First Lace

I'm calling this my first lace project here is Branching Out in the blocking stage - this was a week and a half ago. I have to say I'm happy with it - if anyone reading this is looking for a pattern to learn lace on this is it.

Here is my finished Herringbone Rib pattern from Li. This is the second I've made - the first I donated to a charity auction - this one is mine. I love this!! Soft, warm, lonnnnnng and wide. I can wrap and wrap and wrap. It's not blocked as I couldn't resist wearing it when we ended up having serious cold, snow and wind last week.

Here is how we spent our Valentines Day evening. I made it home before MFB and started shoveling the snow and when he made it home he took over. I made the coffee and a tasty beef cashew stir fry (I use raw cashews) and he gifted me with a MP3 player. Happy Dance. Yep no chocolate, flowers, or candy for me. You give me an electronic necessity and I'm a happy knitter!!

Why necessity you ask? I'm sitting in a hotel room in Pittsburgh. I fly out to Arizona and have to be at the airport at oh dark thirty. Last year when I flew to AZ, my carryon contained a laptop, a walkman, recharger, batteries, about 12 CD's, plus two books on cd courtesy of the library, a magazine, paperback knitting and five friends. There's restrictions on the size of carryons so the friends decided to purchase seats for the flight. This time it's me and in my carryon I have laptop, MP3 player, the good book, and knitting. I think my back will be happier than it was last year.

Last year was three hotel rooms, girlfriends car, my rental car, two houses and two airplanes. When I got home I was bragging to MFB that everything made it home with me. Then the library told me I hadn't returned one of the books on CD (unabridged mind you - $$$$). "Are you sure? I know I returned it", I said. They searched through two small community libraries for a week and couldn't find it. They hadn't asked me to pay to replace it - yet. Then two weeks later there was a message on my answering machine saying they had received it in the mail from an airline cleaning crew, and they had no idea how the crew had come across it. Man, did I feel guilty. On my next knit night (we meet at the library) I explained to the librarians that I knew exactly how the crew got it. We all had a laugh about it and they were so gracious about all the work they went through to look for it. I told MFB, Remember when I said how everything made it home with me? Well - I lied". I mentioned to the ladies at the library the other day I was flying to Arizona this week and wanted to check out some books. (Yes I was teasing). Oh airline cleaning crew? You're the best!

Everybody have a safe week - I'll try to pack up the warm weather and bring it back with me and share with you all.

I'm still here

I just haven't had the energy to do much blogging as my work schedule has been pretty draining the last couple of weeks. Thanks for your very nice emails checking in on me my friends, I sure appreciate it.

On the knitting front I finished the knitting of Branching Out about two weeks ago. I decided to try to block this myself, it's currently soaking in cold water in the washing machine. One of my friends from my Knit Night, waving at Billie, told me how to go about this. I'm very nervous about this so wish me luck.

I hope to finish my second Herringbone Rib Scarf from Li tonight and wear it this week and block it over next weekend.

Moving on to how I've been harassing MFB over the last month or so and how it lead to a .....well you'll see.

I've been none to subtle around home about wanting an MP3 player for a trip I'm taking to Arizona in less than two weeks. When I saw Carrie's post where she briefly mentioned a GPS that also has a MP3 player and I believe it also works with a blue tooth I thought hmmmm, portable GPS w/MP3 player - SAWEET. On our recent adventure in Delaware my harassment started to include the GPS. I've even enlisted friends to amp up the harassment. Conversations such as "If you were to buy a GPS any idea what brand you might get" or an email from friends in Canada "We just bought a Gold Wing but we decided to get one without a stereo because we thought we'd get a GPS and a MP3 player, any idea how much they are down in states?" these two instances in particular were priceless. Then during the Super Bowl there was a commercial where a guy is opening a road map which explodes in the car and I say "that wouldn't happen with a GPS" unbeknownst to me that it was a commercial for the exact GPS unit. He's been a good sport for the most part about all this - his usual retort is to send me an email linking to a Volvo he wants which has a GPS built in. I think a portable one makes more sense - for when MFB abandons me on the side of the road rental cars or traveling with friends who don't have a GPS.

What all this lead up to is this:

On the last home game of the Penn State Icers that I am able to attend this year - last Saturday- I decided to pick up a program for a souvenir of the season. In three programs that are given out there are "stuffers", if you will, saying the program holder gets to go down to center ice during the 2nd intermission to take part in a shooting competition to win a gift certificate. (You can see this coming can't you?) I open my program and I'm one of the lucky recipients. I immediately start looking for a kid who would get a charge out of the opportunity. As I'm looking around the biggest kid I see is MFB and I think of the charge he's going to get out of not letting me forget that I embarrassed myself in front of 1600 people - at least 40 of whom we know. I figure I owe him.

About 5 minutes before his broadcast of the game starts I show him the stuffer and I thought he'd fall over from laughing. He asks, "So, do you shoot right or left?". My retort, "like I would know". I ask him how do I shoot a puck and he says "right hand lower on the stick than the left and as you go through the puck turn your wrist over kind of like a golf shot". OK I think, I play golf, badly, but I play it. He says "try to at least get the puck to the goal line". Yes I know, I asked for that.

I didn't tell anyone else about it before hand. Why ruin the surprise - not him he sent an IM over to the arena announcer (a friend) giving him the heads up. Wanted to give him time to pick out the perfect music for me I guess, how thoughtful. Here's how it went:

They give each person two tries to shoot the puck from center ice down to the net where they have restricted the net to a small slot probably 8"x3" and the puck has to go through there. So I, in my tennis shoes step off the carpet at center ice, I know what you're thinking, and take a nice big back swing like in golf and hit a plastic bin that was sitting on the ice and that made me "whiff" the puck. It went about 3 yards at the most - kind of like some of my golf shots. All I could think of was "try to at least get to the goal line". On my second shot the puck made it down to about the goal line but it was "wide right". I know you were thinking I'd slip and fall but I didn't. Believe me the thought crossed my mind. Later he tells me it works better to wrist the shot rather than take a slap shot. Come to think of it, he hasn't really teased me much about it. As I say he's a pretty good sport.

Almost forgot. At my LYS Super Bowl Sunday sale I picked up a skein of Mountain Colors Twizzle in the Thunderhead colorway. I've been looking at this for several months but couldn't convince myself to get it until now. Why? 40% off!