Miscellaneous Friday

There's not a lot going on at the moment, just a few minor things.

I'll try and get photos of knitted Christmas presents up here real soon, now.

I found a free pattern you might be interested in for a Valentines Day mug cozy. This, unlike most "cozies" seems to have an actual purpose. Not only is it decorative, but it will keep the mug contents warm (or cold).

**********************

Caprica will be premiering tonight on SyFy! Check your local listings!

HBO will be doing it's own version of Conan the Barbarian, and they've chosen Jason Momoa for the title role!

The Questor Tapes is in the early stages of a comeback! It was originally a Gene Roddenbery show, and very good, but it has the potential to be even better. Good luck!

*************************

Speaking of Conan and Barbarians, I got my copy of Maureen Birnbaum: Barbarian Swordsperson in the mail today. George Alec Effinger wrote a batch of short stories about Maureen, and how she suddenly disappeared from earth, and wound up on another planet and discovered that she was a barbarian swordswoman. Her adventures in other dimension/on other planets have been faithfully recorded by her friend, Bitsy, and collected into one volume for my reading pleasure! I've read some of the stories, and they're too funny for words. I can't wait to read the rest of the stories. I'm pretty sure that the first story I read about Maureen was in Don't Forget Your Spacesuit, Dear, which is a collection of short stories based on moms and the way they act and the things they say. The stories have names like Your Face Will Freeze Like That, and Don't Put That In Your Mouth, You Don't Know Where It's Been, and What's the Magic Word? and they're wonderful!

The title is based on the cliche "Don't forget your sweater, dear," with the definition of sweater being "A garment a small child wears because it's mother is cold." It's a great science fiction book for anybody who is a mom or has had a mom. And there's also a story in there that's one of my all-time favorites about someone who saves a whole world by knowing how to spin!

***************************

On a completely different tack, here's a health warning for everyone. Studies have shown that non-stick surfaces on cookware and non-stain fabrics can have adverse health effects on your thyroid gland. And, speaking as someone who has hypothyroidism, you don't want to harm your thyroid gland in any way, believe me!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Happy 2010!

Well, we're recovering from the new year's celebrations. Some of us are, anyway. A friend of mine posted on Facebook "Am I the only one who woke up the day after New Years at noon with a hangover?"

I know how he feels. Not the hangover part, but I didn't sleep well last night: kept just dozing and then waking up. That's very unlike me. I usually can sleep through anything!

I suspect that I'm coming down with something. I woke up feeling like I'd been beaten up. No logical reason why. Unless it has to do with the fact that it's cold in my apartment. It's not supposed to get up to freezing today, and the wind chill factor is currently 13 degrees!

Everyone is tweeting their new year's resolutions, and I wasn't going to make any this year, but after some consideration, I've decided on two things.

I intend to be better at finishing my knitting projects, and, in fact, am planning on finding and finishing some UFOs. I didn't say that I'd finish everything, just that I'd try to do better. To that end, I have a sweater that's just beautiful, but it needs the pockets sewn down and the ends darned in. I will finish it real soon, now.

Speaking of darning in ends, we all know about the "spit splice," which doesn't work on unfeltable yarn, but I just found the Russian Join, which can be used on non-feltable yarns. This is a good trick, and if you hate to darn in ends as much as I do, check it out! I like it so much, I've added it to the tips, tricks and patterns part of the sidebar.

The other resolution is to declutter my apartment. This is expected to be a process, not a quick, one-off crash project. The object of the exercise is to learn how to keep clutter at bay, and to change my way of going about it so that it is an ongoing process that keeps clutter gone all the time.

We'll see how it all goes.

*************************************

I broke down and bought myself some Christmas presents!

There's some Red Heart Heart & Sole sock yarn that I bought from JoAnn Fabrics (online)! Heart & Sole is a self-patterning yarn that comes in some very pretty color combinations. Some of those colors are ones I don't normally choose, but they're so pretty that I've fallen in love with several of their colorways.

The particular one that I bought is Rustica, and it looks like this knitted up.

Usually, I tend to like blues and purples, and usually soft shades. This is very different than anything I've liked in a long time. I usually don't like the bright colors, but I love this for some unknown reason.

It's also available in Faded Jeans, which is no surprise that it's one of my favorites.

Another of my favorites is Antique Rose:

I usually don't like reds, and especially pinks, but as my friend, Nancy, pointed out, rose is not pink! Maybe it's the light blue or grey that's in there, or the navy blue that seems to lend a bit of counterpoint. Anyway, I really like this.

Although I don't hate tans, I don't usually want to knit them, but this swatch in Toasted Almond is beautiful.

It may be the pale lavender that makes it work, and possibly just the dash of dark blue.

Back to the stuff I bought just for me! I bought a copy of Lily Chin's new book: Knitting Tips and Tricks. I ordered it over the internet, so I don't have it yet, but Lily is such a wonderful knitter, and she always has great ideas on how to make the process better or easier! I just can't wait to get this book!

I also bought a used book over the internet, Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson! This is a collection of short stories about Maureen, who is under the impression that she is a Barbarian Swordsperson, in spite of the fact that she's a very ordinary woman. The stories are absolutely hilarious, and I've loved the ones I've read, and want to read more.

Buying this book was inspired by the fact that used hardback copies of The Wizard of Karres had been going for $.01 on Amazon (plus $3.99 shipping, for a total of $4), but now that it's out of print and there's a sequel out, the price has gone up. It's now rare to find a copy of it for under $30! So I've resolved (oh, look, another resolution!) to try to buy one low priced book that I've wanted for a long time each month.

****************************

I had planned to stop by WalMart and get some things today. We've been having lots of rain, and I was encouraged by the fact that they predicted that today would be only partly cloudy. I was delighted to wake up and find bright sunshine, and encouraged in my plans until I got out from under the covers and discovered how chilly it is in here, and that the wind chill is 13 degrees! It's very windy, but it is expected to stay below freezing all day, so I'm now less than enthused about doing that, and, in fact, plan to give it a pass.

Besides, Doctor Who is on BBC in America all day today!

May this new year include everything you want to make you healthy, loved, prosperous, and happy!