obimom's Journal

9:03pm: And now, a First
Ho ho, my First Meme Evar!

The list is based on an exercise developed by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University. The exercise developers ask that if you participate in this blog game, you acknowledge their copyright. (I poked around on Google, and found that the exercise developers are at Indiana State University.
http://wbarratt.indstate.edu/socialclass/social_class_on_campus.htm
I also wondered what the point of the exercise was, and the site referenced above explains that pretty well.)

To participate in this blog game, copy and paste the list into your blog, and bold the items that are true for you. If you don't have a blog, feel free to post your responses in the comments.

Father went to college (nope, never finished high school)
Father finished college
Mother went to college (no, she didn't finish high school either, but I think she had a year more than Dad)
Mother finished college
Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor (My father's brother was a professor, and two of my cousins are physicians)
Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers
Had more than 50 books in your childhood home
Had more than 500 books in your childhood home
Were read children's books by a parent
Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18 (Hammond organ)
Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18
The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively (I'm not sure anyone in the media dresses like me -- or that I dress like anyone in the media)
Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18
Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs (Scholarships, grants, loans, fellowships)
Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs
Went to a private high school
Went to summer camp
Had a private tutor before you turned 18
Family vacations involved staying at hotels (We went to The Cabin, or we camped, or traveled around in the intercity bus my dad remodeled into an RV -- before there were RVs)
Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18 (My mother sewed many of my clothes, and we wore hand-me-downs. I remember the thrill of getting my first "boughten" school dress for junior high.)
Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them (A used 1961 Ford Falcon, when I was in high school and my father was pretty much disabled)
There was original art in your house when you were a child
Had a phone in your room before you turned 18
You and your family lived in a single family house
Your parent(s) owned their own house or apartment before you left home (They owned, then rented, then Mom bought a little house after Dad died the beginning of my last year of high school.)
You had your own room as a child
Participated in an SAT/ACT prep course (Um, no, I got an excellent education in a public school system, which made such prep courses unnecessary. Or at least they hadn't yet thought of them.)
Had your own TV in your room in High School
Owned a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College (I don't have one now!)
Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16
Went on a cruise with your family
Went on more than one cruise with your family
Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up
You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family (But I was aware that things were often "tight".)

Yep, like Elin said, bootstrap people.

10:46am: Happy New Year
I finished reading The Amber Spyglass (third book in Phillip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy) last night. Highly recommend all three books. Will probably see "The Golden Compass" before it leaves the theater, even though I don't care for Nicole Kidman, and would not have cast her in the part she plays. I am hoping her character is not more predominant in the film than in the book.

In that connection, I present the following:



We had a quiet New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, as usual. I managed to get some homemade tamales from one of the Mexican groceries, and they were tasty (chicken with red & green chili), but (I suspect) made by men. As in, they were big & clunky & mostly masa, not like the nice uniform hot-dog-sized ones we remember so fondly from San Antonio. These were more the size of hot dog buns. I may have to *gulp* try making my own...

Back to work this afternoon -- inventory is finished, however, at least as far as my part is concerned. Now to restock shelves & get ready for the spring yarns which will probably start arriving in the next couple of weeks.

10:48am: Look, Ma, no cavities!
I went to the dentist this morning for a cleaning & exam. I try to get all my routine maintenance done, or at least scheduled, during October -- it just seems easier for me to remember that annual stuff during my birth month.

I love my dentist. She does the cleaning herself, and is reasonable to the point of cheap. As in, today's visit was $70, for a full hour of her time. And she's good, too.

She also knits, and our kids went to the same school at the same time, so we have plenty to chat about in between her poking and scraping at my teeth. Nice lady.

Since her office is just a few blocks down the street, I walk there & back, and it's actually cool enough this morning to wear a sweater. That's a pleasant change. We were running the air conditioner yesterday.

2:16pm: Happy Birthday to Me
I almost forgot I had to renew my driver's license today. I misplaced the form the state sent me, or I could have renewed online (very convenient of Illinois to do that for us Safe Drivers). So I tootled out to the DMV, through the under-construction-one-lane-each-way bottleneck that runs between the DMV and the community college. Traffic was not as bad as I feared it would be, either on the way or inside the DMV -- they were actually rather wishing it was a little busier, so the time would pass more quickly.

Anyway, I got my license renewed, and since I did it in person, have a brand spankin' new photo, too, which is actually a better likeness, and therefore more flattering (or is it the other way around?) than the previous one.

I'm still not legally rquired to wear my glasses to drive. If I drove without them, however, I'd have real problems trying to read the instrument panel!

For my birthday, I bought myself some shoes:

http://www.shoes.com/productimages/SHOES_ISEC1042545.JPG

and

http://DSP.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/p3467774p275w.jpg

The former have already arrived, and are on my feet as I type.

Now, we all know I don't really have the "shoe gene"...and all I've worn for the last several years is Birkenstocks...and I don't like pink all that much, but for these, I just had to make an exception.

The second pair is the result of my "buy more than one when you find something you like" rule trumping my lack of the shoe gene.

8:38am: In "Honor" of the "Day"
Well, well -- today appears to be National Punctuation Day -- who knew??

http://quotation-marks.blogspot.com/

hee!

8:39am: Yarrr(n), me hearties!
You are The Cap'n!

Some men and women are born great, some achieve greatness and some slit the throats of any scalawag who stands between them and unlimited power. You never met a man - or woman - you couldn't eviscerate. You are the definitive Man of Action, the CEO of the Seven Seas, Lee Iacocca in a blousy shirt and drawstring-fly pants. You’re mission-oriented, and if anyone gets in the way, that’s his problem, now isn’t? Your buckle was swashed long ago and you have never been so sure of anything as your ability to bend everyone to your will. You will call anyone out and cut off his head if he shows any sign of taking you on or backing down. If one of your lieutenants shows an overly developed sense of ambition he may find more suitable accommodations in Davy Jones' locker. That is, of course, IF you notice him. You tend to be self absorbed - a weakness that may keep you from seeing enemies where they are and imagining them where they are not.




What's Yer Inner Pirate?
brought to you by The Official Talk Like A Pirate Web Site. Arrrrr!



har!

also:

http://partiallyclips.com

1:22pm: Check out the LED pom-pom hat, and the shirt with programmable LEDs --

http://www.cs.colorado.edu/~buechley/diy/diy_tank.html

11:10am: Ahhhhh...
I have today off...as in, completely to myself, with no deadlines, nowhere to be, no appointments, no obligations. I can spend it exactly as I wish.

This is a Big Deal. In the last month, I have helped an offspring move into a new apartment, unpack, & organize (still not done with the last two); worked two consecutive 40-hour weeks at the shop; and gotten things rolling for my fiber guild's Annual Show & Sale in November.

I haven't been to Curves in all that time. I may go today. Or I may not.

But it feels so good to know that I can resume my routine if I feel like it.

9:32am: Stand for Darfur
http://www.avaaz.org/en/darfur/h.php/?cl=19030709

"The mass killing in Darfur is a stain on the conscience of the world. "

Not to mention rape-as-a-tool-of-terror.

Go read it. Then sign the petition. Then send it on.

That "humans" are capable of such atrocities, and worse, just breaks my heart sometimes.

9:23am: How Cute is This?
http://knitty.com/ISSUEfall07/PATTwoodins.html

8:42am: Debbie New, Knitting Genius
This was Debbie New's entry in the Useless Knitting competition at Meg Swansen's Knitting Camp -- a knitted kaleidoscope! The hoop encloses a number of cones, each covered with an identical piece of knitting. Turning the knob on the hoop causes the cones to rotate in unison, creating the kaleidoscope effect.

The video was taken with a cellphone camera, so not the best quality, but it serves.



Debbie New has also created a knitted brain hat, and a knitted lace coracle, among other things. Even if you're not a knitter, and not particularly interested in knitting, you'd find it worthwhile to check out her book Unexpected Knitting. Google her. You'll be amazed.

9:59am: Yarn!
My Kauni yarn arrived in the mail yesterday: http://funknits.com/KauniUSD.htm

Yes, I work in a yarn shop, yet I ordered Danish yarn from a shop in British Columbia.

I haven't yet decided whether I'll do the basic, free pattern cardigan here:
http://www.ruths.dk/kauni%20regnbue%20engelsk.pdf

or the Autumn Leaves pattern I purchased by pdf download from the designer in Denmark -- it's the garment shown next to the picture of the yarn in the first link.


We moved a lot of yarn around at the shop yesterday -- we received several metric buttloads on Thursday, and more on Friday, most of which is still in tubs & baskets, lining the perimeter of every room in the place.

Some of the yarn we moved out of display bins will be going to our eBay store:
http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrppZ25QQsassZneedleworksinc

Some will go into the 50% off sale bins, and the rest is being condensed into fewer bins to make room for the new stuff.

We have a little over a month to get ready for the Open House. Uffda.

3:55pm: Even Better than LOLcats
http://tinyurl.com/2u3ht5

10:44am: One down...
many more to go.

I finished a custom knitting job this morning - a very cute top, which I enjoyed knitting, but which I would not have made for myself. It will be absolutely darling on my client, however. She has the perfect figure for it, and I can't wait to see it on her.

So that's one thing I can scratch off my to-do list.

The fall class schedule is finished, and up on the shop's website: http://cu-needleworks.com/classes.htm -- thanks to our resident webguy -- that's another job done.

The next thing I have to do is finish the adjusted sleeves and assemble a cardigan I've already been paid for -- had to reknit the entire body, and most of the sleeves, to accommodate some shaping issues. It's a gorgeous design, too, a lace cardigan from the summer 2007 Vogue Knitting -- but the pattern as designed just wasn't right for the client.

This morning I'm also soaking out some vintage linens and knitted doilies in Oxyclean, as well as a crocheted doily I'm to mount and frame for another client. I've been acquiring vintage embroidered & lace-trimmed pillowcases on eBay, but even when they're in good condition, they've often yellowed from being stored for years in some grandma's or auntie's linen closet. Probably being saved "for later". Well, "later" has arrived. I am using and enjoying the beautiful handwork of many anonymous women. Thank you, ladies, whoever you were.

8:08am: This may be my next project
Department of Homeland Security Blanket

Well, maybe not.

Check out the article & slideshow: http://www.slate.com/id/2172095/nav/tap3/

8:14am: Soft City
I was alerted to this by someone on one of my email lists:



And let me say how slick it is that someone at Livejournal has provided buttons & sorted out how to embed this in my post so that I don't have to figure it out for myself. Whee!

In the category of Life, hecatemahadevi has come home for a week while she's between apartments. Old lease expires 8/13, new lease begins 8/20. (WTF is up with landlords anyway?) So she's sleeping on the couch. However, my studio is pretty well set up -- just have to move one more loom in here and finish assembling another*. So I have that space to go stare in of a morning.

But there are tubs and boxes everywhere. It's becoming a way of life around here, *sigh*.

*If you're counting, there are three floor looms...and a number of small table/lap looms. Yes, I collect looms. And yarn. And books. And thread. Don't ask.

8:59am: Snow Days
...or should that be "Daze"?

We got 12-18" of snow in the past 36 hours, combined with enough cold and wind to qualify as a true blizzard. The town was shut down yesterday - we didn't even have mail service, although there was a newspaper* (in plastic bag, fortunately) under the birdbath. The shop was closed yesterday, and will be closed today as well.

A snowplow has apparently made one pass down our street, so that's something.

*I have canceled our subscription to the local rag, due in large part to our paper carrier's inability to [a] bring the paper up to the door (she's maybe 10-11 years old, tosses it from the main sidewalk, and has neither accuracy nor distance in her throwing) [b] put the damn thing in a plastic bag when the weather conditions warrant. Combine [a] with [b] and you get a naked newspaper which lands in a melting snowdrift even on a sunny day. I blame the mother -- when this child took over the route, I'd see the mom accompanying her on her rounds, pushing a baby stroller & yakking on a cellphone. A child that age can't be expected to figure out whether she's doing things correctly, or what the likely results will be -- it's the parent's job to guide, teach, & explain. In spite of my attempted cancellation (and I'm not paying the bill, which is past due), we are still getting papers. The other day we got two, both in plastic. Very curious.

It's a lousy paper, besides -- I can get everything in it, and more, online and on cable TV for free.

11:10am: What's up, Doc?
Still going to Curves. Actually looking forward to it on the days I go. Happy I went on the days I don't go. I don't think one can ask for more than that.

Churning out patterns; baby blanket pattern will go on sale today. Shawl pattern nearing completion.

Custom knitting a Christmas stocking for a repeat customer. Have a commission to knit a man's sweater for an alpaca breeder, which could turn into design work down the line.

Picked up one more shift/week at the yarn shop, which will cut into my time at home designing & knitting. There's an outside chance I'll become more focused and efficient with my time at home, but I doubt it.

Democrats appear to have taken control of both houses of Congress. Rumsfeld has resigned - maybe the third time was the charm?

10:17am: Amazing
I didn't hate my first workout.

4:51pm: The Last Resort
Having had every needed test, exam, and scan (except a dental check/cleaning) in the course of the past month, including a bone density scan, mammogram, & fasting lipid, glucose & CBC on my BIRTHDAY, for god's sake, I can report that I am in excellent health. Everything was negative, in the case of bad-things-being-looked-for, or positive, in the case of the blood work and bone scan (hip=good, spine=a little marginal). So I'll keep taking my Fosamax & calcium, & continue to consume my beloved dairy products. Yum.

Four years ago I drastically reduced my carbohydrate consumption, in response to elevated triglycerides. I lost 40 pounds over a year or so, and kept it off for two years thereafter, with moderate carbohydrate consumption. But it's been sneaking back -- about 20 pounds of it, in fact. Feh.

It's clear that I've done what I can with diet (and my HDL and triglycerides are good and fabulous, respectively; LDL would have been fine prior to the last shifting of the "standards").

So that means there's nothing left to modify but my level of physical activity. Those who know me best know that my idea of a good workout is a rousing game of cards, or just knitting faster, but I've gone and signed up (and PAID FOR) a 12-month Curves membership. Oh, the pain, the pain..... I fully expect to hate it until I don't hate it. If it turns out that I actually like it (or even don't mind it), I will just be pleasantly surprised.

I did manage to find some nice (Wide) Reeboks with no damn seams in the toe area. Even though I don't seem to have the Shoe Gene (though I must be a "carrier"), maybe New Shoes Will Help.

I start tomorrow morning.

11:48am: Coverlets, part deux
Pictures of the finished coverlet may be seen at:

http://blog.dovecottage.net

I'm still on a free account here, which means no pictures. Sorry about the detour!

10:29pm: Coverlets
I finished piecing the top of a coverlet for our bed this morning, and pin-basted it to the flannel backing. I'm not planning on using any batting for this one; just the two layers, flannel & patchwork, will be enough.

My mother-in-law gave me 18 stamped-for-cross-stitch-embroidery blocks a year or so before she died. 17 of them were stitched, one unstitched, and she gave me the floss that she'd used, too, so that I would be able to stitch the last one.

I would have needed 20 blocks to use *just* her blocks -- and I couldn't find these blocks anywhere. I'm sure this design went out of production at least 10-15 years ago.

So I decided to frame 12 of the blocks in pieced sashings (strips), using an assortment of 30s reproduction fabrics in colors that echo the colors in the embroidery.

I have to say I'm pleased with the result -- it's pretty much what I'd envisioned when I started. There probably isn't a true 90 degree angle anywhere in the thing, but then there aren't many of those in our room, either.

I still have to decide whether I'll quilt it (probably on the machine) or just tie it. I'm leaning towards quilting. I'll add a picture when I get it on the bed.

I also have about 70 blocks for another quilt top ready to assemble -- stylized wildflower applique, with embroidery -- that one will have a thinnish cotton batting, and may be tied. Which will, technically, make it a comforter...

And I think I want to knit a counterpane (look it up)! The hard part will be choosing a pattern.

7:09am: Upside-down egg sammich
Ingredients: One slice bread, one egg, butter, salt & pepper to taste

Butter one side of bread.

Melt a little butter in a frying pan or skillet.

Break egg into pan, breaking yolk. Salt & pepper to taste. Immediately place bread on egg, butter side up.

When egg is cooked through, and butter on bread has melted, flip sandwich to toast buttered side of bread.

Enjoy. Serves one.

6:50am: Big Doin's
The upstairs renovation continues, bite by bite.

The bathroom is complete; new hardwood flooring; walls/ceiling (sheetrock & paint), wiring, and lighting for the sleeping area are complete, and the stairwell is being scraped of old (60 years) paint. The stairs themselves are stripped of the crappy carpet the previous owners applied, and a few treads have been replaced.

We bought a new Danish platform bed (Baltic birch) and new mattress, matching dressers and nightstands (natural maple), and lamps. After 26 years together, we finally have real grownup bedroom furniture, instead of the cobbled-together odds & ends we've been living with since college. See, kids? There are things to look forward to.

I'm piecing together a coverlet for the bed, using some of my stash of 30s reproduction fabrics, and 12 of the blocks Gramma Marge cross-stitched. (I also have enough wildflower blocks I appliqued & embroidered using some of the same fabrics for another coverlet, that I haven't yet decided how I want to assemble.)

Yesterday the TV/cable shelf went up, so we can watch the news in bed. Now that we're old, don't ya know.

When everything is out of the back bedroom, the walls & floor will be stripped & repainted/refinished. Then that room will become my studio, and we can get the big loom out of the living room -- which will permit the addition of more seating there.

Then the front bedroom (my current studio) will be stripped & refinished/repainted, and become Pop's study. The bird will still live in that room, though.

[The master plan is for the two of us to spread out throughout the house, thus making it impossible for offspring to move back in. Something (as yet undetermined) will happen in the basement, too, when the boys move out. Bwahahahahaha!]

Maybe when all that is done the final woodwork will go up in the kitchen (which was renovated what, 8 years ago?) and the bathroom will be finished. Then we can tackle the dining room.

Some day this house is going to look damn good.

In other news, classes start at Parkland today for Cheli & the boys. Nicky's classes at U of I start Wednesday.

And today is Dave's birthday. He is 34.

10:48pm: Stitches
So last weekend I took Saturday off and drove up to Chicago to go to Stitches Midwest.
http://stitcheslive.com/modules.php?name=Conteudo&pa=list_pages_categories&cid=0
Stitches West, Midwest, & East are humongous Knitting Expos put on by XRX Inc., who publish Knitter's Magazine and lots of knitting books.

These events run 3 1/2-4 days, include lots of classes, workshops, presentations, and a market that brings together retailers of yarn, patterns, tools, and accessories from across the continent.

I think they've been holding these events for a good 10 years now. This is the first time I've gone, because it's a fairly expensive proposition. While you'd expect to pay for the classes (and you do), you also have to pay for a number of the other events. I wasn't interested in attending the Student Banquet or Fashion Show,
so just signed up for one class. (Even so, there was still hotel, parking, gas & tolls.)

On Saturday, I had lunch with some people from an email list I've been on for a while - it was nice to actually be able to put faces with names.

After lunch, I went to the market & blew through most of the cash I'd brought to spend. I didn't even look at anything we carry at the shop where I work, which eliminated probably two-thirds to three-quarters of the market. But I got enough hand-dyed yarn for a vest (teal), and the perfect buttons to go with it, baby alpaca for two shawls, a couple of gifts I won't describe now, a shawl pattern from a business based in my home town (!), two ebony circular needles, a book on Double Weave, and a souvenir back pack (the last two with complimentary Stitches Bucks).

Sunday, I went to my class, then went back to the market & worked in a vendor's booth for a couple hours in exchange for a discount on her yarns. Bought some very nice stuff from her (raspberry raw silk yarn, microfiber ribbon, hand-dyed sock yarn).

After that, I drove home.

I enjoyed myself - although I was gone a total of 35 hours, it felt more like 3 days off. Even with 8 hours of driving.

So now I've "been to" Stitches, and I don't know if I need to do it again. The market was interesting - there were some things there I didn't even know existed, and the booth where I got my buttons was amazing - but I guess I don't feel the kind of "feeding frenzy" I detected in many of the other attendees, probably because I work in a yarn shop. And possibly because of the mass quantities of yarn I already possess.

My class (Engineering with Entrelac, taught by Joan Schrouder) was excellent, and I guess I'd go back up for classes again.

So that was my busman's holiday.