Happy October!

The weather outside still feels like summer, although there's a noticeable chill in the evening air, but it's now officially October.

When I was a teenager, this was the time of year when you actually needed a Winter coat. Global warming is probably not something you notice if you're currently a teenager, but if you've been around like me, you can't miss it!

This month includes Octoberfest and Halloween! The TV stations will start airing their spooky shows, building up to the end of the month. I, for one, can't wait!

Tomorrow is also the Fall Fiber Fest, and it's been raining for most of the week. OK, so it's sunny today. After attending the mud fest they had a few years ago after only two days of rain and one sunny day, I have serious doubts about attending. I talked to Holly last night and told her that although I'd like to go, I have serious doubts about the ground out there, and if she doesn't want to go, I won't be upset with her about it.

Later on in the month, Holly has a knitting retreat, and a project she has to knit for it. And even later in the month, the Renfaire is over, and we're hoping to squeeze in just one more visit.

It's going to be a busy month!

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Tonight, we have brand new episodes of Medium and Supernatural, and an episode of Human Target that may or may not be new. I know it's new season is starting soon, but I'm not sure if this is it.

Have a fabulous weekend!

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.

Schedule

First, before I get into scheduling for the rest of the year, I want to say I haven't been ignoring you.

As every year, in the Spring and Fall, the apartment place I live in has a problem with the heat/air conditioning. Or, more accurately, I have a problem with the heat/air conditioning. They couldn't care less.

The heat is either on or off, and the air conditioning is either on or off. They hire a company to come in here and turn the heat off (in Spring), which they say takes a whole eight hour day, and then later they get the same company to come in here and turn on the air conditioning, which they also insist takes a whole eight hour day, and both of these events have to be scheduled ahead of time. Which involves them having to predict the weather and the optimum time to do that. Which, of course, they can never get right.

Their standard answer to my complaint about this is to tell me to open a window. And since we're having record high counts of tree pollen, to which I'm grossly allergic, this poses a severe health problem every Spring, followed in the Fall by the same problem with ragweed. This problem doesn't end with the windows closing, but manages to keep me feeling sick from April to around the beginning of the new year. Every year!

The end result of all this is that we always have at least a week, and usually closer to a month where the temperature in my apartment never gets lower than 80 degrees. It has been over 110 degrees in here already

This is that time. I had a week where the temp in my apartment didn't get lower than 80. All I wanted to do was lie down flat and sneeze and sneeze, blow my nose and try not to drown from all the junk draining down my throat! Then, on Thursday, late in the day, early in the evening, a thunderstorm swept in with a cold front behind it (naturally), and it cooled off for a few days, which is giving me a chance to recover somewhat before the heat hits today and tomorrow.

So, I've been dealing with what is about equivalent to a bad cold. And the worst thing is that it's going to go on for a while. The heat is finally off, and the AC isn't due to be on until the 19th of May, around 4 or 5 o'clock.

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Robin hasn't had a vacation in ages, and was getting to the point where things were starting to be stressful for him, so he decided to go on vacation, which he had scheduled to start on Thursday. So, he drove to Assateague Island to go camping, set up camp, and the temperature plunged and the rain (and thunder and lightening) started. Eventually, he called Holly complaining about the weather and asked her to make a reservation for him at a hotel in Ocean City. I feel bad for him that so much of his short vacation was spent outdoors in the rain and cold. I was out on Friday, and it was chilly enough that I wore my Winter coat, and was glad I did. They said it wasn't supposed to go much above 60 degrees, but it was windy and cold in spite of all the sun.

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On Friday, I was out to get a CT scan of my ear so they can find out why my middle ear is blocking sound instead of conducting it like it should.

I talked to Holly about it before hand, and she said the scan would be very noisy. I mentioned that to the technician before the test. She said that Holly must've had an MRI, because CT scans aren't noisy, and she was right, it made kind of a whooshing noise.

Friday night I told Holly that the CT scan wasn't noisy, and she said "How would you know?"

I waited around, and they gave me the disk to give to the doctor. I thought I might be able to see the inside of my afflicted ear on my computer, but my computer doesn't have whatever special program is needed to view it. It seems odd to me that they'd invent a whole new format just for things like this. I mean they could have used JPEG, EPS, or any other format, but that doesn't seem to be the case. They didn't even use any standard text format for the written summary. The only thing I could view was their logo. I'm disappointed!

I plan to take the disk over to the doctor on Monday and make an appointment. So, we'll see then.

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The digital TV Guide just rolled over to next Saturday, and BBC in America is having a full day of Doctor Who next Saturday! It'll start around 6 am (here) and run through the end of the fourth season, some Doctor Who specials, all of the fifth season, and continue with the first new episode The Eleventh Hour! Then there will be several repeats of the new episode. Check your local schedules and set your DVRs/TiVos!

Episodes to especially watch for include Silence in the Library/Forrest of the Dead (a two-parter: a horror story with a love story embedded), Turn Left, and the finale: The Stolen Earth/Journey's End, with all the major characters that have been in the series recently, including Sarah Jane Smith, Rose, Martha, and Gwen, Ianto, and Captain Jack from Torchwood.

Don't miss it!

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And, finally, to the schedule for this year!

• May 1-2--The Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival The biggest event of it's kind in the United States, the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival is not to be missed! We almost always go on Saturday. The hours say that it's open until 5 on Sunday, but people start packing up at around 3, so you miss a lot if you go on Sunday.
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• Jun 12-13--The Potomac Celtic Festival All things Celtic! Once again, Saturday is the day to go!
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• August 28-October 24--The Maryland Renaissance Festival  We don't usually decide which weekends we'll be going this early, but we usually try to make it twice once in September and once in October.
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• October 2-3--Fall Fiber Festival and Montpelior Sheepdog Trials  This is so much smaller than the Sheep and Wool Fest, but something to tide you over until the next one.

And that brings us up to the cooler weather when these kinds of things don't generally happen.

This year, Lynn will not be joining us for some or most of the fun things we'll be going to. She's having more eye surgery, this time for cataracts.

I'm really upset that she won't be going, but even more upset because of the reason. I wish her the best with the surgery, and wish her eyes were just OK and didn't need the surgery at all, but I am thankful that what's wrong is something that can be fixed. We're going to miss you while we're doing all these fun things! Maybe you can get to go to the Renfaire in the Fall, if you can get off work!?

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The high today is over seventy, so it's already getting uncomfortable in here, and it'll be even worse tomorrow. It's supposed to cool off a bit on Tuesday and Wednesday, but there will be more heat and indoor pollen before this is over. Don't worry if I don't blog every day. It'll just be the heat!

In case I don't blog as often as I'd like, have a wonderful week!

Monsoon!

I give up. I've been denying it for a while, and we were lucky enough to get a break from it for the Fall Fiber Fest, but it looks like monsoon season is really here to stay in Northern Virginia (or NoVA, as the natives call it).

It's been raining almost nonstop (at least it seems that way) ever since FFF, and there was considerable rain before that. I'm sure I remember seeing some actual sun within the last two weeks, but I couldn't say I did with any degree of certainty.

Rain doesn't usually bother me too much, but it doesn't usually go on for so long. Not without a break every so often.

Another thing that's got me down is that I went to the library yesterday, continued by a trip to CVS, and then swung by Safeway for some groceries. That's a decent walk for me. I haven't gotten to the depressing part yet.

On the way, the very first time I stepped in a puddle (well, not really a puddle, just something about a quarter inch deep), my sock was instantly soaked with cold water! Well, the toes were instantly soaked. It took a little more walking before the top of the sock was soaking the bottom of my jeans.

It really shouldn't be doing that, and I examined the offending left shoe when I got home. These are fairly new shoes with beautiful leather tops that show no wear, mind you. Not a scuff. They look totally and completely brand new! But there is a crack across the sole all the way across, under the ball of my foot! It's completely invisible unless you bend the sole to expose it. But it does a great job of letting water in!

These are nearly new shoes! And I really can't afford new ones!

OK, OK, I know I have a batch of shoes that don't really fit me well anymore that I haven't thrown out, so I can probably find something to wear.

But why should I have to? I mean, these shoes are nearly new!

So, we have a monsoon and a decided lack of shoes!

I should be thankful that I had the foresight to buy some tall rubber boots. I don't want to wear the boots, though, I want to wear my shoes!

And then I think that if that's my biggest problem, I'm really lucky! I should quit whining, and buck up.

But we were planning to go to the Maryland Renaissance Festival this weekend, and it's supposed to rain right through Sunday.

This is depressing!

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I broke down and started to knit my new sweater today. So far, I have about an inch of the back done. Photos when there's a bit more to show. At least this isn't a Christmas present, and I can take photos and show them.

As with all self-patterning yarn, I'm enjoying watching the patterns emerge as I knit. Yes, I know. Fun for the feeble minded!

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I've been meaning to mention this ever since I noticed this about a month ago.

Without fanfare or any notice whatsoever, a new needle size has turned up in the Knit Picks catalog for their Options interchangeable knitting needles, and it's an important size!

Local yarn stores (mostly) carry size 10-1/2 needles, but the chain craft stores like Michaels, AC Moore, and JoAnn Fabrics seem to have buyers who don't actually know anything about knitting needles, so there are never any size 10-1/2 needles!

There's a big leap in size from 10 to 11! Size 10-1/2 helps, but there's still a big size difference between 10-1/2 and 11!

Knit Picks has brought back the size 10-3/4 needle!

If you order a set of any of the Options needles (nickel plated, Zephyr, or Harmony), you won't get 10-3/4 tips, but they're suddenly available to order from their catalog in all those varieties!

I feel like dancing in the street! This calls for a celebration!

And here's something else to celebrate: Laurie Perry (Crazy Aunt Purl) has finished another book! She turned it in earlier this week, and it's already available on Amazon for advance order!

And I love the title! It's called Home is Where the Wine Is.

You can read more about it at the above links.

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Dollhouse is, sadly, not on tonight. In a way, that's a good thing because there are two other things I want to watch at the time it would normally be on. Three if you count Stargate Universe (which also comes on later, so I can catch it then). Universe, by the way, has moved on from it's initial, never-ending episode called Air, and is now into Darkness. It's been pretty elemental, so far. Oh, and there's the second episode of the new season on Sanctuary, while we're on the subject of SyFy.

Normally, I watch Ghost Whisperer at 8, followed by Medium and Dollhouse at 9.

What's throwing a monkey wrench into this schedule is Ugly Betty.

OK, I know it's not science fiction or even fantasy. I know it's really a prime-time soap, but I really like it. It was worth watching in the past just to see Christopher Gorham. It's probably good that they moved it from Thursday night, because I'm already missing Grey's Anatomy because of the pile-up of great shows, but why couldn't they have moved it to Tuesday, when there's nothing at all worth watching anywhere on TV!? Or, failing that, Wednesday at 9 or even 8 is a good time for me. The only thing really worth watching on Wednesday is Eastwick. With any luck, Betty will be on at 8 in the future, and won't mess up my schedule.

Oh, well. Tonight is jammed with great things to watch. I'm going to sit and knit in front of the tube this evening! Again! One of my favorite things to do!

Don't forget to keep your eyes open for Halloween programming! There are so many networks that are putting up lots of holiday shows! Too many to really list.

Oh, and here's something I was talking about with Holly, Everett and Jeff at the FFF almost two weeks ago. We all enjoyed it so much then, I thought I'd rerun it!

Have a great Friday evening!

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Addition:

Canada is issuing a silver $4 coin picturing a Tyrannosaurus Rex!

Stargate SG-1 All Day Today!

SyFy is the "Stargate SG-1 all day, all the time" network today! And they seem to have picked out the best of the series, too. If you've just caught onto the marathon now, you've probably missed a lot. Episodes include Wormhole Xtreame, Window of Opportunity, Urgo, Crystal Skull, The Nox, and more! There are several two-part episodes, especially Mobius.

And while we're on the subject of TV, Dollhouse will be premiering on Fox tonight! Also, we have the season premier of Ghost Whisperer! I can't wait! And the return of the cancelled Medium!

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Two other things that I haven't been able to wait for are coming up tomorrow and a week from tomorrow!

Tomorrow we planned to go to the Maryland Renaissance Festival. I say planned because the forecast for the area it's in is showers all afternoon, and Holly already had a bad experience with rain at the Ohio Renfair.

I knew we were in trouble last night when the weather guy on TV said that there was rain in Ohio and it was headed this way. Unless we have an amazing miracle, I'm bracing myself for disappointment. Either we'll go and get rained on, or we will miss it entirely tomorrow.

We do have another trip to the Renfair scheduled for around the middle of October, so we do have one more chance, but that's then and this is now.

Next weekend, though, is what I'm really starting to get psyched about! It's the Fall Fiber Fest! Yaaay! I really can't wait for this one! My monthly income will arrive the day before the fest!

I have lots to do to get ready, so I have to go, but I wish you a fabulous weekend!

Schedule Update

I talked to Holly on the phone Thursday night, & we went over our upcoming schedule (among other things). It was after 2 am when I talked to her, and I was pretty sleepy, so I'm posting my understanding of the schedule so that if I've made a mistake, we can fix it now and all be on the same page.

29 Aug--(today)--Holly is going to Baltimore. More on this coming up later in the post. The Maryland Renaissance Festival opens today, but we're not going this weekend.

5 Sep--Holly and I will be going out shopping and having fun together.

11 Sep--The local library will be holding a book sale, and I'll be attending.

12-13 Sep--Holly will be in Baltimore attending knitting classes.

19-20 Sep--Holly will be attending Renfairs in Michigan and Ohio.

26 Sep--Holly, Everett, Jeff, Ashton and I will be attending the Maryland Renaissance Festival.

3 Oct--We will be at the Fall Fiber Festival! This is not as wonderful as the Sheep & Wool Fest, but something to keep me from going into withdrawal before the next one. It's always fun! Except when there's bottomless mud.

17th or 24th Oct--We will be at the Maryland Renaissance Festival one of these two days. The first of these two weekends is pirate weekend, and the second is chivalry weekend. Holly can't decide which one she'd rather attend.

Here's the info I mentioned earlier--Holly signed up for three knitting classes at a yarn store in Baltimore: One for continental knitting, one for speed knitting, and one to knit a beaded scarf. Two of the classes will be on one weekend spread over Saturday and Sunday. She needs to pick up the beads so that she can string them before class, so she'll be going up there today, and staying to see the jellyfish exhibit at the aquarium. She's wanted to see the jellyfish exhibit ever since it was opened, and various things have happened to deflect her from this goal. She planned to go last weekend on Sunday, but woke up really sick. Before that, the car was having problems, and she couldn't go. So, today is the day, and it's beautiful and sunny, and a really nice summer day for traveling.

Last moment update: Holly just reported that she's picked up the beads, and will be presumably proceeding to see the jellyfish!

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I finished knitting the very last of Kyle's socks late last night. I still have some ends to darn in on the last three socks, but I am otherwise finished. I need to write a little note to enclose about how to wash them, and consult with Holly about packaging. She said she has some stuff to send to Kyle, and that I should give her the socks and she'll send them. Holly said Kyle already called her to ask when she was going to get the socks, and she's really excited about it. They're my comfy socks pattern, and I'll have the free pattern up here real soon now.

And there is the ending of the entrelac section on the Quant to do, and the other tie. Almost done!

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Sorry about not posting yesterday. I intended to, but I suspect that I have/had the same thing that Holly had last week. I have just been coughing nonstop for the past week. I can see signs today that it's beginning to let up, so even though I'm not OK, it's at least encouraging. It's just a cold or something, but it's been doing a great job of making me totally miserable lately.

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I read on Twitter that starting in September, BBC in America will be having daytime marathons of shows similar to what SyFy does. The shows they'll be running marathons on include Doctor Who and Torchwood! I'm excited!

There's a new Being Human on BBC in America tonight!

Have a great weekend!

2009 Schedule!

I've been putting this off, but it's time to put up the 2009 schedule so that we can all be on the same page and at the same event, without having to say "Oh, I should have made a request 2 months ago for time off so that I could go to that!"

For those of you who don't know, there are an array of events that I used to go to every year alone. Then Holly moved to this area and went with me, and then she met Everett, and then Lynn found out about it, and it's escalated from there, or possibly got out of control, depending on your viewpoint. The more the merrier, but we'll probably have to take two cars. Maybe we can drag Malaia and John along on at least one event this year. Malaia said she wanted to go to the Sheep and Wool Festival.

So, this is the plan for 2009:

2 & 3 May-- The Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. This is the biggest event of it's kind in the United States. It's a once-a-year, not-to-be-missed fiberarts extravaganza! We may only be going on the second, but it'll be open both days. It's free, you just walk in. But save up your money, because there will be a lot that you'll want to buy!

16 & 18 May--Maryland Faerie Festival This was recommended to me by Dancing Pig Pottery, and it sounds like fun.

16 May to 14 June--The Virginia Renaissance Faire. I've never been to this, but I'm putting it up here in hopes that someone else will feel like going and take me along.

13 & 14 June--The Potomac Celtic Festival. For those out there who love bagpipes, and men in kilts, this is the place you want to go! They have cider and ale as well as beer, and I advise that you stick close to Holly, because she always finds the best stuff immediately.

29 August to 25 October--The Maryland Renaissance Festival. One of my favorite things to do. We try to go twice a year. This is a really fabulous Renfair!

3 & 4 October--Fall Fiber Fest. Not anywhere as big as the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, but it staves off withdrawal until the next year and lets me get last-minute (so to speak) ingredients for Christmas present construction.

I hope you're all enjoying the Harry Potter weekend on ABC Family! Oh, and don't forget that Castle premiers on Monday!

GREAT Fall Fiber Fest!

Here's a small glimpse of the Fall Fiber Fest on Saturday.


Spinning wheels and fiberarts everywhere!

Holly and I went by ourselves and had a great time. The weather was heavenly. It couldn't have been better if we had been able to plan it ourselves! It was sunny all day, and at no time was I too warm or too cold. And there was no mud! After the mud fest of 2006, this is always a concern. Who could ask for more?

Holly got a Christmas present for someone. I won't tell what the present is or who it's for, but she was very happy with it, and I think that the recipient will love it, too. She also bought some yarn for a scarf she plans to make. It's going to be really nice!

Now that I started making my own socks, I've found that it's much easier to do the kitchner stitch at the toe with a darning egg, and I've been thinking about getting one, which I actually did at the FFF. I got this from Knitting Notions, a very beautiful darning egg made from poplar. This feels so nice in your hand, like it just fits and belongs there. I love it!




I  looked around at everything else. I was hoping for some nice light blue wool yarn with some silk neps for a tweedy look to make a wimple to go with my new coat. But there was nothing of that description. I found some beautiful self-patterning sock yarn that was not what I had planned on, but would have made a beautiful wimple, but it would have cost $40 for enough yarn for the wimple, and after buying the egg, I just didn't have it.

I also found some beautiful light grey alpaca for $25 that was out of my league. I've seen some publicity photos of the making of the Half Blood Prince where Hermione is wearing a knitted cap in light grey, and I've been looking for something to make it in. So, that would have been perfect. Actually, she's wearing a knitted scarf in the photo that would be interesting to make, too.

I found some nice wool and tencel fiber that would have been perfect to spin to make a wimple. But I went back to get the egg, thinking that if it was there, I'd just buy 4 ounces of the merino/tencel, and if it wasn't, I'd buy 12 ounces. When I came back it was gone.

So, Holly and I left, and I was happy about the egg, but sad that I hadn't gotten some yarn or fiber for the wimple.

But the universe had other good things in store for me.

Holly wanted to stop to get something to eat, and we found a Carabbas Restaurant and had a great dinner. But the restaurant was just a few doors down from an AC Moore, and we stopped in and I bought some more of the beautiful tweed that I had used for the Celtic sweater, but now didn't have enough of. 

It turned out to be a really wonderful day!

Friday, I finished the poncho I was making, but didn't get around to taking a photo of it until today. So, here it is:


Over on the Steve Canyon blog, the votes are still poring in for the cover for the first of the Steve Canyon series DVDs. Go over there and vote, if you haven't already!

Life on Mars is on the BBC in America today, and I want to take the day off and sit and watch it. It's already started, but I'm recording it. I have to go check it, though, because I don't think there's enough space on the disk to record all of it, so I have to get something off of there real soon.

Have a great time with what little weekend is left!

Steve Canyon Covers!

John and I have been working hard all week on the cover for the Complete Steve Canyon on DVD Volume I, and the result is not one, but three covers!

This turned out really cool, and John and I are both pretty happy with it, except that we're having a hard time deciding what colors we want in the Steve Canyon logo at the top.

Here are the three covers:





To get a chance to vote for which one you want for your very own copy, go here.

Today is going to be a busy day for me, so I probably won't get a chance to blog again until Sunday, since we'll be going to the Fall Fiber Fest this Saturday.

So, I want to mention that the BBC in America will be rerunning a batch of the British series Life on Mars on Sunday. I've heard so much about this, but missed it when they were showing it before, so I really want to see at least some of it. Check your local listings.

And have a great weekend!

Two Days to the Fall Fiber Fest!

OK, it's not as good as the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, but the Fall Fiber Fest is the thing that keeps me going in between Sheep and Wool Festivals.

I just checked the weather forecast for the area in question instead of Northern Virginia, and it couldn't be better if we had been able to choose! I just need to know if there's a mud advisory, which the weather people have not judged to be important enough to report.

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It's a good thing that I put the schedule up yesterday, because I was notified of a change in it last night. The trip to the Renfair will not be on the 18th as scheduled, but on the 11th due to a change in schedule where Malaia works.

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I am currently in the middle of binding off on the light blue poncho I've been working on. It's turning out nice.

This is what it looked like yesterday. It's now a bit longer, and the border is a smidge over seven inches rather than the five inches shown here. Bind off is in progress, and it should be finished by tomorrow.

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Yesterday, John and I put some more finishing touches on the cover for the first of the new Steve Canyon DVDs. We have some alternate colors in contention for the color of the title. There was some loose talk about showing all three colorways and asking people to vote, but it's not up on the blog yet, and I'm wondering if it's going to happen. John has already warned me about telling people what he's going to do.

John has not been feeling his best, and had most of yesterday get sucked away by a doctor's appointment (with a multi-hour wait), getting prescriptions filled, and then collapsing in exhaustion. If the poll goes up on the blog, it may not be until later today. Maybe even tomorrow.

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As mentioned yesterday, Supernatural (the CW) will be on tonight, and Sanctuary will premier on the SciFi Channel.

Have a great day!

September Charms Homework

You may or may not be aware that I have joined a Harry Potter House Cup KAL on Ravelry.

Each month (or in one case, each week) there is a homework assignment posted for any members who care to participate.

The September Charms assignment was to choose either Lumos or Wingardium Leviosa to knit something for.

For Wingardium Leviosa, we need to make something that shows something that flies, or, for extra points, is something that flies itself, like a kite. The sweater I did for an earlier HP KAL would have been perfect. One year, for Christmas, Harry gets a blue sweater from Mrs. Weasley with a snitch on the front of it. Of course, since I did this for a previous KAL, it's not eligible.



For Lumos, you need to make something that shows something that lights up, or, better yet, something that actually lights up.

I made this Christmas stocking with beads (some of them star shaped) and white yarn that are glow-in-the-dark, so that when the lights go out, the stocking lights up by itself.

You can see other finished projects here.

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Yesterday, I planned to do a lot of things, but then reality intruded with it's own plans, and very little of the the things I planned actually got done.

I'm finding that the current second great depression is causing a lot of the same effects as the first one There was a discussion I heard on the radio about it because of a book that had been written on the the great depression. 

The author said that it tended to separate people by their reaction to it. Some people became very nasty and treated others badly because those others could no longer afford to pay their debts. Some of these people went so far as to abandon their children.

In other cases, whole communities banded together to help each other survive in the best way possible.

Yesterday, annoyed that my bank had imposed fees that they previously had told me they wouldn't do, I went to close an account with them. I was amazed to find that they refunded some of the fees, changed my account to one without fees, and added in several nice things I hadn't even thought to ask for! So, now, according to the new set-up, I not only have a little money to spend at the Fall Fiber Fest, that money shouldn't be spent on anything but fiberarts, and I really need to spend it to avoid bank fees! This is the first time in my life that somebody else wanted me to spend money at a fiberarts sale!

So, now I'm really excited about the Fall Fiber Fest on Saturday! There has been some rain last week, and it looks like it might rain now, so I'm not sure about the footing we'll find this weekend. I'm taking my Wellies. But the weather sounds like it would not be better if we were given an air conditioning controller to set it up! The high for the day will be about 70, so we may want a little something to keep warm at some point, but it will not be too hot, even in the sun that is expected!

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So, here is the schedule coming up for a while:

4 Sep 08  Fall Fiber Festival

18 Sep 08  Maryland Renaissance Festival

6-9 Nov 08  Stitches East

And then, of course, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year and Twelfth Night.

Wow! What a lot of wonderful stuff to do!

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John and I are getting down to the end on the front cover of the New Steve Canyon DVD. We are pretty much agreed on the cover except for the colors for the title. We worked on it for a while yesterday.

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Tonight, Pushing Daisies is back on ABC for it's season premier!

In non-SF TV news tonight, it will be followed by Private Practice,  and Bones will be on at the same time.

Knight Rider will also be on (NBC) at the same time, which creates a conflict for me. I found the premier sufficiently intriguing to want to watch some more, but it will not be on again later in the week on the SciFi Channel, so I'll have to make some hard choices in order to see it.

Tomorrow evening, get set for another new episode of Supernatural, which has developed into the best spooky show on TV for a long time.

And on Friday, the premier of Sanctuary will be lighting up the SciFi Channel.

Have a great rest-of-the-week!

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!