Michaels Sale of Awesomeness!

Yesterday, I went to the Michaels sale I'd mentioned in my last post. It was 20% off your entire purchase, including sale items; but not including things like books, magazines, Christmas trees over a certain height, etc. And I got yarn!

I wound up getting up before my alarm. Somehow, I tend to do that; probably because I'm anticipating the alarm. I had set it for 7:00 and got up at around 6:15, so I had plenty of time to eat and get dressed. I had to get up early because the sale was only from 9:00 until noon (I think), and Mom wanted to get there early so that she could get the yarn she needed.

After helping Mom pick out some colours, I started looking for yarn for the patterns I'd brought with me - Ysolda Teague's Lace-Up Opera Gloves, and Jenny Dolan's Punk Rock Corset Gloves. I wasn't sure what colour to get for the opera gloves, so I picked two colours for the corset gloves instead - Lion Brand Vanna's Choice in 'Cranberry', and Loops & Threads Impeccable in 'True Gray' (I think that's the colourway!). I thought about making the gloves in black and another colour like red, but then I realized that black yarn can be tricky to work with, so I didn't want to plunge into applied i-cord using black yarn. I liked the idea of red and grey, so I went with that. I think they're gonna look great :D I'll still make the opera gloves, but I might use some worsted that I already had before going to Michaels.

I felt really tired that afternoon, probably because I was up so early; so I rested for a bit on the sofa, watching/listening to Robin Williams' HBO special (which, I should warn you, is R-rated). After that, I think we watched the news, and then the Tina Fey Mark Twain Prize special on PBS (which was really great).

That's pretty much it. I'm starting to love my novel for NaNoWriMo, but I feel like it isn't moving quick enough. But I'm excited to write tomorrow, because I have a really good scene in my head that I want to write :D

My arms hurt

But it's not the same kind of pain that I had with my knitter's elbow - it's a mix of muscle pain, two fingers falling asleep, and weird tingling. Advil and Myoflex are working well to ease it, though. In fact, I can take more Advil now.

It sucks, though, because I had a damn good idea for an essay, and I want to work on my Snoopy dishcloth and start my cowl. I might start my cowl in a few days when my arms are better, because the yarn I want to use is a mystery teal-coloured wool-acrylic mix. I know it has at least 50% wool in it, because when I wrap it around my finger and pull, it snaps. But it doesn't snap as easily as 100% wool, so I know it's part acrylic. The colour is lovely, though. When it's made up into a cowl, it'll most likely match my brown coat.

I also have to write up some kind of resume. I don't know who would count as a reference, though. I might ask Stephen if I could put him down as a reference, or maybe Jeff.

I also want to work on my pre-existing stories really badly. But, alas, it'll have to wait.

Well, I guess I'll take more Advil now. Toodles!

It's my birthday :)

I started off the day with loud music. Green Day, to be exact. I wasn't very happy about my birthday. I don't know why. Well, maybe I do. Anyway. Dad had a dental appointment, and came home talking funny because his face was numb from the fillings he had done. Yikes. He bought half a dozen Sicilian cannoli at our favourite bakery for breakfast, but I still hid upstairs and cried. After Mom asked me what was wrong and pretty much told me 'don't worry, be happy!', I went downstairs and ate some cannoli. Dad had a hard time eating his because of his numb mouth - I wasn't trying to be mean at all, but I couldn't help laughing. Even drinking coffee was a challenge for him.

For dinner we went to Mandarin, which was where I went last year. I was going to go to a new Japanese buffet restaurant, but I didn't know how busy it would be because it only just opened about a week ago, so we went to Mandarin instead. I think Mom felt bad because she forgot to buy a cake, but I didn't mind too much. I almost cried when Mom was asking me "Do you want some of this?" a lot at the dessert table, she was so sweet.

I got a camera, an SD card and ten skeins of Elann Sonata variegated in a cute black, pink and white colourway called 'Licorice Allsorts'. I cried again, because I felt like everything still went wrong. But I was happy nevertheless. Still am.

So tomorrow I might bake a cake with Mom, and watch The Soloist, which is due back to the library tomorrow. I have to go to the library, actually, because Coraline is overdue.

Oh yeah. After ripping out my Snoopy dishcloth three times, I restarted it in some of the red Peaches & Creme that I got from Juli as a prize from the 600 party in the teen group on Rav. So far it looks lovely.

Guess where I went today???

I went to the Mary Maxim store's tent sale in Paris, Ontaro! :D

It was pretty awesome. Mom didn't get a lot of yarn - just some Patons Decor in the New Rose colourway - but I got loads of yarn. I got...

6 skeins of Patons Decor in New Rose
6 skeins of Bernat Boa in Cardinal
6 skeins of Bernat Boa in Tweety Bird
6 skeins of Patons Twister in Fruit Loops
6 skeins of Patons Twister in Sungold Twist
3 skeins of Caron Simply Soft Paints in Driftwood

I also got a small pair of scissors, two little notebooks with divider tabs, and a needle case.

The drive there was pretty interesting. This one truck driver was swerving all over the place, so we thought he was falling asleep at the wheel. After we passed him, me and Mom looked over, and he was sitting upright and alert. So now we think that he was having problems with his truck.

And then we got lost twice trying to find the road that takes you to the Mary Maxim store. At first we thought we went too far, but when we turned around we saw that we were going the right way after all, and eventually we were on the right track.

After our shopping expedition, we were going to eat at the family restaurant across the street, but they were lined up almost out the door, so we went to Ancaster to see if the new Texas grill place was open yet. They were lined up almost out the door, too, so we went to Jack Astor's. I got chicken strips, which were good except that they forgot the gravy for my fries, and when I did get my gravy it was so salty that I don't think I'll get it again. Now, I don't mind a bit of salt, but this gravy was ridiculously salty. And their fries were a tad over-seasoned, which was a bit disappointing.

Dad's on vacation now! :D I wonder if he'll take me and Mom to go yarn shopping in Toronto?

Srsly...

Okay, so I'm almost done reading Fruits Basket #2. And Hatori Sohma makes Edward Cullen look like... umm... *tries to come up with something original*... a puppy. Yeah, a puppy. Or maybe an awkward, baby elephant or giraffe. My point is, Hatori Sohma is fascinating.

I should make an avatar that says, 'I'd rather have a Sohma than a Cullen', as I also like Yuki and Shigure. Kyo is interesting, too. And Momiji is adorable. And Tohru Honda is so darn optimistic - I think her optimism is starting to rub off on Kyo, actually.

But Hatori. O.M.G. He really grabs my attention. I guess I go for the sorta-kinda 'bad guys', like Sesshomaru. Hmm. I'm an odd one.

Now then. What else has happened? Well, I did a bit of knitting today, and we went out for breakfast. We went to the British imports shop, but they weren't open yet, so we went to Len's, where I got two skeins of Moda Dea Ticker Tape and a couple of odd point protectors. Then we went back to the British imports shop and got some snacks and such.

I'll probably finish Fruits Basker #2 tonight. Maybe I should reserve #3...

Stripes!

So I did the first set of stripes for my house tie, which makes me happy. My wrists are aching, so I won't be able to knit until later today. Unfortunately, I have no picture of said tie yet. I think I may run out of yarn, so I might have to rush out to Michaels to get some Patons Canadiana in the Bright Royal Blue colourway, which is pretty close to the Eaton yarn I'm using. Maybe not as soft as the Eaton yarn, but very close in colour.

I think I've figured out how the proper measurements for my DADA project. More happy. I might start it today, because it'll be a small project.

I started reading Return to Labyrinth #1 last night, and I quite like it so far. I'll have to send the library purchase requests for the other ones in the series.

I wrote a bit today. I was going to do memoir writing, but then I had a strange itch to write some passive-aggressive letters that will never be sent. Kinda like PostSecret. I think I was inspired by both PostSecret and Don Rickles' book, Rickles' Letters, which is all letters he wished he'd written, or something like that. The first letter I wrote was to my former karate sensei, the second to my Aunt Patti.

I should probably stop writing now, before my hands fall off.

I forgot-!

I totally forgot to blog about the prize yarn from the 600 party!

I won some Peaches & Creme cotton in two colours (black and red), two of each colour, from Juli. I love it. It's much softer than Bernat Handicrafter. It's such a pity that I can't get Peaches & Creme here, though.

I went to Dr. G's today to have the stitches taken out of my mouth. It didn't take as long as I'd thought - I think it took longer the first time, though. Maybe I had more stitches the first time. Anyways, I tried putting the flipper in, and he tried, but no luck. It won't fit. So, he told me to wait until the rest of the swelling has gone down before I try putting it in again.

Dad put the swap package for the Valentine's swap in the mail for me. I don't think it'll get to my swap partner by Valentine's Day. God/Goddess, I hate Canada Post.

So here's what's new.

1. We got a phone call from Uncle Brent on Monday - Grandma had a stroke. I wasn't expecting this, but it didn't surprise me that much, because her health isn't the best - she had been sick quite a bit as a child, so that must have taken it's toll on her. Grandma and Grandpa are in Arizona at the moment, so none of us can visit her - Aunt Patti's flying down to see her, but hey, good for her. We don't have the money to fly down, so...

2. I found out last night that a girl in one of AJ's classes got hit by a car. She's in the hospital with a broken pelvis and brain trauma. It could have been prevented if the superintendent hadn't cut door-to-door school bus service for kids in the magnet program, because she was trying to catch a MARTA bus when she was hit. I found out from my mom that they did the same thing here, with our gifted program, making kids either take public transit or have someone drive them, so when my sister was in middle school, my mom had to drive her.

3. It's so cold, and my mom's so exhausted from the news of Grandma's stroke, that she's not sure if we'll get to the knitting meet-up at Second Cup tonight. I'm not too bothered about it, though, because of the current situation...

4. The cat has taken an interest in stealing my flipper (removable fake tooth), so now I have to snap the lid of the case down and put it up on the shelf so that she stays out of it.

5. On the upside, I reorganized my yarn stash so that my acrylic and acrylic-and-wool blend yarn are seperate from my 100% natural fibre yarns, like my green aran superwash. I still have to move my novelty yarn into a better bin, but the bin I want to use is drying in the laundry tub.

6. Also on the upside, Max has invited me and a bunch of other people over to his house later in the month to watch episodes of Firefly back-to-back :)

I finally got around to taking photos!

So I finally for around to taking some photos of the yarn I got in my RAK.

First, the Lion Brand Fun Fur Solid in Ivory:




Next, the Lion Brand Fun Fur Stripes in Copacabana:




And finally, the Bernat Boa in Phoenix:




I also took a photo of my yellow skinny scarf:




My eyelid looks blue in that photo :p

And I also took a photo of my short rainbow skinny scarf:




Letterman's on! Yay!

They're crummy photos, but hey, they're photos!

First, some Patons Be Mine in colourway 'Cuddly Blue'




And now some Be Mine in 'Lovely Lilac'




Some S.R. Kertzer On Your Toes 4-ply in 'Carousel'




And finally, some Patons Pearl Twist. I don't know the name of the colourway.




I bought the Be Mine and the On Your Toes at Len's with the 'Angela Money'. The Be Mine was on sale, and I found out that it's discontinued.

I don't know WHAT is in nanimo bars, but they're good!

More on nanaimo bars later.

So I went to church today. It was okay. It's just felt so phony since the minister was forced to resign. There was a potluck after the service, but we didn't stay for it because my mom had a NaNoWriMo meet-up to go to at a local cafe. I went with her, and I've decided to do NaNoWriMo this year - and yes, Dianna, I know I'm crazy ;) The folks who came were pretty cool. Mom and I each got a chai tea - well, actually, Mom got two. I don't know what my brother was talking about when he said that the coffee at the cafe is expensive, it's pretty reasonably priced to me. But then again, he's probably used to cheap Tim Horton's coffee... Anyway, I got a nanaimo bar later, and Mom got a tart. I actually started writing stuff down for a story, so it's lookin' good. It's mostly an outline at the moment. Actually, I have to get my outline out of Mom's purse, because she let me use her notebook to write stuff down. I was going to bring a book with me, but I forgot.

The knitting's going good. I made a teeny scarf out of my leftover rainbow Red Heart Traditions. It turned out shorter than I'd expected, so it's more like a neckwarmer. It kinda looks like one of the girls' Chilton ties from Gilmore Girls actually! I'll have to take photos of my knitting when I remember to...

Crap, I gotta finish Justin's scarf. I still have time, though.

I also have to start swatching for Breanne's headband.

Anyway... I started another skinny scarf with my yellow Red Heart Kids. And I'll probably make lots of skinny scarves with my acrylic. I can't believe I didn't think of this before!

I've almost finished watching season one of SNL. I think I have only one episode left to watch. Hehe. It's gonna be almost two weeks overdue!

I have a bunch of stuff waiting for me at the library. Mostly CDs, but a book on Photoshop CS3 is there too. After I pick that book up, I'll have to make a new badge image for the Tamora Pierce group on Rav.

I have to do math tomorrow.

Blah.

edited to correct my bad spelling

The Holiday Weekend in a Nutshell, Part 2

Time for part two, folks! :)

Sunday (yesterday)

Dad had to work again. Katie and Dan went to IKEA to eat the breakfast and look for stuff, so me and Mom had the house to ourselves. We watched SNL. Katie and Dan came back in time for the four of us to go to Len's Mill Store to buy yarn. We were there early - they weren't open yet. So we went to the nearest Tim Horton's to get something to drink (Mom and I got tea, Katie and Dan got chocolate milk). What was really funny was that an older couple drove into the Len's parking lot, and the woman got out to check the hours on the door, and was motioning to her hubby to park. It was cute. We were all laughing.

I bought some S.R. Kertzer On Your Toes and some marked down Patons Be Mine, using my money from The Other Grandmother (or, as I called it, 'The Angela Money'). It cost less than I thought, actually. I thought I'd have to pay a little over $10 for the On Your Toes, because I thought it was a print. It was actually considered a solid, so I had about $2 in change, plus the coins already in my changepurse. I might have just enough change to pay my library fines, but Mom said she'd pay them anyway. Katie got some Patons Decor.

Katie and Dan left for Grandma and Grandpa's before Dad came home, because they were eating dinner there. Dad came home at around 6:00-ish. We left shortly after. I was in casual clothes - my denim cargoes, my toothpaste green t-shirt with trees and stuff and 'Vernon Canada' printed on it (I got it from Katie), my green-and-blue plaid flannel shirt and my fluffy pink socks. Juno chic, with a touch of super-cute anime girl. Mom made cupcakes, but we didn't bring them with us because they were too warm to travel.

Aunt Patti and Becca's dog, Chelsea greeted us when we arrived. She's one of Bailey's puppies (Bailey, in case I haven't mentioned before, is my uncle's yellow Labrador), and she's rather cute. Everyone was still eating when we arrived, actually, so we sat by ourselves until they finished eating. I spoke with Justin for a bit, and Dad paid Chelsea some attention, which caused the coffee table to flip over. Justin's sock got covered in some kind of dip, but luckily, my pink socks were spared. I thought Patti was rather rude when she moved Justin's dip-dipped foot onto his lap. When he pointed out that his sock was soiled, she said, "Are you renting those jeans?" When he said he owns them, she replied snidely, "Then they can go in the wash." Uh, you don't talk to someone like that, Patti. Either before or after the table-flip, Patti said something about a fan being in the basement years ago for ventilation when they'd smoke in the basement, to which Uncle Brent replied, "That was only at your parties." ZING! And Dad said something like, "Is that what this burn mark here is from?", and he pointed at a spot on the carpet. Patti must've said it was at a New Years' party, because Mom said to Dad quietly, "It wasn't New Years', it was her sixteenth birthday party!"

I love having a blog that my extended family doesn't know about :D

So anyway, we ate some of the Pumpkin Pie Blizzard Cake, which had candles on it for my grandma's birthday. I'm not sure if her birthday was that day, or was coming up, or had already passed. I was feeling too bitter to sing 'happy birthday'. I later found out that Jack, our family friend who is in his nineties, told Katie, "You deserve a medal", because Katie made the cake. I thought that was so sweet of him.

I didn't get to talk to Breanne much, because she felt sick and went upstairs to lie down, but I did get to say "Nice shirt" to her, 'cause she was wearing a 'The Wall' shirt. I actually had a conversation with Becca, which was a bit surprising. She said she was reading Twilight, and I said that I liked it, but I would've liked it better if there wasn't such a hype, and that I don't think I'd own it (I might own it, but I'd rather buy other books first). Anyway, she told me that she's liking it, and that she's going to continue reading the series.

Grandma had these bags that someone she knows made, so she offered them to us. I picked one with lots of pockets, perfect for knitting projects. It has a flowery design on it, kinda like an old fashioned table runner, but I like it. Mom got a bag made out of fabric with saddles printed on it, and Katie got the bag with leaves printed on the fabric. Becca wanted Katie's bag so bad, and she didn't like the other ones. We went out to the car shortly after, and it was quite foggy. The car was slightly damp. I found out, to my disappointment, that I'd missed the beginning of The Legends of Classic Rock. I'll have to catch it on Saturday morning. When we got home, Dad moved the table downstairs and we ate some of the cupcakes. While everyone else was watching True Blood and Dexter, I went downstairs and read with my headphones on.

Monday (today)

Katie and Dan left close to noon. She took some of the cupcakes with her. Dad washed the dishes, and I dried, but when I opened a cupboard to put a muffin tin or something similar away, we had a slight avalanche. So that cupboard has to be reorganised. Yay. Other than the muffin pans and things on the table, the kitchen is clean. Dad deflated and packed up the air matress, and then moved the elyptical so I could get to my computer! Yay! I have eaten:

Two slices of pie (one pumpkin, one cherry)
Two strips of bacon
A bowl of mashed potato casserole mixed with gravy.

I have drank:

One glass of water
One glass of chocolate soy milk
One can of Pepsi

That's just today. I don't want to list everything I ate on Saturday and Sunday...

That darn cat

Mouse the cat has been quite a little madam lately. This morning, she kept picking on the dogs - even Goldie, who gets in between the cat and another dog to make sure that the cat is okay! Goldie's quite protective of the cat.

Mouse also tried to get a second treat this morning. Every morning, Mom gives the cat a treat and the dogs each get a treat, too. But this morning, I got up to let the dogs out, so I gave them treats instead of Mom. Mom came down later, and Mouse was meowing at her, asking for another treat, the little brat.

So, I'm not sure when youth group starts up again. I asked an advisor if there had been meetings, and he said no, but we'd be starting up soon. I haven't heard anything else since, but I'm sure he'll tell me when everyone meets up again.

I'm gonna have to keep Twilight out longer. I can't renew it, but I'm willing to pay the fines - I still have birthday money from the grandmother I've never met in case my fines get to be expensive. I remember one time, when I was a kid, we had two bags of library books to go back, and Dad was supposed to take both back, but only took one. So I had about $7 in fines. Ouch. I have only $1 in fines (two DVDs were two days late going back), and because Twilight is a teen fiction book in the library system, it should only cost me 10 cents a day, which is the fine for children's fiction. Either that, or it'll be the same as adult fiction, which is 25 cents a day. I hope it's 10 cents, that way I won't have to dip into my birthday money if I have the book out a while. I still have about $3 in change, though, so I should be good for paying fines.

So Mom and Dad are out shopping at Wal-Mart. I wanted to come with them, 'cause they have Bernat Baby Sport on sale, but Mom wanted me to stay home in case they did Christmas shopping. Okay, I'm cool with that. As long as I get to the library by tomorrow afternoon, otherwise the DVD on Ahmet Ertegun that's on the shelf for me will go back. Not fun.

I'm going to visit my sister tomorrow!!!!

So tomorrow Mom, Dad and I are going to London Ontario to see Katie and her boyfriend. And I get to meet their cat, Jeffrey! I saw the photos that Katie e-mailed to Mom, and he looks like he has Siamese in him. He looks adorable. I'll take my camera with me so that I can take pictures of Jeffrey.

Also, a book called It Girl Knits is on order at the library! There's so many interesting new books that just got added, but too many for my list. It's already full. Thankfully, though, I have two items in transit, so I can free up my list a little.

I worked on Justin's scarf today. I have to take another photo of it soon, because it's progressed since the first photo. I'll have to start the second skein soon.

Yarn photos and a Beatles video

It turns out that I did not get two skein of the black. They're both black, yes, but one has differect colour flecks. One has bluish fleck, the other more reds and yellows (shown above). Sorry for the mistake.

I also got some Berrocco Optik, and lovely sock yarn.

And now, for the Beatles portion of the post!

Yarn sale!!!!!!

Pictures 1 and 2: Circus (don't know the company name).

Picture 3: blue Rowanspun.

Picture 4: orange Filtes King Event.

Picture 5: grey Rowanspun.

Pretty awesome, eh? I got five of the blue Rowanspun, four of the grey Rowanspun, one of the blue Circus, two of the black Circus, and eight of the orange Event. I got more yarn, but I can't fit any more photos in this post, and some of the yarn photos I took didn't turn out well, so I'll take new ones and put them and the ones that wouldn't fit here in a new post.

ETA: Unfortunately, I did not win those Rush tickets. Shame.

The hood is off the needles!

It's not a very good photo, but it's the finished project!

I wasn't sure if I'd get it done today, because I sliced my thumb on a can lid. I was opening a couple cans of chili, and one can had a pull-off lid and the other was a standard can that needed to be opened with a can opener. So I got the lid off and was rinsing off the lid that I had to get off the standard can, and I accidentally cut my thumb. It's not that bad a cut, so I just cleaned it and put a knuckle band-aid on it, even though the cut isn't on the knuckle - it's on the pad of my thumb, which means I won't be playing Final Fantasy VIII for a few days.

Anyway, I was worried that the yarn would get caught on this band-aid, so my dad told me that there was two first aid kits downstairs. So, I brought one up and found a fingertip bandage (not Band-Aid brand, just a generic brand), and put it on. I managed to do the three-needle bind-off on my hood, and now it just needs ties! I think I'll use my blue chunky for the ties, because the blue will go well with the grey.

Excellent :D

I'm feeling a bit better. I managed to write a bit in Microsoft Word - I worked on my story, and on a separate project. I won't say what that project is, I'll keep you guys guessin' ;)

My thanks to Taryn and AJ for their sympathy :)

So I got the news a few minutes ago that Germany beat Portugal in the Euro Cup! Happy! I'm part German, so this is pretty awesome.

Also, two CDs are in transit - Queen Rock Montreal and a Stevie Ray Vaughan CD.

Plus, my mom said that after I finish up my math tomorrow, she's letting me take a two-week break! I'm still gonna be doing math over the summer, though. I need to, really, because I'll most likely forget a good chunk of it this summer. Also, the tent sale at one of the LYS's is coming up shortly! Yeah, I know I'm supposed to be de-stashing, but it only comes once a year.... :D

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.