My Middle Name is Patience

I Only Work the Days that End in "Y"

Thanks for all the well wishes formy sil! I didn't want to post the particulars for privacy reasons but she's doing well and is coming home today.

A moment of silence for the slain Oakland policemen.

 The wildfowl has just been astounding around my house. Down the block on someone's front lawn, these lovely critters. I think they're turkey vultures?

I had to pull over and snap the picture with my iPhone on my way into work, so that is literally by dawn's early light.

They're probably in mourning too about the neighbor on the top of the hill taking out his four dying pine trees and the eucalyptus. The eucalyptus was really beautiful but they're basically matchsticks and in a drought inclined hillside? Not such a good idea.

The latest pet in the neighborhood. (Btw, urban chicken raising will never replace knitting. Never, never, never. At least not in my house. Unless they stay adorable cute chicks)   I took this picture through the slats in my blinds but dagnabbit if he didn't spot me anyway and come running up onto the porch. I attempted to lure him back home - he followed me like a puppy dog - but he didn't want to stay there.

If it hadn't been freezing, 7am on Sunday morning and I'd been wearing more than my nightgown, I'd've pounded on their door and demand they they  feed their rooster post haste. As it was, I ran home and cowardly hid in my house. I barely managed not to feed him canned corn. There's something about hunger that makes me want to fix it. 

There's something about crowing under my bedroom window at the crack of dawn that makes me want to pop him into a boiling pot.

KNITTING: The number one sleeve is done on Mary Tudor (not pictured - that was the day before finishing)  and sleeve number two is underway. Two rows a night basically means glacial progress but better that than none at all and two rows is all I can manage after a day of wrestling taxes.  My mother spotted the perfect buttons for her at a Quilt Fair.  

Found at Educating Petunia:

How Dysfunctional is Your Reading? You got 11 out of 13. Shame you'll never get a book deal.

Ha. Little do they know. Now go bombard Petunia on the wonders of mindless television. Oh! Speaking of television, the series finale of Life on Mars will air on April 1st. I really tried to watch nothing that'd get cancelled early this year but Life on Mars was irresistible. Even w/CSI NY and Law & Order up against it. I hope the ending stays true to the show. Battlestar Galactica's finale was .........well, it was. I didn't hate it but I didn't love it either.

Books: Y'know, I've got this humongo post going where I've reviewed, somewhat haphazardly all the books I've read this year. I'm debating if I should just post the thing, en masse, on December 31st.

Insert Not Too Clever Title Here. Thanks for the Tip, Typepad. Gah.

  Button choices for the V pointed charmer, currently sporting buttons from [gasp] Joanne's Fabrics. I know, I know. I'm a button snob.

And because it's been a long long time:

TV: Not that' I've been awake the last week to watch much or understand any of it - was it just me or did Lost, *The Dollhouse or Battlestar Galactica make no sense whatsoever? This week the TV is going off at 10pm. Stupid Daylight "Saving" Time.

*The Dollhouse makes no sense to to me under the best of circumstances. I've grasped the concept, it's the relationships/point that eludes me.

Tonight (Sunday March 15) Kings has its two hour debut at 8pm. I'm really looking forward to this one.

Monday: 24. Finally, no one on the show that I have to flip the channel the second they appear, although the FBI couple are starting to work my nerves.

Tuesday: NCIS, of course.

(The structure is the new Walnut Creek LIbrary. Eventually) Wednesday: Life and Lost. Why are they both on at the same time? Life wins, Lost is better when they repeat it with that scroll catch up at the bottom.  I love that scroll catch up bar. (What's that actually called?)

Thursday: Bones at 8pm and then heaven help me, Gray's Anatomy at 9pm. I hate myself but there you are. Plus it looks like Izzy is actually dying! Dying! Be still my heart.

Friday. Oh, Friday. Friday is a very sad, sad day. So. Sad. Battlestar Galactica is repeating their Monday (the 16th) special at 7pm and then the very final two hour season FINALE episode at 9pm. (I think they're airing last Friday night's ep beforehand which is very very nice because I have no idea what was going on. Thank you Daylight "Saving" Time. Everyone! Run up your heating and electric bills in the morning and DO NOT SHOP in the evening. 

Somewhere in there is also endless hours of Senate/House/Congressional Hearings that I'm finding endlessly fascinating and Being Erica, a CBC show but airing in the US on  Soapnet. Fun premise. Her shrink sends her back in time to work out her issues.

There's been knitting but not much progress. I finally took Mary Tudor's sleeves off the two circs and onto dpn's thus decreasing the time it took me to knit one row from 30 minutes down to ten. I still can't believe it took me thirty minutes to knit one row of a sleeve. Practically at the cuff. Mind you, I'm a whole five more rows since last photographed but considering I'm working day and night and still actually reading some blogs (in the most haphazard manner EVER), not half bad.

Brigitte sent this darling thing to Hezekiah.

Hez sez "I know it's not a real mouse but it is fun to carry around and torment. Never in front of a camera though! The Oath of the Hunter, y'know" (which is very annoying, let me tell you - The Blog Photographer).

Progress

   This is why one should decrease stitches on sleeves.   Hez sez "Daylight Saving Time is an evil vicious plot. Also during tax season, I am not fed treats often enough. Where do I file a complaint?"

What Happens In Stitches West, Stays in Stitches West

Weren't those amazing discounts? It was as if the vendors were giving it away. It's so helpful in this economy too, when making your own handknits or spinning your own yarn saves you so much money. (Hmm. Why can I can see all the knitters/spinners convulsing with laughter and everyone else who don't buy yarn, knitting needles, looms or spinning wheels  nodding sagely?)

The knitting appetite was whetted by the colorway Michelle (Pfeiffer in Tequila Sunrise by Dizzy Blonde Yarn by La, a thoughtful lovely roommie gift from the (in)famous La. Yeah, and not just a skein of her hand dyed yarn. She also gave me a goodie bag with wine charms, darling chocolate lambs (who may or may not have made it home) and more, not to mention the inroom eats she brought - sheep cheese (which amuses me greatly to say because I am a dork), grapes and crackers and possibly some Margaritas.  

I didn't even remember to bring toothpaste and shampoo much less thoughtful gifts.  

Fickleknitter, the other roommie,  FORCED me to buy this. I wanted to save my money for the coming Apocalypse but......you gotta buy what you gotta buy. When  you check out her blog, check out her patterns. Castigation caused quite a stir - it's a gorgeous shawl and she needs to write it up the pattern. She's wearing her Crop Circles shawl.        

We took a break between the crush of the Market and classes and had lunch w/JazzDiva. I managed to not have ANY dpn's on me after switching purses so five minutes before my class w/Ann McCauley started, I was braving the crowds at the vendors booths for dpns (and scored some nice Lantern Moons). Her sweaters are just beautiful.

At the Student Banquet Saturday night, I sat next to Debbie New.  Did I realize this when I sat down? Noooo. I asked her politely if she made her Tiffany style calf length vest (it did look familiar but c'mon.) Thankfully when I realized she was The Teacher At the Table, I immediately knew who she was. (The link will take you to Laci's in Berkeley for a slideshow exhibit of some of her definitely outside the box knitting. Just amazing.)

The slideshow at the Banquet was a good idea to display all the socks entered into the contest, but honestly I couldn't see the details at all. The student fashion show was much more fun to watch. There were socks, scarves, a sock scarf, an incredible knit lace tablecloth, of course sweaters, a gansey, a top down EZ Percentage system raglan modeled by the husband and recipient. Katherine of Aragon by Jade Starmore. One woman knit a sweater w Tragedy and Comedy masks that Rick Mondragon asked if it was a Perry Ellis design.  SKIRTS (this amazes me for some reason). That is my sole picture of the banquet, it's all the teachers up on stage. It turns out while my iPhone takes pretty good pictures outside and close up, it's not so good at long distance and indoors.

After Saturday's crowds,  I was amazed that there was anything left on Sunday but a copy of Handknitting With Meg Swanson was still at....The Yarn Barn of Kansas? Village Spinning & Weaving? both vendors that had a knee deep line all day). I also scored Colette from White Lies Designs and I got it signed! The Wagtail yarn might be destined for Colette, or maybe a shawl. AFTER I finish knitting Mary Tudor So I'll start it roughly June 2013. (Oh please no. I don't want her to go another year).  

And to top off all that good stuff, there was a nice little package of yarn in the mail for me from a certain Brigitte, along with two Law & Order books and my new favorite coffee mug (pictured: old and new)

I've been swamped at work, and now that I've gone and played for the weekend, it's even worse. Who knew?

Hez, just happy to see me. "I cannot even LOOK at you!" I thought surrounding her w/Wagtail yarn in Mulberry would cheer her up but nooooo.