Burnished Tunic

As of last night, my Burnished Tunic sweater is finished, and I am tempted to call it 'Tarnished' Tunic because of the color. Of course, 'tarnished' also has a negative connotation, and I don't want to saddle my sweater with that kind of reputation. I'm feeling pretty neutral about the color distribution--don't love it or hate it, though that in itself isn't neutral because I think I would love it if it were a solid color. With these varigated yarns, you can never tell how the colors might pattern themselves into stripes (like on the sleeves), blobs (like on the upper arm/shoulder areas), or not-quite-random enough swirls and patches (like on the front and back). I will never again use a varigated yarn on a sweater. It's either solids or kettle-dyes for me. And by kettle-dyes, I mean those yarns whose colors slightly vary in saturation only--all the same hue. I haven't seen too many crazy-looking examples made with those yarns.

The fit is truly amazing. It's just right, and I haven't even blocked it. My February Lady Sweater was too small at completion, but blocked to the perfect size. My Cabaret Raglan was too big at completion, and is still too big after blocking and gently drying in dryer. I'm seriously considering using some old bulky boucle yarn I have to make another version with a lower neckline. Not right away, but just 'someday.'

I did not make one single change to the pattern. I followed it exactly as written for my size. Yippee!

The pictures aren't so great since they were taken inside, but I was in too much of a hurry to wait for daylight.

Happy Mardi Gras!

Today is Fat Tuesday, and I'm sure the *real* Mardi Gras in New Orleans is well underway. Last Saturday, though, James, Steven, and I went to a Mardi Gras parade in Jefferson, Texas. It was a little cooler than I would've liked, but the sun managed to come out before the parade was over. Steven stayed close to the front lines and managed to get a LOT of beads, even with the tall grown man standing near him who was able to snag about 99% of the beads landing within his reach.

It's disappointing to see people like that--he was at least 40 years old and was putting all of the beads around the neck of his wife of the same age, while MANY children around him had very few beads and were unable to get many because of him. A lady standing near me kept making comments about him to me, and after a while, she was annoying me more than he was. Her grandson was standing near Steven and hadn't managed to get any beads, and she was placing the blame solely on the bead-greedy man (which I didn't think was exactly accurate). She soon snatched her grandson away from the front to come stand in the back with her, where he not only was unable to catch beads at all, but he couldn't even see the parade! I felt sorry for the kid and offered him the one strand of beads that Steven had given me at the start of the parade, but the lady wouldn't let me. The kid then showed me that he had many, many strands of beads around his neck, under his sweatshirt, so I was confused. I was glad when both the kid and his grandmother disappeared a few minutes later. People were also throwing beads off the balcony of this building, and lots of beads got caught on the telephone lines. Oops.

I didn't catch many beads, and I really didn't try to. I was mostly concerned with being pelted by them, so if I saw a strand coming my way, I tried to grab it only to prevent it from hitting me. One strand did actually hit me, and I actually caught it, creating rampant jealousy around me because this particular strand was very unique. It had huge, gumball sized beads on it that were very heavy--and one of the beads hit me right on my front tooth, which hurt more than you might expect. Steven later hit himself in the tooth with the beads and agreed that it hurt.

We didn't hang around much after the parade, mostly because we had spent all of our money at the General Store. Jefferson is an old antique-y, touristy town, and the General Store is a combination of old-fashioned soda fountain/ice cream shop and novelty/souvenir store. I got a mini-tape measure keychain for my knitting bag--I've really been wanting a retractable one. James got some white chocolate/macademia nut coated popcorn which he liked and I tolerated. Steven got a Chinese yo-yo and rock candy when I refused to let him get the rubber band gun or slingshot. I think they both had a good time, anyway.

In addition to going to Mardi Gras, James experienced the additional excitement of having hot links for the first (and probably last) time. I had hoped to enjoy some pizza from Fran's, but they were closed for the weekend, so Pizza Inn was substituted. Maybe next time...

Oscars 2009 (and a little knitting)

Our Oscar "Party" was pretty low-key this year since James and I were out of town for most of the weekend. Instead of caviar, we had guacamole; instead of quiche, we had pizza; and instead of flan, we had cinna-stix. We still had a good time, though. We watched Vicky Cristina Barcelona before the show started, and I was glad we did since Penelope Cruz ended up winning for her role in that movie. I really don't have much to say about the Oscars except that I was very pleased with all the acting recipients and moderately pleased with everything else except Best Picture and Best Directing--I really wanted Milk to win, but I did expect Slumdog Millionaire to win, so it was at least no surprise.

I finished up some fingerless mitts that I started Saturday at my parents' house, and I gave them to Sara as a belated birthday gift. They are from a single skein of Noro Kuyeron so the colors couldn't be matched as they don't repeat. They are what I hear called "fraternal" as opposed to "identical." I think that's pretty funny. She seemed to like them.

I also finished up the birthday gift socks for Amber nearly two months ahead of the due date, which means I can start some socks for myself finally! They have some strange pooling going on, but I think it just adds character. Please ignore how baggy they are on my too-small feet.

I have very little left (I think) on the Burnished Tunic Sweater, so I really hope to finish it this week. Yay!

A Secret is Out

The following happened when I was a freshman in high school.

My friend and I made plans to go see a movie at our town's tiny 99 cent theater, and we decided we would eat Chinese food a few blocks away before the movie. Since we were not old enough to drive, my friend's mom dropped us off at the restaurant and planned to pick us up from the theater when the movie was over. For the life of me, I cannot remember the movie we were going to see, but I guess it doesn't matter. I wish I could remember it, though.

After eating Chinese food, we started walking towards the movie theater, which is right in the middle of the small downtown area. We still had a while before the movie started, so we walked down a few of the deserted streets to kill some time. It was probably during winter because I remember it being dark, but it couldn't have been after 7 o'clock. All the little businesses in town closed at or around 5 o'clock, so the street was completely empty. On this particular street, the street is a few feet lower than the sidewalk and business entrances, so there are stairs on each end of the block to get to the sidewalk from the street.

We were goofing off, and at one point I was trying to sit on top of the handrail along the stairs leading up to the sidewalk. The rail was just a few inches to tall for me--I couldn't sit on it and have a foot touching the steps at the same time. While I was trying to figure out a way to do this without losing my balance, my friend was giving me a hard time about it. She apparently didn't understand why I couldn't just balance myself up there, so she pushed me a little to try to make me balance; instead, I instantly lost my balance and started to fall backward towards the street below, which was several feet below me. At the same time, I screamed, fearing for my life, and at the last moment, I grabbed a telephone pole (ouch!) that was luckily within my reach. As are most wooden telephone poles in sidewalked areas, this one was very splintery and had nails and staples sticking out of it. My hands were dirty, bloody, and had little pieces of skin hanging off of them, but I was thankful not to have landed head-first on the street.

My friend asked if I was okay--which I basically was--and then she said, "I swear to God, Gina, if you tell anyone about this, I will kill you." She was so serious that I didn't even question what she meant. That she almost killed me? I'm not sure whether I noticed or whether she indicated it to me, but she had wet her pants, presumably out of fear that she had almost severely injured me. As luck would have it, I had a half-full bottle of Dr.Pepper that was used to pour all over her pants in order to spare her some embarrassment. Our story was that when she panicked at my fall, she spilled it on herself. Brilliant. I honestly don't remember whether her mom took us home or just brought her new pants.

So, it seems there should be a moral or at least a point to this story, but I can't figure out what it is. Maybe it could be one or more of the following...

• Anything, if witnessed, is never secret.
• Be careful not to endanger others, or there will be consequences.
• Always have a bottle of Dr. Pepper handy.
• Unpleasant or exciting incidents make good memories.

I don't think I told anyone for years, but since I haven't seen her since high school, I figure it's safe now. Plus, I'm keeping her name anonymous. ;)

Finally Finished

Yesterday was a good mail day; I got TWO packages and no bills!

The first package was a traveling scarf, which I have already added to and sent on its way. It's hard for me (impossible?) to knit on anything else when I have a scarf that needs to be taken care of, so I'm usually pretty good about having a short turnaround. I think my scarf group probably appreciates that.

The second package was my buttons from an Etsy seller! I quickly sewed the buttons onto the Brea Bag as soon as I got them and took a few pictures before the sun went down. It's very funny to me that I finished the knitting of this purse in three days back in November, but it has taken me almost three months to do the finishing, which consisted only of lining the bag and attaching a handle and buttons. I love having finished objects, but I really, really hate doing the finishing. The knitting part is so much more fun.

Also, I want to give a special shout-out to my little brother, who turns THIRTEEN today!!! People are always amazed that I have such a young brother when I tell them about you, but I am amazed that you are already a teenager. You are officially caught up to being more than half my age. You will be able to drive in three years. You will go to college in five years. Wow, that doesn't seem like very long, does it? I love you and I'll see you in a few days!

Too Tired to Blog

I am still very exhausted from the weekend, even though I slept 14 hours before getting up for work this morning. It seems like that should have been just enough sleep to catch me up from Friday and Saturday nights' deprivation, but I'm not feeling it. Ugh.

Weekend recap:
Friday night - Went out to eat and went to bars with friends. Arrived home around 2:30am and immediately took shower and did laundry to get rid of horrid cigarette smoke stench. Went to sleep after 3:00am.

Saturday morning - Received lovely heart-shaped bamboo plant and a card from husband for otherwise unacknowledged Valentine's Day. Took car to mechanic at 8:00am. Made pizza dough and watched (parts of) Tropic Thunder. Knitted on a sweater sleeve.

Saturday afternoon - Ate yummy pizza prepared by James. Paid $400 for car that no longer squeaks. Drove for two hours to see friend in a different city. Consumed peanutbutter milkshake. Knitted on a sock. Planned trip to New Mexico (!!!). Talked. A. Lot.

Saturday night - Ate nachos. Talked. A. Lot. More. Gave in to friend's request to go to bar to see her two Colombiano friends. Shared a single drink with friend because bar did not accept credit cards (!). Left bar at closing (2:00am). Fell asleep after 3:00am? (Maybe later, but I really have no idea.)

Sunday - Drove home. Ate delicious meal of grilled catfish, mashed potatoes, and fried okra prepared by James. Went to movies and saw Doubt. Went home and slept.

I hope to have more blogworthy writing later this week, though I have no real reason to think I might. I did very much enjoy visiting with my friend who I don't get to see often enough, and I think we both needed it. I'm so excited about going to New Mexico (Albuquerque/Santa Fe) over Memorial Day Weekend!

Oktoberfest in February

One of the things I most enjoy doing is participating in the knitting swaps on Ravelry. So far, I've done a Secret Pal Swap, The Office Swap and a Day of the Dead Swap as well as one traveling scarf, which while not a swap, is a little similar. I'm also currently participating in the Lego Swap and a second round traveling scarf. I know that I've been very, very lucky in that my partners have always followed through and fulfilled their commitments, and that is likely why I enjoy swapping so much. I haven't had a bad experience yet.

Unfortunately, those bad experiences happen to others too frequently, and it is really a shame. I recently volunteered to make an 'angel package.' This means that I put together a swap package to be sent to a person who had been let down by their assigned partner and ended up receiving nothing, even though they went to the trouble of making a package for someone else. When I volunteered, I had no idea of the circumstances, but I was very pleased to find out that my package was going to a swap moderator who has been really, really great. And I was dismayed to discover that she was let down by someone I had very much expected (because of her position) to follow through on swaps. It is a very unfortunate situation, and it has made me reconsider whether I will do other swaps with this group in the future.

The swap that I made the package for was the Oktoberfest Swap (a little late, right?!), and the main requirement was to make three beer cozies. The beer sweater took the longest, and the other two took an hour or so each. They were fun and easy to make, and I am toying with the idea of making some for myself.

I thought it would be cool and easy to make some beer cap refrigerator magnets, so I bought a mix-and-match six pack of interesting beers from our local fancy beer/wine store which I forced my friends to drink when they came over Saturday night, and I glued the magnets in on Sunday. I also took a plain little bag (maybe for a small project) and wrote the words "Ich stricke für Garn oder Bier" which (I think) translates to "I knit for yarn or beer." A special shopping expedition yesterday also resulted in nuts, chocolate, yarn, and a key chain, and I included an "authentic" Oktoberfest cup that I got at Addison Oktoberfest last year.

I hope she enjoys it all, but I think I enjoyed more trying to quickly come up with stuff to include. I gave myself a deadline to send it, meaning I had less than a week to get it all together, so I didn't order anything from online, even though I saw many cute things on Etsy that would've been awesome. If I ever get another angel opportunity in the future, I'm definitely taking it.

I Can Sew!

Sew is a weird word. Every time I see it, I want to say soo, but I don't. I say so.

Anyway, I may have mentioned that I got a sewing machine for Christmas. James bought it for me from a thrift store, and I ordered a copy of the manual for it online. The manual I got is literally a Xerox copy of the original manual stapled together, but it still works. I guess I wouldn't expect anything else considering how old this thing is.

Until yesterday, I hadn't so much as even turned the thing on. Soon after Christmas, I went to Jo-Ann and bought some fabric to line a purse I knitted over Thanksgiving, as well as a pattern, fabric, and thread to make plaid flannel pajamas. That was as far as I got. Every time I would think about sewing, I would decide that I would rather knit.

Now I think I was just waiting for the right motivation, which came in the form of a purse handle. Ever since I finished the purse, I had been looking for a black, braided leather purse strap. I couldn't find a decent one at any craft store or on a purse at Goodwill, so I finally checked out the website recommended on the knitting pattern. I suppose that was one of the first places I should have looked, anyway. While they didn't have what I wanted, they did have a cute brown strap that was far more appealing than anything I had seen so far, so I went ahead and ordered it for $5. I figured even if I didn't like it for my purple purse, I could use it for a different purse in the future.

So, this strap arrived in the mail yesterday, and I love it! I thought it would look great on the purple purse, so I instantly became motivated to sew in the purse lining so that I could attach the handle and finish the purse. Following the manual directions, I had the machine ready to go in fifteen minutes, and I did a test run. Can you believe how great that looks? It seemed so much harder when I was a kid.

Within an hour, I had cut out the pieces for my lining and sewn them together to make a pouch, which I then hand-sewed into the purse. It doesn't quite fit like a glove, but it's good enough for me, and so much easier than if I had tried to do the whole thing by hand.

The strap was sewed on easily in minutes, and I found the perfect buttons on Etsy that I can use for the center closure. I had already bought some black wooden buttons for this purpose, but I decided I needed brown to match the strap. I can't wait until they come and I can actually use this purse! I stuffed the purse with a scarf to take the following picture so it wouldn't look quite so floppy.

So maybe I will tackle those pajamas this weekend...

Where's the Bread?

A few days ago, we made red beans and rice in the crock pot. When I came home, I noticed that the bag of bread and the bag of potatoes were right next to the crock pot and their bags were warm and steamed up from being so near the beans. Ugh. I moved both away from the crock pot, putting the potatoes on a different counter and putting the bread on top of the refrigerator.

The next day, I decided to have toast for breakfast, but the bread was not on the refrigerator, nor was it anywhere on the counter, so I asked James where it was.

"It's in the freezer."

"Why is it in the freezer?" I asked him.

"You put it there."

"No, I didn't."

"Yes you did. When I opened the freezer it fell out, so I put it back."

I started laughing pretty hard when I realized what had happened. I must have put the bread too close to the edge, so when he opened the freezer, the bread fell off the top of the refrigerator, but for some reason he thought that the not-cold-at-all bread must have fallen out from inside the freezer and didn't question at all why it would be in there.

At the grocery store, I have occasionally been known to sneak Eclairs or gourmet cheese into the basket while James isn't looking. Normally, he will notice these things while we were checking out or when we are unloading groceries at home. I do this only to be funny, because James really doesn't care if we get this stuff.

Yesterday, while we were moving newly purchased groceries from our cart to the back of the car, James picked up a cylinder of gooey cinnamon rolls out of a bag (something we have NEVER purchased before), and coyly exclaimed, "Oh, I wonder how this got here?" while smiling at me. I fully thought that James must have taken his own chance to sneak something, so I said, "Yeah, I wonder how that got in there?" Then, because it seemed so unlike him, I asked if he had put it in the basket. "No, you didn't put it in the basket?" Neither of us had put it in the basket, but we each thought that the other had! We looked at the receipt, and upon seeing it not listed there, James took it back inside to return it. I think we both wish we would've kept it, though. Cinnamon rolls sure sounds yummy.

How Life Balances Out

Last night, we discovered that we have no hot water. We had cold water, but when we would turn the knob to hot, only a little cold water would trickle out. Hmmm. James called maintenance last night before I went to my knitting meetup, but there is still no hot water this morning. Ugh, this means I can't take a shower. And that means I can't go work out with the expectation of taking a shower afterwards, which means I cannot go work out because that would be gross.

This morning I got the following email, and while I admit that it's not really a big deal, it made me happy:

Hi Gina,

I am delighted to let you know that your submitted photo has been selected for inclusion in the newly released sixth edition of our Schmap Boston Guide:

Old South Meeting House http://www.schmap.com/boston/sights_downtowncrossing/p=325186/i=325186_25.jpg

If you use an iPhone or iPod touch, then this same link will take you directly to your photo in the iPhone version of our guide. On a desktop computer, you can still see exactly how your photo is displayed and credited in the iPhone version of our guide at:

Old South Meeting House
http://www.schmap.com/?m=iphone#uid=boston&sid=sights_downtowncrossing&p=325186&i=325186_25

Finally, if you have a blog, you might also like to checkout the customizable widgetized version of our Schmap Boston Guide, complete with your published photo:

http://www.schmap.com/guidewidgets/p=25421359N04/c=SJ20131597

Thanks so much for letting us include your photo - please enjoy the guide!

Best regards,

Emma Williams,
Managing Editor, Schmap Guides
www.schmap.me/emma.williams

To make it easy for you, here is the photo:

Confessions of a Chipotle Addict

I ate Chipotle four times last week.

Sunday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.

Why is it so impossible for me to resist?

The good news is that I have started getting bowls (meaning no 300 calorie tortilla) and I no longer get the chicken (200 calories eliminated there) since giving up the land animals. The bad news is that it still tastes so freaking good that I cannot stay away. We were so close to having it last night, me having thoroughly convinced James to give in (since I am always the one persuading him--he rarely voices his desire to go, though he no doubt desires it as much as I do), but I came to my senses, went to the gym for an hour, and then ate fish and broccoli for dinner. I think it was worth it when the numbers finally dipped a little lower on the scale this morning.

As expected, James and I have been eating WAY more veggies since being pescetarians, and we have been working out more since I am earnestly trying to follow through on my resolution to lose weight. I mean, I already failed the cat, I might as well try not to fail myself, right? Even though I haven't been working out as much as I know I should, we have both lost at least six pounds already. The little voice in my head is telling me it could've been ten if I'd cut out Chipotle (and the required accompanying Dr. Pepper) and actually work out at least five days a week. And part of me thinks, I am still losing weight, even if slowly, so why bother giving up what makes me happy?

I don't think I'm rationalizing...

though I do admit four times in one week is a little much, even for Chipotle.

Cat Frustrations

The cat is evil.

A couple of weeks ago, I got up on a Saturday and walked into the living room. The cat meowed at me. As my eyes followed the direction the sound was coming from, my worst fears were realized: the cat was on top of my dining chest (this dining chest) among my wine and beer glasses that had been nudged around to make room for her. As I reached up to get her down, she backed into the glasses, nudging a blue margarita glass off the edge where it crashed and shattered on a champagne bottle below (we put the leftover champagne bottles on the floor between the chest and the wall). I became super angry and grabbed her off of the chest without further injury to any of my glassware. But still...one Margarita glass, an irreplaceable college graduation gift from my best friend, is gone forever. (Too bad the cat is not.)

I couldn't believe that she even got up there in the first place. She had to have jumped up there from the table, and I wouldn't think she'd have the nerve to jump somewhere where there was obviously no room to spare. James and I moved all the glasses close together and at the very edge to discourage her from trying again, but last weekend I found indisputable evidence that she had been up there again as all the glasses were moved from their previous positions. We moved the glasses back and moved the table towards the kitchen (which now makes it impossible for me to go from the kitchen to the living room if James is sitting in his usual seat) and we researched solutions to our problem online. After reading reviews of motion-detection alarms that will sound high-frequency noise or spray a gust of air, we finally decided on the Scat Mat--it's a mat you put on a surface where you don't want your cat, and if the cat (or you) touches it, it gives the cat (or you) a mild electric shock. Supposedly similar to the one you get from touching a doorknob in winter, but we haven't tested it yet.

Yesterday, Sugar dug into a plastic bag with a very small opening to remove a skein of wool I was using to make a sweater, but she fortunately didn't do much harm, other than coating it with white fur and unraveling it a bit. I put the yarn and the bag containing the rest of the yarn in the bedroom, so she couldn't get into it again. Today, she had dug into my project bag to remove a still-in-use ball of the same yarn (still attached to the project) and had unwound some of it. Again, not too much harm, thankfully, but lots of aggravation. I now feel that I can never leave out anything less than a fully zipped up bag (of which I have one oversized purse fitting that description) because it might get destroyed.

So, I'm hoping the Scat Mat will at least keep her away from the table and dining chest, which is by far my biggest worry. And I guess I need to either get a large zippered bag for projects or leave the project locked in the bedroom when I'm not working on it. I know that it's not that big of a deal, but it's just hard for me to accept that I have to go out of my way in my own house to avoid having my stuff ruined. Please feel a little sorry for me :(

Oscar Season

Every year around Thanksgiving I start the annual task of trying to see as many of the critically acclaimed movies as I can. I do watch some of the movies throughout the year before Thanksgiving, but for the most part, most of the movies I need to see are released at the end of the year. All at one time. As if the holidays aren't hectic enough, I am often scrambling to see movies the entire time, but I (of course) never see them all. That's what January/February is for.

My interest in seeing these movies and watching the Academy Awards, specifically, dates back to my days working at a video rental store, but it has really intensified in the years since working there. I probably talked about this on the blog last year, so see here if you missed it last year.

I have already seen most of the nominated films (including all of the best picture nominees), and I saw three more this weekend: The Wrestler (Mickey Rourke nominated for Best Actor), Man on Wire (nominated for Best Documentary and expected to win), and WALL-E (nominated for Best Animated Film and expected to win). The Wrestler was painful to watch on every level, and though I think it was good, I wouldn't say I enjoyed it. Man on Wire was very fascinating and I highly recommend it--it's on DVD, but I watched it online through Netflix. WALL-E was very cute; I spent most of the movie saying 'Awwwwww.'

Movies that I still need to see: Doubt, Revolutionary Road, and a few more obscure movies that are on DVD an should be in my mailbox soon. I have seen more of the nominated films this year than ever before, and I don't think I'll have too much trouble seeing the ones remaining on my list before my third annual Oscar Party on February 22nd. Once I see those few I have left, maybe I'll post my own picks here, and we can all laugh together at how few I get right.