I am the grandest nerd that ever there was

It's true.

Last night, I was folding laundry in the bedroom, with the TV on, and the preview for this week's CSI came on, and Lady Heather is making another appearance on the show.

I shrieked, having missed 90% of the spoiler due to folding, fly down the stairs (to my laptop) and cue up the preview that they posted online. Andrew asked what all the excitement was about, and I was like "Lady Heather! CSI! *squeal!*"

This was akin to the squealing I did in middle school over Dean Cain, from my favorite show (at that point), Lois & Clark. That's right, folks. I was the President of the Superman club. Jealous? I know you are.

My life doesn't revolve around CSI (I *heart* Tivo!), but damn do they have good looking men. Although the writing borders on horrid occasionally, it's a good kind of horrid. Except for when they referred to the fiber from goats as "angora".

Quick fiber lesson for non-nerds:

Angora comes from Angora bunnies. It's horribly expensive, and I am wickedly allergic to it.

Mohair comes from Mohair Goats. It's a breed of goat, like Merino is a breed of sheep.

Cashmere comes from Angora Goats. The higher altitude the goats live, the better quality the cashmere is. I know it's confusing, but seriously, it's not.

Aside from the "angora" episode that left me twitching, I enjoy the CSI. Can we talk about Nick Stokes' Super Trooper hair and mustache? Ick. If it weren't for his man creases, I would be entirely uninterested. Grissom I'll take bearded, unbearded, whatever, and Greg Sanders in any shade of "wierdness". (Sorry, I've been to Berkeley, I've seen wierder.)

On the same nerdly vein, I love Excel. It's magical to make graphs out of data.

So yeah, Andrew was a little surprised that I squealed over a TV show. Oh, and we're going to see Ron White when he comes to town.

.....They call me TATER SALAD!

Niki antics and FO

I have the cutest dogs ever. Seriously. Niki's latest thing is to jump on me (to get my attention), then sit (very quickly) so that I sit down and give him some affection. Now, bear in mind that he NEVER does this when I have time to actually sit and snuggle.

Noooo, he does this while I am trying to get ready in the morning, but obliging parent that I am, I sit down for a few minutes and snuggle my puppers. Then his sister bounds into the room, demanding affection. She sits, wagging her tail, with her ears tucked back (so all you see are big, brown eyes). If you don't pet her within what she considers to be a reasonable amount of time, she'll get up and stick her face in yours, to make sure that you've seen her. If again you fail to notice, she'll growl. Good times.

FO:

I wasn't great about keeping my New Year's resolution, but it was a half-off sale and I bought stuff for about 9 projects. (2 sweaters, 1 scarf, 6 pairs of socks) My FO is a pair of Lorna's Laces "Safari" socks for Andrew.

February, FO's, and stuff

So, my horoscope said to get rid of excess baggage, which means I'm returning the extra Lorna's Laces Sport that I got from the LYS that canned my friend.

Now, normally, I would just find a new home for the yarn, but it's like $100. You may wonder why I ended up ordering about $100 worth of extra yarn. I didn't know I could get a pair of socks out of one ball.

In all reality, I can't get a pair out of one ball, but basically, I can get the second sock down to the toe before the first ball runs out. So, I can go through my stash and stick odds and ends in for the toes, and get back $100 of my money.

I discussed this with the friend who got canned, and she says it's totally okay, because they hosed her. AND, they made that nasty remark that I posted about.

Additionally, I am in the works for getting rid of excess emotional baggage, in the form of the thing I alluded to. So I may be joining the ranks of David, Paul, Kai, and Billy fairly soon. In a totally different capacity than my friends, but still, it'll be freaking AWESOME.

Stitches West is nearly here, and I'm working my fanny off to get the red ribbon top done for Melinda at Tess Yarns. It's coming along really well, and will be a FO before the show. (That rhymes.)

FO:
I finished the Cherry Tree Hill Northern Lights socks that had been sitting on my dresser being an UFO since South Dakota, on Jan 31st, but since I'm lazy, I didn't post them until now. So they're officially a February FO.

Reviews, dreams, and FO.

So, just for a quick recap for y'all, Arah's birthday was Friday, and we saw Lion King on Saturday. Lion King is a good show, if you're okay with the sets and costumes holding up an okay show. It was fun, but not my favorite show ever. Worth seeing once.

In it's favor, there was a preponderance of man creases onstage. Mmmm... Speaking of man creases, I've been having wierd dreams.

Weird Dream #1:

I'm pregnant with Nick Stokes (from CSI)'s baby. Grace says that this is from having unsafe sex dreams, and finally it's caught up with me. The weird part of this dream? My stomach feels like there's a tennis ball inside my stomach. Apparently, this is not what actual pregnancy feels like.

Weird Dream #2

I'm at the knitting shop that I spend every Sunday at, but it's set up and as big as a Walgreen's. I'm looking for the new Trekking that Cynthia told me came in, and I'm chain smoking. Why is this weird? I don't smoke, and this is my second dream where I'm a chain smoker. Oh yeah, and smoking around yarn ruins it.

FO's

I finished my Tuscany socks. Woo! I now own red socks. And if Joey would ever show up, I could finish his, too. I love knitting socks; they get done so quickly and I wear them every day. Wooo!

Carb warfare

I don't diet. I don't really believe in it, and I never have needed to diet. I understand that other people have had problems with their weight, and managing it. I can be sympathetic to that. Then the Carb Wars began.

My Auntie Wolf (Dad's nickname for her, name substituted to protect her anonymity) has been on every diet known to human kind. Seriously. She was my favorite aunt as a kid, and I vowed to take care of her in old age (she doesn't have kids), so needless to say, we spent some time together. The last time we saw each other (3 summers ago, she moved like a million miles away), she was on the Atkins diet, and having some success with it. Tremendous success, according to her.

"Good for you!" I said, thinking, Ew.

The food is gross. I couldn't eat that much meat if my life depended on it, and the lack of vegetables and fruit makes me think that scurvy is going to come back in style. Like it's 1499, beyotches. (I know scurvy is caused by Vitamin C deficiency, but still.)

So, I occasionally indulge in a Jamba Juice, and I noticed that their newsletter was singing the praises of "Good Carbs". Atkins will say, "There are no good carbs," which is why Atkins dieters smell funny, but Jamba is working to educate on "healthy" vs junk foods.

It all baffles me. It really does. I thought I would share, since I think Atkins is gross. Oh, and Friend #1 from my Yarn Drama post lost over 100 pounds in 6 months by not drinking alcohol, swimming 3 hours a day, and eating NUTRITIOUS FOODS. What a concept.

Elphie vs. Knitting (and FO)

I love my dogs. I do. My dogs love me. Elphie doesn't love my knitting. So for your reading enjoyment, some inner dog psychology.

**DISCLAIMER: I'm not a psychologist, dog or otherwise. Just an ass-kicking knitter.

The Time: Lunch, M-W, F.
The Place: The Blue Ikea Couch.

I come home. I eat my lunch, I sit down on the couch to relax a bit. Elphie and Niki usually join me for about two seconds. So, I pull out my knitting to help me decompress before I head back to work. Elphie has decided at this point that she is done with me, and is now eating, playing with a toy, humping Niki, whatever. I pick up my knitting.

BOOM! Elphie is on my lap, on top of my knitting. Doing her little mock-kitten roll, so I scratch her tummy and DO NOT knit. If I transgress so much as to try and knit with her on my lap she will push my knitting away with her nose, saying to me, "Noooo... you should be petting me, and telling me I'm a good dog. Knitting is for other places."

Who can resist that kind of love? Not me, I'm weak.

FO! Socks!
To continue my mad crazy finishing spree, I have finished my 6th item this month (socks), and I really will post pictures of at least the ribbon top. If I'm not lazy.

I'm also living up to my promise, and knitting Joey's socks. Cast them on last night, woo!

Other stuff:
Lots going on, not for blogging, ask me later. Or ask Billy, or Paul, or David. Or Kai, once I e-mail him. If you haven't assessed what it could be about (there is a common link between these guys. Think about it.) ask me.

Yarn Drama and FOs!

I have been on a crazy finishing spree. I've stuck to my resolution. In a word, I rule. As ruler of this little domain (http://cuteknitter.blogdrive.com) I need to share a quick story.

Two of my knitting friends used to work at the same LYS (Local Yarn Store). One left because she needed a job that paid a living wage and benefits, and the other was wrongfully terminated. The circumstances of her termination are quite similar to when middle school girls pick one girl to exile to show their social power. But I digress.

I have been going to this particular LYS since I was six years old. I'm a bit older than that now, but that's not the point. When I went in as a child, they were unkind (and had a terrifying cat). When I started working for Karen, they were flat-out rude to me (16 years old at that point). When my two friends started working there, it was a relief to be able to make my purchases without being snarled at.

When the first friend left, I figured "Well, at least Friend #2 is still there." Bear in mind that the other employees (with the exception of ONE of the women, who is very friendly, but alas, not a real friend of mine) are all rude and brusque to me, despite the amount of money that I have spent there over the years. You know my shopping habits. Do the math. Not an insignificant amount.

I called Friend #2 in November and asked if it would be kosher if she ordered the Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport for me (in the same colors that I had already bought), and if I could exchange the Shepherd Sock for the Sport. She asked the owner, it was totally kosher. Great! Sock yarn I've already bought turning into thicker yarn to be knit FASTER!

Last Wednesday (after Friend #2 was canned), I called to follow up on my order (ahem, 6 weeks had passed from when I placed it). I was told that my order had arrived that day. Great! Andrew and I went to pick it up and do the exchange promptly after work.

We get there and it turns out that I had some yarn on hold. Okay, I look at it, show it to Andrew, buy him two skeins (because when my friend was canned, I vowed not to spend money there, but my exchange and things I put on hold I felt obligated to buy/ exchange), swap out the rest (which was, ahem, marked up to $11 when everywhere else they're selling it for $10, same price as the sock yarn), pay the difference and go.

Guess what the snarky, bitch-ass owner does next? E-mails Friend #2 to say "Yeah, Jasmin came in and picked up her order. And returned an equal amount of yarn."

WTF?!

When Friend #2 recounts this e-mail to me, that was my response. "WTF?!!" This is why.

I never return yarn. NEVER. I just don't do it. I overbuy a bit, and the leftovers find a new home. This is the first exchange I've ever done of yarn, too. So, in theory, BitchAssOwner could look in his little computer and see "My, oh, my. She has never done this before." But I digress.

I told Friend #1 (who is temporarily helping out at the offending LYS) that I wouldn't be taking any of my business there anymore, since nobody there could be bothered to be polite to me. I also told her to pass on to the owners that their prices weren't competitive with online stores (same products... different prices), and the only thing that kept me going there was that my friends worked there.

So there, I'm a misanthrope (shocker). But at least I managed to swap out my yarn and they'll lose all my future business. And the business of my friends. Oh yeah... and the business of my CUSTOMERS. Muah ah ah.

Happy Anniversary and FO! Andrew socks!

As you can see on my little sidebar thingie, I finished a pair of socks for Andrew that I started in South Dakota during the summer of '04. I feel so accomplished.

Yesterday we helped Erica move, which was a day-long task. Fortunately, Eric, Sam, Chris, and Grace came over and helped for the better part of the afternoon. Without the extra hands, we would have been there all night.

Andrew and I are celebrating our anniversary today, one year since we threw the big wedding. Plans include dinner and fun of some sort. Fun TBA.

FO! Socks!

I am so totally on a finishing spree. And you are jealous, muah ah ah.

So what if most people don't consider finishing a pair of socks a real Finished Object. I don't care about them. I'm wearing the FO from Sunday, right this second, on my feet.

So it's the fourth day of the year, and I'm doing pretty well with my resolution. I've started a ribbon top for Melinda of Tess Yarns (linked to your left). It's cute, but there's only a few inches of back so far. I'll post a little icon when I can gauge how "finished" it is.

I'm fairly certain you won't die of antici............. pation. (10 points to whomever names the quote).

I still have to figure out what the points mean, but I assure you they're worth something.

New Year's Resolution

As we all know, I'm practically perfect in every way (ten points to whomever names that quote), I feel the pressure to make at least one New Year's Resolution.

So brace yourselves, because here it is:

Knit more and buy less.

That's it.

I'm not really good at New Year's resolutions, so I may blow it off, but I've started off the year well. I've made Ally (who is not pregnant and won't be for quite a while) a pair of Ugg Baby Booties, and I've finished a pair of socks.

Things I learned in 2005:

Don't shortrow or count when you're tired. Or watching Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt in Mr. & Mrs. Smith.