It's just another New Year's Eve...

Couldn't let 2006 go out without one last post, could I? (sorry about the recent absence... I'm yet another blogger who's lazy during the holidays).

Christmas was good. The family hasn't yet figured out that they can get me knitting paraphernalia, but I got some really nice non-knitting stuff... From my parents, I got a couple of new shirts and sweaters, a gorgeous leather jacket, an obnoxiously large set of philosophy bath/lotion stuff, an electric grill/griddle/panini press that I'm quite excited about (since I didn't have so much as a grill pan before). From my brother, the Alan Lee illustrated Lord of the Rings set, which is one of the best presents I've ever gotten. Ever.

Everything that I got for everyone went over well. The sweaters I found for my family members fit them all and looked good, which made me happy. Banana Republic was SO happy to see me and my wallet walk into the store. I was at the mall on other business, and after needing 10 minutes to find a parking space, I decided to make the most of it and wander around. I went in to BR just to browse, and I came out with three sweaters -- a blue v-neck for my mom, a grey crewneck for my dad, and a brown zip-up pullover for my brother. I know, I know. "You BOUGHT sweaters???" When I get to the point where I'm proud enough of my knitting to want to give elaborate knitted gifts (beyond scarves and other smallish things), I'll still want to collaborate with them to make sure that they're getting EXACTLY what they want. Plus, 2 of the 3 sweaters I got were incredibly fine gauge double-knit things that would be impossible to do without a knitting machine. That gets me off the hook a little bit, right?

Here's wishing everyone the best in 2007! Lots of love to everyone. :)

I've joined the 21st century...

A happy hello from my brand new computer!!!!

I was expecting a bit of a fight with it... an insistence that I needed to go look up my router password to be able to connect the internet, or a driver that wouldn't load correctly, or SOMETHING going horribly wrong. Perhaps the missing front panel on computer #1 WAS the computer drama, since setting up this one has been painless. That's good. I'm not a fan of drama, unless it's on TNT. ;)

Part 2 of the new computer happiness... my iPod nano is charging as we speak. I have had this thing since last Christmas, but haven't been able to use it because my old computer had Windows 98, and iTunes only runs on 2000/XP. I wasn't in a financial position to be able to upgrade, so the nano has been sitting quietly in its box.

I introduced my parents to DuClaw tonight... good times all around. And I now have a liter bottle of Devil's Milk in my kitchen, just awaiting a suitable occasion at which to be opened.

It's been a good weekend. :)

Jumping on a bandwagon...

Shobhana, blogger at my life in stitches and author of Yarnplay, has a scarf pattern for sale at her site (the Bejeweled Scarf). It's a lovely pattern, and here's the kicker: for each pattern sold through 12/31, she'll donate most of the profits to the Mongolia Project, which is the organization that handles all of the shipping for the Dulaan Project. A textile company is matching Shobhana's donation, so the amount of the donation ends up being MORE than what you'll pay for the pattern... it's great when math works out like that!

This is an incredibly worthy cause, so if you're in the market for a nice lacy scarf pattern, have a looksee.

Geek link

Gotta pass this along to any fellow TNG fans out there. Wil Wheaton has been doing some guest blogging spots at TV Squad, where he recaps old TNG episodes. His recap for Justice went up yesterday, and it's darn funny. He mocks himself a whole lot. He mocks EVERYTHING a whole lot. Enjoy. :)

Simple Knitted Bodice body

Not too shabby, if I say so myself...


It would be a passable top even without the sleeves, which I may keep in mind for a kicky summer top somewhere down the line. Using something that's not alpaca.

It's been a lovely day of watching movies and finishing this up. Love Actually and Elf on USA, and now, School of Rock on TBS. And oh, just wait until I get my season 5 dvds of 24 next week... I'll get some mega knitting done then, my friends.

Happy December!

Work: We're already starting to plan for the big Harry Potter extravaganza event that will be taking place next summer at the library. The planning starts now so that those of us who will be making costumes will have PLENTY of time to get supplies and remember how to sew. I'm hoping to be able to buy a lot of the parts of my costume... I've never actually sewed anything more ambitious than a hem, or the pillow I made in 7th grade home ec.

Reading: I'm reading Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman, and am LOVING it. Normally, I read in bed until I fall asleep, which means that maybe I'll get through a chapter of a "regular" book each night. Since Fragile Things is a short story collection, I can get through an entire story or two... yay, instant gratification! A person's reaction to the following statement is a good indication of how they'll like the book: The first story is a combination of Sherlock Holmes and H.P. Lovecraft. :D

Knitting: I'm hoping to finish the body of the SKB tomorrow. I'm on the bottom purl ridges, so there are only a few rows left! And then I get to make sleeves. I'm doing long sleeves, but I don't think I'm doing the full-on bell sleeves that are in the pattern. Maybe a bit of flare, but big bell sleeves would drive me NUTS at work. Not to mention that I think of bell sleeves as a "young" look, and I try hard not to encourage the comments about how I look like I'm 16... I know, I know, I'll love it when I'm 40.

Other: I got a haircut. Nothing drastic, but it had reached that phase where I think it looks like a frizzy mess no matter what I do to it. I've learned that this phase is my head telling me, "You need less hair."


(Ignore the fact that I took this picture of myself by holding the camera as far away as possible... I hate doing that, but didn't feel like setting up a faux tripod with the self-timer.)