I have probably never mentioned the ick I feel regarding Josh Groban, but I think The Hater put it perfectly:

Josh Groban's voice has a perfect, warm sweetness to it that only mothers over the age of 50 can hear. To the rest of us, it sounds like he's singing out of his nose through a megaphone made of pretension and old Andrew Lloyd Weber t-shirts.

I am not fooled by your wobbly vibrato and staged earnestness, my friend.

Photos, as promised:


This is Vine from MagKnits (December 2007); I loved the pictures on Ravelry, and was able to find a cached page using the Wayback Machine. (I suppose I should go through all the MagKnits patterns on Ravelry, to see if I can retrieve the patterns I like before they're lost to the ether.) And that's Malabrigo Lace; the tinkering I had to to for gauge and fit (I have man-hands) was well worth it. These are beyond soft and yummy. The yarn was leftover from my Swallowtail, which I just sent to my grandmother for her 75th birthday. (The woman cooked dinner. On her 75th birthday. I think she insisted. Take a break, Grandma!)


The Evil, Evil Monkey socks, of course. I ran out of the bamboo blend with one repeat left, so I subbed in some salmon Brown Sheep laceweight I had leftover. Not bad for stashbusting, really.


The finished Poet's Pullover. I'm not 100% happy with this. The sleeves are way too puffy for my taste, and it's basically too big in nearly every dimension. Also, it seems to have a minimizing effect. I think it actually makes my boobs look smaller. I didn't think that was actually possible. Anyway, it kind of visually throws off my perceptions of my actual figure. Maybe I just need to get over this one.

The unhappy professional situations I referred to last week are partially resolved, though not particularly satisfactorily. At least I'm not as angry about it as I was last week. Onward and upward, I suppose...

It occurred to me yesterday that my blog is not exactly anonymous. If you were to Google my name, profession and state, you could probably find my professional website easily. (Okay, it's on the third page of hits, but still.) That doesn't actually bother me; I know I don't have that many readers, and none of you are planning to stalk me, I hope. (In fact, you should email and say hi.) What I worry about more is someone I know professionally stumbling upon my blog. (That, friends, comes up on the second page of hits, once I leave off my last name and add "blogspot".) That means I can't indiscriminately vent about stuff here, like I can with my day job. Which is what I want to do right now (hence the timing of my realization)--basically there are multiple people/organizations who have recently treated me less than professionally, when I always do my best to make sure I am consummately prepared and professional. I'm supremely pissed. And I can't say any more about it! Grrr... I did tweak a few things just now--making the blog non-searchable solves most of the problems, unless someone were to come across a cached page or something--and I feel a little safer, but I still don't feel right going off on the people who need going off on right now. Ugh.

Anyway, happier news. I'm actually working on a successful pair of Monkeys--though they're just anklets to wear under sneakers. I shall call them "Evil, Evil Monkey!" (wish I could find a good audio clip!), because I'm making them toe-up, and I was unhappy with reversals of the lace pattern (both other people's efforts and my own) so I decided just to do it as written, so it will appear upside down. I'm using the Pagewood Farm bamboo blend leftover from Mark's Rhombi, but I don't have enough so I'm doing the heels from a teeny, yummy sample of Twisted Fiber Art Arial I got in a swap. I finally understand why these socks are so addictive--the pattern is super easy to memorize, and they are lightning-fast. They may even make a good holiday present for someone special, if I am so inclined.

Speaking of holiday gifts: last year totally broke my will. Especially after my brother-in-law (the nice one even, not the slimeball one who molested my plant like, two years ago now) placed that order on the answering machine. I am not reliving last year, where I started knitting gifts in August and didn't look up until December. That was disgusting. Any crafted holiday gifts this year will be things I want to make--so for example, maybe I'll make a cute mug cozy or two, then decide who I should send them to. Or maybe I won't make any mug cozies, and those people will get chocolate instead. I am no longer a sweatshop! And Mark is totally in agreement. There is no need to get bitter with my fiber.

I'm listening to some classic Ani right now... It lifted my mood almost immediately.

people used to make records
as in a record of an event
the event of people
playing music in a room

This is a CD of awesomeness. I don't know if it just helps me reconnect to a simpler time that just seems simpler but really wasn't... Back then I had to worry about boys and money and papers and what I was going to do with the rest of my life. Now I just worry about buying a house and saving for retirement and the economy and fitting in a family with my career. But I have a boo at home, and we live simply but comfortably. See? I do have so, so much to be thankful for.

Sorry. I was feeling morose, and this is helping.

I will post pictures of the Evil, Evil Monkeys (the second should be done by the end of tomorrow, depending on our weekend plans), plus the Poet's Pullover (finished except for many ends to sew in) and my first fingerless gloves for myself (Malabrigo Lace, yum) when I can get Mark to take the pictures. It's hard to take pictures of your own hands...

Sorry! My Seattle trip was so busy (though perhaps not particularly successful from a promotional standpoint), and I was off the internet for more than a week while in Michigan. Suffice to say I am home, and there is much laundry to be done. That and catching up on some applications and other music stuff I'd let slide a bit. But I think things are relatively in control now.

Souvenir sock yarn time:


Kureyon Sock! I know this is a contentious yarn, but I've been wanting to try it. I had to choose between this and some Smooshy in Seattle (at Weaving Works--huge and cool store), but the colorways for the latter just weren't setting me on fire.


I didn't know Rio De La Plata made sock yarn! This stuff is awesome. It's for Mark, supposedly, but I'm tempted to keep it for myself... This is from Friends of Wool--there are two yarn stores in this relatively small town, but this is the one outside the chichi downtown shopping area, and I felt the prices and selection were much more my speed. Plus they had a cute little Scottie dog that fell in love with Mark.


Speaking of socks for Mark, I finally finished his Storm socks. It's a relatively quick pattern, though definitely in the mindless category. I would've finished them a few weeks ago, but I held off on the second one so I could make Monkeys in Seattle. (No dice--why didn't I check the gauge before I crossed the country without the right needles, and with a yarn that feels yucky at 8 sts/in?)

I did get to work on my Poet's Pullover in Seattle, though:


I am not in love with this yarn--Pingouin Familia, which my mother picked up in a thrift shop, and which I gather is South American--as it's kind of on the scratchy side for acrylic. (It ain't Red Heart, but it's not much better.) I do like the color, though, and once I got past the eleven inches (!!!) of ribbing it has gone pretty quickly. I made a load of modifications to the pattern (and actually need to frog the neckline ribbing a bit and add some decreases, since it's gapping), and I am particularly happy with how the bust short rows turned out. I'm about halfway up the second sleeve. I left this home when we went to Michigan, though--and brought another sweater pattern (the white one) with me. Isn't it gorgeous? I finished the first sleeve while we were away...


...and have started the second. This is another one with a lot of modifications, most of which I figured out in the car early on in our trip. The three-quarter sleeves are the only structural change. I just love this, though!

I dunno, I guess I should be sharing all these details from my trips, but I'm kind of burned out on them. And our last two days in Michigan were not as fun, for several petty reasons (among them being that Mark's friends undercooked meat on the grill, so he and I were a little sick on our way home, conveniently). But we did do some fun things--we went on the Seattle Duck Tour (corny!), and there were some cool docks in Michigan. I do generally like to visit new places and see new things--on my own timetable, and without having to worry about when I'm going to be fed next (we went 14 hours between meals our first day in Seattle). I don't think that's too much to ask. :) I must say, though, probably the best part of our trips was the fifteen-degree temperature difference between both places and here. So nice not to feel sticky all the time! Bring on the fall.

p.s. Helen! If you're reading this, I need your address. I have stuff for you!