But where did they get all the awesome to build it?

This may be the single most awesome thing I've ever heard of. I really really hope this isn't a joke.

http://www.snakeplisskenmemorialplayground.com/

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Now playing: Alice Cooper - Can't Sleep - Clowns Will Eat Me
via FoxyTunes

Wist pruning

Ah, my favorite time of year - going through the Wist to see what I can delete. Did pretty good this year - six things. Technically, seven, but one turned out to be the wrong size so I'll have to wait to see if I can exchange it before I remove it from the Wists.

Not like I have much else to do tonight, after all. Thanks to this miserable cold, my boss sent me home early, and at this point I can barely type. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to go in tomorrow. Granted, this may not seem like such a terrible thing to most people, but I'm paid hourly, and I have no sick time allowance, so if I can't get in tomorrow, there's about the week's groceries worth of wages I'll be missing out on. Not to mention there'll just be more to do later. I wish there was some way to bring some of this stuff home with me, but I suppose that's not really compatible with the whole 'hourly wage' thing.

White Christmas FTW!

And it just keeps snowing...

Well, everything went off surprisingly well - I managed to get all the gifts ready, everyone liked them, between me and Tiwaz we managed to get the house whipped into company shape, and dinner went off without a hitch.

The downside of course, is that the lack of sleep required to accomplish this feat wore me down so much that I've caught some nasty bug that either my uncle or one of my cousins brought along for the ride.

Doesn't matter, though, because now I can finally get back to working on personal projects. I've got a pile of stuff to finish up for etsy, not to mention two original designs I'm working on. If the yarn would just finally arrive...

Somebody did not enjoy her bath.

I can only describe the reaction to the cat bathing as being a fine example of whatever passes for mouthing off like a trucker to a cat. Glad I wasn't the one on the front line for this round, at least.

This is getting cropped and resized as my new user icon for at least three different places.

Gearing up for Christmas, gearing down for driving (ha ha)

Well, I figured out how to guarantee a white Christmas - wait until the second week in December to start your Christmas shopping >_<. We had snow, then a round of ice, and now a few more inches of snow on top. I'm glad I took the trouble to clear all the ice off the driveway, or it would be a real bitch now. Of course the roads in our little town are beautiful and clear and dry (I swear, one of these years I'm going to drop off some cookies at the road maintenance office - they're just awesome) but once you hit the city limits, all the neighboring towns have done a craptastic job.

I don't really have that much shopping left, since I braved the freezing rain last weekend to shop (seriously, why does the weather only do this on my days off?), so I suppose the snow is actually a plus because it'll force me to stay inside and get the present knitting finished.

And the cleaning.

And the painting.

Inviting all the in-town relatives for Christmas Eve dinner was sort of a spur of the moment thing, and I probably should have given it a little more thought as to the general company-readiness of our dining room, but I think it was a good idea in the grand scheme of things. I really have to have deadlines to get anything done, so if I hadn't invited everyone over, the dining room and main bathroom would probably be sitting there with half-removed wallpaper until next summer.

Various and sundry annoyances

What the hell is with jeans? Why do people think they're comfortable? Are they just completely different body shapes than I am? They're always too tight in front, but then incredibly loose at the back waist. There's never enough difference between the waist and hip measurements. I know of a store that's been advertising stretch jeans, maybe those will work.

Also, I hate it when I'm mad at someone, and not only can they not tell, when I explain to them that I'm angry, they just completely don't understand why I'm upset with them. I guess there's really no point in staying mad if they can't comprehend what's going on, but it annoys me.



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Now playing: Marilyn Manson - Personal Jesus
via FoxyTunes

A sudden revelation

In the course of conversation tonight, the question arose: "What is the opposite of a lisp?"

After some consideration, we determined the answer to be : "A bad German accent."

Seriously, try it out.

Just your little answer for the day to a question you've probably never thought of.

Stuff and Things Part 2

I can't believe how far behind I am on my writing. Not even a thousand words yet. I think my problem was that I was trying to write in order, though. I'm just going to write jigsaw-puzzle style like I normally do and go back and fill the necessary gaps later. The point is to get it all down, not to keep everything bottlenecked in my head until I forget half of it waiting to get one chapter out of the way first.

The knitting is going well, though. Almost got the pedicure socks finished, got the next Christmas project lined up, and my local chapter of Church of Craft has a charity crafting project that should help me clear out that stash of cheap acrylic I've had hanging around pretty much since I learned to knit. What exactly is it with that? For some reason, every knitter or crocheter seems to have a stash somewhere in the back of a closet of really cheap nasty acrylic, usually that they got from someone else right after they learned. I know one of my friends has a truly vintage stash of Sears brand Orlon yarn she got from her grandmother-in-law, and I've got stuff I must've bought when I was about ten, because it still has a Ben Franklin price sticker on it, and I can't think of the last time I saw one of those.

But I digress.

We're going to be making squares for the San Diego Wildfire Blanket Project, and so far it's been a pretty good stashbuster - I've gotten three done since Saturday. It's a good chance to try out some different stitch patterns - I'm even thinking about getting out the hook and seeing just how much attention I was paying when my great-aunt tried to teach me to crochet.

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Now playing: Feist - Brandy Alexander
via FoxyTunes

stuff and things

Miserable day - I forgot to tell Tiwaz that I was working late, but fortunately (ergh?) any annoyance on his part was quickly dispelled by me tripping as I got out of the car and scraping the hell out of my knees and hands. We got the kitty back, but she's still a little buggy. We're going to hope that the stuff the vet put on her is just taking a few days to work, if not, we're just going to have to board her again and possibly just toss that couch the neighbors gave us.

Fortunately, all my yarn and crafty supplies are being kept well isolated from the cat and surrounded by citronella oil, so there shouldn't be a problem there. In fact, I've already almost got one of my Christmas presents finished. May be a record, finishing any knitting for Christmas before Thanksgiving.

And of course, I almost completely forgot that today was November first. I'm really not liking my original idea for my story, I think I'm going to go for something completely from scratch. I think I'll take a day or two to get some basic notes/outline on paper and then sit down and get some serious writing done on my day off.

Lost a rug, gained my sanity

At long last, we seem to have found the favored place the cat has been sitting to clean herself, and thus the breeding ground for the continual waves of fleas she's been suffering from. Unfortunately, said place was under the living room rug.

Fortunately, it wasn't a very expensive rug, I'd been thinking about replacing it anyway, and we've got a rubbish skip at the moment since we're remodeling, so the rug went straight out. The living room carpet under the rug has been thoroughly shampooed with bleach, the couch that sits on the rug has gotten the same treatment, and everything's been doused with salt to keep the little buggies from returning. My skin is so dried out and peeling from all the cleaning, I don't think I'll need a costume tomorrow.

This means that finally, at long last, I can knit freely anywhere in the house! With any luck, I'll have my etsy shop restocked before Thanksgiving, and maybe get a rough draft going of a pattern for one of the sweater designs I'm working on. Hooray!

NaNoWriMo Looming...

I'm giving serious thought to participating in NaNoWriMo this year, because I actually remembered it before November 15th this time. The question is mostly what to write.

I have tons of stories already started, but one of the requirements is that you start from scratch. I'm leaning towards writing something set in my failed D&D setting. I have background notes and NPCs that could be converted easily into main characters, which I suppose would count as outline/character profiles, which are allowed. Maybe it would even help me fix the setting so we could actually run a game in it sucessfully.

On the other hand, maybe I should start completely from scratch, or even work on a Dr. Who novel (I know somewhere in my bookmarks are the submission guidelines for Dr. Who novels - wouldn't it be cool if I actually managed to get one published?)

Regardless, it'll be a bit of a challenge for me - I don't normally write in chronological order.

Witches in Space?

I had some of that ''just-add-hot-water" spiced cider today, and it got me thinking about one of my favorite books as a child. Unfortunately, I have no idea what the hell the title is.

The cider reminded me because the book was about a little witch
(well, warlock) named Witchard who lived with his aunts who were very traditional witches, and part of the story involved him going to the grocery store and buying all the ingredients to make an instant powdered version of their witches' brew. I think he and the little girl witch (who I want to say was named 'Witchina') ended up going into space at some point as well. It's been a while since I read the story.

It probably came out about the same time as the 'Little Vampire' books, because I associate the two. Anyway, if this sounds at all familiar to any of you, could you maybe let me know if you recall the title? It's really bugging me.

That time of year...

Well, it's official - I just got my Christmas knitting started.

I've got a couple of things I'm doing for my Etsy store, but I'm working on a few presents already, and planning a few more. With any luck, the patterns for some of the planned stuff will turn out nice enough that I might submit one to Knitty.

At the very least, I'll share here ;)

Back to hating the cat/neighbor

Despite being treated by the vet and shaved, I found three fleas on Miss Dummy-Fuzzbutt this evening (in retrospect, perhaps she should have been shave, then treated, but that's really too much kindness to ask from the universe at the moment.)

And of course, the cat was rolling all over the yarn I just bought today for stuff I was actually intending to sell. Needless to say, no sleep for me tonight as I scrub thoroughly, prepare to fumigate the couch, and stand ready to vacuum as soon as The Boy wakes up. (I'll be nice and not wake him up with the vacuum). All available advice leads me to believe that if I just stick the yarn in the freezer for a few hours, it should nip any possible flea problem in the bud. I can't tell you how tempting it is to do the same to the cat...seriously, has anyone looked into cryogenics as a chemical-free flea treatment?

Socky socky sock sock

The socks that I started for my *husband* (giggle) are coming along nicely. Maybe a little too nicely. My boss was severely eyeing them up at work. No one's really made anything out of the Rustic Wool yet, so everyone's been oohing and ahhing over how they're turning out. Also, I think everyone's a little impressed that I just sat down and started knitting a pair of socks, no pattern needed.

On the designing front, one of the other girls just headed out on vacation, and wanted a simple poncho pattern to knit in the round on the plane. So, partly to help and partly to show off, I whipped off a simple pattern with a few sketches. She was feeling up to the challenge of being a pattern guinea pig, so we'll see what the poncho looks like when she gets back.

Yarn withdrawal

Again with the cat.

She's a very pretty cat, perfectly sweet and loving, and the dumbest m***********g animal on God's green Earth. She is also, at the moment, covered in nasty little bugs.

I hate the little bugs.

Because of them, I cannot get my clothing moved over to my new house. More importantly, I don't want to move my craft supplies over, as I'm pretty sure she will want to lie on them and cover them in cat hair and little bugs.

In her defense, the little bugs are not her fault. We have scrubbed and treated the cat to within an inch of her life, and when the little bugs kept returning despite her lack of outdoors time, we realized the source of the problem.

You see, a month or two ago, my parents' neighbors generously gave us an awesome red leather reclining couch and matching chair. Free of charge, all we had to do was get them hauled off (I believe the exact reasoning was something along the lines of 'I went out and bought myself a new car and now the wife wants new furniture in exchange for not killing me in my sleep')

These are the same people whose cats and dog have been suffering from a three-month flea problem, and whose oldest son counted over 40 individual bug bites on his legs last week from an extended 360 session in the basement with said cats.

They gave us a giant red leather-covered flea nest.

Blankets with smallpox would have been easier to clean up after. I really wanted to have a nice relaxing week after the wedding getting my stuff moved in and arranging the house, but such was not to be.

I fear our only option is to shave the cat and fumigate the couch.

(well, the only option that The Boy will sign off on, at least.)

Finish line in sight

Two days until the wedding, and I've almost got everything finished up. The purse for the flower girl was finished yesterday at work, the wrap got finished tonight, I think the bridesmaids' necklaces are done, and I've got one of the handkerchiefs done. All that's left is the other handkerchief and the cape for miss flower girl.

In theory.

I swear, there's something I'm forgetting that has to be done before the wedding. No idea what, when, why, where, or how.

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Now playing: DeVotchKa - Queen Of The Surface Streets
via FoxyTunes

Fun with bathing cats

So yesterday was bath day for Miss Dummy-Fuzzbutt. Things did not go well.

First, she got me across the top of the foot while I was trying to set her in the tub (the *dry* tub, I might add), then she gouged me in the hand a couple of times once the water started. I'm a bit of a bleeder, so that meant that as I'm trying to scrub the cat, I'm ending up smearing blood all over her nice white fur.

As the grand finale, I turned the faucet over to the shower hose, thinking that I'd be able to get her rinsed off faster that way. Instead, it frightened her so badly that she suddenly lost bladder control. So of course, then after I finally got the cat rinsed, I had to scrub and disinfect the tub.

I grow to loathe the cat.

Then I went home and gave my mom's kitten a bath. I plonked him chest-deep into a sink of warm water, soaped him up, rinsed him off, and got nothing but a mild 'are you done *yet*' sort of noise out of him.

So Tired...

Nothing like a deadline to finish a pile of projects by to help you find piles more projects you want to work on. My Ravelry queue's been taking a beating as I find more and more things I want to knit, but of course I can't start on them until I get all the projects for the wedding done.

Seriously, I don't know how those 'bridezilla' girls do it - the only people I know who would follow orders like that are too incompetent to be of any use, and the people who are actually useful are too busy being useful.

Secret Agent Cat

We couldn't have Little Kitty Dude showing up to the party tomorrow underdressed, so I whipped up a little something for him to wear. He loves the silly thing, wore it all evening without a peep out of him.

Presenting... Secret Agent Cat! (go on, sing the chorus of the song, you know you want to)
Here's my first draft of the pattern, I'll work it over a bit and see if I can refine it a bit when I have the time.

Materials:
black yarn (I used Paton's Classic Wool Merino, left over from the Kitty Pi)
size 5 needles
crochet hook
Velcro
darning needle
measuring tape
very compliant cat

Instructions:

• Measure cat's neck (or dog's, I guess).
• Cast on 5
• Work in garter stitch, slipping first stitch of each row, until piece measures 1/2 of neck measurement.
• k2tog, k1, k2tog
• knit row
• purl row
• Continue in stockinette, increasing one stitch at the beginning and end of every knit row until 11 stitches are on the needle.
• Bind off knitwise
• Cast on 11
• purl
• work in stockinette, decreasing first and last stitches of each knit row until 3 stitches remain, ending with a knit row
• purl
• knit
• Using crochet hook, remove each stitch from the needle, pull through the base stitches of the other triangle, and place back on needle
• kfb, k1, kfb
• continue in garter stitch until band is long enough to go around cat's neck comfortably with some overlap and bind off.
  
• (optional) Cast on 3, work 7 rows stockinette. Bind off and sew around center of bow
• (if you were making this for a female cat, you could put something shiny here instead)
• Sew in ends, block, tack down edges of bow, and attach Velcro to each end.
• Sneak up on cat (preferably while sleeping) and attach collar to cat.

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Now playing: Regina Spektor - On the Radio
via FoxyTunes

Got my invite!

Woo-hoo! I got my Ravelry invite last night, and I'm busily adding all my in-progress projects. I just wish it worked with Photobucket instead of Flickr, since I already have a bunch of stuff on my Photobucket account to use with Craftster.

At a loss for words

I just returned from an Alice Cooper concert.

The phrase 'made of awesome' is bandied about an awful lot these days, but there is simply no other way to describe it.

This was not a 'concert', it was a show. With pomp and fireworks, and a story - a story of vampire babies and straitjackets and gallows. There's a reason Salvador Dali liked Alice Cooper.

Hoo-ah!

Woo-hoo! New job...no, better job. It combines yarn, kitties, and computers. The only way this job could be better is if it involved free beer. Oh, wait...I'll get an employee discount at all the other shops in the same plaza...which includes the really fancy wine store next door.

Regardless, I now work in a craft boutique - no longer must I feel guilty about buying expensive, interesting yarns, because A) I get a discount and B) I have to try out the fancy yarns so I can help customers decide if it's the right yarn for them. And, I can knit at work.

I love my new job.

Also, I'm just getting the big project done for my swap, it seems I didn't lose quite as much time as I was afraid of, I should only be a week behind schedule, and my partner had some stuff come up too, so we just sort of moved our personal send date XD. I still wish I'd been able to find the 'edible ball bearings', but it seems they're something of an elusive confection.

The lost weekend...

Gah.

Between the flat tire and the miserable cold I picked up Thurdsay night (I blame the neighbor children), I got nothing useful done this weekend. Well, one useful thing - I got a new tire, after two days of calling around for the best price and to make sure I got one with the right profile and tread (go ahead, ask me what kind of tires my car takes - I dare you).

Between the ever-approaching deadline and the difficulty I had finding one of the supplies, I got nothing done on my swap items because I couldn't chance messing something up under the influence of cold medicine. And of course, the same went for getting any work done on the house, only with the added perk of not having transportation readily available. Fortunately, I had enough of a lead time on my projects that I should be able to have everything finished up just in time for the deadline. I was looking forward to sending early for once, but oh well.

Also, I started in on a little knitting project to keep my hands busy, because I figured if I messed it up too badly due to general out-of-it-ness, at least I could fix it at my leisure. I've decided to reverse-engineer Ginny's shrug from the end of Order of the Phoenix. As it turned out, I even had yarn about the right color. I made a few sketches and I'm keeping copious notes, since if it turns out right, I'll certainly be sharing it. It's a dual adventure - I've never reverse-engineered a pattern before, and looking at my notes on the cable pattern, this will be the first chart I've ever had to do.

The finish line in sight...

I finally got the supplies for the big project for my swap (well, most of them - they said the last bit would be in today, but I had a flat so I couldn't get to the store before it closed), so I can get going on that. I'm about done with most of the other projects, I keep having to make lists on little bits of paper to keep track of them, though. I keep thinking I need one more project, but I've got all three, plus a little something for my partner's hubby, and a couple of little store-bought goodies to round things off.

I'm mostly excited because all four projects are projects/techniques I've never done before, so my partner's going to be completely surprised. Hopefully in a good way.

Even at my current pace, I still need to pick things up. One person in the swap's already sent, and though we've got two weeks, I can feel the deadline looming as my free time dwindles. On the bright side, the dwindling free time is because I've already gotten a nibble on one of my job applications. So, fingers crossed on all counts.

Just had to share

Got the latest issue of New Avengers - in case anyone was wondering, apparently the sound of being hit in the head with Wolverine is 'chuck'.

That's right, not 'by Wolverine', 'with Wolverine'.

I suspect that several pages of next issue will be devoted to getting Dr. Strange to wake up, as I imagine getting hit in the head with Wolverine hurts like hell, even if you're the Sorcerer Supreme.

A break from crafting

So, I needed a break to get my long-distance vision back after all the close-up crafting, so we went out to see Transformers.

Holy Crap.

Halfway through the movie, my hands went tingly from overexposure to pure weapons-grade awesomeness.

I officially forgive DreamWorks for Mouse Hunt.

Some people compain, I know, that the movie is like a two-hour GM commercial - to them, I say "Did you not know you're watching a movie based on a cartoon based on a toy line that started out as resprayed Japanese Diaclone figures?" (and it was way more subtle than the sudden Chrysler ad in the middle of Fantastic Four) Hell, as far as I'm concerned, it was perfectly keeping in spirit with the series. The only improvement I can think of would have been if my model of car had been one of the Autobots ;D

Seriously - two of my friends have Scion Xbs, and it's something of an ongoing battle of coolness. Being able to go 'HA! My car's an Autobot!' totally would have won. Really, they should do the toy line to cover the entire GM product line. I'd buy one. Several, probably. I really love my car. And Transformers.

I'm totally painting over that crappy sports team logo in my garage with the Autobot insignia.

And I'm Off...My Rocker

Finally got my ducks in a row supply-wise, and I'm crafting away. Part of my problem was figuring out the right names for the supplies I needed >_< . Turns out one of the supplies wasn't at Radio Shack at all - I had to go look for fencing supplies instead (the kind with swords). I had to order a few things online, but I've got backup plans should their shipping be delayed - helped me get up the minimum order for some other things I needed to buy, too.

So far, I'm really pleased with what I've got done. I was a litttle worried at first about pulling it off, but it's *adorable* - I've been running around like an idiot making everyone in the general vicinity ooh and ahh over my handiwork (and for that matter, my eyesight). Sooooooo excited to be able to show off the finished products. I can see that my big problem with this swap will be keeping myself from going overboard.

Damn this free time!

I guess I should get to work on some etsy stuff as well - every little bit helps, I suppose.

Getting my craft on

Got my swap partner last night - waiting for a little more info from her before I get too far into the crafting, but I've got a huge list of ideas to pare down ;)

I'm actually a little concerned that some of the ideas may be forcibly pared down by my amazing Frank Lloyd Wright-like knack for coming up with projects that evidently aren't technically feasible. I'm pretty sure it can be done, I just don't seem to know the right name for the materials to find a place to buy them. Or maybe the people at my local Radio Shack are just idiots and don't know what the hell I'm talking about. It's a toss up.

Keeping Busy

I got a great deal on some chunky Wool-Ease, so I thought I'd whip up a sweater for myself. I started this Monday, the picture is from last night.



Chunky wool + big needles = fast sweater, I suppose. It's my own pattern, so fingers crossed that it turns out okay. Damn, I need a better camera.

The signups for the Dr. Who/Torchwood swap close tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to getting my partner and getting my craft on. I've already gotten a full page of craft ideas, and I'm starting a little preliminary post-stalking to get an idea of anything that would go over universally well.

Kicking it Old School

Damn
Damn
Damn
Damn

I get woken up this morning by my manager calling to tell me that the owner heard I was applying for other jobs, so he's firing me for being 'unhappy' (a direct quote). Because apparently, being unemployed was supposed to cheer me up. I'm pretty sure I know the *actual* reason he fired me, but I can't prove anything in that direction so I don't want to put anything out there in words.

So, after going around a few places and handing out resumes, I got stuck in to tearing out the Room of Evil in my basement. Very therapeutic. I put on my wellies, the boy got out his fully functional German War Hammer, and the two of us just started beating/kicking the everliving f*** out of the basement walls.

On the bright side, I can really focus on my artwork and stuff for etsy now, and I just signed up last night for another Dr. Who swap. Onwards and upwards.

Busy busy busy

*sigh*

As I come in sight of making the deadline for my craft swap, my boss had her baby so now I rush furiously to finish the baby jacket. Good thing I was already doing good on the swap. I probably could've just bought something for the little guy, but all of her other kids have stuff I knit for them, and besides, the general climate at work right now is in some deperate need of sucking up.

I love how the stuff for my swap is turning out - I just wish I'd had the time to drive out to the import store to pick up a few exotic sweets to tuck in the package, too. Maybe I can find someplace closer that sells them, but I've barely had time to pause to gas up my car lately, let alone go nosing through a specialty food shop. I hope my swap partner will be impressed - I feel bad that I'm not sending her very many items, but I've definitely gone for quality over quantity in this swap.