Kat with a K

Okay, 49.

I promise this is the last new yarn for a while, though. (Well, um, until a few days from now. I need some things for specific gifts. But they're big-box craft store type things. Not sock yarn.) My first Loopy Ewe order:

The yarn is my very first Lorna's Laces. It's Shepherd Sock in Edgewater. Between that and the STR Chapman Springs, I'm really feeling the water-based colors recently, huh? It's gorgeous.

But the real reason for my Loopy Ewe order was to get a GoKnit pouch. (You can see it under the yarn. It's a lovely dark purple.) I had looked at them online before, and thought that they might be kind of neat, but I wanted to see one in person first. Caitlin gave me a tour of hers on Sunday, and I was convinced. I've only had it for a day, but I love it already! The needles really don't poke through! It's amazing! I even made a few of my (non-knitting) coworkers admire it.

Speaking of coworkers, the flourless chocolate cake was a big hit. Yay!

Don't you wish you worked in my department?*

Tomorrow, being as it is the last Friday of the month, is Random Dessert Friday at work. It is also one friend/coworker's last day, so I made him his favorite dessert:

And another friend/coworker's birthday was earlier this month, so I wanted to make her a cake. Unfortunately, she can't eat wheat. Luckily, Chris came to the rescue with her One-Bowl Flourless Chocolate Cake recipe. (I mostly followed it - the birthday girl really likes her chocolate sweet rather than dark, so I used semisweet in the cake instead of bittersweet, and milk chocolate in the glaze instead of semisweet.) The recipe included that dreaded phrase: invert the cake onto a plate. I'm always afraid that my cake won't come out of the pan at that point or will fall apart or crack or something. So when it didn't, I was so proud of my inversion-onto-plate skills that I had to take a picture:

And here's the completed cake, smothered in glaze:

I think it will be a yummy Friday at the office tomorrow.
___
* Actually, in case anyone does wish they worked in my department: we're hiring a bunch of people. Leave a comment if you want more info.

Make that 48 pairs.

Remember how I had yarn for 47 pairs of socks? Well, make that 48:

I've been wanting sock blockers for quite some time, and I decided that the Summer of Socks was the time to go ahead and get some. I thought about a bunch of different options, but eventually went with these Blue Moon Fiber Arts pretty carved ones. I love them! I will admit that I got them mainly to help me take nice pictures of socks, because I don't think it's all that necessary to block socks when you wear them, at least most of the time. But since I am planning to finish lots and lots of socks this summer (I hope!), they seemed like a good investment.

While I was ordering from Blue Moon, I obviously couldn't not order some Socks that Rock. This is my first Socks that Rock ever! I dithered for a long time - days - on what color to order, and I ended up with Chapman Springs. I'm glad I did, because as soon as I saw this colorway in person, I fell in love with it. It reminds me of summers in high school and a certain lake where we used to go to swim and Peter Gabriel and October Project and broomstick skirts and so many memories. I can't wait to start knitting with it on June 21.

Oh, is it Wednesday?

(Gah! I had this all written and for some reason it... didn't post. Let's see what I can remember.)

Please tell me I'm not the only one confused about days of the week after the long weekend. But I think it's Wednesday, so let's have some randoms...

1. Still knitting the baby blanket. The mommy nicely suggested I could take a break, since it's currently about 90 degrees where the baby lives. But I'm afraid that if I stopped, I'd never convince myself to pick it up again. And it's sooo close to being done. So I will keep plugging away, and I hope to have it finished this weekend.

2. Speaking of things that will be finished this weekend, I realized last night while in line at the town recycling center for the millionth time that at this rate, it would take me approximately forever to finish cleaning out the old apartment. So. There will be a dumpster arriving on Friday. I am extremely excited about this.

3. I am also watching the mail very excitedly. I have my first Loopy Ewe order on its way, PLUS a shiny new cell phone. (Thanks, Mom and Dad!)

4. Yet another thing to be finished this weekend: a big freelance project. Gah. Can we just skip to June 2 now, please?

5. I still just. want. to. knit. But given all the above, there's really very little time. I'm coping by reading knitting blogs in little snatches of time between other things. I feel like I'm missing some good ones, though. What are your favorite knitting blogs? (And if you are reading this and have any sort of blog, comment! I want to make sure I have you all on my Bloglines.)

6. My baby brother turned eighteen last Saturday. EIGHTEEN. I cannot believe it.

7. I feel like I should be making lists and planning for my cruise next month, but I should probably wait until I get through this weekend (for all of the reasons above). Let's hope I'm feeling a little more sane then.

There was at least one thing in the first version of this post that I'm forgetting about this time. Oh well. I'll post again if I think of it...

Sock-Ease, anyone?

We've known for a while that Lion Brand was coming out with new sock yarn, and I realized today that it's up on their site: Sock-Ease. I've heard a lot of complaining about the colors, but I think several of them look interesting and I'll definitely give it a try. Anyone seen it in person yet? Opinions?

What I Want to be Knitting

I'm having one of those days when really all I want to do is knit, and maybe bake something. Of course, these moods have to strike when I have ABSOLUTELY NO TIME. (That's probably why the mood strikes, actually.) And I specifically want to be knitting things with interesting patterns that I have to pay attention to. It's been all baby blanket all the time around here, and my purse sock is mindless too, of course, and it's starting to drive me crazy. I spent a few big chunks of the long weekend knitting with Caitlin, and she was knitting things with actual patterns, and I was so so jealous. I did pull Arwen out and do about half a row and put it back in my "active WIPs" knitting bag. I'm getting very excited about Arwen again - if I can ever finish the baby blanket. I want to finish it by fall.

But, of course, most of the summer will be devoted to socks. I just got my first Socks that Rock (pictures soon, I promise) and I've decided on the Mad Color Weave pattern for it. And I can't wait to start the Poseidon socks. But I'm also dying to start some sort of really complicated lace shawl. And... I don't know... anything with a pattern that I actually need to read. Please? (I think the goal is to have the blanket done by the end of the week. I hope I hope I hope.)

Random TV musing of the morning

You know, I really want to know how they manage to do their laundry on Grey's Anatomy. I'm now sharing a washer/dryer with my roommate and having a very hard time actually getting anything done. (Yes, I got really spoiled having one all to myself.) And I don't think either of us are being unreasonable about it - it just seems that odds are, whenever I bring a load downstairs, he has just put one in, or vice versa. So how do all three or four or however many people at Meredith's house do it? Especially with their crazy schedules? And all the icky bodily fluid stuff they get all over their clothes?

PackRat on Facebook

If you're on Facebook, have you discovered PackRat? Seriously, it's the most addictive game ever, and way more fun than it seems like it should be. Let me know if you're interested and I'll send you an invitation.

Emergency Knitting Bag

This is great in general, and will be particularly great for anyone who has heard the Yarn Harlot's most recent talk: an Emergency Knitting bag. Love it! They're sold out at the moment, but I definitely want one.

Not Wednesday. Randoms anyway.

Fridays feel like good days for random lists of things...

1. I'm really glad it's Friday. There are big goings-on at work and it's all rather exhausting.

2. I still hate moving. But I'm getting there.

3. Anyone watch the Grey's Anatomy finale? I thought it was actually pretty good. The show seems to be getting back on track.

4. Dewey and the other cats are getting along pretty well at this point. I'm relieved.

5. My brother and my best friend are both dating people with the same name, which is quite close to my name. I sort of want to rename the girl my roommate is dating to this name as well, because I feel it would simplify my life nicely.

6. Did I tell you I finally ordered sock blockers? I'm excited. I hope they come tomorrow.

7. Anyone doing anything exciting for the long weekend?

Things I Am Loving about the New House

I'm currently in a sort of "aaaah I'll never be done moving! I hate this!" mindset so I thought I would make a list of things that I love about the new house. Maybe it will make me feel better.

1. A real shower!
2. Dishwasher
3. Having a yard
4. The freezer automatically makes ice.
5. No upstairs or downstairs neighbors
6. The address (I love the road name.)
7. The huge closet

She won again.

Remember how my friend and I were racing to see if I could finish a baby blanket before she gave birth? Yeah, I lost again. I'm close, though - the blanket is about 70% done.

Welcome to the world, baby T!

The Sock Yarn Stash

Enough for 47 pairs:

I'm such a dork.

So over on Ravelry, Kung Fu Knitting mentioned that her husband seems to think she has "enough" sock yarn, whatever that means. I offered to send him a picture of my sock yarn so he'd know it could be much worse. :) This means that I have an excuse to organize my yarn tonight. I'm very excited. As I mentioned earlier, it is all in bins, and all in one place, so it's finally accessible enough to organize in one go.

And THEN, I was at Target and saw that all the Real Simple office supplies were on sale, so I got a really cute desk organizer and pencil cup. So I get to organize my desk tonight too! I've decided that Gilmore Girls will be the appropriate viewing material for all this organizing - both because Rory is an organizer too, and because I've seen it before so I don't have to pay complete attention. AND I have leftover waffle fries (nacho flavor, sans meat) for dinner, and some Haagen-Dazs Caramelized Pear and Toasted Pecan ice cream to try for dessert. (Thanks for the tip, Jen!)

Add in unpacking and sorting some more of my books (a looong process), and I'm thinking it's pretty much going to be the perfect evening.

I feel accomplished.

As of last night, the last of the stash has moved to the new house. That's part of the accomplishment. But the other part is even more exciting - all of my yarn is now in plastic bins (plus a bit in a box that will soon move to a bin). And all of those fit in my closet. Yes, the same one as my clothes. And the spinning wheel. And yes, it's a big closet - not quite walk-in, but big. But still. It feels so nice to feel like the stash is at least somewhat under control.

Arugula socks done!

At long last:

They're finally done! I love them. They took forever because I pretty much only knit them while waiting in line, at writing group, and other times like that. Yarn is Knitpicks Felici in Arugula, which seems to have been discontinued. Alas. I really like Felici - I'm using the Firefighter colorway now.

Black and white cats everywhere!

Dewey continues to acclimate:

He and Penguin, once of our new cat roommates, were both sitting on the bed for a while. But Penguin kept waving his tail around, so Dewey couldn't help but try to grab it. And, of course, this made Penguin mad. Hee. It was pretty funny.

Progress!

Dewey has moved to the new house! He and one of the other cats are having some issues adjusting, but it could be much worse. He's hanging out in the window next to my desk right now.

Surviving.

Hi! The move is progressing. The movers came for the furniture and other heavy stuff yesterday, and so I slept at the new place last night. There's still tons to do. I'm really really tired. How are you?

Yay!!!!!

Edwards endorses Obama!

Useful Site

Is Twitter down?

I still hate moving. Just in case you were wondering.

Preparing for the Summer of Socks

The Summer of Socks starts on June 21. I'm trying to clear out some WIPs before then. Let's see what I want to get done...

1. Arugula socks. I'm about to start the toe on the second one.

2. Socks for Seely. This is a Ravelry-based project to knit socks to send to David Boreanaz, because his character on Bones always wears crazy socks. I ordered yarn yesterday and should be starting those soon.

3. The baby blanket. Of course. About half done.

4. A light lace scarf I'd like to bring on my cruise in June. That's between 1/3 and 1/2 done right now, I think.

That seems fairly reasonable...

Sheep at the White House!

Those were the days... I wonder who got the wool?

NH Sheep & Wool Festival, Part II: The Haul

I think I did remarkably well at following my self-imposed spending restrictions. Instead of one knitting project and two spinning projects, I got two knitting things and one spinning, but Caitlin gave me permission to make the substitution. And I went over by $2 in the "non-stash stuff" category. But really, considering that the weather was gorgeous and conducive to hours of shopping, and that, come on, it was a wool festival and therefore practically immune to feelings of restraint, I'm quite proud of how well I did.

Merino/tussah blend from the Sheep Shed:

Poseidon sock kit from Tsock Tsarina:

I finally found a new bumper sticker! (Read about my bumper sticker issue here.) Behind it, you can see the Poseidon sock yarn.

Persephone Scarf kit from Ball and Skein:

Sheep creamer, also from the Sheep Shed:

Dangly yarn holder thing from HodgePodge (I can't get their site to load right now):

NH Sheep & Wool Festival, Part I

It didn't rain! That was really the big news today. The weather was ridiculously beautiful - the best I can remember it being for this festival. Erica and I headed up pretty early this morning and got there around ten. We actually managed to be fairly organized this year - we looked at everything and took notes on the vendors we wanted to revisit. I think it was a good strategy, because I managed to stick to my spending guidelines. (I'll write another post about what I got.) We met up with some old friends (including Cheryl and Sara) and made some new ones (hi Caitlin!). We ate the perhaps-now-traditional apple crisp for lunch. It was a great day.

A few pictures:

Cute alpacas:

Rocking alpaca. Isn't it cute?

Pretty bags of fiber:

And we realized while leaving that we had no pictures of sheep, so we made these guys be models on the way out:

Ravelry Store!

The Ravelry store is open! Lots of good stuff. And yes, of course I placed my order before I told you all about it. :) Things are selling out quickly... I'll have to get the totebag when it gets restocked.

Isn't this what the Internet is for?

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

(First seen at Aswim in Knits.)

Politics Links (5/9)

I mostly like this because it uses the phrase "mirabile dictu:" If Barack Obama is out of touch with America, is the media too? Actually, it's more interesting than it sounds. Generational stuff, mostly.

John and Elizabeth Edwards. Speaking out. Or something. In People, of all places.

CNN calls Hillary an alien. Well, sort of.

Pelosi has an interesting version of optimism.

Did Edwards slip and admit who he voted for?

Signing up for Summer of Socks 2008

Thanks to Kung Fu Knitting's post, I just signed up for the Summer of Socks. (Here's the Ravelry group.) I've been trying to avoid knitalongs and stuff for a while, because I just end up stressing myself out about them, but while moving I've discovered (hah!) that I have a lot of sock yarn, and I'd like to actually get some of it knitted up. And this is a nice low-stress sort of knitalong, with no particular number of socks to commit to or anything. I might even have a chance in the Vacation Socks contest, since I'll be taking my socks to the Bahamas. Wheee! Who else is playing?

Fridays are long.

Yeah. Not breaking news or anything, I know, but I didn't get enough sleep last night and it's Friday, so the day is seeming particularly interminable. How is everyone else's Friday going?

Also in the "Annoying, but it figures that this is how the world works" category: this week, when I am ridiculously busy with moving and stuff, I am of course feeling really in the mood to read a lot and knit things and spin and write and do other creative things. Let's hope the inspiration lasts...

NH Sheep and Wool Plans

So who's going on Saturday? Erica and I will be getting there around ten or so, I think. I was considering going back on Sunday, but it turns out that I'll be home waiting for the cable people to come hook up the cable at the new house. Anyway, if you're there on Saturday, say hi! We'll both be wearing bright red patent leather Doc Martens, so we should be fairly easy to spot.

I am going with the following shopping guidelines:

1. I really need some sort of new bumper sticker.
2. I am allowed to buy materials for one knitting project.
3. I am allowed to buy materials for two spinning and/or needle felting projects.
4. I have a $25 budget for miscellaneous other stuff - small tools, goat milk soap, etc.

Sounds reasonable enough, right? And my other big goal is to take pictures and actually post them this year. Really.

Politics Links (5/7)

Here's a nice example of the difference between Obama and Clinton: "The bill for 15 slices . . . came to $26.95. . . . The Democratic presidential candidate handed out plates to patrons and several reporters after paying the bill with cash. He stuffed a $10 bill in the tip cup." He paid in cash, rather than having outstanding bills with small businesses for months! AND he tipped! Really well! Taking notes, Hillary?

My friend Jack tips us off to this nifty interactive electoral college map.

John Kerry wants an investigation of the Pentagon pundit problem.

How to Lose an Election 101

George McGovern switches his support to Obama and calls for Clinton to drop out. The start of a trend?

Huh. Apparently the pick-up basketball game Obama played at UNC broke all sorts of rules. But the NCAA is letting it go. Yay.

A wistful Joe Trippi on what he should have told Edwards back in January.

No previously ocular food.

Slate has an essay up on debunking vegetarian myths. It's pretty great. I should print it out and have some copies on hand when dining out or attending family events...

Ellen Page to be Jane Eyre

Ellen Page (of Juno) is set to star in a new version of Jane Eyre! That's... I have no idea how I feel about that, actually. Huh. I guess it's perplexing. She looks good for the part, but I'm having trouble imagining her being mousy. Or... not snarky. Although I think she's a good enough actress to portray such a different character. I'm more worried about the producer having been involved with The Other Boleyn Girl.

Did anyone hear about a potential Obama/Clinton debt deal?

One of the news stations I was watching last night - either CNN or MSNBC - was talking about rumors of a deal involving Obama paying off Clinton's debt in return for Clinton getting out of the race. Or something. Has anyone read about this? I'm having trouble figuring out how to search for it, because all the terms I'm coming up with are quite common and show up in tons of news stories.

Okay, this is a little ridiculous.

In the past five minutes, I have e-mailed my boss twice and responded to one of his tweets on Twitter. He sits about six feet from me. I could easily (and do often) just turn around in my swively chair and talk to him. (We're usually both wearing headphones, though, so that's a little harder than it sounds.) But that doesn't stop the e-mails and Twittering. Sigh. The twenty-first century workplace...

Politics Links (5/6)

While we're waiting for results...

Tom Hanks endorses Obama

Clinton and the white racist vote

Sullivan contemplates an Obama-Clinton ticket.

Things I Am Learning While Moving, II

I have learned that I apparently sound like the sort of person who has 50 boxes of books. The nice moving company guy I talked to this morning somehow came up with this estimate, which amused me greatly. And yeah, it's probably right on.

I feel ridiculously proud of myself: I scheduled a move with actual movers this morning. This required a few somewhat complicated phone calls, and oh my goodness do I HATE the phone. But I did it! There will be three men and a truck showing up on the morning of the 15th and all my things will then magically move to the new house! Wheee. And my new roommate just called to tell me that the cable will be hooked up on Sunday. Then I have to figure out if I have to do anything special to move Teddy TiVo. Hmm.

But yeah, the moving thing is feeling really really official now. Whee.

Political social networking site

I just discovered My Political World, which is a new politics-based social networking site. I haven't looked around much yet, but I thought I'd mention it in case anyone's interested. My username there is katwithak. You can read about it here.

Things I Am Learning While Moving

People? I have a lot of yarn. I know that won't really be a big shock to anyone, but seriously. A lot. Of yarn. Enough to make me think "Really? Do you have to go to NHS&W this weekend when you already have this much yarn?" But clearly the answer to that is yes, because a) I'm actually going mainly to see people and b) I want to get serious about spinning once the move is done, so I think I need some fiber.

Also? I have a lot of books. Actually, when compared with my books, my yarn seems like nothing. Huh.

Twitter, anyone?

I've had a Twitter account for a while, but I've just recently started using it regularly. (I blame Rachel.) I'm "following" a few of you on there already, but I'm thinking there may be more of you with accounts. Anyone? My username there is katelinnea. Leave yours in the comments!

Where do I go to buy these things?

Does anyone have tips on where to obtain the following:

1) A tea infuser big enough for a whole pitcher of iced tea

2) Those plastic case things that you use to store nice china

Anyone? Thanks!

Baby blanket race progress

Here's my progress so far in the "race" my friend and I are having:

It's folded over width-wise, so there's actually more there than it looks like. :) I'd say it's about 30-35% done. The pattern is Yarn Harlot's Sam's Blanket, and so I took it with me to Stephanie's event at Webs last weekend. She graced it with some guest knitting:

There were also a few pictures of us together, but they didn't come out very well, so I'm going to do both of us a favor and not post them.

Talk about a close margin...

Yesterday, Obama won Guam by SEVEN VOTES. Wow. I love how the Times still refers to them as "Mr. Obama, of Illinois" and "Mrs. Clinton, of New York" in pretty much every story. It's kind of cute.

The end of an era

The singer/pianist at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York - who plays Cole Porter's own piano, no less - is being laid off for "economic reasons." Sad.

Politics Links (5/2)

The Telegraph (UK) publishes a list of the 50 most influential US political pundits.

The Nation has an interesting point about the different sections of the race, both chronologically and the parallel electoral/superdelegate races.

Battling to Be the Next Secretary of State

Time has an interesting profile of Harold Ickes.

Ever wondered what you'd read in space?

Here's a list (warning: PDF) of the books, music, and movies that are available in the library of the International Space Station. There are lots of classics and sci fi, and, I feel, a weirdly large amount of Daniel Boorstein.

Instant queue!

Netflix now has a separate queue for Instant watching! I cannot even tell you how happy this makes me. (We've mentioned how much I love lists of all kinds, right?) And this will let me mark things I want to watch instantly later without filling up my DVD queue.

Why did no one tell me...

...that Chiwetel Ejiofor sings "Whatever Lola Wants" in Kinky Boots? Terry Gross just played a clip of it, and... hee! (I assume this is funnier if you think of Ejiofor as The Operative from Serenity.) Must get that from Netflix soon.

Politics Links (5/1)

This metaphor is really convoluted, but interesting: If a candidate's campaign plane symbolizes that candidate, and those planes are movies, and the movies are set in junior high cafeterias, who's in which clique?

Open letter to Michelle Obama: Can Barack please have a cigarette?

Joe Andrew (former DNC chairman) switches to Obama. And then his Wikipedia page is hijacked.

Can Obama resurrect real conservatism?

Apparently McCain circumvented campaign finance legislation he himself backed by using his wife's corporate jet.

South Dakota is trying to ban abortion. Again.

The campaign has made it to North Carolina, but Edwards probably still won't endorse.

It's May already?

Really? Wow. It seems awfully cold to be May, for one thing. Huh. Although it just occurred to me that that means the Indiana and North Carolina primaries are next week. Wow. After the huge gap before PA, these seem like they're arriving very quickly.

The alarm woke me up out of some very deep stage of sleep this morning, which means that it's the sort of day when curling up on the carpet under my desk sounds like a really good idea and I start counting the hours until I can go home pretty much at the time I get up. (Down to 10.5 now!) I'm looking forward to curling up on the couch with knitting and Grey's Anatomy when I finally get home around 9:30 tonight.

The fact that it's May means I really need to get serious about packing and moving. Ack ack ack ack ack.