Castle

For all you fans of Firefly, who are keeping track of the actors who were in it, there is a new TV series coming up midseason this Winter that you'll be interested in.

The new show is called Castle, after it's main character, Nick Castle, played by Nathan Fillion.

Just click on the the link for Castle, it says it all much better than I can. OK, so it's not science fiction, but it looks like it's going to be good.

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Today, Holly and I went out together.

First stop was Michaels, where I bought 4 balls of white glow-in-the-dark yarn for the Christmas stocking I'm making for my September Charms homework in the Harry Potter KAL.

I have a swatch for the beads nearly done, and there will be at least one photo tomorrow.

We stopped at WalMart and picked up some miscellaneous necessaries, and then it was over to TJ Maxx in the Potomac Mills Mall to get the boots I saw on Friday and didn't get. Photo tomorrow.

Then we walked around the mall a bit, and Holly got one of the prettiest heart necklaces I've seen. She had it engraved "Holly" on one side, and "Robin" on the other.

We got pretzel dogs from Aunt Annies, and while we were sitting and eating, she said "I have bad news for you. You're going to have to get up early next Saturday morning." I was delighted!

Yes, it's true, we'll be going to the Renfair on Saturday. I'll try to remember to take pictures, but usually I'm having so much fun that I don't remember to take pictures.

It's been a long day, and I did a lot of walking on Friday and today, so I'm going to cut this short.

But not before I remind you that the premier of Fringe will be on Tuesday night on Fox.

I hope you had a great weekend!

Hannah Came to Visit!

Yes, folks, hurricane Hannah is here. She's planning on leaving soon, though.

It was pouring down rain when I woke up, and it's still falling out of the sky.

There are flash flood warnings in my area.

Holly sent me a text message and asked if we could postpone going out.

Really, it's not so bad. A lot of rain is coming down, but I'd never guess it's a hurricane from the lack of wind. Yes, I saw the radar images on the weather channel, but this is more like a warm front rain.

Cold fronts bring storms. Warm fronts just bring rain that goes on and on.

Yesterday, I went shopping at Potomac Mills Mall. People are starting to speculate on whether we're into a recession or not. We've been in a recession for about five years (although the statisticians have played with the figures to try to prove we're not) and we're in a full-blown depression now. The mall is the proof.

This is the first year that I've gone shopping in September and could find almost nothing in the way of Fall and Winter shoes, clothes, etc. The mall was a very sad place yesterday. I was looking for Fall and Winter shoes, and they had lots of summer sandals on clearance, but not very much in the way of real shoes or boots. It was pathetic.

I found some Totes boots on clearance for $10, which I would have bought in an instant if they had been navy blue, but they only had black. I was thinking about going back and getting them, but I think (after a lot of consideration) that the navy rubber boots at TJ Maxx may be a better idea. They would be warm with heavy socks (if they're big enough) and waterproof for when the snow turns to slush. And tall enough that the snow isn't going to slosh in over the tops of the boots and treat my feet to a dose of frozen water. 

There may be something wrong with me. I've always wanted navy blue Wellingtons, and never had them. At 65, I may not have another chance. They'll look good with my new coat, and boots for under $20 has to be a good deal. What am I waiting for? I should just get them.

I'd like some dressy shoes and some sneakers, too. I was hoping to remedy that situation yesterday, but no luck.

I did knit almost half of a mitten on the bus and waiting for the bus, though.

At this point, I have three (ambidextrous) mittens and a hat finished, and have enough multicolored blue yarn left for a very long scarf. I keep thinking that there must be some small item that I'd like to use some of that yarn for. Maybe a tam? Will that go with my coat?

Time to dig out my copy of Homespun, Handknit. This is one of the knitting books I love most. A magazine (I think it was Spin-Off, but I'm not sure) had a contest for patterns for small projects using handspun yarn, and they published the winners in a book, and this is it. It's a great book to just sit and read. Even if you're a very experienced knitter, it's got so many tips and tricks hidden in the patterns that it's really a treasure. One of my all-time favorite knitting books!

Oh, the mittens are knitted, but the cuffs want to roll up, so they need a bit of blocking before they're ready for their close-up.

On the way to the mall, I stopped at JoAnn Fabrics and got some nifty things.

First, there are the glow-in-the-dark beads for my Harry Potter KAL charms class. That was good. The mittens and hat I just made all have button loops on them so I can park them on a button and not lose them while at the same time not filling up my pockets. The coat will probably need some extra buttons just for them, and I found some beautiful ones that I think will match (or at least go with) the buttons on the new coat. If not, they will match some buttons I already had for future projects. I love my button box!

I also got some things to go with the single Options needle that I've bought so far. They had some coiless safety pins in the bead department for 30% off. Others have pointed out to me that these are great to pin to your project to use rather than the little wire things that go with the needle or cable sets. The little wire things are just guaranteed to get lost, they're so small. But a pin fastened to your project is not going anywhere and is perfect for tightening the cables.

I also found some needle pullers. They're small pieces of a rubber-like material to grip a sewing needle that's stuck in some fabric and doesn't want to move. They're also great for gripping the Options needle tip so you can fasten on the cable.

Well, there were several things I planned on doing today, but they involve going out, and I don't happen to have an ark handy, so I'll probably do them tomorrow.

A rerun of Chuck is on tonight. And a new episode of Primeval on BBC in America.

Have a great weekend!

Eureka! (again)

No, this is not about the show on SciFi.

This is about the Harry Potter KAL that I joined. It's very different than most. Each month, various "teachers" assign "homework" to do.

For instance, for Herbology, I need to make a hemp (or cotton, if I can't find hemp) washcloth. That's simple, straightforward, and only tricky if I decide it's so simple it's a foregone conclusion and I forget to do it.

For one of the classes, I have my choice of two projects: "Lumos" and "Wingardium Leviosa."

For Wingardium Leviosa, you have to make a project that either depicts something that flies, or (for extra points) something that actually flies (like a kite or something). I have no idea how you would make a kite that's functional.

The first thing that leapt to mind was something with a snitch on it like I made for  the other Harry Potter KAL.



I thought that would be the easy one, but It turns out I woke up in the middle of the night with a great idea for Lumos, which is a project that lights up.

I want to make a Christmas stocking out of dark blue yarn with glow-in-the-dark star-shaped beads strewn across it. This would not only glow in the dark, but would also work well with my house (Ravenclaw) since it's their symbol (as it was mine before JK even thought of Ravenclaw).

So, I'm off to JoAnn fabrics to buy some white, glow-in-the-dark star-shaped beads!

I'm going to love this one!

Have a great day.

I Finally Finished Something!

I finally got so frustrated that I've finished the blue multi watch cap. 

I put a loop on the top of it so that I could fasten it to a coat button if I decided to take it off my head.

Tonight, the season opener of Bones will be on Fox Network.

I thought that the SciFi Channel would be showing a new episode of Eureka last night, but was disappointed to find that they were rerunning the third episode of the new season. What kind of a network does that?

I was rummaging around for new things to put in my Amazon store, and found a collection of the Complete Emma Peel Avengers. It doesn't have any episodes that don't have Diana Rigg in them, but there are three Avengers episodes that have her in them that never made it to TV, and they're included! Three Diana Rigg Avengers episodes that I've never seen!

Have a great day!

Exciting Day

I woke up this morning, and turned on the TV and sat and knit for a few minutes. I'm never really awake right at first, and usually do something fairly mindless for just a little bit rather than do something more complicated and mess it up.

So, I was sitting there watching TV and knitting, and I started to realize that there was a lot of NOISE.

I hit the mute button, and the sound from the TV went away, but there was still a lot of noise.

As I said, I'm not really awake when I first get up and walk around.

Checking out the window showed a hook-and-ladder fire truck. It had it's "feet" down and planted and looked like it meant business.

They raised the ladder, which was more of a cherry-picker, in this case, and swiveled it around, right past my window to stop next to the balcony next to my apartment, in front of my other window. The gentleman on the ladder had a conversation with somebody on the balcony.

Then they took the ladder away, packed up, and left. Another fire truck pulled up and unfurled it's ladder. They went to the same balcony, and then started to take it back to the truck.

Then they maneuvered to get next to my window.

As it turns out, they wanted to get in some practice using the gear, and decided to do it at my apartment place.

I don't like the way the mitts are turning out, and since I have mitts that almost match this yarn, I'm thinking that I might be happier with mittens to go over the existing mitts. So, I'm switching to mittens, and I'll frog the mitts if I like the mittens better. I'm thinking that I'll put a loop on each mitten (at the cuff, opposite the thumb) so that I can fasten them to a button on my coat when I take them off, and thereby not lose them.

So, now I have a scarf, hat, mitt and soon a mitten started and none finished. I think I'll have to finish the hat soon just to lessen the number of WIPs.

There's a new Eureka on the SciFi Channel tonight!

I hope you all got to see the Middleman last night. It was great!

Have a great day!

Happy Labor Day!

There has been lots of knitting going on, but it doesn't look like much. I did a gauge swatch for the mitts, but it was too loose, so it got ripped out and reknit, so there's not much that's actually finished.

The IRS made a big mistake and sent me a stimulus payment. I suspect that I'll have to give it back to them to pay taxes, but in the meantime, I have it.

My winter coat is ripped and looks old and really bad, so I was looking for a new one today, when I found this coat. A winter coat for about $30 including shipping? I couldn't let that pass. It doesn't look like it'll be very warm, but it looks wind resistant, and with warm clothes underneath it, it should be very warm. Which is good, because with lighter clothing, it'll be a good coat for chilly days, too. And for $25, I couldn't ask for more.

There will be what appears to be a new episode of the Middleman on ABC Family tonight.

I hope you're having a great Labor Day!