Inauguration Knitting

If you watched the Inauguration on CNN yesterday, you probably saw some pretty cool knitting, amongst other things. Mrs. Robinson, the First Grandmother and President Obama's MIL, was wearing a beautiful ribbed knit scarf and matching hat. One of the First Daughters' escorts was wearing a beautiful fuchsia knit shoulder shawl that made me wonder if it was handmade. Can you tell that Wolf Blitzer's constant commentary was driving me insane???

As for the First Daughters, Malia and Sascha- I sure hope they become role models for the young ladies of America. They were dressed demurely and seemed oh so sweet. It was truly refreshing to see young girls dressed in that manner.

As for me, knitting is on the back burner until my tendinitis in my right shoulder clears up.

It's Gonna Be a Long Week

I injured my shoulder somewhere between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Despite the pain, I continued to work on my many projects. I knit, crocheted and sewed away the holidays. After the New Year, hubby and I were goofing around and I sprained it again. Get your mind out of the gutter. We were acting like HS teenagers before the discovery of sex;-) So, I made an appointment with my doctor and now I have been banned from every activity that requires the use of my shoulder- most especially knitting, crocheting and sewing.

It's only 3 pm and I feel like I am going insane. My furry babies did entertain me for about 5 minutes, but then quit fighting when the cat got the upper hand and fled. DS isn't due home for another 30 minutes. Maybe I should go lie back down.

Tech Socks Done!!

Huge sigh of relief over here!! The red yarn came on the 31st, so I immediately cast on for the socks. By midnight, I had half a pair done!! Then I drank some Champagne with the hubby and decided not to try to knit another sock while slightly buzzed.

Babysitter came over yesterday to watch kids so hubby and I could have a quiet dinner out and saw the one sock. She said she would take it and hop around the dorm if she had to. We got home early and sat down to watch the "Twilight Zone" marathon on SciFi and since I was tired from staying until 2 am the night before, I decided to get through the heel turn and then go to bed. Well, first it was Burgess Meredith breaking his glasses and then it was Telly Savalas- with hair!!- getting killed by a doll. Before I knew it, I had not only turned the heel, but finished the heel gusset. Got up this am and by 10 am, the socks were completely finished. EB can now have nice warm feet back at school. LB, her mom has been threatened with bodily harm if she goes anywhere near the darn things!!

Got the Red Yarn Blues

I have a very dear friend, LB. She has a very sweet teenage daughter, EB, who was our babysitter until she went off to college this year. Knowing how cold the floors of a dorm room can be, I knitted up some very lovely chunky socks in her school colors, black and red (TX Tech). LB saw them and fell in love with them and tried to sneak them out of her daughter's dorm room before they returned home. EB caught her and rescued her socks.

EB came home over Thanksgiving and LB commandeered the socks. EB had been washing the socks in Woolite despite the fact they are made from acrylic yarn. LB decided to throw them in the washing machine, which under normal circumstances, would be fine. But, LB threw in several pairs of blue jeans, including a brand new pair that bled all over the socks. EB was mad and rightfully so. I was miffed at LB for about a day, because I knew I could whip out another pair without any problems- chunky socks, sz. 9 needles, ankle length, 32 stitches total. Easy Peasy, right???

Nope, not as easy as I thought it would be. I placed an order for the yarn right after Thanksgiving thinking I would get in the first week of December or so, enough time to make the socks for Christmas. I had ordered other colors of the yarn, too, so when I got the box, I was disappointed to learn that the red yarn was back ordered until 12/15. No problem, even if I got it a day or two before Christmas, there was still time to make the socks before EB's return to Lubbock. So, I waited... and waited... and waited...

Until Dec. 26th, and still no red yarn. So, I wrote a very nice note to the company explaining that I had already paid for the yarn and would like either the yarn or a refund, preferably the yarn. While I was on their site, I hopped over and checked the status of the red yarn- was it in stock??? NO!!!! It is back ordered until 1/24/09!! Oh the horror, the agony, EB's cold tootsies...

So what do I do? I look around the net to find another source of the red yarn and order 2 skeins form 2 different companies- hedging my bets, so to speak. So what happens the next day??? I am informed by Company A that my order of 2 skeins of red yarn, that was supposed to be back ordered until late January '09, had been shipped. Now for the kicker- has any of this yarn arrived?? No, but it's been less than a week since I've ordered any of the yarn, so I come home from the mailbox just a little disappointed every day. What was that saying about a "watched pot" again??

What Are These People Thinking???

The big news around here is the news form New Jersey- a kid named (are you ready for this?) Adolph Hitler. His sister's name is Aryan Nation. What kind of people would give their children such heinous names? Yea, I know all about freedom of speech, so here's me taking advantage of it-

As a Jew, and therefore someone hated by these people, I am highly offended. It is tragic that someone idolizes such an evil man and his beliefs and feels they have to name their child in such a manner. How did they even get out of the hospital without someone noticing?? And what about school? They are just setting this kid up for tons of torment and then what? Another school shooting?

Anyway, it makes me appreciate the names of some of the kids I teach when I am substituting. I will never again bemoan the fact that some kid is named after the city he was conceived in, or some state or place or something just really goofy. And if my kiddos had been named for the places they were conceived, Midland (Texas) would be 13 and Doha (Qatar) would be 7!!

Quiet Weekend

I've been avoiding the stores and sittin' and knittin', and crocheting, too. I've made several hats for the extended family this year and a couple for my daughter and me. I knit the stripey scarf from Ravelry using Kureyon and it came out cute. And I did crochet a really cute poinsettia hat for a friend, but forgot to take pics of the darn thing before it left this house. As soon as I do a photoshoot with the others, I will post them.

Tomorrow, though, I am actually going to venture forth into the shopping jungle and get some last little things for family and friends. Kinda scary for me as I really hate shopping this time of year, but I made a promise to my daughter. The only one I am having problems shopping for is my teen. Anybody know what to get for a 13 yo surly teen????

Black Friday 2008, pt. 2

Well, it happened. Someone finally got killed by shoppers on Black Friday. A young man who worked at a Long Island Wal-Mart was trampled to death by people trying to get into the store. The "customers" (read: savages) pushed so hard on the glass doors that they collapsed inward crushing the man and then these same "people" trampled the doors and the poor man underneath in their frenzy to get to the merchandise. In fact, several other employees were trampled trying to get to their injured colleague. Great way to start the holidays, huh??

Addendum (late afternoon): The young man who was killed in the shopping frenzy was not a small man by any means. According to the paper, he was 247 lbs, a gentle giant. The pressure from the exertion of over-eager shoppers on the door of the store caused them to shatter inwards. How does this kind of thing happen in our world???