Diatribe

I've a bit of a diatribe welling in me. Last night my hubby and I went out for a lovely dinner. After eating, the waiter offered us coffee, cappuccino, etc. and I ordered a hot tea.

Honey got a lovely cup of cappuccino, with a side tray filled with shaved chocolate, cinnamon sticks & whipped cream that could be used enhance his coffee drinking experience. They brought me a tea pot and a selection of bagged teas... all of which were either flavored black tea, flavored green tea or herbal!

This is far from the first time this has happened, and it got me thinking. Restaurant owners would never DREAM of only offering flavored coffee. They just wouldn't. So why do they think it's acceptable to only offer flavored tea?

I'm not asking for much here. While I'm a bit of a tea snob at home, I don't expect that type of quality when I go out. Hell, I would settle for a bag of Lipton. Many times the only black tea they offer is Earl Grey, which they seem to think is not flavored for some reason. Well, it is and I cannot stand the taste of bergamont.

And I have to say I've noticed this phenomenon far more in upscale restaurants. They even have special humidors to display their pricey tea bags that are full of fruit & herbs. I'm sure this is really impressive to those who are drinking tea on a lark, but to serious tea drinkers this is really depressing. I mean I can go into any coney island or fast food joint, order a hot tea and get a black tea bag, no fuss. They may ask if I want decaff, but that's it.

Also, people who are going to drink their tea with their meal don't want some fruity concoction messing with the taste of their food. They are not like wine which, when paired correctly, can take your entree to new heights. These teas aren't designed to enhance the meal, they are meant as after-dinner, on their own kind of drinks.

Is it really too much to ask for the restaurant owners of the world to stock 1 plain black and/or green tea? Really?

end diatribe. :)

Grumble, Grumble

Cough, Cough... stupid michigan weather! At least this made me feel a bit better:



Corrina also made me smile. In the midst of a full on hack attack, I looked out the window to see her doing her "freight train". This is what we call it when she runs full tilt around the back yard in ever decreasing circles. She ended this bout by dropping to the ground, rolling over & rubbing her back in the snow. Crazy puppy! :)

Discworld Swap

I participated in a Discworld Themed swap on Ravelry and just got my amazing package.
Apron, knitted string bag, Pursenality Plus book, 85% Cocoa Lindt bar, Candy, Fiber Pieces Alpaca/Merino yarn, J. Knits 100% Alpaca yarn (the purple), and a phone charm! Oh, and there's a lovely shawl pin stuck in the green skein, but it's a bit hard to make out in the photo.

Close-up of the hand painted apron.

Charm for the goddess Anoia, which now is hanging
on my computer monitor.
She even drew boot-soles on the bottom of the box!

She really went above & beyond! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

The Great Unravel

This weekend we headed off to Philly for the Circus' cd release show. I was enlisted to run the background videos. I have to say I was pretty nerve-racked on the way down. I've never done any kind of video production before and I was really nervous I was going to screw it up. However, everything seem to come off well and I got a lot of compliments from the audience. Most importantly, the band was happy so I guess I didn't suck! You can see a bit of my work in this shaky cam video of Tink that someone made at the show. :) Watching it you can hardly tell that poor Joziah had a nasty respiratory infection and couldn't really talk for 2 days before the show!

I have to say I really love the new cd, The Great Unravel. There really isn't a bad song on the album! I was going to link to it, but it seems it isn't up for sale on their website or cdbaby yet. Kris thinks it won't be available online for another month, so it looks like the only way to get it is to attend a show.

In other news, I want to thank everyone for all the well-wishes! The antibiotics did the trick and I am once again healthy! Yippie! Unfortunately my carpal tunnel has picked now to flare back up, so it looks like my knitting hiatus will have to last a little longer. I think this is a good time to finally figure out my embroidery machine and do a bit of sewing. :)

Sinusitis

Just when I thought I was getting better, Sunday evening I start spiking a fever again. Yesterday I went to the doctors again. What started out as a nasty viral infection has mutated into a nasty bacterial infection. So, now I'm on antibiotics and am hoping this finally clears things up as I have been sick for 3 weeks now and it is making me seriously cranky!

I haven't even had the energy to knit!

You Make My Day

While getting caught up on my blog reading I discovered that the wonderful Devin nominated me for the "You Make My Day" award. awww! (blush) Thanks Devin! Right back at cha!

So, it's my turn to nominate a few people.

Joanne for being my dearest friend. You are always there when I need someone to talk to, even if you are on the opposite side of the country.

Mary for saying what I'm thinking in a far more eloquent way than I ever could.

Christy for sending me a wonderful, thoughtful package that arrived just when I needed a pick-me-up the most.

Thank you!
There are lots of others I would like to give this to, but unfortunately they are not bloggers. Maybe I should just tell them, eh? :)

MTS2 Package

Today is the first day in nearly a week that I am not running a fever! Yippie! I'm going to take this opportunity to show you the lovely package I received on Wednesday. I only wish I could have shown it earlier!
My lovely partner Christy picked "Japan" as my theme. She included a platypus pattern (too cute!), 3 skeins of Plymouth Galway yarn, Crystal Palace bamboo needles, green tea, Lindt 70% cocoa bar (my favorite!), a glass dragon, a traditional Japanese cup & saucer and 2 packets of Royal Milk Tea, which I can't wait to try once I get my sense of smell & taste back! :)

Here is a close up of the adorable glass dragon:
And my favorite item:
I absolutely adore this cup & saucer! Seriously! I'm almost afraid to use it for fear of breaking it. Almost. :)

Thanks so much Christy! I absolutely love everything!

Mock Albums

I ran across this the other day and thought it would be fun to try. It is! Mary, I think you will enjoy this...

Here are the rules:

1 - Go to Wikipedia's random article page - The first article you get is the name of your band.

2 - Go to the Random Quotations page - The last four words of the last quote is the album title.

3 - Go to Flickr's Interesting photo page - Third picture, no matter what it is, is your album cover.

Put it all together to make your album. Either crop it to CD cover size, or just use the raw image itself... the only rule is you're only allowed to add the album title and artist title.

Here is mine:
Now go make your own. :)

Coriolis

After a slight internal struggle I decided to frog the Tantalizing sock. It really wasn't progressing as I would like and I didn't want to forge ahead only to be severely disappointed.
After ripping it out, I promptly cast-on the master Coriolis pattern from the same book. Here is the first sock.

Ok, it's a little wonky looking when not on the foot. But when worn...

Much nicer. Here is a better view of the top...
I didn't do any of the suggested variations. Instead I just knit the master pattern with a plain heel. After the heel was completed I knit for another 1 1/2" and then did 4 rnds of 1x1 ribbing. I knit one round of purl, and then 8 more rounds of knit and cast-off. This gave it a nice rolled edge, but with ribbing to keep it in place.

I'm very happy with the way this one turned out and will be casting-on the second sock tonight.

That being said, I have a huge complaint with the New Pathways book. The patterns are revolutionary and, once you muck through everything, fairly easy to knit. However the layout of this book SUCKS! You are constantly having to flip pages just to knit one pattern. For this "master" pattern I had to have 3 pages bookmarked for reference. If I had chosen a variation it would have been more. On Ravelry there have been a lot of people who have taken their copy to Kinkos to have the perfect binding chopped off and a spiral binding installed. I'm seriously considering doing this.

On top of the layout issue, because the patterns are generalized for all the variations (and presumably unwritten variations) they are not specific enough. There were several times where I had to stop and try to figure out what they heck I'm supposed to do, and I'm an experienced knitter and very well versed in sock construction. It's so bad that I think if I knit another project from this book I will have to go through and write everything out beforehand so I'm not constantly searching for the correct page, and possibly missing a step because I didn't pay close enough attention. :(

So, overall I would give the book a B. It really is innovative, but the layout went for style over ease of use and coherency. I would only recommend this book to experienced knitters. Definitely not for the beginner or novice.

Mememememe

I've been tagged again. :)
These are the rules:
List seven habits/quirks/facts about yourself.
Tag seven people to do the same.
Do not tag the person who tagged you or say that you tag "whoever wants to do it".

1. I'm a huge control freak when it comes to driving. I get really anxious if I'm not driving, unless I'm in the back seat or in a different city.
2. I'm petrified of spiders.
3. I had a speech impediment as a child and had to go through speech therapy for a few years. I'm still really self-conscious about it and it tends to creep back into my speech when I'm really nervous, like when I have to speak in public or when I'm meeting a lot of new people at one time.
4. My eyes change colors. The are usually green, but can shade to brown or yellow depending on my mood (or so I've been told).
5. I really, really, really (can't emphasize this enough) REALLY hate house cleaning.
6. I'm not fond of chick flicks/lit, except for Jane Austen. I would much rather watch a grisly horror flick.
7. I love my cats, but deep in my heart I am a dog person so I tend to give Corrina preferential treatment.

Ok, I tag Joanne, Mary, Denise, Anita, Ruinwen, Ruth & CJ

The Pen

Silly Claymation from Jemaine Clement of Flight Of The Conchords. You must watch all 4 episodes, particularly Sean! XD

Tantalizing?

Well I think I'm slowly coming out of my creative funk without the aid of the spa (I'll save that until I'm really stressed out!). However, I'm not there yet.

A few days ago I cast-on my first project from the new Cat Bordhi book New Pathways For Sock Knitters. I have to say when my sil first showed me this book I was blown away. The patterns are so creative and the construction is quite different. I was so excited when I received the book for x-mas! Imagine my dismay when I discovered that I couldn't just jump into a pattern but had to read the book first, and then actually do math (shudder) to determine the number of stitches required for every pattern! I, who fearlessly knit sweaters without checking gauge, am now required to knit a swatch for every pattern just to determine the number of stitches required! Tsk! :)

Anyways, I dutifully did my swatch and got my numbers and then started knitting Bartholomew's Tantalizing Socks.



I have to say that I'm not feeling the love for these. I really like the pattern, but I'm not liking the way this attempt is progressing. I think a froggin is in order.

Good Reads

Thanks to Denise I have a new obsession. I've been busily entering all my books at GoodReads. It's quite addictive and easy to use. Plus you get to compare your reviews to others and get book recommendations. :) Now if I could just remember all those that I've read that I don't actually own a copy of...

Silly Slippers

Ok. I just had to share these with you...

And they've got memory foam in base which make them super comfy as well as completely goofy! XD

Creative Slump

It's probably just post-holiday burn out, but I am feeling decidedly non-crafty. I've got several projects waiting to get started as well as a pattern to write up, but I've no motivation to get going. I actually tried casting on a sock the other night & after messing it up 4 or 5 times I gave up in disgust and haven't want to look at yarn since!

Usually when the knitting blahs hit I get excited about some other craftiness. Most often it's spinning, weaving or sewing, but occasionally drawing... and rarely writing. This time I've got nothing else catching my fancy.

Perhaps I should just use the spa day that honey gave me for x-mas. Maybe if my body is reinvigorated the mind will follow...

Mystery Theme Swap 2

Thanks to everyone for their lovely comments on the sweater & socks! They gave me warm, fuzzies! :)

I just wanted to let you all know that I've started registration for round 2 of the Mystery Theme Swap. Come, join us. You know you want to. ;)

Now It Can Be Shown

I hope everyone had a safe & happy holiday! With x-mas over I can now finally show you what I've been working on for the last 3 months!

This is the Ultimate Gift sweater by Michele Rose Orne knit in Silky Wool on size 4 (yes, US4!) needles.

This was definitely the most ambitious project I've ever knit and I'm so thrilled that a. I finished it in time, b. it looks nice, and c. it fits! And most importantly, honey loves it!

The pattern was pretty easy to follow, but the staggered cables were a pain to keep track of. Because of that I would rate it a difficult. Really, the most difficult part was sewing it up. I've never made a sweater with set-in raglan sleeves before, but I really like the way it looks!

The other project you've already seen, but here are the completed socks upon the feet of their recipient!
Because a few of you have expressed interest in the pattern I will be writing it up. However, you're going to have to wait a little bit for it. I think I've figured out how to make the pattern work top-down, and want to give that a go before posting it. Also, I think I might have a few people give this one a "test knit" before posting the pattern for general consumption.

My Soundtrack

Here's a little music meme I swiped from Devin's blog. It looked like fun!

RULES:
1. Put your music player on shuffle.
2. Press forward for each question.
3. Use the song title as the answer to the question even if it doesn’t make sense. NO CHEATING!
4. tag someone.
5. Optional: Give your own comments on how it (the song title) relates to the question.

Opening Credits : Opera Singer by Cake

Waking Up : Tender Love by Jill Sobule

First Day of School : Army Ants by Tom Waits

Falling In Love : Pop Song 89 by R.E.M.

Losing Your Virginity : American Music by Violent Femmes (not the most suitable song by them, but close!)

Fight Song : Memories (Can't Wait) by Talking Heads

Break Up : The Ledge by Fleetwood Mac

Prom : Wounded Horse by XTC

Life : Cupid's Got A Brand New Gun by Michael Penn

Mental Breakdown : Gli Impermeabili by Paolo Conte

Driving : Johnsburg, Illinois by Tom Waits

Flashback : Baby You're A Rich Man by The Beatles

Getting Back Together : Here I Am by Lyle Lovett (very appropriate!)

Wedding : When The Hangover Strikes by Squeeze (lol)

Birth of a Child : Out The Window by Violent Femmes

Final Battle : Mother by Tori Amos

Death Scene : My Humps by Black Eyed Peas

Final Credits : Joe Harper Saturday Morning by Van Morrison

Sequel Teaser Trailer : Aquarium by Robyn Hitchcock

Very silly fun! Ok, I tag Joanne & Mary! :)

Happy Ho Ho Ho To You!

X-mas knitting finished in the nick of time, cookies baked, house cleaned, presents wrapped, dinner prepared & waiting to go in the oven!

Now time to grab some hot cocoa and watch A Christmas Story.

Hope everyone has a happy & safe holiday!

Why Can't We Be Friends

Not usually the type of thing that I post here, but it's something that I've been pondering the last few days.

Within Ravelry there is a groups/forum page. It's wonderful, it allows people to make specialized group based on interest. I'm in quiet a few and every one has it's own group dynamic, although most are dominated by the posts of just a handful of members.

Now I am the first to admit that I am not everyone's cup of tea. I've always had very few, select friends. I sometimes feel like I'm a cult film, not for general consumption but loved by those few who get me.

That being said, there is one particular group that I'm involved in that I thought I would fit right in with. I really enjoyed it for about a month until it started to be dominated by just a few people and I realized that my opinions were drastically different from those that were being espoused. And being the type of person who dislikes conflict, I don't feel comfortable making my opinions known because I'm afraid that a. it would hurt someone's feelings and b. I would be attacked for them. So instead of having an actual debate about things, I sit here reading posts and start to feel contemptuous of the people who are posting.

It all makes me think that I should just leave the group, which makes me very sad.