You Say It’s Your Birthday? Da-duh-duhn-na-duh-na-nuhn!

Yeah, okay. It’s come and gone. I just didn’t get to post about this until now. Birthdays… sigh. Another year older (sing it to me, Tennessee Ernie Ford) but what’s the alternative?

And this one was a pretty good one. Dinner out with the fam. Had some nice Rollatini at Olive Garden. Very garlicky. Some people don’t like garlic. I do. This was probably beyond the garlic limit of most amateurs people, but I liked it a lot.

And presents were good. Got some great DVDs (including Evil Dead. If you remember, I have not been able to find my copy for some time and have been grieving it sorely.), DominKNITrix book (going to make at least 3 things from this), and this:

M knitted for me! How cool is that? Of course, I immediately put My Precious in its new sweater. This one is lined, even. I think M was a little self-conscious about it (as we all are with our first knitting projects), but honestly, I couldn’t find any mistakes. And what stick-to-it-ness! This is boucle.

Boucle. The yarn that makes me curse out loud. The yarn that looks so pretty but I swear every time I will never work with it again. Yes, boucle. And she made it. And it looks great. And look at this satiny lining!

Boo-yah! Tell me I don’t know how to have kids!

Why Hello, Monday. I See You Still Hate Me.

Last week was a very busy week for me. Very high stress, just in terms of the quantity of work that needed to be done. I felt like I was trying to achieve the impossible. I was fairly confident I could do it, though. As one former employer used to say, “You have a way of achieving the impossible.” Still, it was a busy, stressful week and I needed this weekend like a toddler needs a blankie.

On Friday evening, I kept trying to access my brain for the answers to simple questions like “What’s for dinner?” and “Do you want to watch a movie?” And my brain was pretty much out to lunch. (Not quite Patwoman isn’t here right now, Mrs. Torrence. More like All circuits are busy. Please try your call again later.)

But I did take time to relax and recharge. I knitted a lot and spent time with the fam. And all in all, I felt pretty good about facing a new week.


But look. This is the flash drive that holds every single piece of information I need to do my job. Let me repeat that, so you get the full effect.

This is the flash drive that holds every single piece of information I need to do my job.

FML.

The gang at work asked me today what I would like for my birthday lunch this year. I said “Sangria.”

Gonna Wash That Robot Right Outta... Oh Wait A Minute...

You know I love all things robot, right? (Well not scary fire-breathing death robots. And not Terminator-kill-all-the-humans robots. And not those things at Chuck E Cheese. Not those robots. But all the others.) So when I read about this robot, who washes hair, I was very interested.


Basically, this is like the hair washing station at the salon. Except you don’t have to make awkward conversation. (Seriously. Who are you kidding? I can’t hear you over the water running over my ears and you can’t hear me because of the water splatting off my head and the sink.)

But I like the idea of a robot hair washer. Hell, I’d be okay with a robot body washer. That might save some time in the morning, since I always have to stand under the water for several minutes until I’m awake enough to begin showering. A robot could get started right away. Then maybe I wouldn’t have to road rage so much on the way to work.

Yeah right. That’s one of my few true pleasures, shouting toxic, yet humorous, oaths at strangers.

But wouldn’t it be cool to have other robotic luxuries? Like the little robot in The Fifth Element that cleans up Gary Oldman’s mess? You could keep it in the kitchen and when you dropped food, it would zoom in and suck it up before you—oh wait. I have something that does that already.

GenGen.

Braided Hat

I had another skein of the Charisma, so I decided to make a hat to go with the scarf. The cables on this beret are meant to echo the spirit of the scarf. And I think this blue is just meant to go close to my face.


This pattern is a very quick knit and would be great for gift giving. I added another two cable repeats to give it more slouch, and even so it only took a night.



I really need to be focused on holiday gift giving, but this one is mine. I’m looking forward to wearing it this winter. Twisted Sister is keeping her eye on it until then.

Don’t You Hate It…

When you are on a crowded elevator and somebody sneezes 14 times in a row? Yes, I’m betting the people who rode the elevator with me this morning feel that way too.

Argh. My allergies are killing me. I’m allergic to grass pollen, flower pollen, tree pollen, and mold spores. So, basically, there is a very short window of time in December and January (if I don’t have a cold) when I am not sneezing. Usually, it’s not too bad until this time of year, but since I’ve been miserable for several weeks, I think this month will be hell.

There are no paid sick days left, folks. So, I am just putting up with this sinus pressure. And sneezing.

My, What A Lovely Braided Scarf You Have, Patwoman

Yes, all the better to… Okay. I got nothing.

But look at this scarf! How cool is this? It’s Braided by Susan B. Anderson (Spud & Chloe) in Loops & Threads Charisma. The colorway is Sunny Day, which is very descriptive of my own personality. What? You don’t like sarcasm? Oh, I’m so sorry.

This pattern attracted me for a number of reasons… For one, it’s a bulky knit, which I love for its ease and quickness, but also for the way it looks. I like the big, chunky stitches.

Also, it has a very interesting construction. Basically, it’s a length of stockingette stitch, then you divide the stitches into three pieces and knit a length of I-cord on each section, braid those sections, then slip all the stitches back onto the needles and knit another stockingette section. Love it!

And, I wanted to do something with this yarn. It’s so pretty and it has been calling my name forlornly from the shelves of my local Michael’s, begging me to knit something with it. (“No, yarn. I can’t buy you. I have so much yarn now…”) And this scarf really makes those colors pop. If you look at the pattern, it was originally done in all white, which looks good. But I’ve gotta say, I am loving the bright colors even more. (And the colors are a lot brighter than this picture would lead you to believe. More like this picture from the Michael's website.)

This is not as quick a knit as you would imagine, though. It’s all the divide-knit-braid-combine. But I did most of it while watching a Colts game. (Hey, there’s blue in it. That’s legal.)