I haven't gone away!

I'm just wicked busy, mostly with work, but there is a bit of a social life thrown in there.

There's no knitting content today, since I have nothing new to show, so I'll just leave you with some funny pictures:

Knotty Knotty!

I am a knotty knitter and did not knit a gauge swatch for my Knotty But Nice hat.

The first hat was, shall we say, a wee bit large.



Hey, I had nowhere to go, nothing to do, so I just cast on again, and about 24 hours later, I had a new, improved, Knotty but Nice hat!!!!



I figured out what I could do to make it smaller. I did the initial p2k2 in needles two sizes smaller, and I eliminated the 7 rows of ribbing after the chart. I also eliminated a couple of the rows while decreasing for the crown. I sure beat the hell out of that yarn + needles combination!!!

I was so overjoyed that I didn't want to take it off. I acted as though it was MY hat, in addition to being MY triumph.



Forgetting that I had, indeed, promised this hat to another.



Often, in our moments of supreme exhilaration and triumph, it becomes necessary to neglect the wretched and needy.

But I was nice, in the end, and took off the hat. I know it's his, and I know I can make one for myself if I really want to.

I even put it on top of his dresser for him.

Let's not talk about my absense

I know, I haven't posted in close to two months. I'm not sure what happened other than holidays and work-craziness, so I'm just going to leave it at that.

This is a long overdue post.

I'm at home today. I took yesterday and today off as vacation days to coincide with the last two days of Mike's company shutdown (2 weeks after Xmas! Booyah!), and now I'm sick. I had a doctor appointment (annual exam) on Monday and had a clean bill of health, then on Tuesday started coming down sick. Now I feel as though I've been hit with a shit bat. It's not so bad that I want to stay in bed, but bad enough to keep me from doing a whole lot. I either picked up something in the waiting room or, considering that Mike started feeling ill a little before I did, we both picked up something at one of the two parties we went to last weekend. Aah, the perils of having an active social life.

I just took my temperature, and it was 98.9. This morning was 99.3, so at least it's going down. My normal, healthy temp is around 98.2 (yup, I'm a below-average freak).

Let's move to the knitting.

In November, I took part in the Pine Street Inn Knit-a-Thon. I mentioned that I had taken home a blanket to-go, meaning 35 squares to attach on my own time. I finished putting those together a while ago:



In typical Zanti fashion, I haven't delivered it to the Pine Street Inn yet. I've been in contact with the director, and I can drop it off any time, and there's no rush. It has inspired me further to think about making an afghan for us at home.

I also finished one of Mike's Sam socks, and made my way into the second one:





The pattern is loads of fun. I do have to pay attention to my knitting so I don't miss a cable, but it certainly never gets boring. Of course, I can't be loyal to one project, so I cast on for a Knotty But Nice hat for Mike. I quickly learned that knitting this hat is a whole lot like eating M&Ms -- I can't stop! I'm knitting it in some old alpaca/wool yarn in a brick red color. It was from a big box of yarn that I purchased in 2005 from someone whose aunt had died. The brand name is Musarde, and I have six skeins of 93 yards/skein. I have no clue how old it is, but I do like it. I may knit up a swatch to see how it felts as well, since it would make some warm-assed slippers.

I did make a quick hat to stuff in Mike's stocking:



It's the same pattern as the Noro hat I made last year (err, scroll down that post a bit to see it -- it looks as though I've made it a pattern to not post much during the holidays).

It's cold here, and seems to snow every weekend. Typical. I think it snowed for a day and a half last weekend, but we haven't gotten hammered like other parts of the country have. As much as I don't want to be lazy and stay in all weekend, all winter, it does seem like it's going to happen.

Hey, I did go out for a while yesterday -- we took Ellie to her vet appointment. She gained over 2 lbs. in the past year. Poor dear is fat. And lazy.



The doc gave us a goal to get her down to 12 lbs. in the next two years. Hey, my doc gave me a goal to lose 20 lbs, but she didn't give me a time limit. Maybe Ellie and I can diet together? I have already decided to lay off the sweets, and I haven't had any since those EPIC cherry/chocolate scones we had at a brunch party on January 2nd. I think that was my last day of decadence. Almost a week with no sweets is a pretty decent track record for me; I should hop on the scale, and I would, if we had one.

I also realize that I should be laying off the beer -- not that I really do drink a lot of it, but I've been known to have one or two over the weekend, while spinning or knitting (or watching TV). But HOW can I not have a beer, when I found the perfect pint glasses?









Y'all KNOW you want these pint glasses! I got them at Urban Outfitters, and I really need to go back there, since there are a few birthdays coming up that may require these. We had to make room in the cabinet for these, but they were worth it (especially at the price - 2 for $10!!!!!). They also have "Pimp" and "Ho", which I hadn't realized until later were connected to each other (I thought at the time that the "Ho" one was a Christmas themed glass, and passed it by. I had noticed the "Pimp" one, and as I was going home after purchasing them, I said, "oooooooooh, yeah, Pimp and Ho! DUH!")

I got a photo of Luciano yawning, which made us laugh so hard Mike got stomach pains:



The non-zoom version is funny, too. Mike said he looks like an ineffectual rattlesnake:



It probably couldn't hurt him to lose a few pounds as well.

Just to prove that my photos aren't all about making fun of my cats, here's a lovely one I took of Ellie:



Well, it's hard to find a non-silly photo of Luciano, isn't it?



Oooh, you can see my gold boots in that photo. I'm such a show-off!



I hadn't worn those in a few years, but I've worn them twice recently. I love those boots!

I think it's time for me to go to a warmer part of the house and make some more tea, maybe get back to knitting and watching some more 90210. I'm almost done with season 3, and soon it's buh-bye Brenda!