I bring you two, and also three

Yesterday I mentioned that I'd met one of my three big goals for November. Earlier today, I met my second major goal. I've hit 50,466 words (and I'm nowhere near finished!). I can't even begin to tell you how proud of myself I am. When I decided to this, many of my close friends and family members gave me that wide-eyed, uncertain, do we need to call in the professionals who bring jackets that are all arms look.

In anycase, I plan to go celebrate by drinking a little more whiskey than is good for me, and by having a good snog. Or three.

And speaking of three, as I write this post, I'm meeting my third major goal -- to post daily during the month of November. I fell off the subject of knitting a ways back, but fear me not, it'll be back.

I still haven't decided what yarn to buy!

Here We Are Now, Entertain Us!.... Yeah!*

So, I made the first of my three goals for the month.

At the end of every Wednesday in November, I was either at or above the projected word count. I decided in early November that if I made this goal I would:

1. Be more likely to actually finish, and
   
2. Get a neat treat-reward-thing

Only, I never quite got around to deciding what that reward would BE. So, suggestions? What's some really yummy, decadent, luxury yarn that isn't so expensive my husband will have an apoplectic fit if I suggest buying it during the Month of Christmas? What would YOU want your prize to be?

My reward for finishing NaNoWriMo will be to get the T-shirt, and of course the satisfaction of having really DONE it. And of course the reward for successfully completing NaBloPoMo will be... thirty more posts than I had when I started. And did I mention satisfaction for stick-to-itiveness?

ETA: Okay, I've just made a decision. My other reward for finishing NaNoWriMo will be to donate $10 to the cause. Whaddya think, Koren? You with me?

*With apologies to Nirvana.

The Home Stretch

Well, I'm closing in. I've got a bit over 44,000 words written, and won't go to bed tonight before my word count is at least 46, 676, which is the "official" word count goal for today. That leaves me with just over 3000 words to write on Thursday and Friday, and then genties and ladlemen, I will be done.

I am so doing this.

Speaking of home stretches, there's three days left of NaBloPoMo too. I'm gonna make that too.

And then maybe in December I can start knitting again.

Then I would have something to post about!

A bit of a quick update

It's crunch time in NaNoWriMo land, genties and ladlemen. My fellow Wrimo-ers and myself should have written 50,000 words by this coming Friday.

I have at least one friend on my LJ Flist that's already reached 50K, and let me take a moment to express my awe. My Koren has, (and let me be proud here) managed to hit her word count goal EVERY DAY for the entire month. How much does that rock?

I set my personal goals up so that I'll be caught up at the end of every week. My "week" is a bit off-kilter, as I have Tuesdays and Wednesdays off, so my Sunday night is really on Wedesday. Anyway, I'm meant to have 46K and change written by tomorrow night. I've made my word goal (and my NaBloPoMo goals too, come to that) every week this month, and fully plan to hit it this week as well.

I was at 35K this morning, and am now sitting pretty on 41,005 words. Neville and Ginny have had a fight, and she's just told him about Tom Riddle. Trust me, it all makes sense in context.

But then, doesn't everything?

Christmas Knitting

It seems like I attempted to post on this topic earlier this month, and then ran into the problem that many of my recipients may (or may not — don't get your hopes up, y'all) be reading this blog.

But here's what I'd like to accomplish in December, once NaNoWriMo and NaBloPoMo are behind me.

• Scarf for Barbara — I've actually started this one
• Hats for Morgan, Rowan and Rhiannon
• Scarf for Liz (another co-worker) she also knits, and crochets, and last year she gave ME a scarf, so I'd really like to reciprocate

Okay, there's more I'd like to do, but at the rate I'm going, I don't know that it's going to happen.

Having just read Stephanie's Christmas knitting list, either I have a firmer grip on reality than she does, or I'm a wimp. Or, you know, both. The two are not mutually exclusive.

Victorian Lace Today (I got a new book!)

I know I'm a day late and a dollar short on this one, but I'm only just now getting around to buying this book.

I have to say, in the interest of being fair, that I am a bit prejudiced against XrX — I have never forgiven them for the sudden and horrific fugnation of Knitters magazine....so I was a little worried about this book. On the other hand, I have Gathering of Lace, and Best of Knitters: Shawls and Scarves (which is pretty alright, saving the very 1980s-ness of it).

Anyway, I needn't have worried. The book is gorgeously laid out, and I've already picked out a few projects that will be moving into my "must knit" list.

My very favorite part of the book, other than the photographs of course, is the historical information that Jane Sowerby provides. I love reading about the history of textiles and fiber arts, so the sections on the early pattern books is a nice treat.

I haven't checked KnittingUniverse.com for errata yet, so I'm not sure how it fairs on the technical accuracy front.

The Aftermath

There was more Thanksgiving (and giving thanks) at Chez Woolly today, as my chosen family came and broke bread with us. A grand, delicious and pie-ful time was had by all.

And now?


We play dice!

And a Good Time Was Had By All

So, late last week my older sister Abby called and asked how I felt about her and her family coming over to my house for Thanksgiving. We had already invited Jess and her family over, and had talked to my friends Cindy and Heather about eating with us as well.

So, by the time all was said and done, rather than feeding the four of us (my eldest was away at her paternal grandmother's), I ended up feeding 16 people.

It was really pretty awesome. We had a great time, and the food was excellent. Cindy and Heather brought a Hubbard Squash dish (I think you have to capitalize "Hubbard Squash" its like a rule) and a righteous potato dish that involved feta cheese and tomatoes and YUM. Jess brought a loaf of the best bread she has ever baked, and some baked non-hubbard squash. Carl, my lovely and competent husband, baked pumpkin pies. Abby provided yet more pies and drinks, and very cleverly brought her Bunn coffee pot from home (I lust for her Bunn. That would sound wrong even if she weren't my sister. But there you are.)

I made cranberries, and sweet potatoes, and stuffing, and green beans almondine, and, and, and....

Turkey.

Thanksgiving V

Our Thanksgiving celebration was delicious, exhausting and absolutely wonderful. I had dear friends and family over and we had awesome and beautiful food.

I'll give you pictures tomorrow (I was actually bright enough to take some), but for now I'm off to my bed.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends, and to everyone else, Happy Knitting!

Thanksgiving IV

I am thankful for:

• Friends who will bring over their ginger when I run out at 10 p.m. on the day before Thanksgiving
• Pandora Radio
• Having my husband help me make my NaNoWriMo word count by use of bribery
• Random passers-by who tag me for meme's that will totally give me blog-fodder on Friday
• Sweet baby boys, snuggled up on the couch

Thanksgiving III

Today I am thankful for:

• universal remote controls (Please note that I would be even MORE thankful if we could find ours)
• healthy children who are able to go to school
• co-op farms with organically grown vegetables (even the icky ones, like Kale, bleargh!)
• pink M & Ms
• the easing of nasty cold symptoms
  

Thanksgiving II

I am thankful for:

• Blue Cheese on Hamburgers
• Home-made Mead
• A new tire on my car
• Mucinex (don't ask)
• A husband that does laundry

Thanksgiving

I am thankful for:

• a loving and supportive husband
• a sweet, charming and funny 13 year old
• an imaginative, kind and bossy 7 year old
• a brilliant, generous and sensitive 6 year old
• a good job that challenges me, and is offering the opportunity for advancement
• friends and family, and people I consider to be both

Knit Party

Tonight is Knit Party Night.

My friend the No-Longer-Blogless Cindy has begun hosting monthly Knitting Parties. (Please note that I have totally decided that two months running makes a tradition. So there.)

Anyway, so theoretically, one would assume that Knitting Parties are meant for knitting, and hey... that's valid. Look, we even brought knitting baskets.

See? Total knitting opportunities here. My basket is the one on the bottom right -- the observant among you will recognize the pink stripey sock and the Harlot Scarf.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I should probably mention that I have knit two entire rows of the scarf.... and that's pretty much it.

There's wine, and cookies, and Broadway musicals, and NaNoWriMo and NaNoBloMo (I mean NaBloPoMo) and...

What kind of party was this again?

SOCK YARN!

Sorry, I didn't mean to shout.

We had a nasty storm two nights ago that knocked out our internet. AND THEN IT NEVER CAME BACK! It was traumatic. Happily Koren (who is indeed a very cool friend) rescued the blog and posted for me.

So, I had a total of 5 qualifying entries (I'm sorry, Chelsea!) for the sock yarn giveaway. So, using a nifty-skifty random number generator (too lazy to dig out the dice) I arrived at an answer.

Koren, darling, you are our winner.

(Koren asked me last night, "Should I go ahead and post the sock yarn winner?" and I said... "Um, no....")

Now, truly funny thing about this is that I was totally planning on picking out one of the many nice sock yarns in my stash (or if parting with one was too dear, I'd run to the LYS and pick out one to give away, and then one for me, to ease the sting.)

But, I happen to have some Lion Brand Magic Stripes in my stash, and I know for a fact that Koren covets it...


Call me, and we'll negotiate.

(P.S. I have two colorways -- but only a picture of one of them)

Drive-by remote blogging...

(I iz in ur blogger, posting in ur blog!)

Hullo, gentle reader! It is I, CyberMathWitch!

What? What's that you say? You were expecting Kade?

Well of course you were. Unfortunately I'm afraid I have to disappoint you, and you'll have to make do with me. All her interwebs are down, you see. And her outerwebs. All her webs, really. And since we're not quite *that* tech savvy yet, well, remote blogging means calling someone on the cel-phone and saying "hey you! For the love of NaBloPoMo, blog for me!"

(and let me just state, here and now, that despite the fact that I am generally the pusher and enabler extraordinaire, in this particular instance? Totally not my fault. Kade found NaBloPoMo all on her onesies.)

And for some reason, I have a bastardized filk version of "Don't Blog for Me, Argentina" running through my head. This means either a. I should take Evita with me to the Knitting party on Saturday, or b. Argentina really shouldn't blog for people. Possibly both.

Now I have to go, because I still need to work on my husband and feed my NaNo. Wait. Maybe that's the other way 'round?

Nah.

Technical Difficulties

The intarwebs are broken.

Sock winner tomorrow!

Omphaloskepsis

I think that it's interesting that of all of my throw away comments on this blog, the one that has generated the most commentary was my piteous query, "But what do I write about?" Several people offered suggestions (many of which I fully intend to take advantage of) for future blog posts.

Tekopp in addition to reassuring me regarding the price of post to Norway (not too dear) asked an interesting question:

How do you feel about daily blogging and why are you (not) going to
continue with it?

I guess I'm ambivalent about the daily blogging. On the one hand, I am enjoying the challenge, and the discipline, of making a post every day. On the other hand, well, I intend for this blog to be primarily a virtual scrapbook and history of my crafting, both knitting and sewing. I rarely touch too deeply on other aspects of my life here, and I'm pretty okay with that.

So, I think that I might decide to blog daily on a private journal, something like LJ, where my posts can be locked if I decide they need to be. I don't think I'm going to try to maintain daily posting here though, because people, I'm going to start to bore myself. Yesterday I posted a picture of a peacock and went to bed. I mean really.

BUT (you had to know there was going to be a "but" didn't you?) I definitely want to post to this blog more often. I enjoy the process and exercise of writing, and I enjoy the exhibitionist aspect of putting up pictures of things I've made. "Look at how neat I am! Look what I did!" I am the very Leo-est of Leos when it comes to this sort of thing.

So, in answer to your question, tekopp, I don't think I'll continue to blog daily at this blog, but I am definitely going to be blogging at least weekly. And I'm (so far at least) really glad that I decided to do NaBloPoMo.

omphaloskepsis: from the greek, to contemplate one's navel.

Nothing to Write About

In lieu of an actual blog post, I give you more Bird Pr0n:


In my defense, I at least took this picture, instead of finding it on Flickr's Creative Commons page. Last summer we vacationed in Pigeon Forge and this fellow wandered past our cabin.

Tune in tomorrow for a real blog post.

Knitting in Public

Two of my dear friends were married yesterday, in a lovely little ceremony at Cannonsburgh Village, here in Murfreesboro.

Wedding receptions being what they are (interminably boring) I instructed my son to bring a book, my daughter to bring a notebook and a pencil, and I brought my current sock-in-progress. We were all playing to our strengths.

Anyway, there I was with Jess standing around and knitting on our respective socks (like you do). Mingle, mingle, knit, knit and a friend says, "Is this some sort of sock-knitting cult?" I turn around and there is Koren, working away on her Nagini sock.

I swear we didn't plan it.

(And you would think that someone at the wedding would have had the sense to take a picture of three women standing around, in all our Shakespearian glory, knitting. But if they did, I haven't heard about it.)

Promised Pictures and Re-thinking My Plans

As promised, I have some pictures of yesterday's yarn acquisition adventure.

However, I think that I need to re-consider my plan about using the yarn for the Chevron Scarf. At the gauge that this yarn knits up, it really would be a Chevrolet Scarf (looks like I was right the first time). There is another scarf pattern in the book that I think will work out just fine though, so it is really not a big deal. Someday, when I am rich, I'll buy the Koigu that the pattern calls for.

In other news, I've made some progress on the Harlot Scarf I'm making for a friend at work. (This is not intended as a slight on her character. The scarf pattern was designed by The Yarn Harlot.) It is looking less like a ball of yarn and more like a scarf with every passing day.

Joann's Trip

We'll pretend that I didn't have a blog post earlier this week that implied (outright stated) that I already have enough (too much) yarn.

Yes.

Anyway, my darling Koren and I went out for dinner and shopping this evening, and of course I came home with yarn. I picked up two skeins of some new Debbie Mumm (!?!?) Traditions yarn and two skeins of one of Joann's Sensations yarns. My plan is to try out the Chevrolet (uh.. no, that's not right. Chevron. Sheesh.) Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I'll post pictures tomorrow, when I'm awake.

A Cardinal Number

Well, how about that, folks? I've made 100 posts here at Woolly Discipline. Now, I know I've been a sporadic poster, and if there is one thing that this past week of daily posting has taught me it's that.... it's probably just as well really.

Wow, how do daily bloggers come up with new stuff to write about?

Moreover, when have they got time to knit?

But anyway, 100 blog posts calls for a celebration, or (dare I say it?) a blog contest!

I shall choose randomly from amongst the comments, one lucky winner who will take home some lovely sock yarn. The rules are as follows:

• While contestants may comment more than once, this will not afford them multiple entries in the drawing.
• The comment that is either the most witty, or makes me laugh the hardest (I'm sure you see how these two need not be synonymous) will receive Honorable Mention.
• I'll be monitoring the comments on this post through midnight on Tuesday, November 13. I'll announce the winner in Wednesday's post. If you were clever enough to leave me an email address, I'll email you too.
• If you don't happen to live in my hometown, I'm happy to mail the sock yarn to you. We'll work out the details as we go along.)
  

Now, since I have three regular readers, one regular commenter, and two or three occasional guests (I'm looking at you, tekopp, "hi!" and goodness, how much is post to Norway?) I'll be interested to see how many commenters crawl out of the woodwork at the promise of free yarn.

Yay for 100 posts!

This Little Alien Went to Market*

I figure everyone must have a system for determining what does and doesn't count as an actual UFO. I mean, these things are all relative, right? Does it become a UFO moment you cast on? Or is that a WIP?

How long does it take to make the transition? Let's say, hypothetically, that you get bored and wander off. When does it loose its shiny WIP status, and join the lowly, the unloved, the uncounted, the UFOs?

For myself, I have a graduated system (and clearly, if I put as much effort into actually knitting as I do to thinking about it, much of this post would be moot.)

(Image © Annais)

Pipe-Line Projects: these are the knits I'm dreaming about, reading the patterns and shopping for yarn. These are "what's next."

Current Projects: projects that are on the needles, and that I'm either currently, actively knitting, or have done in the very recent past

Once and Future Projects: projects that I used to be really excited about, but for whatever reason have fallen by the knitting wayside. These are projects that I will totally (someday) finish. No really. Stop looking at me like that.

I'm sorry, Do I Know You? Projects: Projects that I don't remember why I was knitting. I would frog them, but to do so would require admitting that I'd ever cast them on.

Yarn: Gone daddy, gone. I came, I saw, I frogged. As Stephanie Pearl McPhee would say, "I remember that I like yarn more than I like bad hats" (Knitting Rules, pg. 125).

So, How do you count your UFOs?

*When my youngest two children were babies, my husband liked to play "piggies" on their toes. Never one to leave well enough alone, we changed the rhyme every time we said it. Sometimes the piggies went to market to buy tofu (my husband is a hippie, what can I say?) Sometimes though, they weren't piggies at all. Sometimes they were aliens "This little alien cried NargleBleepZoop all the way home!" It seemed a logical progression from counting UFOs to counting aliens.

Christmas Knits

For those of you in the blogosphere smart enough not to decide to write a novel during November, it's time to start (ha!) your Christmas knitting. The clever, prepared knitter, of course, began this process last March and is now smugly seaming up complex fingering weight fair isle sweaters for their postman.

I think we all know that I am not that knitter.

I am not actually intending to knit (or sew, for that matter) too many of my gifts...but what seems to be a perfectly reasonable number at the beginning of November is a one one way ticket to crazy-town come late December.

Now, pretend that this paragraph is a list, detailing exactly what I intend to make for whom, and how near it is to completion. Pretending is what you'll have to do, because the people I'm making gifts for? They read the blog.

Right. Well.

That was helpful.

I Like Soccer Balls Better

The good news is, I found my camera. When my boy-o was using the computer night before last, he knocked my camera bay over and my camera fell between my tower and the "random box of old video games" (admit it, you know you have one). I have been having a series of ongoing adventures with my son and the computer. Two weeks ago he got on-line while I was at work and very thoughtfully bought me $20 worth of "gems" on pogo.com. Yes, my little dude spent twenty bucks on electrons. This is as much my fault as anyone's because my password was set to auto-fill. I really ought to know better (and yes, I fixed that little faux pas on my part.)

So, long story short, we are keeping a closer watch on what he does when he's playing his games on my PC, and we've set him up his own account with restricted access (no installing). Yesterday I notice that the little icon for his account has changed. It was a little car, then it was a soccer ball.

Me: Honey, did you change the picture for your profile?
Little Dude: Yes. It was a car.
Me: Did Daddy help you?
L.D.: No.
Me: How did you know how to do that?
L.D.: *shrugs* I like soccer balls better.

Dude is 6.

This morning, it was a frog.

I am in so much trouble.

Nothing To See Here, Move Along

I can't find my camera.

This bodes ill on day 4 of NaBloPoMo. How am I going to excite and titillate the masses without my camera? We'll ignore, for the nonce, the fact that I haven't actually knit anything worth blogging about in the last several days, and just focus on my total lack of cameratude. It was on my table yesterday before the party. (Yesterday 20+ lovely people invaded my home, ate candy, wore funny clothes and imbibed fermented beverages. Good times. Gut Glory only knows what became of my digital picture maker).

Oh, that reminds me, did I remember to tell you that I decided to do NaNoWriMo afterall? On October 31 I was very smugly helping a friend work out a plot point in her story when all of the sudden a plot-bunny the size of a moose bit me square on the tuckus.

Immediately, I ran to the computer and composed an email to three friends, begging them to talk me out of this insanity. I seriously miscalculated—all three of them had already committed to NaNo and were no help at all. (By 'no help' I mean, one of them said "Ooh, that would be awesome you totally have to do it!" and the other said, in a brilliant bout of reverse psychologizing, "You're probably right, it would be too hard for you." I hate you both so hard.)

So, let me leave you with a random picture of a scarf. No, I didn't find my camera, I took this one the other day when I was playing with my camera settings. I know it looks like a ball of yarn. You're going to have to use your imagination. I'm too busy writing to knit.

Swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon

I like socks. Self-patterning pink and brown and purple and gray socks in particular. Today, these are my favorite (almost) socks. Not that they are almost my favorite, but rather that they are almost socks. I'm preparing to turn the heel on the second sock...just as soon as I get around to it.

See, I like socks. I like these socks. I really like wearing socks that I've knit.

So how come I haven't picked these socks up in two weeks?


I have no idea.

Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy

Knitpicks, as the entire blogosphere is already well aware, is having a clearance sale. I am really ambivalent about this, because Hey! Sale! 440 yards of gorgeous merino lace weight for a buck ninety-nine. But then on the other hand, discontinued colors. DISCONTINUED, people. This means no more ever.

EVER.

This means that I have to buy it all right now, because what if I want some later? Well, I won't be able to get it, will I? No, I will not. Because, discontinued.

So, long story... well, slightly less long, three buddies and I all went in together and bought a Giant Box O' Fiber Goodness.


My personal haul?

1 Shine Sport Aquamarine
1 Shine Sport Coral
1 Shine Sport Crocus
4 Shadow Redwood Forest Heather
2 Shadow Grape Jelly Heather
2 Gossamer Caribbean
4 Gossamer Blue Jeans
2 Gossamer Sweet Peas
2 Gossamer Leprechaun
2 Gossamer Sunrise

When, in my whole life long, am I going to knit all this up?

WHEN?!?!?

All Saints Day (and a Hallowe'en Hangover)

Hallowe'en is a pretty big deal here at Chez Woolly. I have made it a point to try to make costumes for the kids while they're still small enough to care—and most years I manage pretty well. This year, Rhiannon (13) originally told me that she didn't want or need a costume, so I factored her out of my time budget. Unfortunately, she changed her mind too late (sorry Rhi!) so she is costume-less this year. I plan to make it up to her this spring when she goes to our local Anime Con, so I tell myself it'll all come out in the wash.

Miss Morgan decided she wanted to be a witch. She was very specific in her design requirements. "I want a black robe just like Rhiannon's, but with blue instead of purple, and not so long I trip and fall on my face."

The wig was her Unka Monka's (Uncle Monkey's) edition to her costume. Not my fault....




At first I tried to talk Rowan into being a Ninja for Halloween (hey, black fabric is cheap this time of year) but he said that would be "too silly." He opted for Ash Ketchum of Pokemon fame (and after a bit of confusion on my part...turns out Ash Ketchum is no relation to Hal Ketchum) I found some pictures on the Intarwebs and commenced to figuring it out. Best news? I already had the fabric — his costume cost me less than $5 to make. I win at life.