And Apollo's results...

You Are 82% Evil

You're the most evil person you know. The devil is even a little scared of you!

How Evil Are You?

Fear me!!

You Are 68% Evil

You are very evil. And you're too evil to care. Those who love you probably also fear you. A lot.

How Evil Are You?

One day I want to have a real garden

One of my tomato plants is blooming!

I just want to relax

Zoe looked like I felt by the time I made it home after work today. I've been allowing myself to get a little worked over little things.

A lazy day

Progress is coming along with the sweater. Meanwhile, today I've watched Blood Diamonds (good flick) and have just started The Living Room (poor acting, dud).

The acrylic is making my hands sweat. I know, I know. But I already have skeins and skeins of the stuff and I can't afford to buy anything else at this time.

A sweater for Apollo

Some time ago I started knitting a sweater for Apollo using the Manly Sweater pattern from Stitch n Bitch, The Knitter's Handbook (SnB). I'm not sure why I stopped. I guess I got bored. Or maybe it's because I was caught up in Christmas stocking knitting frenzy.

After Christmas, I started another sweater using math from an Elizabeth Zimmerman book and after knitting several inches, ended up successfully knitting a hoola hoop. It was at that time that I gave up the idea of a sweater for an adult sized human being.

Well, after watching Faythe's many sweater accomplishments, I decided to give it another go. I looked over several patterns, none of them meeting either Apollo's masculine (read: boring) requirements or peaking my interest. Finally, Faythe reminded me about the Manly Sweater from the SnB book. I showed it to Apollo and he gave it two thumbs up. Next, I showed him some yarn colors to choose from and these are the options he approved:



ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!

I guess I'll just stick with the black yarn I've already purchased and add a couple stripes (man approved) in one or more of these other colors. I did note that these colors seem to match his favorite mustard colored pants and Timberland boots. There are no coincidences when it comes to Apollo's likes and dislikes.

After this sweater, I'm making something with color. Even if it's not on the approved list!!

A bad week

I try not to talk about work but here goes. I'm getting tired of the lack of communication and the disrespect that's going on. It's not just within my department either. People with their pretentious attitudes, I guess I'm done. It's been bringing me down for a long time, I don't think I can keep up the facade any longer of everything being OK. And let's not talk about the customers I have to talk to every day who are so rude and take their problems out on me. I'm going to start looking for another job. I've also been wanting to move and haven't because I really want to have some paralegal experience under my belt before I move on up to Oregon. But now I'm not so sure if that's the plan I want to follow any more. I don't have any family or friends down here (except you Jen and you're so far away), I'm lonely. Anyway. This crappy week finally ended.

Shawl done, not really

I finished the shawl, I only need to block it. Just as I was getting ready to take a picture of it, guess who stepped into the picture.

It's way too small. I'm not even going to block it. Instead, I'm going to do some math and make it bigger. Meanwhile, Simba has claimed it as his own.

Devil yarn meets Simba

Today, the devil yarn struck again. I went outside to complain to Tee about using my parking spot (long story) and by the time I came back, a situation had developed with the shawl (hate that word). Several stitches had fallen off the left needle! The worst part is, I was on the bind off row. I tried to pick them up but at this point, there was nothing that could be done other than to slowly knit backwards and re-knit the rows.

The edge of the lace should look like three rows of open holes (the yarn overs). You can see here how it just looks like a mass of yarn. Note the nicely completed bind off to the right. *sigh*

Simba was sitting near by... looked a bit guilty, if you ask me. Perhaps even satisfied. Notice how he's sitting on that piece of paper? Why is it it cats always want to sit on the one piece of paper in the middle of a huge room?

In fact, while I was trying to set up the yarn for a picture, he kept staring at the yarn.

I remembered all those times I had to tell him to stop playing with the yarn. For some reason, he really likes this yarn.

It then dawned on me. Was it a coincidence that stitches had dropped with Simba hanging out near by?

I mean, he sure knew what he was doing.

Apollo told me he once saw Simba kneading this yarn. That combined with Simba's need to chew on the needles...well, I think I found the reason the stitches fell off the needle. Meanwhile, I've ripped back about 4 rows and am starting to knit again. grrr!

The devil yarn strikes again!

I only had to complete the row and bind off and I noticed there was a problem with one of the stitches. I don't remember exactly what the problem was, it just seemed like an easy fix, so I started knitting backwards, taking the SSK and YO stitches off the right needle and putting them on the left. When suddenly...I hit a snag.


Or more literally, a knot! I have no idea what happened or how to fix it. Maybe Faythe is right, this is devil yarn that wants to ruin my knit experience!

Starting the One Skein Shawl

Here's my progress on the One Skein Shawl from Knitters Review. I think I see a mistake. It's staying. (Hey, you can sorta see my index knuckle looking bruised from my recent injury.)

Of course, it'll look much better when its blocked. I'm using the Sea Silk yarn Faythe gave me. You can read about my good fortune....I mean, the reason Faythe doesn't want to speak of this yarn again here. If you scroll down the page, you can see the pile of yarn before she got it back into a nice neat cake.

Giving me the finger

Big Mac gave us some sugar cane yesterday. I've never had it before so it was an interesting treat. Well, I was attempting to cut off a piece and just as I thought to myself, "I really should be careful," I cut my finger at the knuckle.

Now I'm having a hard time typing. Since I type the so called proper way (not with spider fingers like some of the guys at work) not having use of one finger is really affecting me.

I just tried knitting!! I can't knit the normal way but if I do some adjusting, I think I can do this. I think!! ARGH!!

It is Friday the 13th after all

A busy night

Sometime last week, we were watching the news when we learned a car had driven right through a building not even a block away from our complex. So, we put on our shoes and walked over to see what's going on.

Yes, we have no life. Plus, Apollo said he knows the owner (he knows everyone...more on that later).

Apparently someone had a "medical situation" and passed out, or something, and drove her car right through the big glass windows of a futon store. The owner had video footage of it too. The driver woke up after driving in (apparently all the furniture stopped her), drove home and called police. In this day and age, it's a bit surprising that someone would call the police after doing something like this. Kudos to her!

A couple different news camera men were there taking footage shots. We also got to meet NBC San Diego's crew, they were nice people too.

The reporter from NBC, Tony Shin, had the whitest teeth I've ever seen! I don't even remember what he said to me, I kept staring at his white teeth. Since I met him, I've noticed that most actors, actresses and news staff on TV have incredibly white teeth. You can tell their teeth are whitened cause their eyes will look dingy.

Back to Apollo and his knowing everyone, we met this guy who was walking by and stopped to see what all the commotion was about. Turns out he was from Detroit. This lead to a long conversation between the two of them. Apollo then introduced him to me as "my brother from Detroit." I'm sure when they meet again (it will happen), they will be the best of friends and will somehow give each other a deal on something like a free meal, tickets to a show, etc. This always happens to Apollo.

On our way back to the apartment, Apollo and I took a shortcut through the alley to discover the homeless people have gone buck wild with their loot all over the place behind our apartment complex!

We even interrupted a non-homeless person sorting through their stuff, STEALING from the homeless! People are shameless! The next day Apollo scooped all this stuff up with a shovel and put it in the dumpster. Last I heard, the cops came by and got rid of the baskets and the homeless have moved on. I'm sure they'll be back. Especially with all the new construction around town, they're moving around trying to find a permanent spot. Well, I guess that's life in the city!

Garrrr...booty!

I've decided to join in with Eudora the Blackheart's announcing to the world her weight loss goals. I've been working at it for a couple weeks now but hopefully with this big huge sign at the top of my blog announcing whether or not I'm meeting my goals, I'll do a bit better. Maybe it will be just enough peer pressure to keep me on my toes. Or, even better, on the elliptical.

*update, I ended up sticking the ticker at the bottom of the blog. It was messing with the design of my blog. What design you say? Someday, I swear!! There will be an actual design!!

Just when I thought I had enough needles

I'm at the point in the pattern where all panels and sleeves are combined onto one circular needle. I thought I had 3.25mm circs but I was wrong. This gave me an excellent excuse to shop at Michaels or Joanns but guess what! They're closed on Easter! So, I made do with some extra long straight needles. Even though the stitches are crammed onto them, I think it's going to work out. Meanwhile, it'll be difficult to knit until I'm able to decrease enough stitches to a manageable level. I'm expecting this to happen sometime mid-day tomorrow.

Blogger has photo posting limitations?

Not much going on but some mindless stockinette. I'm falling in love with Baby Cashmerino all over again.

As I was uploading the last picture, I saw this notice about how much space I'm using for my photos I've uploaded. This is news to me. Since this blog is tied to a couple others, are the photos there also affecting my storage? I know I'm only using 11% but GAH! I hate to see limitations!!

Pet food recall info

I'm still a bit paranoid about the pet food recall, even though my cats don't eat any of the foods that have been recalled. If you're like me and like to check the list periodically for updates, just to be sure... here's the list of cat food that's been recalled, click on the brand name for a clear description on the exact recalled product.

Here's the list of dog food. How scary for all pet owners! There's a FAQ for the pet food recall too.

More Vogue Knitting

The main reason I purchased the Vogue Knitting Magazine was due to the baby section.

Simple and boy/girl versatile pillow and blanket. Nice.

I've already started this sweater pattern. It looks like a good "no thinking" pattern. Faythe knows what I'm talking about.

Another simple yet decorative sweater. Very cute!

And then...I saw this. Doesn't it seem a bit out of place? Bobbles, cables, ruffles, oh my! The designer used several adjectives to describe baby models for knit clothing. One of them was "helpless." Helpless indeed!

Ah, San Diego

I glanced up through the sun roof today and realized how lucky I am. Faythe reported some snow in Spokane both yesterday and today. In April!

My neighbor gave this to me today

My infertility must be staring her in the face.

Vogue Knitting Magazine

Look! Look what I found in the Vogue Knitting Magazine! A Debbie Bliss pattern suitable for a girl or a boy. Even better, it uses Baby Cashmerino, of which I stock-piled in a moment of insanity. This particular pattern reminds me of Jacqueline Kennedy, probably due to the collar and chocolate lining.

There's a bunch of other cute patterns in the magazine, too. Including some lace and other items appropriate for summer.

At $7, this magazine is a better deal than buying a book that repeats patterns sold in her other books!

Carne asada, please

Purge 2007

I recently decided I have too much stuff. The solution? Throw it out!! The life of a pack rat is filled with worry and what if's. Well, NO MORE!

Stuff I haven't seen in months, years or had forgotten I owned is out! The closet, patio, bedroom...nothing is safe.

Do you have stuff you don't really need? If so, do yourself a favor and get rid of it! Don't let the "what if's" hold you back from getting rid of stuff. Or the "I spent money on this, what a waste" excuse. You can find someone who needs it. Or do like I do, put it in a box and leave it near the sidewalk. It'll be gone in an hour.

Start out by dividing stuff into two piles: things you can't part with (yet) and junk you can do without. Now, imagine the junk gone. Purge it! It may be a bit painful at first but once it's gone, you'll feel great. Really! Try it and tell me what you think. Purge 2007 rules!