Non-Knitting Content

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I think I’m still reeling from my paper that was turned in on Monday. For 2 nights after I keep dreaming about manuscripts and ink and pens…. really trippy. It was actually a rather fun project. I had to examine an manuscript from earlier than 1500 AD and write a paper on it. I drove over to Stanford since they’re right down the street from where I live and got my hands on a collection in their Special Collections… Medieval manuscript fragments, ca. 850-1499 (a.k.a. the Philip Bliss collection). Now, I’ll have you know that this was no mean feat… it was like trying to visit someone in prison (not that I’d know what that’s like, but that’s what it made me feel like I was doing). First, I had to find the main entrance… visitors are only allowed to enter through the main entrance. The, I had to fill out a form on a computer that printed out a sheet with my information, which I then had to show to the lady guarding the turnstile, who compared it to my driver’s license before buzzing me through. Once at the Special Collections reading room, I again had to fill out a form on a computer. Then, I had to turn over my driver’s license in exchange for a key to a locker out in the hall where I could place my belongings because you are only allowed to have a pencil and loose leaf paper when consulting the collections. After stowing my stuff, the nice lady gave me the archive box of the collection and a pair of white gloves.

The manuscript I chose for my paper was titled “About the Proper Conduct on Monks” according to the finding aid. You can see it at http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/medieval/gif/m389-5.gif, there should be an enlarging click-y thing in the lower right corner for a closer look. I chose this manuscript because of all the nifty little drawings in the margins that appear to have been done at a later date, as if someone were studying it. Pointy hands, a couple of faces, some scrawled notes…. very nifty. Unfortunately, the Stanford the page with links to the manuscripts they have in digital form had this one labeled incorrectly… as coming from folder 5, rather than folder 15, and it has the description for the item from folder 5. I think I’m going to try to notify them of the mistake. At least I hope it’s a mistake, cause the other option is I completely messed up. *Gah* Now, I’m going to sit around worrying that I got the folders messed up, and I was looking at 5 not 15…. *groan* Maybe I could try to get a look at the collection again to see if I’m a complete idiot.

Well, if you want to see the paper, mistake or not, I’ve put it up at (sorry, taken down).

My head hurts now…

Remember this?

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I’d be amazed if you do… I started it in Oct. Here’s a sort of updated picture…


All but one side and arm stitched up. Well, it’s been finished since I took this picture a couple days ago, but I haven’t been able to get a picture of the finished product yet. Since Le Bete Noir has been finished, I casted on this…

The Wool Peddler’s Shawl


My Stitches West adventure

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Oy! The humanity! The Stitches West market was insane when I went on Saturday. People everywhere, most of them not paying attention to what was going on around them and stopping right in the middle of a busy walkway. The worst part was the people with the stupid pull-along suitcases. The place was so packed there was no hope of seeing the floor… or the stupid suitcases being pulled along behind someone… perfect for tripping over. Geez. Amazingly enough I did the circuit in about 2 hours. How did I manage that? I avoid all the stores that are within driving distance of my apt (it’s not like I was going to get a discount buying from them at Stitches), and I avoid places like Webs and the Yarn Barn (both of which have websites). I went around and made notes of the things I liked… I only decided what I was buying for sure after I’d seen everything. (I went to a few conventions before I developed this strategy only to find something near the end I really wanted and have no money for it.) If something seems to be going quickly I might get it when I first see it, but usually my motto at these things tends to be “If it’s not there when I go back, I wasn’t meant to buy it.” The only place with a long line that I contemplated buying something from was Carolina Homespun cause their winter hours suck, I don’t drive up to SF all that often, and I’m not fond of the navigation of their website…. and they had glow-in-the-dark yarn. But, I had a budget.

So, I present “The Haul”:


Doesn’t look like much does it? But that represents all $100 of the budget I set for myself. The nifty item I picked up for my secret pal (not shown, obviously) went on the plastic card so that I could utilize all $100 for myself. *grin* So, what is it you’re looking at? On the left is 2 ounces of cashmere fiber…. mmmmmmm. On the right is 2 skeins of Brooks Farm Duet (55% mohair/45% wool) that is currently destined to be a shawl pour moi. (I think it is highly evil of Brooks Farm to have opened a website… because now I want more… so soft. Unfortunately, a quick perusal of their new website does not have that particular color of 100% mohair I was drooling over but was $5 short of being able to get. *sigh*)

Hmm… I need a title…

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It would appear that I am not the only one around here in desperate need of a vacation. Many people I pass in the hallways of my work place have a look on their faces that screams “What the fuck am I doing here?!” along with an air of being plain worn out. For all I know it’s the precursor to some illness ravaging our dept’s ranks… which makes me all the more thankful for my new cube out on the edges surrounded by empty cubes. I’m taking tomorrow off though as a mental health day… there will probably be knitting and getting back on track with my classes (I’ve fallen a tad behind on the reading).

I pulled $100 out of my savings account today as that is the budget I have set for myself for visiting the Stitches Market on Saturday. (I’m so glad Stitches isn’t in Oakland this year… and having it in Santa Clara puts it 10 minutes down the highway from me.) As I was getting my budget out of the new mini ATM my credit union has installed in the cafeteria building on my work’s campus I noticed a sign saying that as a promotion they had randomly put fifties. Unfortunately, there were no fifties amongst my twenties. *pout* An extra $30 to spend on yarn would have been sweet.

It doesn’t look like we have anything planned for Sunday, which is good cause this weekend is jam-packed otherwise. Friday night, we’re driving down to Monterey to go to a wine tasting/silent auction with my parents. Saturday, I’m hitting Stitches. Saturday night, there’s a wake for the little girl who died last week. Sunday will probably be for recovery…. and fondling my Saturday purchases, I’m sure.

Let there be pictures

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Here you can see the baby alpaca and silk I spun up awhile ago. The dark bit is the alpaca, and the light bit is the silk. What was kind of weird about this one is the silk is more than just one color, but because the alpaca is so dark in comparison, the color changes don’t stand out. I only think this is funny cause I had spun up a different alpaca/silk set of rovings from the same person and the silk looked bland by itself, but once I plied it the color variations jumped right out.

Next, we have the roving a dyed at the dyeing class that wasn’t a few weeks ago. I know the picture looks a bit off but the camera was yelling at me about the battery being low, and using the flash made it look radioactive… probably shouldn’t have put it on a dark background either. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it yet… I’m thinking I might card each into rolags, throw them all in a bag, stir it up, and spin them in the order it comes out… or I might blend them together.

Norma was going on today about jinxed yarn and how she’s crap. But I’m inclined to say it’s not her… everything lately seems crappy. I’m sure Stephanie’s unmentionable problem is also part of the ensuing crapage. Things I have seen recently that support this theory are 1) I got paid last Monday, and they shorted me 16 hours, 2) A friend of a friend lost his daughter in a car accident on Jan 30th (thankfully, they have the alleged drunk driver in custody last I heard). So, see spectacular crap all around.

Yet another week?

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First, many thanks to Erica who reveled to me the secret button for individual post comments. How silly of my to have been looking in the code of the template for something like that.

I don’t know why I’m feeling so run down… geez, I hope I’m not getting sick… no one around here has been sick that I know about, so I have no idea where I would have gotten any germs from. Of course, it could be the weather that’s doing it… 2 big storms right in a row followed by a week of temperatures that sometimes approached 70 F (this may be CA, but 70 F in January is just wrong)… suddenly things are starting to bloom again. This is our green season… the rest of the country is frozen solid under multiple feet of snow, and our hills are being transformed by their green spring finery. Yes, I’m sure those who are living in piles of white at the moment are jealous to here that it was sunny and warm here, but remember, our green will be gone within a few months as everything dries out until we get rain again come December. It’s kind of dreary living in a place that’s brown most of the year. So, anyways… yeah… flowers = pollen = me sneezing my head off.

But, thanks to a couple of nice members of FiberRaok, I can get myself some nice tea to help if my throat and sinuses decide to rebel. *grin* I also received a great welcome ecard from another member. Everyone in this group seems so friendly, it’s really quite nice. I’m looking forward to being a part of it… just need to figure out how to manage reading so many blogs.

I actually have some picture to share today. Yea! Hmmm… of course, now that I’m trying to get to my photo hosting service to get the links, I’m getting tons of page not found. They must be having problems. *pout* I’m sorry, you’ll just have to wait… but anticipation can make things better. :/

HaloScan comments question

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I know lots of people out there use HaloScan for their comments… hopefully, one of you will be able to help me.

When I put the HaloScan code in place I had a couple days of problems with trying to remove the Blogspot comments code. On my main page everything looks good. But today I found out that the Blogspot comments code still appears on the individual post pages. Any ideas on where the code that controls this is found so I can take it out?

Thanks in advance. 🙂

For my Secret Pal

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1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer high-end/natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand? Or is it all the same to you?

I prefer natural fibers, I love the way they feel and breathe, but they don’t have to be high-end. I’m not a big fan of most of the novelty yarns out there… some have purpose, but they mostly seem too frilly for my tastes… I’m a down to earth kind of girl. I don’t avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand… they have their place: afghans, baby items, etc. I’ve been knitting an afghan for my mom for the last 2 years and I’m using Red Heart. I also use softer/baby acrylics for knitting booties and hats for Stitches from the Heart.

2. Do you spin? Crochet?

I have been spinning for about year now and love it. I know enough crochet to do a provisional cast-on.

3. Do you have any allergies? (smoke, pets, fibers, perfume, etc.)

I can be allergic to cigarettes if they’re being smoked right near me, so I’m also not all that fond of the smell they leave behind. Things that are highly perfumed with things other than natural oils can also give me a fit of sneezes.

4. How long have you been knitting?

I’ve been knitting for about 2 years.

5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?

Not with anything important on it… I use it for remembering things I thought might be interesting, not for telling other people what I would like as gifts.

6. What’s your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)

I’m a fan of vanilla, lavender, mint… basically, I love herby smells… rosemary, thyme, sage… citrus is good too.

7. Do you have a sweet tooth?

Big time… probably more than is good for me.

8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do?

I used to cross-stitch, but since picking up knitting I have yet to do any work on my last cross-stitch project.

9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)

I’m pretty ecclectic in my listening habits… The only things I’m not all that fond of are country and rap.

10. What’s your favorite color? Or–do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer?

Hmmm… favorite color… I love deep reds… burgandy, cranberry… I also like soft blues… something sort of country/French blue… I think it goes well with the deep reds.

11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?

I’m married… no pets because the apt complex doesn’t allow them. 🙁

12. What are your life dreams? (really stretching it here, I know)

Life dreams… wow… right now I’m working on my Master of Library and Information Science, but I’m not sure I’d call it a life dream. There was a time when I thought my life dream was to go study Paleopathology at the Univeristy of Durham, England so that I could go digging in historical cemetaries… (morbid, eh?) but that fell through. I think I’d like to just lead a quite life, doing the things I love… but I have to win the lottery for that to happen.

13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with?

I fell in love with Jo Sharp DK wool (the long fiber stuff) the first time I knit with it. I’m having lots of fun with the Buton D’or Ksar that I’m knitting with right now.

14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?

Squeeky acrylic, you know the stuff that feels obviously like plastic… and I haven’t found a cotton I like yet, but I’ve only really use the kitchen cottons that are out there and one type of merca… um, that treated cotton… yeah.

15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s?

Current knitting obsessions… I’m still loving lace… it’s why I started knitting in the first place.

16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?

Don’t know… haven’t actually done lots of things… mostly a few large things… I think I’m finding sweater construction interesting. I’m ceratinly going to knit more lace shawls.

17. What are you knitting right now?

Sweater for my husband… almost finished.. then it’s on to a lace shawl for a friend.

18. What do you think about ponchos?

um, didn’t like them the first time around when I was little either.

19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles?

Depends on the project.

20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?

I prefer bamboo and other woods because they’re easier on my hands.

21. Are you a sock knitter?

Damn skippy! I love socks; they’re good for instant gratification.

22. How did you learn to knit?

Knitting for Dummies and Knitting in Plain English.

23. How old is your oldest UFO?

2 years old… it’s a washcloth… I told you I don’t like kitchen cotton.

24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird?

Favorite animated character: GIR from Invader Zim

Favorite animal: dragon

25. What is your favorite holiday?

Halloween… I love the fall in general.

26. Is there anything that you collect?

Hmmm… fiber and yarn… I tried starting a Pocket Dragon collection and got “that look” from my husband cause there’s no room in the apt. He seems ok with my stash though. 🙂

Mmm… red

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Six skeins of Sheplova Mushroom arrived via UPS this morning….

It’s such a yummy color… I love deep reds, I just look funny wearing them… my pale skin (I’m a blonde) reflects it and I look like a beet. *pout* This is, of course, why deep reds are my favorite colors.

This particular batch of skeins are destined to become the Wool Peddler’s Shawl from Folk Shawls for a friend of mine. She has a gypsy heritage, and it shows in her coloring. When I saw this color I knew it would be perfect for her… and reading the description of the Wool Peddler’s Shawl, it is also an appropriate color… apparently wool peddler’s wore red shawls so they could be found in a crowded market place.