Let It Snow!

Yesterday, we got our first snowfall of the season. It looked like this out my window at about noon:


It looks kind of misty because there was snow coming down. It continued to snow until about 5pm or so, and we probably got just a smidge over two inches. The air at ground level and the ground itself was above freezing when it snowed (although it went down later), so we wound up with two inches on the grass, ground and trees, and just a hint of slush on the sidewalks, and some dampness on the roads.

It looks very wintery and Christmassy! Very picturesque and pretty, and not a hassle, except when I walked out without the hood on my coat up and got some down the back of my neck.

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A couple of days ago, I finished a hat that's going to be a Christmas present. I won't say who it's for, but I will show you what it looks like.

The cuff is supposed to look like it's a mobius strip, although that's not how it's knitted. Give me an opinion. Does it look like that's what it is?

And right above the area where the cuff dips to look like it's twisting, there's a heart.

I finished knitting a wimple to go with this last night. It still needs blocking, and it will look kind of messy until I do that, so I haven't taken a photo of it yet. The blocking is waiting until I finish Christmas decorations.

I'm definitely going to make mitts to go with this set, but there will still be yarn left after that, so I haven't decided if I should make a scarf or mittens to go over the mitts to go with all of this. Opinions would be welcome! The scarf has the advantage that I can knit the mitts first, and then get the scarf started and just keep going until I run out of yarn and use it all.

This was knit with the Encore Tweed yarn in Grape Jam, for anyone who is interested in the yarn.

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I've been putting up Christmas decorations a little at a time. I do a little bit and then my back hurts, so I rest for a bit and do some more.

The little lavender tree is up on the divider between the kitchen and living room, although I still intend to put more lights in that area. It's very pretty and I like it.

The lights in the window are up, but not lit yet. I need two extension cords to light both the window lights and tree lights at the same time, and I only have one cord.

The extension cord that I got for the window lights is currently still next to the tree, which is up, but I need an extension cord for that, too. I bought a cord for it last year, but it's in use elsewhere now, so I need another one to light the tree. Until there's another cord, they can't both be lit at once. The cord is currently by the tree because I put up the two new strings of lights and wanted to test them and see how it looked. I could easily have used another string of star lights for the tree, but CVS only had two in white. All the rest were multicolored. They look really good, though, although the rose lights are prettier overall. I still want the star lights more than the rose ones, though.

I still need to put the ornaments up and clear away the boxes that all this stuff was in, so it's kind of messy at the moment, but I'll get back to it when I finish writing this and get it done.

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We've been drowning in Christmas movies, Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings this weekend. I'm not complaining about any of that.

BBC in America came through for us and took down the listing for Torchwood yesterday and substituted the next episode of Doctor Who from the one they had in that time slot last week (last week was Turn Left, and yesterday was The Stolen Earth). There are three one hour Doctor Who episodes listed for next Saturday, but my digital TV Guide won't tell me what they are. Their online schedule says that they will finish the series of three with Journey's End next Saturday and continue with The Next Doctor and Planet of the Dead for any of you who missed them. They did say that there would be more new Doctor Who in December. They'll go crazy with the Doctor on Sunday and show several different episodes including repeats from Saturday and Voyage of the Dammed.

The Saturday after that (19th), they're going to go insane and show several Doctor Who episodes and specials including The Waters of Mars!

Tomorrow, Disney will be showing The Chronicles of Narnia at noon (here), and there will be a new Big Bang Theory and Castle as well as a new Closer. Wow!

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I was hoping to get out with Holly on Saturday or Sunday and spend some of the money the Social Security people should have been sending me, but didn't.

Unfortunately, Holly didn't feel good, and looked at the weather report and decided that she really didn't want to fight with snow while she was feeling that way, and declined to go.

I'm kind of worried about her, and I hope she feels better soon.

One of the things I wanted to get was a pair of shoes. JC Penny has some shoes that normally cost more on sale for $30. They're really good looking, and if they are as comfortable as I hope, I'd like to buy them. I have a sneaky suspicion that they're on clearance, and that's the reason for the lower price, so I want to do it ASAP.

But I can get there on the bus, so I guess that's what I'll do. I can also get them online and have them mailed to me, but they said I can buy them locally and it would be nice to be able to try them on first.

Well, I'd better get back to decorating!

I hope you had a great weekend and an even better week coming up!

I'm Back

Where, you may ask, have I been? Well, I've been right here, but I haven't been feeling too well, and haven't been blogging as much, and you may have noticed that my posts aren't as interesting as usual.

I did, finally, get to see a doctor on Thursday. And she listens, and is at least trying to do something about the problems. As opposed to the previous 15 or more doctors I've seen in the past about this. Those previous doctors have learned that if they say the magic words "There's nothing wrong with you" that they won't have to bother to do anything, and you still have to pay them.

So, anyway, the strategy is this: we start off with some antibiotics in the hope that they're going to stop the post nasal waterfall and clear out my ear. Then we continue with an antihistamine/decongestant combination in an effort to keep the advantage we hope we'll gain from the antibiotics.

I felt pretty bad before I saw the doctor, and I think I'm starting to feel a bit better. With any luck, it will continue. We'll see.

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I hope you've been watching either The Lord of the Rings trilogy on TNT, or the Doctor Who marathon on BBC in America today. I'm recording LOTR, and watching the Doctor.

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I just finished reading The Host, by Stephanie Meyer, and let me tell you, it's fabulous! It's about an alien invasion of Earth where the invaders are tiny creatures who take over human bodies. The humans don't even realize it's underway at first. The story follows an alien named Wanderer who is inhabiting a body named Melanie, and it's an excellent story. I highly recommend it.

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The new issue of Spin Off is out, and so is the new issue of Knitty! Knitty also has two contests (scroll down)! Don't miss them!

I'll put up some better posts soon, when I feel better. In the meantime, I hope you've been having a great weekend!

The Big News Today Is Steve Canyon!

John has a new post up on his Steve Canyon blog. He put it up in between instructions for changes/improvements on the volume 2 front and back covers. 

This has been a nonstop marathon of intense work for him for a while now. I had an intermission from the cover work  because he was trying to fit his schedule into a match with a long list of other people who added information about the making of the Steve Canyon episodes. I was shoved aside while all that was happening.

Today, I woke up, checked my email, and before I finished reading it all, an email from John came in with information about the changes he wanted on the cover. I've been working on it ever since.

So, at this point, it looks like the outside front and back covers are done. We have one disk label that he likes, and two versions of the second disk label which he's going to decide between.

That leaves the inside covers to do. The inside back cover is just a list of the episodes on the disks along with the names of the guest stars and the people doing the extras on that episode. So, I'll have to format the text once John writes/compiles it, but there won't be a lot to do on that, and what there will be will all be stuff that's either right or wrong.

It's the inside front cover that's the part I'm working on now. John doesn't want me to comment on what I'm doing before it's done, so I'll quit talking about it now.

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Today, I tracked down information on my bluetooth headset on the internet, and read the instructions again. I discovered that I remembered most of what you need to do to get it to sync with a phone, but not all. So, I gave it another try, and it synched with my phone like a dream!

I'm also finding that the things I didn't like about my phone were all things that I just hadn't learned to do yet. And they're all things that are as easy to do as the Sidekick, just a bit different.

And there are so many things about it that I'm just tickled with. I love being able to click on maps, and have it show me an aerial view of where I am. When I'm at home, it shows a satellite view of my apartment building, and it even shows where I am in the building. If I had been standing in front of the building when the satellite took the photo, you'd be able to see me. The satellite view has arrows drawn in on Old Bridge Road that show the direction of traffic, but there's a little one-way drive in the complex I live in that doesn't have arrows drawn because you can clearly see the arrows drawn on the pavement of the street!

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I'm almost to the toe of the second sock I'm making out of the yarn I bought at JoAnn Fabrics during my local store's grand opening celebration (which was really more of a Look!-We've-Moved! celebration).

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I had intended to watch the whole Lord of the Rings trilogy today on TNT, but that was before I discovered that today was going to be Steve Canyon day. Since there isn't enough time to watch the whole thing left in the rest of today, it looks like Steve won.

I hope you're having a great weekend!

Still Hangin' in There

The earache hung on for all of Wednesday, got a bit better yesterday and is back again today.

But I did get out and get my new phone.

The old one was doing fun things like: a half hour after I ended a call, it would make a little alert noise and inform me that it had just ended the call. That's happened five or six times. And it leaves me wondering if I used up 2.5 to 3 hours of minutes that I didn't actually use. I don't know.

So, I got a new T-Mobile G1. It's got some wonderful features that make it easier to use than my old Sidekick 3, but some features that leave me wishing for the Sidekick. I was able to transfer all my phone numbers to the contact list on Google, and it uploaded them to the G1 in about a second after the service was connected and I'd switched the SIM card to the new phone. 

It also uploaded my calendar from Google, which means that almost all the work of setting up a new phone was done before I even started. And the good thing about the calendar is that it opens to the month view every time (because I set it to do that), unlike my Sidekick which would give me a note that said "No upcoming events in the next 7 days" instead of letting me see a calendar.

Switching the SIM card was not as easy as it might have been. You need to apply an excessive amount of force to remove the back the first time, which you need to do to switch the card. I called Holly to see how to remove it, and she assured me that I was doing the right thing, I just needed to be a bit more assertive.

It has some great features, though.

It can pinpoint where you are and give you directions from your present location to any address you care to type in. Well, it does if you're in a 3G area. They put in a 3G network in DC, and continued it out into the suburbs to just about 3 miles short of where I live. It still works fine as a phone, and does very well with the internet, but I know from using Holly's phone that it does even better on a 3G network. Once it knows where you are, it can give you a local map or a satellite photo of the place you are, which can be useful if you're looking for a place that's nearby and can't figure out how to get there.

It has a free application that will let you take a photo of a barcode on an item in a store, and tell you how much it is, plus let you know the prices of the same item in nearby stores and online.

I downloaded a free application that will let me record a sound and make it into a ringtone. I can't wait to make my phone sound like the middlewatch from The Middleman! If you liked that link, search for "Middleman" on YouTube.

One of the things I don't like about it is that I can't pair it with my bluetooth headset. Holly's had hers now for at least 4 months, and she still can't get her bluetooth headset to communicate with it. She said it found and started talking to her computer almost instantly, but there's nothing the two of them can do together. 

She'd much rather have it talk to the headset. 

So would I.  

The instructions in the manual (and online) just don't work. I'm going to have to call them and ask them how to do it.

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There's a new Ghost Whisperer on tonight, and, of course, a new Dollhouse. SciFi will be showing a rerun of Moonlight, always worth watching, as well as Battlestar Galactica.

TNT will be showing The Lord of the Rings trilogy over the weekend, starting tonight with The Fellowship of the Ring, followed tomorrow night by The Two Towers, and finishing Sunday evening with The Return of the King. If you're busy on Friday or Saturday evenings, you can catch the whole trilogy on Sunday, starting late in the morning.

Have a  great weekend!

Rain, Knitting, and the Lord of the Rings

Here's a photo of the new Santa hat I'm knitting. I finished the hat part, and now have to decide how I want to proceed with the fuzzy ball at the end. I'm thinking it over, and will continue when I have an inspiration. Once it's done, I'll post a pattern. I think it looks pretty good, so far.

I got a start on the hood for John M for Christmas, too. Once it's done, there will be mitts to go with it.

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Do you recall back before Haloween, when Holly bought the mask and I didn't take a photo of it? Well, here it is from both sides. 

I think you'll agree that this is a truly unusual mask.

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In science fiction news, I came across a fabulous post on io9 about Bruce Campbell and his new movie, My Name is Bruce. Click and read the description. I can't possibly do it justice other than to say it's a twist on Galaxy Quest, where an actor is asked to play his movie character in real life.

I hope you've been getting a chance to follow the Lord of the Rings trilogy on TNT this weekend.

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Today is not only a cold, damp, overcast day (like the days we've had most of the month) but this time, it's actually raining! I am so glad I don't have to go out today!

I hope you've been having a fabulous extended weekend.

It was a Happy Thanksgiving

I watched Stargate (the movie) and Timeline yesterday, and then Holly picked me up and we went to her apartment.

Robin, the ultimate chef made a wonderful dinner, and he, Holly, Everett, Jeff and Michele were there in addition to some other new friends. A good time was had by all.

We discussed science fiction, TV, cameras and photography, and lots more. 

After it was all over, Holly gave me the keys to her car and let me loose. 

So I got to drive again for a bit, and go to WalMart before taking the car back today.

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Tonight, Fellowship of the Ring will be on TNT, followed by The Two Towers tomorrow night, and The Return of the King on Sunday. On Saturday and Sunday, the episodes will be preceded by the previously shown ones. Consult your local listings.

Don't forget the Eloise movies tomorrow: Eloise at the Plaza, and Eloise at Christmastime.

I hope you're having a great Thanksgiving weekend!

Ravelympics Is Over

Well, I did finish one event in the Ravelympics. They had this to say about the winners:

Congratulations on a successful challenge accomplished with effortless grace! Please accept this Ravatar bouquet from the beautiful Bobicii Nereids for a job well done,
and this medal from the head of the International Ravelympic Committee, Adonis Dionysius Bobicus Maximus.

And now please rise for the Ravelry International Anthem.
dum…dedumdum..de…dummmdedumdidoh…..(crescendo)…Dah!!!

Raucous applause and cheering erupts from the stands and mmm chocolate bars are thrown to the Ravlympians, and a cacophony of various Ravelry Anthems are heard across the stands…!

They did post all this almost precisely 10 hours before the end of  the Olympics closing ceremony, though. I can only guess that they wanted to get a head start on it.

And, once again, here is the photo of the finished wimple:

I'm missing Lord of the Rings on TNT by posting this, so I'm going to get back to it.

I hope you've been having a good weekend!

Hopelessly Overcommitted!

The Ravelympics ends sometime tomorrow (I've got to look up the time), and I'm not anywhere near finishing the Celtic sweater. I'm beginning to think that the end of the month might be doable, but tomorrow is just not going to happen.

I have made a bit of progress, i.e., a lot of knitting.

This is the side of the sweater. The top shows the opening for the sleeve, and on the right you can see the front of the pocket on the right side. There will be more on the knots on either side.

It's going to be beautiful when it's finished, but it won't be in time for the Ravelympics.

I did, however finish the wimple in the Cowl Jump and Designer Discus for Team Hogwarts, Team Middle Earth, and, appropriately, Team Hopelessly Overcommitted. I put a picot bind-off on the top edge of this.


And while I was blocking that, I took the opportunity to block the shawl that's been sitting here waiting to be blocked for about a month.

Finally, another finished object! This is a bit smaller than I had planned, but I really like the picot edging. This shawl is what renewed my love for that kind of bind-off.

For all the Harry Potter fans out there, don't forget that Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire will be on today on ABC Family.

The entire Lord of the Rings trilogy will be on TNT tomorrow. Some of it will be on today, but if you follow this schedule, you can see it all!

As far as the Renfair is concerned, Malaia and Johnny will be going on Sunday, but they'll be going alone since Holly declined to go.

Don't forget about my Amazon Store if you're looking for super yarn. I've found some really great stuff to put in it, including the yarn I'm using for my Celtic sweater.

I have to get back to knitting. Just because I don't have a chance to finish on time doesn't mean that I should give up.

Have a great weekend!

Time to Get Serious about the Ravelympics

It's time to get serious about the Ravelympics!

Sunday is the last day, and that ends a bit after 8 am here, so there's not much time and I still have a lot to do on the Celtic Sweater.

I promised you a photo of the cable on the side, under the arm, and here it is.

You can see the two ribs from the cable at the top of the shoulder that went down the front and back of the shoulder coming in from either side of the underarm increasing at the top of the photo.

From there, a loop winds into a cable, and the two ribs separate at about the waist. Those two ribs will get further and further apart as I add more stitches for the below waist area on either side. There will be another knot in the space below that.

I've gotten past the waist, and am doing the shaping for one of the pockets. The pockets will be angled, like kangaroo pockets with a narrow cable for the edging. I don't have enough of that done to show yet.

There's still a lot to do.

The people at Burn Notice sent me an email today reminding me that there's a new episode on this evening, and that there will be piracy on the high seas, or something like that.

On Saturday, ABC Family will be showing Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

On Sunday, TNT will be showing the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Check your schedules for times.

Holly texted me the other day and said that Malaia wants to go to the Renfair on Sunday, and I texted back that it sounds good.

I got an exasperated call from Holly last night. She would apparently like to schedule one of our trips to the Renfair later in the season. She's convinced that it will be jammed with people this weekend.

I said "OK, what ever you want is fine with me." Clarified by explaining that I love the Renfair and would like to go anytime. Since I don't have a car and my schedule is completely open (except for the Fall Fiber Fest) that anytime she was willing to take me would make me very happy.

She planned to talk to Malaia about scheduling it for Labor Day.

I have to get back to knitting!