Uncle!!

I give up! It started raining hard last night around 8 or 9. I had insomnia and so I listened to it for hours. I don't think I fell asleep until sometime after 1 and probably part of the reason I fell asleep is that I quit trying to think of ways to keep myself dry and comfortable while cycling through a monsoon (wrapping my feet in plastic bags? covering my helmet with something?) and gave myself permission to throw in the towel if it was pouring at 6:30 am, which it was. If we were going for something other than bragging rights then I would be right out there slogging away. But since we've already beaten the other teams in the captain's department and one other lab that had challenged us, I don't feel bad about choosing comfort. In fact I feel pretty darned ... comfortable.

I am looking forward to my long weekend. I'll have all day tomorrow for the million and one errands and chores and then rehearsal. But Sunday and Monday are all mine and I'm going to have a lot of fun cleaning out my drawers and closets. Maybe I'll even reorganize my desk! Plus I have to sew the buttons on my cashmere cardigan and bind off and block that scarf. I'll have plenty of time, especially if this weather keeps up.

The garden is another thing I'd like to handle. Perhaps I'll put in strawberries where I had the corn. They're easy to grow and I eat them nearly every day. I'll go to a larger nursery this weekend and hope that the selection is better than my local spot.

I finished Chelsea Handler's latest book last night. She is so funny! And really out there. I don't watch her show very often but I always wish it was longer when I do.

Happy long weekend eve!!

What a treat!

It is NOT raining! I was so very happy to see the sun this morning. In fact, I even saw a scrap of blue sky over the lake on the way in. I know it won't last but as long as I don't have to bike in a downpour I am happy. Only one more day of this bike challenge and then if it's raining I can drive in or take the bus! By the way, I did not see the prize patrol on the way home last night either! I suspect the only thing I'm going to get out of this whole experience is wet.

I finally finished the Enchanting Scarf at noon knitting yesterday. I am very glad that is finished. All I need to do is bind off and block it. I was going to do it last night but I was extremely tired when I got home, and damp and I didn't want to do anything but veg. To be honest, what I really wanted to do was take a shower, get into bed and read until I fell asleep but that seemed a bit much even for lazy ol' me, so I had dinner and watched "Julie and Julia" and then went to bed and read. I liked that movie, although the scenes in Paris were hard to watch. I didn't realize that part of the movie was Julie Child's "My life in France" and I studiously avoid watching movies with scenes shot in Paris. It makes me sad and yearn-y. [Well maybe it's not exactly a word but I can't think of the right one].

And now that my Enchanting Scarf is finished I'm going to have to come up with another project to have at work. I was thinking I was done with socks, but maybe that is the kind of thing I should have sitting around. I had been taking my knitting over to the South Campus Center with me at noon time and listening to my audio book and knitting a few rows. I finished "Elegy for April" last weekend and immediately downloaded "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". So far it is wonderful. The narrator is not as versatile as Timothy Dalton but he's good and what is more he can pronounce those Swedish names and places. I just know that if I were reading this book I would be stumbling all over myself trying to figure it out.

Only one more day before our nice long weekend. Maybe we'll go see the new Shrek movie at the Imax 3D. Or a film at the Seattle Film Festival. Or maybe I'll just clean my closets and drawers and veg for the rest of the time. Choices.

The invisible prize patrol

I had understood from the email last week sent from the commute challenge people that the prize patrol would be out today on the Burke Gilman trail near the UW. It was pouring ... is now currently pouring .. rain but since our team is 6th over all (out of over 1,600 teams) in number of trips made I didn't want to let my teammates down so I biked in, eyes peeled for the prizes. The only thing I got on the way to work this morning was wet. Very very very wet. I will be riding home in wet shoes, for sure. At least I have an extra pair of socks here but the only shoes I have are my running shoes and they won't work for biking because the toes won't fit into the toe clips. At least it's warm.

This is the last week for the commute challenge and I will be so happy to have it over so I can run again. Normally it wouldn't be a big deal to be biking every day and running a few times a week, but I'm still working on the bathing suit body for a couple more weeks and that leaves me a little too low in the energy department to run and have it be enjoyable. But I have a new, really cute running skirt that I am quite eager to use and, if the weather will lighten up a bit I can do it next week. Or the week after. But sometime in June for sure.

Well there was no LOST last night and so we watched a very cute movie - "Pirate Radio". The soundtrack was wonderful if you like the 60's British rock. I might see about buying the soundtrack for my iPhone. It was a good knitting movie and I worked some more on the Whisper Cardigan. I tried it on before I turned in last night and I've decided to lengthen it a bit more than the pattern calls for to make it look less like a shrug and more like a cardigan. I've got plenty of yarn.

Typos drive me crazy

I hate hate HATE it when I re-read something I've written -- whether it's this blog or an email or whatever -- and find a typo. Something that spell checker won't get like, most recently, 'fare' for 'fair' or 'peak' for 'pique'. It's as if my fingers have ideas of their own. Anyway ... drives me crazy.

I got to work without falling over. A lovely triumph. My ankle is a wee bit sore still. I guess super high boots weren't the smartest choice of footwear for today. A few aches and pains but otherwise I'm feeling quite well for the day after.

I still haven't decided what to put in my vegetable garden to take the place of the corn, of which there is not a single trace left! I looked again for corn starts because, obviously, I can't sow the seeds directly into the ground because of the squirrels and now I don't have time to sprout them inside. There are lots of other vegetable starts to choose from but nothing really struck me. I already have two kinds of peppers, 4 different tomatoes, some snap peas, acorn squash and a nice assortment of herbs. I don't want zucchini or any other squash. Maybe egg plant? I've got to make up my mind and get whatever it is into the ground this weekend, which is still looking like it's going to be cloudy and showery, like it is now.

I sure could use some sunshine. Counting the days until Hawaii.

Timber!

I have been very lucky in all the years I've been commuting on my bike in regards to accidents. They have been few and minor. Today I had another little mishap. I was coming down the steepest and last hill to get on the trail and a bee or some other flying, buzzing insect, flew in between my eye and my sunglasses! It buzzed around in there for a second and then flew away. I managed to keep upright and made it to the bottom of the hill and around the corner when I decided I'd like to stop for a second and make sure I hadn't been stung. I put on my brakes and as I was putting my feet down I realized my right foot was stuck in my toe clip. Over I toppled, right into a garden and, thankfully, into a bare spot rather than a shrub! I yelled as I was falling over, "Son of a bitch!!!! (channeling my inner Sawyer?). The homeowner had been standing on his deck drinking a cup of coffee and looking at the lake, so he called out to me to ask if I was hurt. Very nice. He came down to make sure I was okay and his wife came out on the deck as well to see what all the commotion was about. I'm bruised but fine. My foot is a bit sore from being twisted when I went over and I've got a very sore forearm but all in all, I'm just fine. And I didn't get stung! Good news.

It was a productive weekend. I did a little start on the closet clean out, ironed a bunch of things that had been hanging around in the laundry room waiting for just an occasion and that got me very psyched for this coming weekend. My intention is to be ruthless and throw out anything I haven't touched in a year except for classics.

I had a nice quiet Saturday afternoon while Tinkerbell was at the groomers to work on the Whisper Cardigan. This weekend I got all of the ribbing done and yesterday I started on the lower back. Because of the huge long LOST finale event I had lots of time to knit before the last episode started so I got a fare amount done. I should be able to easily finish that project up this weekend. I was also intending to sew the buttons on to my Tangled Yoke cardigan to get that in the finished pile but I didn't. I'll have to make that a requirement before I start another project.

Bike to work cluster you-know-what

May is Bike to Work month and that is how I happen to be doing the challenge team. Today is Bike to Work Day when aalllll the amateurs come out to bike to work and clog up the trails. The bicycle club erects "Commuter Stations" along the trail. There are very few places along my 8 plus mile route where they can do that and be off the path so one then must navigate between around and through throngs of idiots stopped still on the path and on the road to get free trial sized Cliff bars (ick) or water bottles or bike maps or ... whatever. It is annoying. Of course I might be especially cranky this morning because my shoes were STILL not dry and I rode in anyway. And it's cold. And it was raining. Thank goodness it's Friday. I'm crabby.

Oh, BTW, I don't feel so bad now about not riding in yesterday. I wasn't the only one on my team that still had wet rain gear yesterday morning and passed on the experience.

I woke up in the middle of the night and I couldn't get back to sleep for a while. I went traveling. I practiced my extrasensory powers and beamed messages out across the ocean. It must have calmed me down (or wore me out) because next thing I knew the alarm was going off.

Before FlashForward last night (the penultimate episode and it's NOT being renewed) I managed to bind off that left sleeve AND pick up the gazillion stitches with a size 4 needle and do a round or two. Yes indeed - it's a colorful garment.

Well the weather is not going to be great this weekend so I could start my closet/drawer clean out. Tink is getting groomed Saturday but that's about it for my chores except to bring my food in to work and rehearse. I probably won't though, knowing me. I certainly will the following weekend though. I am actually looking forward to it.

Enough!

Despite the beautiful start to the day, by lunchtime yesterday the sky was gray and wind warnings were in effect. Luckily I had left my rain pants in my pannier so when I was ready to bike home I togged up in all my rain gear and headed out. It was rainy, windy and miserable. About 4 or 5 miles into the ride the skies opened up. I have never in all my 18 years of riding to work experienced a storm like that. Rain gear can only do so much and I was sopping wet by the time I made it home. What a mess! I stripped off my bike gear in the garage and took my shoes, gloves and head band upstairs to the laundry room. I realized in the middle of the night that I hadn't put them into the dryer so I took care of it as soon as I got up but it wasn't soon enough and I was not willing to bike into work wearing damp shoes and gloves. If it had been a warm day, perhaps. But it is again windy and unseasonably cold so Commute Challenge be damned. I drove in. It's not like we're in the top few teams and I'm sinking us. Do I need to say (again) I am sick of this weather?

I was more than a little beat up after that ride last night and I didn't do much of anything but knit a little and make some dinner. My new iPhone headphones came yesterday. They are Sennheiser ones and make a HUGE difference. The ones that came with the iPhone were really terrible compared to these. The noise cancellation is unbelievable. So I went up to bed early and while Mr. M was watching some terrible movie in the theatre I lay in bed and watched The Hangover on my iPhone.

I only have a few more rows to go on the left sleeve of the Whisper Cardigan, then I have to pick up stitches all around it. What a clever piece of construction this is. First you make a simple shrug, cuff to cuff starting off in the round and ending in the round with 22 inches flat for the back. Then, like a typical shrug, you pick up stitches around for ribbing. What makes this one different is after the ribbing you bind off for the lapels/collar and keep knitting at the waist in stockinette stitch with short rows and increases for fit and flair until it gets to a normal length for a cardigan. Also the lace weight yarn on larger needles make an almost spongy fabric. It will be perfect for just a bit of added warmth when a wrap is just too gay.

Just a taste

of sunshine this morning. It was lovely to have a bright, dry and sunny ride in to work. It certainly makes a huge difference in my state of mind.

I am looking forward to our long weekend at the end of the month. I have a couple of big projects that I am itching to get to and since every Saturday is like a work day with chores, errands and then rehearsal, it is so hard to have a weekend AND get anything big done. The garden is priority #1. In the front of the house there is a smallish bed at the edge of the property. It is planted with a beautiful little tree, and incredible stargazer lily, another perennial I don't know the name of but my sister calls it Monkey Paw and three clumps of ornamental grass. The grass has been overtaken by horsetails. These are extremely difficult to get rid of but I am going to have to try because I can't control them and, as I said, they have taken over the grass. I will have to dig out the plants and maybe if I mix in some nice compost I can get rid of most of them. Plus it will be fun to pick out some new grasses.

My second big project is a total closet and drawer clean out. I haven't done it since ... well actually before I got married and we're coming up on two years so I'm due. Plus now that I can wear everything in my closet and drawers it's is time to get rid of the old so I can have some space for some new, yeah? Yeah!!

I think I've got my next 3 or four projects lined up. I spent a little time on Ravelry going through patterns and found what I think is the perfect garment for my Cash Iroha. It's called The Baton Rouge Cropped Jacket. I don't consider it cropped and I do think it will suit that yarn perfectly. And no, it's neither top-down nor raglan sleeved and is, in fact, pieced. But I don't care. I just fell in love with it.

Also I've been wanted to use the Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora that I've had for a couple years and I found this. When looking through the projects I saw that someone else made it in that yarn and it looked great, so that's a definite. And lastly, I bought some yarn from Elann yesterday - a merino and Tencel blend that will work for this skirt. I got a great blue - I can't describe it really. I'll have to take some pictures and update my stash page. Here's the skirt.

I might never dry off

It is raining this morning and despite the rain gear I am wet. I did tuck my hair into my jacket but my helmet has holes in it, of course, so my head gets wet. This jacket does have a removable hood but it's not very practical for me and it would be unbearably hot. It's not very cold now and so one has to choose between staying dry(ish) or staying cool. I'm just uncomfortable. And this weather is going to be with us the rest of the week. I would like some spring please. I see on my iPhone weather app that it's sunny elsewhere. Can you share?

Steve & Ginny begged off dinner last night. Having spent the better part of the previous week entertaining her father, she was taken sick and he was exhausted. So it was just the 3 of us, watching the Suns get beat up by the Lakers and having some nice dinner. The first BBQ of the season.

I'm going around and around with my Cash Iroha, trying to decide what to use it for. It is such a gorgeous blend of silk, cashmere and wool. I want a garment that will show off it's drape and sheen. I had picked out a cardigan last week but it's got a collar that I don't like and it doesn't have a v-neck, which is something I do want. I might just have to make a hybrid. I want it to be top down, v-neck, raglan sleeves. Maybe I can start with the Simple Knitted Bodice pattern and then not join it, but do the whole thing back and forth. I was considering steeking it but I don't want to risk anything with this yarn. Maybe a simple cable or a little lace pattern down the front. See ... I'm still thinking and it's not like I'm in a hurry. It's going to be too hot to knit a sweater soon anyway.

Those darned squirrels!!!

I have been tending my little vegetable garden, watching the starts settle in and begin to grow. I couldn't find corn starts at the nursery so instead just bought a packet of seeds. I noticed Friday that they were starting to come up and I was pretty happy about that. I looked again Saturday and they were getting bigger and I was thinking that maybe next weekend I could thin them out, maybe make two rows. Yesterday evening, what did I find? Nibbled shoots and little holes! Those squirrels must have dug up the sprouted seeds. I know it was squirrels because they are in the back all the time and I shooed one out of the tomatoes a couple days ago. All they ever touch are the corn seeds. Those rascals! I hope I can find some corn starts this weekend. If not .... I guess I'll have to think of something else we'll eat.

I had a million and one errands to run on Saturday and so I got at it pretty early. One of the things I had to do was find buttons for my cashmere Tangled Yoke Cardigan. And I found the absolutely MOST perfect buttons in the world for that sweater. I won't even try to describe them. When I put them on this week I'll post pictures. I couldn't be happier.

We went out to see that band Saturday night. They were good - not exciting but they were proficient. There was no chatter - no rapport with the audience which I found most strange. The girl singers were fine. I don't know what Doug was on about. The keyboard player was the best. It was held in a small community center, no refreshments served. It was BYO but we didn't know that. Partly the crowd was made up of people who attended a certain high school with two of the guys I play with and some in the band, so I felt a little out of place. Add to that a blinding headache and it makes for a pretty terrible evening. We stayed for one set.

Sunday we had a late (a week late) Mother's Day brunch with Mr. M's mom, then I had the afternoon to do laundry and knit. Unfortunately, on Friday I had walked to the bike store at lunchtime to pick up something and while I was shopping I had draped my iPhone earbuds around my neck. They slipped off and I stepped on them, rendering them useless. I couldn't listen to my audiobook while knitting! I've got a new pair on order but I'm going to be jonesing for my book all week.

I worked on the Whisper Cardigan - again, meant to take a picture before I left this morning but spaced it. It's very colorful - pink to turquoise to olive green and back again. It'll be fun though and I'm chugging right along. I've finished the first sleeve and am almost ready to start on the second sleeve, having knitted most of the back. I would be able to get going on the sleeve tonight except McG and Steve & Ginny are coming over to watch game one of the Suns basketball playoff.

1,000 posts!!

Yesterday was my 1,000th post and I didn't even notice until today! Wow!

I am late late late today! I guess I must have turned the alarm off, but I don't recall doing that. Regardless, I didn't wake up until 8 am! I had a nice, quiet evening last night working on my Whisper Cardigan, watching FlashForward, talking on the phone. Typical night and I wasn't exhausted or anything. I get to bed at a regular time. Mr. M got home late last night and was up and out at 4 am this morning. Usually if I turn off the alarm I am awakened by his alarm which goes off between 6:45 and 7. But, since he had gotten up at 4-ish I was left to snooze, and I did! Because of my commitment to my bike challenge team I had to bike in rather than just scoot out the door into my car. But I got here before 9:30 so that really isn't too bad considering when I got up.

It is the season for the cottonwoods and the trail is thick with it. I know it's going to get worse. At its peak it looks like snow in some places. I just have to keep my head down to avoid swallowing or inhaling it.

Rehearsal is on Sunday afternoon this weekend because Saturday a band is playing that Doug wants us to go see. First of all, because they're playing in the hall where he wants us to play. Secondly, because there are two girl singers he wants me to see because they're bad. I know - makes no sense to me either, but there you go. And lastly, they have horns and he wants to steal them. We'll go for a while anyway. I don't think it's going to be too much fun.

Last night I tried on my Gatsby dress with my skinny jeans and some sandals. It looks great and fits like a dream. I can't wait to wear it. I wouldn't change a thing about it. I am going to measure it and try to do another one - not an exact copy but same measurements and different stitches. And this one I'll do bottom up in the round. That'll make it much much easier.

Lilacs

Lilacs are my very favorite springtime flower. Perhaps because they are so fleeting? But what I noticed yesterday on the way home was that on the trail they are still in full bloom, just reaching their peak, and the scent is still strong. But in the neighborhoods they are spent. I suppose because it's just that much cooler down along the trail by the lake. And also along the trail they have gone wild, so to speak. I suppose at one time they were part of someone's kept garden, but as they years went by I think a lot of people along the trail have let the back portions of the gardens go a bit so they could have privacy from the traffic. They are therefore mostly out of reach for cutting and so they go crazy every year. [I wish I could go crazy every year ... but I digress.]

I got a new knitting book yesterday. I bought it on Amazon because there was a skirt pattern I wanted in it, and it is in fact a pretty nice book. It's called "Knitting Green: Conversations and Planet Friendly Projects. Besides the skirt there are a couple nice sweaters in there - a hoodie I particular like. And interesting information on sustainable fibers as well.

The weather is gorgeous today and it's supposed to be even nicer tomorrow. Makes for a gorgeous bike commute and a tough day catching fleeting glimpses of the sunshine. I will go have a nice walk outside today at lunchtime. I've got another great audio book to listen to. It is the third book by Benjamin Black, narrated by Timothy Dalton, titled 'Elegy for April'. I did get a library card because I was told one could get free audio books to download to the iPhone however I have yet to find a book that I want! All the titles I have searched for were not available. I'll have to take a little more time to go through the available titles, but in the meantime I guess I'm just going to have to keep paying Audible.com! And try not to listen to them too quickly.

Finally FO pictures!

Last night I finally finished sewing up the last seam and put my Great Gatsby Dress on the form upstairs. Unfortunately I didn't take advantage of the great natural light that was streaming in at that moment (because I wanted to cast on for the Whisper Cardigan) so we have to make do with an iPhone picture for this morning. How cute is that? I am loving everything about it. I wanted to wear it today but I need to spend a little time figuring out how to wear it - what to wear it with, etc. It's not warm enough to wear it as a dress right now but I could use it as a tunic if I can find the right bottoms. I have black skinny jeans or black boot cut leggings. Well anyway, I'll take some time with it this weekend and hopefully be able to wear it next week. And maybe I'll get some better pictures so you can see the lovely lace bottom.

So anyway, after finishing that I did cast on for the Whisper Cardigan using some Noro sock yarn. It is going to be a vivid little garment but I think I'll get some use out of it. Plus it's just fun to knit with Noro yarn, isn't it?

The penultimate episode of LOST last night - that is before the 1 1/2 hour finale - and I must say I was a bit disappointed. That is to be expected. I don't think anyone will be happy with the way this thing is going to wrap up although I am sure it won't end like the Sopranos. That lesson was learned somewhere, hopefully.

I have been tasked with getting something together for Sunday evening with McGarrah and some other friends. It's like wrangling cats.

Mmmmmmmm bacon

On my way in to work today I was overcome by a craving for bacon. Thick, salty, smoky bacon. I could almost smell it. I can *still* almost smell it. I've got to stop thinking about it. It's making me too hungry. Oatmeal will have to suffice.

After I got Tinkerbell washed last night I went straight to work on the Great Gatsby Dress rather than start a new project, and let me tell you that was hard! I sewed up one side of it and my back was aching. I have to sit at the table and bend over it to get the seam just right, so when I was done with the one side I took a break for dinner and then spent the rest of my evening weaving in the bazillion ends. Now all I have left is one seam which I can easily finish up tonight before LOST.

I am definitely going to do the Whisper Cardigan with the Noro Kureyon sock yarn I got from Elann last week. My stash is quite small these days. I have a bag of Cash Iroha coming, which is really a cool weather type of yarn but I couldn't resist the color or the cost. And Elann has a cotton/Tencel blend coming up next week that I think I will buy to make another skirt. There's a lovely color available. And I have two different colors of Debbie Bliss cotton angora that's been in my stash for a couple of years. I really should make something with that. I have enough for two different tops or maybe even a skirt. Well I've got a couple of projects now in the wings. The Whisper Cardigan and some sort of tank top to take to Hawaii with me, using up the last of my Ella Rae Shibu.

Lucky for me it was not raining hard on the way home yesterday. I had picked up my spoke card to identify myself as a participant in the Bike to Work Month contest. I put it in my spokes, as it was suggested I do, and promptly lost it on the way home. I am guessing this is a regular occurrence because I saw one in the middle of the road on the way in. I should have stopped to pick it up, but it was in the middle of a busy road so ... no thanks.

Finished!

I took Friday off as a vacation day. It was a beautiful day and Mike and I had stayed up way to late the night before gossiping and I wanted some time in the morning with him too. So we had a leisurely morning, then when he and Mr. M had left I got outside and put in my vegetable garden. It took me quite a while to clean out those three raised beds and to mix in the compost. Then I planted my starts, rearranged the soaker hoses, put out the slug bait. Whew! It looks great though and I'm so glad it's finally done. Although it's cloudy and rainy today it is supposed to be nice the rest of the week and I want them to be all well established and flourishing before we leave for our vacation in June.

The rest of the day I spent on the Tangled Yoke Cardigan, as well as all my free time on Saturday AND Sunday. I finally finished it yesterday evening around 7 and got it washed and blocked. I am pretty happy with it even though the finishing gave me fits! First of all I could not for the life of me figure out how to pick up the stitches from the purl bumps below the start of the neck ribbing so I could do the 3-needle bind off. I tried and tried and was getting very frustrated so I finally just bound it off and ended up tacking it down by hand. It wasn't until I was coming home from rehearsal about 10:30 that evening that I realized that I could have just folded the fabric and picked up the stitches from the edge. Duh. My other frustrating moment was after I had Kitchner stitched the first underarm, AND had the yarn break in the middle of the exercise only to find that I had done it all on the WRONG SIDE!! There was a huge ugly seam under the arm. Well I couldn't have that, so I had to pick it out and do it over. It was extremely difficult to do, especially because of the broken yarn .... gah! I got it done and of course did not make the same mistake on the other side. Now all I have left to do is find the right buttons. That'll be my chore for this coming weekend, which is already shaping up to be very busy.

I was still rather jangled after getting that project done last night but I knew better than to start sewing my Great Gatsby dress together. That is for tonight.

I kind of felt bad about skipping out on my ride miles for Friday but it was good to have the day off. I made up for it today by having to ride in the rain. Ugh. I even had to use my rain pants. Hopefully that'll be the only time this month. Oh ... no, I am really not that crazy. I know it won't be the last, but I can hope.

No wind this morning

Lovely! It was not a bad ride this morning, except it's still unseasonably cool. No wind, no rain and I saw blue skies when I got to work. I'm going to take a nice walk at lunchtime today up to the yarn store to poke around at their annual Mother's Day sale items, and then on to the bank. I am hoping that it'll be full on sun by then. It's supposed to hit the mid 60's today.

I am going to go through my Ravelry queue and write down some yardage for a few smaller items. I need a project to take to Hawaii with me in June and it's got to be small (but not socks -I am so over them) and cotton or bamboo or linen. A tank top or a cami, or maybe the Bonsai Tunic? I'll give myself a few options. I also went off my yarn diet today and bought a bag of Noro Cash Iroho on sale at LittleKnits. Fulay says it's the end of it so they must be discontinuing the yarn. I love this yarn so I got enough to make a nice sweater in a beautiful dusty rose.

I have been looking forward to tonight for weeks now!! My friend McG is in town - we saw his show last Sunday. Tonight he and I are going out. Mr. M is working so I can have an entire evening alone with my old friend to gossip and drink and vent. There is nothing like an old friend. I don't think there's much of anything he doesn't know about me and nothing I can't tell him. We all need friends like that, don't you think? Plus which I've given myself permission to go off the slimming regimen and have a few drinks. We drink well together, McG and me.

I worked diligently on the Tangled Yoke Cardigan last night. I am up to row 9, I believe. That's half way through. Holy cow though .... I consider myself at least an accomplished intermediate knitter but this yoke is kicking my butt. Part of the problem is that I made a typo when I was translating that chart yesterday so I made a 2x2 cable where there should have been a 2x1. I discovered the mistake about 3 repeats in but it was out of the question to tink back. I tried but got hopelessly scrambled by all of the twists of the cables so I left it and tried to fix it on the way back on the purl row. I *think* I did. I'll have to get a couple more rows up before I'll know if it's really noticeable or not. I am guessing that it's not going to stand out very much, especially since it's tweed yarn. Fingers crossed.

It's called a mirror

Yesterday while doing a little sleuthing for one of the instructors I happened into a department that I rarely visit. The woman at the front desk had the most amazing mustache I've seen on a woman ever. EVER! A man would be proud to sport this. It was very difficult to even concentrate on what she was saying because I couldn't help but stare and wonder at that 'stache. She was otherwise groomed. She had a haircut, maybe even a bit of mascara. In other words, she has a mirror. Does she think it's invisible? I can't get over it. Really astonishing.

I got the judgment back on my speeding ticket mitigation statement. What a racket. Oh, my ticket was deferred because of my good driving record. If I don't have any tickets in the next year then it will not be reported to my insurance company (which I didn't think it was going to be anyway considering it was done with a camera). Ah, but here's the racket part - the administration cost of having it deferred is $100. Ah well, it's better than $189 but still. It's maddening.

I managed to get three rows into the 18 rows of VERY complicated cables on the Tangled Yoke Cardigan. Whew .... I mean it is tough! Today I'm going to write out the rest of the rows. I just can't read cable charts, especially this one where there are six or eight different cables. I can't memorize the pictures. I don't have this trouble with lace charts. The symbols are easier somehow. But the cable symbols all look alike to me and it's too much to stop every repeat, 20 of them, to pick up the pattern.

LOST was pretty darned exciting last night. Good lord, it's going to be as bad as when football ends when this program stops!

Who hates head winds?

That would be ME! Although this morning it wasn't nearly so bad as yesterday. Going home was just awful. The second I stepped out of the door to leave the skies opened up and it poured rain all the way home. A little later in the evening it thundered and hailed, so thank goodness I missed that. It's supposed to get better tomorrow.

I was cold, wet and exhausted yesterday evening but managed to rally and knit a few rows of the Tangled Yoke Cardigan. I thought I was at the point where I could start the cable portion this evening but I had forgotten the right side decrease row, so I've got to purl across one more time, then do the decreases and THEN I can start the cables. Only 18 rows of pattern but it looks very complicated.

I was looking at my little plants on the deck yesterday evening and got excited about getting them planted. I bought some heirloom tomatoes for a change this year. I sure hope that feeding the soil will take care of some of my problems from last year. Also I'm going to switch the crops, such as they are, putting the corn in the middle bed, tomatoes in the first bed, etc.

Seven weeks until Hawaii. I've got a house/Tink sitter lined up for part of the time so I will only have to board Tink for four days. There is a new place right near me that I'm going to check out this weekend. It's not new exactly, but I believe there has been a change of ownership. It looked pretty sketchy before but now it's cleaned up and definitely worth a look.

Day 1 of 20

Today starts the bicycle commute challenge. There are over 4,000 people participating. I have got to find out what the prizes are so I will know what I am shooting for. It was VERY windy this morning but at least not raining, as it was predicted. It was slow going.

I had the best type of weekend. I got up and out early both days and got my chores done so that I could have nice long afternoons for knitting. Mr. M was away both days so I had peace and quiet, a new audio book and my comfy chair. I did so much knitting that I had to finally throw in the towel yesterday afternoon because my hands were getting sore! But I got the sleeves attached and got working on the yoke. I have about an inch or so more to go before I start the cable portion of the yoke. I did try it on yesterday afternoon and it's going to be just perfect. I do need to find exactly the right buttons though.

Early Sunday I made a visit to the local garden store and bought vegetable starts, herbs and compost. Unfortunately the weather was just terrible yesterday afternoon so I didn't get them in but they're all sitting on the deck waiting for me. Maybe one afternoon after work I can start. And if not, this weekend for sure. It's supposed to be nice.