My birthday

This afternoon I had decided to blog about how pathetic today was. See, it's my birthday and as far as birthdays go, it was about as un-birthday like as could be. This isn't really saying a lot since I haven't celebrated that many birthdays. Aimee and I grew up in a religion that doesn't celebrate holidays or birthdays so now as adults free from oppression, we really take them seriously.

So today I moped around a bit and felt sorry for myself because things didn't turn out even remotely as well as I hoped they would. To be honest, it was just like any other day and I was beginning to feel annoyed that I actually took the day off. I went back and forth between making Apollo feeling guilty and smiling and making jokes. (I think I need to talk to my doctor about those hormones she has me on.) Anyway, on the way home from buying my own birthday cake from Extraordinary Desserts (oh yes, oh yes I did dammit), we stopped at a grocery store to pick up garlic bread for dinner. Apollo went inside while I sat in the car, listened to sad songs on my iPod and felt sorry for myself.

Then I met Richard.

I watched him in front of the store talking to people who walked by, some of them pretending he didn't even exist. He realized I was sitting in my car and walked up to my window to talk to me and ask for money. Thankfully Apollo showed up at that time because honestly, I was getting a little nervous about a stranger approaching me like that. Long story short, after talking to Richard, a homeless person, I realized how silly I was behaving and how lucky I am. It was as if someone deliberately put him in my path so I would get a nice dose of Reality Bitch Slap. We ended up talking to him for a little while and learning about this life. It was the best birthday present I could have received.

1x1 Rib Cast-On

I started a new pattern today which calls for a 1x1 Rib Cast-On. The instructions were hard to understand and I almost gave up. But after several awkward attempts, I finally figured it out.


Faythe asked what the difference was between the two and at first I didn't think there was a noticeable difference. But my curiosity got the best of me and I cast on some Long Tail stitches to compare. Well, I was wrong! The top needle is the usual Long Tail Cast-On I usually start out with while the bottom shows the 1x1 Rib Cast-On. I'm glad I decided to follow the instructions after all.

I Love Gansey's

This week we discovered our Night Jasmine plant stuffed away in the corner of the patio, blooming like crazy! We moved it next to the patio door so the scent can waft in and boy does it. Sometimes it catches us off guard with its sweet smell.

I finally finished the I Love Gansey socks available through the Six Sox Yahoo group. I used Artisan Sock Yarn in Tulip. I'm quite pleased with them, if I must say so myself. The only change I made was to do one less set of repeats on the leg portion since the recipient likes shorter legged socks.














The only problem with the pattern is you can't really see the seed stitch hearts. (Or maybe I'm doing something wrong, but how can you do seed stitch wrong?) I'm concerned that when worn they will stretch even further and be even more unrecognizable.

This yarn is really pretty though. I'm not sure if you can see it, but even though this is a solid yarn there are subtle variations in the color. Really nice. I purchased even more Artisan Sock Yarn recently so you'll see more of this soon. Yes Chad, more yarn and socks! :)

Meanwhile, the scent of jasmine makes me want to go buy more flowers, even though I swore off crowding my patio with plants. It's nice to catch the scent of something foreign to the city.

Rednecks, Oprah and litter

I recently discovered My Big Redneck Wedding on CMT and am into the fourth episode that I recorded. I've yet to decide if it's DVR worthy. I've already seen a couple interesting shows where the groomsmen wore green John Deere t-shirts, one of the wedding activities was mud wrestling in a pool, beer cans were used as a decoration, camouflage was considered a color and cracked corn was used in the place of rice. At one point I asked myself, how realistic is this?? But then I had some flashbacks of my childhood and realized, yes, this is most likely entirely real.

Anyway, considering I've been watching rednecks party for the past couple hours, you have to realize where I'm coming from when I excitedly flipped through my first Oprah magazine and did a double take when I saw this picture:

OK, so am I just damaged from redneck programming or do you see it too?

In other news, Aimee convinced us to switch to Arm & Hammer's High Performance cat litter. It's a natural alternative to that dusty clay litter we usually use. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind what we've been using but why not try something new? Besides, Simba keeps peeing on our bed and we're trying to figure out if it's related to the litter. (Turns out it's NOT.)

The only thing I don't like about the new litter is it's so light and fluffy that it gets everywhere!


A couple days ago I was telling Aimee how I'm always finding the litter in Zoe's fur when Zoe, apparently doing her part to prove a point, hopped up on the chair next to me with a face full of litter.

Alright, back to my Redneck Wedding show. I can't believe someone just said "git 'er done" without it being part of a joke! O.M.G. The soon to be mother-in-law is squealing like a pig in excitement because her son shot a hog!!

Fail!

Last Christmas while shopping with Mom, Apollo saw these Push Up Pro things. OK now I know a gimmick when I see one but he wanted them so bad, you could see an 8 year old child gleaming in his eyes. So we got them. A couple days ago I saw them sitting out and asked if he's been using them. OK, "asked" isn't exactly accurate. I may have been taunting him a bit. He swore he does about 40 push-ups a day, three days a week. I think I snorted and continued to taunt him until I was able to bully him into doing some push-ups to prove that he uses them.

I sat down on the couch and waited, mocking him all the while. I could tell he was lying since he kept trying to talk his way out of it but mostly because he was scaring Zoe. If Zoe was familiar with this thrice-weekly event, she wouldn't have been spooked. Well, to save his feelings I won't tell you how many he did (one, girl style).

I think my bullying got to him because he quickly jumped up and started giving me a foot massage. HEHEHE! The only thing it did was bring my painfully white feet to my attention. Ouch!

Meanwhile, Simba continues to adore Apollo and sleeps in his lap any way possible. He's freakishly adorable. Looks like Simba should do a few push-ups himself.

Back to the "crazy cat lady with 50 cats" hobby

I've been looking at this edging in an old book I have for a while now and today decided to give it a try. I'm thinking of using it on a sock but I dunno, the non-leaf area might be a bit boring. The leaf part is fun though.





I also finished up the Vera socks made from Lorna's Laces made in, you guessed it, Vera. More stripes! Anyway, so I knit them slowly during these past couple weeks. I was a bit tense so the gauge was a bit smaller than usual and some of the rows were larger than others, so I decided to block them.




This is only the second time I've ever blocked socks and I'm still amazed at how well it works! They worked out so well, I should block grandma's Monkeys before I send them. You know, I think I will!

I survived! I SURVIVED!!

This weekend I finished a trademark office action, trademark research project full of "what ifs" and a patent invalidity research project. I can't believe how stressed and tied down to those classes I was! Well wait, maybe the intermittent crying was some sort of indicator. I'll tell you what, I made Big Mac mighty uncomfortable when he asked me if I was OK. I've never seen so many attempts to avert eyes while making reassuring comments. Heh! Plus there's the whole sock fiasco I've got going on right now. Ten stitches per inch with 2.25m needles! I'm guessing here but I think I'm usually around 8. I need to finish up the last sock before I relax too much and the sock suddenly becomes misshapen. Yes, I'm that addicted that I managed to squeeze a few rows at a time when I should have been sleeping,

And the fact that I just told Faythe it's a luxury to read her blog....WELL. I just can't imagine doing patent research for a living. No, it's just not my cup o' tea. (Pulease, I'm hoping the instructor gives me a B for effort!)

I'm sure certain friends, if they still read my blog, are wondering why I haven't talked to them lately. Sorry! I'll get in touch!

Meanwhile, I now appreciate my life and the time I have to myself. In fact, I'm going to spend all of tomorrow doing selfish, unproductive things like going to a movie, going shopping or knitting! EEE! I think Bob Marley's Jamming which I'm listening to right now pretty much sums up my mood. Turn up the volume, baby!

I may take a class next term, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. In about two weeks. I feel nauseated already!!

Laughing maniaclly on the inside

Hey there. Well, the week of doom is before me. I have two projects each worth 40% of my grade due by the 13th for one class and the 15th for the other, an in class final on the 13th and a take home final due on the 15th.

In other news, I may be insane because I'm considering staying in the IP program.

215 yards

This is what you get with one hank of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, 215 yards. Looks like I'll be able to get two pair out one two hanks!

I thought I cast on 70 stithes but when I started the second sock realized it was 72. Which is interesting since my calculations for the first heel flap were based on 70 stitches. That could explain why my notes don't match up.

That's one of Zoe's mice.

PS: I got my grade on a recent midterm and it was a lot better than I expected. I feel much better!