Monday, October 11, 2010

Blarg, and stuff.

Still whining about the weather, so, you know. Whine. Mostly I'm blogging today 'cause I know some of you guys are used to my regular blog posts and wonder if I'm in a ditch somewhere if I don't. So, hi. I'm in a nice comfy easy chair with a cat on me, not a ditch.

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Finished the Goob's rainbow scarf. Bound it off, washed and blocked, everything. She is quite thrilled that I made something for her, from scratch, and wore it around the house for quite a while after I gave it to her. I'm pleased to report that even though it's not the highest quality Corriedale wool, it is soft enough to wear next to the skin. So far the kid has not uttered the words "it itches", so all is well.

Pictures to come, and a free pattern, when I get off my duff.

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Had a friend over Saturday. We dyed a pound of wool and four pairs' worth of sock yarn. She'd wanted to see how I do Purple Trainwreck, so I did that, and don't know know, THE MOTHERFUCKING DYE WOULD NOT BREAK. That damn stuff separates into pink and blue if you look at it funny, but bring someone over to teach them something, and it behaves. Bloody damned Red 3. It exists to annoy me.

The friend is an experienced sock knitter - it's nearly all she knits - and so she shared much of the Mystic Art with me, mostly on how to tweak sock patterns to fit individual feet, including my own strange dogs. We had a very nice time. When she offered to pay for the yarn she was lugging out of the house, I told her to just send me some knitting stuff she considered like value. That's always interesting when I do that. Should be more fun.

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My birthday is Saturday. I will be forty-two. This means I have attained enlightenment and know everything? I think? Maybe? Anyway, we're celebrating it Sunday. My mother-in-law is making me dinner (I've cooked the last two birthday dinners, not that I minded), and we're getting together over in Ohio for the day. From the sounds of it, there will be gifts. I like gifts.

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We're still doing testing for the Goober, and I am still figuring out all the proprietary, specialized computer/internet programs and web sites for the school system. I've got to scan these tests and e-mail them in. Very cool, if a bit trippy for this old farm kid who went to school before personal computers existed. (Obviously I'm on the internet now and coping well enough, it's just crazy to compare this to my own kindergarten experience.)

Yesterday we were doing rhyming (which for some reason the kid hates) for one of these test sheets. The deal was to get the kid to give me three words that rhyme with 'man' and write them down. So I said "Hey, Goob. Give me some words that rhyme with man." She thought a minute and said "Can. Fan. Arizonian."

After I got done laughing, I wrote them down. I put an asterisk next to Arizonian, and in the comments, wrote "No idea how or why she came up with that one."

Let them make of it what they will. Hahahaha. NEXT, THE PARTICLE ACCELERATOR! Look out, CERN, we're gonna outbuild you!

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So, at the moment, that's about it. I'm in pain, but I've got a warm, purring kitty on my lap, and a happy child looking at a magazine and humming, across the room. All is quiet but for some yard work up the street. Later I'm going to teach the kid about three-dimensional shapes (sphere vs. circle) and knit on my sock.

Life's pretty good. Even if my damn hand does hurt.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sorry about the sore hand,but it sounds like the only alternative is amputation, and YOU would probably be stuck with phantom pain. So I'm impressed with how well you cope! I eagerly await the results of your knitterly swap!

April said...

I think the problem with the Purple Trainwreck, especially here in California, is that you buy it at the pot dispensary. Then you smoke it. You don't try and dye stuff with it.

Anonymous said...

I'm turning 42 next Wednesday... we can be the answer together!

Emily said...

Oh, I love the Goober's rhymes!! That is hilarious...and kind of awesome. She is a lucky girl to have you as her teacher.

bobbins said...

Thanks for sharing your day! A humming kid and a purring cat - not much better than that.

Donna Lee said...

Geez, when I was in kindegarten, we were stringing colored macaroni on yarn and calling it good.

I'll be 53 in a couple of weeks and I'm still waiting for all the answers I didn't get at 42. No universe or anything.

David St. Louis said...

Happy Birthday Sweetie!

GrillTech said...

Happy Birthday, seems like there a lot of Libras with blogs that I read. KnitTech always asks me where I want to go for dinner on my birthdy. My reply is always "Just get me a T-bone and you a Ribeye steak, and I'll grill them up". I've found I prefer home grilled steak to going out.. BTW I'm still awaiting your address so I can send that bottle of Mead out for a housewarming gift.

Anonymous said...

So glad you are not in a ditch!

From someone who worries when when you don't post in a while.

Alwen said...

I took the kid up to school to take the MEAP (the Michigan assessment test).

Sat and knitted and had more people stop and say "Oh, what is that?"

But the BEST one was a 6th-grade-ish boy who walked by and went, "Wow, did you see her knitting?" to another kid. I get ADULTS who don't know from knitting!

Amy Lane said...

Wow-- that surely does beat the hell out of lying dead in a ditch, right?

Last night, Squish started singing with the radio--now, her last favorite song was "Discovery Channel" (You can imagine my excitement) but now, I've got her singing "I will possess your heart."

They're pretty awesome, aren't they? And yes--we'll bring the plutonium, you guys build the particle accelerator--it's a date!

Happy Birthday! (Fellow Libra--mine was the 30th... I'm 43:-)