Saturday Skies and Socks

The sky was overcast for most of the morning, so I put off taking my Saturday Sky picture until mid afternoon. By that time, the clouds had moved off and the sky looked like this:

It was still cold, though, so I stayed inside and knitted another sock:

I came mighty close to matching the stripes perfectly. Pretty good for a first try, don't you think? This was the screaming stash project from my WIP List, which I can now update to look like this:

1. Prayer Shawl
2. Irish Hiking Scarf
3. Wavy Lace Shawl
4. Red Heart Strata Scarf
5. Branching Out Lace Scarf
6. Texas Longhorn Scarf
7. First Time Socks
8. Socks using Magic Loop
9. Socks on DPNs using Knit Picks yarn
10. Socks made from Red Heart Strata (I lost the ball band and forgot the name of the color.)

I'm working on the Texas Longhorn scarf for Cody. It was supposed to be part of his Christmas present, but he may get it in time for next fall. I found a Longhorns dishcloth pattern and am adapting it for a scarf. I have a football pattern to put on the other end. What I need to decide, though, is whether I want to repeat the patterns all the way up the scarf, or just knit the length plain with one pattern at each end. Or maybe I can alternate the Longhorn logo with the football pattern throughout the length of the scarf. That'd be neat.

Posts have been dull as of late. I'm even bored reading my own blog. The Pro Bowl was played this afternoon, and even the players seemed rather lackadaisical about the game. It doesn't really count for anything, so why go all out, though Drew Brees did injure his elbow. It wasn't serious and he should be back for next season with no problem. Peyton Manning hardly played at all, but Tony Romo played a good deal. He led the NFC back from a 14 point deficit only to lose the game by a last minute field goal by the AFC. And that's it for football until the fall...

I'm a bit put out with Amazon.com right now. I've been a customer of theirs ever since I got my first computer some 6 1/2 years ago. I order most of my movies and a great deal of my books from them. My most recent order was some stuff I bought for Christmas presents. Today when I tried to sign in to add something to my wishlist, I suddenly don't have an account any more. You have to sign in using your e-mail address. Now I registered my account with my old Dixie-net address. Since I changed ISPs back when I got DSL, I no longer have access to that e-mail address. I'd never gotten around to changing it on that site, but I'd still been able to sign in with it, until today that is.

When I tried to sign in today, it said they don't have an account associated with that addy. I even tried to sign in with my new addy, just in case I'd changed it and forgotten that I had, but still no go. So I went to their home page without signing in and tried a generic search for my wish list, and I was able to pull it up--using my old Dixie-net address. So they do have my address associated with my account, just not when I try to sign in. Note: I couldn't pull up my wish list using my new e-mail address, so I know I didn't change it on the site.

My next step was to send an e-mail to customer service explaining the problem. They sent a response back basically saying they can't help me because I didn't e-mail them from the address associated with my account and I needed to sign in to my account and change my e-mail address before they could do anything.

Well, DUH!!!!!

I can't sign in. That's the whole problem. I sent a response back to them (I actually sent the second one I typed out--the first was not very lady-like) stating that they needed to forward my complaint to someone who could actually fix it, or they would lose me as a customer. I don't expect them to be very helpful. A site that big has enough customers that they won't worry about losing just one.

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Update: I asked Cody how he wanted the scarf, and he just wants one Longhorns logo and one football pattern on the ends and the middle knitted plain. That solves that dilemma.

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Dodged a Bullet

The freezing rain and ice accumulation we were expecting to hit us last night didn't. Something for which I am very thankful. It is still unusually cold, though, not even getting out of the 30s today. A good day for knitting the first of a pair:

A house sock knitted from Red Heart Strata. I lost the ball band so I can't tell you what color this is. I knitted a scarf out of it also, which I sent to my sister in law for Christmas. I think I like it better as a scarf. Anyhow, this is #10 on my WIP list, which I will update when I finish.

Tools of the trade: my gum eraser (which I seldom use, preferring my kneaded or white vinyl eraser) and my pencil sharpener (which I often use).

I don't know what kind of flower this is. My neighbors down the street have them all around their mailbox.

Some of you know me well enough by now to know that an abundance of pictures means a dearth of things to say. So I'm off to spend some time with Jane Austin and a mug of hot chocolate.

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Relationships

I work with a lady. She is 35 and fairly recently divorced. Well, within the last couple or three years. She had three sons, the oldest of which is Cody's age--13, and she still wears a size 2 jean. Sigh-- But that's not what I'm here to talk about. Her boyfriend is 19. They are very much in love and even talking about getting married.

Now, I'm not going to be one of those snooty know-it-alls and say that they shouldn't, that she is robbing the cradle, that they couldn't possibly really be in love due to the age difference, that their relationship is just wrong. No, if that is what they want, then I'm happy for them.

It's just not what I want.

The experience, the wisdom, the depth of character that comes with age--you just can't find that in a teenager.

Progress Reports

Cody is still grounded. They brought home progress reports today, and he was hoping to be ungrounded completely. I had partially ungrounded him when he brought home his report card, because his grades did come up some. While his grades are still slowly improving, he had way too many zeros to be completely ungrounded. He fussed and sulked, but I told him he is lucky he didn't get completely re grounded because of all the zeros. The only reason I didn't is because he did bring his grades up some. Well, some grades came up quite a bit, like algebra. He brought it up from a 54 to an 81.

And reporting another type of progress, on to Finger Cam day #3:

It is looking and feeling much better, and should be completely functional in just a couple more days. At least I hope so.

There is a lot of detail in a human ear--so much so that it is a daunting task to attempt to sketch one in 10 minutes. However, I was willing to give her a go, and this was the result.

Sensei is trying to get Barrett and Josh ready to test for their black belts in May. I wonder if he is going to get them ready or will he do them like he did me: "Go over in the corner and get yourself ready." James didn't come to class at all. I guess he still can't find the patches for his gi. Irony. I just love the irony of the situation. He is pouting because he didn't get his full black belt, yet if he'd been attending and working hard, he might have been able to test with Josh and Barrett. He's shooting himself in the foot with his sulking.

Whatever...maybe when Josh and Barrett get their shodans, sensei will finally start having the black belt class. I've talked to him several times about it. I've told him that it is really hard for me to stay after class to work on my black belt stuff, especially since he keeps moving the class to later and later. I don't know. It just makes me feel like he thinks I'm not important enough, so he's got to wait for somebody else so he can start the class. I mean, it's not like he's making an extra trip into town or anything. He's got the after school program and he's there every day anyway. I hate to sound like a whiner, but I want to continue growing in my own Martial arts. I want to learn and improve and develop my skill. In less than a year and a half, I'll be up for my ni-dan, and I'm nowhere near where I need to be.

Speaking of, I'm going to go run a few kata.

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Finger Cam

Here is Finger Cam, day 2:
Other than being quite tender to the touch and rather stiff feeling, my finger feels much better today. My thanks to everyone who offered sympathy in yesterday's comments. I hope you will forgive me if I don't answer them individually, as typing is still somewhat tedious.

I did finish the monthly dishcloth:

and despite the stiffness, attempted a

This is one of the rolling carts we use at work. My perspective may be a tad off, but it isn't that far off. Most of these are in pretty bad shape, and really do lean that much. Well, almost...

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Light Blogging

I won't be blogging much for the next few days in order to give bruised finger time to heal.
I can, however, still bring you the



and the dishcloth rows.

Yes, I know you are all wondering what in the world I did to myself. Well, I was tightening a retaining screw at work and the wrench slipped. The handle of the wrench came down squarely on my finger, smashing it against the steel frame of the machine. It was enough to make me curse--almost out loud.

I'll probably be sitting out karate tomorrow, too, as any sudden motion or jars sends bolts of pain shooting halfway up my arm.

Can't even take an ibuprofen for it...

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Lesson For Today

Don't try to knit lace while watching the Super Bowl. Trust me on this one...
Yes, much of today was spent in anticipation of and watching the Super Bowl, Cody being a big Indy fan. Even our pastor, who knows Archie Manning personally, moved the evening preaching service up to 4:00 PM so he could get home in time to watch it. In fact, being that Mr. Manning is native Mississippian, and he and Eli both attended Ole Miss, most folks around here are Colts fans.

We made some snacks and went over to B and J's for the game. J is a Chicago fan, and got really excited when Devin Hester of the Bears ran back the opening kickoff for a touchdown, and again as Grossman and Muhammed connected to give Chicago a 14-6 lead in the first quarter. However, since Chicago would never be in front again, his enthusiasm waned and he got downright ugly at times. Between his attitude and the heat in their home, I needed to get out of there. Since B is much more cold natured that I am, they had their heater set to "roast" and about halftime I began to swell up. I stood it as long as I could, then came home early in the third quarter and watched the rest of the game in the comfort of my own home.
This is when I tried to knit the lace. Not such a good idea. I finally just ripped it back to my lifeline and set it aside for the evening. Then I sat with idle hands and watched the Colts win their first Super Bowl title since Johnny Unitas was quarterback. It was 1971, and the Colts were still in Baltimore, and they defeated the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl IV. Since I am a lifelong Cowboys fan, we don't talk too much about that one.



The Pro Bowl is next Saturday, which is usually pretty boring since nothing is at stake. Then we count the days until next season.


The dishcloth is coming right along, and the pattern is showing just what I predicted. I finally delivered the prayer shawl for my friend who's mother passed right before Christmas. I got it all ready to take, then walked right out of the house without it. I initially thought I'd wait until next week, but by the time I got to the end of my road, I felt really strongly that I should go back and get it. I did, and when I got to the church, I discovered that my friend's Sunday School class had placed flowers in the sanctuary in memory of my friend's mother. It all just seemed to fit.

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Milady the Right Reverend Becky the Decent of Praze-an-Beeble Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

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Singing Saturday

I can't sing. I've always enjoyed singing, but God in his wisdom did not see fit to bless me with talent in that area. But still, I'll sing around the house, and sometimes at work. I figure everyone at work has earplugs in anyway, so they're safe.

Not long ago, Cody told me to stop trying. I was quite taken aback, because he'd always been the one to encourage and support me.

"That's when I thought you were just pretending you couldn't sing."

Moving right along...

I've got one more thing to cross off my WIP list:

Yes, they are fraternal, but after having to frog most of the first sock due to running out of yarn, I didn't dare try to match the stripes. It's a good thing, too, or I wouldn't have had enough yarn to finish.

So, after removing the monthly dishcloths from my WIP list, and making a separate entry for each pair of socks, my revised list looks like this:

1. Prayer Shawl
2. Irish Hiking Scarf
3. Wavy Lace Shawl
4. Red Heart Strata Scarf
5. Branching Out Lace Scarf
6. Texas Longhorn Scarf
7. First Time Socks
8. Socks using Magic Loop
9. Socks on DPNs using Knit Picks yarn
10. Socks made from Red Heart Strata (I lost the ball band and forgot the name of the color.)

Notice that I did cast on another pair of socks in the #10 space. The yarn got so vocal that I couldn't tune it out any more.

I also did a crazy thing. I felted my wool socks. I did it on purpose because I wanted to see what they would turn out like. Besides, socks that are hand wash only aren't very practical for everyday use--at least not in my mind. But didn't they turn out cute?

Here is one next to a sock that still fits my foot, to show perspective.

They fuzzed and pilled quite a bit, but they already had a good start at that just from being used. I'm thinking about ordering one of those sweater stones that is supposed to remove pilling from knitted items.

And here are today's dishcloth rows:

It's been cold all day today. A perfect day to stay inside and knit, only I didn't do that...I decided it was time to flush and refill my radiator. I'd asked J to help me--which means he does the work and I stand there feeling useless. And cold. And guilty that I'm not helping more. But he had his oldest grandson Steve out there helping, so there really wasn't much I could do. I just feel like it's my vehicle, I need to be doing the work.

The way they make these engines these days, you almost have to take them back to the dealership to get even a simple thing like a radiator flush and fill done. I think they make them that way on purpose, so you have to keep paying them money. J had to take the whole engine apart just to get to the drain plug. Ok, well not really. It just seemed that way. I told him that if I'd known it would be so much trouble, I'd have just taken it into a shop. But we got it done, and now my Jimmy has a happy radiator.

That and three loads of laundry was the extent of my productivity today.

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And a Little Bit of That

I ended up working almost a full day today--7 hours. Way better than 0 hours. The bad part is that we did cleanup all day, and I am so tired. Cleaning is hard work. I definitely earned my pay today.


Strange thing this morning. When I got up to leave for work, I opened the door and there was this strange white stuff all over everything.



It covered the grass

and the wood pile.
It was even on Jimmy.
I couldn't figure it out. I thought maybe there'd been a forest fire and everything was covered with ashes, but there weren't any fires around here last night. Then I thought, may be ash from a volcanic erup....what?...huh?....

SNOW??? What the heck is that?

Sure enough, we'd gotten a bit of snow during the night. Now I know to some of you, this may not seem like much, but this is the most snow we've gotten this millennium. Cody was upset because the schools didn't close. And it all melted as soon as the sun came up.


Oh, well. That was winter, despite what the local groundhog forecast.


Today's dishcloth rows leave little doubt as to what the pattern will be. Rows of hearts--my guess is three rows of three hearts. We'll see if I'm right.

Ok, that's cheating I know. I've seen this pattern before, and know what it will be.

I've decided to alter my WIP list and remove the monthly dishcloth from it. I'll split #9 into two separate numbers, since it is two separate pairs of socks. One pair is almost done. I'll finish it this weekend, then have pictures for you.

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A Little Bit of This...

These people I work with just crack me up sometimes. We are having another unpaid plant shutdown day tomorrow. When they announced it, everyone was griping and fussing.

"I just can't make it on 4 days. What am I going to do? How am I going to pay my bills?"

Yet, when Johnny went around after lunch asking for volunteers to work tomorrow, do you know how many people said they'd work? Three. Yes, three. Count 'em: three. Out of the thirty some-odd people in my department, only three volunteered to work. Yes, I am one of the three. I mean, it's not like I can sleep in anyway, since I have to get Cody up for school, so I might as well go in and work--for however long they let us stay.

One lady told me she didn't volunteer because Johnny couldn't guarantee that she'd get 8 full hours. "I don't want 4 hours. I want 8 hours," she said. Yeah, I want 8 hours, too but 4 hours is better than 0 hours. She is choosing no pay rather than partial pay, because in her mind it's full pay or nothing. She is cutting off her nose to spite her face. She is one of the ones who complain the loudest about not having enough money, too.


Onwards...

I finished my hat and scarf this afternoon, except for weaving in my ends on the scarf.




The scarf turned out just the right length, too. I doubt I keep these, though. They will most likely end up in the gift drawer. Getting a head start on Christmas knitting...

Best of all, I can scratch another entry off of my WIP list:


1. Prayer Shawl
2. Irish Hiking Scarf
3. Wavy Lace Shawl
4. Red Heart Strata Scarf
5. Branching Out Lace Scarf
6. Texas Longhorn Scarf
7. First Time Socks
8. Monthly dishcloths KAL--two per month
9. Socks knitted from the yarn I got for Christmas (two pair)
10. One slot left open for a screaming stash project


Slowly but surely, I'm getting it done. However, #8 doesn't really count, since it is an ongoing thing, and won't really end. I'm even thinking of removing it from the list all together and replacing it with another screaming stash project. For those of you wondering what a screaming stash project is, it is when you find a pattern or some yarn in your stash that just screams out "KNIT ME!" I don't have any that are screaming yet, but I do have some yarn that is beginning to get rather vocal...


While we are on the subject, it is time to begin another




I'm guessing this one will have something to do with hearts. Red or pink yarn required, February, Valentine's Day...Not hard to put those clues together.


And lest I forget, the

This is a tomato flower, drawn from a reference photo. Flowers are generally pretty easy to draw, and I enjoy doing them.

Heading for bed, now. I have a book by my bedside that is screaming, "READ ME!!!" I'm happy to oblige.
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The Problem

when you have huge clown feet like I do is that you have to sketch them really fast before your entire leg goes to sleep, so your proportions aren't always right and your toes run off the page. Not one of my prouder moments, but still a



I haven't posted any knitting progress in a while, so here is where I am. The second sock is coming along, slowly but surely.



The 8 foot long scarf has had another change of plans. You may recall this project from my WIP list. It was #4. A couple of weeks ago, I decided that the scarf would be way too long, so I was going to knit it wider to make it shorter. I didn't rip the whole thing, that's too much work. I just started at the other end of the yarn. It didn't take long, however, to realize that a) I just didn't like it that wide, and b) I didn't really want to knit the whole thing over again. So I ripped the new part and cast on a hat. Once I'm done with the hat, I'll pick the original scarf back up and finish it. Then I will have a hat and scarf that match. Cool, huh?

It is snowing outside as I type this. Very tiny flakes, and no accumulation is expected. But that's the kind of snow we usually get down here. Still, it's good weather for hot chocolate and knitting.

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Lots to Catch Up On

But I am soooo tired. Johnny was on one of his rampages this morning, and frankly, once he told me what had happened, I couldn't say I'd blamed him. First, I'd better familiarize you with the hierarchy at work.

The top position is the Production Superintendent, a guy named Jake Spears. This is only dealing with the shop floor. I won't get into the managerial structure of the front office, since they are insignificant to this story. They are pretty insignificant anyway, but that's another post.

So we have Jake, the production superintendent. He is over all the production on all the shifts. Under him, each shift has two to three supervisors. Each area (on each shift) has its own supervisor. On day shift, the supervisors are Ron Bourne (Air Handler area), Ronnie Patterson (A-Coil Assembly), and Calvin Miller (Component Parts). Under the supervisors, each department within each area has a group leader. This is where Johnny Lindley comes in. He is the group leader of my department (tubing).

Now, Johnny is not one to normally inspire warm fuzzies in a person. Quite the opposite, Johnny Lindley can drive a grown man to tears, so when I say he went on a rampage, I mean we were all walking on eggshells.

Some of the other shifts don't seem to like taking their scrap copper to the scrap dock, so they've been hiding it under conveyors and buggies and such. Now, neither Johnny nor Calvin can control what the other shifts do, but Jake can. Johnny had been complaining to Jake about the scrap being left in bins on the floor for weeks now, but Jake hadn't done anything about it. He hadn't made the other shifts take it to the dock. This morning, he had jumped all over Johnny and told him he needed to get those bins of copper up off the floor because we are having company. This made Johnny mad, justifiably so, and he decided we wouldn't just clean up the scrap copper, we'd clean up everything.

And clean we did--all morning. When I got home, I decided I wasn't going to clean a darn thing, and I didn't. I'd had enough of cleaning for one day. Even my sketch for today was a bit pitiful. By lunch time, my arms were so tired, I could hardly lift them, much less sketch anything.

Here is what I did:
It is the handle of my brazing torch. The left knob looks a little funny because I ran out of time and just threw something up there.

I sure didn't feel like going to karate tonight, but Cody was anxious to go and see if he'd been promoted. Sure enough, sensei promoted him to san-kyu. He's done a whole lot better since we started back. I hope he keeps his effort and motivation up.


The white belt on the far right started tonight. He just tickled me. He was so excited about starting. He said he'd always wanted to learn a martial art, but never had. For his latest birthday, his wife came and signed him up for class, bought his gi and some sparring gear, and of course surprised him with it. He was quite effervescent in his enthusiasm. He even said that he would bring his sparring gear up and leave it at the dojo so everyone could use it. I guess he didn't think we would have our own.

While sensei was teaching him and another guy who was observing, I led the big class. We did basics and kata, which is what karate is really all about.

James asked sensei when he was going to test for his full black. Sensei was hemming and hawing around trying to think of a diplomatic answer, but I felt no need for such hesitation. I promptly told James, "When you're ready." I wonder how he thinks he's going to get ready if he doesn't even come to class. He wouldn't have even dressed out tonight if I hadn't leaned on him a little. Even then, he didn't do anything. Somebody's going to have to get it through his head that he is going to have to earn his belt. The board isn't going to baby him. Neither are they going to give him a rank he doesn't deserve.

He needs to just grow up a little.
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