Oh so clever, and so funny

A new addition to my google reader is dear blank, please blank.

Two of my recent favourites:

Dear Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,

Please send me my letter already. I'm tired of the Muggle world.

Sincerely, the kid who still believes in magic

Dear Herpes,

Please stay in Las Vegas next time.

Sincerely, Anonymous.

Oops, wish I'd noticed that sooner.

I've been merrily zooming around the baby blanket, mostly at work. It's great fun, and I continue to be utterly charmed by quickly rows move along when there are only 10 stitches on the needle (Whee! Maybe I can make it to the corner before office hours begin! knit, knit, knit). Short rows, previously annoying and a necessary evil are now little treats in a sea of garter stitch.


Today, though, I was staring at it while I was eating my lunch, and it occurred to me that something wasn't right:

That's right, I borked up the corner. Last Monday when I turned it on the bus heading to a meeting. I wasn't even drunk.

So this is where I am now. Three days of knitting gone in about three minutes. The good news is, I get to knit more!

Random Wednesday

I uploaded the following pics from my netbook and then switched to my desktop:

Note the compost bin covered with snow. Not fun getting out there, these days.

I thought that was going to be a nice sunset, seeing as I was home an hour earlier today. Apparently, I was wrong.

And just for fun, self portrait, last Saturday. Damn, I am cute.

But, the purpose of this Random Wednesday post has been derailed by the need to upgrade my desktop. It took two hours to log in and wade through those horrible sign-ins; it doesn't help that I was doing a similar task on the netbook with mint.com.

I was home an hour early today; it's 8:30 - no dinner and no knitting, yet. Random Wednesdays suck.

Much better

I found some inspiration at the yarn shop on Thursday. This wasn't the vision I had in mind when I decided to make this blanket, but I am charmed by the bright green and purpley-blue nonetheless:

Colours are much brighter than they appear. I should really learn to use photoshop or gimp.

I think it will be perfect for a baby. Bright and fun. And even more perfect for the mom and dad. It's washable.

Well, bugger

I'm knitting a project on a deadline. One I thought would be easy, fun, convenient to cart around, and perfect for sitting in front of the tv.

It's the Ten-Stitch Blanket, which I think is just adorable.

Man, I love my new camera. Best use ever of Shoppers Drug Mart points.

I couldn't have been more wrong. I mean, the pattern is adorable, but this has been the project from hell.

First of all, the yarn I chose, King Riot, while pretty, is fuzzy and splitty. Not easy to work with, particularly in darker colours when it comes to ripping out. It took me three tries to get the first mitered corner correct (seeing as I have never done a mitered corner before). I wound up cutting the yarn and beginning again.

Then, my needle had a snag (again, with the fuzzy, splitty yarn; not good). A bit of sandpaper has improved that, thankfully.

The last straw was coming to a knot in the skein just as I was just getting into the rhythm of the project. Naturally, the knot completely screwed up the colour continuity. This is how far I got before giving up on finding a spot to cut the yarn and re-join:

Yes, one third of the skein.

Forget it. I'm done with this. I am not wasting another moment on a project that seems intent on pissing me off.

I'm heading to the yarn shop after work and getting something different. Problem is, after work is two hours away. Whatever shall I do? Certainly not work.

Colder than a nudist on an iceberg

It's been a remarkably mild winter until this past week (with the exception of the insane amount of snow), I think we can all agree.

So, why am I being an absolute pansy? Really, it's not that cold. I must be getting older and more cautious. Or possibly lazy, and willing to latch on any excuse to stay at home in front of the tv. I've even been drinking tea in the evenings instead of wine. That cold and lazy.

Sunday phone call

Holy crap.

My knitting teacher just called me, right out of the blue (well, not really, she had a two hour phone conversation with my parents last week).

I just had a two hour phone conversation with her myself (and why am I typing in a Scottish accent? Oh, yeah. Stargate. Dr. Beckett.)

Wilma, I told you on the phone, but it bears repeating: I love you. You have no idea how you've enriched my life. I think of you every time I pick up my sticks and string. You set me on the road to becoming the woman I am. I like the woman I am. Thank you.