skittermagoo!

I give up . . . (and some sock stuff, too)

Okay, I admit it. Ashamed, yes, but I had to . . . it was just too much.

I clicked "mark all read" on bloglines today, with only 249 blog entries left to go. It hurt to do it, but it had to be done.

When I got home from work today, the count was up to approximately 394 new feeds on bloglines . . . (since I was off work all week last week, I was absolutely swamped at the job and didn't have time for my usual blog-reading slacker time). I gave it the old college try, and spent a really long time trying to catch up. But I couldn't. And the unusually high number was taunting me, whispering "you'll never get through them all . . . you'll never be able to read that fast . . . ". So I did the unthinkable. Click.

I'm really not that terribly worried about catching up -- I'm sure once work calms down to its usual dull roar I will have time to read all that I missed. It was that little number in the red oval on my bloglines icon that did it -- it was really intimidating.

So don't all you knitbloglanders think that I gave up on you. Oh, no. I will catch up (okay, maybe not with comments, but definitely on the reading bit).

Sigh.

Okay, and what exactly is it about socks that is so dang addictive and focusing??!! I spent half my week off sitting on my sofa and knitting on a Secret Sock. And knit absolutely nothing else. Into the bottom of the knitting bag went the Silk Garden wristies and the Stupid Dishcloth. Startitis totally went away. No holiday gifts were even thought about. Oh, no, not with SOCKS on the needles! For some reason when I'm knitting socks, I can do absolutely nothing else. Am I alone in this?? Please tell me I'm not.

Also in the realm of sockland . . . my friend Lilyan (who needs a blog, dontcha think?) taught me how to knit a sock on one long circular needle instead of DPNs. And wouldn't you know it -- no ladders! She is a Genius Goddess, that girl! So now in between trying to read approximately 328 blogs and knitting a sock that has me completely obsessed (and that hurts me that I can't post pictures yet), I am rewriting my "basic sock recipe" for this method.

My apologies for the deplorable grammar in this post . . . .

Overwhelming!

I came to work this morning to find that I have 298 new updates to read in bloglines . . . you read that right, 298!! I guess that's what I get for going on vacation for a week! I was at home last week, and could have kept up with my blog reading, but as some of my SnB gals can attest, I was totally obsessed and consumed with the socks I'm knitting, so I spent precious little time on the computer at all. And the sucky thing is that I can't even show you the socks yet, because the intended recipient also is a reader! (I say "intended recipient" because these socks are so pretty that I'm tempted to keep them for myself!).

Anyway, I will be working hard to catch up, so bear with me! (This in addition to all the actual job work I have to do after a week off . . . my desk looks like it might collapse under the strain of all the papers, etc).

Hope everyone in the US had a wonderful Thanksgiving . . . we finished the leftovers last night. I accidentally left our slices of leftover pie on my mom's kitchen counter, so no pie leftovers, dangit.

By the way, my mom's cornbread dressing is one of the best things I've ever tasted!

Gobble Gobble!

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm off to go cook and eat tons of food with my family!

(and with any luck, pickins will be much less slim around here at skittermagoo once the holiday is done . . . )

Way back, and some secret stuff . . .

Okay, so I've been back from Houston since late Saturday night . . . and I've been too swamped to blog! Actually, part of the reason I've been swamped is because of this horrible onslaught of "canned spiced meat" comments that have invaded my older blog entries . . . and they are especially tricky -- when I go to delete the comment, somehow my entry gets replaced with the comment I'm trying to delete! So imagine my surprise when I looked for something in my archive and found an entry about "enhancement pharmaceuticals" . . . if you came across that, I promise I didn't write it! So, every time I've gotten to sit down with my computer, I've ended up spending a whole hunk of time deleting comments and altered entries.

So. The upshot of this is that I'm going to try closing my comments after a week and see if it gets better. Until I figure out how to put a "type the code you see above" thingy in my comments. Which may take a while, seeing as how I am most definitely a science geek but not a computer geek and I really don't know how to do that sort of thing.

I took precious few photos in Houston . . . I kept forgetting my camera! Plus, I didn't think y'all would want to see endless photos of young surgeons in black suits drinking wine and trying to act casual. 'Cause that's mostly what I saw.
I did take a couple of photos out of my hotel window:

In yarn news, I did make it to the LYS there that was recommended (Yarns 2 Ewe), and it was definitely worth the trip! They had a great selection of Noro and Brown Sheep and Rowan and all kinds of other goodies . . . I was so overwhelmed that I forgot to look for the Koigu that they reportedly carry! And I managed to trick my coworkers into buying me yarn, yay! Actually, it wasn't much of a trick -- I had them each pick out a small project and buy the yarn for it, and I will do the knitting part. So L is getting socks made of Wildfoote in a gorgeous red/maroon/orange colorway, and D is getting a hat made of Rowan Big Wool. I've never knit with either of these yarns, and have wanted to, so it's really a treat for me. Especially the Rowan.

That's part of the secret stuff (I want the final product to be a surprise); the other part is some holiday knitting I've been doing . . . the recipients of which are known to visit here at least sporadically. And I'm all into the surprise factor, so no pictures.

One more work day this week, darlings, and then I have all of next week off! Yayayayayay! I'm hoping to hit my life reset button and get back to blogging regularly and maybe do some laundry and go to the grocery store for once (it's been over a month since I've been for more than just one or three things!). I really really really must get organized -- it feels like I'm freewheeling out of control lately.

Oh, and I almost forgot!!! There's a new LYS here which is supposedly opening this weekend, and some of my knittingbuds and I are going to make a field trip over there! Possibly equally exciting is the fact that it's much much closer to my house than any of the others . . . close enough even to make a lunch hour shopping trip during the week! Wheeee!

Houston . . .

Well. What is there to say . . . I'm in Houston. It's big (bigger than Dallas), and there's lots of traffic. But it's pretty cool.

I'm staying in a 30-story hotel in the middle of downtown; we have a kick-ass view from the room! And why am I not showing you a picture? Well. Because the inevitable forgotten item is the USB cable that connects my camera to my laptop. So, pictures will be posted once I'm home, darnnit. Plus, I have a very unreliable and slow wireless connection, so I doubt I'd even be able to post a photo!

Why am I in Houston, you ask? Well, I'm here for the annual Association of Academic Surgeons conference . . . not that I'm a surgeon or anything! My boss is the surgeon, and he wanted the whole lab to attend because we have work being presented. AND we just found out last night that he (the boss) has been nominated to be AAS president for the next year. Pretty cool!

The even cooler thing is that two of the three of us who are here from the lab aren't actually registered for the conference, so we're not actually obligated to attend any meeting events. Heehee! One of us (not me) had to go work with some collaborators this morning, so I dropped her off at MD Anderson Cancer Center, but later we went shopping. And tomorrow we're going to IKEA and to a local yarn store. Not in that order. Yarn first, then IKEA, which is good since my spenditude at the yarn store will determine how much money I can drop at IKEA.

So, that's the scoop on H-town!

Did I mention that I overpacked on the knitting? I brought enough projects to keep me occupied for about a month straight, and haven't had time to knit at all until right now (while my superfun roomate Laurie naps). I did this last time I travelled, too . . . will I ever learn?

Houston, we have a visiting knitblogger . . .

I'm going to be in Houston this coming week (Wed-Sat) for a conference, and was just wondering if anyone can point me to the local yarn stores (especially ones that can't be missed) and knitter hangouts? I'm pretty sure I'm staying downtown . . . and haven't been to Houston since I became a knitter!

Knit. Wear.

Ya know, you'd expect that with all the knitting I do that I would be constantly wearing items that I made with my own two hands . . . but it's really not so. HowEVER, today was cool enough here in North Texas for me to wear not one, but two (well, technically, three) of my knitted things!

Do you remember the Discosocks? Do ya? Well, if not, that's ok . . . I almost forgot them, too.

They performed pretty well . . . a bit loose around the tops, so they slid down a couple of times, but were very comfy and cozy. I think some "creative blocking" when I wash them might help.

It was in the low 40s (F) here this morning, and I'm not in "coat mode" quite yet, so I followed my Bomba's advice and wore a hat (because you know, you lose 90% of your body heat through your head and all). Yep, the silk garden beanie from a couple days ago made its appearance!

Yippee! I love wearing things I knitted!

In other news, I spent most of yesterday in a horrible black quagmire of a mood due to recent political events . . . until I got together with some knitting friends and had dinner and a knitfest. I think I did more laughing than knitting; my sides hurt when I got home from all that laughter! Thanks, y'all (you know who you are) for a great night and for helping my mood!

stunned silence

Yep, I'm stunned. And depressed. And afraid. And in seven different states of despair.

So much so that I can't even rant about it. You know it's bad when . . . oh, you know.

But Carolyn and Stitchy McYarnpants did such a good job of it that I refer you to their posts today.

Must go knit. And drink. Now.

Can anyone tell me how difficult it is to emigrate to Canada? And are there any jobs for biomedical research scientists there?

Grrrrrr.

Where, oh, where is my Winter '04 Interweave Knits magazine?

I know of at least two people (one here in TX) who have already gotten theirs. Why hasn't mine arrived yet???

All I gotta say is that it *better* be in my mailbox before I see it on the newsstand.