Well, apparently Mom wasn’t imagining things.

There WAS a bag at Rhinebeck!

A bag of pretty, green fiber, to be exact. 16 ounces of merino. Apparently my sneaky little boy gave his grandma a commission to pick me up something for my birthday. Tricky little boy!

And, gosh, I don’t know HOW I completely missed the fact that she was carrying that bag around all day long.

I got some nifty wooden Knitpicks Options interchangeable needles, too. They really ARE as colorful as they look. I haven’t, of course, tried them yet, but they certainly are eye-catching, and if they work as well as the nickel Options, they’re going to be lovely.

Otherwise, Mom and I went to Short Hills mall this morning and browsed around. It started off rainy this morning, but the sky was already clearing when we left, which definitely made it a nicer day. We even got Chappy out for a walk in the afternoon, which he definitely appreciated.

The truly shocking part? My Mom baked me cupcakes. Mom almost never bakes. She was feeling guilty about my making my own cake, though, (even though I do every year because it’s my favorite cake) so I had said that she should provide some kind of cake or cupcakes for tonight. My favorite bakery closed a year or so ago, though, and while we stopped at a bakery or two today but didn’t see anything we liked the looks of. So, we bought a box of cake mix (something I never use), and she made me cupcakes, like a Mommy should do. Isn’t that sweet?

Buttons, as you can see, really enjoyed them. She’s been enjoying her 40th birthday. I can’t believe my little girl’s so grown up.

Now, if only the odd tender/itchy rash on my shoulder would go away…

And lastly, see the cute card Chappy gave me?

Tags: Family by Deb
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Okay, this is it. Today is my birthday. (That’s 41 years of age, if anyone other than me is keeping count.)

It’s not the only birthday in the neighborhood, either. Go wish Vicky, Beth, Laura, and Icyshard a happy birthday, too.

Then, head over here to hear an . . . um . . . interesting happy birthday song….

I’ve reminisced (with photos) on other years, so you don’t really need to hear all that again, right?

The plans for the day? I’m taking the day off from work, hoping it doesn’t rain, and going shopping with Mom at Short Hills mall, which, for whatever reason, seems to be a birthday tradition for the two of us.

I hope you all have a good day!

And, don’t forget the Calendar Contest, either! I haven’t gotten nearly the responses I’d gotten by this time last year . . . only five entries as of writing this post. . . . Come on, folks–this is your chance to win a calendar or some sock yarn! Make an old woman happy . . . (grin)

Now, today seems the perfect time to do this meme that I came across over here yesterday:

The idea is to tell what I was doing 10 years ago, 20 years ago,
and 30 years ago. She added 40 to this meme, so I played along with that, too. Feel free
to join in and do this one as well, if you’re interested.

10 years ago: 1997. 31 years old. I had just finished taking swimming lessons for the first time in my life, and had a friend teach me to drive a stick shift (which I haven’t done since).

20 years ago. 1987. 21 years old.  I was in London for the semester in college, my Junior year. And my actual, 21st birthday? I spent that actual day all alone in Trier Germany, being stood up by a no-show pen-pal, while my camera broke, the batteries in my walkman died, and I couldn’t find a thing in English to read, and ended up having supper at McDonalds. Well, it was memorable!

30 years ago. 1977. 11 years old. Um . . . fifth grade. Chances are we were listening to the 1776 soundtrack in school. Honestly, I’ve got nothing…

40 years ago. 1967. 1 year old. That was obviously a big day, being my first birthday and all, but I have to tell you, I don’t remember much of it. I did, however, get my all-time-favorite doll, Buttons, that birthday. You can see her in this picture with little-bitty me. And in the 1999 pictures in this post. She spends her time in the guest room these days, but she’s still very much loved.

Tags: Family by Deb
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First, check out this site, Free Rice, found here. It’s a vocabulary test, where, for every correct answer, they’ll donate 10 grains of rice to help end world hunger. I donated 1000 grains before I got tired. Since they started a month ago, they’ve donated 680,991,930 grains of rice . . . not bad, huh?

Now, on to the steek:

I cast off my Autumn Rose last night.

Using the instructions from Eunny’s excellent series on steeks, I crocheted up one side of the to-be-cut steek stitch in a nice, contrasting yarn.

Then, back up the other side, so that there was a row of single-crochet on either side of where I was going to cut.

Then . . . (gulp)

I cut the steek apart. (With no paparazzi present.)

Which puts me right here….

All very exciting, no? (And, no, I did not require any alcohol either before or after the cutting to steady my nerves.)

The problem? I tried it on and . . . while, of course, there’s no neckband yet, this is big. Huge, even. Even after I recalculated all my charts to account for a different row gauge and different stitch gauges . . . It’s indecently low, for one thing. (Thank heaven I moved the bottom of the neck UP!) And hanging-off-the-shoulders wide at the top. And, I wouldn’t think it was possible, but I think my gauge loosened even MORE toward the top of the sweater . . . don’t ask me how, for I’ve no idea.

Now, I know that adding in the neckband will help . . . it will help fill in the neckband and it will help give some real shape and structure to it. And I can make it a little wider than the pattern calls for to fill in even more space, but . . . the pattern, for one thing, has you switch to smaller needles to give it a little extra tightness, but I’m already down to knitting on US size 1 needles, so there’s not very far I can go.

So . . . the next step is picking up the neckband stitches and . . . seeing what happens. I might see what I can do about decreasing stitches in the ribbing itself to provide some shape. (Definitely, if it’s more than an inch wide, I’ll need to.) And maybe it’s not as bad as it seems because I’ve never knitted a neckline like this before. Maybe the extreme sagging from un-bordered stockinette stitch is entirely normal at this stage, I don’t know. But . . . I’ll admit I’m worried.

Although . . . as always, the sweater still looks absolutely gorgeous. It’s just, really, a question of whether it’s going to be, um, wearable . . . (sigh)

As if risking horizontal stripes wasn’t daring enough.

After this is over, though? I really, really need to see what I can do to getting my own personal knitting gauge under control. It’s one thing to be a relaxed knitter, and needing, say, to drop a needle size to get gauge is no big deal. But these gauge issues of mine? Really absurd lately, and I’ve no idea WHY (grin).

Tags: Knitting/Spinning by Deb
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Is this a desperate face, or what?

This is Chappy waiting for his piece of birthday cake and thinking, “Put the camera down and say ‘okay’ already!”

My actual birthday isn’t until Tuesday, of course, but today was the day the family came down to celebrate. I made pot roast (I really do make good pot roast), scalloped potatoes, sauteed brussels sprouts-and-walnuts and, of course the cake.

The extra-nice part? My niece is staying an extra night, so when her parents and brother left a little while ago . . . she stayed with us. Which is great but felt just a little weird for all of us (grin). Tomorrow morning, she’ll be leaving to go to another family birthday celebration–that of Kaitlyn, who turned a year old on November 1st. I nicely rescheduled my birthday dinner to today so that there wouldn’t be a conflict tomorrow . . . because, well, a first birthday is a big deal and her uncle and family should be there, right?

I’m not really in the mood to any more baking at the moment, and we do have plenty of cake left, but still . . . I’m sensing a pan of brownies in my near future, because my sister (and family) gave me aBaker’s Edge Brownie Edge Pan. Such a cool pan–every piece is a edge piece, and there are a lot more corners, too. Mmmm….

It’s been a fun day, despite Mom having a cold. Actually, she seems like she’s mostly fighting it off but she’s feeling less than perfectly healthy. You know how it goes–even when you’re fighting a winning battle, it still takes resources and energy. I’m feeling stuffier than usual, myself, but my allergies have been bothering me all week, so I’m not sure about the reason. To play it safe, though, I sucked on a Cold Eeze a little while ago and will take some extra vitamin C later . . . and maybe even some Elderberry Syrup (just for you, Norma!) . . . because, if nothing else, who wants to be sick on her birthday?

Oh, and in between flurries of activity in the kitchen, I started spinning bobbin #3. Here’s an action shot, courtesy of Mom.

All in all? Nice day. My nephew is getting his cast off in a couple of days and can’t wait. (His appointment is on Wednesday, but he’s trying to convince his Mom to get an earlier appointment on Monday because he is SO tired of wearing that cast and not being able to DO things!

Meanwhile, Chappy is so, so tired . . . in a good way!

Tags: Family, General, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
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My issue of Interweave Knits came yesterday and I must say, I’m impressed. They had a “classic” theme for this issue, so there’s nothing too trendy or too weird, but it’s got some very nice designs. That cover sweater, for example. In fact, there are a couple in there that could be candidates for that Sublime yarn I bought in July. I mean, of course, the gauge from the label doesn’t fit, but when does my gauge EVER fit?

Because, you know, I’m going to be looking for a new sweater to knit some time soon, because I’m almost to the top of my Autumn Rose. As in, four more rows from casting off the body. There’ll still be the steek to cut and the neckband to knit, but . . . almost done.

I know, I’m impressed, too.

My magazine is sitting on top of the skirt I wore yesterday. A lovely little, button-up-the-front, A-line, plaid skirt that I bought last month, back when it was still too warm to wear a wool skirt. Finally, finally, it was its chance to get out of the closet (along with the cute boots I bought in August). So, I put it on, wore it to the office and . . . half an hour later, I spotted the lowest button on the floor in the hallway. Okay, these things happen, but jeez, it had been out of the closet for all of two hours. Luckily, I keep a sewing kit in my desk a couple minutes later, it was fixed. I went about my day, and when I came home at lunch, Mom and I took Chappy for a walk. Halfway around the block, I glanced down . . . the second lowest button was gone. Oooookay . . . We turned around and headed back to retrace our route. By sheer chance, I spotted the almost-black button on the black street surrounded by leaves. (In fact, look at that picture again . . . can you see the button?) I would have had time to sew it on before heading back to the office, but somehow, I didn’t feel like taking the chance.

I changed into a different skirt before going back to work. If the next button-up had fallen off, things would have gotten . . . unprofessional, you know? I have the feeling I should tighten all the buttons before wearing it again, don’t you?

Now, it’s Friday and Chappy is a very happy boy tonight–my niece is visiting, and he just LOVES having extra people here! In fact, tomorrow, we’ll have a full house because my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew will all be coming, too, for some birthday cake (which I baked for myself after work). I’m looking forward to it! But, I don’t know, I think Chappy might be even happier than I when they get here….

Tags: General by Deb
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Tags: Eye-Candy Friday by Deb
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Remember last year? When I threw myself a virtual party and asked all of you to show me your November calendar pictures? Made it a contest?

Well, guess what. I’m doing it again!

Show me a picture of your November Calendar, and leave me a link in this post, and you’ll be eligible to win a Chappysmom Knitting/Fiber calendar of your very own! (Or, if you’d prefer, some lovely, luscious sock yarn.)

I had 120 entries last year. Let’s see if we can top that this year, huh? Just like last year, this gives you the opportunity to give me a birthday present (which, of course, you’re all eager to do) that doesn’t cost you a thing and yet makes me very, very happy. How easy is that?

Like last year, we’ll make the deadline November 15th. And, again, you must leave me a comment on THIS post to be eligible.

(And, hey, why wait? Don’t you know somebody who would love a Chappysmom Knitting/Fiber calendar as a gift? In fact, there might be extra credit for next year’s contest if you’ve got one…)

To get the ball rolling, here are pictures of my November calendars this year:

In sequence, that’s the Peanuts’ calendar I got for Chappy for Christmas last year (he does so love Snoopy) that we have in the bedroom, my annual Peter Simon Martha’s Vineyard calendar that I use at the office at work, the calendar I made for myself last year (and which therefore has a picture of my birthday cake from last year) and lives in the bathroom, and the calendar I made for Mom and which, again because it’s my birthday, has a picture of ME. (Because, really, isn’t that what a Mom would want?)

Tags: General by Deb
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Here’s what I read in October.

1. THIRTEENTH HOUSE by Sharon Shinn (423 p.) Second in the “Twelve Houses” series–a very “standard” kind of fantasy book, but more character-driven than most. Kira is a shape-shifter, and when her father asks her to go, disguised as her sister, on tour with the reclusive princess, she does happily . . . but as they travel, she finds herself attracted to the newly-appointed regent, a married man.

2. INSPIRED FAIR ISLE KNITS by Fiona Ellis (132 p.) Acompletely disappointing knitting book–so bad, I actually returned it. You can read more about my opinion here.

3. DARK MOON DEFENDER by Sharon Shinn (435 p.) Third in the “Twelve Houses” series. Justin, one of the King’s Riders, working undercover, falls in love with a novice at the convent.

4. BLUE SWORD by Robin McKinley (248 p.) Classic YA fantasy book. Young Harry moves to the “Outland” when her father dies, but one night is kidnapped by the Damarian king and soon learns the ways of the desert.

5. MIRABILE by Janet Kagan (278 p.) An interesting sci-fi book, taking place on another world settled by people from earth who brought genetically-altered seeds and embryos with them. Genetically-altered in such a way that the genetic codes are . . . layered, so that you never know what might come out of any given crop. Very interesting, indeed!

6. BELLWETHER by Connie Willis (247 p.) An absolute favorite of mine. Sandra Foster studies the sources of fads while dealing with all sorts of frustrations at her work at HiTek labs, mostly because of the complete ineptitude of the company assistant, Flip . . . it’s hilarious. I love this book….

7. DEEP SECRET by Diana Wynne Jones (375 p.) So, suppose that earth is just one dimension of a series, and that there are Magids who help make sure things work the way they’re supposed to. Now suppose there’s an empire that’s falling apart, just as the world’s youngest magid needs to pick a replacement . . . throw in a fantasy convention in a truly bizarre hotel, a dead mentor haunting a car, and missing heirs, mix well….

8. OD MAGIC by Patricia McKillip (315 p.) Brenden Vetch comes to the king’s city to become gardener at Od’s school of magic. This is a lovely, gentle, sweet kind of book.

9. BROKEN FOR YOU by Stephanie Kallos (368 p.) This is such a nice book. When Margaret learns that she has a fatal brain tumor, instead of going for treatment, she opens her house up to a boarder, Wanda Schultz. But there are secrets and mysteries here–Margaret’s house is filled with relics her father left her–valuable pieces stolen from the Jews sent to the Nazi concentration camp. Wanda is trying to find the boyfriend who left her, not knowing that he was not the person who sent her a Seattle postcard. Little by little, piece by piece, the story comes together, and it’s just delightful.

10. HAPPY ALL THE TIME by Laurie Colwin (214 p.) Another long-time favorite of mine, telling the story of Guido and Vincent as they meet and fall in love with Holly and Misty. It’s just a sweet book, perfect to curl up with on a dreary day. I pull this out at least once a year because it’s just so, so nice to visit.

11. ABOUT A BOY by Nick Hornby (307 p.) Will is an idle, girl-chasing single man who one day decides to pretend he has a son so that he can join a single-parents’ group to hit on the women. It doesn’t work out quite the way he plans, though, because the son of one of them starts coming by his flat after school….

12. SUMMER MOONSHINE by P.G. Wodehouse (282 p.) Classic Wodehouse–which is to say, silly, funny, wacky, unpredictable, unlikely, and purely enjoyable.

13. RENDEVOUS WITH RAMA by Arthur C. Clarke (243 p.) A very sci-fi book. In the not-too-distant future, a massive, empty space ship heads through our solar system, and a team of astronauts are sent to explore it. The science end of it was interesting, but there’s not much to say about the human side of it. Not much by way of character development, but interesting in its way.

14. FREEDOM’S LANDING by Anne McCaffrey (342 p.) First in a trilogy. Earth has been invaded by the Catteni, a race of mercenaries who sweep away the population of a number of our cities. Kris Bjornsen was one of them and, on another planet, spots a Catteni being pursued by his own people and saves him. Things don’t turn out as she planned, though, because she and he are both swept up in another raid and left on another planet as unwilling colonists…

15. FREEDOM’S CHOICE by Anne McCaffrey (293 p.) Second in the trilogy. The Catteni’s overlords are determined to bring Zainal, Kris’s rescued Catteni back, but he’s got other plans in mind–he wants to free not only the humans but the Catteni, but first, they just need to steal a spaceship….

16. FREEDOM’S CHALLENGE by Anne McCaffrey (277 p.) Third in the trilogy. Zainal’s plan is in full force, now all they need to do is figure out how to kill the Eosi….

17. LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY by Frances Hodgson Burnett (190 p.) After reading the biography on F.H.B. a month or so ago, I’ve kind of been in the mood to reread this one. If you don’t know the story, little Cedric Errol turns out to be the next Earl of Dorincourt when his uncles die. He goes to England to meet his bitter, selfish grandfather, who ends up being enchanted by his grandson’s winning ways. But what happens when an imposter turns up?

18. LOST PRINCE by Frances Hodgson Burnett (287 p.) Continuing the sweet, twee, F.H.B. trend, this is the story of Marco Loristan, a young boy being raised to be the secret soldier for the (imaginary) European country of Samaria. He and his friend are sent on a secret mission to different countries in Europe to pass the message that the “Lamp is Lighted,” all in the effort to bring the descendent of the long-lost, true prince to the throne….

19. GENERAL WINSTON’S DAUGHTER by Sharon Shinn (342 p.) A new YA book by a author I love. The description scans as similar to Robin McKinley’s “The Blue Sword,” but after the first chapter, they couldn’t be more different. Averie has come to visit her father and fiance in the very hot country of Chiarrin, where she immediately embraces as much of its culture as she reasonably can. The dress, the codes of colors, the exotic foods, but all is not well, because there are rebels fighting for their country’s freedom, and in one of the attacks, Averie becomes friends with Jalessa, a young fabric seller. This was very good, with a big twist at the end. I saw some of it coming, but not the degree of it, and am still thinking about it, which I consider to be a good sign.

20. CHILD OF THE NORTHERN SPRING by Persia Wooley (468 p.) Book one of a King Arthur trilogy with Guinevere as the main character. It’s good and reasonably authentic, historically speaking. As in, it takes place around 500 AD rather than in the Middle Ages….

21. QUEEN OF THE SUMMER STARS by Persia Wooley (426 p.) Book two of the trilogy, Guinevere and Arthur are married now and trying to make a brave new world. The thing is, Guin is falling for this new knight…. Gosh, I wonder how that will turn out….

22. OWL AND MOON CAFE by Jo-Ann Mapson (352 p.) A nice enough, chick-lit kind of book, multi-generational, family in trouble. Quite good, really, although the genius-but-troubled granddaughter with her oh-so-special science project kind of gets on my nerves. Still, a good book by a good author and a much more upbeat ending than any of her “Bad Girl Creek” books.

23. SHAKESPEARE by Peter Ackroyd (518 p.) Bio of the great man himself. Very good in a short, snappy kind of way. The chapters tended to be just a few pages each, making it easy to pick up and read in small increments. I never knew that Shakespeare died on his birthday.

24. ELVES AND THE OTTERSKIN by Elizabeth Boyer (257 p.) An old fantasy favorite, I bought this book in high school. It’s a Scandinavian-flavored and full of silly kind of fun. Enjoyable and unorthodox.

25. TOUCH NOT THE CAT by Mary Stewart (302 p.) Ah, Mary Stewart. She wrote such elegant little mystery/romances that were oh, so evocative of time and place. (And her descriptions of food are drool-worthy.) This one, Byrony comes home after her father’s sudden death, and finds herself in the midst of an inheritance dispute as well as the mystery of just who she’s had a psychic connection with for her whole life…

26. NINE COACHES WAITING by Mary Stewart (317 p.) Basically, a Mary Stewart Cinderella story. (An analogy driven home a number of times.) Linda takes a governess job in a remove French villa but her charge keeps having accidents. She’s distracted, though, by the dashing son of her employer, who knocks her off her feet . . . literally.

27. HOME FROM THE VINYL CAFE by Stuart McLean (255 p.) A series of short little vignettes about the home life of a record store owner that are on the funny side but I didn’t find them as hilarious as they were supposed to be.

28. KNITTING AMERICA by Susan M. Strawn (197 p.) A nice history of knitting in America, going back to the earliest settlers right up to present day. Great illustrations, though this is more of a coffee table book than a history book (there are a few inaccuracies), it was enjoyable to read through.

29. YOUR PORTABLE EMPIRE by Pat O’Bryan (208 p.) All about internet marketing inspiration….

Tags: Monthly Reading List, Reading by Deb
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