I think I'm on a Joe Cocker binge :p

Since we're going to be using Joe Cocker's cover of With a Little Help From My Friends for our youth group service, I was listening to that song today. I forgot how much I love that song. I mean, yeah, the original is great, but Joe gave it a touch of soul, and the result is a fabulous cover song.

I'm a little worried that people will be unprepared for the service. I shouldn't worry, really - it isn't healthy. And I do worry too much.

I picked up my library stuff today. Both CDs - Robert Plant and Alison Krauss: Raising Sand, and the Honeydrippers: The Honeydrippers, Volume One - are in great condition. I listened to The Honeydrippers, Volume One earlier, and it's a pretty good album. The book I picked up, Keeping the Moon, is a bit rough-looking, but it's in one piece thanks to the librarians and their wonderful Scotch tape. Also, my dad found a book in the recent additions - a book about Monty Python! I'm still reading Troll Fell and Led Zeppelin in Their Own Words, too, but I'm almost finished Troll Fell. Just a few more chapters!

Another ruff pic, and other random stuff.

The top photo is a recent shot of my ruff. Measuring the spine is a bit of trouble, because of the ruffles. The photo below the ruff is a shot of my dropped stitch scarf, which now has its ends woven in but needs to be blocked. The third photo is of my vest - or, rather, the right front piece of my vest.

I'm thinking that the vest will be good for wearing in the garden or to the library, because I could wear it overtop of a sweater instead of wearing a jacket, and it'll have pockets. Pockets are good.

I don't think I'll be doing much tonight, except for watching TV, maybe reading my library book, probably knitting. That reminds me.. I have to pick up a book and a CD from the library. The book? Keeping the Moon. The CD? Raising Sand!!!! I also have another CD in transit - The Honeydrippers!

Ruff!

I started making a ruff the other day. In the photos, it looks more like a kitty, but it's starting to ruffle. I think it'll add a nice touch to my wardobe. Plus, I'm sort of redeeming myself - after all, I'm supposed to be de-stashing this summer, and yet I bought some novelty yarn! Oh well, it's only three skeins.

Yarn!!!!!!!

Okay, I know I'm not supposed to be buying yarn, because I should be using up my stash, but hey, my stash is small. And as you can see in the bottom photo, they were marked down. I intend to make a horizontal scarf, like the one shown in the book Teen Knitting Club.

Monday's here...

So, Monday's here again. I got a page of math done, which is a plus, and this counts as writing, so that's two subjects done. Here's a video that'll wash away the Monday blues...

Third post today, but hey, it's photos!

Behold, ladies and gentlemen, the knitting of Merenwen!

The top two are shots of my swatch scarf. As you can see, it hasn't been blocked, nor have the ends been woven in. I was supposed to do that this weekend, but yesterday I was busy doing yard work (for money!), and I forgot to block it today.

The third photo is the beginning of the right front piece of my vest.

I don't BELIEVE it!!!!!!

So, I watched the Rock the Cradle finale and, to put it delicately, I'm fuming. How on earth did Crosby Loggins get more votes that Jesse Blaze Snider?! I mean, Crosby's good, as a folk singer, but he keeps trying to be a rocker, and it just doesn't suit him. Now, Jesse....

I'll shut up now.

I took some decent photos, though...

Yay!

Not much to report, except that I'm going over to my uncle's house on the day before Father's Day, which is pretty awesome. My uncle's a wacky guy, and my cousins (his children) are also awesome. One of them is going to art school in the fall!

Plus, tonight the finale of Rock the Cradle is on. GO JESSE BLAZE SNIDER!!!

Also, I've figured out how to use up my blue acrylic - a ruff! I'm borrowing a knitting book called One-Skein Wonders from the library, and it has a pattern for a ruff. I did a test swatch, and it's close enough, so the pattern will most likely work!

The only downside is that tomorrow's Monday, which means I'll have to get back to my math. But hey, that's life...

Cake!

So yesterday was my mom's birthday. I got her a Cuisinart food processor with a mini chopper included, and my dad got her a camera case and a mini tripod. For dinner we went to an awesome Mexican restaurant. It's not one of those places where they only do tacos, burritos, gorditas, etc. It's a really good restaurant, and after eating their calamari appetizer, I don't think I'll be able to eat calamari anywhere else.

I was going to go to youth group last night (it got changed to Thursday this week), but I was so tired. I've been feeling really tired since Wednesday morning. So, at the restaurant, my mom asked me if I wanted to go to youth group or if I just wanted to go straight home. I was bawling in the restaurant because I didn't want to let anyone down, but I was so tired - I felt like I hadn't gotten enough sleep. So I went home. I'm glad I did.

My mom's birthday cake is really yummy - lemon and white chocolate. I had some for breakfast.

I feel better today. I'm probably going to go to the library today, because I have two DVDs to go back, and a CD to pick up.

It's DONE! YAH!

The evil hairy mohair scarf is done. All it needs is the ends woven in, some blocking and something on the ends, like tassles or a fringe. I'll take photos when I can.

I also have to block my swatch scarf. My mom says we can block it during the weekend, which is awesome. I'm so glad that that evil mohair is off my size 6 needles.

I'll probably work on my vest tonight. I have a DVD to watch - the Jeff Healey Band Live at Montreux - so I can watch that while knitting.

My ankle is still aching, but other than that, I feel a bit better now that my scarves are finished and my stomach is full of sugar.

I feel ugh.

I am in no way motivated today. I feel like I have a million things to do, except I don't, really. I do have a library DVD to watch, but it's gonna be late going back. Oh well, the library'll get a quarter, or if it's two days late, two quarters!

I woke up this morning feeling a bit thirsty, but not wanting to get out of bed. So when I finally dragged myself out of bed and got upstairs, I drank some water and watched the morning news for a bit, talked to my mom about Britney Spears and Michael Jackson, then went on the computer, where I read an e-mail about the youth service at the Unitarian church. My mom reckons that I feel awful because of all the pollen - which would explain the sneezing at the computer.

I think I'll be able to watch the DVD today. Maybe not this morning, but sometime today. I'll probably watch it in the evening, when I seem to, I don't know, thrive, I guess.

Maybe I'm just not a morning person.

Maybe I need to watch some Muppet Show clips on YouTube.

Maybe I should stop saying 'maybe'.

Evil mohair! ARGH!!!!

I'm not happy.

I hate my evil pink mohair. 'Tis demonic. I had to go through the agony of fixing a dropped stitch, and then it got worse - I think I had to rip back a bit, and then I just walked right upstairs, handed the scarf to my mom and let her work her magic. It's alright now, but I'm still angry. After she fixed my scarf, I put it away and spend the next minute or two swearing. Loudly.

I think I'll work on my vest tomorrow. Wool-Ease Thick & Quick is a lot nicer that my mean, mean, demonic mohair!

Copycats, I think.

On the MuchMusic blog, you'll see that not only is there someone using the name Jimmy Page commenting, but also someone using the name John Paul Jones, someone else saying they're Robert Plant, and someone claiming to be David Coverdale. Now there's also someone using the name 'Ghost of John Bonham'.

Sounds fishy to me.

I also think it's cruel to use a name like 'Ghost of John Bonham'. You don't do that. So many people admire the late John Bonham, myself included. It isn't fair on his family to do something like that.

Reunion TOUR?

As some of you might already know, I'm a huge Led Zeppelin fan. So when I heard that they might be coming to Toronto, I was excited but also wary, because of all the rumors. According to a blog on MuchMusic's site, they'll be at the Rogers Centre. A comment possibly written by Jimmy Page read that it wasn't happening, and another comment read that he was only joking, and his name is a link to the official Led Zeppelin site.

Two things come to mind:

1. Could this be true - LZ coming to T.O.?
2. Was it really Jimmy who posted those comments?

Well, I'm excited...

Read about it here.

Interesting...

I got a fair bit of knitting done yesterday afternoon. Well, knitting and rewinding a ball of acrylic DK. I rewound that yarn while watching most of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, then I worked on my dropped stitch scarf during Juno, and I worked on it a bit more during Sweeney Todd, which was a pretty cool film. Afterwards I felt like dancing around and singing and squashing beetles like Helena Bonham-Carter. That reminds me... she was also in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, as Bellatrix Lestrange!

It's FINISHED!

Yep. My swatch scarf is done - I just cast off last night while watching America's Funniest Home Videos. I think I finished casting off at the beginning of the Graham Norton Show. I'd take a picture, but it's too dark today. I acted like a complete nutter when I finished casting off - I made my needles sway, as if they were dancing in some sort of romance flick.

Perhaps I'll start a pair of fingerless gloves, now that my size 5 needles are free.

Long weekend!!!

Even though I have absolutely nothing to do this long weekend, I'm still happy because it means that I don't have to do schoolwork on Monday! Our neighbours might have fireworks to set off, so that's pretty cool, although when fireworks go off, I usually have to lock the dogs up, because they get upset with all the noise. Maybe I'll get some knitting done whilst listening to the racket of the fireworks...

Elton John on the Muppet Show!

Dogs

Here are Teddy (black, white and brown) and Smiles (white and brown with button ears) on the new pet bed, which we tend to call the 'dog flop'. They love it. When we got it, it smelled like cedar, so when one of the dogs would jump up we'd smell cedar. Teddy has this habit of 'making beds' - she tries to fluff up this new pet bed, but it's too slick. And she likes to get herself wrapped up in blankets, and it you try to unwrap her, she gets grumpy. And, if I don't keep an eye on her, she sometimes sneaks down to my room (aka the basement) and fluffs up my blankets, which means I have to straighten them again.

And yet, I feel crappy. Maybe it's because I'm having a bad typing day.

Mother's Day!

My mom was happy about my present for her. I got her a soft phone case for her Palm Pilot, and a set of Palm screen covers with a cleaning cloth. I wanted to get her a hard case for her Palm Pilot, but the only one my dad and I could find was a plastic one that didn't look durable. But the soft case is pretty. I'll have to take a photo when I can.

I also need to take photos of my swatch scarf. I've been lazy about that, and it's nearly done!

Mother's Day Shopping - Check!

Yep, it was last minute, but it's done. I bought the gift yesterday and the card today. I won't say what I got her in case she accidentally reads about it here.

When my dad and I were shopping yesterday, he said, "Let's find somebody who works here," and I started singing, "Somebody, somebody, somebody, somebody...", from Somebody to Love by Queen!

Plus, Rock the Cradle is on tomorrow! Yay!

Ugh.....

Today's been a crappy day. Really.

It started in cardio kickboxing class. My ankle started aching when we were skipping (yes, we really do use skipping ropes in cardio kickboxing). I got through that class okay, but at the start of the adult karate class it started aching again, so I left the class. But that was only the beginning...

Our car decided to quit on us. So my dad called for a tow truck, and then he called the garage by our house. When the tow truck driver dropped us off at the garage, my dad and I walked home. With my karate bag.

Ouch.

Evil Songs, Get Outta My Head!

Lately, I've had a lot of songs stuck in my head, and yesterday they kept rotating. One minute it would be Doctor Robert by The Beatles, then a little later it would be something else. Here's the songs that tend to get stuck in my head...

• The Beatles - Taxman
• The Beatles - Doctor Robert
• Black Sabbath - Never Say Die
• David Bowie - Suffragette City
• Boston - Smokin'

Feel free to tell me what songs get stuck in your head!

Adventures with Mohair

I decided that making a dropped stitch scarf would be the best way to use up my demonic, hairy mohair. Because the cable cast-on was the first cast-on I learned, I had tried that first when I was experimenting a little while ago, but it wound up getting knotted. So yesterday, after learning the standard single cast-on when experimenting with another yarn, I started this scarf. I tried it out a few days ago, but I didn't start the scarf 'till yesterday. I'm still not too keen on this mohair (I had to start the scarf over once or twice), but it's coming along well.

Snider Reigns Supreme!

Once again, Jesse Blaze Snider is untouchable, safe from elimination! And he smashed a guitar!




My mom said that it even worked as a ballad, too!

In other news, once again, I got confused with my algebra. It turns out that my mom and I both messed up on one problem. I detest algebra...

Jesse Blaze Snider Again

To get psyched up for tomorrow's episode, I decided I'd post the video of Jesse singing Billy Idol's 'Rebel Yell'...

Kitty in the Bathtub!

After my shower, Mouse decided to jump in the bathtub. She's been known to do that - and when I'm in the bathroom, she'll wait outside the bathroom door for me. Cute. Annoying, but cute.

I still have a headache, and I have a sour taste in my mouth, which is probably from my strange breakfast - a brownie and a banana. But, on the upside, I get to go to the library today!

To Grandmother's House We Go...

So, we had to go to visit my grandma and grandpa today, to get the rest of my dad's birthday present. It turns out that my grandparents also wanted to give me my birthday present early. My dad got two Kit-Kat bars with Dale Earnhart Sr on the wrapper and a Dale Earnhart Sr DVD set. I got two tops - I haven't tried them on yet, because they're drying, but I'm sure that they'll fit because my sister was with them when they bought them. For quite some time, my grandma would buy me the wrong sizes in clothes, but I think that she's finally realised that I have, to put it bluntly, a bosom. I don't fit into a girl's large shirt anymore! But the tops are both in a women's large, so I figure they'll fit. I'll take photos when the weather's nicer and there's more natural light. It's been damp all day, and it was quite foggy this morning - my mom and I both had headaches today because of the weather change. I had aching shoulders too, but I might have slept oddly last night. Or it could be because of the change in weather. Who knows?

A Scarf, Monty Python, and Diabolical Fruit Juice

This is the last photo that I took of my scarf. I've lost count of how many squares I've made, but right now I'm working on a blue stockinette swatch.

Today I was watching Eric Idle's Personal Best whilst working on my scarf, and I happened to have a glass of fruit juice. I took a sip and missed my mouth - I thought that I didn't get any on my scarf, but I discovered a tiny drop on the orange basketweave swatch shown in the photo. It's all right now - I blotted it out with damp toilet paper.

Here's Eric Idle with the other Pythons in this fabulous sketch. For some reason, it cracks me up...