Say it with me: FRIDAY!

The only thing better than

is the

3-day weekend version. Yes, not just two, but three days of no alarm clock, no major plans, resting and relaxing and reading and knitting and ahhhhhh I feel better already.

I mean, I do have some plans. I plan to read, and knit, and do dishes, and vacuum, and some laundry. I want to go pick raspberries, and buy cat food, and block shawls, and balance the checkbook (electronically speaking). There are plenty of things I'll get done, and some that I probably won't get to, and that's fine.

It's the weekend. It's a long weekend. As long as I don't get a migraine (oh, please, all the gods, take pity on me), I am fine. So fine. Perfectly fine.

What does your weekend look like, at this point?

Random and Sillyness

A couple of random things. First, today, for the second day running, I forgot earrings. The honeymoon with the new job is thus officially declared Over. Get comfortable.


I got a couple of requests for patterns in the knitting I mentioned yesterday, so I went back and added links, if you care about any of that.

Ran across something online that I absolutely adore: a site where you can put in a URL (or text) and it will show you the site translated into another language. What's so awesome about that, you ask? Doesn't it sound functional and prosaic and non-adorable?

 

Not if the language you choose is to sound like the Swedish Chef from the Muppets. Bork!

 

It turns this:

Last night, I finished the Tardis shawl, and I love it! So, so happy.

into this:

Lest neeght, I feenished zee Terdees shevl, und I lufe-a it! Su, su heppy. Bork bork bork!  

I foresee a lot of fun with this! There's Elmer Fudd.

Wast night, I finished the Tawdis shaww, and I wove it! So, so happy. 

Or how about Jive?

Last night, ah' finished da damn Tardis shawl, and ah' love it! Right on! So, so's happy.

Redneck? Cockney? Pig Latin?

Last night, ah finished th' Tardis shawl, an' ah love it! Fry mah hide!

Last night, I finished the Tardis shorl, and I luv it! Blimey! So, right, so happy. 

Astlay ightnay, Iyay inishedfay ethay Ardistay awlshay, andyay Iyay ovelay ityay! Osay, osay appyhay. 

You name it; those and more. Yeah, man. Not enough laughter in the world, but here's some.

Happy Knitter, Finishing Projects

I've been knitting a lot this summer, and lately I feel like I've been finishing a lot, which is a fun feeling, particularly when I am feeling the pangs of start-itis. Starting a new project is enticing, but finishing one is so satisfying!

Last night, I finished the Tardis shawl, and I love it! So, so happy. Can't wait to wash and block it, and with the upcoming three-day weekend, perhaps I will get both that and my YOlympic shawl blocked.

I started the Bigger On The Inside back in May, and would have been finished long ago had I knit nothing else since. However, I did in fact knit:

• The love shawl for my cousin

• A pair of socks, which consumed not just out-in-public time but I-hate-this-yarn-must-get-it-over-with time

•  My YOlympic knitting shawl

• A hat for a friend's raffle

•  And then a second one in the same pattern also for the raffle!

•  Aaannnd then one for my friend's birthday, after she admired the first one in-progress (different pattern, though)

•  As well as candy corn, because she loves it, and I've been meaning to make some for her. Aren't they cute?

 I made a whole bunch, in fact.

 Enough to fill a little cup.

I also have the Wingspan shawl in progress, and the current pair of socks are moving along; I'm more than halfway down the foot of the second sock, as of lunchtime today.

Want to see the Tardis? Blocking will do a lot for it, I think, but here:

Done, done, done! Happy dancing here.

Amusement in Spam

I was checking my spam folder the other day (because once in a very great while, a real message gets caught in the net), and was amused at what I found there. (Click on the image to see it more clearly.)

My issues with these oh-so-real messages:

• Top: Oh, yes, a job-search message would start Dear Friend! Because job hunting is so friendly, don't you know.
• Middle: Very likely subject line, sent by Resume at justin bieber never. I am so sure.
• Bottom: A VERY URGENT message that "Patrick" hopes will not offend my "moral values". Well, Patrick, I hope your proposition wouldn't have offended my moral values, but I didn't open it, so I'm afraid we'll never know.

Any spam tickled your funny bone lately?

Hello, Monday. Good-Bye, Monday!

Yup.

For a Monday, it wasn't bad. Plus there was stitch and bitch. And barely a twinge from the head!

Still, Monday is Monday. Don't let the door hit you as you leave, Monday!

Lost Weekend

My plans for this weekend were not overly ambitious, but hormones interfered and I got almost nothing done (unless you count "lived through a bad migraine" as an accomplishment, which in a way it is). I did however, get to do the one thing I would have chosen, if I'd been able to choose only one thing, and went to dinner tonight with friends, in honor of a birthday. We had a wonderful meal and they're great friends and right now my head doesn't hurt. So that's good. On the other hand, it's the end of the weekend and I basically lost it all, and I'm rather bitter about that. Oh well. I see my gynecologist soon, perhaps he will have a suggestion for smoothing out the hormones. They're not my only trigger, but every trigger removed is a good one.

Now, despite the multitude of extra snuggling and cuddling opportunities he had this weekend, Carlos is calling me; after all, I was away from him for almost four hours, and what is a kitty to do?

Come to the furry side...

Mixed Thoughts

Today was my dad's birthday. I thought of him this morning, wished him happy birthday, and could picture him, with that little smile he had when he was pleased but a little embarrassed. He was such a good man, and such a nice person. It's over three years since he died; sometimes it feels like forever, sometimes like no time at all. The pain isn't as sharp as it was, but it's still there. I still want him back. Of course. Happy birthday, Daddy.

And while I was looking for a picture of him, guess who else I found?

Does Carlos think he is the first to be awakened by my camera?

He is not.

Sniffing and smiling. Happy weekend!

Quickly, Sending You Elsewhere

Just briefly tonight, but I had to share this. Are you a Harry Potter fan? Are you a nut? Can you quote sentences and whole sections of the books along with Jim Dale? Well, try this: a quiz to identify text from one of the books, based on an inch-wide vertical strip of a page! What will they think of next? Thank you, Mental Floss!

I totally count myself as this level of nerd, enough that I was slightly disappointed with my results.

Lit Slits, Volume III: Harry Potter
Your Rank: Hogwarts Professor
Score: 92% (11 out of 12)

I missed one! Damn it.

So! Let me know how you do, if you do.

Feel the Meme

So you may have heard of a popular song called "Call Me Maybe"? It's a perky pop song that many people love* and many people hate, and many, many people have been making their own versions, either sing-alongs to the original music, or with alternate lyrics..
*The video on YouTube has over two hundred and fourteen million views. And if you don't want to watch the video all the way through, do read this about it; it's pretty cool.

Like the US Olympic swim team (sing-along).

AND the diving team, filmed during the Olympics yet!

The Harvard baseball team.

Then there's the Star Wars mash-up, which is ... wow. Amazing, and yet also, how much time does this person have on his hands?

Cookie Monster has his own words. Which are awesome (you have cookie ... share it maybe?).

And many more, is the point, but today, I saw one for knitters. Cast on, baby!

Functional Headache

I've had a bit of a headache today, not enough to keep me from being able to work, or pick up a few groceries afterward, but enough to be annoying. This morning at work I noticed something interesting about it, in fact. It felt like the right side of my brain was pulled too tight, like a guitar string turned too far, and when at the same time I could hear an over-loud speakerphone from a conference call in a nearby and not soundproof room, when the person on the phone was speaking, it felt like the cord in my brain was twanging in time to his words.

Maybe it's that concussion I got when I was six? It would be nice to have something to blame. It wouldn't actually help, of course. Anyway, this week it's hormones, and no escaping that. I feel kind of like this:



I hope you are better than that. And I hope that soon I am too.

In the meantime, ice cream.

Best spell-check suggestion of the day

For the drug Remicade: regicide.

Nice! We will not treat your arthritis, we will kill the king!

Just me? I laughed out loud. Has spell-check ever made you laugh?

I had a fun and productive time at stitch and bitch tonight, stopped at CVS to pick up a prescription, and came home to find that the skein of My Favorite Sock Yarn Ever that I got in a destash last week had arrived. Blue-green, so pretty! Wait until you see. For that matter, wait until I see it in daylight!

I am currently enjoying a lollipop for dessert, and I just noticed something written on the stick. It has a bar code, in fact, plus it says,

For Nutritional Facts
Write to Parkside Candy Co.
Buffalo, NY 14214
Net Wt. 1/2 oz. (14g)

So now you know.

This has been The Blog: Extremely Random and Fading Fast Edition. Good night!

I Hate Sunday Evenings

I'm looking at the end of the weekend. It's not even 70 degrees; I'm wearing sweatpants, and socks, and slippers. In August! And though I did laundry and ran the dishwasher and accomplished various things today, I really should be doing the dishes now.

So let's talk yarn and knitting, shall we?

When last I spoke of knitting, it was to mention finishing up my YOlympic knitting project, the Colonnade Shawl. I still haven't washed and blocked it, but even pre-blocking I like it a lot.

This shot is fuzzy, but shows the shape.

And this is what it looks like on.

What else have I knit? Well, when I finished that, I went back to the Tardis shawl for a few more rows. I was worried that I would find picking it up again, after the hiatus, difficult, but it felt very smooth. I'm down to about ten rows left, and the Tardis shapes are showing nicely, as this crappy knee-top picture shows.

I look forward to finishing, of course, but in fact I've put it aside again. First I made a couple of hats, for a raffle that a friend's friend is doing for their kids' school. The pattern is a slouchy one*, Starving Artist, and the end product was difficult to capture in photos. Not that I didn't try.
*And how do you knit to size for something meant to fit loosely? Like Dave Barry wondered years ago, how do you shop for pants when you wear them falling-off-your-butt loose? Do you try them on to make sure they don't fit?

I tell myself that they will look better on a human head. I hope.

It was a fun pattern, and an easy one. The blue one is knit in Lion Brand Wool-Ease Worsted, held double, and the pink is bulky yarn I got at Apple Festival a few years ago. Remember, the yarn purchase that taught me that the color of the tent affects what you think you see, aka pink is not red? It was lovely to work with, nice and cushy, and I will buy from her again. But I'll use real light!

Other than those, I've got some stealth knitting either in progress or planned, so more will be revealed in time. But there's also some yarn!

When I mentioned that last Saturday saw me in a yarn shop, did you guess I bought something there?

Of course I did! What are the odds I wouldn't? Why, I'm just trying to be civic-minded and support small businesses! That's it.

I know, you're shocked to see blue. What a surprise. Berroco Ultra Alpaca tonal -- so pretty!

I also bought some yarn yesterday, which I would love to show except it may be for stealth knitting, so I need to decide how stealthy. Possible updates on that.

No, it's too pretty not to share. And I implied to my mother already that my purchase might just turn into something for her, someday, so I'm not spoiling the full surprise.

The color would give it away, even if I didn't say anything. I saw these and thought at once of her.

So pretty, and both yarns are super-soft as well. I kind of want to cast on at once, but other things are afoot. Patience is not my strong suit, but I'm preaching it now.

I wish this was Friday night, not Sunday. Not just for knitting; generally.

Last Saturday

My goodness, when am I going to tell you about last Saturday? More than the flowers, that is. It was such a good day, and I have to share! I spent the day in Rhode Island with my three friends, of Maine and Florida and many other adventures.

Before we hit the road, let me share a headline from the Globe that morning.

You can imagine how I wanted to call the paper and ask how, precisely, I can avoid mosquitoes. I'd love to! (Though I want to get one of these and try it next time, to see if it really helps the sting. Seems too good to be true, but worth a try.)

Moving on! We brought together a lovely potluck lunch: chicken salad, green salad, fruit salad, and cukes and tomatoes fresh from the garden.

Not just any cukes, either. I had to get a picture of this one.

Delicious and a decent weapon! She said it grew that big in a week. I imagine if you stood quietly by the plant, you would hear it creaking.

After lunch, we hit the road. Our first-time destination was a small town called Wickford, which apparently is the town that The Witches of Eastwick is modeled on. Not having read the book, and unable to remember if I saw the movie, this was not personally stunning news, but the town is beyond charming. Cool funky little stores, including a bookstore and a yarn store, a place that makes its own ice cream, and just generally quaint and charming in a wish-I-lived-here way.

A number of the houses have signs like these. Guess my favorite?

Particularly if you know that Increase was an actual name, way back when, as in Increase Mather.

We also saw this plate, by the way, and though I don't know what it means, it was certainly deemed blog-worthy.

Back to historical charm in architecture. So many lovely details.

Yes, please, I'll take it. Screen it in, but that is one lovely porch.

And one determined plant. Going up!

Why no windows on the second floor? Who has a theory?

Yes, yarn store. The Mermaid's Purl!

Funky eclectic shop, but perhaps the building used to be a bank? That door has a vault look, don't you think?

Outside the "old" library. Someone stole that poor boy's book! Who steals a book from a statue?

This car really was red, not orange. Pumpkin?

We finally pulled ourselves away from Wickford, and drove around Jamestown admiring the scenery. Found a place to park and rocks to sit on, admiring more closely.

There was clear evidence that when we weren't there, the birds used our location as a dining hall. Messy eaters!

But even on an imperfect weather day, quite lovely.

Back at base, we reprised lunch for dinner, followed by this special event. Can you Groupon for a bakery? Can you say "chocolate cake with caramel mousse frosting and Oreo crumb sides"? I can!

 Not the best photos, but it was too good to take the time!

Anything with caramel like this is excused from anything but being enjoyed.