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[09 Nov 2009|09:41am] |
I've got a ticket for Seasick Steve at the Apollo tonight that I'm not going to be using. I'm looking to sell it to someone who'll actually use it rather than a tout. I'm after face value or a reasonable offer.
If you're interested reply here or email me at ihatethisbit at hotmail dot com. I'm working until half 5 but I live in the city centre so ill be able to meet up with anyone who wants it from 6 onwards.
Cheers.
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| Did I mention that a ball-winder would be handy? |
[08 Nov 2009|04:10pm] |
There is a persuasive old wives' tale about one reason why wool shrinks. It goes, "Never wind your wool into a tight hard ball, as this will make it stretched and taut. You knit it up into a sweater. Then it gets dirty and you wash it. The wool, encouraged by the dampness, goes back to its original unstretched state, with the result that the whole sweater shrinks." Think it over. ~ Page 3, Knitting Without Tears.
I had some set-backs getting started on my socks because a) yarn #1 would not cooperate and because b) yarn #2 would not cooperate.
Consider yarn #1:
As you can see, I had a little trouble finding the end from the inside of the ball. I prefer to work from the inside of the ball, and as I intend to make both socks at once, it was imperative that I correct the problem. I didn't wind the whole ball over again, just the uncooperative bit:
If only the alpaca had been so easy to sort. As I was doing my swatch, I found that there were a few short pieces on the outside. It is not like me to wind pieces into a ball. If the yarn is in 8 parts, then I keep it in 8 parts. A heartbroken moment later, I figured out that there was some moth damage to the outside of the ball. This is one instance where it was a good thing I had not left the yarn in a skein! (Normally I would have, but at the time of purchase, I had intended to make a scarf with this yarn and then ended up abandoning the scarf almost immediately.) Still, what remained had to be rewound to eliminate any unpleasant surprises. It was only a matter of time until I realised I had to rewind it anyway: since I'll be working both socks at once, and since I must double this yarn to match the tension of the Confetti, I'll need to have a way to access four strands at once. Last time I checked, the only way to do this is to have two balls of yarn, which I do not have, or to rewind a new ball with a doubled strand. See how pretty it looks, all ready for me to use both ends:
You may be wondering why I intend to work both socks at once: I just cannot finish one sock and then knit the other. First of all, once I finish one sock, I'm fooled into thinking I've accomplished the project, and Second Sock Syndrome sets in. Even this can be overcome with time, but the time it takes to overcome usually means that I forgot how I made the first sock. If I'm using a pattern, this still applies because I rarely knit the pattern without making any changes. And in this case, I'm changing a mitten pattern to a sock pattern because I'm too cheap to pay another $6.50, so you can see how I'm caught. One a final reason: being way too OCD-ish, I need to know (or at least believe) that my two socks are exactly the same with the exact same number of stitches in each.
Ah, now to (finally) begin. I want to accomplish at least the first part of the toes tonight, so that the project is far enough along that it's practical to knit on the bus on my way to and from work this week.
PS: Although I did finish my project that was to help me practice carrying the yarn in the left hand, I must confess that I did not tough it out and continually reverted back to my habit. When I am actually working with two colours, maybe things will be different and I'll show a little more discipline.
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| Post #1 - Wherein Little Miss comes to visit on a Friday night. |
[08 Nov 2009|09:44am] |
We had a great time, as everyone was home.
In no time at all, she had Baby and Bunny in her shopping cart and was taking them for a walk around the house, but Baby's proximity to precious Bunny was worrying her a little bit, I think, because she kept telling Baby not to touch Bunny. Ace doesn't seem to be the big hit he once was, but Bunny--oh my! I had a new sweater for Bunny which we tried onto him, and it fit, but Anya said he didn't want to wear a sweater so off it came.
We thought it would be fun to make an Anya picture, so I spread out some pattern paper on the floor. Anya was quick to catch on and lay down on the paper so that we could trace her outline. As we coloured the picture we'd made, she seemed concerned that she did not have any ears and set about correcting the problem right away. I was impressed with her attention to detail. Once we had the picture finished and up on the fridge, she continued to decorate it a bit more each time she went by. Looking at the picture, Grampie said "That can't be right--she's not that big!" It's true though that it is life-size, and she's grown bigger than we realise.
Speaking of how much Anya has grown, we had purchased a new pair of pyjamas, which we thought would be way too big. We've had a pair that we keep at our house just for sleepovers, and Anya has always really liked the fold-over cuffs that convert to footies. The last time she wore them, her little toes were sticking out and she would struggle to pull the footies into place to keep her feet from spilling out. So it was time for a new pair. After her bath, I said that I had a surprise for her, and showed them to her. I said she could wear the old pyjamas one last time, or we could put the new ones on her. At first she wanted the old ones, then changed her mind and wanted the new ones. She was a bit torn and went back to the old faithful pj's again but only briefly, so when she indicated the new ones again, I got them onto her quick without giving her any time to change her mind. The formerly glorious pj's are now out of sight and no one's looked back (except maybe me, and yes I do plan to keep them). We were all shocked to find that the new snugglers were not as large on her as we expected them to be. Anya was quite taken with the polka dots.
The nesting cups from the bathtub somehow followed in to bed, and it hasn't taken Little Miss any time at all figure them out. Thanks to JLW for producing them at her yard sale a couple of weeks ago.
Saturday morning was made more leisurely by the fact that her dad had trouble finding a ride to come and get her. This extended her play time somewhat. . . I remembered some handkerchiefs that my sister had given me in case I wanted them for a craft project, and so I gave one to Anya. She had a great time covering Bunny up and wrapping him, etc. At one point I tried to cover Virginia with the new sheet, but Anya said "NO, that's BUNNY's blankie!!" so I was like, Okay, we'll just get it off Virginia, and fast.
Poor Bunny, no one knows what he did, but he had to have a time-out. Anya was careful to tell him that he should be nice to Baby, and carefully counted out the time to ten, skipping 4 and 5 but revisiting 9, then tenderly bringing Bunny out of exile.
Out of the blue she said "I want to go next door" (meaning the thrift shop close by), so off we went. There was a big bag of baby toys which immediately caught her eye, but nothing really suitable for her. She was very good about leaving them behind, repeating that they were toys for babies. Though, I did find a book about boat-builders to buy for her--she's always been fascinated by ships. She had quite a good look through it back at home. I also let her look at a magazine about teddy bears, and as she turned the pages she said "I want these to be out of the pictures." I agreed that it would be fun to have all those bears to really play with.
When her dad arrived, I slipped him some suckers for later, and she got ready to leave. She looked a bit perturbed that it wasn't her mom that had come for her, as she'd been asking for her mom quite a bit, and she gave us all a pouty look and refused to hug and kiss us good-bye. She did hold her arms up for her dad to pick her up though. Poor dad. He had no idea that she'd already had a demi-tasse of cafe au lait and two small Halloween-sized boxes of Smarties.
~ Nana
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| "Sez it all, really." |
[08 Nov 2009|02:08am] |
A Tale Of Two LoyaltiesObama after the Henry Louis Gates, Jr. incident:
“The Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home.”
Obama after Muslim fanatic Nidal Malik Hasan went on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood while shouting “Allahu Akbar“:
“We don’t know all the answers yet, and I would caution against jumping to conclusions until we have all the facts.”
Stolen from, ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) mosellegreen.
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| Knitting With Tears |
[07 Nov 2009|04:40pm] |
As described, I want to work my way through the EZ catalogue, and I thought that I'd get started with some doll clothes. I figure the two biggest EZ traits would be working in the round, which I have covered, and working the european method of knitting, which I definitely do not have covered.
The first major project in the book is the norwegian sweater, and she specifies that if you use the european method at all, you should at least consider it for colour-stranding. Well I have used the technique for colour work, and she's absolutely right that it does make the yarn more controllable. But it's been a while. So I thought I'd refresh my memory. It's not going well.
It's like being a beginner all over again. I really have to force myself not to revert. I don't expect to become fully converted, but let's say I'd like it to be a choice for me. I'll keep trying... The tensioning is the worst bit, and I hate it when my knitting is tight. The cat mittens (socks) would be soooo much easier though without all the picking up and setting down and accidental twisting, etc.
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| The Weekend |
[06 Nov 2009|08:53am] |
I'm so glad it is Friday and the weekend will soon be here. I decided to come back into the office this morning. I'm hoping I'll make it through the day as I really do have lots of work to get done. However, I'm still not getting much sleep at night because of this swine flu cough that just refuses to go away and is keeping from getting some good sleep. The good thing is I don't have to worry about coming into work tomorrow so tonight I have some wine. I'm sure that will help put me to sleep.
Basically my weekend looks very low key. I have a few errands to run but then again I may end up just hanging out around the house in my pajamas watching college football. I'll see how much sleep I'm able to get tonight.
In other news....
Last weekend I went to see the MJ movie "This Is It". I actually like it. The weekend before that Paul and I went to see "Paranormal Activity", and I liked that one too.
I just realized I need to water the plants in my office, they are looking a little droopy. I guess I'll get that done and then do some real work.
Hope everyone enjoys their Friday.
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| Saturday mornings? |
[06 Nov 2009|11:52am] |
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Does anyone know of any cafes which are open at 9am on a Saturday morning in the Northern Quarter?
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| Late night coffee |
[06 Nov 2009|11:34am] |
Does anyone know of anywhere in Manchester (city centre area) that you can get coffee after 7/8pm?
I think most of the starbucks/Nero/Costa shut around 8 and I want somewhere I can have a coffee later than that (preferably up until 10 or later).
I know there are places like hotels or pubs and clubs that serve coffee, but was looking for an actual coffee shop. Either a chain or an independent place.
Thank you,
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| If you're not supposed to mix linen and wool . . . |
[05 Nov 2009|08:56pm] |
. . . does that mean that you're not allowed to mix any fibres, or does it mean that you're just not allowed to mix animal fibres with plant fibres? Or just that you're not allowed to mix linen and wool?
Sigh.
I'm mixing nylon, wool and alpaca in my next project. I am using the chart from these mittens:
to make a pair of socks. I'm using dark brown alpaca in place of the black, and I'm using a marmalade-coloured wool/nylon blend for the main colour. Casting on begins in 5 minutes, from the toes onward and upwards. *excited*
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| LiveJournal Major Notes: Spam counter-attack, RSS feeds again, CSI Deadly Intent contest |
[05 Nov 2009|01:15pm] |
The empire strikes backIn recent weeks, we've taken huge steps towards blocking spam accounts on LiveJournal. In fact, we've suspended as many as 30,000 accounts in a single day! We've implemented several pre-emptive measures to prevent the creation of spam accounts, and we've honed our detection of suspicious content. Spam bots are a crafty lot, so we'll continue to refine our tactics and keep up the good fight to keep you safe from spam attacks on LiveJournal.
RSS feeds againIf you're addicted to , ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/syndicated.gif) icanhaschzbrgr, or other syndicated feeds, we're pleased to report that we've resolved the update error that was mucking up your RSS feeds. While content was being pulled correctly, it wasn't being posted to the feeds themselves. Late last week, we finally nailed down what we hope was the root problem, so content should post properly. We thank you for your patience.
Wii have killer CSI Deadly Intent contests!
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) c_s_i
If you're a gamer who loves CSI, have Wii got news for you! c_s_i is sponsoring killer contests. Simply post a question to a member of the CSI crew. The winner will get a free copy of CSI: Deadly Intent for Nintendo Wii (with a retail value of $39.99) and get their question answered by a member of the CSI writing team! There's also a fantastic monthly contest. To enter, join c_s_i, play the online version of CSI: Deadly Intent, and respond to a two-part query for a chance to win a Wii! Entries will be judged on composition and originality. Sorry, but you must be a U.S. resident and over 18 years old to participate. Check out the rules here.
Enveloped in postcardsLast week, we asked you to send in postcards to help us decorate our drab concrete walls. Here's a photo of the results so far! Thank you so much and please keep them coming! You can mail them to Frank the Goat, Esq., c/o LiveJournal, Inc., 539 Bryant Street, Suite 210, San Francisco, CA 94107. Be sure to include your username, since we'll be giving ten random users paid account credits.
Photos of the weekIf you haven't visited our new LiveJournal photo community, you're in for an amazing visual trip. LiveJournal users from around the world will take you on a scenic journey to everywhere. Post your own pictures or kick back and enjoy at lj_photophile. You can view some of this week's awesome photos after the jump. Please start tagging with geographic location, since we'd like to track all the places around the world represented in this community. Keep on commenting too!
( Read more... )
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| Swine Flu |
[05 Nov 2009|02:40pm] |
I promise, I did my best not to get caught, but to no avail. I got the damn swine flu. Let me just you it isn't fun. I made myself go into the office for a few hours today because there was some work that I had to do, since at the moment I am the only one who has access to the database and knows how to use it. However, I made sure no one came around me and I even did a Clorox wipe down of my office before I left. I hope that by Monday I'll be good as new. I so do not have time to be sick any longer. I mean the holidays are upon us and I project list is so long I am starting to wonder if I'll be able to get it all done.
Hope y'all are healthy and enjoying this Autumn Season.
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