Bad Blogger Me

Alright, I admit it. My blogginess has continued. But my week hasn't gotten any better. I really don't like to force my yicky moods onto others, if I can help it. (Family doesn't count). Worked my last day in the clinic - the same day that they decided to collect co-pays (at 4pm the evening before they made this decision) so I had to deal with several irritated patients, because... the secretary took the day off to have an abscessed tooth taken out (rightly so, but it was a last minute decision so I already had a whole bunch of patients on my schedule) so my day was a bit crazy, in the chicken-with-the-head-cut-off kind of way.

And then when I went out to assess the amount of damage done to my training room in my absence the next day, I learned that none of my supplies had been ordered. Even though I left a long and detailed note about how and when to do it for the person who was supposed to do it. Yikes. So I was told to go ahead and place the order. And here's how the conversation went form there :

Me - Do I need a purchasing order or an account number or need to talk to someone who handles the money at all?

Him - No.

Me - Is there anything that you can tell me about what I should/need to do?

Him - No.

So the next day, I track down the company people and get my reduced price bill from them and find out from the wonderful school secretary, that I do in fact, need a purchasing number. But of course, by the time I had gotten all this info, the nice lady in the business office had already left for the weekend. So I'm hoping that Monday is a better day. That next week is a better week. I mean, it has to be. There are only...4 days until football starts !!! As all the kids felt necessary to remind me every time they saw me walking across campus to fetch faxes and have useless conversations. That's right, FOUR days. Can you smell the smell? You know the one that is uniquely football? It's mud, sweat, pigskin, and old pads. Mmmmm, nothing like the smell of mildewy pads in the morning.

So, in all my crankiness and excitement over Harry Potter, I forgot to mention that my first ever order from Knitpicks came on Saturday. Sadly, it was incomplete, so that took a bit of the excitement away. But in the box was some of the yarn for Baby Mason's blanket, a set of US 0 DPN's, and Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitting Workshop. All of their books were 40% off and I so want to try the baby surprise jacket. And then in random web wanderings the other day, a LYS that I have yet to make it out to, has a class in September on the baby surprise jacket. So I may sign up and get it done there. Yay.

In other knitting news, I have almost gotten back to the point of THE FROG, in the Peapod. Finished the second pattern repeat yesterday. Here's what it looks like so far.

And here's how far I've gotten on my Jaywalker socks. They're done in Lorna's Laces in the special anniversary colorway for SimplySockYarn.com. LOVING them so far.

Crankiness

So it's been a week since I last blogged. Sorry, but my life hasn't been all that interesting. I got my Harry Potter and finished it before the weekend was out (wonderful by the way, but now what do I have to look forward to?). Spent all day Saturday at the Irish fest. Cleaned my room and the craft room on Sunday. Started a pair of Jaywalker socks. Decided that I need to frog the Baby Jersey blanket and find a new pattern (cheap solution) or a new yarn (expensive solution). Realized last night when I started to knit on the Peapod, for the first time in over a week, that I needed to rip out the 2 30-row repeats that I had completed. Crankiness ensued. Crankiness over the fact that I wouldn't have had to rip it out if the authors of the book that the pattern is in had not been lazy and not written out the directions for the left front panel rather than just say "do as for the right front but reverse shaping"!!!!!!!! Very angry at Tracy Ullman and Mel Clark for their pattern writing at the moment. VERY CRANKY! It's not like it's that hard to write out the pattern if you came up with it yourself. Some of us are not all that good at the pattern making - in fact some of us have never made our own pattern - so how the heck should we know exactly where the added purls go? Like I said, I've been a bit cranky. Rant is now over.

Blogger decided to work

Peggy's Socks

Wonky Baby Jersey Blanket

(do you see the unevenness?!)

Another FO... and a new project

Yippee! I finished the socks for Peggy last night!! Woohoo! And guess what came in the mail yesterday? Pretty yarn for the Baby Jersey blanket. So, of course I had to start work on the blanket last night. I think that's a rule in knitting isn't it? Any new yarn you receive in the mail must be played with the day you receive it? Something like that I'm sure. Not completely in love with the way that the pattern is looking so far. When I switch from knitting to purling in the same row, the K stitch next to the P stitch tends to be huge and stretched out, and it makes me very angry. I may have to attempt the entire basket weave blanket in Annie Modesitt's preferred style. Supposedly when you do it her way, that wonky knit stitch doesn't happen. I don't know, hate to rip it out. We'll see. (I would post some photos - but blogger doesn't seem to want to open that box for me, so maybe later.)

Curse-ed

So, I normally don't buy into the whole "Friday the 13th" bit, I'm not afraid of scary movies (I may jump, but I'm not afraid the boogey man is going to get me on my way out the car afterwards), but last night...

I started the left front of the "Peapod" and got past the 3" of ribbing for the bottom edge. And so I begin the patterned part. And that's when it all went wrong. I knit, and ripped, up to row 10 FOUR times. I don't even know exactly what the heck was going on, the cabling part was just not working out. And I was following the pattern - as it was written. So after the 4th frog, it was 11pm and I decided that I needed to put it down and go to bed. And I laid there obsessing, trying to figure out what was going wrong.

This morning, I tried to find out if there were any known errors and therefore, corrections via the web. And of course, the book isn't listed anywhere except on sites that you can buy it from and has glowing reviews, but that's it. And if you search "Peapod" the results you get are for the very popular baby Peapod sweater. And the few blogs I found whose writers were making the cardigan had gotten through the right front and had not moved on the left because the directions aren't written out - you have to reverse them on your own. Can we say FRUSTRATION?! So amongst all this searching, I decided that I would sign up for Ravelry (which everyone has been talking about, and I figured that I would just wait until it was fully up and running, or eventually when I got around to it). But the level of frustration changed my mind.

So then I broke down. I pulled out my "Cables Untangled" book (which is wonderful by the way) and I charted. I have never charted before, I've never even attempted a pattern by reading a pattern. So I worked out the chart for the right front and then the left according to the book's directions, and they didn't match. So I then charted the left from the right chart, and miracle of miracles it all started to work. So... was the knitting a bit cursed last night? Don't know, couldn't tell you, but dang it, it definitely wasn't going well.

I pulled myself away from the Peapod in order to go out to a festival with friends. Luckily, I ran into only 1 of my student athletes - which is amazing, because half of them are from that parish. I was really hoping that I wouldn't see any of them, I still have two weeks before I have to see them again - and I hadn't thought about the fact that I ran a chance of seeing them before I agreed to go. Live and learn. I think it's lucky that we left early - due to Kaylee's bedtime, I'm sure that's the reason I missed out.

Knitting Content Only

So I thought that today would be a good day to focus on the knitting part of the blog - seeing as I'm still a few weeks away from the taping part of it. Anyway, haven't knitted since last Friday. Very bad. But it's still ridiculously hot here in Mentor and I needed to get some other (knit) things done and out of the way. And I found some fun new things - to be discussed a little later.

So today after work, I went to the office supply store and got a new (pretty) binder and folders and page protectors and other stuff, but all that was to better organize all my WIP's and all those wonderful things I long to start to knit. And then I proceeded to figure out the blankets to be made for soon-to-be-arriving niece and nephew and wrote them out. Then I wrote out the pattern that my sister expressed some interest, and then the "Ballband Dishcloth" pattern from Mason-Dixon Knitting, so that all my library books could be returned on time tomorrow after work. Woohoo. No I just have to organize and put them all away. No problem.

The other knit related thing that took up some of my time this evening was me joining some KAL's. Maybe I've gone a bit crazy, but I found a link on a blog I was reading for a list of KAL's, and wouldn't you know it, the second from the top is a Football-Along. Now, anyone who knows me will know that there was no way, absolutely no way possible, that I would not click on that link and sign up as soon as I figured out that it combines football and knitting. So I did. Then I go back to the list and scroll down. And what do I find? One called "Black and Gold KAL". Hmmm, could it possibly be that somehow there is a sight devoted to combining my love of the Steelers and my love of knitting in a way to meet other people just as obsessed with those two things as I am? Surely not. So I clicked on it.

And there it was, a knit-along devoted to people who love the Black and Gold - whether it be the Steelers, the Pirates, the Penguins, or any other team with the colors of black and gold. But seeing as it is done up by someone in Pittsburgh, I think it's safe to say that I will see many wonderful idea for some Steeler knits for the fam. Now I just have to get all my other projects done so that I can start something. So excited. Can't wait to figure out how to get the button on here somehow.

I promise that tomorrow night, there will be some knitting. Hopefully some finishing of a pair of socks and a right front panel to a cardigan in seafoam green. (It's supposed to be significantly cooler here tomorrow, can you tell?)

P.S. I can't tell you how bummed I am that I missed out on the Mystery Stole 3 PHENOMENON that is taking place over with Pink Lemon Twist. Silly vacation getting in the way of new knitting projects. So jealous of everyone who is having fun with the lace making and beading. Next year......

Travel Log Day 14: The End

And I am once again back home in Ohio. The trip back to Pittsburgh was uneventful. Had a good time with Liz - even if she did have to work last night. We decided that I should spend last night at her place after the drink I ordered at dinner ended up being a lot bigger than expected. Probably for the best anyway. And the drive this morning went really quickly - except for the part where there was like a 20 car caravan of Michigan plates - all going 80 mph in a 50 mph work zone I might add.

Spent the rest of today trying to stay as cool as possible and failing miserably. For those of you who don't know what the weather here in beautiful NE OH was today - it's still about 90 and it's almost 10pm. Yick. It's supposed to be just as hot tomorrow and Tuesday too - luckily I get to spend all day in the wonderfully freezing air-conditioned mundaneness of work. It feels like it's been ages since I've been to work. Definitely not so happy about the ending of the whole vacation thing. As promised, here are all those photos that I couldn't post while away from home

Charlie and Donkey at the rehearsal

All 3 Charlie's at Devil's DenMe and both my nephews (will post a better one from another camera soon)

The beautiful couple

The view from Jefferson's Rock in Harper's Ferry, WVThe Liberty BellThe swanky apartment view from the Duck Tour

No knitting pictures of course - haven't finished the sock yet - so close. I just didn't get a chance once I got to Pittsburgh and it was too hot to do anything today. Maybe tomorrow. My last day in Philly - I coaxed mom into finding Loop. Oh the time and money I could have spent in that store. And... they wound my yarn for me!!! I know that the knitters out there are rolling their eyes at me, because what yarn store doesn't wind yarn purchased there? The one I went to around here - will not name it though. They had a sign over their winder that said "NO WINDING". What is the point of having the funny looking wooden thing out in front of customers if you won't help them out with it? So much time saved. So much more effective than sitting with it around my knees. Maybe on my birthday wish list... Anyway, disappointingly, or not, I got more sock yarn - some really pretty colorway of Lorna's Laces. Can't remember the name and it's still with mom in NJ. But it's sooo pretty. Saw lots of colors and yarns I so badly wanted to get - but I didn't know any of the amounts that I would need for any of the blankets or other things I'd like to work on. But I can always go online and order from them - they did give me a free tote bag after all. So anyone near Philly - go to Loop. It's so nice and the ladies that were working were also so nice. Alright - it's been 45 minutes since I started this post, so I think it's time to end it.