After a pretty insane month at work that culminated in a heinous week and a particularly heinous day yesterday, my boss informed me that I was “working from home” today. In other words - I’m on call in case of emergencies, my work laptop on & at the ready, but I’m really just taking the day OFF - and she wouldn’t allow me to use PTO. Yes, I do have the best boss in the world. I knew that already, but yesterday she was really something. I’ve never had a boss that is so good at what she does, so hands-off-yet-helpful, so incredibly smart, and so willing to go to the mat for her staff when someone picks a fight (and let’s face it, there will always be some people out there who just need to do that and will find a reason if one doesn’t readily present itself). She’s the greatest!

Enough about work - I’ve got other “work” to do as I catch up on some of my favorite blogs & do some blogging of my own, finish up the charting and sizing of my MagKnits pattern today, and finish spinning the fire roving!

While doing just a bit of blog-surfing this morning, I had a few fortuitous & well-timed findings that made me smile:

Anne from Knitspot’s musings on pattern-writing

Marnie’s exceptional Excel usage for pattern calculations.

And, Dipsy Doodle’s site and new sock pattern, which coordinate so nicely with the fire roving!

Now, if only I could find a good tutorial to help with the schematic!

Here’s a few more pics of the fire roving/sunset yarn in progress for you - I’ve been predrafting in the car to & from work and spinning in the evenings (as anyone who saw Tad’s little stealth video of me knows!), and I think I may actually finish & ply by the end of the weekend! This has been my escapist activity this week - hopefully it’s not twisted beyond belief!

AND one from the catch-up vault! Elizabeth from Trailing Yarn’s interview!! I’ve been sitting on these questions for toooo long now, coming back to them, thinking some more, writing some more, and eventually coming back to the same answer. Really, I have no excuse for not posting this before now!

If you were an animal, what kind of animal would you like to be, and why?

I have a friend who once made comparisons between dogs & cats & people. She thought that cats were like humans can be - calculating, sometimes manipulative, thinking ahead, pondering that bird outside the window. Though I found this to be a bit of a pessimistic view, I have to agree at some level. Her theory extended to dogs - I think to quote it, it would go something like this, “Cats are like people, but dogs are like people SHOULD be.” So, not too terribly original, but I do agree wholeheartedly on this point. I would be a dog. Always living in the moment, no worry for the future or lasting regret for mistakes of the past, loving undconditionally, excited about just about everything (food! mommy! walk! water! sleep!) and wagging seems like such an appropriate expression of happiness.

Please share a defining moment from your childhood. Change the names to protect the innocent, if you must!

There was a book that we were assigned to read in high school, sophomore year maybe. My best friend’s dad was a pastor and was outraged because it covered some pretty adult topics (sex, drugs, violence, no happy ending if I remember right); he worked together with some other like-minded parents and tried to get the book banned from our reading list. I spoke at the school board meeting where this was under debate - on the opposite side of the issue. My memory being as shitty as it is, I remember very little about the book now except that I related to some of the characters and felt that it had some valid lessons although depressing. Given that fact, it’s hard to say whether my actions were a result of true moral feeling on my part, loyalty to my teacher, or (most likely) an act of teenage rebellion - but I’d have to say that it was worthwhile for the impact that the debate had on me. My best friend was still my best friend, and her folks were still good to me. And I remember my parents being proud - whether or not they agreed (or exchanged winks at my exertion of independence), they thought it was pretty great that I spoke out of my own volition on the issue.

Now, maybe I better go re-read that book and see if it was really worth all the fuss

What is the thing you like most about yourself? The least? Extra points if it’s two sides of the same coin!

Like most: I just like that I’m ok with myself, that I even like myself now. I feel like I’m finally coming into my own, and I don’t know whether that has to do with turning 30-something (whatever number it is now!), getting through some difficult times or what but I just feel calmer & less anxious about who I am, and where I think I’m going. Not so quick to judge (myself and others). Not so worried about what other people think of me and my plans. Not so ambitious in the generic definition of “success”. Re-defining what success means to me in terms of my relationships with people and with the world & my place in it, and what I hope to accomplish in this little life o’ mine. Not so ready & willing to be walked on, with a greater respect for myself and my instincts. Stronger and more aware of what’s important & necessary in my life. Less shy (though still painfully so sometimes). More willing to put myself out there and take some risks, whatever the outcome. More ready to take on the challenges that life throws at me. Long-winded way of saying I like that I’m the most comfortable with myself that I’ve ever been, and that’s pretty cool. I may not be exactly the kind of person that I want to be or think that I can, but I’m on the path.

Feeling philosophical I guess - Just bear with me!

Like least: I can be a self-righteous little shit sometimes. I’m working on it.

Is there a sport or adventurous hobby you’ve always wanted to try but haven’t? If so, what is it?

My original answer on this one was rock climbing. But actually, after sky diving, rock climbing might not be all that I think it would be. I was convinced that I would love sky diving and want to get liscensed, etc. Hmmm, not so much. I’m so glad that I did it and it was an awesome experience, but I’ve also never been so scared - and I mean truly frightened. I have a good head under stress generally - I’m good to have around in an emergency, but when I jumped out (tandem), I quite literally forgot everything that I was supposed to do and being bigger than my instructor, we just spun around and around and around until I heard her yelling and got my head back. We were fine, no issues, and after we pulled the chute it was even really enjoyable, but not worth the free fall to get there. So glad I did it - NO desire to do it again.

I might still like to try rock climbing though - at least you have a rope!

If you could go on vacation anywhere in the world, money is no object, where would you go and what would you do there?

This is kind of a cop out answer, but there are just too many places on the list right now. Tad and I really want to travel - almost anywhere. The choices that we’ve made have restricted us a bit in this area (though we don’t regret anything - we have a great life) - we went to Ireland for our first anniversary which was amazing, but aside from that, we haven’t done much real traveling. Top on the list are Kilimanjaro (which we are actually hoping to do in the next year or two with a couple of like-minded friends), Peru, Iceland, New Zealand…… etc. etc. etc. Within North America too - Alaska, Canada, the Midwest. I have to admit to feeling a bit, well, narrow-minded at times - I read about all these places, different cultures, governments, ways of life, but all I really know is my own little life right here, and I think there are some things that are just better to see and experience for yourself.

Thanks Elizabeth, those were some great, thought provoking questions! I had fun with it and thought and wrote about all of them before deciding on these 5. Despite the lengthy amount of time it took for me to finish & post, I enjoyed it immensely! I’ll follow your lead here - if anyone would like to play, leave me a comment, and I’ll come up with some good questions for YOU!

Is it bad to trash your hosting service on your blog?

We’ve been experiencing some frustrating down-time here at tadandmel & purlingplans, which we’ve been noticing every couple of days recently, and which a couple of readers have reported to us as well (thanks!). So we’re looking for a new host - we’ve gotten a couple recommendations for ICDSoft and Bluehost - Anyone out there have any other input or have a hosting service that you’re really happy with? We went with Globat initially after researching online, but would really like to go with a company that comes recommended. Thanks for any thoughts or input!

I have so much that I want to post about right now, unfortunately blogging energy has been a little light due to other inevitable life stuff recently (work - ACK!, family, walking, knitting, etc. etc. - not the least of which were some incredible gastrointestinal pyrotechnics from Mathias which sucked up the better part of this evening and christened my spinning wheel bag <cries>), but expect some updates on the following soon!

• The MagKnits project

• An interview from Elizabeth (I haven’t forgotten - I’ve just been distracted putting a lot of thought into my answers!)

• Spinning (believe it or not!)

• Goals check in

• 3Day training (we did a 14-miler yesterday!)

• Concerts & other fun life stuff

• The wonder that is Ravelry (Love it! Just haven’t had a chance to tell you about it, though I’m sure you are hearing about it everywhere - it really is THAT good! Come say hi if you’re on!)

• The Garden (with a capital “G” - I was kidding about the whole hostile takeover thing, but now I am actually getting a little Concerned.  With a capital “C”.

And there it is folks - I’ve killed yet another night that I should have spent knitting.  Unfortunately cleaning up poop, comforting the Little Man and saving my spinning wheel bag took precedence.  And then of course, I had to “unwind” with this meager blog post and an adult beverage.  Thank goodness he missed the vents in the floor, can you imagine the horror?

I was tagged by Tasha over at Knitting Fisher - It’s my first meme too Tasha! Probably a good “get to know you sort of thing” - I don’t know if I’ll be able to come up with 8 though!

So, here goes -

1. I already left this at Shannon’s site in the comments, but although I play with numbers at work and can generally remember them (dates, phone numbers, etc.) I seem incapable of remembering how old I am these days. In a pipe dream discussion with Tad a couple weeks ago I lost time and thought I was about 2 years older than I actually am. After much ribbing and laughter, we finally decided that I’m 31, I think…

2. I love all cheese except swiss. But I’ll eat it in a Vermonster & love it.

3. I’m a bit of a rebel. Reverse psychology works well with me.

4. Music is necessary to life. We attend shows on a pretty regular basis that run the gamut from Punk to Folk (Cowboy Junkies just last Friday, I think that was the MOST mellow show we have ever seen).

5. Our CSA drop-off starts today - Woo-hoo! It’s on the brain - mmmm, fresh veggies
6. I used to just like big dogs, until we had two of them, now I love big dogs and tiny dogs and all dogs in between.

7. I’m an animal lover in general (we have a cat as well). That’s getting worse too - I have trouble killing bugs now. Except mosquitos.

8. I was the first girl on my dad’s side of the family in four generations. As such, I was spoiled rotten as a little girl.

There you go - Everything you ever wanted to know
Play along if you like - I’ll leave it up to you!

A touch of Spring first - even though it we’ve had frost the past two nights, the flowers seem to be surviving the sudden cold snap - These were taken at Foster’s Market (Wisteria) and the Duke Gardens (Helleborus & some kind of cherry, I think) earlier today. It was brilliant and sunny, if a little chilly!

And now for the latest installment of Maya’s Exhibitionist challenge - A WIP Roundup!

This mess is Nicky Epstein’s Floral Felted Bag from Interweave Knits Fall 2004 - the intarsia was killing me and it’s been sitting in a drawer since Winter 2005. Whether it will ever be finished remains to be seen if not this fall, then probably never - perhaps I should have gone Eunny’s route on this - beautiful, elegant, and EASIER!

Please excuse the terrible picture, it is very hard to photograph black, and very hard to spread this one out when it barely fits on the circular needle anymore! This is Vanille by Blue Alvarez Designs - for Tad. Started just prior to Christmas, it has been languishing… I work on it in fits and starts - unfortunately all that black stockinette is a little dull, but hopefully the result will be a great, classic sweater in a great yarn (Blue Sky Alpacas Organic Cotton) - sometime this year.

And here is the latest, the Cocktail Capelet from Interweave Knits, Spring 2007. I had 3 lovely skeins of Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk from a former SP swap (bless you Stick Chick - it’s beautiful stuff), and I was convinced that there was enough, but unfortunately I was incorrect. I’m not quite ready to frog this, as I think it would be wonderful if I could modify it - I love it in this yarn:

And there is this one that I still intend to modify, so we’ll continue to call it a WIP in the meantime.

ChiChi is on deck now - so I think these will be on the back burner, at least for a bit.