Hawaii dreaming

I want to go Hawaii. Maybe it's because we've got a little trip to the ocean this weekend that has got me thinking about it. Or maybe because of the movie I saw Friday night -- Couples Retreat (which was pretty funny). Whatever the reason, I've set the wheels in motion. Booked the week of June 21 off from work and I've picked a place, ocean side condo, very near where I stayed the last time I was on the Big Island. My sister wants to join us and, hopefully, her boyfriend will come as well. Since he's in the movie business it's almost as difficult to nail him down as it is to nail Mr. M down as far as vacations go, but I'm going to reserve that two bedroom condo today and if I have to cancel and change it to a one bedroom I can do that later. At least I can save the one I want, right on the beach, for now and that's something very nice to look forward to!

We had big storms yesterday. Big spring storms with thunder and lightening. It's not bad today, although threatening again. I am just hoping it'll hold off so I can get a decent run in today at lunchtime. I want to make sure last Friday wasn't a fluke!

I got most of another square done for my blanket last evening, but then Tinkerbell really wanted to play so I put it down and romped with her for a bit. After dinner I picked up the dress again and finished the stockinette portion, bound off and picked up the stitches and started the ribbing. Depending upon how much time I get to myself this coming weekend, I could very well finish it. I doubt I'll be that lucky though, so we're most likely looking at the following week finishing up. Then I think I want to do that mohair cardigan from the Vogue Knitting Winter, the #23 Cabled Yoke Cardigan. I'm going to look up the yarn requirements tonight and start looking for just the right mohair. I can't work with mohair when it's too hot because it sticks to my hands and fingers, so I'd better get on it right away before the weather turns.

It was fantastic!!

Last Friday I had the BEST run I have had in time out of mind! It was amazing!! And it felt so good. At last I am able to breath and I'm not sick. I'm going to run again tomorrow and I'm going to try to go for an hour. I was going to go today as well but I've got to help with getting a class set up for 12:30 for someone who has food poisoning. Poor girl.

I had a pretty nice weekend. It was sunny and nice on Saturday so I got to spend some time in the garden - this time the back - starting the clean up. I filled 3 cans and called it a day. I worked on the Gatsby dress front until it was time to go to rehearsal. And Sunday was just a good. The weather was bad - raining and blowing and not gardening weather (which didn't break my heart) so I had the entire day, after errands, to spend in my comfy chair knitting and tending to laundry. For some reason my shoulder was sore. I think it's a combination of all the the purling I'm doing, since I'm on the stockinette portion of the front, and knitting in that chair. Sunday I spent making squares for my blanket. I found four more skeins of Noro Kureyon (did you know kureyon means crayon in Japanese?) in the colorway I love, 188. It goes well with the moss green Rowan Classic. I am going to make as many squares with the Kureyon as I can, then I'll know how many of the solid green ones I need to make. I am assuming I'll have enough yarn. Cheeky assumption. Hope it doesn't come back to bite me.

Looking forward to the weekend at the ocean. I'm taking Friday off. It's supposed to be raining all week but no matter. The beach is fine in any weather.

Knocked out again

I headed home a little early last night, trying to catch the beginning of the basketball game - Huskies against the #2 seed, West Virginia. I had forgotten to set the recorder but managed to get home and plunked down with my knitting with 3 minutes to go in the first half. They were up and had been so for the entire half. Unfortunately, sometime in the second half they lost momentum and lost. Too bad. And that's that for basketball watching for me. And it's a loooooong time 'til football except the draft coming up in April.

I am a little more than half way through the ladder lace portion of the front of the dress. FlashForward was on after the basketball game and that's like LOST in that I can't do knitting and really watch it. I have high hopes for this weekend. It is supposed to be nice on Saturday and I plan on spending an hour or two weeding, but Sunday it's supposed to rain again so I can just cozy up in my comfy chair and go to town.

This afternoon I'm going to try running. It was pouring rain at home so I took the bus again and lo and behold, when I stepped off the bus here the ground was bone dry. At least I'll have good energy (or should have) for the run. Fingers crossed.

I am taking no chances

While it was sunny and unseasonably warm yesterday -- I even biked home in my shorts and shirtsleeves -- this morning it was pouring rain. I am not willing to risk my continuing recovery with a ride in the rain, so this morning opted for public transport. I can get my exercise at lunchtime. I've got a walk to the bank planned and then I can run back to work. Depending on how I feel I can either extend the run or just head back to the office. I am very much looking forward to getting my legs back underneath me and being able to have good, long runs.

I emailed the bass player and drummer yesterday regarding the Tuesday evening mix-up. Doug, the leader, doesn't have email. Or rather, he has it but won't use it. I know .... Anyway, the other guys were very nice about it. What had happened is that the leader had telephoned to the bass player on Sunday evening, found out that he could make it and so called the drummer and told him but nobody called me!! Idiots.

As planned I got all but 1 1/2 repeats of the lace border done at noon, so when I got home and showered I finished it up and picked up the stitches and away I went! Now I am 6 rows into the ladder lace. It goes quickly. Since I had made the mistake on the back of the dress of picking up the stitches on the right side of the lace border ( rather than the wrong side as per the pattern) I repeated the same "mistake" on the piece for the front so they will match. I don't know what it was supposed to look like if I had picked up the stitches on the wrong side, because it's invisible to my eye.

I am STILL steamed!!

Oh those guys!! I was really looking forward to our little quickie rehearsal yesterday. I've been quite busy at work lately since I've gotten back on my two legs, and let's face it - I look for ways to escape the house when we have our "guest" [who, by the way, crammed an oversize suitcase into the closet in the guest room where I have clothes and bent or otherwise sprung the door!!] so I was a little disappointed when I didn't receive a call telling me the rehearsal was on. I did a little knitting and was just finishing up making a salad when the phone rings at 6:30 and it's the drummer asking me if I'm okay and if I'm coming to rehearsal! Here I must confessed that I snapped and replied in a rather loud tone, "NO I'm not coming to rehearsal!! You were supposed to call me!" Then I cursed a few times, and there was some hollering going on there in the background and then I cursed a few more times. It really made me mad!! How freaking difficult is it to let me know? If I don't hear from Doug and I show up, then there's no rehearsal. From now on I'm just going to have to take it upon myself to call each and every time to make sure we're still on. Now if I could just let it go!!

Last weekend I was knitting on the lace border and listening to the final Ricky Gervais audiobook. I realized that I don't make mistakes when I'm listening to audiobooks as opposed to music. When I listen to music and try to knit something I need to concentrate on it's hopeless because my mind wanders, whereas it doesn't do that when I'm listing to spoken word. So on Monday I bought another audiobook. A few years ago Christopher Hitchens mentioned a series in an article in Vanity Fair about Flashman which sounded amusing. A few weeks ago another friend of mind mentioned it so I thought that might be a good one to start my audiobook adventure with. I downloaded "Flashman and the Tiger". Not the first in the series, which I would have preferred, but the only unabridged version of the series on iTunes. I am enjoying the book but not the narrator. Although I have never read the book and therefore don't have a voice for the protagonist, this narrator, David Case, sounds as if he's always running out of breath. I am assuming it's an affectation but it annoys me. I looked him up on audible.com. He died in 2005 of throat cancer and was one of the most celebrated narrators. Perhaps I should try something else from him.

But anyway, while listening last evening I managed to do a few more repeats on the never ending lace border. Hopefully I can finish it up this lunchtime at noon knitting and then tonight pick up the stitches and be on my merry way to finishing this monster!!

Well that was silly

Why didn't I put that song in a link rather than post an address yesterday? My brain still isn't functioning at full capacity. Here's a link to the song by Antebellum that I am really loving right now. I am pretty excited about our new rehearsal schedule and actually looking forward to rehearsing, and it's been a LONG time since that's happened. For months I've just been forcing myself to go. I still haven't heard from Doug but I am hoping the bass player will see the logic in having a short one set rehearsal during the week. Plus he's not working ... it's not like he's super busy doing other things.

I got home a little later than usual last night because I had to stop to pick something up at the Mall. Then I spent some time putting our tentative three sets onto my iPhone and downloading the missing stuff. Oh! And we have a new one by Fergie . Well new is relative - it's from her Duchess album but it's new to me. By the time I was done with that I was famished. One nice thing about this particular diet, I'm not cooking big meals for the two of us. I make my salad and steam some vegetables and Mr. M does his own thing. Of course the boy is here on spring break for this week so there's a bit more that goes into it on his end, but I've got it easy for the next 10 weeks.

All that to say that I didn't get to work on the lace border again. It was nearly 9 by the time I was ready to relax, so I watched a little SCTV and did a few more rows on the One Skein Stole. It's going to be pretty cool. But I really want to finish that dress by the end of April!!! Maybe tomorrow.

Boing!!

Spring certainly showed up this weekend, right on time. Saturday was amazing!! Warm, sunny and spectacular. I still felt like a little shopping. Since I'm doing my annual spring diet, I wasn't looking for clothes but still thought I'd run up to the Premium Outlet Mall just to poke around the Coach store and look for some charms for my Juicy Couture bracelet, etc. I got there early enough so that there was plenty of parking and popped into the Juicy store first. I found a great charm -- this one a purple-ish faceted heart. I really want the Eiffel Tour charm but they don't make them any more and IF you can find them on eBay they are all over the map. I've seen them for over $100! People are crazy. But next time I find one in the $50-60 range I'm going to snap it up. I only have one more space left to fill, although the nice thing about that bracelet is that you can remove the charms and have theme bracelets. Anyway .... on to the Coach store which was bedlam! The tourists come down from Canada - usually Korean or Japanese - and hit the outlet mall Coach and Burberry shops like locusts. There wasn't room to move in the Coach store but I did manage to corner a guy re-stocking the shelves and asked him where the non-factory stuff was. You see, the factory stores have gotten wise and they make things specifically for the factory store - not as well made but still authentic. Well there was one shelf of real stuff and it was icky, so I left. Good thing too, because I could barely breath! Just a couple more stops - at the kitchen store for a couple new pans and the leather store for a nice travel bag. No, not Coach but real leather as opposed to the designer bags I had been looking at for $180 made of plastic.

I had set the second basketball game to record but I made it home in time and settled down to work on the One Skein a Stole and watch the game. The Huskies DOMINATED! Again, not a big basketball fan, but this was pretty darned exciting. So they are now in the Sweet Sixteen and the next game is Friday. And that was pretty much it for Saturday. I watched TV in bed for a while, worked more on the stole and had another sleepless night. (Thank goodness I'm finally done with the Cortisone. I am sure that's what has been causing this terrible insomnia.)

Sunday after a few little errands I settled down and got a lot done on the lace border. I have about 8 more repeats to go before I can pick up the stitches for the ladder lace. I had to cut it short though because Doug did get the rehearsal moved to Sunday, but it ended up to be the bass player's wife's birthday so he couldn't come. The three of us did have a pretty good run through of some songs. Doug has decided that we will not be ready for May 8 and is going to postpone our show to the end of May. I suggested that perhaps we could get together one during the week as well as on the weekend. During the week we could meet up for just an hour or an hour and a half and do ONE set, straight through. That way I would have more reason to actually start memorizing those lyrics and it's always a good idea to just go straight through a set and that way your mistakes are pretty obvious. They're going to run it by Greg.

We have a pretty eclectic set list, to say the least. From the 80's to the present with a heavy dose of country thrown in. I have one song that I just can't get out of my head. I LOVE it! It's a song that is crossing over into the popular air play. When I was down in California in February I heard it at a sushi restaurant. Here's a link to the YouTube video. The video itself is not great but the song is awesome! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eB7T3lJ3dZ4

Progress!

Oh my, I am feeling better! Woohoo!!! I am still working from home today, but I definitely feel better. I got pretty tired pretty quickly yesterday but I did get what I had set out to do finished up, so working at home today is a good option.

How I know I am feeling better:

I was thinking about going shopping this weekend
(Haven't wanted to shop for weeks)
I haven't yet coughed up a lung and it's 10 am
(Haven't been able to make it through the night in weeks)
My head is NOT aching
(Complete miracle)
Had a fight with Mr. M
(Well, he spilled red wine on the couch in the theatre, sat in it, and didn't even apologize or go clean it up!!!)

I've got a ways to go yet and I'm not ready to go out and run or anything, but things are actually looking up for a change and I'm pretty happy about that.

It was (and is again today) beautiful at lunchtime yesterday so I ventured out for a little walk down by the water. I passed a row of beautiful cherry trees in bloom and saw this one. I just love it when the blossoms come out of the trunk!

I was quite exhausted when I got home, so I went right back to bed and watched the first game of the basketball tournament. Huskies won! I don't usually like basketball but this is the big national tournament so I turned it on. It was very exciting. They took it right down to the wire but pulled out a win.

No knitting. I am still planning on finishing up the lace border but my head was too achy for that last night. I have high hopes for the weekend. And Doug called and offered to move rehearsal to Sunday if there was a better chance I could make it. I hope I can.

Don't say it ...

I'll say it myself. Yes, I probably jumped the gun. I am at work. I don't know for how long today. I had a couple of things haunting me that are much easier to do from here than on my laptop from home and, quite honestly, I wanted to try it out. Getting out of bed, that is. I'm a little slow. But besides the blinding headache and feeling like I am dragging around 20 pounds of lead weights, I'm fine. ;-)

It is a stunningly beautiful day. Bright blue sky and spring bulbs blooming everywhere. I wish I could have ridden my bike but I am not that stupid. I'd like to try for a walk at lunchtime. I downloaded the last Ricky Gervais Guide To series yesterday and I like listening to it while I'm walking. Although sometimes I must appear quite mad, laughing at nothing and nobody visible. This one is Guide to the Earth. I'm sorry to see that series end, but I am enjoying the HBO animated series although it is just a repeat of the early pod casts with animation. I like listening to him talk. His accent is not exactly the same, but close enough.

Tonight "Flash Forward" starts up again. It has quite a few of the actors who were on LOST. I recorded a recap episode on Tuesday night after LOST ... I couldn't stay up. So now this evening I've got to watch that before the 2 hour premier or I'll be out of my depth. It is science fiction-ish. And I don't care so much about it that I can't knit while I'm watching. I did work on the lace border a bit yesterday but my head ache got in the way. Maybe this weekend I can get a few chunks of time carved out to get it done and pick up the stitches. The rest of the front is a pretty quick knit because of the stockinette.

Now I must dig in and make the most of what few hours I'm going to be able to sit here.

Still waiting

for the medicine to kick in. I am feeling slightly better in that my cough is not as bad, but the headaches and body aches are still a problem. I truly expected to be feeling much much better by now considering the amount of pills I've been taking. I am at least propped up in bed on my laptop rather than trying to do everything with my iPhone. Well it's no fun reading about someone's ailments and aches and pains so that's enough of that.

I might do some knitting this afternoon. I could get the lace border done for the dress if I put my mind to it. Or I could sleep.

We had a big wind storm here yesterday. It was funny - just quick and it was gone as fast as it came. However it did blow some trees over on some houses. We have a couple big old trees in the back. Last year an arborist was going door to door to offer to check out the trees to see if they were healthy and we had them checked out. I would hate for that to happen. I would often think about that possibility at my old house because I had two huge old poplars on my property and one of them was looking a bit peaked.

March always makes me think of a trip to Versailles. Spring not really ready to show up, especially after the big storms that year, but the groundskeepers were trying hard to force it by planting primroses and violets around the muddy grounds. My companion had skipped work that day, I believe. And we had a wonderful lunch in a restaurant like a greenhouse .... my memory is fading there. The rest of the day and evening is still sharp in my mind though. That was one of the best days ever.

Oh gosh ... I just realized it's St. Patrick's Day! Happy day everyone.

The results are in

A chest x-Ray and CT scan this morning and the results were back by 3. It is a chronic sinus infection! I still feel terrible but at least I know what it is and I am on the mend!

I spent the weekend laying low and knitting. Maybe tomorrow I can get some pictures up. It depends on how fast the meds kick in. I got the lace border started, knit on the 1 skein shawl and fiddled a bit more with the blanket ideas.

I am SO looking forward to feeling good.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

I am sick and tired

AGAIN!!! This is it ... I'm going back to the doctor. This cough/chest thing has been hanging on and hanging on and hanging on! My chest hurts when I run and going up a flight of stairs is again a cause of much wheezing and gasping. I tried to get in to see the doctor today but he's out of town. I've got an appointment for first thing Monday morning. We are going to get to the bottom of this, once and for all.

I made it through the day yesterday, but barely and went right to bed when I got home. No dinner, no knitting, no TV. I read a bit and slept. I might be able to knit a bit today. I'd like to start that lace border but I'm going to wait until I see if I'll be able to stay awake. Oh! Darn ... I just remembered I have a hair appointment today. I'd better call and cancel that ASAP. The weather is at least cooperating and it's nasty and rainy outside.

I can't imagine I'll be up for rehearsing on Saturday either. I'll leave that call for tomorrow. Lucky for me things are pretty quiet at work so I am taking this day as SICK and not even checking my email. Ok ... that's a lie. I will be checking my email.

I shall rant AND rave

First the rave: It was pouring rain this morning and even though I received my new waterproof Ortlieb panniers yesterday I decided to forget the bike ride and take the bus. (My cough and wheezing has returned and I thought it best not to get soaking wet this morning. I'll be seeing the doctor tomorrow). As usual I got to the crosswalk at Lake City Way and here comes my bus. The light turned green after it had started loading passengers but I charged across the street and as I rounded the end of the bus it started to leave. Thankfully there was a man standing waiting for another bus and he waved to the driver who stopped for me. I waved a "thank you" at the guy. That was very nice, especially considering it was raining.

Now here's the rant: I spent the greater part of yesterday fussing with my restored computer. Because of the virus I got from who knows where, the hard drive had to be cleaned and everything reloaded. I've had this particular machine for quite a while now -- probably 5 years, maybe more. And while I'm grateful I didn't lose any of my files, the hassle of reconfiguring things is HUGE! I spent a few hours -- no exaggeration -- trying to reconfigure my mail client, Thunderbird. The UW has thoughtfully provided detailed instructions on how to configure it to run the UW mail, but the instructions were out of date by a version so I had to just wing it. I got it working in that I could read messages and receive messages but I couldn't sent messages. I contacted the UW IT department and got a reply and this morning got it running correctly. Unfortunately my entire address book is gone. *sigh* But my rant isn't about that, it's about the JERKS who write and disseminate these viruses in the first place. What is the point? How can they get satisfaction from doing this when they can't even see the trouble they are causing? Obviously I'm missing something. Something besides half a day. And I'm NOT in a good mood. I hope today is a little less frustrating. I couldn't even cook dinner yesterday. Thank goodness I had a nice hard bike ride to unleash some of that frustration.

I wanted to work more on the stole that I started at lunchtime yesterday but I was just too agitated when I got home. I need my house guest to leave, is what I need.

Rantless

Smooth sailing on the way to work today! Nobody tried to run me over or cut me off or anything! Plus it stopped raining before I got on the bike. Pretty lucky today.

Because I've been using my laptop for the past week plus I hadn't changed the page on my desk blotter calendar. I did it this morning and got a pleasant surprise. This Sunday is the start of daylight saving time! Yay! Spring forward! And the following Saturday is the official first day of Spring. We've certainly jumped the gun here.

I didn't get that one skein Noro sock yarn stole started last night after all. By the time I got the dinner cleaned up it was time for LOST re-cap and I didn't want to try to do all that casting on, etc. while I was half watching the show so I just indulged myself and watched TV for two hours. It was a really great show last night. Only 9 more episodes to go.

I brought the yarn and needles with me today so I can cast on and get started at noon knitting. I seriously want to start the front of that dress this weekend as well. I don't have anything pressing to do so I certainly should be able to do that.

It's just crazy time

At lunch yesterday I took a walk up the Ave. As I as walking along I noticed it starting to precipitate. No, not rain. Snow! Unbelievable - 60 degrees on the weekend and then snow on Monday. It didn't stick, nor did it come down for long, but still. And this morning as I was getting ready for work, all set to put on my bike clothes, my husband informs me that it is 29 degrees and icy outside and I might want to rethink the bike ride. So right. I took the bus.

Since I was up close to the yarn store I thought I might as well do a swing through, just for the heck of it. While I was there I decided to buy a ball of Noro sock yarn to maybe make a simple stole or try the tilted blocks ..... I wasn't sure. I found the color I wanted and took it up to the counter and gave the girl my card to get another punch. But it was full! It was full and I hadn't even noticed! Here I've been walking around for who knows how long with $20 of free yarn in my hand and I was unaware. Totally not like me. I can't believe I missed that.

Last night we watched "The Invention of Lying", which I thought was really good but Mr. M fell asleep. It had that "break up the wedding" ending though. I would have thought he could have come up with something a bit less trite. Ricky Gervais is a very vocal atheist, so I can pretty much guess where his premise came from. Still it was very clever and I would watch it again.

I tried to start a one skein Noro sock yarn stole - a pattern I found on Ravelry - while I was watching the movie but I kept messing up when I was knitting and dropping the wrapped stitches. Perhaps tonight I can get it cast on and get a little run at it before the new LOST starts.

Slush on my windows!

Wow ... what a change! Saturday was 60 degrees and this morning there was slush on the windows. It's a bit more seasonable. And it's supposed to get any colder, although it is supposed to rain more this week so my rides might be a bit yucky. I'll drive in again on Friday because I've got an appointment after work but other than that I should be able to ride in the rest of the week. That is, of course, if I can take my laptop home tonight and leave it there. My PC should be ready to go today, fingers crossed. Working on my laptop for day after day is tiring.

I did some good work in the front garden on Saturday while Tink was getting beautified. I filled up two cans, but it was much harder than the four I filled before because I was cutting back things, dead heading, cutting the lavender. I worked until my right hand was cramping then cleaned up and had a few hours of quiet knitting time before I had to go get Tinkerbell. They have a new groomer up at Kristie's and he did a super job! She looks so great!

I did a little more knitting then it was off to rehearsal. I made up two set lists so we can just concentrate on these songs for a while and get them down, rather than going all over the place. It still looks like we're shooting for May 8. Doug has a meeting with the person in charge of the hall this week to nail down the details.

Yesterday was mostly errands, but I did have an hour or so before we went to see "Alice in Wonderland" and I finished up the back of my Great Gatsby dress! It is SO cute!!! This is a bad picture, I know, I snapped it with my iPhone on the way out this morning. I need to find some quiet time to cast on the lace border for the front. It might have to wait for the weekend. An am anxious now to get it done. It is going to be wonderful. A perfect spring tunic.

The 3D "Alice in Wonderland" was quite an experience. It is gorgeous! And the 3D effects are spectacular. The story itself was a bit dark, somewhat gruesome. I enjoyed it though. And I balanced the evening out with Monty Python's "The Meaning of Life". Always good for a laugh or 3.

Chugging right along

Well I didn't watch "The Invention of Lying" but rather ended up with some silly movie on Comedy Central. It was perfect knitting fare and I got through the ribbing and on to the stockinette increase section. I did make one little mistake on a row and didn't catch it until I was up 3 more rows. Well it's more like a series of mistakes on a row -- I accidentally did a part of the row in ribbing. Yes, it's obvious but it is on the back and most likely my hair will cover it up. I'm not going to take it out.

I had a long, intense day yesterday. Not complaining -- it does make the day go by much faster when I'm nose to the screen all day, but my eyes really suffer. They get so dry staring at the screen hour after hour. I did have a good ride home and it wasn't raining. Today it's going to be sunny and nearly 60 so I'm going to have a run at lunchtime. Maybe even 45 rather than 30. I did feel really good last Tuesday.

And the good weather is supposed to stick around for tomorrow as well so after I take Tink to the groomers and take Mr. M downtown I will have a couple hours for gardening. I'll save the errands for Sunday when it's supposed to be cloudy.

Two rants in a row!

It does seem to happen that way. I've had another commute plagued by idiot drivers. It was raining when I left this morning and one would think people would be more careful rather than more careless. I have to cross Sandpoint Way in the morning to go down to the trail. I stop at 110th street at the crosswalk and wait for a break in the traffic to cross. Today there was also a man on the other side of the street on 110th waiting to cross as well. A driver heading south stopped for this gentleman so I started out as well and a woman going north just blew right through the crosswalk, nearly taking out the other bicyclist. Her view was unimpeded and should could see the other vehicle stopped. And before that I had a woman pull out right in front of me as I was driving down the side of the street. Idiots!!

I had two meetings yesterday morning. The second one was a miracle. Everyone was pleasant, working in concert, no arguments .... beautiful. We even got done early.

I did do a good bit of work on the Gatsby at noon knitting but not much on it last night after dinner. I think tonight I may watch "The Invention of Lying" and I should be able to get lots done then. I'd like to shoot for finishing up the back this weekend and maybe even starting on the front. I've got gardening, a few shopping chores, rehearsal, but otherwise should be able to carve out a few 3 hour slots to make some progress.

Okay now, here's to a smooth ride home this evening!!

Major Rant

There are a couple of stereotypical Seattle behaviors that drive me crazy. The too polite driver who doesn't take his right of way and the inability for 99% of Seattle drivers to use their turn signals. This behavior is not exclusive to motor vehicles. Bicyclists have the same problem. As I was zooming down the trail, getting ready to turn left to go up the hill off the trail, a male cyclist was coming down the hill toward the trail. I was, of course, signaling that I was turning left. He did not signal so I had no idea which way he was going. I could have avoided slowing down (which is always a good thing when faced with a steep hill) if I had but known which direction he was heading but as it was I had to slow down considerably, so that when I tried to shift into a lower gear to go up my chain slipped and my pedals locked up. I was lucky enough to pull my feet out of the toe clips in time so that I didn't go crashing down. I pulled over to the side of the street and proceeded to get my chain back on and as I was doing this a car came driving towards me and stopped across the intersection. No signal, so I waved the car through. I was on the side of the road, not impeding his progress in any direction but he kept sitting there. I waved him on again. What I needed to do was get a little run at the hill, so I was going to ride east a few yards past the trail, then turn and head uphill. I finally went east to make my turn and the car turned right!! If the idiot had only had his signal on ..... Needless to say all of the relaxation that I get from my ride was gone and I arrived home in a nasty mood.

A medicinal (and much needed) shower and a glass of wine and I was feeling a bit better. After dinner and during the re-cap episode of LOST I finished up the decreases and bound off, then picked up 74 stitches and started on the ribbing for the bodice portion of the back of the Gatsby. Since I have two meetings this morning and I always arrive in such a state when I ride, I drove in and therefore I was able to bring my Gatsby for noon knitting. I should be able to finish up the ribbing and start on the back tonight if I don't get distracted. Big IF.

I guess we might as well face it

We are getting an early spring, and that's that! I don't think we're going to be getting any more cold weather. Sunday was nearly 60 and I finally got out and spent some time in the garden cleaning up the dead stuff and finding all of the plants going full steam ahead. Unfortunately because the lawn has also been growing like crazy and Mr. M wanted/needed to mow it, I was only able to use the back-up yard waste cans -- four of them -- and filled them up in no time at all! Yesterday Mr. M mowed and he did indeed fill to overflowing the HUGE yard waste bin. But I was happy to get at least some of it done and the outlines are now visible in the very front garden. There are still hours and hours and HOURS of work to be done and so we'll have to hire some people to do the tough stuff, but I can at least get in there and cut down the lavender, dead head the hydrangea, etc. Plenty of easy work left to do. It is supposed to be nice on Saturday so that is my morning!

I had a really good run yesterday. When I ran last Thursday my lungs really hurt. Yesterday was fine. Just a little bit of ache. Otherwise I felt strong and I went the distance. I feel like I've finally turned the corner. I also had a very good ride in today. I won't be able to run the St. Pat's race but there is one in Kirkland in April. I'll shoot for that.

I have been doing lots of good work on the Gatsby dress. I have only a few more rows to go before I bind off, then pick up stitches for the ribbing portion of the bodice. In fact I even did a few rows at midnight last night. I was so very tired that I went up early last night to read and took Tink with me. She woke me up at midnight insisting to go out, so I sat and knit for 20 minutes while she did her thing outside, then back we went and I slept like a rock. In fact, slept through the alarm.

Tomorrow is noon knitting. I'd like to bring the Gatsby but it's getting hard to fit into my pannier and I'd like to ride in. Might have to bring the Enchanting scarf. I need to finish that thing anyway.

Tinkerbell never quits trying

My little adventure dog. Last night I made the mistake of letting her out after dark without hooking her up to the long line. I do that because when it's dark and she doesn't feel like coming in she just simply won't answer the call to come, but instead sites, immobile, as if that makes her invisible. I heard her barking and called but she didn't come in so I left it for a bit, know that sooner or later she'd show up at the door and if not I'd get the flashlight and go grab her. Instead I got a phone call from the neighbor behind us. That is Tink's favorite spot to escape to because the lady has cats that come torment Tink. I guess she likes to return the favor whenever she can. The lady was laughing, thankfully. Mr. M went out and she handed her over the fence. Now I need to do another perimeter sweep around the yard and plug up the hole under the fence. I was thinking that I needed to check it last week. Now I'm going to have to wait until it stops raining.

I woke up last night and heard the rain against the window and on the skylights. It's a nice cosy sound when you know you don't have to get up and ride to work. I'm working from home today. Thankfully I've had some good computer luck for a change! I can indeed get to my departmental server from home so I'm able to make the updates to the departmental site. And even fix the corrupt file, which has been making me crazy. And at lunchtime I'll take a drive to Trader Joe's and do some shopping without the insanity of the weekend shoppers to deal with.

I did a few rows on the Gatsby while watching "The Graduate" last night. Classic movie. I just love it. It's the ending of course. Definitely not real life. I wonder if that has ever happened. Maybe I'll do some research. I suppose it must have happened somewhere at some time.

Well -- back to work. Already we're planning for Autumn quarter. zoom .... zoom ....

These computer problems!!!!

It is just one thing after another! No, I didn't get another virus, thank goodness. When I use my laptop at work I don't bother plugging into the Ethernet, I just use the wireless connection. I had no problem connecting to my class server and making changes to my class sites, but when I tried to get onto the departmental server it was a no go. The only thing I can figure is the IT guy has not set it up so that I can connect with this machine over the wireless from here. I can do it easily enough from home though. I guess I will work from home tomorrow so I can get these updates done. I have no idea when he's going to be able to fix my machine because even though his vacation is due to end, he blew his knee out snowboarding and so might be laid up for a few more days. Lucky for me it's not September or I'd be in real trouble. The good news is Mr. M has a load in tomorrow so I'll have a nice quiet house .... although come to think about it, his daughter is (still) staying with us and is due to come back from visiting her grandparents tomorrow. Oh well ..... she most likely will be out and about anyway.

I have all my clothes so I AM going to run today. NO excuses. I'll take it nice and slow. I won't be ready for the St. Patrick's Day Dash, but perhaps there's a race in April I can shoot for. So I drove in today and as I was walking down the steps I noticed again how the garden is just going crazy. Unless it's pouring rain on Saturday, I'm going to have to get out there and so a little clean up. Things are coming to life at an alarming rate.

I made some sort of mistake in the lace on the Gatsby dress at noon knitting yesterday. I was doing the first set of decreases and made some sort of mistake. I thought I had it figured out until I got a closer look last evening. Since I am just hopeless at tinking back when there are yarn-overs involved and I don't feel like ripping it out and picking up those stitches again so I'm going to leave it. It will not be noticeable when it's on because it will be the back left portion. Unless someone was on their knees inspecting up close it's not going to show up. Says I!

Sometimes I wonder .....

I get distracted so easily! Yesterday I spent the entire morning dealing with my PC virus issue. The backup IT guy contacted me and arranged to come take a look at my machine in the early afternoon. I ran a scan and found another instance of the offending program and cleaned it up and then ran another scan to make sure it was truly gone. It is gone, but it is quite obvious that my computer has been compromised since I still can't open many programs and there is a fake log in screen. He took my CPU and I am left to work on my laptop until our regular IT guy gets back from vacation and gets my computer fixed. All this to say that I really really REALLY needed my run and at 12:15 I closed my door and prepared to change clothes only to find that I had forgotten a crucial item. And that's where the distraction comes in -- I had been gathering my running clothes and been briefly distracted with another thought and there you have it. The attention span of a ... a ... 2 year old. It's quite annoying.

I did a few more rows of Gatsby last night during the LOST re-cap but put it down for the regular episode, which I thought was really good. It had a nice little twist at the end. I really can't imagine how they're going to tie up all the loose ends. I guess that's why we watch, eh?

Our dinner companions on the cruise were Christine and Dave. Christine is Mike Holmgren's cousin! I wanted to ask her all sorts of personal questions about him but I did not. Remarkable restraint on my part, don't you think? They were pretty conservative people. Members of the Crystal Cathedral. yikes

Malicious Mischief

Yesterday after lunch my PC got hit with a virus. All of a sudden a window popped up saying I had a virus -- it was one of those fake ones we've all seen. I closed it and immediately ran a scan on my machine, which quarantined and then cleaned up the file. I restarted my computer thinking I had dodged a bullet. But even in that short amount of time and without me even clicking on it something had happened to my computer. Now I can't open any program from a shortcut unless I choose it from a list and even then it may or may not open. And some programs are just not found, like Word or Exel. I brought my laptop in today. Of course the IT guy is on vacation and the guy who is supposed to be backing him up is not answering my emails. My laptop is great but it's not as comfortable to work on as the PC. Well it could have been worse. At least I didn't lose anything.

I worked on the Gatsby dress again last night. Here's a picture -- 12 rows of ladder lace on top of the double fern pattern band. I am using Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece and I'm getting a very nice drape with it. The color is good as well. The ladder lace is very easy and good TV knitting. I will be able to work on it some more tonight during the LOST recap episode.

There was one thing I was quite looking forward to when I got home from vacation -- the Spring edition of IK. I sat down with it Saturday after my chores and went through it. And I must say -- ICK! I think it's the worst issue ever. Not one single thing in there caught my eye except in a "what the heck were you thinking?" way. Hideous garments, every one of them.

Today I am going to run at lunchtime. First time in quite a few weeks. I felt really great when I got home last night. The hills didn't kill me like they had been. Maybe .... just maybe ... I am over this respiratory thing finally!

The forgotten

First of all, everything is fine with my nephew. He finally showed up -- called his mother Friday while we were in the air on the way home to say that he was there (in Valencia) with her car and he'd bring it over the next morning. He had completely forgotten he was supposed to pick us up!! He doesn't normally have Friday off, but had arranged for the day off so he could bring the car back and I guess he got caught up in plans with his friends and took off straight after work on Thursday to hang out in Valencia. He felt pretty bad after she had told him how worried we all were, calling the police, etc. I'm sure she rubbed it in good. He did call me last night to apologize. The poor kid feels so foolish I was almost apologizing to him.

So here we are ... back from vacation. It was a good vacation but not long enough, of course. The time in Valencia with my sister was so nice. The weather was warm and sunny and we had a lovely hotel. Getting onto the cruise ship on Monday was a hassle because, as I had posted, Mr. M couldn't find his passport. He was sure it had been stolen. I tried to reassure him that it was most likely just misplaced but he was just positive it was gone. I got him onto the ship and when our bags were delivered to our room he went through his and sure enough, it was there and he was finally able to relax. The cruise itself was fine - great weather in Catalina and Ensenada but cloudy on our day at sea. We had decent dinner companions and the food was fine, although I think it was better on the cruise my sister and I took a few years ago. The entertainment was okay -- the comedians were pretty mediocre, but the live band was wonderful.

We got to shore on Friday around 9:30 and we spent an hour trying to get in touch with my nephew. We finally gave up and went to the Queen Mary and toured around her, then had a nice lunch and after a few more calls back and forth with my sister and other nephew, we headed to the Long Beach airport to wait for our flight. We had plenty of time. I got out my knitting and Mr. M got on his computer (free wi-fi at least) and we spent a 2 1/2 hours in a very teensie airport. I worked on the experimental wrap I started with the Kureyon. It is not working out. I am going to have to rip it out and start over. The border needs to be seed stitch, for one thing. And I am not at all keen on the way the colors are blending. I need an entirely different colorway. And finally I am thinking that perhaps Kureyon is going to be too heavy, even knitting it with a 10 1/2 needle. Back to the drawing board.

I got up early on Saturday and got Tinkerbell from the doggie boarding place. She was SO happy to see me and SO dirty!! I brought her home and gave her a nice long walk. I swear, she spent 25% of the walk rolling on her back in her favorite spots. Then it was time for a much needed bath. Mr. M had to work Saturday and I was going to rehearse but Doug has a cold, so I got to spend some good quality knitting time in my favorite chair in the sunshine. Yes, I felt a bit guilty that I should be out in the garden but I gave myself permission to be on vacation for the entire weekend so I pushed that right out of my head. I worked on the Great Gatsby dress -- finishing up the lace edging for the back hem. Oddly enough there is no gauge listed for that but the measurements are there. Luckily I measured before I finished up all 23 repeats and found that at 19 I was a couple inches over the size I wanted to make. I picked up the number of stitches for the size with 19 repeats, the first one. Ah .. and then I realized I had picked up the stitches on the wrong side! I was not about to take out 146 hard to pick up stitches, so I cut the yarn and just started from the front side. It looks perfect! The next stitch pattern, the ladder lace, does have gauge measurements. I did a few rows last night while watching TV. I'll measure it tonight and hope that I can fudge things so that it won't be huge. Oh and I needed a longer needle so I took a deep breath and pulled it out of the Rock Star. Now it is officially frogged.

We got caught up on LOST last night. Now I need to read the blogs to figure out what the heck is all means. I woke up and started thinking about it, of course, but luckily got back to sleep and work up feeling not too bad, considering I had a week off to sleep all I wanted. It is clear outside, and it's been so nice and warm! However, it is still February and it was barely above freezing when I got on the bike this morning. Wow and did it ever hurt going down the hill. It should be a nice ride home though. It is now light enough both ways that I don't need my head lamp.

Worried sick!!

We got back to Long Beach this morning. I had made arrangements with my nephew to pick us up, hang out and go to the airport. He arranged to take today off so he could take my sister's car back to her. But when I called him this morning there was no answer. After 30 minutes of that I took a cab over to his apartment but couldn't get through the gate. It is now close to 2:30 and he has not surfaced. I am mad at him but also very concerned. No one has been able to contact him today and his friend hasn't seen him for a couple of days. Terrible way to end a vacation. We are in tiny Long Beach airport cooling our heels and I am worrying. The plane doesn't leavefor 2 1/2 hours. Time for some therapeutic knitting.


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Found

He found it in his suitcase. It took every bit of self control I possess not to speak. I deserve a medal.

Catalina Island today. The weather is gorgeous. Heading to a wonderful spa experience, lunch, then back to the shop for a relaxing afternoon with my book and a bottle of Champagne.


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Out to sea

In 30 minutes we will beeaving port. Mr. M has misplaced his passport. ...... Yeah. *sigh*


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Happy V Day

From sunny and warm California, happy Valentine's Day. Observation of this morning.... Time is a very strange thing. Ten years seems like a lifetime ago and like yesterday.


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Hoorah!!! Vacation day!!!

Just a few hours more and then it's off to the airport for our little trip. It's pouring rain here in Seattle and, thankfully, the rain has left the southern part of the country and we're headed into warm temperatures and sunny skies. Ahhhhhh ..... yeah.

It took me until about 8 last night to get all packed. I had purchased a new big suitcase for Mr. M and therefore I have a little wiggle room when it comes to my packing. I got everything in my suitcase except my toiletries and a couple books, which will handily fit into his. I did indeed decide to start a new project and brought the Noro Kureyon. And also I had bought some pearls and beads to make a white necklace and that's something that my sister and I will do on Sunday. Tonight I think we'll go out for sushi - just something low key. We're staying at a hotel right across from my sister's apartment building and there are lots of good restaurants within walking distance.

Just tying up a few loose ends. Boy, do I need this vacation!!

Disaster averted

Whew! My plans are still in place and Tinkerbell will be taken care of. HUGE load off my mind. Now I can head out for vacation without worry.

I made it through the day yesterday without my head exploding. Noon knitting was nice and relaxing. I am still plugging away on the Enchanting scarf. I have started on the second skein of yarn. I vow - never ever ever again to make a scarf on size 2 needles!! Even if I block it "severely", as the pattern suggests, it's not going to be very long at all.

I didn't grind my teeth to nubbins yesterday but I did spill a cup of tea on my keyboard. Not the whole thing, but a nice big splash. I was afraid this morning that it might be all sticky or not work properly but I guess I did a good job of getting it dried off quickly because all is well today. Luckily I had a big towel close by that I keep for when I come in from running and that did the trick. Oh, and my desktop is nice and clean too! Bonus!!

Why do things have to get so complicated??

As I was saying (complaining) yesterday, it's sometimes very complicated trying to get out of town for any length of time and getting things lined up, like Tinkerbell sitting, etc. Mr. M threw a HUGE monkey wrench into it yesterday and I swear, I was so mad I felt like I was going to throw up. I'm still quite steamed so I'm not going to go into it. Suffice it to say that unless I am WAY off on imagining the primary reason our house sitter wants to take care of Tink for those 4 nights, I am going to have to hope and pray that the boarding place will take her starting this Friday afternoon. I can't make any changes in the plans until I hear from the house sitter, who has not yet responded to my email from yesterday afternoon. If I don't hear from here by noon knitting time I'll give her a call after lunch. *sigh* I NEED a vacation away from everybody! Unfortunately that's not going to happen ...... grrrrrrr -rant off-

I did manage to knit for that one hour of the LOST re-cap but put it down to concentrate fully on the new episode. What was Sawyer taking out of the floor of his house? And what's the "dark thing" growing in Said and Claire? Oooooo ... spooky.

My hope for today -- that I don't grind my teeth down to nubbins or lash out at a stranger.

It's so hard to wake up on a foggy day

I know that it will be lovely at lunchtime, but it's foggy and cold now. I was going to bike in but then decided to drive so I could make a couple stops on the way home. There are so many little details to take care of before we leave. It's not nearly so chaotic when just I am going away, but when I've got the dog to make arrangements for and the husband to wrangle .... it makes it much more complicated. It's all doable. And the sad part is that it's going to go by so quickly! Then there will be the rest of the winter to get through. It is getting lighter though. It's noticeable finally.

I really wanted to knit last night but after getting the house picked up from the party and getting dinner going I just wasn't in the mood to do anything but watch a little TV. I went upstairs early to read and fell asleep early. But tonight .... ahhhhh LOST is tonight. I can knit through the first hour - the repeat of last week - but then I must put it down so I can concentrate. Oh! That's another thing I need to do. I need to figure out what project I'm going to take with me. I am thinking of making a tilted blocks pattern wrap with four skeins of Kureyon I have. I'll do alternating colorways every pattern repeat. It's the same as the Enchanting scarf but it'll be much bigger. I think that would be a good project to take along. It'll be not so difficult that I can't sit and chat or drink while I knit and yet complicated enough so I don't get bored.

I am looking forward to a LOT of just plain relaxing. I have two movies on my iPhone as well as a couple of TV series [I just can't get enough of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia"] and audio books. I just purchased the 8th episode of Ricky Gervais "Guide to" series. I can't decide whether I should save it or listen to it when I go for my walk today. Yeah ... that's the big decision for today.

It was a great game ...

and a not so great party. Well ... actually I had fun, but it was sparsely attended, to say the least. There were a couple of big shows loading in, oddly enough, and it took away a huge number of people who had planned on attending. Thank goodness the BEST ones showed up and we had a fine time eating and drinking. The chili turned out really good, but a bit too salty. I put in a couple of pieces of potato and cooked them up and voila! it was just fine.

I had been given the opportunity to buy into a really good football pool, so I got a square and my friend's husband and his friends got squares. The payout was great but unfortunately we got SUPER bad numbers! I ended up with 9 and 9! I won my money back but that was it. And believe me, I was already spending that $800 I was hoping to win! I found a ring that I really really want when I got my jewelry cleaned this weekend. Gorgeous pave band with a heart .... ah well.

So it was a busy busy weekend. I worked from home on Friday and had intended to go visit Mr. M's daughter in the hospital. Unfortunately I didn't realize the visiting hours were so restricted and by the time I had finished up with some work I needed to get done it was too late, so I had to go on Saturday. Friday night was Sophia's 12th birthday party - 2 of my 3 all time favorite things -- pizza and cake!

With all the running around I had to do on Saturday I didn't get home until 4 and I hadn't even started cooking the chili, although the meat had been marinating. So I had to call Doug and tell him I wouldn't be able to rehearse. He wasn't very happy about that and said he wasn't going to come to my super bowl party if I wouldn't come to rehearsal. Very mature, yea?

Today I had to meet with the woman house and Tink sitting for us. She's Mr. M's bookkeeper and just LOVES Tinkerbell to death! She's so excited to be able to have all that time with her and I'm happy that somebody will be taking care of her at home, at least for a few days. She'll only have to stay in the kennel four nights.

You just wouldn't believe how everything is growing. It honestly looks like spring out there in the gardens and it's only February. Remember last year how snowy and terrible it was? It was snowing during the St. Patrick's day dash! My tulips are coming up in the garden! I seriously have to get out there or hire somebody soon.

The royal "we"

Yesterday as I was getting ready to take a walk in the lovely sunshine up to the used book store, I got a call from Mr. M. "Can you take a little bad news?" ... this is how he starts the conversation. I don't know about you, but that kind of question makes me want to respond with something like "Hell no!" and a quick hang up. However, I managed to keep it to a curt "Just tell me." A traffic ticket had come in the mail that morning. Seems that on the way in to work on January 20th I was caught on a camera speeding in a school zone. There is a section of road labeled "School Zone" where I have never seen a child, nor is there a school visible. I always slow down though and remark on the fact that it seems rather silly when there are no children around. I'm going to contest it, for sure. The fine is ridiculously high and it's clear from the picture that my brake lights are on, and that had to have happened before the camera flash went off. I remember when it happened thinking that it couldn't have been for me, since I was going quite slow. And honestly, at this point I am more upset that Mr. M opened a piece of mail clearly addressed to me - in fact not even using my married name. I brought up the subject last night briefly. I am sure he thinks it's no big deal. I on the other hand think snooping is the worst kind of thing. I wouldn't dream of opening anyone's mail. Anyway .... rant off.

I did some work on the Enchanting scarf last night. I want to get that thing off the needles. It's pretty but I don't like knitting anything besides socks on size 2 needles.

Mystery solved

Of course, they were right in the closet where they should have been. How I missed them I will never know. I was pretty groggy, having stayed up extra late the night before, but still I am surprised how easily I found them when I got home.

I was SO tired yesterday, all day long. The meeting, as is true of most committee meetings, was more talk than action and I was fighting not to yawn through the entire time. Noon knitting was nice and the sun was out (!!) which is extra nice since there are windows where we knit. And in that natural light I was able to see that the yarn I had purchased for my Great Gatsby Dress is dyed a little funny. I bought it on line because the local yarn store only had one skein of the color I wanted. The on line store said nothing about the yarn not being first quality, but as I said, in natural light it is apparent that these are seconds. Ah well .. I am just figuring it will give the garment depth, especially the lace portions. If I find once I get to the plain knitting that I don't like it then we'll have to revisit the issue.

Mr. M is double booked with shows for this weekend and is loading in the first one today. This means I will not have any help at all for putting together the party for Sunday. I don't think it's going to be an issue because it is definitely not going to be as huge as it was last year. Seems that there is another large show loading in on Sunday so a good many of the guests are now going to have to be working. Oh well ... fewer guests, less mess. And I know the ones that are coming are mostly my friends, so I know I'll have good time. And really, the only thing I have to do is make a batch of chili. I've got a new recipe I'm going to try. It's rather labor intensive but everything I've read indicates it is really worth it. I can cook it Saturday and then only have to re-heat it on Sunday. So I guess my main concern is making an inventory of the disposable cutlery and plates and bowls and replenishing that and maybe buying some chips and stuff to make guacamole when I get the chili stuff. Easy.

The mysterious missing pants

I am SO frustrated this morning I could scream!! I wanted to wear a particular pair of pants today and I could not find them! How can that be? I spent a good part of last Tuesday evening straightening up my office/dressing room, cleaning the closet of unused hangers, etc. etc. I specifically remember picking up those pants because I had worn them a few days earlier and they were draped over my office chair. But when I looked for them this morning I couldn't find them in the closet. My closet is arranged by color (still! Thanks Monika!!) so they could only be in one small part of it, nevertheless I went through the entire thing twice. Somehow I missed them. They didn't just walk out of there on their own. Unfortunately I didn't have time to solve the mystery this morning so I grabbed another pair and off I went. I've got a meeting in a few minutes but I just had to vent. It is beyond annoying. Now I won't be happy until I find them so you know what I'll be doing when I get home this evening.

Last night was "Lost" -- 3 whole hours. One hour of recap and then a two hour premier. And I can just say --- huh? Which of course is probably what they were looking for. Some answers but more questions, like always. 15 more episodes to go.

And another Monday rolls around

On Thursday I got Tinkerbell all checked out at the boarding place and I worked from home again on Friday. I took a little break mid-morning and got my car emissions test and new tabs. The day went by pretty quickly and in the evening I decided to dig out my Rock Star Cardigan. I hadn't touched it for so long -- maybe a year. And after finishing up that Frost Flowers Stole (which I wore out last night) I figured that it would be very easy. But you know what? I just couldn't face it. I've decided to frog it, and here's why. First of all, while I love the yarn (Rowan Kid Classic) I don't like the color of it at all. It's an olive green with way too much brown in it. Secondly, the pattern is not only hard to read (it's printed on dark red paper!) but it is poorly written. Maybe I'll use the yarn for a blanket. Or sell it on eBay.

The weekend was pretty busy. Saturday I did chores and started the Great Gatsby Dress. Even though I am really against doing pieced projects, I am going to make an exception for this. I started the hem lace which is 23 repeats of a 17 stitch 10 row pattern. Then you pick up stitches along the straight edge and start a second pattern which flows into stockinette stitch, then you bind off again and pick up stitches for the ribbing which makes a nice ridge, like on the last skirt I made. I think it's going to be really cute.

Saturday night we had a surprise party to attend, so I got all dressed for the party and went to rehearsal at 4:30, then drove back home and got into Mr. M's car and off we went to the party. The guest of honor was one hour late, but that was okay. The band started a bit early and we chatted with people and had dinner. This was a party to celebrate the retirement of a guy who had a company selling audio gear so basically it was full of live audio geeks. January is the time when they have the most time off. Usually you can't have a normal social life -- it's like theatre people. If you want to socialize with them it's got to be on a Monday. Thankfully we didn't stay long.

Yesterday was Mr. M's birthday so I took him shopping. And in the evening we went out to dinner. Nothing too special.

I've got to start thinking about the party coming up on Sunday. Lots to do for that.

I love working from home!!

Today is going to involve some running around so it is easier to use home as my base in that case. Tinkerbell has to get vetted for her stay at the boarding place. They have a button for a web cam on their site but I couldn't get it to work yesterday. It would be nice to be able to watch her interact with the other dogs while we are gone.

Again I opted for a movie rather than knitting. I think getting that lace monster done kind of took it out of me. Probably tonight I will work on the cashmere thing.

I am SUCH a scatterbrain!

This is the second time I've done this -- packed up my clothes for work and neglected to bring stockings! Today I'm going to have to spend the whole day in my biking clothes. I did change out of my sweaty shirt into my running shirt but otherwise ... here I sit. And I'm cold because it was very foggy out there this morning and chilly. I might have to change into my running pants as well just to warm up. Yes, I think I will do that as soon as I'm done here.

I found a kennel for Tinkerbell. It's called Bow-wow Fun Towne. It's a doggie day care place that also has a swimming pool for dogs and accepts a few dogs for boarding. I have to take her in for an introduction to make sure she gets along with the other dogs, which she will. Then I have to take her to the vet to get a shot and she's all set. I've only got a few more details to take care of.

No knitting last night. "Lost" is starting next week so they had an episode from last year to start bringing us up to speed. I assume they're have a big re-cap next week before the first episode. I hope, because I'm still a little sketchy about the details of last season.

Wraps are the rage

Isn't it funny how knitting -- or at least our Ravelry age knitting -- has its fads? For the past few months it's been increasingly about the wrap or shawl. I was looking at pictures from some knitterly function posted on Ravelry's blog and in every picture at least two women were wearing some type of lacy shawl-ette, bandanna style at their neck, or traditionally around the shoulders. Obviously I'm not immune from the current craze [although I never did succumb to the poncho craze so I must have SOME style sense] and now that my Frost Flowers Stole is an official FO, I started a bottom-up triangular lace pattern last night with the first of 5 balls of cashmere I have. The pattern calls for lace weight mohair but it is looking nice in the cashmere. I just went up three needle sizes to get a nice drape. The pattern is a very simple 8 row repeat, every even row a purl so only 4 different pattern rows. The tough part is that you can't use markers because it's not increasing at the spine of the garment, but on either edge. After a couple false starts I got going last night. I shall reserve judgment on if this is a sane way for me to go -- a lace project with no markers.

Mr. M was working a celebrity memorial yesterday evening and then attending a dinner for the VIPs afterward. I could have attended the dinner but I just hate those things and I didn't really know the deceased all that well having only met him and his wife once. I would have felt awkward and after a day of work I was not up to getting dressed up and driving all the way down there to be uncomfortable. There were a few cool people at Mr. M's table that I might have enjoyed talking to but, again, memorials are not my cup of tea. So I had a nice evening with Tinkerbell and turned in early to watch TV in bed.

I am finding it hard to concentrate at work. It's just a little over 2 weeks until we go on vacation and I'm looking forward to that. Things are going to be pretty busy up until then, too. This weekend we have a party Saturday night (after rehearsal ... gaah), and Sunday is Mr. M's birthday so we'll have to do something ... go out to dinner maybe. I told him that the vacation is his birthday present this year, so that makes it easy.

I heard from the passport office today that they have processed my name change and my new passport is on its way. Hooray, because we need to preregister on the cruise site at least 7 days before we board and they need the passport number. My only other thing to deal with is Tinkerbell. Mr. M's bookkeeper is going to house and Tink sit for only part of the time we are gone. I had a line on a nice girl who house and pet sits for some friends, but she is going to be gone to Hawaii the week we are gone, so now I need to look for a kennel to keep Tink Tuesday through Friday. That shouldn't be too hard. I'll get on it today.

I did it! I did it!!

Oh I can hardly believe it myself, but the Frost Flowers Stole is finished, blocked and dried! What a marathon weekend. I had about 10 rows to go on Saturday and really wanted to get it done this weekend but I wasn't entirely sure that was going to happen considering I had rehearsal Saturday night and a birthday party to attend Sunday evening. But after walking Tink I settled down Saturday at about 12:30 and started knitting. With a couple breaks to run upstairs to change out some laundry I knit until I had 20 minutes to get to rehearsal - 5:40. At that point I had four more rows of knitting to do and I SO wanted to finish it but I had to leave. So I quickly nuked some "Veggie Bites", threw them into a napkin, grabbed a bottle of water and my microphone and ran out the door. I was 10 minutes late to Doug's but .. hmmm .. I didn't see any of the other vehicles. I got to the door and there was Doug with a friend getting ready to walk out the door. He was surprised to see me -- no, no rehearsal because the bass player went to Boston. I didn't remember him saying he was going to Boston but that doesn't mean he didn't say it. So ... back home I went and plunked my butt back down in my comfy chair and tackled the last four rows. At a little after 10 that night I had the knitting finished. I knit the extra couple stitches to get it centered on the needles and put it down. Oh ... no I wanted to start grafting it right then but I thought better of it.

Sunday I had lots of errands and chores so I wasn't able to put half the stitches (238 to be exact) on a spare needle until about 2:30. I started Kitchner-ing the 476 stitches together but after an hour we had to leave for the party. We got back around 7 and I kept at it until I finished around 9:30. [I know ... I should have kept track of exactly how many hours this thing sucked from my life!] After weaving in the two ends I popped it into the washing machine (gotta love that hand wash cycle) and blocked it before falling into bed. And this morning it was all dried and looking fabulous. The seam is all but invisible. I was astonished at myself - I made it to the end without any extra stitches. I must say that I am very doubtful that I will ever again tackle such a project as "real" lace knitting. I much prefer the easier version with a rest row. This pattern on each and every row is really hard. I am pleased with the end product but I don't believe anyone who is not a knitter would know the difference.

I used my camera rather than my iPhone to take this photo this morning so I have it here and can finally post pictures of the coat I made for my sister in November. Unfortunately the picture doesn't show all of the nice lace and fully fashioned increases and decreases. It turned out very well and she loves it, although I think she might have preferred something more fitted. This is very versatile though and I think she'll wear it a lot.

Even though it's not raining I did drive in today, partly because I wanted to bring in my food and running clothes, camera, etc. Scatterbrained me, I realized half way to work that I had forgotten my running clothes. arghghghg I had such a great run on Friday I was really looking forward to today when I was going to run an hour. I guess that'll just have to wait until tomorrow and today, if it's not raining (because I forgot my umbrella as well) I will walk up to the LYS and look at yarn for the Great Gatsby Dress. Any excuse.

More light!

I have noticed lately that it is NOT pitch black at 5 pm and the sun is over the mountains by the time I get to the trail in the morning. Niccccceeee.

I biked in again today -- second day in a row. It's going to be lovely and sunny at lunchtime so I'm going to run as well. I suspect I'll be dragging my tail on the ride home, but I don't care. I am really looking forward to starting my regular running schedule again. I wish I hadn't bought those new shoes before the half-marathon. I really want Nike shoes so I can get the chip and use my iPhone and the Nike software. It is VERY cool. But I really can't justify buying another new pair of running shoes since I haven't even put twenty miles on these newer ones, plus which they are really pretty. Maybe I'll splurge this spring, if I can stay healthy and keep up with a good schedule.

No knitting to speak of last night. I watched a cute movie instead. I really do want to carve out some serious knitting time this weekend so I can knock out the Frost Flowers Shawl. Maybe it'll rain so I won't feel too guilty, because quite honestly I should really get out into the garden and start some clean up. I probably won't though, knowing me.

Old Tink video from September

Shelley

I think I've got it figured out ....

kind of. For some unknown reason -- and I've Googled my fingers to the bone trying to find answers -- when iPhone first put MMS capability on our phones I was able to upload pictures and video, but that doesn't work any more. I have finally figured out that I can email and text message text, but if I want to post a picture (or video? don't know about that yet) then I need to use the iPhone app I put on yesterday. I doesn't make any sense that it did work and now it doesn't, and people are writing angry messages on the Blogger forums, but there has so far been no response from the Blogger team. Interesting .... I'm going to try to figure out the video thing today.

El Nino is doing its thing and it is absolutely spring-like today again. I could smell something blooming on the trail and at my house too. The ride in was wonderful and I even had to stop at 4 1/2 miles and take off my big gloves and put on my half gloves! In January!! I love it.

Yesterday my friend Monika performed yet another miracle and tinked back my Enchanting scarf to where I had goofed. I don't know why I can't see to do that. I don't mean that I need stronger contacts or a magnifying glass -- I mean that I can't visualize the loops [clear as mud?]. Thankfully she can and she got me back to a point where I could get back on track, so I worked on that for a couple hours last night while I was vegging out in front of the TV.

I am SO looking forward to vacation. The only fly in the ointment is my passport. I hadn't changed my name on it so after New Years I got a new picture and sent it off January 6th. They said allow 4-6 weeks to process. I need it in hand Thursday February 11. If I don't have it by next Thursday the 28th I'm going to have to contact them and request express service. I should have just done that in the first place. Oh well -- I won't panic just yet.

Another try at photo posting

Now I have an app. Let's see if I can get a photo in here.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

What's the deal with the iPhone and Blogger???

I posted a video taken from my iPhone in September. I know it worked because I looked at it from a couple different computers just to make sure it was running. And now when I go to the link it doesn't work and the picture I tried to post yesterday did not make it either! That is really annoying. I'm going to look into it further. It makes no sense that it used to work and now ... not.

I obviously never got around to posting from my laptop yesterday. The back is much better today. I think it's still a little touchy from the fall I took in December. I always seem to be on the brink of a spasm. Sleeping on my sister's very uncomfortable fold-out right after it happened I am sure did it no favors. I didn't ride in today. Thought it better to err on the side of caution, although I am just chomping at the bit to get out there and ride. It's lovely today as it was yesterday. I believe it hit 60 degrees yesterday. Very strange spring-like weather. Considering the winter we had last year I am not complaining at all!

I had a pretty decent long weekend. I had my little nephew on Saturday and we had fun taking Tink to the doggie park and playing video games. He is a very precocious 8 year old. He reads at the 5th grade level and has an amazing vocabulary and I forget how young he is. Twenty-four hours is plenty though, so I took him home Sunday morning and came home and watched some football playoff games. We are having our Super Bowl Party again this year and I am rooting for the Vikings because Brett Farvre is about the only quarterback of the teams left that I can get behind. It's always nice to have a team to root for, even if it isn't your own.

Monday was knitting day and I worked a lot on the Frost Flowers Stole. I brought it in for noon knitting today. I really really REALLY want to finish that thing off. I would like to bring it on the cruise with me, for one thing. And for another -- I'm just getting tired of it.

Tweaky back

I have got another back spasm!! I will have to get my laptop in here at some point this morning, but for now it is just me and the iPhone so I thought I would experiment. I used to be able to post pictures from my other AT&T phones using MMS but I can't seem to get it to work with this phone.

Too bad about my back. It looks like it is going to be a nice day and good for biking. It isn't raining.

Did you know ....

that there is a salsa version of "Clocks"? I heard it on the radio on the way in to work today and it is kick ass! I think it's better than the original version.

We had a really good rehearsal last night. Finally it's feeling that we're making progress and I've got a monitor system set up with headphones so my ears don't get blasted and I can hear myself. Both keys for improving. We have a date set for sure now - May 8. I don't really know what is going to be happening. I mean if it's just going to be a party or if he (Doug) is considering charging people. I hope it's just going to be a party. I hate to bug my friends to come see me and then expect them to pay for the privilege. That's kind of creepy.

I got lots of work done yesterday - mostly donkey work on the departmental site. My mood is always so much lighter when I can work from home in natural light. I also managed to get a row done on the Frost Flowers Stole before I had to run out the door to rehearsal. It looks like I've got 20 more rows to go. I have to keep reminding myself that each one is getting shorter. I am now about 40 minutes a row. I am going to block out time on Sunday AND Monday to put in some serious hours. I want this thing done! I am now almost completely committed to making the Gatsby Dress from IK summer '09. It's really more of a tunic than a dress, don't you think? My quandary is what yarn to use. It calls for Rowan RYC Silk Wool DK, which is a lovely yarn but I am feeling this more in a bamboo or cotton/linen blend. I haven't read any positive reviews of Knit Picks CotLin. I love the feel of bamboo and even though I sold the bamboo yarn I had before for the Flutter project, that was because of the color rather than the quality of the yarn. I am then leaning towards buying the bamboo. It does come in a gorgeous peacock blue. Well ... still thinking and searching. But I do believe I will make this before I do that cardigan. Maybe.

A little break in the rain

I am working from home today. I just couldn't stand being in the dark another day ... all day .... and it's been especially dark since it's been so rainy. Today it is a little better. It was not pouring when I woke up and I just took Tink for a little walk and managed to go 15 minutes before I had to put my hood up and hurry back. But that was nice. And I can ALMOST make out blue sky. Ah well still it's much better than most of the rest of the world. We have a visiting scientist from the UK who was supposed to come back to work over a week ago. His flight was canceled because, I assume, they weren't able to fly out of Heathrow. He has been re-scheduled twice. Poor guy.

I am not at all keen on violent movies, but last night we watched "Inglorious Basterds" - a Quentin Tarentino gore-fest. Except for that I thought it was good. Brad Pitt was rather amusing. I liked him also in "Burn After Reading". He seems to have a handle on the dummy character, doesn't he? Of course it gave me bad dreams but I have forgotten them already.

Rehearsal tonight - odd in that it's a week day but Rusty the drummer is going out of town for the long weekend and Doug is on a tear now that we have a goal gig. I don't mind. We'll start at six and I'll be home before 9:30.

I have to drive tomorrow because I have an appointment at 4, but I should be able to run again, which is really good. I am a little sore from running on Tuesday but not too bad. I'm excited to get back on a regular schedule. I can't remember when was the last time I really felt good when I was running. Must be way back in September, before I got sick. I want that back.

Here comes Wednesday ....

and no pains. Wow! I am SO lucky! All of the horror stories people have been telling me about getting rear-ended...... I have gotten off easy.

Yesterday during a short break in the rain I managed to get outside and have a run. The first one in ages and ages. I made it for the whole 30 minutes and it felt GREAT! I am just a teensie bit sore in my legs, which is to be expected. It's noon knitting today, but I will be able to get out there again tomorrow and have another go. I think I'm going to start going for an hour rather than just 30 minutes once I feel like I'm back in running shape. When I was training for the 1/2 marathon I did the hour run from here a few times and it is really not bad at all. I go from here down to the Fremont Bridge using the trail, then turn around and come back. It's flat and picturesque. Obviously I'm not going to be biking as much as I did when I only had 3 miles a leg. It's one thing to ride for 11 minutes in the rain and completely another when it's more like 40. And again today it was pouring rain when I got up, so it was the bus for me. If I up my mileage I won't feel like as much of a slug. Maybe I'll do two 60 minutes ones a week and 30 minutes on other non-riding days.

No knitting last night. At noon today I'm going to finish up that last hat - there are only a couple decrease rows to go - and work on the Enchanting scarf. Since it's tiny size 2 needles, it's not TV knitting at all. We have a long weekend coming up so I'm going to get my knitting projects organized on Sunday or Monday. With only about 25 rows to go on the Frost Flowers Stole, I should put that at the top of my list.

I seem to have dodged a bullet

I left work yesterday morning because I was not feeling too well after my little bump and everyone was urging me to go home and call the doctor. I did just that, and he told me that if I didn't have any sharp pains to just ice my aches and see how I felt. I think I must have braced myself with my left arm when I was hit because my elbow and shoulder were hurting. I brought my laptop to bed and did a little work and took it easy. After dinner I knit for a few minutes and read for the rest of the evening. I woke up today feeling great! I was expecting to be a lot sorer than I am. The doctor said Wednesday will be the worst of it but if today is any indication, I am out of the woods.

Of course it was/is pouring rain again so I rode the bus. ick ick ick If it had just been sprinkling I might have gotten on the bike, but no. By the time we got to the UW it was only lightly raining so I am optimistic that I can get out for a little run this afternoon. At least give it a go. I seem to have my wind back.

I am almost done with what I hope is my LAST hat for a while. This weekend I am going to take another look at the top down white angora sweater I had started before all the Christmas knitting and make a decision on whether I want to continue or rip it out and do a new sweater from the Winter Vogue. I think that the angora soft would work very well for this. And if not, I wouldn't mind making it from mohair. It's awfully cute, isn't it? I'm not all that keen on the turtle neck blouse under it ... but otherwise.

Rear-ended!

Although it was sunny and freakishly warm this weekend, I awoke to another downpour this morning. Friday had started off nice enough but by the time I left for home it was pouring and I got soaked. I didn't want to arrive at work that way, so I drove in. And as I was sitting at a stop light some woman ran into me with her SUV. My car didn't sustain any visible damage and I seem to be okay as well, although I'm feeling a bit queasy and my wrist hurts. I suspect I'm just going to have to wait and see how I feel later. I don't think I'm going to need to see the doctor though. I'm probably just queasy because of the jolt of adrenalin.

The weekend was pretty quiet. Saturday was so amazingly warm, it was spring-like. Quite a contrast to what some of my friends in Europe are going through. But I'm not complaining. After that nasty business last winter I am grateful for the warmer temperatures, although I'm not loving all this rain that much. I can stand arriving back home wet and soggy because I can hop right into the shower and put on dry clothes. Not so when I'm arriving at work. I'll bike in the sprinkles but when it's coming down like curtains, no thank you.

We had a good rehearsal Saturday night and Doug has decided that we're going to shoot for doing a show the second Saturday in May. That gives us a definite goal to plan for and that's a good thing, because Doug is kind of scattered, energy-wise. We're going to rehearse on Thursday night this week because the drummer is going out of town for the long weekend. That works out great for me because I promised my little nephew he could come stay at Shelley's Spa and Resort, but I was going to have to do it Friday. Now I can pick him up on Saturday instead and we'll have all day and evening to play. He's only 9 but he loves golfing, so if the weather is nice I may take him to the driving range. I bought him a junior set of golf clubs a little over a year ago. I'd love to see him use them.

Because my shoulder is still sore, I am guessing it's because of the non-stop knitting I was doing for Christmas. I did not knit this weekend (!! ... I know!) and instead bought some books and spent most of yesterday, after a lovely long walk around the lake, laying on the couch reading. It was a perfect use of a Sunday afternoon.

Now back to the real world. Fingers crossed I don't have any troubles from this accident.

I finally did it

I got back on the bicycle today and rode to work. Yesterday would have been a good day to do it but I had an early meeting and would have had to get up spot on time. Unfortunately I had pushed some odd button on my iHome dock alarm clock thingie and it got off the station. I didn't hear the static until it had been going for 45 minutes. So a quick dash through the shower and out the door I went, driving for a third day in a row. Ah .... but today was "normal" and off I went. It is chilly but it seems that we in the Pacific Northwest are the only ones in the country getting warmer than normal temperatures so even with the wind chill it was tolerable. I did quite well too -- only about 2 minutes off my normal 38 - 40 minute pace. I don't have all my breath back so it is going to be a challenge getting up the hills from the lake.

It was an unusually beautiful sunrise as well this morning. I should have stopped and taken a picture of the mountain and the pink sky but since I was a little late I didn't. Next time I will though. It is really breathtaking.

Work has been busy and hectic all week. I am hoping it will slow down a bit now today and tomorrow so I can catch my breath and clean up my office. I've been so tired when I get home. I didn't do anything last night except cook dinner and watch a movie. I knit on my Enchanting scarf at noon knitting yesterday and if I can take a real lunch hour today I may go over to the South Campus Hub, where there is lovely view of the Montlake Cut, and do a few rows. And if I put my mind to it I just may be able to finish up my Frost Flowers Stole this weekend. More likely that it will spill over into the following one though. I do have to rehearse this Saturday but otherwise I don't believe there is anything else on my plate.

Mystery solved

My work computer is up and running again. Thank goodness it was not infected with a virus, as the IT guy suggested. I am always VERY careful. So far my record is spotless in that regard. The culprit seems to be the network switch. I brought my laptop in just in case. I wouldn't have been heartbroken to have it be something worse. I love working from home. Especially this time of year. I am, of course, immensely grateful that I have a job, especially in light of the budget cuts that don't seem to ever end. However, as I have mentioned before, my office is a windowless box. Every single person without exception that has come to visit me in my "office" has made some comment on how depressing it is, and I couldn't agree more. Since there is not a speck of surplus in our budget for such frivolous things as painting and decor I am left with a yellow room, black shelving on 3/4 of the walls with the other 1/4 just the bare metal brackets. I had the shelves removed from that small portion so I didn't feel quite so claustrophobic and so that I could get to my desk and return without cracking my skull on a corner. The ceiling is high with exposed duct work and three of the ugliest light fixtures you can imagine. I remember last year I got very blue in the winter and the biggest reason, I firmly believe, is this closet. It's pitch black when I get up, dark when I leave for work and nearly dark when I leave for home and fully dark by the time I get there. My only sun exposure is my run and/or walk at lunchtime. Perhaps I can negotiate more telecommuting this winter. I have to learn to deal with it some way.

I did have a very good and productive day yesterday once I got home and could actually do some work. Luckily Mr. M was out at meetings so I had a nice quiet environment. His office is on the main floor and when I'm upstairs in my office I don't really hear him too much, except the phone ringing or if he has crews coming in and out. For the most part it's peaceful and time goes by pretty quickly. My new work laptop is working out fantastically from home. I can't believe I put up with that other one for so long without doing the switch. Having no choice, since it broke, I and kicking myself for not doing it last year.

I did only a little knitting on a hat for one of my nephews last night. I was very tired from the terrible night I had Monday. I got in bed early, watched a little TV and I believe I was asleep by 10. It was a great sleep! I feel pretty normal today.

The cruise is coming up in about six weeks so I've got to get the airline tickets booked, and a hotel for a few nights before we sail to visit with my sister and her boyfriend in Valencia. That's my carrot for the next six weeks.

And a happy new year to all

Ten years ago I was starting my adventure in Paris. It's hard to believe it's been ten whole years. My life is now defined by those six months and the consequences and friendships. Before Paris and After Paris. I do believe I'd give anything to be able to go back and re-live it. Of course if that were an option I also don't believe I'd do anything else. I'd be like Bill Murray in "Groundhog Day", only happy. Oh well -- as far as I know no one has built that machine yet.

NOT the most auspicious beginning for the year for me. As much as I wanted to get on my bike to ride in today, the rain was just thundering down. I would have been soaked to the skin before I got to the trail, so I drove in and I'm glad I did. My computer at work is not working. I spent nearly two hours trying to get something going. Our IT guy is going to have to work on it, so I got all my files together and came home. I would have been miserable trying to ride back home in soaking bike gear.

The holidays were okay. A little too hectic for my taste. The run up to the few days in California were brutal, the days down there great and the trip home a nightmare! And of course a house guest of the worst sort for the entire two weeks. After doing a big Christmas dinner, and then a dinner party for 8 on New Year's Eve I had to decline Mr. M's suggestion of having both of his kids over for dinner on Saturday. Honestly, I just couldn't take having my kitchen trashed another time, and the noise, plus I was on my last nerve with the boy. He took them out and I had a lovely evening ALONE with my doggie and my knitting and silly TV.

I did get some good knitting done on the stole. It is starting to look like something. I've only got about 25 rows left to go. And I don't think I'll be making another one of these. This lace knitting is very intense. I'll try to get some pictures up soon.