Llama llama duck!

I only have a minute for this post, and most of the blog surfers have seen this already, but for those who haven't... you must go check the Llama Song out now! It matches my personality and humor exactly - you've been warned! (It's a little slow to load, and if you're asked if you want to download something, say No. Whatever it is, it's not needed to watch the video.).

Also, did you see the nifty new Knit 1 Walk 3 button my hubby made for the Breast Cancer 3-Day walk? It's over at the left (below the archives), but in case you're having trouble spotting it, it looks like this

Speaking of the 3-Day walk (you knew this was coming, didn't you?), why hasn't anyone sponsored me? C'mon, don't make me beg. If you do make a donation, be sure to let me know. The lovely Brooke is organizing a team raffle for everyone who donates to one of the members of the team. We'll all be knitting items to give away, and I'm sure there will be some fiberly goodies. The details are still being worked out, but I'll be keeping track of names in the meantime. So if you're feeling generous (any amount is appreciated!), click on the button at the left.

Completely unrelated... if you're a cat or dog owner and have to give your pet pills, I found the coolest thing at my vet's office yesterday! They're treats called 'pill pockets.' My one cat finds them pretty gross (as do I, actually), but my other cat went nuts over them. You just stick the pill in and your pet gobbles it up. (No affiliation, I just think they're pretty great!)

My Knitters Review Gift Fairy and I were finally able to exchange gifts with each other. I don't have time to show pictures right now (I'm supposed to be, uh, working on my research - don't worry honey, this is a really quick break!), but I'll try to take some pictures of the great items I got. My gifter actually knitted something for me!!

Ok, ok... I'm going back to my research...

1 week down

First off, I'm sorry about the lack of linking in my previous post. I thought I had more time than I did and I had to rush off pretty quickly. Second, I'm going to go into a little bit of detail about my culminating topics. If you're a librarian, librarian-to-be, oddly curious, or just plain odd, you might be interested in knowing what the heck I'm stressing about over the next 10, er, 9 weeks. If you couldn't give a rat's ass (my most favorite saying, by the way), then you can skip down a ways. There's actually knitting content today - I swear!

I'm just going to tell you about the two topics I've chosen to work on, but in case you're actually into this stuff, then feel free to read all of the posted topic choices. (Wow, I think a couple of you actually clicked on the link!)

The first topic I'm working on (#4 in the list) is almost directly lifted from the final project I had to do last semester. The class was "Developing Web Products for Different Cultures" and we had describe how the user interface would account for the users and their culture from a specific country. I chose the Philippines last semester, because I have several Filipino friends and I really wanted to know more about their culture. I learned a lot, but it was extremely frustrating because there just isn't a lot published about this country in regards to the info I need for my class. So, this time around I think I'm going with Brazil. I have to discuss the country's political and economic background as well as the state of their information and communication technology. Then I have to discuss their culture, the way Brazilians communicate, etc. And, finally, I look at how all of this will affect the user interface that would be developed for a website used by users in Brazil.

The second topic I'm working on is a little tougher. It's #5 in the list and it's about the supposed decline in reference transactions taking place in libraries over the last decade. I have to find statistics that demonstrate whether or not there has been a decline (so far it's pretty iffy). Based on these statistics, I then have to discuss the factors that might have caused the decline. I'm not sure how to approach this part, because from what I can tell, there hasn't been a decline. Finally, I have to discuss the qualitative changes that have taken place in reference transactions. Basically, are people coming to reference to ask where they can find bathrooms, or is it for research?

This second topic is killing me, because I'm supposed to find reference transaction statistics for academic, public, and school libraries at both the national and California levels. I can't find any reference statistics for school libraries. Anyone out there a school librarian? I'd love some help!

That about sums it up. I might chime in from time to time as to what I'm doing, but I don't want to bore everyone too much. I've been pretty stressed about this whole ordeal, because I had a couple of friends last year that didn't pass and they're having to do this again. I did get a great sign last night, however, that gives me hope...

******

Ok, enough librarian-speak. Onto knitting!

As I (very) briefly mentioned, I've joined in on the Must Have Too knit-along. I absolutely love this sweater, and I bought enough Peruvian Highland Wool a while back in order to make this. Or so I thought. I knew that the yarn called for in the pattern has a different amount of yardage than the Highland Wool, so I calculated the change in amounts needed. I realized yesterday morning that I hadn't exactly read the yarn requirements correctly and bought yarn for the size small with some extra to spare. However, I actually need to make the medium, and based on the amount of balls of yarn needed, I would have exactly enough to make this size. This makes me very, very nervous. After much stressing, debating, posting on the MHT blog, and making a long distance phone call, I think I've made a decision. Sonja had responded to my post by reminding me that even though the pattern calls for a difference of 6 or 7 balls of yarn (which is a little over 200 yards) for the small and medium sizes (respectively), the large also calls for 7. Therefore, the entire 7th ball (and 200 yards) isn't needed to make the medium. I talked to my mom-in-law this morning, and she was like me - use this yarn for something else and buy enough to spare in another color. Unfortunately, I really wanted to make this cardi in the same gray used in the model. So, what have I decided...?

I'm going for it with the yarn I've got. I'll be hopping mad if I run out of yarn. Actually, I'll probably be more than "hopping" but I'm trying to be somewhat positive here. And, with that, I leave you with the most boring picture you'll ever see. My Must Have swatch... (which, by the way, had to be done on size 5 needles to get gauge!)

Since you asked...

I was a bad blogger last time and forgot to give you the specs on my sock. oops! I'm using Koigu PPPM (although I don't remember the exact colorway right at the moment). And the pattern is the basic sock pattern from Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles (sorry, I'm too lazy to go to Amazon and get the link). The sock is a bit big, but Lolly told me that Koigu tends to tighten up after it's washed, so hopefully that will take care of it. Of course, you would think that upon finishing my first sock I would cast on for my second sock and actually have a pair of socks. Well, you would be wrong. I mistakenly thought that having to count rows while knitting would be too difficult as I started the culminating this week. I decided instead to cast on for a scarf.

This is an ArtFibers kit that my friend Anna got for my birthday back in October. The yarn is Chai, which is Tussah Silk, and the pattern is a simple Herringbone Lace. I've never really worked with a lace pattern before, but I figured it's so simple it'll be easy to memorize. What you see in the photo above is was taken on Tuesday. As of today, well... picture the scarf with four rows done. I'm really quite a distractable person, so even an easy lace pattern is turning out to be quite a challenge for me. (yes, I know stitch markers would help, but it's really a simple pattern that really shouldn't require markers).

By the way, because I'm not driving myself crazy enough, I've also joined into the Must Have cardi fray. I've been wanting to make this cardigan forever and I even bought some Peruvian Highland Wool a while back in order to make it. So, what the heck. No time like the present, eh?

I have to run and catch the Bart. I have tons more to post, but it will have to wait until tomorrow. Until then!

And so it begins

Remember the "culminating experience" that I told you about? It's the final step I have to take to get my degree. Essentially, instead of a thesis, you're provided with topics from which you choose two and write a 20 page research paper for each in 10 weeks. Well, I attended our orientation session on Saturday and began working that night. I spent the day at the library yesterday and am heading back today. Needless to say, I probably won't have too many knitting photos for you in the next 10 weeks (yes, I know, not that I normally do). But I will continue to knit as I get the chance and will hopefully have tales to tell as a result. And if not, well you'll get to know more about the culminating process than you ever thought you would!

In other "beginnings," I have officially signed up for the Breast Cancer 3-Day walk. I'll be walking with other knitters from the Phoenix Stitch n Bitch group. Our team name is Knit 1, Walk 3. I've included a link over at the right in case you are so inclined to support me (I'll hopefully have a button soon!). I've also listed donation totals, other K1,W3 members, and my donors. If you donate, and would like to have me link to your blog, shoot me an email (nancydeegan AT sbcglobal DOT net) so I can do so. You don't need to disclose your donation amount.

In true knit-blog fashion, I am thinking of having a contest for those that donate (no blog required). However, I haven't come up with one yet, because a) Brooke has announced plans for a contest on her blog and I need to see what she's doing first and b) I, um, don't have any prizes at this time. In the meantime, you'll have to settle for the warm-fuzzy feeling you get from donating to a worthy cause. That, and the deduction you'll get on your 2005 taxes.

By the way, I managed to finish my first sock last week. See?!

I have to head to the library now. Don't forget to donate!

Sometimes I move beyond spaz

Way back when, I worked for a really great company in Los Angeles. It was a small company (the biggest we ever were was 26 employees), owned and run by three friends. Although I became friends with all three of the owners, I've mostly stayed in touch with Mike (the CEO). Over the last year, however, I haven't talked to him much.

One day, back in late November or early December, I was watching an episode of Who's Line is it Anyway that I had TiVo'd from a couple of weeks back. In this episode, one of the improvers goes up into the audience and sits on someone's lap. Right next to this person is my friend Mike. I about died of shock! I immediately emailed him and he told me that it was indeed him, but that he missed the airing of the episode and never got to see it. I told him not to worry, that I would record the show to tape and mail it to him.

I intended to do it before the holidays and didn't. Then I intended to do it right after I got home from the holidays. Didn't. So this morning, when every channel was showing the inauguration...

(side rant: I purposely keep politics out of my blog. Anyone who was reading my blog around election time knows that I'm not happy with how the election turned out. However, I chose not to partake in the inauguration protest that other bloggers were taking part in because, as I said, I try not to get political. With this known, even if I had voted for the incoming president, I still wouldn't have watched the boring inauguration)

I decided to record the show. I popped in the tape, played the show, hit record, and then proceeded to blog surf for the next 30 minutes. When the TiVo screen came up asking me if I would like to delete the episode, I said "sure!"

Now, I have my undergrad degree in Broadcasting and have worked in video production in my past. I know that many things that can go wrong when taping ANYTHING and that the first thing you do is CHECK THE TAPE. Immediately after selecting "delete" I think to myself, "Self, you should have checked the tape before deleting the episode." Then I thought "aw, I'm sure it's fine."

Do I really need to tell you more? You know, right? I rewound part of the tape and hit play. Static. Nothing there. Nada. Zilch. I rewound some more. Nothing. I rewound to the beginning. Nothing. Then I thought... (Mom - close your eyes) FUCK.

I emailed my friend and simply said that something happened and the show got deleted before I could record it. I haven't heard back from him, but he's a great guy so I'm sure he won't be mad. I just feel so bad! I'm going to keep an eye out on the repeats. With any luck, the episode will air again soon and I can try again.

Speaking of trying again... I'm making some more brownies tomorrow night. Think my cats will offer to help again?

Special brownies

When I decided to bring brownies to the Knit In last Friday, I decided to use a recipe that I had never used before. For the topping, you melt chocolate chips with some milk to make a chocolate sauce that you pour on the top. I ended up not using enough milk, so I had more of an icing, but it was still quite yummy. Anyway, I made the brownies on Thursday morning, right before I had to leave for work. Since they were still quite warm when I had to leave, I covered them up with a towel and headed out the door. When I came home this is what I found...

My cats must have decided that they wanted to have a hand in making the brownies, because there were paw prints all throughout the icing. Don't worry! As I said, they were covered with a towel. So although there were paw print impressions, no fur was actually in the icing. When I chose to leave the brownies intact (well, except for the taste test that my hubby and I did) and all the gals had a good giggle over the paw prints, I knew I was hanging out with a great group!

By the way, I had my latest "moment" today. I had to run over to UC Berkeley's library to get a library card. I planned my Bart schedule out so that I would have two hours to get from the station, get the card and wander around, grab some lunch, and then get back to the station. As I was wandering around the library, I looked at my watch and realized that I only had 30 minutes to get lunch and get to the station. I wasn't sure how I had used up that much time, but I hurried as quickly as I could. I got lucky and just made the train that arrives at 40 after, which would mean that I would actually be slightly early for work. Ummmm... slightly early.... yeah. It ends up that when I thought my watch said 12:15pm, it was actually 11:15am. I was over an hour early getting to work. My boss thought that I had lost my mind. :-)

A Knit In recap

There was food...

and drinks.

Our co-host, Bud, always made sure to come around and see if we needed anything.

Because I was making my first sock, this is how I walked around for the night.

But one day, I might be walking around in socks like Mary's.

There was knitting...

a lengthy discussion as to whether a sleeve should be frogged...

more knitting...

and an overall good time had by all.

By the end of the evening, Bud was ready for a nap.

Tomorrow, I'll tell you all about the "special" brownies that I brought to the Knit In. :-)

Happy Cake Day to my hubby!

It's my hubby's birthday (Happy Birthday honey!) and he is officially in his mid-thirties today. It's a good thing he's got such a young, attractive trophy wife to keep him feeling young. hee,hee! We're going to try and see The Incredibles... again. We're hoping that we'll have more luck today than we had at Thanksgiving. Since most people have seen the movie by now, and the theater we're going to also has the over-hyped Racing Stripes movie, we should be safe. Anyone want to wager on this?

The Knit In on Friday was so much fun! I remembered to bring my camera and I've actually downloaded the pics onto my computer. I should have them up on Monday (today is all about the hubby's b-day). Of course, if you simply cannot wait, you can check out Jewel's site. (I'm the sock virgin, by the way...)

Hope you all have a lazy Sunday!

Walk on!

It looks like I'll be doing the Phoenix 3-Day Breast Cancer walk in October. Brooke has been recruiting some of her knitting (and perhaps non-knitting?) pals to walk with us, so it looks like we'll have a team of walkers. I'm hoping we can come up with a team name that has a knitting play on words, of course. I also, somewhat jokingly, told her that we should try and knit pink scarves while walking. Not sure I have the coordination for it, but wouldn't that be a sight? AND we could either donate them or sell them and donate the proceeds. Cool, huh?

Anyway, if you're in the Phoenix area and would want to join us in the walk from October 21-23rd, let us know! If not, be prepared because I'll be hitting you up for donations. :-)

Friday night is my first Knit In and I'm so excited! Nathania is our gracious host. And considering all she's been through this week, I hope she'll be able to sit and enjoy herself. I promise to bring the digital camera and post photos this weekend. I know, I know... I'm horrible at promising pictures. But I'm going to make every attempt to follow through on this. I swear!

Finally, if my Knitters Review Gift Fairy (Liz) is reading this - I was supposed to get the last part of your gift tonight so I could mail it out tomorrow and... forgot to do so until after the store had closed. I'm sorry! So, it's going into the mail later than I had intended. I promise that the wait will be worth it!

Sorry for the spastic post tonight. I'll try to be more focused next time!

Just for you

First a rambling story about one of my latest "moments."

My hubby had to take his car into the mechanic this morning. He took off first, and then after I dropped off our utility bill, I was to pick him up and bring him home. Only problem was that I drove to the wrong auto shop. I stood in cold for several minutes before I realized I was at the wrong place and hadn't brought my phone with me (me and my cell phone have to be my hubby's biggest pet peeve). After having a minor panic attack, I finally remembered the auto shop he had most likely gone to and picked him up. On our way back home we drove by the beach. As much as I hate the constant storms, I do love the way it gets the ocean churning.

So... (and this is where we get to the point of my post) although we finally had some sun today, instead of taking some pictures of my Xmas gifts and knitting I headed back to the windy and cold beach just to take a couple of pictures of our beach. I did all of this just for you guys. (And for those of you grumbling about how you'd rather have seen pictures of the knitting... well, tough)

This is the Pacifica pier, which is about a block away from our apartment.

Click for a larger image

Although you can't see the waves as well in this shot, I kinda like the perspective.

Click for a larger image

Finally, thinking of Rachael's very cute self-portait after her rainy day run the other day (seriously, how many people can go for a run, in the rain no less, and look unbelievably cute afterwards?), I decided to try a self-portrait of me in front of the pier. Ummm... it didn't have quite the same affect as Rachael's...

Don't bother clicking,
there's no way I'm offering a larger image on this one

The fact that I was covered in sea spray and blinded by the sun probably didn't help, huh?

Rain, rain, go away

Ok, in all honesty, it's not raining right at the moment. But it's really dreary outside and more rain is expected tonight. As someone who is Arizona born-and-raised, I just don't do very well with dreary weather. And to think - we had considered moving to Seattle at one time! (Note: right after I had posted this message, the rain started pouring down. ugh!)

I had hoped to take pictures of my Xmas loot, but the lack of sun won't allow me take any non-blurry photos. I can, however, tell you that I got three knitting books from my mom-in-law. They are Stitch 'n Bitch Nation, Knit One, Felt Too, and A Treasury of Magical Knitting by Cat Bordhi. I love them all, but my favorite has to be Treasury. All of the patterns are different takes on the mobius strip. I'm already planning to use the laceweight yarn that my Secret Pal got for me a while back to make a couple of these items. I just need to find the time to make them.

Speaking of books, I joined the Knit One, Read Too book group. I've always wanted to join a book group, but the meeting dates have never worked with my crazy schedule. The beauty of this group is that it's entirely online. I've already gone out and purchased the first book that we're reading, Philip Roth's The Plot Against America. I had no idea what this book was about when I went in to purchase it today, but I'm completely intrigued after reading the book flap!

Thanks to everyone who offered words of encouragement regarding the breast cancer walks. My biggest dilemma in this decision comes from the fact that my hubby and I are planning to move back to Arizona. My thought, which Elisa backs up, is to do the Avon walk in San Francisco in July and then do the 3 day walk in Arizona next time in 2006. However, we don't actually know when we're moving. It definitely won't be any sooner than April, because I have to finish this semester of school. But after that, it's a crap shoot. If we move before July, then I'd have to fly back for the walk. I'm a fearful flyer, so this isn't a simple solution. Most likely we'll be in Arizona by October, but by signing up long-distance for the 3 day walk, I don't get the benefit of having a "buddy" or attending orientation meetings for the event. I hope I don't sound like I'm whining. It's really more like thinking out loud.

I'm going to make some hot cocoa and work on my sock. (Gasp! Did she just say "sock"?) Why, yes. Yes I did. After casting on and ripping off about a dozen times, I finally managed to make a small, child size sock. I was so excited that I didn't bother making it a pair and cast on for a woman's sock (in Koigu PPPM no less). I fear that my excitement will run out after I finish the first sock and that the second one will be torture. But I might surprise myself and become an addicted sock knitter. Crazier things have happened!

Home again, Home again, Jiggity jig

In all honesty, I've been home since Tuesday night. I'm sorry I haven't posted anything, but I've been busy getting caught up on everything - work, emails (oy! the emails!), blog reading... I tried to do this stuff from my dad's computer, but his Safari browser on his Mac just didn't like a lot of the sites I was trying to use (especially Blogger!).

One of the weirdest things to come out of my emergency trip home is that I'm only just beginning to understand the enormity of what happened on the 26th. I had seen tv's on that day, with the volume turned down, so all I saw were headlines about tsunamis. Up until I got home, I was only half-aware of what happened. I'm sure most of you already know about the Yarn Harlot's challenge. But if you don't, be sure to go check it out. There's also Yarn Diet for the World (check out the Jan. 5th entry) and Lisa is offering to give 15% of her sales at White Lake Soap. Of course, there are other non-knitting-blogger ways to donate. But I think it's so great that our community can come together like this.

In other charity news...
Every year since I've been in the Bay area, I've talked about joining in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer 3-day walk. Although I have not personally been touched by breast cancer, it does exist in my family history, and therefore I'm always conscious of the fact that it could directly affect me (read this is as "paranoia"). However, every year something has come up (read this as "I'm terrified at having to raise $1800, plus I would have sleep in tents for two nights and I'm just not a 'roughing it' kind of gal") and I have not done the walk. This year it's being held July 9th to July 11th. I'm not saying just yet that I will do it, but I'm thinking about it. Anyone want to join me?

Edited to add: I just did some quick research on the Avon Walk site, and it appears that the walk is one to two days, depending on the length you decide to walk. Saturday is 26.2 and then Sunday is an optional, additional 13.1 miles. The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Walk is 3 days over 60 miles with a minimum of $2000 to be raised. They're going to be in Phoenix in October, which I could do. So, the question becomes, do I do the Avon walk, which is slightly easier on me. Or do I try to ignore the wimp inside of me and try for the 3 day walk in October? Hmmmmm....

In other news-news...
I'm going to my first Knit In! Nathania is having a Knit In at her house next Friday, the 14th, and was kind enough to invite me. yay! I can't wait to put faces with names/blogs. Well, so to speak. I've seen pictures of bloggers on their blogs. Of course, many of them are headless. But I think you get the point I'm trying to make.

Ok, I've gotta go open the library now. Er, not that I'm updating my blog at work. No, no. Because that would be a bad thing. Um, ok, gotta go. :-)

Oh the forror!

Lauren suggests that my comedy/horror combo of "forror" stands for "funny horror." I think this works quite well and I told my hubby that this might have been running through my mind when I said it, even if I wasn't aware of it at the time. He doesn't buy it, though.

I have decided, however, that the term "forror" suits my life. I try to find the humor in things, even when the going is rough. It's about the only thing that keeps me sane sometimes. When I was flying back on Xmas day to see my dad in the hospital, I had one of these moments. My hubby and I had rented the movie Elf in early December. It was a cute movie, but not one that I would choose to watch over and over and over and over and, well, you get the picture. When we flew out to PA on the 22nd, the inflight movie was Elf. Ok, not a big deal. We're captive audiences so we watched it again. Well, the next night we were visiting my sister-in-law and "stuff" and we decided to watch an HBO On-demand movie. Well, I was freaked out about my dad, so I didn't want to watch anything sad or serious. This left us with... Elf. I'm sure everyone can see where this is going, but in case you can't I'll spell it out for you. We're on the plane coming back to Phoenix on Xmas morning. I'm too stressed to read or knit, so I decided I would just watch whatever inflight movie they were going to show. Wanna take a guess at what the movie was? Yep... Elf! See, we had taken one airline Eastbound on that previous Wednesday. But we couldn't get a flight back to Phoenix on that same airline, so we had to take a different one. I couldn't help but laugh a little bit at this. Of course, what's even funnier is that when my hubby flew back to PA a few days later, it was on the original airline that we took to PA. He decided against watching the movie for the 5th time in a month. :-)

On the lighter side

I wanted to let all of my blog readers (all one of you) know that I'm still around. My dad is continuing to make amazing progress. He's still in the hospital, but everyday he looks better, gets stronger, and looks more like my dad. Once they finally release him, he'll probably have to go into a rehab center for a week or two. This is unfortunate but necessary. My dad is a big guy, and there's simply no way my mom can be here alone with him if he can't lift himself up and stuff.

I'm also happy to report that there have been moments of fun during all of this. I got to visit the LYS (local yarn shop) Jessica Knits while in town. Actually, I made two trips because I decided I had to go back and buy some yarn I didn't get the day before. I also had a couple of "moments" while my hubby was still here (he flew back to PA to continue his visit with his family once we knew everything was going to be okay here). Since I try not to be too serious, and my last blog post was pretty much on the non-hilarious side, I thought I'd share a couple of the moments with you.

The first moment requires that I admit something... I didn't shave my legs for several days at the beginning of our travels. I was simply so worried about everything going on that this wasn't a top priority for me. So at one point, as my hubby was walking out of the room he patted me on the leg and I apologized for being a hairy Saskatchewan. After he walked out of the room I said to myself (out loud, of course), "Wait, Saskatchewan is a country. No, wait, Saskatchewan is a state. No, no. It's a region." All the while, I'm giggling uncontrollably. Of course my hubby walks back into the room after I've gotten myself into a fit of hysterics. (And for those who still aren't sure, I was trying to say Sasquatch and I now realize that Saskatchewan is a province).

The other moment came while watching a movie. I can't actually recall which movie, but I mentioned something about it being a dramedy. My hubby asked what that was and I explained that it's a comedy/drama. So he asked me what a comedy/horror would be, to which I replied "forror." Neither of us have any idea where the "f" came from.

For those who don't see the humor in any of this, let me remind you that my hubby and I flew from SFO to PA on Wednesday, the 22nd. We then flew from PA to Phoenix on Saturday, the 25th. My hubby then flew back to PA on Wednesday, the 29th. We were both a bit jet-lagged. :-)