...It's a Wonderful Town

Mr. G & I went into NY to see the Extreme Mammals exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History. We've only been there together once before, but separately loads of times, and I never get tired of it. Life astounds me.

While there I always walk by three exhibits, one of which I did miss this time. I love the gemstones and minerals exhibit, but we did need to get back to do yard work and I have seen it a gabillion times, and I did want to make one lovely stop before lunch - get to that later - so I passed.

Another stop I make each time is the famous whale room. Not for the whale, though.

When I was young I'd always walk towards the back of this huge room right towards one particular display, followed by sister Pepper of course. The display was behind glass like the others and poorly lit. It would take a long time for your eyes to adjust to the deep darkness of the display...happening slowly. You'd likely be looking around the whole glass pain to spot something and I heard people many times insist that it must be under construction and walk away.

And then your eyes would finally get used to the inkiness and you'd see one grapefruit sized eye staring out at you - a sperm whale fighting a giant squid in the depths. It was terribly fun.

Last time I went the museum had removed the glass and put in some lighting. There was even a child...totally unafraid...crawling around on the floor of the display. I had no camera today so if you're pissed that I pilfered let me know and I'll remove it.

Shot by cerdsp on flickr

My third mandatory visit when I go to the museum completely befuddles and terrifies me. Yes, both, at the same time. If you go in to the North American Animals exhibit you'll see gigantic creatures like moose, the grizzly, towering, tremor inducing sights. Around the left side though, just beyond the jackrabbits is a display that glows with blue light. That one is the only thing left in the museum that scares me. Not the whale, not the squid, this...

Shot by peterjr1961 on flickr

See, looking at them like this...they're just cute. Not scary at all. Besides, I love dogs. It's the blue light that makes them creepy. Every time I go I say to myself, 'this is going to be the time that I'm going to walk right past them, look inside and see them, and walk away at a reasonable pace.' I pooped out again today :(

Shot by wallyg on flickr

Mr. G walked ahead, having seemingly forgot that last time we went he had to gently guide me past, with his arms protectively wrapped around me. I was going to try, but then couldn't. I had to wait for his eyes to meet mine across the crowd and he must have easily read the embarrassment and terror on my face.

He came to get me and instead of the protective embrace I expected he pulled me in front of the display, my eyes bolted shut, and urged me teasingly to open them. How a few years of marriage changes things:) I feel stupid saying, or rather typing this, but I couldn't control how afraid I was. I even yelped, 'NO,' so loudly I feared others around may have heard.

Laughing at myself brought me to tears...yeah, it was hysterical, when I was finally away from the blue light:)

The Extreme animals exhibit was great. All about special, specific adaptations that made certain species throughout history particularly unique. The one below was suited for the tropical climates...of the North Pole millions of years ago.

Shot by edenpictures on flickr; a family of 3 that have great pics of NYC

Now lets get to the important stuff...the short stop after the museum. Before eating lunch we walked to Knitty City, a yarn shop quite close to the museum.

I needed a few DPs...

...and I'd been wanting some solid or semi solid sock yarn (none on sale:( I'm so cheap...

...and I got three needle or small project bags, one for Lupie, one for Pepper, and one for myself, their pick...

...and Mr. G persuaded me to get this tank. It was on sale:)

If anyone commenting has any interesting stories about the American Museum of Natural History or any other museum trip they've made please share...

Hedera & Lesser Known Skeins

Took a break from the Clapotis this afternoon and started the Hedera socks from Knitty. I've been eyeing them for a long time, and had all that Jitterbug. Just incase they do fit her Royal Lupie-ness when I'm done I'll leave the "for" part empty in Ravelry. I added an extra knit stitch in between each repeat to make it a bit more roomy. I got the idea from Tiphanie on Ravelry who did only one pattern repeat. Not the same thing, but looking at her pattern brought me to thinking about altering the pattern by adding more stitches and how I'd do it.



I also tried to work on the Lesser Known Skeins site. LKS is a Ravelry group my mom made for people who have blogs but weren't getting many visitors. Anyway, there's a bunch of very talented people who belong to the group. I love to hear stories, and reading blogs is just that, so I have benefited from it's creation. Lupie (aka mom) has thought about a page for a while so I've done a little work so far.




I took a background from thecutestblogontheblock.com and made some extra graphics...I hope they're okay with that. I could have made my own bg and made graphics out from there...but I really liked the bg I picked from their site. I originally got the link to their site from Plumpy.

Clapotis...Almost Forgot

How have I been able to work on the clapotis in the car, while watching tv, and while reading (even comics!)?

Soul Knitting has this great spreadsheet you can print out as a guide.

Screenshot of Soul Knitting's Clapotis Spreadsheet : Get file here.

I'm making the clapotis in the size written in the pattern, so this works nicely, but I can see how one could easily adjust the spreadsheet if one were making a smaller scarf or larger shawl version of the pattern.

Twilight, Crafting, Clapotis, and Animals

Let me begin with Twilight. It doesn't matter to me that it's Young Adult. I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a series so much!
I lied.
Yes I can.
Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles.

So I finished Twilight, read New Moon...

And now I'm on to Eclipse.

I love the characters. I feel like Bella's long lost aunt or something screaming in my head when she does something I know is unwise or cheering her on when good things happen. I don't fall for characters so easy either! Stephenie Meyer is a darn good storyteller. People may critisize her writing ability...eh! says I! I like a well told story; it doesn't have to be the linguistic parallel to Shakespeare.

On the crafty front, I've been planning some non-knitting projects and stopped at the Cozy Quilt Shop for the 1st time to buy supplies. It seems it's one of the only places in the area to go for lots of fabric variety since the closing of my beloved Rag Shops :( Here's the stuff I got...all fat quarters (a half of a half yard) except for the half yard of purple.

In knitting news, I made a wonderful, marvelous, too good, excellent mistake:)

I knew I had two skeins of Jitterbug in Mist to do the Clapotis.

Wherever I seemed to stop on Ravelry when searching, though, it seemed people needed about three. I searched the web and found an about 5 buck off sale on Jimmy Beans Wool.

I got some other stuff b/c it was 5 bucks off and ...

Starting at top: Noro Kureyon Sock in S149,

left to right: Colinette Jitterbug in lapis, popsicle, jay, alizerine, and ofcourse the mist not pictured above.

Stuff came, I was psyched.

I went to pull down the second skein of Jitterbug I had stored with my yarn and saw ...

that there was another one behind it! I already had 3:) So now I have a whole bunch of mist.

Good thing I really like the colorway -

and I'm happy I ordered b/c the hidden skein I'd forgotten about is slightly pinker than the two old ones and the new one (as you may or may not be able to see above) so I'll be using the new one for the clapotis.

I'm just starting to form some latters.

And now for something about animals.

On Sunday mom (aka Lupie) watched Sunday Moring on CBS and DVRed a story about how many parrots wide up getting given away b/c they are very difficult to live with.

Mr. G is pretty interested in adopting a parrot and I'm pretty much dead set against it. Why? Not b/c I don't like them, or rather, don't love them. I love birds. But I've learned a bit about parrots and I just don't think they're for us. As tempting as it is to adopt a pretty, smart, attentive pet, there are issues to be considered, as with any animal.

Here's the link to the video of the story.

And here's a link to the blog of a parrot mommy and a woman who has written a book on the subject of the reprocussions of adopting parrots rashly and not researching, Mira Tweti.

My issue with the parrots is their long lives and temperment. I don't want to sentence my future children to keep a pet they may not be able to manage (or may not want to) b/c mom and dad wanted a parrot. I wouldn't want to fall in love with a bird and then have to give him up when she bites my child's finger or when I'm too old to care for her.

This kind of cautiousness and need to research when adopting an animal should go with any animal. You need to consider your abilities, their abilities, your future, and their future. For instance...I love this little guy...

Look at the lashes, people! Fa-bu-lous

Smudge was most likely an Easter Bunny - (no, sadly not the kind that brings you chocolate eggs:( ). Every year in the months after Easter rabbits all over are turned in to rescues (like the now closed one where we got Smudge), shelters, or left to fend for themselves on the side of the road or in a park, etc.

Most pets are not capable of caring for themselves, especially after having lived in a home. Smudge was found one morning by a pet store owned outside the store in a soaking wet cardboard box that had at least been out there over night in the pooring rain. A faimly adopted him and almost immediately brough him back b/c he was biting their kids. After having lived with him for about three years I'm left to assume that the children were harassing him b/c even when Mr. G and I have had to force medicate him with antibiotics he gets upset, but never attacks.

So I love him, don't know what I'd do without him, but he has negatives (not for me, but would be for others). Usually I crop out the poop when I post a pick. I vacumed his hiding place beneath the coffee table yesterday. He was out for about an hour. I just wanted to do my part and say a little something about researching pets and post the links above. It is really important not to just run out and get any animal. It's like bringing a new family member into the fold. I love the Smudge, poop and all:)

I love you, Dad

I don't just knit, you know. I also like to write stories, and have been doing so since before I could physically write. I used to dictate stories to my grandmother and she'd copy them down in crayon. Although I've never done much with my writing my family has always been very supportive and interested, especially my dad. I would say he is probubly my biggest fan. Thanks, Dad.

Lyrics altered by me to fit the situation.

Tough, you think you've got the stuff

You're telling me and anyone

You're hard enough

You don't have to put up a fight

You don't have to always be right

Let me take some of the punches

For you tonight

Listen to me now

I need to let you know

You don't have to go in alone

And it's you when I look in the mirror

And it's you when I don't pick up the phone

Sometimes you can't make it on your own

We fight all the time

You and I... that's alright

We're the same soul

I don't need... I don't need to hear you say

That if we weren't so alike

You'd like me a whole lot more

Listen to me now

I need to let you know

You don't have to go it alone

And it's you when I look in the mirror

And it's you when I pick up the phone

Sometimes you can't make it on your own

(This is it)I know that we don't talk

I'm sick of it all

Do you know you're why I write

You're the reason I write

You're the reason why the stories are in me

Well hey now, still gotta let ya know

A house doesn't make a home

Don't leave me here alone

And it's you when I look in the mirror

And it's you that makes it hard to let go

Sometimes you can't make it on your own

Sometimes you can't make it

Best you can do is to fake it

Sometimes you can't make it on your own

A little bit of everything

Firstly, I'm really enjoying working on the Clapotis. The Jitterbug is so soft and smooth. I really thought that I wouldn't like the looseness of it w/ the size 6s, but I do love it. The Gods know I should be working on the tomten that keeps getting shoved to the side for one emergency project or another (gifts basically) but I can't take my hand off the Clapotis.

Nextly, I'm very tired of my dad being away. He's been visiting his mother - notice I type his mother and not my grandmother. I had a grandmother so I know what one is supposed to be like. Lupie's mother was a truly amazing person and devoted her entire life to her children and grandchildren. My dad's mom - not so much. I honestly don't know how he ended up being such a great person. Anyway, sometimes I wanna smack him but I am very attached to my dad and feel weird when he's away. I worry about how he's sleeping, how his stress level and blod pressure are while he's spending time with this very insensitive woman. I just can't wait 'til he's back tomorrow.

A small shot of Smudge. He's so cute. He's on antibiotics again. This poor guy has had such a tumultuous life!

Abandoned, homeless before he came to us, then the f-ing head tilt last summer (we thought he was going to die. I was just re-reading the posts from then to do the link here...it was horrible. I type this as Smudge is attacking my Ikea window bench in the sun room: ) and now a cold (sneezing and boogers are dangerous for rabbits) for 5 months. The doctor said the next time he has boogers he may want to flush out Smudge's nasal cavity.

Life has been consumed by Pepper house! I'm tired (had a freakin' headache and belly ache all last night and today) but am having so much fun painting with Pepper and our mom. They are hysterical and we all work well together. I love my co workers in school, but not every arrangement is as effortless as, for instance, my working relationship with my mentor. Its even better with my sister and my mother...like we don't even need to speak sometimes and we just do. I love summer with them (we are all teachers so the three of us are off in the summer).

Painting demands comfort so here I am in my good luck over the knee neon orange socks, Pepper's borrowed faux crocks in a Raquel Reed hair shade of blue and my cut off black sweat shorts - Ha ha ha - Jesus! Just a wrong wrong picture! But I was comfortable and the squishy shoes kept foot pain to a minimum.

For lunch we were pretty much out of cold cuts so for the first time in I estimate 15 to 18 years I went to Burger King with Pepper. And I ordered BEEF! I don't eat mammal except for the occasional strip o' pig for breakfast. I just don't care for most beef - anyway, so that was interesting. Pepper noticed that BK has some Star Trek cups for sale so I sheepishly asked her to get one for me. I wondered how they were releasing the cups...one a week or all 4 at once, that sort of thing. I really wanted only Spock and was curious if Pepper knew about my spock obsession. She place the order and the woman asked if it mattered which cup we got. Pepper replied by saying any cup would do...and my geek girl within surged up out of nowhere as I frantically mumbled, "Spock, Spock, SPOCK!"



I'll leave it at Pepper's house so I have my own glass over there. Thax Pep!

Here I Go!

I can't wait to see what's next...there are no "bars" yet.

The Tale of the Pepper in the Castle

Once upon a time there was a little sister named Princess Pepper. She had a wonderful husband, two adoring parents with whom she lived, Queen Lupie and the King, a fearsome dragon, named Maggie the adorable, and a wickedly stunning older sister who followed the old ways. She was known as the GrimmWitch.

Pepper was happy where she lived, but she and her prince dreamed of a castle of their own. They finally found it...nestled in the woods among the creeping things and the rowdy beasts of the forest. The thing of it was that the castle was very, very filthy. What was poor Pepper to do? She enlisted Queen Lupie and GW and all sorts of helpful beings from throughout the realm to aid in bringing this frightful mess of a castle back to it's former glory.

The sunken living room is huge. The rug must be ca. 1960. The below pic was taken from the wood panel "den".

Here's the den.

When I got there this was the only panel down in the about 5x5 room. Now they're all down. And Pepper did it by herself (with a little help from me). It was actually really fun. I got to use my hands. We work well together b/c our personalities I think are suited for teamwork.

Above you can see the wallpaper falling off. That is being removed as I type. And there is the gross rug. I feel bad for the elderly people who lived there until about 2007. Clearly someone should have advised their family to help them have the rugs replaced if they didn't know to do so on their own. And the renters left the place gross:(

Above is the 1st floor half bath. Pepper's gonna do a Frenchy theme in there - but in a tasteful way. The renters apparently didn't know that they have to at times clean the lint trap. Pepper and I filled her Dyson completely with filth from the lint trap. I estimate there must have been at least one full cubic foot of lint. When I'd tunneled past most of it I found a happy little surprise.

I had to use a hanger to get it out because the long lint trap brush and the vacuum weren't doing it. I also found a sandwich toothpick (like to keep a club sandwich together), some change, and a zipper pull.

Finally, triumph!
Lupie cleaned the kitchen. Everything was covered in dirt and oily grime. I don't understand why the renters seemingly didn't clean anything. I'm a pretty forgetful, scatterbrained, and lazy person in my opinion and it was even too filthy for me.

So Princess Pepper watched as her castle slowly transitioned from monstrous to modern, from filthy to fabulous. She, and the prince, and the dragon would live happily ever after:)

---

In other news...

The fingerless gloves will have to wait, Mom...It's time...

Photo from Knitty.com

I've had the yarn for this for over a year and never started...pictures to come.

And I'm sure all my little emo-ite, rock-esque, goth-lette students will be happy to know that I've bitten the bullet, or been bitten by it in this case, and

Yes, Sunky, I am reading Twilight:)

Hell Yeah!

I frickin didn't get to finish Mary's Thank You socks. I would have been able to but I was running around like a mental patient for most of the day...I asked her to drop by my room and I told her about the socks and she freaked out! She took the finished sock and went around bragging to others that I was making them for her. It was nice of her to freak out like that. You rock, Mary.

I'm nervous about next year already b/c my principal is supporting me in the creation of this heterogenious grouping program I'm copying from Lupie's old school and I'm scared other teachers are going to make it difficult for me.

But for now I can say...
TAKE THIS JOB AND SHOVE IT!


SCHOOL'S OUT FOR SUMMER!
NO MORE PENCILS
NO MORE BOOKS
NO MORE STUDENTS'
DIRTY LOOKS



UPDATE

Just finished the Mary Thank You Socks

A pretty eventful weekend...

I'll write quite b/c I'm STILL not done with the thank you socks... but hopefully she'll still get them tomorrow. Why must I have them ready for tomorrow?? Well, if you take a look at the counter at the bottom of my page you'll see

TOMORROW IS THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!!

Like I've said in previous posts, I'm going to miss my kids, but I'm excited to do stuff in my new house and to her my sister (yes, poor Lupie has two of us!) set up her (filthy) new home. (By the by, if you're renting, you still have to clean...even though it's not yours - the people who lived in Pepper's house until she bought it left it repulsive!)

So the weekend began with a fare well lunch for one of my co-workers being transferred to another school. I'm sad to see her go, but I'm happy b/c she'll be in a new-ish building in a school with a lot of spirit (we have spirit issues in my school - by the way, now the ceiling in the stairwell fell down - throw us a bone Corzine!)

She jokes about Tom Jones and his panty catching kitchyness. She and my other co-worker are even going to a Tom Jones concert in July (may the Gods bless them). There's also this whole funny thing with Angela Lansberry (don't know if that's spelled ok) that has a huge back story that I'm not going into on here...but anyway...so my co-worker jokes about them. Another one of us as a gag wrong a letter to the transferee in the persona of Tom Jones apologizing that he couldn't make it to dine with us and assuring my co-worker that he'll see her in July at the concert. Hardy har har:) And she even made these hysterical lolly pops (delicious by the way:)

On Saturday Pepper, Lupie, and I got our hair cut and I got mine dyed. My hair dresser put something like seven gradiated colors in it to make this gradual transition of reds to dark purple underneath. It looks less purple and more black on the bottom. It's very pretty, and the cut is great, but I don't know if it's wild enough for summer - I'll see how I feel.
Pepper's been working hard at her pretty new-to-her house. I love it. It has fantabulous landscaping. I went by on surprise today with Mr. G to invite her and Mr. Pepper out to eat at a local Japanese place but they had company so Mr. G and I went without them. We ate at Fuki (I love the name) in River Edge, NJ. This was the best Japanese I've had in a long time. Here's a shot of the Mary socks on the table at the restaurant.

The fish was so delicious and tasted fresh. Usually when I hit a Japanese place on Sunday, most any place, for whatever reason I feel the fish is only okay. This fish rocked. The service was nice, very attentive. It was priced similarly to most places in the area (Wasabi in Ridgewood is another good one, but this one is way cuter and much more homey.) I had a sashimi platter - the white tuna was awesome. Look at how they served my salmon row.

For desert we had Red Bean ice cream in a ball and deep fried tempura style. It was Mr.G's 1st time eating red bean ice cream. He really liked it. It was the perfect, scrumptious topping to a great weekend. And now...

One more day

And finally...True Blood...Right NOW!!!

I really think Lafayette is dead...wait...GASP

And watch for Suckie's grandma's knitting.

So tired...so excited!!

Yippy Skippy!!!

Photo from Bravo

I am so excited about this!!

I have been very ill as I'm sure one can deduce by my last post. Yesterday, by evening by migraine was so bad that I called Mr. G at work to stay on the phone with me b/c the dizziness was causing me to walk totally messed up and I was afraid I would fall.

I would have stayed home from work today except A) it's so close to the end B) some of my students find it impossible to behave for subs - you should see the note a sub left for me when I was out Monday. I don't know what the hell they're thinking! The behavior is frankly unsafe, but hell, I should be able to get a frickin migraine and not fear that they'll kill each other - and C) I had a very important meeting about one of my kids and the mom keeps neglecting to show (she missed 5 meetings - I don't know, man). He's a great kid, a good person, a wonderful artist, and all I want is for him to succeed. Things didn't go as I'd hoped. I know he failed, but I feel the situation is beyond his control in some ways and I was hoping to get him AP-ed (administrative promotion). I haven't given up yet, though.

Honestly, they're all great, my kids, they're just freakin insane. They can't behave appropriately ever. I insanely picked this year (obviously unknowingly) to re-vamp my whole approach to discipline. These little dudes need the old, louder me (I was - am kinda still - a drill sergeant yeller) just because their volume is immence.

I really have the "artists row" of homerooms this year. They're all visual artists, or performers and they don't know it yet - hysterically freakin funny children. I have one who can draw really well, but I feel that he'd be a great writer too. He really drives me nuts and weighs on my patience - does this not speaking to me thing - but he's an awesome little guy & just human.

I have one who loves baseball and it's nice b/c I'm just getting into it more b/c of Mr. G - this kid's a genius. I adore his humor. I have another who is equally as smart and a wealth of obscure knowledge...WWII planes, King Tut, etc. My girls rock! They are the most helpful cutie pies ever. One of them is a total pisser - she could be a comedienne right now.

I have two secretaries too. One boy and one girl. I don't think they realize how much they help me every day. One of them is moving and I'm really going to miss her. She's like a little mini homegirl.

I can't wait for Monday - last day - to be over. They are totally crazy, but then, so am I, so we were all a good fit together. I'm proud to know them. They're a bunch of great kids.

Needless to say the Thank you socks ain't done. My nights have been full of headache and totally knitless:( I'm glad Mr. G is home tonight b/c I still feel shitty:(

Can't Sleep...Migraine Will Eat Me

Pretty much accurate as to how I have felt as of late.

Art by Ellaine at Deviant Art

And here's a shot of the original Simpson's reference...

All the where-with-all of a drunken stuper with the pain of a severe head injury (I know the sensation of both from personal experience - they fit migraine description just right). Off to do some mental knitting I'll most likely have rip out later when I realize what looks awesome now is really a sea of whispy dropped stitches.

Thank you sock 1 is done...

It's taking me longer than I'd hoped thanks to the Fables I can't keep my hands off of ( I can read and knit, but it's hard when you're reading a beautifully illustrated graphic novel and don't want to break the spine). Mr. G says they're going to make a live action series based on the book. I'll have to hunt for that.

I did not do the kitchner. I will do it again at some point when I can watch Mom do it again, but Bead Knitter, a really gifted blogger with great taste in Spocks :) suggested I do a three needle bind off after turning the sock inside out. This was priceless advice, especially since this was something that I could accomplish while tripping on a migraine (I ache right now:( ) Her blog is just amazing. She has incredible beading skills, like the stuff you see demoed in the Fire Mountain catalogue and think 'Who the hell made that, Da Vinci?'

I Survived the Worst Day of the School Year 'n all I Got was this Lousy T-Shirt

Firstly, Mr. G took some pics of the really beautiful animals in our neighborhood and I wanted to share a few more. I feel so lucky to live here. Such an overlooked part of everyday...the animals around you, but I'm always mezmorized and there are plenty to watch by my house.
Nextly, today was the DARE Graduation at school. As a 5th grade teacher in NJ my students take part in the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program during which a town cop comes in each week and teaches the kids about the dangers of drugs and alcohol abuse. Our cops take it one step further and throw in lessons about dealing successfully with any negative peer pressure involving illegal substances and violence. The cop we had this year was just awesome. The kids love her and you can see she enjoyed spending time with them too.

At the end of the program the students do three things...write an essay about what they learned, create a poster for DARE with a slogan (for example: Be Awares, Drugs are for Squares), and take part in a graduation. It has the potential each year to be cute...we all wear matching tees and put on a show for the parents, the 4th grade, and various town officials. Here's this year's shirt.

We usually do it up...rewrite songs with new, DARE-y words (STOP! in the Name of DARE, Before you Make Mistakes! Think it Oh-Over), skits, etc. As you can imagine this all takes time. But if you look further down on the page that counter to the last day is a' tickin' (thank the Gods), testing was late this year, and as much as I love all the kids in this year's 5th grade, as a group they're a difficult mix. So this year we tried to fly low.

It still managed to be very stressful. So many needy kids with so many issues makes for insane rehearsals. Other teachers complained that we were too loud (don't ever call the principal on your co-worker right away...go to them and talk first. Don't teachers tell kids to try to solve problems on their own first? I can't wait to see how other people are going to deal with this group! Let's see who complains then!)

We ended up making this Bob Dylan Subterranian Homesick Blues-esque video (that's the one where he holds up the signs in the video) all to the tune of Under Pressure (we used both the original version and the Used's cover during the show). The cop spoke, we ran the video, the best essays were read aloud and in the end everyone was happy, but the stress of getting there with 95 some-odd kids behaving like they'd snorted 20 Pixie Stix each was heavy. When I got into the car to drive home I realized that the only end-of-year work I have left to do can only be done in school and that I have the evening free. Mr. G works late...so I stopped at Kings (Ou La La, movin' on up) and got some treats for myself.
The Green Mountain Coffee bag says Mocha Nut Fudge and the cake is red velvet. I'm chowing down right now. Along with some knitting on the Mary Thank You Socks, the next volume of Fables and watching The Fashion Show with Smudge I think I'll feel better by morning!
The sock is coming along smoothly but as usual I'm dreading the Kitchner. I don't know why
I'm so bad at it. I even use a guide. Hopefully that'll be done before I go to sleep tonight.

Wish me luck with the Kitchner:)