down-sizing

    What a strange 'eating' day I had today. Had my normal(school day) breakfast of scrambled eggs (2) and skim milk, adding a banana today, but then after my nine o'clock class I needed something to drink, and eneded up eating an early--and large--lunch of Chicken Asiago Salad and Fruit Salad (of which I only ate the grapes and brought the rest home to Rodger). Bought apple juice, but never drank it. It was a "big salad" and I was a little miserable in my next class.     Rodger and I had made plans this morning that we would go to Ryan's for a good supper tonight, since he now gets off from work much earlier. I worried after my large lunch that I wouldn't be hungry. I was wrong; well, it was more than five hours between the two meals with no snack! Had a short nap after John and I got home (with my feline sweetheart, Brickly, curled up beside me), and when Rodger got home he woke me and away we went.     It was a good meal, but I basicallly ate the same thing I always eat there (now): steak, vegetables and water. I didn't have more salad, and only a few grapes and a sugar-free cookie for dessert. Afterward, however, I felt unsatisfied. Much of the joy we used to have in eating out seems gone. Eating is now a chore most of the time. And I was feeling fairly frumped when we left.     We decided to drop by Hudson's so Rodger could get some more of the juice he bought last week. They didn't have any, but I strolled through the clothes looking for cotton fabric (rather than knit) tops for Mexico. I didn't find any tops, but they did have the stretch Capri pants that I've looked at but not yet bought. I grabbed several pair and tried them on... they were T O O B I G ! ! !     I had to go down a size and boy, did that ever surprise me. I had no idea that I'd lost enough weight to make that kind of differece. I did know that I was abel to wear some pants that a friend gave me last year that I hadn't been able to wear before, but this totally caught me off-guard. Needless to say, my frump disappeared.     There's more I wanted to write, but I've got to go to bed. LC

hot momma (or "hot, momma!")

The A/C is broken. It's rather hot for mid-April in Mississippi, in my opinion. And it's dry.dry.dry.dry. Someone (stupid) is setting brush fires along the interstate. "They" say it has not been this dry in 70 years. Don't know how "They" know that, but regardless, we could sure use some rain. The A/C is broken. It's too hot to knit. Which really frustrates me because I had to rip out all that I did during the day yesterday (starting another pair of socks for sister) before I went to bed. Which was very early this morning, actually. Neither John or I was awake enough to make classes today. Such bad children we are. The A/C is broken. I'm too tired to read. My eyes, that is. Are too tired. They are really squirrely the last week. The distance portion of my glasses is totally useless. I pulled out all my old glasses to see if any of them would help (they didn't). I have to tilt my head a bit to have sharp(er) vision. I'm getting a crick in my neck. Just found my FosterGrant magnifiers though, so now I can see to read (and knit) better. The A/C is broken. I did get some knitting done today, though I just got hotter and hotter through the afternoon. I discovered the A/C is broken when I tried to turn down the thermostat -- a result of wondering why the A/C wasn't coming on since it was getting hot in the house. But it always does get hotter in the afternoon, so I didn't really think too much about it. And I was sitting under a halogen lamp knitting and finding mistakes and ripping and reknitting, just generally frustrated. The A/C is broken. I was actually going to cook tonight, but it's too hot. Rodger arrived home from work to find me napping in the recliner. I told him the A/C was broken. We hope that it is just the thermostat. Obviously, I wanted to go out to eat. I've been having just a little bit of carb 'treat' every day. Only at one meal. I want to see if they'll check my glucose at the health clinic on Friday afternoon. I am not drinking soda, sweetened tea, or even fruit juices; no cookies, candy or anything like that. I do want to know how a small amount of carb 'treat' will affect me. So, we had Mexican tonight: grilled chicken breast, beans, a very small amount of rice (I like to stir the salsa into it), only 3 chips with cheese dip and some wonderful guacamole. I know it might seem high on the fat side, but he's letting me do that for now. Still not fatty enough to upset my stomach, so that's good. No weight gain since Monday, at least by my scales. I weighed before I went to the doctors, so I have a pretty good idea how to compare the two scales. The A/C is broken. Fortunately, the air outside is cooling off and so is the living room. Maybe I can get the foot of this sock done tonight afterall. Oh, I am itching to buy some more small size DPs. I love the Susan Bates Quicksilver style. So slick and easy to use. Wish they came in the short length though; so much nicer for knitting socks. I'm thinking about some pairs of circulars too, to try knitting two socks at once. Been 'window-shopping' online for sock yarns, too. I want some Opal Petticoat, but seems like only the overseas sellers on eBay are listing it. There's another one... Dancing, I think it is called. My paypal balance is burning a hole in my pocket! Enough of this rambling for tonight. Did I mention the A/C is broken? And that it is hot? And that I have only had 3 hours sleep since yesterday morning at 6am?? If it's not one thing, it's your mother! (Love ya, Momma!!) LC

& the winning number is...

~ 95 ~     My doctor was flabbergasted! Frankly, so was I. I was simply hoping to be under 200. He said that it was not due to the glucophage, but to my diet. He was honestly shocked that I had actually cut out all my 'whites' -- he seemed to start to say that most people don't follow his instructions. Which to me seems really stupid. You don't fool around with diabetes! Anyway, he said I am obviously "diet sensitive." I had lost 3 pounds, and my blood pressure was a little higher than last Monday (not suprising with doing taxes, and paying bills, and school papers and reading and Spanish to re-learn -- and of course, the GRE is the elephant in the corner that I just don't want to think about). Now, I get three weeks on my own to see what happens. Maybe I can check my blood glucose at the university clinic in the meantime.     Yes, I indulged just a teeney bit at supper: I ate the skin and bit of meat off of (less than) half a small baked potatoe. And a small sugar-free cookie.     Today was the first day of classes after "spring break" -- what a joke. We have three weeks of classes until finals. I have two major papers and two smaller ones, and one final -- which, thankfully, is a take-home, 'short answer' type.     AND... I finally finished (except for the bind-off) the pair of socks I started on the way home from Natchez last weekend! All in all, not a bad Monday, Garfield.... LC

heels and toes, no pasta bows

    The excitement of attending the Lily Chin workshop in Natchez last weekend was unfortunately overshadowed by my health situation, but I did have a great time and learned a lot about short-row technique. So much so that on the ride home, I began toe-up socks using short-rows for the toe. I'd done the short-row heel ("hour-glass" it is sometimes called) on my Old Shale anklets, but wasn't really happy with the result. I felt it could be neater. I knew it could be neater because I'd used short rows on my hemp top last summer following instructions at knitty.com. But when I tried wrapping the stitches like that, I could not see them; I miscounted, and mis-stitcned like crazy, and finally gave up and did it like in the Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook.     Because I only made ankle-length sock with the ball of Sockotta, I had lots left, but I wasn't sure just how much. Thus, toe-up socks. I alternated between each sock, judging my yarn (using the Jaywalker pattern from MagKnits), and got up to the heels by Wednesday night. My goal Thursday was to finish the heels so I could do my taxes on Friday. I didn't really get started until late afternoon (first I slept in, then I had to eat, then run errands... and eat... and think about what to eat... and eat... and think about what to eat). Looking back though, I still can't believe how much trouble I had and how long it took me to knit the heels. "Best laid plans of mice and men"     The saga: First I followed these instructions from Wendy Johnson. Turned out fine, but the wrapping was a little different than what Lily had taught us. I did it her way on the second heel. I liked it better, so I went to bed (6am) determined to re-knit the other heel on Friday.     Yes, I was a good girl and did my taxes first. It was actually after 5pm when I got back to knitting. I do not know what my problem was, but although the first half of the heel went find, I bet I re-knit the second half three or four times. First I ended up with unequal number of wrapped stitches as I knitted the short-rows together. Then I did the wrong part of the pattern at the wrong place on the second half of the heel. Next (and at least twice) I managed to drop stitches or was unable to correctly un-knit the wrapped stitches. Finally, I was just too confused about what was what and pulled the whole heel back to the start! It was about 12am when I finally got finished.     I guess I now know at least one reason why few people continue pattern down the heel! It can be difficult to keep track of the pattern and the compensation for pattern. But for wearing with open-backed shoes, I like to see the pattern continue down the heel.     Now I plan to just knit in pattern until I run out of yarn. For the moment, though, I need a shower. But first, I have to eat something!! LC

cures?

    Driving home from the doctor's office this afternoon, where I was given the delightful news that I am diabetic, I began to wonder, just what is the last big disease modern medicine actually 'cured.'     There's no profit in cures for disease only in treatments, whether it's cancer or diabetes. LC

"flat-out A"

Professor said he only gave one on the mid-term papers and I got it!     I told a classmate the day we turned them in that I thought it was the best paper I'd ever written for this professor -- and there have been, hmmmm.... at least seven others. I think I am as pleased with him being pleased as I am with the grade! LOL     In my psych class I'm less than 150 points from an A for the course, so I'll need to get most of the available points for the research paper and presentation (which I really don't think will be a problem).     That leaves Islam class. I'm guessing he'll have our second (of three) papers graded by class tomorrow night. I told him when I turned it in that I had no idea whether I did what he wanted or not. I hope so. The paper seemed to write itself, but took longer to complete than I expected.     Now, to get the paperwork done to run my sleep study for my thesis and get all that material created and uploaded to the experiment site... and... and.... and.....     Somewhere between four to five weeks to get the remaining papers/presentations prepared, then two weeks more to get the study in order before M E X I C O ! ! !     I finished one sock (last week sometime?) and began the second one (on Friday?). I finished the heel last night and got the foot started so I could have some pickup knitting for waiting around at school, or taking a short break from the books. Which reminds me, I have 'homework' for the workshop this weekend! Yeah. I know. Pictures. Soon. I. Promise. LC

if that mockingbird won't sing

    We've lived in our house for over six years now, and from the very beginning there have been mockingbirds who sit and sing outside the bedroom window. Rather than disturbing, I have always rather enjoyed them. What always amazes me is how early in the morning they begin -- or rather how late at night??     Anyway, this morning the singing was quite different. Apparently this particular bird spends a lot of time where someone is playing video games. ALL the twitters had a definitely electronic nature. I wish I'd had my recorder in the bedroom; I was too sleepy to get out of bed to get it. But I will have it tonight and perhaps will catch it. It really is funny.     Little 'monkey-see-monkey-do' that I am, I just had to get some Socatta when I saw Rissa's great socks. It arrived on Friday, but I was still working on a hat for KniTibet. But, Tuesday night I gave in to temptation and began a sock with the fushia/yellow/orange colorway. I wanted to make them like the Old Shale sock in Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook. Somehow I managed to miss that the pattern was on the next page after the picture of the sock... so I spent a little time looking at Old Shale/Feather&Fan patterns I had and converting those 18-stitch patterns to the 11-stitch pattern the book says the sock used. Long-story-short: I started the sock making the pattern row every other row instead of every fourth row. It is a pretty pattern, but not really what I wanted.     I presented my problem to Rissa, who kindly pointed out the pattern on the next page of the book. I actually fought my desire to rip, grabbed a different ball of Socatta last night and started another sock using the pattern on the page. Turns out the pattern in the book does NOT create the same as is pictured. To get the same look as the picture Round 2 of the pattern, the purl row, must be:

p2, k7, {p4, k7} 5 times, p2

As soon as I can find my digital camera, I'll get some pictures posted.     Oh! Oh! We are going to a Lily Chin workshop in Natchez in two weeks! LC

ides, irish, italian

    Saw my former supervisor at the library yesterday; she said I was missed. Last week, one of the other workers asked me if I missed working. I do miss it, because I enjoyed working there. But I also treasure the additional time I now have. My stress level has definitely decreased.     Last night I finished another Spiral Rib hat for KniTibet and began a new one. I'm using the wool Rissa and I dyed in November. I've knitted up the golden brown, the aqua, and am now using the purple. When is it finished, there is one more hank of an olivey-green. I found some wool blend novelty yarn (No Boundaries brand) at Wal-Mart this week and am working that into the main body of the hat. Because I am carrying that thread across four stitches and working four stitches around each row, it is very soft on the inside.     Hubby was home when I finally got out of bed this morning. It had begun to rain just as he started to work at a friend's house, so they had to quit. He asked if I wanted to "do" something today.... now that the day is over, I remember that there was an Irish-Italian festival at one of the Catholic churches near campus today (celebrating St. Patrick's and St. Joseph's Days). Oh, well. I sure could eat some good Italian food. LC

adieu

I wanted to post this last night, but it was late when I got home and I went straight to bed....

"Tonight I worked my last shift in the library. Part of me is relieved not to have to work any more, to just go to class and study. But I also really enjoyed my job and I will miss the people. Not the lazy students who want you to do their research for them, but the ones whose faces light up when they realize the information they need is readily available to them either in our library or online. If I am lucky, there will be room for me during the summer or next fall. I've been told I'd be welcomed back."

LC

monkey-see-monkey-do

    Here are my Johari and the Nohari windows, following in Rissa's blog-steps.     Saw two good movies this weekend. One was "The Interpreter" with Nicole Kidmann and Sean Penn. The other was better, though. It was "{Proof}" with Gwenyth Paltrow and Anthony Hopkins.     Finished three hats for KniTibet with the wool I bought a couple weeks ago at the Hudson's in Jackson. Honestly, it was too much knitting; my hand is hurting a lot. Friday morning is was tingly-numb when I woke up.     Tomorrow and Tuesday are Mardi Gras holidays for the university, but I offered to work for a couple of the girls so they could have a long weekend. I am hoping to have lots of quiet time to study for an exam. LC

meanwhile

    I feel terribly guilty about not posting for so many weeks. I mentioned to Rissa this weekend that I've written several in my head on the morning drive to campus, but never get them actually typed out.     Life is rolling along, I'm trying not to stress over the amount of reading I need to be doing, and vascillating between wanting to quit and keep my library job. I have small chunks of time between classes when I don't seem to get much done, and once I'm home... well, I'm not as diligent as I should be.     I knitted up a large skein of Rowan chunky cotton chennille into three nice facecloths; two were a little large, the last one a bit smaller. They were to be gifts for my father, then I realized the yarn was black and not navy and he doesn't like black. So, the two larger ones are going to a dear friend instead. I will give him the third one, but doubt he will really like it.     I tore out all the rayon/funfur scarf. The longer it got the more the 'lace' closed up. Not sure what I'll do with it now, but I did discover that I had several other balls of rayon chenille in my stash, too.     So, in the very infrequent moments when I knit instead of read (and take notes), I am back to the green alpaca/silk. On Sunday, I finished the third skein. Now I think I will work the sleeves and figure out how to finish it, adapting the pattern to include the sleeves.     I picked up four balls of some high percentage wool blend at Hudson's while I was in Jackson this weekend. It's not great colorway, but it was 75% off retail and impossible to pass up. I should be able to get somewhere between 4 and 8 children's hats for KniTibet. I plan on knitting higher gauge than recommended to have a more dense fabric.     Seems I never posted a photo of the fine wool yarn that Rissa helped me dye in November, so here it is (click on the photo to go to the original post). On my screen it is much more orange than in real life; it is actually quite peachy. LC

back in the saddle

    Oh, it feels good to be back in classes. It would feel even better if I had gotten to sleep before 1AM this morning!     Last night was Intro to Islam; professor seems a little timid, but very knowledgeable. I didn't think his voice would even be audible on my voice recorder, but it was. Picked up the main textbook today and ordered another one last night (turned out that the BAM club price and free shipping was less than the half.com price plus shipping). The rest I'll get from the library or borrow.     Today we were off early... well, actually, we were off late, but I managed to get #2Son to his 8AM class on time. I just didn't get to stop for coffee! So I stopped on campus for a pumpkin muffin and decaf (NOT at Starbucks!), except there were no pumpkin muffins. They were the seasonal choice which is no longer a choice. Bummer. They were really good. The banana-nut just aren't as good.     My classes today -- Religion & Healing, History & Systems of Psychology -- were with former, and favorite, professors, and several former classmates as well. In only one of my three classes is there a non-traditional student. I decided to drop the yoga class (credit, not recreational) -- I'll try to start going to one of the rec. periods.     Got settled into my research carrel, too. Man! It is SO quiet back there I feel like people can hear me swallow! Also worked a shift in the library. A pretty quiet day, all in all. I'm relaxing tonight because I have no classes tomorrow and hubby will go off to work, so I'll have the day to read/study.     Biggest problem I have at the moment is getting hold of the woman who said I could borrow the textbook for my psych class.     Knitwise, I bought the 2006 Pattern-a-day Knitting Calendar last night at Sam's Club (and included the 365 Knitting Stitches in my BAM order). Now, I'm going to put a few more inches on the rayon/funfur scarf before bed. LC

enabling friends

    Just a quickie before midnight. Had a wonderful weekend, again, with friends in Jackson... did some knitting, did some reading, did lots of eating and visiting! Unfortunately, didn't do a lot of sleeping--at least last night while everyone else was! Woke up at 3am and couldn't get back to sleep. Then took a two-hour mid-morning nap and slept most of the way home late this afternoon. Not the best way to get to spend time with friends and my sweetie.     But I came home with gifts: a ball of luscious rayon chenille that I just had to get on the needles tonight. I knew it would go well with some "Sandstone" Fun Fur in my stash. But I also didn't want to hide the beautiful peachy-tan color of the rayon, so... for your viewing pleasure:     I am only using the Fun Fur along the sides of a center eyelet panel, in a diagonal scarf (i.e., when working the purl side, increasing on one side and decreasing on the other). Oh, yes, I rewound about half the rayon from the outside end into a pull-ball so it wouldn't be tangling quite so badly. It is silky and shiny and slippery, but really beautiful. Thanks, Rissa! And for the cotton chenille, too.     I worked far enough (making about four false starts) to take a picture that I hope will show the pattern well enough. LC

the little voice that is my mother

    For the past three days I've been knitting facecloths with some Rowan Fine Cotton Chenille that I purchased a couple years ago in San Antonio. My sister wanted something speical to give her sister-in-law; I thought chenille facecloths would be nice.     I used this pattern and made three; two for the sister-in-law, and the other one for my sister. I was pretty sure I didn't have enough left for a fourth, so I started one of these with the plan that I would just knit until I ran out of yarn. It was wee hours of the morning when I was finally sleepy enough to go to bed. The little voice told me 'you ought to go to bed' to the thought of doing just one more round.     Should have listened. Found a mistake this morning working the fourth row passed where I quit and went to bed. I should have finished long ago, but in addition, I had to work the last round (the bind-off) three times before I had it right. First time, I did one round too many to have enough yarn for bind-off; second time, I didn't have enough yarn to finish the bind-off round; third time was a charm.     I like doing these facecloths. I think I'll make some more to have on hand for gifts. I have a large hank of navy, plus I have this friend with a really large stash..... LC

loving knitting

    I have had several good day knitwise. First, I finally finished the underarm seams and all the yarn ends on the top I made with the hemp yarn this past summer (tidbits). Now to get it blocked!     Today I wound a 6oz hank of Classic Elite Inca Alpaca into a ball with the yarn winder and swatched for gauge. I started with US6 (one size smaller than recommended), but I didn't care for the openness of the stitches at 5/inch. Switched to US4, am getting 6/in and like the fabric much better.     One of the many nice gifts I have received from my friend, Rissa, is a computer program that designs sweater patterns. So, I want to get it on my computer and see what kind of sweater I can make. I have 22.5oz of brown (and .5oz of persimmon), which I hope is plenty for a mid-hip length cardigan/jacket.     I'll finish the swatch tonight and then go back to the green alpaca/silk. LC

home comforts

    Even though I despise cold weather and hope never again to have to live much further north than I do now, I have to admit that it is nice to have a fire and fireplace. After several days of high 70-degree weather, it has dropped low enough that we need a fire to keep from having to run the furnace. Waking up in a chilly bedroom and coming into the living room to find a warm and beautiful fire in the fireplace is very comforting.     As of this morning, I have ten more sleep-in mornings before I will have to get up early for 9AM class. It has been relaxing for the most part, though I have accomplished little that I planned. It doesn't appear that I will have to purchase a lot of books this term; that is good news. As much as I looked forward to the semester break, I now am looking forward to class beginning again.     I am nearly finished with the second skein of BlueSky Alpaca & Silk in this lace pattern and I am worried. It is rather short. Not having a lot of experience with wool and/or blocking, I can only hope that (as I have often heard)blocking will resolve the length problem. I really love the pattern, although it is sleeve-less and I hope to put at least a small cap sleeve on the top. I have three skeins of the yarn remaining, so my plan is to work the next two skeins into the body and save the one for sleeves.     I am sorry it has been so long since I have posted pictures. Restoring all the little things on a computer when you have to reformat always seems to take forever. I read somewhere that the urgent things of life keep us from doing the important things. If I was going to make a resolution for 2006 it would be that I would make time for the important things... LC

catching up

    Another holiday season finally over, and one in which I am sure I have once again disappointed my entire family (sans spouse). I forget to call. I am late with gifts: I don't like to shop -- crowd avoidance, wrap -- laziness, or have to ship them -- in general, I just dislike the whole ordeal. Oddly, I don't have this reaction about gift-giving and friends.     However, to me it is much more important to reach out throughout the year than on particular (and somewhat arbitrary) days. It would be fine with me if we didn't "do" Christmas at all. My sister is visiting from Hawaii and I made a small Christmas dinner for us. But as my children have grown up and especially since my mother died in 1999 (16 days before Christmas), the holiday spirit just seems to pass me by.     The week between Christmas and New Year's was a total wash... when I wasn't at work, I was home in bed feeling awful. I did manage to read Howard Becker's Writing for Social Sciences, and begin his Tricks of the Trade. I have not done enough 'chores' around the house though. Post-semester blues, I guess. Just can't get motivated.     Speaking of the semester, I did manage to make the Dean's list. My only B was in Spanish. Now I have only 12 required hours to fulfill my degree plan. Part of me is ready to get back to class, but I'm sure it will be here before I know it!     I broke all family traditions yesterday: no black-eyed peas, no cabbage, no bayberry candle. We had to return a movie to Blockbuster -- amazing how many stores were open -- and we had burgers at Hardee's because even at 2pm the restaurants were packed! My tree is still up (not even half decorated this year), though I don't think I will leave it up until Twelfth Night as is my custom. Pehaps I will have better 'luck' by not following traditional supersitions!     The old year went out and the new year has come in with a minor heat wave: it has been in the high 70s and low 80s here for the past several days, and not dipping below 60 at night. It would be nice, except the humidity is high. We've also had just a bit of rain. I guess it is pleasant in a strange sort of way. I love living in the South in particular for the warm winters, but this is too warm (actually, just too humid).     Knitwise, on New Year's Eve, I decided that I did not like the way my stockinette stitching looked using the BlueSky Alpaca & Silk, so I ripped it. All of it! Thanks to having the ball winder Rissa gave me for Christmas, I got it all wound nicely and quickly. Then I grabbed a pile of knitting magazines and in the first one found something in a similar gauge. I didn't really swatch, so it will probably be too small, or I won't have enough yarn, but maybe I will get lucky. I think it was actually after midnight when I started stitching -- I hope that will be propitious.     Happy New Year to all . . . LC

frost on the punkin*

    From 80 degree weather on Sunday to below freezing on this morning! What a system-shocking change... and upon leaving home this morning, I realized I was not dressed appropriately. I had to make a call home to have my sons bring my coat.     Have I ever said how I hate to wear a coat? I do. Especially in a car. Especially when driving. One of the great pleasures of the past five winters living here in south Mississippi is the joy of not having to wear a coat. And not having to tote around a coat once you are inside overly hot buildings.     Though I must say I was freezing in every building I was in today -- could have had something to do with the light-weight clothing I was wearing.     Bah-hum-bug on this cold weather.     BUT! Huzzah (as they kept shouting at the ren-faire yesterday) for Best Buy having my laptop ready to pick up tonight! I got my "baby-back-baby-back-baby-back." LC *I love this poem. My dad used to recite it to us, along with a couple of other James Whitcomb Riley poems (Raggedy Man, Little Orphant Annie among them). But in my college children's literature class (32 years ago), the professor suddenly developed a dislike for me after learning this fact... to the point of accusing me of plagerizing my children's story from another student (even though I had turned in mine first) and failing me for the class. I was too naive then to know that I could have fought it. I always assumed she thought me some kind of racist; which made no sense to me. The dialect of Riley's poems always struck me as just good ol' country folk.

having a heat wave

    Wow! Is it ever warm in southern Mississippi today. Not summer-warm, and not exactly winter-warm either. That probably doesn't make much sense, but if you've ever enjoyed the mildness of a southern winter day, you might understand. The weather today, however, just feels like something very unusual.     And it's another slow day at work. Or perhaps just a typical Saturday (I only work two Saturdays a month). Daytime weekday shift hours keep us much busier! We all get paid the same, but night and weekend workers get lots more playtime.     Speaking of work, I don't think I am going to next semester. I see lots of reading, research and writing time in my future. Perhaps I can come back to work for the summer term.     I've taken photos of the yarn Rissa and I dyed last month along with a few inches of swatching -- but neither of my sons has yet remembered to download and forward them to me by email, so I can't post them. Soon. I promise. It is really pretty.     The pattern I want to adapt (Fiber Trends' Estonia Garden) arrived. I'm going to need some help with the conversion, I think. I may have to get hold of the book that makes the Faroese type from neck down, as that is the way the FT pattern is designed.     Oh! The last whiney post I made, I forgot to mention the final straw that actually sent me to the keyboard: I measured the length of one skein's worth of knitting the alternating seed stitch pattern with the alpaca/silk and found it to be only three inches, where the straight stitching had given me five inches!! I am NOT buying any more of this yarn! So, I ripped back to four inches of pattern stitching and returned to the stockinette for the rest of the body. I'll make a similar border of the seed stitch pattern on the sleeves.     Under making lemonade from lemons, I decided that it was a good time to force myself to learn continental style. So far so good. Not only does it seem quicker, but it appears my stitching is more even -- I have to watch not to work to tightly though.     You'll notice the Boycott China logo now on my blog... though I wonder if it is truly possible to totally boycott Chinese products. Even if one watches lables, how can one know if the raw materials originated in China? I would especially like to see a boycott of the 2008 Olympics. "Oh, but the atletes have trained so hard," some might say... how many Tibetan and Chinese and Mongolian and other lives is that bronze, silver or gold medal worth?? Not a single one. Better than a boycott of the Olympics though, would be an end to the bruality, the torture and the oppression of the Chinese and Tibetan people. LC

the other shoe

    I should have known things were going too well...     Last week I found out the all three of my class substitution requests were approved. Also, that I am doing better in my psychology of learning class than I thought.     Thanksgiving used to be my favorite holiday. It hasn't been for the past five years. Thanksgiving was the last weekend that my mom was really 'with us.' Things just haven't been the same ever since. However, my husband and sons had a nice day and a good meal. We have a lot to be thankful for this year.     Since then, though, things have certainly going downhill. On Thursday night after #1Son went to bed -- after playing WoW on my laptop most of the afternoon and evening -- I rebooted the laptop and shortly it started making noise. The noise was like something hitting on the fan. The next morning it didn't take too long before the noise was back. I could smell a 'hot' smell, and shut it down immediately.     Then I had to get the old desktop set up, moved the data off the backup laptop harddrive and switch out the hard drive in the Vaio. I booted it up just to be sure it would, and the fan noise suddenly stopped. I'm afraid it totally broke or locked up; either way, it's heading to Best Buy tomorrow.     Along the way, just one headache after another, getting things set up and working, moving files, being sure I don't delete something I need. See, I have SPSS projects and note files for papers that are due within the next two weeks.     It's just aggravating more than anything else... and I felt like whining a little bit. LC