Me and My Sweater

Don't faint-two posts in one day.

Thank God this is done. Have I told you how much I love this yarn? And finally, for Brenda's enjoyment, here I am in my sweater and showing off the other labor of love this year: my silver hair. That journey has been almost as long as the one I took with the sweater.

And if any of my relatives comment on how much I look like my mom in this picture, just remember, Christmas is coming and you don't want to find coal in your stocking.

Big 3 Beggars

I've given birth.  Nine months is such a long time but really, it seems to have flown.  This afternoon, at precisely 1:30 PM EST, I finished my pink sweater.  I'll post pictures later but it's cozy, soft pink and warm.  I finished seaming while watching MSNBC which has only made my blood pressure go up.

Wisely having made the decision to drive this time, the Big 3 is back in Washington with their hands out.  I watched a little of the Senate hearings and can honestly say, the whole thing makes me a little sick.  I feel despair at the bleak economic climate in Michigan.  We've felt the pinch of recession here for longer than most of the rest of this country.  It really is dismal.

Today, I've taken notice of where the majority of senators who oppose these loans seem to come from. It's those states marked in red-the sunbelt states.  How much money do taxpayers dole out for people who build and rebuild in areas prone to fires, mudslides, floods, hurricanes, tornados and earthquakes?  Take another look at that map and tell me where most of those disasters occur.  Can you say sunbelt?  Never once have I thought or said the people and businesses choosing to rebuild should not be allowed to do so.  I also take note that many of these same states are the same ones that companies like Nissan, Toyota, Hyundai and Honda call their home away from home.  Hmm.   Now if the Big 3 car companies are ever to become competitive again, don't stop with the loans senators-level the playing field with FAIR trade agreements.  How about we tell those foreign car companies that they can import as much as they allow us to export to their countries?  I've always believed in tit for tat.

Wisely, I've changed the station now and I'm snuggled up in my pink sweater pondering what I should tackled next.   Bolstered by success, I guess it'll be my daughter's green sweater.  I hope to give birth to that sometime in the next 2 weeks.

Canine Cost-Benefit Analysis

Ground white meat turkey breast: $25.00 per week
Shredded carrots and fresh green beans: $5.00 per week
No added salt chicken stock: $5.00 per week
Whole grain rice, steel cut oats, fresh wheat germ: $8.00 per week
Hours spent cooking for the dog: 3 per week

Having a dog that feels good enough to be a makeshift pillow for a midday nap: Priceless

There is not another person on the planet who is allowed to touch this dog's hips. Just his girl Rachel.

All That Remains

It's 99% done. I can hardly believe this. The desire to skip the blocking end of business was overwhelming, but like a good little knitter, I didn't. I think being lazy yesterday and just knitting away with the new skein of a different dye lot tempted fate enough. I wasn't going to skimp on the blocking end of this. I can barely tell the difference with the new yarn and for that, I'm grateful. Incidentally, all that remains of the original yarn, is scraps. Good for the bird nest bag but not much more worth than that.

A big thank you goes out to my husband and Miss376 who seemed to think I was knitting pants. Ha. Do they look more like sleeves now? I think they may look like pink chaps. Just wait until they're seamed. I'm sure they'll look more like sleeves then. Maybe by tonight, they'll be dry for seaming and I can attach them to the sweater (which was finished and blocked last June).

Have I told you how much I love this yarn? It's Yardley by Bristol Yarn Gallery (Plymouth Yarns) 76% Alpaca, 19 % silk, 5 % nylon, 100% mine. I should be good and cozy this winter.

Ruh-Roh

Dear Friends,

I've been knitting this weekend and have found myself deeply in denial over the sleeves to my pink sweater.  Deeply in denial.  From wrist to sleeve cap, I've been telling myself there was plenty of yarn left to finish the job.  This would have been the truth if I suddenly lost about 3 inches of arm length.  Unfortunately, my body has more of a gorilla type arm with knuckles almost dragging the ground.  I'm well into shaping the sleeve cap and have several more inches and about 50 rows to go-with maybe twenty or so yards of yarn remaining.  Duh.

This morning I ran out to the yarn store and luckily found another skein of the same color number.  Of course, I bought the yarn in January so the  dye lot is different.  To the naked eye, it looks the same.  I'm so desperate to finish this project and I'm trying to talk myself out of fixing the problem the right way.  What would you do?  Admit you despise working with this yarn and just knit away and pray they match?  Or would you do it the right way: have another cocktail and alternate rows with the new and the old yarn so if the colors are off, they'd blend and be less noticeable?  So much do I hate this yarn, I'm leaning toward the first option with the fewest ends to weave.

Sincerely,

Hating the Boucle and Ready to Move On

Crapshoot

We used to go to Las Vegas once in awhile-more when my in laws had a winter home there. This is my husband's favorite place to visit. Oddly, it's not the gambling he likes best, it's just the desert, overall action and people watching. At least I think that's what he likes. People in this environment are fairly amazing creatures and make for great study material.

We were at the Mirage one night, getting ready to go out for dinner, when a man at the craps table keeled over. I didn't see him collapse but did see EMS doing CPR. The man was purple from the chest up. Suffice it to say, things did not look so good for this guy. The most amazing thing was that the play around him slowed but never really stopped. Fellow players at the craps table looked antsy waiting for play to resume. Tables around this dramatic human spectacle didn't stop their games. People at slot machines kept feeding their one armed bandits looking for an ultimate payoff and occasionally glancing at the drama unfolding on the casino floor. Maybe they were hoping for a different payoff than the craps player got. Pit bosses looked annoyed and not in the least compassionate-as though this event was cutting into profit. They should have considered taking odds on his survival. Craps man's face was still purple when EMS loaded him onto a gurney and whisked him away. Dead. I'll always remember the dead guy at the craps table, more importantly, I'll never forget the human behavior surrounding him.

What triggered this memory is the event that happened at a Wal-Mart store in Long Island Friday. An employee was trampled to death when a crazed crowd broke down the door to get in to begin their holiday shopping spree. What a horrible way for this young man to die. The worst of the story is that after the tragedy, shoppers were angry they had to leave when police closed the store down. After all, hadn't they waited on line for hours for this place to open? This is why I stay home on Black Friday. Bad tempered and ill mannered people are not something I look forward to during the holidays. Were the freebies and discounts worth the life of a 34 year old man? I think not.

Like Clockwork

Every year, I have to watch White Christmas. I know it's goofy and sentimental, but I like it. I like the beginning, the middle and the end and all the parts in between. I love the snow song on the train and Danny and Vera dancing to The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing. Irving Berlin was a genius. This year, my sweetie bought me tickets to the live performance. He must love me because he's not too crazy about musicals. Tonight, we're going. Rosemary, Bing, Danny and Vera won't be there, but I won't let that keep me from enjoying the performance.

As previously confessed, I like all of the music from this movie. This song though, I like most of all:



What's your favorite holiday movie tradition?