It's Dead, Jim!

It's not quite dead yet, but my TV is well on the way to the dump or wherever old, broken, malfunctioning TVs go.

Last Wednesday, I turned it on, and my hearing aids started buzzing. I figured that one of the pieces of equipment must have started leaking an RF signal, and the aids were picking it up. But there were thin, staticky white lines running across the picture, too.

I spent a few days trying to figure out how I could test to see if it was the TV, TiVo or RF converter. While I was doing that, I turned on the TV when I wasn't wearing the aids, and still heard the buzzing, so it wasn't an RF leak.

I continued trying to figure it out.

Today, I woke up really early, and decided to check the weather for the rest of the day before I went back to sleep. I turned on the TV, turned the sound down, and read about the weather. Then I hit the button on the remote to turn the TV off, and it went to black and restarted! I tried that about 5 more times, then tried the button directly on the TV (which did the same thing) and it restarted each time. I finally had to unplug it to actually turn it off.

Later, when I actually woke up for real, I plugged it in, waited 5 minutes (to let it warm up), and hit the on button on the TV. Nothing happened. Then I tried the on button on the remote, and it started. I tried hitting the volume button on the TV without effect, and after a few tries with the remote, I was able to adjust the volume on it so I could actually hear it!

Doctor Who is on Saturday! Friday of next week is the royal wedding! New episodes of Chuck, The Event, Castle, Hawaii Five-O, The Mentalist, Supernatural and Fringe will be on, too! Will it last? Will I be able to see them?

At this point, I'll be lucky to have enough money for food for the rest of the month, let alone money for a new or even used TV.

I'm bummed!

But the TiVo is recording The Fall of Sam Axe, so I'm going to get to see that tonight, at least.

I hope your weekend has been better than mine!

It's Official. I'm Old

You may have noticed that I haven't posted anything for a few days (well, more like a week), and it's because of being sick. I was diagnosed with sinusitis at the emergency room which had affected my inner ears, thus rendering me officially dizzy. Actually, beyond dizzy and into my own, private amusement park ride that I couldn't turn off.

I'm sure there are a lot of people who would respond to that by tilling me I've been dizzy for years, but that's a whole other thing.

I'm still taking the antibiotics, and will be for a while, so the bathroom has become my friend, but I'm starting to get away from some of the awful symptoms I was having. I'm off the meds for dizziness and nausea, and if I sit still and close my eyes, I still feel like the room has been moved to a decent size boat, and is gently moving just a little bit, but it's not rendering me in imminent danger of falling, as it was earlier.

The thing that makes me feel old is that I went out and bought a cane so that when I walked, if I got dizzy, I could stop and have something stable to hold onto. It's got four little feet on the bottom, and can stand on it's own, which is more than could be said for me during most of the last week.

When I saw the doctor on Thursday to check on my progress, there was a woman there with a walker that had a nice, padded seat, so she could sit down and relax if she was dizzy, and it had a compartment (bag) under the seat with space between the seat and bag that allowed her to put her yarn in it and have it feed out through the space while she crocheted. I know this dizziness will be gone soon, and I don't need a walker, but I really envied her that day.

One of the next worst things has been that my mind is just not working. I'm thankful to TiVo because I could record Stargate Universe. I watched the first half of the episode from earlier in the week at least four times so far and each time realized that I still didn't have a clue what was happening. That's probably linked to the fact that within 10 minutes of waking up, I've felt like I was ready for a nap all last week.

I'm guessing it will be about another week before I'm really up to speed as far as blogging goes, so bear with me. I have a lot of stuff that I wanted to do this past week that I need to catch up on.

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I have been working on the cabled mobius hat and stuff to go with it.

I got the yarn for it a while back (last week?) and a copy of Power Cables by Lily Chin, which I thought would help. It's a fabulous book for anyone who wants to knit cables, and especially design cables, but did not really have the information in it that I wanted. I'm still glad I bought it because it has a lot of really neat stuff, and some of it isn't things that I had thought of as cables, but it's wonderful!

After some preliminary trials, I determined that I needed a larger size needle than I originally thought, and sent for a size 9 Addi lace needle from Jimmy Beans Wool, and they got it to me very quickly, and I started swatching in earnest. A needle (or needles) with a good, sharp point is really a necessity for this project.

I did more trials than I usually do, but I haven't done something quite like this before, and considering the brain fog engendered by the combination of sinus infection and meds, I think I did quite well.

Every time I knitted a swatch, I looked at it and saw something I could improve. Then I ripped it out and did it again, but different.

Here's the next-to-the-last trial:

That's a cable needle stuck in the swatch, and my penciled chart under it. The other side looks the same except that you can't see that part of the cable needle.

But that's already been ripped out, and I've eliminated some of the space on either side of the cable, between it and the applied I-cord on the side. It looks better and is more the width I actually wanted it to be. I'll be continuing the new swatch, and it'll be the cuff of the hat.

So, being sick slowed me down, but most of the delays on both versions of the mobius hat and it's accessories has been with getting the supplies and tools to work with.

So, at this point, the hat and cowl are started, and I still have to design a scarf that carries forward the mobius theme. I have ideas going around in my head for that, but so far, I don't think that any of them are actually practical in the real knitting world that involves yarn and needles. I'm also thinking about designing mitts to go with all this, but haven't decided if I will do it. The mitts that are in my head look awfully good, though, so maybe I'll do it.

As far as the plainer mobius hat and cowl are concerned, I've finished knitting them, and have the instructions for the hat mostly written. I haven't gotten back to editing and proofing the directions, and haven't done most of the instructions for the cowl yet. I need more yarn before I can do the scarf (I think--I'll have to check what's left over, but I don't think I haven enough). I'm also trying to decide if I want to write a separate pattern for mitts to go with this, or if I'll recommend that you use the mitts pattern that I've already written and will be converting to PDF.

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In more knitting news, or, more accurately, spinning news, Spin Off Magazine has a free trial offer for their magazine. If you've let your subscription lapse, you can get a free issue. I just got my personal copy in the mail, and it really brightened up being sick. I haven't read the article about spinning paper yet, but it looks interesting.

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Firefly is on The Science Channel again tonight. You can catch The Train Job if you missed it last week, and it's followed by Bushwhacked, which is not a fun episode because it's about the reivers. My brain is still not working, and I can't figure out how to spell that.

I hope you enjoyed the two hour return of The Event last Monday, and it'll be back tomorrow night right after the return of Chuck.

I'm about to fall over asleep at this point, and Firefly is coming on, so that's it for today.

I hope you had a great weekend, and will have a wonderful week coming up!

It's Monday

I'm becoming a real stick-in-the-mud lately. I've been knitting like crazy to get some Christmas presents done, and watching TV while I'm doing it.

Which means that although it's been a lot of fun for me, it's not a good idea to post photos of what I'm making because some of the people I'm making presents for read this blog. So, I can't really tell you about it.

But here's something I can tell you about.

I've ordered some yarn to make Christmas projects that I plan to sell! I'll be making a limited edition of 10 (if there's enough yarn, and I think there will be) Christmas stockings!

The main yarn for it will be Classic Worsted Tapestry yarn in Chili Pepper. It's a self patterning yarn as you can see by the knitted sample below.

There will be a cuff around the top of white Fun Fur from Lion Brand, and the toes and heels will be plain white yarn. There will also be some size E glass seed beads randomly in the leg of the stocking to add a little sparkle. The beads I'll be using have a "rainbow" finish, in other words they look like carnival glass.

Although the yarn is named Worsted, it's light enough that I can actually place the beads at random with a crochet hook if I want to rather than stringing them before I start to knit. I haven't decided which way I'd rather do it. I like the spontaneous place-as-the-mood-hits-you freedom of using a hook, but the project will be more portable if I string them first. I think I'm going to use a hook, but haven't decided absolutely.

Which reminds me that Tulip has some new crochet hooks that are just coming out, and I've read some really good things about them. They'll be distributed by Caron in the US, but they don't have any available yet, or didn't last week, anyway. There are aluminum hooks with black handles and gold hooks as well as steel hooks with blue handles.

The links show a whole set of them, but Caron will have the aluminum ones available individually. They haven't said whether they'll carry the steel hooks individually, though. Personally, I like steel hooks better, because the hook part is smaller and easier to insert, but the shaft is tapered, so you can push it through to the diameter you want for your project. It's easier for me to use and much more flexible as to effect created. Steel hooks are just too small for some projects, though.

You can find a review of the aluminum hooks here.

If you're using them for beading, like me, Tulip will (someday soon) have out a line of Sucre beading hooks, specifically intended for beading! They're color coded according to size, and you can see the sizes offered and the color coding by following the link.

While I'm on a roll with knitting content, I want to make sure you know that Vogue Knitting is having a sale on their patterns, just in case you're looking for something to knit someone for Christmas, too!

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Speaking of TV, there was a lot that was interesting on this past weekend.

The Golden Compass made it's TV premier on Saturday and Sunday, completely uncut according to the advertising. It was fairly true to the book, but suffers from the fact that the book was the first of a series of three books that comprise a whole story. They did their best to give it a good ending, but all the ending really did was promise that there would be more to the whole thing, which hasn't happened so far.

ABC Family put on as much of the Harry Potter movies as they could over the weekend, too. I recorded them on my TiVo, but haven't watched them yet. Of course I've seen them all, but this time they're showing tons of trailers for the next movie, which is the first part of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I want to go see the movie, but it will be a cliffhanger, so I'm a little less sure.

There's a new episode of Chuck on tonight! It wasn't on last week, and I really missed it! It'll be followed by a new episode of The Event, which continues to be top-notch in the exciting, science fiction, action and adventure departments! There will also be new episodes of Castle and Hawaii Five-O. Obviously, Hawaii Five-O isn't science fiction, but it has Alex O'Loughlin (Moonlight) and Grace Park (Battlestar Galactica) in it, and it's really a good show.

I'm going to get back to my knitting now, and make some great Christmas presents. You'll hear more about it later.

Got to go! Chuck is coming on!

Have a wonderful evening!

Good News and Bad News

Suddenly, everything seems to be either good news or bad news.

The good news for yesterday and my health is that I did get to the VA Hospital and get my ears examined. The good news connected with that is that the nerve damage hearing loss is almost exactly the same as it was four years ago. In other words, it's not getting worse. The bad news is that the bone that has grown over my right ear two years ago is blocking most of the sound from getting to that ear.

The good news is that the doctor was able to fix the left hearing aid, and hike up the sound on the right one so that I can hear something in that ear. The bad news is that it's impossible to hike it up enough to really correct my hearing in the right ear. But at least I can hear something, and the left ear is corrected.

She said I have to have another talk with an ENT doctor about the possibility of an operation in that ear to remove the bone that's blocking the hearing in my right ear. The ENT I spoke to didn't recommend it, but I'd like to hear more before I completely rule it out. Also, if I do rule it out, I need a note from the doctor saying that I'm not getting an operation in order to be eligible to get replacement hearing aids that are more suited to my changed hearing.

If I don't get the operation, I will be eligible for different aids to cope with my changing hearing problems. That's good news. The bad news is that it will entail two visits to the VA Hospital to get them. I know that sounds like a minor problem, and I should be grateful. I am, but it took 4 hours of traveling in a car to get there and back yesterday. On public transportation, that's 8 to 12 hours of traveling per trip!

So, anyway, at the moment, I have hearing aids that mostly correct my hearing and are reasonably functional, and an appointment (for December 2) to see the doctor about new aids if I decide not to have the surgery. I hate the idea of surgery, but if it would really fix things, I'd prefer that. The doctor didn't seem to think it would be as successful as I hope, though, so I need to find out more.

The bad news about yesterday and my health is that I woke up with the gland under my right ear swollen (again!) and hurting, and my health slid downhill all day. It sprinkled rain all day yesterday, usually not so much that you really wanted to bother to put up an umbrella, but enough to make you damp and chilly all day.

By the end of the day, my ear hurt, I had a vague, nagging headache, my post-nasal drip was doing it's best to drown me, and I was exhausted! I went to sleep early.

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On the way home from the VA Hospital yesterday, I got a text message from Holly saying that she had someone who was interested in the car, and he was on the way out to see it! So, I showed the car to a very nice guy named Mike, who liked it and later met with Holly and paid for the car and got a set of keys. He came by today and picked up the other keys from me.

The good news is that Holly sold her car, and is now not as broke as she's been since getting the new car. The bad news is that I no longer have transportation. That's not so bad, though. At least I had the use of a car for a short while.

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Saturday is the Fall Fiber Fest! The good news about that is that it's the Fall Fiber Fest! The bad news is that it's been raining for two days, which is what caused the previous Fall Fiber Mud Festival. I've been to the Sheep and Wool Festival when it rains, but that's based on actual ground, real dirt. The FFF is based on something weird. It might be either clay, or quicksand or some combination of the two. That year, they weren't letting anything without four wheel drive off the road, and with good reason. My SUV nearly got stuck. And if you stopped moving for even a second, you could feel yourself start to sink! Everybody was covered in mud to their knees!

So, Holly, if you're reading this, much as I'd like to go to the FFF, I won't be very disappointed if you decide that you don't want to go. We could go pick up some graph paper and I'll graph out a heart border for your cowl if you want.

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This afternoon, Syfy is rebroadcasting the pilot episode of The Event at 4:00! The IMdB link is here, but that doesn't even begin to tell you what it's about!

It starts off as a standard thriller/action/adventure, following a guy who, little by little, uncovers a terrorist plot to kill the president by hijacking a plane and crashing it into him. At the last moment, when the plane is less than 50 feet away, the air glows and looks like a heat shimmer, the plane flies into it, and disappears! A woman watching it says "They did this!" and that's the end of the first episode.

Considering that the guy that finds all this out is trying to ask his girlfriend to marry him throughout the first episode, it really has everything: action, adventure, suspense, science fiction, and a romance! It's very fast-paced and seems to be shaping up to have a lot of plot twists! Don't miss it!

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Considering that most of the symptoms I developed yesterday aren't gone, and I had to get up early today, I think I'm going to take a nap.

Have a great evening with all the fun stuff that's coming up on TV tonight!

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Addition:

Here's some good news! There will be a new R2D2 phone out real soon now! Find out about it here! In case you don't want to spend a lot of money on a new phone, if you have an Android based phone, there will be a new Empire Strikes Back available soon, too!

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Another Addition:

If you're on Ravelry, you can get the most up-to-date reports on the ground quality of the Fall Fiber Fest site here.

A lot of people seem to be encouraged by the fact that it's expected to be sunny on the day of the festival. Well, it was sunny on the day of the muddy festival, too. The problem seems to happen when it's rained for a few days before the event, which is what's happening this year.