Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Busy Day=WNBP

Thank heavens for the Wednesday Night Bullet Posts! You guys were just so awesome (and then some) to request that they continue after I finished that Wednesday night, blog-interfering class I was taking. Yeesh! I'm just not up for all this gadding about! Out late last night...out all day today...I don't even recognize myself anymore. Here's your weekly dose of Sheepie thoughts that come in no particular order:

*Mommy Sheep and I headed out to tend to The Sheep Family Fortune today. Being as we are pretty much a family of educators, you can imagine that a trip to the bank to fiddle with the finances isn't something that requires an armed guard or anything.

*It does, however, require that we bring everyone associated with the account. Apparently the arrival of the vixeny, vampy Sheep ladies is enough to make bank officials refuse them the right to make any changes to existing accounts. Daddy Sheep should probably be there, too. You never know...the aforementioned vixens might be up to nefarious deeds involving arsenic and usually seen on daytime soap operas.

*For the record, there's no harm/no foul on this one, in my opinion. Nothing sexist about it. I mean really...would you like anyone (especially someone vixeny and vampy) to be able to cobble together some form of identification and add themselves to your account? Wouldn't you want to be there to say something like, "What did you say your name was again?" or "I honestly didn't know that I had such vixeny cousins!"

*Have I mentioned how much I love my new yogurt maker? Seriously. It is the best thing ever! It makes yogurt! And it's not like the yogurt I tried to make without it that I either couldn't maintain at the correct temperature or put in a dark, out of the way place to assist with temperature maintenance and forgot about.

*With The Sheep Family Finances out of our grasp (mine anyway...Mommy Sheep can still get at 'em) there was little to do with the rest of the day but shop. Mommy Sheep can't quite keep up the shopping pace that she did back in the day. But she can still leave me in the dust. I almost had to nap in the car.

*I got a new full spectrum Ott Lamp while we were at Bed, Bath And Beyond. (they keep them in the "beyond" part) We had a 20% off coupon and The Sheep can now knit in eyeball comfort. I'm not saying that the eyes are getting aged or anything. But, I'm thinking that a little of the full spectrum light might help with the seeing of the sock yarn.

*I am reasonably sure that I can now knit lace. I'm convinced that the only barrier between me and fancy-schmancy knitting has been poor lighting. I'll just be cranking out flouncy things by the yard from this day forward. I probably should finish that sock from yesterday, though.

*OK, here's the plan: Knit plain sock just for the sake of finishing the poor humble thing. Then immediately begin cranking out yards of flouncy stuff. I should probably invent a few complicated flouncy patterns and write a book on the subject while I'm at it. The world should not be denied my new found lace skills that were unavailable to them because I couldn't see and not because I am sort of a pathetic knitter. Maybe the working title could be something like: Laced In Denial: A Sheep, Her Needles And Other Flights Of Fancy.

*We had a very nice lunch here. This is something of a summer tradition with us. I had the lobster roll. Mmmmm...

*Oh, how cool! My friend Leslie just called! (that's why you heard that long pause in the rambling, random blog post) I haven't talked to her in months.

*After lunch, we did a little book shopping and I picked up "Charmed Knits." I also got a copy of "Folk Shawls" since I am now able to knit lace and all... I think it is good to invest your hard earned dollars in your new found, if untested, skills.

*I've already put a sticky note on the page with the most complicated shawl in there. You know the one. It has all those yarnovers and weird castings on...yeah, that one. Not a problem with the new full-spectrum lamp. I'm sure of it!


Well, there you go! A big day out for The Sheep! Tomorrow will have to be a day of rest. And, perhaps grocery shopping since I don't want to fight with the influx of new weekend tourists on a Friday. After that, the remainder of the day will be mine.

I'll probably knit up a shawl or something...pictures tomorrow night. How hard can it be?

SA

18 comments:

Mel said...

Someday I shall be doing the Shetland Fir Cone shawl from that book. Someday. I actually have some coned Brown Sheep that I think would work well for it.

holly said...

I've yet to attempt lace, I'm only a year in knitter, but I've done a few pair of socks! and I have an Ott lamp! and I just bought 'Lace Style' from the Knitpicks sale! So, should I start looking for some yarn now? Your blog cracks me up--I read it every (well mostly) day!

Anonymous said...

Folk Shawls is a wonderful book. It is one of my favorites. I have made the garter stitch prairie shawl at least three times. It is an easy way to get used to the yarnovers. It practically flies off the needles. I have my eye on several others, as soon as, I have the time. One thing to keep in mind is that all of the shawls are very large. Cheryl Oberle is a very tall woman (close to 6') and some of the shawls look a little big for her. She models all of the shawls in the book. I adjusted mine to better suit my petite size.

April said...

I'm pretty sure with an Ott light one is capable of taking over the world. It is also my understanding that zombies are terrified of Ott lights. So you'll be able to keep them at bay while you're working on your Orenburg shawl.

You fluffy little multi-tasker, you!

rachel said...

I'm making the Irish Diamond Shawl from that - it's on my blog at the moment - it's a pretty easy pattern, and only 3 different patterns to learn as you go!

Anonymous said...

"They keep them in the 'beyond' part..." You are just too funny! There's quite a bit of "beyond" in that store. I'll have to check out the lights.

sheep#100 said...

Of course, the Ott light is a miracle in and of itself. But don't cast on a shawl without an Addi Turbo Lace needle. No, I have no financial interest in them but I do want you to be all capable of managing the Sheep Family Fortunte should that time ever come and a drooling, weeping Sheep would not be considered by most judges or bank officials to be in possession of total sanity - which is what you will lose if you attempt lace with a poor needle.

Mia said...

Wow. Busy sheepie! You're gonna love that new light tho.. it's really important to see stuff *grin*

so the yogurt machine works well? Hmmm.... that may be the only kitchen gadget machine I don't YET own.....

Can't wait to see that shawl :)

The Kelly Green Rogue said...

hmmm I know nothing about these "full spectrum" or shall we say "magic" lamps. Seems I need to get me one.

Sounds like you had a great day! :)

Lorraine said...

You'll love the full spectrum light! Absolutely necessary for lace weight yarn, cross-stitching on black fabric and threading sewing needles.

Can't wait to see all the flounciness. Just be careful wearing flounces to the bank. Increases the vixin quotient exponentially!

debsnm said...

Never, ever let anyone tell you that lace is hard. It's only a few yarn-overs and k2tog's, after all. I mean, just because mine always ends up looking crap-tastic, doesn't mean you can't knit lovely lacy things.

Teri S. said...

Mmmm...lobster roll. I haven't had a lobster roll since I was in Maine back in '88. 'Tis a sad state of affairs. The Ott light should definitely help. But despite me having an Ott light, I still have yet to crank out yards of lovely lace. There's something about being able to count...

Cathy said...

"Laced In Denial"

As soon as some air gets to my brain (laughing too hard) I may have a witty comment to make.

"Laced In Denial"

I do love it.

Oh. I have Folk Shawls. I'll read along as you knit, k?

Anonymous said...

Hmmm, you just got an Ott light, I just got 1200 yards of nearly-black laceweight alpaca. Coincidence? I think not.

Let us meet at the twain, say, Erie, PA. We shall take the lace-making world by storm. Or tangle, as the case may be...

Donna Lee said...

I have mastered (ok, I made one) lace sock. I am sure that (and one of those fancy lamps) would make me eminently qualified to be a contributing knitter for your book. Let me know when you are ready and I am so there.

Anonymous said...

I think I need to get me one of those Ott lights. I'm sure I have a 20% off at BB&B too, they keep coming in the mail. Now that I'm over 40, I need all the help I can get with the lighting and closeup vision, if you know what I mean.

mehitabel said...

Love love love my Ott lights. Thank you, Dr. Ott! I have 2 desk ones for traveling, a floor one by the sewing machine, and a matched set in the living room. Looks so weird at night to see the light looking so blue as it shines through the drapes--but it's heaven for seeing what I'm doing. My house is a cave so lots of lamps are needed!

Anonymous said...

Folk Shawls is a great book. It's god to have the patterns for your new skillz.