How to be alone

Here’s a great short film about how to be on your own. I love my own company, and I can’t always stand to be around other people. A lot of people I know can’t do anything on their own, which I think is sad, but the next time somebody asks me why I like to go off on my own, I’m going to show him or her this video.

Knitting little nightmares

These knitting dissected-animal thingies are weird, but in the spirit of what I want to knit when I get old and crochety (that not a pun, since I don’t crochet, I just plan to be the grumpiest granny ever). (via Slightly Warped’s Curiosities)

The kind of stealth “crime” I can get behind

I think the idea of guerilla knitting/crocheting is pretty badass. If ever there were a victimless crime, this would be it. I support any sort of vandalism that beautifies the world, instead of assaulting the eyes.

Time flies

It’s February. How the heck did that happen?? The world seems to be moving too fast for me these days. I’ve also been lazy about posting (and after I’d started off so well). What have I been up to? Just hanging with family and friends and knitting. Here’s a hat that I made for myself. I am ridiculously proud, especially of the pompom. My mother and Satanski have already put in orders for similarly awesome hats. And if you know anybody with a gigantic head, I accidentally made a slightly massive one first, so that’s up for grabs (pompom optional).

Another way to help Haiti

I don’t visit knitting blogs a lot, unless I’m looking at a post related to a specific item or technique. Today, though, I was looking through Ravelry profiles and decided to visit the knitblog maintained by a friend from college because I was fascinated by the post’s title: A Scarf for Haiti. And that’s how I learned about HeartsforHaiti, an Etsy store where craftsters donate all of the items, and all proceeds (minus Etsy and Paypal fees) go to Doctors Without Borders. What a great idea!

A friend of mine had emailed me this morning to suggest that we get together this weekend and knit a spiral scarf, and I always work better with a specific goal/recipient in mind, so now I can make this scarf and donate it to this shop. Also, now I can buy something nice for myself and know that I’m supporting a good cause while doing it. Win all around!

Countdown to Project Runway

After what seems like years of legal wrangling between Lifetime, The Weinstein Company, and NBC Universal , Project Runway’s first season on Lifetime starts tomorrow. I’m really excited, but aside from briefly looking at the photos and bios of the new contestants, I haven’t tried to find out anything about this season. I want to be surprised, and not to hate any of the contestants until the editors have provided me with a reason. I’m starting a new scarf, so I’ll have something else to focus on if the first episode is as underwhelming as PR season openers usually are.

Vacation all I ever wanted

I am 99% of the way finished with my socks, and I will absolutely NOT have to take them with me on vacation. I’ll be able to start blocking them before I leave for the airport, and I trust my mom enough to send them off after they’re dry. I’m bringing another pair of socks to work on while I’m away, but I’m not sure how much knitting I’ll get around to once I’m off the plane.

I’m going to be suffering at work for a few more hours (hey, I’m happy to have a job, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t find it annoying every now and then), and then I go home to take one more look at my suitcase (why do I feel the need to pack so many shirts? I will not appreciate that when I’m the one hauling that suitcase all over Ireland and the UK), and then I go the airport to make my way across the Atlantic. I’m so stoked!!! I haven’t been on a long-ish vacation since August, and this time I’m going by myself, so I’ll definitely get a chance to recharge my batteries.

I’m bringing my computer because I am a hopeless geek, but I’m not sure that I’ll be posting stuff to this site.

On the QT

I’ve been really busy for the last couple of days, getting ready for my grand Irish adventure. I’m leaving tomorrow night, so it’s really crunch time. I’m ALMOST finished with these socks, which are coming out well. I’m actually knitting now, so chances seem good that I will not have to finish them and then mail them back from Belfast. All before, my “knitting” consisted of doing a couple of rows while watching a lot of tv, so now I’m actually knitting more than anything else and seeing the results really quickly. If I didn’t have to work right now, I’d probably be finished by 9:30. I have to do as much as I can here, though, because I still have to pack once I get home. Good thing I already finished my laundry!

Things I Did Not Buy Today 2

These Delman shoes are awesome, but I did not buy them! They retail for $195, and were going for $68 (thanks to the always awesome Gilt Group), but I can be honest enough to admit that they were a want, not a need. I’m trying to be strong, but the world is full of lovely things that can be bought! Right now, I’m about to blow over $100 on yarn, but that is always money well spent, and I will definitely use it!

Also, it’s a good thing I finished those booties and gave them to my coworker on Thursday, because his son was born on Friday!

Jeez

I go away for a few days and WordPress goes and changes everything…including my avatar, which was formerly a photo of my adorable nephew. Weird. I’m still angry with the Mets right now, and do not prefer to have their logo represent me on WordPress.

I haven’t been doing too much lately. Except for knitting. I’ve been doing a lot of knitting. And frogging. I’m never so OCD as when I’m knitting, and then I get this perfectionist streak that is completely at odds with the fact that I still don’t pay as much attention as I should to what I’m making. That’s because I need to watch something when I’m knitting.

Recently, I’ve seen 27 Dresses, Enchanted, Step Up (I’m a bit ashamed about that one), and I started Made of Honor, but I find the pratfalls a bit much and haven’t yet resumed from Dempsey’s second face plant in a single scene. I finished up the third and final season of Veronica Mars, and I’ve now moved on to Cupid, which I just learned is on youtube. How awesome. I remember loving that show, but the details are blurry at this point. I’m pleased that it’s as smart and funny as I remember, and that the wardrobe and hair isn’t so dated as to be a total distraction. I’ve also been really into Chuck lately, and it’s gotten so good that I even watch it before Gossip Girl! Heroes is still stupid, but not as single-mindedly moronic as it was earlier in the season, so I’ve resumed watching it on Monday, instead of allowing several episodes to pile up and then watching them all at once.

I’m about to be single single again (as opposed to mostly single), so that should leave me even more time to 1) make socks and 2) not make any of the Christmas presents I intended to knit.

I cannot believe how quickly summer/autumn happened, and that it will be winter in just a couple of weeks.