Isaacal weekend

After the tatting party, Isaac followed me home and hung out for the weekend. Right before the turn to get to out place, on a busy street, Isaac pulled into the turn lane and his motorcycle died. I was behind him and slammed on my brakes and almost got rear-ended by a police car. It was apparently stuck in third gear. He eventually got it going again.

When we got into the apartment, we looked up some stuff for the University of Iowa where he wants to go so he can get a certificate in book binding and a degree in math, but I showed him it is about 4x the cost to go to school out of state. He still wants to go, I think. Then we spent an hour looking at comedians on You Tube and left to pick up Abe from work. THEN we bought some beer (I got the Elysian Night Owl pumpkin ale). THEN we went to Dick’s and ate it back at the apartment. I had some ice cream right before my beer which was stupid. It was okay. I did manage to finish the whole 22oz bottle while I watched You Tube some more. First we all watched corgis and then some other dogs. Cute but not very funny. Then Isaac started watching Abe play EQ2 while I watched bloopers on You Tube and laughed my head off. Eventually, we went out to watch Cowboy BeBop, which of course Isaac had never seen. We only watched a couple episodes and we were all pretty drunk. But Isaac will be coming down the next time he has a weekend off to watch all of Cowboy BeBop. I helped Isaac finish off his last beer while we played a little Soul Calibur. I kicked Abe’s ass.

The next morning we all split a dutch pancake, so yummy. I wish I could eat that every morning, but they are not that good for you. Then I wrote down for Isaac how to do the magic cast on for socks. I can never remember so it was interesting writing it down. Abe and Isaac played EQ2 together while I did that. Big mistake. I thought they would stop when I was done, but they played until 1 in the afternoon. Jerks. I guess they tie for jerk of the week for making me wait for 2 hours for lunch.

Made up for it by getting to go to Luisa’s, though. So good. Of course, I had chicken sopes.  Isaac just had a taco (he at about 7 pieces of pizza at grandma’s for lunch the previous day and was merely satiated) because he had to leave for home in a few hours and didn’t want to ride the bike that far with a full stomach.

Anyways, after lunch, Isaac showed me a song he plays on the violin that he made up. We wrote it down and now I will have to practice it. Both on the piano and the violin. He plays it so fast. I like it. The song is interesting. I really need to practice Abe’s piece, too. Anyways, at 3, when Isaac was supposed to leave, we realized I had forgotten to show Isaac how to cast on for the sock toe. So I showed him that (which took about half an hour) and sent him on his way. We printed up University of Iowa applications for him earlier and sent him with those and I gave him the orange skien of 3-ply yarn I had dyed and spun, but I forgot to give him the yarn for a surprise thing we are knitting for someone. I will see him this weekend for something else, though so I can give it to him then.

Then he called when he got home. Turns out that right when he got on the freeway and started to merge, the visor flew off his helmet and he had to drive from Seattle to Kendal (I would guess 100 miles) with no face plate on his helmet. And it was already a chilly day. He said he could barely feel his nose by the time he got home.

And while he had watched Cowboy BeBop while totally shnockered, I tried to knit a very simple basketweave (also in the dark). This did not work out well and I may need to rip it out. Frown.

Posted in books and movies, jerk of the week, knitting | No Comments »

Enough movies to drown a person

I watched a ton, an absolute ton of movies this weekend. I am not sure why.

But first, last weekend, I forgot we watched Crank. That is a weird friggin’ movie. Mom, you should NOT watch it. I thought it was pretty funny, though totally crazy. The main character is fun to watch. He does good action films. I think he was in Snatch and Lock, Stock, and Two Smoknig Barrels, too. He looks oddly like Nate. It was really weird in the first movie we watched him as the main actor in.

This weekend’s movies started with Breakfast at Tiffany’s while Abe was at work on Friday night. I liked it. Audrey Hepburn is so classy. I like Marylin Monroe, but if I had to be like one or the other, it would totally be Audrey Hepburn. I started to read the book, and I am not sure why I didn’t finish it. Maybe I don’t like Capote’s writing style. I will have to give it another go. Or try something else he wrote.

Saturday Abe and I rented a bunch of movies to keep me entertained. First I watched something I can’t remember, but I enjoyed. Been thinking on it all day, and I can’t remember what it was.

Then Death at a funeral which I thoroughly enjoyed. It had the guy who played Wash (Firefly) and I think he is a fine actor. He seems to enjoy playing strange parts. This one was pretty hilarious - he was totally bonkers high. It also had the guy from some train movie that I also really enjoyed. That man has a great face. This movie also had great music. I am considering buying the soundtrack. If there is one. I will have to check it out on iTunes to see if it has the music I liked. Or if it exists.

Then Sweeney Todd which I may just have to buy because I think that is what the inside of my mind might look like sometimes. I really enjoy Johnny Depp’s movies. He is a superb actor. And I love Tim Burton’s view on things. And the two of them are joining forces again with Depp as the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland, which I am sure I will really like. I enjoyed his vision of Chocolate Factory, so I bet I will like Alice in Wonderland. The only thing of Burton’s I have not enjoyed fully was Corpse Bride. I am not sure why. I was like he was trying to hard to create Nightmare Before Christmas again. Which was awesome.

And finally - from Abe’s recommendation - Tank Girl. Awesome movie. Though it turns out it was made in 1995, but I totally would have guessed mid-80s because of the music and, well, everything. Clothes, special effects, humor. I thoroughly enjoyed it anyways. Just my type of thing. Makes me want to read the comic (it is based on the British comic). Though I kept laughing because I think Gwen Stefanie’s personal clothing style may very well be based on the clothing style of Tank Girl. At least in this movie. I haven’t actually seen the comic, but I bet it is pretty similar.

Also this weekend, I bought whole bunch of books - How to have the Best Christmas Ever because I absolutely love Xmas. Last year was the best Xmas ever. It was my year to pick the tree. It snowed on Xmas day and Abe and I got to spend the whole day in the apartment together with the blinds open watching the snow fall and walk the dogs in it. And we still made it to my mom’s for Xmas the day after. I think I posted about all the snow on the way back down? Or I guess that was for Isaac’s birthday (in April!!) I also got a book on using the drop spindle - Spinning in the Old Way. I have only ready a little bit (about setting the twist of your yarn), but I am really excited to pound into this so I can make a more consistent yarn.

I also got the Knitter’s Almanac by Elizabeth Zimmerman and can totally understand now why she was such a beloved knitter. I love how she writes. It is so remeniscent of an older time. It was published in the early 60s, but she was already retired so she grew up in a very different time and her writing reflects that. She is very inspiring. I really want to try basically everything in her book I have read about so far - Aran sweaters, the mystery blanket (I want to make one for our giant bed), and baby longies (leggings), baby cardigan and baby bonnet and baby blanket. Later in the book are some adult leggings that I am itching to make and the next chapter is on mittens, which is perfect to knit now.

Posted in books and movies, knitting | No Comments »

knitterly weekend

This morning on my way to work… well, I wasn’t really on my way to work. I was at the light at the end of the block which is less than 20 feet from our driveway. Anyways, I was waiting at the light and it was red. Across the street is a QFC with the parking lot coming out at the light. There was a car waiting there. No cars were coming in either direction and the car at the other, from a dead stop, blew through the red light intersection. I almost couldn’t take my free right, it startled me so much. Freak.

Then on the way to work, I was going fine and I got to the point on the express lanes where the traffic almost always slows down. On a bad day, it usually takes no more than 10 minutes to get from that point back onto the freeway. 7:09 to 7:16. Today, I got there around 7:09 like usual, but I didn’t get back on the freeway until 7:35! I was supposed to be at work at 7:30. That was annoying. So now I have to work an extra 20 minutes tomorrow to make up for it.

And then last night. I had the craziest dreams. I dreamt Abe and I had a baby and I kept leaving it in the bathroom on a shelf. And then I would feel really bad because it wouldn’t cry, but I wouldn’t remember to feed it more than once a day. And my co-worker and his wife lived in the other room in the apartment. And then her and I were both pregnant with triplets. And I think our neighbors have pigs. I heard a cat hissing and then a piglet squealing. And then for half an hour I heard squealing for five or so minutes and then a bigger pig would grunt and the piglet would be quiet for a bit. But it kept me up for half an hour.

This weekend I got to watch a lot of movies and whatnot. Friday night I started to watch Animatrix, but I didn’t like it. I liked the Second Renaissance ones, but the first and fourth were not my thing. Especially the first. Anyways, I stopped watching that and watched the second season of the Tick, which I absolutely love and am so bummed that it was the last season. I spun all of the yarn for my Sheldon hat while watching The Tick. That show has the best quotes ever. I went to use one as my screen saver at work, but the Vista Text screensaver only allows like 10 characters. So I just wrote ‘Spoon!’ which is his battle cry. Hehe.

On Sunday, I watch a bunch of movies. First was Stardust, which I really liked. Seemed very steampunk to me. I laughed and loved it. Totally my kind of movie. Not the greatest acting or anything, but good enough. I loved Loved LOVED Robert DeNiro’s character. He made me laugh. It was awesome. Then I watched Eragon, which was disappointing after my fun with Startdust. The main character was weird looking but very appropriate because he was supposed to be a bit underwhelming. Then I watched Dan in Real Life, but that was also disappointing. It was one of those movies that is all about awkward situations. And I am not a big fan of those. I get a tight feeling in my chest. Just like when I am uncomfortable in a real social situation. Feeling that for fun is not my idea of … fun. But Steve Carrel is totally hilarious the rest of the time. I loved Little Miss Sunshine and I love The Office.

So, I am done spinning the yarn for the Sheldon hat. I am just trying to figure out how to start knitting it. I am thinking I will cast on 8 with a provisional cast on. Increase 8 times a round until it is 2 inches long. Then measure the gauge to see how many I need to get to. I think I will do stockinette until I stop decreasing and then do moss. Then maybe shortrow earflaps. hmm.

I also worked on the gloves. I got through the thumb increases and now I am a little stuck. I think I know what to do now though. I don’t want to spoil it for you.

Versatility is coming along. I still love it, though cables hurt my wrists faster than any other knitting. Fortunately only one in four rows has a cable and never more than two. I joined a Knit-a-long for it on Ravelry. I want to make a similar one in black, maybe one in grey, and I definitely want to make one using Viterous Humor, which is a pink gut colored yarn with eyeballs. I will make the center pattern in white, like bone. The middle part in Vitreous Humor and the outer part in a dark red that is part wool and part merino. Oh yeah.

Posted in books and movies, knitting | No Comments »

Spoon!

This weekend was fun. We switched the computer room and the bedroom and it is awesome. I can fit all of my shoes in the bedroom closet now because it is not full of our dressers. It is a little cramped, but I like it that way. We need to move the Xmas lights from the bedroom ceiling to the computer room ceiling. And put a cloth or something on the bedroom ceiling because it is so echoy in there. Though now I have to keep my bathroom clean whereas before no one even knew it was there because it was in the bedroom. We moved my computer desk without taking anything off of it and I gave myself a big nasty bruise. Abe has his desk in front of the window, but that is fine because the sun only shines in there first thing in the morning. And there is a great tree with red leaves out there right now. I think the dogs even like it better. Their kennels are side by side and they don’t seem to mind. They spend a lot of time in there. And on the bed. We just need to finish cleaning. Though I have probably 85% of my clothes put away finally. Some still needs to be hung up and I ran out of room for t-shirts. Full drawer. So I started filling another drawer after scooting some stuff to the side. I have too many t-shirts. I think those guys (Stacy and Clinton) on What Not to Wear would throw up if they saw how many t-shirts I have. They are very anti-t-shirt. (You know, of all the shows I miss from having cable, that and Monk and Psych are the ones I miss the most.)

After we did that all day on Saturday, I watched the Tick and dyed yarn while Abe was at work. What a trooper.

The roving started like this. A lovely fawn from Smoky Mountain Fibers on Etsy.

Then I dyed it and washed it. I just used Tropical Punch Kool Aid.

So I have 8 oz of reddish yarn. Looks great. Here is half the roving dyed and braided.

I have spun up two of the chucks (I dyed it in 2 oz chunks) already spun up.

The second came out thicker than the first. And the last one I think is dyed the darkest red. I will spin it up and see.

Here it is plied (navajo).

I definitely like the stove top method over the microwave method. about 4 times faster. I am going to make a hat out of it that I saw Sheldon wearing on Big Bang Theory (in the episode where he is sick). I loved that hat. I think it is just a moss stitch with thick tassels on each earflap and on the top. I tried to spin a bulky single, but I failed. I think I got a thick enough three ply though.

I also started working on Versatility. Which is awesome. It just needs to be done by November so I can take it to Calgary.

Speaking of. I am having a dickens of a time getting a flight there. I can’t arrive any earlier than 1:17 and they said plan on arriving no later than 1:00 to get to the store on time for the Fun Bus. So either I can email them and see if that is close enough and will they wait if my plane is late or I need to get one it and buy a flight for the night before and get a hotel for a night. Blegh. I also need to get my photo to get a new passport because I can’t find mine. Anywhere. And we looked through all our boxes. I know it is somewhere. It has to be. I should look in my suitcase. I think Australia was the last place I went with my passport. I had a flight that got me there at 11:30 or so and they changed it to 1:17 arrival. I ended up having to get a refund because they wouldn’t let me change my flight to a different day!

Anyways, versatility will be great because I don’t want to pack more than one bag since every airline seems to be charging for every single bag. And this is so Versatile! Ha. I am making it without the bobbles though. It looks great. I am using a darker red than the pictured one. When it is done, I will take it out as a scarf (or in my bag if it is too hot) and get some matching buttons and ribbon. Though I will have to look. I might already have a ribbon that will work. Though I guess having more than one ribbon would make it just that much more versatile.

And last night I just got started on a new pattern for mittens. I think they will be really cute. Little cables and stuff. I am using a light wool yarn - Rowan Felted Tweed - in red. I think that is it on the page - Rage. Speaking of patterns, I put up a really bad PDF of the holey fingerless mitts, whose name has been changed to Gertrude. I got Framemaker 6.0 from work because they weren’t using it anymore. I have no idea how to use it, but it does mean I can make some cool documents for PDFs when I really do figure it out. Right now it is just black and white and some of the images are cut off, but the pattern is there and printable. I am working on the Bacon-Wrapped Ankle pattern. That should be up in a week or so. With a PDF. This flip-top mitten pattern will probably end up for sale on Etsy for about $4.50. So it will need to be test knit. I guess I will ask for test knitters on Ravelry.

And this Friday, Abe and I are going to Emerald Downs for the EDEN summer party. We each get $10 to spend in the place. And they are raffling off gift certificates, a navigation system, and a 8g iTouch. I would like to win any of those.  I have never been to horse races though, so I have no idea what to expect.

I also got these socks in the mail for winning best kit for HSKS5. They don’t fit, but I may just take them to the wall. It is a bummer they don’t fit because the yarn is wonderfully soft.

And finally, here is some wonderful green and black yarn that I spun up and have now loast somewhere in the apartment. I have big dreams for this yarn and I need to find it so I can spin the other half of the roving.

Posted in arachknits, books and movies, computers, knitting | No Comments »

Movies galore

I watch a lot of movies this weekend while I was knitting away at my Feux Argyle Wrap.

Friday night was our anniversary and I actually didn’t knit. We watched some Buffy and Beerfest which was pretty dang funny. Funny enough that we each drank a beer. I had some delicious Pumpkin Ale from Buffalo Bill’s Brewery. So yummy. Abe had a giant Dragonstooth Stout from the Elysian. I am a sucker for a pumpkin beer. They are always so delicious. I want Abe to learn to make beer so he can make me some home made pumpkin beer. Doesn’t that sound good? Between Buffy and Beerfest, I watched some of the Opening Ceremony for the Olympics. And from what Abe has said, NBC screwed with the footage of that a lot. Changing the order of the countries and adding in more fireworks. So dumb.

Then on Saturday, I watched Calendar Girls, Death Becomes Her, High Fidelity, and started to watch Girl with a Pearl Earring, but that got put off until Sunday so I could watch Farscape with Abe. He likes that show way more than I would have suspected.

Anyways. I enjoyed Calendar Girls. It was fun. I don’t know how much it followed the true life stories, though. Wikipedia has the “true story.” There were a couple plot holes and spots that made me want to change the channel, but overall, it was enjoyable. I just hope I look as good as those ladies when I am that age.

Death Becomes Her was okay. Not even great for a dumb comedy, but fun enough to watch. I liked the story and found the idea interesting, especially the end. That cracked me up. Very appropriate. And I will never have a true bad thing to say about a movie tha Bruce Willis is in. He is the best. This was good enough to knit to. Lovely overacting and pretty funny story. This is the second movie I have seen in a couple weeks with Meryl Streep overacting. I have seen her in other movies where she doesn’t overact so I am pretty sure that it is just the two movie styles I was watching (the other was Lemony Snickett…).

High Fidelity was a bit dull. And whiny. I enjoyed it for what it was though. And I am not that big a fan of John Cusack. But I really like Jack Black and the younger daughter on Roseanne, so it works out in the end. Not too many scenes that were so awkward I wanted to leave the room.

And Girl with a Pearl Earring on Sunday was okay, but I felt like they cut out half the story. It seemed to skip scenes with no transition and no association. Fun to watch, but awkward and helpless, both which make me want to change the channel. I don’t really like when people are in a helpless situation because there is no worse feeling than being helpless. Very pretty movie though. Just the shots, not Colin Firth. He looks strange to me. Though he is always a little cuter by the end of Bridget Jones’ Diary.

So here is how far I am on the Wrap for the Ravelympics.

Friday night ( basically cast on using the knitted cast on and may knit a single row):

The knitted cast on says (in the Knitting Answers book) that is should be stretchier, but it doesn’t seem stretchier to me.

Saturday night (3.25 inches):

Sunday night (4.75 inches):

Monday night (I didn’t measure, but I have used 2.5 balls of yarn out of the 10 or so I will use total):

Posted in books and movies, knitting | No Comments »

harry potter weekend, finally

Isaac finally came over to watch all the Harry Potter movies. We had a great time. He was here all weekend. We picked him up at 10 on Friday night and brought him straight home to watch the first movie. Then we watched the next four on Saturday.

Here is how I found him in the morning one day:

[I will have to add this later, as you cannot add pictures to posts in IE7 - well, at least I can’t.]

Here’s one of the decorations I made.

Harry Potter world plants. I bought that fake plant trio and stand and then used some stamps to write out the “name” of the plant. Like one is labeled Mandragora, one is labeled Alihotsy and the other is Screechsnap. I also made some books from the First Year book list and put owls all over the living room. I am not sure how much Isaac noticed, but at one point he did say this looked like a great living room to watch Harry Potter in. I even made curtains to keep the glare down while we watched during the day.

Here I am making Pumpkin Pasties. (That would be pastie as in patty, not as in cake. That is how they say it in the movie, but I thought it was just their accents. Like how they skip the ‘r’ in expelliarmus. Except Cho Chang.)

They look like poop. Or dog vomit. Yum.

I cut the tops with some scars (backwards), a letter for each house. I made one look like Snape, a troll, Hagrid, and each of the three. The didn’t look so great, but Abe and Isaac really liked them. I only made half. The rest are in the fridge waiting to be made. I would like them better with less ginger.

And yes I am stupid that I did not get pictures of them cooked. They looked really good. Well, delicious. They looked like crap. Edges were a little burnt and stuff. Abe also made Isaac a loaf of bread with the word POOP slightly etched in the crust. Isaac laughed and laughed and then ate half the loaf.

I taught Isaac how to knit a toe for a socks while he was here, so I also started a sock with the yarn I used on the tez cozy. I am just doing my basic sock with no frills because the stripey yarn is so frilly it doesn’t want anything else. I am going up to mom’s in two weekends (to learn how to do watercolors), so I should write up how to knit socks by then so he can do the second one too. He only just got past the toe. He has pretty big feet, so it is going to take him a while.

Actually, this weekend, I also finished a baby hat for my cousin Jenny who is pregnant again. So cute. It is a pattern I got from the LYS Tour at NW Handspun Yarns in Bellingham.

Her daughter is turning two at the beginning of September, so I should make her something and mail it to her. I think I even have their mailing address.

I think I might pop in NW Handspun Yarns next time I have money when I am in Bellingham because they seemed to have a lot of spinning stuff and I am really looking forward to learning to spin. People on Etsy sell the most beautiful drop spindles and roving. My aunt Debbie knows how to spin, but I haven’t seen her in years. Everyone says she would love it if one of us showed up willing to absorb her knowledge. Probably, but I am not going alone. When Isaac is ready to start learning to spin, we can go over together. She is two doors down from my mom, so we can easily walk over. She has been knitting and spinning and weaving for as long as I can remember, so she should be an incredible source of knowledge.

We even had time to get some picture of him and his kilt hose. There are some really funny ones, but the good ones I will be sending to Knitty (surprise, another knitting magazine) for their calendar contest. You can send in up to three pictures of something you knit from a pattern in Knitty and the winners get in their 2009 calendar. All the winners get the calendar for free, but the grand prize winner gets a box of yarnie schtuff. I would love to win a box of yarnie schtuff.

For Ravelympics, I have the basic pattern written out. It is a wrap cardigan knit in one piece and will be a raglan. I hope it turns out nice looking. I will be pretty pissed if it looks like crap. Especially after it was so hard to make the pattern. I would just do the Luck pattern from Stitch n’ Bitch Nation, but I lost the book somewhere in the house. Blerg. I used The Knitter’s Handy Book of Sweater Patterns to come up with the framework for the pattern and then adjusted it.

Posted in books and movies, knitting | Comments Off

Uh, I forgot I had something to say.

So from this issue of The AntiCraft, Melange issue, there are a few things I want to make in particular. (Speaking of making things from The AntiCraft, the bacon bracelet I made has been chewed on by one of the dogs to the point of destroyed. I guess I did a good enough job making it look like bacon. Haha.)

My little friend which I would totally hang in my cubicle at work. I don’t know what my fascination with hanging voodoo and other dark items in my cubicle is. I have Bad Juju Up in my cubicle and I have an axe from my Halloween costume when I went as a dwarf hunter.

Parlor Round is great, though it involves sewing the pillow your self and I have never done cording before. Might be a good place to start, though, I suppose. Abe would kill me if I put up yet another pillow.

But Run Away! I think is my abolsute favorite and I can’t wait to make it and stick it on top of the cupboard in my cubicle.

In other news, Abe has made some more excellent bread. He found the bread flour, but then looked at teh expiration date of the un-opened package and it was in Feb 2006, so we had to throw the whole unused thing out because neither of us knows what spoiled flour will do. But he did make a round loaf of wheat (and then dropped the ramekin and broke it) and a lovely normal loaf of white, which I love.

In other knitting news, I can’t finisha project. I ripped out the jaywalker socks and started the Rainbow socks (one of the patterns I was considering using on this striped yarn that happened to also be sent in the little book of sock patterns I got from HSKS5 swap). I had to rip it out twice. I have messed up enough that I should have ripped out the last one too, but I can’t bring myself to do it. At that point, I think I will have ripped back this cursed yarn 10 times! and It took 4 tries to use the ball winder to spin it into a ball. First I did it too slow and then I did it so fast that is flew off the top when I as just over half done. Then I did it to slow and loose again and finally, finally!, I did it just right. If Abe weren’t freaking out that I have not used any of the yarn he got me for my birthday, I would probably have set it aside, but I want him to continue to buy me yarn, so it is still on needles.  The bamboo crocheted towel I am making is so boring. Lovely, but boring. It does not look at all like I remember their sample looking at Weaving Works. I guess it is because I thought it was knit, but it is crochet.

In TV news, we have started watching Buffy. It is a lot like Charmed, but better. I can see why it was so popular. We are only 4 episodes in, but I am really enjoying it and I can’t get the opening song out of my head. Abe has never seen any of it so I can’t talk much about it here, but I can say that I did not realize that all the characters start so early in.

Oh, and in other other knitting news, I am working on a little chap book on how to knit. I hope to have a very first draft finished tonight to send to my cousin Allison, who is off in Florida where I can’t show her things, so she can remember how to do it all. It will not be formatted or anything. It will be the very basic instructions with very rough pictures of me knitting. Later, once I have a final draft of the instructions, I will add tips and hints and humor. I will probably draw some pictures (simple line drawings) but I am thinking of demon hands instead of people hands because demon hands are just so much cooler.

I added Alia to Ravelry, and 16 people have already hearted it and I think 3 people have already queued it. Awesome. I put added it just before 7:30 today!

And finally, my mom started this Etsy site for Egress Studio. She only has one card up, but it is a great horned owl print and it is gorgeous.

I was looking around for something on Amazon and somehow stumbled across this book - Harrius Potter et Philosophi Lapis. A Latin translation of the first Harry Potter book. The second one is also available, so I would imagine eventually they will all be available. But Abe and I just bought a little thing to learn French (like a month ago and we haven’t even started) so that he could read some of his favorite authors, such as Celine, in their native language. Which sounds awesome to me. But Harry Potter is also available in French, Harry Potter a L’ecole Des Sorciers, but the whole series is already available. Go figure. But to help, there is a Harry Potter French/English Dictionary! So now I am curious to do that. I will have to see if my Harry Potter movies come in French and then I can use those, too. If not, oh well. I can check eBay for French versions of the movies. Though I am not a big fan of eBay anymore. I got ripped off really bad once and haven’t gone back since. Not monetarily, just annoyingly and since it was less than $10 no one would do anything about it. Anyways, I look forward to reading those. Then I will make my way to Celine. I would imagine once I can get through the entire Harry Potter series in French I am well on my way to reading Celine in French.

Posted in arachknits, books and movies, knitting | No Comments »

Bacon!

I made a bacon bracelet this weekend. Filet de Bling. Hers looks better than mine, but I don’t think mine looks too bad either. I wish there was a shot of it on someone’s wrist.

It is needle felted. Really fun. I only stabbed myself once. I don’t think I used enough roving though because the back is sparse and you can see the felt on the front in some areas. But I had enough fun that I made a “band aid” and a mushroom with needle felting right on to the holes at the elbows of my jacket. I love them. They are fun. Annoying for Abe while we are watching a show, but he knows I can’t just sit and watch TV like a good little girl.

Also, this weekend, we went and saw Wall-E, which was great. Great as a sci-fi story. Great animation. Just great. I had a really good time. It was so sweet. There were a lot of computer jokes that the kids probably don’t get, but had me and Abe cracking up. Nice long relaxing weekend.

Anyways, our Jerk of the Week: WordPress Software. I finally figured out the weird way to get pictures into a post. I usually use Firefox because I like it best. So I start my post in Firefox. Then I realize I want to add a picture, so I have to save and close and move over to IE (that would be Internet Explorer). Which I am not particularly fond of though that is what I have to use at work. I add the images to the gallery. Then I have to go back to Firefox because I can’t add the images to the post from IE. Blerg to that, I say. Very annoying. Can’t upload a picture in Firefox, but can’t add a picture to a post in IE. I am having similar annoying problems with software at work where I have to keep opening the same document in different editors to get different effects even though they all do the same thing.

And bummer again, Isaac cannot come down this coming weekend for Harry Potter, so he is coming down in a few more weekends. Beginning of August. I guess I will start decorating. Sew up the curtains and clean the living room. Start putting up the owls and filling the empty spice racks with “potion ingredients.” I am just having a hard time thinking of things. I should start collecting items while I am on the walk with the dogs. Ooh. That is what I will do when I get home tonight.

Posted in books and movies, general crafts, jerk of the week | No Comments »

Der.. what a weekend.

What a wonderful (though hot) weekend. Friday night felt like another whole day. We went shopping for the last few items for the HSKS5 thang. I also got the yarn I need to make the Dream Swatch Head Wrap  (down on the left) for the KAL (Knit A-Long) that the Hufflepuffs started. I have not been added to the list of participants, though, so I don’t know if they are still working on it or if I sent my email to the wrong person or what… Acorn Street Shop did not have any variegated bamboo yarn, so I got two colors of yarn and will switch EOR (every other row) or so. Oddly enough, the two colors I liked the most were basically Ravenclaw colors. I think it will be really pretty.

Also this weekend, we had a GREAT time at Allison’s going away party. Hung out at the park with le Poops for a while eating really greasy hot dogs (well, part of one until it made me sick) and talking with everyone. Le Poops were really happy, though too hot. Jim gave Nisa a watermelon rind and I had to struggle for a minute or so trying to pry her jaw open to get it from her so she wouldn’t release some fowl liquid all over the car. That morning we had given the dogs a bath and vacuumed the car. Too much dog hair. It was finally starting to get to me. Nisa has been shedding like crazy because the Addison’s was making all her hair fall out and we have to wait until her next hair cycle for it to stop. She she about a puppy’s worth of hair when we gave her a bath.

Also on Saturday morning, we went to Get Smart. Very funny. There were a couple scenes where we were all laughing so hard (the two of us the the 2 or so strangers that were there too) that no one could breathe. And I LOVE Dwayne Johnson. That is all I have to say about that. It is not particular to the movie, but I wanted to point it out for Abe again. Hehe.

Then on Sunday we went to the Lake Forest Park Farmer’s Market with Abe’s mom and it turned out to be just that. They only sold veggies and the like. And since it was only 11 and already so hot out that I stopped at every vendor just to get out of the sun, we promptly went home. Well, we stopped at Michael’s so I could buy another tatting shuttle since I lost one somewhere in the apartment, but they no longer carry them. All I can say is “What kind of Bull Crap is that!” They had tatting thread and no shuttles. And no green tissue paper. Granted, neither did Fred Meyer’s. But then we went home and I melted on the couch, watched a disc of ER and finished the shrug from the pattern I got at Spin A Yarn in Edmonds on the LYS Tour. It looked weird open loose, so I closed it in front with a saftey pin and it looks really nice. Busty, but nice. I am glad I chose these colors and not some crazy bright pink colorway. Though I did get to see some of the new Noro sock yarn color ways at Acorn Street and there is a beautiful green, blue, and black one that I am dying for. I think there is a little purple too, so I bet it is gorgeous. Can’t wait to figure out what I would like to make with that.

And now I have started Bad Juju. It is a small knit voodoo doll. I am going to pin him to the side of my cubicle through the neck with a long T pin. I think it will be adorable. And maybe it will get QA to shut up. Hehe. Then I am going to make a shrunken head. Also for my cubicle. I think I will hang it like I did the snitch I made.

The bad news though. Isaac can’t make it the weekend of the 4th for Harry Potter weekend. So he is trying to get the next weekend off to come down instead. If he can, we will be going to a dyeing class at my oh so favorite yarn shop Acorn Street on Sunday. Or just buying the dyeing kits and dyeing it in my kitchen. I am sure Abe would love that. But the class is a bit pricey and I have to have $175 to buy a kit to make the Imogen sweater for the August Olympic Knitting Trials. This kit, but I have not decided on a color. Maybe the Hercules or Merlin or Origin colorway. I am thinking Hercules. I want something kind of colorful, but not bright. Or Victoria for something less colorful but will still show the stripies.

Posted in books and movies, dogs, fluid, knitting | No Comments »

Happy Tuesday

Yep it’s tuesday. Not a lot happening. I did a bunch of laundry today. And I washed the dishes.

Nisa is returning to her normal self as she starts to feel better. In fact I think she has been feeling crappy for a while because she seems like a different dog in a lot of ways. She’s making different facial expressions and her ears are pointing out at the top rather than straight up. She’s also only peeing like three or four times a day which is TOTALLY awesome. I was getting tired of running up and down the stairs 15 times a day.

Jeez, I probably need to start some kind of exercise now that I’m off the Nisa’s bladder plan.

I don’t have my grades yet but I’m sure that I did very well.

I’ve been playing eq2 lately and I really enjoy it for the most part but it seems like there are fewer people playing it now than I’ve ever seen. Most nights on my server there are only 10-20 people playing that are in the 20-30 level range. I haven’t been able to get a group together for anything at all since I came back two weeks ago. It’s pretty depressing.

I am also getting original EQ for free until august and I started playing that last night. It was amazing how many people were running around in tha game in the lowbie areas let alone how many were talking in chat. I saw more players in 30 minutes in EQ than I’ve seen in the last week in EQ2. That’s just sad.

I’m downloading the 14 day free trial of Dark Age of Camelot because I suspect that I’m just burned out on Norrath. Basically I just need a change of environment. I can’t afford to buy the game if I do like it though. Ah being poor blows.

I was going to say something about Blooms Day but I don’t really have anything. I’ve started to read Ulysses three or four times and I’ve never made it more than about half way through. I really like Joyce’s earlier writing, in Dubliners especially, but Ulysses and Finnegans Wake pretty much just leave me cold.

I much prefer Celine to Joyce. He writes about retards and whores. My kind of guy. Except for the whole Nazi collaboration thing.

Abe

Posted in Say What?, School, books and movies, dogs, fluid, gaming, good links | No Comments »