QUOTE OF THE DAY!

"I took a city that was known for pornography and licked it to a large extent."

Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, touting his past accomplishments as mayor of New York City while on the campaign trail in New Hampshire.

Eeeeew. First he married his cousin, then he licked New York porn...what next...teabagging with Liza Minelli? Excuse me... I have to go wash my mind out with soap.

Yeah Me!

I have completed the Luna Moth shawl. Even with an extra five repeats, it doesn't seem wide enough, but I'm sure it will block bigger. It seems deep enough, it's just the width I worry about.

And just so you don't think I've gone soft, the first thing I did after casting off the last stitch was to cast 40 stitches on to swatch the Colourmart 65/35 Cashmere Silk yarn. It is the thinnest yarn I've ever worked with...and it is softer than Newt Gingrich during the Viagra strike.

I have to be up early again tomorrow...I'm going to work in the morning. My boss has placed a lot of trust in me, and I take that responsibility seriously. I may have to work Sunday morning, as well, but we'll see how far I get on Saturday. I'm a little stressed and a whole lotta tired, but if you hear me complain about my job, just know it is the stress and exhaustion talking. I love my job and I wouldn't trade it for the world. If I were to win the lottery, I'd keep my job. I like it that much.


Good night, dear friends. Sleep well. Dream of me. Or of me having a torrid affair with Allison Janney. (My wife says it would be ok with her. My wife, not Allison Janney.)

CASTING OFF...

Day
Two.

Two-
Thirds
Through
Longest
Row
Ever.

I
Lost
The
Will
To
Live
An
Hour
Ago.

Makes
Long
Hours
At
Work
More
Attractive.

ILUVUMEANITBYE!

OK -- I've only got about 5 minutes.

Work has gotten really busy. Not a lot of spare time to play with. But I have managed to get a little knitting in.

I have two rows left on the Luna Moth shawl -- the edging row and the bind off. I'm very excited about that. I hope tonight I will get home at a decent enough hour that I can get at least ONE of them knit.

I have hit a rough patch on the Swallowtail. I'm going to have to tink back about 4 entire rows. I hate tinking lace. But I really don't have much choice.

I ordered and received 2500 yards of cobweb weight 70/30 cashmere/silk cobweb weight lace yarn. I haven't really a clue yet what I am going to do with it. It is so soft and beautiful, and its light olive color is very elegant. I could probably double strand it and knit a Shetland triangle shawl. Single stranded might send me over the edge. Though it would be SO beautiful. I don't know. I'll have to think about it. Any suggestions?

Oops -- my 5 minutes is up. Back to the grindstone. Ta!

ON A HAPPIER NOTE!

My trips to my home town were not without happy moments. I really enjoy seeing my brothers, I always eat well, and, because of the car troubles, I had two train trips during which I could knit.

The train on my second trip was PACKED. Every seat sold out. Apparently there was some conference of workers in a state agency. It was FULL.

The seat next to me was taken by a rather disheveled young man who smelled a little bit like sweat and whose carry on luggage consisted of a 12-pack of Old Milwaukee in a messenger bag and a DVD player. After the first beer he smelled like a combination of a locker room and a bar floor. I decided to take my knitting to the cafe car and have myself a little cranberry juice...and a little fresh air.

Now here is where the trip got fun. I was sitting there, knitting, enjoying the space when a woman slipped into the seat across the table from me. I looked up a little surprised. She spoke first, laughing a little bit as she said, "I know who you are!"

"You do?" I asked.

"You're NOT Franklin!"

Her name was either Marnie or Marlie -- I'm a little hard of hearing -- and she doesn't have a blog, but she reads them. She is still waiting for her Ravelry invite, she works for the State of Illinois, and she was sitting with her boss, so she couldn't spend much time. She promised that she would friend me once she got her Ravelry invite.

So there you have it. I officially got recognized in public. She knew my name and didn't mistake me for Franklin. (Not that that is a bad thing...unless you are Franklin...who hasn't spoken to me much since that trashy girl in clip clops confused him the the gigantic 400 pound Jewish guy who makes Kelly Osbourne look positively ruddy.) Never mind. Now that I have a public, I'm going to hire a publicist. And a body guard. And a personal trainer. And maybe a stylist.

And a personal assistant...someone to call in and reserve Booth #1 at the Pump Room. Lord knows, a person of my stature shouldn't be doing that personally.

Good night, sweet Marnie (Mardie?), wherever you are!

Saadia Says...

...POST

So I'll post.

This hasn't been a great week. Nothing tragic, everyone is healthy (ptht, ptht, ptht), but just not great. Saadia: you wanted a post. I'm sorry this is the post you are getting.

Last Saturday i left home early to drive to Springfield to finish going through my mom's stuff with my brother's Mark and Dennis. Long story short, my engine light went off before I even got out of town, and $320 and 2 hours later I was back on the highway. This not inexpensive repair got me all the way to 25 miles outside of Springfield before it happened again. This time I spent 2.5 hours in an un-air conditioned car in the mid-day, 92 degree heat. Even with the AAA card, the tow cost me another $100.

The car was towed to the dealership in Springfield after service was closed, so there was no hope of the car being seen until Monday. I called in to work for Monday, which was good, because I woke up at 3:30 a.m. Monday morning with a terrible migraine.

I don't think I mentioned that Monday was Columbus Day. And in Springfield, this is the worst day of the mechanic's year. Every state worker makes an appointment to take their car in for service on Columbus Day.

So when it became obvious that my car wouldn't be ready until later in the week, I booked a seat on Amtrak ($50) and took the train home Monday evening. They called Tuesday to say that they had driven the hell out of the car and it was driving fine. Yeah. Like kids, the damn car won't perform when you ask it to.

So, with their assurances that it was working fine, I took the train down Thursday night (another $50), and spent a few hours peacefully knitting on the Swallowtail shawl. I made great progress. I also made a mistake several rows back and have to tink back. Sweet Frozen Niblets!

So -- Thursday night I spent another night at my brothers -- I think he's getting sick of me -- loaded the car full of photos from my mom, and set off for home. On my way out of town I picked up 2 dozen Mel-O-Cream donuts as an offering for my office.

35 miles outside of Springfield the engine light came on again and the car shuddered a little. I freaked out. I got off the highway at Atlanta, Illinois and headed to Mattingly's (sp?) service, where I waited 45 minutes for the garage to open. The guys there were SO nice. (And the dog, whose name was Mopar, I think, dispensed some much needed doggy-kissing medicine.) They ran diagnostics and got back error codes they'd never seen before. They pronounced the car healthy enough to drive to the nearest dealership -- about 30 minutes away -- and refused payment. So I left them a dozen Mel-O-Cream donuts in gratitude.

I drove to the dealership, and they, too, performed a bunch of diagnostic stuff. And they re-set my radio, which had stopped working. They reset the automotive computer. And they told me I need to have the air-bag computer completely replaced. ($300 - $400 just for the parts.) And they said it was fine to drive. They refused payment and I left the other dozen Mel-O-Cream donuts. (I would bite the head off of a Rabbi for a caramel long john!) I made it to work only 3 hours late...on a day I was only scheduled to work 31/2 hours.

So the way I add it up, this trip will end up costing me $1000 -- and I don't have so much as ball of lace yarn or a caramel iced donut to show for it. And I have 5 rows of lace to tink back.

This was the week the universe decided to stir the turd.

You asked for it, Saadia.

(P.S. Today was Myfanwe's garage sale. I made enough with my split that I can order some Cashmere/Silk blend from ColourMart. Wooo Hooo!

CURSE-FREE...

...At Least for Now.

I dutifully tinked back three rows of lace. I began, apprehensively at first, to move forward. And again the right hand needle slipped out of the stitches like...well, I'm not going to tell you like what. The reference that comes to mind involves Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson and this is a family blog...today.

Anyway. This time I was sort of expecting it and I managed to regain my position without loosing any ground. I finished the row and I put a lifeline in place. Whew.

That pitfall has been avoided, but it is clear to me that the piece has gotten to a point where the weight of the fabric is not liking the lace needles. I'm afraid, however, to switch, mid-project, to something less slippery -- say, bamboo -- for fear of screwing up my gauge.

It's funny -- when I WANT the yarn to move, such as onto the circular needle to be knit, it resists like a 10-year-old boy being dragged towards bath water. When I DON'T want the yarn to move, it suddenly starts doing the macarena. (Let me say, though, that I LOVE this yarn. It has a natural luster that just can't be described.) Any suggestions?

ALAS! OH GEE! OH WOE IS ME!

Picture it. I was sitting on a friend's front porch, enjoying a light breeze, knitting while Mitzi had a play date with her doggie friend, Marco. I was knitting along on my Swallowtail Shawl, taking mental note that I was finally making progress and that, at the end of the pattern repeat, I should put in place a lifeline, just in case.

Eighteen or so stitches before the end of the row / pattern repeat, my right-hand needle slipped out of the stitches and I lost, at least momentarily, half a dozen or more stitches.

No amount of futzing put things right. I now have at least three rows to tink back. I am bereft.

I put it aside for a day or two. I've got the Luna Moth Shawl back into forward motion again, so I think I'll finish the remaining thirty rows and have done with it before returning to the Swallowtail.

So sad. It was looking so beautiful. What if I can't ever get it right? Why, oh why didn't I put a lifeline in earlier?