a little Bacardi.....

Christmas is over for another year.  The crowds at the store were maddening, even my stl was talking to himself.  Pretty funny.  

I cooked the holiday dinner.  We had leg of lamb (first time I have ever cooked one) with roasted root veggies and gravy, wheat rolls (cause you know we all need to eat better), swiss chard with onions and garlic, roasted apple and butternut squash soup, and collard greens (mom made that).  The soup was finished with Bacardi, the lamb was basted with bacardi mixed with herbs (dried bottled italian seasoning and Mrs Dash), the pan for the gravy was deglazed with more bacardi.  Why rum?  Well, I would have used wine or brandy, but I couldn't find any, and I thought "hey, alcohol is alcohol" and I wanted something sweetish and rum is made from sugar cane (yes, culinary school does make you open to trying anything once, even at Christmas dinner for the entire family).   It was fantastic!  I wasn't sure about tossing the sweet potatoes into the veggie mix, but it worked out well.  The caramelization on the bottom of the pan (I laid the lamb on top of a bed of onions which basically disintegrated into syrupy goo - yummmmmm) just bought out the real sweetness of the vegetable, and I like to think the bits of sweet potato that didn't make it out of the pan added something to the flavor of the gravy.  The seasoning mix created a kind of crust, which when eaten was very yummy.  Even my older brother who told my mother prior to dinner that he wasn't going to eat the lamb, had some, and then some more, and then a little more.  Everyone loved the rolls, even with the whole wheat flour added (it's the same recipe we have been using since I was a kid but I subbed half the white flour for whole wheat).  It's really odd to have to tell your mom "hey, that's not done put it back".  I mean, she is the one who taught me to make bread.  She took lots of credit by saying she taught me well.  And actually, she did!  Thanks mom!

We had a great time.  Lots of laughter and jokes and funny stories.  When mom called Imani Christmas Eve, she asked where they had been all day.  Imani told her she took the kids to the cemetery to visit dad's grave.  Mom was immediately guilt ridden, she hadn't gone.  I told her to get a grip, it's not like he would mind.  I don't really think of the spirits of loved ones hanging out at cemeteries.  There are much better places to hang.  She would be better off communing with him in the garden.  He  is more likely to be there.  Now of course this means I haven't been to the cemetery since the funeral.  And I intend to keep it that way.  If I feel the need to commune with dad, I'll grab my 35mm and some film and head out to take some pictures.  We always took pictures together.  

In a way he was there in the presence of my baby bro.  J spent the entire time taking pictures.  He said he is planning a photo collection about the family kitchen, showing the holiday rituals of food and cooking, or something like that.  Every time I turned around he was there taking pictures.  I would be interested to see how they turn out.  

I have to get pictures of the cph.  T has been wearing it all day, a sure sign that she does indeed love it.  I had her try it on a couple of times, telling her I needed to see it on someone with boobs to get the fit, and her mother couldn't do it because she had to give me advice.  Hah!  She fell for it.  When she opened the package (actually it tore when her brother handed it to her) and she saw the color (she didn't even remove all the paper) she jumped up and hugged me and gave me a big kiss.  I think that was the first clue that she liked it.  She told me (before she ran off to her sleepover/movie night) that it's her favorite sweater and I'll have to make her another one when she wears this one out :-)  I used a zipper as the closure and since I couldn't find a zipper of the length I wanted, I used the shorter one (which worked out fine) and put in a little heart shaped hook closure (two hearts that hook) just above the end of the zipper.  Putting in the zipper wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, even though I think I made the front overlap just a smidge too much, but ferocious blocking squished it temporarily.   I told her when it needed washing, give it to me and I would show her how to wash it.  My sister has my great aunt's singer sewing machine in the garage.  I am moving it into the basement.   This thing sews like a dream.  It has to be from the 60's or early 70's, knowing Aunt Kitty it's probably earlier.  It flips out of the cabinet top and it's pea green, with a very responsive thigh pedal (or whatever you call it) that folds down from the base of the cabinet, instead of a foot pedal!  It's awesome!  Using it to put in the zipper was a breeze.  I just finished the swatch for nephew's Biker Boy Sweater (from Son of Stitch n Bitch) and it actually calls for a zipper.

pics to follow!

*sigh*

I love it when blogger swallows my posts, even though I am saving them all the while.
Anyway. On the 3rd I went to the TransAfrica Gala. It was a lot of fun and I saw a lot of people I hadn't seen in years (like since I was in college and my sister was dragging me off to demonstrations every weekend). The food was excellent. The music was great. There was a mini-concert by Wynton Marsalis. Love him. He is phenomenal. The picture is fuzzy but here he is.
I also got to meet their board chairman.  He was incredibly nice.  And he is really tall.

And yes, that is me with Danny Glover :-)
Today I went to H-mart and bought a little bento box.  That is my new passion.  Bento.  Saving money by taking lunch, spending time creating something tasty and pretty to eat, focusing more on putting good food in my body.  Did I mention the saving money part?  This is my lunch for tomorrow (part of it).  This is the stuff that is going into my udon noodle soup.  Green onions, shrimp, egg, fried tofu, and mushrooms.  We had the same thing for dinner tonight.  Quite yummy.
  
I also went yarn shopping.  Two weeks in a row!!!  Last week I bought this.  Berroco Peruvia.  The picture doesn't do it justice.  The brown is like a really deep milk chocolate.  and the yarn is so soft and warm.  It's going to make great gloves!  Well, as warm as fingerless gloves can be.
    
Now the Berroco came from All About Yarn in Columbia.  The lovely, sexy red came from Coverhill in Catonsville.  I stopped in there today ('cause I was on my way home from the bank, how fortuitous is that!) and picked up this one for a pair of socks.  It's called Casbah, and I don't know if that's the color or the yarn 'cause there ain't no lot number or anything on the label, just the name and composition (81%merino/9%cashemere/10%nylon - 100%glorious).  This my not end up on big sister's feet.  This one may be all mine!  And it's machine washable to boot!  And 20% of my purchase dollars went to a local AIDS charity, talk about a win/win.  And of course I had to buy stitich markers, just because.

better

Today I found a new doctor. She's very direct and no nonsense.
I got a great text from a friend, actually I recieved messages from 3 friends. One is enjoying her new job. the second is moving back to dc. the third told me about the new knitty. Wow, that's a lot of socks. And it also told me I really do need to make fingerless mittens for my baby brother. Photographer in New York in winter. He needs fingerless gloves. Something thick and in a nice neutral color...... I am thinking gray.

blue

Feeling a little blue today. I think my zest for life is at a low ebb. Could be that I am tired. I cooked for the family today. It was my sister & bro-in-law's 22nd anniversary. I made a wonderful dinner as a suprise. Remind me not to do that again. He bought home fried chicken (didn't remember it was their anniversary) which he quite promptly ate and was too full for dinner. She was 3 hours late getting home. It was a suprise, they didn't know, it's no one's fault, but I was peeved. I think I must need some time away from home, doing something rechargey. I need some cheering, I think I'll go watch some Wallace and Gromit.

oh joy, a day off!

Well, it's two days off in a row for me. It's been an interesting week. I had a customer come up and tell me we had the worst bakery of all the bakeries in the company. I am being sought out by one of our "favorite" customers (he's actually not that bad, and he has a point about the bread). I made plans for my day off and spent the entire day sleeping (I laid on the bed to do a sudoku puzzle and the next thing I knew it was 3 hours later - I must be tired) instead of accomplishing things on my to do list. I am drinking one of the worst cups of tea I have had in a while (Tanganda brand tea from Zimbabwe - very strong tea). And I need to do my hair (two hours with my arms in the air *sigh*).
CPH is almost done, but for the seaming and the closure decision.
New yarn from the elements sock club. I love her yarn. This was an excellent sock club. If she does it again, I am on board.
So here I sit, listening to Tori Amos and "enjoying" a cup of tea.
Life is good. If only I was there, instead of here *sigh*. I love Seattle.

YES WE CAN!!!

This morning I sit here, almost too overwhelmed to write.  I never thought I would see this day.  This morning, I almost didn't leave the house, but the roomies badgered me into it.  I drove to DC, prepared to wait (I had the ipod, a skein of yarn, needles, and a new sock pattern).  I parked and prayed Iwouldn't get a ticket.  The line was very long, much longer than in past elections, and I was suprised and pleased by the number and range of voters.  Black, white, hispanic, the young as well as the elderly.  It has never felt so good to cast a vote.  I have never felt so strongly about a candidate.  I can say I participated.  I voted for the first African American President of the United States of America.  I have never felt so proud.

Noooooooo!!!!

David Tennat won't be The Doctor anymore???!!!!!  Oh horror of horrors!!!   *sob, sniffle*   He's like my 3rd favorite!  *sniffle, sniffle*
mmwwwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!

sooooo tired

Okay, today I overslept.  I had to be at work at 11 am and I woke up at 10:40.  Not good.  I was about 40 minutes late for work (I have a 40 minute drive).  I just felt so off for the entire day, plus I was so tired and sleepy I just couldn't function.  There were the usual endless questions from team members and customers, and a few really good custie questions, so all in all it was a good day, just very exhausting.  Maybe I am coming down with something, headache, mild dizziness, upset tummy.  Who knows.

Anyway, started on 2nd sock and I am about half done.  Just finished the short row portion heel and about to start picking up stitches for the gusset.  Maybe top down socks aren't that bad after all.  Two weeks isn't that bad for socks, is it?  Okay, maybe it's actually closer to three, but still, It's not too-tooo slow, I don't think.

Thanks to K I have been up to my ears in Torchwood goodness.  She loaned me DeLovely (which I plan to watch this weekend) and she sent me lots of links to pics from the Torchwood conventions in England.  I wonder if they will ever cross the pond *sigh*  

This week I have also been vastly entertained by the Palin as president site.  Everyday there is something new added to the site.  Such fun.  

Socrates......no, not the Greek, the Yarn!!!

   
Okay, when I went shopping with K, I bought sock yarn.  I intended it to be for socks for baby bro, then I got selfish and decided they would be for me, then I tried them on and realized that they don't fit over my heel very well, so they will probably be for mom (unless I can block 'em to fit me - selfish little b that I am:-).
I'm not much of a photographer so I can't seem to capture the color correctly, but I tried.

strange day.....

Well, I arrived at work to find tons of emails.  One was from my boss informing me that a tm had come to work, left and not returned.  Turns out she quit, and her fiancee called to tell us she quit.  Seems the fiancee told her she had to quit because there were too many men talking to her.  hmmmmm ;;looking around, checking the date on my computer, the calendar on the wall, the date on the cable guide;;  I was right, it is 2008!!!  She is a very attractive young woman, and he needs to get a grip.  He hasn't married her yet, and he doesn't own her, SHE needs to get a grip.  This does not bode well for their future.

Next, another tm didn't show the entire weekend.  His last call was on Friday when he told me he would be late, then later, then very late.  He didn't show.  I called him and reached his girlfriend who said he was in the hospital and couldn't talk.  She is bringing a dr's note.  I told one of the store managers.  His response - "he's in jail".  Now does this guy know something, or is it because the tm in question is a young black male?  

Next, we had a customer service training.  They said give product away.  Concentrate on making every customer's visit a great experience.  Now, how do you reconcile giving away product with decreasing shrink, when sampled product (both the small pieces and the stuff you sign off on) is all shrink?  I'm confused.  I don't understand business *sigh*

deep breath......

stitch markers
check!

Options Harmony needles with 60 inch cable
Check!

Central Park Hoodie in Lambs Pride Red Hot Passion
Check!

 
Okay, I guess it's time to start that button band!
I checked on Ravelry and found a suggestion to pick up three, skip one.
Guess I better stop stalling and start knitting.  I so don't want to do this *sigh*

random thoughts

Last night my sister, the kids and I spent a little quality time on youtube and a couple of other sites.  We watched theSNL Palin skits, as well as clips of the Palin/Currick interview.  Then we watched the entire interview.  It was both sad and frightening.  This is a woman who would be a heartbeat (and let's face it, he in all likelihood wouldn't last the whole four years) from the presidency.  I know interviews can be intimidating, but......... she was reading responses from notes, some of her answers didn't answer the questions, her answers about Israel and Iran were terrifying!  I can't believe anyone would support McCain, but with her as a running mate that should make it easier to decide not to.  
I watched the debates.  I was even less impressed by McCain than before.  Unfortunately I am convinced something hinky will go on with this election too.  
I think I'll buy a lottery ticket today.  
Last week went out with a friend.  I told my sister it was great to have a friend who could appreciate my interests (knitting, torchwood, firefly, good music, tea).  We had a day of all 5!  She purchased yarn, I just looked (totally not my fault, no matter what she says, I just took her there :-)  We went to Eleganza in Frederick.  My favorite part of the store, the sale bins.  Gotta love $4 yarn.  Then we had tea at Serenity.  It was awesome, as always.  Love that place.  My friend bought tea (again, not my fault - the store does have 53 varieties of loose tea so how could she resist).  Great times.  Part of the fun was me trying to remember how to get there.  Did I mapquest directions, like I usually do?  Of course not, so there were lots of wrong turns and a lot of driving around.  She took it well (I mean we did both have big Starbucks cups in hand and great music on the ipod) and we found both eventually.  I think I did well for having been to each place just once, and not on the same day.  Okay, maybe I went to the yarn shop twice, but it was a year ago.  
cph is still on the needles.  There is something intimidating about having to pick up 300 stitches.  Socks are almost done (finally), just need to bind off on one and finish the last inch of the 2nd.
No gift knitting done, or started, or thought about.  Okay, not true.  I am going to make a scarf for baby bro, as well as the socks.  Finally something to do with that dark blue baby alpaca (the scarf, not the socks). 
Off to finish the laundry.  The kids are home because of Rosh Hashanah.  I am ignoring them.

Why?????!!!!!!!

Why are some men such babies?  one of the guys was sooooo upset tonight because I wouldn't change his schedule so he could go home and watch the game tomorrow.  Good lord you would have thought it was the super bowl the way he carried on.  sheesh!  His reasons were perfectly sound.  Except this is the end of the fiscal year and tomorrow is inventory.  And I have scheduled two people to work inventory who haven't done it before.  I have no idea why they made him a supervisor.  He's such an ass.
*sigh*

Eureka!!!

Found new socks for baby Bro!!!

almost done......

Well, just sitting here listening to Blondie and enjoying the 500 gigs of external hard drive bliss just purchased from Best Buy (oh Joy!!!!).  No more evil "you have 200mb of memory, please delete something for heaven's sake!!!!" messages.  I put the whole itunes file on there and now I'm crusin'.  way cool.  

okay, still no pics, but the cph is almost done!!!  Unfortunately it fits her (booooooo......um....yea?) so I have to give it to her (my mom said so, 43 and still listening to mom *sigh*).  Anyway, now her brother wants a sweater.  Kinda nice, huh :-) especially since he doesn't know who the red one is for.  Now I am trying to find something for a 14yo boy.  It won't fit him by the time I finish it, but whatever.  I guess if I make it waaaaaay too big.......  But something that he will wear, I am at a loss *sigh*  Most of the ones on Knitty don't look very interesting - too fussy, or too many cables (hellooo, just finishing cph and the multi-cabled sweater from hell is still on the needles after 3 years!!!!).  Hmmm, need to think about this.  Maybe I'll cast on some socks and think it over.
 

No-Purl Monkeys finally done!

Feast your eyes.  Here they are in all their variegated glory.  No, I don't know what kind of yarn it is, just that it is soft and lovely.  A little darker than I have been buying lately, but love it anyway.  

Who are they for?  Why me, of course.  I have discovered the joy of making things por moi.

They are toe-up ('cause I just love the toe-up thing, makes the socks go easier), short row toe and heel ('cause I love the short row thing, too), and the bind-off was this super elastic thing I found in one of my sock books (m-1 every other stitch).  Now they fit over my heels, and stay up just fine :-)  
Finished them off during the NCIS marathon.  Super easy (I say that after ripping back two rows with fingering wt yarn and size 1 needles, twice per sock!!!!!!).  
Now that I know I need a little looser bind-off, I will definitely make them again.

A very short and pictureless knitting rant :-)

I have started sleeves on the cph.  I really want to keep this for myself, but I told my sister I was making it for my niece.  
I finished a pair of socks (yea!!!)  it's that something or other waves socks on the cover of "favorite socks".  Unfortunately I can't get them on because I have to take out the last two rows and use a more elastic bind-off.  grrrrr, wanna wear 'em now!!!

a very long non-knitting, work related rant

Each day I go to work, and wonder, do I really like this job?  The answer can be complicated.  
One aspect of my job that never really bothered me in the past but now drives me bonkers is the endearing (NOT) behaviour of our customers.  
We have two cake sizes and about 12 flavors of cakes and tarts in our case.  Our case is about 5 feet tall, and I am about 5 foot 4.  I can't see through the glass at the back to the glass at the front.  Now here is a typical situation.  Customer comes up and from 3 feet away says, what kind of cake is that (did I mention the signs with cake name and price next to each cake).  They are pointing and I can't tell what they are pointing at so I ask which cake.  They say the one with the fruit on it.  I tell them it's a fresh fruit cake.  They ask the price (did I mention the sign???).  I tell them.  They say can I have that one (again with the pointing).  I say which size, large or small.  They ask, which is the large.  Now on a good day I say the one on the front row, on a crappy day I say the larger one is the large, and the smaller one is the small (I used to ask if they wanted the 6 inch or the 9 inch, but that just confused the heck out of all of them, did I mention tha the sign gives the size!!!!).   Now sometimes this is the end of the transaction, other times when I get out to hand them their lovely boxed cake, I get:
I don't like that one, I want an different one
can you write "happy 20th birthday john dick and harry" on a 6" cake in flaming violet, or better yet can you fit all that on a 3" diameter cookie
can you get me the smaller one, that is too large (or can you get me the larger one, that is too small)
can you put extra______ on it, why is that an extra charge
What spawned this today?  I had a customer call to complain about a cake.  She had gotten a different flavor than she asked for (I will admit we have screwed up a cake or two, but usually not that badly).  She said the team member that took her order "spoke really bad english" and she didn't think they understood what she said.  Now the woman who called was obviously not a native english speaker, so that bothered me (pot, meet kettle).  She wanted something (I didn't ask her what), and mentioned that her cousin worked for my company and told her the rules.  I asked her to return the cake I would check it out.  She said no one liked it so she threw it away.  Now to some this may seem like a reasonable story.  The me this screamed they ate the cake, she told her" cousin" (or the little voice in her head) she wasn't happy with it, her cousin told her to come back and get whatever she wanted in return.  It was the next day, not the day of the cake pick-up.  I told her that since she waited so long I couldn't really check her story and it would have been helpful if she had called the same day.  Well, I talked to the team.  They told l me she didn't place the order, her husband did.  And he ordered the fruit cake first then changed it to cappuccino.  We gave her a cappuccino.  We also had to fix the spelling of the kids name, because the guy misspelled it, twice!!!
This just bothered me.
The other thing that bothers me is when did "would you like your bread whole or sliced" become a yes or no question, or require so much thought?
*sigh*
 

forgive me friends, I haven't blogged......

Okay, vacation is over.  Took four, count 'em, four whole weeks off!!!!
Now I am back at work.  I have decided I hate customer service.  Actually, I just dislike stupid people, who ask inane questions.  Maybe it isn't stupid to walk into a grocery store and ask someone at the bakery counter "What do you have here that a diabetic should eat?".  My response instead of an annoyed sigh, should have been "you need to consult your doctor or nutritionist, I am not qualified to dispense nutritional advice".  I'll have to remember that.  Then there was the customer with the 30 minute cake consult, she wanted to taste different cakes, even though she said she had tasted them all before and knew which one she wanted.  Then she decided she wanted a strawberry and cream cake, with out the strawberries, but she wanted us to dye the whipped cream different colors.  She didn't seem to grasp that wasn't going to work very well.  Then there was the color explanation.  Folks just don't understand.  All natural plant based red does not come out red.  No matter how much red color you add, it will still be pink, not bright red.  
Anyway, today we had at company picnic, as sponsored by out cheapskate store team leader.  They had trivia questions, and the prizes were $10 gift cards, FROM OUR STORE!!!!!!!  Like he couldn't spring for gc's from like Borders, or B&N, or Target or something?  Or if they had to be from our store, maybe for more money than ten bucks?  That will pay for lunch, barely.  And he wonders why the team members think he's a loser.  Sheesh!  Oh, I won two gift cards.  What will I do with my 20 bucks?  Two gas cards would have been sweet!

Well vacation was great.  Got a little knitting done, but no pics of the knitting.  Just finished one of my no purl monkey socks, and immediately cast on the second sock.  It's knits really fast, so I could be debating who the reciepient is by the end of next week!!!! I seem to be running about 1 week per sock.  
Did work on cph, have gotten up to the arm holes on the back, and ready to bind off on the front panels.  What a neat sweater.  Took it to the eastern shore and got quite a bit of work done.  We went to Jane's Island State Park for a week.  Five days of eating crabs for dinner, and being eaten for dinner by dozens of mosquitoes and bitting flies.  It was great!!!  Gotta love that deep woods Off.  If only they could make is smell better.  
This is what we saw when we sat in front of the fire each evening.

This is what I woke to each morning.  TLG (the little general) starting the fire for breakfast.
This was the day the pancakes actually came out as pancakes.  The next morning...................that batch was a little......................strange :-)
We did the whole touristy thing.  The museums, and other strange places.  Janes Island is near Chrisfield, MD (like 2 miles away).  Chrisfield calls itself the Seafood Capitol of the World.  Major Maryland crab and oyster processing town.  Very quiet.  
We also visited Princess Anne,  nice town, lots of historic victorian houses.

Did I mention the canoe?  

Then I returned home, where I slept and read for a week.  My sister (the other one) did manage to drag me off to the beach, where her daughter got caught in the rip tide, and when her father swam out to rescue her, they both had to be rescued.  Thank heaven for surfers, bless all four of 'em.  They went out and bought them back.  Totally cool.
I did go back to the beach, but I didn't spend much time on the sand, or in the water.  It was nice anyway.  
Enough for now.  Must sleep :-)

sweet cafe.....

Okay, I need to blog more, if only for my sanity.  today was kinda freaky.  it started when I jumped out of bed (at 8:15 - the time i was supposed to be leaving the house to go to work) and stepped right into a nice cold puddle of water.  my first thought was "Ashleigh, why did you pee on the floor!!!!!!!" (sorry baby), but with my next few steps i discovered it wasn't the fault of my falsely maligned kitty, but the lovely rain that had seeped under my door and covered my floor, in strategic areas, like every other tile.  Okay, so I leave the house (after moving a few books and extension cords, and surge protectors to higher ground), with sister in the passenger seat (she of the moaning guilt about my stuff getting wet, that dissolved into gentle snores halfway to dc) and call the job explaining that I was late for work due to the flooding apartment (liar-liar pants on fire, partly).  I get to work late and get my stuff done, then leave early.  just as I am about to leave i am questioned by a rep from the regional office about some investigation into some weird cake underpricing thing at the store (which I think was actually an investigation into morale issues since the unions are sniffing around trying to get in again).  Well, i drive home in the (still) pouring rain and find there are no new puddles and the old ones have dried.  But best of all, i find that my yarn cafe package has arrived!!!!!  Yippeee!!!!  Now I was expecting this because darling Kay had spilled the beans and bought hers in, so I was in a properly yarn-lusty state when I got home.  She really made me jealous when she showed me her new Neighborhood Fiber co yarn, that stuff was.... like whoa,  it was just awesome.  I really hope Karida gets her act together soon 'cause the girl has mad skills in the yarn area.   Anyway, back to yarn cafe.  I'm thinking anastasia socks for the yarn.  I feel that designers need to be compensated, must be compensated, but i don't currently have the seven bucks to spare to buy another sock pattern (car window needs repair, check engine light is on, have fall hiking trip to save for, not to mention the summer driving trip with big sis, priorities must be set), so i'm going for the freebies.  enough rambling.  think i'll go charge the camera batteries so i can take pictues of all my recent yarn purchases.  oh, almost forgot, bought bryson rosewood sock needles at sheep and wool.  10 bucks!!!!!  compared to 20 for lantern moon that's a steal of such magnitude it cannot be properly described.  so i bought two pairs.  

spring????

spring has sprung, and with it has come the md sheep and wool festival. I have taken the weekend off to properly pay homage to this event. I have invited family and friends. We will of course travel on separate days. I can shop with friends, but not with family. Family, not being knitters, will be obsessed with prices. Friends, being knitters, will be obsessed with shopping. See the difference?

I have also completed (sort of) a 7 day total body cleanse. I won't bore you with the details, just let us say it went fairly well. I am trying to start a healthier eating regimen, less red meat, more fish and veggies. If you have ever watched "You Are What You Eat", you can probably understand where this is coming from. Plus my cholesterol is waaaaaay too high. Exercise is next on the to do list.

Since moving into my sister's house, life has been a little different. Some of my favorite foods are a little harder (meaning impossible) to find (like good thai and good chinese), but really bad stuff (like burger king and mc donald's) are a lot easier to come by (we are off of the highway - meaning near one of those handy-dandy blue exit signs reading gas, lodging, and cheap food). The family doesn't have any sort of eating plan except to get whatever is easiest. It's hard. I mean, I wasn't the healthiest eater before, but this is ridiculous. There is pizza, every week. Even on my own I didn't get pizza more than once per month, and sometimes not even that frequently. There is Wendy's or Mc D's practially every week as well. The amount of soda consumed is staggering. I am, I don't know what I am . Anyway, my sister suggested I cook whenever I feel like it. Actually, I suggested we come up with a menu and shopping plan. She told me to plan away. She didn't actually say anything about the shopping. I can't afford to to the shopping for 5 people on my salary, I guess we need to have a more serious talk about it. Either that, or I will continue to buy my own stuff, and take a friend's advice and get myself a small fridge to put downstairs in my space for stuff I want for myself. I already take the fruit I want downstairs because if I don't it will vanish with none left for me. It's hard. Thank heaven for knitting. It's keeping me sane.

can't wait!

okay, this has been an eventful week.

missed my pal Justine due to food poisoning (i really have to teach my housemates/family about the evils of leaving food out all the time)

almost fired two team members (my team leader is such a sucker for a sob story and a snow job)

had a birthday lunch with my mom (my birthday is monday, but she took me to lunch today - soup for me due to the still weak stomach)

i have started my cph again, and it's going like gang-busters

i have invited mom over for lunch on monday (did i mention it's my birthday). i plan to make my own cake, 'cause nobody knows what I want more than i do :-)

back in the saddle, yeeeeehaaaaaa!

well, after an extended hiatus, i am blogging again.
the move was more expensive than i thought it would be, in many ways, but i am now relatively comfortably ensconced in my sisters basement.
i have good and bad feelings about this, but hey, it's $400 a month, plus an extra 10 for they y membership. not a bad deal.
my computer isn't hooked up, so i am forced to use the kids'. they have like no memory on this thing so there may not be pictures for a while.

now for the important stuff, the sock clubs.

i oh so love twisted fiber arts yarns!!!!!!! her selections for the club have been fantastic, and the ravelry group is great. everyone gave out great suggestions for patterns. i made two pairs of socks from the yarn she sent, and i ran out of yarn for the 2nd pair, but purchased a great lovely 100% bamboo in a slightly brighter pink from this place, my new favorite yarn shop (i'm a sucker for a shop with a couch :-). it's less than 15 minutes from my house. how cool is that! back to twisted. the second sock installment has arrived and the colors are darker, but fabulous!!!! i love it, have i said i love her yarn?

ooooh and the yarn from jolly jumbuck was equally fantabulous!!! they sent this wonderful stuff in the most wonderful shades of blue. it was called mermaids ........um, don't remember the rest, but i think you get the drift. anyway, they sent a list of pattern suggestions along with it. love it. they also sent stitch markers, hand crafted, and a baby sock blocker key chain along with a baby sock pattern. and chocolate eggs, too! I can't wait until i get my next installment of this sock club. the next one if from a different dyer. will it be as great as this one??? who knows.

the last club was the eleganza club. it included a binder, newsletter with pattern included and, of course, the yarn. the yarn was a very bright kinda cottony thing for ankle socks. it was very nice, but i am not much of a lacy top anklet kinda gal. i'll probably look around for something else to mix it with.

on the other knitting front, I started and finished my noni triangle bag. what did you say? what noni triangle bag? what happened to the cabled sweater from hell and the central park hoodie projects???? well, the cable sweater is still lying around, incomplete. the cph has been frogged and is awaiting a restart. i found this pattern while searching through the noni website and decided i would order it one day. well, while perusing the shelves at my new favorite shop, i found it! i decided it would be a great bag to have. who cares that it's april and the weather is about to change! i am going to make me this bag, in charcoal and tan (because i have this yarn i bought for another project and changed my mind and used another yarn for it) lambs pride bulky. i haven't started felting it yet but i am way happy with it so far. it's going in the washer tomorrow night after work. it was a little tight on the tan yarn front, so i made a few changes (very minor - the strap has a stripe instead of being a solid color) but i think it's going to be great! i am going to line it. my other sister has a sewing machine! can't wait to add pictures!

blech...

I have the flu. next year I get the shot, I swear. I know I have been saying that for the last couple of months, but this time I mean it. Anything to avoid having someone stick that little swab up my nose again, yech. What makes the whole thing worse is that I can't find my knitting. I am surrounded by boxes, but I can't find the one with my cph in it. *sigh* The last thing I want to do right now is unpack. Not much of a post right now. I feel sooooo tired. I think I'll go back to sleep.

woohooo!!!!

Okay, my apartment is half packed, I am almost out of boxes, and the movers are scheduled to be here in 12 hours.  This should be fun.
Meanwhile, I have completed the first 3 1/2 inches of my niece's Central Park Hoodie. 
It's coming along swimmingly, but I guess it should be since at this point it's just rib :-) 
I must say I love the options needles.  They feel great, look great, and the sharp pointiness is divine.
I have also taken the plunge.  It pays to stay off the computer at 2am, I have to say that first.
This morning at about that time (actually it was probably closer to 1am), I joined 3 (count 'em, 3!!!!!) sock clubs.   The Eleganza Yarns Sock Club, the Yarn Collective Sock Club, and the Twisted Yarn Club.  Totally cool!  Very excited.  Well, I think I need to stop procrastinating and start packing :-).  If I get a solid hour of packing done, I will allow myself a 30 minute stretch of knitting :-)

ain't life grand :-)

Here I sit, I have The Matrix on the tube, my new phone on mute, my new options needles on the sofa sitting with my 10 skeins of lamb's pride wool/mohair in red hot passion (lot 020) and my central park hoodie pattern in hand.  I must say, after the minor (HAH!!!) glitch with the post office, knitpicks and ups came through with flying colors!!!!!  I may have mentioned that the wonderful people at the post office lost my package (expletive deleted because someone may actually know a good postal worker), the folks at knitpicks in response to my email requesting aid, sent a new package ups.  After a couple of misses with the delivery guy, and a bit of misdirection (my request to come in and pick it up somehow was changed to a request for a new delivery), I have my new toys and it's time to play.  I must say I gotta recommend knitpicks for their great customer service.  I also recieved the yarn samples I requested and now I think my own cph will be knitted in the superwash merino.  It feels yummy, and I think I found the color I like.

postal blues........

*sigh*  
It's been 10 days since my knitpicks options harmony needle set left ohio, and according to the usps 
tracking thing,  my needles are 8 blocks away at the Brentwood 
Road sorting station. 
They have been there for 7 days.  
I have emailed the postal service (for all the good that will do),
and I am tempted to email knitpicks (which will do absolutely no good what-so-ever).  
I want my new needles.  I want them now.  
Unlike Veruca, I don't want the world, I just want my needles.  *sigh*
I also want my other new item.  
I am due for a new phone (razr is doing that "I'm about to fall apart because
you know I wasn't meant to last for more than a year or two anyway"thing)
so I ordered this.  According to the amazon site, an item that I purchased
Friday evening, and paid for 2nd day service for, hasn't even been picked up yet!!!!!!!!!.  
How can they meet a guaranteed delivery day of the 16th if it hasn't even
left the warehouse yet!!!!!!  
It's active (I just left a message for myself *giggle*),
but I can't use it (whaaaaaaaaa).  
I bought it through Amazon because I saved $100 for the same 2 year
contract I would have had to sign up for if I had gone through t-mobile.
Well, patience is a virtue.  It's just I'm not all that virtuous ;-)

Happiness is.......

.......................stitch markers!!!!!!!!
Okay, raved about this hat pattern, then I got to the lace part.......several attempts later I thought "you finished an entire lace shawl, two of 'em, what did you do different from this little hat??!!!!!????"  And then it came to me, STITCH MARKERS!!!!!.  What a difference.  Now I know when I have added a yo or fogotten one.  whew!  Almost done.  But because of my hair, I am making the hat using bulky yarn, but following the instructions for the worsted.  Hopefully this will add the extra 2 or three inches of hat I need to cover my hair, otherwise I will have a really big hat :-)
Oh, and the yarn is Araucania Copihue.  

Resistance is Futile!

I did it!  I went shopping, in a fun and fab way.  One of my co-workers is a knitter (yea!) and yesterday I grabbed her and we went shopping.  We stopped at Inez's Stitchery and she bought a skein of something for a hat.  I left empty handed.  Then it was on to a tangled skein.  There I ordered 9 skeins of lambs pride worsted in a lovely shade of deep, dark red for my niece's central park hoodie!  So glad they came out with the plus sizes.  
Also, I purchased (because I couldn't leave a 2nd store empty handed!) this fabulous yarn 
that I am using to make a hat for me.  

I'm making this one, Kay's suggestion, and it is fun and easy! 
I also purchased needles to use to convert the lovely sockyarn from Suzanne into actual socks.  I bought circular Addie Turbos (insert light saber sound effect) in size 1.  They feel fantastic, much better than the size one bates circs I was using before.  
The bates had this nasty little bump just behind where 
the needles joined the cable, as well as this nasty tiny hitch 
just at the join.  
The yarn would alway get caught there and it made knitting socks such a chore, the other pair I started just stayed on the needles.  
I also drooled over the Lantern Moon sock needles, in their cute little bags, such lovely wood.
And the best part of all is the impending arrival of my Options Needle kit!!!!  It's on the road and should be here within the next few days!!!!  Ain't life grand *sigh*