Not enough hours in the day

I feel like I have to sprint to get this post in tonight, so I’ll have at least two posts for May. (I’m still feeling guilty about having no posts in April.) Last year at this time I was probably posting 2-3 times a week. Nowadays — well, I guess I’m doing more Mom work.

Yes, there’s Ravelry, too. I recently passed 5000 posts there. That’s nothing compared to some people. (They know who they are.) But it is a lot compared to many. I have started two groups, and am a moderator on one other group, and if I don’t check in at least a few times a day the backlog starts to build up.

Anyway. Everyone here is reasonably healthy (last night’s needless ER trip with Jack notwithstanding) and the knitting is slowly proceeding.

I was getting a little bit frustrated with the knitting a few days ago, then I realized that I simply am dealing with a bunch of larger projects all jostling for my time. In addition, three of them are completely in garter stitch, which frankly isn’t very compelling to look forward to. They’ll be immensely rewarding after they’re done.

Two of the other projects are stalled sock projects. One of them (Retro Rib) is boring, and the other (Noro) is frustrating. Yes, there’s a difference!

So I’ve been spending most of my time with turning two skeins of vintage yarn into a lacy summer scarf. I may be the only person on the planet making a scarf out of DuPont Radiance acrylic. Hooray for individualism!

No spinning yet — I got the new parts for my wheel but I still need to sand, stain, and put the hooks on the new multi-speed flyer. I don’t know when that’s going to happen since I’m not in a rush about it. Right now the knitting is more important.

The Yarn-a-Latte group is well started and already has some regulars in place (shout out to Bonnie AKA Jeeplady). It’s really nice to have a Tuesday night knit that’s close by, and it’s made the last couple of Sowless Fridays easier to bear.

Knitwise, what have I finished? Well, I got a cell phone for Mother’s Day and promptly abandoned every other project to make two cell phone cozies. Out of alpaca and a friend’s handspun, thankyouverymuch. It’s hard to beat an alpaca cell phone cozy for luxury! And they are Doctor Who-themed to boot. I’m trying to figure out a cozy design for each Doctor. Starting with Ten. But I have picked up some yarn to make one for Nine (I hope).

In the television-watching department, both Chuck and Castle got renewed. And there was much rejoicing! If you haven’t watched these shows there’s plenty of time to catch up. They are both worth it. And they both feature actors from Firefly — Adam Baldwin (Jayne) and Nathan Fillion (Captain Mal) respectively. Dollhouse, with Alan Tudyk (Wash), also got renewed — I haven’t seen it but will start catching up. Unfortunately, The Sarah Connor Chronicles with Summer Glau (River Tam) was cancelled after this season. But since a friend’s viewing of that show got me directly into Firefly, I am mourning the loss of it even though I didn’t watch.

What do we watch? I don’t think I watch a lot of television (again, compared to some), but chronologically it includes Ladies’ No. 1 Detective Agency, Chuck, Castle, Top Gear, My Boys, Better Off Ted, The Office, 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, Saturday Night Live, and Doctor Who/Torchwood/Sarah Jane Adventures when I can get them. Top Chef and Next Food Network TV Star when they’re “in season.” Flight of the Conchords. Anything by Anthony Bourdain when I can catch it.

When I see it all written out like that, I realize it’s more TV than I have ever regularly watched. I don’t know why. Are shows getting better? I’m not sure about that, but they are getting quirkier. I’m also watching lots of Netflix stuff, so I don’t know how I have so much time for TV. I can tell you that ever since we got the DVR we’ve been snagging more shows that we liked, just because it was easier to do so.

Remember, just after the dinosaurs were wiped off the face of the earth, when we’d put in a tape to catch a show, and we’d watch it days later? Or, actually, never get around to watching it at all? Well, when you get a message on your DVR screen that says “83 percent full” you start watching your shows to free up the space. I mean, you just have to. Otherwise you can’t record any more stuff!

When I’m not watching all this television, I’m exercising and catching up on some podcasts. I’m years to months behind on all of them, but I’m plugging away.

Back to the knitting!

Fiberrific

I wasn’t planning to write a post tonight, but I’m overdue, and besides, everyone is asleep. I might as well strike while the kids are sleeping. Who knows when one of them will have a nightmare and come running down the stairs? (I never know; without my glasses I can’t read the bedside clock. My daughter swears I lift the covers for her without even waking up.)

After the Marquette scarf got done and the first sock of the pair got done, not much knitting has been taking place. I started plugging away again on the Season 16 Doctor Who Scarf, but I haven’t cast on for the second sock yet. I was going to do that tonight, but then this German wine kind of got in the way of doing a good job of it. (Then I was going to watch two episodes of Torchwood, then one episode of Torchwood, but then it took forever to get caught up on Ravelry, so here I am.)

I did, however, cast on for a new project. That’s not as terrible as it sounds. It’s really something I promised as a Christmas present, so actually it’s about time I cast on for it. It’s a simple scarf, but I considered several stitch patterns before I found something I liked. And once I did, I loved it. I think I may have finally found a scarf that knits itself. I’m using the Baby Cable Ribbing pattern from the first Barbara Walker book. It’s an easily memorized four-row pattern that you could knit in the dark if you had to. I started the scarf two days ago, haven’t put in much time on it really, and it’s fairly galloping along. I don’t think it hurts that the yarn is 100 percent Merino either.

So. I have the Scarf, the Second Sock, and the New Scarf all going right now. (As soon as I get the Second Sock going, that is.) There’s another pair of socks lined up one the Retro Rib pair are done, but I promise that as soon as one of the Scarves is done I will start working on a WIP.

And you can vote on which one it is! Shall it be:

Tyrone, the striped bottom-up sweater stuck at the raglan decreases? Since October 2007?

The Irish Hiking Scarf in cursèd yarn from Mystical Creations? Three skeins (at least) to go!

The Gullwing Lace stole in silk yarn I bought for myself last Mother’s Day?

Or, the Denim Sweater I started in November for NaKnitSweMo and didn’t even finish the crew neck? I might have enough yarn for the whole sweater, but I’m not sure.

Every vote counts. Each commenter can cast as many as ten votes — all for one project, or split them up however you like. Clearly, my own inclinations toward the next project cannot be trusted.

———

In other news, I have registered for a spinning retreat being taught by Judith MacKenzie McCuin. Naturally, I am preparing for this by spinning up fiber that I am dealing with by the seat of my pants. This works fine for the Wookie fiber, which I would love to spin up and ply so I can clear off all my bobbins, but a few nights ago I decided to card and spin up some huacaya alpaca fiber samples. I got the majority of it spun, but then something happened with the take-up and the twist was just not getting into the fiber to make it strong enough to be singles. After a half dozen tries at dragging it back through the orifice to try to draft more fiber on it, I decided to leave it alone and finish when I was calmer. So now, I just hope to finish the huacaya, and prep and spin the suri samples, and possibly do the rest of the current bag of Wookie-wool before it’s time to hoist Maggie into the van and head to Columbus (Wisc.) for the retreat.

Is anything else going on? Well, Leah went home on Top Chef. About time. I am really getting to enjoy Fabio’s screen time, and Stefan’s skills.

Doctor Who is done airing the 4th season for the American audience, and true to form, they absolutely sliced and diced the season finale so they could promote Ashes To Ashes. Which even the Brits didn’t like. So if you watched the finale last weekend and wondered what all the fuss was about, ask me and I’ll give you links to where you can see what aired in the UK.

But Torchwood is coming back on soon, so I’m trying to catching up by watching Season 2 on Netflix. Trying and not succeeding tonight. Maybe tomorrow….

Chilly

You may have heard this already, but my region is expecting extremely cold temperatures over the next couple of days. I know, I was trying not to start each new post with a weather report, but this is kind of special weather.

Pretend you’re on Match Game ’77 for a minute. (Those of you born after 1977 may skip to the end.)

Gene Rayburn: “It was so cold in Wisconsin the other day—”
Richard Dawson, Brett Somers, Charles Nelson Reilly, et al.: “How cold was it?”
Gene Rayburn: “It was so cold in Wisconsin the other day, that they cancelled Thursday classes by 5:30 on Wednesday afternoon.”

I know, it doesn’t have the same ring to it as “It was so cold that Beth froze her BLANK off,” but this is a pretty big deal for us. Tomorrow morning it’s supposed to be -20°F. Wind chills tonight and especially Thursday night may be in the -40° to -45°F range. So finding out the day before was amazing. Our school district was even listed individually, which probably only happened because not everything in Milwaukee County was closed on Thursday yet.

So. The kids are all home tomorrow, and we’re not planning to open the door except to let Daddy leave for a brief business trip to sunnier, warmer Texas. Personally, I plan to knit. A lot. I don’t know what they have in mind.

Knitwise, on Tuesday I finished a little baby blanket for one of Big Tom’s therapists. The poor woman was on bedrest awaiting induction tonight, only to be told she’s not ready and has to stay on bedrest until 39 weeks are done. Ugh ugh ugh, I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. But let the record show I finished the knitting, washed and dried it, and wrapped it up and wrote a card. (Don’t tell her I can’t even find the cute baby-gift wrapping paper and adorable card I bought for her last Saturday.)

Me: “I’m sure I put it in a Secret Special place.”
James: “Why don’t you make a map of your Secret Special places?”
Now there’s a good idea. For now, I’m just glad I had almost-appropriate wrapping paper that could substitute.

Other than that, I’m working on the first of a pair of Retro Rib socks — but very, very slowly. I got in one repeat at the Webelos meeting last night, and one repeat this afternoon. I’m also working on another Doctor Who Scarf, but I think I’ve managed two rows on that all week. It’s so far under the radar there’s dirt on the plane’s undercarriage. I haven’t done anything on the Secret Project except buy more yarn for it. 

In other news, I just finished sending in all my edits to the new issue of Knitcircus, so that will be able to go to the printer very soon. I like helping out on the ‘zine and I am just so impressed with the designs of Elizabeth Morrison. You should see her finished items in person. They all have such personality to them, and some of the yarns just glow. My own stuff just looks like stuff.

Top Chef Bulletin: Ariane got sent home tonight. Hosea pretty much threw her under the bus by allowing her to butcher her butchering of a lamb without telling her he had much more experience or offering to help. She didn’t even know how to tie up a roast properly. For goodness’ sake, I could have done a better job at it by remembering stuff I’ve seen Jacques Pepin do on television. So it’s sort of fair, and sort of not. She wasn’t going to make it to the finals anyway. Next week: Restaurant Wars. Bwahahaha!

Ravelympics, Day whatever

I think it’s fair to say I haven’t been keeping up with anything. (I don’t know why this would surprise anybody.)

First, the Ravelympics. I cast on for the second wristwarmer pretty soon after I bound off the first one, just to take advantage of the momentum. Got the ribbing done, check. Kept going and did 8-1/3 rounds of the pattern, remembering to start on Row 4 and not Row 1. But that 8-1/3, that’s where it all started to go wrong.

I don’t even remember now what night that was, but I was trying to watch some Series 4 Doctor Who at the same time. At the end of the episode I realized I didn’t really know what was going on, since my eyes had been shut half the time. Saw a clone of Freema Agyeman climbing out of a bathtub n@ked, there was a lot of frantic running around….. I think I’ll have to watch it again. (Things could be worse.)

But the point is that the next night when I picked up my knitting and tried to continue, I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t tell what round I was on, or what part of the round. There was a hole, there was not the number of stitches there should have been, and down there at the cable cross was something that looked suspiciously like a stitch, hanging out like a little outie belly button. Apparently I do not knit at all well in my sleep.

So. I pulled out the needles and wound the yarn all back up. Until yesterday at Irish Fest when I cast on again in the curragh tent. Got my stitches on, knitted two rounds, and took it all to the dance tent at the other end of the festival, in hopes of crossing paths with RavPal Criosa/Cristy. I didn’t see her there but finished the eight rounds of ribbing. (Hooray!)

And we did end up meeting, but in the curragh tent. She also knew some of the rowers, and before I knew it people were asking me if I wanted to go out rowing in one of the racing curraghs. My husband’s been trying to get me to do this for a while, but I have Resisted. I think I knew I would like it, but didn’t know how we would swing both of us being in the club. Who’s going to watch those kids while we’re out rowing, I ask.

Well, we’ll work something out, because I loved it. Got five quick calluses, none of which bled, and made that curragh fly. Mr. Beth was steering and another rower, Mark, sat behind me and captained us both, and everything came together fairly quickly. So maybe, just maybe, if I start exercising aGAIN, I could be rowing for the team at next year’s Fest.

And Criosa? Took pictures of the whole thing, swear to God.

I had another meetup while I was at Irish Fest, but I’ll save that for another post.

Current Projects I’m Actually Working On:

Bamboo socks: waiting for black yarn to do the toes.
Cotton footies: started these for my grandmother. They’re really like dorm boots, but I’m doing them in Peaches and Cream for no good reason other than she didn’t want wool, and I had this yarn already. If you can comment with a useful instruction for doing a p2tog tbl, you will win a prize because I will be so grateful. That’s where I’m stuck in the pattern.
RWW: ready to start the pattern tonight for Mitt Two.
Secret Projects: the count is now at 2.
Doctor Who Scarf: As of 3pm this afternoon, I now officially have more than enough of the yarn I need to do the Scarf. Now I just have to finish all the above projects, so that can be the one that runs in the background. 

I’m still working on organizing this wonderful afterparty. If you’re not on Ravelry and you’re planning to come, drop me a line to let me know how many free tickets you need. If you’re on Ravelry, PM me there. Thanks! And if you can help with setup on Friday night or Saturday afternoon, or cleanup on Saturday night, double thanks!

You won’t freaking believe the door prizes that are rolling in. O.M.G. I wish I could win one!

What happens at Knit Night….

…stays at Knit Night, of course.

But the short version of last night is that we had a perfect storm of Wisconsin knitbloggers (ElizabethSABLE, Jaaladay, Dale-Harriett, Cathy-Cate, and more), a knitting ‘zine distribution (knitcircus #3), knitting tattoos (thanks Cathy-Cate!), delicious drinks, awesome projects, and a newbie who lent who lent structure to our evening. I wish I’d been wearing a wire so I could provide a transcript, but there was a lot that was Not Safe For Work, Not Safe For Children, or generally Not Suitable For Public Sharing. But all hilarious. If I get the chance to recall some of the evening, I’ll try to. We were a wild and naughty bunch hiding in the back room.

I handed out Ravelry badges and left 20 copies of the Second Sock Worksheet at the Sow’s Ear for distribution to whoever would like to help test them out. I also worked on my alpaca shawl exclusively and didn’t even take the Adipose project out of the bag. (Ironically, DH was at home watching most of the Doctor Who episode that included the Adipose; I still haven’t seen it.)

I’m still catching up with my Doctor Who viewing, but I don’t know how I’ll manage to see any of Series 4 before the finale on August 1. Series three, I should wrap up tomorrow night. Then I have less than a week to clean, plan, and pack for a multistate trip that will include a family reunion, two family mini-get-togethers, as at least two Ravelry meetups. If I can do some online viewing of Series 4, it means I won’t be sleeping. Just like now! But I really want to be aligned with the rest of Who-ville.

No other projects are getting attention now that I’m more than 80 percent done with the alpaca shawl (I’m conveniently ignoring the time it will take to make a crocheted  or I-cord edging, since I don’t know how long it will take). I need to mail at least one FO, and make arrangements to send out items for a swap so I can get the rest of my Doctor Who Scarf yarn. And I could probably finish the rest of my Ravenclaw mitten if I wanted to.

I haven’t even thought about my travel-and-trip knitting. Does anyone have suggestions for what WIPs I should take along? A week after I get back, the Ravelympics begin, and I’ll have a lot of simple knitting on my plate, taking my full attention. Then it will be time to really, really, plan that festival Afterparty.

Yikes, I’d better get busy! I didn’t know I was so far behind…..

Podding along

First of all, my immense gratitude goes out to everyone who sent me knitting podcast suggestions. I just (really, JUST) finished listening to ‘casts 2 and 3 of Sticks and String, and am about to transfer ‘casts 2 and 3 of Cast On to the iPod. I thought they were there, but they weren’t. Still figuring out this iTunes business. Maybe it’s just too uncomplicated.

But anyway, I love both these ‘casts, and after some false starts with Doctor Who podcast selection (i.e., if I’m not ready to watch series 3, I probably shouldn’t be listening to current news about current episodes, here at the end of series 4) I found some Doctor Who audio tales that might be just right for those long nights when The Husband is busy making a magazine, or in Canada, or traveling for business, or wherever. My only half-complaint is that the headphone we now have make my ears hurt. That shouldn’t be hard to fix.

The podcasts were a real bit of cheer in a rough night. Because Mr. Beth is out of the country and I have to actually Be The Mom to four kids, I couldn’t go to Late Night Knitting at the Sow. Can’t go to the next one, either, or to a Saturday meeting of the local spinning guild. Darn schedule conflicts. So I can now use these barren nights to listen to podcasts. I learn about knitting, I hear new music I otherwise wouldn’t, and I am entertained.

I need some entertaining — while I was trying to get my Ravelry fix this evening, my kids were in the process of breaking my ball winder. The handle was snapped off flush at the base, and the tension wire (for lack of a better term) was bent out of shape. The wire arm I could have fixed, but I’ve used enough cyanoacrylate to know I wouldn’t be able to fix the handle.

The little tube that you wind the yarn onto didn’t get broken, because it was elsewhere holding the ball of my first handspun on it. So now, when I buy a replacement winder, I will have extra yarn storage. Kind of like having an extra mixing bowl for your stand mixer. But it does mean I’ll need to buy the same style of ball winder so this tube will fit.

Knitting updates:

I went to Open Knitting at Gosh Yarn It (Lake Mills) on Wednesday evening, and spent a lovely time with the store owner, Patty Dehnert. I was the only one there! To give you an idea of how much we chatted, Open Knitting was from 6 to 8 and the first time I looked at the clock, it was 8:10. I showed Patty my handspun, bought another skein of yarn so I can start my second Hufflepuff mitten, did one repeat of the test knitting I’m doing for Mazzmatazz, and exactly one row of a four-row repeat of the lace. Honest to God, I thought I would have to rip it all out. I counted that row at least three times to make sure I hadn’t screwed anything up. Now I know that what I will screw up is starting it again and managing to forget that I knitted one row of the pattern already.

She seemed impressed with the ridiculous number of projects I brought, and she didn’t even charge me the Open Knitting fee. Kudos to Patty! I would link to her store site, but I don’t think she has one yet. She is still getting her feet wet with Ravelry ventures and commenting on blogs, so say hey if you come across her. She’s very nice and a little shy.

I meant to spin tonight, but instead I picked up Bamboo Sock Two and have gotten it almost to the heel flap portion of our show. I’ll do those few more rows after I get done uploading this. (I would go to Ravelry, but the Software Update icon is bouncing like a hyperactive beach ball on the Dock [I SEE you!], and it’s getting very distracting. Besides, perhaps I ought to allow time for sleep.)

I did get through three wonderful episodes of Torchwood last night: Ghost Machine, Cyberwoman, and Small World. Can’t wait for more. But I can’t do anything but plain vanilla sock while I watch, since there’s so much going on.

Quote of the Day from Jack (my Jack, not Captain Jack Harkness): “If you’re on the wrong way, go out. If you’re on the right way, go in!”

 

The Summer Lineup

School is winding down here, and the summer schedules of travel, Scout camp, and pre-kindergarten school (!!!) are visible on the horizon. It’s going to take a while to figure out when & where we can go, especially with the price of gas being what it is. Maybe we will rent horses and ride to Ohio. Best not to dwell on that.

Also our TV seasons are ending — not all at the same time, of course. Our favorite BBC America shows (Top Gear, Last Restaurant Standing) have already had their season enders, Bravo (Top Chef) still has a few weeks to go, and Food Network (Next Food Network Star) is about to start. Somehow we missed most of the NBC season of Thursday night shows, but managed to catch the season finales of 30 Rock (Mexican cheese doodles, anyone?) and The Office (I said, OKAY). We’ll have to watch the full seasons their second time around, with more daylight and no school to get the kiddies to bed early when something like My Name is Earl is showing at 7pm.

I’m conveniently ignoring the other stuff like office visits, hospital procedures, baking for the pizza place, and coordinating this Sheep & Wool afterparty. Because when your husband points out that you haven’t blogged in a while, maybe it’s time to get back on track.

Last weekend DH & I went to the unsold empty house on Saturday and did some work on it. He mowed the shaggy lawn, we moved in a set of washer & dryer to give the laundry room that “laundry room” look, and I vacuumed all the carpeted rooms. The drive belt had snapped on the vac the day before, so this meant hooking up the attachment hose and doing all the work crawling around on my hands and knees. Yeah, it was a lot of fun. But at least the house got aired out & looks better. We brought back 2 sets of cross-country skis — what timing!

No meetups (too much work to do), no trip to Herrschners (I think he’s on to me), not even garlic cheeseburgers from Marvin’s (they weren’t open yet) or cannolis from Cheese Louise (they were closed already).

But I did get some knitting done. I did one and a half sock-yarn squares for the Doctor Who Afghan Project, and worked on the cuff for the second Panda Cotton sock (cast on at Late Night Knit on Friday, amid much fretting and grumbling).

And Knit Night was good, even without the traveling Dale-Harriet in attendance. Her daughter Lovely Mary was there, hiding from a sock gusset (unsuccessfully, as it turned out), Molly Bee stayed longer than usual, and I met some new (to me) knitters while sitting at the Big Table. I saw yet another knitter with a boot cast on — what is the deal, and I hope this isn’t catching!

So, here’s the project summary:

Tyrone (for Jack Tom): Still on hold, but I know where the project sheet is. In my pattern binder, of all the odd places. Yeah, I know!
Irish Hiking Scarf (for ???): Still on hold while others go first, has no priority.
Panda Cotton socks (for DH): Sock One on hold pre-heelflap; Sock Two at mid-cuff.
Acrylic tube scarf (for ???): on the verge of frogging. I am really starting to hate this thing. Will trade for fiber, please make offer!
Acrylic heelflap scarf (for ???): I’m using leftover yarn from a pastel Colleen sweater and knitting a scarf in Sl1, K1 across, Purl back. I’m only a few rows into it and it’s still curling up at the bottom, so I’ll have to do a bunch more before I can see if it looks good enough to keep.
Hufflepuff mittens (for me): Working thumb gusset on Mitten One. After some of these “exotic” fibers I’ve been working with lately, knitting with Plymouth Encore Worsted feels great!
Silk stole (for me): Snuck this one in on you, didn’t I? This was supposed to be a cotton lace washcloth. But I found a couple of balls of Shire Silk in baby blue at a new local yarn store, and cast on for a “washcloth” with size 15 needles. I haven’t done a repeat in a while, I don’t know how much yarn I’m going to need, I’ve never used silk, I’ve never done lace. I don’t care. I’ll get more yarn when I need it.
Leftovers afghan (us): I’ve started on a second five-inch square from the Debbie Bliss Denim Cotton Aran yarn. In about 35 years I will have a blanket. Or, 4 squares if I never find any more of this yarn on sale.

I had a knitting dream the other night, too. I was working with some sort of cobweb weight green lace on a really fancy project that I had completely hosed. The border didn’t go all the way around, some sections looked like entrelac squares done with a different shade of green…..you could almost hear the frogs croaking offstage. I was glad to wake up from that one.

What else is up for this week? Big Tom has an appointment tomorrow to be fitted (perhaps) with a mild orthotic (his left foot turns in, sometimes). There’s a colonoscopy scheduled for Thursday (not mine) that could use some positive vibes. And there was a line from yesterday’s mass bulletin that caught my eye:

“Pray for the sick, for there are many.”

Lucky for us, we already know that cooking and knitting are prayer.

Don’t occurrence the yarn!

I had been wondering where all the spammers were. Today I checked the spam bucket and got a delightful surprise — I’m being copied to various other Internet Tubage. Not with credit, mind you, but still. Don’t have time to fight it, so there it is.

When I clicked on one of the copies, my post showed up, credited to someone else, on a blog that purported to be about family issues, but really just hosted advertising for digital photography supplies (I think). Looks like they’re doing this to lots of other people, and it was a recent post of mine, so I don’t think it will all be around for very long.

The other post that was pirated was the one in which I taught James how to fingerknit. But it took me a while to figure it out, as it apparently got translated into another language, then mistranslated back into sorta English. Any of my polyglot friends want to take a guess at the middleman tongue? Here’s the end result:

…the inner nonfigurative I managed to designate on was my possess beginner’s anxiety most knitting. His emotion was priceless. “Don’t occurrence the yarn, Jack! Don’t occurrence the yarn!!“ “Mom, Leenie’s completely unraveling the ball of yarn!” “I am SO MAD!!!”

No more for me, thanks, I’m full.

In knitting news, I finished not one but two secret projects. (I also updated my previous post with more spinning details, so do scroll down.) I mostly battled my computer, which seems to have contracted some sort of virus. It can hold its internet connection for only so long, then loses contact one site at a time until the whole online thang collapses like a house of cards.

Don’t ask me what I’m doing here, anyway. I need to put away clothes and do more laundry and vacuum the floors and clean out my van and PACK. Off to Detroit tomorrow!

Next week: Anthony Bourdain, Top Gear, March Madness, Biggest Loser, and TOP CHEF! And yeah, that book I’m writing. See you Monday.

Adrift

For days I’ve been planning to take pictures of the snowdrift we have between the house and the garage. The changing winds resculpt it every day, and it does give the feeling of being lost at sea. The most important thing it does is block, over and over, the little sidewalk that goes from the porch to the cars. It’s happened so frequently that we’ve given up on it, and make our way through the snow via the “shortcut” we shovel from the base of the porch’s ramp directly to the driveway.

Late yesterday afternoon I glanced out the window and saw a dark figure leaping towards the house. It was my husband in his black suede jacket, nimbly bounding over/through the drift after toiling for many frigid minutes to repair the blower in his car. (Alas, the fix was merely temporary.)

The driveway has an underlayment of thick transparent ice; the field below us is covered with snow that looks like gentle waves lapping up at the edge of a lake, frozen in mid-lap.

Inside it’s still warm and wooly, and now is when I’m wishing I had started some really comfy adult-sized sweaters a few months ago. No such luck.

Here’s what’s on the needles:

1. Irish Hiking Scarf, in doomed yarn (long story), waiting for more doomed yarn, ultimate fate unknown
2. Kelp Forest Scarf, three repeats in, probably replacing the IHS as the Currach Club raffle item
3. Second Jacquard sock, waiting for the rest of the yarn
4. Packer Hat, waiting for me to pick up stitches and knit the brim
5. mystery giftknit for my IT guy

Yes…for those of you with detailed scorecards, I decided to frog the cute little Knit One Purl Two cap. When I experimented with the crown decreases I just didn’t like how it looked. Since it wasn’t sized to fit anyone in this household (as far as I could tell) I just frogged the thing, releasing some perfectly good Plymouth Galway in navy blue back into the yarnstream.

Other than knitting on Scarf One and Scarf Two, I’ve been watching Doctor Who, reading old Doctor Who paperbacks, watching Last Restaurant Standing, laughing my head off at Top Gear, and witnessing the probable decline in fortune of Robert Irvine, the hunkiest chef on television. (I’d still go out drinking with Bobby Flay, but come on!) It seems he may have, along with his commanding presence, a tendency to exaggerate his experiences. I’ve read Kitchen Confidential and I think part of Irvine’s actions may stem from cuisine culture, and the, um, cojones it takes to get ahead. And everything may have just taken on more steam than he wanted to give it. Just my own theory. Sigh.

Tonight we watched Dinner: Impossible with some trepidation (though the show was as good as always), and noticed with relief/amusement that the intro had changed. No longer does the voiceover claim he cooked for presidents, queens, and kings — there’s just a vague reference to “culinary challenges” and a new video treatment.

Blogland, Wisconsin, is all aquiver with the news that we’ll have two rockstar knitter visits in two months: Franklin Habit (AKA Panopticon) at Yellow Dog Knitting in Eau Claire in March, and Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (AKA The Yarn Harlot) at Borders in Madison in late April. I’ll be out of state for Franklin’s visit (though Dale-Harriet has already scheduled her appointment), but you couldn’t keep me away from seeing and hearing the Harlot. Though, once I’m there, I’ll most likely be hiding in the shadows from paralyzing shyness. At events like this I usually end up running from the featured speaker and chumming it up with the staff. Somebody slap me!

Time to knit something. Anything.

Guest post: Sequel for Serenity

Today’s post comes by way of a hardcore fan of the Firefly TV series and Serenity, the followup movie after the series was cancelled. Whether you’re a knitter making a Jayne hat, or just a nut for everything Joss Whedon, take a look at this post and act according to your heart. Disclaimer: I haven’t seen a minute of the show or the movie, but I think the passion of someone who wants more of their favorite brilliant-but-cancelled show deserves a listen. Plus, I first heard about these shows via the Yarn Harlot, so there has to be something to it.

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Calling All Browncoats!

In 2002, the Fox network debuted a revolutionary new dramatic series called Firefly. From the mind of Buffy creator Joss Whedon, Firefly was unlike anything ever before seen: part sci-fi, part western. And all extraordinary.

The show’s name derived from a class of transport ship; the “Firefly” class. One such ship, Serenity, serves a home to an eclectic crew of personalities as vivid as television has seen before or since: a war-hardened captain, a tough-as-nails second-in-command, her wisecracking pilot husband, a kind-hearted ship’s mechanic, a mercenary you’d want in a fight, a “bona fide Companion” (don’t ask), a preacher, a ship’s doctor, and his mysteries and deeply-troubled sister.

It is this crew that is the heart of Serenity; the heart of Firefly. There are no cliches here, no cardboard cut-outs, no stereotypes. These are people — real, living, breathing people — that care so deeply for one another that we, as audience, come to care for them just the same. There is hope, there is heartbreak, there is love. And, too, there is humor, with witty fast-paced dialog to match groundbreaking camera work and award-winning special effects.

Yet like many a revolutionary show, Firefly did not last, and was cancelled before the end of its first and only season.

But then something unexpected happened: The people who had watched the show, embraced it, loved it…they wouldn’t let it die. They couldn’t let it die. And in an unprecedented move, in 2005 Universal Pictures released a feature film based on a failed television show that didn’t even make it through its first season. The movie was called, simply, Serenity.

Since then, the fan base for Firefly/Serenity continues to grow; the fans proudly referring to themselves as “Browncoats” (one of many references to the show). And they want more of Serenity and her crew, more of Captain Mal and second-in-command Zoe, more of the mercenary man they call Jayne, more of ever-reasonable Companion Inara, more of ever-cheerful mechanic Kaylee, more of noble doctor Simon, and more of his deeply disturbed (and equally deadly) sister, River.

The fans won’t let Serenity die. More to the point, they can’t. They have embraced it, taken it into their hearts, brought Serenity’s crew into their homes.

Maybe you’re one of them, a Browncoat, an honorary member of Serenity’s crew. If you are, then snap to attention. The fight isn’t over. Serenity will fly again, but only if we do our part.

It starts with numbers. The suits in Hollywood need numbers to justify a sequel to Serenity. Two numbers are key: sales of the Serenity Collector’s Edition DVD, and participation in the Universal HD Forums Firefly message boards.

Signing up and participating on the Firefly boards is free. And, as an added bonus, you’ll get to interact with fellow Browncoats like you. Discuss the characters. Share favorite quotes. But most of all, simply make your presence known. Make it clear to Universal that we — the Browncoats, the fans of Firefly and Serenity — will never have enough of this story, that ship, these characters. Make it clear to Universal that they are sitting on a movie franchise gold mine with a built-in audience. It all starts by signing up, and again, it’s free:

http://boards.nbcuni.com/universalHD/index.php?showforum=4

The other key number Universal is looking at: sales figures for the Serenity Collector’s Edition DVD. If you loved the series but didn’t have time for the movie, here you will finally learn the true horrors that have burned up River Tam’s brain…horrors that the Alliance will kill to keep secret. And that’s just the beginning:

http://www.amazon.com/Serenity-Collectors-Nathan-Fillion/dp/B000Q9IZ5C/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1202242592&sr=8-1

Now is not the time to give up. Now, once again, is the time to fight. Fellow Browncoats, the fight is in our hands, and the first shot can be taken as simply as joining the forum linked to above. Join. Participate. Be heard. Be a Big Damn Hero. And together, we will see Serenity sail through the black, even if just for one more time.