Old Dog/New Tricks

The hubby has caved entirely - not only does he knit now, he has learned to cable!

Anniversary meals

So, when you load the crock pot with oatmeal before going to bed, you really ought to butter tha pan. When you don't you wake up really early because you think the house is on fire, but it's really just the oatmeal burning on the sides and bottom of the pan. And that virtually none of the milk/water was absorbed by the oats. Then you have to start over with a pan on the stovetop. Then for dinner you finally choose The King & I for some Thai food. Even though you tell the staff that you'd prefer not to rush, they apparently really want to turn the tables. And they want to refill your glasses after every sip. I would rather have a slightly neglectful wait staff than one who constantly intrudes on conversation. Better luck next year.

Mani Miracle

Not quite the same as having a lamp burn for 8 days, but I did manage to find a third cotton ball when I thought I only had two. Old polish successfully removed. Let the new lacquering begin...in the morning.

Commute Commentary

Just passed a car w/ license plate, HURL. Paean to puking? Lots of dead rodents on the roads this morning (sorry, no photos today). Pandora should have a channel of Sir Neville Mariner at The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields just so my brain can repeat the phrase over and over and over. And more symphony orchestras should play more Scarlatti.

Cell phone freedom

Isn't it about time that any cell phone can be used with any provider? It's not like they provide any hardware support.

If you needed an excuse

How lovely when 2 passions support each other.

Good flicks but

lousy plots. There was a double feature on PBS tonight, The Big Sleep followed by The Maltese Falcon. How can 2 movies with such incomprehensible stories be so much fun to watch?

Shekheyanu time

1st egg nog of the season tonight. And not of the virgin variety. Both of which lead up to an early night.

Adventures In Baking

I hardly ever bake - there's too much science for one thing. For another, I don't have much of a sweet tooth. And, without double ovens making cookies just takes too darn long. However, pans of "bar cookies" aka dessert casserole cookies fix the last one. I seriously don't care what shape my cookies are, just that they be chewy. And the genius of people who thunk up taking a cake mix and turning it into cookie batter makes it easier. Generally what stops me is that I don't have eggs in the fridge, 'cause I don't like them much. This week, however, I have 6 eggs that husband brought back from time travelling, and I had to do something with them. So I made cookies. One box carrot cake, 2 eggs (beaten), 5 T melted butter, and some chocolate chips. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. Presto, a treat for Knit Night.

Open House Cowl

I finished this Open House Cowl in time for--you guess it--Kirkwood Knittery's Fall Open House. The pattern is available in the shop now, free with a yarn purchase. I will add it to Ravelry soon. The colorful collar was designed for contrasting colors of fingering weight yarn, but I couldn't resist using the Oakwood from www.blackbunnyfibers.com (which I held doubled. It's paired with Autumn Wind from Lotus Yarns.

Veterans, Thank You

Wouldn't it be great if we could stop making more veterans because the had a worldwide outbreak of peace?

60 Quick Luxury Knits from Sixth & Spring Books

This Ruffled Collar is one of my favorite slip stitch designs. You can find the pattern in the book, 60 Quick Luxury Knits.

The Clue of the Poppy

I admit to being more than a little bit in love with Lord Peter Wimsey. Well, why not? So was his creator, Dorothy L. Sayers. Today it seems appropriate to re-read The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club as the action takes place over Remembrance Day.

Koigu Magazine No. 6

Do you love Koigu Premium Painters Palette Merino (KPPPM) yarn as much as I do? Check out the current issue of Koigu Magazine (No. 6). It's filled with lovely designs, and 2 of them were designed by me! Both the Bubbles & Stripes Legwarmers, and the Raspberry Wriggle Tunic feature easy-to-work slip-stitch techniques. Visit http://koigu.com/home.html to find a retailer near you. And find the pattern details on Ravelry at my designer page, http://www.ravelry.com/designers/robyn-m-schrager

Soap Opera Rules

Since we're officially into November Sweeps, I offer you my Soap Opera Writers' Rules: Soap Opera Writers Rules #1: If characters are in a car, there will be a crash. #2: A child goes to summer camp, and comes home enrolled in High School. #3: College and med/law school conclude in 1 year. #4: Weddings are always interrupted. #5. Births occur only in Sweeps months, no matter how long the pregnancy. #6. Every pregnancy requires at least one emergency hospitalization. #7. Prolonged contract negotiations may lead to coma, or going over a cliff or falling into a river or other situation presuming death but without recovering a body. #8. Sex usually occurs on a couch or desk. #9: When you persist in saying your secret out loud in public, someone will overhear you. #10: A paternity test will always be altered at least once. #11: More than 75% of one-night-stands result in pregnancy. #12: Being blind, deaf or paralyzed is never permanent. #13: There's never cell phone reception/power when needed. #14: Every child born with questionable paternity will develop a childhood disease requiring some transplant/transfusion to reveal the true father. #15: A woman may have a child of 30, whom she birthed after the age of 20, and still contemplate becoming pregnant. #16: There are only slightly more full-siblings than half-siblings, but even the full-sibs were born during different marriages. #17: Since a character is SORASed as a child, the adult must be "youthened" for the next dozen years or so, until the true age catches up (assuming the Soap lasts that long). #18: No matter what the distance between venues, you can get there during a commercial break... #19: ...however single events such as weddings and holidays last at least three days. #20: Very little money is budgeted for men's shirts. Feel free to add to the list!

Yummy Yarn - Yes Indeedy

I haven't been to sleep yet, so pretending this counts as Nov. 6th. Happiness is merino, angora, cashmere, tencel & cotton all rolled up together.

Changing up the stitch pattern so avoid the biasing, and to increase the balance of Oakwood to Autumn Wind for a more luxurious hand. I don't care what it turns out to be - this one is all about the process.

Compromising

What do you think? Are politicians still full of crap? Or is compromise possible?

Gauging Election Day

I hoped that my day as an election poll manager would be too busy to get much knitting done, and it mostly was. The real reason, however, that I didn't progress far was that my gauge loosened up 1/2 inch over 25 stitches. Same yarn, same needles, clearly a different bat channel, so I put down the knitting. I'll pick it up again after 2 decent night's sleep in a row.

Neverending Story (Music)

Mr. Rimsky-Korsakov, your oevre "Scheharazade" is a lovely piece of music. But my god, it never ends. YES, I KNOW that's the point, but seriously. I can find many places in the score where you could have penned that double verticle line. I had to sit in my car this morning for an extra 10 minutes waiting for the last note to fade away. No, I couldn't just turn off the radio, I was compelled to keep listening. I quote from the fabulous TV show, White Collar: A happy ending depends on when you stop telling the story. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptC3szb4zHs

I'm still so very sorry about the explosions last week of the unmanned Antares supply rocket, and the manned test flight of VirginGalactic's SpaceShipTwo. I've wanted to be an astronaut as long as I can remember, probably since the first time I read Little Bear while the USA was deeply in a race for the moon. To make it even more upsetting I just finished reading the epistolary novel, God is an Astronaut by Alyson Foster. In Foster's story the narrator's husband works for a company that operates tourist low-orbit space flights, the lastest of which has exploded killing all on board. She is reluctantly persuaded to ride the first flight after the investigation to the cause of the explosion is discovered and remedied. Unlike her, I would volunteer to take that trip willingly. I still want to boldly go....

Time Is Fleeting

Tomorrow, today will be yesterday, so what's an hour more or less? I love it when we have to change the clocks forward or backward; the arbitrary nature of time captures my imagination. I changed mine before leaving for work this morning. Sadly, I haven't accomplished anything more in the extra hour.