Made some progress on Neckdown Summer Cardi over the last few days:



I love the eyelets formed by yarnovers along the raglan lines -- very pretty. I'm also liking this Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece -- the 20% merino wool makes the cotton a little less offensive to knit with :-)

I bought my first issue of INKnitters the other day. Although this magazine has some terrific articles on technique, the patterns have always left me cold. But I found a very cute little cardi in this issue that I might make up in cotton rather than wool:



Our Budding Segovia
RockStar has his first classical guitar recital this Sunday. It will be held in a rehearsal hall/classroom on the University of California San Diego campus, and is a joint production of RockStar's guitar teacher and his wife, a voice teacher. There'll be about 16 students (half guitar, half voice) performing. If our video camera performs properly (don't ask about the time the battery died in the courtyard of the Louvre, right at the start of our tour of Paris), then I should have some pictures on Monday. RockStar will be performing an original piece he wrote himself. I wish his paternal grandfather was still alive to see this. The man was a high school band director and composing musician, and would be thrilled to see RockStar composing and performing his own original music.

Watch What You Throw Away!
Or it may end up at this place. I've always been fascinated by the detritus of people's lives -- the things they discard, leave behind, give up. Apparently, someone else is, too! Found Magazine is an amazing online collection of stuff discarded by people. Link courtesy of Jenny.

Happy Friday, everyone.

Mea Culpa, Peeps!
I feel bad because I feel I've been sort of "phoning in" my blog entries over the last week or so. There really isn't much going on in my life right now, ergo, nothing to blog about. Ho-hum! I did start swatching for my mother's birthday present: a Knitting Pure & Simple Neckdown Summer Cardigan, in Brown Sheep's Cotton Fleece, Teddy Bear shade:



I started the swatch on 7s as called for, but *thought* I wasn't getting gauge. So I knit a few rows on 8s, and remeasured. Turns out 7s were the right needle in the first place. Classic case of operator error. This looks like it'll be a fast and fun knit, and I think my mom will really like it. Her birthday's on July 5th, so if I get crackin' I should have no trouble getting it done.

It's That Time of Year!
The Gunne Sax dress. The Farrah Fawcett hair. The wrist corsage. Your date's tux with the velvet-trimmed lapels and color-coordinated ruffled shirt. Ahh, prom memories. Lest you forget, check out this this link. Be sure to check out the gallery. Link courtesy of The Obscure Store.

Happy Wednesday, everyone.

Yeow, another Monday! How do they sneak up so fast?

Made some progress on Big Cotton Cardie:



And made a few inches of progress on the Shades of Roses crocheted scarf. Sorry, the shot's a bit blurry:



Is Your Real Estate Agent a Celebrity?
Gawd, I hope so. If yours isn't, then perhaps you need one of these guys. Link courtesy of Sharpeworld, via Mr. Pants.

Keeping it short 'n sweet, 'cuz it's Monday. Get through it any way you can, babies. See ya Wednesday.

I'd like to go fly past mountains
See mama frog at her fountain
Ambrosia, Mama Frog

(frog graphic pulled for bandwidth)

Yes, my children, it's off to the frog pond we go! To commemorate my occasional dunks among the cattails, I whipped up Mama Frog in Adobe Illustrator awhile back.

Both Big Cotton Cardie and Shades of Roses Painted Scarf got dunked in the pond over the past few days. Big Cotton was frogged back a dozen or so rows 'cuz I messed up the short rowing around the wrists. I reacquainted myself with short rows with Bonne Marie's excellent tutorial, and reknit the rows. Pictures on Monday. The Roses Scarf also needed some minor frogging (about 3 rows), but it really hurt to unravel them, since they represented about 3 hours of work! Pictures of Roses on Monday, too.

Apropos of Nothing -- 10 Songs of the Sea
Well, actually I'm prompted by the memory of my maternal grandfather teaching Sea Shanties to my little brother (not always the "clean" ones, either!). My brother has been in the Navy for 13 years, now. I'm very proud of him.

Beyond the Sea, Bobby Darin

Brandy (You're a Fine Girl), Looking Glass

Captain of Her Heart, Double

Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude, Jimmy Buffett

If I Had a Boat, Lyle Lovett

I'm Your Captain, Grand Funk Railroad

Southern Cross, Crosby, Stills & Nash

Sailing, Christopher Cross

Sea of Love, The Honeydrippers

Son of a Son of a Sailor, Jimmy Buffett

Happy Friday, everyone!

And in the night you'll hear the voices calling down and they will stay
But only time will tell the answer you've been blinded from today.
Queensryche, Blinded

I haven't done any knitting worth speaking of, but I did start the crocheted Shades of Roses Painted Scarf last night. OMG, that thread is tiny. I'm working with three strands held together and it's still tiny! Here's a shot of the 8 shades of Madeira 30wt Rayon Machine Embroidery Thread I chose for the ombre shading. The thread colors range from dark rose red to white (Madeira colors 1281, 1186, 1110, 1117, 1116, 1108, 1013, 1001). Check out the "cheater" glasses I picked up at the drugstore to help see this darn thread:



I finished 2-1/2 rows last night before calling it quits. The cheater glasses are 1.25 power; I'm thinking of getting a pair of 2.5 or 3.0s for this project. Here's my progress thus far. Note the quarter in the picture to get an idea of scale. The finished scarf is 6-1/8" wide.



Bonding With Your Surly Teenager
RockStar and I have a ritual we perform 3x per week. We Tivo episodes of Metal Mania that air on the VH1 Classic channel on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. We watch them together when I get home from work. RockStar is allowed to be somewhat profane in his criticism of the endless procession of hair bands from the '80s that air with nauseating regularity on each episode. He forces me to endure the first 30 seconds of all Warrant videos, specifically because I think lead singer Jani Lane looks like an ugly, wet-eyed puppy. It's RockStar's way of harmlessly getting in some licks at the maternal parental unit. When parenting a surly teenager raging with hormones and insecurities, you take your victories where you can. Three times a week, RockStar and I get along. I'll take that.

Happy Wednesday, everyone.

Knitting Updates
None. See topic below for the reason!

Why Is This Man Smiling?


Because he just competed in, and finished, the 2004 Desert International Triathlon in La Quinta, CA (south of Palm Springs) this weekend!

Here's a shot of his fellow teammates. Mind you, they're all in their 20s and 30s. They welcomed Tom (51yo) into their group, and helped him train for this event. One of them was even the Brazilian Junior Triathlon Champion in his teens. He was the most supportive and inspirational person to Tom. Overall, a very cool bunch of young people.



Here's Tom rounding the last bouy toward shore in the swim portion. The swim was held in a manmade reservior in La Quinta.



Here's a very happy Tom minutes after crossing the finish line!



I'm so proud of Tom. He's been an inspiration to me from the day we met, and continues to surprise and inspire me to this day.

Happy Monday, everyone.

She's so mean but I don't care
I love her eyes and her wild wild hair
dance to the beat that we love best
heading for the nineties
living in the wild wild west
the wild wild west
Escape Club, Wild, Wild West

Before I left for Portland, I bought 6 skeins of Berroco Suede to make this:

Ride 'em, Cowgirl! Berroco "Oakley" Shawl


Suede is so yummy. And Berroco is right -- it does feel like the real thing. My LYS didn't have the book containing the pattern, but I remembered scanning it at another store and that Oakley took 5 skeins. Being the semi-paranoid, afraid-of-running-out-of-yarn kinda gal that I am, I bought 6 skeins. I ended up finding the book at the Yarn Garden in Portland. When I opened it up to doublecheck the amount of Suede needed, a slip of paper fell out. It was an Errata page, informing the buyer that Oakley took 6 skeins. I feel ever so … psychic. Sy-kik. Sigh. Kick. OK, I'll stop now.

Freaky Friday Frivolity
Swiped from Nancy, who swiped it from Gidget, who swiped it from Iris, who swiped it from Monica (sounds like a "begets" lesson from the Bible :-)

A - Age: 42
B - Band listening to right now: The Cult, "Sonic Temple"
C - Career future: Fine Jewelry Designer (fingers crossed)
D - Dad's name: Mike
E - Easiest person to talk to: my husband Tom
F - Favorite song (right now): "Love Removal Machine" by The Cult
G - Gummy Bears or Gummy Worms: Neither (yuck)
H - Hometown: Portland, OR
I - Instruments: None
J - Job: Graphic Designer
K - Kids: RockStar, 15
L - Longest car ride ever: Driving from Portland, OR to Palm Springs, CA in 2 days (don't recommend it)
M - Mom's name: Judith
N - Number of people you slept with: None of your beeswax!
O - Observation: Kids these days have an overdeveloped and undeserved sense of entitlement. That scares me.
P - Phobia[s]: Having anything around my neck (scarf, turtleneck). I think I must have been strangled in a previous life …
Q - Quote: "She was not quite what you would call refined. She was not quite what you would call unrefined. She was the kind of person that keeps a parrot. --Mark Twain
R - Reason to smile: I found my soulmate. And married him.
S - Song you sang last: "Hey Mama," Black Eyed Peas
T - Time you wake up: 5:30
U - Unknown fact about me: I am a heavy metal music fan. Ozzy loves ya, man.
V - Vegetable you hate: Brussels Sprouts
W - Worst habit: Procrastinating
X - X-rays you've had: Teeth, esophagus & stomach.
Y - Yummy food: Chocolate. Chocolate. Did I say chocolate?
Z - Zodiac sign: Pisces. We're so melllllow. But don't piss us off. Or you're out of the Circle of Trust.

This'll Fill That Aching Void … or Spot on the Wall (Whichever Applies)
Bet you're missing this in your life. I know I am. Link courtesy of Gwen.

Happy Friday, everyone!

Don't you want to be me? I know I do."
Arthur Bach, "Arthur" (1981)

I'm back! It was a great trip -- ate too much, Portland had gorgeous weather while I was there -- but like many things in life, you gotta take the bitter with the sweet. I already miss my mom and sister like crazy! But it was good to see them, along with the rest of my family; just hard to say goodbye at the end of the visit. But I feel extremely blessed to have love waiting for me at home (The Handsome Prince!) Oh, and like the total dork that I am, I forgot my camera. So no Portland Pix :-(

I managed to knit maybe twice while I was gone. The Big Cotton Cardie is cardie-ing along on big honkin' size 10 needles and this crazy Araucania Nature Cotton that feels dry and dusty -- that feeling you get digging potatoes out of the garden when the ground is dry and crumbly. I much prefer the sproingy feel of wool. This sweater pattern is super easy, but I truly think it was translated from another language (German maybe? Who makes OnLine yarn? It's their pattern.) If I weren't a seasoned knitter, I would have gotten lost long ago in this pattern's colloquial take on English. The back and sleeves are combined, so we gotta lot of stitches crammed on the needles:

Back and Right Sleeve, Stretched Out


Closeup of Yarn. Looks like a Rag Mop, huh?


Managed to slip in a quick trip to the Yarn Garden in Portland. Also managed to not buy any yarn(!), but did indulge in 2 cute Sirdar patterns:



I lusted after the new 1000 Sweaters book, but managed to get a grip on myself.

Oh! Crochet Buddy Bron is thinking about starting a crochet blog. I feel a much-needed crochet renaissance is about to hit the blog world. I recently snuck a crochet blog in at the bottom of my Daily Reads List -- did anyone notice?

I also subscribed to this magazine, solely to get this pattern:

Shades of Roses Painted Scarf


I've ordered the Size 14 steel crochet hook (tiny! tiny!) and am searching for the rayon machine embroidery thread used (3 strands held together, 8 shades ranging from deep red to white!). Say it loud and say it proud! I Love Crochet!

It feels good to be back. Happy Wednesday, everyone.

April 6, 1992: A Palm Springs Fairy Tale
Twelve years ago, a young(ish) woman set out alone, to the desert kingdom of Palm Springs. She was recently detached from a Horrible Man, and pluckily piloted her old-but-trusty VW Camper Van southward from the rainy forests of Oregon, to start a new life in the warmth of the desert. She started a fine little business to support herself, made friends, and even dated a little. For a time, life was good for this Oregon Girl.

But after several months, Oregon Girl realized she had a business problem. A problem involving numbers -- numbers that would not add up, would not total, would not make sense. Unfortunately, Oregon Girl had a long and troubled history of getting her numbers to add up correctly. A deadline requiring these numbers was quickly drawing nigh. A Certain Date in April. A date that could not be broken.

But Oregon Girl was wise beyond her years, and knew when to seek the help of Professionals. She quizzed acquaintances, "Who can make sense of these numbers? Who totals your bottom line and comes up with the correct number, allowing payment to be rendered unto Caesar?" She received an answer: "Miserable & Associates, Certified Public Accountants, right down the street." Oregon Girl called M&A and spoke to a friendly woman who made her an immediate appointment for April 6th. "Hmm," thought Oregon Girl, "What a nice person to get me an appointment so quickly! She truly understands the math problem I'm experiencing!"

But mystical, magical forces were in play that Oregon Girl wasn't privy to. The friendly voice at M&A was in cahoots with another nice person at the firm. These poorly paid but good-hearted wage slaves had a plan. For at this firm, run by a mean Ogre (Mr. Miserable, CPA), was a tall, dark, handsome, young(ish) Prince from Ohio, recently detached from a Horrible Woman and currently in exile in the desert kingdom of Palm Springs. The good-hearted wage slaves' plan was simple: fix up the Handsome Prince with every available woman client that called at the firm until they found a perfect match! Oregon Girl was the first woman to be snared in their plan.

The fateful appointment day of April 6th dawned. Oregon Girl gathered her papers with their confusing numbers and paid a call at M&A. There she met Elaine, the nice voice on the other end of the phone. She and her fellow wage slave, Aimee, welcomed Oregon Girl to the firm's waiting area. They informed the Handsome Prince that his 3:30pm appointment had arrived. The Prince peeked around the corner to see whom it was the wage slaves had made such a fuss over. His initial reaction as recorded in his appointment book, which he has kept to this day, was but a single word: "Wow."

But the Prince was all business. Despite the wage slaves' good-hearted scheming, the Prince was an Ethical Man. He did not date his clients, unlike some (quote-unquote) Professionals. He escorted Oregon Girl into the M&A conference room, and asked Pointed and Proper Questions Pertaining to The Problem. But the attraction between The Prince and Oregon Girl was immediate and undeniable. They concluded their business and made an appointment for Oregon Girl to pick up her papers the following week. The Prince watched as Oregon Girl drove her trusty VW Camper Van off into the desert.

The second meeting of The Prince and Oregon Girl was as electrically charged as the first. The Prince handed Oregon Girl her correctly totaled papers. "You had a math error. You're actually getting money back," he said. "Lovely!" said Oregon Girl, and wrote M&A a check. Their business concluded, the Prince and Oregon Girl spoke of many things during the second half of their meeting; strange and magical things such as past hockey injuries suffered by The Prince. Oregon Girl was charmed by this handsome Prince from the Midwest, who was as honest as the day was long and played no Games. This was quite unlike the other Would-Be Princes of this desert kingdom that Oregon Girl had dated, with their Leased Mercedes and Smooth Facades that hid their true shark-like natures.

Their Business officially concluded, the Prince did something very Out of Character that continues to surprise him to this very day: he asked Oregon Girl out on a date. She accepted, but only after verifying that indeed, the Prince had never, ever dated his clients. But Oregon Girl was no longer a client! Their business had been concluded, and the Prince recommended another accounting firm. He would no longer total Oregon Girl's mangled numbers.

Or would he?

Twelve years after that Fateful Meeting on April 6, 1992, the Prince and Oregon Girl behave as though they're still dating. They married nearly 11 years ago in another magical desert kingdom, Las Vegas. The wage slaves' goodhearted plan succeeded admirably: Oregon Girl was the first woman client to be snared in their scheme, and obviously fated to be The Prince's One True Love. They recently welcomed a new addition to their family: RockStar, aka The Prince of Wails.

So it continues, to this day. The Prince and Oregon Girl live happily ever after, although Oregon Girl's numbers are still mangled and rarely total correctly.

--Dedicated with Love to my Handsome Prince of Palm Springs, Keeper of My Bottom Line

And now, my Faithful Readers, I bid you adieu for a week while I take a much-needed vacation. Love and good things to all of you :-)

Morning, y'all. I'm still sleepy, so I'll keep this short! Made some more progress on Cabled Hoodie:

Left & Right Fronts -- Armhole decreases started


Monday Morning Mischief
Courtesy of GirlReaction, an Anagram Generator. Plugging in my first and last names generated such gems as "Madame Ye," "Medea Amy," and lots of other nonsense. My full name (using Amelia) generated "LimeAde Mae." Yup, that'll be my new nickname. LimeAde Mae.

Happy Monday, everyone.

Lend me some sugar!
I am your neighbor!
OutKast, "Hey Ya!"

It's Friday, I'm going on vacation to Portland next week, and life is good. Wanna come to our weekly department Breakfast Meeting later this morning? Doughnuts and knitting are on the menu. The doughnuts are from Tasty Doughnuts, one of the many Asian-owned doughnut businesses in San Diego. Of all the Asian Doughnut shops I've tried, Tasty beats 'em crullers-down. I've got my eye on the Apple Fritter (slap!) Hey! Hands off my fritter!

Yum!


That big 'ol ball of cotton is Araucania Nature Cotton from Elann. The new Clover size 10 wooden needles are for the airplane next Wednesday. The doughnuts serve no purpose other than to induce a carb-stupor from 9-11am this morning. Again, life is good.

They Did Not Go Softly Into the Night …
San Diego has an upcoming Health and Beauty Expo, sponsored by Rite Aid Drugstores and to be held over 2 days at the San Diego Convention Center. There's heavy print and radio advertising touting this upcoming event, billed as a "Weekend of Health & Beauty Advice and FREE Entertainment!" A quick scan of the web site reveals "entertainment" activities such as FREE Photo and Fingerprint ID for Your Child, a NASCAR simulator, and FREE Hairstyling (their capitalization on FREE, not mine). Maybe you can get your hair styled while in the NASCAR simulator. Now that would be entertaining, wouldn't it?

The radio ads are pretty funny. The announcer is practically breathless with excitement, listing the (quote-unquote) celebrities that will be attending this life changing event! They're all what I would characterize as either "second-tier" and/or faded celebrities: Josie Bissett (actress from Melrose Place), Billy Blanks (Tai Bo creator), Jackie Zeman (actress on General Hospital). And the funniest part is at the end of the radio ad, there's the vocal equivalent of fine print when the announcer quickly says, "Celebrities subject to change without notice!" Hey! If I'm coming to see Josie Bissett, damn it, I want to see Josie Bissett! Not that chick from Baywatch Nights whose name I can't remember!

Happy Friday, everyone!

P.S. Spring Knitty is here! More yummy goodness, and no calories!

Wednesday Brain Fart
Well, I had intended to show y'all the goodies that arrived Monday afternoon from Elann and RamWools, but I uploaded the wrong pictures to my host server. Grrr.

Hey, Hey, Mama
Check out this site for some dead-sexy sweater patterns. I particularly love this one. Puts the "grrr" back in tiger, wouldn'cha say?

Play That Funky Music, White Girl
Courtesy of this link from Hairball, you can get your own DJ Name. I came up as DJ Techno Hoodlum (cool). My sister (Jane) came up as DJ Saucy Cheese, DH came up as DJ Evil Repeater (huh?), and RockStar came up as DJ Master God. I'm not telling him that, or he'll never get his swelled head through the doorway.

Happy Wednesday, everyone.

Mundane Monday
Eh, it's Monday. We have a Santa Ana wind condition here in San Diego, making for a bee-yoo-ti-ful clear sunny day at the beach, where I most definitely will not be. Oh well.

Got a lot done on the Left and Right Fronts of Cabled Hoodie:



Good Customer Service Experience
In this era of "the customer isn't king," I like to give kudos where deserved. I subscribe to the Knitting Beyond the Hebrides knitting list. Occasionally, mention is made of the Interweave Knits Winter 99/00 issue featuring Jade Starmore's very pretty "Beadwork" cardigan pattern (pages 44-47). This issue is no longer available in print and can be found on EBay, if one is willing to pay the premium to obtain the issue. At this time, I am not. So I was pleased to discover a recent KBTH message thread revealing this nugget of info: if one calls Interweave Press Customer Service they will, for a $5.00 per article fee, photocopy any article featured in issues that are no longer available in print. They have a handy index to locate the issue that contains the article you're looking for.

I am willing to pay $5.00 for this pattern. I called the number (800-272-2193), and spoke to a very nice lady in Customer Service (whose name I cannot remember!). She grabbed her back copy of Winter 99/00, verified the article, and said, "Oh, that's only 4 pages! If you don't mind a black and white photocopy, I'll just drop it in the mail for you." At no charge. Well, you could have knocked me over with a feather. When was the last time someone went out of their way to do something nice for you, at no benefit to themselves? Yup, I received a Knitting Mitzvah. You rule, Interweave Press.

Eye Opener
Watched the movie Thirteen on pay-per-view yesterday. My God, what a disturbing movie. I know that all girls are not like 13yo Tracy and Evie, but this movie reminded me that there were always a couple of girls you remember in 7th and 8th grade who flew much closer to the sun than the rest of us. I've forgotten many of the names of "nice girls" that I attended school with (of which I was one), but I can still name the half-dozen "bad girls." Strange, that.

Happy Monday, everyone.

What Price Nostalgia?
Spring has arrived in San Diego, where the seasons are so subtle if you blink you'll miss 'em. I was jonesing for some sandals and felt a nostalgic pang for some good old-fashioned Dr. Scholls. You fellow '70s gals remember 'em -- wooden platform with the buckle and the famous "toe bump?" A quick Google search quickly dashed my hopes. Apparently, Dr. Scholls are cool again, and the price of the basic model is $40. Forty dollars! Geez. And if you want the ultra-cool "Julian" model by designer Paul Frank, be prepared to shell out $78 for these cuties:

Monkey Business


So to console myself, I toodled over to Elann and picked up some Spring Knitting Goodies:

I'm Cottoning Up to This


I've Got a Sonata in My Heart


Big Cotton for This Sweater


Lacey Cotton Pattern


And I made a little progress on Cabled Hoodie. I'm on the last row of the waistband ribbing for the Left and Right Fronts:

Waist Not, Want Not


Frisky Friday
My Dear Husband is training for a Half Triathlon, aka a Sprint. I'm so proud of him -- he's training like an SOB getting ready for the race, which will be held in La Quinta, CA (south of Palm Springs) in mid-April. His laser beam focus on training is admirable, but certain things on the home front are going, um, wanting. On that note, I present, in no particular order, Amy's Top 5 Makeout Songs of All Time. Dedicated to you, honey. Hope it inspires you :-)

Me and Mrs. Jones, Billy Paul

Let's Stay Together, Al Green

Miracles, Jefferson Starship

Stranglehold, Ted Nugent (Hey, I'm a child 'o the '70s, what can I say?)

Son of a Preacher Man, Dusty Springfield

Happy Friday, everyone.

DR. SCHOLLS UPDATE! (March 29th) There's an EBay seller who has new Dr. Scholls for decent prices. I may have to indulge!

Wilted Wednesday
Got about 10 rows of ribbing done on the left and right fronts of Cabled Hoodie last night; nothing worth posting a picture of. RockStar and I went to WalMart last night to purchase yet another CD player for him; this kid goes through portable CD players like water. Lest you think I buy this kid whatever he wants, think again. I spotted him $20 towards a new player; he has to make up the difference. He chose a $48 Sony model and gave up his allowance until the balance is paid off. We'll see how long this one lasts.

As a reward to myself for braving the wilds of WalMart, I picked up 8 skeins of Bernat Cotton Tots, a soft 100% cotton yarn marketed toward making baby clothes and blankets. But it seems like it would make a nice summer sweater. It's also inexpensive ($3.49 for 4oz) and comes in nice pastel colors that are perfect for summer. I chose Little Boy Blue, a nice robin's egg shade:



ADD = All Darn Day
Hot damn! It's that time of the month, time for the Ritalin Shuffle! I swear, trying to be a responsible parent and keep RockStar in Ritalin is daunting at times. A big part of the problem is that in the State of California, Ritalin is a controlled substance requiring a fresh triplicate prescription every 30 days (no refills), verification by the dispensing doctor of where the prescription was last filled, etc., etc. On a non-ADD afflicted person, Ritalin acts like speed, so apparently there's a problem with kids selling their pills to other kids, and prescriptions being stolen and/or forged. Anyway, this month's wrinkle is the doctor springing an evaluation request on us at the last minute before he'll dispense a new prescription for the next 30 days, necessitating some lost time at work for me and at school for RockStar. Not a problem, just frustrating.

And to continue the day's theme of "All About RockStar," at 4pm today we have an appointment, en famile, with RockStar's guidance counselor at school to discuss alternative school possibilities. DH heard through the grapevine that the San Diego Performing Arts High School is fine for the "performing arts" part, but isn't too hot academically. There's another Performing Arts High School on Coronado Island, which we haven't checked out, yet. There's also a Charter School in our community, which offers more of a self-directed type of learning environment. I have reservations about self-directed learning. It's fine and dandy while your child is in high school, but unless he goes to a similar type of college (i.e., Brown), he'll be right back in a traditional learning environment for college. The upside is that RockStar will have an additional two years of maturity under his belt by the time he's in college, and might be able to handle the traditional environment and its requirements by then. But I'm putting the cart before the horse. We'll see what today's appointment with the counselor brings.

Happy Wednesday, everyone.

RockStar Update, Thursday, 9:30am Pacific Time: Both of yesterday's appointments went well. RockStar is being evaluated for a different ADD med that isn't a triplicate (refills, yippee!), and we've started the paperwork to transfer him to the Performing Arts High School. He's been warned, though, that it's a "high-draw" magnet school with a waiting list and he may not get in next year. We'll see what happens over the summer.

Pilgrims Progress
Finished the sleeves on Cabled Hoodie this weekend:

Taped, but Unblocked


... and started the ribbing for the Left & Right Fronts! Happy, happy, joy, joy, I may actually get this thing finished before long.

Growing Up With a Pretty Mother
I had a Pretty Mom when I was growing up. How pretty? So pretty that little girls in my class would come up to me and say in admiring tones, "Your mom is soooo pretty." This sort of dynamic can sometimes set up an inferiority complex in a little girl. Not me. I was proud of having the prettiest mom in class.

Circa 1972, my mom was the neighborhood Cher -- she was tall, slender, and had long, straight, dark brown hair with bangs. She and her best friend, our neighbor Joyce Fletcher, swanned about the neighborhood in velvet hot pants, knee-high go-go boots, and long, fringed leather vests. She was a goddess. But after my parents divorced, it made for some interesting times. My mom has always been the type of person to attract, well, fringe sort of people. Of the male variety. There was never a State Fair or carnival that some snaggle-toothed, in-need-of-a-bath carnie didn't try hitting on my mom. While strapping down the safety bar on The Spider, they'd lean over conspiratorially and say to my sister and me (ages 4 and 7, respectively), "Yore mom's shore purdy. Think she'd go out for a beer with me?" Sure, buddy, you have my permission to date my mom. Can I have an extra round on The Spider if I tell her you like her?

I don't have quite the same problem as my mother. I tend to attract people of the "wounded bird" variety. I can't tell you over the years just how many people of borderline personality disorder, mild (and not-so-mild) sociopathy, and the just-plain-needy seem drawn to me. Same with kids and animals. It's some sort of palpable maternal comfort vibe that I unconsciously emanate. DH calls it my "Mom Ray." This "thing" of mine caused problems until I learned to distance myself a bit while getting to know people. I guess it's better than carnies hitting on me, but sometimes I wonder.

Happy Monday, everyone.

No real knitting progress to speak of -- certainly not enough to post a picture. I wish I was one of those multi-WIP people, with 39 WIPs to shuffle like a deck of cards, but alas, it's just not me. So let me entertain you with some Friday Fluff:

Calling Oliver Stone or Michael Moore
I'm hot on the trail of a possible cosmetics cover-up -- a conspiracy of hygiene hijinx; a veritable depilatory debacle. It all started about a year ago when I discovered that the Great American Bastion of bulk consumerism, Costco, sold my favorite Gillette Venus razorblades in a 16-pack for about $24.00. Expensive, yes, but I have a long and boring history of whining about shaving my legs (just ask my mother or sister; they're certainly sick of hearing about it). No blade is sharp enough for me. The trees in my home state of Oregon aren't just in the forest -- they're on my legs as well and require superhuman methods of removal.

About the time I was eyeing the Ginsu knives in the kitchen, I discovered the Venus razorblade. Super-sharp, triple-blade, lubricating strip; I was in depilatory heaven. But ay, mamacita, they were expensive! Refills, even at WalMart, averaged about $7.00 for 4 blades. Ouch! So I was quite pleased to find these wicked little gems at Costco.

I happily filled my handy little Venus Shaving System razor 'n blade shower holder, slapped a sharp new blade into the Venus handle, and proceeded to completely rip up my legs. What the heck? Not wanting waste my investment, I continued shaving 'n ripping until I used up all the blades. The next Venus refill was a 4-blade pack purchased from WalMart. Ahh, here were the blades I was expecting -- smooth shave, no cuts or scrapes. Continuing with the experiment, I purchased another 24-pack of blades from Costco last weekend -- again becoming an unwilling blood bank donor in my own bathtub. Nowhere on the packaging did it say these blades were manufactured for Costco, but I suspect they're either just that, or they're inferior seconds that didn't pass Quality Control at Gillette. Pretty crummy on Gillette's part, I think.

I also had a similar experience with my favorite deodorant, Secret Sheer Dry (in my favorite perkily-named scent, "Optimism!" I shudder to think what "Despair!" smells like). Works great if I purchase it from the drugstore; crummy, inferior results from supposedly the same product purchased in a 3-pack from Costco. Oliver or Michael, can I get a film crew on this, now?

Happy Friday, everyone.

"may the road rise to meet you
may the wind be always at your back
and may you find yourself in the palm of God's hand
an hour before the devil knows you're gone ..."
--Old Irish Saying, dedicated to my sweet Irish Grandma, Margaret ...

I think Roberts Rules of Order states that New Business must be dealt with first, so here's the latest progress on Cabled Hoodie:



The sides of the sleeve are being shy and curling up, so you can't see where I've started the underarm shaping. Here's a closeup of the bobbles:



No old business, so we're on to "What The...?"

I don't know if this particular peculiarity is nationwide, but here in California we tend to have, well, strange business names:

Casual Dining and Barstools

Fan Diego

The Wacky Wicker

Beverages and More! (the "and More!" worries me)

Coffins for Less!

And we have strange sales. Usually for outsized items.

Giant Used Car Sale

Giant Tent Sale(to store that Giant Used Car in?)

Giant Shoe Sale (to step on that Giant Accelerator)

Do you have any strange business names in your area?

A sweet little birdie brought a Birthextenday Present to me on Saturday, all the way from Michigan!

Crystal Palace's Squiggle Yarn!


Even though we've never met face-to-face, Marcia and I have struck up a wonderful friendship via email and our blogs. That's the beauty of the knit blog community -- people who may never actually meet can still find friendship and support, thousands of miles from each other. I find it to be a precious thing, indeed. Thank you, little birdie!

A quick perusal of the Crystal Palace website reveals several tantalizing possibilities for Squiggle:

Squiggle, alone

Squiggle and Trio

Squiggle and Fizz

Ah, the possibilities!

Got some work done on Cabled Hoodie. I'm just starting the underarm shaping and sleeve cap decreases -- pictures on Wednesday.

Happy Monday, everyone!

Thanks to everyone for making my (not-so-secret) birthday last the whole week! Got lots of nice comments and emails wishing me well -- very nice :-)

What's not so nice is this #$@* thread crochet stuff. I'm trying a different motif (for the last sweater on the right in Monday's entry -- the one with short sleeves and the wide v-neck), and there's either an error in the pattern, or *operator* error (most likely the latter!) Instead of a nice, flat motif, I'm ending up with this little, scrunched-up, cup-shaped thing. Grrr. Think I'll put it down for a few days and work on Cable Hoodie. Cable knitting never lets me down.

And This Matters, Because … ?
The knit lists occasionally get in a kerfuffle about the various methods of knitting. Endless discussion ensues debating the merits of English, Continental, Eastern Continental Uncrossed, Sumatran Leg-Behind-The-Head, etc. Personally, I could care less how I knit, as long as I get gauge, maintain even tension, and eventually get a sweater (or whatever) out of the deal. But in a fit of boredom, I decided to actually put a name to my method.

I learned to knit at age 8 from my left-handed grandmother (I'm right-handed). We quickly became frustrated trying to work together, and like an uncomfortable mother handing her adolescent daughter a book on "How Your Body Works," Grandma gave me a quaint little Coats & Clarks book on "How to Knit." I managed to glean enough from that book to start me on a lifetime of knitting. In fact, I saw the book in an estate sale in Portland last summer and have been kicking myself ever since for not buying it.

Here, for your critiquing pleasure, is How I Knit:
Knit Row: I'm a Thrower. Yes, I toss my yarn like a German discus thrower going for a gold medal. I briefly let go of the right needle completely (wheee!) while throwing the yarn around the right needle, then I grab the right needle in midair (geez, I should join a circus), and give the yarn a slight tug with my right thumb and forefinger to set the stitch.

Purl Row: Pure Continental, baybee. I can purl like the wind. I'll race ya, anytime.

Golly, I must have been really bored.

Happy Friday, everyone.