annoyed before coffee

Dear Vatican,
Do you really think its a good idea to push away people who want to be leaders in your church based on the fact they are female? C'mon now, you're facing an all time low in membership!
I'm simply pointing out, that decrees such as this are a huge part of why the Tall Guy and I won't be married by a Catholic Priest, but instead by a Christian Pastor with a more up-to-date view on the world with God in it.
It's time to evolve, Vatican. Good luck.

whaaa?

Okay. For any Lost watchers. I only have one thing to say after this evening's season finale.
WTF.

alo!

I made it back from San Francisco in one piece after a fantastic weekend. Seriously, I love that city. It's not only because its where my bestest friend (aka hetero life partner or hlp for short) has lived the past four years or so, but for its food, fun, yarn shops and irreverent attitude. SO different from DC.
I'm tired and still a bit grouchy from flying and going to work the past two days (work. the nerve!) so, nothing too long tonight, just a few thoughts and only a couple of pics.
This is Clifton. My hlp lives with him. Basically, he's the feline version of Annie, as far as I can tell. I love cats with dog attitudes.
Imagiknit and ArtFibers are fantastic. If you're ever in SF and like fiber GO!!!!! My hlp was happy to navigate the way to these stores and my wallet came home a bit lighter.
I went to a Red Sox/Oakland A's game on Sunday and while the Sox did lose (tear), the weather was perfect, we had amazing seats (see!) and it was just a really nice afternoon.
I started the Juno Regina while traveling and its coming along slowly but surely. I think I'll wait a bit before posting pics of it and I knit most of one sock from Yarn Love's Elizabeth Bennett doing a basic sock (= brainless) with a short row heel which I'm getting better at with the help of my new book from Priscilla Gibson-Roberts. It's a bare bones sort of hand drawn book that kicks ass in showing some great techniques.
Okay, signing off for the night. I promise to actually show some knitting or yarn content soon, just not tonight.

sniffle sniffle, sneeze cough

Seriously. Everyone I seem to know is sick right now. This is a weird time of year to have colds, isn't it? The Tall Guy thought it was just allergies this past weekend, until Monday morning when I woke up with his sore throat and cough. Well. OJ and Chicken soup today, I have a busy weekend coming up, so I can't be ill.
These past few days, I've been a bit knitting schizophrenic, bouncing between the socks, my gathered pullover, a random lace project with a mystery mohair (below)
and obsessing on Ravelry about what I'm going to knit for my "wedding shawl". You may remember me talking about earlier in the spring/winter. I finally came to a conclusion on that this week. The yarn is here. (Info on the yarn here)
The pattern is picked out. Its completely non traditional and not white. This means, I'll actually wear it again and the mixing of a white in addition to my dress won't be a concern. The needles came in this afternoon, so I think I'll cast on tonight. It's a morning ceremony, so I don't think it will be cold, but you never know New England! If nothing else, I'll wear it that night at the after-party!
Yay!
Tomorrow, I'm off to San Francisco for the holiday weekend to see my bestest friend. This seems to be the only non wedding (ours or others) or family related trip I have on the agenda until I have no idea when. It will be a fun weekend of relaxing, seeing some west-coast-based friends and going to a baseball game amongst other things. Yay!

And I leave you with a calm looking Annabelle. For the past hour or so, as I've been writing for work, she has continusouly swatted at me and the keyboard trying to get me to play with her. The second the camera comes out, she plays dead and acts like she isn't a complete nut job. Gotta love it.

Sweater Progress!

When I've been sitting on the couch the past few nights, I've been working on the gathered pullover. Its moving along at a good pace right now and I love the color, which is actually a much deeper dark teal then what you're seeing. I just wanted to show the cable better, which will be in the center of my chest.

On a total side note, did anyone else catch the beginning of John Edwards speech today endorsing Obama? I *heart* Obama big time, but seriously, that was totally bizarre. The first five minutes (or more) of his talking was all about how wonderful Hilary is. It just struck me as a little off. Or, maybe I was just opening praying that Edwards isn't Obama's running mate. I'll just leave my politics at that.
Happy Hump Day!

what's a sock blocker you say?

Okay, so I've figured out that my readers tend to be a 50/50 split of muggles and knitters (from what I can tell, of course, there are plenty of lurkers out there...) So, I keep talking to anyone who will listen about getting sock blockers at Sheep and Wool and subsequently getting weird looks. So, they're thin wood (sometimes plastic) in the shape of an ideal sock that after you wash your newly knitted sock, you put it on the blocker to dry. Really, I think I'll continue to use my drip dry on the hanging rack method, but this sure looks cute, now doesn't it?
Details on the socks?
Needle: Size 1 Magic Loop
Yarn: Storm Moon Knits Sock in Pretty in Pink
Pattern: Carolina Queen of Naples, minus the purl round. I don't think this is available anywhere but on Ravelry.
Overall, a solid pattern. I started and stopped it a few times, but I have a tendency to do that, so that's no different then normal for me. And yes, they really ARE that bright!

The weekend in review

Whew. I am finally sitting down on the couch after a hectic, but great weekend.
On Friday, the Tall Guy and I met some friends for dinner and then strolled (alright, for DC-ers, we hiked from Woodley Park to the Cathedral and then up to the AU metro stop) to the Cathedral to check out the light display that was being superimposed on the front. I have the info somewhere and its evading me, but here are some pics. (sorry if they're a bit blurry, it was hard to get a good shot with trees, people, lighting etc)
On Saturday morning, we got up early, dropped Annie off at the PetHotel and drove up to Gettysburg. I had decided we needed to celebrate our last "dating" anniversary before we get hitched. What a romantic place to celebrate... the site of the bloodiest battle ever fought on US Soil, right? That said, the weather held out, we learned a ton (we're both history nerds), drove the battlefield, had good food, and...
I even made it into a Yarn shop! Misty Mountain Fiber is in downtown Gettysburg. What a cute little store. The owner (her name is evading me) was so nice...I picked up a bag of locally produced (local sheep, hand spun, hand dyed) dk weight yarn that should be enough for me to make a stripe-y sweater. I could have come home with a wheel, but not yet. One day...

Today we made our way back to DC, with a stop off in Frederick, MD. It has such a nice little historic downtown! We'll be going back one day on a Saturday, since a lot of places seemed to be closed on Sundays. When we picked Annie up from the boarder, she was thrilled to see us, though once in the car, I felt like she was glaring at me rather indignantly from the backseat. She's been asleep all night, so I'm pretty sure she didn't sleep a wink the entire time we were gone.

Finally, a work in progress! I started this sock on the way out of town, and the Tall Guy was gracious enough to drive the whole weekend, so I didn't get too far, but a good start. So far, so good. I talked about the pattern etc. for this here. The color is pretty on-spot, though I know it looks dark, it was the best way for me to get a clear shot of the stitch pattern. Its pouring here in DC, I'm so not excited about going to work tomorrow!

Third times a charm?

I finished a pair of socks the other night (which I 'll get around to showing you at some point, I promise) and like always, started rooting around for a new sock project. I proceeded to cast on some Socks That Rock heavy weight, and promptly hated it.. The yarn is wonderful, the color is great, but I just wasn't feeling the Cookie A. pattern (Twinkle Toes) .

So, I then tried this Perchance to Knit yarn I got in a swap . The colorway is Mexicali Peppers and all I can think of when I look at it is 1976. Not that I was alive in 76, but you get the picture. I'll hold onto it for awhile and see if inspiration comes, otherwise it may be traded to someone else. The color saturation is great, wonderful twist but eck. So, now I'm about to try for my third start this week. I've gone back to Woolarina in her fingering weight sock yarn. Paula, I love your colors. The pattern I think I'll use is here and is the Show Off Stranded Socks. For those that care, the heel construction is pretty interesting. For those that don't really care, well, you'll likely just notice that its another sock project in pink. What can I say except my current color choices involve the idea of embracing the pink. Not girly, soft pink, but shocking pink? Why not!

In other, non fiber news, the Tall Guy and I went to Best Buy last night and picked up Mario Kart for our Wii. OMG. Its awesome. Like, so much fun. We got the steering wheels (one comes with the game, an extra on is $10.00 and totally worth it) and we raced well into the wee hours of the morning. Good thing we didn't have to work today!

I'll leave you with a photo of one of my favorite things from Sheep and Wool. These little guys are Mohair goats (anyone that went, do you know if these are the rumored pygmy ones or just babies?) Either way, I almost brought one home!

How does this make sense?

We're all watching, one way or another our economy struggle right now... so can someone explain to me why the US Government is continuing to make pennies and nickels when the cost to make the coin is more then what its worth?
According to this CNN article, it costs 1.26 cents to make each penny and about 7.5 cents to make a nickel due to rising costs of metal. Go figure. The article goes on to discuss the hold ups in coming up with a solution, which is all pretty standard in terms of who gets to call the shots.

Personally my favorite part of the article is "People still want pennies, which is why we're still making them". Really? What do you do with your pennies? In our house, all loose change tends to go in a piggy bank. That's all that happens. So, think about how many of us have simply pulled coins out of circulation, to only dump it back in about once every 4 or 5 years when it gets lugged to the bank. I'm sure I could come up with some creative solutions to the penny making issue if I was the boss. How about everyone brings in their piggy banks and get a free latte? Stranger things have happened!

animal stuff

I'm never sure exactly what I think about animal rights. After this weekend at Sheep and Wool, and then, reading this story (and hearing about it of course) about Eight Belles tragic demise, I'm often left wondering where the line is drawn with animals.
It's interesting to me where the line in the sand is for each person and its something that Sheep and Wool always makes me ponder when I'm there with friends who get the Pit Lamb sandwich just feet from the pen that holds the little lambs.
This festival truly is a celebration of the entire animal and what it does for us, not only by clothing but, but by feeding people. An interesting thought, really, though I can't touch the stuff myself when I'm there and have never really eaten Lamb since I figured out the whole connection when I was four of Lamb Chops = "Lamb Chop's Play-Along".




This didn't stop me, last night however from having a cheeseburger for dinner and I wonder why that is. Out of sight,(no cow in my backyard?) out of mind?
I continue to toy with going back to a vegetarian way of life and know that one day I will when I'm ready for a variety of reasons but, my heart just can't help but ache for the gorgeous horse (I don't even like horses, for the record, they creep me out and I think they all want to quietly squish me under their very large hooves) that was euthanized moments after a second place win at the Kentucky Derby.
I'm not sure where I'm going with this, mostly its just a stream of thought that's zipping around in my late-on-a-Monday afternoon brain. Food for thought, really. (No pun intended!)

Manic Monday

The Tall Guy was singing this lovely tune from the Bangles on the way to work this morning and its been rattling around in my head ever since. I swear, I'm going to start put my headphones in for the commute on Mondays! (Just kidding, buddy).
Anyway, before I get sidetracked, a few answers to the comments on the baseball game last Wednesday. It was breezy up there, but the sun was on our backs, since we were in top row, so I only got a tad chilly towards the end of the game. I only stayed until the bottom of the 9th inning, thus not staying for the extra innings. It was a school night, I was tired, the hot dog churning in my tummy was making me queasy and well... I'm a Red Sox girl, so I'm really at any other game for the ambiance anyway. 9 innings is plenty for me. I also promise to try a half-smoke next time.

So, yes. This weekend was Sheep and Wool. I'll post photos soon, but my little Mac is in the computer health clinic for a week or so, so I'll have to get the Tall Guy to assist in my loading the photos to his computer. In short, I went both days, had a great time, the weather couldn't have been better, I bought sock yarn (shocking). Didn't find a sweater's worth of anything (which is okay). Bought some other stuff, like needles and Soak (great price) and Sock Blockers (I'll explain with photos later). All in all, Sheep and Wool is a funny thing, as both days I went with non-knitters. See. Sure there's a lot of yarn, etc, but its really just a big old country fair that happens to only have animals there that you can shear for their fiber. Thus, all the barns are full of sheep, goats, alpacas, etc. Its wonderful and free!
Photos to follow, along with a finished object! Yay!

Baseball and Springtime

Currently, I'm writing from the back porch. For these few weeks every year, every person in DC takes full advantage of it being warm enough to wear flip flops with jeans. Soon enough, my hair will be in a ponytail and I'll avoid the outdoors as it becomes too sticky to do anything but move from one air conditioned venue to another. Being from New Hampshire, central air (you mean something besides a box fan?) was an interesting concept to me. Now, I couldn't live without it!
For these short weeks, though I'll love my backyard.

Last night, about 60 of my co workers and I headed to the new stadium to see the Nats take on the Braves. The new ballpark is, in my opinion, totally DC.
Its a great park, clear lines/great views, interesting food options, but it was "eh". "Eh in that way that nothing really that interesting about the park expect for this view from our nosebleed seats. (We were in the highest of high)
I think my "eh" about it has to do with my experience at other parks, like Camden and Fenway that are just so gritty, that the newness for this one just was a little too shiny. That, and the hot dog I had totally made me ill. Perhaps next time I'll try one of the fancy food vendors like Ben's Chili Bowl or Red, Hot and Blue, because after last night, I'm not sure I can ever eat another Hebrew National without wanting to vomit.

Incidentally, I got zero knitting done at the game. I was too busy socializing to pull out my sock. Also, I'm happy to report that Jessie thought I was a-okay too. Yay for making friends via the internet!