The Verdict

After tests that I never want to repeat in this lifetime, they have determined that I have a pinched nerve and not carpal tunnel. They decided that I should go through some physical therapy in order to try to un-pinch the nerve. Fine by me. The second thing I asked them was if I could knit again.

Yes, I can knit again. I have to wear a special glove, but I can knit again. Woot!

So, the first thing I did when I got home? Let Spooky out and knit. Spooky seemed to be interested in this new thing.
I worked on DBF's sweater some. Got another two inches done on it. The thing is still camera shy. One day I will get a better picture of this. I also got a lot of work done on my dragon cross-stitch while I was waiting for the clearance to knit again. I will eventually finish it, but it may be put on the backburner now that I can knit again and work on Christmas presents.

That's about it for now. Better get to work.

Knit on...

Off to the Neurologist

They left a message on my machine yesterday saying to come in at 8:30 this morning. I finally get to find out what this thing is and if I can knit anytime soon.

Knit on...

Plane Crash and Rabbit

I woke up yesterday morning to the news of a plane crash at Bluegrass Field near where I live. The crash is only about 5 miles from where I live, so it's really not all that far away. It's really sad what happened there, especially since it seems that the plane took off from the wrong runway. That is the flight I usually get on when I have to fly to Florida to visit mom and dad, so I'm familiar with the type plane that was flying and how smooth of a trip it usually is. So sorry to hear about this flight. My prayers go out to the victims families.

One of the saddest stories I've heard so far is about the young couple who just got married and were leaving for the honeymoon. She was going to UK and he already graduated from there. Another worker at UK was on the plane as well, so the University is mourning today.

I didn't do much this weekend. DBF and I went to a Civil War re-enactment on Saturday which was very loud, but kinda cool to see. Hopefully the pictures turn out good. We'll find out. Sunday we were lazy and had lunch with his mom and then took a 3 hour nap since all the TV stations were going nuts over the crash (local news rarely gets a national story to report on) and there wasn't much developing about the story. After that, we went and saw the movie Click. It was actually a sad movie when I thought it was going to be a funny movie. Good moral to it though.

The rabbit was her usual self. She hopped up on the couch with me and DBF a few times and decided to poop all over the house this weekend. Any tips on litter training a bunny to poop in the box? She pees in it just fine, just can't seem to get the poop thing down. Oh well, I'll keep on trying. Guess I should get to work.

Knit on...

Friday...ah, Friday

Last day of the work week, first day of the weekend...Friday. I'm glad I set my alarm this morning because I would not have gotten out of bed if I hadn't. I spent the latter part of the evening chasing a crazy bunny around the house, making sure she didn't chew on anything she didn't need to be chewing on (electric cords, dishwasher, me...) and making sure she used her litter box.

Announcement: The bunny will now pee in her litter box. If I could get the poop in there too, I'd be a very happy bun owner. At least poop is much easier to clean than pee.

Spooky is still living up to her name, but she has warmed up to me and DBF finally. She wants and likes to be petted, so she'll just flop down next to you and wait for you to pet and love on her. Last night, she hopped up on the couch with me and crawled up into my lap for a split second. I really do think this bunny was a cat in a previous life.

When I took my shower this morning, the bunny decided she wanted to hop in too. She scrambled in and realized that water was falling from that faucet up there and out she went. Hopping into the bathtub is a new experience as well for her. I've already fallen for this bunny who was a cat in the last life.

She even sat in the kitchen with me last night while I made dinner. I think she gets lonely while I'm at work all day and then wants to be around someone after that since she's been alone for 9 hours.

On another note, I've been going to Curves this week again. I stepped on the scale this morning and I'm already down five pounds. I even noticed a difference in my belly roll too. It's not so rollish right now ;oP I've been following weight watchers very strictly this week, haven't even used a flex point, and have been working out everyday (except Wednesday since that dumb evening course I was going to take knocked me out of working out). I've just been going there straight from work so that I make it a habit. If I go home before, I'm much less likely to get back out.

Anyways, no new knitting news of cross-stitch news. Come on September 12...I want the clearance to knit again...

Knit on...

School's out for...ever!

Yeah, I wish! I started classes yesterday for the first time in over a year. Blah, I thought I was done with this. I need knitting more than ever now. The first class went fine, but then again, that's with my thesis advisor and I like her, so the class should go fine. The night class though...hm...not so well. I feel like I am way over my head in this class and the teacher went way over class time yesterday. I will be dropping that class.

I need to focus on my organic petrology research anyways. OK, enough about school...

We're creating a new SnB on campus that will be considered a student organization. The reason we want to get all formal now is because we get 500 bucks to spend on a shindig if we do! So, formalizing it is!

I'm getting there on the dragon cross-stitch. It's just going slowly. I'd rather be knitting or crocheting. I know I'm going to complain about this until the doctor says I can knit again, but damn, I wish I could finish that sock sitting on the counter at least. I might have to take it off there and put it away so that I don't get tempted to work on it and screw up my hand even more. Anyways, I better get my butt to work.

knit on...

Without knitting...

I cannot play decent poker. Why is this? I was doing all right before I started knitting and playing poker, but now I can't seem to get in the same groove. I overthink hands and I don't make good calls like I was doing. Doesn't help that my hand hurt like hell anyways.

I got my appt. with the neurologist scheduled for September 12, so at least it's not 3 months away. I would like them to say knit again, but knit slowly or even better, knit like you used to. We'll see.

Today classes start for college students of the area. I didn't think I would ever say this again, but I start classes today...what the hell? I thought I was done with school! Guess not. I'm going for my master's in geology, specifically, Organic Petrology. We'll see how this goes. I've heard that working full time and being a part time master's student can be quite challenging. I need knitting more than ever!

I forgot to take a picture of my dragon cross-stitch that I worked on yesterday. It's getting there. I really am getting kinda close to finishing this sucker. This one has been in process for over 4 years now. I start then stop, lather, rinse, repeat over and over again. Maybe now I will get it done. I better get it done before September 12, because I might be able to knit again after that.

I have had several people recommend the Hand-Eeze gloves to me if I am able to knit right after Sept. 12. I think I will order these once I get the OK from the doc. I had to cancel my chance at Sock Wars because I was afraid it wouldn't be fair to someone to get a barely even worked on sock because my hand cramped up too bad. If they have it again, I'm there. I will be watching the events intensely.

Better get to work..., then to class...

Knit on...

A sad, sad day

Sorry there was no post yesterday. I wasn't supposed to be on the computer, so I took a day off of work to rest my hand. I went to the doctor yesterday about the carpal tunnel symptoms and here's the verdict...

No knitting until I get to the neurologist. Blah. It might be 3 months from now. Blah blah.

They took x-rays of my hand yesterday and it turns out that I had two stress fractures in my wrist that had healed up from several years ago. Appears to be softball related. Once again, softball injuries come back to haunt me. Anyways, they probably aren't the problem, but have to go to the neurologist to make sure they're not pinching the nerve.

So, I will be working on needlepoint and cross-stitch for a while it looks like. At least I can do that in my brace. I also have to learn to use a mouse left-handed. Blah.

On the bright side, meet my new pet: Spooky
Spooky was a loner, so I had to get her. She didn't get along well with the other bunnies, so she was being kept with the guinea pigs and was queen of the pen. She just had to come home with me. So, why named Spooky? This rabbit is quite jumpy. She hears a noise, or not, and she jumps right into the air and runs around like mad. Is this normal rabbit behaviour? Anyways, she's adorable.

She didn't want to cooperate her first day home, but she's starting to warm up to me and DBF. DBF sat on the floor and just petted her for 10 minutes. The bunny was in heaven :o)

Knit on...and needlepoint too...

Have 30 minutes to kill?

Make a table top of all poker chips. It's not that difficult. You just need two people (or one if you're doing this all alone), two sets of poker chips, and a camera club topic of "zig-zag"

DBF and I have been competing in this A-Z competition. It's been kinda fun, but we have certain topics for each letter already picked out. A was automobile, B bridge, etc... We got to Z and we needed a zig-zag. How do you get one? Create it yourself of course! It really does make a cool pattern.
So I left this on my dining room table so that I can get some film shots of it this afternoon after work. It's just fascinating me. That and it took a while to set up, so taking it immediately down didn't appeal to me.
That was a lot of poker chips too. It was still fun to set up. I'm just fascinated by the colors and patterns.

We had too much time on our hands last night. Knitting? You want pictures of knitting? Not much has changed with any of my WIPs. Unfortunately, my hands have been giving me a problem now. My pinky and ring fingers on my right hand are going numb when I do repeated motions like knitting, typing, or clicking the mouse. I wear a brace at work, but I may have to go to that at home when knitting as well. I'll go see what the doctor thinks should be done. Blah.

Have a great weekend, everyone. Knit, crochet, play Magic, poker, or whatever your fancy is and have fun.

Knit on...

Of Move-Ins and Sleep

I'm still bringing crap over from my other place to the new house. It amazes me how much crap can accumulate in 4 years, and then, how much crap I managed to cram into one room. Oh well. Here's the new house pictures:
The front, with a nice sunbeam coming out to greet me last night.
The view from the back porch.
The kitchen.
The living room, wait, it is there, it's just behind all those boxes...
Master Bedroom. This bed is as hard as a rock, so I haven't been sleeping all that well on it. Not so much not sleeping, but rather just waking up tired and with a sore back. Oh well. Sorry, no bathroom pictures or any more house pictures. I won't laden down your computer with images. once I get everything put up, I might add some more to this mess. Last, but not least, the sock for my mom:

Yeah, it's a crappy picture, but what do you expect for 6:45 AM? Be glad you even get to see it :oP It's an ankle sock and it's pretty tiny anyways.

Better get to work.

Knit on...

Edited on 10/24/06: Added Rebelle sign to put up on blog template

The New House

No pictures for this post, sorry. It was dark by the time I got to start moving in and I was a lazy ass, so no interior pictures. I moved in a load of my crap last night and spent the night in my new place. The bed is really hard, so my back is not too happy this morning, but I'll live.

I unpacked the necessities: food, clothes, soap, yarn, you get the idea. I have some more empty bins I can take back and stick more crap in, so I'll be doing that today. I've decided I'm taking a half day today so I can work on moving all this crap because this weekend, I'll need to sort through everything.

I turned the heel on my mom's sock and am now working on the instep decreases, so that's about it in knitting news. I'll try to get pictures of the place today while it's still daylight out. For now, I better get a bunch of work done before I go home.

Knit on...

My New Toy

Meet my new toy! Grandpa surprised me when I came home from work last night with a moving-out present. There, sitting on the table was this:

A home-made swift! It's huge, but it has movable pegs to adjust for the size skein of yarn. He got the pattern from here: http://www.craftydiversions.com/yarnswift.pdf

So, I immediately had to try it out of course! So, I wound a little yarn onto the ball winder and wound a little bit:

This is my New England Highland Wool which will become the plate tectonics scarf one day. Then I let her whirl:

Go Swift, Go! Grandpa said it took him about 30 mintes to make and a grand total of 8 bucks (I offered to pay him for it, so he told me how little it cost!) He did modify the instructions a little bit and made the base a little heavier and the swift arms a little deeper so that the thing wouldn't run all over the table when in use. I was just thrilled when I saw it!

After that, I went and played poker. I did OK, but one guy was making fun of me knitting at the table. So of course I had to put him out of the tournament. They all warned him that I was a good player, but he wouldn't take their advice. He saw me as a knitter who was just there because her DBF was there. True, I go there to hang out with DBF, but if he can't make it for some reason, I still go out because I usually like to play poker. So, I knit on my heel flap for the socks for mom and the flop comes up Q 6 6. I have Q 6 in my hand. Turns out he had the other 6, so he goes all in and I quickly call. Damn knitters :oP You just can't read them!

So, in my dreams of grandeaur, one day I shall make it to the WPT and I will be knitting at the final table. The next year, Ivy, Helmouth, Ferguson, and all the other big names will be knitting :oP

No pictures of the short socks for mom, but I'll get some of those tonight when I'm...MOVING! Yes, I am moving out tonight and into the new house. I will have pictures of that as well. I won't be able to get totally moved, but I will get the basics in there for certain tonight. All I need are my pills, alarm clock, and some clothes :oP

Anyways, I should get to work I suppose.

Knit on...

Be Vewy, vewy quiet...

I've been hunting hummingbirds all weekend. Yes, the hummingbirds are in the back yarn and they have been posing (in their hummingbird-like way) for pictures all weekend. No pictures with the crappy digital camera, I mean, it blurs socks that are not moving...

That's right, I finished my first pair of socks. I didn't get them done by Friday like I had hoped, but I did get them done Saturday morning, so I was close. I wore them while shooting pictures on Saturday and they felt pretty good. Slightly warmer than other socks, but they still felt nice. Mom has asked for a pair out of this yarn, so I think I have enough left to make her a short pair, so that's the latest pair I have now cast on. I can't wait to work with another type of sock yarn.

For those that want the yarn specs, here they are: Fortissima Socka yarn by Scheuller and Stahl (probably butchered the spelling there). I got it on sale before K1P1 closed down here. I miss K1P1, but I have two stores now to choose from (aside from SN, I know they're here, but I don't like them much). I can go to either Magpie Yarn or I can go to...

Robyn and Sarah's new store called ReBelle. I can't wait till they open. It's a holistic women's health store with yarn. How much better can you get?

I get to move into my new abode for the next nine months tomorrow night. I went out yesterday and bought some bird feeders to attract some feathered friends that need their pictures taken. Hopefully the little hummingbirds will come by there too. We have three at my grandparents' house now that chase each other around the yarn and fight for the feeder and the butterfly bush. They are very territorial I guess.

Tonight is poker, so we'll see if I can continue my knitting/poker streak tonight. Maybe I'll actually win something now...Well, better get to work.

Knit on...

WIP it out and Poker

So, what else is new? I played poker again last night and was the first one out in the tourney. That was the first time I was the first one out. Oh well. Gave me plenty of time to work on my sock. So I knit and waited for others to get knocked out and eventually enough went out that we got a side table together. People hate seeing this:

Yeah, it's a little blurry, but you get the idea. I won the side table and knit the entire time. I've got a knickname now...I'm...yep, you guessed it...

THE KNITTER

Beware the knitter!

I also thought I would show you a picture of the camera-shy sweater. First, allow to me explain that the sweater is not this purple color as it appears in the picture. In reality, it's a deep navy blue. But you see, the sweater doesn't like to be photographed, and my camera doesn't like it much either. Anyways, here it is...

I thought that maybe if I stuck the sock in with it that it wouldn't be as camera shy. Yeah, you see how well that worked. You can see a little bit of pattern in there. It's the Cape Cod sweater from Lionbrand. I'm using Wool-Ease because it's machine washable and I had a ton lying around the house.

Today is the work picnic. I have my camera, ready to get incriminating pictures of my coworkers. I also get to go see when I can move into my new abode tonight. Hopefully tomorrow is the answer to that question. Or tonight, I'd even take tonight. I packed up almost all my yarn into a big storage bin (I was amazed it all fit in there) so it's ready to go. I also have all my video games and DVDs packed too. What, you mean I need to take clothing with me? I haven't packed that yet! I got the most important things packed...games and yarn! Food, you mean I should have food there too? I guess I should maybe pack some more this afternoon while my squash casserole bakes.

I suppose I should get a little work done since I'm leaving at noon to go cook a casserole and slice tomatoes for this picnic. Have a great weekend!

Knit on...

Of Chinese Food and Bathing Suits

Why have I been going to Walmart so much here recently? Is it because I'm broke? Probably. Anyways, I picked up a bathing suit there last night for 9 bucks total. It's a bikini (yikes and run under the bed!), but it has a coverup and I imagine I will be in need of a tank top to cover the top of it. So allow me to rant.

Dear Bathing Suit Designers:

I like bikini tops. One pieces don't do well for me, but I have one complaint about your sizing. When you say something is an XL, it looks more like a slightly bigger wedge of fabric than the L. Problem is, I am a 40D sized gal over here. I need something that covers a little more than my nipple.

Could you actually make bra tops that cover most of my boob so that I don't have to wear a tank top over it? Thank you.

So after the Walmart expedition, DBF and I had a very nice dinner at Dragon Garden. It's an all you can eat Chinese Food place with crab legs always on the menu. They weren't has good last night, but the crab rangoon was out of this world as usual. That might explain why I woke up with heart burn this morning.

It was just a nice quiet evening with DBF and it was very nice. I left work early yesterday because of a doctor appointment (my back is fine to let everyone know. No new herniations or anything) and then went over to DBF's house where we watched the movie Clue. I forgot how dorky the movie is, but it was fun to watch. Took a nap then began the trek to Walmart.

Tomorrow is the work picnic. I will bring a camera so that I can get incriminating photos of all my coworkers to use when the time is right :oP

Knit on...

WIPS

OK, here's some pictures for you all. I bought a really cheap digital camera from Wally World the other day, so the pictures aren't great, but at least they're pictures. First up, the MDK nighty in progress...
Close up of the lace:
And now for what we've all been waiting for...the sock!
Yes, it's a really crappy picture, but here's the most important one:

The one that shows that it fits! Woot, there it is...

I'm also working on a sweater that is camera shy. All the pictures I took of that one turned out like crap. I need to get used to this new camera now. It's pretty crappy, but it takes pictures in digital format at least! I've been wanting a little point and shoot of my own ever since my good Sony died. Mom and Dad said they would let me buy their older Kodak one, but that fell through, so now it's on to the craptapulous Digital Expressions 4.1 megapixel crappy lens, crappy flash camera! DBF's digital is 3.5 megapixels I think and it takes 100% better pictures. He got a steal on it too when he got his. One of these days, I will upgrade to a digital SLR, but in the meantime, I can take WIP pictures with this little one. It gives you the idea at least.

The second sock is about 4 inches long now, so it's coming along. I've been bringing that one into work to knit on since I can hide it in my purse and just take my purse out on breaks and to lunch with me so that people don't see me toting knitting with me. Pretty sad when you have to hide one of your hobbies like that. I bring in Magic cards to sort every now and then and they don't say anything about that...blah.

I played poker last night and got some really crappy cards. That's just how it goes some nights. At least smirnoff was involved.

Knit on...

Sock One Done

Yep, I finished sock one. It fits nicely and actually feels pretty good on. It has a rather pointy toe thanks to my first attempt at kitchener stitch, but it actually works out well for my foot. I'll have pictures tomorrow, I promise. I also owe you all pictures of the nighty and the sweater in progress (Cape Cod Unisex Pullover).

I want to chart the Magic: the Gathering symbols and make them into a fair-isle pattern. Does anyone know of some good charting software out there? I am seeing a scarf in the future, but I will need the symbols charted out and I think they wouldn't be that hard. I might just play around in excel when I get home from work.

Day number one of wearing skirts and dresses instead of pants at work went well. I got a ton of compliments about how skinny I looked in them. If I had known this, I would have been wearing them from the very beginning. Oh well.

No guys commented, but all the women here did. I would have been a little concerned if the guys had commented. Well, speaking of work, I better get to it.

Knit on...

I came, I knit, I bought dresses

That is the story of my weekend. Friday night, DBF and I played poker. I finished 2 in the first tournament and won my money back and then went out quick in the second tourney. I did knit the entire time I was there. The first sock is almost done. I will finish it tonight since I'm about to start decreasing the toe now. Yippee!

Anyways, there was a guy at the tourney who just couldn't understand the concept of knitted socks. He kept asking me what the deal was with the sock. Aside from just plain out telling him that you wear socks on your feet, dumbass, I tried to explain it kindly. We ended up heads up in the end and I really wish I would have beaten him. Oh well, at least I got my money back.

Saturday was lazy day and I didn't do much except buy a couple of dresses at Walmart.

Sunday DBF and I went to Louisville to play in the PTQ Kobe Magic tourney. We both sucked. So, DBF got a bunch of cards from the 50 cent rare box to fill out his sets and then we went to the bookstore where I picked up 30 bucks of knitting magazines. DBF was shocked at the amount. I told him it was a good thing he didn't go with me when I buy yarn :oP

After Borders, we went to Hard Rock Cafe and played tourist. It was a very nice dinner and we each got souveneir glasses. DBF bought a hat and bought me a Hard Rock wallet (hey, I might be trying to be girly, but I still like Hard Rock!). It was just a nice day, even if we did suck at Magic. .

There's the weekend update. I'll post pictures of WIPs sometime soon, I swear. I'll take a picture of the finished sock at least!

Knit on...



Edited on 8/17/06. Needed a place to stick this button

May I have your attention, please?!

Knitting Magic Girl has turned her first heel on her first sock.

I repeat, the heel has been turned!

I started to look at my sad and lonely sock this morning, sitting on my desk, half-buried under bernat baby coordinates blanket in progress, and I decided the sock should travel to work with me today. So the sock was put in the purse along with the MDK nighty in progress and we headed to the office. I sat down and realized I was really early for once, so I decided, what the heck, let's do this thing.

5 minutes later, I have a heel. The heel has been turned.

Now, will someone explain to me why I have been fearing socks for so long. Albeit it was boring knitting until turning that heel, but it was very easy. Do you get addicted to socks after you turn your first heel? Because now I want to finish this sucker and start on the next one.

This must be the phenomenon that is sock knitting. Kathy told me that the phenomenon hit her many years ago. I now understand. The earth may return to its peaceful state now. Who knows, I might have a sock done by the end of this weekend.

Knit on...

Let the holidays begin!

OK, yesterday was August first. I had planned to start on Christmas presents on August 1, so I grabbed some Wool-Ease out of the back of my car (yes, I have yarn in my trunk and it's been there for many months now) and began to work on a sweater. I still worked on my nighty, but alas, it must take a back seat for the more important stuff.

Here's what I plan to make so far:

This sweater for my mom and probably for my grandma up here. The instructions on lionbrand are awful though, so it will take some interpretation. I have to go buy yarn for this though. It will have to be wool-ease or superwash wool of some sort because my mom will not, I repeat, WILL NOT hand wash anything.

This is the sweater I will be making for my dad. Again, it's out of wool-ease. I think I'll make it in maroon.

Lastly, this is already in progress, but this is for DBF's mom.

This is being made in purple homespun. Purple is her favorite color, so it just made sense. I swear I do not knit only lionbrand patterns. These just happen to be three that I saw that I liked and would make good gifts. I also intend to make a bunch of warshrags from MDK to give to people as well as an afghan of some sort for my grandma in Florida. She might get a shawl though, depending on how much yarn I have left.

I might have to re-do the diamond shawl though. I was making YOs the wrong way, so the diamonds don't pop out like they should. I could probably block the hell out of the thing, but then whenever she washed it, it wouldn't look the same. I think I will definitely re-do it now that I think about it. I want it to look right.

There you go. Bring it on, Holidays!

Knit on...

PS: I lost another 0.2 pounds this week. That puts me at 3.4 lost in the past 4 weeks. I have come to the conclusion that I am very affectionate for my fat and I am having a hard time parting with it. I need to just tell myself that the fat does not appreciate me and I need to kick it out...

Tag

5 things always in my purse
checkbook, credit card, keys, crochet hook, 20 sided dice
5 things always in my wallet
driver's license, debit card, cash (sometimes...), HMO card, Checks
5 things always in my refrigerator
Cheese, milk, squash casserole, green beans, lemonade
5 things always in my closet
Boxes of Magic cards, yarn, shoes, clothes, and purses
5 things always in my car
tissues, yarn, knitting needles, magic cards, 20 sided dice
5 things always on my desk
coffee pot, pictures of me and DBF, calendar, ball winder, yarn

Knitting, Poker, and F&^%%ing pocket queens

OK, so last night, I had two revelations that will impact my life greatly. First, the reason I have not been doing well at Poker is because I have not been knitting at the tables. Second, the reason my stockinette stitch looks twisted is because I have been purling wrong since the day I learned to purl...

OK, the second revelation came during the day when Kathy looks at my purling and told me I was wrapping the yarn the wrong way. How have I gone this long purling the wrong way? I've made several sweaters, purses, scarves, and other things and have been purling the wrong way. I never even thought to change it. I guess now I'll have to work on making the right way habit...after I finish the MDK After Dark Nighty.

The first revelation hit me shortly after dinner when I was soaking in a tub of bubbles and hot water. I started to think about poker (it's usually Magic thinking when I'm in the tub, but poker came up last night) and realized that the two times I had won at the league, I had been knitting. I started thinking more and realized that I have not made a final table unless I have been knitting or crocheting. Things that make you go hmmm...

So I grabbed the nighty, crammed her in my purse and ran off to the bar where we play. It was hotter than hades in there, but at least it had malibu rum and diet coke and beer. I wipped out the WIP and all the guys at my table stared rather puzzled, but one of them remembered me from the other league when I won.

"Watch out guys, she's serious now"

They all chuckled. I put them out, one by one. Each time on a purl row. I don't play hands unless I'm purling. I got moved to another table with DBF and put two people out in the same hand. Yep, Purl row too. I knit my little hands off and kept winning. I then went on a losing streak.

I got to the final table. I go all in blind. I have A 7 of clubs. The river hits the nut flush. Yep, purl row. I double up and practically do it again. I knock the big chip stack out. I'm now chip leader! DBF is sitting there pretty short stacked. OK, not just pretty short stacked, he was getting close to a chip and a chair.

Then they come...the pocket queens. I nudge DBF to fold his hand because I'm taking this pot. he gets the hint after I slam his knee under the table and folds. I go all in. The other guy calls...with A 6 off suit. Yep, you guessed it, he hit an A. I tried to come back, but I couldn't. I finished 3rd.

Now, you'll remember that DBF is very shortstacked. We all assume he's about to go out. Well, after a few doubling ups, he takes the chip lead! The other guy goes all in. DBF and I look at his cards and there, staring back at us are two cowboys. Yep, that's pocket kings for those of you who don't know poker lingo. It's one of the best hands you can have in heads up poker. He calls immediately and...

DBF wins! He wins the tournaments! A chip and a chair, baby!

So, tonight is poker again. Guess I better bring the nighty with me again!

Knit on...

I do really live

I know it's been four days now since I last posted, but I swear I'm alive. See, I normally post early in the morning before I'm on the clock for work. Well, Thursday and Friday I had to run a conference here at work which meant no blogging. So what's new?

The nighty is almost 10 inches long now. Pictures soon.

The baby kimono is at a stand still because I keep forgetting to bring in more yarn for it. I'm too obsessed with the nighty right now.

I started a new sweater, which I really am considering ripping out. I need a good pattern for a sport weight superwash merino that is fuschia and some lavendar.

I took a ton of pictures this weekend for a camera club competition. It's A-Z on a disposable camera. A is for automobile, B for bridge, etc. I'm on N for Neon now. We have to turn the cameras in later in August so they can be developed.

Pazzo's Pub has 37 beers on tap. Newcastle is very good...I may never drink a Bud again if I have the option. DBF got the sampler there and it came with 4 mini beers to try. I just went with Guiness. Newcastle tastes similar, but less bitter and slightly more carbonated. They're both good.

Beer makes certain club gatherings much more tolerable. Guiness on an empty stomach can lead to dizziness.

A Scanner Dark is a strange independent film. Keaneu Reeves makes a much better animated character actor than he does a real actor.

I think that about wraps up the weekend. DBF and I were both tired, so we didn't do all that much. Sometimes lazy weekends are good though. Guess I better end the lazy weekend and get to work now.

Knit on...

It was worth it

About a week ago, DBF discovered the Buffalo Chicken Wrapper from Cheddar's. It was super spicy, but it was a good tasting dish. So good, that last night I had to have it again.

So I ordered the wrapper, with extra ranch dipping sauce, and prepared for the heat. It didn't come on strong at first, but by the end of the first wrap, it hit. And it continued to hit for the rest of the night.

But it was worth it. It tasted good and it was so worth it. I took a prilosec before hand so that I wouldn't wind up in the ER. After dinner, I went to Walmart and picked up 3 plastic bins to start packing up my yarn and stuff. Yes, I will be moving in a couple of weeks. I have a ton of crap to get together before then. I'll manage though. I doubt I can get all my yarn in one bin, but maybe with some cramming it will be possible. We'll see.

You want WIPs? I don't have any recent pictures, but how about some old ones that blogger wouldn't let me load before?
Baby Kimono number 2. This has greatly grown since last picture and now has a full side done. Oh well, you get the idea of the color and pattern.

MDK Nighty as held by DBF. It's hard to tell, but there is a lace pattern in there amidst all the blur. It's also grown greatly since then. I'll get more pictures soon.

That's it for today. I might finish the kimono today if I'm ambitious enough during lunch. And if I don't run out of yarn here at work. That might be the big limiting factor.

Knit on...

Why haven't you seen many knitters working on MDK After Dark Nightgown?

Because vine trellis lace with Euroflax causes you to have very violent thoughts. I got another 8 rows done on the thing last night. I did four before dinner and four after poker. I could have done another four, but after working with that flax for a length of time, I wanted something simple.

So I crocheted two inches of a baby blanket. Yep, my cousin is going to have a fully stocked baby room by the time I'm through. She'll have three kimonos...two cotton, one sari silk (that one is more or less a baby jacket rather than something to just throw on the kid)...a baby blanket...and a bunch of amigurumi animals.

Now the little girl to be also has a big brother. So I feel that he needs something as well, because I'm sure he'll want his own presents when his mommy opens up stuff for her baby shower and he's there. So I'm going to make little stuffed dinosaurs for him. They're cute and easy, and I have a ton of crappy acrylic yarn that just screams to be made into toys for children to obliterate.

As for poker last night, I once again sucked. I just don't seem to do well on Monday nights for some reason. I guess it's a good thing that the league is free. They do have good drinks though. I always end up getting Malibu coconut rum and diet coke for my drink. It tastes nice and sweet and is loaded with alcohol, what else is there to need?

I now have 3.5 inches done on the MDK After Dark nightgown in black Euroflax. I'm just wanting to get the rest of the lace done so I can go to straight stockinette. I'm surprised that I want to do whole rows of knit and purl, but it's what the yarn has done to me. Hell, I'd be happy working garter stitch right now...speaking of, I'm 1/2 way done with the second baby kimono in that purple lavendar color. I'm getting tired of blogger not letting me upload pictures. It seems like the days where I don't need to have pictures, it'll let me load just fine. But days where I actually want to show some WIPs, it freezes up on me. Figures. I'm glad I'm not the only one who is affected though. The people over at You Knit What? keep having problems too.

I guess that's all for today since I can't post pictures. You can always click on the link I have to the right for my flickr pictures. I try to keep that pretty up to date. I know it at least has the lavendar kimono and the MDK After dark nighty on there under WIPS.

Knit on...

Ugh

I caught a summer cold. DBF had it too, but he appears to be on the mend. I thought that I would be better by today, but mine worsened last night. I'm now experiencing the seven dwarfs of colds: stuffy, sneezy, achy, drippy, coughy, sleepy, and crabby. Blah.

No knitting this weekend. I didn't feel much like doing anything, yesterday especially. DBF and I went to see Superman Returns and RV this weekend. Superman was pretty good, RV was good because we waited until the dollar movie to go see that one.

We played Magic on Friday. I of course sucked. DBF didn't do so well either, but he at least made the top 16 cut. I started out good, winning my first match, but then I lost from there. At least the losses were to good players, but it still sucks to lose.

I'm too tired to type any more. I've gotta get a few things done at work, then I might just scoot out of here and go home to sleep. Blah.

Knit on...

WIP it out Friday

DBF and I got in our cardboard crack (aka Magic cards) yesterday and each opened up our fat pack of coldsnap. I have a box of boosters sitting on my desk at work, just waiting for lunch time to arrive so I can rip into the things and see what goodness comes out. I also have a booster box of Clout Fantasy sitting on my desk at the same time. We need to find some people who would be interested in playing the game. It's pretty fun, I have to admit, just doesn't seem to have a lot of tournament support as of yet. I can't decide which box to open up first. I might open up the clout on my breaks and then the magic cards on my lunch hour, depending on how long my meetings last.

So, camera club last night was not that great. Seems like the majority of the people in the club want to nix the competition part of it because they don't win, er, learn from it. I enjoy the competition part of the club, even in months when I don't enter or don't win anything, because I get to see lots of interpretations of a certain theme. This month's was People in the Street, so we had everything from parades to Peruvian women walking in a cloud of incense for a festival (a personal favorite of mine, but I may be partial since it was DBF's), to a couple kissing in the grass by a street. So, all these new people show up last night and propose that we change the whole format of the club because meetings take too long and they have to drive a long way home.

First, meetings take too long because the speakers speak too long. They should keep their talk to 45 minutes, an hour at most, but last night the speaker spoke for an hour and a half! That's too long for this club. If the speaker is really interesting, I don't mind, but I really didn't learn anything last night aside from the camera club is aggravating.

OK, now to WIPs. I know you wanted actual knitting content, so here you go. Here's the latest FO: a crappy garter stitch scarf that is pretty short, but it's made out of the yarn that I spun myself. I'm pleased with it. I don't care if it's crappy or not.

Next is the latest baby kimono in progress. I love how the sugar and cream looks and feels. It makes me want a sweater made out of this stuff...Oh look, blogger won't let me post any more pictures for now...lovely. I guess you will get to see the others on Monday, or during lunch today if I need a break from opening all the God-packs of Magic :oP Sorry folks, I will get these pictures up. They're on my computer at least...I'll add them to my flickr site too, so click the link to the right that shows my pictures and they'll be there.

Knit on...

How to kill a perfectly good evening

Go to Autozone and get a new battery of course! With all the heat we've been having here recently, the battery on my car finally kicked the bucket. After looking at the year, it wasn't surprising. The dumb thing was 7 years old. Oh well.

I made some progress last night on my nightgown from Mason Dixon Knitting. I've got an inch and a half of lace done on the front panel now, so it's coming along. Very pretty, very easy lace too. However, on tuesday I thought it was looking good and then I realized I dropped a YO stitch and it had unravelled to the very bottom, so frogged it was. Hopefully no more frogging will have to occur with this project. Hey, I'm optimisitic.

Today, Coldsnap comes out for me and DBF. Because we wholesale it, we get it a day before it's released. The gamer geek in me has come out again and must shout from the rooftops. I don't know how good this set will be, but by God, I'll play with it and build a snow covered land deck or something retarded like that. I don't seem to be doing too great with deckbuilding here recently. Maybe that will change.

Along with the order of Coldsnap, we will be getting in some Clout Fantasy (it's a throwing game played with poker chips that have really cool artwork on them and stats for the creatures) and a Settlers of Catan board game. DBF and I have been wanting the boardgame for a while and finally figured out we could get it wholesale.

I am skipping the farmer's market today at lunch. Instead, I wanted to work on the nightgown. Besides, my grandparents are going there and they asked if I wanted anything from there, so I let them know my usual list. As long as it includes white peaches and that organic hydroponic strawberry guy's wares, I'm happy. Our garden is now producing enough beans for this end of the state and the zuchinni is going crazy. I've heard the tomatoes are coming in, but since I don't like tomatoes, I'm not too interested in that.

Tonight is camera club too, so I had to go rummage through all my slides last night to find some pictures that would work. The category is People in the Street. That's pretty wide open, so I've got my pictures and we'll see how it goes.

I should probably get some work done. I would rather be knitting right now...

Knit on...

FO, WIP, and Yarn Vomit

OK, let the pictures roll...
MDK Baby Kimono: Finished except for buttons. I'm adding two buttons to the thing to be an eye catcher. Made with three balls of sari silk.
Do you recognize this yarn? It's the yarn I spun myself. It's being made into a garter stitch scarf to show off some of the thick and thin parts to it. No changes in any of the other WIPs.
Yarn purchase part one...sugar and cream plus two skeins baby coordinates for a blanket
Part Two...New England Highland Wool in Bermuda and a green color and Euroflax.
Part Three...Merino sock yarn hand dyed.

And Part Four...a new ball winder.

Lastly, I leave you with what yarn vomit looks like...

That is really expensive Euroflax in a giant knot. Yippee...

Knit on...

Dear Sugar and Cream...

Please stop following me home. I know that Meijer has put you on sale this week for only a dollar, but please, I really have enough of you now.

I know that you make lovely baby clothes, especialy in cute shades like these:

I now have enough to make a week's worth of clothes, bibs, and washcloths, so please, stop following me home. I'm getting stares as I walk in the door because of you.

Seriously though, Meijer put the stuff on sale for a buck a ball, so I broke my once a month yarn aquisition rule so that I could pick up some stuff to make baby items out of. the purple is making a very cute baby kimono even as I type. I also started the Nightgown from Mason Dixon Knitting. I hope it turns out nicely. I'll have pictures tomorrow to actually show my WIPs and a new FO. DBF lent me his camera so that I could take a few snapshots of the stuff.

Does anyone want to donate a digital camera to me? I can't afford to get one, nor do I want to buy one unless it's an SLR, but I will take a donation :oP I can trade yarn for it!

I took the GRE last night and my instant score was an 1100. It's not bad, not great, so it's nice and average. It should let me slip under the radar of the grad school at least. I really don't want to go back to school, but with the job market the way it is, I guess I better try and solidify a job for myself. I'd much rather be travelling the world right now...preferably somewhere cooler than here.

I'm finally going to SnB again tonight. I haven't been able to go for nearly a month now, so I need to go stitch and bitch some tonight. Plus I want some baked brie and I've been craving that for some time now.

Knit on...

Monday, Monday...

Can't trust that day...

Yep, today I go and take the GRE. I'm not looking forward to the test in any way shape or form, but I have to take it if I want a chance at getting into grad school here at the local university. If I want to have a better chance of keeping my job in the future, then I need to go get a MS in Geology. I have a BA in anthropology (should have been a BS, but I got screwed over by an advisor). Anyways, I get to go take a freaking 4 hour test come tonight and I'm not happy about it.

I did finish the baby kimono yesterday afternoon, so I'm happy about that. Meijer also made the mistake of putting sugar and cream on sale for a buck a ball, so I bought 8 balls of that to make another couple of baby kimonos for the little girl on the way. My cousin will regret the day she told me she was having a baby :oP

This weekend was spent in the car, picking up DBF's aunt a few hours away and then driving her back to town. After the road trip, we went to see Much Ado About Nothing at the arboretum. It was all right, but it wasn't as good as some of the other plays they have done. Somehow old English set in 1930s Sicily just didn't quite work. They should have adapted the language to their setting, but they didn't. Oh well. Next week is the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, so I'm excited about seeing that one.

I'll try to get some pictures up here soon, I swear. Maybe after tomorrow once I get done with this damn GRE test. I think I need a drink...

Knit on...

Almost done...

I'm almost done with the Baby Kimono from Mason Dixon Knitting. Just have to decrease the last sleeve and knit until it's long enough then seam her up. Looking at the ribbon on the kimono, I'm with Erica that ribbon shreds to easy when babies are involved, so I'm copying her and making a crocheted tie for the kimono. I also couldn't get to sleep last night, so I wound the yarn that I spun myself into a ball and began making a nice woolen scarf. It feels so soft. I haven't spun anymore of the wool since this first 100 gram batch, so I need to work some more on it. A sweater would be so nice and warm and soft out of thise stuff! It's super fuzzy too.

DBF won another poker tournament last night. He's getting all kinds of prizes for winning these things too! I wish I could do better. I'm lucky if I hit final table. I guess I need to play more conservative over there.

I ordered a ball winder off ebay and I'm hoping that it will get here today. I need to wind up all that Euroflax so that I can get the nightgown on the needles. I'd like to finish that sucker before it turns cold again.

People who won prizes in my diabetes awareness contest, you're stuff is being mailed out today. Sorry for the delay. I've just been slow about this. You should get the stuff in a few days.

Better get to it.

Knit on...

Somehow I just figured it would come out this way...

Your Inner European is Swedish!

Relaxed and peaceful. You like to kick back and enjoy life.

Who's Your Inner European?

DBF and I always joke about moving to Sweeden. Apparently it would be a good fit for me :oP

I got drenched at Farmer's Market at lunch, but the veggies are fine. No bruises on any of them that I can tell at least. Well, break's over, back to work...

Knit on...

Yarn!

Yes, I have bought my yarn for the month. I need to use a lot more yarn this month just to break even. I'm getting there though. I made my first trip to the new LYS in town called Magpie Yarn. I had met the owners first, when I met the Yarn Harlot, and then again when I went to see the Morehouse Farm Merino sheep. They seemed like nice people. They told me their store would be opening in May and for me to come anytime and check it out.

Things always seem to come up, so it's mid-July and I just now made it over there. It may have been good that I waited this long. I bought far too much yarn. 11 skeins to be exact. They had New England Highland Wool for a very reasonable price, so of course I bought 6 skeins of that. The two colors are called High Bermuda and High Loden Blue. Bermuda is an aqua color and the loden is more of a green from what I could tell. They will be going to make the plate tectonics scarf which can be found here.

I also bought 5 hanks of black Euroflax to make the nightgown from Mason Dixon Knitting. I've been wanting to make this for a while now, but just hadn't picked up the yarn for it, so when I saw the stuff, I had to buy it. I really liked the black color, so thought that I would try my hand at that. The pattern for that can be found in:

I'm enjoying making many things from this book. Between it and my Morehouse Farm book, I think they are my two favorites. Once I get in the mood to cable, I'm sure Inspired Cable Knits will be up there too.

After going to the yarn store after work, I went and played disc golf with DBF. I was in a really weird mood last night. It was like I wanted to do stuff, but I was so physically drained that I didn't want to do anything. So I made myself go out and play, and I'm glad that I did now. I need all the exercise I can get to help me drop the weight. I'm down 2.4 on my first week back on weight watchers. I'm in a much better mood today now at least. I blame hormones. But can't all women blame hormones? :oP

That's it for now. It's time to start getting stuff together since the week is coming to an end. Today is farmer's market day at work, so hopefully it will stop raining by lunch time!

Knit on...

Rain? Thunder? Yarn?

Yep, almost time to go to the yarn store and it's cutting lose. Rain, lightning, thunder, the whole shebang. If a funnel cloud pops down, it would only complete the ensemble.

Will I still be going to the yarn store?

Yes.

And for some random musings, I got to thinking about yarn diets versus real ones. Here are my thoughts:

When splurging on a regular diet, you go and buy a 75 cent candy bar.
When splurging on a yarn diet, you go buy 70 dollar merino hand spun, hand-dyed.
Winner: Regular Diet

When emotional on a regular diet, you go and gorge yourself on whatever food.
When emotional on a yarn diet, you go fondle yarn.
Winner: Yarn Diet

When you lose weight, you get excited about being skinnier.
When you de-stash yarn, you feel the impulse to have your stash grow again.
Winner: Regular Diet

When you go down a dress size, you celebrate with new clothes.
When you de-stash, you buy more yarn.
Winner: Tie

That's all I can think of right now. I'm less than 25 minutes away from running away screaming from work and heading to the yarn store. The thought of new yarn excites me and the thought of getting to play disc golf or just hang out with DBF after that excites me even more :oP

Knit on...

Field Trip?!?

Yes, Kim and I are planning a field trip. Today after work, we shall raid a new local yarn store called Magpie Yarns or Knits or something like that. All I know is that they carry Morehouse Farm Merino and that makes me smile contentedly.

Kim came up with the idea. She was supposed to go while I was gone on vacation and give a report back to the Wednesday SnB group at lunch. She wasn't able to go, so the field trip began to take hold in her mind. I got a call from Kim and she threw the idea out at me.

Have I ever turned down a trip to a yarn store when I was physically able to go?....

I have not bought any yarn for this month. I allow myself one purchase a month in requirement to my stashalong committment. Last month I had a 10 unit stash reduction, so I'll try not to blow the net loss this time. Now that I think back on all that I made last month, no wonder I'm having slight burnout. I worked on too much crap. Now I am just lazilly working on a lace stole that no one will be able to tell is lace (damn chenille), but I will know that it is there and hopefully with a ton of blocking, some people might be able to tell. If not, they might wonder why I have a few holes in my stole.

What I have discovered is that my needles are too small for this project. I should have accounted for the fluffy factor of chenille and then increased the needle size. But no, I was drunk when I cast this thing on I think. I'm not even sure when I cast it on...yep, must have been some alcohol involved there.

I will have the full report on the new LYS. Hopefully it's as good as K1P1, but I'm not getting my hopes up. It has to be better than Stitch Niche, so maybe this will be my new shop. I'm tired of online yarn shopping. I need to fondle me some yarn.

Knit on...

And All That Jazz

OK, I'm not as sore as I thought I would be today after my first true venture back into exercise (disc golf doesn't count since it's a sport. Exercise has to be different for me...I'm weird.). Last night I went out with my friend Rebecca and joined her for Jazzercise. I wasn't quite the comic relief that I thought I would be (the girl to the upper left of me provided that), but I am still as uncoordinated as I remember being.

Grapevine? More like trip over my back leg. Heal Toe Twist? Oh where do I begin on that one?

Where's the Knit One Purl One move?

I could always ride a stationary bike so that I could knit while exercising. Of course with my coordination, I can see that yarn getting wrapped inside the bike wheel and disaster ensuing, resulting in my trip to the ER trying to explain that the reason my circulation was cut off is due to knitting while exercising. I'm sure no one would laugh at that.

One more day until I've completed my first full week back on weight watchers. I'm getting there. just gotta keep plugging along.

Well, let's see how many angry drillers I have on my voicemail today...yippee...

Knit on...

Frickety Frack

Yeah, you heard me. I don't care if you live on the North Pole, you probably heard that trail of obsenities around 12:30 EST. If you did, don't worry, it's just me.

Why did I curse you might ask?

Two words: Dropped Stitches.

I dropped two stitches on my candle flame shawl and realized I had probably dropped them last week when out on a break. I was rather distracted and made all kinds of mistakes. So, reluctantly, I frogged it.

Yes, I could have repaired it with a crochet hook. No, I chose not to. It needed to be frogged.

So now it has been frogged back four rows. I have undone all the lace pattern I had been working on. Gone, it's gone. It will take me two lunch hours to get back to that point (curse tiny stitches). Oh well.

The butterfly flapped his wings, and I frogged my shawl. The world is now balanced again :oP

Knit on...

Ah, the weekend

Weekends are good, mmmkay? (best Mr. Mackey voice she can muster)

Saturday DBF and I ran away to the Coldsnap Pre-release for Magic. I don't know what to think about this new set, but there are some possibilities for sure. Just will have to explore the set more. DBF and I will have our usual case delivered in a few weeks, so let the exploring begin!

We also played disc golf on Saturday out at the local park where the pre-release was held. We did pretty good on the course too. Definitely could have been much worse.

The big accomplishment on Saturday was the fact that we went to Dairy Queen and I didn't get a blizzard...I only got a small cone. I was happy with that too. Good choices for once.

Knitting? You mean you want to hear about knitting? Well, I'm still on my hiatus. I've been too busy to sit down and work on lace. I have worked a little on Knit Picks candle flame shawl while on lunch breaks at work. It's about four inches long now, so it's trying to grow a little. Gotta love lace, it'll last you forever while you're poor. I'm making the shawl out of this:

It's space dyed cotton chenille from ebay. It's really a sport weight I think, but i decided to try the lace pattern with it and it feels like butter. Such a good feel to this yarn and it's knitting up wonderfully. I also have eight skeins of this stuff in a more worsted weight cotton chenille that I'm still trying to figure out what to make with it. Four skeins are a pale blue and the other four are a pale mint green. The colors go together, or so I'm told. Damn green/red colorblindness!

Oh, you didn't know that about me? Yep, I'm colorblind. It's really rare in females. Lucky me :oP

Any suggestions on what to do with the pastel yarn? I'm thinking washcloths for people for Christmas, but it's so nice that I feel it should be made into more. Do I really need another shawl? I don't know if there is enough for anything else though. But what about a shell?

Suggestions are welcome, I need to get at it here.

Knit on...

Blissful Weather

When you have a day like we had yesterday, all you can think about is how good it feels to get outside. Until that is, you get outside and start doing stuff and realize you're out of shape :oP

DBF and I went to play disc golf yesterday after I got off work. It's been a while since we've played since I had family in and we went on vacation. I didn't do too horrible and neither did he. I sank a put from a pretty good distance, so I was happy with that. We got some tips that did us no good from some other golfers on the course. It's hard to try out new things when you have trees in the way. Oh well.

After that, we went to play poker. Not sure how DBF did, but I sucked. I left pretty early and grabbed some food at home since I was pretty hungry after exercise and poker.

I have been on a knitting hiatus. It's been almost a week now since I've even knit a stitch. I've thought about it, I just haven't actually done anything. Am I reaching a burnout point? Nah, I've just been lazy and have had too much to do. I'll try to knit some this weekend maybe. I need to finish that baby kimono anyways.

I also found out that my cousin is having a little girl. Now I know what kind of stuff to make. I can't wait to make little outfits that are completed in a day, little hats and booties, and of course a girly dinosaur sweater of some sort :oP She can't have all pink, can she? Please for her sake, not pink everything! Give her some green, blue, red, and a whole spectrum of colors!

I'm a pretty boring person right now. Hopefully this weekend I'll accomplish some knitting that I can write about. In the meantime, I'm going to go live at Farmer's Market. I love fresh produce. And Georgia cantaloupes are wonderful this year! I have picked up 2 so far that have been shipped in from there and they are sooo sweet.

Anyways, better get something done here at work.

Knit on...

Dear Computer Server at Work

Will you please fix yourself so that I can actually do some work? I have drillers who are very angry at me right now because I can't give them the OK to drill for oil or gas. I can only read this thesis so many times. Please, finish fixing yourself...

66 more hours...

This is what I have been told...

On knitting news, the new issue of Knitty is up. Lots of socks and gloves and hats. I like a couple of the patterns, but I don't know how much I want to knit this issue. I'll try maybe one or two.

Magknits is also up. I really like the ballerina top. I see a knitpicks order coming up in the future.

Anyhoo, random rant there...

I'll go back to reading now...

Save me.

Knit on...

Pride Sucks

So, more from the vacation report now that I am much more awake and am getting back into the normal routine. While at Origins, I came to a realization that I don't like very much...I'm not the skinny girl anymore.

Now let me explain, and please don't bash me for this. I'm making a generalization, but this does not always fit. A lot of gaming girls are plump. Nothing wrong with that, as long as they're happy with who they are. They flaunt what they've got and the guys definitely notice. Go gamer girls. Now, the problem is with me...I was always the skinny gamer girl. I used to always feel thin when at Origins.

Not this year...I have joined the ranks of the larger gamer girls. 230...geez, what the hell happened? OK, I know what happened...it involves snickers bars and blizzards, but that's beside the point. It's one thing to have your feelings hurt when someone buys you a pair of pants and you realize they are size 18 versus the 8 you used to wear just 4 years ago. It's an entire different animal when something you take pride in is suddenly gone. I want to be the skinny gamer chick again.

I went home last night and pulled out some pictures. I think this one sums up the whole thing:

Yep, bigger than I've ever been. There's my starting point. I cleaned out my car last night to just show myself the amount of crap that I have been eating lately. There are so many good fruits and veggies out there right now that it's summer, so blizzards will be replaced with an ice cream cone, the snickers with some fresh fruit, and I'll start eating healthier. I've already started, just gotta stick with it. I'm going to the farmers market on my lunch break to go get some good yummy foods today.

There is my random rant for today. Hopefully I didn't piss anyone off with this. I'm just not happy with myself right now, that's all.

On the bright side, if I lose weight, I can use less yarn for patterns :oP

Knit on...

Back to Reality

Yep, it's back to reality for me. I'm back from vacation, still wiped out, but feeling pretty good about the retreat. Trek, you were very close at guessing where me and DBF went for vacation. Gen Con is next month, so we went to Origins in Columbus, OH. It was a lot of fun. This is my third year going, and this year I tried out more stuff than I had ever tried before.

But first, I know people are wondering who won the contest! Here are the four prizes that people won and to get these results, I assigned each one of you who entered a number. I then rolled a 6-sided dice to see which number came up. So, here are the results:

Lynne has won the Sari Silk!
PlumpKnitter has won the Lamb's Pride Worsted!
Frida has won the beaded stitch markers!
Ericah64 has won a 20 buck gift card to bath and body works!

Congratulations to you all. I hope that some good vibes have been raised for awareness of the disease. I'll try to get in touch with you all if I can, but if you don't have any contact info on your blog, please email me at knittingmagicgirl at gmail dot com and I'll arrange with you how to ship off your prizes! Congratulations to everyone!

Now I really need to get to work. Back from vacation and a ton to do!

Knit on...