Flying Along

We've had some short days at work so I am turning my surprise free time into WoW progress.  At long, miserable last I finished the Suramar quests and Broken Shore rep to get flying in Legion. Then I turned my attention to the class mount project and that only took a half dozen very quick quests.  Now I am the proud owner of a lovely flying horsey. 

Somehow it turns out that when you play, you make progress. I also wrapped up a raid quest I've had forever and got a cute new outfit.  Now it's time to get my 110 hunter her flying mount.

No new progress on the white blanket but I am cranking out some purple / gray socks during phone calls at work.  The yarn was for a shawl but I wasn't making progress and it wasn't that attractive so I ripped it back a few months ago.  I like the new project much better and I might be able to make some matching accessories.

Shop. Drink. Play.

Had a really great day today.

I finshed "Old Man's War" already, it was a fast, fun read. There were a few iffy sections of man-splaining but mostly it was satisfying.  I wasn't too sure about the premise, but the author fleshed out an interesting story with believable details.   I think I will order the sequels from the library.

Next on the agenda was visiting the Yarnover Truck and smooshing all the beautiful yarns. It's never come this close to my town before and it was parked literally right down the street. I made sure I did my part to support small business.

A friend came out from LA to visit (and pat yarn) and we had a great burger lunch and then an acceptable beer tasting at The Packinghouse.  It wasn't as good as Wickes on the other side of town, but it was close.  They will be the beer purveyors at The Dickens Festival in two weeks, what a small world.

A box of yarn and fiber joined my stash; an acquaintence was getting rid of all her craft stuff and a ton of books.  It should keep me busy well into next year.  I am not one to look the gift of free wool in the mouth, and anyway, there will be plenty of leftovers to share with the No Idles.

Last stop of the day was a gaming date; my WoW mojo has been missing lately but playing with someone else is really fun.  I need to either whip my guild into shape or go shopping for a chattier one.

Now it is bedtime... and by the way the little cockatiel chicks are still doing well.

Nom Nom Nom November

What a great month.
Blizzcon 11/7-8 including a kickass Metallica concert

James Hetfield

the Warlords of Draenor release 11/13 and a long weekend to enjoy it

Alisal

I knit a cat hoodie while re-watching the Blizzcon coverage and while waiting for the servers to recover from release weekend (modelled here by the lovely Bingo)

Cat Hoodie

Finished a fun crocheted coaster - two sided!

16 Petals

And earned 100 points for Ravenclaw with socks & fingerless mitts.

Pointelle

Sky Blue

Back on Track

It seems that all I use the blog for these days is as a portal to other updated blogs. Maybe I should become part of the action again.

October was full of WoW.

November has been full of WoW, including a trip to Blizzcon and dinging my 5th level 90 character.  It's been a great ride.  I also went to the Fiber Fair in Torrance and bought some very soft llama fiber.

I was knitting like crazy on a shawl but am running out of yarn and am in a dither.  Of course it is a commission and in a difficult color to match. 

Holly wants me to take her on more walks. 

Today I found a notification that I received a gift of a scarf pattern that I have wanted for several years (but was unwilling to pay $10 for).  I am a happy knitter! I think the previously mentioned llama will work well for it.  Now I have a spinning / knitting project for the next couple of months.

WoW: A Holiday Weekend

It was Labor Day weekend here in the states & I spent it doing pretty much nothing.  It was hot and muggy all weekend and it was all I could do to stumble from the freezer (for ice & creamsicles) to the a/c unit.

The time I was up I spent on the computer. Halah the druid reached 90 and Icihott the DK reached 80 (and then 81). I am quite pleased.

Vacation

I took last week off and did a lot of relaxing.

I finally hit level 90 in World of Warcraft (4 months after release) and am quite excited. Now I am raising a cloud serpent to be a flying mount. He is so cute.

I crocheted a potholder which sees use daily - no more grabbing the teakettle with an old sock.  I also crocheted a spinning wheel bobbin for my Quidditch project for the Harry Potter themed knitting group. I have also been knitting on a cabled scarf and a glove # 1 of a pair.  I have finger and the thumb to go.

Holly (the new dog) went to the vet and got shots, spayed, dental cleaning and a microchip.  Her recovery has been smooth and we are taking walks again.  This morning I stopped by the car to grab a hat and she took a running leap right into the passenger seat!  Before, she was shy about getting in the car and had to be forcibly removed from the driver's seat. I guess going to the "spa" (vet) for the day really agreed with her.

Fritti (the 15 1/2 year old cat) also went to the vet and got a new prescription for some antibiotics; they must be working because his sneezing seems much reduced.  Kiwi the parrot passed away, I miss her a lot but we had a great last month together and her passing was very quiet and peaceful.

Yesterday afternoon I finally made it back to archery and had a really great time.  No one else came out, so I was able to look dumb & practice & get good tips from the hosts.  I left feeling much more confident and will be back again soon.

Last night I found all the equipment and materials for my OWL and BROOM projects (HP knitting group again) and swatched so I could submit my proposals by the deadline. I  am making laceweight yarn from some cormo roving that is wonderful and soft.  I found three bags of it, but when I got them together, they are clearly all different shades of white (see below).  However, I made my swatch and I think that I have plenty of fiber in each color, so I think I will use the one in the front (bright white) for the project. Overdyeing would also be an option, but I have my heart set on a white shawl.

Holly photobombing my spinning picture

New Year's Beach Party

I love my new WoW guild (I love my old guild as well).  I plowed forward in the face of apathy and we had a really fun beach party.  Not everyone came, but those who did were really into it. Thank you, Midnight Forerunners!

Pictures are blurry because, well, my character was drunk.

Panda-lightful

I love playing World of Warcraft, as you know. I am also in the beta test for the new content (called Mists of Pandaria). It is going to be a great expansion and worth every penny if all I do is sit on a rock overlooking the lake and listen to the soundtrack.

My sweet Baobei is nice to look at too.
In addition to the low level characters to try out the new race & class, I have brought a high level character over to try out the new "grown up" world and dungeons. It is all very cool, beautiful and exciting to see the working models of the new ideas.

Gaming cuts into my knitting time, but I do so enjoy escaping into another world.

Mild Monday

Finished knitting the body of Martha's sweater today; only the neckband remains for knitting. After that comes blocking & finishing and delivering! Snuck in a couple rows on my own version of the same sweater last night. Only one or two more rows to go until I need to make the sleeves.

Played some quality WoW yesterday and today - upgraded the PvP gear, got my tailor levelled to 500, and tonight put half a level on my hunter. It is amazing that one makes progress if one applies oneself.

Went to the gym tonight and read a few pages of _Don Quixote_ on the reclining bike. I put in a solid 30 minutes and am feeling good. I go in to work late tomorrow, so I have a plan to go to yoga in the morning and later call to see if I can get into the Holiday Bazaar that they are hosting in December.

The snake is getting ready to shed - I will be excited to see if her coat pattern changes after this shed. Baird's hatchlings don't look anything like the adults, but I don't know what the in between stages look like. Only one way to find out!

Impediment

This is why I hardly play WOW anymore.

Also, I have discovered that if I don't spend the night in the bird room on the computer, I don't have 30 minute coughing fits the next day. Definitely time for an air filter in here.

Ding!

Well I had a nice happy post planned and then was reminded that I forgot to go to knitting night tonight. Darn it! I will make myself a reminder for next week.

Otherwise I had a quiet day. There was some computer time, some birdy snuggling and the cat wars over the prime sleeping spot. I woke up at 5:30 am with a massive headache, made some coffee to try to stem it, then gave up and walked the dog to the pharmacy at 7 in the morning to get some Excedrin. After an hour or so I felt much better, and the early morning air was brisk and refreshing. It rained during the night and all was clean and shiny.

Hit level 85 on my main in WoW today and was reminded who my real (on line) friends are. I think I have finally landed in a nice guild. I haven't had a lot of time in game lately and it felt nice to chat and joke around and make some progress.

Progress in real life included cooking and pet care and doing dishes. Yippee. Back to work tomorrow, rested and cheerful.

On the Level

I am having a nice stay-cation, playing WoW and snuggling the parrots. Beaker (and later, the cockatiels) got a spray bottle bath yesterday and found it very agreeable.Today's treat was half of a pomegranate - he eats every little bit of it. He even passed up some banana! The cockatiels are babbling up a storm and are endless entertainment.

I am enjoying the new WoW expansion very much. It was a long wait but the graphics are amazing and the quest lines entertaining. It is always better when I can play with friends and I have some good ones.

No knitting to report, but I did go out for family dinner tonight and we made cookies afterward. Good times. Everything is better after a full bottle of wine!

Back to work in the morning, then I think the spinning meeting on Saturday if the car will make it.

Shucks

Darn, I knew I should not have put off posting last night. Oh well.

Everything is about the same here. Baby cockatiel is going to be a pied, I think (pearled also, I hope), and is starting to open her eyes. The little gray patch of developing crest feathers is high-larious.

Have the day off today - something about working 50+ hours last week. Spending the day playing WoW since I have no money for any of the things that actually *must* get done. Will put in laundry later and maybe buy cat chow and dog biscuits. It rained last night and I might take Beaker and pull up some weeds while the ground is soft.

Maybe I will knit later. I would like to have the sweater done.

Hangin' on

A beautiful day today: sunny; windy; warm; but not too much of any. Knit a few rows on the purple sweater. It might finally be time to measure soon. Did my best at work today but still had some pretty big errors... might be due to the nearly 60 hours I put in last week or maybe to the incessantly ringing phone & being behind. It was still my best.

Saw the most beautiful full moon this morning (at 5:30 am) - cream colored in a black sky and hanging low on the horizon.

Had some good Cheese time in WoW tonight - decided to fish & chat and not worry about tasks or dungeons or leveling or whatever. Of course right after that I was jealous as hell I wasn't invited to the ICC run. Pah. Much like laundry and doing my taxes, I want to run heroics until I puke when I am at work, but when I get home I lose all motivation.

Got in some good parrot snuggling time. Kiwi is good at flying to me from the swing and then back. Not so confident flying around the house (scary!). Showed Beaker how to crack a pine nut... I am not sure if he is hesitant or just not strong enough to crack them on his own. The tiels and budgies are looking good but probably want some walkabout time here pretty soon.

I think I forgot to eat dinner. Off to find a snack.

WOW - Whee!

I left the 'puter on all night and it obediently installed 5 hours worth of WOW patches. Then I got to play for a few hours this morning and was happy as a clam (until I started dying). Ahhhh.

Everyone is invited to the Knit Night at Knit 'n' Stitch tomorrow night (see sidebar for address). There will be pizza, salad, drinky-poos, and I heard a rumor about birthday cupcakes*. Bring your crafy project (knitting, crochet, whatever) or just come browse the yarns and find some to add to your stash. They have some lovely sock yarn from Mountain Colors. We will also have "Brigadoon" playing. Every knit night they play a different musical and it is finally my turn to pick again. They ask nicely for a $10 contribution. The fun starts at 6pm!

This week's netflix movies were "Woyzeck" by Werner Herzog and "Crash" (which I have not finished yet). I am not amazingly impressed by either one. Time to watch some more "Weeds: Season 2".

*I may actually have started this rumor.

On The Road

Here I am, at 1:25 am, installed in the hotel room near LAX and I am wide awake. Martena leaves for India in the morning (yay!sob!) and we went over some work and then I will take the car to pick up some LA Yoga magazines and return the car to the house. I had a coffee before we left and a soda on the road (so bad) and have not been this awake in recent memory. Maybe the guy at the mini mart slipped some meth into it. Wait, I made the coffee at home. Dang.

Today was a wicked busy day - by the end my brain felt totally full. When I realized I totally forgot to go to a meeting I knew it was overflowing and important things were leaking out. I had some fun today, though. I went for my first manicure (extra basic) and pedicure this morning. My toes are now Idaho red. It was scary at first and then really fun as soon as I put my feetsies in the massaging footbath. I will have to add it to my list of "special things to do once in a while", along with going to the movies and getting a haircut. I swang (?) by Tar-jhay and found a cute sweatshirt/hoodie with crows on it that I just had to have. Luckily it was drizzly and cool most of the day, so I had an excuse to get it. How can it be 100 degrees yesterday and raining today? Maybe the weather goddess needs some of my mood stabilizers.

As I type the Blizzard patch is downloading so that I will be able to play WOW again someday. The taskbar says I have 4 hours to go. This is better than the 12 hours it said it would take at the library. Here at the Holiday Inn I can just leave it on all night. I do miss playing WOW and if I am going to pay for the subscription I should play the game. I wish (OK not really) that I could spin, weave, knit, play WOW, watch netflix and read all at the same time. And check email. This might be an ambitious goal.

The kitty cat has a date with the vet on Friday. She has been losing weight (but not condition or energy or affection) the last several months and I am starting to worry. I am feeding her wet food on the sly - although the other cats are starting to catch on. I hope she just has something simple like a hurt tooth. Simple = cheap.

Fat and Happy


It was a great weekend. Friday we had open spinning night, and Scott knit on his trivet and I knit on my Painted Desert socks (alternating between the two). Denise had fun spinning stories and job hunting advice. It is so nice to just sit and knit and talk and unwind from the week. I don't know why knitting is soothing, but I know it works and I like it!


Saturday was my exciting and much-anticipated trip to BlizzCon in Anaheim, and it did not disappoint. I got to try the new WoW offering: "Return of the Lich King", listen to presentations and Q&A sessions, and generally soak up the atmosphere. I am only a beginning WoWer, but I kept my mouth shut and my ears open and think I learned a lot. There may be a trip to the coffee shop tonight :) I did NOT ride the mechanical pachyderm thingy.

Sunday Mr. Fixit and I went yard sale-ing in the midday and washed the car and went to see "Harry Potter 5" in the evening. The movie was pretty good; I think it moves faster than #4 and it included many of the things I found interesting in the books, including Harry finding out how his dad treated Snape and Hermione's explanation of all the things girls think about.

Knitting did occur! I fixed Gray sock #2 and have gotten most of the leg done. If I push myself I could finish it tonight, but I think walking the dogs and then a 7pm bedtime might be in order. The Painted Desert socks are both about 6" long (toe to end of foot), so it is nearly time to turn the heels and make a commitment as to whether or not I want a pattern for the leg. The yarn is so striking it might not need one.

The Heel is Turned...


...and knitting progresses on the lacy leg of the 2nd gray sock. Meanwhile, I started the toe of the Painted Desert sock a couple days ago, just to give myself some plain stockinette knitting for those times when I am not capable of working lace.


"The Simpsons Movie" was fantastic! It is on my "must see again soon" list. If you go to see it, stay through the credits.


This weekend I am going to BlizzCon. I hope they don't check to see how long it has been since I last played World of Warcraft. Perhaps tonight after yoga I can find some WoW time.

So Much Fun, so Little Laundry.

I stayed at the coffee place, playing WoW, for an embarassingly long time last night. But I bought my coffee, no one asked me if I was leaving soon, and the woman on the other side of the room was there before and after me. I am on my way to taming a pet (and you know how I like pets), I finally joined a group, and it was only a little intimidating. It sure is easier to kill things when there are 3 people. I made sure to leave the computer unplugged last night and today so that it will not be tempted to skip yoga and play WoW instead. I miss yoga.

When I came home, I watched "National Treasure" with Nick Cage and Sean Bean. That's Boromir to you hip people. I am only on the edge of hip, because it took me 2 hours to place his face. Anyway, it was an entertaining romp, but not high art. I enjoy the Dan Brown and Clive Cussler books more.

I have a picture of the cotton samples from the weekend for you:

From the top, that is navajo (chain) plied organic brown cotton (courtesy of Eileen - when I tried it broke and broke and broke), organic brown cotton singles, 50%cotton 50%wool blend singles, Upland cotton singles, and a dyed cotton singles. That is also the order that the samples were covered in the class. The brown cotton was my favorite. It looks just like all that camel down I was spinning earlier this year. The upland cotton, which does NOT come from Upland, was my least favorite. I think it was the preparation (draw sliver) that was my stumbling block. Or maybe because it was the 3rd sample and I was getting tired and frustrated.

Altogether, I am inordinately proud of my little heap of skeins. I made 2 skeins of angora yesterday at the Lace In, and then last night I worked on the dyed pink cotton a little bit. Again, it was late and I was tired, so it isn't very even, but at least I sat down and practiced.

The plan for today - have a GREAT day at work (affirmations, people), do some laundry, go to yoga in evening, and practice on the charkha at some point. I don't want to hear any comments about my lack of knitting progress.

Walking on Sunshine... or maybe just stepping on her tail. No new knitting progress to report today, friends. Yesterday I managed to limp through the work day, play a little World of Warcraft, go to yoga and meditation, and go to bed.

Today is going a bit better than the rest of the week - maybe I got a little closer to my center yesterday at meditation. I am always so glad when I stay. And last night 20 minutes did not seem all that long. I love it when Micah gives us a little speech before we start and we all compare notes afterward. It makes me realize that the things I feel / think are normal and I am right on track.

Tonight you can find The Soap Plantation booth at our Downtown Market Night (in front of the California Building) and also over in the ballroom of the Life Arts Building as part of the Riverside Arts Walk. Get out! Smell some soap! Go check out Kelly and Gil's pictures of Africa!