Benny and the Jets

"Here. Take it. You need it more than I do."

"What are you trying to say?"

"My hair's going to grow back. Yours...um...I love you. Look, just take the wig."


"Saturday night's alright for fightin'. Saturday night's alright, alright, ALRIIIIGHT!!!"

I love all of my cousins, but this particular bunch really shines. You give them a few drinks and suddenly there's an Elton John tribute going on in front of you. It wasn't just that he looked like Elton John with his sister's wig on his head. It was that he seemed to be imbued with the very spirit of the man. Pictures don't do it justice.

What was going on in the previous picture? I believe it was something to this effect:

Uncle Warbucks: "That one over there in the grey dress. She's a stripper."
Big Guy (laughing): "Oh yeah?!? How do you know?"
Uncle Warbucks: "He's been dicked over so many times that he only dates strippers now."
Cousin (to himself): "Nah, man...she's not a stripper. It's my sister's wedding. He wouldn't bring a stripper to my baby sister's wedding...well, maybe..."
The Engineer: "Hey, cool it. Suzanne's coming over."

I made a little progress on the Arosa sleeves yesterday, if you count making a cap sleeve that looks completely out of proportion to the rest of the sweater and starting a long sleeve that isn't going to drape especially well as progress. At least now I know that I don't want a cap sleeve, and that the long sleeve I'm making isn't the way to go. Maybe I should make the meshy sleeves.

Oh, and Sara? If that top in yesterday's post looks suspiciously like the shaped lace tee, it's because it IS the shaped lace tee. It's the only pattern in the book that's also been a single pattern for purchase. Its single-pattern name is Krista. When I bought it, I realized that it was very similar to Bella, just with a different neckline, cap sleeves and a larger gauge. I really wanted a Bella, but after knitting it too small and frogging it this winter, I couldn't bring myself to restart it. I liked the neckline of Bella more than Krista, but the gauge and waist shaping of Krista more than Bella, so I thought I'd make Krista with the Bella neckline. I've now decided that I also want longer sleeves on it. So basically, I'm making Bella with the larger gauge/fewer lace repeats.

It might be a few days before I pick either one up again, anyway. Perhaps I should start a new project. Perhaps this is what the universe is trying to tell me. Perhaps this is why Buddy decided to see me off to work this morning by regurgitating in my knitting basket.


Happy belated birthday, the Woman. - Buddy the Cat

Disgustipated

Oh, knitting. Why must you torment me so?

I had taken the past week and a half off, intending to relax and knit. The week did not go exactly as planned, with the doggy chemotherapy and the unpredictable weeping interrupting my hours of enjoyment, but yet I was hopeful. Arosa was only two sleeves away from being finished, and Bella was going to be done in a record-breaking four days. At least, I reasoned, I'd have something to show for my vacation.

What went awry? Why am I less than enthused, with only hours left of my vacation? Notice that neither piece above has sleeves. Both need sleeves, as I have admitted and Daisy has confirmed. "Mmmmmm...yeah," she said, her face crinkling ever so slightly with distaste. "It needs something. Maybe just a cap sleeve, but definitely something."


I knew as soon as I started the Arosa sleeve, which is a *YO, K2tog* mesh for its entire length, that I wasn't going to be doing it. The yarn, so happy to be knit in stockinette, was nearly impossible to knit into that net pattern. I'm going to have to make something up to replace it.


What about the Krista with the Bella neckline, the one I'm going to start calling Kristabella? Oh, that. The sleeves, which I'm too disgusted to photograph, came out at least ten stitches too short on each edge. I ran out of stitches when I was seaming them in. I'm pretty sure I misread the pattern, and that I missed a few repeats between decrease sections. Also, it's cotton. Cotton immediately stretches across my torso and makes me look about ten pounds heavier than I am. I don't know why I keep forgetting this. I don't think it'll be a bad sweater when it's done, and it was quick enough to knit, but now I'm unmotivated to do anything with it.

So here's my dilemma. I can reknit the Kristabella sleeve, making it a 3/4 sleeve with a bell edge, and I'd probably like it. I could have it done by the end of the day. Alternatively, I can make up a sleeve for Arosa and set it in, also being done by the end of the day. My goal is to be able to wear one of them to work tomorrow. I may decide based on a coin flip.

In other news, Lucy's tolerating her chemotherapy very well. The oncologist says that she's already responding well to the drugs, and her lymph nodes are shrinking quickly. I spent last week bursting into tears every time anybody expressed sympathy or concern about the situation. It's like when you fall down, and you're O.K. until somebody comes up and asks you if you're O.K., and then you start sobbing. I'm getting better about it. It now takes a good five minutes of talking about it to get me going. How's Lucy, the happiest dog in the world, handling this? She's wagging her tail and licking anything that moves. Nothing new there. She's sleeping a lot, but she wasn't exactly an insomniac before this. We're just happy to have her around, drowsy or not. She's a few feet away from me right now, snoring softly. It's good.

I got my invitation to Ravelry last week, poked around there a little bit and really liked it, but haven't done anything at all there for myself. Maybe I'll start inputting things once I've recovered from the stress of my vacation.

Yesterday was my 37th birthday. I knit, watched 'Perry Mason', ate brie and salami sandwiches for lunch, and had a good dinner with my friends. Accountant Boy made a fantastic card for me from an old GL transaction report. (We're trying to save money, because Lucy's care has now cost more than a trip to Europe.)

Yep, those last three paragraphs gave me just enough time for to think. I'm going to go knit the Arosa sleeves.

Capital G

Here's one of my favorites. From right to left, that's my uncle, my older brother Big Guy, Kitten's brother, and The Engineer. What are they saying? I can only imagine. Hey, for a laugh, leave a comment about what you think is going on in this picture.

Waiting in the Half-light

12:45 - Anxious

You know what job I should have? Veterinary radiologist. They seem to make pretty good money, based on how much I've given them in the last year and a half, and they get to make their own hours. Today, for example, while I'm waiting by the phone for someone to tell me if Lucy has lymphoma, the radiologist is deciding if his wife is going to be mad if he comes in to work for an hour or two. "He might be here after 4:00." They've been great at the emergency vet, don't get me wrong, it's just that when it's your pet in the crate waiting for service, you don't want to hear "if he doesn't make it out today, you might as well pick her up and deal with it next week." I know that's just the way it is, but that's not what I want to hear. Grumpy and sick with worry. Want answer now.

While I'm waiting, I'm working on Arosa. I've got the back and the main part of the front done. The second part of the front is a little different than I thought it'd be -- it's just a little panel that gets sewn in after the neckline is done. I don't know what I thought it was going to be instead, but I didn't think it'd be a weirdly shaped piece of fabric.

I really like how this yarn's knitting up. Look at how cool the neckline's going to be, even before the edging gets picked up.



One last thing about Cobweb -- here's a detailed view of the bead and purl section. The color's weird in the picture, but at least the details are there.


Just waiting.

6:45 - Ranting and Foul-Mouthed

What is it with the cancer? First DaddyBanana has cancer, then my cousin has cancer, and now my DOG has cancer? Jesus tapdancing CHRIST! Could we stop with the fucking cancer already?!?

Hey, so now you get to say f$5k but I still get censored? - Belligero

Fuck off, clown.

Parte Dois

Relative: "You know, just between us, [something horrible that you wouldn't expect to hear at a wedding]...)

Me: "Oh yeah? Well, I'm gonna go stick my finger in the cake!"