Wednesday, March 29, 2006
stripey goodness
I moved up two needle sizes, and lo and behold: I've got gauge, baby! So here's my progress on the leftovers vest from the last few days:
The picture's kinda dark, but as you can see, the vest is modeling with two of my ivies, Sirrus and Achenar.
**Here I insert this Confession of Geekiness (as if the fact that I picked Sirrus and Achenar as plant names isn't confession enough): I name all my houseplants. And someday I plan to introduce all of them on this here blog. Exciting, no?**
Unfortunately, I just ran out of my dark brown Cascade...whoops! Guess that's the chance you take when you knit with leftovers. And since dark brown is the color I need for the next stripe, it looks like I'm on knitting hiatus tonight....
I suppose I could weave in some of these ends until I get to my LYS.
Zoinks!
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Self-Portrait with Wedding Ring
Tomorrow is our wedding anniversary. Six years! I can hardly believe it's been that long. In fact, sometimes I can hardly believe it happened at all.Rick picked out the engagement ring for me in 1998, and I think he did a great job. It's a simple and classic design, and I still love it. He proposed during a two day trek on Wheeler Peak in New Mexico...a two day trek filled with snow and ice and five people stuffed into a four-person tent. (If that doesn't sound romantic to you...then it's probably a good thing you're not married to me or Rick!). We spent a year planning a May wedding. And then a month before the wedding...I got cold feet. Two months later, the two of us (still unwed) moved to Idaho. Then I got even colder feet and broke up with the guy.
He bought me another ring after we were no longer a couple. Engraved on the inside was the word, "Always", and I wore it on my right hand. Maybe Rick had a hunch that we wouldn't be apart for long, because four months later, I was visiting Oklahoma and Rick was living here. I called him and asked him to come to Arkansas with me. We got married in a dark living room of a Razorbacks-obsessed justice of the peace, and two days later, I was back in Idaho, and Rick was finishing the last preparations for a six-month trek on the Appalachian trail.
The six-month hike didn't work out, and I got to see the groom again after only a month. Some of my friends in Idaho didn't believe that I got married on my trip to Oklahoma...until my husband came to live with me at the end of April 2000. To this day, when people ask about our honeymoon, I tell them, "After we eloped in Arkansas, I celebrated in Idaho and my husband honeymooned in Georgia!" Often, they want to know why we chose Arkansas. "Well", I reply, "We had to go somewhere where it's legal to marry kin."
Happy Anniversary, Rickus. Thank you for saying yes to that road trip. Thanks for all the good years since then. And thank you for my rings, the one you proposed with and the one that became my wedding band.
Always.
Friday, March 24, 2006
she is not amused
I am Shiva the destroyer. Give me some yarn to play with or I will go for the couch. You have been warned.
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Size does matter
And in this case, thirty-two inches is just not going to cut it.
So I've been knitting away, knitting away, knitting away on my leftovers vest. This morning, though, I happened to look down at my progress and realized, "This is too small." A few quick swipes with the tape measure confirmed my worst fear: my gauge is off.
I actually did everything right going into this project. I knit up swatches until I got the right gauge, 5 stiches per inch, but I must have knit looser in my swatch than I do in real life, because now I'm at 6 stitches per inch! Six stitches per inch, folks! That translates to a 32-inch round sweater instead of the 38 inches that I need.
For a couple hours this morning, I considered leaving the vest in its teensy size. I could give it to someone else this way, because who cares, it's just leftovers, right? Maybe Lindsay Lohan would like it? I even thought that blocking the hell out of it might just give me those six extra inches back. When I started to contemplate a strict diet and a breast reduction, I realized that the time had come to frog the damn thing already.
It may look big in this extreme close-up, but trust me, it's not going to fit over the girls. So thirty-two inch leftovers vest, may you rest in peace. In your next life, you will be knit on bigger needles so that the tight knitter from hell won't squeeze six inches out of your width.
So I've been knitting away, knitting away, knitting away on my leftovers vest. This morning, though, I happened to look down at my progress and realized, "This is too small." A few quick swipes with the tape measure confirmed my worst fear: my gauge is off.
I actually did everything right going into this project. I knit up swatches until I got the right gauge, 5 stiches per inch, but I must have knit looser in my swatch than I do in real life, because now I'm at 6 stitches per inch! Six stitches per inch, folks! That translates to a 32-inch round sweater instead of the 38 inches that I need.
For a couple hours this morning, I considered leaving the vest in its teensy size. I could give it to someone else this way, because who cares, it's just leftovers, right? Maybe Lindsay Lohan would like it? I even thought that blocking the hell out of it might just give me those six extra inches back. When I started to contemplate a strict diet and a breast reduction, I realized that the time had come to frog the damn thing already.
It may look big in this extreme close-up, but trust me, it's not going to fit over the girls. So thirty-two inch leftovers vest, may you rest in peace. In your next life, you will be knit on bigger needles so that the tight knitter from hell won't squeeze six inches out of your width.Wednesday, March 22, 2006
In Oklahoma, that makes you family!
The Nanda wrote about our Monday evening in Tulsa on her blog, but can I just say that Kilkenny's is fan-FREAKIN-tastic? Because it is, y'all. Not that I have a lot of experience with Irish pub food, having never been to an Irish pub before, but this place is great. Relaxed atmosphere, big portions of good food, and lots of stout beers for those that enjoy them. Me, I like my liquor sweet, so I had Guinness Chocolate Cake. Yum, yum, yum.
Rick and I will be traveling to Tulsa once a month to eat out with our family from northern Oklahoma. And yes, I'm including Nanda as my family because she's my sister-in-law's sister-in-law. Which in my mind means, "You're my sister!" (this is fortunate for me, because I'm really an only child from a small family and am always looking to adopt more family, and is maybe not so fortunate for Nanda because I'm liable to get drunk and say things like, "I love you, sis!" with a wink and a nudge).
Anyway, I'm looking forward to getting to know Tulsa a little better. I've lived in Oklahoma almost all my life but it's always been in OKC and Norman. I've been to a couple art museums in Tulsa (the Philbrook is just incredible every time), but that's about it. And I'm also looking forward to seeing my family and friends more often! With my crazy work schedule, I sometimes don't see these folks for three or four months at a time. Now I get to see them every month. And with food!
If anyone knows of some great Tulsa restaurants, please give us a heads up!
Rick and I will be traveling to Tulsa once a month to eat out with our family from northern Oklahoma. And yes, I'm including Nanda as my family because she's my sister-in-law's sister-in-law. Which in my mind means, "You're my sister!" (this is fortunate for me, because I'm really an only child from a small family and am always looking to adopt more family, and is maybe not so fortunate for Nanda because I'm liable to get drunk and say things like, "I love you, sis!" with a wink and a nudge).
Anyway, I'm looking forward to getting to know Tulsa a little better. I've lived in Oklahoma almost all my life but it's always been in OKC and Norman. I've been to a couple art museums in Tulsa (the Philbrook is just incredible every time), but that's about it. And I'm also looking forward to seeing my family and friends more often! With my crazy work schedule, I sometimes don't see these folks for three or four months at a time. Now I get to see them every month. And with food!
If anyone knows of some great Tulsa restaurants, please give us a heads up!
Thursday, March 16, 2006
I love Target.
I guess all I needed to do to get a little knitting motivation was talk about my lack of it. I haven’t felt like knitting on any of the projects currently on my needles, and I haven’t felt like starting anything with yarn from the stash (yarn diets suck!). Pair those excuses with a cat that won’t get off my lap… 
...and you have a prairie knitter who doesn’t knit.
I had toyed with the idea of a Leftovers vest to use up some stash yarn, but as I said before, none of the stash yarns were doing it for me. The closest I came was this combo of Cascade 220 leftovers:
It looked okay, but nothing special. Then, yesterday, I caught a glimpse of this bag at Target:
Which is when it hit me. “Orange! I need orange!” I bought the bag so I could take some pictures of it for reference (I’ll take it back to Target when I’m done and get my $16.99 back—that’s yarn money, yo!), and today I made an emergency trip to Gourmet Yarn Co. to pick up some orange Cascade. Kind of defeats the purpose of a vest made of leftovers, but still—at the end of this project, I will have a bright stripey vest for only $7!
...and you have a prairie knitter who doesn’t knit.I had toyed with the idea of a Leftovers vest to use up some stash yarn, but as I said before, none of the stash yarns were doing it for me. The closest I came was this combo of Cascade 220 leftovers:
It looked okay, but nothing special. Then, yesterday, I caught a glimpse of this bag at Target:Which is when it hit me. “Orange! I need orange!” I bought the bag so I could take some pictures of it for reference (I’ll take it back to Target when I’m done and get my $16.99 back—that’s yarn money, yo!), and today I made an emergency trip to Gourmet Yarn Co. to pick up some orange Cascade. Kind of defeats the purpose of a vest made of leftovers, but still—at the end of this project, I will have a bright stripey vest for only $7!Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Cats are the new knitting
We have had Shiva for almost a month now. There have been a lot of changes in the house since that time—we don’t leave the front door open for more than a few seconds, I vacuum the furniture and rugs a few times a week instead of every few weeks, and of course the whole kitty litter thing—but I never imagined how lazy having a cat would make me.
Shiva sleeps about 18 hours a day. Apparently this is typical, but since I’ve never had a pet besides a bird and two goldfish (appropriate pets for an allergic kid!), I had no idea. Rick laughed at me when I told him I thought there was something wrong with her. Since that time, I’ve realized there is something wrong with me! Just looking at Shiva taking a nap makes me sleepy. And it's all over if she jumps on my lap for some petting and biscuit making. Shiva has become increasingly affectionate since she had surgery last week (uterus be gone!). If I sit down for a second, the girl is on me with a meow that clearly says, “Pet me, please. I love you so much and just ask for a little petting in return.” Okay, maybe that’s not what she is saying, but the point is that I am powerless against her and end up sitting on the couch petting her until she gets up…which is sometimes not for three hours. Rick comes home and asks, “What did you do today?” “Well, I started to fold some laundry, and then the cat needed to be petted, and, um…I guess I petted the cat today.”
My excuse is that I have a love of animals that has built up over twenty-seven years, but I have not had an animal to give it to. So Shiva is going to be one spoiled baby. And me, I’m going to be lazy for a while. Until I get used to the arrangement, I probably won’t be getting much knitting done, either. Why think of a new knitting project when I could just sit here and pet the cat?
Told you I’m lazy!
Shiva sleeps about 18 hours a day. Apparently this is typical, but since I’ve never had a pet besides a bird and two goldfish (appropriate pets for an allergic kid!), I had no idea. Rick laughed at me when I told him I thought there was something wrong with her. Since that time, I’ve realized there is something wrong with me! Just looking at Shiva taking a nap makes me sleepy. And it's all over if she jumps on my lap for some petting and biscuit making. Shiva has become increasingly affectionate since she had surgery last week (uterus be gone!). If I sit down for a second, the girl is on me with a meow that clearly says, “Pet me, please. I love you so much and just ask for a little petting in return.” Okay, maybe that’s not what she is saying, but the point is that I am powerless against her and end up sitting on the couch petting her until she gets up…which is sometimes not for three hours. Rick comes home and asks, “What did you do today?” “Well, I started to fold some laundry, and then the cat needed to be petted, and, um…I guess I petted the cat today.”
My excuse is that I have a love of animals that has built up over twenty-seven years, but I have not had an animal to give it to. So Shiva is going to be one spoiled baby. And me, I’m going to be lazy for a while. Until I get used to the arrangement, I probably won’t be getting much knitting done, either. Why think of a new knitting project when I could just sit here and pet the cat?
Told you I’m lazy!
Friday, March 10, 2006
Unlucky cookie
About twenty minutes ago, I ate some leftover chinese takeout for lunch. At the end of the meal, I realized that there was one fortune cookie left and decided to eat it too. Since I am pretty inept with my hands (hence the remedial knitting skills and unmastered laboratory techniques) and am also generally clumsy, I had a difficult time getting the plastic wrapper open. When I finally popped the plastic open, the fortune cookie sprang out and smashed into a million pieces on the kitchen floor. Even the largest surviving pieces were too small to enjoy, so I swept the whole bit up and threw it in the trash. Then I picked up the fortune from the cookie and read it.
It said, "Your luck will completely change today."
Hmmph. I hope so. I really wanted that fortune cookie.
It said, "Your luck will completely change today."
Hmmph. I hope so. I really wanted that fortune cookie.
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Yes, I turn real life people into Harry Potter characters. And I'm Hermione, because I have her hat.
The big test is over, so now I can put off studying for another three weeks or so and then scare myself shitless all over again. Hooray!
I figured something out during class yesterday. Well, two things. Some nasty microbes grow on poop smears that have been sitting out all week. But oh yeah, I forgot. I'm not talking about that. Silly Katie!
The important thing I learned is that my Micro professor is the non-magical version of Severus Snape. Except that he's not so very darkly fascinating and he's not likely to murder the dean of the school any time soon.
You know how Snape teaches potions, right? At the beginning of class, he flicks his wand and suddenly there's a list of a gazillion instructions on the blackboard. The students have one hour to do every instruction correctly, without any actual teaching from the professor, and then, at the end of the hour, if their potion is not to his liking, he gives the student a zero.
It's never set well with me that Dumbledore approves of this method of "teaching", yet this is EXACTLY how my Micro prof teaches our lab right here in the real world. But without the wand flicking. We enter the class and he barks, "I'm only going to say this once so listen up!" He then rambles off a gazillion instructions that we furiously scribble down so we won't have to ask questions later. "If you have to ask me a question about this, I'll take five points off your next lab quiz!" And guess what? If you don't get the desired result on the first try? You guessed it! A zero!
I think I need to resign myself to getting a B in this class. All the studying in the world isn't going to keep me from getting zeros because I forgot to turn the light condenser up all the way. I'm just glad this guy doesn't have a wand.
P.S. Goblet of Fire came out on DVD today so I'm in full Harry mode now! Have you guys noticed all the knitting possibities from this one???
I figured something out during class yesterday. Well, two things. Some nasty microbes grow on poop smears that have been sitting out all week. But oh yeah, I forgot. I'm not talking about that. Silly Katie!
The important thing I learned is that my Micro professor is the non-magical version of Severus Snape. Except that he's not so very darkly fascinating and he's not likely to murder the dean of the school any time soon.
You know how Snape teaches potions, right? At the beginning of class, he flicks his wand and suddenly there's a list of a gazillion instructions on the blackboard. The students have one hour to do every instruction correctly, without any actual teaching from the professor, and then, at the end of the hour, if their potion is not to his liking, he gives the student a zero.
It's never set well with me that Dumbledore approves of this method of "teaching", yet this is EXACTLY how my Micro prof teaches our lab right here in the real world. But without the wand flicking. We enter the class and he barks, "I'm only going to say this once so listen up!" He then rambles off a gazillion instructions that we furiously scribble down so we won't have to ask questions later. "If you have to ask me a question about this, I'll take five points off your next lab quiz!" And guess what? If you don't get the desired result on the first try? You guessed it! A zero!
I think I need to resign myself to getting a B in this class. All the studying in the world isn't going to keep me from getting zeros because I forgot to turn the light condenser up all the way. I'm just glad this guy doesn't have a wand.
P.S. Goblet of Fire came out on DVD today so I'm in full Harry mode now! Have you guys noticed all the knitting possibities from this one???
Monday, March 06, 2006
It's better than Gladiator, but...
Sunday, March 05, 2006
12 hour work days plus big test on Tuesday...
...equals no time for knitting or self-portraits. *throwing tantrum*
But here's a shot of my front flower bed that is making me happy today. My transplanted daffodils actually lived through the winter and I managed to plant at least a few of the bulbs right side up! Blooming daffodils and Bradford pear trees are my yearly signals that spring is coming. And though fall and winter are my favorite seasons, I'm always ready for spring.
But here's a shot of my front flower bed that is making me happy today. My transplanted daffodils actually lived through the winter and I managed to plant at least a few of the bulbs right side up! Blooming daffodils and Bradford pear trees are my yearly signals that spring is coming. And though fall and winter are my favorite seasons, I'm always ready for spring.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
I should have gone into accounting.
Accounting students don't have to carry their poop to school. Thankfully, the poop ordeal is over. It was a bit too awful for me to relate here (I'm sure y'all are glad about that!). Normally I don't shy away from grossing people out, so...yeah. Let's just forget it ever happened.
Look! Distraction! Here's a kitty photo!
The kitty has dropped the name of Bluebell. She shed her sweet little princess personality earlier this week and now only wants to cuddle for about 10 minutes every couple days or so. The rest of the time, she wants to do the following things:
1. Sleep.
2. Play games with Rick, her two favorites being "Catch the knitting needle under the t-shirt" and "Catch the ball tied to the strand of Katie's yarn."
3. Try to eat my California Kitchen pizza. Or anything else I happen to be eating.
4. Watch the birdies from the window.
5. Walk on the laptop and try to catch the pointer on the screen. Which in turn...
6. Gives Katie a heart attack.
Because she is in hyper mode and her claws are destroying my couch, rugs, and Rick's legs while completely neglecting her scratching post, she has been renamed Shiva, after the third god of the Hindu trinity. I have a very limited understanding of Hindu mythology, but as far as I can tell, Shiva's dance destroys the universe so that Brahma can re-create a new one and Vishnu can sustain it, until such time that Shiva feels like dancing again. It's that whole cycle of life kind of thing.
My Shiva's dance does not destroy the universe, but is definitely causing the destruction of my couch. That said, she's awfully cute while she's doing it.
I mean...Bad Shiva! Go to your scratching post!
Look! Distraction! Here's a kitty photo!
The kitty has dropped the name of Bluebell. She shed her sweet little princess personality earlier this week and now only wants to cuddle for about 10 minutes every couple days or so. The rest of the time, she wants to do the following things:1. Sleep.
2. Play games with Rick, her two favorites being "Catch the knitting needle under the t-shirt" and "Catch the ball tied to the strand of Katie's yarn."
3. Try to eat my California Kitchen pizza. Or anything else I happen to be eating.
4. Watch the birdies from the window.
5. Walk on the laptop and try to catch the pointer on the screen. Which in turn...
6. Gives Katie a heart attack.
Because she is in hyper mode and her claws are destroying my couch, rugs, and Rick's legs while completely neglecting her scratching post, she has been renamed Shiva, after the third god of the Hindu trinity. I have a very limited understanding of Hindu mythology, but as far as I can tell, Shiva's dance destroys the universe so that Brahma can re-create a new one and Vishnu can sustain it, until such time that Shiva feels like dancing again. It's that whole cycle of life kind of thing.
My Shiva's dance does not destroy the universe, but is definitely causing the destruction of my couch. That said, she's awfully cute while she's doing it.
I mean...Bad Shiva! Go to your scratching post!
