching GOT, gotta see it even though last week's episode just broke my heart.  Even the Plaidman thought it was about the saddest thing he'd ever seen on a TV show.
Well, I just wanted to let y'all know that we're still alive.  If we get access back on a regular basis, I'll have a Workday Outfits update later.

Throw me a line

I have been AWOL from the blog for a bit, still recovering from a sinus infection and just generally not wanting to spend any more time on the computer after working on one all day.  But the past few days have been short due to the weather, so I'm not quite wiped out this evening.  I updated one week of the Challenge, if you're interested or even if you're not -- how the heck would I know?  But I can say I'm already celebrating a more meaningful Valentine's Day this year.  My sweetheart, The Plaidman, has installed an extra step in front on the entrance to the front porch, so I don't have to struggle to get up on the porch every night.  He's also gathered the materials & tools he needs to install another bar in the master bath, to make it easier for me to get in & out of the tub.  I expect that task will be undertaken this weekend, and I'm really looking forward to having that extra support in there.
My doctor's office tried to get me enrolled in a patient advocate program, that would pay part of my treatment, but alas I make too much money.  So, I'm facing some large medical bills.  But I will file with the other policy, which pays me the $, and use that for the bills I have.  If there's any leftover, I'll put it in the special savings acct set up for medical co-pays & deductibles, that I've got from my employer.  Then maybe I won't have this issue next year.  That's the plan, anyway; but you know and I know that plans have a way of unraveling.
I am still slowly working on the Allotrope Cowl, which will certainly not be done before winter ends.  That's ok, I'm fine with putting it into the long range planning box (aka Christmas knitting!).  I'd still like to finish my capelet, but I will be good and stick with the cowl.  The other knitterly stuff I want to do is finishing:  I have two Color Affection shawls that need to be blocked.

Busy and not

I thought I would be working this Saturday, but we're caught up in coding, so I took the day off.  Woot!  We went out -- on this rainy chilly windy day -- to High Meadows Alpaca Farm in Leiper's Fork.  The first thing I did there was to buy a chullo, because my hair was braided back and my ears were f-f-freezing!  Of course, I didn't get any pictures of it until we were in the car on the way home:

Car Selfies!

It made the visit a lot more pleasant.  We (Disco & I) did manage to get one alpaca to come right up to the fence, after the owner gave us her name.  And isn't that just the cutest thing, that she knows her name!  Meet Cinderella, a lovely chocolate color alpaca, and her two nameless buds:

Oh, their faces are so darn cute!  Got these little mop-tops, and big eyes beneath.  

"Don't hate me because I'm beautiful."

These two ladies had been shopping, and had an alpaca figure covered, of course, in alpaca hair -- and Cinderella wanted to check it out.

When the rain started getting serious, the alpacas in the meadow came down to the shed -- and that tall fella there is a llama, likely their big defender and leader.  I got a lot of video of several more of these cuties, but my vids are all too big for Blogger use.  

I went shopping too!  I have a large skein of bronze alpaca lace weight, and two small balls of bronze alpaca & wool fingering.  I had a brilliant idea that I could make a bronze chain for my Halloween costume, out of I-cord links of one or both of these bronzey yarns!  Quicker than knitting a shawl, and certainly lighter in weight than actual bronze chains.  If only I liked making I-cord...hmm, come to think of it, I've got a spool knitter that would make it a little quicker still.  That's the ticket.

Oh, BTW, the Weekday Outfits Challenge page has been updated.  I gotta figure out a way to make separate posts on that page, or maybe put all that stuff on a separate blog?  There doesn't seem to be an easy way to post there like posting here.  

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.

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. 

20% Done

One fifth of the 250 Workday Outfits Challenge is done.  I've updated the Challenge page with pics.  So, can we talk about something else?  You know how it is, your life is ok, nothing fantastic but ok and you're fine with that, then it seems like the wheels start falling off.  This week, that is literally what happened!  No, not on the car...on the dishwasher's top tray.  So all week we've only had half  a dishwasher, and that condition will continue until the new part arrives.  And it is such a trial!!  I couldn't get the roomies to load, run and unload the thing daily as it was,  To think we used to live completely without one for years & years; I'm so aggravated at the moaning & groaning over using the dishwasher!!
Now, I had car trouble too, but didn't lose any wheels.  I was actually leaving the house early, got in the Red Menace (aka the Dodge Neon) and took off for work.  I didn't even get to the end our street before the check engine light came on.  There's no way I'm going to try to "tough it out" and maybe break down somewhere on the way to work.  So I turn right around & head back to the house -- we've got another car.  When I got home, I realized I didn't have a key to the other car; that's on a separate key chain with the keys to the other house.  So I've got to go inside & get that key chain; only it wasn't where I swear I left it.  Now I'm digging around on the dresser & the nightstand and turning on lights and just generally getting frantic.  The Plaidman is not happy to be wakened by all this tizzy, so he pulls his key off his key chain and sends me away.  But not before informing me that his car has just about enough fuel to get to the closest gas pumps a half mile away.  Aaauuggghh!  I must fly away to the Kroger pumps, fuel up, and get out into much heavier rush hour traffic than I'm used to (now it's about 30 minutes later than I usually leave).  I got about 8 miles down the road and had about 2 minutes before I'd be late to work, with about 2.10 miles to go...and I had to call my boss & let her know I was running late.  Now, this is not normally a problem, but as I was going to leave work early for a dental appointment, I had really wanted to get in early -- you know, be the team player and hold up my end and all that motivational blather.  So I felt bad about coming in late and leaving early.  So bad, in fact, that after my crown was molded, crunched up and removed, and another mold was made, and the temporary crown placed, I went back to work.  For two hours.
Ugh.  
Oh, Plaidman's in heaven, the Titans are on the TV.  
Last weekend he & I went to Waly World, and bought two chromed industrial shelving units for the craft room, and a storage cabinet for the red room.  I'd had all I could take of the mishmash of recyclables storage, so now it's all under cover -- actually, behind cabinet doors.  We'll work on the shelving units this weekend.  I plan to put all the yarn and other crafty goods on these shelves, so I can use the closet for the rest of the tops I got in Texas (Thanks, SIS!).   

At long last

We are back up & running, for the most part.  I've posted the last three weeks of the Challenge over on another page, after much ranting about Picasa 3.9 (where'd my pictures go?!?!?), which I made the mistake of downloading.  I will just keep adding to that page for the fashion show.  But other stuff has been happening too!  Exciting stuff, like me catching my pinky toe on a doorstop, and almost ripping it off.  Look away if you're squeamish.

I think the cats learned some new words that day.  I just wish the Plaidman knew how to take a picture; I kept saying "the toe, sweetie", but had to crop out about half the dining table from the second pic.  Oops, did I just...nevermind.  That table gets washed all the time anyway.

The Jadeite Color Affection has been coming along nicely; I've got about 1" of the border done.  Cannot wait to wear it!  But it has been on the back burner for a few days, because I've been working 9 hr days for weeks and my eyes and hands are just too tired to do much in the evenings.  

I've been wearing bling by DiscoDame Designs, check it out:

Aqua & teal bracelet      Royal blue & silver illusion necklace    Malachite earrings   Royal blue earrings (match the necklace) and a "magical" necklace with charms.  Most of these are "one-offs", but as she's got a huge selection of beads & charms & findings she can probably whip up whatever one might like to have.  

Week 6 (omg, of 50!) Challenge

This week's Challenge entries will take us through day 30, not quite one-eighth of the 250 I'm shooting for.  Later, I'll move the earlier Challenge posts over to another page.
Monday I wore my favorite Westbound Woman tan stretch slacks (with added cuffs -- I have to hem every blessed thing, why not add cuffs while I'm at it?).  The blouse is by Millenium, and has small square and round studs on the front (bib area).  It's a booger to iron, but a fabulous color.  I added an 18" silver chain with a silver & turquoise cross, plus another longer silver chain.  There's a silver bracelet too.  The sandals are my studded Trendsetters, and the purse is another fave: the aqua croc!

Tuesday it rained on my parade, and everyone else in middle Tennessee, but I had on something lovely: this Silkland Woman 100% silk multi-color print blouse!  Paired up with my ancient Investments black poly pullons, with added cuffs, and the Modern Metals tri-color multi-chain necklace, gold and onyx hand made earrings (from the big craft fair), and my black BORN shooties.

Oops, looks like I forgot to change purses!  But the aqua croc actually works with this blouse.  We had the photo shoot indoors, because of the wind & rain.
Wednesday is full of woe (or so the rhyme would have it), and woe = blues, so that's what I wore.  My very old royal blue East Fifth trousers, with a blue & white checked Lauren by Ralph Lauren shirt, the bright blue Alfani sandals, the navy purse, the heavy golden & rhinestone chain, and some cute articulated fish "fishhook" earrings.  Disco found them at a flea market and bought them for me, she's so sweet!

 Incidentally, she's blogging again.  Check her out at http://discodamespursuitoflife.blogspot.com/
Tell her you want some stitchmarkers, if you want to make her day.
Thursday I could smell Friday on the wind, which is why I wore the tan stretch cuffed trousers again--hey, Plaidman did laundry during the week, so they were clean!--with a Croft & Barrow Woman coral & blue paisley print blouse, the Trendsetters, some coral & goldtone beads in a long loop ($2.50 @ WalMart!), matching earrings ($5 @ WalMart), and a light caramel colored purse.

And at last!  Friday!!  I got seriously casual for Casual Day, but it's still designer goods.  The jeans are Gloria Vanderbilt Signature, the polo shirt is also Gloria Vanderbilt; I put on my beloved old SAS sandals and a single heavy gold chain; the navy purse reappeared.

These jeans are some that Sis gave me, rather long for me but I see "everyone else" wearing them rolled up so I followed suit.  I'm not hemming jeans if I don't have to do so.
See those sunglasses?  My mother gave me those frames.  She passed away twelve years ago.  I adore big sunglasses, so that's how I've used these -- with prescription lenses, of course.  Thanks, Mom.

Challenge Week 5

At last, it's Friday.  Are we ready to see this past week's outfits?  Let's do this.
ETA: Actually, it's Saturday.  I want you to know that due to craziness from Picasa and just being too d**mned tired to fool with it, I'm posting late again.  And I've been working on this stuff for about 3 hours now.  'Nuff said.
You are getting the skinny straight from the spreadsheet (see why it's taken so long?), with added pictures to illustrate.  On Monday --
Trousers:  Westbound Petites black stretch poly
Top:  Jones New York Signature Woman poly multi print
Shoes:  Black Alfani wedge sandals
Purse:  Caramel tan leather bag (not pictured -- I'd had another outfit in mind when I changed purses, and it being Monday, a wardrobe malfunction caused a change of plans.)
Bling:  Corded necklace with goldtone and amber color beads, with a huge honkin' pendant -- in fact, too huge to wear all day!  So it is also not pictured.

Tuseday's trousers are Ruby Rd Woman tan cotton with a half-elastic waist
The blouse is daniel rainn (oh he's too cute to capitalize his name...) sheer poly spotted cat print with a black tee beneath.
Shoes:  Trendsetter dark tan studded cork wedge sandals -- which are adorable, but drive me batty because my right pinkie toe keeps slipping thru the side of the sandal.
Purse:  a black handbag I got at WalMart a couple of weeks ago, with 3 large zip compartments plus 2 small side pockets and a back pocket.  Can you believe I didn't have a black purse?!?!?
Bling is a necklace of multiple sized pieces of chain, in black/silver/gold mix -- it had a label calling it "Modern Metals"; maybe I'm on the way to becoming a maister.....

Wednesday is a bit more colorful.  Trousers are Investments II black poly pullons, with cuffs I added.
The blouse is Jones New York Sport Woman, with a tuck pleated bib, in linen.
Shoes: Style & Co tan thong-style wedge sandals (I have put some moleskin between my right big toe & second toe); and I carried the black purse again.
Bling: Anthropologie-inspired multi-strands of black chain, with "ivory" beads.

Thursday got a little brighter still:  Trousers are (ancient!) Leslie Fay Haberdashery Woman in bright royal blue.
Top is a broken stripe print in shades of blue, grey and ivory by Notations Woman.  Like the pink linen, it has roll tab sleeves, which Sis says I should always roll up.  Not happening!  They get very "relaxed" long before the end of the day, and just look dreadful.
Shoes are the blue Alfani wedge sandals, purse is a dark navy single compartment handbag.
Bling is the long silvery multi-chain, knotted & with rhinestone rondels strung between the knots.

A-a-a-nd that brings us to TGIF!  Trousers are the White Stag denim jeggings, which I've worn three times since I started this silliness.  The top is a Basic Editions knit, with a tuck pleated bib and sequin-embellished lace, and it's PINK (again).
I carried my aqua "croc" bag, wore the Style & Co thong wedge sandals,  The only bling I wore is a pair of small dangly fish-hook earrings in (actual) malachite and (fake) gold, handmade by DiscoDame Designs.  I've emailed her a request for a matching pendant; I know she's got a lot of these malachite nuggets.

 TomTom makes the best accessory, of course.  But he doesn't alway cooperate; here, he's doing a great passive resistance and going absolutely limp as I tried to pick him up off the chair.

A day late with The Challenge

We went to the movies last night, and I was just too tired to write afterwards.  So here's Week 4 of the 250 Workday Challenge.
Monday was light colors, my tan stretch Westbound Woman trousers (I put on the cuffs when I hemmed these), a Daniel Rainn southwestern print blouse that was super sheer and needed my apple green tank under it, the black Alfani wedge sandals, the blue Maxx bag, and some turquoise color earrings that Disco made for me:

 Have you seen it from this angle?

Tuesday has me in a little more color: Larry Levine tab waist trousers, light grey; Zac & Rachel Woman roll tab sleeve blouse with tiny pink, white & pale green medallions on an olive green ground; my default light green bag; Trendsetter medium brown cork wedge studded sandals; two-tone coral beads with goldtone bugle beads around my neck, and pearl drop earrings -- another pair made by Disco!

I have to be careful which album I'm pulling from, as one of these shots is an outtake.

Disco is my photographer; she caught me making a face...

Wednesday I went darker & more colorful.  Trousers: Investments II plum polyester (my added cuffs).  Blouse: GO Silk -- yep, it's silk -- color almost pea-soup green, with printed cuffs, color, and back pleat.  There's that same green purse again.  The pumps are Liz & Co (ancient!) in an almost plummy brown suedecloth with reptile trim.  Bling: from TJ Maxx in Austin, a long golden chain with pearl & rhinestone stations.  I love this necklace.

I'm at the other end of our small front porch, just for a change of scenery.  We have some noisy blue jays zipping around, because the neighbor's feeder is empty.  

Thursday is darker still, but still with some color,  My old black Investments II pull-on pants with added cuffs, another Zac & Rachel blouse with a pleated bib front in green reptile print that matched the dark green reptile embossed shopper purse (Thanks, Sis!), the black Alfani wedge sandals, and a silvertone multiple-chain necklace, knotted & with rhinestone rondels strung on it.  

Yeah, we brought our empty pots from the old house, meaning to put herbs in them, but I don't see anything growing there...

TGIF: I wore jeans!  Actually they're White Stag stretch denim jeggings, with a Charter Club Woman nautical print cotton blouse that has sparklies around the neckline (no need for extra bling), with a Faded Glory tank under the rather thin blouse, my dark blue handbag, and the blue Alfani sandals.  Macy's had these sandals in about eight colors, wish I'd bought two more pairs!

Ooo, check out the earrings: articulated enameled fish!  Fun, and I though they went with the nautical theme.

Well, kids, it's been real, but I haven't even had my coffee yet so ... I gotta get that!

How I figured it, aka Week 3 of Challenge

How did Sis & I come up with 250 for the number of workdays with no repeats of my outfits?  We looked at the "average" work year, which is 50 weeks for most folks here.  At 5 workdays per week, that came out to 250 days.  Of course, that doesn't take into account holidays, or the fact that I get a lot more vacation time than 80 hours.  But to make it easier to reference all these outfits, I'm going to group them in fives.  So...last week had a holiday.  This week I'm taking some more vacation time, in fact I won't go back to work until next Monday.  This week's Challenge combines last week's 4-day week with this week's 1-day.  Magic!
Last Monday I wore this:

No, not the bougainvillea!  But it is pretty.

This blouse has no labels anywhere, and seems to be rather plastic!  I was hoping the bright color would help me wake up.  

Sis gave me a slough of jeans, which we (at work) were allowed to wear all week.  Those are brand new Style & Co thong wedge sandals; you can't see but there are golden buckles on the outside of the instep strap.  Makes them dressy enough to wear to work!  These jeans are Lee Riders.  

Tuesday I got a little dressier, still keeping with jeans:

These white jeans are labelled U-51.  They are a tiny bit snug.  Need to lose 10 lbs....

The blouse is Caribbean Joe Woman, love that aqua & green tie dye!  And here's that green leather purse again.  You know, I had the hardest time talking myself into buying it, because the color didn't really "go" with much.  But darned if it doesn't just go with lots of clothes! Those are my new Alfani low wedges, which I'd ordered from Macy's.

And this necklace...so delicate & pretty!  I'm pretty sure this was from Clothes Mentor.

Wednesday was darker, in brown Faded Glory jeggings:

The top is knit, with a nice (deep!) scoop neck.  Check out that envelope bag, from Loop -- appliqued in leather, cute as a button but not at all "roomy"!  The only way to get to stay closed is to just about empty it.  I found an old necklace (I don't throw away jewelry) made of a fabric tube with marbles inside, each separated from the next by a wide spacer on the outside of the tube.  Those sandals are a purchase from last year, cork wedges with studded leather straps.

And what in hell was I looking at?? Oh yeah, the Plaidman was putting up our flag on the porch.  

Thursday was rather dark too.  These are Amanda jeans, by Gloria Vanderbilt, in a deep plum color.  

I know! I look so "put together"; but looks are deceiving.  Half way thru the day one of my earring backs jumped ship.  I put this one earring in and faced right, then moved it to the other ear & faced left!  This blouse is from Croft & Barrow, a fun purple & blue paisley.  That purse was a gift from Sis at a previous visit; she took the Peerless T shopping for Auntie Anna's birthday gifts.  Sis picked out a dark green alligator print bag, and asked Peerless what else should we get?  Peerless says Auntie loves purses, and loves green & purple, so we'd better look for a purple purse!  And I love my purple purse.  Seriously, who doesn't need a purple purse?!?

The necklace is from Savers, big bright pink beads, and brown beads, with that "wooden" pendant.

The sandals are very old & much loved SAS sandals.

And to complete the set of five, here's what I wore to work today:

The capris are White Stag, light weight cotton in navy.  The blouse is Charter Club Woman, made in India, very thin cotton in a red & blue paisley.  So thin, I put on a tank top under it so my fuchsia bra wouldn't show through.  Those are the blue Alfani wedges again.

And that purse is another gift from Sis, darling blue suede with lots of pockets & a very colorful lining.  The only name I found is on the zipper pull, Maxx.  No bling except earrings.  Now, you may see short slacks -- but I swear these are capris.  It's just ME that's so short; the trousers would be capris on someone 3" taller!