Saturday, February 27, 2010

Quick update...

I have to leave in an hour to take Munchie to the vet, so I don't have a whole lot of time today. This is her second follow up visit since December for her bad eye. She has had issues since she was a kitten, and her awesome vet, Dr T., wants to refer her to a kitty opthamologist. I guess I should go talk to the bank about a second mortgage on the house...
My voice seems a little better today. I had a couple rough days after my vocal cords were abused by a fiber optic camera on Wednesday. I'm still coming to terms with my diet - which has been decimated by restrictions. No tomatoes (or sauce, I guess), no citrus, nothing spicy, no soda, and no food for three hours before I go to bed. Three hours is a long time; I was soothed to sleep last night by the rumblings of my own stomach. Still have the cough and clearing throat thing, but there would be no reason to expect the thing on my cords to be gone after only two days.


Here are a couple photos of my bulky sweater in progresss. It's a little snug, but that'll be fixed when it is blocked. I really like it, and I've decided to make a matching hat b/c I have so much Magnum left over and it cost a king's ransom. I'll probably make matching mittens too. And tassels for the hat and pom poms for
the mittens... Now I'm kidding.

I'm headed over to my friend J's house today to help her with her knitting, and have lunch. I'm a tad concerned about the weather b/c I'm right on the coast and it is snowing. J lives inland - outside 128 - so chances are it's worse there, but I'm sure I'll be alright. Gotta scram. Have a great weekend. Have some spaghetti for me! Bye.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

So many updates...but no socks.

So has everyone been patiently waiting to see what I made at sock class? You'll be waiting a looooooong time. I should never say never, but I think it's safe to say that I won't be making socks anytime soon. And furthermore, would anyone like to buy my Takumi size 2 bamboo double pointed needles? Only VERY slightly used. When will I learn to just stick with what I like? I'm drawn to very specific things, and little, tiny needles don't make the short list. Here on the left, let's compare my favorite Brittany dpns (size 17) with my new size 2 dpns. Not much of a contest, is it? Hard to use my fave phrase "big, honkin" when referring to those pathetic little needles.
(Don't worry - I do have project photos which I plan to post at the end...)
So. I had an interesting day today... I had a laryngoscopy. For those of you who don't know what that is, the Ear, Nose and Throat doc puts a fiber optic camera up the patient's nose and down their throat to look around and take pictures. I've been having some issues with my neck and throat the last couple months, and the mystery is now solved...but I'll get to that in a minute. We started with aerosol novacaine sprayed up my nose. This shit tastes BAD. We waited a couple minutes and I'm instructed to breathe though my nose while the tube thing is inserted. The anatomy of my nose is unusual, so of course the tube got caught and had to be pulled out. Awesome! We got the opportunity to start over again. More aerosol novacaine; and I mean much more. Eyes watering, nose running, drooling, coughing and apologizing...that was me. Next I got to see the video of the inside of my nose and throat, and anyone who knows me knows I dig pretty much any kind of medical procedure. I think I missed my calling. (No, not a doctor...a hypochondriac!) Thankfully, there is nothing seriously wrong with me. I have a kind of reflux that I'd never heard of (laryngopharyngeal reflux - LPR as opposed to gastroesophageal reflux - GERD), and that has caused a bumpy irritation thing on my vocal cords. You could see it in the pictures, but I opted not to ask for a copy this time around. (Ya'll know I'd post it if I had it.) So I have plenty of diet and behavior changes which, in combination with my Zantac, should fix me up in no time. And just when I was getting used to the gravel voice and constant dry cough...
On the way home, I forgot to go to Rite Aid, so I stopped at CVS (which is always a mistake) to get my prescription filled. Given the choice between another laryngoscopy and stepping foot inside CVS again, I think I'll head back over to Mass Eye & Ear. I'm officially boycotting CVS, and I invite all of you to join me.
For dinner I made something I haven't had in years: Salt Potatoes. Any of my anonymous readership from Syracuse? Mmmmm...Salt potatoes...Syracuse food.



Okay, time to wrap this up. Remember the Magnum? I bought it for a sweater in Vogue Knitting last winter, then changed my mind to make the "Holly" sweater (both of these also-rans had bobbles all over the sweaters, and that's really not so good for me) but finally cast on the Weekend Neck Down Pullover sweater on Saturday after my (failure of a) sock class. So the first picture is the entire sweater - what I've done since Saturday - and the second picture is detail of the neck. I've been working on it a little each day, and it will be done over the weekend. In my case it is the week-long neck down pullover, not the weekend neck down pullover. Okay. I think enough of my blathering. Thanks for staying with me until the end! See you soon. :)




Saturday, February 20, 2010

I think I'll go to a toe-up sock class today...

...but first I'll talk about how I reached that decision. The soundtrack for this morning's blog will be provided by Pandora Radio where I've created a Herman's Hermits station. Groovy, Man. It's Saturday, and in keeping with tradition, I was up at the crack of dawn. The first plane left Logan at 5:53A, which is eight minutes late. I doubt anyone noticed besides me, the air traffic controllers, and the lobsters headed out to the west coast where they will become someone's dinner this evening. (But I thought I'd mention it anyway.) Since there wasn't much food in the house and I can only bear to go for groceries when the rest of the population is home asleep, I set off for Chelsea at 6:45. Remarkably, there were plenty of people at the store when I got there. While waiting at the deli, I saw a man I thought I recognized (looking at me), but at 7:05 on Saturday AM (and on my third day sans caffeine) I couldn't for the life of me place him. It came to me about 15 minutes later in produce: he fixed my computer last summer when I caught a scorching social networking virus on Facebook. Unfortunately he got the lights-are-on-but-Holly's-not-at-home stare, and there's not much I can do about it now.

So I've been a litttle scattered lately. I'm over tired, and I can't seem to complete any of my projects. I knit and tink (unknit, stitch by stitch) and re-knit and rip out. I'm stuck. Last weekend, my dear friend Tink (at Yarns in the Farms) taught me a new way to purl. (I throw. It was how I learned, and although it is comparatively inefficient, I'm pretty speedy at it.) Learning a new stitch was pretty cool; I came home and practiced it, and now it is firmly established in the repertoire. My friend D took a magic loop class a couple weeks ago and is taking a toe-up sock class today. I'm thinking maybe I just need to learn a new technique and this would work. I just have to find a pattern, which shouldn't be too difficult.
All I had to do was check the bookcase to realize finding a toe- up pattern won't be hard at all. Duh. I knew I had sock yarn, so I headed up to the attic to poke around.

This is my yarn stash. There are many like it, but this one is mine. I should mention that this isn't the whole thing, but this is the mostly organized part. No yarn for current projects or recent purchases have been banished to the attic. There are two bins keeping me company right now, and technically, the yarn doesn't belong in the office.






Okay, so this is what I decided on for today's sock class. REGIA Galaxy. I liked it more when I bought it than I do now, but it's not doing me any good sitting upstairs.




This is enough yarn for two pair, but my goal is more realistic: TWO SOCKS. I suffer from one finished sock syndrome, but I'm hoping to get psyched enough to bang out a full set. If I get really interested in socks, I'll learn how to knit 2 at a time (but I probably won't since I go barefoot year round). The plan is to hit the class, then come back here for a knitting/Weeds marathon. I bought stuff for guacamole, so that's probably dinner. I'll put up pictures of my socks in progress tomorrow. I knew I wouldn't actually do my taxes today...

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Something to Quell the Peanut Gallery

There's good news and there's bad news. The good news is that people seem to find my blog amusing, and I have a small following. The bad news is that some of the uppity members of the readership get demanding when I haven't posted in a while. Sheesh. I'm sorry for the delay; I had plans each of the days over last weekend, and I haven't been feeling well lately. I suppose I'll start with that...I'm exhausted. I've been absolutely beat since the Wednesday before MLK Day. I've had some tests and a boatload of bloodwork, but for now, let's just say I'm tired. To get through the day at work, my intake of caffeine has been creeping up, and that is causing some sleep issues, which I battle normally anyway. Yesterday one of my doctors threw the hammer down, and I'm cut off...cold turkey...no more caffeine. It's just not right. I have so few vices left, so just go ahead, take one. Next thing you know, I'll develop a wool allergy and there will be no reason to go on.
I ran around tonight taking some photos (and I even have a Wii update to wrap up). The work on the house has been completed, so I'm starting to put stuff up on the walls, and trying ever so hard not to let the place get cluttered. I've been shredding everything that isn't nailed down, but I still have a way to go.
The two paintings to the left are hanging at the turn of the stairs.
Each is a tiny watercolor painting of a sheep. One
is black, and one is white. The white one is here on the left. Sorry she's blurry.

My office is really clean and uncluttered for the first time in nearly three years. I'm trying to decide what to put in this empty corner, but for the time being I'm just groovin' on the fact that it's empty. (That is my portrait - by Heather Buechler - btw. For those of you who've never seen me.)
Okay, now onto the knitting. Over the weekend, I made my bi-monthly drive up to my favorite yarn store, in Beverly Farms, Mass. I hung out for a couple hours (and I didn't even have any knitting with me), and learned a new purling technique which was very cool. Jill had some new yarn that I'd never seen before, and she was making a cowl out of it. Holly loves new yarn she's never seen before, and she also loves cowls. Plus the yarn was brown, and one of my sisters is great in brown! So check this out.
The yarn is awesome, but I'm having a hell of a time getting the desired result. Supposed to be 44 stitches on size 17 needles, but I don't have nearly enough yarn. I've already completed on 15s and tinked it before starting this second try on 17s. The yarn is kind of fragile, so it's a pain to unknit, but that's exactly what I'm going to have to do, and then start again. Cool yarn though, huh?
So I'll wrap up with a quick Wii update. My old room mate G was over a few days ago, and we were playing on the Wii. She tried some lunges in strength training, and she said they were hard. I wisely did NOT try them when anyone else was here, because I swear I thought I was going to blow my knees out. After ten lunges on each side (they only gave me credit for seven on one side!) I was literally limping around the house. I'm going to stick to my aerobic and balance regimen. I don't want to be permanently impaired and then have to explain that I injured myself on the Wii. So I found a new balance game I like called "Big Top Juggling" or something equally as stupid. The goal is to balance on a ball while juggling balls that your friends throw to (at) you.




Because my balance is so bad, I generally get this mean message...


I'm getting better at this one at least. You should see me fall off the tightrope.


Alright. I think that pretty much sums up what I've been up to. Project Runway is on tonight. I'm a week behind b/c I fell asleep during the show last week. I woke up in time to see who won and who got kicked off, but I forgot who got kicked off! I get to be surprised...yippee! Thanks for stopping by!

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Oh those crazy kitties...

Yup. Up at the crack of dawn on a Sunday again. I have a two-part alarm system here at the house to assure I'm out of bed before 6:45 seven days a week. Munchie sits on me and talks (as only a Siamese can) while Tubby uses the side of the mattress like a scratching post. Usually by about 6:15, I'm yelling and throwing pillows - not that it does a bit of good. Some kitties just don't know how to behave. I wanted to post some updated photos on Ravelry, so I took some pics of my projects while I was waiting for my coffee, and ran a Pop Tart through the toaster. I came upstairs, sat down at the computer and Tubby was all over me for a piece of my Pop Tart. Generally Tubby isn't too hip into the people food, so this was kind of strange. I gave her a couple pieces so that I could type, and aside from making a crumbly mess, she ate them. Pop Tarts...even for us, that's a first. Then I headed downstairs for more coffee, and Mongrel Munchie had been stealing the tomatoes off the counter. They are on the floor - split from the impact - and sporting fresh kitty teeth marks. What the hell? It's like a tag team, meow-meow, kitty mind f*ck. Usually Tubby doesn't stoop to Munchie's level, but I think the Pop Tart thing was a distraction to give Munchie the time to ruin my tomatoes. Losers.

Hi, my name is Princess Violet, but you can call me Mongrel Munchie.

(Joe Cocker's "Cry Me a River" is playing. It's one of my all time favorite songs, and I don't even like Joe Cocker that much. ...Oh I cried a river over you...)

Okay now a couple project pictures:

Here is a Birthday Cowl by Nova Seals that I made last May but just tucked in the ends last night. I banged out five of these last spring in rapid succession. The ones I did in Manos del Uruguay silk blend (like this one) are the nicest. Manos rocks the house.
I've been plugging away at Tink's Twirly Skirt on and off all winter. I only have a couple more inches to go, but there are what seems like a billion stitches on the (size 3! never again) needle, so it's kind of slow going and I'm bored. I know I'll love it when it's done, and it'll be done by spring.
This last photo proves I cast on my cable and lace sweater, but clearly doesn't prove much more than that. I misplaced all my stitch counters so I'll probably pick up a couple today while out on my knitting field trip w/ D and B. There are a couple yarn sales going on here in Eastern Mass, so we're going to visit them. Since I just gave all my money to the contractors, a couple stitch counters is about all I can fit in my budget.
D and B will be here in an hour, so I need to get ready for my day. I'll check in again soon. Thanks for stopping by...