Not really in the mood to post, but I will anyway. My beloved Rolla may be dead. The car stalled just down the road the other day (because of various infuriating circumstances, we didn't get a tow until last night). Apparently it needs a new distributor, which (apparently) will cost us about $1000. I have a voicemail out to my father to see what he thinks. We were planning to replace the car pretty soon anyway--before it had a breakdown, that is!--so now I don't know what we will do. It's a tough little car, but is it worth $1000 to fix a 15-year-old car with 200,000 miles on it? Maybe my father can do it cheaper, I dunno. But how would that even work? Would my father have to drive up here in his pickup and tow it back to the beach to fix? Is that just an insane idea? On the other hand, it is pretty inconvenient to only have one car, but we could actually make it work for a few weeks (though I DREAD this). Anyway, I'm kind of in limbo right now.

Better news: I won a contest! Check out Darcy's blog to see what I won. Isn't it pretty?

Still trying to distract myself. I finished the Swallowtail, and it's lovely.


I am an awful photographer. I love the way it came out, though it's a bit too small for my purposes. I can definitely wear it as a scarf.

Also, I'm crocheting.


This is the beginnings of FrouFrou from Stitch & Bitch: The Happy Hooker. I haven't seen a whole lot of successful FOs on Ravelry, but there was a significant error in the pattern (caught in the errata). I'm using Sirdar Country Style DK, a synthetic/wool blend that my mother bought a whole mess of at a charity thrift shop. It's really nice--certainly nicer than Wool-Ease, probably as nice as Encore. If Encore cost 10 cents for a 50-gram skein. 8) I do hope this pattern works out. It's nice to crochet for a change of pace. And hooray for big hooks!

...Well, I just got off the phone with my father, and he thinks the estimate sounds way too high--especially considering he could fix it in a parking lot in a few minutes. So I have to call the shop for an itemized estimate, and my father will find out the price of the part, and he may just come up tomorrow. I am hopeful. I feel like a weight has lifted, actually.

So I'll sign off and take care of all that. But here's a quiz. I don't know about the whole "athletic" part, but I think this is actually pretty accurate. What do you all think? :)



P.S. I assume you've all heard about the alleged "high school pregnancy pact"? My first thought upon hearing about it was, What if I had done that in high school? My baby would look like a slow loris! LOL, Cathy...

So I did mean to update on Wednesday, but I had to work on a last-minute baby project Wednesday and Thursday; Friday I was occupied (more on that in a sec); Saturday was WWKIP Day, then we went to see my parents for the weekend; and the last two days I've generally been feeling yuck--trouble with my back. Anyway, my back and neck are still totally screwed up, but here I am...

Friday, of course, was when Tim Russert died. I spent five hours fixed on MSNBC. I did not knit. I was pretty upset. He has always been an idol of Mark's, not only because they only grew up a few miles from each other and went to the same college. It hit me a lot harder than I thought it would. And seeing Keith Olbermann's puffy crying face did not help matters. (Mark always says he's a weeper.) I'm still a little in shock. I thought the memorial this afternoon was great. Maybe people are only saying such glowing things about him because he's dead--but I don't think so. He just seemed like a genuinely good person. (Also, he apparently really liked Bruce Springsteen, which I appreciate.) Though it is weird how people have been talking about his Catholicism. Everyone is saying how "devout" he was, but seriously, the man worked on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings--you know he didn't get to Mass every week. (Unless he snuck out to a weekday Mass on his lunch hour--in which case forget I mentioned it.) To Mark and me he just seemed like a regular old American Catholic--big on the social justice stuff and basic teachings, less so on the more political stuff that is generally irrelevant (mundane in the true sense, you could say). The talking heads have weird ideas about Catholicism...though I suppose they're not the only ones. One girl I used to work with actually asked me if Catholics believed in Jesus. (I almost responded, "Ummm...we like, invented Jesus!) When I corrected her, she said, "Oh, I must have been thinking of my Jewish friend from college..." Granted, this girl was a very sheltered Southern Baptist, but still. Anyway, it's been an interesting facet of the memorial coverage, and it's gotten me thinking...

On a related note, we have been fans of the Chuck Todd for several months. (You know I like the nerdy, statistics-obsessed boys...) Every time they hauled him out on a Tuesday night, I would remark on how bleary-eyed and tired he looked, and that they needed to let the man sleep! I had this idea to market "Save Chuck Todd!" T-shirts (Ferris Bueller reference intended). But look, somebody beat us to the idea. Very funny website.

And now to the knitting. Photos ahoy!


Progress on my Swallowtail. My Susan Bates needle is too blunt to p5tog for the nupps, so I'm doing beads instead. It's a different look--more flashy than I was going for--but I like it, too. Should be done in a few days.


Here's the first Rhombus; I turned the heel on the second last night, and may just finish it tonight. I still don't have the pattern memorized, but I wrote out some shorthand for myself so it's a little quicker.


Ophelia is coming along. This picture was taken when I reached the underarms; at this point I've finished both fronts and am a few inches into the back. I've had to alter the lengths of individual sections to accommodate The Girls, and add about 2 inches to the length of the fronts and back, but other than that things are progressing according to the pattern. I hope it looks good when I'm finished!


A Father's Day gift: golf club cover. I am no fan of fair isle or intarsia, and it's a little tight, but it looks pretty good. My father says it should fit any of his smaller woods. And he mentioned that he still has one I made for him a few years ago, which is probably not that great (I barely remember making it). How sweet is that?


Last but not least, I finished the electric kettle cozy.


I will write up a pattern--easily adapted for models other than the Melitta Express Kettle--once I feel like working up a cotton model (this is acrylic--it's just to keep it clean, mind you, and I only put it on after it's cooled down). I'll also make the cotton one with ties instead of a button flap. That way people would have more options...

And to close, in singing news, I did finally hear back from that artistic director--I'm hoping we can work something out for late last week. I'll feel much more secure after working with him. I'm just getting a little frustrated... And I'm working on more Wagner, though it seems the aria I'd originally wanted to work on is too low. Now I have to choose between a short but very sustained aria and an aria with a whole bunch of A-sharps. I'm up to it, but it sure looks daunting on the page...

I should not have done this well on this quiz.

54 As a 1930s wife, I am Average Take the test!

I don't exactly do laundry in pearls and pumps, after all--and hell, Mark does most of the cooking and all of the vacuuming (I avoid vacuuming at all costs, but I do love the look of a clean carpet). I do however do all the laundry, and knit Mark socks. Maybe this has swayed my answers somehow...

More tomorrow. It's late.

Edited to add: I just took the test for Mark; he scores a 147, "Very Superior Husband." Yes indeed he is. =)