Tonight I must clean up my apartment. The past three weeks have been so busy and I have been home so little, that the place has gotten scary. I know I just need a couple of hours to put everything right. It's not that anything is dirty - I have been cleaning the kitchen and bathroom regularly - it's all the clutter. Clothes that didn't make it back to either laundry basket or hanger. Mail and newspapers I can't discard yet but haven't had time to read. Yarn. The down comforter that is off the bed and packed into a vacuum-sealed bag, but sitting against the wall looking for a place to spend the summer. You can imagine, I'm sure.

So, I am going to ignore the siren song of the yarn tonight and get my place in order. I get so grumpy when it's messy, so this will improve life in general for me and those around me. Hehe. Then tomorrow I can wake up relaxed and happy, and go to Stitch-n-Bitch with a clear conscience. Yay!

I can't believe there are only 11 days left until we leave for Europe. Yikes!! I'll have to post a general itinerary sometime in the next few days.

I survived the weekend of many plans! Hallelujah! It has been pretty hectic. First was Leslie's birthday party in Connecticut on Saturday, which featured a mini carnival with human bowling, jousting (Ryan almost won the grand prize!) and various other party games. There are lots of pics to be downloaded soon.

Saturday night we went to a fun party at Mark's. Mark and Ryan went to Cornell together, and now Mark works at Blue Sky, which is someplace Ryan might want to work at once he finishes his Masters. The party was mostly on the roof of Mark's building, and pretty fun. Got to meet some of the guys who worked on Ice Age and hear some interesting stories about all that. They seem like a pretty cool bunch of computer geeks. ;-)

Today we went back out to my parents' and took Dad out to lunch and then to the Aquarium out in Riverhead. We got stuck in traffic from an accident along the way, so we didn't have all that much time to spend there, which was sort of a bummer. But the place wasn't all that huge, so we did get to see probably 80 percent of it, just not in a lot of depth. Then again, there wasn't a lot of depth - it was irritating to me that most of the tanks didn't include descriptions of what was inside. Lots of neat Atlantis-themed stuff, though. Worth the trip, though not so much the sitting in traffic part of the trip!

Jackie joined us for the last event of the weekend at the Remote Lounge, which was showing the video work that Ryan and his classmates did this year. His video, "The Grudge" was very well-received! Laughter in all the right places. Yay Ryan! After watching that and a few others, we got more interested in playing with the webcams and video screens and spying on people in other parts of the bar. Apparently, others were spying on us, too. See if you can find us! (Hint - we're mostly on Channel 6). For a while, we (or at least certain parts of us) were quite popular, it appears! [Note added later - you can see a selection of pics on Jackie's blog, too.]

Knitting? Oh yeah, I did a few rows on the Rowan purse on the train. Not much else. Way too busy for that this weekend!

How lucky am I that both my primary care physician and my gynecologist are both located near yarn stores? After my physical this morning (everything looks fine, thank you for asking) I was able to walk just 2 blocks to The Woolgathering on E. 84th Street and picked up the yarn bobbins I need. I looked at all the pretty yarns they had (nothing I hadn't seen before really) and petted some nice baby alpaca, but I didn't buy any fiber. I have plenty at home waiting for projects, and I am sure I will end up finding some in France and/or Italy. (Ryan already said he won't try and stop me!)

I did actually pick up the Spring/Summer issue of Family Circle Easy Knits because I fell in love with the whale baby blanket on page 57. Can't find a photo online, but I'll try to remember to scan it later when I am at home. There are also a few cute tops in there that look like quick and easy knits (well, duh, "easy" is in the title!)

Ryan just IMed me with great news - we are going to go on a balloon flight when we're in France! I am very excited, as I have always wanted to do that! His Dad asked him to check into it and make reservations. Cool!

Last night I got tired of futzing with the Topas yarn, so instead I decided to start the Moo blanket. Even though Jill's baby won't be born until October, I figured this blanket could take a while and why not be prepared? I got maybe 12 rows into it (113 stitches across) before I got to the point of needing more yarn bobbins. I thought I had more than I did. There are only two colors, but because of the cow spots, the color changes a bunch of times in each row. So far I am being very diligent about weaving in my ends as I go along, because I know this will be a giant monkey on my back at the end if I don't! It's hard to see much in this photo, because it's curling so much at the moment, but here's the progress so far - you can see the photo from the pattern book, too:



The Mission Falls 1824 Cotton I'm using for this (it's their pattern, too) is really nice to work with. It's so soft! And at 4 stitches per inch, it knits up relatively quickly for baby stuff. I can't wait to get further on this blankie - it's just going to be so cute!

I also started working on the little purse kit that came with my Rowan International membership. I wish I had gotten the colors in the photo, but instead I have brown and peach. Not the combination I'd have picked, but they look OK together, and I wanted to have something to work on in the waiting room at the doctor's office this morning! I'm just going for a physical - no big deal. After working on this cholesterol-lowering drug for a few months, I really feel like I need to get my cholesterol checked! It's always been good, but now I'm all paranoid. :-)

This Topas yarn is starting to really irk me. I love the way it feels and looks, but I can't get a consistent gauge with it. I was getting 5 stitches per inch, so I figured I could do Bonne Marie's boat neck shell. I scaled the pattern back a bit to make the size work, and I cast on, starting with a garter stitch edge. Humongous! OK, frog those few rows, swatch again. Now it's just about 4 stitches per inch with garter stitch, 4.5 with stockinette. That's on #6 needles. I don't have any 5s, so I'm at a bit of a standstill. The fabric looks OK at this gauge, but now I have to re-think the pattern. Either use something different, or whip out the calculator and do some more math. I think I got spoiled working on that Summer Tweed stuff, since I was actually using patterns made for that yarn - a first! I actually like this halter pattern that the Yarn Company has on their site, but I'm at a loss as to how to obtain the thing and I kind of don't feel like buying it when it would be easy enough to figure it out on my own. I'm just being lazy and cranky, maybe because it's hot.

Busy day here, not much time to blog. And I can't make it to Stitch-n-Bitch tonight because my Mom and Dad came into town for the day (her real birthday is today) and want to go to dinner. At the Seaport. I'm sure it will be fun, it's just that right now I am feeling swamped.

If you want a chuckle, check out South Park Betsy & Ryan. :-)

U.S. Arrests American Accused of Planning 'Dirty Bomb' Attack. This really did nothing to improve my mood today.

How irritating - I decided to post directly into blogger (usually I write my posts in a word doc and cut & paste it) and of course it loses the post. Grr.

Well, what I said was that Mom loved her sweater, and it looked really nice on her, as you can see for yourself.



I'm not very chatty today. Work is looking like it's going to get busy, which is a good thing, since I have had many dull days lately. And in general I just have a lot spinning through my head and haven't had a lot of time to focus on it lately. Been doing lots of fun stuff, but right now I feel like I need to do something a little deeper. I might spend some time writing (not blog writing) tonight. I've been itching to get some things down on "paper," and some quiet hours tonight would be a good start.

Of course there's always my apartment to clean, or knitting to do. But at some point, I need to put that stuff aside if I am going to get anything else done. Lately I feel like I've become a bit one-dimensional, and I'm not liking it so much. Time for a little bit of change - nothing drastic, just need to bring some neglected pursuits back to the priority list.

I had interesting (to me, at least) bus experiences both yesterday afternoon and this morning. Yesterday's was actually very irritating, but funny in retrospect. I was on a packed uptown bus, headed to the eye doctor. My rather stuffed tote bag was on my shoulder, and I was leaning against the side of the bus, when this very large-breasted (this matters, I tell you) heavy woman starts shoving her way past me. She was squishing me, and I was really grossed out by having some lady's boobs smashed up on me like that, so I tried to get her to stop so I could move my bag and make more room.

"Wait, wait a sec," I said, and her reply, in a serious Brooklyn accent and dripping with nastiness was "Oh yeah, I'm gonna wait fuh you?" as she plowed past me. I turned to her and said "I asked you to wait because I was going to move my bag and make it easier for you to get through" to which she replied "oh yeah, shoa you wuh" as if I had intentionally made this whole thing difficult for her, when really what made it difficult was partly her size and mostly her rudeness. Somehow this experience irked me enough to glare at her occasionally for the next ten blocks, and then turn to her and cheerily call out "Bye, nasty!" in a sing-song voice as I got off the bus at 56th Street. Then it occured to me that she might actually chase me, and I was a little nervous until the bus pulled away. :-)

I'm not usually obnoxious, but she just really got to me!

This morning was not confrontational, just odd. Around 29th Street, a fireman got on the bus. A fireman in full fire gear, with the helmet, coat and boots, carrying his shoes. Not your normal rush-hour sight! He didn't look or smell like he'd been at a fire, so I wonder if perhaps he was doing the "walk of shame"? But who hooks up at a fire?! An amusing bit of speculation for a Friday morning.

The office is quiet today. We have "Summer Fridays" which means everyone gets to pick 6 Fridays and have those days off. I haven't had one yet (next week is my first) but today seems to be a very popular Friday, as almost everyone I work with is gone. Oh darn. ;-)

If you've made it this far, here's your reward: A Finished Object! All that's left on Mom's sweater is to sew in my little "Betsy made this just for me!" custom label in the back. Click on the photo for a larger version that shows the sparkly bits much more clearly.



And one last note - I've convinced Ryan to start a blog! For those of you who don't know, Ryan is hard at work on his Masters degree in 3D Animation, and this summer he's starting his thesis project (he graduates next Spring.) The project is a short animated film, and if you're so inclined, you can read the ryanimator blog and learn all about it. I expect there will be very little knitting content on his blog. Unless I knit something for the blogger. :-)

Re-knit that bit on the second sleeve and set it in last night. Now I just have to sew the sleeve and side seams, and Mom's sweater will be done in time for her birthday. Yay me! I just hope she likes it.

Still thinking about the melon tank I want to make and how I want to make it. I have been very scattered lately, with so many plans, that I haven't really devoted a lot of thought to any particular project. I'm sort of feeling like my life is getting away from me just a bit. And there's no end in sight to the busy-ness. This weekend we're out to Long Island for Mom's birthday. Next weekend we have a friend's 30th birthday party in Connecticut on Saturday, and Father's Day back on Long Island on Sunday. Then there's one weekend left before we go to Europe. Eek!

Tonight I am going to the eye doctor. I'm looking forward to it, because she (Yoon) is a friend - not a close friend that I hang out with on my own, but a close friend of my good friend Wendy, and Yoon and I always get along well when we see each other. It'll be nice to have a real eye doctor I can trust, as opposed to hoping the guy at the eyeglasss store actually knows what he is doing. The progression of my myopia (nearsightedness) seems to have slowed considerably in the past 5-8 years, which is a plus. But I am still pretty much useless for anything but sleep or quiet meditatin without glasses or contact lenses. I have friends who are very happy after laser surgery, but I am stll chicken.

Hoping to make it to the Calvin Klein sample sale after my appointment. It's right near Yoon's office, so if I can get out of there quickly enough (my appointment is at 5:30) I may be able to do it. There's also (pay attention, Deb!) a J. Crew sample sale (listed on that same page) that I would love to hit. Damn, I was right across the street from there yesterday but didn't know about it. How vexing!

After running like a madwoman (mostly for fun stuff, but fun is still exhausting) for over a week, something had to give last night, so I didn't go to Stitch-n-Bitch. I felt bad and knew I'd miss everyone, but when I walked in the door after work, the cat box was stinky, the dishes were piling up, there was nothing decent to eat, and I just felt totally fried. So I went to the supermarket and the pet store, and took care of some household business. It's still not nearly clean and pristine, but kitty and I are certainly much happier.

Later in the evening I had to perform a bit of corrective surgery on Mom's sweater. You may recall the first time I knit the sleeve, it was huge, so I frogged, decreased the number of stitches, and re-knit it. Much better, but then the sleeve was a bit too short to fit nicely into the armhole. Duh. So I frogged a few inches and increased a bit more frequently at the top until I had the amount of stitches specified in the pattern, and set in the first sleeve. Worked like a charm, and really didn't take too long. I will do the same on the other sleeve tonight, and should be AOK for finishing this by Saturday, when I see Mom for her birthday. It's a tiny bit of a pain to frog the cast-off sleeve, but it's a good lesson learned and I had plenty of time to fix it. Yay!

Now that I did that, I am feeling adventurous and trying to decide what to do with the pretty Topas yarn. I know it will be a tank using both colors, but I am not sure what I want it to look like. It'll be some sort of stripes, but I am debating whether I want them to be even stripes, irregular "random" stripes, zig-zaggy stripes, or maybe stockinette in one color and some sort of lace pattern in the other. Or something completely different. I will be looking around for inspiration over the next few days, I expect.

How sad, it's not my birthday anymore! But I had such a wonderful birthday. Thanks so much for all the happy wishes, everybody - they helped make my day even more fun. I even got an e-card from the dangerous one herself, somewhere on the road in America!

Between the gifts, expensive meals and flowers, Ryan spoiled my butt off. I told him now he can't spend any more money on me until we go away, since he isn't working right now. I really can't believe how over the top he went this year, and how nicely he planned everything. Now I can't wait until November when I get to do it for him. Well, actually, it's cold in November, so I can wait - but you know what I mean.

I haven't knit a stitch since Saturday! And tonight is Stitch-n-Bitch but I am not sure what I am going to be stitching. I bought some really pretty yarn with Marney and Jackie on Saturday. It's called Topas and I got it in orange and green. Unfortunately, the swatches don't do the colors justice - think canteloupe and honeydew melon together on a plate. I want to make a tank out of it, but I don't know what pattern I am going to use. I'm thinking of just kind of making my own, which isn't really a good project for Stitch-n-Bitch since it requres actual thought. I'm also really tired, so I am not going to stay there late, and I mean it this time! I think I want to be out of there by 9.

Other than that, can't think of what's new to tell, so I think I'd better do some work!

Happy Birthday to me! Today's the official day, but much of the celebrating happened yesterday. My parents took us to brunch, then I was showered with presents back at my place. I did really well this year, too. Mom and Dad paid for my new cellphone and my Rowan subscription, then Dad indulged two of my obsessions with a great knitting video and a floral arranging book. Mom also got me some pretty jewelry (pearls for my June birthday) and silly cute socks.

My sweetie got most of the books on my Amazon wishlist, plus a bunch of other great stuff, then he took me out for a surprise evening out. First we went to a Flamenco show at the New Victory Theater, and then we had the most amazing 7-course tasting menu at Patria. Today we have lunch (he won't say where yet) and there's apparently another present that was shipped all the way from Hong Kong, which is waiting at the Brooklyn Heights post office. Neat!

OK, I am freely admitting to being extremely spoiled on this particular birthday. I won't complain. Up until around March, the past year was a really difficult one for me, both professionally and personally. Things most definitely were not going my way, so if the universe (and my loved ones!) want to send a little extra fun my way this birthday, I am not going to argue or feel guilty for it!

Before all the celebrating began, Saturday was really fun, too. Our knitbloggers lunch was really fun, and the food at Gus's Place was really good! Here's a photo of our happy group (left to right: Marney, Shetha, me, Jackie, Susan):



Well, that's about it. Gotta go get lazy and more spoiled!

Didn't have time to blog at all yesterday - it was busy busy at work, for a change. On my way out in a few. Shetha's in town, and Jackie, Marney and I are going to lunch with her. I am going to remember to bring my camera, so hopefully there will be decent photos later today.

Thanks to all for the very nice comments and compliments yesterday. I get all giddy when I see so many! And to answer a question - no, I'm not going back to the baby blocks right now. That will have to wait until someone very special is having a baby. (Hell, it might want until it's ME, those suckers are going to take so long!) First I am going to sew up Mom's sweater, and then there are plenty of things to choose from: booties to go with brand-new Lily's strawberry cap; the Rowan "Flame" tank with some alterations to suit the sparkly black "No Smoking" (I kid you not about the name) yarn; possibly another Rowan tank for Leanne's birthday (July 7, but we'll be away until a week alter); the cute purse kit (which didn't come in colors as cute as shown, but I still like better than the cushion they used to have) that came with my brand-new Rowan International membership - the possibilities are endless!

One more thing - is anyone using the "Bloggar" program and having trouble publishing? I keep getting an error that the posting went fine but it couldn't publish.

OK, I am so excited about finishing Ginger that I don't even are that I look kinda scary in the pics below! Given the trouble I had with the back length at first, I am really pleased with the way this came out. Can't wait to wear it out somewhere, maybe with it's friend, the cardigan!

Well, I think the re-knitting of the bottom of the tank and the haircut were successful!

I finished the tank last night before the haircut, and when I tried it on (without sewing up the seams of course) it seemed just right. Hallelujah! Tonight will the true test, blocking and sewing, but I am pretty suire it's going to go OK.

And the haircut went equally well. I love the salon, and the guy who cut my hair was really good. He told me I could pretty much wear my hair any length I wanted, so he'd be happy to help me grow it out. And he complimented the color, which I do myself. Said it was just right for me. Always nice to hear. He ended up just kind of taking out some of the bulky spots which were growing in because of the curl, and just for fun he blew it straight and showed me how to do so. I was pleased, because I kind of wanted the option to be lazy and go curly, or put a little effort in and have a sleeker look. So, here's how I looked when I got home:



I really liked it, and Ryan nearly lost his mind - couldn't stop staring all through dinner. I joked that he must feel like he's cheating because it's such a different look. He also took this picture of me and my little kitty that I can't resist sharing, since she's so cute.



This morning I got up a few minutes early so I could try my hand at recreating the straight look, and still have time to soak my head and go curly if I failed. I must say, I didn't do so badly! Especially considering I had to actually buy a round brush last night for the first time in a hundred years. Between the short hair and the curly hair, I haven't owned one of those in ages! It didn't come out exactly as straight as he did it, but it's pretty good if I do say so myself.

If you've made it this far, you've probably heard all you want to about my hairy adventures. So I will leave you and bid you good day!

Had to post again because I just came across something too useful not to mention! Jennifer has described an incredibly simple way to keep track of cable rows and the rows in between increases and decreases (are you listening, Jackie?) without buying anything. Check out her blog for the details. I can hardly wait to start doing this.

Quite a lot of drama on my end at last night's Stitch-n-Bitch! I finished the back of my tank, bound off the shoulders together, and discovered a deadly mistake - the back was several inches shorter than the front. Argh! I think I committed a cardinal sin - I followed the pattern closely but stupidly forgot to make sure the back and front were the same length (regardless of what the !@#$# pattern said to do) before starting the armholes. The length from the armholes up was AOK, but from there down, not so much.

Before I could frog or cry, Debbie (a.k.a. Stitch Doctor) saved the night! She astutely realized that since I was knitting in stockinette, I could actually pick up stitches a row or two into the bottom, unravel the cast-on edge, and knit down from there. She did the picking-up, I did the unraveling, and though it was a bit tedious, it was far less so than frogging the whole side of the sweater!

Now I am knitting down from the bottom and it's amazing - absolutely seamless. Debbie, you are my savior! I knit a couple of rows this morning before my shower, and a few more on the bus. I should be able to finish it off tonight or tomorrow, depending on plans. Hopefully the waist shaping won't be a problem. I'm banking on that. Will let you all know how it goes.

The other drama last night was saying goodbye to Carolyn! The inimitable Ms. Chunky was in fabulous form, and even brought her camera to document the occasion. Check out the pics on her site! The third one down is me happily knitting away at the last bits of my tank strap, blissfully unaware of the danger to come, with Debbie sitting next to me, equally ignorant of the fact that she would soon be pressed into service as the Stitch Doctor! Boy is my hair floofy. Which brings us to our next topic...

I am getting a haircut tonight, at a kind of pricey place. But since I haven't had it cut since March 1, I think I am justified in spending a bit more than usual. Not to mention that I am in the throes of the awkward growing-out stage and cannot bear to have someone do a hack job on me. The cut's at 8:15, so think of me then. :-) If I'm pleased, I will post photos tomorrow.

I thought it was about time I gave you all a TSU (turkey sandwich update.) Today I had a turkey sandwich with pepperjack cheese. I asked the deli man to give me about half the usual amount of turkey, explaining that I just can't eat it all and feel bad wasting it. He did a pretty good job. I got a more human-sized sandwich and finished the whole thing, and even had a bit of room left for an orange. Much more pleasant.

Back to work after four lovely days off. It's not quite as bad as I thought, but I'd rather still be relaxing!

Had a really fun, relaxing and somewhat productive weekend. Did some shopping, did some knitting, did some eating, did some drinking, did some other stuff that just isn't appropriate to mention in a knitting blog, and generally had a great time!

I'm up to the second side of the "v" on the back of the Ginger tank, and if I can figure out how to reverse the shapings and not screw it up (I frogged it three times on the roof deck of Ryan's apartment building yesterday) I should be finished with it tonight at Stitch-n-Bitch. Of course, silly me left the front of the tank sitting on the cedar chest at my house, so unless I stop at home before S-n-B, it's going to remain a UFO!

Actually, I think I will make it a point to stop at home, since I really want to put it together with other people around. I've never actually had anyone show me how to mattress stitch, and I kinda want an "official" lesson. I've looked at pictures and figured it out mostly for myself, but listening to Marney explain it to someone last week gave me the sneaking suspicion that I could be doing it better.

I'm looking forward to the S-n-B tonight, but also somewhat sad because it is going to be our dear Ms. Chunky's last NYC Stitch-n-Bitch! You west coasters are lucky - soon she'll be gracing you with her presence. Carolyn, I haven't known you all that long, but I will miss you very much!

In other sad news, I was totally jonesin' for some Ronnybrook Farm yogurt this morning, to mix with granola, and I went to the Central Market at Grand Central station, and the Ronnybrook Farm stand was no longer there! Their yogurt is so good - it's not overly sweet, but very flavorful, particularly the maple-vanilla. I usually buy it at the greenmarket at Union Square, but since I was coming from Brooklyn this morning, I thought I'd get it at Grand Central. Waaah! I was forced to go the supermarket and buy regular too-sweet yogurt. I just wrote to the info email address to find out whether they are gone for good.