Isn’t she gorgeous? It’s a free pattern, found here: http://www.straw.com/cpy/patterns/KidMerino-shrug.html

I want to make her in black.

I need to add some pictures to this blog. I tried on Tuesday night, but the batteries in my digital camera died. Soon, my pretties, soon.

I’m listening to Inkheart in the car, by Cornelia Funke. Really good book so far. It’s being read by Lynn Redgrave, and she’s doing a great job at portraying everyone from a really evil man to a 12 year old girl. I think it’s cool how it keeps matching my moods. I started it on Friday on my way home from work. I was in a great mood, and the story was just zipping along with all the hope in the world. Today, on my way to work, the story took a turn for the worse for the main characters. This was just perfect, as I had just been to the dentist this morning and he confirmed that yes, I would need to meet with a specialist to see about having a root canal done.

I’m so not thrilled about this. It’s not the pain- I’ve had a root canal before. When I was bartending 7 years ago we had a popcorn machine at the bar, and I often filled up a basket to keep with me behind the bar. (Popcorn is my biggest snack craving). I was probably eating my 3rd or 4th handful when CRUNCH my tooth went down on a hard kernel and broke. It was my last tooth on the top left, and I didn’t realize it was broken until I couldn’t get the kernel to crack, and realized it was 1/2 my tooth. Yummy.

On the plus side, breaking my tooth led to the first really sweet thing Yannick ever did for me. We had just started “hanging out”, weren’t officially dating yet but more like friends who were interested. He’d told me he wasn’t coming to the bar that night to see me because he had plans with his mom. His dad was working late so he told his mom he’d stay in and watch a movie with her. So just before starting the movie he calls me to say “have a good night” and that he’ll call me the next day, and I mentioned the tooth thing. Wouldn’t you know it, 10 minutes later he walks into the bar! He couldn’t stay long because they had the movie to watch, but he was concerned that my tooth was hurting me or would start to soon, so he brought me some pain-killers!

Root canal #1 wasn’t bad, primarily because a) it was about $1000, but b) I had insurance so they covered it. I finally realized, about 4 years later, that it had never stopped hurting, so the guy had to redo it, but he didn’t charge me because he was fixing his own work. This new one will be a b!tch. I don’t have insurance. I also don’t have $1000. Based on the x-ray, it seems that a filling I had done back in ’02 could be a little close to the root. Why it’s hurting now is beyond me. All I know is that since waking up Sunday morning, there have only been brief 5-minute lapses when I didn’t think about the tooth. Killing me. Probably the cause of my recent migraines, too. My dentist can’t even fix it, he needs me to go see a specialist*. Why do I get the priviledge of getting to visit this specimen of the dental elite? Because, lucky me, my tooth has 3 roots. Not 1, boring old Vanilla root. Not even 2- with chocolate chips thrown in. Nope, I get to have 3 roots- the Rocky Road of dental procedures.

Tuesday night I finished the FNWC, which I guess I can say is a sweater. (That’s a bit like saying I read LRRH, which is a book. Not exactly giving it away. Although- my dad and I often talk with acronyms, and I’ve gotten freakishly good at figuring them out. Sometimes I need a context to put it in, but other times I can just “get” it. Wierd.) Anyways, I finished the thing, save for a little glitch that I couldn’t do anything about.

Last night was the Montreal Knits meetup. Yannick was running late (and enduring BIG teasing from his buddy about “being late for the knitting meeting”) so Robyn came to get me. My headache wasn’t too bad, more like a dull thud than a migraine, although my tooth was killing me. There were many of us there, and I met Diana and Kelli Ann (and Zoé) for the first time.

I had no idea what to bring to knit. The pay job is finished, the pay finishing job is finished, my friends who are having babies don’t know the sexes yet, and I have no knitting priorities. Feels odd. So I brought out the Goldilocks shrug and worked on that. It doesn’t ever seem to get much longer, but it must be because I can slip my arm into it and have it go from my armpit to my hand, so I’m probably 1/3 done. No matter what I’ll need to stop once the ball is done because I only had the one hank, and they are hand-dyed yarns. I could probably call up Fleece Artist and describe it but it wouldn’t match *exactly* so it will be what it will be and that’s that. I think I’ll gain some extra room if I block it, so depending on the final length I might just get a little more out of it.

So what now? Do I pick a new pattern? Do I dust off an old wip? Do I get off my butt and work on one of my own designs?

I don’t know. But I’m sure I’ll be knitting something in the meantime!

*someone who does the same work but gets to charge 3x the price for it.

I was tagged by Robyn, so here goes. I am at work though, so this is from memory, although IMHO my memory is pretty darn good. 🙂

What’s In your Fridge?
eggs, skim milk, butter, margarine, light mayo, diet soda, Brita water filter pitcher, baby onions, olives, pickles, 3 kinds of coffee, ketchup, jams, jellies, hot salsa, some kind of coffee-flavored syrup (like chocolate milk but for coffee- don’t ask me it’s Yannick’s), lettuce, some apples, mini fruit cups, mini applesauce cups, wet cat food, juice

What’s in your Closet?
my pants, skirts, dresses, sweat pants, sweat shirts, dressy shirts, button-down shirts, shoes, a fur coat, a bunch of belts, a bag with a bunch of smaller bags inside

What’s in your DVD Player?
Ooh..I don’t know. There are 5 or 6 spots but Yannick watches movies often without me. Knowing him, there are probably at least 2 seasons of Smallville in there!

What’s in your car?
2 books on CD, Sanitary Hand Wipes, a water bottle, gum, some CDs, my library books, an umbrella, my snow-scraper, a tool kit, a mug, some old mail, a yoga mat, my sunglasses

What’s in your purse?
my wallet, my keys, my cell, a knitting bag, some pens, some sugar-free breath savers and candies and gum, Advil Migraine, a “cheat-sheet” for my diet, my Palm, about 4 lip balms/ lip sticks, a flashlight, some “thank you” notes I’m writing for the engagement party, old receipts, my Lotto folder

I tag: Kadi, & anyone else who wants to participate.

I was tagged by Robyn, so here goes. I am at work though, so this is from memory, although IMHO my memory is pretty darn good. 🙂

What’s In your Fridge?
eggs, skim milk, butter, margarine, light mayo, diet soda, Brita water filter pitcher, baby onions, olives, pickles, 3 kinds of coffee, ketchup, jams, jellies, hot salsa, some kind of coffee-flavored syrup (like chocolate milk but for coffee- don’t ask me it’s Yannick’s), lettuce, some apples, mini fruit cups, mini applesauce cups, wet cat food, juice

What’s in your Closet?
my pants, skirts, dresses, sweat pants, sweat shirts, dressy shirts, button-down shirts, shoes, a fur coat, a bunch of belts, a bag with a bunch of smaller bags inside

What’s in your DVD Player?
Ooh..I don’t know. There are 5 or 6 spots but Yannick watches movies often without me. Knowing him, there are probably at least 2 seasons of Smallville in there!

What’s in your car?
2 books on CD, Sanitary Hand Wipes, a water bottle, gum, some CDs, my library books, an umbrella, my snow-scraper, a tool kit, a mug, some old mail, a yoga mat, my sunglasses

What’s in your purse?
my wallet, my keys, my cell, a knitting bag, some pens, some sugar-free breath savers and candies and gum, Advil Migraine, a “cheat-sheet” for my diet, my Palm, about 4 lip balms/ lip sticks, a flashlight, some “thank you” notes I’m writing for the engagement party, old receipts, my Lotto folder

I tag: Kadi, & anyone else who wants to participate.

I was tagged by Robyn, so here goes. I am at work though, so this is from memory, although IMHO my memory is pretty darn good. 🙂

What’s In your Fridge?
eggs, skim milk, butter, margarine, light mayo, diet soda, Brita water filter pitcher, baby onions, olives, pickles, 3 kinds of coffee, ketchup, jams, jellies, hot salsa, some kind of coffee-flavored syrup (like chocolate milk but for coffee- don’t ask me it’s Yannick’s), lettuce, some apples, mini fruit cups, mini applesauce cups, wet cat food, juice

What’s in your Closet?
my pants, skirts, dresses, sweat pants, sweat shirts, dressy shirts, button-down shirts, shoes, a fur coat, a bunch of belts, a bag with a bunch of smaller bags inside

What’s in your DVD Player?
Ooh..I don’t know. There are 5 or 6 spots but Yannick watches movies often without me. Knowing him, there are probably at least 2 seasons of Smallville in there!

What’s in your car?
2 books on CD, Sanitary Hand Wipes, a water bottle, gum, some CDs, my library books, an umbrella, my snow-scraper, a tool kit, a mug, some old mail, a yoga mat, my sunglasses

What’s in your purse?
my wallet, my keys, my cell, a knitting bag, some pens, some sugar-free breath savers and candies and gum, Advil Migraine, a “cheat-sheet” for my diet, my Palm, about 4 lip balms/ lip sticks, a flashlight, some “thank you” notes I’m writing for the engagement party, old receipts, my Lotto folder

I tag: Kadi, & anyone else who wants to participate.

Debbie and Gregg are coming over for dinner tonight, and then to play board games. They had picked out two of the board games we had on our registry, so we think it is only fitting that they come over and play with us. I don’t know why we don’t have friends over for dinner more often. Wait- we do, on occasion. Like last night, Julie and Rich came over to play cards, and we ordered dinner together. We’ve done that often. But I don’t recall if we’ve ever sat down to a homemade dinner together, and it makes me wonder…why not? It’s not like I don’t cook- I’m the cook in the house. In fact, last weekend I made a chicken, veggie, shrimp and mussel paella that was so huge it overfilled my wok! I’m not kidding- check this out:
I had 1 portion, Yannick had 3 and his buddy Kevin had 4, and there was still more! We had so many leftovers from it that when Jackie and Kevin mentioned wanting to try the recipe, I was able to give them so much that they didn’t need to worry about dinner! (Plus I got to see Bradley when I dropped it off). And I still had enough for lunch the next day. That’s a lot of paella.

Debbie and Gregg are getting the home-cooked deal because they treated us last time, and when they invited us over this weekend we thought it was only fair to reciprocate.
I just got home from work. They’re not coming over until 7pm, so I had time to set the table and put out a basket for bread (reminder- put bread in oven 15 min before eating!). I was good, and yesterday remembered to pull out the butter so it could get soft. Nothing like some good salted butter on fresh warm bread. Mmmm… Like our new dishes? I know we’re not supposed to open engagement gifts until after the wedding, some kinda luck deal, but we couldn’t resist. All of our dishes were hand-me -downs, first the ones I got from a friend when I moved into my apartment, then the ones from my parents, then the ones from his. These are our first new dishes together, and they’re really funky. Even the bowls are square!

I was so on the ball this week that I even remembered to buy veggies yesterday instead of scrambling to do everything tonight. I cut them into wedges and since I did this yesterday, I had time to let them marinate overnight in some olive oil, sea salt and garlic. I’m going to thread them onto skewers, and when Yannick puts the meat on the barbeque, he’ll put the veggie-kabobs on too. So now I’m home, the skewers are soaking*, and I have half-an-hour with nothing to do. So what should I knit? 🙂

I know I have the FNWC to finish, but at the stage it’s at, seaming the sides, I need the kitchen table. Plus I don’t like to rush seaming. I could work on my Clapotis but I just finished one, so I’d like to put it in the rotation. Maybe…I’ll start something new…

*I always soak my wooden skewers in water for at least a half hour before threading, so they are still damp when they get on the barbeque. Less chances for flares and fires, and with me, that’s a good thing.

At least, through this migraine haze, I’m getting stuff done.

I finished the Comfort Clapotis this morning. Started Apr 1, finished Apr 28- not bad! Especially since I haven’t worked on it in 2 weeks because I’ve been working on the FNWC job. I DID managed to snap a pic this morning but as I was zooming in for a better shot my batteries died, so I’ll post later once they finish recharging.

The FNWC is thisclose to being done. Just have the side seams left, then a few rows for the neck. Had minor setbacks during seaming since the yarn I was given to seam is not too difficult to tear, and when I mattress stitch I tend to bunch then pull flat…so there were at least 2 occassions when I was pulling the section flat and heard that ominous SNAP and had to pull out the entire seam. Did I mention that I was only given a little ball of that other yarn for seaming? Of course I didn’t measure first to be assured that I’d have plenty, so each little bit I was taking off was alternated with crossing my fingers that I’d have enough left to finish the sweater.
NOTE TO SELF: measure first, worry less.

One last little bit of progress: down 12 lbs towards my weight-loss goal. I’m not stating my weight publicly, nor how much I want to lose, but let’s just say that I’d like my wedding dress to have to be taken in during alterations, not let out. And I want it taken in A LOT. I only plan on getting married once, so I’d like to look as slim, sexy and pretty as possible for that day, and those pictures! (and the video…) Go me!

I haven’t posted lately. I’m not apologizing for that, just making a statement of fact. Doesn’t seem to matter much, since no one really reads this blog anyways.

Made it through Passover ok, but for the headaches. Been knitting tons.

Picked up a job knitting for Veronik and Mona, doing FNWC- a sample sweater for one of the new yarns. It’s wonderful, fluffy stuff. Can’t show a pic but the sweater is whizzing along…one sleeve left then seaming and neckline.

I also was working on the Comfort Clapotis before starting the FNWC. I’m right at the decreases, and hope to have it done soon to give to the intended recipient.

I also worked on the finishing gig for my LYS. I need to have that done to bring them by the end of this week ‘cus there’s more waiting. I have to say, it’s not fun finishing someone else’s work. At least with my work I know how the knitting was done, and can plan for the finishing during the process. With someone else’s I’m going at it blind. Ah well.

Saw my doc re: migraines. He has no clue, but gave me something to help. Luckily I get to stop the other somethings I was on since the car accident, because my bedside table was starting to look like a pharmacy.

Hope everyone is well. For those of you who are in my sidebar, I do go to your blogs daily. Where has everyone been? Blogging is getting very lonely.

Enjoy these links!

http://www.atomfilms.com/contentPlay/shockwave.jsp?id=matzah&preplay=1&ratingBar=off

and

http://www.americancomedynetwork.com/FLASH/matzo_man.htm

and, just because I love it,

http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/llama.php

Make sure your speakers are turned on and have fun!