A Tale of Two Starbucks
I stop in at Starbucks pretty much every day. I always have the same thing (a quad grande skim with energy caramel macchiato, for those of you keeping score or wanting to buy me a coffee). I almost always manage to make it into the SB in my town, but occasionally I'm running a little late and have to hit one in the city. I love my hometown SB, but I haven't had horrible experiences at the NYC SBs (except for the time they forgot to put the coffee in. Seriously. But they were nice about it and fixed it.). So yesterday I was late for my train, and I was going to have to take the PATH instead of the ferry into the city, and when I take the PATH I don't actually pass a Starbucks on the way to work.
So I decided the best course of action was to pop into the SB in Hoboken, because it's only a couple blocks away from the PATH/train station and easier and more convenient than detouring on the way to work once I get into the city. Also, it's very pretty. I've been there maybe twice before and had no problems. So I walk in, and there are two baristas behind the counter. One is helping a customer with her oatmeal (if you are not an SB person and the idea that someone needs help with oatmeal confuses you, just move past it. It's not worth worrying about. Trust me.) and the other is making a coffee/chatting with her friend/customer. Which is fine. I like the friendly baristas. Except that neither one of them so much as makes eye contact with me to acknowledge that I'm waiting.
I continue to wait. And wait. And wait. Another person comes in and begins waiting behind me. Still no eye contact, much less a "Can I start a coffee for you?" or even "I'll be right with you." Finally another guy comes out from the back and he's refilling hte milk and whatever and after a minutes or so, he finally asks if we're being helped. I say no, and he takes my order and starts my coffee, and then proceeds to hassle me about my custom card (which has my regular coffee order printed on it). Not okay!
Fast forward to this morning. Believe me when I tell you I had a morning. There were canceled trains, fat old ladies screaming at me for having the audacity to cross with the light, and so on. Also, I grabbed the wrong coffee when I went in to the SB. I was just barely in time for the train so I tossed it and gave it up as a lost cause, and just figured I'd mention it when I go in tomorrow, but then (as noted above) the damn train was canceled so I had to walk uptown anyhow. So I popped into my Starbucks for the second time this morning and said, "I was just..." and they stopped me and said, "You grabbed the wrong coffee! Let me remake that for you! You must be having a really rough day!" There was no charge, I didn't have to explain why I no longer had the other coffee...they were just awesome and sympathetic and it was about the only nice thing that happened to me after I left the house this morning. I love my Starbucks.
Okay, you deserve a reward if you've made it this far. Choose your poison. I've got kids:
or yarn (In order, Schaefer Heather that I fell in love with, Sublime Organic Merino that inspired me to design a new sweater and SWTC Inspiration that inspired me to design a lacey little surplice wrap thingie -- none of these things are any further than the jot-it-down stage, but I haven't designed anything fresh in a long time so it was nice to be inspired again. All three are from
The Point.):
I need your teeth, Spencer.
Go here. Watch this. Seriously. You will either love it or hate it, but you know you want to be in on the next big internet craze, so watch it either way.
http://dooce.com/2008/09/17/furious-magician I went to The Point today and was inspired to design not one but TWO new sweaters. Speaking of new designs from me, check out the side bar there -- I've finally uploaded the
Eezy Peezy Shrug! It really is super easy -- there's no shaping at all. The magic is all in the construction. If you can knit a scarf, you can knit this! But back to the two new sweaters. One is going to be a little lacy cropped wrap number -- can't wait to get home and look through stitch dictionaries! -- and the other is a more stolid tan pullover with some waist shaping and a pale green stripe. No idea which to start first, and both will have to wait because I've got so much going on that MUST get knit (gifts and sock challenges and the damn Ravelympics sweater and my Rhinebeck sweater and, and, and...you get the picture). That's how it always is with my knitting, though, so I'm sure they'll get done eventually.
Becky threw one long tantrum this morning, from the moment I cracked her door open. Of course it's picture day, so she was wearing a shirt (dress) that she didn't want to wear, and she didn't want her hair combed and bleh. One of those days I was not entirely sorry to drop her off at school, except the minute we walked in the door she grabbed on to me and wouldn't let go. Bet those pictures came out great.
Do I want this?
So, I've been thinking about asking for a
Kindle for my Christmas/birthday present (they're pretty close together, so when I want something pricey, I often ask for a combo gift). I had a chance to see one in action the other day on the train, and I gotta tell you, it looked pretty sweet. The big pros are the size (compared to most hardcovers and trade paperbacks), and the ease with which I could read and knit if I had one. See, I can totally read and knit at the same time -- the problem is holding the book open, especially if it's a paperback. So that would be pretty cool. And a very quick scan shows me a lot of books/authors that I like and would definitely enjoy having available at my fingertips.
But...do I really want to pay an extra 10 bucks for a book that I'm likely to buy a hard copy of? Kit and I share a lot of books, and having them on this one device (that I would likely be using every day for my commute, or lots of days, when I'm not watching something on my PSP, anyway) would make that more difficult. Plus, I really like books. Like, an abnormal amount. Like when Kit uses them as coasters it just sets my teeth on edge. Even when it's a book I don't like. It's weird, I know.
And the other big drawback, and this is really the killer for me, is that I'm a re-reader. A lot of the books I would like to have on the Kindle, I already own a hard copy of. I would be willing to pay a dollar or two to have the electronic copy, but to essentially buy the book again? I don't think so. I understand that it would be nigh impossible to prove ownership of books that I've bought at brick and mortars, but I feel like if I have proof of ownership (like, say, an electronic receipt, particularly an electronic receipt from Amazon), I should be offered the option of adding the Kindle version for a couple bucks. Ditto if I purchase a newly published book. So I'm still on the fence here. Having the PSP to watch movies/TV shows on during the commute is swaying me against it, since the commute is really where I'd use it most, but the knitting-while-reading thing is a pretty strong pull for it. Good thing it's awhile 'til Christmas.
And in other news...I fixed both sides of the wrap sweater to have the correct amount of ribbing, and it looks like it's going to work. Of course, I forgot the instructions/charts, so made mo progress today, but still...I think it's all going to be fine. I was so upset the other night that I immediately cast on the bulky sweater that I was saving as a treat for myself for after I finished it (the Evergreen Sleeve Tunic from
this book). I'm about 3 inches short of the split for the sleeves, and would be much further had I not spent yesterday altrenating between sleeping, throwing up, and trying not to throw up during the car ride home from the shore (I'm fine now -- seems to be a short-lived bug that Kit brought home to me. Thanks, hon.). It's actually nice -- very mindless knitting that I can totally do on the couch while watching teebee with the husband. Of course, I already screwed up...er,
modified the pattern by leaving out the eyelet row just above the ribs, but I decided that in the fluffy black yarn I'm using, nobody's going to notice anyhow. (I didn't notice the detail in any of the pics -- just happened to be looking at the instructions to see how long the body should be before the underarm split. Oops.)
My employee Frank (aka Erica's boyfriend -- go nepotism!) is back from the icy wastes of both Ice- and Greenland, and he brunged me wools!
It's pencil roving, so thin he thought it was actually yarn, and it spins up beautifully. I've only done a bit on the drop spindle -- not my instrument of choice -- and it's really lovely. It's unlabled so I'm not 100% sure of fiber content or what kind of sheep it's from or any of that, but it's very soft, and the colors are gorgeous. I can't wait to have time to sit down and spin it all up.
Speaking of...I'm going to take a spinning class at Rhinebeck on the Thursday of NYSW (does anyone know if vendors are there for people taking classes?). I can spin my own yarn, but I just sit down and go. I have no idea how to spin worsted or control thickness or any of that -- thus far I've just been letting the fiber kind of spin itself. Not that there's anything wrong with that, and I've spun some lovely yarns, but I feel like it might be time for more. Also, I have some overtwisting issues. So that should be fun.
Oh, and I have a stitch-n-bitch I'm going to this Wednesday, and Stitch-n-Pitch next Thursday, and then I signed up for the
Hemlock Ring class at
The Point that's a couple of Fridays in November/December...I have a very fiber-full few months coming up!
Now if I can just keep my darling family from bringing home more bugs-that-make-mommy-violently-ill, that would be great.
That's me in the corner, whimpering
So, I've been diligently knitting away on the Wrap Front sweater, and really making good progress. I finished the first half of the front, knit the extra bit of lace for the fold, and am up a few rows past the ribbing on the second half of the front. Except that instead of 18 rows of ribbing = 3" (as on the back), I remembered it being 12 rows. Crap. Double crap. Quadruple crap. Crap to infinity. And beyond.
I am not sure if it makes it better or worse that I actually did write down how many rows = 3" and then just didn't bother to look at it. At least I'm remembering to write stuff down, right? Ripping back is not an option, because it's a) very fluffy, sticky yarn (sticky like it likes itself and doesn't want to be ripped back, not sticky like Becky's hands when she eats waffles with syrup) and b) dude, it's lace. The chances of me being able to correctly pick up all the YOs is slim to none. Possibly less than none. However, I
think I can fix it. Here's my plan:
- On the side I'm working on now, drop the stitches down and then pick them up in the right configuration to make the appropriate number (that would be 18) of ribbing rows. That bit's no problem.
- On the other side, it's a bit trickier. What I'm going to do is ::quiver:: cut the yarn at the bind off, pick up those stitches, and knit a few more rows of ribbing (incidentally, even though I had in my head that the correct number of rib rows was 18, for some reason I knit 14 rows on that side. I have no explanation for this.). I will then attach those rows to the lace, and Bob's your uncle, only with a little less material for the fold. I think it'll be okay, though -- I've tested it where I think the new fold will be and it seems fine. Also, and I note this here because you know I'll forget otherwise, I need to cut the BO a few stitches from the edge of the lace so as to have enough tail to weave in there, so I will need to unpick a few stitches. But I'm sure it will be fine. It will all be fine. I'm going to go weep now.
NOTE: If you ware a knitter and see a glaringly obvious flaw in my grand plan, please, please, please point it out! Soon!
We do not all look alike
Seriously, people, just because I have bangs and glasses does not mean I look like Sarah Palin. Or Tina Fey. Nor do I think Tina Fey and Sarah Paln look particularly similar.
Let it go, okay?
Speaking of bangs, Becky got her first big girl haircut at a real hair salon on Saturday. Here she is, pretty as a picture.
She was
very well behaved, with no fussing or whining and a minimum of squirming. Mommy was very, very proud of her.
Zacky, on the other hand, seems to want to introduce a maxiumum of squirming (and not a little fussing).
Yesterday he would get ino a tizzy if I left the room he was in, even for a minute. He would howl until he managed to scootch himself into wherever I was (usually just about the time I finished up whatever I was doing -- I started to efel a little sorry for him, poor booger). Kit had rugby and poker yesterday, but did more than his fair share when he was here, and is really taking the brunt today as well. I sure done good with the whole husband thing.
Un-social me
Since most of you who read this actually know me (I think), you know that I am not a particularly social creature. I enjoy people watching, but I much prefer to sit on the sidelines and rarely interact with people I don't know, or don't know well. And I'm actually happy like this (I know, it's weird, right?). I don't feel left out, or like a wallflower or anything. I don't crave having a big group of friends, and would often rather sit home and read or knit or catch up on Swingtown or what have you than go out with a bunch of people. So it's probably no surprise that I just don't
get social networking sites (like Facebook, MySpace, or what have you). LinkedIn and Naymz make sense to me, because those are more about business networking, and you're expected to only link to people you actually know, however peripherally. But I don't get the "friending" of people you've never met or interacted with.
So I'm on
Ravelry, which is in part a social networking site for knitters. I'm on there for other reasons: the project/stash/etc. tracking tools are amazing and incredibly useful. But I do belong to a few groups, though I tend to just lurk, and even that not very much. So on one of the groups is a fellow whose
blog I read (I believe I've even commented on it once or twice), and who I'm pretty sure I've actually encountered in person at
The Point. And I think he's pretty cool (I'm also pretty sure he's gay, Kit, it's not like that). So I was thinking about "friending" him, but I just felt weird doing it. I mean, as far as I know, he doesn't know me from Adam. I know it would be unlikely for me to approach him in person, so I think it would be a little weird for me to "approach" him online. Am I wrong? Is it normal to friend someone who you sort of know but who you think doesn't know you? Is that how these things work? I just don't know. As I said, I don't get it. But at least I know I don't get it. Admitting you have a problem is the first step, they say.
Not An Entirely Unproductive Weekend
So, I spent the weekend mostly just vegging out, except for the past few hours, which was spent setting up some HTML crap for work so I wouldn't have to scramble to get it done tomorrow.
I got Zacky's blanket DONE!!! All squares sewn together, all ends woven in. And that was a freakin' lot of ends. It's blocking now (okay, technically it's not yet, but it will be as soon as I'm done writing this, so by the time you're reading the tense will be correct. Unless you're reading it a few days from now. Okay, fine "It WILL HAVE BEEN blocking." Happy now?)
I cast on my Cookie A. Twisted Flower socks for the first Sock Knitters Anonymous challenge.
I'm trying to use both patterns and yarns that I've been wanting to use anyway -- there are quite a few combos that fit the monthly challenges quite well, so I'm very pleased. I'm using the first
Yarn Botanika that I purchased for myself (I bought some for Colleen's socks first, I think), which is one of the first sock yarns I ever bought at all, so it's pretty well aged. It's their Merino/tencel blend in Pine Forest, which is a really rich, deep, foresty green. I'm knitting these socks two at a time on the
magic loop (love you, magic loop!) and ran into an odd problem when casting on: I couldn't get the damn things lined up right! This would not be odd if I didn't already have several pairs on the needles this way, which I didn't have any trouble with. The issues were only exacerbated by my finding out halfway through one of the many cast-on attempts that one of my needles was splitting. Despite lots (and lots) of filing, I had to switch needles halfway through. Bleh. I finally realized that the trouble I was having is because I normally do toe-up socks, and the way I do the toes makes it very easy to get everything all lined up (if you want to know how that is, check out the
Puss' Magical Stockings pattern -- it's free!).
But I did finally get everything lined up -- it only took me two hours -- and have completed the cuff ribbing.
Of course, it gets super complicated after that (you did hear me say it's a
Cookie A. pattern, right?) so they now go into the basket, to be picked up after I've completed the wrap sweater. I can really only do one complex pattern at a time, especially if I want to complete them.
I wound the yarn for the bulky sweater from
Inspired Knits into balls so it'll be ready to go when I finish the wrap sweater. Who decided little tiny skeins like this are okay?
Whoever it was, I have news for you: not okay. Seriously. Big PITA. Please stop. Thanks bunches. (That's
Tahki Montana in Black, which it's really not, incidentally.)
Also, I built a bench (okay, Kit,
we built a bench). Becky helped by handing me things and generally getting underfoot. Here she is on "her" bench.
I don't expect it to last more than a few years, but it's a nice place to sit in the backyard. We inherited a bench when we moved in, and I am not kidding when I tell you that it was the most uncomfortable bench in the world. It was impossible to sit on the thing for more than a minute or two. I'm looking forward to sitting on the new bench with Becky and Zacky and Kit and just hanging out in the back yard.
Finally,I managed to injure my shoulder Saturday night...sitting on the couch. I have no idea what happened. I pretty literally did
nothing Saturday night, and all of a sudden when I went up to bed, my arm was killing me. It continued to hurt most of the day yesterday, felt better by the time we went to bed, and is back to hurting now. I have absolutely no idea what I've done.
Becky was mostly pretty good this weekend -- we need to work on the naptime pottying, since she went both yesterday and today. We think she just doesn't understand that she needs to come get us, since at school she's right there in the room with the teachers. So we're going to work on that next weekend. We got to read lots of books together, and sing, and play in the yard, and go to the pool.
Zack was also good, but he's at that age when he's really pretty much always good. He seems very happy, and he'll eat just about anything you put in front of him, whether it's food or not. Oh, and he's trying to pull himself up, and he's starting to sort of walk when we hold him up by his hands. Seriously, I can't wait until Thugsley can walk. Dude's gotta weigh 25 pounds, and unlike his lanky sister, it's all in his trunk, so it's pretty close to carrying around a 25 pound sack of flour. A very sweet, cute sack of flower, though.
And they still seem to like each other a lot, even though Zacky is really getting into Becky's toys, and Becky's not all that keen on sharing if she hasn't decided that it's something she wants to share. In other words, she's happy to give him a toy that she selects, but not as thrilled when he picks a toy for himself.
