Anogete's Journal

I'm working on this monster-huge knitting project. One day it will be a gorgeous long-sleeve shirt inspired by Edwardian tea gowns. Right now it's a pile of yarn with only six inches of the bottom hem knitted. I get that sinking feeling when I look at it.

To quench my desire to knit, but not beat myself over the head with the current project, I'm offering to make hats for anyone who wants one. For free, no strings attached. So, if you'd like a hand-knit hat clicky on the cut.

( i'm like a hat genie )

So, if you want one, just leave me a comment with the style and color(s). Oh, and I'm going to screen the comments in this entry for privacy's sake. Please, let me make you a hat. I'm good at it, I swear. :-)

<> I should not sign up for NaNoWriMo. I've never done it before, and with my track record, I'd never finish the damn novel. But, I have this cute idea that mixes a bit of fantasy, comedy, and romance. I need to just put it out of my head because it'll never work out.

<> I hate, hate fixing computers. In hindsight, I wish I had refrained from telling anyone in my office that I knew a single thing about them. Now, I'm the one-woman IT department along with contract management and AP. Eff this. And, as if that wasn't enough, the owner/boss wants to send me for training on the accounting software. I don't want this responsibility! I don't want to fly up to Denver for two days of training. I hate freakin' computer classes. Whine, whine.

<> Why am I craving potato salad?

<> I promised a friend I would make her a bunny hat with ears and everything. I said I would do this three weeks ago, and I still haven't finished it. It never comes out to my standards, and I rip it apart to start over again.

<> I skimmed through the last episode of True Blood. So disappointed with the treatment of the characters. They're trying to ruin Sam! And everyone else while they're at it. Bastards.

<> I'm buying all of my Christmas presents from Etsy this year. Support the crafty folk!

A third of the way through I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. I have this sinking feeling that Cassandra is going to fall in love with Neil, not Stephen. And this will ruin my month. Why do I always fall for the other guy?

My new knitting project will be the death of me. I've worked on it for hours, and I only have about five inches of the shirt done. I'm knitting the torso in the round, which makes for slower progression up the body, but it is just taking so long. Gorgeous so far, though.

I found my two best friends from high school on Facebook. By the time I graduated, I deeply disliked both of them. Time heals all wounds, right? I don't dislike either of them right now, but talking to one of them, in particular, has reminded me why I cut off our friendship and how most people never really change.

I finished my super!awesome knitted cotton tank.

( zee pictures )

Excuse the odd angle of the second picture, but I'm, apparently, unable to take a picture of my torso without cutting my head and/or back off. At least you can see how it looks on instead of lying atop a table. I lurve it lots.

Packing has begun. Our new bed is arriving tomorrow morning. I need to box up my books, DVDs/videos, and other assorted odds and ends this weekend. Next weekend I'll pull the art off the walls and pack up what I can of the kitchen. I'm so excited about moving, but it is so much work. Blah.

EDIT: ( a very cool quiz )

We may or may not move the office to another location. Boss 1 and Boss 2 are on the outs, and Boss 1 owns the building, so Boss 2 is keen to rent another place. It's much more confusing than it sounds, but typing it all out here wouldn't do a thing. I've been charged with the task of finding a suitable location for the office, mechanic shop, and equipment yard. This task is impossible. Two real estate agents told me just as much when I inquired.

I'm knitting again. I got the yarn to knit this gorgeous v-neck tank today. I did a swatch to check my gauge this afternoon so I can delve into the back of the sweater this evening. You all don't know how much I hate casting on stitches. Uck.

I spent way too much money at Cost Plus World Market. I picked up my mother's birthday present, which was my original reason for going in the store. I also bought tea paraphernalia galore, soaps, lotions, a nifty tote bag. One can never have too many tote bags, especially ones with sparkly elephants on them.

The annual visit to the OB/GYN is coming up. Not exactly looking forward to it to say the least.

Oh, and I'm such a softie. Payroll Girl's little boy is sick. He's only four, and we're X-Men buddies since we both like the cartoon. I felt bad for him, so while I was picking up the yarn for my knitting project, I bought him a little soft model plane he can assemble and fly around the house. I gave it to Payroll Girl, and she said he'd love it because he comes home with paper airplanes from daycare every day.

I finished the hat and scarf for Markel. The hat was done using a basic cabled hat pattern, but I invented a pattern for the scarf since there are virtually no baby/toddler scarf patterns out there. It's nothing fancy - just a regular old cable running up the center and garter stitch around the edges to prevent curling. The yarn was unlabeled and had been sitting in the bottom of my yarn drawer for ages. Ferguson actually got into it about a year ago and ripped some of it to shreds. I managed to salvage enough to make the scarf and the hat with a bit left over.

( don't be so blue )

What's up New Mexico Democrats? Hillary? For serious? I'm so disappointed in you. I thought were were all aware that she is deceitful, disingenuous, and fake as all get out. Shame, shame. If you voted for her, I'm sorry that she's fooled you into believing she's a good person.

This little Independent didn't get a say so since we've got a closed primary up in here.

My mother sent me a tree. A living pine tree. It came in a tall box with twelve small Christmas ornaments and a set of twenty Christmas lights. She knows I don't decorate for Christmas, but she did it anyway. To tell the truth, I really like it. I've adopted the tree as my new plant. I've already re-potted it and given it a good water.

( the tree gussied all up for x-mas )

I knitted Markel (niece) a hat for Christmas. I think all the super cutesy baby hats out there suck. They totally don't capture her personality. So, I made a 1920's-inspired hat with a big purple flower on the side. It is the most awesome hat ever. I want to make one for myself.

Click the picture for more detail...



It was made using some scrap yarn I hade. The hat itself is some extra yarn from my sweater (which I'm still working on) in wheat, and the purple yarn is a bit of leftover Cascade 220 from my mother's felted bag. I thought they complimented each other quite well.

I spent the evening washing a set of cookware my grandmother had Home Shopping send me. I have pots and pans galore, now. I also had to wrap Christmas presents and package them to be shipped out tomorrow or Saturday.

I absolutely love the cables that are knitted up both sides of the pullover I'm making. They're gorgeous and surprisingly easy to do. I've made crazy progress in the last two weeks, and I have about twenty more rows to knit before splitting the sweater for the armholes.

( progress pictures that actually show something other than a blob of knitting )

Jason and I watched a recording of The Reduced Shakespeare Company performing Shakespeare's complete works. It was hilarious. If you're a fan of literature, especially Shakespeare, then I highly recommend it. I nearly spent the entire ninety minutes doubled over in laughter.

( video clips of the performance )

I'm embarking on my personal knitter's Mount Everest. I've made the scarves and hats and various assorted knitted items. I've even made a simple sweater. I finally ordered the appropriate amount of yarn to make a Rogue Hooded Pullover from the girl from auntie's website. The website doesn't show it all that well, but it has those beautiful cables along each side as well as on the hood, cuffs, and neckline. This picture of a girl who has already knitted hers shows the sides of the sweater wonderfully.

At any rate, I'm totally committed to this. I will finish this pullover by the time spring rolls around. I'm already an entire five rows into it. The yarn is delicious and is called wheat. It's cream-colored with flecks of dark brown in it.

( this will be a gorgeous sweater before you know it )

EDIT: I seriously need some Midol, but it's nearly midnight and I don't feel like going to the drug store. If I could get out of bed before 7:00am, I'd drop by before work. I'm not getting out of bed that early. As it is, I might have to suffer until noon tomorrow. ::eye twitches::

I finished one of my Lolita Legs stockings after months of saying I was going to do it. I attempted several methods of photographing the stocking last night without posting my leg on the internet. In the end, the stocking looks like a glob of yarn without a leg inside of it. Plus, it's just my leg. It's not like I'm flashing a boob to my flist. This is a no-nipple zone.

( picture of the stocking )

So, my problem is that the stocking keeps falling down my thigh when I lace it with a ribbon. I temporarily used a white elastic cord as a lace up the back, but it doesn't look pretty. I was thinking about dying the cord a different color to spice up the back of the stocking. White just isn't working for me.

I've done nothing today but order breakfast for the office and stare at my desk. A group of solicitors were harassing the poor receptionist a few moments ago. They were bullying their way through her so they could go into employees' private offices. The hallway outside my door looks down into the lobby. I walked out there and sent them packing. They wanted to sell tickets to basketball games at UNM. I told them that we all hated basketball before pointing out the No Solicitation sign on the door. So, that's the only other thing I've managed to do today. I'm on a roll.

My high school English teacher told us that if, on the first day of the month, you said, "Rabbit, rabbit," before opening your eyes and getting out of bed, you would have a good month. I've never managed to do this. I doubt anyone other than a terribly happy morning person would remember. When I wake, I'm not thinking about having a good month; I'm thinking about how I'm going to get out of bed and go to work when I feel like I could use another three hours of sleep. Plus, it's been cold and dark these past few mornings. This is not exactly the best weather for rising and shining. Not that I know how to do that on sunny, warm mornings either.

P.S. - What the fuck is it with me and the characters I like? I always end up liking the kinda-sorta bad boy who is emotionally stunted in general, but secretly has a heart of gold and a desire to be honorable (in his own way). I'm frickin' predictable. Titus Pullo from Rome is my new cause. (We're going to ignore that I find him very pleasing to the eye. Gaaaaa...) I've been wobbling back and forth on whether I like that program or not. At first it was pretty ridiculous. I didn't care for most of the characters, thought some of them were annoying to no end, and hated the excessive sex scenes I found to be unnecessary. It has taken me ten episodes to even figure out that I might like it. A little. I was expecting another Carnivale or Deadwood. Rome is definitely not up to the caliber of those two shows, but it's tolerable.