A high school meme?

1.Who was your best friend? Cherine.

2.What sports did you play? Soccer, softball. Was a Co-Captain of the Varsity Soccer team my senior year (but it was only because I was one of two seniors who showed up for pre-season). (I wasn't very good at soccer. I'm not much into the "running" thing).

3.What kind of car did you drive? My current beloved Rav-4

4.It’s Friday night, where were you? Probably at home.

5.Were you a party animal? Not really.

6.Were you considered a flirt? Hoo yeah.

7.Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? Choir. And a girls' singing group that was really just an excuse to hang out twice a week. We were pretty awful. Example: I remember the one (one) time we were in harmony.

8.Were you a nerd? Yes, but not in the Hermione Granger way. I was quiet and into theatre. That's pretty nerdly.

9.Did you get suspended/expelled? Our school had this policy where if you had to skip a detention for something (like soccer practice/a game) then you had to make it up with two detentions. I started off with two detentions for cutting health (health) class because a friend was upset and I stayed with her. I got two detentions and since it was soccer season I missed about every other one. You can imagine how long it took for me to make them all up.

10.Can you sing the fight song? Well, there's the standard Quaker school fight chant: Burn bright inner light, kill Quakers kill! (See, Quakers are all about the nonviolence, so it's funny. See?) (The Quaker college I went to had a slight variation "Fight fight, inner light, kill, Quakers, kill! which I don't think is nearly as good).

11.Who was your favorite teacher? Angus. History teacher. Always had amazing stories (like how Rasputin was notoriously well-endowed) and drew phenomenally intricate maps on the chalkboard. He was tough but fair (I never did well in history -- no memory for names. Or dates. Or geography).

12.School mascot? Kangaroo. Never really figured that one out.

13.Did you go to Prom? Yeah. It was okay.

14.If you could go back and do it over, would you? Pass.

15.What do you remember most about graduation? I had hideous allergies. My nose was dripping, I kept sneezing, I had no tissues, and I was sitting in the front row. I kept staring meaningfully at the box of tissues under the headmaster's chair, but my mental powers weren't strong enough to move them. So I used my robe. Which was white. Nice.

Also, they mispronounced the name of the classic-over-achiever, arrogant, super-talented-at-everything, made-for-high-school guy, which was very satisfying.

16.Where were you on senior skip day? Did we have a skip day? I don’t remember. (That's Grace's answer, but it applies to me, too).

17.Did you have a job your senior year? Over the summer I worked at my dad's law firm.

18.Where did you go most often for lunch? Cafeteria. I ate a lot of Cup Noodles soup. Mmm, cup noodles...

19.Have you gained weight since then? Sure have!

20.What did you do after graduation? Moved to NC for college.

21.Who was your Senior prom date? Clint. I couldn't find anyone to Go go with, so I invited him. He was a friend(ish) who had changed schools a year or two prior.

22.Are you going / did you go to your 10 year reunion? I haven't made it to any yet. It'd be good, I guess.

23.Who was your home room teacher? My senior year advisor was... was... oh. SOMEbody.

24.Who will repost this after you? EVERYONE.

In which I learn some valuable lessons and maybe use some bad words, plus some maths

My home internets is out so updating is tricky. Just so's you know.

I got comissioned by one of the lawyers in my office to knit a hat for her sister's impending baby. I sent her some options and brought in hats I'd made, and she browsed a while and then picked one.

She picked this.

Okay. I don't get knitted food, but fine, other people like it, that's cool. But good gravy y'all -- that thing is ALL BOBBLES.

All.

Bobbles.

Which is when I learned the first lesson: if comissioned, only give options of things you really, truly care to knit.

But I said I would, took a quick trip to the store for some basic cotton and got to work. The crust bit was easy enough (though I'm a little worried about the inelasticity of the ribbing), but then I started the bobbles. Those of you who have worked with bobbles and cotton before already know my second lesson.

For those of you who haven't done either of those things, you should know that 1. cotton has very little elasticity, and 2. bobbles are a pain in the ass can involve something like "purl 3 together." The conclusion that we can then draw is that cotton + bobbles = those kinda scary painful hand twinges.

I finished two bobbles and called it a night, and when I was lying in bed I realized that I had some red cashmerino in my stash. My hands are saved, and I'm one row of bobbles down! Only fifty ka-skillion to go!



So the other lesson I learned isn't knitting related, but it's always fun to share embarrassing stories, so here we go.

I, like most Amurikens, had the 4th of July off to celebrate our country's independence by setting fire to explosives and ingesting poison (mmm, margaritas! Go America!). Like any reasonable human I was most looking forward to sleeping in, and did so at length. But first I woke up at 8am with a dry mouth caused by my dear love the air conditioner.

Being a clever sort I had a glass of water next to my bed. I took a drink, put the glass back, and slept again. A second later I woke up to something dripping on my arm (which was near my head, thankyouverymuch). My pillow was wet! And dripping! And there was a giant wet spot on top of my comforter (or "douna").

Turns out that I'd, um, skipped that middle step of "putting glass back on desk" and went straight to "pass right the fuck out."

Which brings us to our second equation, which is: foofy bed + glass of water = awake stupid early, dammit.

I also might have a vague recollection of setting the glass down on the bed, as though my 1. winter-weight comforter (or "douna"), 2. featherbed, and 3. mattress were supposed to somehow keep it upright like that commercial where they put the glass of red wine on the mattress and the dude with the shorts and tall-ass white socks (why?!) jumps ever-so-carefully on the bed to be all "ooo, the glass didn't fall over." It is possible I was channeling that commercial. A cunning plan, to be sure.

In the end I turned my comforter ("douna") around, threw a blanket over the wet bit of mattress, and fell right back asleep. And later told everyone about how I spilled water on myself at 8am.

Also, Grace tagged/nominated me for this award/meme/thing:



And I get to nominate five people, so here goes:
1. Tanya! Y'all, she's been really super-helpful with my NZ trip. She rocks like whoa. And makes some gorgeous cupcakes.
2. NikKnits. She designs AND is hilarious. An excellent thing, to be sure.
3. Elinor. She always knits gorgeous stuff, posts lovely pictures, and has a doubleplus cute wee bairn.
4. Heather. Knits like the wind. Braver traveler than me!
5. Amy. She occasionally reads my mind, pattern and yarn-wise. She's knitting the Swallowtail Shawl AND the Tomten sweater (both in my queue) and we bought the same yarn at SAFF:

Questions and pictures

I... tagged myself? from Elizabeth's interview. Here are the questions from her (she kindly let us select from a list):

What is the thing you like most about yourself? The least? Extra points if it's two sides of the same coin!

Empathy. It makes me kind, thoughtful, and a wicked gift-giver. I can sense the mood in a person or in people and adjust how I act to accomodate it, which can make conversations really comfortable. And it makes me so scared of hurting people's feelings that instead of being clear and direct I get really passive aggressive and wimpy.

I could write a book about this.



Bebe socks for SteveAndDeb's impending bebe

If you could go on vacation anywhere in the world, money is no object, where would you go and what would you do there?

I'd visit my friends. My dancer friends in Scotland, Beth in Korea, Lauren in Bulgaria, Paige, Dan, and Chelsea in Chicago -- all these people all over the world. When I got there I'd take them all out for excellent food and wine/beer.

Alternately, I'd like to have a jet, pack up my friends and take them to somewhere in the Caribbean for lounging purposes. I'd also fly out a band and caller and have nightly contra dances followed by late night swing dances. Knitting in the afternoons, scuba diving in the morning. That'd be so sweet!

Is there a sport or adventurous hobby you've always wanted to try but haven't? If so, what is it?

Part of me wants to try sky diving. Confront those "omg fear of heights eeeee omg" feelings. I don't know if I'll ever do it, though. I thought my plane coming in this weekend was descending a little too fast and I still have red half-moon marks in my arm from my nails. Ow. I can't imagine what jumping out of a plane would be like. I imagine I would pee myself.

Tell us about your most embarrassing moment, but only if you want to.

Oh, but there are so many! How about when I was in a play in middle school, when I didn't bother to learn my lines and so had to read them from the script, hidden in a manilla folder?

Or when I was in a play involving the wearing of roller skates? I was standing there listening to someone talking about something when I realized I was going to lose my balance at any minute and there was nothing I could do about it. And, just as I'd predicted, one of my feet shot out and I stumbled -- but didn't fall. A miracle! When I went backstage one of the techies asked if it was true I'd fallen. Nice.

And, of course, the time I was caught plagerizing one of the American Girl stories in English class in elementary school.



Emily's mitts! I definitely did not fake the blocking by sticking my ipod shuffle in the bottom of the top mitt. Cough.

What is your favorite game to play?

Wink! (Also inexplicably spelled winq). It's a game that (generally) young Quakers play at gatherings to get out energy and some sexual frustration. Here's how it goes: everyone but one person has a partner. The person without a partner is the "winker." Everyone sits in a circle and your partner is either in front of you or behind you (if the group is small it might be a line with the winker sitting 10-15 feet away from everyone else). The winker then calls out a few people sitting in the front row -- either by name, shirt color, or anything else they might think up. It's the job of the people called to get to the winker and kiss them somewhere above the shoulders. It's the job of their partner to keep them from doing that by any means except tickling or major wrestling holds. Including clapping your hand over their mouth. And there's no standing up.

My favorite rule is that "ow" means keep going, and "stop" means stop. Awesome, awesome game.

Want me to interview you? Leave a comment. A comment with a joke. Just 'cause.

The sox:
Final successful cast on: May 14, 2007

Finished weaving in the ends: uh... somewhere around the 21st, I'll say.

The originator: My basic sock pattern (pretty close to the Yarn Harlot's in Knitting Rules!), without the slip-stitch heel. Ribbing continued down the foot and into the toes.

The string: What is likely Rowan 4-ply soft (I have tons left even after making 1 adult sock and 2 wee bebe socks).

The sticks: Size 1 (ish) dpns.

Pattern shmattern: Cast on 38 with a tubular cast-on.

The mitts:
Final successful cast on: Got me.

Finished weaving in the ends: Somewhere around the 25th?

The originator: Eunny Jang's Endpaper Mitts.

The string: Malabrigo worsted in natural and some variety of green.

The sticks: Size 1 (?) dpns for the ribbing, size 2 addis for the body.

Pattern shamattern: Well, my gauge was crazy. And I think I've guaranteed myself some eventual carpal tunnel. I reduced the amount of ribbing at the top to make it more reasonable length, but that's about it.

I'm it!

Carolyn tagged me for the 8 random facts meme.

The Rules:
1. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.

2. People who are tagged write a blog post about their own 8 random things and post these rules.

3. At the end of your blog you need to tag 8 6 people and post their names.

4. Don't forget to leave them a comment and tell them they're tagged, and to read your blog.

8 Random Facts/Habits:

1. I'm tuh-errified of heights. Hate them hate them hate them. I'm fine with being in a building, by a window, many floors up, but get me on a roof or next to a cliff and I squeal and giggle and hang on tight to the nearest tree. A friend invited me to go sky diving, and even talking about it made me shaky. Eeee.

2. I once drove 500 miles in a day to check on a dog that I wasn't sure I'd be able to find. (For the record: I did).

3. Texture is a big thing for me with food. I don't like most nuts because of their texture (I'll gladly eat cookies with ground almonds, but I won't eat whole ones). Love bread and dough-y textures. Hate mushrooms.

4. I'm allergic to birch tree pollen, which means that when I eat raw peaches, pears, apples, cherries, and some other fruits my mouth and sometimes my ears get all itchy. I still eat 'em anyway. Deeeelish!

5. This whole "wearing glasses" thing is weirding me out. Lots.

6. I'm thinking about working towards becoming a zookeeper, but really I have no idea what I want to do with my life. Or where.

7. At the beginning of September I'll probably be moving to New Zealand for a few months. I'm both pleased and terrified. In December I'll come back to my hometown of Philly, but I have absolutely zero idea of where I'll go after that. I have glorious friends here, but Greensboro isn't exactly spectacular. I don't like the thought of leaving these people forever.

8. When I was young one of my favorite restaurants was Seafood Shanty (remember those?) even though I didn't eat seafood (I'm just now getting into it). I'd have pasta with butter sauce (essentially noodles drowning in butter, which, if not for obvious reasons, I would TOTALLY still eat all the time) and color in the placemats which would invariably get me a free dessert coupon which we would always forget to bring.


Hey! Tanya, Amy, Heather, Jenny,Janice, Anita! Y'all are it!

I've been tagged for the first time by Kiwi Knitter! Yee haw. As a result all you unsuspecting folks get to learn:

6 Weird Things About Me!

1. Most of my friends are older than me. Ranging 1-20+ years. Generally, people my own age drive me crazy. It also has to do with the fact that my main source of entertainment (outside of knitting) is contra dancing, and the median age of the dancers in my area is, oh, 45. Ish.

2. I firmly believe that salad is a finger food. Maybe not dressed salad, but I prefer to have the dressing on the side and use my fingers to dip leaves. Trying to eat salad with a fork is unnecessarily difficult.

3. I prefer lovers to boyfriends. I have no intention of settling down anytime soon and with my travel plans (back abroad in Septemberish for... some months) it seems futile to initiate a relationship with an expiration date. Besides, I like my time alone, and I like jaunting off for the weekend without clearing it with someone else (not that I'd have to, I'm just sayin'). Also, I'm too busy for a relationship, I l-o-v-e flirting, I'm wild about my lovers, and I get all the emotional lovin' from my friends.

4. I create wild scenarios in my head all the time. One cross word with someone and my mind goes off on an imaginary argument with them, sometimes making me even more annoyed than I already am. Or I'll hear a creak in my room late at night and all of a sudden I'll be envisioning a guy with a hatchet or similar, and I'd ponder what I'd do -- play sleeping? Jump up and scare him? Sneak my phone under the covers and call the police? And sometimes I'll see someone cute and my mind really takes off.

Maybe I should've stuck with writing fiction...

5. I'm the only person I know who can go on a diet, follow it (fairly) strictly, and gain weight. Yeah. THAT feels good.

6. I can't remember names. I have some kind of freaky mental block where I barely even hear the names anymore, it just comes out "Hi, I'm KSSSHHHHHH." And I'll smile and say, "I'm sorry, what was your name again?" and they'll say, "It's KSSSSHHHHHHH." And I'll smile broadly and never use their name again. I have a lot of conversations with my friends that go as follows:

Them: Is Martin single again?
Me: Um! Which one's Martin?
Them: That one, [pointing to someone I've danced with for years].
Me: ...His name's Martin? Really? ...huh...

Same goes for place names. Street names. Dates. Birthdays. Even things I've known forever gradually leak out. My best bet is to associate that person with someone of the same name. If their name's Brian then I'll associate them with my friend Brian, or with the dog from Family Guy.

This was actually kind of difficult because everything I do seems normal to me. I had to keep reminding myself that just because I do it doesn't mean everybody does it.

And since this is a knitting weblog,

7. I buy roving even though I don't spin. Yet.