I hope that everyone is having a good start to their new year. Me? If you hadn’t noticed completely unable to managing posting in the month of December. Now that international trips, family visits, holidays, and drunkeness are behind me I hope to get back on the blogging horse. Many things to share, too, if I can get around to uploading my photos.
I meant to post this sooner, but the cold knocked me on my butt hardcore.
Finances are tough all around, which means that as more people need the help of their local food banks, people donate less. If you are able, please consider donating to a local food bank — if you’re in the US, you can check the Feeding America website for a list of local banks that will be grateful for anything you are able to give.
Okay, public service announcement over, onto knitting. I cast on and finished my Gretel hat. It is quite nice and warm, which will be great for an upcoming trip to Canada. Now I need to figure out how to block it since it has a tam shape. The question is whether to block it with a plate in it or not.
On the sad knitter front, I was forced to go out and buy a couple of sweaters to make up for the great lack of sweaters in my wardrobe and the coming of the voyage into the cold. Can someone please explain to me why I go to the store and all the women’s sweaters are mostly cotton and acrylic with a little bit of wool and the guys get the 100% merino wool sweaters? Aren’t women supposed to be the ones that are always cold? Cotton just doesn’t do it in the warmth department for me and it has the unsightly tendency to grow in length. It’s a good thing I knit, cause it’s a pain in the butt to find basic, classic wool sweaters.
I cast on Gretel last weekend after picking up another ball of the Rowan Purelife British Breeds yarn from Purlescence Yarns. I was just about to finish the first chart when I realized that I had missed the note 10 rows back that said that the beginning of the row moved by 6 stitches. That would certainly explain why I thought the row after that looked a bit funny. So, I ripped back and am now slowly making my way through the chart.
Meanwhile, I think I’m coming down with a cold.
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
I am so proud of the United States at this moment. As I read various articles this morning, I still found myself on the verge of crying with happiness. I am unable to truly express how I feel. Thankfully, Cherie Priest said it much better than I ever could, but then she is a writer. 🙂
Meanwhile, I am sorely disappointed in my adopted home. I do not understand how millions of people could go to the polls and vote discrimination into the state constitution. I have friends and know of friends of friends whose marriages are now in jeopardy and may not even exist in a few weeks. How can we deny the right of any 2 consenting adults to be happy in life?
If you’re in the United States, please remember to vote today (if you haven’t already).
If you’re in California, please consider voting No on Prop 8. Californians should be above codifying discrimination in the state constitution.
Thank you.
I managed to get some quality time with Birch yesterday. Two more rows and I am done with the 11th repeat. Each row does seem to have gotten a tad bit faster, which is good seeing as I have reduced my stitch count by almost 110 stitches.
I also managed to get my last secret pal package another step closer to the eager hands of my spoilee (well, I am assuming her hands will be eager to get this since mine are finding it difficult to see it go). I wrapped each item in pretty tissue paper and have acquired a box. Tonight, I may even fill the box with packing material of some sort, tape it closed, and address it. Wow! But if I do that there remains the question of if I can actually get it to the post office tomorrow, or if it’s going to have to wait till Saturday.
I think I have decided to forgo Secret Pal 6. With the way classes look to be going this semester, one less thing to worry about will be a good thing. I had forgotten what this was like… 3 short months is all it takes to forget. My XML class has a 30 page handout to read, a 20 minute lecture to watch, and the first weekly assignment to do. My Collection Management class has 2 chapters to read, a lecture to read, a biographical introduction to write, and a library/information center to choose for the semester’s class work/final project. It also seems that the Collection Management professor is expecting thoughtful weekly discussions from each of us… this sort of thing almost guarantees that I’ll have absolutely nothing thoughtful to say. Who knows? Maybe I’ll start reading the textbook and have an epiphany that reminds me why I am getting this degree.
To tell the truth I don’t think it’s going to be too bad… although the XML class may break my spirit.
Apparently, my adrenal glands are ramping up for the Fall semester, which starts tomorrow, by the way. *ack* I didn’t take any classes this summer, so I’ve been relatively relaxed. Now, it’s time for preparation, so I spent a good portion of last night worrying over inane things.
I rounded off the evening with a though worry over whether or not I am wasting time/energy/money on getting my Masters when I’m not sure what exactly I’m going to do with it. Yes, I did keep Josh awake for at least an extra hour and a half while I worried out loud over this topic. And I managed to touch on many main points… it’s taking forever — at the rate I’m going (2 classes a semester), it’ll take me about 3.5 years (if not 4) to get my MLIS… this is sad because it’s supposed to be a 2.5 year program. “Fie!” I say. There was also discussion of the mounting student debt, which after this year (which includes my 4th and 5th semesters), will have reached about $20,000. That’s what I paid for my new car 3 years ago, and I got a car out of that deal.
My old chiropractor was under the impression that I am an adrenal junkie. I constantly have to have something to worry about in order to keep a steady stream of adrenaline in my system. I have always argued it is so that the major spike that occurs around exams and term papers does not shock my system stupid.
Perhaps I should try knitting more…
Nothing like making a stupid mistake in a lace shawl. I was working on Birch while watching an interesting show on The Da Vinci Code Sunday night. I was getting to the end of pattern row 7 of my ninth repeat when I realized that something didn’t look right. I somehow got off pattern on the previous pattern row, so there were yarnovers where there was supposed to be knit stitches, and k2togs where there were supposed to be yarnovers. I’m trying to decide if I want to tink back the 2 rows to fix it, or if I want to try dropping the stitches. I’m leaning towards tinking because there are 4 or 5 leaves that are off… it would probably just be quicker to tink back.
I think my knee is starting to feel a little better, and here I stress the word “little.” The biggest improvement is that when it’s bent I can’t find the sore spot. When it’s straight is still a whole ‘nother story.
In order to distract myself from my slow recovery, I bought shoes. I have a pair of slip on dress casual Clarks that I bought about 5 years ago, if not longer. Due to their age, they are falling apart… literally. There are holes in the soles and the leather upper is separating from the sole. Not shoes to wear on a rainy day as I would be walking around with wet feet. A nice man at the Clarks store in the mall had given me a number to call to get a preaddressed envelope to get my shoes resoled. So, I finally got around to calling only to be told by the person on the other end that they don’t resole ladies shoes. Squeeze me? Upon reflection I decided that while I could take them to a local place, I wasn’t sure that resoling would fix the entire problem (losing 40 lbs has apparently made some of my shoes a bit loose).
Thus, new shoes were the order of the day. I really like Clarks (NAYY), so I hit the store at the mall to see what they had. What they had was crap. Nothing but sandals. Was I asking too much by wanting a simple pair of shoes? Apparently, shoes without any holes, planned or not, are not really available during the summer months (so, why can’t I find swimsuits for sale in August? But, that’s a whole other issue…). So, I checked out Clarks website to see if it was just that one store or the company… sadly, it is the company. But, in my search for Clarks online, I came across places that sell shoes on the Internet. One place had regular Clarks shoes… and a fantastic return policy. I ended up getting Clarks Glenwood. They are so cute. 🙂 They got here yesterday, and I couldn’t be happier to have shoes… real shoes. Now, I have to break them in. Hopefully, this pair will last as long as the last pair… they were great shoes.
The shoes are dead, long live the shoes!
According to the knee doctor, I have bursitis of the knee. Even the little walking I’ve done (and every time I bang it into something, which is a lot) has kept it aggravated enough that it hasn’t healed. So, he gave me instructions similar to the instructions my doctor gave me almost 2 months ago: don’t bang it into things, baby it, ice it, and let it heal. Unfortunately, I’m a horrible klutz… guaranteed to bang my knee into things more often now that I’ve been told that I should avoid doing so.
He also told me to try a muscle rub that he gave me the name of, claiming that it’s better than BenGay (which is fine since I’ve actually been putting arnica on it of late). The reason it’s supposedly better than other stuff is it has capsaicin in it. I hit the drug store after my appointment and spent 10 minutes trying to figure out if I should get the regular strength (0.025% capsaicin) or the “high potency” (0.075% capsaicin). I ended up getting the high potency in the fear that the regular wouldn’t be strong enough. When I apply this ointment to my knee it feels fine for a few moments, then the burning starts… and the burning, we are told by the packaging, is normal. Oy! Hopefully, this works.
Meanwhile, The Husband and I just finished watching Anthony Bordain’s new show, No Reservations. This episode had him returning to New Jersey, the land of his youth. They were in a bakery getting cannolis, and boy, do I miss good cannolis… I only lived in NJ for 4 years, but that was plenty long enough to appreciate a good cannoli. (I am ever on the search of a good cannoli and good NY style pizza here in CA… still looking… although, I did find good pizza made by New Yorkers in Arcata, CA of all places.) During this scene, I made some comment about pizza… The Husband took offense at me saying I haven’t found good pizza here. Zachary’s is good, but it’s too big to be considered pizza in my mind — pizza should be flat and have cheese on it. (I’m not asking much, now am I?) The conversation ended when The Husband was unable to stop laughing while making comments about how I’m such a NY girl (which is to be expected I guess, I was born there, and my family has lived there since 1642).
Mmmmm… cannoli…