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Friday, May 30, 2003
updateWell, good news is that the camera disk is fine... just needed a quick reformat, and ready to go. WHEW! At least I didn't have any amazing pictures on it... although I did lose an extra cute Cricket shot. But don't worry, I'm sure she'll manage to be cute again at some point ;)So here are the 2 latest swatches: 
Have a great weekend everyone! :) 0 comments || # Hmmmmmm....I THOUGHT I had some pics of the 2 aran swatches I finished yesterday, but this morning, my digital camera smartmedia card seems to be a bit tempermental. I think I need to reformat it and try again... I hope! But of course, I don't have the camera with me, just the card and the reader, so I'll have to wait until this afternoon to find out. Oh well! At least it has FINALLY stopped raining... the first sunny day in over a month!! So I rode my bike to work, and brought my sunglasses instead of my umbrella. It was lovely!And PHEW!! It's finally the weekend again. Somehow the short week seemed even longer... of course, the weather hasn't helped much. Last year at this time, the temps were well into the 90s... this year, we've been lucky to get into the 70s for the past few weeks! Can't it just compromise.... say, 75 and sunny? ;) I know, I know... pretty soon I'll be all nostalgic for the cool days... Well, if I run home at lunch and get my camera back in working order, hopefully I can update with some pics this afternoon! :) 0 comments || # Wednesday, May 28, 2003 Nostalgia for Northern CaliforniaFor the last 3 weeks or so, the forecast has been EXACTLY the same. Cloudy, --% chance of showers and thunderstorms, much cooler than normal. Instead of riding my bike to work, I've been walking, since it's awfully hard to ride one's bike carrying an umbrella! Also, since it has rained EACH and EVERY day, I'd rather not soak my bike while I'm at work. But I'm ready for some sun now please... or at least no rain. The grass is almost literally growing as you watch... pretty soon pets and small children will start getting lost in it!! So please, unlike Santa Cruz (and much of the northern west coast), we are NOT supposed to have a rainy season here in D.C. So a little sunshine?Charlotte asked yesterday if I had given Menagerie to my cousin yet... well, sort of :) I gave it to my parents, so they could send it with  their present. They haven't done that yet... the baby is due in August, so there is plenty of time still. My grandma and my parents have seen it, and love it. Apparently my grandma raved about it to my aunt when she visited her in Atlanta, so my aunt is excited too! But I'm not sure if my cousin has heard about it... I don't really care if it's a surprise, but I don't know if anyone mentioned the blanket to her. But the good news is that everything is going well with the baby (a boy!) and everyone is healthy. So hopefully in a few months... :)
The fern had to move. I'm still not sure if she was actually eating it, but I figure, why risk it? And now she has a perch with all her friends... I'm just waiting for the time when I come home, or walk past, and get dive-bomb kitty attacked from above. Don't let that innocent look fool you... she LOVES ambush attacks. But, since she's a nice, well-mannered kitty, she doesn't use her claws. :) I'm thinking of growing some grass for her to chew on... maybe then she'll leave my fern alone! 
I made some more progress last night on my mom's vest... I'm not sure if you can see the cable in the picture... I tried to sharpen it up, but it is really subtle even in person, so the camera pretty much misses it. Anyway, I was watching an episode of "Danger UXB"- an old British show about the group of soldiers who had to go disarm the hundreds of UneXploaded Bombs that the Germans dropped on London. I've only seen the first episode, but WOW... talk about on the edge of your seat! I also finally unpacked my Aran swatches... the rest of the cotton for the sweater came yesterday in the mail, so there's a little more motivation to get going on those swatches! I'm just about done with my fourth swatch... I still need to wash these guys to see how much the cotton changes in a good spin in the machines. On a couple of the pics, you can see the little tag with the information about pattern and original gauge... 
Hmmm... and you'd think, since it's unpacked, I'd manage to bring in a Latin quote. But no, somehow I'm not that together in the morning yet! :) At least I've been MUCH better at taking pics... of course, if you have a slow connection (like I do at home), that may or may not be a good thing! ;) 0 comments || # Tuesday, May 27, 2003 DenialThere is NO way that beeping could be directed at me. It CAN'T be time to get up. NO NO NO!!!I hope everyone had a good holiday weekend... I certainly did, if a seemingly-short one! ;) I definitely got a good amount of knitting done- finishing the 3 pairs of socks, as well as FINALLY casting on for my mom's vest... the last section. I got about 5-6" done on the vest... it's going pretty quickly, so hopefully I'll finish soon and can get started on my dad's vest... which is MUCH more exciting. All that beautiful wool!! And I still have the garter stitch rug ongoing for when I can't handle a more complicated project. Oh, and (of course) a pair of socks! ;) No pictures of knitting today- it's pretty much impossible to get a good picture of the vest front that shows the cable. But I do (of course) have a sequence of Cricket pics... this weekend, she discovered my fern: 
Let's hope I don't come home to find the fern (and all that lovely soil) spilled across the floor... 0 comments || # Monday, May 26, 2003 I LOVE 3 Day Weekends!I finally finished my 3 neglected pairs of socks.
And I didn't get a picture of the Karebear Socks... K came over for dinner, saw her socks, and asked for her birthday socks early (her birthday is in August). So they're off to a good home! It took me FOREVER to get the chenille edging right... it still flares out quite a bit at the cuff, but I think it looks neat, and keeps the cuff from pinching. I ended up having to do the chenille on 2/3 of the stitches... when I just did the edging without decreasing, the ruffle was HUGE. But I think I've got it now! :) After the sock-finishing fest yesterday, I finally cast on for the last section of my mom's vest: 
It's not much yet, but hopefully in the next few weeks I'll finish it up- ready for her birthday at the end of june. Well, off to go bake some bread! conscia mens recti "a mind conscious of integrity (Ovid)" 0 comments || # Saturday, May 24, 2003 Let's Try This AgainI was in the middle of writing a post this morning before aerobics, and my computer froze. Hmmmm... maybe because I was downloading a few things, and processing pictures, and looking at several websites... that's what I get for trying to multi-task!! Of course, maybe it just wasn't my morning... after I was so rudely kicked off my computer by the big freeze, I decided to work on my poor, abandoned socks. While transferring the stitches back onto a set of DPNs, I snapped one of my birch size 3s!! So I had to get on the internet again this afternoon to request a replacement... turns out one of the new employees at Brittany went to my alma mater... UCSC! So that's pretty neat. Of course, since the company IS in California, I guess that's not too strange. Last night, I got a good amount done on the rug... I was watching "out of africa," which has the most amazing scenery shots ever. So knitting something that needed my visual attention was right out! I can't quite decide what to do with this... I think I'll run out of the black before it gets long enough, and I can't decide whether to switch to white (which I have plenty of) or go out and buy some more black. It needs to be somewhere between 2-3 feet long, so I thought it might look cool to have a black half and a white half... I guess when I get to around 1-1.5 feet, or run out of black (whichever comes first!) I can switch to white and see if I like how it looks. It's not like black red heart is a major monetary commitment or anything!
I'm making really good progress on Daphne's socks... I'm almost done with the first one! I think I might go ahead and finish it in the general sock-finishing frenzy this weekend... but only if I finish the other pairs first. I have to have SOME discipline! ;) 
I think Cricket is giving me an after-aerobics hint... better hit the showers! Latin goodies: colubrem in sinu fovere "to hold a snake in one's bosom" 0 comments || # Friday, May 23, 2003 Friday!!And what a perfect time for a long weekend.On the medical front, nothing definitive from my primary care physician... so I'll follow up with my OB/GYN. I did manage to go to aerobics last night... just kept things really low impact. In the words of my doctor, it sounds like "something is jiggling inside," and he suggested I follow up with the OB/GYN. He did give me hope in the sense that he said it didn't sound like anything too serious, and most likely it would go away on its own in the next few weeks. But without a definitive diagnoses, there is NO WAY I'm going to wait another month to see if it goes away. I have health insurance (thankfully), and I can afford the $20 to follow up with a specialist. Better news from the doctor's office... when they weighed me, I was actually at my driver's license weight (well, 1 pound over, but I was wearing clothes!). So that means in the last year, I've lost about 15-20 pounds! Hee hee! So at least THAT was some good news!  On the knitting side of things, I started a small rug last night using a strand of this terrible feeling acrylic stuff I got from ebay (the raspberry color), and a strand of black red heart held together. It's just simple garter stitch on size 11 (I think) needles, but it should make a fairly sturdy fabric that I can lay on the floor in front of the door, and then throw in the wash when it gets dirty. I thought about putting the MD Sheep and Wool rug in the entrance way, but I really don't want it to get dirty all the time... plus, I love standing on it in front of the mirror- nice and cushy!
 I also turned the heel on Daf's first sock... good old doctor's office knitting! :) After I finish this pair, and the other pairs I have waiting for the last details, I'm going to knit the May sock-of-the-month for ME. After doing all of this sock knitting, I really should have a few pairs in my collection! Of course, I already have a full drawer of socks... so I think I should do some "give-away" pruning of the collection. I guess it's good that I hardly ever wear out socks... but then again, that doesn't leave me much room for more!
Just in time for the nice, long weekend, I give you a moment of kitty-zen: 
Apparently, CSI wasn't really all that interesting (well, it WAS a repeat...) 
Don't you love the tail-curl? Guess who finally remembered to get a Latin quote? in deposito "as a pledge (on deposit)" 0 comments || # Thursday, May 22, 2003 Fingers CrossedWell, I have a doctor's appointment today. Not to bore you with too many details, but for the past 3-4 weeks, I have noticed localized, acute pain in my abdomen (right side, between navel and pelvis) when I exercise. At first, it happened a few times at aerobics. Then it started hurting when I would walk briskly. Now, it hurts pretty much immediately when I start walking. So I need to get it checked out. I just hope it is something that (1) can be diagnosed relatively easily and (2) something that can be FIXED relatively easily. And as nervous as I am to hear what it is, I know in my gut (hah hah!) that something is WRONG. My body is definitely trying to tell me something... I just don't know what. So today, hopefully I'll figure it out. What really puzzles me is that, if I were to become a total couch potato, I probably wouldn't really notice it at all... no other symptoms! Hmmmmmm.
In other news, I did manage to drag myself to the extra choir rehearsal last night... and I managed to get a good deal of progress done on my next sock! It's nice to get back to the more mindless regia sock for awhile... not that Grandma's Socks were too complicated, but still. ;) My resolve still stands for this weekend, though... finish all 3 "almost finished" pairs... 2 need chenille cuffs, and 1 needs some TLC on the toes. And then, work on my mom's vest... poor neglected thing! I hope I can remember what I was doing! Her birthday is coming up at the end of June, so I'd better get on it. Plus, my dad's vest, which will be MUCH more complicated, will hopefully end up under the Christmas tree... but not if I don't start working on it! :) And here is Cricket, standing on "her" shelf (she won't like it when I finally get the rest of my herbs set up!!), looking out at the tree that seems to be almost continuously filled with birds. This weekend, if it ever stops raining, I'll take her outside for the first time at the new place... I even found (and unpacked) her little leash! :) 
0 comments || # Wednesday, May 21, 2003 One Pair Down... Well, I finished them. Now I just need to write up a "care-for-me" card ("Hand-wash, no dryer... or whatever) and put them in a little bag or something to give to her this weekend. I just hope they fit!!
I'm moving a little slowly this morning... not only is it raining, but I spent a good portion of the early morning trying to satisfy a very insistent kitty. "Pet me! Why aren't you petting me? Perhaps if I HEAD-BUTT you repeatedly and paw at the covers, you'll wake up and pet me!!" She doesn't meow, so that's good at least... but it is completely impossible to ignore a kitty who, while sitting on your chest, is tickling your nose with her whiskers. And I KNOW she was doing it on purpose! But, just when I was starting to get annoyed by the repeated wake-ups, she trotted out the secret weapon, and I knew it was all over... the PURR. So I gave in and rubbed on her for what seemed like ages. And, of course, when the alarm went off this morning, she was snuggled up next to me, making it even harder to get up. Really, she's trying to train me so that I don't go to work, and spend much of the day napping with her. If only she knew that some days, that's my life's dream! Last night, I finally hung some art on the walls!! I still have more to hang, but at least it's a start. I also got rid of 2 more boxes... the end is in sight! :) 0 comments || # Tuesday, May 20, 2003 PICTURES!!!
The apartment is still (mostly) a mess, but I did manage to get some pictures yesterday afternoon. You can see all the pics I took here. As you can see, plenty of things left to put away. But at least it is generally liveable... a few things here and there each day, and it'll be ready in no time! ;) Oh, and here's a picture of the beautiful hand-braided wool rug my parents bought for me at MD Sheep & Wool: 
I also FINALLY took some pictures of the various socks I've been working on... although none are finished. Mostly, they're waiting for some chenille edging. I think that will be my project for this weekend... finish the 3 pairs of socks I have waiting for me! First, there are the "Karebear Socks"- anklets, per my friend's request: 
Second, the "Linda Socks", also in need of cuffs: 
And finally, the "Fire Socks", which need some attention on the toes: 
I'm still working on my Grandma's Socks... I'm going to re-do the cuff on the first sock to make it tighter, but I'll do that after I finish the second sock. The yarn is amazing... not too thrilled with the colors, but the yarn is almost as soft as Cricket! :) 
And even though I finally found and unpacked my Latin quotes, I forgot to bring one with me. D'oh! :) 0 comments || # Monday, May 19, 2003 Whew!!!Well, the moving is over, and I have a somewhat recognizable apartment. I still have 4 or 5 boxes to deal with, but mostly, I'm unpacked and (mostly) put away. :) Of course, there are still tons more things to do, but everything will get done at some point! Including, hopefully, me healing... no major moving injuries or anything, but lots of bruises and sore muscles.Obviously, little time for knitting. I did maybe 3 rounds on my grandma's socks last night while watching the Simpsons finale (Marge knitted Moe a sweater with duckies on it...), but that's it. I need to unpack all of my knitting stuff and get it put away before I really get going on any projects again. And, of course, I have 2 projects I'd like to do for the apartment- an entrance-way rug, and a pillow cover. I have yarn for both, it's just a matter of sitting down and knitting them! Hopefully in the next few days I'll get some picks up. Hope everyone had a lovely weekend! 0 comments || # Thursday, May 15, 2003 Boxes, So Many Boxes...Well, today the move begins. After work, I get to pick up my keys, and bring the first loads of stuff into my new apartment. Finally. I am SO tired of stuffing things into boxes! Hopefully by this time next week, I'll be back to knitting!Besides a very little progress on my grandma's second sock, no knitting at all. None. Argh. And probably none until Sunday. I wish I could be more interesting, but there you go. Packing. Moving. Unpacking. That pretty much sums up my next few days... at least the end is in sight! Oh yes, and on my "to-do list"- you know, the list of things I can start doing after I get my life back from the moving monster, I have 1 big bold entry: pictures for website and blog. Because I know, there haven't been any. And it's boring. So hopefully in the next week or so I'll get some pics up! :) One more latin quote before I pack the book: in omnibus "in all respects (in all things)" 0 comments || # Wednesday, May 14, 2003 Aerobics Kicked My AssLiterally. Thanks to the outer thigh, hamstring, and glutes workouts yesterday, I'm sensing that my posterior region is a little bitter. Well, hopefully the sore muscles will get over it... due to (what else!) moving, I'll be missing Thursday and Saturday, so they'll have plenty of time to rest. Sort of.ANYWAY, enough about my sore muscles. Is there any knitting news in my life? Minimal. Finished another dishcloth swatch last night. Still working on my grandma's second sock. About to pack up the rest of my knitting stuff in boxes tonight. Hoping desperately that my life gets back to normal SOON after all the moving. Wondering if I can write the rest of the blog in fragmented sentences. :) After tomorrow, though, I will be losing one section of knitting time... I will no longer be taking the bus to work. I'll be able to walk (20 mins) or ride my bike (considerably less time!), but I can't really knit while doing either of those activities. But I figure it'll balance out, as it'll take me quite a bit less time in the afternoon to get home, meaning more knitting time! Plus, I still have my knitting break at the gym during lunch. So really, I can't complain. And as nice as it has been to leave my car at home, I will be very glad to be able to walk/ride to work under my own power.... especially in the winter. Waiting at a bus stop in the freezing cold for 10+ minutes because the bus is late really sucks. Cricket is totally freaked out by all of the boxes and bags I'm stacking in the living room. Poor kitty... Saturday is going to be tough on her. I'll be very glad when everything is in the apartment and I can bring her over so she can start getting used to everything. Latin goodies: credo ut intelligam belief precedes knowledge (I believe so that I might understand) - St. Augustine 0 comments || # Tuesday, May 13, 2003 All Day TrainingToday, I'm on a work field trip in Baltimore. Since I had NO idea how long it would take me to get here this morning, I left a little over 2 hours before I had to be here. About an hour and a half before I had to be here, I was here. Of course. If I had slept in until a normal time and planned for a 45 minute drive, it would have been 3 hours. Life is like that.One upside is that I had (of course) brought my sock, and got in a little over an hour of knitting in my car before I wandered off to find the training site. I finished the first of the April socks for my grandma, but I'm thinking I might re-do the ribbing and make it tighter. I figure I'll try that on the second sock, and I'll adjust whichever sock I like least so that they both match, and hopefully fit her. I'm making them as a surprise, so I didn't want to ask her her shoe size... being a knitter herself, she's savy to all those types of questions. So I'm making the socks to fit me. I have size 8 feet, so I figure that's kinda "medium," and hopefully she's somewhat close. Especially since I don't like the colors, so if they don't fit her, I really don't want them. Of course, they do fit me REALLY well, and they are REALLY comfy, so next time the sock club sends me this yarn in a different color, I know what size to make mine! Well, back to the training... and wishing I could be knitting! 0 comments || # Monday, May 12, 2003 Wait, Where Did the Weekend Go?Friday night and Saturday were spent at Ikea- Friday night was furniture time, and Saturday was all the "other stuff"- dishes, that kinda thing. But I did REALLY well- everything I wanted was in stock, and, $575 later, I have all the furniture and other stuff I need for the apartment. I even found time this weekend to stain the table I bought on Friday night- it looks so good! :) I can't believe that this time next week, I'll be moved.In between buying more stuff to move and packing up the stuff I already have, I did manage to get a tiny bit of knitting done- mostly on socks for my grandma. I'm using the April sock of the month yarn- it's a pastel striped colorway. The yarn is lucious, but the colors really don't do anything for me. I think my grandma will like it though- which is good, since I'm totally not into the colors. As always, pics after the move. :) Congrats to Wendy on her new kitty-friend! Since I haven't packed up the Latin phrases yet... ad usum (ad us.) "according to custom" 0 comments || # Friday, May 09, 2003 Friday Night ExcitementWithout a doubt, I know how to party. Proof, you ask? Well, sit back and listen to my plans for tonight. Laundry. Packing. Finish my bulletin board. Pack some more. Sneak in some knitting. WOOO HOOOO! Out of my way, I'm a party ANIMAL! ;)This weekend (surprise surprise) is dedicated to some serious moving preparations. Tomorrow will be mostly spent at Ikea- one trip in the morning with the borrowed van for furniture, then another trip in the car with the gals in the afternoon for the "other stuff". :) Kinda a pain to go twice, but it's worth it to save the delivery $$, and also to spare the "friend with the van" the extended shopping trip. Yesterday I packed up almost all of my kitchen stuff... just need a few more boxes to get the last of it. The end is in sight... Hmmmm... since this is supposedly a KNITTING blog, and not just the daily rantings of a frazzled mover, perhaps I should mention what little has been going on with the knitting. Yesterday during lunch I did manage to untangle the april sock yarn... what a pain! But it is now in 2 nice, neat balls, and I'll hopefully be able to start on a sock at lunch today. We'll see. The dishcloth swatches continue- I'm on the third swatch, "loose five-rib braid", and I LOVE it. I think it'll be really nice as a vertical divider on the Aran... and it is especially nice since it looks much more complicated than it is- there are only 2 cable rows in the 8 row pattern. So that'll be nice to pair with some of the more complicated stitch patterns... keeping up the visual interest without making the knitting too much of a pain to follow. But that's about it for knitting... in fact, I'll probably be packing almost all of my knitting stuff this weekend. But this time next week, I'll be moving in... so the end is definitely in sight. What I'll be doing for the next week... discursus "running to and fro" 0 comments || # Thursday, May 08, 2003 Yawn!!Thank goodness it's almost Friday. Not that I have a relaxing weekend to look forward to or anything, but at least I won't have to get up quite so early! Hmmm... that sounded rather whiney. It's not meant to be... I just love sleeping. And last night, thanks to my bad-influence friend who just HAPPENED to stop by with the Matrix DVD, I didn't get to bed until 11ish. No, I had not seen the Matrix before. Yes, I must have been living in an isolated cave. Although I didn't think it was the best movie ever or anything, I definitely enjoyed it, and by the end was so engrossed with the visual effects and fast moving scenes that the knitting was retired. Well, it didn't help that Cricket was sleeping on my instructions, so I really didn't know what the next row was supposed to be.The bad news last night was that I got pretty much no packing done. I did pick up several boxes and suitcases from my parents' house, but they are still empty right now. Well, there's always tonight before aerobics. And tomorrow (because I know how to have fun on a Friday night!) I'm going to (hopefully) power through a lot of packing. My bright idea yesterday afternoon was to wind the skein for the april sock of the month club into a nice ball so I could start a pair of socks for my Grandma on the bus this morning. Well, between Cricket the yarn-attacker and my own clumsiness, I managed to drop the skein not once, but TWICE, and pretty much ruined any chance of unwinding it tangle-free. D'oh! I brought the mess into work with me today for some lunch-time frustration. Hopefully, with enough patience, I'll get it back in order! But it does mean that I probably won't be able to actually start KNITTING the yarn until after I move... oh well. Plenty of other yarn to work with! (Yes, all of this does mean that I finished the regia striped socks for my California friend... except for the cuffs. But all the cuffs are going to wait until after the move. Sense a theme here? ;) Hmmm... I guess for the next week or so, "wait until after the move" is my: philosopia moralis "ethics, moral philosophy" 0 comments || # Wednesday, May 07, 2003 Poor, Neglected KnittingI've seriously "dumbed-down" my knitting for the next, oh, 2 weeks. My mom's vest? HAH! In the bag it will remain. My dad's vest yarn is already slated to get packed into the next box I get my hands on. All I can muster the energy to work on is my current sock project, and the occasional dishcloth-swatch. My blog is boring because I can't seem to find the time to take any pictures. Not that there has been much for me to photograph! Oh well. In 2 weeks, I will be moved in, and relaxing in my new apartment. Everything will get done in time. Perhaps if I keep saying that, it'll happen! ;)Last night, I arrived at aerobics about 40 minutes early (why do errands never take as long when you plan time to do them?) I had brought my dishcloth swatch, so I was planning to knit and listen to NPR until class started. Well, hmmmmm, the seat somehow reclined. And my eyes somehow closed. And 35 minutes later, I woke up and went (pitifully) to class. I didn't really fall into a deep sleep, but I was definitely dozing. Once I've moved, I have made a blog-resolution... pics (almost) every day. I realized as I surfed through the other knitting blogs that I especially enjoy the ones with frequent pictures. So I will try to make my blog one of those! After all, I have a digital camera, and therefore no real excuse. :) How much stuff do I have that needs to be packed? nimis "more than enough, too much" 0 comments || # Tuesday, May 06, 2003 Magic Moving WandI want one. I want to be able to wave it, and have everything instantly transferred to the new apartment. :) But since that will probably never happen, I've been packing. But the great quandry is that I need to use some of the stuff between now and next week, so do I pack it and do without? Don't pack and leave it until the last minute? Ugh. I'm leaning towards packing as much as possible by this weekend, and doing without until next weekend, since next week will pretty much be a loss for packing, what with choir monday and wednesday, and aerobics tuesday and thursday, and moving starting on Friday. I'll probably end up taping CSI on Thursday, and probably skipping choir on Wednesday. I really don't want to waste my friend's time on Friday having her watch me pack up the kitchen. :)What with the frenzied whirl of boxes going on, there hasn't been much knitting progress to speak of. I'm plugging away on a simple regia sock for my CA friend, and entertained my choir last night by working on it during breaks. But that's about it... I think all other knitting is going to be on hold until I've moved and settled in. Unfortunately, I think I need pretty much every spare moment I can grab to get ready for next weekend. And this weekend, after a (hopefully) very successful Ikea trip, I'll have a table to stain before moving too. That's the plan for Sunday... that, Mother's Day, and more packing. Yeah, I know, a REALLY exciting life. I'm also 1 side away from finishing the bulletin board- I think I'll go ahead and finish that before I move since I'm so close. Latin goodies: libertas et natale solum "liberty and native land" 0 comments || # Monday, May 05, 2003 Sheepy GoodnessWell, I kept with my "no-spend" resolution at the Sheep and Wool Festival. But it was AMAZING. We only went for a few hours on Sunday, but had a wonderful time seeing the sheepdog demonstrations, and wandering through the vendors. Of course I saw lots of luscious yarns and buttons and wonderful things, but I'm the kind of gal that doesn't like to buy supplies unless they are for a specific project, so... but I did come away with a WONDERFUL souvenir/ housewarming present from my parents. They bought me a beautiful red/black wool braided rug... really amazing, and excellent quality. I'll take pics once I move it in to my new apartment and actually unroll it! Next year, we'll go for a whole day.The other exciting thing that happened this weekend was me signing my lease! In 2 weeks (well, less...) I'll be moving into my lovely new apartment. :) It will be VERY cool to have my own place (well, Cricket's own place, but luckily she needs a live-in servant!) The apartment is on the second floor, which was very important to me- I wouldn't take one on the ground floor. Now, the complex is beautiful, and the area is safe, but it (unfortunately) only takes one weirdo who happens to walk by to change everything. Also, I want to be able to leave my windows open (with screens) as much as possible, including overnight, but that would not be happening on the ground floor. As it is, I figure if someone is going to climb the walls to get at my apartment window, then there's probably not much I could have done to stop them. ANYWAY, the apartment is right by the pool (!!) and has a lovely little tree outside the windows. When I was there on Saturday at around 3 pm, though, the apartment was getting pretty much full sun in spite of the tree, so that should be good news for my herbs. I also saw X2 on Saturday night... incredible. SO good. All in all, a great weekend. For your Latin edification: aqua et ignis "the necessary things of life (water and fire)" 0 comments || # Friday, May 02, 2003 Sock ResolveEvery so often on the Socknitter's List, there is a flurry of emails about fraternal vs. identical socks. Being relatively new to sock knitting, I read these (well, the first time the discussion fired up). I'm now on my third pair of self-patterning yarn socks, and I have come to a decision. Unless fate intervenes, my socks will be fraternal (insert dramatic music here). Why, you might ask? Well, for a few reasons. First, with law school debts looming, coupled with my resolve to tighten my belt as much as possible in order to save $$ for school, I see no reason to waste yards of perfectly good yarn just to get to the "correct" color repeat. Second, and perhaps more important, is the fact that I'm not a machine. I want my creations to be unique, and I think that having the stripes start at different colors on the 2 socks gives the recipient a little reminder that they were made by me for them. Not by a pre-programmed machine. Plus, unless someone has a serious sock-fetish, I very much doubt they will spend enough time staring at the socks to notice.Since it's Friday... bono animo esse "to be of good cheer" 0 comments || # Thursday, May 01, 2003 Excitement!So 2 really exciting things have happened this week. First, I finally got the score report from my LSAT field test- I was in the 99th percentile!! So no more studying for me. Too bad that wasn't the REAL test... oh well! Second, I just found out that there will be a second floor apartment available on May 15. HEE HEE! So exciting. Even though I'll be sad, in a way, to move, now that I've decided to do it, I just want to get it over with. So I'll beg my friend in retail to save me some boxes, and I'll start hard-core packing. Luckily I can take stuff over to my parent's house as I get it packed, so I can see what I need to pack up better. But I am VERY excited. Oh, I guess there are a few more exciting things, but only because I'm a big dork. I got a new vacuum last night- and I'm totally psyched. And I introduced my mom to the wonders of AC Moore arts and crafts. Now, my mom is not a particularly crafty person, but she is a teacher, and makes these really fabulous calendars she uses to teach months/dates/days (she's an elementary school french teacher), and she always uses really neat stickers and cool paper and stuff. And I was unbelievably restrained- I only spent 26 cents on some craft paint for my bulletin board project!Thanks to all who have left me comments in the last couple of days! In case you didn't see the responses I left in the comments section- the 4 girls, from left to right, are Karen, Daphne, me, and Jen. And yes, I do think I'll have problems sticking to the "no-buy" rule at Sheep and Wool... but hopefully my upcoming move-in (and all the money involved there) will restrain me somewhat. :) In knitting news, I started and re-started about 3 dishcloth swatches- I didn't like the stitch patterns. It wasn't that I didn't like the way they looked, but that I didn't like the way they felt when I was knitting them. I realized if I didn't like knitting the pattern on a 30 stitch swatch, there was no way I would be willing to do it on a sweater panel. So I frogged, and started the next stitch pattern. I just got to the first true cable pattern, but since I was too lazy to go get a cable needle, I didn't really get too much done. And now I found out that thanks to the shrub's speech tonight, CSI will be however many hours delayed. D'oh!!! I guess I can always tape it, but still, very frustrating. Grumble grumble grumble. On that note, I guess this Latin quote is appropriate: habet et musca splenem "even a fly gets angry" 0 comments || # |
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