before Serena decided that Izzy shouldn't be the only famous knitblogger cat.
Thursday, December 05, 2002
It was warmer than yesterday when I left the house this morning, and the snow was gently falling. There isn't anything gentle about what's going on out there now, though! It's snowing horizontally on 42nd Street, with the wind coming from the East River. Brr! I had to go out at lunchtime to buy some new gloves, because I lost one of my beloved red shearling gloves on Tuesday morning, apparently on the subway or on the street.
My friend Casey (who works across the street) met me for a Gap expedition, where I got some black fleece-lined mittens that I'd never make for myself. I also came back with two pairs of corduroys in black and stone, since they were on sale and they had my size. I've been experiencing a "comfortable pants that fit and still look good" shortage lately, so these should help.
My office mate got to leave work early, since she lives in NJ and has a long commute hampered by weather. But I am stuck here for the duration, it appears. Someone even rescheduled tomorrow's 3pm meeting for 4pm today, which is utter madness.
Sad to report that Shrimpy is truly gone. Speculation is he molted and was too weak to survive it, and was eaten by his tankmates after he died. So sad. He was my favorite. I didn't realize I could get so attached to a little crustacean. Now I don't know if I'd want to get another shrimp or not. It's sad to look at the tank and not see his cute little pinkness zipping around. He used to hang out by the filter, and it looks so empty there. I can't believe I am so emotional over a pet I never even touched.
My friend Casey (who works across the street) met me for a Gap expedition, where I got some black fleece-lined mittens that I'd never make for myself. I also came back with two pairs of corduroys in black and stone, since they were on sale and they had my size. I've been experiencing a "comfortable pants that fit and still look good" shortage lately, so these should help.
My office mate got to leave work early, since she lives in NJ and has a long commute hampered by weather. But I am stuck here for the duration, it appears. Someone even rescheduled tomorrow's 3pm meeting for 4pm today, which is utter madness.
Sad to report that Shrimpy is truly gone. Speculation is he molted and was too weak to survive it, and was eaten by his tankmates after he died. So sad. He was my favorite. I didn't realize I could get so attached to a little crustacean. Now I don't know if I'd want to get another shrimp or not. It's sad to look at the tank and not see his cute little pinkness zipping around. He used to hang out by the filter, and it looks so empty there. I can't believe I am so emotional over a pet I never even touched.
Wednesday, December 04, 2002
It was so nice to go to Stitch-n-Bitch last night! I really had missed seeing all the girls and just hanging out. Plus lots of people admired the luna silk top so I was pleased. It really is so pretty - all the yarn's doing, not mine. I'm about an inch or so into the armhole shaping for the back, and am still amazed at how fast it is knitting up. And at how far the yarn went - I am just about finishing the first ball now.
Sad news on the fishtank is we couldn't find Shrimpy this morning. Shrimpy is/was a peppermint shrimp and was one of the first denizens of the tank last summer. He was also the coolest. As I put it, he had great shrimpinality! He just seemed like such a happy little crustacean. I hope he was just hiding, but it didn't really look that way. Poor Shrimpy. We've lost other fish in the past, but somehow Shrimpy always meant the most to me.
I'm headed out in a bit to the doctor's office to try and get some help with the dry hacking cough I have had for almost 2 weeks. It's finally driving me nuts. Even if it's viral, I'd at least like something that will suppress the cough, since the OTC stuff isn't doing a thing at this point. I can take Robitussin shots all day, and still cough up a lung. Yuk.
Sad news on the fishtank is we couldn't find Shrimpy this morning. Shrimpy is/was a peppermint shrimp and was one of the first denizens of the tank last summer. He was also the coolest. As I put it, he had great shrimpinality! He just seemed like such a happy little crustacean. I hope he was just hiding, but it didn't really look that way. Poor Shrimpy. We've lost other fish in the past, but somehow Shrimpy always meant the most to me.
I'm headed out in a bit to the doctor's office to try and get some help with the dry hacking cough I have had for almost 2 weeks. It's finally driving me nuts. Even if it's viral, I'd at least like something that will suppress the cough, since the OTC stuff isn't doing a thing at this point. I can take Robitussin shots all day, and still cough up a lung. Yuk.
Monday, December 02, 2002
Man is it cold this morning! I thought my nose would fall off on the way to the subway. 21 degrees Fahrenheit when I left the house, and windy windy windy. Brr! OK, enough whining.
So this tank is coming along way quicker than I expected it to. I am just a few rows away from the armhole shaping with just a few hours last night and a few more tonight. I think it might be going so fast because the yarn is very thin and thus I can jam together a whole lot of stitches towards the end of the needle, and then just zip through them really quickly. That's opposed to knit, knit, knit, push, knit, knit, knit, push. I don't know, but something is definitely making it go fast. Pure determination?
I'm planning to go to Stitch-n-Bitch tonight, but I won't be there for too long, it seems. Stupid me brought the tank but forgot to bring another ball of the yarn, and I am close to finished with the one I have. I guess that will be my enforced deadline for leaving tonight. Probably just as well. I have a ton to do at home, but I really want to see some of my knitting girls! This way I guess I can do a bit of both.
Since Deb mentioned it, I figured I'd talk a bit about the fishtank. Ryan decided last summer that he wanted a saltwater aquarium. I love fish, but thought it would be a really expensive, pain in the ass hobby. After saying that, I supported him and helped him pick everything out. Two weeks ago we had the fun of MOVING the fishtank. Whee! "Luckily," many of the denizens had expired over the summer and fall, so we only had two fish, a shrimp and a crab to move. Over the weekend we picked up some more fish. We got a lunare wrasse, three yellowtail damsels, a tomato clown, an angelfish (can't remember the exact variety) and a green serpent star. So far just about everyone is getting along well. I took a few pretty lame pics for you.
Zebra-striped damsel (one of the original residents who survived the move with aplomb!)
Zebra and the new angelfish
Yellowtail damsels
One of these mornings when they are all out for feeding I'll get some more pics. I took these at night and most of them were hiding.
So this tank is coming along way quicker than I expected it to. I am just a few rows away from the armhole shaping with just a few hours last night and a few more tonight. I think it might be going so fast because the yarn is very thin and thus I can jam together a whole lot of stitches towards the end of the needle, and then just zip through them really quickly. That's opposed to knit, knit, knit, push, knit, knit, knit, push. I don't know, but something is definitely making it go fast. Pure determination?
I'm planning to go to Stitch-n-Bitch tonight, but I won't be there for too long, it seems. Stupid me brought the tank but forgot to bring another ball of the yarn, and I am close to finished with the one I have. I guess that will be my enforced deadline for leaving tonight. Probably just as well. I have a ton to do at home, but I really want to see some of my knitting girls! This way I guess I can do a bit of both.
Since Deb mentioned it, I figured I'd talk a bit about the fishtank. Ryan decided last summer that he wanted a saltwater aquarium. I love fish, but thought it would be a really expensive, pain in the ass hobby. After saying that, I supported him and helped him pick everything out. Two weeks ago we had the fun of MOVING the fishtank. Whee! "Luckily," many of the denizens had expired over the summer and fall, so we only had two fish, a shrimp and a crab to move. Over the weekend we picked up some more fish. We got a lunare wrasse, three yellowtail damsels, a tomato clown, an angelfish (can't remember the exact variety) and a green serpent star. So far just about everyone is getting along well. I took a few pretty lame pics for you.
Zebra-striped damsel (one of the original residents who survived the move with aplomb!)
Zebra and the new angelfish
Yellowtail damsels
One of these mornings when they are all out for feeding I'll get some more pics. I took these at night and most of them were hiding.
I decided to damn the torpedos and install IE5 on my Mac here at work. If someone from IT gets pissy about it someday, I'll just claim ignorance. At least now I can post to my blog. And that's what's really important, right?
Yesterday turned into a good day. I didn't really do all that much for most of the day - put a few things away, went back to the aquarium store with Ryan for some more rock for the fishtank. But around 5 pm I decided to start knitting, so I pulled out the Luna silk and the Artfibers pattern and started on Kristy's bridesmaid top. I was tremendously relieved that the knitting goes pretty quickly, even though it's a finer gauge yarn than usual. Actually, it's really not all that fine - 5.5 stitches per inch (that's 22 per four inches for those who don't feel like doing the math).
The first inch of the sweater is garter stitch, which I actually find goes more slowly than stockinette, since my odd method of purling seems to go faster than my knitting. For the 36" size, I cast on 99 stitches, and have already finished the waistline decreases and am about 12 rows into the bust increases. I'd say there's about 5" on the needles right now, though I am terrible at eyeballing measurements like that. The fabric is just beautiful - it feels wonderful, drapes nicely, and looks lovely. Now I am beginning to once again believe that I can pull this off.
I think the only reason I had any doubts was that phonecall I had with the girl at Artfibers. I don't know which person it was, but she made a big to-do about Luna being "very thin" and being surprised I was knitting it by hand. Whatever! She must be a chunky-gauge gal. (Yarnwise, I mean!)
Got a seat on the subway this morning, which figured since I left the knitting at home. I had to content myself with playing FreeCell on my Palm, as I had also neglected to bring a book. I'm really annoyed about leaving the knitting - now that I have started this sweater I just want to continue on it constantly. It feels so nice to actually want to knit again - like maybe some of the craziness in my life is calming down and I am getting back to "normal." I think I'll even go to Stitch-n-Bitch tomorrow night. I have a few errands to do in my old neighborhood (dry cleaning, prescriptions I didn't get a chance to transfer yet) so I will do those right after work, and then head over to Java-n-Jazz for a while.
Yesterday turned into a good day. I didn't really do all that much for most of the day - put a few things away, went back to the aquarium store with Ryan for some more rock for the fishtank. But around 5 pm I decided to start knitting, so I pulled out the Luna silk and the Artfibers pattern and started on Kristy's bridesmaid top. I was tremendously relieved that the knitting goes pretty quickly, even though it's a finer gauge yarn than usual. Actually, it's really not all that fine - 5.5 stitches per inch (that's 22 per four inches for those who don't feel like doing the math).
The first inch of the sweater is garter stitch, which I actually find goes more slowly than stockinette, since my odd method of purling seems to go faster than my knitting. For the 36" size, I cast on 99 stitches, and have already finished the waistline decreases and am about 12 rows into the bust increases. I'd say there's about 5" on the needles right now, though I am terrible at eyeballing measurements like that. The fabric is just beautiful - it feels wonderful, drapes nicely, and looks lovely. Now I am beginning to once again believe that I can pull this off.
I think the only reason I had any doubts was that phonecall I had with the girl at Artfibers. I don't know which person it was, but she made a big to-do about Luna being "very thin" and being surprised I was knitting it by hand. Whatever! She must be a chunky-gauge gal. (Yarnwise, I mean!)
Got a seat on the subway this morning, which figured since I left the knitting at home. I had to content myself with playing FreeCell on my Palm, as I had also neglected to bring a book. I'm really annoyed about leaving the knitting - now that I have started this sweater I just want to continue on it constantly. It feels so nice to actually want to knit again - like maybe some of the craziness in my life is calming down and I am getting back to "normal." I think I'll even go to Stitch-n-Bitch tomorrow night. I have a few errands to do in my old neighborhood (dry cleaning, prescriptions I didn't get a chance to transfer yet) so I will do those right after work, and then head over to Java-n-Jazz for a while.
Sunday, December 01, 2002
Lots of upheaval these days for lots of knitbloggers. Squib is dealing with the aftermath of a layoff (been there, done that - it gets better, I swear). Staceyjoy has been struggling with electrical and other landlord-related nightmares, which finally seem to be working out, thanks to her tireless efforts. Stacey bought and moved into her new house. And lot of other folks seem to be just generally dealing with a bunch of crap that's keeping them from enjoying their favorite hobby as much as they'd like.
Count me in! We moved November 12th and still do not have a phone line in this place. As I mentioned earlier, the contractor who renovated the apartment cut all the incoming phone and cable lines. Cable finally made it in about a week ago, but phone is still AWOL. We have two Verizon appointments (one for the outside line and one to install the jacks in the apartment) on Tuesday between 8am and noon. Yeah, we'll see. Since this will be the 3rd such visit, I am less than certain it'll happen.
On the up side, we did lots of work around here and are getting the place shipshape. Most of the boxes are gone and the few remaining ones are not too tough. I mostly got the kitchen in order yesterday and celebrated by baking chocolate chip cookies. Yum! Just had a few for brekkie with a glass of milk. Hey, it's at least as nutritious as those sugary cereals, right?
Speaking of cereal, I cannot believe the price difference of cereal at the supermarket here in the city (even in Brooklyn, which is cheaper than Manhattan, though not much in this neighborhood) compared to the price at Target on Long Island. Some of the cereal was 50% less at Target than at Food Emporium on 14th Street! That is insane. At this rate, if we do all our food shopping outside the 5 boroughs, we will save the amount we spent on the car in the first place!
Well, enough babbling about cereal and money. I've still got plenty to do around here to make my little office space feel comfy and look good enough to post pics for you.
Count me in! We moved November 12th and still do not have a phone line in this place. As I mentioned earlier, the contractor who renovated the apartment cut all the incoming phone and cable lines. Cable finally made it in about a week ago, but phone is still AWOL. We have two Verizon appointments (one for the outside line and one to install the jacks in the apartment) on Tuesday between 8am and noon. Yeah, we'll see. Since this will be the 3rd such visit, I am less than certain it'll happen.
On the up side, we did lots of work around here and are getting the place shipshape. Most of the boxes are gone and the few remaining ones are not too tough. I mostly got the kitchen in order yesterday and celebrated by baking chocolate chip cookies. Yum! Just had a few for brekkie with a glass of milk. Hey, it's at least as nutritious as those sugary cereals, right?
Speaking of cereal, I cannot believe the price difference of cereal at the supermarket here in the city (even in Brooklyn, which is cheaper than Manhattan, though not much in this neighborhood) compared to the price at Target on Long Island. Some of the cereal was 50% less at Target than at Food Emporium on 14th Street! That is insane. At this rate, if we do all our food shopping outside the 5 boroughs, we will save the amount we spent on the car in the first place!
Well, enough babbling about cereal and money. I've still got plenty to do around here to make my little office space feel comfy and look good enough to post pics for you.
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