Defying the Laws of Physics and Women's Wear Daily

Among my Christmas haul this year were many gift cards to such places as Old Navy and Target, which normally I shun but now I have requested in order to help me rebuild my wardrobe (currently: 2 pr shoes that I wear to work, both have holes in them; 4 pr pants that I wear to work, one pair is verging on too casual and one pair has holes). As you can see, I need an urgent clothing infusion or I may end up at work barefoot and naked. And that's not the way one wants to present oneself in a public library.

A little backstory.

I'm not good with clothes shopping for myself (yarn shopping is, of course, never a problem. It all fits). I look, I see too much trendy crap, I stop looking and go home. I'm not a trendy girl, so most of what's on the racks make me feel confused (I thought that bedazzling one's jeans was so over. Why has it come back? How do I make it go away again?) or angry (This is why American women have body image issues, you bastards, because these stupid jeans called "hip huggers" only look good on women with no hips!) and then I don't want to spend my money on anything and I return home to the same sad clothes and think, "Well, these aren't so bad... I can get along with just these." (It took me six months of shopping to find a wedding dress that wasn't too beady, too poofy, to frilly, too expensive, too awkward, too binding, or too freakish. I ended up with the most stripped-down dress it is possible to have and still look like a bride.)

So, it was time to expand the wardrobe to include items that (a) were new and (b) fit me. I went out on Wednesday night after work to run my gift cards into the ground. I went to Old Navy first and --hells yes!-- they were having a sale. I grabbed 12 (twelve!) pairs of women's pants in two different sizes and headed to the dressing room. Of the eight pairs of jeans I tried on, a whopping NONE fit me, and of the four pairs of dress/casual pants ONE pair fit me. Yes, I went into the fitting room with TWELVE pairs of pants and came out with ONE. I almost cried. Why didn't these women's pants fit me? What makes it impossible for PANTS DESIGNED FOR WOMEN to fit me?

Answer: my womanly figure. Yes, I am an average(?)-sized woman (complete with the hips for the child-bearing) and I cannot wear most jeans that are supposedly created so that they will do nothing else other than fit and possibly enhance the female form. Even if they are in my size. The problem is, once the pants are ample enough to fit over the hips for the child-bearing, they are freaking enormous in the waist and there is no belt on the face of the earth that can make that gap go away. (You know what I'm talking about, right? The gap between your jeans and the small of your back that--no matter what you do to thwart it--always shows off your undies when you bend over or sit up straight.)

At this point I'm thinking screw it. I got one pair of pants, and Oooh, here's a pretty top (that I don't need, but am buying to mitigate the sense of failure)... when I wander over to the men's department and see they're selling extra-loose jeans (appealing! why don't they have these in the women's section??!). I grab two sizes and head to the dressing room, where I learned an interesting (though "bizarre" is not inappropriate here) lesson:

Men's jeans fit my womanly curves better than the women's jeans.

I give up.

(but I don't have to go pants shopping for another year at least!)

A Little Change of Scene

Things are a bit different around here, as you may already have noticed. I've been out of things today and whee! my blog suddenly (not to say impulsively) has a new look. I'm not sure if I completely dig the new banner, but I like the look of the main page more than the old one.

I had a pretty alright Christmas. I'll go into more detail later, but: Nick's cousin had a baby on December 1st, so I got to hold a 3-week old baby girl on Saturday.

Bliss!

(I hope everyone else had a rockin' good time and got their stockings filled with goodness and cheer.)

Merry Christmas!

Hey Look, it's the Twenty-second!

And why am I sitting here typing?

I'm really not. I'm just saying hello. And that I've decided to add two kitchen sets (potholders, dishcloths) to the list. Why? I think it's best we don't ask too many questions of the crazy lady with the needles, hmm?

Here is another wintery-wonderlandy picture, as I am not posting pictures of my projects for another, oh, three days.



(This was taken in the Reference Room of the Library.)

Merry Stitching!

The Yarn Gods Spoke to Me

And they mostly said, "Okay, that was your one freebie. Mock us again and you'll get the exploding wires inside your house. Now go make stuff."

I started the Lloyd Scarf on Wednesday night, just like a good little knitter (I'm going with knit instead of crochet because Lloyd likes the look [...snerk, I'm sorry, that started to get a little silly with the alliteration] of a knitted rib pattern, although Pica is right--crochet is by far the fastest). Of course, I have no pictures because I'm busy knitting the dern thing (maybe tomorrow. or not.). It's going well, and it will be done on time. I know it will, because it has to be.

In the spirit of getting my shit together (because there are 4 days left, people. Four freaking days!), I started making a list last night of the Christmas gifts we're giving to our family this year:

• My Mom -- Clapotis in Malabrigo 100% Merino (still a soft and loving but totally impractical triangle of doom. No hope of being done for Christmas. I'm buying her something else. I think this shows remarkable maturity on my part. Or a total lack of discipline in not being able to get it done. Either way, I don't have to think about it for 3 weeks.)
• My Libraryschool-student Sister -- chenille scarf (done!)
• My Nursingschool-student Sister -- Whatever it is, it will also include her Seven Brides for Seven Brothers DVD, and (and this is where my heart just burst with happiness and left pieces of happy bits all over my insides) I get to teach her how to knit!!! She asked me to teach her on Christmas Day, and I'm just freaking out with joy. I thought about buying her fabulous beginner yarn and fabulous needles, but she's not sure she's going to like it (I think she will!) so she didn't want me to buy her the stuff. But maybe I will later. Like, after she totally falls in love with it. Mmm, yes.
• Lloyd (nursingschool-student sister's boyfriend) -- the Lloyd Scarf (which, fortunately, I can keep knitting until Christmas Day afternoon! Woohoo!)
  
• My Dad -- possibly a Brian Wilson CD. Possibly something else altogether. Nothing yarny.
• Other member of my "family" who reads this blog -- I'm totally not telling. But it's not all the way finished (85% so far).
• My friend who took me to the ballet -- the scarf from last post, which I showed to her with the explanation that no, it won't be done for Christmas, but thank you for taking me to the ballet. She likes it.
  

And then I started thinking about the Beloved's family. And that's when I wondered if the Yarn Gods were just joking when they said I got a freebie.

• His Mom -- ??!!!
• His Brother -- ??!!!
• His Sister-in-law -- ??!!!
• His Dad -- ??!!!
• His Stepmother -- ??!!!

But then I thought of my workbasket (okay, one of my workbaskets. I have four. Don't even ask how many workbags I have.), and how I made a bunch of scarves that I was going to sell (never got around to that) and that I kept them! They are still in my house! Now I have some options! Fortunately, he was thinking about gifts too, and we have everyone taken care of now. I can't go into further detail because my soon-to-be SIL reads the blog (Hi Wanda!) and it would be lame to kill the surprise.

Now that I'm all organized I have to go make stuff, as bidden by the Yarn Gods. (only one more day of work--today--and then I have 6 days off! I have time to knit and crochet, and I don't have to worry about getting caught at my desk!)

And here is another wintery picture full of cheer. (I'm very into trees, these days)

A Bold "Neener neener" to the Yarn Gods

I'm throwing caution to the wind.



I started another scarf last night. (Yes, last night--when I should have been working on the Lloyd Scarf. What? Like you've never done procrastination knitting. Don't judge.) I justify this bout of start-itis by reminding myself that I have finished the scarf for Laura (chenille, I need futz with you no longer!! Huzzah!), and that I have all this time left. So much time! And I've been meaning to make something for this friend for a year and have failed thus far. This friend has invited me to see the Joffrey Ballet do The Nutcracker on Saturday. I have deluded myself into thinking hope that the scarf will be done on Saturday. If not, it will be lovely train knitting.


(as you can see, I have mastered the heck out of seed stitch)

Funny thing about this scarf... I went home today on my lunch hour to knit (eating was an afterthought) and while I was taking up my needles I heard a huge explosion outside my building. Knocked out the power, mostly (I didn't know that one could get only one-third of one's normal electricity supply--I thought it was all or nothing), and freaked me out. After a bit the girl down the hall pointed out a flaming bit of electrical wire. Yes, the cable leading to our building (that connects to the corner of the building that holds my bedroom) was on fire (but the bit on fire was at least 25 yards from my building. At least.).

The explosion was the transformer freaking out. Nothing at all supernatural about that. Nope, everything nice and scientifically explained here. Absolutely no connection between my desire to knit and the big ol' electrical kerfuffle. None at all.

I'm starting the Lloyd Scarf as soon as I get home from work.


"Let's just say that if complete and utter chaos was lightning, [she'd] be the sort to stand on a hilltop in a thunderstorm wearing wet copper armour and shouting 'All gods are bastards'." --Terrry Pratchett

Oh, I Love My Sister

Everything was going so well on Thursday.

I had the day off, I slept in till 10:30 (no kids! no pets!), I knit like a crazy woman on the scarf for Libraryschool-Student sister (I discovered that when knit on size 13 needles, chenille cooperates rather nicely). I noticed the snow (lots!) and rejoiced in my enforced stay-homeyness. I shoveled (twice), and I made tasty dinner for the Beloved and myself. Huzzah, Thursday was a success.

Then came Friday.

After work I came home and picked things up (we had friends coming over), then sat down to knit on the chenille scarf for Libraryschool-Student sister. Then I get a call from Nursing-Student sister. Chit-chat, blah blah, do you have my Seven Brides for Seven Brothers DVD? (don't laugh... every group of siblings has its own quirk) What do you want for Christmas? Do you want me to make something for you (please say no, or at least say "Oh yes, a hat!" or "One mitten would be lovely!")? Then she says, "Did you find yarn for the scarf for Lloyd?" (her boyfriend, a lovely and charming guy, for whom apparently I was supposed to be making a scarf). Um, what?

Turns out he had admired a scarf I was knitting (the 4x4 rib scarf) (I remember him admiring it. Like I'm going to forget that) and said he wanted one in camoflage colors. I THOUGHT HE WAS JOKING. Lloyd is a jokey kind of guy. I didn't think he was serious. Now I'm supposed to find yarn, find a pattern, and whip up a scarf for him in two weeks?! TWO WEEKS!

All this is running through my head while I'm trying to get the whole story from Nursing-Student sister (maybe he didn't really want one, maybe he was just joking, maybe she made the whole thing up) and running to my stash to find yarn for the scarf (because I know I have some bulky-weight Wool-Ease in manly colors somewhere). I got her off the phone, cursed my stupidity for not starting an "extra" scarf for those "just in case" giftings, and rummaged through the bag of Wool-Ease. Huzzah! I have found 2 balls of "Walnut" and 1 of "Bay Harbor" -- the scarf is possible!

I spent a good part of friends-over-for-drinks time last night trying to suss out a pattern that would look decent on the bulky-weight yarn (much harder than I thought, possibly due to the "drinks" part of the night), finally abandoning it after the 2nd beer thinking that there are more important things in life. Like friends. And Mad-Libs. And Jameson whiskey. And we all know where that thinking gets us... not very freakin' far on the Christmas knitting! (I'm good at self-guilt).

I was going to sort the situation out tonight, but the snow is falling like bra straps after a senior prom and I'm not sure we're going to make it up to my hometown. Ah well. More knitting time!



Your gratuitous Christmassy picture of the day:


(it's Humpty Dumpty as Old Man Winter, outside the Library)

Only the Second Circle?

Just in case you were wondering what level of hell you might expect to inhabit (if you believe in that sort of thing), I present you with The Dante's Inferno Test. And my score.

The Dante's Inferno Test has banished you to the Second Level of Hell!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	Very Low
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	Moderate
Level 2 (Lustful)	Very High
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	Moderate
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	Very Low
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	Moderate
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	Low
Level 7 (Violent)	High
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	High
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	High

Take the Dante Inferno Hell Test

Hmmm... not a bad place to be, really. Apparently Cleopatra and Helen of Troy share my fate. It's rather disturbing to see that I scored "High" on violence, pandering and treachery. Because I don't pander. (Except when it comes to yarn and yarn-related things. I'm a yarn pimp.)

In which level of hell do knitters & crocheters who can't finish their Christmas projects find themselves? (2.5 weeks left! Holy Crap! Is that swearing? Does that put me in another circle of hell?)

This charming piece of time-wastey-ness comes from my library-school-student Laura (who should have her own blog, don't you think?)

If I Ran the World...

Every woman would be given a change-the-traffic-light-to-green button so that when she comes out of Borders at 10:30pm in sub-zero weather and her bladder suddenly contracts and starts threatening to expel its contents in a highly un-ladylike manner, she can get home without having to pause at Every Single Stoplight which causes her to concentrate on her bladder, making the problem even worse.


(you may notice that my name at the bottom of the post has changed. It's still me. I don't have a catchy handle [nickname, if you didn't experience the CB era] [I didn't really. I just absorbed my parents' lingo], and wanted to make myself a little more standoutish [I was going to make a really lame joke about Miles Standish and name changes in America, but it was only funny to me, and only because I'm rather jacked on caffeine just now]. That is the story of my name change. Wow, I babble a helluva lot when I'm jacked on caffeine [is that how you spell it? Do you think I can possibly stop typing? Maybe I'll just babble all night and make this the longest aside-post ever. Ever!] Now I'm done.)

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Freak-Out Time

... everywhere you go!

I've been Miss Busy lately, what with all the Thanksgiving rigmarole, the visits to Mom&Dad's house to cut down trees (insert "The Lumberjack Song" here), the everything else. I barely even noticed that it was FREAKING DECEMBER this morning when I typed my last post. Granted, that was before I looked out my window and saw the 8,000 inches of snow (I'm measuring horizontally here... it really only got to be 3 inches? Maybe?) and had to go shovel. That'll bring you nose-to-nose with Reality (which, for me, inevitably ends with me getting Reality's vicious uppercut).

So color me gobsmacked when I realized that I have only 24 days of stitching time left. No, wait. Twenty-three. Today doesn't count because I squandered my precious time (I took some time off the early part of my work day) in useless sleep. C'mon, girl, you don't need sleep. Anna apparently doesn't need sleep (Oh, and Anna? Sorry about Heather and I hijacking your blog there). Anna is rocking the house when it comes to FOs, and I have only this to show:



Not sure what it is? To be honest, I'm not certain either. So far it's a triangle of doom, frustrating the living snot out of me (ewww... gross!). Eventually it will be Clapotis, both the reason for and bane of my existence. This is the blue Malabrigo 100% Merino that I mentioned a while back. I've been working on it in secret (and, yes, ripping it back and cursing its name and throwing it in a dark corner while I wept over my inability to stitch both quickly and accurately--there was a stitch marker incident which I will not discuss here). If you look closely at the picture, you may notice my high school class ring on the right, finally finding its purpose in life (because it certainly did me no good while actually in high school).

Speaking of rings (and of distracting you from the fact that I lack adequate stitchy accomplishments), I ordered Nick's wedding ring today. It is the most beautiful ring I've ever beheld, and he's going to wear it in 8 months. (Holy hell, eight months!) It's sterling silver (he picked it! He's wonderful!) with a thin band of gold running through the center of the band, so it looks like two silver rings squishing a tiny gold ring. It's beautiful. I'm so very very excited!

Did you forget that I haven't been stitching? Neither did I. Crap. Well, I get to leave work early tomorrow which means I'm heading to the yarn store to buy some Lion Chenille Thick & Quick for Laura's scarf. She gave me some worsted weight chenille, but it has entangled itself and refuses to be worked. I've even sent it to the corner in the hopes that it will want so badly to become a scarf that it will unsnarl itself and beg for forgiveness. No dice. Now that there are only 23 damn days of stitchy worktime left, I gotta use all the tricks I can to prevent further unnecessary freakouts. (Ha! Haha! Silly girl. There's nothing you can do to stop them!)

Bonus Lesson Learned: I found out how to purl f&b from the Clapotis. I don't really think it's worth knowing, as I have to wrestle the damn thing to the ground and beat it senseless every time I get to the dreaded "pfb" part of the pattern.

Thanksgiving and the Aftermath

First of all, I didn't get drunk on the cooking wine this year, but there are still pictures. Not as many, and not as inappropriate as there would have been with the wine, but still.

Thursday morning the Beloved and I cooked a vegan risotto and a vegan version of broccoli & mushrooms florentine, to take to his aunt's house that afternoon. Now, the vegan risotto is a lovely dish and a favorite at Chez Hook despite its labor-intensive production (for those unlucky enough to be unfamiliar with risotto, it involves all of the stirring. All. The. Stirring.). The florentine, however, was a new dish. We arrived at Auntie Potty-Mouth's house (it's the name she gave herself, due to the blue streak that wraps twice around the house whenever she's awake), cheerfully bearing food and thankfulness and goodwill. We visited, we chatted, we sat down to eat. We vegans loaded our plates with the risotto and the florentine, and the salad, and just as I was thinking, "my, what a good job we did with the food," the Beloved proclaims the florentine to be horrible. Out loud. And encourages others to scrape it off their plates and into oblivion.

Now, making the florentine was his idea and mostly his domain that morning. I didn't have much to do with it, so I wasn't reduced to tears when he made his proclamation. I didn't think it was bad, and everyone else said it wasn't bad, but we do have a heck of a lot left over, and it's not exactly a hot commodity here. Lesson learned: don't bring a recipe you've never made before to Thanksgiving dinner.

We did have the most amazing pie, thanks to the other Aunt. She bakes and bakes and is fabulous, and makes truly lovely cherry pie with vegan crust. Hooray!

That night we went to my Mom's house where we found all of her side of the family (6 brothers and sisters, and all my cousins, and their children) and (treacherous woman!) more dessert. I hadn't seen some of these relatives in a hundred years, and it was a bit insane (the Beloved kind of hid round the corner from the main action).

On Friday we got ready for Saturday (The Day of the Keyes!). We chopped, washed, rearranged, boiled, thawed, and baked. We were champions of Thanksgiving preparation! We also got some of Grandma's jewelry and sterling appraised, and I made my sole purchase on Black Friday. I know! I didn't want to buy anything, but we were in this locally-owned gem shop in my tiny hometown and they had The Perfect Gift for someone at a price which caused me to say, "My Goodness, This Is Fantastic! I Cannot Pass This Up!" (seriously, I spoke in capitals). I felt horrid for purchasing anything on that Day of Evil Commercial Madness, but felt comforted because the shop was local, the owners were local, the price was amazing, and it was indeed The Perfect Gift. See how I justify? Isn't that an excellent example thereof? Yes, yes it is. Oooh, watch how I distract you with pictures of tasty goodness!



The baguette that ate my brain. I forgot that there are eight million risings and proofings that go into making this damn bread, and started it at 9:30pm. Why didn't I just make pain ordinaire? Because I am an overachieving perfectionist freak, that's why. And please don't make fun of the misshapen loaf on the right. It's not his fault he's ugly.



This is one of my favorite parts of the holidays: the PieBlob. Somehow, Mom invariably fills one of the pie crusts just to the edge and the filling goes everywhere. It's still damn tasty, but we just turn that side of it to the wall.

Saturday is kind of blurry to me. I was cooking and baking (yes! more bread!) and for the first time, ate my dinner cold. Now I know what Mom's been going through all these years that she's hosted. We had 23 people, and it was kind of a madhouse. Kind of. No, it was a total madhouse. I was lucky enough to sit next to the cousins I like the most, and who appreciated my now-famous potato bread (no pictures--I was frantically running from table to kitchen to check on the bread baking).

And this is my all-time favorite thing to see on a Thanksgiving:



In our family, the men wash the dishes after the meal. We had more participants than just these (my uncles and cousins and various boyfriends of cousins), but this is my favorite picture because here you can see (L-R) Nick, Lloyd (nursing-student-sister's boyfriend; he's a wonderful guy), and My Dad. Nick is blurry because he's Mister Efficient Action Man!!

That was my Thanksgiving: tasty food, family insanity, and being home. Yay!

I am nothing if not pie.

You Are Pumpkin Pie

You're the perfect combo of uniqueness and quality Those who like you are looking for something (someone!) special

What Kind of Pie Are You?

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

We have three family things to attend (2 tomorrow, 1 Saturday). I may have to roll all the way home. I may also be persona non blogga this weekend (although I'm sure I'll get drunk on the cooking wine [again!] and take many pictures of my wacky fams, just for fun!).

If the urge hits you, leave a comment telling us what you're thankful for this year. Seriously.

Local Woman Neglects Stitching!

"Shocking!" say friends. "Is her stash up for grabs?"

(no way in hell, my dears)

It's been a long few weeks here at Chez Hook, and it has involved very little stitching.

Two weeks ago we got the diagnosis for my Grandma, and she does indeed have cancer. Plans are being made and carried out, and I worry about both Grandma and my Mom. Grumble grumble. But Grandma is in good spirits, and we are all trying to visit her as much as possible ("all" meaning her 7 children and 14 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren). I worry that she's missing her crochet (she makes afghans for everyone in the family and in the church), but she'll get back into it after she moves to a nursing home. I did bring the Malabrigo 100% Insanely Soft Merino for her to see, and to show her that not all wool is scratchy and unbearable. She liked it.

Thursday last I had a meeting in Rockford (whence stands the hospital in which my dad and sister [the nursing student] work, and Grandma waits), so I got to see Grandma again. I also had lunch with my other sister (the library student), who of course snapped this picture of me:



It's extremely flattering, yes, but I'm not posting it for the thousands of compliments that will doubtless pour in now ("Your brow is so shiny! How do you get it so shiny??" or "My, what a lovely mouth you have! Is that your tongue? How Michael Jordan of you to need to stick your tongue out while performing your signature move!"). I'm posting it as evidence of only the second of two pieces of stitching I was able to do this week. Two! I'm going bloody mad! (note the Julie-Scarf! Not as evidence of madness, of course. Just note it.)

This is the first. And it's a Finished Object (abruptly shifted from UFO status after a small but pointed domestic storm, during which the words "if you can't finish it soon, I'm going to go buy one" were uttered. As you may have guessed, this inspired a rapid--but not hasty--finish, with only slight recrimination).



It's the long-awaited BathMat. And glad as I am to have it finished (and to have been greeted upon my return from Sit-n-Stitch [during which the BathMat was completed] with joyous exclamations of "I can shower now!"), I wish I could have been working on Christmas presents, most of which are taking more time than I thought possible.

Fortunately, tonight Heather has invited Sandi and me over for a little impromptu mini stitch-n-bitch tonight. There may be wine, and there may be strange pictures (watch tomorrow's blogs!). I may even get far enough on the [unnamed project worked in the Malabrigo 100% SoftyGoodness Merino] to post a picture.

From the Library Basement

In case you ever need to know this...

Knitting needles are used in the repair of book hinges. After you run glue down behind the loose fly-leaf, hold the fly-leaf in place by placing a knitting needle in the gutter/margin (on the public side of the fly-leaf), close the lid (cover), and place a 10-lb brick on top of the book. Use up to a size 3 needle.

Oh My Gosh

Another beautiful happy thing happened on Monday, but I lacked the photos to properly tell the story until now.

I got my ScarfMe scarf!

Thank you to Julie of Maine for making me a lovely lovely scarf that came just in time for the crappy crappy weather here in Northern Illinois (there's a menacing wind throwing snow pellets at everyone, but I just laugh and give it the finger, because I have the Scarf of Warmth). Here's how my lunch hour went on Monday:

I get home, see I have a package (hooray! I'm doing the puppy wiggle in anticipation!), open the package and see this:



Not only did she make me an amazing scarf (you'll see, just wait), she wrapped it in a lovely sub-package. With a ribbon for my hair! (You think I'm kidding, but I'm not.) When I untied the ribbon, I found this:




And that's when I started saying "Oh my gosh" a hundred times. It's Andean Silk from Knit Picks (alpaca, silk, merino... soft as the day is long and warmer than a misplaced metaphor). I've been wanting to make the Here And There Cables scarf from Scarf Style since I saw the pattern, but have been putting it off until after Christmas. And here it is! Already! No waiting!

Here's a closer look at the amazingness:



Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. And there's more!



Julie also sent these oh-so-very-hip-and-lovely notecards. They pain me with their beauty. I will share their beauty with the world, and the world shall know of the beauty of knitting! The world must know! ... Um, yes, I got a little mad with power for a moment. Moving on to the last picture (please forgive the foul flourescent lighting):



Me and my cables. Julie, thank you for making this scarf extra-long. This is how I like to wear scarves (and it saved my face from certain flying snow bullets today, walking home from work). It might look like my left eye has a weird twitch or something, but I'm just really happy.

Oh my gosh!

Five Happy-Making Things

(1)
[taken 2 weeks ago, half a block from my house, no photo editing at all. Seriously.]

(2) My fabulous Beloved has just been sworn in as an attorney. This is the last of the (many) high points along the Law School Highway. I'm so dang proud of him for wanting to make the world better via lawyering, for getting through law school with fantabulous grades (despite the tragedies of varying degree that seemed to occur at the end of every semester, just when it's time to take the final exam), for studying so hard for the bar and passing it on his first try (yay!), and for being a wonderful human being throughout the whole process. Nice power, sweetheart.

(3)
Yes, that's the Malabrigo 100% Merino Butter. Again. I can't even tell you how lucious this stuff is. I'll tell you what it's cast on for later (I have to tell certain family/friends to not read the blog for however many days it is until Christmas, or their birthdays).

(4) Sit-n-Stitch is tomorrow night (or tonight). I'm so happy to have a night with some yarny girls (and guys, in theory), who are perfectly happy to talk about whatever the heck comes up. The state of the schools, sick children, weird family members. Thank you, lovely ladies of the Noble Sit-n-Stitch (or Yarn Liberation Front, as Heather & Anna have suggested).

(5) I think we found Nick's wedding band. It's lovely, exactly what he wants, matches my ring(s)(I don't wear the band yet, obviously), and is in my price range. Dress and His Ring, cross 'em off the list. Woohoo!

I'll have one order of Normal, please.

Whew.

First: Thank you to everyone who sent me and my family good thoughts, either by comment or by email. You all really lifted my spirits, and I appreciate it tons and tons. Thank you.

Not five minutes after I posted my last post, the midwife called and I drove out to a birth. I helped catch again, and it was lovely--healthy baby & healthy mom. I got home at 5:00am and slept most of the morning (Tuesday). I found out later that day that Nick's grandmother had passed away (it wasn't sudden, but still). I went to work, had to leave work to sleep, went back to work and taught the last crochet class.

Wednesday night I saw my Grandma in the hospital for an hour. That was positive, but a little hard. I spent the night at Mom & Dad's house, drove back to DeKalb on Thursday with Nick's Mom to meet Nick and drive to Elgin for the swearing-in ceremony (Nick is now officially a lawyer!). We spent some time afterwards in Geneva, shopping with Nick's Mom (she bought us all the bread in the Great Harvest store. Almost), then back to DeKalb. Friday morning was the funeral for Nick's grandmother, and that was hard. Lunch afterward and then back home and pretty much falling asleep immediately.

I want things to be quiet and normal. I want it to be the 23rd, because then I have a 5-day weekend. Granted, there will be Thanksgiving celebrations and whatnot, but that part is fun. Of course, there's not going to be much quiet and normal for a while (we're still waiting on test results for my Grandma, which will determine where she gets moved to--Madison or Chicago) , but that's what I want. Quiet and Quiet.

Sigh.

In the interest of normality, here are pictures of the wonderful Yarn Crawl of last weekend (Nov 5th) that included Anna and Heather (don't you think Heather needs a blog?) and Me.



(The grey yarn is totally copping a feel on the red yarn at Ye Olde Yarn Shoppe)



(Heather trying not to smile even though she knows I'm taking a picture of her admiring random yarn at Ye Olde Yarn Shoppe)



(Me, overwhelmed by the amazingness of the kid mohair something-or-other at Wool & Company. I was too gobsmacked by the softness to remember what it was)

[I had a picture of Anna and Heather lounging at Wool & Company -- they have couches there, which is wonderful because the place is so huge and so full of yarny goodness that sometimes you have to sit down and just breathe -- but the picture wasn't terriffic. Heather was talking about yarn and Anna was looking away at the sock yarn, drooling a little.]



(This is what I bought. It is Malabrigo. It is 100% merino. It is the softest damn wool I've ever ever touched. I went into yarngasm when I found 2 big shelves full of this stuff. I wanted to buy for myself, but I bought for a Christmas gift which will likely be finished in time for the recipient's birthday. Next Summer.)



(And of course, we had to shuffle through the leaves on the walk back to the car)

Thanks to Anna and Heather for making the day awesome, and for putting up with my incessant chatter (I had too much green tea that morning).

By Default

I wanted to post a post full of beautiful pictures, but Blogger is being a booger and I can't. So now is the time where I write the post about my Grandma.

My Grandma Shirley watched me after kindergarten and first grade (and maybe longer), and would give me slices of white bread (which we never got at home) with butter and honey on them. She would scratch my back while we listened to old records (Liberace!) (and the old records were dusty and she would dust them off on her hip) and let me read stacks and stacks of old Archie comics (old like 1960s old). She listened to me make up stories, and she was fully supportive of me when I said I wanted to be an astronaut and that someday she would see me on the moon with my long blonde hair (it was blonde then) flowing in the non-wind. She and Grandpa lived on enough land that I was constantly finding new places to explore, but was never in danger of running into the road. Grandma Shirley gives the best hugs, because there's so much softness to hug.

Grandma is in the hospital now. She went in about a week ago, and since she's been there they've found more things that need fixing beyond the problem that brought her in. Tomorrow we get a test back that will tell us how big the problem is.

It might be cancer. (Does that get capitalized? Did you know that Galen named these things cancers because they looked like crabs? Did you know that the word "cancer" is related to the word "canker"? Did you know that the word "cancer" was brought into Middle English from the French [Old or Middle, I'm not sure] "cancre" in the 1600s? Did you know that filling your head with useless, semi-related facts helps you keep a distance from stupid reality?)

I'm not trying to be flip. I'm trying not to wig out before wigging out is required. If I don't think about it in Big Letters, then I can be stronger for my family (?maybe?). I don't know. This is new to me. When my Grandpa died, I was 8 years old and didn't know what was going on, other than everyone was sad and I was sad and holy crap thank god I hugged him and told him I loved him that one time (Grandpa was not a demonstrative man). Now I'm a grown-up (ha!) and I have to deal with these things like a grown-up. Sort of. So far that means being an hour from my family and wanting to help but being unable.

That's all I have just now.

Gearing Up for Giftmas

I've finally got time to post up pictures of How I Spent My Long-Ass Weekend (minus the birth, of course).



Here, my trusty lampshade is modeling the 4x4 rib scarf (Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Mist), which is a Christmas present for an unnamed friend or relative. This is one of the first knitting WIPs that I've attempted, and I'm kind of freaking out that it might not get done by Christmas. I didn't know that knitting took so much longer than crochet.



This is the lampshade again (doesn't she make a lovely model?) + Wine&Roses scarf, made from random swag, which could be TLC Amore and a feathery eyelash yarn whose heritage is unknown to me. The stitch is garter, the needles are 13, and it's flying by (but not as fast as crochet, more's the pity). This is either going to be sold, or it's going to a relative for Christmas. Who knows.

I've got another scarf in the works, one for my sister Laura who loves chennille. I'm not killing the surprise for her because she handed me the yarn and chosen pattern 2 weeks ago saying, "Make this for me for Christmas." Aye, cap'n. I started out in the pattern she wanted, but the chennille wasn't doing us any favors in the stitch definition department. The pattern is now up to me, and I'm thinking of something deeply textured and awesome.

And that's the end of this post, because my Beloved is in the kitchen, washing the dishes (I'm so lucky) and I should get cracking on dinner.

Done!

I have finished the ScarfMe Scarf!

It's going in the mail today!!

I have no pictures; although Erin knows I'm the one sending her a scarf, I want the opening of the package to be a surprise (hopefully a good one).

But I'm done!! Woohoo!!