Tuesday Tens: Ten Things My Readers Should Know About the Last Ten Months (more or less)

It's been a while, and I'm not quite sure what to say. So I decided to say it in a list. A Tuesday Tens list.

1. I haven't gone anywhere, I just haven't been myself for a while. Last summer was tough. I was starting to get back in the blogging habit in October, then I got the the Swine Flu and everything came to a grinding halt. (Yes, this right before the vaccines became available to the general public.) Between that and all the other things I'm about to talk about, I just fell out of circulation. It's not just the blogging. It's the knitting, crochet, spinning, yarn sales, knitting groups, local yarn shops, Ravelry and everything else that goes with it. Some of my knitting friends probably think I fell off the face of the earth. I feel so embarrassed. I didn't know that Bluebonnet Yarn Shoppe closed, and I'm only vaguely aware that The Knitting Nest moved. I'm not sure what happened. Maybe I just needed a break. Maybe I'll be back even bigger and better than before.

So if you've messaged me on Ravelry, left a comment, e-mailed me, etc and I haven't responded, I'm sorry. But now I'm back. Feel free to contact me again. You'll probably get an answer.

2. Jules and I are no longer together. We haven't been since last October. I'm not going in to details except to say we didn't get along while we were living together. He moved into his own place in October, and then back to California in January. We still talk on the phone every now and then.

3. I'm unemployed again. Not many people can say they've been laid off by the same employer twice. But this time there was no rehire. It happened February 12, and it was the exact opposite of the other lay off. I didn't see it coming, and I was the only one (on that particular morning) that was let go.

I was having a good Friday morning when it happened. Mid-morning my pen ran out of ink and I needed a new notepad. I was finishing up entering stuff into the computer, and I was going to find the office manager to get more supplies when they called me in. They cleaned out my desk for me, and I tried to get to my car as quickly as possible before I saw anyone I know.

But don't feel sorry for me. Between collecting unemployment and a little help from The Bank of Mom and Dad, I'm doing fine and looking forward to a fresh start.


4. I'm cleaning my apartment. Seriously. After lots of false starts over the past few years, I'm really, honestly, truly making progress. The picture above is my "Wall O' Yarn." (It's all cataloged on Ravelry, except for a couple of specific categories.) You can see more pictures of my apartment on Flickr. Maybe someday I'll be brave enough to post the "before" pictures.

5. I have contacts now, but the headaches are back. Last summer I talked about my new glasses hurting. It was awful. The pain around my nose traveled to the back of my head and down my neck. It went on for months, until I finally gave in and got contacts for my birthday in December. For a while, all the pain went away. But then in March I developed a headache in the left side of my forehead (the same side as the pain from the glasses.) The pain also started traveling down my neck, so I know they must be related to the pain I had with the glasses. It's been a problem since March. I'll probably blog more about it later, but there are medications, doctors and a chiropractor involved now.

(The good news is that my contacts are awesome!)

6. I may blog about non-yarn things more often. I've had the urge to write more about other topics than what will fit in a Facebook status update. So you'll probably see more non-knitting stuff here.

7. I have all sorts of unfinished business to blog about. There's an FO that's never been seen on this blog, a follow up to the Potholder Swap and all kinds of pictures to post.


8. This is my most recent WIP. I'm calling it the "Back in the Saddle Scarf," for obvious reasons. It's the Easy Drop Stitch Scarf, only wider. I'm planning to add some fringe as well. I'm using Noro Lily from Bluebonnet Yarn Shoppe.

9. I feel incredibly guilty about crapping out on the Gauge Scarf Circle. I really owe a big apology to Gauge and all it's customers, especially those in my scarf circle. I never finished the scarves, and a couple have been lingering in my house. I was late, then I was ashamed, so I avoided going, and that made me later and more ashamed and guilty, and then I really avoided dropping them off, and it went on and on like that for months. I'm probably the reason the scarves in my circle weren't finished. And now that I've blogged it, I'm think I'm brave enough to return the scarves in my possession.

10. Guilt has been a huge factor in my absence. It's irrational, but every time something knitting, blogging or fiber related came up in the past few months, I couldn't enjoy it because I felt guilty. Guilty for not keeping up, for being out of the loop, for having big plans and not following up and, in a few areas, guilty for not following through on my promises. So I avoided it. I know this doesn't make sense, so I'm going to push myself back into it until it feels right again.

I'd give my left foot for my right elbow

I'm settling into my part time work schedule, with plans to go back full time in the future. Jules is settling into his new job at Five Guys Burgers and Fries, where they make burgers good enough for Obama:

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Jules' new job gives me a little more time to myself. It's a good time to try to get my blogging groove back.

Believe it or not, I have been knitting fairly steadily throughout this little break from my normal life. I just haven't documented my knitting here like I normally do. I started an awesome (but top secret) project, and made a lot of progress. And on Thursday, I got my Photogenic Scarf out of my desk at work. I even worked on it during my break.

But in the last week or two, my right elbow's been sore. I found my self putting down my knitting sooner than normal because of the pain.

This pain is completely unrelated to what put me out of work. Knitting (and a little crochet, more on that later) was something I could do while I was out of work. It's been a coping mechanism. But now I think I've done it so much that I've given myself some sort of repetitive stress injury.

If you search for "Knitter's Elbow" there's all sorts of advice, and different descriptions of symptoms. For the time being, I'm just not going to knit until I see my family doctor Friday morning (that was the earliest appointment I can get.) The pain itself isn't that bad, but I don't want to risk having a more serious injury that will hinder my knitting for a longer period of time.

I'm realizing how much I use my elbows, especially my right elbow. (I'm right handed.) Using the computer hurts my elbow some too, but not as bad.

Sleeping, believe it or not, is hard on my elbow. I'm a stomach/side sleeper, and all my most comfortable sleeping positions seem to involve bending my right elbow and putting the weight of my head on it.

I'd draw a diagram, but it would be hard on my elbow.

At least I can work the remote control with my left hand.

Yarn (Store) Pr0n: Unwind

So here's the deal.

On my last trip to California, I visited Unwind. And it was awesome.

And somehow I never blogged about it. Until now.

It's been a while since the trip, but I wanted to give the shop it's proper review. I don't remember as many details as I'd like, but I wanted to at least share the pictures.


The Knitting Nest has a wall of Cascade, Wildfiber has a wall of Koigu, and Unwind has a wall of Lorna's Laces. (I'm pretty sure this is all Shepherd Sock.) So pretty. I was tempted to buy some, but I decided I had enough Shepherd Sock in my stash.


Also, I drooled (but not literally) over this basket filled with cashmere and silk blends. The owners at unwind did a great job of combining yarns in the shop. (Like the Berroco yarns.)


I did buy a skein of this. This is Cherry Tree Hill Limited Edition sock yarn for September 2008. The colorway is "Burnished Berry." Yummy.


There was a friendly group of knitters gathered at the shop. You could tell they were regulars. I wish I remembered their names.


The dog was also a regular.


I was impressed by the ball winder. It's unlike any other I've seen. (See it in action here.)


The details have faded, but the yarn remains. You can see what I bought in detail here.

All my pictures from Unwind are here. I wish I had posted this sooner, but it feels good knowing I did it. If you are a regular at Unwind, please leave a comment and tell us more.

Friday Bits and Pieces - Catching Up

Here are some bits and pieces that didn't quite fit anywhere else.



Tuesday was Mom's birthday, and we celebrated on Wednesday. I already posted the tawashi I made for her. Jules made a pineapple upside down cake. Katie gave Mom brownies, a special double-walled cup and Aqua Globes.


Last Saturday Before Jules arrived, I had Katie trim my hair. This is the after picture. The before picture is here. (Obviously, she didn't cut very much.)


I'm leaning towards these glasses. Everyone except Jules likes them. I'm thinking about going to Lenscrafters this weekend to see my other options. I'm probably going to get something similar if I don't get these.

I'm starting to adjust to my CPAP. I can sleep for most of the night with it, although I seem to drool some while I'm wearing it.

Hill Country Weavers is having its Second Annual Warehouse Blowout. I didn't go to the first one, but I plan to drop by tomorrow. Even if I don't find anything, it blows my mind that Suzanne has enough stock to fill an entire house, and hold a sale in a warehouse.

Gauge is having a sale too. I'll see you there.

He's Here

Unlike last time, Jules flight arrived at 10:40 p.m. on the dot last night. Of course, I was running late because I had taken a wrong turn into long term parking. I spent about 15 or 20 minutes making a giant loop back to short term parking. The important thing is that he's here to stay.

Then we went in around in circles trying to find the northwest location of Kerbey Lane Cafe. Apparently they moved, and we couldn't find it in the dark. (Although we managed to find the sign. You had to be there.) We went to IHOP instead.


Today we spent a little time at Mount Bonnell. Jules wanted to see it, and he loved it. We took tons of pictures.


After we left Mount Bonnell, we ate at Bill Miller.

So far, it's been a pretty good day.

Tapestry Cowl - The Halfway Point

Today I hit the halfway point in the Tapestry Cowl. I was on my break at work, on hold with my health insurance company, when I finished the round. (I spent half an hour on the phone, and I didn't get my issue resolved.)

Today after work my company celebrated its anniversary by gathering at Dave and Busters. Now that I'm home, I need to be cleaning. Jules will be here in a little more than 24 hours, and I want things to be a little nicer for him.

I may actually clean tonight, or I may stay here and sit on my butt.

Either way, I'm excited, and I'm too tired too blog anything more significant.

Jules Comes Home

I've known this for a couple of weeks now, and I've debating the best way to blog the news.

Jules has a plane ticket. He's scheduled to land in Austin around 10:30 p.m. on April 18.

It's a one-way ticket.

Jules has talked about coming to Austin to stay since after he visited me for the first time for Christmas in 2007. After visiting Austin, he decided he'd like to stay. I was relieved we didn't have to try to decide if I would move to California or if he would move to Texas. (For the record, he brought it up first.)

There's been a lot of ups and downs since then, but things are finally coming to fruition. I know he's had his doubts at times. Los Angeles is his home, and when he gets started in Austin his only support system will be me and the people in my life. If our relationship wasn't at least somewhat stable, he'd be running a big risk.

He'll be staying with me until he gets a job and a place to live. That's a little scary too. This isn't a good time to be looking for a job. We both felt better after see this map. It shows that Travis County is doing much better than Los Angeles County.

We're both excited and scared. Sometimes I think it is incredibly unfair that we can't have a "normal" relationship, where we could take more small steps and less giant leaps of faith.

But soon we'll be a little more "normal." We'll be able to get together all the time, and we won't have to cram everything into short vacations.

After all, he's been sockworthy for more than a year now. It's time for the next step.

A Much Belated Valentine's Day Post

Valentine's Day was more than a week ago, but I haven't shared my Valentine's Day stuff yet. Neither Jules nor I got our Valentine's Day gifts in the mail until after February 14, so we had to be patient. (Though I did get a very sweet phone call from Jules.)


Jules sent Snoopy and the chocolate apple packed in pink packing peanuts with a very sweet card.


There's something very sweet and a little sad about Charlie Brown on this box of chocolates. It's like he's searching for love, but doesn't realize it's right in front of him. (Well, technically it's behind him, but you know what I mean.)


This was my gift for Jules. I was really into scrapbooking a few years ago, and I still have a bunch of supplies. I went and dug out some of my old stuff in storage and made Jules a little scrapbook.


Some pages were more creative than others. And I could have done better if I had more time. I'm not that good with straight lines, even with a paper cutter.


This is one of my more creative pages.


I had to include this photo of me eating at Taco Xpress because it is one of his favorites.


I sent the scrapbook along with a bar of Hershey's Extra Dark Chocolate. When he got it, he didn't say anything about the scrapbook. I asked if the pictures got there ok.

He said "What pictures?"

I was lucky he didn't throw out the envelope. I didn't have a smaller envelope, so I had folded a large envelope to get things to fit, and I guess it was easy to miss. Once he found it, he loved it.

You can see all the pictures of my album, along with other Valentine Stuff, here.

Parting Shot

Mom's been getting us the exact some box of Russell's Stover candy for years. But this year, they got hit by the grocery shrink ray. I don't know what they were last year, but they're 7 ounces this year. And the chocolates are awfully far apart.

(To be fair, it didn't come with two missing chocolates. I ate those before I thought to take a picture.)

WIP: Jules' Gloves

This is Jules' belated Christmas gift, a pair of gloves that he requested ages ago.

The day before Jules went back to California, I finally got around to having him try it on. I think it's a little big, but he said it was fine. (This is what happens when you take hand measurements with a metal tape measure.)

I was on track to finish these before I got sick. I had gotten up to the fingers when I left The Knitting Nest the afternoon before I went to the ER. I started the little finger after I got home, but put it away soon after to work on Christmas gifts I could finish before Christmas Eve.


Today I finished the pinky during my break at work. It's hard to get back in the groove with these gloves. I knew I shouldn't have stopped just before the fingers.

BTW - I'm using the Basic Glove Pattern from The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns, an excellent reference book. Also, I'm using the skein of Aslan Trends Guanaco that Jules picked out on his last trip. It's pretty bulky, but it's what he wanted.

New Toys

Can you tell we're sad?

Jules and I ate at Phil's Icehouse yesterday before I dropped him off at the airport. *sigh*

It kind of sucks that I have to get back to real life, but the upside is that I have some time to play with my new toys.

I still haven't taken my new spinning wheel out of the box. It's still at Mom and Dad's house. I need to decide exactly how to finish it and devote an entire day to it. I was thinking about staining it, but now I'm not so sure. I'm going to do some research.

The spinning wheel was for my birthday, but I got something else for Christmas.


I was confused when I unwrapped the box. What's a reeling machine? For some reason I was thinking pasta. (I doubted that my parents gave me fishing equipment.)

Then I opened it.



It's a swift!!!

I still don't have a ball winder, but I've always said if I have to choose one or another, I'd take the swift. It will make winding by hand much easier. I won't have to use my knees to hold the yarn.

Then on Christmas morning, Santa came and brought me something else.


I got my own Niddy Noddy!

Mom was a little jealous. She said she'd take the new one, and I could keep her old Niddy Noddy. I said no deal. The dark wood is gorgeous.

I've already blogged all my FOs, but Mom had one.


She made a tea wallet for my sister.


Before I got sick, Mom had planned on sewing a bunch of wonderful gifts for everyone, but staying with me at the hospital screwed up those plans. She did manage to finish this one. I like it. It makes me want to sew some.

But first, I breaking out my new Crock Pot. Stay tuned for pictures of that.

How would you finish a spinning wheel?

I've been too busy for serious posting, but my wheel is still in it's box. I'm looking for advice. The wheel is unfinished. How should I finish it?

(And you can see from this angle that Jules finally made it.)

I can haz Jules? Take Two

I should be going to the airport to get Jules right now, but Jules is still on the ground in Phoenix. Right now, his ETA is 2:30 a.m. At least he made it through the first leg. The last time I spoke to him, he was walking around the Phoenix airport and reading National Geographic.

I've been working on the Malabrigo Mini Mitts. (Ravelry Link.)


These need to go to their recipient tomorrow, so I need to get moving. This also has to go to a recipient tomorrow.


Remember my Chevron Scarf? (The pattern is in Last-Minute Knitted Gifts.) I soaked it in some Grapefruit Eucalan. It didn't bleed. All it needs now is some blocking.


This isn't a very good blocking job, but it will do. If it isn't fully dried by tomorrow night, I'll put it in a bag rather than wrapping it.

I'm going to wrap a couple of gifts, take a shower and take a nap. Hopefully we'll see Jules soon.

I can no has Jules yet...

more animals
I found out a little while ago that Jules flight is canceled, and the soonest they could rebook was for tomorrow. I have to wait another 24 hours to see him. *sigh*

In the mean time, I've started another last minute project.


These are Malabrigo Mini Mitts. (Ravelry Link) I've cast on 40 stitches instead of 32 in hopes of "man sizing" them. Let's hope I don't have to frog. I'm running out of time.

FYI - This is the Malabrigo Worsted in "Red Java" I got from the Knitters Scavenger Hunt Swap.

Your wait time is....more than 10 minutes

Right now I'm on hold with Southwest Airlines. In a couple of hours, I'm supposed to go to the airport and pick up Jules. However, as of about 15 minutes ago, he was still on the ground in Burbank. Apparently the Las Vegas airport is closed because of ice. He was supposed to make his connecting flight there.

They've rerouted his flight through Omaha. I'm not quite sure how he's going to get to Austin at this point. I'm hoping the airline number can shed some more light on the situation.

In the mean time, I've been cleared to start adding more foods. The doctor said the key is to eat small amounts more often. I'm drinking chocolate soy milk while I hold.

Has it been more than 10 minutes yet?

Some Bits and Pieces

First, I want to say that Tuesday Tens will probably be Wednesday or Thursday Tens this week. I have an awesome idea, but I don't think I can make it happen tonight.

Also, a couple of weeks I posted about Jules. I regret that I brought my blog into it at all, but I really thought it was over. It's not. We're working through it slowly.

Just like I felt like he couldn't just suddenly disappear with no explanation, I felt like he couldn't suddenly show up again without some sort of explanation.

It has to be said

My relationship with Jules is over.

I don't see anyway around not posting here. I post about him enough that I can't just act like he never existed and never mention him again.

I'm not going to go into details here. It just has to be said, and it's the last time I'll mention him here.

I'll be back in a few days.

My (Latest) Trip to California: Non-Knitting Stuff

Is everyone ready for a vacation "slideshow"? You can see all my photos and a real slideshow on my Flickr page, but here is the run down.

The original plan was to pick up the rental car and spend some time at Unwind until Jules got finished with class. However, Jules got out early, so I picked him up at the train station first. At the station, we were talking on our cell phones, trying to find each other, when the call was dropped. The next thing I knew he was hugging me.

Jules was wonderful and patient while we went to Unwind. (That trip will get a blog entry all it's own.)


This trip was to celebrate Jules' birthday. As a gift, Jules' mom put us up at the Sportmen's Lodge, which was really cool. They have a big pool, a waterfall, a gazebo, a water mill and swans.

*click*


That night we ate at IN-N-OUT Burger. It was my first time, and it was delicious. It was so good, we went through the drive through for a late night snack on the way home. (We also got dessert from a New York style bakery.)

*click*


After dinner we visited Jules' friend Sean (and I forgot to take pictures.) Then we went to Griffith Observatory. We saw some exhibits inside, including a giant pendulum. Outside the view was great. I had some trouble seeing through the telescope (and balancing), but I had a pretty good view of the skyline without it.

*click*


The next morning we went to Chinatown. It was a blast.

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For breakfast/lunch, we had Dim Sum at Lucky Deli. (Take a closer look at some of the food here.) Later on, we went to another place for dessert.

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We did a little shopping while we were down there. I really wanted to buy one of these hats, but it wouldn't fit in my suitcase. (It did shade me from the sun pretty well.)

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Here's the Hollywood Hills as Jules drives down the highway. I almost saw the Hollywood sign several times, but the clouds covered it at night and buildings blocked it during the day.

*click*


We rested up at the hotel for a while after Chinatown. Later that night, we went to Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles. I had chicken and waffles (of course.) Jules had fried chicken gibblets and gravy with collard greens. (I tried the gibblets. They were ok, but I didn't care for the collard greens.)

*click*


The next day we visited the La Brea Tar Pits and the Page Museum in the same area.

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Did you know they're Sabor Toothed Cats, not Sabor Toothed Tigers? (And they look kind of cross-eyed.)

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Here's the shot of the happy couple. This is the garden in the middle of the museum. (There were turtles there too. I like turtles.)

*click*


After lunch we visited Venice Beach. We waded in the ocean, picked up some pretty shells and saw the drum circle. We passed a street vendor selling handmade candles, and Jules bought one for me. It was very sweet.

We had to walk a lot because it was hard to find parking and we had to park far away. On the way back, we ended up walking the wrong direction for a while.

When we finally got back to the hotel, it was kind of late. After some confusion about restaurants, we went back to Chinatown and ate at Won Kok for Jules' birthday dinner. (Of course, I forgot to take pictures.) Jules had ginger squid and I had scallops. We shared. I gave Jules his gifts, a wallet and a mushroom. (I also gave him a yo-yo, but he had to wait and open on it on his actual birthday, which was the day after I came home.)

We got back to the hotel, went to bed, and got up at 5 a.m. so I could get to the airport on time. I was exhausted, but it was worth it.