Or I could spontaneously change my mind

I decided a few days ago that I was absolutely not going to join the Socks that Rock club again this year... and then on the way home I stopped and mailed in my registration form. Who knows why I do these things?

When I got home the October kit was here. Holy cats. I'm in love with the yarn and the pattern (and the shoes in the photograph). AND the yarn? It's called "Lenore" and is a preview of the Raven series that comes out on November 5th. (Side note: I had to memorize that poem in 7th grade and I remember most of it still. My favorite line, "And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain / Thrilled me - filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before").

There was also a flier for the next BMFA sock camp. Sigh. I know we went through all of my stomping around about wanting to go last year... but I really really really want to go this year. The Yarn Harlot is going to be there, for the love of all things soft and wooly!
Last year Lara pointed out how much sock yarn one could purchase with that kind of money... but I need a vacation! And wouldn't that be a fun one?!?
On the other hand... there is that one little fly in the honey (burr in the roaving?) - and not just that given our current financial situation spending that kind of money is stupid and irresponsible. My social anxiety levels are higher than usual right now. While the thought of a great, yarn-filled vacation makes me happy, there is also this sense of doom at the thought of spending 5 days in a strange state with 80 people I don't know. What if I freak out? Or fall down. Or get that nervous talking thing and can't stop myself. What if I sweat on someone or throw up? What if they don't like me?

The only thing that is getting me through the pledge drive is that I spend most of my time in the safe, darkened cave of the control room and I don't actually have to interact with the people much. Also, I'm too tired and grumpy to worry about anything embarrassing that I might say or do. That and all of the sugar.

Speaking of the pledge drive... when I'm pitching I often refer back to the last thing they talked about and bring up the fact that we all listen and then go right online to look up the book/cd/movie they mentioned. In Talk of the Nation today they were talking about porn. Online porn. Free. Online. Porn. Starting that break with "How many of you are online right now looking that up? While you're online, make a pledge to this station!" seemed... wrong somehow. Realistic, but wrong. Pretty much anything we usually say seems wrong when they're talking about free online porn.

"Think about what it means to you to have this kind of information..."
"What a great example of the quality programming and important information..."
"Finding human connections and learning more about people all over the world is just one reason public radio is so important..."

See what I mean?

Woo Hoo!

I had a package waiting for me this morning!!

Thank you Lisa for being so generous!! Do you see that pretty sock yarn?!? There are even a few little things in there for Bean. The Snickers quickly became breakfast... every day should begin with presents. Especially during Pledge Drive!!


Here is a better picture of the washcloth... The colors are beautiful and the soap is lavender. Loooooooove it!! She did such a nice job and it really did make my day! Thanks again Lisa!!







While we're on the topic of swaps... here's the Monkey Swap package just before I sent it. It was been received and she reports that the socks fit!!


I love these swaps!! I have as much fun getting the package together to send as I do opening the packages I receive!!

One Good Hour

I am exhausted... trying not to be whiny or anything.
My sinus infection turned cold exacerbated by allergies is kicking my ass. Completely.

Last night I couldn't sleep so I watched (what I thought was) the rest of Lost Season 3... apparently the last four or five episodes are not online yet. Damn it. I went to sleep around 5, slept for a few hours and then the husband woke me up. For sex. Riiiiiiight. He said, "I thought you were getting up at 8." I rolled over and said, "Well, that didn't happen." Then I moved his hand, tucked my blankets more fully around me and said, "And this? Not happening either." Poor guy.
Whatever.

Then work. Pledge drive. Day five. Everyone exhausted and on high alert and full of carbs and coffee. We have about $5o thousand to raise in the next four days. That is not as insurmountable as it sounds.

My one good hour started just before 4... Shelly came in and pitched with me. What a blast! I learned that what is keeping me from marrying her and living in the back of her yarn store is not the fact that we are both married. It is not the fact that marriage between two women is not legal in this state. It is not even the fact that I am pretty certain that Shelly is, you know, straight and all. It's that we were separated at birth and are, in fact, twins.

The rest is downhill and way too boring to type. Though I did make a kick-ass macaroni and cheese.

I should be baking now... those cakes are not going to bake themselves after all. But I think I'll wait and bake my boobies tomorrow.
Right now I'm going to take some NyQuil and sleepsleepsleep.

To join or not to join...

The deadline is approaching... I have to decide if I want to be part of the Blue Moon Socks that Rock club again this year.

It seems like a no-brainer. I love (love love love) BMFA. I love the squishiness of the yarn. My Clapotis is around my shoulders right now. I love the colors and the exclusivity... and you all know how much I love joining things.

But... of the four patterns that have been sent so far I have started one and completed zero. And they're not increasing the size of the club this year, so the only way for new people to get a chance to join is for people like me to drop out.

Wouldn't it make more sense to use that money to:
A) buy BMFA yarn of my own choosing and use one of the many (many) pattern books full of socks and/or free sock patterns on the Internet

B) find another sock club and see if I like those patterns better. Like this one from Yarn Pirate.

or (and this is my favorite)

C) Spend that money at Twist instead. I have lots of sock yarn... I'm not saying I have enough sock yarn. Heavens no. That's like saying I have enough oxygen or Oreos. But maybe I should use the sock yarn that I already have (which, by the way, includes at least 10 skeins of BMFA already) and buy yarn from Shelly for other projects. And also sock yarn. There's going to be a sock club at Twist in January anyway.

So, decision made. No Socks that Rock for me. Good times.
Hi, Shelly? There will be large purchases at the beginning of the year... be prepared. (Heh heh heh).

Seriously Stupid

So I'm watching The Bachelor. (I know).
Sheena, the twinkie of the evening was talking about her date (with the dumbest bachelor in the history of the show... and that's just flat out tragic dumb). She was describing her delight when they were walking down and there was a "small orchestra" playing.

A small orchestra.

Um, Sheena? There is no such thing as a small orchestra.
It's possible that you meant a string quartet... I mean, considering there were, you know, four of them and they were all playing stringed instruments and stuff.
I could be wrong about this. (I'm not).

Look, it's not that I expect really smart people to go seek their fame and fortune on reality television. Especially not dating reality television. But this season they all seem aggressively stupid.
And the girls all say "di-nint" instead of "didn't." I hate that. It's like the person who came on during the pledge drive a few years ago and kept saying "impornant" instead of "important."

Bleh.

I need to knit something. Maybe that will stop the smart from exiting my brain since I can't seem to stop watching this train wreck of a show.

My Favorite Things

Just a random list of my favorite things.
This week anyway.

Color: Pink (quelle suprise, right)

Candy: Snickers (though the new whipped Reese's candy bar is a close second)

TV Show: Lost (I am so in love with Sawyer - understandable if unoriginal)

Movie: Micheal Clayton (seriously, go see it right now)

Yarn: Nashua Creative Focus Worsted

Dub-over for bad words on TV: "genius" for "Jesus" on The Wedding Date on TNT

Fear: MRSA

Clothing: pajama pants, purple with cows

Knitting pattern: Dream Swatch Head Wrap (despite the fact that it reveals my true nature as a trend-follower)

Person: my husband - what a difference a little chemical alteration can make!!

Sound: rain on the metal cover of our back porch

Baking project: boobie cupcakes for the breast-cancer bake sale at Twist on Friday. (Stay tuned, there will be pictures. I'm thinking gumdrop nipples...)

Place I want to retire: Maine (I have this fantasy about getting snowed in for a week with a well stocked pantry, wood pile, bookshelf and knitting basket)

Yarn enabler: Shelly at Twist (love ya Shelly!!)

Drink: Diet Cranberry Sierra Mist (Holy cats y'all, all it needs is a little vodka! And it's a pretty
color)

Anticipation: Monkey sock swap package AND the Fall into Autumn swap package.

There is an Alpaca in my Eye!

I started the Totally Autumn blanket in Nashua Creative Focus - 75% wool, 25% alpaca. There is pink fuzz all over me and I think that I got some alpaca fuzz in my eye.
Not good.
The yarn though? Gooooooood.
I hate that I love this yarn. It's so soft and so nice to knit with that I want to knit my entire life out of it. Also, it comes in many fine colors and is not that expensive and I can get it at Twist. But it's wool and alpaca. Wool + alpaca = no washey. Wool and alpaca require care and attention.
Sigh.
The person I am knitting it for has no children (to spill things or, you know, pee on it). She is careful with fabrics and she also crochets so she will understand the time/energy commitment and will therefore be careful so I am comfortable knitting this lovely blankie for her.
I love this yarn so much that I didn't mind casting on - my least favorite part of knitting. And the pattern calls for 9 rows of garter stitch before you get to the pattern and even that was more fun than garter stitch ought to be.



I realized that i never posted a finished picture of Kerri's garter so here it is!



I got to pretend to be a yarn shop girl last night! It was fun!! Shelly was teaching a class so she showed Becca and Angelique and I how to run the register. Between the three of us we managed not to lose customers or money... so success! I forgot how exhausting it is to work in retail!! Even when it's something that you love. I don't know how Shelly does it, but I'm glad she does.

On another topic entirely...

So all of the news about MRSA and the yucky transmittable stuff that apparently doesn't have a real cure is FREAKING ME OUT!
I want to live in a bubble.


Or maybe just start wearing latex gloves all the time.

Ick.

If I see you and don't hug you or something please don't be offended... It's not you, it's mrsa.