Slow and Unsteady

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I haven't had the blog in me for a while now. But I finally found a lolcat that expresses my feelings, and I decided it was time. (Of course, it's an lolcat without a cat, but that's beside the point.)

Tomorrow is my first day back at work since early June. It's time to start living my life again. Slowly. Very slowly. I'm starting by going back part time.

And I'm starting blogging again with a very short entry.

Things that cut into my yarn budget: Off of Work and Out of Commission

The last couple of weeks have been ...interesting. Part of me wants to blog all the gory details, but I know some parts of your life are best left off of the Internet, however "interesting" they may be.

The main gist of it is health problems. A hospitalization. Lots of non-knitting, yet craving to knit. I'm not quite functioning like a normal person.

I'm taking some time off of work right now to get things straightened out some more. Which means I'm living off my parents. My meager savings won't go far. And I have more hospital bills. And did I mention my insurance *claims* I haven't met deductible yet? At least I can fix that. I hope.

Sadly, Decimal will have to wait. Spending $40-$50 on KnitPicks yarn is usually doable, but not right now. It's stash knitting.

In between all this my Photogenic Scarf is stuck in my desk at work. I really, really, really want to knit that scarf. I need to find something equally soothing to knit. In my stash. ASAP.

(I hope my boss took that orange out of my desk like I asked. Otherwise it's going to start stinking up the place.)

I don't have it in my to do World Wide Knit in Public Day at the Capitol tomorrow. But I will be at The Knitting Nest to see Franklin Habit. I can't afford the class though (it's probably full anyway), but I'll probably pick up his book and get it signed.

I really want my scarf back.

Blogcation

I know I haven't been posting this week anyway, but I need to take a short blogcation. It shouldn't more than a week or two while I straighten some things out in my life.

In the meantime, read the Yarn Harlot's take on Austin, and read my review of the Yarn Harlot.

Yarn Harloting at BookPeople

On Thursday I rushed from my doctor appointment to BookPeople to see The Yarn Harlot. I was pleasantly surprised by how fast I got there from North Austin. A few minutes before the reception I arrived and had enough time to take this picture.

The Yarn Harlot had her name in lights. (At least it was in lights after dark. I think.)

Once I was inside, I ran into Elizabeth, and discovered that they had already sold out of Stephanie's most recent book.

Seriously?

(You could tell the staff was tired of explaining to people that they were out of the book.)

I ran upstairs, passing the crowd on the second floor that was already waiting, and up to the third floor where the reception was. Stephanie had not arrived yet. I ran into Suna, and asked her to watch my stuff while I used the bathroom.

I was going down the stairs to the bathroom, when I saw Stephanie Pearl-McPhee coming up the stairs.

"Oh my God!"

I introduced myself, shook her hand and excused myself. I wasn't too embarrassed, but it was an interesting way to meet the Yarn Harlot.

When I came back I stood on the outside of the group surrounding her and took this picture.


It was a very Harloty picture.

And now you see why I wound all that Misti Alpaca. I wanted a photogenic project that I could work on without a chart or paying too much attention. I bought this yarn specifically for an Eve's rib scarf ages ago, and I cast on the night before the event.

When I got in closer, I asked her to pose with it, another Harloty move.


I explained to her how I cast on this project just so I'd have a photogenic project for the event. She thought that was funny, and now the scarf is called the Photogenic Scarf.

I alternated between hovering around Stephanie and the group that surrounded her, and mingling with other knitters. I saw Birdy wearing the original Flit 'n Float, a cute baby in a cute hat and a Lacewings shawl in Handmaiden Sea Silk.


(Oh, and Suna and I decided to be on each other's blogs.)


A few minutes before the reception ended, I headed downstairs to claim a spot. This is just part of the crowd. Of course they were out of chairs, so I claimed a spot on the floor.


(I ended up moving to another spot on the floor so I could see better, but you get the idea.)

While we waited, I ran downstairs and picked up a copy of The Secret Life of a Knitter, and I took a few pictures for other people with their cameras. And I knitted. We all knitted.


This is Spike, introducing the Yarn Harlot. She told us to "put down our knitting damn it" to clap for Stephanie.


The first order of business was for her to take pictures of the crowd with her sock in front, just like she does at every stop on her book tours. This is where things got interesting.


This is the reason I wound the KnitPicks Cadena. I read on Ravelry that they were trying to get people to knit giant socks (or parts of giant socks) to hold up when the Yarn Harlot held up her sock. You can get a better view of how far I got here. I attempted an improvised heel turn to make them look more sock-like (or at least like little booties), but I ran out of time during my break at work to finish them.

And get this.

I was the only one who held one up in my section.

I wonder is she even noticed. Or just thought I was weird.

As she went around the room, a couple of people held up socks in on the opposite side of the room. At least one was fully knit. I think she kind of chuckled and got the point, but I don't think it made the impression we were hoping for.


(Yes my camera does crappy close ups.)

First, Stephanie talked about how non-knitters don't get us, which is something we all know. She read some headlines from stories about knitting. Everyone thinks it's weird. She said a really weird hobby would be shaving weasels, which I think would make a great name for a band.

After all, if knitters are just people amused by string, aren't fisherman* just people who stand in the middle of a lake all day, and isn't football just throwing around a ball?

Ironically, a couple of co-workers talked about planning a fishing trip on Friday. I tried to relay this tidbit to them, but I don't think I got my point across.

(*I realize being a commercial fisherman is something different entirely.)


(Another Harloty pic.)

The most interesting part, IMHO, was about brain waves. There are four kinds of brain waves, Stephanie said. Beta is when we are thinking hard or doing a complicated task. (Stephanie said she was probably in Beta as she was giving her talk.) Alpha is when we are "hanging out." Delta is when we are asleep. And then there's Theta.

Theta brain waves happen when we are in sort of a trance like state, like when we are falling asleep or just waking up. Theta brain waves are good for you. They make you smarter and happier. If I remember correctly, Stephanie said that Buddhist Monks tend to spend the most time in Theta. Einstein tried to spend a lot of time in Theta. Runners tend to go into Theta when they are running. Repetitive tasks tend to put us in Theta.

Like knitting.

Awesome.

Stephanie also talked about a study showing that people are less traumatized by disturbing events when they are doing repetitive spatial tasks (I think that was the phrase.) The study had people hitting keys on a keyboard. However the study specifically mentioned knitting as one of these tasks.

It also mentioned that this information doesn't have practical applications, because no one would ever carry emergency knitting.

If they only knew.

During the Q&A, I asked about being a professional knitter. Stephanie said it was hard. Like being a rock star, only a small percentage make it. However, I have a good chance of going "semi-pro." I could do that. I could go semi-pro, and then do something else.

After the talk it was time to wait in line and get my book signed.


Check it out.

While she signed my book, I told her that the Theta brain waves stuff is a good way to battle depression. She could use this evidence to encourage knitters to knit through their depression. She said she would use it. I don't know if she will. (I'm sure people throw ideas at her all the time.)


Here we are.


And look how far I got on my scarf. (Compare that to the pictures from the reception.)

You can see more pictures of my trip to see the Yarn Harlot (yes, there's more) here.

Saturday Blog Bits

It's Saturday. I've uploaded all my Yarn Harlot pictures to Flickr, but I haven't blogged about it yet. That's ok, because it's time for blog bits.

Speaking of the Yarn Harlot, the following people have already blogged about the event: Stephanie at Thoughts, Rants and Concerns, Elizabeth at A Mighty Good Yarn, Stephen (I hope I spelled it right) at Knitting Sweaters & Sitting Still, Stefanie at Just One of Those Days and Christina at TwistedString Knits.

Over at Junk Mail Gems, Gretchen is showing off another awesome amigurumi pattern for a Rocket Ship.

At Knit and Tonic Wendy talks about ease and how everyone wants you to buy socks.

Taking a detour into sewing, there's a contest to win a drawstring bag over at Pink Penguin.

On a completely non-knitting note, Carrie at ED Bites explains how MeMe Roth is hurting our children.

Crazy Aunt Purl talks about a year of avoiding buying non-essential items and "life-on-layaway."

There is a sale at The Knitting Nest, but you have to follow them on Twitter first. (And the sale is today.)

Finally, Needles and Things explains why Knitting Goes Large isn't so large.

The Yarn Harlot is Coming! The Yarn Harlot is Coming!

I'm not sure how I managed to go three days without posting. Between the holiday and everything else, I either came home too late or fell asleep too early every night. The good news is that I'm about to get a lot of blog fodder.

The Yarn Harlot will be at BookPeople tomorrow, and I have a lot of "preparing" to do.

The Hill Country Weavers blog offered tickets to the special reception before the event for the first few people who e-mailed them. Of course, this was posted Monday, and somehow I didn't see it until today. I was sure they were all gone, but I e-mailed them anyway, just to be sure.

At the last minute, I got an e-mail saying they had room for me. There was an attachment with the actual ticket.

Now I'm extra excited. And somehow I've got to fly from work to a doctor appointment to BookPeople as fast as I can tomorrow.

Cherry Bomb needed to be washed again, which meant I washed the bathroom sink as well. The pink stripes still bleed a bit, but there was no drama like the first wash. I hastily swished it in Grapefruit Eucalan and laid it out on a small patch of floor by my dresser.

Cherry Bomb shows a bit too much arm for work, so I'll have to change at some point along the way. Hopefully it will dry quickly in a hot car.


I also wound some yarn for the occasion. You'll see why later on. The red skein is KnitPicks Cadena in "Cranberry" and the green multi-colored ones are Misti Alpaca Hand Paint Chunky in "Lily Pad."

It's so nice to have a swift and a ball winder. I didn't have any problems like last time, even with the really chunky yarns.

Now I must go and do some casting on.

Blog Bits Saturday

It's Saturday, and I'm writing this ahead of time because I'll be busy. Enjoy your blog bits, and I'll be back.

On Rose-Kim Knits - Sushi Cupcakes!

Sarahspins has a pattern for a Knitted cover for your insulin.

Wendy of Knit and Tonic talks about the importance of knitting a gauge swatch.

Wendy Knits is putting out a free pattern for her Rivulets socks. Check out the Craig Ferguson video while you're there.

Empty Nest Knitters recently announced Franklin's next trip to The Knitting Nest. They also had a visit from Leslie recently.

The Mochimochi blog has a new pattern for Pile-able Pups.

Yarn Pirate got an awesome Pocket Wheel.

Check out the Bottle Cap Hot Pads over at the Hot Pads! and Potholders Swap.

Knit Buzz tells you how to win tickets to the reception with the Yarn Harlot.

Finally, on Unraveled they introduced the new Ravelry staff member, onestitchshort, (aka Sarah.) I wish her well, even though I didn't get the job.