holiday knitting

• Brigid socks from Goddess Knits.  4 pair.
• Cashmere Neckwarmer from Kim at Yarnabuse.com
• Fair Isle Gloves.  Pattern from Ann Budd's Handy Book O' Patterns and chart from Vogue Stitchionary Vol.3
• Dashing from Knitty
• Shash-busting iPod Cozy from Bonnie at Toward the Blue Peninsula.  2 small cozies.

Oy.  Okay.  Ready go.

(Oh and if you have any ideas for my grandparents...feel free to suggest.)

check the counter above

i claim this as vacation yarn. that's my story and i'm sticking to it.

le sigh.

ugh *headdesk*

i'm such a joiner...i joined mystery stole 3. i don't even wear stoles. nor do i have the yarn or the time to make a stole. my reasoning was this: i don't have to make it right now and i'm such a pattern collector that i might as well. (seriously. i have about a bajillion patterns saved to my favorites folder and i often just sit and look at them all.) ugh.

joiner! *points*
(ps...sign ups for ms3 close on friday...you too can be a joiner...i'm an enabler too did i mention that?)

on the sockapalooooza front, i'm half an inch away from heel-flapping sock #1...it's about time. i'm doing pomotamus (is that how you spell it? it never looks quite right...) for my sockpal. i asked her if there were any patterns that she liked but won't (or just hasn't) made for herself and this one was on her list (thanks to my sockpal for this idea!). but really pomotamus almost killed me 4 times...that's the number of times i had to RIP IT OUT. note: tofutsies doesn't take frogging well. not at all. but it is uber pet-able and has a really soft wool smell...i'm starting to love the smell of wool...very comforting...go figure. i was hoping to be able to dye some yarn for my sockpal and then knit her socks from that but after spending over $250 on trips home (still trying to figure out how i'm going to afford gas to go home for the graduation party extravaganza) and 2+ months of unemployment (and my former supervisor failing to sign my last time sheet...still arguing over this) the dyeing is on hold........

i want to dye NOW

i'm not impatient at all...hokay enough posting...have to move more stuff to the new apt tomorrow...such a pain in the ass...but i'm hoping to be able to sleep there tonight...or at least by saturday. we'll see. cross your fingers that it rains already so there's no death by humidity.

you know you're getting old when...

...the one thing that made summer the bestest thing ever is now the FREAKING BANE OF YOUR NOW-MISERABLE EXISTANCE. What is this tool of pure evil? This incessant proof that there is nothing good left in this world (yarn and puppies and coffee excepted)?

THE FREAKING ICE CREAM TRUCK.

That's right. The ice cream truck. Not too long ago (okay last summer) I still enjoyed this personal yummy delivery system. I even tolerated the midget people that tried to get in my way and cut in front of me in line. But now? IT'S ON, ICE CREAM TRUCK MAN.

I CAN ONLY TAKE SO MANY HOURS OF 'OH SUZANNAH' AND 'JOY TO THE WORLD' (seasonal relevance, anyone?) BEFORE ALL MY SUMMER GOODWILL IS SPENT AND THE ICE CREAM TRUCK MUST DIE.

Oh, and let's ignore the fact that NONE of the kids in the neighborhood ever buy ice cream. But really. Moral of this post?

THE ICE CREAM TRUCK MUST DIE.

Fin.

boredom is evil

ever just want to dye your hair red? or pink? or purple? i don't know why but right now i could really go for some chunky red highlights...hmm...

step 1 get job
step 2 make money at job
step 3 pay bills
step 4 buy yarn
step x after everything else go all crayola on the hair

ps--don't you love how just about anything can be turned into a predicate adjective? i do.

head goes all splodie...*whimper*

Okay, do you ever see a project/item/pattern that really just has you staring and drooling and mumbling to yourself? And gives you the ridiculous feeling that you should genuflect before your computer monitor because you really aren't worthy?

That's what this blog does to me. Holy crap, there are just not enough words.

Aaaaaaaand...I think I'm going to have to take a class on Fair Isle this fall because REALLY...it can't be healthy to lust after a handful of pixels. However I can completely rationalize becoming emotionally attached to a bunch of knotted wool. And I'm okay with this.

(PS...blogger formatting is REALLY starting to piss me off...does anyone else have this problem? Maybe now I'll finally use my HTML for Dummies book for more than decoration. Then again maybe not.)

okay, okay...

i got tagged by tammany so here goes...

The Rules:
Go to Wikipedia and type in your birthday (only the month and day). Find three events, two births, and one holiday that occured on your birthday. Then tag five friends. Sounds easy, no?

My birthday is March 8 (Pisces)

Events:
1. 1618 - Johannes Kepler discovers the third law of planetary motion
2. 1917 - The February Revolution breaks out in Russia
3. 1918 - The first case of Spanish flu occurs, the start of a devastating pandemic.

Births:
1. Don Carlo Gesualdo, 1560-1613
2. Aidan Quinn, b.1959 (yum)

Holidays:
1. International Women's Day (well, not in the US we don't have this one...but we should...hell, everyday should be International Women's Day!)

I tag...
anyone who wants to do a meme...

Oh! And I tag my secret sock pal should she read this...

pictures!

the pictures above are: monkeys in cth earth, ochre/saffron hand-dyed sock yarn by yarntart, my scarf for scarf circle III, modified sport-weight jaywalker anklets (by grumperina) in zen strings aloha, and menehune cobblestone socks (from crystal palace) in dream in color wisterious

also.....

SUMMER OF SOCKS HAS BEGUN!!!!!! WOOOOO!

i'm excited can you tell? :) yesterday at thursday with tammany (no andrew though he was apparently in chicago...and that's okay because last thursday he was a little on the annoying side sad but true...doesn't quite get that we thursday (yes thursday is now a verb) to relax and chill and hang out NOT to get all stressed about work things) i cast on breeze from knitty so i'm on my way! woooo!

sock plan for summer of socks:

• breeze from knitty already cast these on with knit picks essential in navy...this would be the frogged baudelaire yarn
• pomotomus from knitty in swtc tofootsies (squee) for my sockpal (shh don't tell!)
• more monkeys from knitty (i love knitty don't you)
• gothic spire by cookie though this might make my head go splodie)
• rainy day socks from magknits
• sodera knee high socks
• more fun than cables socks
• guitar man socks for dad in knit picks essential in black because my dad for some reason doesn't think he'll wear lime green socks...heh heh he will if i make them!

okay i think i should finish all these before i try to add more to the list...oy i might be dead by the end of the summer but my feet will be warm and pretty :D peace out!

no idea where this came from but there it is

my mom is amazing.

she's my guardian, my balm, my sounding board, my center, my inspiration, my conscience, my savior, my best friend.

it makes me sad that i would (and do) take advantage of her and that i'll never be able to repay her for everything she gives and does for me. and that i seem to be having my teenage rebellion phase in my twenties.

i miss my mom. which is bizarre given she and i argue about something or the other (healthy arguments, mostly) within fifteen minutes of meeting. but really, when i grow up and have children i want to be to them what my mom is to me. i don't think that happens very often and i wonder why i'm so lucky to have that relationship.

so on this, the day after father's day, i am thankful for my mother.

(i guess my dad will have to wait for mother's day for his sappy post)

KISS MY ASS NAPKIN I'M DONE!

WOOOOOOOOO!

Whos' done with the napkin? I'm done with the napkin!

I know, took me long enough. Even so...Tammany and I agreed that two half-finished projects equaled one done project...and I don't care if that's cheating. Just deal with it. Ha!

So the projects I finished...

1. Menehune Cobblestone socks from Crystal Palace in Dream in Color Smooshy Wisterious
2. Modified sport-weight Jaywalker anklets by Grumperina in Zen Strings Aloha
3. Frogged Button-Up wristlet things from Crystal Palace in Lambspun of Colorado yummy yarn in this melon color...kind of sad because it's 55% mohair and I seem to be allergic. :(
4. Felted Clogs from FiberTrends in Cascade 220 (I'm counting this as 75% done) and Roza's Socks from Grumperina in Claudia Handpainted Earthdot (working on the leg of the second sock)

Can I just repeat
WOOOOOOOOOOO!

Oh, and even better, one of the LYS is going out of business so everything is 50% off...Okay that's not really a good thing for them but for me it is (yo=broke).

50% off addi turbos anyone?

Oh, and I suck at this scarf circle thing...very first send-off and I'm late. :( Hopefully I'll get that out on Tuesday...that's only four days late...that's not THAT bad right? Oh well. I'll not suck on the next send-off, how about.

I think I'm going to be making myself a lot more anklet sock things...they're fast, I can get about two pairs of them per skein and they're definitely more summer-friendly. However, I am planning Eunny's entrelac knee-highs from Interweave for the winter...I'm probably nuts for wanting (okay, needing) to make these. Oooo, and Rhiannon by Cookie. That one too. And anyone else think that Vinnland from the Anticraft would make great knee-socks?

PS...someone fix my left index finger because for some reason it hurts...if you know why, please share. I'd love to know how I managed to injure myself without noticing.

Okay all for now...the job hunt continues.

(will post pictures as soon as i have enough money to buy film and develop said film or get steal Tammany's camera because mine rides the short bus)

everything explained and COMPLETE loss of faith...read on

So things for me have been really up and down the past few weeks...okay few months....and now i know why. *sigh*

Warning: probably plenty of T.M.I. in this post...just letting ya know

Okay, so...in high school I was diagnosed with diabetes....fun. This was after a year of seeing a bajillion doctors and having them each diagnose something new...pseudo tumor and hepatitis (not like the bad ones...just means a virus of the liver) after a liver biopsy with NO effective anaesthetic and plenty of other stuff that I've blocked out. Okay. Diabetes. I can handle that.

So that was sophomore year in high school-ish.

Anyway, years go by...and I'm able to control everything with just diet. Hormones suck in many ways but at the time they seemed to have settled down. I was off meds and boy did I feel sooo much better without them. Thanks to them I'm allergic to the sun and often have GI issues. (See? There's the TMI.)

So that was about a year and half, maybe two years ago. I stopped testing my blood sugars about four months ago (which in retrospect was not the best choice but no lectures please). I was feeling probably the best I had in years (with no meds, coincidence?) and all the female plumbing had started to work again (more TMI).

So then things aren't going so well. I'm tired, thirsty, and peeing all the time. I'm hungry an hour after I eat but I'm not gaining weight. I didn't really notice until I went home and drank a three-liter bottle of water in a day and a half. I tried to test at home but had no strips...it seemed okay to leave it to when I got back to Indy. Again, probably not the best choice but oh well. I get home and my numbers are OFF THE FREAKING CHARTS. I have never in my life had numbers this high. So, thank you hormones.

So I took a trip to the local urgent care clinic (because really I shouldn't have numbers that high ever...that means something is really wrong) and they started to freak out which I was figuring would happen but you know how you always foolishly have a small reserve of hope that it's really not that bad...maybe my strips are bad or my meter's broken...or I had stuff on my fingers when I tested...34 times. Hey, it could happen. But now. Fears confirmed. The nurse lady was really nice, gave me a hug, and explained that I would have to go to the hospital's ER next door because this was a problem that needed to be fixed. That's okay, I kinda knew that was coming. Still sucks though.

Just FYI, when numbers are that high, they need to come down NOW. That said, I will continue.

This is what should have happened. I should have been seen immediately as per my special rush paperwork and the fact that the nurse called over to let them know I was coming. I should have been tested again, poked for blood work, and hooked up to a saline and insulin drip. Then they should have kept testing me every-so-often to be aware of my numbers.

But of course, that's not what happened. This is the complete loss of faith I was talking about. Yeah, complete loss of faith in the emergency medical field. The urgent care people, great. ER, NOOOOO. I was made to wait for about half an hour before I saw someone (and the accident victims wouldn't arrive for another hour so I know they weren't busy). Then I had to ask/beg/cajole/yell at them to freaking test my blood. The doctor wasn't even going to do blood work. Um, hello?!?!? I was not given insulin, which while that's not my idea of fun was probably a good idea. So I left with a prescription for an exorbitant amount of drugs and a HIGHER BLOOD SUGAR LEVEL THAN WHEN I SHOWED UP. Anyone see a problem with this?

So, pretty much my sugars are sky high and I'm acidotic and no one is smart enough to do anything about it. That's right. While the people who can help are playing paper football at the nurse's station, my kidneys and liver are eating themselves. I'm happy about this, of course. Stupidity runs rampant and this is apparently not a problem. In fact, one nurse told me that it was a better idea for me to see them in the ER where they did nothing than to go to an endocrinologist WHO ACTUALLY UNDERSTANDS AND IS CERTIFIED TO TREAT DIABETES. Stoooopid.

I don't know. I'm sure I'm leaving out a lot of stuff but I'm still plenty pissed off a day later. I'm taking the drugs they prescribed yesterday but my body barely makes any insulin so my sugars are still way too high. But at least I have an appointment with a REAL DOCTOR in two weeks.

Moral of the story, in the past four months or so, as my plumbing starts to work and all the hormones re-level themselves, my pancreas has all but stopped making insulin and I'm now treading a fine line between Type II and Type I diabetes. I'm excited. But at least that explains everything...the fatigue, thirst, headaches, hunger, emotional ups and downs. So hurray. That's all. I'm still pissed beyond belief at the horrible standard of treatment I received. Yesterday was in no way a good day. Feel bad for my mother who got to hear me cry over the phone about all this. Repeatedly.

And I'm still feeling like crap.

The end.

(wow there was a lot less TMI in this than i expected!)

today's tarot card...definitely reflects today's sunny-ness

You are The Sun

Happiness, Content, Joy.

The meanings for the Sun are fairly simple and consistent.

Young, healthy, new, fresh. The brain is working, things that were muddled come clear, everything falls into place, and everything seems to go your way.

The Sun is ruled by the Sun, of course. This is the light that comes after the long dark night, Apollo to the Moon's Diana. A positive card, it promises you your day in the sun. Glory, gain, triumph, pleasure, truth, success. As the moon symbolized inspiration from the unconscious, from dreams, this card symbolizes discoveries made fully consciousness and wide awake. You have an understanding and enjoyment of science and math, beautifully constructed music, carefully reasoned philosophy. It is a card of intellect, clarity of mind, and feelings of youthful energy.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

same tarot card as before but less scary

You are The Moon

Hope, expectation, Bright promises.

The Moon is a card of magic and mystery - when prominent you know that nothing is as it seems, particularly when it concerns relationships. All logic is thrown out the window.

The Moon is all about visions and illusions, madness, genius and poetry. This is a card that has to do with sleep, and so with both dreams and nightmares. It is a scary card in that it warns that there might be hidden enemies, tricks and falsehoods. But it should also be remembered that this is a card of great creativity, of powerful magic, primal feelings and intuition. You may be going through a time of emotional and mental trial; if you have any past mental problems, you must be vigilant in taking your medication but avoid drugs or alcohol, as abuse of either will cause them irreparable damage. This time however, can also result in great creativity, psychic powers, visions and insight. You can and should trust your intuition.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Just posted about this on the LnV mb's...but OH. MY. GAWD. I heart cupcakes and knitting and now I can have both at the same time (!!!). This lady is an official artiste *said in a bad French accent*.

Cupcakes+Knitting=Amazing

apparently i'm a scary tarot card

You are The Moon

Hope, expectation, Bright promises.

The Moon is a card of magic and mystery - when prominent you know that nothing is as it seems, particularly when it concerns relationships. All logic is thrown out the window.

The Moon is all about visions and illusions, madness, genius and poetry. This is a card that has to do with sleep, and so with both dreams and nightmares. It is a scary card in that it warns that there might be hidden enemies, tricks and falsehoods. But it should also be remembered that this is a card of great creativity, of powerful magic, primal feelings and intuition. You may be going through a time of emotional and mental trial; if you have any past mental problems, you must be vigilant in taking your medication but avoid drugs or alcohol, as abuse of either will cause them irreparable damage. This time however, can also result in great creativity, psychic powers, visions and insight. You can and should trust your intuition.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

*rantrantrant*

well, right now i'm visiting the family at home (the non-indianapolis home that is...so confusing sometimes)and i'm BORED...i know. this is nothing new, really. but i'm at home with plenty of knitting but you can only knit for so long before your hands cramp and scream "DOOM!".

it would be nice to just be able to TALK to someone...my dog doesn't talk back...and if she does that's when i finally have myself committed. this may happen yet. also, would be nice to talk to someone MALE. love tammany and everything but geez. i think the final straw for tonight (i'm going to bed early because of le frustration...grr) is that eharmony pretty much rejected me. screw 'em. and i don't have $40 to waste on that

so now i'm bored, frustrated with life, and lonely. also it would be nice if the men i talked to weren't LOSERS. i'm sorry, but being the bag boy at your local supermarket for 9 years...while your perseverence and dedication to your store is somewhat admirable...*shudder*. i think i'll pass. sorry, but i'm not yet that lonely.

but yeah, almost done.

the napkin of doom can kiss my ass. i went and shamelessly bought 2 circular needles so i can finish one of my projects on the napkin. yep, i've decided needles don't count. oh well. but really. these socks were a pain in the butt and now i can't get enough of them on the circs. woo.

that's it. peace out.

(oh and did i mention i'm major pms-ing right now and oreos are my new best friend? woo.)

forgot about the awesomeness

so i forgot to post about this last night but i went shopping at old navy the other day (i'm a bad hippie) and got lots of shirts and a pair of jean capris (really cute gaucho things) but the best part of the day was when i went to try on my usual size and....drum roll....it was too big! woohoo!!!!! somehow i managed to drop a size on top and bottom...not sure how that happened but i'll take it! woohoo go me...now here's for trying to stay that size. woot!

holy crap i suck at updating...yeesh

Okay, well hi world. I'm still alive and knitting. I know you were all worried. But seriously, end of the school year = crazy even though I didnt' really accomplish much this year. But that's a different and far more depressing post.

KNITTING!

Woo, I've accomplished quite a bit for me. I finished my Monkey socks in Cherry Tree Hill Earth sometime in late March/early April. No picture yet but it's coming, promise. They were my Mom's Mom's Day gift and she loved them. No, I didn't keep them for myself even though I was reeeeaaally tempted.

Also, one Menehune Cobblestone sock done...using Dream in Color yarn...mrrowr. Yummy yarn. Almost done with the leg on the second sock which is encouraging. This means that I'm making good headway with the 4SAS KAL. I'm hoping that makes up for me totally (and unintentionally) blowing off the Quick Fix KAL. Oops, my bad.

NAPKIN OF DOOM!!!!

Grr....such good intentions and now such misery. Ps...Napkin of Doom is a pact that Tammany (aka Yarn Diva) and I made to not buy yarn/yarnie products until we get some projects done. Man it sucks! But I'm getting there. I can buy yarn when I finish the Cobblestone socks, the bane-of-my-existence Roza socks (not really but I complain about them a lot even though they're pretty), my second FiberTrends clog and then felt them, and either socks for my dad, another pair of socks for me, or the Falling Water lace scarf (probably not this one...the pattern is great but man the yarn is not my friend). So yeah, lot to do but since it's either knit a lot or never buy yarn again...guess which I'll choose.

All for now...wow I haven't bought yarn in how many days?!? Curse you napkin of doom!

oh man have i sinned...

...but it's soooo worth it. today was great because my yarn from the LOOPY EWE came today!!!! sooo excited. the mailman knocked on my door but because he's the world's shyest door-knocker ever i didn't hear him and only realized he was there when he was walking away. which is not good! because when that happens he takes my packages back to the post office and i have to wait to play with new yarn... :( so to avoid the waiting period i chased him down the sidewalk in my pajamas to get my yarn. he looked a little surprised and slightly nervous at being chased but too bad. it takes a lot to get between a yarn ho and new fiber. but in the end i got it and all was good in the world.

i got two skeins of claudia hand-painted in earth dot and one skein of zen strings serenity in aloha. so excited. see pics below.




i also purchased a cookie sock pattern...gothic spires...droooool. i don't know that i'll ever have the concentration to make them but gawsh they're purty (!!!). i don't know what pattern i'm going to use for the earth dot, but since the ZS yarn is sport weight and not as long on the yardage i think they will be some summer sock footie things. yay!

let me just add that sheri from the loopy ewe is amazing. not only did she get my yarn to me in two business days but she sent a little note with my yarn that was just too sweet. i can't say enough nice things about her and her store.

the peachy-orangey-salmony goodness in the second picture is my yarn from lambspun of colorado (it's not really as orange as it looks...stupid flash making things freak out). it's a 55% merino-45% wool blend...yummy. i just want to hug it all day long. i'm planning to make a moebius-cowl thing with this...probably using the pattern from a magazine i got...can't remember which one right now. i spent the end of spring break in fort collins, colorado doing an audition and visiting my cousin. his parents, my aunt and uncle, were on vacation so we got to hang out. it was a good time, especially since i hadn't seen him in almost four years. i forget as i get older that my family gets older too...and at the same time cooler. it was fun. mike's a blast and he bought me lunch. so of course i told grandma that he was such a gentleman and treated me to good food so he should be expecting a little something extra for his birthday or christmas from her, i imagine.

so i have no finished projects to show...boo...i should really finish something sometime soon. like the christmas gifts that i gave to my cousins and then took back so i could finish them...oops. i've promised myself that i will start christmas stuff earlier this year...which means more than two weeks before christmas would be good. i'm awesome like that.

lesson tomorrow at 9AM...BOOOOOO. that's way too early. oh well. all for now. i'm peacing out. later fools. bye.

yay loopy ewe!

yay my yarn from the loopy ewe shipped today! squeeeeee! really excited...didn't need the yarn but since when does necessity have anything to do with fiber. yay yarn!

freaking out...

okay it's late so this will be quick. i'm in monterrey, where tacos are cheap and tasty, the weather is 78 degrees in march and all is well in the world. NOT. i have an audition scheduled for sunday. which means i get to fly back to indy tomorrow as planned but get on yet another plane on friday to go hang out with my cousin in colorado and play this damn audition. i am really starting to freeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaak ooooooooouuuuuuuuuut. FREAK OUT. it's a little last minute which doesn't make it any easier. as it is, when i get home i have to do laundry so i have something decent and non-smelly to wear (always a good first impression...[audition panel member]: "okay so who did you like?" [other person]: "yeah i totally liked that smelly chick"....or even worse "i hated that smelly chick)

yeah i'm calm like a cucumber. or something. will have to remember to take the sock yarn on the plane because i definitely forgot it this time...whoops. no socks for dad yet. and now he wants a longer scarf. i made him a short scarf because he asked for a short scarf but now it's too short. whatever. i fixed his sweater that busted a seam in ten minutes flat so he could wear it to work that day and he never said thank you. screw that. whatever.

i never did get my margarita.

all for now. i'll be sure to freak out some more tomorrow when i'm running around my house like a crazy person trying to find all my damn music. wheeee. peace out.

wow. that was fast. one whole blog post in under 10 minutes.

FREAK OUT.

couldn't resist

Okay so Pickles today was hilarious (that's a comic by the way)...but I felt it was lacking a certain...I don't know what. So I tweaked it and am damn proud of my efforts.

So drum roll....



Here's the original for those who are interested. That's it. It's the little things in life that make me happy...like yarn. Mmm, yarn. I might have to post this on the L&V message board...hmm.

All for now, happy knitting.

PS-I think I've come up with something for lent...if only just to give up something. Okay it's not really giving up but whatever. I'm going to make one charity item a month and read a book that's good for my brain once a month. That's the goal anyway. And, yes, be nicer to other people, don't swear as much, yada yada...that's all implied. Hooray. Peace out.

i got my crack fix...yessss

Okay, so...today was mediocre at best, if only because it wasn't a snow day. Orchestra was fun as usual. Really, I just want to play my horn all day. But I was completely exhausted after only an hour of playing...stoopid fever. I slept all afternoon and I'm still tired...mostly just achy. Fun times.

Yesterday was probably the worst Valentine's Day I've ever had...it was going so well. It was a snow day, I watched cartoons and movies all day, took a nap...then I went to try to dig my car out of the snow hills made by the plows. They are AWESOME and plowed the snow AROUND my car...not the best idea. I drive a Saturn. There's all of a 4" clearance on my car. Best part, though, was when I locked my keys in my car. And it was running. And my house key was in the car. And my roommates were out. Due to the new car starter, the doors lock automatically now. So when I got out to scrape some snow from under the car (did I mention I didn't have a shovel?) and closed the door...doom. Luckily some neighbors down the way were nice enough to let me stay in their apartment and called their road service to unlock my car. I felt bad because their dinner was cooking and was ready just after I came in. But I got to watch American Idol (normally wouldn't have but it wasn't my tv after all). Of course, mere minutes after my car gets unlocked and the neighbors help me move my car (they really went above and beyond) and I go inside, I get a call from both of the roommates. Ha. Convenient. An awesome evening overall. After all that, I then had to go to the gas station and put gas in the car because it was just sitting there, running, for almost two hours. Went to Walgreens after that for some Advil and cough drops (my foray into the Indiana winter wonderland didn't help the cough and fever I'm sure) and some Gatorade. The gatorade pretty much made me nauseous but it'll help keep me hydrated.

Wow, when I post, I really post.

If you made it this far, fair yarnies (don't know where that came from), read on.

Tuesday (snow day #1) I got the privelage of driving around the east side of Indy trying to find the damn post office so I could pick up my and Tammany's crack from Knit Picks. That's code for yarn. For the record, McCoy street does not connect with Franklin Rd like the resident office said, nor does it connect with 56th street like my roommate said. It, in fact, is this little spit of a road that connects only with Pendleton Pike. The roads weren't bad but, man, Indiana drivers suck when they drive in snow. Well, the suck at the driving anyway. But, in the end, I got the yarn and wound it up on the same day because it's sooo yummy.

Plans for said yarn:
Andean Silk Twist in Campfire, 2 balls: will be an abbreviated version of the Legwarmer socks from Knitty
Shine Sport weight in Turquoise, 8 balls: will someday be the Ballet camisole that I found on Knitting Pattern Central. I'm real excited.
and last...drum roll...
Essential sock yarn in Navy, 2 balls: WILL be the Baudelaire socks from Knitty as well. I am IN LOVE with this pattern and I will make these socks or die trying.

A couple weeks ago I bought some dark grey Skacel merino lace weight yarn from Mass. Ave. The guy at the counter said to just "give it a little shake" when I go to wind it and it'll be lovely. NOT. The stuff is now the bane of my existance. It's gorgeous and soft and merino and lace weight but it's a real pain in the sticks, if you know what I mean. It's currently in 2 wads in the bag. I unknot it a little bit at a time when I feel brave and have time to waste. Sad.

So that's life up to now. I'm going to bed to hopefully not be a sicky in the morning (yeah like that'll happen).

Oh, I also have to add 12 more minutes of music to my recital...lame! But at least I didn't have a lesson this week. Yesssss.

All for now.

today should happen everyday

Hokay, so...today started off well. (And I actually mean that too!)

I always listen to Karl Haas's "Adventures in Good Music" program and today's show was about Schubert and Schubertiana. It was fantastic.

TANGENT...

So the other day I was listening to Karl Haas on the way to school like every other day. It was a Strauss special and he was closing the program with "Also Sprach Zarathustra". Here's the awesome/creepy part. I was driving on 46th at the Boulevard stopsign and just as I turn past the little curve in the road and see the Butler entrance the radio plays "dah...dah...dah....DADUUUUUUUUUUUUH!" I believe this to be a sign from some supernatural being telling me to turn around, go home, and go back to sleep. Did I? Of course not but it's good to know that even God doesn't want me at Butler anymore.

BACK TO TODAY...

So the Karl Haas program was fantastic and then Composer's Datebook came on the air and said "American composer Philip Glass..." (I got real excited) "...was born today in Baltimore, MD." Today was great if only because it's Philip Glass's birthday. I composed a birthday song based on his music. Those of you that know the opening theme from Act III of "Photographer" (I know it all too well) know most of my song already. And the text, in minimalist style, is just "happy birthday" over and over again. I'm brilliant, I know.

In music history, I actually had good answers for Dr. Briscoe's pointed questions. That never happens. Theory was fairly boring except that we looked at a Chopin Prelude which is happy. World music is always fun for me. We listened to some capoeira music. It was sweet.

Then I had lunch with a friend...the same friend that I haven't been happy with lately. It was special. I went home had a lovely nap and went back to school to work in the lab. The lab was actually a relatively good time. I got a really nice compliment from a student...she said that she was glad I was working because I actually seem like I don't mind helping out. I guess the other staff people aren't that friendly. It's true, the atmostphere of the lab is greatly changed from last year, due to changes in management, faculty, absurd dictator-rules. (We miss you, Emily!)Whatever. I'll take compliments where I get them.

Then the best part of the evening...
drum roll.............................................
I got a check for the MTTC proctoring I did earlier in the month...and it was almost $300 more than I thought I was getting. As Libby put it, "now you don't have to get rid of cable." Okay that wasn't MY first thought but it works. I'm (so far) resisting the urge to do something stupid and splurge lots of money on some kind of yarn and fancy looking sticks...we'll see.

:)

Also cool...Friday's pay day. Yay!

:)

All for now.

Hokay, so...I was really hoping for a snow day today...but...no dice. Go figure. I need to learn how to break the school's heat system so we can having a freakin' snow day. SNOW DAY. NOW.

Anyway, the helmetliner is all but finished...just those pesky yarn ends. It's always so much fun until the yarn ends.

So there you go. It was so cold this morning when I was going in to school (did I mention that today was NOT a snowday) that I looked at the liner and thought "ooh, this looks warm..." and almost put it on...but I resisted. I was cold...would have been anyway. Oh well.

And here's a pic of my cousin's scarf. I blame this for me hating yarn ends...only a bajillion to sew in. And not that I've mailed it to him yet...whoops. It's on the to-do list.

As far as friends and such go, lately things have been unsettled. I don't like feeling belittled and patronized, and with one particular person that's what I get day after day. If she and I are walking together somewhere, she will always make sure to walk at least 2 feet in front of me and talk without looking at me. Then, when I ask her to repeat herself because she wasn't talking in my direction and I don't have bionic hearing, she gets pissed because I'm not listening. She also gets pissed when I don't feel like joining her in something, like visiting the computer lab or going to get something out of her locker...we're in college now. We don't need a buddy to go the bathroom like we did in kindergarten. WTF. Half the time I feel like I'm a substitute for someone else, and she's just putting up with me until someone with better things comes along. This is not so good for the self-esteem. Whatever. PS...I don't want to see you stretching in flesh-colored tights, or bend yourself into suggestive poses and then glory in the attention. Also, because you insist to be a complete bitch to me, you don't get to complain when I return the favor. I don't do it often because it's most often not worth it. We'll see what happens. I felt bad today because I was pissed at this person and someone else thought I was mad at them instead...oy. Hooray. I'm excited. Not. Whatev.

Also, I hate lessons and it really galls me to keep taking lessons because I don't need to...but I do if I want to present a recital...ugh. Mr. Rossi and I almost had it out today...hehehe. It was pretty awesome from my end.

Okay that's all for now. I currently have a sock on the sticks but other than that, nada. PS again...I think I'm in love with lace the way Tammany is in love with socks. This can't be good.

More later, peace out.

Apparrently it's impossible to buy a damn sub on a Sunday.

Update time. Woo. It's Sunday night and it's clearly impossible to buy a damn sub on the east-side after 9. What the hell. So much for my cold cut combo. :(

Tomorry begins another week of hell...I mean, school. Or could they possibly be the same thing...hmm. Orchestra's tomorrow and Clark will be back which means that we just might get stuff done. Nothing wrong with Andy but the orchestra doesn't really like him all that much. Whatever.

At home, things are kind of sucky right now. I'm trying to figure out the money side of life which means I'm realizing just how much money I don't have. Each month our cable bill is $25/person which is really money I don't have. Since I don't need cable I have a hard time rationalizing paying for it when I could use that money for something really necessary, like food. Or yarn. But I have a feeling the roommates won't like that. Oh well. We'll see how that goes. In the meantime I owe over $240 because we didn't pay the cable bill last month. Getting the money to pay the cable bill is going to be FUN. IPL also caught up to us so now we owe them almost $70. I asked Libby if she or Stacie would mind putting the bill in one of their names because EVERY OTHER BILL IS IN MY NAME. That's not cool. When we pay late (which we seem to do a lot) it doesn't affect their credit, it affects mine. Things were kind of snippy and bitchy but whatever.

Meanwhile...

I'm almost done knitting a helmetliner for a soldier in Iraq that my grandparent's "adopted". Thanks to Tammany, my Knitting Fairy Godmother, I now know how to pick up stiches and such. Which is helpful. I'm trying to figure out what to do with some Malabrigo yarn I have as well as some Ultra Alpaca yarn (yummy). I still have to rip out the lace scarf I was making as a Christmas gift...yeah, it's almost February. I know. It'll get done. Eventually. Oh well.

That's about all for now. Peace out.

Oh! PS...I blame the Diva for this...I LOVE LIME&VIOLET. That is all. More next time.

slacker...here's post #2

yes i'm a slacker and i haven't posted since thanksgiving. oh well.

so it's day 2 of the semester and i'm already ready to be done. no joke. i don't really even want my degree that much. don't get me wrong i want a degree but i don't care what it's for...not good. i was very disappointed that we didn't get a snow day yesterday...the first day of school (ignore the fact that all the snow was melted by the afternoon...doesn't count).

but yeah. i'm very frustrated with butler in general. i love orchestra. in fact, the only reason i'm still at butler is maestro clark. i hate, though, that we can barely sightread quarter notes and that no one seems to care that we suck. very few people are seriously engaged during rehearsal. why pay money to waste time for six hours a week? you can do that for free at home. you can be sucktastic for free at home. you can talk and joke and sleep and be drunk for free at home. so don't do it in rehearsal. grr.

also, i'm putting together music for a recital in april (the 29th to be exact, at 2:00 p.m.) and already my applied teacher is saying that he won't let me do the music i picked last semester. funny...it was okay over break but now it's not. far be it for him to be...oh i don't know...supportive of ANYONE. yes, the music i chose is difficult overall. but the problem isn't the difficulty level, it's that he doesn't know the music and he's not willing to learn new things. grr.

at least i'm not in wind ensemble. hahaha. that makes me so happy i can't even explain the extent of my joy.

on the knitting front, i was very busy over christmas break. i made the odessa hat and the eyelet lace elegance hat (in dulbin and wisteria knit picks swish superwash, respectively) for two of my cousins. made a diagonal stripe scarf with decor yarn and am still working on a lace scarf for my cousin (have to frog the entire thing...booooo), socks for my mom and socks for my dad. had some major knitting burnout after christmas and am trying to relocate my knitting "mojo" as Tammany calls it. pictures to come.

that's about all for now. i'm off to work in the lab in a little bit. boo school. boo mr. rossi. boo string players. boo butler.