Friday, September 28

Do you know what's depressing?

This... This is depressing.

This means that it's been 5 months since I started the shawl... I don't want to work on anything else. (Although I have now because I have PTSD from Wednesday.) That also means I've frogged it every single month. You know, I don't even know how many times I've had to restart the stupid thing. I thought it was only 4, but then it could be in the upper bajillions.

Now I am working on a cabled wrap. It's a glorified scarf really. I had to lay out the pattern myself and draw it 6 times. I wonder how many times I'll have to frog it. It's already been frogged a couple times because I've had to figure out the gauge.

Tip: Don't take off the labels of your yarn. It has REALLY important information like the correct needle size and washing instructions. In the case of fancy yarn... it has colorway and dye lots. Those can be really important... as I have learned.


P.S.- I've just noticed a pattern... I am a perfectionist. I need to work on that if I am ever to get to a finished object (FO).

Thursday, September 27

Still a dog hater... but not as violent

Now to reach my happy place I just imagine a sign posted around the neck the the EVIL ONE (See yesterday's post) and sending it to these people.

"I ate a lace shawl project that mommie's nanny had worked over 40 hours on."

I can commiserate with those who have posted, however I don't consider the little beastie a member of my family. I guess I am still a dog hater.

Wednesday, September 26

Upon which day I decided to become a dog hater...

It’s a no good, terrible, awful, very bad day, but I don’t really want to move to Australia.

So, I have been trying to make Galia Lael’s Oceanspray. I bought the yarn for it last year around thanksgiving at the Wool Lady. It took a while to decide what project it would become, but I loved the simple layout of the shawl.

I had to frog and recast the project three times. I had a problem with dropping stitches (or having little people pull at the needles). I decided this time to use a life-line... but it wasn’t in yet (I don’t much see the point if I haven’t reach the complicated part of the shawl). I’ve become a minor master of dropped stitches. I have learned to fix them.

Today, I decided to take a small human out for a walk. (It’s part of my job as a nanny you know.) When I came back, my employer was distressed and hoped that I wouldn’t leave. She told me that her dog, Wolfie (as in Wolf-ALL-the-plastic-things-down) had got into my knitting. The dog pulled out the needles, chewed up the $3.00 needle protector that I bought to prevent dropped stitches, and then ate the SIDE of the project. She didn’t eat a hole in the top, which while tragic, wouldn’t have been desperate. She ATE THE WHOLE SIDE. I have 3 inches to 3 feet of useless laceweight ribbons covered in dog slobber.

That was the beginning of the day. Less than a minute after this terrible, tragic and ultimately dehumanizing event (the dog is not allowed near me for fear of its life), Alpha called to say that the car was towed.

Our community has few parking spots. In the year 2005, there was such a dearth of spots that a meeting was assembled and it was decided to hand out passes. Those unfortunates who did not have passes in the parking lot after 11 would be towed. This has cleared space in the parking lot, but the streets for ¼ mile around our community are bumper-to-bumper.

We actually do have a pass. Unfortunately, laws in this state prohibit anything to ‘obstruct vision of the road” so if you have something dangling off your rear-view mirror the cops can pull you over. Alpha didn’t believe me when I said this was the case, but while I am happy to be proven right on the law, I am not happy that we had to take the pass off, forget it, then get towed.

So, project et and car towed, that is already a bad day. It gets worse.

I lost my license. Can’t get the car without a license. Alpha lost his. He found a university card. The impound lot won’t take check, or credit and it appears that our pin doesn’t work. Not even at the bank atm.

At this point, I am done with the day. I send Alpha off to get cash from the bank with his passport. Guess what happens on the way to the bank?
An accident. And a 17-year-old who thinks that you need to get into the left lane to make a right turn and that’s it’s Alpha’s fault for not seeing the turning signal. (Not saying that there isn’t some fault there... but it isn’t ONLY the other driver’s fault when you don’t use common sense.) It’s only a fender bender and no real damage to either car, but the police are called by the stupid teen (because Alpha and Dad won’t sign a paper claiming all fault). Alpha gets a ticket for not having his license.

So, checking our bank balance after renewing my license, I see that funds are mysteriously disappearing. It appears that my account is still linked to Momar’s and when she accidentally overdrafted over the weekend, the bank munched the remainder out of my account.

I burned myself making pizza and I didn’t get the e-mail asking me to come into work tonight.

But to end on a good note: My employer will pay for the yarn. There’s a yarn store that’s holding onto a skein of Plymouth Baby Alpaca for me. We got our car back. I didn’t have to deal with the cop. Renewed my license and we have money in the bank. Also there was ice cream to be had.


Lots and Lots of Ice Cream.

I still hate dogs though.