Knitting in Transit

There has been a string of mishaps in my kitchen lately. I wish I could say these were cooking mishaps...the kind of thing that happens when you experiment for the first time with spun sugar or forget to soak bamboo skewers before putting them on the grill. No, these are the kind of mishaps that happen not through your own doing, but by faulty plumbing. Last Thursday, I was draining the dish water from the sink when I heard a loud "whooshing" sound. I opened the cabinet below, and there was all my dish water, emptying all over my cleaning supplies. The handyman came out, let me know the pipes were clogged, got that fixed. Life was good. Tuesday morning I was getting ready to head off to work when I heard a dripping from the kitchen. Water was dripping through the upper cabinets and on to the counter. I emptied out the cabinet (all my food is still on my kitchen table) and called the landlord again. The handyman came out again, let me know the pipes in the apartment up...

It was so cold here today that D's car wouldn't start. Brrrr ! That's cold. As such, I missed my Arabic dance class, but the car did start in the afternoon so we headed out so I could get some tap shoes for my tap dancing class. It is going to be a busy few months for me. Tap dancing Tuesday and Thursday, Arabic dancing on Saturday, and a strength training class on Monday and Wednesday. When will I knit? On the bus of course! I am actually knitting right now while uploading CDs to iTunes and listening to American Routes on MPR . I love this program. If I could, I would stay home every Saturday night to listen to it, but that seems a bit impractical. Sadly, there doesn't seem to be a podcast of it. Speaking of sad, my one of my other favorite public radio programs, Weekend America , has been canceled. Hopefully my other favorite programs will be safe for the time being. So, back to knitting. The second stripey sock is coming along nicely. Should be done ...

I am sitting here in my cube waiting for D to come and whisk me away to the Rec Center so we can get all sweaty. Working out. On a treadmill or something. I have a headache and my eye is achy. It still aches most days. When will that end? I made the mistake today of watching a video on Youtube of a surgery for retinal detachment. I'm not normally a squeamish person, but after about twenty seconds I had to turn it off. It was horrible to watch. Thank goodness I didn't see it BEFORE my surgery. Have a good weekend everyone!

The first day of classes at the U of M was yesterday. And unless you've been living under a rock, you know it was also the inauguration of President Barack Obama (squee! I love to type that). Since I work at the U of M, I wasn't able to take the day off or watch the inauguration as it happened. I'll have to wait to watch it on Tivo this weekend. In knitting news, I finished the first of my blue striped socks using the Magic Loop. It seems a bit loose around the ankle, but other than that fits just fine. I'll get started on the second one tonight. I also took a picture of my little Eee PC sitting with D's laptop. His laptop looks like it is going to eat Lulu (Yes, I have named my teeny tiny laptop Lulu. I also make stuffed animals talk). To respond to the question asked in the comments from my last post, I do plan to knit a cozy for Lulu. I've got a plan and it involves intarsia, so it may be awhile before there is a finished product. I'll keep you...

I bought a new toy today! It is an ASUS Eee PC. I've been wanting one of these for a while now, and they had them on sale at Target (well, the sign said "As Advertised") and I had a 10% off coupon, so I brought one home with me. I'm still getting used to it. It has a pretty tiny keyboard and I keep hitting buttons I don't want to, but I think I'll be fine. I haven't had a computer at home, so this will be nice. I should be able to blog more and spend even more time on Ravelry !

I'm sitting here on a lazy Sunday morning, reading the paper, drinking my coffee, eating sausage patties. I'm pretty protective of my Sundays. I have to confess, I get a little irritated when I have to go somewhere on a Sunday. That means I can't sit around in my pajamas as long as possible until I begin to feel somewhat like a slug. Regardless, in a bit here D and I will head out to the Rec Center so I can work off those sausage patties. Maybe Al Franken will be there. Probably not. Yesterday we met some friends at the Bulldog in Lowertown . I had the Stinky Dog, a hot dog with blue cheese, onions, roasted garlic, and spicy brown mustard. Yum! The french fries were yummy too. They have quite the beer selection and they put together some really great flights so you can sample some new things without committing to 6 pints of beer and a hangover. I've also been working on my first pair of socks using the Magic Loop. I am really enjoying this method. I picked ...

Yesterday was the opening day of the 111th Congress. Sadly, Minnesota is still lacking one senator. The recount has Al Franken ahead of Norm Coleman by a slim margin, but a winner has not been announced and Coleman has filed a lawsuit challenging the recount results. Since Al Franken is not in Washington, he's hanging out at the U of M Rec Center! Yes! D and I saw him there last night! Shorts, t-shirt, and white gym socks. I came out of the locker room after a grueling workout (with the combination lock), and noted a kind of dorky looking guy at the desk just outside. Seriously. He was asking about a locker and my thought was, "that guy looks like a dork". As I waited for D, I got a better look at the guy and thought, "That looks like Al Franken". The hair, the side of the glasses I could see...could it be? Then he turned and headed toward us and my mouth dropped open. "Hey! That's Al Franken!" I immediately regretted my dork thought. H...

I'm not making any New Year's Resolutions. I won't keep them anyway, and then in addition to not losing weight, not exercising enough, and not keeping in better touch with my family, I also have to deal with my lack-of-stick-to-it-iveness. Rather, I'll share my favorite 2008 things. Best Pet: Zoey the Cat . Oh Zoey. Why did you have to go? Favorite person to talk to on the phone: The Little Guy…he always has fun things to tell about the moon, owls, snowmen, his train set, and talking airplanes. Speaking two-year old gets easier every day. Favorite place to eat: This year, I go with the Nook . True comfort is a Juciy Nookie burger on a cold, rainy afternoon. Favorite New Place to Eat: Brasa . I want to go back. Anyone want to go with me? And One More Favorite Place to Eat: Wilde Roast Cafe . Really good tuna melt. Best Day Off: "Playing Hooky Day" with Kym and Kyle. What was the highlight? The AMAZING burgers at Salut? The tour of the Summit Brewery? S...

Welcome to 2009! Nothing like finally finishing a knitting project to start the New Year! Here are my Soctoberfest Mystery Socks, or as I like to call them, "The Socks That Took Forever". Pattern: Through the Loops Socktoberfest Mystery Socks Yarn: Knit Picks Memories in Cape Cod, 2 Skeins Started: Sometime in October Finished: Way too much later in December I like the Knitpicks Memories sock yarn a lot. The socks are very cozy and soft...the way socks should be. I also knit up a little baby hat over the weekend for some friends. We had a little ceremony to welcome the baby to the group. Everyone stated what they hoped he would have in his life, and my hope was that he would always be surrounded by the warmth of family and friends. And handknits. Well, actually the hat was a symbol of the warmth. It is just a simple cap in Rowan Handknit Cotton. It'll probably fit him next winter...it's a little big. D and I spent New Year's Eve with the same group of friends, and...