Monday, May 24, 2010

That was a waste of a Sunday Evening, and 6 seasons

Lost sucked. Plain and simple.  I learned that if I dig myself into a hole, the way to get out of it is to make people believe that it doesn't matter how or why I've dug it.  Still doesn't get around the fact that there's still a big fucking hole to be dealt with!  I've got a bunch more to say about it, but I promised myself I wouldn't waste anymore time on the show.

Since it's only been a day since my last post, not a whole lot more as far as knitting goes. I'm almost halfway through the entrelac scarf and finished the first inch of the first dragon breath sock.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALT!

Happy Lost Finale day, everyone!  Who knows how it's going to end.  I've kind of given up trying to deconstruct everything, but I do have some questions that I'd like to see answered.  For instance:
  1. Why did the smoke monster come out of the cave when MIB went in?
  2. Why is Desmond so damn important?
  3. What's the deal with Widmore and why was he so keen to get back to the island?
  4. It's all been Vincent's crazy dog dream from the sedatives and pressure changes in cargo, right?
  5. What's Josh Holloway's phone number?
They just showed my favorite exchange:
Sawyer: What's your problem Jumbo-tron?
Hurley: Shut up, redneck man!
Sawyer: Touché


I have to figure out what I'm going to knit throughout the finale.  It can't be anything too hard b/c I'm going to need to pay attention.  I've gotten through the pattern part of the Ruby Red sweater, and I've got about 6 more inches of stockinette to go, so that might be a good choice.  The entrelac scarf (pictured) is pretty easy, too, especially since it's stockinette, only working with 8 stitches at a time.  This afternoon, I cast some socks in yummy Malabrigo Sock in Violet Grape - a deep deep purple.  They're going to be awesome, but will probably require too much concentration.


I've also got to figure out what I'm going to do with my latest Stash Club kit.  It's a bunch of mini skeins of Neighborhood Fiber Company Capital Luxury Worsted - a merino, cashmere, nylon blend. Basically it's one big colorway called "Political Spectrum" with 5 skeins in different shades of blue, purple and red.  I don't know if I'll use the patterns that were included, but I definitely can't wait to use the yarn.  I met Karida, the dyer, at Stitch and Pitch at Nats Park on Friday evening.  She's pretty cool.  One of these days I'll invest in some Penthouse Lace of hers for something totally yummy.


In other news, the collection of yarn for the troops overseas is going exceptionally well.  The outpouring has been absolutely amazing.  They've already received one of the boxes I've sent, I sent another on Thursday, and I've got enough for two more boxes sitting in my living room.  It's phenomenal.  Thank you to everyone who has donated.   I received this from SSgt Sholl yesterday.  Very touching.
Hey Emily!

Thank you so much for your donations, I have already made 2 hats, 2 scarves, and a set of mittens from all the fun yarn! I even have a guy knitting a scarf for his wife, lol. It is greatly appreciated. We have been pretty busy as well, they shut off our communication with the US every time there is a US casualty, so sad. Pray for their safety. I pray while I knit, “A prayer in every stitch” I like to say.  Thank all of your donators for us, it is greatly appreciated and really helps to keep the stress levels low.

Thank you so much for all of the support and the incredible amount of motivation! It is greatly appreciated!

Thursday, May 13, 2010

OT: Mean people suck

Another rough week.  I was once again reminded how sucky some people can be, as if I needed another reminder. The latest reminder was on the metro today - go figure. I was standing in front of the metro map (because some jerk kept backing me into the wall) when another guy wanted to see it.  I moved out of the way, then watched as he shook his head in confusion.  I asked if he needed help. Turns out, he and his family were on vacation from Syndey, Australia.  They were trying to get to the Air and Space Museum and the metro staff had been less than helpful (shocker!).  They mentioned that, for the most part, the Americans they ran into were friendly, but that day they had been treated very rudely by a few people, mostly service industry workers.  I was so embarrassed.  Thankfully, I was heading back to L'Enfant Plaza after a meeting and told them they could follow me.  I even put down my knitting so I could help them!  I hope I helped them to enjoy DC a little more.  I guess I don't understand why people are mean and rude.  It takes so much energy to be mean.

Anyway, knitting has been going alright.  For some reason, I've been motivated to knit on my world champ sweater.  I've been getting through the lattice part pretty quickly.  It's a lot more interesting than straight stockinette stitch.  No pictures as of yet, except for this one.

Friday, May 7, 2010

I knit so I don't kill people, or Shipping Yarn to Afghanistan

Oh my GOD!  It has been a week!  Yesterday, I woke up knowing that I had back to back to back to back meetings from 9am to 4pm.  I was very excited to hear that my 2-4 meeting had been cancelled.  The excitement was very short lived as I got pulled into another 2-4 meeting which led to a 4-6 meeting.  I was in meetings from 9am to 6pm yesterday!!!!!!!! It was INSANE.  Even though I was exhausted, I managed to drag myself to fibre space and I'm glad I did.

Earlier this week, my VA Pep Band friend, Beta (her real name is Christine), sent me a message on facebook regarding a friend of hers - a female marine deployed to Afghanistan who was desperately seeking yarn, needles and knitting patterns.  I was all over it.  I posted messages on a couple ravelry forums to see if anyone wanted to destash for a good cause.  Most of my friends donate their soft synthetic yarn to health based organizations for chemo caps and baby blankets, but they can't donate natural fibres or funky yarns to those orgs.  The outpouring has been incredible.  I sent the first box today - chock full of yarn, needles and patterns.  It didn't even contain any of the yarn I'm donating, or the yarn from three other knitting friends!!!!!  Here's a picture that SSgt Sholl sent me of herself and two colleagues knitting in the field.  I'm so happy that I can add to their downtime during an otherwise stressful time.

In other knitting news, I finished the soft chocolate shrug, though I should have made it a little bit longer.  It still fits pretty well, though.  I'm most of the way through the first of my Yankees fair-isle fingerless mitts.  It's coming out pretty well, not bad for my first design, though i wish the edges of the contrasting portions were smoother.  Still plugging away on the World Champ Sweater and I'm hibernating the Seraphim shawl.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

SOCKS!

I finished my first pair of socks!  They're very colorful.  I'm proud of myself for finishing them.  I think my gauge was a teeny bit loose, because they're just a tad big.  More later - I'm not feeling too well, so I'm not feeling very wordy right now.  Here's a pic of the socks.  Yarn is Miss Babs Yummy 3ply in Roan Mountain Morning.