The Pattern Slave

damn you Weight Watchers!

I started this plan on a three month trial. I've been doing all right on it, and it's easy to follow. and NOW, in the middle of the freakin' holidays, the plan will change. On top of that, I'm a couple of days away from the renewal fee being due (the plan details won't be released till after my renewal deadline) and there has been no information about the plan made available so that I can make an educated choice about whether or not to renew.

dull, I know.

But I got sick of paying for the pretty blog since I'm falling so far behind on the blogging thing.  Ravelry killed the blogiverse star...  not that I was  a star or anything.  Far from it.   It's just the tune (Radio killed the radio star) that runs through my head when I think about my poor neglected blog and all the others I used to read. 

I acuired two knitting machines.  One is a second Bond USM that I'll attach to my first one.  I really want to make a couple of clapotis scarves for gifts.  I tried it by hand, but it bored me beyond tears.  Actually, that's not true.  It bored me to the point of wanting to stab my eyes out with my needles.  Anyhoo, I am very excited about using my stash a tad more quickly than I have been.  Which is to say, not at all.  I don't think I've done any serious knitting in a year.  I certainly haven't done any spinning since the class I took right before The Wee Beastie was born. 

Not much to report on the home front -- s chool, Mr. Slave's work stuff, healthy kids.   Lots to be thankful for. 

We allegedly have snow arriving in Seattle tonight.  There were a few flurries today, but nothing special.  Apparently folks are so worried about it that the stores still have bread, eggs and milk.  I guess they don't do french toast on snow days here. 

Wow it's been a long time

Let's see.  The Wee Beastie's Surgery went beautifully.  We had a scare in May where we spent the week in the hospital.  He's all better now.  Supervillain (formerly Little Man) had a rough spring at school but we finally found a good therapist for him.  There's been some improvement.  Slower going than I'd like, but at least it's progress before school starts.  Jillybean will start school this fall, which means the kids are in three schools. and Surfer Boy (formerly Stinkerton) has had a great summer. 

We went to Mexico and had a lovely time.  I highly highly recommend Club Med Ixtapa. 

I spent enough time in swimsuits that I started on weight watchers.  Five pounds so far.  woo hoo! 

I am trying to get rid of my damn blackberry. I've had no problems with it but have been dissatisfied at the lack of applications for it. Now that I've made the decision I can't get my BB to give up all the pictures I have on it, nor my contacts. Verizon won't be able to grab the data and transfer to the Droid 'm getting b/c I'm getting my Droid at Traget and selling the blackberry to them. grrr....

Look out for the pretty ones; they can be a real bitch.

I have (well, had) two balls of yarn.  One was already knit into a plain sock that didn't quite get over my ankle without some coaching.  My error of course, b/c the yarn is never wrong.

The yarn was iffy to knit with but ohsopretty.  Rather than rip it immediately, I decide to try the other ball in a pattern to put off a decision on what to do with the first sock.  After spending hours searching for just the right sock pattern for the yarn, I start knitting a great pattern with a simple cable repeat.  I enjoy the pattern immensely.  The yarn... notsomuch. 

I get about one and half repeats in and I have come to the conclusion that I freakin' hate this yarn and I want to *throw the shit out* so no one else is tortured by its splitty, fuzzy, felty evil that is hidden by the enticingly lovely colors. 

I friggin' hate Mini Mochi!!!!  This shit sucks ass!!!  This yarn as thoroughly pissed me off! 


(On the plus side, I have two fewer balls of yarn in my stash and I've learned to cable w/o a cable needle.) 

I am going to Atlanta this weekend. YAY! Land of Chik-Fil-A, sweet tea, okra and damn good BBQ. Williamson Bros and The Varsity here I come.

I am so looking forward to finding red velvet cake mix at the grocery store since no one out here in the PNW seems to know that it's supposed to be chocolate cake!!

Just some cuteness for the day.

I have restarted the February Baby Sweater for a friend who had a little girl. I'm using Rowan Felted Tweed in a pretty grape color. It's not that hard a sweater IF you're paying attention.

I have a massive migraine this evening. Fortunately, it's just the light & noise sensitive variety and not the visual disturbance & puking variety. Since my usual chocolate trick hasn't helped, I am going to bed as soon as I can get away with it. I should have recognized it earlier and ask the chiro if there was anything she can do.

I need to eat. I'm going to go boil some eggs for some quick protein.

I think I'm going to kill my blog. I'm just not doing anything (or enough) with it.

However, I am going to keep The Wee Beastie. He arrived 11/15/09 after 4.5 hours of intense back labor. The labor was truly only 4.5 hours. I'd nursed Jillybean and immediately started having contractions after nothing for several days. I wouldn't wish my labor on anyone, but it was better than another section.

He was 9 pounds 8 ounces and a 35cm head. One wee tear that we didn't bother to stitch. Same size as Stinkeron - the one my first OB cut me for. (How stupid I was back then to believe the crap my OB told me.)  Again, this was possible because of the support i found at ICAN.  What a wonderful groups of women in the Seattle and Atlanta chapters. 

Sis Boom Blah

I joined a sock club based on the dyer's website gallery & inventory, reputation and a recommendation.  The first month was GORGEOUS!  Four colors that all worked beautifully together.  Totally in line with her repuation and with the work I'd seen on-line.  I was thrilled and really looked forward to the next couple skeins. 

Second and third months, well, to put it bluntly they sucked.  It's not just a matter of the colors not being to my liking, they are pretty colors.  What bothers me is that in both cases it seems like she just took a hank of yarn and dunked it into a second color and said "Done."  It's really obvious that she put a lot of thought and effort into the first month, but the next two don't show that at all.  I know that sock clubs are a risk but I didn't go into it completely blind; I researched her work. 

The question is, do I tell the dyer that she really dropped the ball? Or just sell off the yarn and write it off as a lesson learned?