Back into the black hole...

So day before last, mom brought over a WoW game card for us. (she and my cousin recently lapsed back into the game, and decided they needed Tiwaz and me as well) After spending an entire day upgrading my computer, re-installing WoW, getting all the updates, and upgrading my character to Burning Crusade, I logged in.

I spent the next 15 minutes getting repeatedly one-shot killed by a couple of undead in the Southshore graveyard as I was attempting to hearth. Way to remind me why I stopped playing.

So, I got everyone else to come join me on my nice safe, happy PvE (normal) server.

I've got a lot of other games I should really be trying to get through, but World of Warcraft does have the advantage of providing me with some truly quality knitting time. Between griffin flights, boats, zeppelins, and trains, there's a lot of downtime where I don't feel justified in actually leaving the computer, so the knitting basket just goes next to the chair.

I've actually got two new patterns I'm just polishing up - they were supposed to be Christmas presents for co-workers, but since we got a new printer for Christmas, I've told them there's a slight delay while I type them up and format them nicely rather than giving them xeroxed handwritten sheets. I'll give them a chance to make the patterns first before I actually post them. (Well, one - the other one had enough time put into it that I'll actually be selling it on Etsy. But not for too much.)


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Now playing: Weezer - Simple Pages
via FoxyTunes

Resolved!

So, my three resolutions for the New Year:

1. Keep the house cleaner so that guests coming over doesn't require a three-day sleep-free cleaning marathon, just a bit of tidying and a quick vacuum.

2. Get six months' worth of house payments saved and in an interest-bearing account

3. No more yarn may be bought until I meet one of two conditions:
a) sell $50 worth of stuff on Etsy
b) completely use up the contents of one yarn tote.

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.