New Books, New Yarn and Hot Flashes...

Did you ever fall asleep in the late afternoon, then wake up in the early evening not knowing what day it is? I mean is it 8PM on Saturday or 8AM on Sunday?? And why isn't my brain able to process this very important question? It was the light - the light wasn't right for 8AM - even taking the thunderstorms into consideration, plus America's Funniest Home Videos was on when I woke up (Oh - the humanity!) and I don't think Tom Bergeron does 8AM. Did you know he's from Massachusetts? Yeah... I remember when he was here. Anyway, I'm exhausted. I can't sleep to save my ass. My life as I knew it has been decimated by hot flashes. No kidding. I am a walking, talking hot flash. Since March, I've been on a diet VERY heavy in soy protein - like over 70 grams/day. Soy in high doses mimics estrogen, so for three months I tricked my body into thinking it was young and happening. The joke's on me. My bod came back with, "Exactly who do you think you're dealing with? Your eggs are cooked and there's nothing you can do about it." Now I'm back to where I started, with both friends and strangers looking at me in horror - asking if I'm okay as I overheat, melt and nearly pass out in front of them - damp and freezing five minutes later.

The July 4th holiday has come and gone since my last entry. Everyone was home, which was cool. My sister H liked my bulky sweater, so I gave it to her. Maybe she'll let me wear it when I'm in Tahoe in the fall...





No trip home is complete without a trek to Freeport, and while there, I picked up a few knitting books at Sherman's Bookstore (which I need like another hole in my head). I've been meaning to pick up Knit 2 Together for a while; there's a shrug in there that I want to make but I don't think I'll do that now. I've been trying to decide what to do next. I want to start something kind of meaty, but it has been so hot that I can't deal with a ton of wool draped across my lap. I keep looking through pattern books, and keep coming back to the Janis Joplin coat by Jill Stover. This one I won't give away to one of my sisters. It's for me, and I can wear it in the fall. Tomorrow D, B and I are going down to Pawtucket to see the PSox play. (Beckett has a rehab start, which is crazy lucky for us!) D will probably drive, so I can spend some time either thinking about what to cast on, or actually casting on Janis. We'll see.

When I was in my room a few minutes ago, there was a commercial on with a guy named Dr. Richard Bock. He was saying, "Are you or is someone you know addicted to Narcotics?" I thought, hmm - I'm addicted to yarn. I wonder if there's a program for that. I bought some new yarn today, but I'll get to that in a minute. I'm really diggin' the fact that I organized the stash last week and put it all up on Ravelry. Today while I was out and about, I was looking at a pattern that called for 19 hanks of Berroco Softwist. I know I have some b/c I just inventoried it, but do I have 19 hanks?? I take out my handy BlackBerry, sign on to Ravelry and look at my stash, which has 22 hanks of Softwist - plenty to make the sweater in question. Wow. If I'm not careful - I'm going to come off as organized.

Today I bought some Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk Aran for a specific project, and some Noro Retro which is headed to the stash. The Alpaca Silk Aran is just sick. It is so gorgeous that I just want to hold it against my face. I'm not sure what to do w/ the Noro. I'm not a Noro lover, but maybe I'll like it once I work w/ it. Everyone else seems to like it. The only reason I like the Retro is because it is solid in Color. All the color variation in the Noro yarns bug me. I mean seriously, if you are buying yarn because of the blue/green/gray variegation, do you want to suddenly run into a big blob of orange? I don't. Anyway, the color is greener than it looks in the picture to the left.

I'm going to sign off. It's almost 11P and I need to go to sleep. Hopefully I'll get some cool shots of Josh Beckett tomorrow, which I'll post next time. Thanks for stopping by!

Quick Wrap Up...

So. I went through MOST of the stash. Here is the stuff that is done.

And here is the stuff that is not done. Most of the not done stuff consists of long dead UFOs which I should frog. I probably will - just not today. I've looked at the yarn enough already.

H is going to get into Logan in about half an hour so I should scoot. I accidentally mentioned her by name in my earlier post. Sorry H - I outed you as my sister.

Happy 4th to all! Happy Birthday Mom!

Stash Inventory/Organization Update

I'm in hell. That's the whole update.

I've been planning to give the yarn its own room for quite some time, but haven't gotten around to it. I've been hauling it up to the attic, and left unattended, it has been breeding up there. I was totally pumped this morning around 7:00 when I was bringing it all down, but by about 8:00 I was not so psyched.

This is what the yarn looked like when I got started this morning.

And after five hours of work, this is what it looks like now.

I've loaded 28 different yarns into Ravelry, which means they have been logged, counted, photographed and reloaded into a bin (based on either project or yarn). I need to get the hell out of Dodge, so I'm going to Target to get some more bins.

Heather's flight appears to have taken off on time. I was going to make guac, but didn't get around to buying the avacados. I also considered making nut brittle, but that is a holiday thing so I also blew that off. Now I feel kind of bad b/c there isn't a speck of food in this house. Luckily we're not opposed to restaurants.

Yesterday I bought this very cool book entitled No Idle Hands - The Social History of American Knitting. It's pretty cool; I'm in Colonial times right now. Who would've thunk it?? The history of knitting in America. Hmm.

Off to Target. Catch 'ya later.

I'm a Frogger, Baby I'm a Frogger....

It is 5:47A on Wednesday, and I need to be out of this house by 6:20. I said I'd put up pics of my Everyone's Doing It Shrug, so here's the update. Last night with 19 rows of seed stitch to do before completion, I realized I was going to run short. D was here watching the Sox, and helped me to convince myself to frog the whole thing and start again w/ a 44 stitch cast on instead of 48. That would save enough yarn to finish the shrug even with the extra inches I added to make the "sleeves". D held it, and I frogged it right onto the winder. Yippee!! Here is the re-winded (or would that be re-wound? I don't think so) Blue Heron in Rain colorway. Lovely, isn't it?

So I have to be over at MGH for a 7:10 mammogram. The funniest description I ever read (of a mammogram) is as follows:

1. Lay down on the garage floor on your side.

2. Make sure your bottom breast is flush against the cement.

3. Have someone run it over with the car.

4. Don't move.

I'm just happy to be able to start my day with such a fun filled activity. (I know I'm being a smart ass, but on a serious note, my annual trip to the Breast Center gives me time to think about all the women close to me who have survived or been beaten by breast cancer; most notably my childhood best friend, Nancy.)

Tonight I'm going to an internet marketing thing - the guest speakers are two Google Analytics guys - really - all the way from Google. There I go again with the over scheduling...

Starving. Gotta scram. Bye.

Intermittent Blogger, That's Me

I can't get out of my own way lately. Somebody please get me an assistant; I feel like I'm burning my candle at five different ends. I tried all weekend to sit down and write this entry, but I just could not cram it in. I did some cool stuff over the weekend, but just once, I'd like to do nothing. Nah, I wouldn't do that; I'm an over-scheduler even on the weekends. Although - now that I think of it, Memorial Day weekend when I had the splint on my hand and couldn't knit for four or five days, I did nothing but watch movies for an entire Saturday. I think I'm the last person on the planet to see the movie Meet Joe Black...

So check out my radishes. How cute are they? These guys came out on Friday, and I've got about the same amount nearly ready that I haven't pulled yet. The only thing with having a gazillion radishes is that I have to eat a gazillion radishes. When I was picking just a few at a time, they were getting dehydrated in the fridge and I was tossing them before I could eat them. I discovered that if I put them in cold water (in the fridge) they stay hydrated and I get a couple extra days in which to eat them. Carrots, beets and swiss chard not ready yet. Many little tomatoes coming along, but they're still green. We were supposed to have thunderstorms this afternoon and evening, but nothing yet. I might have to go out and water which is a drag b/c it is about 90 degrees with oppressing humidity. My pansies are looking really desperate - they've gone limp and fallen over. I'll feel guilty if it doesn't rain and they die overnight.

If I wasn't typing, I'd be finishing up my Everyone's Doing It shrug by Megyn. I tried to add the link, but I couldn't do it. Her photo is on Ravelry, w/ a link to the pattern, so y'all have to go to Ravelry yourselves. I've altered the pattern to make half sleeves - I decided to do 41 rows of seed stitch but feel free to do 40.

I'm not totally wacked in the head - I had a to change yarns, and I wanted the ends to be in the back so I had to end the seed stitch on a wrong side row. I'm using Blue Heron cotton/rayon seed in Rain colorway which is sadly discontinued. These are Holly colors if I've ever seen them. I might have to try to corner the market on this colorway before it disappears forever. Only the best for my stash, right? I've never used this yarn before, but I really like it.

Alright. I need to scoot. I'm going out to water the pansies, coming in to take a 9:30 conference call and then going to bed. The shrug should be done tomorrow and I'll post pics on Thurs or Friday b/c I'm taking extra days off for the holiday! Yippee! Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Sunday

I should probably say Happy Father's Day, right? Hmm. I don't think I have any fathers in the readership, but maybe. This is the 5th Father's Day that Hank, my late father, has missed. I'm terribly sad at this very instant, but I'm sure it will pass and I'll get back to my usual sarcastic, make-a-joke-out-of-everthing self before too long. Probably in the next sentence. Tubby is here with me, and she's rubbing against my hand making it difficult to type. I'm just warning all 'ya all - the upcoming typos are Tubby's. And now (so as not to be outdone) Munchie has jumped up in my lap and they are about to get into a fight. Psyched.

I have some sad news to report: All the blossoms fell off my orchid. I'm crushed. They lasted six months! And, two bloomed about two weeks before all of them fell off. I think it is the heat and humidity lately, but I don't know for sure. Now I've got three dormant orchids, and none of them will probably ever bloom again. I'll have to hope that A gets me another orchid this year for a holiday gift. I know I need to repot them, so maybe I'll give that a whirl when I have some free time. Their roots are all good. Anybody have any orchid tips?
Today I'm planning to take a yarn store field trip w/ my friend B. She has to exchange some yarn, and I'm always up for visiting a yarn store whether I need any or not. (Even I have to admit I'm in the NOT red zone at this point.) I'm just about done w/ the I-cord for my twirly skirt, and I'm trying to decide what to do next. I've got two things on the needles right now - a sweater and a lace scarf - but I want to start something new. I really want to start the Janis Joplin Jacket by Jill Stover, but I'm not sure I want to be buried under 900 grams of Debbie Bliss Donegal Tweed Chunky in the blazing heat of the summer. That one may have to wait until the fall...or at least the next rainy weekend. I think I'm leaning toward the Everyone's Doing it Shrug by Megyn. My friend D banged one out in less than a week and it looks great. I'm going to do mine in Blue Heron Beaded Cotton/Rayon. If I like it, I might make one for each of my sisters. OOPS! Not much of surprise, is it H & H? HA!
I was going to put up a picture of what I look like in my new glasses, but between the bedhead, the no make up, and trying to capture my own image it didn't go so well and I've opted to keep you all in suspense. Another time perhaps. I have a headache and I think I need some caffeine so I'm going to scoot. Thanks for reading, and say hi to your fathers for me!

Woo Hoo! Twirly is done...Finally!

I'm leaving a couple minutes to go pick up my friend (and former room mate) G but I wanted to get a pic of the finished twirly skirt up pronto. I just have to weave in the ends and put the i-cord drawstring through the eyelet at the waist. I didn't think I'd ever get this thing done, so I'm so psyched to get it out of it's beat-up ziploc bag and off the needles. I should be able to get my Cinquefoil hat done next. I found a backwards stitch about seven rows back that I have to fix. See it? Probably not, but this is the kind of thing that would drive me insane. The stitch is right between my middle and ring fingers. Hey - check out my nails that I bit down on Thursday. My nails have been pretty long lately but Thursdays do me in and this past Thursday was especially harsh.

Okay - gotta scoot, but I'll check back in later if I have a sec. Tonight is the season premier of TrueBlood. Psyched. Hoping as always to hear Swedish spoken in this episode...