Happy Monday

You know, Arthur, when evil is afoot and you don't have any arms, you gotta use your head. When evil is ahead and you're behind, you've gotta do the legwork. But, when you can't get a leg up, you gotta be hip! You gotta keep your chin up, and kick some –

The Black Hole That Eats All The Stuff You Really Need

So I've been missing my little memory card reader for about a week. I looked all over for it, but apparently it's just gone. I hate the way things disappear in this house and are never seen again. Like my Halloween candy dish that says "Eek" or my flat black shoes or my black cardigan that I like to wear with everything.

Anyway, I just decided to pop the $15 and get a new one so I can actually transfer pix to my computer. Wasteful, I know. But I guess you have to decide how much peace of mind is worth.

Here's what I've been doing lately.


Thanksgiving went well. I did the whole turkey thing, as usual. See how happy everyone is that I'm making them wait while T takes a picture?




I also finished the Branching Out scarf for JB. It's blocking now.

And jeez do I hate blocking stuff. I hate the spraying and pinning and waiting. Actually, you know I'm not a fan of finishing in general, so this shouldn't come as a surprise.

Wouldn't it be nice if things just came off the needles fully loaded and ready to go?


Anyway, JB has had a rough year, with branches closing and having to let people go. I can see on her face that these things affect her personally. So, I wanted to give her something for Christmas this year that really says "I'm thinking of you."

The lace pattern goes pretty quickly--or would go quickly, if the yarn weren't so hairy. I used Patons Lacette in White Whisper. It only took one skein on size 6 needles.

I think it looks very luxe. Hopefully JB will like it too.

Happy Monday

And so he says, 'I don't like the cut of your jib.' And I go I says, IT'S THE ONLY JIB I GOT, BABY!

Hey Schrodinger...

I say he's in there.

Tell Me More, Tell Me More... Like, Does He Have A Car?

It's our Breast Cancer Awareness Day at work, so we are all "passionately pink for the cure."

I think we look a little like back up singers for the musical, Grease.

Happy Monday!

"And, isn’t sanity really just a one-trick pony anyway? I mean all you get is one trick, rational thinking, but when you’re good and crazy, oooh, oooh, oooh, the sky's the limit!"

Autumn Leaves Lace

A while back, I bought this beautiful hand-painted cotton chenille on eBay. Normally I avoid chenille, because while I love the way it looks and feels, I do not enjoy the frustration of knitting with it. But I was overwhelmed by the vibrant colors and had to have it anyway.

So, it’s been in my stash for about a year, waiting for something to showcase its color. Then I found this Lacey Cantata Hat pattern on Ravelry.

Yeah, I know, chenille doesn’t have any stretch, so maybe hat was not the best choice for this yarn. But, it’s a lace hat, so it’s really just for looks anyway. I think it fits well enough. It took less than half this skein.

I liked the pattern, so I adapted this same ribbed lace pattern to a scarf, to finish off the skein. And look! What a great looking set this is!

This may end up as a gift, but right now I am leaning toward keeping it for myself.

Is that bad?

And The Matching Scarf

Well, not really matching, I suppose. Matching in that it’s the same yarn, Bernat Cashmere in Coal. And it has cables. But these are simple 6-stitch left and right cross cables, separated by some slip stitches and seed stitches. (The pattern I used will be up on the sidebar later this weekend, if you are interested.)

This took about 2.75 skeins and about 4 nights to knit.

This is the second or third thing I’ve done with a prominent seed stitch section lately. I guess I’m just loving the seed stitch. It really is a cool pattern, though. Only knit and purl stitches, and so much texture! Looks good for guys or girls. I like broken rib for that reason, too.

Whoa! How Is It November Already?

Doesn’t it seem like the year just whizzed by? Granted, the 34 degree temperature when I left the house this morning was a subtle clue that it was fall, but I just don’t feel like it should be November yet. I mean, I still have stuff to do before it’s the holiday season.

Why does the last part of the year fly by? It seems like January takes forever, with the snow and grey sky and ridiculously cold air. And April. April is cold and wet and muddy. April lasts. But sheesh! October to December lasts about 2 heartbeats.

Anyway, I am feeling good about the Christmas knitting. Finished this Cabled Hat for someone (not mentioning any names, just in case). It’s done in Bernat Cashmere, which is a very soft, yet thick-feeling blend of acryllic and cashmere. The color is Coal, which is just about my favorite color for men’s accessories.


This hat, with all its cabley goodness, took about 1.25 skeins. It took a while to knit, too. Maybe I’m getting old distracted or something, but for some reason, I just could not memorize this cable pattern and had to keep looking at the chart. And every time I looked at the chart, I would think Oh that makes sense. I didn’t need to look at the chart.

Sigh. A mind is a terrible thing to waste.

Friends Don't Let Friends... uh... Release Giant Snakes?

National Geographic has an interesting article online about the problems people are causing by releasing their exotic snakes into the wild. (The best line in this article, seriously, is “friends don't let their friends release giant snakes.”)

I’m sorry. I really thought this was common sense. If you have an animal that doesn’t belong in that ecosystem, don’t release it into the ecosystem.

Of course, one might argue that almost all livestock in North America are introduced species. But we’re not talking about that kind of introduction. Not the same as “Oh, darn it. My reticulated python is getting way too big. I will just take it out to the country and drop it off in the woods some place.”

I’m not even going to touch the whole responsible pet ownership thing. Seriously, people. That’s just not the thing to do. (Neither is flushing it down the toilet, which I hear is a popular solution these days when you don’t want a snake, lizard, frog, or fish any more.)

No, what I really want to talk about is the absurdly evil nature of the people who do this.

Now, everyone in the US has seen a movie that starts out with somebody, either accidentally or on purpose, releasing (or letting escape) a non-native species into the unsuspecting ecosystem. There are no natural predators and the thing runs rampant, eating pets, livestock, birds, and fish. And then they just get worse, until people are being eaten by the thing.

And people just keep getting eaten—starting with the little trampy cheerleader and the horndog football player who think it’s a good idea to have sex in the woods, right next to the rampaging animal’s lair. (“Oh, Brad! I just can’t do it here! That looks like an animal’s lair or something! That doesn’t make me feel sexy.” “But Heather. You look sexy. And I don’t think that’s an animal lair. It’s probably just a natural formation of twigs and leaves. “ “Well, alright, then.”)

And, of course, somebody’s little brother will get eaten, while playing with his truck or a baseball or something in the woods. (Who was supposed to be watching this kid, anyway? Probably Heather. I’m thinking that’s your problem, right there.)

And nobody will be able to do anything about it. Not until Lorenzo Lamas or Lou Diamond Philips (or, God help us, Debbie Gibson) shows up, at least. And even then, the body count is going to get ridiculous.

Anyway, I say the people who release these snakes into the wild must have evil intentions because why else would they do that, knowing what we know from SyFy Channel? Here’s what you do. If you’ve got a friend with an exotic snake, you watch that friend. (Friends don't let friends release giant snakes.)

Oh, and don’t go making out in the woods. That always makes you the first target of any monster in any movie.