Good Samaritans

On Tuesday Julie & I went shopping for some last minute supplies for this weekend’s tradeshow. We spent close to an hour in one store and as we went to pay, I noticed that my wallet was not in my purse. Panic!!!

We checked with nearly every employee, left a description of the wallet with lost and found, tore the store apart from one end to the other searching under displays and the like. After an hour of searching, with Julie pushing me to look just once more, just once more. We gave up the wallet as lost. I mourned and canceled all my credit cards. I called the bank to report the loss and was promptly asked for my account number. I’m sorry, what part of “I don’t have my wallet” was confusing”

At 9:00 when I got home for the day, I had 9 messages on the answering machine. The Boyfriends father, the furnace repair man, the bank, The Boyfriend, and…then the phone rang so the machine shut off. I spoke to my mother, what was in her wallet? What was I forgetting to cancel or replace, oh yeah insurance cards. OK, back to the machine, father, furnace, bank, Boyfriend, a store employee saying they did not find the wallet, and a woman named Jackie. Jackie sounded a little strange and a lot older. Her message was, I hope I have the right person. I want to talk to you about your wallet. It reminded me of a parent saying, we need to talk about your behavior.

Anyway, with a little help from a friendly off-duty police officer, my wallet was picked up that night about an hour away. Turns out Jackie needed something at the store, saw my wallet in the parking lot and picked it up “to prevent any perverts from stealing it.” Jackie then had to have her hair set as most older women tend to do. Between dinner and the time it took to track down my phone number, it’s a miracle that my name is even on the phone listing, it took a few hours before she could call!

Yesterday the police officer returned the wallet to me, fully intact, including $12 and about $300 worth of gift cards.

What are the chances that I’d even get my wallet back? Let alone fully intact? I guess the world isn’t as scary a place as it appears to be on TV. Although, I don’t recommend loosing your wallet just so you too can have warm and fuzzy feelings. The Boyfriend things I should get one of those long chains and clip my wallet to my pants since I seem to be prone to misplacing it.

The Lu!

I've been working on the Manwell tonight. I’m decreasing down the sides and it’s a bit of a challenge. I had to rip back about 4 rows. Which wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. You know what was extremely unpleasant? Picking up 117 stitches with size one needles. Oy!!!

We’ve been cat sitting for Miss Lulu & and her much older “sister” Walter. They are night and day. Lulu is just about 6 months old, remember when Meow Meow Head and I went to Pennsylvania to get her? Who would've thought that that little chatter box would turn into such a big beautiful girl! She’s already taller and longer than Linus, just not as filled in. As you may remember Lulu is a Savannah. Which I must remind me myself of whenever I see her, since I can’t help but wonder at “what a funny looking Devon Rex she is!” The Lu, is wild and crazy and makes strange noises which are hilarious and make her all the more endearing.

If U Foxtrot

Have you heard the new Britney Spears song? The Boyfriend pointed it out to me. If U Seek Amy is the ohhh so cleaver (wry smile and rolling my eyes as I say that) creative spelling of that harsh four letter word. Say it again fast…If U Seek Amy.

Could she have cried out for attention any louder? Maybe 5 years ago “all of the boys and all of the girls are begging to…” but not now, not with her crazy antics and loss of status as jail bait. And please, that’s as original as you could get? That’s the best you’ve got to offer? That’s what you want to put your name and brand behind? That’s what you want your kids to hear? You can’t just allude like everyone else, you have to spell it out? How desperate are you!?!?!

But you know what’s funny about my indignation and disgust over this song?

The Bloodhound Gang did a song in 2005 called Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo which was chock full of euphemisms for the deed. (Did you get what the acronym is?) It’s hilarious!!! I know all the words and would not be offended if a 10 year old were to sing the lyrics. While it appeals to the lowest common denominator it is amusing. I guess the big difference is that Foxtrot acknowledges that it’s a joke and doesn’t try to hide what they’re saying. They say it and they laugh.

Britney just went way too far beyond the tasteful line while pretending she didn’t even see it there. Please!

And you know what drives me the most crazy? This is exactly what she is looking for!!!!! Ahhhhhh!!! Pulling out my hair and calling it a day!

The Manwell

I bet you don’t know what these are. They are CO2 cartridges for my Seltzer Machine.

I have to tell you that this one of my favorite inventions. You pour water in a bottle, screw it onto the machine with or without soda mix, and press the button a few times. And in 30 seconds you have seltzer or soda or carbonated Chrystal Light, whatever you like.

No plastic bottles for the landfill. No gas consumed as the usual bottles of soda are trucked into your local grocery. No late night trips to the kitchen to find that The Boyfriend has finished off all the cola. It’s always here, it’s always cold and it’s a lot cheaper. I love it!! Mine is a Sodastream but I’m sure there are kinds of soda machines out there.
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What’s that, you think I should continue on with the April Apparel Aspiration? Funny, I do too.

Only I’m redirecting my goal from a sweater for myself, to designing a dog sweater for Manwell, a friend’s Yorky. I’m using J.Knits (of course) Superwashme Sock yarn in color Mesa which is a lovely purple, navy, fuchsia, denim, red color. Ok so it’s not the most masculine color but Manwell can handle it. This weekend Mac was gracious enough to model it for me.
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Progress has been made on the Starling socks that Callie and I showed you last weekend. I’ve turned the heel on the first sock, and am about 5” into the foot of the second. Although this still isn’t as far as I was before I ripped back. I love the stripes. There is something about this color that makes everyone who sees it smile. Even my Dad likes them. Too bad, y’all they’re short socks for me for the spring!

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And this lovely piece of Faux-Enterlac is what I’m calling the big sock. It’s designed using chunky yarn, knit on size 10.5 US needles. It literally took me 4 hours to make one. I think they’ll make for a great gift pattern, fun, quick and very usable for those who aren’t wild about regular hand-knit socks. House socks!

So there you have it, what’s been on the sticks and on my mind! Happy Sunday!

Who's Knitting?

Today I was listening to the Knitty D and the City Podcast from Rhinebeck 2006. It brought a smile to my face and reminded me of what a great time I had last fall with the girls. I can’t wait to go again!!

Speaking of knitting. Who has been knitting? It’s definitely not me. I’ve done some swatches for work and slogged my way through a single sock. What’s up? Where did the knitting mojo go? It’s not that I don’t want to knit, I do. I just have too many other pressing things on my plate.

I watched the movie Twilight tonight. Let me preface and say that I find vampires interesting as a general rule. I had previously tried to listen to the audiobook but found the teenage angst just a little to shrill and aggravating. Perhaps it hit too close to home, being transplanted in high school and not so happy about it. I lived through that uncomfortable experience and didn’t enjoy listening to an author unsuccessfully depict the depth of sorrow that goes along with those experiences. Instead of insecure and scared, Bella seemed whiny and cold. And it really bothered me how wrapped up she was in her interactions with Edward before he was even speaking with her. I didn’t make it past the first third of the book. But you know I’m not a thirteen year old girl and if I remember right, that is pretty much all they think about…

Over the past few months, so many of my friends have read and loved the book, though. Even VS who is not mushy and not into fantasy stuff, thought it was a great book. I rethought my anti-Twilight sentiments. People started giving it ok reviews, people who hadn’t even read the book. So I thought I should give it another try. Without the hype, I would give it a C+. Much better than the book in terms of dealing with Bella’s move and interactions with Edward, less infatuated on her part. It was visually pleasing but I just can’t wrap my brain around a 100+ year old man falling for a 17 year old girl. That’s a huge age gap. I know I know, Buffy and Angel were the same thing and I bought that. I was younger, Angel was older and more worldly than Edward. The best part about Twilight is that it reminded me of how much I used to love Angel and it made me want to rewatch that series, and Firefly, and I really need to watch that Dr. Horrible thing…

Hair, Callie, Starling

Callie and I had a photo shoot with my Starling socks. Callie was in need of attention and I wanted to show you my new haircut.
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She's at that adorable teenage age where she's in your face all the time and wants to eat everything. She is Mum's cat but doesn't discriminate and is happy to cuddle with anyone who has a sweater, sweatshirt, flannel shirt or vest on..
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Yes I am biting her ear. She didn't seem to mind. Such a sweetie!

Vicious Cat Attacks

Today I had to rip back 4” from my Starling sock. I didn’t like the angle of the pattern and it wasn’t breaking up the stripes the way I wanted. As I sat at the dinning room table, ripping out my sock, and gazing at The Boyfriend asleep on the couch (he had his wisdom teeth out yesterday), a pair of Devon Rex took notice of the steadily increasing pile of yarn on the floor.

They shifted from their respective positions in the room, moving closer to the pile in order to gain a better vantage point. Their eyes followed the yarn as it flew down to the floor and past their eager faces. Their tails began to whip back and forth. And the bigger one cocked his head. I should’ve known what would happen next. Yes you guessed it, Mac grabbed the yarn and ran, with no regard for the tangling of yarn around his back foot. Linus took off after him not wanting to miss any of the fun. Mac played for a moment and I began to wrap the yarn around the original skein of yarn.

The bobbing motion of the yarn as I pulled it up and around the skein was equally appealing. Mac chased the yarn with the original section around his legs, the toe of the sock danced across the floor with the needles making a seductive clacking noise that was too much for Linus to resist. He pounced on the unsuspecting toe and shook the needles.

In the end the toe managed to survive although it was touch and go for a while. You never know how vicious cat attacks will turn out.

Is he not the cutiest Devon EVA?!?!?!