Tired

Crazy at work the last two days. We have just enough staff - barely - for regular days. Take away one person or increase the workload by 20% and my stress level goes right up to "oh my god we are all going to die". The last two days both of those things happened and I was not at my best.

I am NOT going to feel guilty about taking 4 days off in a week. Nope, nope, nope. I have been there every day I was scheduled for 9 months except for two days sacrificed to getting the car running again. And it is a working vacation anyway.

Wakeup call at 4:15 am. Time for lights out!

Bittersweet

I love the new post over on Acorn to Oak. I scrolled down to the KNS sign and got all misty eyed. I forget how much I miss it and then wonder how we go on knitting without it. I peeped in the window yesterday... the new shop has moved in. Shopping there would still seem like a betrayal, methinks. And I have plenty of stash.

Knit a few rows on a washcloth today at lunch. The blue socks are on hold while I search for my missing #1 needle.

It was another scorcher today, but I tried to enjoy it. I will long for the heat around December. The cavies and rabbits will be glad to see the back of the heat though; Lola looks like a pig over a barrel when she lays on her frozen water bottle. I will be surprised if she does not get frostbite in her pig-pits.

As for knitting & sipping wine - I suggest you start slowly. Perhaps a white wine spritzer and a garter stitch scarf!

Starting Over

Well I guess instead of feeling guilty about falling behind in my blogging, I should just start again.

It is hot today. 111 degrees hot. After a week in the climate controlled office, it am feeling a little wilted. I just sprayed down the cockatiels but they seem to have air dried already - time for another round. Baby # 3 I sold to a coworker who loved her greatly, but she died suddenly Friday night. Sigh. Baby #2 is apparently a male, as he is talking, mumbling and singing more and more each day. Lately I have been wondering if he has an "off" button. Mustardseed was bitten by the dog (my fault), but her foot has healed nicely and she will be fine. Mama cat escaped a couple weeks ago, but I caught her last night. Beaker had his first birthday on Monday and has learned to say "here kitty kitty".

There has been knitting - I have two finished pairs of socks to show off and then two and a half single socks. It turns out that drinking and knitting do go together.

Time to run a tub full of icy water and submerge myself!

Feeling Flighty

Oldest baby - legband 1409, 28 days. At the beginning of the photo shoot, she was skittish and pressed to the ground in baby posture. An hour later, she was sitting on my shoulder, chirping, observing the world and grinding her beak like a grown bird. I have never seen a 'tiel with the pinpoint yellow "pearls" on her breast feathers - less than a pearl but different from the stripes of her "underpants" feathers. She has the most, and brightest, yellow on her face. Must come from feeding the parents conditioning & molting food.

Baby 2 - legband 1435, 26 days. A very squirrelly bird; always on the go. This is the only shot of got that was even a little bit clear. She is a deep, deep gray, has black feet and only two or three white nape feathers. Still likes to huddle close to the ground but is getting better at perching. For some reason unknown to me, the birds act more like grownups once they start perching. It is as if that weight redistribution flips a switch in their little birdy brain! Baby 3 - legband 1438, 24 days. Giving #2 a real run for her money in the development department; if not for the bands I would not have been able to tell them apart in age until the feathers started coming in. This one has quite a few yellow crest and nape feathers and is a soft gray. Baby 4 -legband 1475, 22 days. She still has quite a few feathers in pins (even some baby fuzz in places), and a cute naked patch visible on her crop. Has the pinpoint yellow dots on her breast feathers, but more faint than 1409. Her beak is quite dark and her feet are black. They aren't experimenting with food and water yet, but it will be any day now. They started clambering out of the nextbox early this week and I think I will remove it entirely tomorrow and add some more perches (low to the ground) for them to practice on. Hamlet & Violet are looking a little thin - definitely time to take a break from parenting.

The Swing of Things

I have been quite the happy camper this week, even though I caught a cold and was laid out Monday and Tuesday. I was off work so was able to drink lots of Theraflu and sleep to my heart's content. Short days yesterday and today; I work Saturday but am looking forward to two more days off next week. The hours will surely get made up when month end arrives, but I love the time to rest and recharge now.

The baby cockatiels are growing steadily. Three of them have gotten their legbands put on, and it will only be a day or two before the littlest one is ready. All four have opened their eyes, and they love to sway and hiss in unison when I poke my hand into the nestbox. It was wonderful to see little Mustardseed grow up, but the Fearsome Foursome are a sight to behold - I can see the different stages of development and they are already showing their birdy-alities. I suspect they will all be visual grey "normals" - no indications of pied, pearl or cinnamon in the bunch.

Since I don't spend 2-3 hours a night on the phone with the Friend anymore, I have rekindled my netflix watching and my knitting hobby. Last night I stayed up way too late, but I knit maybe 4 inches on the foot of the second "Skye" sock. I finished the first of the brown "cafe mocha" socks over the weekend, but haven't cast on for the second yet. No second sock syndrome - just want to finish the blue ones. I am knitting from both ends of one skein so I use up every inch of the yarn, which makes for a big mess if the tangle-fairy comes, and I started these back when the kittens were little last spring, so it is high time they were off the needles and in the sock drawer.

I am planning on going to a renaissance faire in a couple weekends - very excited to feel the dust in my ... well, everywhere. I'll take my tent, some wool, some handcards and do a little spinning to earn my keep. I am pretty sure the pets can watch themselves for one day. I should put up the tent and make sure all the pieces are there.

Chirp Chirp Chirp... Chirp

I was having quite a low morning today; nothing seemed to be going my way. Cat is sick, chores are looming, garden is weedy, the new Friendship fizzled. Then I went to check on the birds. It was chaos in the birdroom! Empty dishes, Mustardseed the cockatiel had escaped from her cage and moved into Kiwi's digs (she has been in the play cage in the front room this week), and there was a blast of squawking, calling, whistling and.... chirping? Infant chirping? I peeked in the nestbox (Violet has been holed up in there for weeks, so I was afraid of her coming out beak first) wondering if a chick had appeared, and saw...

FOUR babies.

It was a sea of soft yellow down, pink skin and dark eyes. The eldest must be almost a week old now - i can see pinfeathers coming in underneath the skin. The youngest is dry and fluffy, so must have hatched late yesterday. How did I miss a week's worth of baby-chirping and feeding noises? Must have been watching too much "Deadliest Catch" and drowned out the sound. The babies all look fat and happy. I refilled the food dishes, made up some veggies, and filled the vitamin cup. Hamlet is holding his wing at an odd angle - wonder if he strained it somehow? I snuggled Mustardseed (who wanted to move back in with the folks) and put her back in her bachelorette apartment. Then switched Kiwi and Beaker in the playcage and now a very happy Pionus is swinging about and throwing seed into the keyboard of the laptop.

My 4 day weekend is looking up! Now I have the excitement and energy to get some stuff done this weekend. Or at least to snorgle baby birds. Mustardseed is also looking good - she is three months old now and still sweet, soft, and does her step-ups without biting. Interestingly, someone at work offered to buy a cockatiel from me last week. If this batch makes it, I guess I will have some available! I wonder if they will all be normal coloring? Ooh what if there are males in this clutch?

In non-avian updates, I dragged the Legend of the Shetland Seas stole out of the depths of the closet and have been working on the knit-on edging. I have also made quite a bit of progress on the brown socks this week. I have done some knitting during lunch at work, while watching netflix on the laptop, and then again last night at movie night at Knit N Stitch. Even found time to re-read _The Red Tent_ this week.

Progress

Done - budget begun. Date night done and another planned. Neighbor yelled to tell me my cat was stuck in the window and then talked to me for 2 more hours (but it was nice to visit). Catbox cleaned. Dishes done. Laundry in progress.

Weekend!

To do:

• make a budget
• knit
• clean da catbox
• date night
• garden
• laundry

Wish me luck!

Settling In

I have been feeling myself settle into a sense of stability and smoothness this week. Things with Mr. P are going well and I am starting to let myself be at peace with the idea that I am ready for someone else in my life, after a month of second guessing if I am really ready. It has taken the better part of 2 1/2 years to put myself back together. I don't begrudge that time; I have needed every minute of it to feel whole again; but over the last year I have had a growing sense that I would be capable of enjoying time with a new partner.

It is time to start adding little things back into my day; things that went by the wayside in the flurry of excitement and hopefulness. Blogging is tops on the list. Knitting is right behind. Routine is not an option - not with the crazy work schedule - but I hope that keeping some up some touchstone habits with keep me grounded.

So... watch this space for more snippets of my life with wool, cat hair and dreams of northern climes.

Barrel, Bottom of

It has been a tense week here. I don't know where it went, exactly, but last month's paycheck is long departed and it is STILL a week until payday. I raided every nook and cranny and found 4 $2 bills, one $1 bill, 8 quarters and a dollar coin. The only thing I refuse to give up is that $5 silver certificate. Emptied the savings, emptied the bank, emptied the sugar bowl. Offered to rent out a guinea pig for a week. No takers.

But the bills are paid (excepting food and gasoline), the house is snug, the cats are fed, the car is paid off and insured, and the lights are on. I am pretty sure I won't die. I can always eat yarn... it is a natural fiber, right? There is a man who adores me and a job to go to. There are even knitting projects to work on.

Fire on the freeway meant getting home was a slow trip and it is already very late. Time to put in some laundry, make some lunch for tomorrow, update the blog and take a shower. It is still not a bad life. I am stoked about making a budget this weekend, refilling the savings account after Tuesday, getting the car fixed and starting to put a little bit away for my summer vacation.

Falling

It has been an interesting month here at the Pickyknitter abode. Not much knitting, a lot of working, and a serious amount of falling ass-over-teakettle for a mysterious gentleman. He seems to have all the qualities on my 'list'; patient, patient, geeky, patient, funny, likes cats, patient, affectionate, patient and funny. The timing is right, the stars are aligned, I am getting what I asked for and the next step is to enjoy it and let our friendship blossom without second guessing or feeling unworthy or taking it for granted.

I have also drunk a stunning amount of brandy sours, but not all at once, so that is not really news.

At work today they asked if I would be interested in becoming a 'lead' on my team... I am pretty sure that would be ok with me. I have had short days this week and it is really, really good for recharging the ol' batteries. Month end will be here before I know it.

Surprise Developments

The blooms on my Foxglove plant (planted last spring). A very odd shade of pink, but nice. These are stealth blooms; caught me totally by surprise!

Brushfire seen from the commute home... looks like it started on the left and is working its way around. Saw water dropping planes zipping to and fro. Another view.

Not much else to report - another 14 hour day at work. Just enough time to skip dinner, play some WoW (or maybe just do some flirting) and go back to bed at 8:30. Woot.

Knit Blogging - Year One

This is my 365th post. A year of blogging spread over a much longer span. Knitting projects started, worked, completed, abandoned, resurrected. Relationships come and gone. The never-changing presence of cat hair on my... everywhere.

Knit on CeCe at lunch time (and I think some more, tonight). The pattern is starting to flow and the emerging fabric is quite lovely. Went poking around in bags last night and found several (!) skeins of sock yarn in varying stages of metamorphosis into socks, found two incomplete shawls, found the yarn for the Rug Project (the reason I wanted to learn to weave). Those were just the things I had forgotten about - I saw several other projects that have been on the periphery for a while know. A shawl that needs only a knitted-on border, balls of yarn for an afghan I planned, they yak / silk set aside for weaving scarves, a bag full of washcloth yarn. It may be time to haul out all the yarn and divide it into kits - putting yarn, pattern and needles all together - so I can have an idea of the things that are in progress. Surely I have enough sock yarn alone for a do-it-yourself sock club.

Got my deductible back from the car insurance company today (it must have been in my mailbox since Saturday). Splurged on dog biscuits (for them) and lemon chicken & brown rice (for me) for dinner. Tomorrow I have a short day at work, so it is off to get car repairs so I can pass smog and finally get my 2011 tags.

The Ties That Bind

On Friday my knitting friends celebrated my birthday. Cards, flowers, and a raisin-free carrot cake with my name on it! That is some spectacular attention to detail. We also watched a movie, ate salad and pizza and did a little knitting.

This afternoon I got the entire cockatiel family out of the cage and onto the playstand for pictures. Hamlet is on the left, the baby is in the middle, and Violet is on the far right. She and the baby are amazingly similar - except one is a normal and one is a whiteface. Baby can fly and land now with a little bit of grace. I think they are going a little stir-crazy in their little cage; when my car insurance refund / deductible comes in I will be cage shopping for them. I am also thinking of switching Kiwi and Beaker, as Kiwi can get her head out of the cage and is rubbing off all the feathers on her shoulders.

Knitting on Cece proceeds apace.... I was really out of the habit of knitting lace. I took the new sweater to the knit shop yesterday to get it sewn together but never took it out of the bag. sigh.

The Halfway Point

I forgot to dig out my copy of 'Inferno' to quote Dante for my post today. I am sure it is around here somewhere. Today I am 35 and part of me is pretty happy and part of me is amazed I made it this far. There is a tiny part of me that is ticking down the days that are left to me - fewer left to suffer through than ever before - but I am trying to squash that one down.

The baby bird (still nameless) had a milestone today - she can fly! She can't really stop flying except by crashing into walls, but finesse will come later. Her parents don't fly, but I am hoping Pretty Bird or Kiwi can give her some pointers. She will be 5 weeks old tomorrow.

Knit on CeCe for a bit last night and then again today at lunch (and then did some un-knitting), and am well into the first lace motif. There is a lot going on at once in this sweater: lace pattern, ribbed edging, increasing on every 10th row for a while and then decreases after a few inches... not really suitable for knitting in traffic.

I didn't get out of work until late (although I wanted to leave early) and didn't make it to Knit N Stitch for my birthday, but Movie Night is Friday so we will have to party then. When driving to my petsitting gig tonight I found the knit shop in Corona - I will have to check it out someday soon.

Off to celebrate my b-day with my WoW friends, if my head doesn't hit the keyboard first. I was up a little too late last night.

Last Day as a Whippersnapper

Only a few hours left until the big day... I am excited. Got the ok to leave work early tomorrow if it is slow - then found out we have double the usual number of signings. Sigh. Oh dear - I just remembered tomorrow is a potluck at work. Guess I will grab a 2L of diet coke on the way in to work.

CeCe day 3 - ripped out previous work and cast on 185 onto smaller needles. That is as far as I got, but it is still progress.

Memories of Knitting

CeCe, day 0 - swatched. stated gauge is 20 st & 28 row to 4" over garter stitch on size 7 needles. I am getting 21 st & 26 rows. I could go up a needle size to get the right st count, but that would make my row count even fewer... I don't think 20 x 28 is possible! I will cast on anyway.

CeCe , day 1 - cast on 185 st (40" bust size), knit one row ribbing at lunch and one row whil playing WoW and reading knitblogs. Start to make a blog post, realize the directions said "with smaller needles". Make note to rip it all out after posting to the blog. Wonder if it was a good idea to reduce my knitting time by 99% over the last year. I like this yarn so far. It is very soft and shiny. No stretch, but lots of drape.

n other news, I made it to work on time, had a good day, remembered to pet sit, came home and pulled up weeds in the garden with Beaker and played a little WoW. The epi is blooming - here is a picture of what it looked like last year. This plant came from Miss Muriel's garden - she lived next door to my grandparents for 30 years and I miss them all.

High Fiber Content

My haul from Newton's parking lot sale last weekend: From Left to Right:

• Firsa the cat - 13 years old and still the center of attention
• a cone of 20/1 100% viscose (I bought 2 cones, and they are huge), destined to be curtains.
• a cone of sage green mystery fiber. It strongly resembles 20/2 cotton, dyed green. I think it will match well with the white & brown cotton that is already in my stash. Dishtowels, here I come!
• 3 cones of rayon chenille (one in graphite & 2 in porcini) that might someday be a simple plaid or striped scarf.

I also got a book on weaving Huck / Huck Lace that looks very interesting. I certainly have enough cotton & viscose to go to town! This is the yarn for my next sweater project, Cece from Chicknits. It is cotton & viscose plied together, which gives it a lovely sheen and drape. Linda at Knit N Stitch has quite a bit of it, in 6 or 8 colorways. They are each quite subtle, but all lovely. This one is blue, gold & aqua. I think it will look cool and refreshing.

And, sadly, Mr Whiskers died in the night. He was at least 7, maybe 8, so he had a good long run. He was a good piggy though, and will be missed. This picture was taken about a year ago at his one and only adventure as a show pig (see the ear tag?).

Blessed Beltane!

Today is Beltane, the pagan fire festival. It was a gorgeous sunny day for it, too. So far today I have celebrated by sleeping in, lounging around and shopping. Tonight I plan on playing some WoW and tomorrow the big plan is to go to the ren faire. I also start a week of pet-sitting tomorrow night for someone at work who is going on a week's cruise to Mexico. Next week is my birthday, so this was also a day of self gifting... but since I will be 35 perhaps the purchase of a new edition of Dante's Inferno would have been a better choice?

Made a quick trip to Knit N Stitch to sew the purple sweater together, but Linda was teaching so I satisfied myself with shopping for yarn for my new project, the CeCe cardigan. It was nice to see Linda & Pat, to meet some new knitters, and to breathe in yarn fumes. The yarn I picked out is (ironically), nearly the same color as some ingeo yarn I spun a couple years ago. That must mean I like it!

Popped by Borders to use my 40% off coupon and came home with Eddie Izzard's "Definite Article" dvd. I really want the Black Adder box set, but just can't justify spending that much, even with a coupon. As always, the trick is to make sure I find the item I want the most without buying more than I came in for. Eddie makes me laugh, so I know this is a good choice.

Then a quick lunch and off to Kohl's to use my $10 gift card. I bought only things on sale and saved $114 according to my receipt. Found a great pair of slacks, two lilac tops, a comfy bra and a cute white indian-style shirt. That should keep me for the rest of the year. I forced myself to really look at the things that were there, made several trips to the fitting room, and only chose things I am sure I can mix & match with my existing 'wardrobe'. I detest clothes shopping and it is extra-frustrating to end up relegating poor choices to the back of the closet.

Baby bird pictures from 2 days ago when she was 4 weeks old. Today she is even bigger and stronger - she is as big as the parents (but with a shorter tail) and has moved out of the nestbox. I even caught her eating millet seed and climbing onto a perch yesterday! Flapping practice is happening all the time now; today she even let me swing her in an arc. Violet is sitting on a new clutch of eggs already (crazy lady). I am still considering names... Flora is one idea. Or I could keep with the Shakespearian theme... Desdemona? Portia? Gertrude?

No New Tale to Tell

Get up early. Go to work. Work. Eat. Knit. Work. Buy cat chow. Go home. Search fruitlessly for cute cardigan pattern. Blog. Sleep.

Taaaa-daaaa.