Don’t ask me how, but somehow,when I got out of the shower tonight, I completely forgot to put gel, or styling product of any kind in my hair. Heaven only knows what it’s going to look like in the morning, after sleeping on it all night. It’s too late now to try to add anything. (The cardinal rule of curly hair is you don’t, ever, touch or brush the curls while the hair. It just breaks up the curl clusters and causes frizz. So the chance to add gel pretty much disappeared as soon as I opened the bathroom door.)

Oh well! On the plus side, I’ve finally started the sleeve cap on my USMP sleeves. I’ll have to do some math tomorrow, to calculate how to do the shaping for the top (since, again, completely different gauge for both rows and stitches). But still–it’s close. I’ve been pushing to get knitting done lately, though, because it’s really starting to bug me, having four active projects. I want it down to at least two again! But my hands are just a little sore from the extra hours of knitting over the long weekend. I barely spun last night at all, my left forefinger was so unhappy with that whole pinching thing.

Next, though, I need to find buttons for the sweater, and the only place I know of is the Ragshop–not exactly the most elegant of buttons. Anyone have any good, online suggestions?

Also on the plus side, I got this lovely new pair of shoes today. I love the color, and like them–not quite “old lady” shoes, but a nice, vintage kind of look. I admit, though, that they weren’t my first choice. That would have been these. Boy, that pair is just gorgeous! But there’s no way I can justify that price. But wouldn’t they look great with my Peacock shawl?

That shawl, incidentally? I finally got around to rewashing/reblocking it this weekend. You’ll remember that it was really too long. When I wore it to Tim and Betty’s wedding in August, it kept getting caught on the heel of my shoe, and its front corners touched the ground when I’d put it on in bare feet. I wasn’t sure how much I’d be able to alter the size by reblocking, but it was certainly worth the effort. I soaked it in its mesh bag in the washing machine, spun out the water, and then laid it out on the floor. I put blocking wires in the top edge and down the center to keep them straight, but otherwise, just laid it flat. No extra pins. No extra pulling. And it is a couple inches shorter. It’s still a large shawl, but at least it doesn’t look like it’s in so much danger anymore!

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Now, lastly, I’ve been tagged by Amy for a rather novel (ahem) meme:Take the first 5 novels from your bookshelf….then do the following:

1. Book 1 - take first sentence
2. Book 2 - the last sentence
3. Book 3 - second sentence on page 100
4. Book 4 - next to last sentence on page 150
5. Book 5 - Final sentence of the book.

Make the five sentences into a paragraph. Feel free to cheat and make it a better paragraph. Name the sources and then post.

So, here we go:

The drama unfolding in the field below seemed so improbable that it could have been nothing more than two groups of players preparing a performance—the duel that would bring down the curtain on the first act. It was hard to believe that when, on the first of May, everybody went away, even after they had got to the bottom of the hill and passed through the iron gates out into the village, they could still smell the acacias. Meanwhile, they watched in astonishment as the little knight tugged his sword out of the scabbard and began brandishing it violently, hopping up and down in rage. Lucinda could not keep the laughter from bubbling up. Walking away, I reached Lexington Avenue, turned south and—the yellow lights of Gramercy Park waiting at the end of the street—I walked on toward Number 19.

1. World Without End by Sean Russell
2. Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Armin
3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling
4. The Alleluia Files by Sharon Shinn
5. Time and Again by Jack Finney

I didn’t actually take the first five novels–they would all have been the same author, and where’s the fun in that? But they are random books that I just grabbed by some of my favorite authors. (They’re on the bedroom bookcase–they have to be favorites.) All in all, the paragraph works remarkably well considering that three of these stories are Fantasy books in completely different worlds, one in early 20th century London, and one time travel book.

• Tags: Family, General, Hair, Reading • Permalink:A Novel Meme //