piglet

Get your ideas in now! The wording does *NOT* have to be perfect. Don't let a great idea go unwrangled because you got stuck on how to phrase something!!

http://wiscon.piglet.org/idea

The official closing time is midnight tonight, in your time zone. In practice, everyone gets a grace period, because I'm *so* not leaping out of bed at 0'dark thirty on a Sunday morning to turn off the form.

*thinking caps OFF* *writing caps ON* *HIT THAT SUBMIT BUTTON!!!*

Emboldened by having finished Racy Sweater, I have gone back to my tessellating fish afghan. *TEARING MY HAIR OUT* over this stupid pattern.

Started with http://knitting.livejournal.com/5714491.html several years ago. Because I have limited patience for seaming, I rejected whole-cloth the idea of knitting separate fish and stitching them together. Fish strips, I cry! So, I design the fish upside down, for knitting tail to nose. 4 fish into one strip, I decide *that's* too much seaming, and I should work 4 fish across in my strips.

Now I put the patterns together, right-side up and up-side down, and line them up. A-ha! The *real* problem with the fish pattern? Is that the stitch count drops in the middle. The shared stitch count across a pair of heads and tails is 29 stitches. In the center of the fish body, we are down to a combined stitch count, across 2 fish, of 26 stitches. 26!! 10% of our stitch count, down for the count!

So now I'm redesigning the fin?! 13 rows for the fin, forming an inverted triangle of stockinette within a garter body. And, fuck it! As long as I'm redesigning the whole damn thing, why don't I try moving the increases back into the middle, as in the original design? They might look better (central body dec/inc along a spine being more biologically suggestive), and she moved them in to solve a curling problem that I don't expect to share.

So, here's the pattern so far (pre-fin-redesign): | == change yarns

co6 | co 23
K6 | K23
K1, Kfb, K2, Kfb, K1 | K1, SSK, K17, K2tog, K1
K8 | K21
K1, Kfb, K4, Kfb, K1 | K1, SSK, K15, K2tog, K1
K10 | K19
K1, Kfb, K6, Kfb, K1 | K1, SSK, K13, K2tog, K1
K12 | K17
K1, Kfb, K8, Kfb, K1 | K1, SSK, K11, K2tog, K1
K14 | K15
K1, Kfb, K10, Kfb, K1 | K1, SSK, K9, K2tog, K1
K16 | K13
K1, Kfb, K12, Kfb, K1 | K1, SSK, K7, K2tog, K1
K18 | K11
K1, Kfb, K14, Kfb, K1 | K1, SSK, K5, K2tog, K1
K20 | K9
K20 | K9
K5, P10, K5 | K9

*****************fin starts here**********************

K5, SSK, K6, K2tog, K5 | K4, RLI, K5
K5, P8, K5 | K10
K5, SSK, K4, K2tog, K5 | K5, RLI, K5
K5, P6, K5 | K11
K5, SSK, K2, K2tog, K5 | K6, LLI, K5
K5, P4, K5 | K5, P2, K5
K5, SSK, K2tog, K5 | K6, LLI, RLI, K6
K5, P2, K5 | K5, P4, K5
K5, SSK, K5 | K6, LLI, K2, RLI, K6
K11 | K5, P6, K5
K5, K2tog, K4 | K6, LLI, K4, RLI, K6
K10 | K5, P8, K5
K4, K2tog, K4 | K6, LLI, K6, RLI, K6

*****************fin de fin***************************

K9 | K5, P10, K5
K9 | K20
K9 | K20
K1, Kfb, K5, Kfb, K1 | K1, SSK, K14, K2tog, K1
K11 | K18
K1, Kfb, K7, Kfb, K1 | K1, SSK, K12, K2tog, K1
K13 | K16
K1, Kfb, K9, Kfb, K1 | K1, SSK, K10, K2tog, K1
K15 | K14
K1, Kfb, K11, Kfb, K1 | K1, SSK, K8, K2tog, K1
K17 | K12
K1, Kfb, K13, Kfb, K1 | K1, SSK, K6, K2tog, K1
K19 | K10
K1, Kfb, K15, Kfb, K1 | K1, SSK, K4, K2tog, K1
K21 | K8
K1, Kfb, K17, Kfb, K1 | K1, SSK, K2, K2tog, K1
K23 | K6

#femme

Remember the 70's? The ubiquitous blue eyeshadow? The Maybelline 4-pan compact with blue, green, yellow and what-the-fuck-WAS-that-other-color? Missing the powder blue?

RUN to your nearest Kat von D purveyor (hello Sephora!) for her new Mi Vida Loca palette. Mad Max is a matte shadow, an exact match on my lids for the fabled de rigueur color of my yout'.

Ready for your palette closeup? http://www.xsparkage.com/?p=4424

Man, I *gotta* put my bloghouse in order. Loose ends everywhere. Nothing where it should be.

Morning waffles! Which also served as bread for lunch sandwiches. By way of http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,175,148173-252198,00.html

1/2 stick (4-5 T) melted butter
double handful (2-3 T, to taste) sugar
1 egg
180 g (1.5 cup) self-rising flour
340 g (12 oz., 1.5 cup) milk

Waffle iron!

For reference, my grandfather's recipe, attributed to Mrs. Mary Charlton Ligon:

1 heaping Tablespoon lard
sugar
1 egg
1 heaping pint flour
2 heaping teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
sweet milk ([for buns] enough milk to make a batter stiff enough to stand when dropped from a spoon. This dough can be made into muffins by adding more milk or into waffles.)

What a cow-orker just said to me, when I volunteered to fix a problem: "However, this is PHP code, so it's not just HTML." [Cont'd: ~if you give me the text, I'll put it on the page for you.~]

The first line of my resume: "Proficient in modern web toolkits and open source software packages and languages such as Perl, PHP..."

I don't even.

Are you?

(I have a TERRIBLE grasp of where my friends live. Want to hook up tomorrow? Breakfast? Dinner? Comment! DM me. Whatever.)

My air cast has arrived! Have donned a hiking boot (um, on the other foot) which isn't *quite* as tall as the walking boot, but way less risible than the height differential with my Komodo Sports. We'll see. 6 weeks would be Nov. 30th. 8 week, Dec. 14th. Both days before a Stitch / Sing Thing (as is today! funny how monthly recurring events work).

ACK! eCube TEXT DEADLINE!!! TOMORROW! Also, have not yet called charlottezweb.

Dropped frames off at Mirage Optica last night to have new lenses installed. Fresh prescription, bifocals, transitions (grey). Now I can haz smear-free vision? *wipes lenses* *again*

Transit was fun. I biked from work to the nearest E stop (w/ an elevator!). Rode out to Kew Gardens / Union Turnpike (ditto! elevator!). Biked to the optician. There are some hills in Queens! Errand over, the hills of Queens were mine to wend. Homewards. Thank you, RideTheCity.com!! ++ Topeak's iPhone dry bag, handlebar-mounted for the win. 14.5 miles from Flushing to the Upper West Side -- across Meadow Lake (hill!), up 108th (hill!) & squiggle a bit to 34th Ave, then squiggle to Skillman Ave., cross the Queensboro bridge (HILL!! hello! Roosevelt Island), across the East Side on 61st & 60th Sts., into Central Park, whizz up the East Drive (hill! hill!), around the reservoir, cut across the 102nd St. transverse, and down the West Drive to pop out of the park at 100th St., up Central Park West, cross on 106th St. (last hill!), home! Epic. *pant pant* Dinner.

My blood pressure after this ride? 119/75. MwahaHA! Take *THAT*, hills.

Grounded from the bike today because of logistics (Mr. X pickup; still haven't managed the trailer with him in it). Missing it despite the rain! A tweet from earlier: "billytall (william carey) RT by eveostay: That was an entirely miserable #bikenyc commute. And still preferable to the subway". Yes. That.

Stitched together the iCord for my sweater neckline! Working with this yarn, I realize I cannibalized one of the 10 balls to make the very wrist-warmer(s) I was (and am now) wearing. (Parens around the plural s for wrist-warmer because I am now wearing one. Have mislaid the other in the course of the evening, and am loath to remove the one. Keep switching it to the lonelier wrist.) The neckline is lovely. I am tempted to make a scandalous tank or halter top -- raglan without the sleeve. Could be very bike functional as well as hot.

So sleeeeepy! And hungry. And have forgotten what the hell else I was going to say.

Posting via my phone is bearable, because I have linked my Apple wireless keyboard to my phone. Granting me typing speed & arrow keys. Bliss. (If only I could also get emacs control keys. Can't have everything. No flying cars or RS-232 head jacks for us.)

Boys are off to a schoolmate's birthday party in Long Island. Queens? Further east than boy has been before. Mr. X has been further -- we went to a petting zoo *WAY* out there. The mountain lion(?) paced me hungriily.

I am admiring the fog in the terraria boy made yesterday, and misted this morning. Such a beautiful slice of the Great North Woods. Will try for pictures -- unsure how to post them from the phone.

Yesterday was delightful in the outing sense, and a complete failure in the test ride sense. I could neither pull the trailer nor haul the cargo using my spiffy new front rack. :-(. Too windy and floppy around the handlebars for me to pull the trailer. Too loaded on the steering for me to tote the cargo. Rock star boy hitched the trailer to his bike, despite the wobble, hooked the panniers onto his back rack, and pedaled his heart out. Efforts will continue despite setbacks. Next, practice with empty trailer, then with sack of potatoes. Work up to large child.

Aircast walking boot ordered! Shipped, reportedly. Thanks for the recommendation, lyricmaniac! Having read up on metatarsal stress fractures, I feel like an idiot for walking around on it for so long. D'oh! Apparently you're supposed to notice it during an activity, not during daily walking.

Starting a new sweater. My First Sweater has turned out to be magic, recovering -- via a run through the commercial laundromat -- from being moth-eaten to bits. Am repeating with essential same yarn, same process. Noro Silk Garden color 275 lot F. I-cord for neckline, pick up around to start knitting from the neck down. Make it up as I go, but probably raglan sleeves, elbow to forearm length, short rows in the upper back, front bust & belly. Lace-y pattern front/back? Attempted a lucet cord start for the neckline, but it turned out *WAY* too tight. No way to get a needle in there to pick up stitches. Restarting with 6-pin knitting nancy.

Did I mention I got my eyes re-checked? Sure enough, they've wandered. One is a bit more astigmatic but less myopic than prescribed 5 months ago. The other is .... hm, I forget the change there. Not much, anyway. Enough for me to be annoyed! Between this and my constant irritation with the size of the field of view, I've decided to experiment with bifocals instead of progressives. Re-fitting my brown/green metal Bevel frames with sun-sensitive darkening bifocals, if that's an option. Better for bike? Must call optician for a quote. And to see if I can just ship them over there. Flushing is danged far away. Although, hm, I wonder how far by bike??

OVFF next weekend!!?!? Ready or not! Have flight, hotel, clean laundry. Need state of mind. Ohio Valley Filk Festival is *HUGE*!!

I hunger. I rise! Monster toast?

Have you ever seen the little red light house under the George Washington bridge? It's our goal this afternoon. Picnic ingredients (cheese, bread, lemonade) at the ready.

Cafe latte & UP with Chris Hayes: a pleasant enough show to spend my morning with, until they made me cross by excusing Melissa Harris-Perry. Not enough chairs?!? Cheese-weasels; lose a white man. It's not like you have a shortage of 'em.

Enjoyed the interview with the author of _Debt: The First 5000 Years_, nonetheless. I already have it on Kindle, but haven't cracked it open yet. Might abandon _Embassytown_ in its favor.

Drooled on Sheila Moon & Smartwool bike clothing. Chatted with friends & family (trips! weddings!).

Made monster toast for breakfast. Butter a hot griddle. Cut a monster-(shaped-)hole in a slice of bread. Throw both parts on the hot buttered griddle. Crack an egg into the hole. Let it sizzle. Be patient. Flip & grill the other side. Plate w/ (optional) apple butter around the edges, top the egg with the grilled monster, drizzle with maple syrup. STAB! to make the monster bleed (yellow).

Washed the dishes. Hand-washing may (or may not -- volume dependent) use more hot water than machine washing. But it for dang sure nurtures fewer bugs.

EXTERMINATE! Was wondering where the exterminator was, when brrrrrrring! door buzzer, yay. Extra spraying in the problem areas. Attitude adjustment towards the coming cold -- gosh, a freeze wouldn't be so darned bad about now!

Played Pokemon battles with Mr. X, who is now absorbed in setting the stage for a Pokemon Power Rangers movie. Prepping by YouTubing Power Rangers videos.

Living room tidied. Camping gear unpacked, ahem! Laundry packed; delicates load washed, spun & hung to dry, Boy took in the laundry, brought back picnic ingredients, and is now picking up terraria tanks: 1 for school, 1 for his desk.

Now resting my (fractured?) foot before our expedition. Go see a specialist? *dreads interview* Suck it up and buy a splint already, and wear it for the 6-8 weeks you know they will recommend?

Hm.... WisCon conference call tomorrow. Cancel the usual weekly appdev call? Or delay? Am leaning towards cancel as ... wow! tired!!

Still under the weather with my chest infection from the weekend, but *ALMOST* recovered. "Glad you're feeling better." Grr. Argh!! *SMASH*

(Still sick, thanks.)

Endo appt. went smoothly. This time I even gave her my cellphone number. Now there's a trust relationship for you. (Ironic, given that I've posted it. But there you are. I am.) Ultrasound revealed same situation as last time we checked -- large, lumpy thyroid with 1 nodule exactly as it was last time: shape, size, position. I continue to refuse the biopsy; she agrees not to bug me about it. Progress!

Switched b.p. meds to a one-a-day, praise the lord. I was falling off my pill wagon, even with the 4-a-day alarms. B.P. 189/98. Mezzo-mezzo.

Yearned to bike, but sensibly taxied to the east side. After appt., feeling woozy post-ultrasound & blood-draw, went for a stroll. Walked through the park to the bird sanctuary, then unaccountably kept going all the way to Donna Bells bake shop to pick up lunch (curried chicken salad sandwich, lemon bar, sweet tea; bacon/brie/parsley biscuit for tomorrow!) before, yes, you got it, continuing to walk to work. Dear lord. What was I thinking!??! 3.8 miles..... Certifiable.

One thing the walk conclusively demonstrated -- I have a tiny fracture in one of the bones in the top of my left foot. Ow, ow, OW! Resting with my foot up, browsing walking casts.