It's been quite a week (May 12)

 

Most of the school has graduated now, so things have calmed down at work. It’s not completely calm, just calmer.

Tri-Tatters met at Mordecai on Saturday. It was the day before Mothers’ Day so it was fairly quiet. F just came back from a small tatting conference (she said there were about 30 attendees, the limit of what the conference can handle). She had made some really neat projects, like a 3D pinecone, which I hope the designer has published because I would love do that pattern as a pendant and earrings.

Martha surprised us with a visit. And she brought some linen thread she had that looks like it is perfect for my linen hankie project. I have 3 spools of thread already, 1 cotton and 2 linen. 1 color is just wrong for this project. The cotton matches the hankie color and the other linen is a good match for the lace, just larger than sewing thread (it’s a bobbin lace thread, I think). Martha has a spool of actual linen sewing thread and in a color that matches my lace. Next step is sewing the edging to the hankie.

My vintage hankie with the embroidered purple flowers and size 80 edging was looking dingy. I handwashed and it looks better now. It’s also less wrinkled because I laid it out to air dry.

I had my date with Carry last week. I gave her a bunch of small buttons from a mixed bag of buttons. I finished my first sentence (barring punctuation) in my Morse code edging. I’m tempted to make a lanyard or necklace, tool. Talking with Anitra over the weekend, I am planning a doily for the state fair. But I can’t use my first piece because it has my name. On the other hand, it will give me a good estimate on how long I need and therefore what I have room to say to edge a doily. 

 

Took a tour of a prospective new home for Mom. Lovely place, great staff, wonderful location, but the rooms were tiny. My dorm room in college was bigger. And these were semi-privates (like my dorm room).

Doable, but not my first choice. I know I’ll need to cull Mom’s possessions for her move but I’d like for her to be able to keep the photo albums my cousin made for her. And they do have private rooms, just none are available right now.

Stopped by Edward McKay’s on the way back. I found a couple packs of stationery/notecards. More expensive, but also larger, than what I get at the dollar store. And it’s a good thing, my supply was starting to run low. Mom would find me many of my bundles at thrift shops. She doesn’t go shopping like that anymore and I rarely take the time to do any shopping so it’s harder for me to locate them.

I also picked up a couple copies of c. 1980s fantasy novels for cheap. I’ve read them before and wanted a comfort read. And these were cheap enough I was willing to get a 2^nd copy.

Quick (before Thanksgiving post)

 Making progress on my pocket scarf. I really need to figure out how much yarn I used for the 1st pocket to make sure I still have yarn for the 2nd. I only have 1 ball of this yarn so it would be difficult (but not impossible) to get more to finish.

One of our tatting friends is downsizing her book collection so a mutual friend brought a stack of tatting (and knitting) books to the most recent Tri-Tatters meeting. I picked up some to fill gaps in my own collection. I need to take photos of all my books and keep an album of the photos and make a pinterest board of the covers, so I don't lose track of what I already have. If they all had ISBNs I could use one of those library apps.

I'm going to see my parents tomorrow (yay Amtrak). After driving a couple weeks ago, I am so glad to take the train again.

Recovering

It's been over a week. Work had us out for 2 days. Then holiday weekend with gaming plans. Unfortunately the GM got sick so it was cancelled. 

I finished the size 80 edging (finally). Now I need to find the safe place I put the hankie. 

I finished the bottle holder (from a few years ago). Looks good and works well. It's a Sharren Morgan pattern I started a few Palmetto Tat Days ago. I asked her for help and she was able to figure out my next step. 

I spilled Cheerwine Zero on my '1st doily', aka my bun cover. I made it over 20 years ago and I hadn't realized how dingy it had gotten. Now it had a red/pink stain. I soaked it overnight in Oxyclean, then put it in a lingerie bag to wash with the rest of the laundry. I should block it I suppose. On the other hand, it's really clean and white now. 

Yesterday I was called for jury duty. I took a couple books (Women's Work:The First 20,000 Years Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times and Blades in the Dark) plus my tatting and a new ebook. I've almost finished Women's Work (it's pretty good, albeit Eurocentric), plus onto point 5 of my second attempt of Karey's Beaded Celtic Constitutional. I stopped there as I spotted I had missed the beads in a beaded join earlier in the work. 

My 'jury duty pay' almost paid for lunch. Before tip. Oh well, I got paid to read and tat. Back to the office tomorrow.

I'm Blaming the Weather

This is what I woke up to on Saturday morning.

 And this is what I saw later; there's a layer of ice, a layer of snow, and then a glaze of ice on top. Do I need to mention that I didn't drive to go see mom on Saturday? Or on Sunday?

 Thanks to unusually cold temperatures, there wasn't much melting, except in direct sun, until yesterday. I knew it was Tuesday, but I still forgot to make my blog post.  There was no reporting to work for me on Monday or Tuesday. I go back today.

Yesterday we finally got above freezing temperatures so I cleaned off my car. Since I need to make a trip to the fabric/notions store, I'm driving to the park and ride today.

I woke up at 3 am, managed to doze until about 4 am and finally got up at 5 am. I was starving and thirsty and just couldn't get back to sleep.















This is the gaiter I made for Cs nephew, to match his scarf. I need to go buy buttons and sew them on.

I gave this book to my Dad almost 20 years ago. He started working on it while working nights. When that job ended, he lost track of the book. He found it recently and loaned it to me at Christmas. I scanned the pages he's filled so far and then returned it so he can continue to fill it.

 I started using my coloring page of the day calendar. I'm already behind. This is the only page I've completed.

This is the hand crocheted scarf SNS made for me. Each color is a different yarn; fiber, etc. It's gorgeous! Her daughter also introduced me to a new term 'stupid scarf'. It's a name for an infinity or circle scarf, because no matter how stupid you're being, you can't/won't drop the scarf. C said he wants one, which makes me happy. I've been wanting to make one for him, but he's been reluctant because he doesn't spend as much outdoors as he used to.

I've been reading Rejected Princesses, another of my presents. I'm still reading Drunken Botanist from last year. It was on my TBR pile and I picked up a couple months ago. I've been reading one plant per night most nights.

My date with  C went...unexpectedly. She gave me some lovely gifts from Williamsburg, Va (powdered ink, handbound journal, quill pen, and a couple coasters). However, while I was waiting for her, she called. Her car had died. I went and picked her up, we ate supper, and then her boyfriend came and got her so she could get her car towed.

I've been shopping for a lacy pattern to use the buffboo yarn CD gave me. I got the two skeins wound into center pull balls but it's been difficult to find a suitable pattern. There's three main limitations; yardage, my skill, and my knitting is on a loom. One lovely pattern called for a cast on more stitches than any of my looms have. I finally bought a book of loom knitting shawl patterns. I'm starting with Sweet on Ruffles, as it looks simplest and will get me used to working a shawl pattern. I'm using a bulky yarn and I made a decent start last night.

Since I didn't see mom last weekend, I'll go this weekend. I have her new remote control, which will helpfully fix her no DVD player problem. We'll see. If not, then I'm buying a new player for her. TV runs out quick. I also need to pick up some books for her.

And as a treat, this is JJ's corrigated boxer. She's still a puppy and she's a corgi/boxer mix. She fell asleep on my leg during the party.

Jane's TIAS starts today. I need to load my shuttles and start.

Catch Up and Stuff

I spent the weekend with my mom. She's went to assisted living on Monday and there's so much to do. I left her a list Sunday night to do after I left. The move apparently went smoothly enough, but of course, she didn't get everything she wanted. I told her I'd drive back and get stuff but she said she'd get someone closer to do it.

I won a book! It's  A Season of Ruin by Anna Bradley. It was a lovely surprise.

I finished the 4th in The Others series, Marked in Flesh. PL loaned it to me. That leaves Dark Serpent yet to read of my recent purchases. I'm trying to decide to whether to read it now, or to wait until the next 2 are out.

I recovered my shuttles from Mom and bought a couple Clovers at JoAnne's. I also got the idea to use rattail and large beads to demo beanile.

I got my copy of 7th Sea, 2nd edition. I've created a character, an Eisen soldier. My latest Pathfinder Pawns arrived Monday as well as the latest hardback book; Horror Adventures.

I meant to show this off a couple weeks ago. Mom made this ...I don't know what to call it. It's to hide the saucer under a flower pot, in a decorative fashion.

My begonia

 Under this plant is woven one that I made. I used an embroidery hoop. It's based on wagon wheel woven rug.

prayer plant

This is a handy tip to know to get a conference room, etc to go quiet. It doesn't work in all cultures (for example, a choral group found it better to sing a single note)

Last week, I spent time getting mom ready for her next transition. She's going to an assisted living place temporarily. In the meantime, I hired in-home care to take her on errands and doctor visits. Her friends handled the follow-ups. I must say, I am really glad mom has long-term care insurance. It's making the process much easier.

I have made one pair of earrings for the Palmetto Tat Days class. They are so pretty.

Here are a few plants from the planter outside my office.

I have no idea, it's purple

silvery grey plant

chrysanthemums?

another purple

RPGaDay 8

For the list of questions
Hardcover, softcover, or digital? What is my preference?

Ahh, that's variable. To stand up to wear and tear, I want hardcover. The binding can stand up the slings and arrows of traveling to and from the gaming table. Softcover is easier to carry around but the absolute easiest is digital. I can carry my entire gaming library on my iPad but I still often find hardcopy easier to read and flip through.

So I prefer a combination of hardcover and digital. I want hardcopy to read and flip through; then digital for reference and portability.

Publishing Scheduled...and Yet Silence

So, I finished my post last week and set it to publish in an hour. And it never published. So, to anyone actually waiting for it, sorry. I hit Publish Monday (again), and this time it worked.

Friday, I went to lunch with my co-workers to celebrate one's lunch. We went to Carolina Brewery. I'd never been before but I can recommend their barbecue and their sweet potato fries. None of us had any beer; middle of the workday after all. No hardship for me, I don't like beer. Our newest co-worker told us about a trip she'd taken to Paris. She's good at telling stories.

Anyway, I made progress on my test swatch for my knitting. It failed, which means I'm starting over using what I learned. My target, is a 7" by 1" strip. My result was about 10" by 1/2".

I've made one earring, for the pattern for Tat Days. I say 'made', but I still need to make one join and hide the ends. Then I need to load more beads, make the mate and then start the variant.

No progress made on the blocking. I need to take the one I've blocked, photograph it, and send the picture to Anitra. And of course, I need to block the next one.

RG's puppy chewed a hole in her blanket (the puppy's blanket). I took it home and I'm going to try to patch it. My main concern is that my patch is not more vulnerable to puppy teeth than the rest of the blanket.

Of course, Fantasy Gamers Conclave was over the weekend. It's a small Saturday and Sunday convention. CD, RG, and I have been running Pathfinder games there for at least since 2010. Alas, they're taking a break and won't have a con next year. But maybe the year after that. :crossed fingers:

I ran Silverhex, or rather 3 of the 6 quests, for 3 people who'd never played tabletop RPGs before. They were interested, and one of them had a Beginner's Box but found it confusing. Getting a chance to play and see how it works in real life and learning by doing really helped. All three of them decided to join PFS (PathFinder Society). Whether they follow up with more PFS play, well, that's up to their preferences and opportunities. I had a picture of one of the maps, but I can't find it.

Saturday afternoon, I ran Sun Orchid Scheme. It's a regular scenario. I had a full table for that one. I had two new(ish) players using pre-gens and everyone else had PFS characters. We also wound up really late. I didn't get to sleep until after 2 am.

CD let me sleep in Sunday and our games didn't start until 1 pm, thankfully. I ended up running a couple of quests from Phantom Phenomena. I had 4 people playing, interrupted by a couple of them needed elsewhere for a time. All the players had fun, and that's the important part.

They raised over $3000 for Autism Society of North Carolina. I helped a little more by buying something at auction. There were other things up for bid that I wanted but they went out of my limited price range.









One really neat thing, on the way home on Sunday, there were some heavy clouds rolling in. And as the sun was setting behind them, there was a smaller whisp of cloud coming out and the sun shining through it cause it to light up like a rainbow. I really wish I could have gotten a picture, because my words are not up to describing just how unusual and lovely it was.

We also had another major storm roll through. There was one crash of thunder so loud it sounded like a cannon going off. Fortunately, this time we didn't lose power.

Some books I had ordered, also arrived on Saturday. I finished reading one of them on Sunday and started another one. That leaves 2 more (book 2 & 3 in a series), plus one I've been putting off because once I start it, I won't want to stop for anything, including sleep.

Tonight is my date with Carry. You'll find out about that next post.

And here's an entertaining flowchart. Are you caught in a time paradox?

More Zen Koi images

What a Storm!

Last Wednesday was my last Employee Forum meeting. It was the retreat so I joined them for lunch and then the committee annual reports. I found two potential successors. They are going to give me an answer before the next Carolina Campus Community Garden meeting. I gave them a rundown on what I've been doing and some ideas for the coming year.

Friday I went to see mom. We went to lunch, at ice cream at Ozzie, hit a thrift shop, and then in the afternoon we toured a couple assisted living facilities. Mom is healthy as a horse but she's having some driving problems. The nearest bus stop is a mile away and she's reluctant to call a taxi. That left her stranded in her apartment, except when friends came to take her lunch, etc. Mom and long-term idleness are not friends. No matter how much you enjoy it, there's only so much tv, reading, and crocheting one person can do without going a little stir crazy.
Persimmon tree outside Ozzie's

Both were smaller establishments. Those are better for forming personal relationships and so the staff are more familiar with the residents and more likely to notice changes. Mom is going to have lunch at one of them on Monday, to see what they're dining is like.

After the second tour, a storm front was moving through so I stayed a little longer to let it pass. I headed home and got caught in the traffic from a nasty (I counted 13 vehicles; cars and at least 1 semi) accident. It looked like an extended fender bender without serious injuries. At least, I certainly hope there weren't any.

Saturday, I ran another session of Tears at Bitter Manor. I tried a new route to get to RW's house. Didn't work. I ended up retracing my steps to take the route I took last time. I was half an hour late. One of the other players, MC, was 'later'. By later, I mean he never got the scheduling emails and had other plans on Saturday. I had printed out a copy of his character, just in case.

RG brought her new puppy. Desi is not old enough to be left alone that long. We ended up getting supper from Tangerine Cafe. RW went to pick it up, as his character was cowering and couldn't act.

We played a little longer than we had planned as a storm bad enough for a weather warning came through. The 1st warning ended at 9:15 so we headed home. Not a good plan. I got thoroughly soaked getting my gaming stuff into my car. It took 3 trips and may I say again how glad my laptop backpack came with a rain cover.

The storm was a frog-strangler, flash-flood kind of storm. I drove far below the speed limit (with my hazard lights flashing) for much of the trip home. Luckily, there was a car or two ahead of me for most of the drive. If they made it through, I figured the road wasn't flooded out and I was safe. There was one short stretch when I didn't have someone to follow. And one short stretch without power, and that included two stoplights, but no cross traffic; which is good because I couldn't see the stoplights until I was passing through the intersection. There was only once a passing car's splash obscured my windshield. And only once when the water was deep enough for me to be concerned.

Not sure how visible it is, but my hair is very wet

I finally got home and promptly hung up my clothes to dry out. Sunday, I took my time getting up and about. Ion channel marathons Leverage on Sundays and they played the last episode and the 1st episode back to back.

CD and I went to City Barbecue again for lunch and then to Barnes and Noble to pick up the book they had on hold for me. Not surprising, I bought a couple other books, too. Since I was there and all.

I finished a cross from Anitra's book and that's it. I am pinning out the snowflakes I've gotten done so I can photograph them and send the pictures to her.

Mom said she enjoyed lunch at one of the facilities on Sunday. They invited her to come try the food. I really want to talk to mom's doctor.

Oh, and through tomorrow, there's a contest to win supplies for a bullet journal. If you enter, I get another entry. Here's the link: https://prpage.co/EKN/%2B39261/ .

What's a Schedule?

I had started working on my blog and then Wednesday afternoon I got a phone call. My mom was going to the emergency room. It turned out not to be any of the really scary things but she was still in the hospital for a couple days while they ran tests to eliminate those things. They're still not certain what caused her problems, but they're working on fixing them. In the meantime, I'm calling her every day to check on her.

Thank goodness my boss was understanding about my absence. I left Wednesday after he was gone for the day so all he had from me was some emails and a couple voice mails. I finally talked to him Friday afternoon, and he was 'family comes first. Everything here will still be here when you get back. Um, but while I have you on the phone, there's an issue on Monday.' I let him know we didn't need to panic until Tuesday and I was working on stopgap to take care of it if I wasn't back before then. 

I found out I'm a stress faster. Although that's not quite accurate. I was hungry sometimes, but my stomach was so upset that food just didn't look attractive. I drank ginger ale and grabbed a few bites here and there but only had 2.5 meals from Wednesday through Friday. I'm not counting the dinner roll and other bits as part of that count. 

Her sister is back home; after mom got out of the hospital on Friday, I drove my aunt to meet her son. He drove her the rest of the way home. That reminds me, I need to call and tell him when the family reunion is.

Saturday I went ahead and started running Tears at Bitter Manor. I hadn't had a chance to finish prep but I had enough done to get us through the 1st day of gaming. It's a good module with a good storyline. There's a haunt in it, but unlike so many of them, there is a way to find out how the cause and find out how to stop it permanently.

Saturday night was the biggest meal I'd had since Tuesday night. It was a bit more than my system was able to handle. Erp.

Sunday the only thing I did was finish the laundry I started on Wednesday. I'm gradually relaxing a bit. I'm working on one of my birthday coloring books and testing some patterns for Anitra's book of tatting patterns.

Then Wednesday night a transformer blew and we lost power. This is the (I think) the 2nd time in a month. It lasted much longer this time. Power wasn't restored until after 8 am on Thursday.

Deadlands game was Thursday. I'm still playing Alys Reeves. She let herself get arrested (she was framed) and let someone else break her out of jail. Hannah caused a stampede to create a distraction and got us (Doc and Jason were in the jail, too) out. Jason added some oomph to the stampede and we went after the sheriff. The sheriff was actually one of the people we were sent to capture or kill.

One of my on-line friends is having a baby so a number of us are planning a blanket. I need to pick up some yarn to do my square.

I have a new phone. It's an older Android and it's not intuitive for me. It has 3 places to save contact info (phone, USIM, and google). And I can't move someone from one to another. As a result, most of my contacts are still in my old phone. Plus, it's a pre-paid and I'm having the devil of a time finding the number of minutes left.

CD and I have been watching Miss Fisher's Mysteries. It's interesting. Some of the screenplays are from the books, but the murderer is not necessarily the same. It means even though I read the books, I have to watch to figure out whodunit.

I'm reading about 3 series right now. There's the Dark Heavens series, and its sequel Journey to Wudang, written by Kyle Chan. I just ordered the 2nd book of Journey. I've also started a series, The Others, that started with Written in Red, by Anne Bishop. I have the next 2 on order but they're grouped with a pre-ordered book so I won't see them for some time. Both are sort of urban fantasy but very different settings.

The 3rd series is historical romance. It's the Dressmakers by Loretta Chase. Funny thing, I read book 4 and then went back to read books 1 and 2. I have book 3 on order. The same order as the Others, so I won't see it either for some time.

almost full house in Necko Atsume game

For Pulse, in Orlando

possibly edible

roof plants, outside mom's hospital room

What I've been doing (some pictures)

I've now tried kumihimo. Wow, it's easy. I started with the yarn from the kit (which was in Japanese, by the way). I couldn't read the kit instructions so I did what any 21^st century computer savvy person would do: I turned to YouTube. I quickly found some instructions. Here's my 1^st kumihimo braid. Something I learned, get something to hold the loose ends or they will tangle. 

Once that was done, I pulled out some ribbon yarn from an unsuccessful project and wound 4 lengths on spool winders. I put about 2-2.5 yards on each one and tied a knot to make a loose loop for later. Here's some shots of the braiding in progress, both front and back.

And here's a comparison of the two braids.

I finished that Saturday and pulled out some red and black embroidery floss. I have started a spiral pattern braid.

I have decided to enter this bracelet for my tatting entry at the State Fair.

Last week's Doctor Who (Night Terrors) was just creepy. A friend has an adopted child and he found it touching. Eventually. Anything with creepy toys is creepy.

Yes, I know what the anniversary is. I'm very quiet person and I usually grieve in private. I haven't been able to watch any of the memorial services, hurt too much. Yes, crying gives me a headache.

I've been involved in an interesting Fate (gaming) discussion on Google+. It has revolved around the Fate system and how it relates, or doesn't, to Old School Renaissance Gaming. One point in the discussion was that OSR is not a hard and fast point, it's a scale. For some points on the scale, Fate system is an excellent fit, with the exception of the high risk of character death. It relies more on player experience and input, unlike some of the more modern versions of DandD. In 1^st edition DandD, the player would have to say, “I'm climbing up to look behind the statue” instead of 3^rd edition's “I roll my search skill.”

It was not a good week at work. I spent most of the week frazzled and out of sorts. It was a short week but felt longer than usual.

I took a really long weekend, because we had a convention to go to. Friday through Tuesday, including travel days. This was a special gaming convention, in celebration of a friend's birthday. We finally got to meet his fiance. She's a really good cook and we decided that we like her. We ate some really good food; the China Bistro still has really great dumplings. They had a new one; pork and pumpkin. It was so nommy. We ate at Minerva's, an Indian restaurant. They play Indian music videos and movies (MTV, I think), which adds some entertainment. There was also the Shiny Diner; which I wish they'd open around here. They buy local foods and have jukeboxes at every table, with volume controls. The only 'drawback' is that everyone hears your selection, and vice versa.

Our home campaign of DandD 3.5e Forgotten Realms was Sunday, too. We ended early, because we made it out of one zone unexpectedly. Our GM didn't know if we would go attack something else or just leave. GM wanted to time to prep the next section. It was a trifle anticlimactic as we bribed our way out instead of killing everywhere we went. It was probably effective at hiding our trail, though.

After playing, we spent time discussing Dr. Who. Yes, we're geeks.

I re-read some of JD Robb's In Death stories. I've been wanting to re-read Memory in Death for awhile. Let's see, what else have I been reading. I finally read Changes by Jim Butcher. Now I want to read Ghost Story and the last story in Side Jobs. I need to finish The Meaning of Everything.

I went to the bookstore on Friday, cause my mood was so bad that I really needed the pickmeup. I bought a few books, although the one I was looking for wasn't there. I read Must Love Lycans, by Michele Bardsley this weekend, one of the books I picked up. I left the others in my car, so I would get something else done rather than just read all weekend.

Next weekend, I go visit my mom and the weekend after that is Palmetto's Tat Days. Then I have two more weekends and the State Fair begins. One weekend will be Historic Oakview Park event and the the other has the home Forgotten Realms game. I will not have a free weekend until the one before Halloween.

I got a recipe from a women's magazine the last time I was at Mom's. It's for no-machine ice cream. Here it is. I'd recommend 1.5 tsp of vanilla and definitely put it in the freezer, but it's delicious. I used splenda and lactose-free milk and it worked fine.

no machine homemade ice cream:

1 c whole milk

1 tsp vanilla

2 tbs sugar

quart-size zip top plastic bag & seal

kosher salt

gallon-size plastic ziploc bag

ice

Put 1^st 3 ingredients in quart-size bag.

Combine 4 cups ice & ¼ cup Kosher salt in gallon-size plastic zip-top plastic bag

Place smaller bag inside big bag & seal big bag

Shake large bag vigorously for 6-8 minutes, do not squeeze bag

When smaller bag is plump & willowy, ice cream is ready

Remove smaller bag, wipe off salt & ice

Serve immediately as soft serve or freeze for 20 minutes for hard ice cream

Frustration

I messed the bind off of my sock. The thread for my bookmark either breaks or I mess up the pattern; I'm adapting an old edging from single motifs to a line of split ring motifs.

I have some great books to read (The Meaning of Everything, Changes & Thou Uncommon, Thou Improper Noun) but just can't sit down and read them. I have a lovely coloring book (Fat Ladies in Spaaaaace) but only .3 mm markers, because I can't find any of my other markers, colored pencils or crayons.

Plus someone told me something this weekend that really upset me. I mean, upset me enough that I don't trust talking about it on the internet. I can't talk about it to anyone. I scribbled down how I felt, hoping it would help. It hasn't. Not really. Only time will heal.

Vocabulary test and a Book about OED

I took a vocabulary test and here are the results http://testyourvocab.com/?r=764695. It was testing the approximate size of my vocabulary. Not bad, huh? Feel free to take it yourself. They're trying to compile statistics and especially need teens and kids to do it.

I'm reading a new book. It's The Meaning of Everything, and it's about the OED (Oxford English Dictionary). I want the CD ROM of the OED, but only because I don't have the space for the full 20 volume set.

And Jim Hines wrote a song that summarizes many of my feelings about novels. Here it is.

I'm still working on my Dresdenfiles character and reading the part about magic in Your Story. I'm up to Thaumaturgy specialties. (Are we surprised that spellcheck does not recognize thaumaturgy? No, we're not). I have finally started Changes. I didn't dare bring it to work or I wouldn't get anything done.

I still have not gotten the sock back onto the loom. I think I need to run string through the stitches 1st. As it is, the stitches that are on don't look right.

I finally got my car inspected (I meant to do it the 1st weekend of the month). Now, as soon as I get my tags, my car will be legal.

The Siege in Chattanooga, Knitting a Sock & other stuff

I went to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. Carrie and I drove up. She drove, I kept her company.

I was looking for a fine-gauge knitting loom (the knifty knitters are too big for regular socks). MSWF is huge, so I should be able to find one, right. Heh, heh. Carrie could only think of 3 vendors who'd have that sort of thing (instead of raw wool, spun wool, dyed wool, sheepskin, yarn, dyes, jewelry, spindles, spinning wheels, knitting needles, crochet hooks, shawl pins, stools, sheep shearing supplies, rugs, shawls, art, etc). We went to the first one. They looked at me like they wondered what kind of rocket I'd used to come to this planet.

The next vendor at least knew what I was talking about, but they didn't have any. The third vendor wasn't there this year. So no knitting looms. One dealer had lap weaving looms, but that's not what I wanted.

We had fun. We ate lamb and met up with some folks from Ravelry. That evening we went to a nice, local restaurant in the shopping center across from our hotel. They had four types of chili and gave you samples before you ordered so you could select intelligently. Coincidentally, there was also a large Jo-Ann's in that shopping center and I wanted to see if they had any Llizbeth thread. The one near me is too small to carry any.

Tatting supplies are ~somewhere~ near the knitting/embroidery supplies so I usually wander around that area until I find them. This time guess what else I found? Yep, I found not 1, not 2 but 3 fine gauge knitting looms; one of them was even labelled 'sock loom.' I bought that and some Lizbeth thread.

The next day, with some help from Carrie, I selected a couple skeins of sock yarn and got started on a test swatch, aka baby sock, on the way back home.

The Siege in Chattanooga is strictly a gaming convention. I played Pathfinder all weekend this time. We were in a warehouse-type building. They were working on it to make it more meeting hall-ish while we were there. And things would have been fine except some {expletive deleted} stuffed paper towels in the men's toilet.

That jammed all the toilets. No bathrooms in the building for a few hours, for anyone. If you have to go, go back to your hotel room. And, while the roto-rooter guy was unplugging things, the air had to be turned off. No air. In a metal-roofed building. In the summer. In the South. Ugh. Triple ugh. The temperature never recovered. At least on Sunday, if you sat directly under a fan/air unit, it was bearable.

I reviewed a book:
Dragon Bound by Thea HarrisonMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I picked up this book because I needed a book to read on a long drive. I ended up not taking it and I'm a little sorry I didn't. I would have had a great uninterrupted read, instead of having to put it down for unimportant things like eating, sleeping and work.

I wasn't certain how I'd feel about the relationship beginning (she stole from him, he hunted her down - this is not a spoiler, it's in the back cover blur), but Thea made it interesting and believable. There were some good twists and turns in the plot but nothing felt like deus ex machina.

Pia, the heroine, has a wonderful sarcastic streak, even when it's not in her best interests. And she realizes this, just like any of us might. Her relationship with Dragos gets a little complicated, but in a good way. And they *gasp* do sometimes talk and think about their relationship; instead of going off on wild tangents due to misunderstandings.

This book has me interested enough to look up the next Book of the Elder Races and other books by Thea Harrison.

View all my reviews