So, apparently people think I should do some work here. The nerve! Had a busy morning, running around, working on some more ad concepts, etc. I've only just now settled back in my office for a bit while I wait for something that's going to come my way to sign off on. We have a piece going to the client tonight, so I really hope I don't get stuck here late. Friday is the worst day to work late, of course. Especially after sitting on my butt most of the week doing very little of anything.

I'm very excited - if the weather is nice enough tomorrow (and it seems like it will be), we're going to the Cherry Blossom Festival at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden. This will make three years in a row that we have gone to this together, so it's kind of a special place for us. It's an absolutely beautiful sight to see all the cherry trees in bloom - just like fluffy pink clouds overhead.

The IFS (Infamous Frogged Sleeve) has been conquered! Hallelujah! Now all there is left to do is sew that onto the other half (which is already sewn) of the cardigan, then do the neckband and button band. Could get at least partially done over the weekend, depending on how efficient I am. Saturday we're doing the festival, but Sunday we've decided to clean our respective apartments. If I get that done quickly enough, I will have some time for the sweater.

On second thought, don't count on it. There's major work to be done in them thar hills. I think it's safe to swap out the winter and summer clothes from the cedar chest, or at least put away the extreme winter stuff and take out the moderate spring stuff. Either way, that takes a while and always makes the place much worse before it gets better. Plus I want to reorganize some cabinets, etc. I guess it's "spring cleaning" time. Hate doing it, but love having it done.

I need to mention how sad I am that Carolyn is moving back west. I didn't want to say anything earlier, but she mentioned this on Tuesday at Stitch-n-Bitch. How sad, that my brand-new-friend is leaving so soon! I would have missed knowing she's in NYC before, but now that we've met in person, I will miss her actual presence. But at least we'll always be able to read her entertaining and informative prose at Dangerous Chunky.

The silly man is fine - I finally got through around 5:30 when he finished editing and turned his phone on. I wasn't overly worried, but I definitely feel better for having spoken with him. Now back to my regularly scheduled laundry.

There was a building explosion two blocks away from Ryan's school a few hours ago. No one was killed, and it's reportedly due to a boiler explosion, so it's not terrorism, but I can't get him on the damn phone and it's gnawing at me. I'm 99% sure he's just sitting in an editing suite with the phone off, happily oblivious to reality, but that 1% that isn't sure can really drive you nuts. Especially because after September 11th, I made him agree that if anything dangerous happened like this when we weren't together, the first thing we'd do is call each other and check in. Argh. Nothing to do but wait by the phone for him to get my message.

Didn't knit much last night - maybe 10 rows during (how embarrassing this is to admit) Felicity. I only started watching this show during this past Fall, when Ryan had a lot of night classes, and I didn't have much else to do, being unemployed and kind of lazy at the time. Of course I got hooked on the show during its last season. I wish my curly hair looked as pretty as hers when it was long. Of course, with all those stylists, it probably would.

Speaking of hair, this growing it out is such an adventure. Every couple of weeks I need to try something slightly different, because it gets a teensy bit longer and won't behave. After nearly 6 years of short short short hair, it's both fun and irritating, depending on the time of day. One of these days I'll get around to posting pics of the progress. I realized I don't have any current pics of myself here. It started out intentional, to preserve my privacy. Now I guess I don't mind the idea so much. It was sort of funny that when I met Carolyn the other night she was pretty much expecting a cute four-year-old.

Still suffering from sour-patch-tongue. And yes, the fruits are very much like the sour patch kids, just different shapes. I hadn't had them in ages, and now I remember why. I love sour tastes, and I OD on these things whenever I get my hands on them. Now I have half a bag sitting in my desk drawer, taunting me.

In the extremely odd knitted thing category, let me present the knitted thong. I love the part about suggested decorations. Can this possibly be comfortable? Someone on eBay has taken it a step further. Sorry ladies - the bidding is closed!

Network seems slower than usual here at the office. Ugh. It's somehow sad when your internet connection at home (RoadRunner - say what you want about Time Warner, but the cable modem speeds are amazing) is faster and more stable than what you have at work.

Ouch. I have sour patch mouth. Too many sour patch fruits. Yummy, but they rip up my tongue and palate. Still, I go back for more torture. And now I am too hyped up on sugar to eat lunch. Bad Betsy!

Well, the Stitch-n-Bitch was so fun last night! I finally got to meet the famous Carolyn (who appears to be neither dangerous nor chunky in person!) as well as many other nice knitters, including Jackie, who has just started her own blog. (And now has been "outed" for it twice today!)

It was an unusual gathering because there was a team there from the CBS Early Show, filming the group for a segment on how "hip" knitting has become. Apparently my pale face frightened the camera folks away, so you probably won't see much of me, Carolyn or Jackie on TV. But we were all mesmerized by reporter Julie Chen's perfectly glossed lips. Check it out on May 2nd and see for yourself!

Got some work done on the infamous frogged sleeve. Though I did get distracted and have to frog several rows because I increased too much, I did make good progress amidst all the excitement.

This mornng, while trying to figure out what happened to my FedEx from Martha's Flowers (I will tell that irritating story some other time), I took a few more pics. I haven't yet figured out how to do little pop-up windows (actually I haven't tried yet, so there!) so you'll have to bear with me. First, you've got the completed back and not-completed front of the Mom sweater. Since it's hard to see the fabric, I got a little closer and got a halfway decent close-up. Once I finish my cardigan this will get back on the front burner. In the meantime, it's living in the adorable little silk bag I picked up for 15 bucks at the Alexia Crawford sample sale a few weeks ago.

I also got a pic of my Regia sock, which is definitely work-in-progress. I haven't read much past the directions that tell me to knit like 6 inches of ribbing, so I don't know what lies ahead as far as turning the heel, etc. My plan right now is to try and figure it out, but if it isn't crystal clear, I'll bring it to Stitch-n-Bitch and get expert help. "Winging it" has worked on some projects in the past, but I have a feeling it's a bad idea for socks.

I'm in a remarkably good mood today considering I had to frog a whole sleeve last night and woke up with a headache to find it was 40 degrees out today. I even was cheerful during a project status meeting today. Now that IS odd!

After I frogged the sleeve I had to feel some sense of accomplishment, so I did a few more rounds on the circular socks. I'll try to remember to take a picture tonight. I really love the Regia yarn and the way it makes patterns all by itself. Except it doesn't look as nice in ribbing as it does in stockinette, and the Simple Socks in the Cat Bordi book are mostly ribbing. Hmmph.

OK, I am tired of the lilac sweater for the moment. When I finished the last piece and went to block everything, I discovered I had one reasonably-sized sleeve and one ridiculously huge one. I have no idea what the hell I did, although I imagine what I did was increase too much. The sleeve that I thought was too big in the beginning turned out to be fine, but the second one is bigger than that and I am sure will not be. So, it looks like I am going to be frogging. I am SO not pleased. I did sew together two of the raglan seams on the good side, just to have SOME satisfaction. It looks cute lying flat. I'm not sure it will be as cute on me, but we shall see.

OK, I've done my civic duty. I wandered over to chat with my boss, and remind him that I'm here and not very busy. I have reading I can do for my new project, and some ad concepts to work on for Thursday, but not much else. He told me yeah, he knows, and it's just one of those quiet times and I should enjoy it, bill my time to the jobs I have, and get out of here at 5 without looking back. I feel better now, knowing that it's not like I am missing something and could really be doing tons of work that I am ignoring.

That said, I should try and write some of these ads and look up some of the references for the new project. But without any time pressure, it's so easy to put it off until tomorrow. Not to mention it's really boring. And not to mention the ads are for a client I know next-to-nothing about, and there's no project brief or anything - just a one-sentence "promise" that the ads are supposed to be based upon. Gee, thanks.

Just checked the UPS site again - now it says my package is out for delivery. Yay! As long as John comes through with the later-evening delivery as usual, there will be photos tonight!

What a rainy, icky Monday! Makes me wish I could be cuddled up at home with my knitting, some bad TV, and a big cup of tea. But instead I'm at work, with the little space heater working overtime, as I got wet and chilled on the way here.

I'm up to the raglan decreases on the left front of my cardigan - the last piece! Yay! I will finish that tonight, then hopefully block it and sew it together, right on schedule to do the neck and button bands at Stitch-n-Bitch tomorrow. Yay me!

Also, I bought a compact flash card reader from buy.com, so I should be in digital camera mode soon. I checked the tracking number, and the UPS site says it's scheduled for delivery today, but the status doesn't say that it is "out for delivery" so I don't want to get my hopes up. Luckily, I have the nicest UPS guy in the world. He does deliveries in my building late in the day - usually around 7ish, so I rarely miss a package anymore. A few weeks ago I actually saw him in the morning on my way out, and he told me he had a package for me he was going to deliver later, so we just walked over to the truck and got it then. How nice is that? Anyway, as soon as I DO get the card reader, you'll know it - pictures will start sprouting up all over this blog!

In other news...Ryan wants the periodic table sweater linked to via Dangerous Chunky. Looks interesting, but sort of a pain to knit. We shall have to see if he really wants it or just thought it was really neat to look at and thus said he wanted it.

Busy day. Went to the Salvador Dali exhibit today. Lots of interesting work there, though no original paintings. It was great to see so much of his art at once, though.

I've now finished all but the left front of my sweater! I'll probably get that done either tonight or tomorrow. Yay!! Then it's put it together, and pick up stitches for the neckband and button bands. Ick. I'm hoping to do that at Tuesday's Stitch-n-Bitch, so I can get some help with it.

OK, now here's the chance for everyone to offer their theories on something weird. For months now, Ryan and I have come home on various nights and found a wheelchair chained to the fence outside my building. Now, a bicycle chained up there wouldn't seem odd at all. But a wheelchair? Does some guy roll up in his wheelchair, stand up, chain it, and walk in? Or maybe it's someone with a companion, who then carries them inside? None of those explanations make sense to us, since if the person was able to get inside, wouldn't they somehow bring the wheelchair with them? Someone out there must have a theory - we're all ears!