Raspy!

Ha! I am most pleased. The body of Raspy is done!

Check it out. Lovely raglan sleeve insets. Nice runs. What? Nice RUNS? Yup. See:

Don't panic. They are supposed to be there.

I'm thinking I will knit bothe sleeves at once. That way I'll only have to read through the directions once. The best way that I can figure to do that is to kit from 2 balls of yarn. One for each sleeve. Does that make sense? Any experienced 2-sleeves-at-once people out there have any suggestions?

I'm off.....or perhaps on, sleeve island

Ta!

work Irritations

another installment of "irritating things that happened at work". This time around your lovely pharmacist was working at a different "Acme Pharmacy" than the last time.

Prescription for Oxycontin comes in. Is very carefully filled. Is double counted to make sure pills are the correct number. other details are checked. Prescription is given out to customer. Customer starts blathering on about how he talked to doctor because he is worried about being robbed of these meds. That is why he virtuously only wants 2 weeks at a time. Client goes home with meds.

Calls pharmacy 3 hours later. Claims to have been shorted 15 pills. Technician double counts remaining inventory and we compare what we have to what we SHOULD have. It is exactly right. Besides, we double counted the pills because this client has pulled this before. We insist that he got correct number of pills. He says we didn't. We continue to insist that not only did we double count the pills, but our current stock is exactly right and we keep very close eye on this type of stock. He then says "Oh. Maybe my friend that came over took some. He's done it before." Some friend, eh?

I want a vacation!!!!

Ciao

Knitter's Treat Questionaire

Alrighty then! I joined the Knitter's Treat Swap. This means I shall now post the answers to the questionaire!

1. What's your favourite type of yarn? Something with silk mixed in is always nice! (duh) Bamboo is nice too!
2. What's your least favourite type of yarn? Sisu brand sock yarn
3. What's the first thing you do when you visit a new yarn shop? Head for the bargain bin.
4. What other crafts do you do / would like to do? I can sew. Not well, but there you go.
5. What magazines do you currently subscribe to? None. I buy Interweave Knits and Vogue knitting on a regular basis. Occasionally Harper's Bazaar.
6. Put this type of magazine in order of preference:Knitting / Crochet / Other Craft / Food / Home / Fashion / Celebrity Gossip / Garden
Here goes:Knitting/Fashion/Food/Garden/Home/Crochet/Other Craft/Celebrity gossip
7. What items do you like to knit / crochet? Have yet to finish a sweater. Enjoyed blankets, fingerless gloves , shawls and socks.
8. Are you allergic to anything? Nope.
9. What do you like to* smell of?(*This is not a typo. The question is: What do you like to smell of) Vanilla
10. What's your favourite way to relax? Reading science fiction/fantasy or knit, depends on what is stressing me out. And if I have a new book....
11. You're stood in front of a Victorian style sweetshop, an Italian cafe, an old fashioned bakery and a dainty tea room. Where do you go first? Old fashioned bakery.
12. What do you come out with? Still warm freshly baked croissant or bread.
13. Where do you go next? The Italian cafe for gelato. Lemon and chocolate gelato on the same cone. Half and half, to be precise.
14. Any other words of wisdom for your pal? I dislike tea and coffee. I use hand creams like they are going out of style. Chocolate is fab. when I bring knitting to work, it travels in a plastic grocery bag. I have a weird tendency to hum songs when I first get out of bed. Whether I like them or not. It usually takes me an hour or so to even realize I am doing so!

What ELSE I've been doing.

My days have not been filled only with peeing cats. Hard as that may be to believe. I am still working lots since I want to take time off to go to Italy. Being as I am self-employed, that means I have to have enough money in the bank to get me through the vacation time. Hence, working like a maniac.

With joys like the following:

Me: Acme Pharmacy, pharmacist speaking

Voice on phone: thirteen twenty-nine forty-two

Me: Is that a prescription number you would like a repeat on?

Voice: (sounding aggrieved) well, YEAH.

Me: And who is the prescription for?

Voice: Me!

Me: Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name. Could you repeat it please?

Voice: (mumbled)jawndo

Me: Pardon?

Voice: (speaking with exagerated slowness) j o h n d o e

Me: Okay Mr. Doe, will you be picking this up?

Voice: Ummm, probably...yeah...after, um....I go...you know....ummm, get groceries.

Me: Thank you. Good bye.

Rude customer that doesn't even start out the call with "hello" and gets pissed off when I ask for information I need to make sure that I am filling the right pills (prescriptiion numbers get garbled sometimes) and that it isn't a delivery. And that is pretty much par for the course...

I can't wait for vacation.

But I have knitting! Got some done at work. Hee hee!

My Twisty Turns wrap continues. 2 hanks into it. I estimated 8 for the whole project. Might not need quite so much. Of course, I may be jinxing it right there....

Pagan doesn't get what the fuss is. She thinks the yarn is much more interesting BEFORE it is knitted up!

Ciao

What Did YOU do today?

Lets see....I got my hair cut and coloured. I got my new hearing aids adjusted. I went to get my nails done. I did some shopping at the mall while I waited for my nails to dry.

I bought a lovely top and a nice pair of linen gaucho pants with a matching jacket. This is what I am calling my "travelling outfit". I plan on wearing it on the flight to Italy. Yes, I know linen wrinkles. But I want to be comfortable and not sloppy looking. This fit the bill. A little wrinkling is a minor problem....

Then I stopped by the grocery store. Came home. Prepped for dinner.

Then it was time to bring Micha to the vet. I chased her down. Picked her up. Carried her down the stairs to where the carrycase was. She peed on me. Yup, you read that right. She freaking peed on me! So I stuffed her into the carrycase and ran upstairs to change. This is the first time she's done that. I have taken her to the vet on a monthly basis for 29 months. Today, she peed on me. Yuck.

The joys of having fur-babies.....

Sevens

Uh oh. I've been tagged. By Danielle.

Seven Things to Do before I Die
1. See the Grand Canyon
2. See an erupting volcanoe
3. Retire.
4. Knit a blanket
5. Fly in a hot-air balloon
6. Learn archery
7. Travel first class

Seven Things I cannot Do
1. Sing
2. Dance.
3. Be quiet.
4. Hang drywall.
5. Eat fish.
6. Wrestle
7. Train cats


Seven Things that attract me to... Kingston
1. It's not -30C all the time.
2. It's pretty in the summer
3. There's lots of little lakes all over the countryside.
4. You can see wildlife occasionally that is bigger than a squirrel.
5. You can visit Ottawa, Toronto or Montreal without a lot of trouble.
6. Lack of industrial pollution
7. My hubby is from around here.

Seven Things I say
1. Dough-brain!
2. That's why we check 'em.
3. Really?
4. Bother!
5. Sammich (for sandwich)
6. Who's hungry? (said to the cats at feeding time)
7. Na na na boo boo!

Seven good books
1. Dies the Fire by S.M. Stirling
2. March to the Stars by David Weber.
3. The Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon
4. The Last Herald Mage by Mercedes Lackey
5. Diana Tregarde Investigates by Mercedes Lackey
6. Anita Blake Vampire Hunter by Laurell K Hamilton
7. Protector of the Small by Tamora Pearce

Seven Good Movies
1. The Princess Bride
2. Tank Girl
3. The Fifth Element
4. European Vacation
5. Hoodwinked!
6. Die Hard
7. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels


Seven Blogs to Tag
This time around, I think I will let the usual suspects tag themselves. Or not. Y'all know who you are!

Placeholder

I gots no knittin' fer y'all.

But this is kinda cute/funny.

Ciao

See?

I do too knit! Not very much lately, but still.....However, I am pleased to report on the progress of Raspy today! I have finished the front, err, the back, errr, ummm, well, the front and back are exactly the same. So you can see how it would confuse me. But the fact remains that one side is completely done!

And the other side is rapidly approaching done-ness too!

Hopefully this part will go quick since it is decreasing. Then we move on to the sleeves. And the washing. And the seaming....

Ciao

Lots Going on Here

So, there is lots of stuff going on here. Just not much knitting! I bought plane tickets to go to Italy. I am working alot! I am trying to plan out what I want to wear on vacation. And figure out what kind of presents to bring the relatives in Italy.

That last one is giving me and my sister some trouble. Whatever it is has to be sturdy, since the workers at the airport are not gentle with the luggage. The item must be something interesting, since bringing a commonplace would be silly. And what on earth makes a good present for young men in their early 20's ?????? We have some ideas, we'll have to see if they pan out.

And lastly, a news story caught my attention. How many times have we seen this type of thing? Mom ( or dad) leaves child in car "just for a second" while they run a "quick" errand. In this case, it cost the little girl her life. Somehow the girl got her head caught in the power window in the vehicle. It killed her. Now the mom and others are campaigning for something called an "auto reverse" device on windows. It would pull the windows back open if it hits an obstruction. sounds like a good idea, but the problem here is NOT that the car window did not have one of these devices. The problem is that a child was left in a vechicle unattended! If mom had just taken the kid with her, there would have been no death. So, while I feel for the mom, the problem is not with the car. The problem is that mom did not do her job well. Unfortunately, it ended very badly. It's tragic. Application of a little common sense would have avoided this.

Ciao

Ranting and...Knitting...Really?

First, a rant. The stupid genre of "work" (and I use the term loosely) called "self help" is really bugging me. The latest is the dumb-ass book "the secret". (I am not capitalizing this self-aggrandizing shit) It isn't even original. It is a compilation of other self help books. With a basic message that you have to make things happen if you want them to happen. Sounds good, eh? But wait. It also tells you that the corollary is that if bad things happened to you, you attracted them too. Now, you could say that this is also true. I would say that this is true in a very limited sense. There is an article here that is quite interesting. The part I find particularly awful is that when the self-help idjit was asked how something like 9/11 could happen, then she said that the 3000 people that died "attracted" the death. Probably by fear of being attacked.


Really? And the many people in Darfur also "attracted" their fate? What about Kosovo? And the 16 year old girl who was shot while doing some boxing day shopping? They all attracted their fate? By not thinking positively?


Fuck off. This is the trap of self-help books. They make you think that there is something wrong with you. When in reality, it is just, well, reality. Sometimes you can dodge the truck that is heading for you. Sometimes you can't.


End of rant.





On to the knitting! Yup, I said knitting. I actually played with string and sticks. here's proof.



That's Raspy! Not done. I'm still working on the raglan decreases.

Not a great shot of the decreases, but it IS proof! It was so nice to just pick up my knitting and go. Pagan came around to see what I was doing. Micha came to visit too. And then we all settled down to do some comprehensive "knitting while in a kitty pile". That's what my husband calls it when we all snuggle together. "Kitty pile"

I'm off to see if I can start another kitty-pile!

Ciao

Micha In the House.

Wait. Were we talking about something???

Hmmm. Must not have to do with food, I'd remember that. Wait. Food!

Momma! Feed me! I'm starving....

What's that You Say?

What??? There's still no knitting?

Fine, I'll take a bath!

See if I care. Pagan, apparently, is rather disgusted with the lack of toys yarn around here.

I'm off to sleep. Yes, I know it's early. But the time change thingie has whipped my butt.

Ciao

Nope, No Knitting Here.

The title is correct. No knitting going on. Lots of working. But no knitting. My bank account is happy, though.





Too tired tonight to knit. The "spring forward" time change thing always screws up my system. I feel tired for DAYS. It sucks.





Spent today at a store where I got to listen to clients complain that their doctor is off for March break, so could I "just give them some of their medication?" Of note is that said medication is always a narcotic. They never seem to run out of their heart pills at an inconvenient time. Just their Oxycontin. Or Percocet. (Vicodin is another name for it). I always point out that I am not a doctor and they will have to go to a walk in clinic or the emergency department. To which they complain "the last time I went to a walk-in clinic the doctor refused to write me a prescription for Oxycontin." Which says something also. Maybe that they spend too much time at walk-in clinics???!





I know I am in a "helping" profession. But jeez louise. I am not their mother.





I will stop the rant now and close with this:

Isn't my Micha adorable?

Ciao

Alive!

After a comfy night's sleep, I believe I can safely say I am alive and willing to stay that way. The last week has been VERY busy. And next week promises to be as busy, too. However, there has been knitting going on. Work-knitting to be exact.

The work on my Twisty Turns wrap continues. It makes a good project to take to work. There are no tricky bits, so I can put it down whenever there is work to do and not have to spend an hour trying to figure out where I was! I haven't measured it yet, but I think I'm about half-way done. Give or take a bit.

In other news, my passport finally showed up. 6 weeks to the day I sent it in. The so-called standards that have been suspended because the government couldn't be bothered to plan ahead state that I should have had it in 3 weeks. But at this point, I don't care. I have it, it's good for 5 years, so there!

And your laugh for the day. I have both a cellphone and a landline from Bell. On both of my"instruments" I have instructed their customer service not to call me. They have this policy where they will call you quarterly to see if you are happy. I hated that and asked to be put on the do not call list. Which they did. Recently, we cancelled my hubby's cellphone as he never used it. Yesterday the cellphone branch of the company called me at home, on my landline, while I was at work, to see if I was satisfied with my service. My husband asked them why, if they were the cellphone company, they were calling me on my landline? The response? "Because she asked us not to call her on her cell-phone"!

Ciao!

Feetie!

Around my house we have a rhyme that goes like this "Little pink nose, little pink toes"! And here's why!

This is actually my entry into JenLa's contest.

Ciao

Here's a better view of how my sock is coming along!

Pretty, ain't it?

Ciao

Slowly, Slowly

I am still knitting. Slowly. It's March break season in this neck of the woods and many people want time off. Which means that relief pharmacists are working lots! If I could clone myself, I could make enough money for a year in these next 2 weeks. Alas, the technology is not so advanced. So I will simply make hay whilke the sun is shining, so to speak. Definitely a figure o speech around here right now. We've got freezing rain at moment. Yuck!

The sock, it does continue. I work on it every night, even if it's only for 1 row. It all depends on how tired and fumble fingered I am. fumble fingered is not a good way to do lace, you know? so here it is, in all it's glory.

Today's model is my handy-dandy book-light.

And now I am off to chip my car free from it's layer of ice. Not really, I am going to start it up with the remote starter and let it thaw.....

ciao