free pattern friday: the glamour scarf

Ah, free stuff! In the ongoing quest to de-commercialize my little universe, I am going to start offering free patterns on occasional Fridays. Not every Friday, mind you, but every so often. It will be a fun surprise. Plus I like the way it sounds: Free Pattern Friday. Doesn't it have a nice ring to it?

So here's Free Pattern Friday offering #1: the Glamour Scarf. This project is way, way, way easy. In fact, you really don't need me to tell you how to make it, but I'm going to anyway, because why not? You might learn something. Or I might.

I first made this scarf as a gift for my mom, so here she is modeling it (isn't she cute?). I've made several more of them since then for charity auctions, because they are inexpensive to make, but look glitzy and tend to bring in a nice sum. That's the beauty of this little project: high glamour factor, low input. Recently I made a kit out of this for my Secret Pal, Paloma.

This is a deceptively easy scarf that dresses up any outfit. The lightweight yarn makes it suitable for almost any weather, too.

Finished scarf measurements (before tassels): Approx. 5 in. wide and 50 in. long (she is wearing it doubled in the picture - it is a fairly long scarf).

Sizes: One Size

Materials:

• Berocco Mosaic FX 25g/78yd, (2) balls. Shown in color #4611, Splendor in the Grass. 100% nylon (they call this a "railroad ribbon" yarn).
  
• Royale Crochet Thread, size 3, (1) ball. Color: #0012, Black. 100% mercerized cotton.
  
• US 13 straight needles (9.0 mm).
• Piece of cardboard for making tassels.

Gauge: Approx. 4 st/in on size 13 needles.

Scarf body:
With both yarns together, cast on 20 st. Work in garter st (knit every row) until scarf measures approx. 50 inches. Bind off loosely. Weave in loose ends (wasn't that easy?).

Mosaic FX warning: Do not try to knit this yarn by itself. The crochet thread stabilizes this yarn and makes it behave, using some kind of magical power that I don't understand. Attempting to knit Mosaic FX by itself has caused me much crying and gnashing of teeth, not to mention huge awful tangled yarn snarls. Thank heavens for magic crochet thread (or any other lightweight stuff you want to use).

Tassels:
To make the tassels, first cut a piece of cardboard approx. 5 in. wide and 8 in. long.

Then wrap crochet thread once around cardboard long-wise. Cut ends across bottom to line up with cardboard, keeping thread in place.

Next wrap Mosaix FX three times around cardboard long-wise, still keeping the crochet thread in place. Cut ends across bottom to line up with crochet thread and cardboard.

Now you should have four lengths of yarn/thread, open at the bottom (one length of crochet thread and three lengths of Mosaic FX). Being careful to keep yarn together and ends lined up, use a small piece of scrap crochet thread to tie all the yarn together at top (use a loose knot – you will be untying this again soon). Now you can drop the cardboard – tassel stage one is complete! (Note: these things don't look totally tassely yet. They look like 4 long strands of yarn folded over and tied together at the top with some scrap). Each proto-tassel will measure approx. 8 inches long.

Make 12 tassels in this manner.

Tie 6 tassels on each end of scarf as following:
Use the scrap crochet thread to pull the top of the tassel through a stitch so that the tied-off end makes a loop. Using your fingers or a crochet hook, pull tassel ends through the loop and gently tug to make a knot, being sure to keep yarn ends more or less even. Untie scrap thread and remove. Now it's a full-fledged tassel.

Space tassels evenly as you tie 6 of them across each scarf end.

Viola! You are now extra glamorous and can start using French words like voila!

important notice: This is a free pattern and you are welcome to use it for all the non-commercial purposes you like. However, you may not reproduce this pattern to sell, and you may not sell what you make with it. You may donate what you make with it to charity, and you may use it for charity fundraisers only if 100% of the proceeds are donated to the charity (and by charity I don't mean your kid's college fund). Thanks for understanding!

mysteries revealed

Here she is folks... my Secret Pal! Becky (we're on a first-name basis now) just sent me this fabulous package of chocolate, marzipan, and self-fair-isling sock yarn from Deutschland, where she was visiting family. Somehow she found out that I like chocolate and sock yarn - she must be part secret detective.

Check out the cute marzipan bunny! Too bad I will have to eat him.

Becky is a Design & Technology student, who understands the mysteries of the digital universe. She does amazing things like make video games you can play on your cell phone... whoa... (Meanwhile I'm still trying to figure out how to put things on the sidebar of this blog template). Visit her high-tech and DIY blog! No templates for Becky - she knows how to make those 0's and 1's behave.

And for those of you who are playing along with the Use What You Have thing this April, I leave you with some inspiration: The Compact. These amazing people are buying nothing new, all year long. I kneel at the altar of Buy Nothingness (and yes, they are blogging about it).

olga

Say hello to Olga. She's the new sock monster on the block. This is the only picture she would sit still for.

Olga is a ski bunny. I made her out of a couple of orphaned socks from my sock drawer. You'll notice she has a rather unsightly birth mark on her snout (probably as a result of the heel that was stuck inside her head in a past life). HWWLLB thinks her eyes should be closer together, but I'm not sure - I kind of like them wide-set. My favorite part is the buck teeth.

She is a tough little sucker. Here she is chasing Simon away from the back door.


move it, cat!

She just wouldn't hold still - she stuck her face in the camera (trying to look tough I think), before hopping away. If you live in Raleigh, watch out - Olga is on the loose.


don't call me cute, sucka!

Oh, not cute at all. She's really sort of disturbing. Now for cute, I have to show you the prizes that Bugheart sent me along with the Chococat bag that I won last week on the Great Monday Giveaway. Lookee! A paperclip-holding mushroom guy from loloko (sorry I can't remember the source right now - I will update later), and a wonderful-smelling lavender sachet from Turkey Feathers. Joy!


a ladybug clip on top to hold... i don't know what. mash notes? grocery lists?


your paperclips, miss.


sweet-smelling scrap sachet!

By the way, Debbie Stoller was in town yesterday promoting the Happy Hooker. I missed her reading at Quail Ridge Books (damned work), though I swung through at the end to say hi. NC Public Radio did a great interview with her and a couple of knitters yesterday (though I have to say they were a bit long on cute patterns and short on politics for my taste, but that's just me). You can listen online here.

free and fabulous

One of the things about knitting that I hate (y'all know I love knitting), is that it can get expensive. It's not the world's most expensive hobby, but it is rarely free. Patterns, books, Addi masTurbo needles, and for godssakes the yarn - oh, the yarn! I could go broke just thinking about knitting yarn. And then I look at the giant piles of it threatening to burst out of the stash cabinet and wonder why I haven't gone broke yet...

Luckily for me, I'm not the only one thinking about simplifying things a bit right now. Is it the spring cleaning impulse? Is it the tour of the stash - somewhat scandalizing, really - recently posted at Knit & Tonic? Whatever it is, there's a lot of inspiration right now for re-using, or just using up what you've got. The fabulous new incarnation of the Black Purl newsletter, Essentia, is encouraging us all to jump on the "Use what you have" bandwagon during the month of April -- initiated by Simple Sparrow. I am happy to join in! Look, she even made a button for the bloggy geeks.

Using up what you've already got, or re-using something somebody else doesn't want anymore, has always been a passion of mine, though as I get older and tend to have a steady income, I feel less of the financial incentive than I used to. But dang, I still love free stuff. And we all know that buying less stuff is very good for Mother Earth, and April is the month with Earth Day in it (in case you didn't know). Of course, Every Day is Earth Day (TM), so you might as well join in.

In a related impulse, Bugheart is cleaning out the closets and giving away some of her best thrift scores every Monday - get yourself some new old free stuff! So far (after Week One) she has given away some vintage luggage, a Le Creuset tea kettle and the Chococat bag that I scored last week. Another nice freebie: Boogie's compendium of free sock patterns - nothing like a good free pattern to help you clean out the stash. Let's give the earth (and our wallets) some love this month. And please comment let me know about your re-using/stash-lightening projects & where you find your favorite free stuff.

so many monsters, so little time

Ah, knitting. I am enjoying it terribly. I just wish I could focus on getting my shell done for Jay's Celebration Challenge. It's a nice little shell and I like the way it's knitting up, but I just can't keep working on more than a couple of rows at a time. There are so many other things to knit!

At a conference this weekend I finished up a pair of socks for my Secret Pal. It's okay to post the photo, because this is for her final package where she learns my true identity and realizes that all along she's been getting packages in the mail from a left-wing wacko in North Carolina. (This also means that soon I'll learn the identity of the lovely person who's been sending me amazing packages full of chocolate and German yarn - I can't wait! Wouldn't it be funny if she was a right-wing wacko? I kind of think she's probably not, because she sends me things that come from other countries, but you never know...). Any rate, I'm not sure how I feel about the stripes on these socks. They're not stripes so much as blips. I think the color sections should be longer. Other than that, I really liked working with the yarn - it's KnitPicks Memories - 100% merino. You know how I love the merino.

I've also been busy making toys - little knitted body parts are strewn all over my living room, and drawings of sock-shaped monsters are springing up all over my notebooks. Sadly Simon is not so fond of the monsters. He has never liked stuffed animals much, but he was really offended to find a sock monster sitting on the arm of his favorite sleeping chair, and pushed it onto the floor. So far he doesn't seem to care about the bears and rabbits taking shape in my knitting bag, but maybe that's only because they haven't been sewn together & grown button eyes yet.

Why do cats hate stuffed animals? HWWLLB's brother gave us an ambiguous-looking stuffed animal that we decided must be a muskrat. When you squeeze it, it giggles and its head and tail wiggle around. We had to take the batteries out because it was making Simon crazy - he was creeping around the house jumping at every noise. Now that it's been de-powered, the muskrat just holds the bedroom door open, but even so Simon still sneaks past it every time he walks into the room. Maybe I should make a big sock-monster dog that barks whenever Simon goes near Jackie's food dish.

50 minutes

The conference call I'm supposed to be on from 12 - 1 PM seems to have been scuttled due to technical difficulties. So what do I do with the next 50 minutes? Multiple choice response:

a) Head downstairs to join in on the fun at our building's first-ever Tenants Luncheon, which features free food and nice people.

b) Get back to work.

c) Call it a lunch break and surf the web for 50 minutes.

d) Sit here in my office with the door shut and the iTunes on, pretending the conference call is still happening, and knit until 1 PM.

=== timely update (Thursday morning) ===

The technical glitch was overcome & the conference call reinstated, but I sure do appreciate y'all's votes and suggestions. I got the heel turned on the sock I brought along to work, thanks to the wonders of hands-free telephone technology. I would probably have embarked on a blend of b, c and d... too guilty to stop working altogether, too free to not knit or web surf at all. Option a? Sorry, I'm an introvert. No parties with nice people if I can reasonably hide in my office!

bilious

I am becoming obsessed with the idea of making toys. It started over Xmas when I was visiting my cousin, who knitted a whole gaggle of beautifully perfect teddy bears as gifts. They're like Steiff bears - shaped arms and legs, cute little snouts, and wearing little knitted sweaters and scarves. I borrowed her bear-making book because she said she was burned out on them for a while, but I haven't tried making any of them yet.

There are also some great knitted toys floating around on the web these days. The Winter issue of Knitty has the excellent cat doll, Kate, made by Jess Hutch who has a whole world full of knitted animals and robots over on her blog. Bugheart led me to Wee Wonderfuls, which makes me insane with the cuteness. I love going there because it's like crossing into another dimension full of cool toys - the links just lead you further and further into the fairyland. Same with Loobylu - I could spend hours trolling around in her "Month of Softies" gallery. Okay, maybe I already have.

Thusly inspired, I checked out a book from the library called "Making Stupid Sock Animals" and it was good. I made this monster on Sunday afternoon. His name is Bilious, and he is a stomach monster, whose job is to eat all the foul bile and virus bits and other nonsense that's been troubling my stomach. But he won't get ill, he just swallows it all uncomplainingly - hence the stiff upper lip.

I think I'm going to make some more.

One of the things that appeals to me most about this toy-making is the recycling. Scrap yarn, old socks, fabric scraps - this is SO much cooler than running to the LYS or firing up the PayPal account every time I get inspired & want to knit something. I could go a long time making toys from all the stuff we've got lying around here. Speaking of which... got any socks you don't need anymore?

what's going on out there?

It's the third anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq, and I am spending the weekend commemorating the occasion with the stomach flu. Somehow retching and moaning seem to be a fitting tribute.

For an update from inside Iraq, visit the Baghdad Burning blog. She says it's the only "girl blog" from Iraq. I find it quite thoughtful and primarily concerned with how Baghdadis are experiencing the political situation on a day-to-day basis. In her latest entry, marking the third anniversary of the invasion, she tries to sum up why this year has been so much worse than the previous, and comes down to the new Sunni/Shia divisions in the country.

I read constantly analyses mostly written by foreigners or Iraqis who’ve been abroad for decades talking about how there was always a divide between Sunnis and Shia in Iraq (which, ironically, only becomes apparent when you're not actually living amongst Iraqis they claim)… but how under a dictator, nobody saw it or nobody wanted to see it. That is simply not true- if there was a divide, it was between the fanatics on both ends. The extreme Shia and extreme Sunnis. Most people simply didn’t go around making friends or socializing with neighbors based on their sect. People didn't care- you could ask that question, but everyone would look at you like you were silly and rude.

I had assumed that the foreign analysis she describes was accurate, and that the fall of the dictator simply unleashed these pent-up divisions. Instead, the author feels very strongly that the sectarian divisions developing among middle-class, educated Iraqis who, she claims, previously would never have expressed such views, are the results of carefully-planned campaigns by the same zealots who are perpetrating the escalating violence across the country. If she is right, then it seems what's going on in Iraq is not just the civil war that the US government so vehemently denies, but also a culture war.

It frightens me that not only are Americans getting only a tiny slice of the picture of what's really happening in Iraq, but that our leaders' views are similarly limited. Bush admits he doesn't even read a newspaper - any newspaper - except the sports page. How can we expect to find reasonable solutions to this horrible mess we've created when our leaders only hear what they want to hear about it?

I really appreciate this blog (Baghdad Burning) and generally speaking, would really like to get more news with broader perspectives. I like reading the BBC, and while it carries a very different view of the US and American policy than domestic sources do, the perspective is culturally still very close to our own. Not to mention that British and US foreign policy towards the Middle East are not so very different - especially, I'd reckon, when viewed from within the Middle East.

Do any of y'all have good foreign news/blog sources?

fever for the flavor

The man I live with, the Mr. HWWLLB, he is an amazing guy. Some of you know him. Sometimes I think he's a genius. His vocabulary could fill the state of Michigan. He is overflowing with compassion and always has the time to help out a friend.

He also loves to cook. It's all about the flavors. The man can use more spice jars in one dish than most people keep in their kitchens. The thing is, he has, er, interesting tastes.

Tonight he baked a birthday cake for a co-worker, whom he loves dearly. He asked me, what do you think: chocolate fudge cake with blueberry and orange, or with sour cherry syrup? I asked, what kind of cake does your co-worker like? Hm... a wrench in the works. I'm always begging him to just make a plain chocolate something. Without the fancy syrups and powders. I think he must find my tastes rather pedestrian.

Sadly, the blueberry-and-orange-chocolate fudge cake was not a success. I couldn't even swallow my sample - it tasted like medicine. Ick! I need to have a beer now to wash away the taste.

Now he is reluctantly baking a boring old red velvet cake to replace the failed one. It really was, unfortunately, inedible. But I'm sure that his co-worker will appreciate the boring new cake - after all, it's the thought that counts, right?

sunshine is a tonic

This was not a weekend for sitting in front of a computer! Glorious, sunshiney springtime has arrived here in the Kackalack (with sympathetic apologies to those from northerly venues), and not a minute too soon. Actually, with highs in the low 80's, it felt a bit more like summer for much of this weekend, but it didn't look like anyone let that spoil their fun.

We did a lot of stuff like take walks and work in the yard, but all I really wanted to do was get crafty! My creative juices are flowing again after months of the grey-skies doldrums. For a long time now, I haven't really felt like doing much of anything creative, and have just retreated to the couch to knit one pair of socks after the next (not that there's anything wrong with socks...). The sunshine seems to have worked some magic on me.

Saturday morning I went to the flea market to look for some junk jewelry. I promised to donate a necklace to an upcoming silent auction, and my stash of stuff to recycle was pretty low. I found a great old cloisonne pendant, some snazzy costume jewelry and a whole lot of great buttons (in the picture above). Then when I got home, a package was waiting in the mailbox. New yarn!



I'm planning to make myself a vintage-styled shell, and ordered some low-budget yarn. I have to say, this big direct-from-the-mill-prices company may be evil (are they evil?), but I like their cheap good yarn. This stuff is a blend of pima cotton and something called "modal," which is probably made by destroying the rain forests, but it's very silky, knits up with a lovely drape, and doesn't split. The shell is coming along nicely (sorry no pictures yet). It gave me the courage I needed to rip out the doomed cardigan.


Now it's nothing but a couple of balls of yarn again.

Sunday I dragged out all my beading supplies onto the back porch and made the necklace. I like how it came out, and if someone can tell me the correct name for this style (when one end pulls through a loop), I will be forever grateful. I keep wanting to say "bolo," but I know it's not a bolo.


What is it??

Well, whatever it is, it will be going to some lucky person who I hope will bid a lot on it, thereby helping to raise a ton of money for one of my favorite environmental organizations. I do need to come up with a good name for this thing, so please leave me your suggestions.

All in all, a lovely crafty weekend. I hope there are many more of them in our futures, friends. The world needs more crafts.

just when you thought it was safe...

They're baaaaaaaack! For the last two days, the hapless managers of knitting group listservs have once again been receiving 'cease and desist' notices from Yahoo!, thanks to the Evil Seamstress Overlords at Sew Crass/Sew Sleazy. Many of you know the backstory; if not you can go two months backwards in time and get all the details, starting January 12.

Dozens of listserv managers received the emails again this week, that Yahoo! had received complaints about copyright infringement on their listservs from SFSE. Two months ago when all this went down, our girl Debbie Stoller got her lawyers on the line, and these here lawyers advised all the groups to remove the term "stitch & bitch" from their group names, descriptions, etc on the Yahoo! Groups sites. Not because the infringement claims were based in fact, but because Yahoo! does not investigate the validity of such claims, they just delete you (and several groups were in fact deleted for non-compliance). So we made the changes, grudgingly. Here in Raleigh we call ourselves "SnB_Raleigh" (and you know what the SnB stands for).

So what sparked the latest round of infringement claims, since not a one of these groups has the phrase "stitch & bitch" anywhere on their site these days? Nobody's quite sure yet, because the Evil Seamstress Overlords won't give a satisfactory explanation, but one of the current theories is that they searched message archives for the phrase "stitch & bitch" and then issued complaints of copyright infringement because someone dared to type their beloved phrase in an email to the listserv. Some of the group managers went so far as to instruct their group members never to utter the phrase in type again. The rest of us just made sure our archives were set to "members only." I'm actually subscribing to this particular archive-search theory because SnB_Raleigh has received no such complaints, despite many postings on the topic using the phrase, because our archives have always been private (and we screen new members).

But our story twists... Several of the group managers sent polite counter-complaints to the Yahoo! Copyrights division, insisting that there was no use of the phrase "stitch & bitch" on their sites, so the alleged infractions had no basis. And SHAZAM! By last night several groups had been cleared of the complaints. Finally, a point scored by the local knitting groups in this now-seemingly-endless litany of harrassment by the Evil Seamstress Overlords.

What I can't stop wondering is, Why Are They Doing This? WHY??!!?? We don't stand to gain anything (except a connection to traditional women's networks) by using the Stitch & Bitch phrase, so why is SFSE policing it so militantly? The main clue from this current round of cat & mouse is the response message received by a few of the group managers who sent inquiries to SFSE regarding the complaints. Here's what SFSE had to say:

Due to trademark infringement, your group has been removed because of content and graphics on your site. We request that you remove the term Stitch & Bitch from your website to avoid "confusion" with our Stitch & Bitch Café. We will continue to police our mark.

In order to preserve your group and communication with others, we strongly urge you to use our Stitch and Bitch Café under the classification of Stitch and Bitch Groups. If you do this, you will be able to build, expand and communicate with other sewing, knitting, and crochet groups. This is a free service. You will not be charged to use it. However, if you make any derogatory comments or any malicious slams you will be banned and your email and/or your IP address will be blocked.

If you had a trademark, you would do the same. We have noticed that people are doing this now. If for any reason you feel that your site does not fit within these parameters, please respond as soon as possible. We appreciate your cooperation.

visit us at www.sewfastseweasy.com and buy the best beginner sewing book, "Sew Fast Sew Easy: All You Need to Know When You Start to Sew" by Elissa Meyrich, sewing patterns, *Stitch & Bitch**TM* sewing and knitting products, and classes.

In other words, we're the only game in town, kids. Use our forums, buy our new line of "Stitch & Bitch" TM products, or get the hell out of Dodge. Other than a tart challenge posted by Knoxville Stitch & Bitch, the sound of crickets is nearly deafening over on the officially-sanctioned SFSE "Stitch & Bitch Groups" page.

If you're interested in the nitty-gritty, check out the legal background over at the Girl from Auntie.

no discipline

Do any of y'all have this problem? I am essentially a gift knitter. A huge part of the motivation to finish a project is the fact that it is intended for someone else. So I HAVE to get it done; for a birthday, for Christmas, whatever, there's a deadline.

This works well with my personality, because I am basically without self-discipline of any kind, and I am also that special kind of generous reserved mostly for Leos: I love to give people extravagantly hand-made things that they probably don't want or need. I'm also somewhat hyperactive, and knitting is like a meditation that calms me and slows me down; it's not really about a goal or a product, but a process. Having an intended recipient gets me to the finish line. This is like an inverse of the Bugheart gift-making impulse, which is in hyperdrive but less directly deadline-oriented.

So here's where the problem comes in: I can't really make things for myself. Okay, I can squeeze in a pair of socks or MAYBE a scarf once in a while, but this sweater I'm trying to make for myself? Not this winter, y'all. Who am I kidding - it's already spring!


Remember me? From two months ago, back when it was still winter and there was still a glimmer of hope?

Monday night I was working along, trying to pretend that the slow progress was pleasant and meditative and not driving me CRAZY, listening to all the terrible news from around the world (thanks a lot, BBC World Service). And it struck me that the neckline was way too deep. Not the look I was going for. Not the cute vintage cardigan look. So, I tried it on (because Barbara Walker is a goddess and taught us all that we can try on garments at any stage in the process! Top-down knitting - WOOO HOOOO! ahem, pardon me.) and yes, the neckline was way crazy boat-neck too deep. So... I put it aside, but it must all be ripped out.

And it's spring. When will I ever find the motivation to re-design and knit this whole damn thing?? For my birthday? For Christmas? PLEASE. Not happening.

So I went online and ordered some nice summerweight cotton-blend yarn to make a lacy shell to wear under blazers. Yes... for myself. Okay, but here's the thinking: if I design it, and the pattern is good, I can publish the pattern, right? Now, there must be deadlines involved with such a thing, right? Right? So maybe I can knit for myself.

We'll see.

How do y'all do it?

haiku on south dakota

cowboys draw nearer
between them and our wombs: one
ruth bader ginsberg

400WORDS4U

Got Jesus yarn?

Every day on the way to work I walk past this car, which is always in the state government parking lot between my house and the office. This is SO dang North Carolina. Everybody and their granny has a personalized license plate here, and a heckuva lotta them are about Jesus. A heckuva lotta them are also mis-spelled. What I want to know is, if HE DYED 4 ME, where's my stinkin' yarn?? Do I have to wait for the afterlife to cash in?

The other funny thing about this car is the person who drives it - not really who I would have expected. I'll let you all guess as to the sort of person who would pay to have this license plate.

So, how have you all been? I've missed you so much! My work schedule has been keeping me from the internets generally, so as part of my much-anticipated lazy Sunday today (no painters!!), I've been tooling around checking out what all's happened since I dropped off the face of the earth. Bugheart has joined a 30-day photo-posting project, and her photos are incredible, so I highly recommend checking them out. Jay has officially launched his blogiversary celebration challenge, and I am dithering about whether to enter. Can my wrists handle another serious knitting challenge on the heels of the Knitter Olympics?? (You see my medal up there, right? Ahem.) But the prizes, OH the prizes! A highly tempting enticement.

Maybe the challenge is a good idea. Right now I'm just fooling around making some slow progress on a surprise project for someone who I can't tell you her name (Secret *cough* Pal *cough*). I don't want to arouse the anger of the surprise gods, so I'll just show you a little peek at the yarn.


peek!

I'd love some motivation to get moving on the all-for-me merino/silk/cashmere Silk Road thingy yarn cardigan... perhaps the challenge is just what I need. Perhaps.

Lazy Sunday has been great so far: getting up late, chilling with Mr. HWWLLB, veggie fritatta for luch, soaking up lots of sun in the fresh air while doing some yardwork, a quick trip to the store, a chocolate croissant, and any minute now Kristy's coming over to fire up the compact portable steamer and do some serious blocking. Did I mention she's bringing wine? She's bringing wine. And she doesn't care that I haven't vacuumed or tidied up in about a month. Ah, this is the life! Why can't every day be a Lazy Sunday?

country-fried girlfriend

Y'all, I'm sorry I haven't been keeping in touch with you this week. Trust me, I didn't go anyplace exciting. This is pretty much the sum of it.


At the office: work. At home: more work.


Break time: tea and cookies.

Then, back to work. I am so fried.

I can't wait til Sunday, when I will lounge in bed all day with tea and yarn and cats and the vampire book, doing nothing productive whatsoever. It's going to be great. Unless the house painters show up.

Right, the house is being repainted. We found out last Saturday morning around 8 am, while in bed, zonked out unconscious delicious sleeping resting, when there came a knock at the door. We ignored it.

Then footsteps along the side of the house. Maybe a thief. Who cares - go back to sleep. Then, a few minutes later, CLANK. A ladder at the bedroom window, and someone climbing past. Then, scrape scrape scrape on the side of the house.

Let me just say, I am not really very cheerful in the morning. I do not like to be awakened suddenly. Just ask HWWLLB - he has scars to tell the stories of untimely awakenings. So I went outside and met the painter - Lozario. Nice guy. He told me that my landlady had left us a message the night before that he was coming. So I went inside and checked the voice mail. Yes, in fact, she had called Friday night while we were having dinner with some friends, to say that someone was coming by in the morning to scrape the house. Thanks for the advance notice.

Y'all remember Flakette, right? This is the same landlady whose cat we have inherited, and who was AWOL for about five or six months. She's back with a vengeance.

I'm not going to repeat the whole conversation I had with her here, because I can't say my attitude was particularly, well, flattering, to me. She's not so good at reading people, Flakette isn't. After our little chat about the painting, she mentioned to me that she thought we ought to rake some and clean out the gutters. And now I'm really not typing any more of this unlovely story. I think that in future when she calls, she'll be asking to speak with HWWLLB - he's so much more pleasant with nutcases than I am.

So you still need something to read? Go check out Billie's new blog - Hum Buzz Whir! It's great, and she's in a much more pleasant mood than I am!