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Beware - Spoilers ahead!
Ugh. I am not having a good reality TV season.
Survivor was a snooze, Terry was a pompous ass, Aras was certainly the lesser of two evils.
The Amazing Race finale was a fun episode - the Japan leg was a lot of fun! But I hate hate hate BJ and Tyler and I'm so annoyed that they won. They were good racers but GOD the constant "look at me" shit drove me insane. And as if to cement my hatred further, BJ shows up on The Early Show in a freaking KING COSTUME. (was it a king? The CBS site says it was a pirate. whatever) Hate. I loved that Ray proposed to Yolanda and totally stole the moment. Too bad they were awful navigators - they were the only team I wanted to see win. Eric & Jeremy brought the funny the last few episodes (yes, actual wit & humor, BJ and TYLER.) but it's hard to forget the sexist BS they were so proud of early on.
So of course, it goes without saying that Taylor Hicks is your next American Idol. Of course it does. I haven't really liked any contestant much this time around, I would have been OK with Chris winning, but I've despised Mr. "Soul Patrol!!Yeow!!!" Hicks from the start. Not an original bone in his body outside of the spastic dancing. I'm beyond pissed that Springsteen allowed him to sing one of his songs (not one of his better songs, but still!) So next week when the horrible original song the finalists have to sing turns out to be a Doobie Brothers-meets-Joe Cocker blues mashup that perfectly showcases Taylors amazing karaoke skillz, I will be busy poking myself in the eye with a 000 DPN.
So yeah. I watch too much TV. I do have a couple of recent favorites, though, both UK imports. On TLC, Jamie's School Lunch Project follows Naked Chef Jamie Oliver as he attempts to revolutionize food in the schools of Great Britain. His passion and the struggle to make it all possible is really quite moving, and Nora the lunch lady is feisty and funny.
Over on Sci Fi am totally hooked on Dr. Who. I've never seen any other series of the show, and I'm not a big sci-fi fan as a rule, but hello there, Christopher Eccleston! One of my favorite actors, he manages to be goofy, intense and smoking hot all at once. The show is a ton of fun, and if you watch, try to read Jacob's recaps at TWOP as well - he's a fantastic writer with a lot of knowledge about the history of the Doctor and the recaps have really added to the experience of the show for me. I really hope Sci Fi continues to import the series - the current Doctor is the yummy David Tennant.
In knitting news, I frogged the DNA illusion scarf twice - once to go to smaller needles (I'm using US 2s now) and again to switch the main & contract colors. The pattern shows up much better now that the brighter blue is the contrast color to the grey. It looks very cool, but I think I'm going to need more yarn - time to hit Knitty City again!
I'm stalled a bit on my black Sitcom Chic, it's getting a little heavy to carry around with me. It's going pretty fast, though. I want to finish it quickly, because I've joined the Amazing Lace challenge and I have a feeling that may consume my life for a while. I'm probably going to knit the River shawl from Rowan 38, but I have four yarns on hand to choose from (Kidsilk Night in black and grey, Knitpicks Alpaca Cloud in Iris, and some variegated blue handpainted merino from School Products.) So I have quite a few decisions to make before I settle on my partner!
brother, can you spare a quarter?
So as I walked down to work Saturday, I got to the corner next to the theater and found it swarming with cops, firefighters, guys from the elite Rescue One unit, and four mounted police. Pretty hardcore, especially with Rescue One there. It made me a little nervous - this is NYC, after all, and we've actually had some threats made against the building in the past. As I got closer, though, I noticed a suspicious lack of ..... seriousness on the part of the official types that were there. In fact, they seemed to be .... smiling. And laughing. A lot.
So what was going on?
Dude got his finger stuck in a pay phone.
He'd been there for two hours when I got there, and it took another hour to get him free. Three hours, stuck in a pay phone, attracting every law enforcement and emergency services employee in the neighborhood who all showed up to point and laugh. Heh. Nice way to start your weekend, huh? I'm guessing he probably didn't get that quarter, either.
Remember Tubey? I put it aside for the Olympics? Well, I finished a couple of weeks ago, and since our weather continues to SUCK, it looks like I'll get a little more wear out of it than thought I would right away.
Why, yes, that is my sassy Hawaiian themed bathroom.
I couldn't seem to get a picture that didn't cut off multiple parts of my body. Sorry. I like this sweater a lot, but I probably could have gone down a size - the ribbing is stretchy on its own, but the yarn had a bit of stretch as well so the fit is a bit looser than I'd like it to be. The stripes were an experiment - I'm still not sure how flattering they are on me (I mean, do I really need anything to call attention to my rack?) but I love the color combo so much. The pattern is really cool - I love how it's constructed and it's pretty easy, but once again, all that ribbing bore me to tears by the end. I'd love to make another one in a solid color, but that will have to wait until I can deal with ribbing again.
progress and damage!
There hasn't been much to post about lately because my current project is the most boring knitting on the planet. I mean, it will be cute when it's done, and it's something I'll wear a lot, but seriously - did you guys really need to see the progress I'm making on my plain black cotton Sitcom Chic?
Yeah, I didn't think so.
However. Things are changing around here.
First, the genius Rosalind pattern from the new Magknits - it's an illusion knit scarf with a hidden DNA double helix! Have I mentioned my awesome little brother who just happens to work in a genetic research lab? And who has a birthday in June? I had thought about making him the DNA cable scarf, but then I saw Rosalind and I knew it was perfect for him. Monday I went down to the awesome Knitty City and picked up some Lily Chin Chelsea in blue & grey - it's a slightly heathery cotton/merino/acrylic mix that should be nice in Seattle weather. It's fun fun fun and easy to knit but not a travel project - it's way too crucial to pay attention to the chart. Here's the progress so far - hopefully I'll have it done in time for his birthday!
So yesterday was my last jewelry class - yay! I mean, it was a ton of fun and I learned a lot and we all figured out how to deal with the teacher, but it will be nice to have my Tuesday afternoons back for a while. I came out with some very cool (I think) stuff - some people didn't finish one piece and I wound up with three! (I don't understand getting all complicated design-wise in a class designed to teach basic techniques. I just wanted to learn the basics first.) My final piece was this turquoise necklace:
I'm really pleased with everything I've done, I just don't know if I'll be able to continue on my own, since I can't really keep a torch in my kitchen. I really just want to sit and solder piece after piece until I figure out how to do it properly but that could get a wee bit expensive.
The damage - so on the way to class I passed by The Lion and the Lamb, a yarn store on Lex. I stopped in a few times when I first started my class, but found it to be really overpriced and nothing special. Yesterday, however, there was a "Lost Our Lease" sign announcing a big sale, 50%-70% off.
You know what comes next, right?
Yeah, that's what happens when you accidentally fall into a closing yarn shop with a valid credit card in your hand.
I nearly lost my mind, folks. Overpriced as they were, the sale prices were awesome. Koigu for 6 bucks, Debbie Bliss at 4-5 dollars, a roomful of Zara at 4.50. Needles and notions are half off, books are 40% off. I'll spare you the gory details of how much I spent but seriously, how could I not?
In the bag: 2 balls Kidsilk Night (sparkly black), 2 skeins Koigu (fuschia/coral/yellow), 3 skeins Artyarns Supermerino (red/wine/rust), a whole bunch of Debbie Bliss Cotton Cashmere in three colors (lime, violet, olive drab). Oh, and Rowan 33 and the new Knit 1 magazine. Hopefully the Cotton Cashmere will work for Matilda Jane - how cute is that pattern? I am really into sweet little cardigans right now.
The sale ends Friday - there was plenty of good stuff there yesterday but I'm sure as word spreads about the sale it will get picked over really fast. There is also a ton of needlepoint and embroidery stuff as well. I must say, I was sad to see a yarn store close until I saw how incredibly rude the owner was to several customers. The rest of the staff was great, though, and they do have those really cool leopard print shopping bags!
