Friday, October 31, 2008

Halloween is different this year....

Last year we were here:


this year we are home, and it's nice but... I would like to be a dubliner. Or perhaps a dublin suburbanite. I dunno if you'lll be able to see the pics very well, i should have done a more thorough selection, but i don't to take any more out. As it is, there are tones of great things i've left out. Like Marianne and Dad completing the race, and the great cappuccino at the mall, whilst i was so jetlagged i almost tipped right over.


We had a fantastic trip, anyone who is worried about travelling with people should travel with marianne- she's swell. Travel with me Mam and Dad too- they're swell, even though on a couple of occasions i did my best churlish teenager routine, they didn't tell me off, not once!



I'm saving to go again, just you wait and see. the next trip will have a car i think. hooo hoo hoo! you'll know it's us by the white-knuckled co-pilot!

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

do you know what today is?

I'll tell you. Today is one week for the US General Elections. The elections are important, it is your responsibility to vote- just as your right to free speech is a right, your right to vote is equally important. With great power comes great responsibility, no? You've got this great power- choosing the next president. you've got to fulfill your responsibility and make your voice heard.

Whether you're conservative or liberal, i think you'll have to admit that the past eight years have simply not worked well. Our budget is in ruin. Our international reputation is laughable. Our employment situation is frightening. Just about every single area of the health and future of our country and society is on the brink of collapse. Conservative or liberal, I don't think i'm saying anything profound when i say the last eight years have been a failure.

I'll not pretend i'm still on the fence, you already know that. I'm for Obama, and i think you should be too. His plans for the tumultuous economy, his goals for foreign relations, and his expectations for health care are more feasible. The purpose of this post is not to get you to vote for obama, it's to get you to vote at all (well, it's also to get you to vote for obama)

Should you still be on the fence, here are some handy sites:
Obama Official
McCain official
Bear in mind, these are the campaign sites, and should be a taken with a grain of salt.

there are an abundance of great news sites available, but the ones i like to use are these:
bbc's coverage
FactCheck
newsweek
My friend Ernest says the economist is a good site as well. I've not used it very often, but he wouldn't recommend trash.

so the point of this is this: Voting is so empowering! Take advantage of it. do a bit of research, you'll find yourself becoming more aware of your world, and what you can do to change it. Google has a fantastic tool for finding where you go to vote, Find it here

I'll climb down now, from my stump. But before i go, i'll just quote Bob Schieffer (and his mom),
go out there and vote, it will make you feel big and strong

Friday, October 24, 2008

grape flavoured vest



So. I really want to make a vest for johnny. i know, it's a bit nerdy- a vest, but that's ok. i had a rowan pattern, but it was so hard- all sorts of “knit as for back until you get to here…, then proceed as follows” blah blah blah. Blech. So there is one in debbie bliss’s essential knits for kits, i’ve got that on order from the library, but i’m impatient, what can i say. so i settled on a lion brand pattern.

I went with only a single cable, on the right front. I like asymmetry in my sweaters. I also worked this on a single circular needle, rather than two straights. when i made the peace baby, i decided that i just don’t groove on seaming, and if i can avoid it, i shall.



Now, some mods to the pattern itself. the sizes don’t go quite high enough, so i sort of guessed on the number of additional stitches to cast on to fit a 6 year old. Too big is ok, he can wear it a bit longer. i just don’t want it to be too small.

i suppose it was a moderately boring project, as a mostly stocking stitch sweater will be. Knitpicks yarn is great to work with. It’s very predictable and dependable. i really like it.

Argh! i finished a good bulk of this sweater, and the dumb thing wouldn’t fit over his noggin! arrrgh! No Problem. I undid one shoulder, and put buttons on it to so it can be opened up.

and then, guess what i learned! over a lunch break, i learned how to properly pick up stitches. My other attempts have been unhappy at best. but this time, like a great muse descended upon John Milton for Paradise Lost, so to did the knowledge for picking up stitches.



I finished this sweater in about a week. not too bad. i finished it last night before soccer. (incidentally, if you need a girl to play indoors, send a message) My newly acquired skill of picking up stitches helped me immensely. i’m going to send it out UPS to the recipient today.

Monday, October 20, 2008

alrighty then.

it's a long time since i've posted a snarky sports post, for a number of reasons. i'm trying to move away from the jerky fan syndrome. if last football season taught me anything, it's how to win and lose sportsmanly. The Uefa soccer last summer, and the olympics a few weeks ago have helped me evolve into a sports fan, more than a team fan (though i do still wish every yankee would trip in the batters box, and make errors in the field).

All that being said, For the love of god and all that is holy! would you please pinch hit for Jason Varitek! He is a Shitty Hitter! He was 1 for 17 in the first six games of the series! 1 for 17! Why would you ever use the three run homer the other night as an indication that he's got a hot bat? ARRRRGH! pinch hit for him for crissakes! who cares that kevin cash or that other guy will have to catch in the ninth? Papelbon is a top tier closer. If Paps can't figure out what to do without varitek calling his pitches, we've got additional problems.

The sox have painted themselves into a corner- we have a glaring deficiency in that position. Plus, since they have been so reluctant to spell varitek, none of our other catchers have had good opportunity to learn how to call the game the way he does. so we've doubly hurt ourselves. What will happen when Varitek's knees do finally call quits?

I know, i'm on a lonely island, everyone and their grandmother loves jason varitek, and what i'm saying is tantamount to heresy, but sweet georgia brown, he is a terrible hitter. fine, he calls a good game, and he keeps the infield together. Fine, he has good rapport with his pitchers. Fine Fine Fine. But he is almost a guaranteed out at the plate. He looked like a rusty gate in that AB in the 8th last night. How is that helpful? how is that at all helpful when the game is 100% on the line, and we need a hit?

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

peace, paby!







I was apprehensive right from the start. Sunshine is much more egg yolk than i expected, and allspice is much more flat brown than i expected.

I’m wasn't at all sure the resulting sweater will be very nice. It certainly wouldn’t be very babyish. But i figured, i would have to continue on, with an amount of trepidation.

I knitted during the dodgers/phillies, and then the two sox/rays weekend games. Then i had to put it all on hold to help cover the pool, so not too much knitting was done. but i did get started on the embroidery, for which i did decide to go with embroidery floss.

Now, the yellow and brown are pretty…. well not very pretty. The yellow isn’t my favorite, and the brown isn’t either. So i really needed the embroidery to pull it all together. Embroidery isn’t really my strongest skill, but i do rather like the way it came out. I really do like the way the brown is tied in with the yellow now. I’m actually rather pleased with it.

I had a pretty hard time with the neckline. my skills don’t yet extend all the way to sewing icord as i go along. Plus, i’ve only got metal dpns; i knit very loosely on metal needles, so the icord was sloppy and taking a long time. So, i tried crochet around the edge. no go. looked terribly sloppy. So in the end i simply picked up the stitches all the way around and knit 2 rows then bound off. The button loop is half double crochet.

So, my thoughts: this is a great sweater, and a great pattern. it could become a go-to pattern for me. I would probably rework the instructions to be a top down, done in the round. Like many other people, i’m not crazy about seaming. i love the yarn, it’s very predictable and pleasant to work with. All in all, i think the project is a success.

Sunday, October 05, 2008

Fall birthdays snaps



my friend molly is great at posting super snappy-snaps and video of family functions. I'm working at it, but i'm not really a great photo hound, so sometimes my efforts fall a bit short of the endzone. My latest go was confounded because i had the camera set for night time snapshot. Well, Pooey.

but that's ok, i did manage to get a good one of the littlest googie with first birthday party muffin, appropriately mooshed into grossness.


You see, initially we planned to go apple picking to get cider doughnuts, peanut-caramel apples and a few for pies. Alas, the entire town of Stow had the same plan! Parking was a snarl, and I do not exaggerate when i say everyone and their grandmother were at the Honey Pot Hill Orchard. It also was terribly muddy.

So we decided to move to plan B. Plan B meant Nana Mary got apples from ferjulians, Other Nana went to get donuts from HoneyDew, i stopped for peanuts and caramel ice cream topper, and we all went to heidi's house.

It was fabulous B-Day party for the fall birthdays of the family. YAY!