Just when I was feeling so good during my last blog post--boom, I got a cold within 24 hours that had me in bed for three days. Nice way to spend a long weekend. I'm still not 100%--I think I might have an ear infection, actually. Not fun. But I have been able to get some knitting done:


My stocking cap, finished just in time to keep me warm when I had a cold. I did indeed make it shorter than suggested, and decided to forego the tassel--it would be too lumpy when I'm sleeping.


Here's the progress on Mr. Greenjeans. I haven't worked on it since finishing the decreases on the first sleeve. I still have to knit about 2 inches, then do the cable pattern for about 4 inches, make the second sleeve and do the border. I'm just kind of bored with it, honestly. Which maybe explains why I've been knitting lace instead...


The Zoknis are finished, and I'm wearing them right now. Next time I use this yarn for socks, I'll reinforce the toe and heel a bit. Plus the yarn is really a bit too thin for size 2 needles--next time, size 1's. But they're really cute, and they do keep my feet pretty warm despite the lace.


This is actually for my great aunt, Tia Olivia--from the very sheddy, Eighties-vintage mohair from her stash. The pattern is here--it only took two days to knit. (Granted, I'm not able to work on that 20th-Century aria because of my hearing, but still, it was pretty quick.) I really hope she likes this.


My current last-minute project: slippers for Mark's friends Pat and Tom, who are staying with us next weekend. I really love these guys, so I thought they merited a guest gift. Both are made of Patons Classic Wool Merino--don't you love the black tweed? I am in lust with it. Plus these are my first toe-up project, and my first stab at the Turkish cast-on. I cannot describe how awesome that cast-on is.

I know this is a knitting-heavy post--most of which I should've posted last week, but I was still feeling too icky to sit in front of the computer much when I wasn't at work. The frequency of my outreach performances is revving up--and I actually have two rehearsals in two different cities this afternoon, oy vey, so I have to go, but first I must fulfill my meme obligation (Megan tagged me).

List 7 Random Facts about Me

Here are the rules (and they must be posted to your blog).
Link to the person’s blog who tagged you (see above). List seven random and/or weird facts about yourself. Tag seven random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs. Let each person know that they have been tagged by posting a comment on their blog and also so they can look at your blog and not tag the same people all over again!

1. In my infirmity, I have been watching a lot of Star Trek: Voyager reruns on cable. I actually boycotted the show when it first came on (1994?), but I warmed up to it later--anyway, I haven't seen much of the first two seasons. So yesterday I saw a episode from the first season where Chakotay bares all. I am not shitting you. I saw his butt. It was only for a fraction of a second, but I still don't know how it got past the censors. Anyway, it was pretty awesome, actually. I didn't realize I had a little crush on him. He's more Helen's type, really. :)

2. I have also been watching How Clean is Your House? on BBC America. That show is like a train wreck. It has inspired me to clean on several occasions.

3. Every time I find a lipstick I really like, it gets discontinued. My favorite one ever was a $4 Jane lipstick called Choco-Lots. It was reddish-brown and smelled like chocolate. I have spent countless hours in drugstores trying to match this color. I found a Max Factor shade that was similar, but now it's discontinued, too! This has happened to me with Mary Kay, Clinique and even N.Y.C. And now Bath & Body Works has replaced Cotton Blossom with something that is not quite similar enough, just when I'm finishing up my eight-year-old bottle of body splash. Seriously, is there something about me? Do I have really weird taste or something?

4. I took the picture on my cell phone wallpaper while sitting at the base of a tall, tall palm tree in Santa Monica, the afternoon after taping my Jeopardy! episode. It looks like a fractal. Math in nature is the bomb.

5. I used to do a pretty awesome Aaron Neville expression, but I'm a bit out of practice. Plus the very thought of it makes me shoot Diet Coke out my nose.

6. I hate tequila. It smells and tastes like paint thinner to me. I will only drink it if it is included in a Long Island Iced Tea, which is my favorite mixed drink. You can't really taste the tequila over all the rum and vodka and triple sec and whatever else they throw in that thing. It's like jambalaya--who knows what's really in there?

7. I can't eat raw onions anymore. I never had a problem with them until six months ago, but now they sting in my mouth and my breath smells just awful afterwards. I mean, more awful than I remember it being after eating onions before. And they give me indigestion. I can only eat them if they're sauteed like crazy. What happened here? Has my body chemistry changed in some weird way?

So there you go. I really can't think of seven people to tag with this (it's been around the blogosphere a bit now), but I will tag Cathy. Get to it, girl!

Would you believe it if I said the reason I haven't blogged in two weeks is because I've been waiting to get a daytime picture of our new car? It's actually true. I have been crazy busy, but not that busy...

I've been working on my Mr. Greenjeans cardigan, but it looks so boring right now that it doesn't merit a photograph. I have a few little things for in-laws in the works (which I'm not thrilled about, since my BIL basically placed an order on the answering machine like I'm some sort of damn sweatshop, but I'm trying not to be bitchy about it because he probably didn't mean anything by it), and I'm partly into my second Zokni, but right now I'm working on a stocking cap for myself--our house is drafty enough that I need to wear a hat when I sleep. (In North Carolina.) It looks pretty damn awesome, if I say so myself. I'm alternating narrow black stripes with wider stripes from a "crazy ball" of acrylic scraps I've been putting together for a while. I love the total randomness, and will post a picture as soon as I finish. One of these days I'll make an afghan like this--I did see a kit for an Old Shale afghan in a LYS that was made up of all different colors and types of fibers, but it cost about $100. Whatever, like I can't do that myself.

Not much else to report, really. I have had five outreach performances over the last two weeks, and at this point it looks like I have at least one every week through the beginning of April. The pay is pretty good, so I can't complain too much. (Except about the one Wednesday, when I had to be up at 5:30 AM in order to sing high B's at 9 AM. That is not cool on multiple levels. Luckily we only have two more early performances scheduled.) Also, I made chicken stock the other day, and I think it actually came out tasting more like chicken than water. It only takes six hours on the stove! (Why do all the cookbooks say it takes two hours, when that is so woefully inadequate?)

As for the weekend: tonight we're having dinner with the always awesome Rebecca and Fritz, and tomorrow Mark is volunteering at a conference all morning, but other than that we'll probably lay low. A snowstorm is predicted, and if that weren't bad enough all three local ACC teams have home basketball games tomorrow. It's The Perfect Storm, on multiple levels. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate college sports? Well, I think they're the effing stupidest thing ever. And I really live in the wrong metro area to espouse that opinion...

Before I sign off, a little health update: since switching BC pills I'm feeling so much better. I haven't had a migraine (or really even a headache) since then, my blood pressure is back to its regular levels, and I really feel like my system is getting back to a relatively normal place. My skin isn't as clear as it was on the other pill, but that's a minor price to pay. So hooray!

And everybody wish my grandpa a happy birthday! He turns 79 today. Hopefully my grandmother won't steal the hat I made for him the way she stole the socks I made him for Christmas...

We got the car! And it only took five hours, including the test drive and having it evaluated by a mechanic. We haven't taken a picture yet (next post), but it's an LE and it's gold. Very low miles, and it looks great except for some bluish stains on the headrests (we have a theory that the previous owners were really old, and the blue is from the wife's hair rinse!). Mark is very excited. It's really cool to drive a newer car when you've been driving old cars for so long. We have a six-CD changer!

While at the dealership I tried to work on a Zokni, but the lace pattern is too irregular to keep track of while you're listening to F&I crap. Here's what it looks like:


I have about 2 inches before the toe now. It's really pretty, but it does require a lot of attention.

Oh, and by the way, here's another FO that I don't even think I blogged about:


Remember the sweater I made from the '70s-vintage Mademoiselle DIY fashion book? Well, I decided it was all wrong--the sleeves were WAY too long, and it just made me look like a blob. So I frogged it and made this sweater (Top-Down Raglan Cardigan). Mods: I futzed with the gauge (adapted for this yarn--Bernat Soft Boucle--which I loved as a beginner but now I HATE and will never work with again), made 3/4 sleeves and attempted short rows at the bust (maybe I didn't really need them, since it made the front hem kind of pointy, but it actually looks kind of cute). I may add another button below the first--not sure yet.

Speaking of frogging, I've also decided to ditch the cropped cardigan I made in August. Why did I ever think a cropped cardigan would work on me?! Anyway, it's never fit right (I've learned I need to be careful about the shoulder sections on top-down raglans, or else they get baggy in the underarm area --I'm just not as fat as my boobs would lead one to believe!), so I end up tugging at it all day. Not cool. I'm not even going to frog it--it's been frogged at least once before, and it contains the aforementioned loathsome boucle yarn. I suppose I'll give it to Goodwill--maybe it will fit someone. Anyway, I've finished swatching and am about to cast on for another cardigan: Mr. Greenjeans from the Fall Knitty. More gauge tinkering was necessary. Le sigh. But I have high hopes for this one, I do.

So there is more going on than knitting--I actually have quite a few performances coming up--but I'll talk about them later. Also, if I owe you an email--I'm working on it!