So, when I say tomorrow....

I apparently mean more than a week later!! I can't believe the disconnect I hm having with time recently. This week seems to have taken most of my life to pass, but now I look back and it feels like 15 minutes since I wrote last. Maybe it is part of getting older, but the passage of days has taken on Twilight Zone surreality....

Here is what I wrote to Julie today about the sensation I had being at work this morning:

"I don’t know why, but I have a burning desire not to be here today. I like this job, and I am glad to have it, but I want to go back to Starbucks this morning and give them their crappy coffee that they made wrong back and sit in one of the comfy chairs all day with good coffee. I want to read blogs about knitting and knit myself. I wonder if I could do both at the same time? I want to move outside when it warms up some and feel the breeze on my face. And sneeze from the pollen that burst into bloom overnight! The cubicle feels small today."

Would you believe, I am one of the only people in the world who would ever complain about this, but Starbucks this morning gave me a grande raspberry mocha with twice the coffee as normal. It was so strong it could have peeled paint off the walls. Surely I will soon grow hair on my chest as a result.... The Starbucks-lady-who-hates-me was making it, left it sitting under the coffee spigot (or whatever you call that) and dispensed coffee into my cup twice. I am a lover of raspberry mochas, not of the flavor of coffee on its own, so this was shockingly strong! I trembled like a toy poodle for the rest of the day.

Maybe that helps to explain why the cube felt so tight today, huh??

It was compounded by the fact that our system was down for the last 3.5 hours of work. Not for the customers out in computer land, just the server that we use to do nearly our entire job. This meant that I went from bored into a stupor to the 4th ring of boredom Hell at work today. I could do NOTHING but stare at the phone and wait for it to ring after 2PM, and I think that only happened once. I feel like I went to work 27 hours ago!! They promised me we would get BUSIER at work, not slow to a crawl.... Where are my lottery winnings?

Today I did get some good news, however. I found out this morning right before going to work that I have six, count 'em, six people subscribed to my blog!!! I know who two of them are. (Ok, I admit it, one of them is me. Don't laugh, you would do it too!!) Taking away me and the ex-boyfriend known only as Butthead (hi, Butthead, you know I love you) that means that potentially FOUR people that I didn't have to pay and who didn't give birth to me are reading my blog. I am beside myself. I don't know what to say now!! (Can you tell from the way I have rambled so far today?) But seriously, this is pressure! Say hi, all you blog readers, don't be shy! I am curious who is checking me out!!

In knitting news, I did finish one sock! I love it! It is beautiful and nearly perfect!! It has these weird points on either end of the grafted seam at the toe, but I am determined to ignore that. Now I really need to start the other one to avoid Sockholm Syndrome. (Remember when I made that up, huh, huh? I knew I would get to slip that in there!) But you know what that means I did, right? I went back to the Cosima. Renewed love flows through my heart for Cuzco from Berroco. It is wonderful, can't say enough. I tried to explain to a non-knitting friend the reasons for keeping many projects going at once, but I don't know if I was successful. One day soon I will endeavor to explore the logic of my knitting schizophrenia.... I am SURE there is logic behind it, just sure.

And hey, my foot over here modeling my pulchritudinous sock, doesn't look freaking enormous, now does it? I think that they have been wrong all along about the unflattering nature of horizontal stripes. This could open up new fashion vistas, I think.

Less than fortuitous news since last we talked.... My crazy mutt, the stupendous Maggie-dog, ate onions again last night. Does this dog care nothing for her own health and well-being?? (Yes, people, onions are doggie killers.) She got up on the stove (yes the stove. Don't ask me how a 14" high dog who has to use a stool to get in my bed gets on the stove.) MOMENTS after the mom told me to put the leftovers from dinner away. I ran from the living room the instant I heard the click of doggie nails on cooking surface, and still she had hoovered the skillet clean before I could get there! I mean, if I hadn't known better, I would have thought that the thing had just come out of the dishwasher. Unbelievable.... I have had Matt watching her like a hawk today for any symptoms of onion poisoning, but so far she seems ok. No barfing or peeing blood and her gums are nice and pink.... Crazy mutt.

The most exciting part of the day was that I took the plunge and bought a sewing machine! I even broke down and got it from the Home Shopping Network! I guess I owed it to them, since they inspired the sewing machine lust I have been dealing with all week.... Apparently they are hosting National Craft Month and as I flipped past on Saturday, they were hawking Singer industrial sewing machines, easy flex pay option of 99.95$ a month!!! I went with the step down from the industrial super-machine, but mine comes with 1000 computerized stitches, so I feel pretty good about it. Now it just can't get here fast enough. They promised me delivery by March 22, but that is a Sunday, so I have my fingers crossed for the 21st. Maybe it will be early! Whoopie!! A sewing machine all my own!

Ok, I think that is enough babbling to make up for not posting this week, don't you!? Now I am off to read more blogs. How will I ever have time to knit since I discovered Google Reader??

End of vacation blues.

So, here I am at the end of the brief vacation that I finally wrestled out of my boss.... She is very nice, but felt like we had too much going on for anyone to take vacation. Possibly from now to the end of time. Persistently asking seems to have paid off for me this time.
I had all kinds of plans to get bags cut out and sewn, sweaters knitted and sewn together, relaxation done.... Of course, none of that happened. Getting something done would apparently violate my unspoken New Year's resolution against such things.
I did drive to Raleigh to see Meredith. During what had to be this year's nastiest weather yet.... It poured rain all day Saturday, so cars were throwing up that grey mist that makes it completely impossible to see one foot in front of your car. Meredith had to work, so I stopped at Southpoint Mall to see if someone could cut my hair. Made the mistake of showing up at 10:30, and they couldn't do it until 2:15. So, in search of a good haircut, I spent over five hours at the mall, by myself!! (That includes the haircut.... I am not THAT bad at subtraction!!) Wildly boring, and in horribly inappropriate shoes. I greeted all predictions of the weather with patent disbelief the week before.... And wore high heeled boots and no coat for the whole weekend. I walked entirely too much and froze my ass off the entire time!
The good news is that I got a great haircut. I hated to go shorter, because I am missing my long hair, but getting rid of the flaps in front of my ears was a necessity. I told Jasmine, who rescued me, that I looked like a cocker spaniel, and she didn't disagree.... She not only rescued me, she labored tirelessly to straighten my hair, something I had given up as impossible, and so for my visit it was shiny and smooth and resembled no species of dog whatsoever! Good job Jasmine. You made waiting at the mall nearly an entire day worth it!
After Meredith got off work, we checked into the hotel and I gave her the Alpine I made her for Christmas. Yes, I am aware that it is March. We hadn't seen each other.... I think she really liked it, wore it that evening. It looked great on her, just like I imagined and she remembered the shopping trip that inspired the knitting. She mentioned wanting mittens, so she may get this year's only knitted Christmas present! It is so nice to knit for someone who loves the product!
She gave me a gift card to Barnes & Noble, so we went there immediately and I bought the 2-at-a-time Socks book so I could immediately start knitting socks. I do not know why I have been stricken with the overwhelming urge to knit socks, but I have. I am most of the way through Twilight from that book. Ironically, despite the 2-at-a-time instructions, I am knitting one at a time on double points.... AC Moore has gone quickly down hill, and had no size one circulars, much less any of the 40" variety. Learning a new technique will have to wait apparently.
Meredith is a very good sport about doing something so boring for her as going to craft stores, and she humored me when I proceeded to carry the sock making supplies all around Chapel Hill for the rest of the day....
We had dinner at Aki Hanna, my favorite Japanese place on the planet, then on Sunday at the world's best Mediterranean place, the Med Deli. Oh, how I miss those two places. Sigh.
All in all it was a fun trip, but holy cow, what horrible timing for the drive!! The drive back, which came earlier than I wanted due to the potential of 10" of snow coming soon. The same horrible conditions all the way to the SC border. There it shut off like somebody had flipped a switch... It felt like it took 14 hours to get home.
And for the next two days, I have knitted on my sock. My brother and I watched The Dark Knight together, which was great, and then we both got sick today. Don't ask me about the complete meltdown I had in the car yesterday. None of it bears repeating. And now, I am gearing myself up to make the trek into work tomorrow. Despite the fact that we are supposed to be learning many new duties this month, which should get my blood moving, I am having a hard time mustering any enthusiam at all. I just don't wanna. How does vacation go so fast?????

Tomorrow I will stop knitting long enough to gather the energy to post a sock in progress picture! How did I not love sock knitting before now??

Seriously, I will never finish anything....

This blurry picture taken four minutes ago on the couch is the Cosima in Cuzco by Berroco. I love, love, love this yarn.... It works up quickly and it has a GREAT texture. It is making me love reverse stockinette, even! I have done over half of the back in about a day and a half, which is progress that I can't help but enjoy.
I have started this in lieu of finishing any of the other projects that I have going on right now! I am blogging while I watch Revolver, starring my beloved Jason Statham. After this I may work on the lining of the Bravo Bag, which is mocking me from it's 97% done state.
My friend Shannon, from long ago, got back in touch with me through Facebook. I had no idea that I would like Facebook so much! All in an effort to keep in better touch! It is working. I have talked to people from high school for the first time in twenty years, I have become "friends" with people from UNC and Hiram that I would have probably drifted away from. It is silly, but I like it anyway. :-)
I went to the library yesterday for the first time in a long time. Not an all-together bad experience! Libraries still make me sleepy, but I got a card and checked out a couple of knitting books. One of them was a Kaffe Fassett book from 1985. I love his color work, and I have been infected by a terrible desire to make big, bloused sweaters with shoulder pads! I got it because of one that is worked side to side in a t-shape. It looks like it could be a cute scarp yarn sweater.... I know they are dated. They are just so fun!
Yesterday was my eating free-for-all day for February. Started the day with IHOP and ended it with Pepsi and Reece's Peanut Butter Cups. Oh, how I love the free-for-all day! It is my invention to stay legal without being deprived. I probably gained four pounds yesterday, but it was totally worth it. Had dinner with Julie and her daughter. She is my fabulous new friend! It was fun!
All in all, it has been a good weekend. I don't want to go back tomorrow, though. Sigh.

St. Craftentine's Day.

It was a heck of a crafty Valentine's Day, though I didn't get anything at all done! I just got a lot purchased!

Matt and I went to see He's Just Not That Into You. It was fun, but I tell you, it ABSOLUTELY sucks to go see a date movie with your brother on Valentine's Day. Not to detract at all from how glad I am that he went with me, but man it sucks to be single!! And let me say, that is a movie that seriously makes you feel like a single loser by the end....

So, anyway, Matt was a good sport and went Bravo Bag shopping with me. We got two belts at Kohl's for the handles. We got 46" dark brown woven, but everyone else thinks they are too short. Sorry, we couldn't find Godzilla's belt closet, so this will have to do. Then, doing a passable imitation of best brother ever, he even went to Hobby Lobby with me for plastic canvas for the inside bottom of the bag. Heck, I don't even like going to Hobby Lobby!! Here is a very dark sideways picture of the Bravo Bag, post felting, with the MONKEY lining fabric that I got later in the day and the apparently too short belts, pre-assembly! I am excited, but can't put it together until I finish Brenda's bag, so she doesn't give up and kill me at some point.

Speaking of fabric.... The Mom, Vickie and I went to Rogers Brothers Fabric later in the afternoon, and it was a bonanza! Roberta hadn't been thrilled with them, but I was very happy with the selection, and the prices. Maybe I just caught them at a good moment, but I got out of there with three fabrics for only 20$, and could have happily bought the fabric for another bag. What I did get was the fabric for my first Birdie Bag from my fabulous new pattern. I wavered between a great orange and blue modern abstract print and what I eventually bought. I got a black faux-batik animal print (not animal skin patterns, colorful drawings of animals) and a coordinating stripe for the handle. I think it is going to be great! Tomorrow I will go alone to get the other supplies that are called for.... Look how cute that is! I figure a solid blue for the inside.... This is fun, and soon I will actually break out the sewing machine!

I sewed the shoulder seams on Nan last night, and discovered a weird problem. The left front is four stitches wider than the right. I don't think I would have even noticed that if it weren't for the columnar elements to the design. I match up the lace column, the column of twisted stitches, etc, and the left front sticks out past the edge of the back by four stitches. The only thing I can think to do is to lose that extra bit in the seam. Here's to hoping that it doesn't make the seam insanely bulky. Makes me not want to work on it, though.

Which brings me to the big decision that is coming up.... I have to decide what to work on next! The Mom started her Sipalu bag which kind of gives me that bug again. Also, there is the Lizard Ridge calling to me. And the Cosima that I have the yarn for. And the red bag for Dr. Emerson. What to do, what to do?? My favorite dilemma!

Nan nears completion.

I did it! All the pieces are knit! I am very excited to be almost done with this project, which has seemed to take most of my life to work on.... I have a three day weekend, so I should be able to finish it before I come back to work. I know the Mom will be thrilled.... If I can get it sewn together tonight, I can get the crocheted edge done in the next couple of days and she can wear it to her conference! It will be so, so nice to finish....

I have asked for vacation for Tuesday and Wednesday. I don't think I am going to get it, though. I am planning to go to the beach with the Mom, but I would have to come back Tuesday morning at this rate, so I don't know if I am going to go.... We shall see closer to Sunday morning, when I have to decide.

Does it say something about my knitting-nerdiness or my advancing spinsterhood that I have considered cancelling my movie plans with my friend Julie tonight just so that I can work on sewing a sweater together?

Sadly, I didn't even get the chance.... She cancelled because of a cold before I could decide! Is that a weird kind of friend Valentine's Day rejection? (I know she did not mean it that way. I am just sensitive as the dreaded day approaches!)

Pictures to follow of Nan-in-Progress!

PS- Got my two new Amy Butler patterns.... Love!

Nary a knit-stitch....

I did not get a stitch knitted this weekend. Instead, I overhauled the entire house. Since my brother moved in, things are understandably more cramped than usual, and mom has been getting antsy with all the chaos. She opted out this weekend and insisted that I beat the place back into order. Saturday, I unloaded EVERYTHING from my room and spread it all over the house. (Have to crack a few eggs....) I moved all my furniture around in the hopes that I would find an arrangement that would accommodate the giant tv from the living room so that I didn't need to put it in storage. Sunday, I did seven loads of laundry (some of which did NOT belong to me...), sorted everything I own and some stuff I don't, moved a lot of it to the shed for storage or disposal in the yard sale, and then packed the rest back into my one room. THEN, I helped Matt switch out mattresses (don't ask, it is gross), straightened the living room, dining room and den, dusted and swept half the house, and cleaned the bathroom. I feel like I have been beaten with a stick today, but the house looks lovely. I have to admit.

Some craftiness was accomplished on Friday after work, though. I felted the swatch for the Ravenna Satchel. I had added the purple Ultra Alpaca, and needed to see if it was going to pull or pucker. It came out beautifully, if slightly fuzzier than the rest. Fuzzy I can live with, as long as it comes out smoothly! Soon, I will actually have to figure this intarsia crap out and knit the thing!

I also felted the Bravo Bag that has been done since October or November. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!! Now the mom wants me to make her one.... She knits, I believe I will leave this in her capable hands! If she asks nicely, I may line it for her!! I am going to try my hand on an inset zipper pocket in this one.... I am absolutely dying to go get the belts to be the handles and line it so I can use it. However, if I don't finish Brenda's Brea Bag first, she will probably kill me in the parking lot at work! That is what I will work on this coming weekend.

I finished Nan's first sleeve and started the second one on Friday, also. (I got MONDO work done this weekend, didn't I?) I didn't have any more time or energy to work on it any further than Friday, so I will have to hammer away at that one this weekend, also. I need a vacation day. I may get a hotel room... just me and the knitting.

On the sewing front, it is becoming apparent that I have entirely lost my mind. I found a flickr group on Amy Butler bags made from her patterns and have gone sewn-bag mad. Today, without even finding the fabric for the three I have already in my possession, I ordered two more bag patterns:

This is the Birdie Sling. I did not initially love it, but it has massively grown on me. Especially since I saw someone do it in a black and yellow print that included little graphic birds. Something about the pun really gets me!!

I also got the Betty Shopper pattern. Just what I need is another GINORMOUS bag.... But look how cute it is!! And maybe we will actually use it as a shopping bag!! That one, I had loved and added to my shopping cart when I ordered the first three, but had taken it out when I realized how much I was spending. I should have just gone ahead.... I see much sewing in your future.... I need that vacation day I have been tossing around in the back of my head just to go to Columbia fabric shopping!

I would like to say Hi to my friend Wolfgang that has decided to occasionally read my blog. Added to Ian who looks me up on Google Reader once in a while, that comprises nearly my entire fan base. And neither knits! Who knew??

Not my best effort....

Ok, since last we met, I have knitted 20% of the Ravenna Satchel. See, I said I wouldn't be able to resist! And then I ripped it all out. I had ends everywhere and I messed up on the chart somewhere. I have decided that it was karma biting me in the butt for not finishing Nan before I started something else.... (No, I didn't take a picture before I laid waste to the horrible blob of yarn that had become my Ravenna Satchel. Best to NOT record that for posterity!)
Now I seem to be taking a knitting hiatus. Mostly because it is now very dark in the living room in the evenings, so if I want to watch the good tv, I can't see to knit. Something must be done about this. I am starting to be all itchy with withdrawal symptoms!
I shall heed karma's not-so-gentle nudge and work on Nan tomorrow.