Moving again! I'll be at kniTV from 1/1/09 on! Come join me...

I have been so busy this week! For one thing my on again-off again work came up so I was busy for a couple of days. I also can't seem to stay away from school, even though I just graduated a month ago, I was thinking that this is probably my only chance to take some classes at our local community college since I'll be going back to work this summer (if all goes well and I get a glamorous new job!). So I signed up for Japanese (my kids are in Japanese school, so I wanted to know something about it. Their teachers love that I am taking it. Even DL is excited, and offered to help me "But you'll have to pay me.", he says.) and Pilates. You're going to love this - the Pilates class is 3 times a week, if I miss more than 7 classes I *don't get credit* (ha, ha) and I have to write a paper! Hilarious. I also signed up for a class in video editing. I did get my Masters' in Radio and Television, but somehow managed to never take any video classes, and since I hope to work at a video related Internet company (or audio, but there are a lot more video companies lately) I need to know something about it. Anyway, I'm in class 6 days a week now!

I have managed to get some knitting done. I'm stalled on my stash sweater because I can't find the yarn I need to move on, so at first I started another sweater, but I finally decided to just make another red scarf for the Red Scarf Project. I'm almost done with one skein of Schachenmayr Micro and have 5 or 6, but I don't know how much this scarf will take. It also doesn't strike me as particularly unisex, so I'm not sure if I'll send it on or not. I guess it depends if I get it done in time or not.

I'm at it again. I don't think stash reduction is going to be a problem this year, but getting UFOs done is another story.

So I'm stuck on my stash sweater, until I find the rest of my F. di C. Zara. Last night I was watching "The Class" and had nothing to knit on that I didn't have to figure out where I was at, so I decided to start something new!

I took two of the yarns I had hoped to finish with my stash sweater, and was starting to cast on another sweater with them. This morning I decided they were both just as ugly when knit together as apart, so I took them apart. I was babysitting my friend's son and that was the only thing I had with me, so I decided to start another red scarf for the Red Scarf Project. I decided to do some fancy stuff that I haven't done before, so I started with my F. di C. 501 (I originally bought 10 skeins. I made a Katrina Rib sweater and socks, and I still have at least 3 balls left! This yarn will not go away!) and made a square. When I tried to do some fancy bias/short row/entrelac knitting it didn't really work, so I took that part out and I'm currently at work on another square with my Schachenmayr Micro. I also have about 6 skeins of that and have almost all 6 left. I'm not sure how it will all play out, but I hope to have another red scarf done by the end of January and some of this unending red yarn gone!

By the way, I started the 2nd 2 hours of 24 tonight, but now I have work to do for my mom, so I can't finish it. I'm not sure if I'm as into it as I was last year, maybe because there is a lot of other TV and because the universe conspired against me seeing the first 2 hours. So far I've been impressed at the number of B (D?) list actors I haven't seen in years. The wife from "Enemy of the State" (wasn't she in "227" too?), the wife from "Millennium" and the farting guy from "Can't Buy Me Love". Or his twin, who knows. (Either Eric or Karl Bruskotter. I don't know which. Who knew he was in so many things! It's just like my seeing "Tommy" from "Valley Girl" everywhere.)

Exciting six-degrees of separation fact: last year my friends and I rented his mom's house in Cambria, California. Or at least there was a picture up of him, his twin brother and his mom in the house. I thought it was pretty cool, but I did go to UCLA and interacted with former stars off and on so I wasn't totally star struck.

So does that make me separated by three degrees from "McDreamy" from "Grey's Anatomy" now?

This weekend sucked!!! Okay, not totally, but still.

First, we had two (2) copies of the first 2 hours of 24. BR watched it on HDTV live and taped it (no, actually_I_ taped it) and taped it in the other room too. Now I go to watch it and it's gone. In two rooms, on two TiVos! We really needed the room on our TiVos for the entire "Little Einsteins" catalog. Not.

Then, "Ugly Betty" wins all these Golden Globes. I like the show well enough, even though it's a bit over the top for me, but still. I won't miss it when it's gone, and it's no "The Office", which did not win. It must be rigged, yeah, that's it.

At least I got my DVD copies of Season One and Two of "The Office" and the entire "Freaks and Geeks" show in the mail, so I've got some good TV to watch.

In knitting news, this appears to be the year of the stash. Which is fine for me, because I have over 400 skeins of yarn and not much incentive to go shopping until Stitches West. (Well, I might try to get to Artfibers at some point, but that can wait.) So I keep signing up for stashalongs. So far I'm in (I think) the Yarn Focus Challenge #2, Stashalong, and Stash and UFO Bust-along, and I've been in Stashbusters for awhile.

I still need to finish my Second Sock Syndrome II sock and start my Sock-ret Pal socks, but I've been working diligently on my stash sweater so I can hopefully finish a sweater this month for the Sweater-a-Month KAL. I'm almost done with the bottom of the body. Now I need to find my straight from Italy Filatura di Crosa Zara that was the inspiration for the sweater, so I can add some, and then I'll finish the sweater up with black Cotton Ease. (Speaking of which, can you believe that the new Cotton Ease doesn't have black? Weird.)



I don't know what's up with my camera, but it's not photographing my sweater very well.

I've got a couple of other WIP sweaters I plan to finish for the UFO Bust-along and the Sweater-a-Month KAL, including Blackberry (this really should have been quick, and I started it so long ago!), my Teen Spirit sweater, and the sweater I recently started in Lion Brand Suede. Luckily Northern California has a lot of sweater weather!

Oh, and I forgot to tell you the most exciting news - my first eye infection is barely getting better, and my other eye is now infected! Fun. I'm glad I've got a new "The Class" to squint through.

I'm still going nuts with Blogger, but I did download Movable Type yesterday, and so I'm hoping to get my new blog up soon. January 22nd is my 3rd blogiversary so I'm hoping to move on that date. More later.

I'm doing great on my Second Sock Syndrome sock. It's almost done, I just need to finalize the toe decreases and then I'm done! Of course I need to do my Sock-ret Pal's socks entirely, but that will be next.



I'm also working on my stash sweater for the Sweater A Month KAL. I hope I can get it done this month! I'm focusing on those two projects so I can get more done. I hope it works!



I've been busy with TV as well. Mostly I've been watching movies on TV, but I was pleasantly surprised to see a new "The Class" on Monday. I was laughing out loud, so I consider that a great show. I taped "Dirt" and "Boston Legal" last night, but I had to go to bed early because I have an eye infection (no knitting either :( ) so I'm not up to date on those. I'm sure "Dirt" will at least keep me on my treadmill for 40 min., even if it's not perfect. Does anyone else think of that OKGo song every time they're on the treadmill? Okay, it's just me ...

I am still incredibly annoyed with this whole Blogger (Beta) fiasco. This is just like way back when when Yahoo bought Geocities, took over my website, and refuses to just delete it! I haven't been back in forever, but it's still sitting there, untouched.

So Blogger says there are "one or more of my blogs" that can't be moved to the new Blogger. For all I know it's one of the joint blogs I am subscribed to, and I don't care if my membership moves on for those, just this blog basically. It's all aggravated by the fact that I use gmail for email so I have to keep logging out and relogging in. I've joined 2 new KALs under another account just because I have to.

I'm on my way out of Blogger anyway, I just need to fix up my new "home" and then they can keep this Money Pit.

Anyway, the reason I knit so little during the year is this:



On Friday I was out looking for birthday gifts for the 2 two year old birthday parties we were invited to this weekend (one was even in the land of the billionaires - you'd think after going to high school in the Maryland suburb of senators and even Linda Carter of Wonder Woman fame you'd get used to being around rich people but this is a different class of rich people.) and just couldn't find anything appropriate. So Friday I get this crazy idea that I can start and complete a present for the boy on Saturday and a present for the girl on Sunday! I ultimately find a pretty good gift but still think I could make something for the girl - after all, I've got 48 hours, right?

So I start this Lion Brand free pattern that I can't find online right now, and start knitting away. I get through many hours of TV, but only get as far as you see in the picture. Can you imagine me getting these crazy ideas maybe once a month, never finishing them and then feeling bad at the end of the year that I haven't finished enough? I guess I'm a dreamer.

Which must be why I joined this.

Hot damn, new TV!!! I really enjoyed "Courteney Cox" (where did the Arquette go?)'s new show "Dirt". I'm guessing it's a takeoff from her character in the "Scream" trilogy. Cox plays Lucy, the editor of a gossip magazine. Throughout the show she succeeds in her quest to get the scoop and take down whoever necessary to get the "dirt" on the celebrities. I was happy to see Laura Allen from "The 4400" as one of the celebrities, but I don't know if I want to see her as the focus every week. Courteney Cox (Arquette) wasn't at her best acting wise, but I enjoyed the show.

I also watched the new sitcom "The Knights of Prosperity". I love Donal Logue, so I had to give it a try. A few minutes into it, I was ready to turn it off, but it won me over. It is really silly, but really funny if you don't take it seriously. I wonder if Mick Jagger is going to be in every episode, and what will happen if and when they "rob Mick Jagger". Pretty good.

I've been reading a couple of TV critics' blogs lately, and due to their recommendations I TiVod "Friday Night Lights" last night. They have a really stupid commercial going into how confusing it might be that "Friday Night Lights" is on on Wednesday, but I still watched it. So far it's really depressing, but the guys are really hot. Maybe I'll tune in again, who knows.

And tonight "The Office" is "Back from Vacation"! I can hardly wait. Yahoo TV has a preview that is hilarious. JAM forever!

Of course TV usually means knitting, so I've done a bit:



I started this for my Sock-ret pal but I've found out that my Second Sock Syndrome II pal loves purple and pink and these colors are gorgeous so I may make this for her. I just wonder if the yarn (Knit Picks Sock Landscape) is upscale enough for her. I'm thinking of making the sock, then sending her some other upscale yarn with it. Anyway, I've got 3 socks to make before February 28th!