Robbed

There is nothing quite so violating as being robbed. In the middle of the night. In your house. While you are sleeping.

Last night some jackass broke into our house, stole my purse (including a half-knitted pair of Jaywalkers in color "jungle"), my wallet, my company laptop (stupid thief, the thing knows how to call home), and my backpack (including a mostly finished baby hat). Fortunately, he didn't get anything of real value (just my identity). But he did rob us of our sense of security, and that is unforgivable. Fortunately, I have an understanding boss who told me to take what time I need to get this all sorted out. So I went out and got a new cell phone, a new driver's license, shut down all my bank accounts and trust accounts, cancelled a series of checks, notified the three credit bureaus to put a fraud alert on my account (that way if anyone tries to do anything with my information, they need to have access to a PIN that only I have and made up this morning and the bank must notify me of any action taken), notified social security to put a fraud alert on my account, got a new ID badge for work, changed all our locks, got a new deadbolt, installed a chain on the basement door, locked all the windows downstairs with new kinds of locks and put a charlie bar in the sliding glass door downstairs.

That fucker messed with the wrong techies.

We're installing a security system including motion sensor lights, a camera and a siren later this week. The system even calls us to notify us of a breach.

That fucker messed with the wrong family.

Now I just need to recover my sense of optimism for the people of this world. Any stories about the good part of humanity you would like to share; now's the time...

Bah Humbug! (Is it too late for that?)

Hi folks,

I have been trying to get this post written for 4 days now. And so far, that's been a wonderful creative process. Except that it hasn't at all. So! We've had a little inclement weather lately. My part-time work schedule allows me to do wonderful things like take mid-morning walks with my hunny and dogbaby after a snowfall:







And knit:


A baby hat for a co-worker's impending baby girl. Finally! A girl!


The beginnings of Samus

And spin!


Two more skeins of Mimi (BFL about 300 yards total) and some two-ply Coopworth X


The many colors of Ella Jean the llama in laceweight


Just in case you weren't clear on the concept of "laceweight". Jebus!

So that's the haps in my neck of the woods. The health thing is still a little ill-defined to say the least. My GI doc is 75% behind the theory that I caught a weird virus that attacked my nervous system. (We humans have lots of neurotransmitter receptors in our digestive tract which is how he proposes that my guts got involved). The other 25% theory is that I have something else. This theory is based on a blood test that shows I had systemic inflammation when I went into the ER. I got another blood test on Friday and if that level is still elevated or even higher then my doc is packing me off to the rheumatologist. Thing is, I don't want any part of the things that rheumatologists deal in. So let's hope it's not that.

Yay!

*Now* it's a New Year!

Howdy folks,

As I am sure you all are on the edge of your seats: I remain a medical mystery but no appendectomy necessary last night (thank ye baby Jesus). I was discharged at 11:30, (that's right, 12 and a half hours at the ER yesterday, good times!) and Jon and I were able to smooch in the new year on our very own couch. There are, of course, follow-up exams to do, such as an MRI later this week and an ultrasound of my internal organs next week, but I've been through that before and I'll get through it again. In some ways, I wish it had been just a simple case of apendicitis, as the "we don't know what's wrong with you" route is much more tiring.And frankly, I think you deserve a little surgery after sitting on your ass in the ER for 12 hours.

And with that, we can move to knitting.


My mom modeling her "Child's First Socks" by Nancy Bush in hand-dyed handspun North Ronaldsay wool.


My mom-in-law modeling her (size 6 thank god) Rolling Thunder socks in Shepherd Sock. These are heavily modified with a 5-row picot edge, no beads, and two upper-leg pattern repeats.

And finally, folks, I stretched myself this year for Christmas. I have been harboring a dark secret for years and it is finally time to bring it to light: I am (was) afraid of colorwork. I know, it's shameful and I'm not proud of my creative reluctance, but now you know. The thing is, while Mom and I were in Scotland this summer, we saw a beautiful hand-knit sweater at the Raven Press Gallery that was a soft grey with these almost pastel fair isle designs in it and Mom loved it. However, it was very expensive (as all great hand-knits should be). So we traveled on and in the Orkneys we bought enough grey North Ronaldsay worsted weight to make a sweater. The two bags of wool have been sitting around my house waiting for me to find the right complementary yarn and to get the hell over my (idiotic) fear. I did and on Christmas Day, I delivered this to Mom in her stocking:


My mom holding my very first colorwork.

I found the contrast yarn in the form of Sarah Anderson roving at OFFF back in September in the colorway "Autumn Joy" and luckily managed to spin it to the same weight as the existing North Ronaldsay. My mom was happy and impressed (as she should be!) and I have now overcome my Greatest Knitting Fear. It was a Christmas miracle. :)