Thank you Wendy, Marney, Shetha, Lisa and Melissa for your suggestions on the stocking pattern! Turns out that yes, there was a bad bad typo in there, and the 17 stitches for the instep should've been 27. I did that, and it worked out just fine. It's not blocked and I still have ends to weave in, but check out my friend's big-ass stocking! If her husband gives her a woman-leg for Christmas, it'll fit in the stocking!



Now it's happily blocking in the livingroom. Ryan wanted to add something to the pic to show the scale, so that white rectangle is a standard-sized credit card (upside-down, so don't bother trying to get the numbers!)




Now I have to make her husband's, which will be the same except green at the top, heel and toe.

ARRRRGH!

Work hell has abated for a while, after my 72-billable-hours week. Now I am in Xmas stocking hell. Someone help meeee!!!

I am using this pattern, courtesy of the ever-fabulous Wendy via my comments. I'm not doing the applique stuff - just using it as a basic framework, and I'm doing it in stripes. I figured working flat would be easier for me than in the round, since I'm not a sock maker and don't feel like figuring out everything when I'm doing a project for someone else under a slight time crunch.

So, I'm merrily knitting along and have a nice looooong piece of knitting, when I get to the Divide for Heel section. Let me call your attention to the previous direction, and then to the Divide for Heel direction:

Dec Row: K1, SSK, k to last 3 sts, k2 tog, k1—59 sts. Cont to work in St st, rep dec row every 10th row 3 times—53 sts rem. Work even until piece measures 13-1/2" from turning ridge, ending with a WS row.

Divide for Heel
(RS) K13 and sl to holder for right half of heel; k17 and sl to 2nd holder for instep; k13 for left half of heel. Work on these 13 sts only.

OK, so if I have 53 stitches remaining (which I do), and I slip 13 of those to a holder, then another 17, that's 30 stitches slipped to a holder - which leaves 23 stitches remaining. But you'll see that the last piece of that says I have 13 stitches and I'm working on those 13 stitches only.

Um, what happened to the other 10 stitches? Yes, that's right - they're SITTING ON MY NEEDLE MAKING ME CRAZY! Am I crazy? Am I reading something wrong? Is there an egregious error in this pattern? How do I fix it? (Assuming the answer is not that I am crazy)

Heeeeeelp meeeeee wonderful knitting-blog-readers!!!

Merlin is doing much better. He's a good patient, easily taking medicine once it's ground up into his food. And he's good-natured, so that makes things easier, too. I feel bad that when we are sleeping or not at home, we have to keep him shut up in Ryan's office. He hasn't peed anywhere but the litter box since Thursday night, but we're not taking any chances until he's much better. And can have a bath. He's kinda icky right now.

I'm icky, too. I was at work from 2pm until 2am on Saturday. That made Sunday a blurry day. Now I'm back and waiting for a job to route to me so I can go. Hope it happens before 7. I also just found out I need to be back here at 8am for a conference call.

I'm tired of work.

Wow, what a week. As I write this, I'm sitting in my office, not exactly thrilled to be here on Saturday night, but resigned to it. I put in 60 hours before today, pretty much not leaving the office until 8, 9, 10, or midnight, depending which day you're talking about. Whee.

The worst was Thursday night, though. At 11pm, I called to check in with Ryan, and he told me Merlin - our fattest cat - had just started peeing all around the apartment, and it was bloody. He called our vet and they said they were still there (until midnight, apparently - good to know) and bring him on over. I met them there around midnight and we had to leave the poor boy overnight (the cat, not the husband!).

The next day they confirmed (via ultrasound and x-rays) that he has a mass of crystals in his bladder - Feline Urologic Syndrome. The blockage is bad, but not total, so they said it can be treated non-surgically. He stayed 2 nights there, and came home this afternoon with special food (Hill's S/D), an antibiotic, and a urethral relaxer. He's home with Ryan and is going to have to stay in Ryan's (rugless) office until he's back to normal a bit. They said it'll be about 6 weeks before he's fully better.

Poor Merlin. I feel bad that he's in such pain. Ryan said he'd seen him straining sometimes in the litter box, but I had never noticed it, and it wasn't until the past few days when he suddenly started exhibiting real symptoms. Poor little kitty. At least Ryan was home and able to catch it before it got even worse.

We did get a good excuse to replace our old, ripped up (by Merlin, who is too heavy to make it up on the bed cleanly and occasionally grabs on and falls anyway) down comforter. He peed just enough on it to make it unsalvageable. Actually, any pee on it is pretty much enough for me.

So, he's home with the kitty, I'm here at work, and no one is having any fun this Saturday. I hope tomorrow will be happier.

I was so excited about the Quiz sweater that I didn't get to tell you about my fantastic Saturday. First, we went up to the Dia:Beacon museum (which I mistyped as Dia:Bacon so many times that I now call it that). The museum is built in an old box-printing plant, so the space is just tremendous. Lots of white space, and lots of light.
 
I'd say it was about 50/50 interesting work and pretentious crap. I like the way it's organized. When you enter a gallery, there is a little box on the wall with 8.5 x 11" laminated cards discussing the artist and the work. Much of the work was actually more interesting to read about than to look at.  I did love some of it, including this hard-to-describe string sculpture by Fred SandBack. It looks like mirrors and solid space, but it's just friggin yarn (yay yarn!) Apparently, the artist committed suicide back in June of this year. Sad. His work was really interesting.

I think my favorite piece there was this really amazing piece made from painted metal scraps. The artist is John Chamberlain.


 
As you can see, it's tremendous and so colorful - one of the few colorful pieces in the museum! It's called Privet but it looks like seaweed floating up from the ocean bottom to me.
 
The thing about contemporary art is that a lot of it doesn't beckon you to stay and stare at it for hours, to study it. (Not that I often feel that urge anyway, but Ryan does quite often.) So, we were done in about an  hour and a half, and headed for some lunch. I had read on chowhound.com that there was a good restaurant called Cathryn's, in nearby Cold Spring. I had the most delicious gnocchi with gorgonzola-walnut sauce. So rich, so good.
 
After lunch, we wandered the quaint town a bit, but found it very yuppified, and thus too pricey for our desires. A few miles down the road, however, we discovered a cute yarn shop called Knittingsmith, and stopped in for a bit. The woman who runs the place was very friendly. I was wandering through the bookshelves and found my goal - Deb Stoller's Stitch'N Bitch!

As I was thumbing through it, my name caught my eye, which was awfully nice. It made me really miss the whole group. I haven't been to the NY Stitch'n Bitch in far far far too long. Once I moved to Brooklyn and we had a ridiculously cold winter filled with work and wedding-planning madness, I got out of the habit. I would like to start going to the new Brooklyn edition, but we're in the midst of an insane product launch at work so I don't know if that'll happen before Thanksgiving.
 
Continuing down the road, we realized we were just on the other side of the Bear Mountain Bridge from shopping nirvana, so we headed to Woodbury Common for some outlet shopping. We got there around 5, and had 4 lovely hours to spend. Holy crap, we discovered the evening is the best time to be there! The crowds are gone, it's much quieter, and you can actually get up close to the stuff you might want to buy. I got a shirt and a sweater at the BR outlet, as well as a cute-as-a-button pink sweater with an intarsia bunny face at Lucky Brand. and Ryan scored some great pants and a shirt at DKNY. We also got a really cute lasagna pan, platter with a cute fruit print, and a new bath mat at Williams-Sonoma, using only about $45 of a $140 merchandise credit.
 
You think this is over? No way, Jose! It's only 9pm and we're only an hour from home. What better time to go to Dave & Buster's? I hadn't been there since I met Ryan, and he'd never gone. Dinner, then we played lots of games. I beat 5 people at the Daytona racing game! We paddled down whitewater rapids, played basketball and skeeball, and got briefly obsessed with that game where you drop the coins down and hope they knock other coins over the edge so you get tickets. We're suckers for that shit. Dinner cost us only $25 and a $25 game card lasted us until half-past midnight, at which point we turned our tickets in for two D&B water bottles and a D&B thermal coffee mug. Ryan even got them to pour him a coke into his water bottle on the way out.

So, we saw some art, some pretty fall scenery, had a great lunch, discovered a new yarn store, bought a fantastic knitting book written by a fantastic person, went outlet shopping AND played hours of video games. How are we going to top that next weekend?!

I'm thinking I probably shouldn't be all that proud of this.



But I kind of am. Fun quiz, courtesy of Jackie. Go ahead and take it yourself

On the other hand, what I am immensely proud of is this.



I finished the knitting and seaming last night, and picked up the buttons today at M&J during lunch. (The best thing about my new office is its proximity to fabric and trimming shops.) I was even thinking ahead and picked up an extra button, which I will enclose for Lisa, for the inevitable moment when one pops off or breaks. I'm sure I'm not the only person who's even done that, but I felt pretty smart when it occurred to me.

Here's an odd note - Meredith, if you're reading this, I can't seem to get email through to you. I got the "your email is delayed" note from Verizon. But I really appreciate your offer of a stocking pattern and would love to see it if you can find it!

OK, a friend has asked me to make her a pair of Christmas stockings. She wants something like these - the striped one on the left. I've never made a stocking or a sock or anything like that, so I'm wondering how to proceed. Does anyone have a pattern? Or any advice on how to find a pattern? Is it easier than making socks? I am totally looking for advice, so please weigh in no matter how big or small your tip is!

Oh, and before you ask why she doesn't just buy that one for 19 bucks, she wants different colors, and she wants their names on them, and she wants them about a foot longer than that.

I'm back to working on the Quiz sweater. The sleeves are striped so they go just slightly more slowly than the rest did, but hardly a difference. The big question is whether I will be able to deliver the gift in person or just have to ship it up to Lisa. We're all so busy and holiday time just makes that worse.

Ryan and I have developed an amusing morning tradition. He's been working at a freelance gig a block away from my office for about a week now. Every morning, we come out of the subway, and into the Manhattan Mall, where there is a player piano. On Monday it was playing "Our Love is Here to Stay," and we got goofy and danced a few bars to it. It's continued every day, including some mean swing dancing from Ryan (I was laughing so hard I could barely follow) this morning. Then he goes off the the exit, and I walk a few feet over to the super-secret entrance to my office building, where the security guard is always amused. It's a very sweet way to start the day - I hope it lasts as long as his freelance gig does.

I think that along with my slowly-redeveloping discipline, I might be ready for a more ambitious knitting project than I have done in the past. Not that knitting four bridesmaid tops wasn't ambitious, but it's not like the pattern was difficult. Straight stockinette the whole way. I'm not much for wearing wildly patterned knits, but something with some pretty cables or lace ribs, or something like that would be nice. Time to start going through the books and magazines. I feel like I saw some stuff in last Fall's Interweave Knits that I wanted to try. Wish I could figure out where I put it!

I have been posting on a particular message board for a while, and watching it deteriorate into nastiness and accusations. A lot of it is aimed at a woman I became friends with in the real world (and whose wedding I went to back in May) and who sort of uses the boards as an outlet for her frustatation, and is thus often a real bitch online. She's been flamed (and worse) far beyond anything she deserves, and I finally got tired of watching it today. I deleted my membership, and I feel much better about it now. I was wasting too much time and mental energy on that crap. There were some nice women there, but experiencing that kind of nastiness day after day is just not worth the minimal payoff. It's amazing how absorbed you can get in that kind of community - I feel so free having deleted my membership!

Wow, talk about a busy weekend! Friday night we had a double date with Amy and Steve, and saw a fun show at the Upright Citizens Brigade. It was really funny, and nice to do something a little more interesting than seeing a movie (for only seven bucks, too!).

Saturday we went out to Leanne's house for a Fall party. Lots of kids, lots of food, lots of dessert. We ended up staying there quite late, going back for round two of the main courses a few hours after dessert. Then it was back to Brooklyn for another party at Bill and Andrea's. Andrea is my friend Cara's cousin, and they just got married a few weeks ago, with Andrea wearing my veil and headpiece as her "something borrowed." It was so nice to be able to lend them to someone - they deserved another trip down the aisle. She had some pictures, and they looked just beautiful on her. Now they're back home just in case I have an emergency wedding need.

Sunday we decided to take advantage of our extra hour and clean the apartment. I mean seriously clean. We did the bedroom, office, bathroom, kitchen and storage alcove before we collapsed. Tonight we'll finish off the livingroom and bask in the glow of our incredible cleanliness.

I'm hoping the cleaning kick has started me off on a better foot, lifestyle-wise. I've been very undisciplined and lazy for months. I recently started going to the gym again, which is helping me to feel better. But I need to be more conscientious at home, rather than sitting on my ass in front of computer, Xbox, television, etc. I think once I get back into a real routine, I will likely knit more, too.

So, back in May or June, I (and several other NY knitters) spoke with a woman doing an article for Newsday about knitting. I think she posted on the Stitch'n'Bitch list to find us. We had a lengthy phone interview, and she said the story would run on June 4th (it stuck in my mind because that was the day after my birthday and I wasn't sure how old I should say I was when she asked!)

Two weeks ago, I got a call from someone at Newsday asking for photos. I returned the call, leaving a voicemail, and never heard back from them again. Today, the article appeared in the paper. I was misquoted. Actually, more like she made up quotes based on what I said and attributed them to me.

I am pissed. I know, it's knitting, not world peace. But she made me sound like an idiot. She has me saying that I saw my bridesmaids outfits on In Style and decided to make them because of that. No, I told her I saw an In Style Weddings special in which I think the bride had made the girls' sweaters and I got the idea to make them tops from that, but those weren't even close to what I made. She also has me calling knitting needles "sticks," which is something I have never ever done. I use circs, for goodness' sake, most of the time. Not very "stick"y. She also might have wanted to check in since she knew I was now married to see if I changed my name or not (I haven't officially just yet, but I am using my husband's name socially whenever I can.)

All in all, it's sort of a letdown. I feel like I need to give those caveats to anyone I send the article to, and thus I haven't sent it to anyone. My dear friend Leanne is also quoted in the article - she hadn't read it when I spoke to her, so I don't know if she was misquoted, too. Also, the reporter totally missed the point that Deb started the S'n'B, and that that's why she had her book party there.

Bleah. I am disappointed. The woman who wrote it (who was doing it as a freelance job - she's not a staff reporter) was very nice, and the article reads well. The only problem is the facts aren't quite correct. Oh well. I guess "close enough" is close enough these days.

First off, Shetha pointed out what Ryan pointed out to me offline - the Quiz sweater is almost exactly the same colors as my blog. Funny! I do love the colors.

In other news, the ChicKami came clean, and I tried it on. Not bad! I think it grew a little when I washed it, but I'm thinking I might be able to remedy that someday with a quick wash and toss in the dryer for a bit - gotta check the yarn again but I think it said machine wash. Anyway, here it is!



Yes, I cut off my own head because my hair looked so scary and I had such a goofy expression in the picture. But I like the cami a lot, and can't wait to either go somewhere warm or for Spring to come so I can wear it!

Zipping right along on the Quiz sweater. I finished the front this morning, while I am home fasting for Yom Kippur.



Ryan gets home from his Mom's tonight, about an hour after I stuff my face at sundown. Yay!!

I was certainly industrious yesterday! After my very relaxing facial and shopping trip with Amy, I came home and did some knitting. First, I finished off the ChicKami, as Charlotte suggested. I discovered that I had somehow gotten a spot on it while I was knitting (that's what I hate about working with white!) so I hand-washed it and it's drying now. Pictures when it's dry and ready to be tried on.

Once I was done with that, I started the Quiz sweater for little Alex. I'm not doing it in black and white, though - especially after the disaster with the colors running on the Moo blanket. Instead, I'm doing it in lilac and lemongrass, which were the yarns I got free from Mission Falls to replace the Moo yarn (yes, I picked the colors with this sweater in mind). So far, I've finished the back.

Making baby clothes is awesome, because it's such instant gratification! I have a feeling I will finish this fairly quickly, with Ryan away and me being home tomorrow for Yom Kippur.

Brrr! I guess that nice warm autumn is over! I guess it's not actually that bad, but because we had such a crap-weather summer, I feel it more now that it's cold. I should start knitting myself something warm and squishy, since it seems unlikely that I will wear my 95%-finished (one strap to do) ChicKami anytime soon!

Work is a little crazy - we moved to our new office this week and it's been quite the adjustment. A good adjustment, as I can take a more convenient subway, and the space is much better, but it's still disorienting.

Ryan's away at his Mom's this weekend in Kentucky. She's been having a rough time so he went to spend the weekend and hopefully help her find her way out of it. I was just glad I didn't have to go, honestly. I miss him, but I'm doing girly things, including a facial at the Aveda Institute this morning, with a friend. I've never had a facial, so I am really looking forward to it. I think we're going to do some shopping afterwards, too. Whee!

When on earth am I going to remember to print that damn ChicKami pattern and bring it home? Probably November, when I can no longer wear the Kami! Grrrr!

Several people in my office got quite a chuckle out of this link, posted in my comments by Genia. Thanks for the laugh! I feel like purchasing a digicam and starting this trend in my new office.

By new office, I mean the new office my current company is moving to in just over a week. They're moving us in three waves, actually, and the 2nd wave goes this Friday. The Healthcare division is last. The cool thing is as long as everyone is packed by 5pm next Thursday, we get Friday off! I tell ya, I will be going around the place and packing random shit in boxes if I need to, to get that free day.

Doesn't look like Isabel is going to hit us too much. Probably just high surf and cruddy weather, but no true "excitement." I hope it doesn't cause too much damage for folks down South.

So I am 3/4 of the way through my ChicKami, and I would be finished with it except I lost the printout of the pattern on my way home from Miami, and I downloaded it at work, and keep forgetting to print it out when I am there. Grrr. I better remember to do it tomorrow, so maybe I can finish it and wear it this week while it seems to still be warm!

Ryan and I did some wandering around the neighborhood today. We stopped at Knitting Hands on Atlantic, and I was surprised to see the store somewhat in disarray. Not a terrible mess, but not nice and neat as I have seen it before. I feel bad. I think they are probably struggling. But they have never been helpful to me, and the one time I tried to special order something, they didn't even bother telling me it was backordered until I called long after it was due in. If a LYS can't provide the extra level of service over an online outlet, why should I frequent it?

Next project is to knit a sweater for Alex, my friend Lisa's son. I'm thinking about this cute little Quiz sweater from Mission Falls Wee Knits Too. But after the dye-running experience with the black and white, I won't be using those two colors. To compensate me for that problem, they sent me my choice of yarns, which were Lilac and Lemongrass. I'm thinking it could be cute to do the background Lilac, and the "?" and stripes in Lemongrass. Or is it too girly? He's totally unmistakeable as a boy, so that's not an issue, but I'm not 100% sure. I also have to see if Lisa likes the pattern, and she hasn't called me back yet to look at it. I'm so impatient - I would love to just get it started now!

I just haven't felt like posting lately. Been busy, and tired, and doing other things. But I didn't think I could let this day go by without saying something.

Two years later, the buzz around this anniversary is quieter, but it's still there. They say they haven't increased the threat level, but there was a cop outside my office last night, holding what looked like an M-16 rifle (I'm told the NYPD doesn't use those, but whatever it was, it was big and dangerous and meant to impress). You can't tell me that was a coincidence.

I'm pleased that I'm watching the Today show, and among all the coverage of the memorial downtown, I haven't seen any footage of planes flying into buildings, or burning towers. It seems more respectful to focus on the loss, rather than the visual sensationalism. I don't know if that will hold up, and maybe I just haven't seen it, but at least for the moment, they have gained some of my respect.

It's a beautiful day today - just like it was in 2001. My life has changed for the better in so many ways since then. I was unemployed, single, wondering if my boyfriend was truly serious about me and where my life was going. Today I am working full time at a company I like and earning enough to support myself and that boyfriend who has become my husband. I'm basically happy, though there are still so many loose ends.

But so many people's lives have changed for the worse. Those who lost loved ones on that day, and those who escaped with their lives but who may never fully get past the trauma they experienced. They are the people I will be thinking of today, and wishing well.

So, I'll tell you my Blackout '03 story:

I was sitting in my office, slacking off, thinking I should get something good done, when it got really quiet. The AC had gone off. Then the fan slowed down, and the lights went, and then the computers, all in quick succession. The fire alarm went off an instant later, and Mary Jo (my officemate) and I looked at each other, said something like "here we go," grabbed our bags, and headed for the fire exit, which was right across from our office. I am sort of ashamed to say that we didn't go to get anyone else and make sure they got out. Then again, we're not appointed Fire Wardens or Searchers, so our job is to get our own asses out so those folks don't have to search for us.

The bad news - I was wearing a white skirt, a cotton sleeveless sweater with a mock t-neck, and 2.5" chunky-heel slides (Aerosoles, so not as brutal as it could be, but still not walking shoes.)

The 15 flights down were not fun in those shoes, plus I have a fear of falling down concrete stairs like the fire stairs. Luckily, the emergency lighting was on, so it was quite bright in the stairwell. Of course, no one had any idea what was going on, but it was very calm and people just moved. When we hit the street, we headed towards what we thought was the designated meeting area, but we were totally wrong.

It didn't matter much because we ran into my upstairs neighbor, who works with us, John. He was looking for his wife, Amy, who works at a competing agency across the street. Their emergency meeting place was in the hotel right there, but she apparently forgot. No cell phone service, though I was able to see that I was getting voicemails, and I was texting Ryan, but it said it didn't go through (it did, and he got "u ok?" four times, hehehe, but couldn't reply!). Mary Jo left to go try and get to NJ, and John and I found Amy and set off downtown, on foot.

I just mapquested it, and it is 7 miles from my office to my apartment. In heely slides and 90-degree weather. Ick. My feet hurt so much and my clothes were almost totally soaked through halfway home. We also discovered that it takes 44 blocks to run out of conversation. Found some empty payphones and called our Mommies. My Mom was powerless, too, and had been out at Fortunoff buying us some placesettings with a store credit when it happened. Such sacrifice!

We bought water for a reasonable $1.50 a bottle, no price-gouging for us. I was pleased to see that. It was wild walking across the Manhattan Bridge. They closed off the inbound lanes, and it was just a sea of pedestrians. Like a tremendous March of Dimes, except no one was dressed for it. It was around then that I started really worrying about the fishtank - Ryan has a 55 gallon saltwater tank, and we've been told they can only go about 4-5 hours without filtration and aeration. I was really sad, almost crying, about the fishies.

Major stroke of luck in Brooklyn. We happened to walk down Livingston Street, and saw a lit-up ATM. This small bank had a generator, and the guys who worked there said it was the only ATM in the city and made "cha-ching" sounds, which was funny, in the situation. We each took out $200, just in case.

4 hours after we set out (the first hour was spent gathering and finding Amy), we walked up the steps to our apartments. Boy was I happy to see Ryan, who had been there for nearly 3 hours, since he was downtown when the whole thing started and just wandered on home. The fish were alive, and he had changed some of the water and was hand-aerating it in an effort to keep them alive. I stripped, showered, and soaked my feet. We sat in the car with the AC on for a while, listening to the news, then came in and ate feta cheese, olives, pickles, and chinese dumplings by candlelight. I have so many scented candles I think this should be called Aromatherapy Blackout '03!

We hit the car for a bit again around 10:30, then came in and went to sleep. I slept like a baby after that walk! We were awakened to still no power but loud garbage trucks around 7:30. We walked into the livingroom and found...LIVE FISHIES!! All of them! At 8, while we were gaping at the fish, suddenly the filter bubbled to life, and we both did a little happy dance. Yay electricity!

Cable and Internet didn't come back until about 2, while we were out getting Frappucinos. Good-luck Frappucinos, it appears! They say there may still be rolling blackouts, so we're trying to go easy on the power, but we need the AC to keep the fishtank cool and I just can't deal without the internet right now! I hope everyone else is faring well!