Posts from — January 2007

According to some British study, today is supposedly the most depressing day of the year. The dude added up all the factors like weather, debt, new year’s resolution failure rates, relationships, etc. and came out with today’s date. On that note, here’s a pic of the depressive state of my fridge:

Yes, that’s the sad state of affairs in my fridge today…that is, until I filled it with groceries! I didn’t take the “after” shot though, so you’ll just have to use your imagination and imagine those bottom two shelves filled with pizza fixins, black bean & corn soup fixins, probiotic yogurt (gotta keep the ole’ plumbing working properly!), and some homemade lentil soup that’s defrosting. Mmm, mmm mmm!

Okay, enough talk about food, it’s time for the eatin’! (Plus I have to make sure to get all my chores done tonight in time to watch the double-header of 24 and Heroes…thankfully one of our Canadian stations shows both shows, and because they’re on at the same time in the US, they actually show them at different times here. Yippie!

It’s been several days since I’ve written about my knitting projects, so here’s the 4-1-1 (as the youngin’s like to say these days):

Project 1: Calorimetry headbands

Both the black & pinky one are finished, I’ve now got to sew them together and I’m good to go for some jogging! Pix to follow (it’s actually sunny today, so I’ll be sure to take some after lunch). Update: the photos have been taken, and I’ve even sewn together the two bands, but I have yet to find the time to post the pix, so you’ll have to wait. Update 2: Here’s the photos! These are close-ups of the designs. I’m quite pleased, they look really good. The black band is Lion Brand Microspun, and the pink stripy one is Bernat Chunky in Rustic Red.

Project 2: Baby Blanket

That proceeds nicely, although I got distracted while watching the Andromeda Strain the other day and I only knit 18 ridges for this log when I needed 36, and of course I only noticed it after I bound off the log, so I had to cast on and keep going. So I’m in the middle of the adding on another half log. Update: I finished that log, and it looks quite good. I’ve cast on the next log (in a pretty lime green) and am working on that. I realize I’m on log 8 of 10, which means I’m almost done! Most excellent. Can’t wait to see the finish project.

Project 3: Circle Square Hat

I finally managed to get to the yarn store and buy some yarn for this toque, and I can’t wait to start! It’ll be black and charcol gray, nothing exciting, I know, but I’ve already got some funky hats, I need a plain one now.

Project 4: Slip-Stitch Scarf

After my aborted attempt on Monika’s Vertigo slip-stitch scarf, I finally decided what colour scheme I want on the new scarf: a blue theme. I found some nice Paton’s Canadiana that I like, so I think I’ll be using that. And while I like Monika’s pattern, I think I might actually play around with the other designs in the book she mentioned and see if I can come up with one myself. It’ll be my first time in creating a pattern myself, and I’m quite excited about it. Thanks to Monika for mentioning the book, as it’s really given me some good ideas! Update: I’ve planned out the pattern I’d like to do for this, so now it’s just time to go buy the yarn. I’ll do that this weekend when I have more time.

Wow, that’s quite a list for me! I can’t believe there are that many things on the list. I know most knitters have quite a project list going at any one given time, but for me this is impressive.

Just thought I’d share that with you. I’m sitting here in my cubicle at work hiccuping whilst working. Thankfully I no longer work in a call centre, so there’s no worry about it interfering with work, however it’s most frustrating as I’ve reached the point where my diaphragm hurts from all the hiccuping. *sigh* and *double sigh* I’m going to have to pull out my friend Bill’s old trick of drinking water out of a glass with a knife in it. Since he told me about this little trick oh-so-many years ago, it has never failed me, NEVER!

Bill’s Hiccup-Stopping Remedy

1. Fill a glass of water about 2/3 to 3/4 full.
2. Put a real knife in the glass, pointy end down. (A plastic knife will do, but it’s gotta be one that is taller than the glass you’re using.
3. Tilt the knife so the handle is resting against the side opposite to the one you’re going to drink from.
4. Drink from the glass. The knife handle should be resting against your forehead as you drink.
5. Drink the entire (or almost the entire) glass of water.
6. Hiccups should be gone shortly.

Now while I’m no doctor or science-type person, the reason I believe this works is because the knife forces your head into a particular position that then affects your throat/esophagus/diaphragm/whatever so that you stop hiccuping. I don’t know all the mysteries of why this works, all I know is that it works.

Off I go to the kitchen…

Update: Yep, Bill’s Hiccup-Stopping Remedy worked again. Took about 5 minutes to take full effect, but it worked! *sigh of relief*

Boy, did winter ever arrive with a whallop yesterday! We’ve been rather spoiled this winter here in the Big Smoke, so it was a bit of a shock to have to pull out the winter boots, the official winter mittens and even a hat! I’m not complaining mind you, I actually found it kind of nice…especially because I didn’t drive in to work, but rather took public transit. I figured I’d let the professionals do the driving in the snow & ice & slush yesterday.

When I came home from work there were two enterprising young men shovelling my landlords sidewalk. They even offered to clear off my car for $1, but considering it’s my car (my baby!), I politely declined. But it was nice to see some young people out & about getting some exercise and making some money. I did decide to try and clear off the bulk of the snow & ice that had accumulated, just so I wouldn’t have to do it again this morning, and am I glad I did! Because it snowed another 5cms or so last night, as well as more freezing rain, so it was just one big mess. I partially cleared off the front windshield yesterday, and it took me 10 minutes to scrape it off this morning. So just imagine if I’d left it all till this morning. I actually left the top part ice-covered, as it was really tough, and I didn’t want to be too late to work, and it wasn’t impeding my vision or anything. I had the windshield defogger on high for the entire ride (about 20-25 mins), and thought I’d scrape it off while it was nice and warm once I arrived at work. Phshew, was I wrong! That ice was still tough as, well, ice! I used the back of the scraper that has those raised ridges to “soften” up the ice, then hacked away, then used the back again, until finally it was gone. Boy, what a workout!

Of course today we didn’t have more snow, but it was super cold, about -12C (that’s about 10F), with a nasty wind that made it feel ilke -21C (that’s -6F). I was a tad chilly cleaning off the car this morning, that’s for sure. BUT, I had on my ski jacket, which is toasty, toasty warm, PLUS my piece de resistance, my Montreal Canadiens touque. Now there’s a toasty piece of headgear!

Oh, and I did a whack-load of knitting last night too, while watching the second half of the 24 premiere. Made the turn for home on my pink/burgundy/brown Calorimetry headband, I’ll probably finish that off tonight (pix to follow). And I carried on with the moderne log cabin baby blanket. I think this weekend I’ll head out and get the yarn for my next project, the Center Square hat pattern from knitty.com. You know the one, the pink & red one on the front page? That one. Only mine will probably be black & gray, but I’m quite excited about it. Plus I’ve also got to cast on for a few more baby presents for some friends, but those are little projects from the Mason Dixon book that shouldn’t take me long at all.

Time to get to work now, Ciao!

Oh happy day: 24 premiered tonight! Very cool. While I won’t reveal anything about what happens, I will say there are quite a few moments in there where you reaaaaaaaally need to suspend your disbelief, as the things that happen are just a tad to co-inkidental, you know? But all in all it’s an excellent way to start off the day for Jack.

If you’re looking for some funnies about the show, click over here to Dave’s blog. It’s especially funny if you’re reading along as you watch the episode, as he updates as he goes along, but even if you read it afterwards, it’s quite amusing. He’s usually voicing all those things you’re screaming at the television, so you know you’re not alone.

Can’t wait to see what happens next in L.A. tomorrow. All the critics who’ve seen the advanced screenings have said that the second part of the premiere is even better than the first! Can’t wait to see it!