Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Blogging in my Head

Yes, I've been blogging in my head again. Maybe I should invest in that Dragon program that types while you talk. That would be so much easier than my constant typo-fixing. Anyway...
My Christmas gift socks are done. I forgot to take pictures, unfortunately, but they look good. The pair for my brother are big. He's got biggish feet and wears boots most of the time so I made the leg 10". That's a bunch of stockinette! It didn't take long, though, because partway through I hit a good groove and the needles just flew. I made his and Dad's from a cone of undyed wool/bamboo blend that I'd gotten for the etsy shop and have decided that when my stash goes down I'd like to get more yarn on cones. It's so much easier. For example, I didn't have to think about if I had a good color for my brother or if the skein was big enough - I could just knit and dye it when done. I'd like to have cones of both fingering weight and something heavier for sweaters. I'll have to do some saving, of course, because the initial expense is bigger than a single skein, but the price balances out quite nicely in the end.
I had to take Kerry to an orthodontist last week - he needs braces - and decided to stop at Home Depot while we were close. Why? So I could get the paint chips for the colors of the Doctor Who scarf as listed on the http://www.wittyLittleKnitter.com website. I'll be getting a little money for my birthday and am going to get the yarn for a scarf. My plan is to use Vanna's Choice, but with the colors in my purse I'll be ready if another type catches my eye. I'd like to get the colors in fingering weight, too (I don't trust my dyeing skills to match them) so I can knit up some socks and maybe a couple of ties for some favorite podcasters. I thought a long skinny fingering weight scarf might be nice as a belt or headband, too. We'll see how things go. I may wind up having to order what I need.
On to some podcasts! One of my favorites, Smart Mouths, is ending. The hosts have had increasingly harder times getting together to record. I'm going to miss listening to them. I have found some new Doctor Who podcasts to listen to. I absolutely love Hoo on Who. They are a father/son team who talk mostly about older episodes. The older episodes were just the father and guests, and I'm going back to listen to some of those as well. I also love The Happiness Patrol. I found this one because of my cyber-crush on Tardis Tara, the genius behind the Witty Little Knitter site. This show has four regular hosts and is hilarious. They all have lots of information about Doctor Who and its history and seem to know everyone in Who fandom. Two of the hosts, Tara and Lela, actually tracked the cast and crew of Doctor Who in Utah and got to meet the cast. It sounded like such a great time.
There's a newer knitting podcast that I really enjoy. It's called Knitting Pipeline. Paula, the host, is from the next county over. It's neat to hear her talk about nearby places. She's a great knitter and has interesting stories both about knitting and bagpiping, her other love.
Khloe has been taking guitar lessons. She's pretty good. She has a knack for music and picks things up rather quickly. I have to remind her to practice, though, becuse she'd rather sit and complain about being bored. Ugh. I hope this "bored" phase ends soon - there's not much that's more annoying than someone complaining of boredom.
Kerry doesn't want to give up wearing my wool socks. I've cast on a pair for him, but I really need to give myself a small-needle break. Of course, being selfish, I want to work on something for me as well. Never fear, the boy will get his socks - and I may just let him keep the ones that he loves so much.
I need to get going - I started watching Buffy on Netflix and now I can't think about anything else. It's quite a show. I've queued up Close Encounters and Jurassic Park 3 as well - two of my gotta-watch all-time favorite movies. It's going to be a television day, can you tell?

Monday, December 13, 2010

Health and House Cup

Things have been a bit chaotic here lately. The kids had a five-day weekend for Thanksgiving and then were sick the whole next week. They're feeling much better now, thank goodness, and so am I - having them home is a bit taxing on my nerves. At least they're old enough now to take a nap when told.
The House Cup has ended another term and Ravenclaw tied with Gryffindor for the win. I personally completed two OWLS and won a Star of Isis award. I'm also among the first group to complete seven "years". We're trying to decide what to call ourselves now that we've "graduated". Next term will have a special new member - Khloe has joined Ravelry and the House Cup. She's had a great time so far getting to know everyone. I monitor what she does, of course, to make sure she's in groups that are not too mature for her.
Since my keyboard is being difficult right now I'm going to get going. Next time I'll talk about my gift knitting and random other stuff. Stay warm!