elvis needs...boats?

I missed posting yesterday because, frankly, I was tired and forgot. Also it was ridiculously hot this weekend, which made me really not want to have my laptop on my lap. (These MacBook Pros are scorchers!)

Saturday, we had a contractor come over to work up a bid for the exterior work we need done on the house. We have two more bids coming in this week, so I'll wait until we have the info for all of them to post details. I can tell you this, though: it's going to be a lot of money!

Then I got a haircut, we went to Nik's Mom's for dinner, and then over to my aunt Patti's house for a movie and dessert. The movie was being shown in the backyard, so it was pretty late when we started. We didn't even stay for the whole thing (fortunately, it hasn't been that long since we've seen it--Seven Brides for Seven Brothers) and got home at 11:30. I know that probably sounds kind of silly--not even midnight!--but we're used to sleeping roughly 9:30 until 5, and I rarely sleep in much (even on the weekend). Also, I had to be at work early on Sunday.

So...Sunday was a little rough, but work went really, really well.

I suddenly realized a little while ago that tomorrow is July, so I should talk about the July goal I've set for myself (which I alluded to in a recent post).

Starting tomorrow, my goal is to take one picture every day. My short-term goal is to make it through July, but in the long term I'd actually like to continue indefinitely so I went ahead and joined the Project 365 group on Flickr.

With the knitting (etc.) and soon the house project, it probably won't be too difficult to manage for the most part, but I also want to use it as a way to challenge myself to find new and interesting things to photograph. I'm looking forward to checking out the past challenges that have been posted on the group, too.

So I guess tomorrow I'll be back with a picture to show. :)

I honestly don't want to complain about the heat after suffering so much rain and cold to get here. But wow, maybe just slightly less extreme would be nice, huh?

Here's a meme I've seen all over blogland lately, most recently on Sharon's:



1. Ella Michelle, 2. Artichokes, 3. Oak Grove Opal, 4. Night London Eye Green Colors, 5. Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, 6. Margarita violeta, 7. Harbor of Hvar Town in Croatia, 8. Ends: Ice Cream Trio, 9. retired, 10. Duck Family Portrait, 11. A cheerful, sunny window..., 12. don't feed the bunny

The instructions to create the mosaic are:
Type your answers to each of the questions below into Flickr Search
Using only the first page, pick an image
Copy and paste each of the URLs into the mosaic maker

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One word to describe you.
12. Your Flickr name.

And now I must get to bed, considering I need to be at work at 7 tomorrow morning.

After a "quiet week" that really wasn't (due to many meetings and many phone calls--it occurs to me that I spent a significant amount of time this week helping people from at least three different departments, not even counting payroll), I get Saturday off and then have to work on Sunday. Working on Sunday isn't all that unusual for me (it happens once every 8 weeks), but this time there will be a whole crew there helping out.

I think I've mentioned before that holidays aren't really a payroll specialist's friend...

• they mess up payroll schedules: next Friday would be our regular payday, but it happens to be a holiday--so payday will be Thursday instead, necessitating that we move our Monday/Tuesday processing to Sunday/Monday


• quite often we end up either working on the holiday or working on the weekend so we can have the holiday off


• even though holidays cause us to have to work lots of extra hours, the existence of the holiday makes it unlikely that we actually get paid overtime for those extra hours (since we have to actually WORK more than forty hours--not counting the holiday time off--in order to get paid overtime)


• holidays also add whole new layers of complexity to actually processing payroll accurately: we have to do extra audits to look for and fix problems; and also people often want to take time off to coincide with a holiday week, which causes a huge spike in data entry (for some specific reasons I could explain, but I don't want to bore you completely to death)

My plan for this coming week is this:

Sunday: Work however long I'm needed, which will hopefully be from 7am until maybe 1pm
Monday: This will be my crazy long day this week, 6:45am until who knows (7pm if I'm lucky)
Tuesday: 6:45 to 3:15 (hey, I should be able to join the Downtown Knitters next week!)
Wednesday: 6:45 until...I'll try to escape early, since I won't get overtime for those extra hours I put in earlier in the week anyway; then I'll probably run over to Twisted to check out their Anniversary Sale
Thursday: I'm OFF! Yay!!

AND THEN...

The following week I'm on vacation. I cannot wait. Nik and I haven't had an actual vacation since last October, when we went on our honeymoon. Depoe Bay, here we come!

Yeah, I'm getting a little excited and it's still over a week away! :)

On the knitting front: the SECRET project is nearly complete! Just some finishing touches left (which have to wait until it's dry). The flower hexagons for the scarf are blocked and waiting to be sewn together, if I could only figure out the best way to do it.

Anyone have any suggestions? I've tried a few things, but been a bit unhappy with each for various reasons. The problem, I think, is that they were blocked pretty aggressively to get that open flower look which caused the stitches along the outer edge to stretch. So when I sew through them, the stitches tend to pull the whole side tighter and at the same time the whole thing is kind of loose...

I tried to just slip stitch them together, thinking that would give them a little firmness but it looked kind of odd--and pulled in too much. It just occurred to me to maybe try the slip stitch again, but doing two slip stitches in each stitch. That might make it pull in less and also give them a better foundation. Hmm.

Guess that's the first thing I'll try in the morning. I think I'm just not accustomed to sewing crocheted pieces together, so I'm fumbling around a bit here. I'll figure out a way to handle it soon, I'm sure.

Awww, they're even cute all bunched up and floating in water. Look:



I was going to take a picture of them all pinned out, but was interrupted by dinner. And then it got dark. I'll try to remember to get a shot before I unpin them.

I think they'll be dry by morning, which means I can start sewing them together tomorrow! And then do the edging! I think this project will be done very soon. :D

This is what led me to believe I might be able to get 25--or close to 25--flowers from my skein of Claudia Handpainted Fingering yarn. Today I finished the 15th flower, though, and there's only a teeny tiny bit of yarn left. Hmph. Oh well, 15 will make a nice scarf length, leaving my second skein for the edging that goes all around the flowers.

Here they all are, unblocked and in a pile:



I'm going to try to get them blocked tomorrow so I can start sewing them together. Don't want to lose steam while I'm still excited about the project!

And now I should really go do a couple of seams on the baby sweater...

We're gearing up to have the windows and siding replaced on our house--all at once! There's a contractor coming on Saturday to get an idea of what we want and start to work up a quote. In anticipation of this, we've been cleaning/reorganizing/just plain moving things around. Tonight we shifted a bunch of stuff in the dining room/living room area. It looks much nicer in here already, but to a certain extent it's a losing battle. When you're only living in half a house, it's insanely hard to keep clutter at bay. Especially when so many of our things (notably: yarn and all the rest of my knitting/sewing/crafting supplies, plus books and other assorted items) have no home.

I should probably go around and take lots of detail shots of the house before the work gets started, but for now here's one from last summer just after the roof was finished:



I'm excited--the house is going to look so different after this project is done!

PS I now have ten little hexagon flowers. I weighed one and it looks like there might be enough yarn for 25 of them in this one skein! I'd anticipated making maybe 15 (they're approximately 4" across blocked, so that'd make the scarf--without the edging--about 5' long), but maybe I'll make it 20 or so...we'll see.

The Summer of Socks 2008 KAL started on Saturday, so I decided to set aside the Atomic Toes socks (which frankly haven't been getting much attention anyway) in favor of something that will actually count for the KAL. So Saturday morning I cast on for Ziggy. I've also been trying to get the "Secret Project" finished (getting close!), so I haven't spent a whole lot of time on Ziggy yet. Here's my progress so far:



I absolutely love how this sock is turning out so far, despite my inexperience with Fair Isle. If you look closely there are definitely flaws, but overall it's looking pretty good. If I do say so myself.

Also, I LOVE how the colors are striping so far.

The other thing that's been grabbing my attention here and there is actually a crochet project. I was talking to Shannon at Twisted last week and somehow the topic of crochet came up. I haven't been doing much crochet in recent years, mostly because--in many cases--I prefer the results achieved with knitting. However, crochet is a lot of fun. It goes really fast, and you can make unusual things pretty easily.

Lately, I'd been sporadically looking for a somewhat specific project: a crocheted scarf, with a lacy, maybe flowery, look. Something that could be used in warmer weather than the rest of my scarves. I'd poked around Ravelry and had found some things that were kind of the right idea, but not quite IT somehow. I told Shannon about the idea, and she pointed me to the two issues of Interweave Crochet that were on the magazine rack.

There are a lot of cute things in those two issues! I was tempted to buy both, but settled on just getting the Spring issue. Because the Spring issue had THE PATTERN in it.

I think Shannon and another woman who was knitting at the front of the shop might have thought I was a little crazy, because I took one look at the Floral Lace Belt (Ravelry link) and said, "There's my scarf!"

So that night I went home and did a test of one of the hexagon motifs and got this:



Pretty, no? This is leftover Yarntini from my Twisted Sky Socks--I just wanted to see what it would look like in fingering weight and a larger hook (I used an H for this one). Only problem is that the hexagon was way too big--the scarf would be super wide at this size.

Then I tried lace weight yarn and a G hook:



I liked this one, too, and I think it would block out nicely (I just pinned it for the picture), but it was really fiddly in a way that I knew would make me not want to work on the project.

Next try:



Aha! This one, I love. I love the colors, I like the size (the scarf might still be a bit wide, but not so bad). This is Claudia Haindpainted sock yarn in the "Oops" colorway, with a G hook. It's also fingering weight, but it's lighter than the Yarntini. Between the lighter weight yarn and the smaller hook (a G is a full millimeter smaller than an H), the motif came out to a pleasing size.

I have four hexagons so far (did three very rapidly earlier this evening--crochet is really fun sometimes!), and I'm thinking I'll need 12 or 15. I'll figure it out when I get there. :)

Those of you who check in here regularly may have noticed some irregularity in posting. I started up the new blog in April, was a bit sketchy about posting, but then in May I was suddenly posting every day! June hit, and I'm all sketchy again.

I have made an important (for me, anyway) discovery. Or a couple of them, I guess.

First, something I learned from the May experiment (my unpublicized goal was to blog every day--in reality, I missed two days but ended up with 31 posts anyway due to extra posts a couple of times; I considered the experiment a success): blogging every day isn't really that hard. Yes, occasionally I ended up throwing up a sort of cheater post but at least I put forth the effort to do SOMETHING.

Second, if I DON'T have a "post every day" goal in my head, it is ridiculously easy to convince myself that I don't have anything to post about. Seriously, I think of lots of things to talk about (writing blog posts in my head--I'm sure we've all been there). But then I manage to convince myself that it's not worth it, no one will care, it's boring...whatever. Obviously there's some self-defeating thinking going on here, since I really do WANT to post.

So. New goal, spoken in public this time: From now on, I'm going to post DAILY. I won't beat myself up if I do miss a day here or there (so don't worry that I'm dead or in the hospital or something if I miss one day ;)), but the plan is to put something out here every day.

In July, I think I'll have another goal to pursue. I'll talk about that one as it gets closer (it's something I also tried to accomplish in May, but getting used to posting every day and also trying for the second thing at the same time didn't work).

On the knitting front, I cast on for a new pair of socks yesterday. Just one quick thing to say about them: Wow, that Kureyon Sock knits up pretty. I'll post a picture tomorrow. :)

Trivia

1. At the beginning of the year feast, who is the only person who rudely interrupts Dumbledore during his speech?

b. Professor Umbridge

2. Off what street is the alley where Harry first met Sirius?

c. Magnolia Crescent

3. Tonks’ mother had two sisters, both pure-bloods, and both left on the Black Family Tree. What are their names?

c. Narcissa and Bellatrix

4. What spell are the students studying in McGonagall’s class when Umbridge is doing her inspection?

d. The Vanishing Spell

5. Who comes to warn Harry and the rest of Dumbledore’s Army that Umbridge and her group of followers are coming to break up their meeting?

Answer: Dobby

6. Who are the members of the Order that met Harry Potter in the Dursely’s house during the summer before his fifth year?

c. Alastor Moody, Nymphadora Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Elphias Doge, Dedalus Diggle, Remus Lupin, Emmeline Vance, Sturgis Podmore, Hestia Jones

7. Moody used the Disillusionment Charm on Harry.

a. Yes

8. Which of these Death Eaters is Sirius related to?

d. All of these

9. At what age did Sirius leave his home?

Answer: 16

10. How many of the original Order members were killed (don’t include those who disappeared)?

b. 8

Picture Scavenger



Kingsley Shacklebolt



Bellatrix Lestrange



Nymphadora Tonks (my cousin! or second cousin...something like that)



Remus Lupin

The sun finally decided to grace us with its presence this afternoon, and Nik and I went out to take advantage of it. This was the view from our table at dinner tonight:



And here we are:



I had one of these:



:D

We parked on the east side of the Willamette, near the Hawthorne Bridge, then walked over the bridge and down the waterfront a bit. We didn't choose a restaurant in advance, preferring to see where we felt like stopping once we got there. I couldn't resist stopping at the Marina Fish House, though. It's actually ON the water (so there were lots of views similar to that first shot).

Finally, here's the Hawthorne Bridge, from the west side just above Waterfront Park:



What a beautiful evening!

1. It's changing out there. Just like last time. There's a storm coming, Harry. And we all best be ready when she comes.

Rubeus Hagrid

2. Dumbledore's Army was about doing something real. Or was that all just words to you?

Neville Longbottom

3. Dementors in Little Winging? Whatever next? The whole world's going topsy-turvy.

Arabella Figg

4. The mind is not a book, to be opened at will and examined at leisure. Thoughts are not etched on the inside of skulls, to be perused by an invader. The mind is a complex and many-layered thing.

Severus Snape

5. Face it, Petunia. Our boy has gone lumpy.

Vernon Dursley

6. You're a fool, Harry Potter, and you will lose everything.

Lord Voldemort

7. Practicing is good, but there's something else that's even more important: believing in yourself. Look at it this way: every wizard in history has started out as nothing more than we are now -- students. If they can do it, why not us?

Harry Potter

8. I WILL have order!

Dolores Umbridge

9. When are you going to get it into your head? We're in this together.

Hermione Granger

10. When all this is over we'll be a proper family, you'll see.

Sirius Black

11. That's right. Anyway, my mum always said things we lose have a way of coming back to us in the end. If not always in the way we expect.

Luna Lovegood

12. You may not like him, Minister, but you can't deny: Dumbledore's got style.

Kingsley Shacklebolt (in the movie--in the book, the quote is slightly different and it's Phineas Nigellus)

13. Who wants to watch me take off Snivelly's trousers?

James Potter

14. One person can't feel all that, they'd explode!

Ron Weasley

15. They're very clean, these Muggles. It's unnatural.

Nymphadora Tonks

16. How dare you speak his name! YOU FILTHY HALF BLOOD!

Bellatrix Lestrange

17. Just because you can use magic now does not mean you have to whip your wands out for everything.

Molly Weasley

18. Did you actually believe, or are you truly naive enough to think that children stood a chance against us? I'll make this simple, Potter. Give me the prophecy now, or watch your friends die.

Lucius Malfoy

19. You sort of start thinking anything's possible if you've got enough nerve.

Ginny Weasley

20. Ah, I thought we might hit this little snag. You seem to be laboring under the delusion that I am going to -- what is the phrase? -- come quietly.

Albus Dumbledore

We just watched an episode of Don't Forget the Lyrics. The contestant made it to $200,000 and was trying for $350,000. Her song choices were: "Jet Airliner" by The Steve Miller Band or "You Sexy Thing" by Hot Chocolate.

My reaction was something like, "Wait. What? Jet Airliner? I can't imagine what that is, and I've listened to their greatest hits album a million times!"

Contestant must have agreed because she chose the other song (and ended up walking away with her $200,000--smart girl).

However, I was so curious about the Steve Miller Band song that I had to go check it out in iTunes. Song starts. "Oh, I know this song...but I don't know where 'Jet Airliner' comes into it."

Then I started laughing 'cause I figured it out. The chorus of that song says, "Big old jet airliner, don't carry me too far away..." (etc.) and, even though I've heard the song hundreds of times, I had NEVER figured out that "big old jet airliner" phrase. It was just nonsensical syllables to me--and clearly I'd never looked at the name of the song in the track listing. It certainly never sank in if I did anyway.

Isn't it funny how you can do that? I guess it was just never important enough to me to go find out what the heck they were singing!

Big old jet airliner. :D

1. Which Ravenclaw does not like games?

Miranda Moonstone

2. Who is taking a course in Remedical Magical Symphony?

Cecilia Kettleburn

3. Who got 3 puncture wounds in the bottom of her foot by stepping on a hair brush?

Ophelia Hopkirk

4. Who was formerly employed by the Ministry of Magic?

Emma Diggory

5. Who has been enrolled in a Magic Fibres Class in order to learn to knit?

Stuart Cauldwell

6. Whose mother is a squib?

Minerva Kwikspell

7. Whose father is an auror?

Chrysta the Cursed

8. Whose room smells like wet wool most of the time?

Chrysta the Cursed, Emma Diggory, and Elanor Cadogan

9. What Ravenclaw spent time in the infirmary for allergies?

Wisteria Lovegood and Agatha Vablatsky

10. Whose wand is made of holly with a kelpie feather?

Hydrangea MacDuff

11. Whose mother was a Ravenclaw and father was a Hufflepuff when they met at Hogwarts?

Olive Bladvak

12. Whose silencing potion backfired?

Emma Scrimgeour (with the help of her roomies, Patonga Pinkstone and me)

13. Who has purple hair?

Me!

14. Whose son attends Hogwarts?

Emma Wigworthy (and Emma Diggory's is in Hogwarts pre-school)

Expected to work 5-6 hours today. Wound up working 14.

Ugh.

Bed now. Knitting talk tomorrow.

IT'S JUNE! STOP RAINING!!

sigh

(In better news, I just found out that I won the pattern for this cute bag. Thanks, Emma!)