Thank you for ....

...indulging me for the last loony posting. I guess I'm tired of worrying myself to death about the great Cap and Trade con, that will probably drive my elderly mother from her home, which we probably won't be able to sell because it's over 40 years old and not energy efficient, and we do not have the resources to have it either inspected or upgraded... of course, we'll probably be too sick with no viable options to even worry about it, and on and on. In comparison, the Sportbeat "issue" seemed almost "solvable". I'm incredibly cheery am I not?

But on to knitting. Here's were I am on the Wrap Me Up shawl:



This has turned out to be a fun piece. And even though I still don't really feel the Noro love, it looks pretty cool. I can't imagine actually wearing it, but they'll be setting the building temps lower in order to save money this winter (it's much warmer in here now in the summer), and I might need it. The other fun thing is that this piece lends itself to lots of ad libbing. Don't like a color, instruction, pattern? Do something else. It's all good.

I may as well knit ahead, 'cause I won't be getting to my group this month. My Amish friend is coming to help "spring clean" that day, and though we'll be long done, I'll be a wet rag by evening. Last year I drove her home, stopped and got fresh corn from a farmer, cooked and ate it standing up in my freshly cleaned, yet disarrayed kitchen. I was just too mentally and physically tired to do anything else. Blah!

Here are two progress pictures of Girasole. When I took the first, I had just reknit it to the point you see. This was right after the July 4th weekend.



I had not paid attention and ended up with THREE more stitches after the first chart. One then knits six stockinette rows, and when I started the next sequence, I was shocked to find I had extras. I pulled it out to before the stockinette rows and started over.


This is almost through the third chart. I'm doing much better reading the lace, so I can see the errors before I get too far. You didn't think I stopped screwing up did you? I just know how to fix them better.



In this photo you can see the bits of silver in the Dream In Color Starry.



It's a little blurry because I'm struggling with my macro feature. Must. Read. Manual.

Still working on the cardigan too. Pretty boring photo fodder though.

I'll leave you with two cell phone photos from the Altoona Curve game. The ball park is a very nice place to attend a game. You will notice the roller coaster, Leap The Dips, in the background. That is a vintage wooden coaster which is classified as a National Historic Landmark. When the amusement park is open the cars have GO CURVE on the side as they climb the hill facing the ball park. The first photo, is so typical of a minor (AA) league team. There are all kinds of games and prizes and the "kids" run the bases after the game and are greeted by the bizarre array of mascots, including, this year, a goldfish!! No idea how the goldfish relates to the Curve in particular, or Altoona in general. I just thought the last photo was interesting as the fireworks lit up the coaster. (Which had just been doused in water by the fire department to make sure it didn't get set aflame.)

When you wish....

....upon a star....yeah, no dreams comin' true here.

If you look through my postings, you'll probably notice that we here at Casa Black n' Gold are a little nuts for Pittsburgh sports. DH is a native, and once a 'Burgher, always a 'Burgher. I, though not a native, easily adopted this mindset. Though all of the teams wear black, for the most part, they are thought of as the "good guys" in a western. Back in the early 90's we left the Burgh, and thus left behind the local sports news. It was awful. No sports talk, no newspapers, nothin'. DH was devastated. Then a cable channel that catered to Burgh sports began. Mecca for displaced Pittsburgh fans. About 18 years ago a rinky dink sports talk show was produced by the original channel called Sportsbeat . As time wore on it turned into THE information conduit for all sports information, with an emphasis on Pittsburgh. The hosts changed over the years too, but primarily it was manned by Stan Savran and Guy Junker. Pittsburgh fans all over the country bought their sports tiers and packages just to be able to see Sportsbeat and get Steeler, Pirate, Pitt, Penguin,and even Penn State news. For us, I had to tape it every night for DH to watch. The station itself went through many modifications over the years, and lastly has morphed into a Fox Sports Affiliate. Sometime in the past 18 months, it was purchased by Liberty Media, who sometime in the past month decided that those five hours of Sportsbeat was too much locally produced regional programming - never mind that it was watched all over the country; never mind that the ratings didn't flag. They decided that broadcasting poker and the Top 32 Yo Yo Tricks was more cost effective. They had already, unceremoniously kicked Guy Junker off a few years ago. So after 18 years it was announced last week that Sportsbeat would be no more and last night was the final show.

OK, you're all thinkin' I've really gone round the bend. Why does this matter? Our country may be slowly imploding. We have nuts in other countries trying to figure out how to kill and maim our citizens. I have a friend who will soon be deployed (for the second time in two years) to Afghanistan. But all I can try and tell you is that it has something to do with the water/air/implanted microchip that you acquire living in Pittsburgh. There--it is a way of life. Where else can a gnome with a voice like a rusty gate be a beloved broadcaster. Where else will THOUSANDS of fans travel to sit in the hot sun and watch big men run around seemingly aimlessly. (And yes, we'll be there. I'll take pictures.) So this came as a blow. I didn't see the show, I taped it for my DH, but I had just gotten home from yoga, when Stan Savran (who is remaining with the station), did his final commentary, and I literally couldn't hold back my tears, and apparently neither could he. He said that he had to pre-tape his remarks because he was afraid he'd be too emotional.

Folks, I don't know this man from a cake of soap, but he has come into my home every night for 18 years, and shared a bit of what we still consider home.

Now, of course, I'm wondering how to find out about FCC licensing and how to complain that FSN isn't supporting the local community. (There is always some public comment period when a license is to be renewed.) It's not like there isn't enough evidence. I'm working up to ripping 'em a new one.

Finito!!

Finito #1

The Vanilla sock!!



Happy Birthday Mom....Basil (the bear) not included. I figured out that if I actually worked on the blasted thing I'd finally finish it.

Knit Picks Dancing, wool/cotton/nylon blend. It is rather thinnish and has quite a bit of give. They no longer have this yarn, but mom loves it, so I'll have to find a good sub. I'm thinking something with bamboo. Let me know if there are better options.
No idea what color. The way it knitted up reminds me of Sweet Tart candies. (Yes, I'm loony, why do you ask?)
Knit on two #1 circs.

Finito #2

RIP MJ

Please, please, please, no mas!! Reverend King he is not! He was a sadly, self-destructed individual.

Finito #3

Finally, over the holiday, we got to one of the state parks we've been interested in for a long time. It is on the "endangered" parks list. PA, like so many other other states has a huge budget shortfall, and there are 20some odd state parks that may be closed due to the budget short fall. We have some glorious areas in PA, and it would be a shame!

This is Trough Creek State Park. It is over an hour south east of us. What I liked:



The Rainbow Falls. But I could have done without the felled tree down the middle.














The Falls stairs, which looked a heck of lot like Cirith Ungol for you Lord of the Rings geeks.















The Balanced Rock, a remnant from one of the ice ages. It is balanced precariously over Trough Creek. One of these days they expect it to tumble over the precipice. I hope the idiots who think it is the place to proclaim their love for each other with magic markers stop before it happens.









The cliff side view.













This is taken along one of the ridge trails. Only problem with this park is that most of the trails are up! Makes for tiring hiking. But the views are wonderful.














This is a suspension bridge. It is wonderfully swingy, and made me very nervous to cross. It felt like being in a ferris wheel.






What I didn't like were all the signs that reminded us that rattle snakes are protected, and there are lots of snakes in the park....Not a snake fan, alas, and I kept wondering who would protect me from snakes.......! Thank goodness I didn't meet any.

My knitting is surrounded by water.....

.... meaning I have islands of seemingly unending knitting with no rescue in sight.

I'm on the second sock of my mom's Very Vanilla pair (originally intended for Mother's Day, but now targeted for her birthday in August). I'm halfway down the foot, and I'm just not getting any love from it, so it's going very slowly. I'm envious of the knitters who one day are at the gusset and the next at the toe. Don't these people work? I mean really? Don't they have to shovel out their homes once in a while? Empty the fuzzy continers from the refrigerator? Well, never mind...... just sayin'.

There is my Oceania cardigan. It went like gangbusters while the hockey playoffs were on. Great knitting for when your attention is elsewhere..... (aside: how about that Marion Hossa! Twelve year contact with the Blackhawks!) However, I am on the second front side, and I seem to have picked up the habit of dropping stitches. Terribly hard to see in boucle yarn. I've dropped stitches, at least three times, in the past week. Sheesh! This is not a complex knit people!!

And finally, I'm not a joiner....not really. You may remember though, that I "accidentally" joined the Loopy Ewe sock club, and am now making a collection of sock yarn, that will remain as stash (which Sheri says doesn't count as stash) until my deeply depressed sock mojo (thanks, Vanilla sock) returns. But this probably won't happen until after I finish Girasole. Yes, I joined the Loopy Ewe KAL for Girasole and gosh it's a great knit. It is actually the only thing I feel like working on. I should have refrained, but I got Dream in Color Starry to work it in, and it speaks to the hidden exotic dancer in my soul. It is working up a little stiff, I think, but I'm guessing a good soak and blocking will take care of that.

Then there is my Wrap Me Up monthly knitting group ...I've slowed my pace so as not to make my fellow knitting group members want to throw me out. Actually, I'm the cautionary tale of the group. I make all the mistakes first. So I suppose I serve a purpose. Also it is Noro Kureyon, and it is a pretty heavy wrap at this point. Not exactly a summer knit. However, it is zipping right along. I'm about one block ahead at this point. I'm kind of comfortable with that.

As I look through all these projects I'm feeling very guilty that my beading is just languishing. There is a pearl bracelet that I've wanted to work for about a year, and several pieces, including sun glass leashes that need repair. But knitting boucle, and dropping stitches seems to take priority.

I'm hoping to take some WIP shots this weekend. I'm also hoping I can get DH to hold up the Wrap Me Up shawl so I can get a good shot. It is big enough that it doesn't lend itself to draping.

Finally, Happy 62nd 63rd (I stand corrected!) Anniversary (yes, that's sixty two three years!) to two people in my life that I dearly love and admire. I don't know how you've done it, but you're an inspiration. No kidding!!

Happy Anniversary Guys!

ETA: I was asked in the comments if these were my parents, but no, they are my in-laws. And as I've said in other venues...I won the in-law lottery, no kidding. I did pretty well in the parent category too, but my mom was widowed almost 9 years ago.

ETA2: They have got to be kidding! I am just stunned by this circus.

Well this proves it...

.... Minnesotans will vote for a brick if it runs on the Democratic ticket. (Remember Jessie Ventura?)

Personal story time....

This post has been removed.

No offense .....

.... to Michael fans out there...but preempting programming....really?

It's just too much....way too much. He was a misbegotten, talented, probable pedophile, with mental problems that I couldn't even begin to guess.

Seriously, world, get a grip.

March of the Penguins...

City of Champions.....



Has a nice ring to it!

Catch up...

May was a whirlwind month. What with classes ending I don't know which end is up. My "business" is indirectly proportional to whether there are classes. The Penguins in the Stanley Cup (and giving us fits!), means that our lives revolve around whether they are playing or not in the evenings. We spent a little time at a jazz festival and outlet shopping last weekend. And we will have family stuff the next three. Also let me say that I still have wool sweaters and turtlenecks in my bursting closet. (And bought more WOOL clothing at the Pendelton outlet in sizes that actually fit!) I was smart enough to dig out a few polo shirts and shorts to tied me over, but it looks like it will be July before I "reorganize". That being said I have been knitting. Not all of it is going well.

First up Embossed Leaves socks.



I really like the sock pattern, this is the second time I've knit it. You may remember the first. Notice the difference in the patterning in the yarn. I'm not convinced that I like the color patterning in this version. In fact, I know I don't. These were knit with Pacapeds alpaca blend. Lovely, soft yarn, but a tad splitty. The fancy, schmancy, cast on and the twisted rib combined to make it rather tight around the top. (Also I make them about 7 inches long rather than 6 or shorter. I hate shortie socks.) So for the second sock I used a long tail cast-on and it was much more flexible.

Knitting Lies

And I really mean it. I am knitting a cardigan from Cherry Tree Hill Oceania. A merino boucle yarn. I bought the put up over a year ago and it was around 1600 yards. It literally took HOURS to wind into useable cakes. I was petrified that if I screwed up it would be a mess to rip. Fortunately that is not the case, because here's what I got as I started the back.


See the big streak of gray right in the middle. Attractive no? I know what you're thinking.....why the heck didn't the idiot knit with two balls? Well, the bad news is that the idiot was so paranoid about ripping boucle, that she DID knit from two different balls. Yes, indeedy, and that is what I got. Charming? Then look down a little farther....see the hole?



Right here.

Now it isn't like I wasn't checking as I was knitting along. But all of a sudden there is a hole. Not a dropped stitch, but I somehow did a M1 without knowing it. There was nothing I could do. Fortunately, for all concerned, meaning me, the M1 occurred below the gray clump. I ripped to the hole without too many tears, and began again. And how far along was I? See the stitch marker? That's where the armhole shaping began. (I always mark the point where some change takes place, so I can compare the other pieces.) I was already making the arm scythe (I always wanted to use that word) shaping. Now I have to hope that I didn't choose a too small size. I am making the medium because the large seemed to be sized out to be enormous.

It has not been a satisfying knitting month.

And Elvis has just left the building!

With apologies to Kemtee:



Dancin' with Lord Stanley again.

"Just shut up!" Thursday.

With apologies to Mike (Greenberg) and Mike (Golic) ESPN radio's irrepressible drive time duo, from whom this is a complete ripoff, I'd like to start a new tradition..."Just Shut Up Thursday". You get to vote for whomever you'd like to "just shut up!" (Gah! That was horrible to write. Still isn't great! Maybe I should "just shut up!")

1) Our girl Nancy, for her ever shifting story, six at last count, of what she knew when.
2) Joe "Loose Lips" Biden, before he reveals BO's "tighty-whitey" size.
3) Arlen "No-Cred" Spector, who neglected to mention, until now, after 30 years in Congress, that our intelligence agencies lie. (You mean the way congress people lie, Arlen?)

I wish I had a prize, but alas, I don't. Maybe I can figure that out in future weeks. Vote your choice for the "Just Shut Up" Award for this week.

Some things I think, I think ...

To my friends in the San Francisco area: I'll make a deal with you...you get Pelosi out of the Congress, and I'll work to get that old gas bag John "we're all racists" Murtha out. Granted it will be a little tougher for me because I don't live in his district. But if there is any way I can get the stupid out of the water in Altoona/Johnstown, I'll do my best.

To Janet "Memory" Pelosi from the CIA: Game on!

To the Carolina Hurricanes from our beloved Pittsburgh Penguins: Game on!

To Gary Bettman, Commissioner of the NHL: You'll never improve the visibility of the NHL if you only give playoff television rights to that bastion of ultimate cagefighting, Versus. Not even all the fans who are interested will be able to see the games. You, sir, are an incomparable idiot.

To Bottom Line Books: By now you should have heard [again] from the representative from our attorney general. Pick up the clue phone and leave us alone. Changing your "business model", from the "scam and badger" approach, might be something to consider.

To the representative from the Attorney Generals office: You, sir, are a gentleman. I truly appreciate your time in speaking with me and helping our family. Hopefully, this will be the last time we interact, but not because you weren't anything but helpful and considerate.

To the young woman at Wegman's checkout: You really made my day yesterday. When you said you remembered me, I was worried at first. (I like paper bags--before anyone gasps, we recycle our newspapers in paper bags--for most of my groceries, and plastic for my rotisserie chicken and leaky olives. So I'm kinda a PIA.) But when I said "Oh oh." You said that you remembered me because I was so nice to you. You weren't feeling well, and that I had been really nice. Not only is that a relief, it's a little shocking what with grocery prices and all, but Wegman's is kinda easy to handle really because most of the employees are truly nice too. Thanks! I'll make sure to get your name next time. And good luck on your graduation. Much success for your future. Hope you'll be working at Wegman's for a while longer.

To Wegman's: Thanks for the cool reusable bags. Even I remember to bring them (when I don't need paper). This is my favorite, the grapes. They also have peas and a tomato print.

In the never ending....

... parade of bizarreness that is my life--take a look at my calendar.



Pretty no? I do have a "thing" for carousels. Always have. In fact my husband refuses to go to amusement parks with me because the only ride I really like (and that doesn't make me nauseous) is the carousel. Especially if it is an original Dentzel Carousel like at Kennywood Park .....but I digress. Because there is nothing too weird about this right?












Here is the weird part:



Do you see it?








Look closer .....



Bet you don't have one of those in your month.....

Seen ....

... in our chronically balky elevator at work:

Bottom Line Books, the sequel.

You may recall that the last time we visited the drama that is Bottom Line Books... (I keep using the entire name for a reason, I want as many hits on this phrase as possible), with the assistance of our attorney general, we got a pre-paid label to send back the "books" my MIL was sent "on approval". (The only approval we can assume here is Bottom Line Book's approval.) Well she couldn't wait to seal up that mess and send everything back. You'd think that would be the end of it, right? Au contraire...... Yesterday she received a letter that stated that she sent back ONLY ONE of the books. Those black-hearted wretches are trying to outright scam an elderly lady. I told her to ignore the letter. They are not going to do anything for a $20 (or whatever) book. But of course, being a daughter of the depression, she is "nervous". I am considering contacting the rep in the attorney general's office directly, and then filing a harassment complaint in Wright County Iowa, the "location of record" for this "business". To contact them directly means another loopy conversation with the Moonie-like (remember the Moonies?) call center operator. It appears that this is simply another part of their process. They get the books back and claim one is missing. How convenient is that? Sheesh.

Dear Reader ...

....I am here to apologize for my poor judgment in voting (numerous times) for that incomparably selfish individual Arlen Specter. I, who gets the creepin' eeps from anything ideologic, kinda liked that he was a loose cannon. However, I didn't anticipate his selfishness and gutless behavior. When he caved and voted for the "Oink" bill, I wrote him an email that said something like, you tossed all PA under the bus, and that I hoped he had enjoyed his time in the Senate, because he lost both my respect and support. He (his office) wrote back with a long winded explanation that he didn't like it, but it was the best they could do yada, yada. As if doing "nothing" was not a viable option. (It was and still is, IMHO.) Then I heard him trying to explain his position on some news program, and it hit me, he was clearly scared....really scared, and saw this as the only way he could do "something". That capped it for me. Being in the Congress, much like being a teacher, is not for the faint of heart. I coach grad students, who are teaching, and I often give them pep talks that start with something like "teaching is not for wimps and weenies". You have to be able to stand up to criticism, both fair and not. Arlen has lost his nerve. So when he was faced with what is beginning to look like an insurmountable challenge to his seat, enhanced by his very unpopular vote, he bailed. I can't think of an insult bad enough for what I think he has done to the residents of this state. As for the red herring excuse that that the Republican Party is getting too conservative, well ask the true Regan conservatives, and then duck. John McCain would never have been nominated by a truly conservative party. Huckabee would have been the nominee in a conservative party. How dumb do they think the public really is. Or is this just noise for the lap dog news media to bark about? I am not enchanted. (Sorry I couldn't help myself.)

So, yet again, I find myself in the position of having to change my voting status from "unaffiliated" to Democratic, in order to vote against Arlen in next year's primary. And I don't care who the other candidates happen to be. Anyone is more deserving of this Senate seat....are you hearing me Arlen?

I feel better now....on to knitting. I became exhausted by all my forever and a day projects, so I took a lead from another blog I read and whipped up this....


Crofter's Cowl (Rav link, sorry). The very cool thing about this cowl is that the points face each other. The uncool (for some people) is that the way you achieve this is by knitting it in two parts and grafting in the middle. Since I am not "afeered" of kitchener stitch (can't be a weenie and be a knitter either), I went ahead and it turned out beautifully. The yarn is elsebeth lavold's incomparable Silky Cashmere (55% Silk, 45% Cashmere), and I used about all of three skeins (44/skein). This is precisely the reason I chose this cowl. I had limited yardage. The color is a very beautiful "wine" color, that is not reflected in my photo.

I loved this pattern so much I immediately made a second one (no photo) for a friend who has lost an enormous amount of weight, and is now chilly all the time. For that I used a lonely skein of bulky alpaca from Knitpicks. It doesn't look like they have it anymore. It isn't a firm bulky, so it worked out very well. Some of the comments in Rav indicate that folks had trouble getting the points to align. I had no such difficulty.

The Black Hole of Knitting.

Followup re: Bottom Line Books, I'm pretty mean when I'm mad enough, and even though the call center person was just doing her job (and I told her that) I rarely have time for bullshit. And I don't suffer fools gladly. When she indignantly said "This isn't a scam!" She pushed me over the edge. I said she couldn't possibly know since she was sitting in a cubicle somewhere reading from a script. Sheesh. As for my MIL, they only reason she called me is because she thought it had something to do with the "web". Her children were a little peeved at first because they assumed that she had ordered these books without realizing it, but a little research told me that she wasn't alone and probably hadn't made this error.

The books themselves are a "Yearbook of Medical Snakeoil, 2008", which means there is a new one every year. We will need to keep an eye out next year. I don't trust this company.




Ah, yes, the "black hole" of knitting. You've been there, I know you have. The Lace Ribbon scarf is 80 inches in the pattern. I already told the story of ordering and re-ordering more yarn so it would be long enough. I am a long scarf kinda gal. I was shooting for between 72 and 80 inches, unblocked. I began measuring about each repeat or two beginning at 60 inches. I'd lay it out on the floor, and get it as flat as possible. It seemed to stay 60 inches for days. And I was about knitted out on this pattern, let me tell you. (This is my lunch time/coffee shop knitting.) When I hit 68 inches, after I broke out the champagne, I figured I'd go about 2 more repeats which would take me to between 72 and 74 inches. (I started his piece back in October, by the way. It was on hiatus for Christmas knitting.) I've been really busy this April and didn't get a lot of lunchtime knitting in. I was coordinating a big program in the Northeast part of the state in early April and spent a night with my mom instead of at a hotel. I took the scarf, and when she saw it, she kept saying, "Isn't that looooong?" "Are you sure you want it that long?", until I wanted to strangle her. So maybe this is payback for my black thoughts.

Anyway, I finished it up on Friday night, and measured on Saturday morning and GADS! it had not gained 4+ inches, it had gained about 12+ inches. Without blocking the blasted thing was 85 inches!! I honestly wondered if the scarf had been kidnapped and knitted by aliens. I forged ahead, and soaked (spun in net bag in washer), and laid it out flat to dry. I measured and now it was 89 inches!! Sigh. I was pretty sure this would be unwieldy, even for me. I waited until it was dryish and tried it on. By Saturday evening I had convinced myself to wear it awhile to see how I felt.


Sunday morning, I just decided nothing doing, why worry myself silly over such a small thing. (I like to look at the big picture most of the time.) This was the advantage to knitting. There are always do-overs. (Except in wire knitting, ask me how I know this.) So I snipped the end, and unraveled about 6 - 8 inches, reknit the border, and voila.




Lace Ribbon Scarf

Size #4 Harmony circular needles

3+ skeins Koigu KPM in pretty apricot, about 80+ inches


Mods: I knitted a three row seed stitch border on both ends.



I didn't need the fourth skein I bought. The first skein only knitted up to 20 inches, but the 2nd and 3rd went further. I think the third skein took me to about 78 inches. I would have stopped there if my measurements had been accurate. The yarn pile in the photo above is almost all I used of skein 4. Now I need to figure out what to do with a partial skein of Koigu.


I actually enjoyed knitting this pattern. I didn't memorize it until late in the process or I think I would have liked it even better. But as with most things that drag on, there came a time when pattern fatigue set in. This was my first time knitting with Koigu. I really loved it.

Nothing is ever easy

If you ever get a package from Bottom Line Books (Notice I am not putting a link to their site, I wouldn't do that to you) DO NOT OPEN IT! Unless, of course, you actually ordered from them. Feel free to open the package then. Instead, do a Google search and you'll find, literally, dozens of complaints on consumer sites about them. Their scam is that they acquire names, addresses, and email addresses from somewhere (probably purchased), they then send books [unsolicited] to you and then invoice you for the "purchase". These books are familiar snake oil clap trap about health and wellness. My dear MIL got a box from this uh...let's call them a business, but I have more descriptive names, and because she was expecting a package from me (I reuse boxes, even not on Earth Day), she opened it only to find books she never heard of. The smarty boots Googled the company, and found the piles of complaints and called me for help. Here's what I discovered:

They send books to people that the recipients never ordered or even heard of. Legally in PA, if you get something you didn't order you don't have to do ANYTHING (why pay to ship something back you didn't order). They then invoice you ("we hope you're enjoying the books"). When you decide to put this to rest and just ship the books back, they then SHIP YOU MORE BOOKS because you've now JOINED A BOOK CLUB! If you pay for the books to stop the invoices, THEY SEND YOU MORE BOOKS! They ignore pleas to stop the shipments. In one spectacular case (assuming it's accurate), a "collection agency" called a victim who was ignoring the invoices. Now most people, particularly elderly folks, don't want to keep anything they haven't paid for, get spastic if they get an invoice, and generally hate loose ends such as these. My mother-in-law had to be talked off the roof several times over the past month.

As a public service, I'm going to tell you what worked for us with a minimum of stuff and bother. YMMV depending on what state you are in.

File a preemptive complaint with your state's Consumer Protection Bureau, part of the Attorney General's office. I called ours explained the situation, and the rep told me we did not have to either ship the books back or pay for them. I filed a complaint in writing, telling them that we wanted a pre-paid label, and an assurance that she'd never hear from them again, and told my antsy MIL to sit tight. Ten days later she received an invoice, and got all upset (even though I told her not to worry). I found an 800 # somewhere on line, of course there was no contact number on the invoice. I called and scorched the ears off the poor phone center person. Told her we wanted a pre-paid label shipped immediately, and as a bonus we'd send a copy of the filed complaint along with the unwanted books. [She kept trying to read from her "script" that someone with XXX@gmail.com ordered the books blah,blah, but I just cut her off, and explained that I was a computer science faculty at a big 10 university and I was running a web server when she was playing with My Little Pony. Did she really think that I couldn't find a web browsing history? I told her to save her breath. Mean, yeah. I was not in a good mood.] Less than 7 business days later MIL had not one, but TWO, pre-paid labels, and curiously two very different letters instructing her to send the materials back. One said "sorry you got these in error but we have an invoice from you", the other said "sorry you didn't like the materials, of course you can return them". Neither was accurate. I was a little taken aback, but meh. We got what we wanted. She crossed out the "we have an invoice" part of the first letter, enclosed the complaint and the extra label, and sent the crap back. About 2 days later, she got a letter from the AGs office asking what the status of her case was. Was she satisfied with the resolution? LIGHT BULB. The second letter/label was a result of the AG office intervention. So, all told it took about a month to resolve, (it probably took that long off her life, she worries too much), and Tom Corbett's (PA Attorney General) Office is A-OK in my book.

For making it all the way through this saga, you dear reader get a bonus.

My Lace Ribbon Scarf.




It really isn't this orange. The photo below is a better representation of the color.










This fits perfectly with the nothing is ever easy theme of this post. That's because on Sunday morning, after a Saturday of blocking this is what I spent about an hour doing.



There's a story here, but I'll have to get to it tomorrow.

Lost is a funny word...

I actually had another post in process. And in fact it was even going to have knitting in it!

Then I was going to write about the ethereal nature of things like darning needles and tape measures. A little while ago I was waiting in the car for my husband. So I pulled out my knitting to kitchener up a seam and like magic, no needle on the end of the yarn. I know I had the needle when I left the house because I put the whole mess into a plastic bag, and stuffed it into my purse. It was lost, not in the knitting, not in my purse, not in the car. Lost. Completely.

Then I saw this:

Kay [of Mason Dixon Knitting] and Peter.

Kay doesn't know me from a cake of soap. But I feel like I know her. I know that she is generous. She's funny. She has really beautiful children. She's a talented knitter and writer. I know that she's about my age -- give or take. I assume that her husband was also her age -- give or take. Which means (sans beautiful children, generosity, knitting, writing, and being funny), we are alike in some ways. I cannot imagine what it must feel like to "lose" someone who is that close to you. I only lost a needle today. I have no idea what I would do if I lost a person I loved.

ETA: I just checked and her Peter was younger than my DH. Yikes!

Duck....boomerang!

I believe in a previous post I mentioned the boomerang (personnel review) with which I was targeted. I thought I was out of "range" on Friday. But no such luck...Yeah, it came back and it hit me right in the arse. I hurled it back and I'm hoping that will be it for 2009.

I've started this post about 52 times.....There's just so many disjointed things going on that I'm only going to list the sort versions.

**Last week there was the great hew and cry about the "training video" that dissed veterans. I was stunned to learn this because I used this video last fall for a "students in distress" workshop, and used in context it was a great piece. (It was created by a group on campus that helps students, and faculty, deal with difficult and often emotional situations.) Let me make clear that I have a personal connection to veterans. I am a staunch supporter of veterans causes and affairs and I'm rather sensitive to the chilly climate vets sometimes endure. I would never have used anything that would insult someone's service. Here in the "Land of Political Correctness" that puppy had its paws vetted off. It was a vignette on a student who wanted his grade changed PERIOD END OF STATEMENT His character profile was just so the vignette would have a little interest. What happened was that some yahoo found it, took offense, ripped it off, CHANGED THE TITLE, added subtitles, and posted it. So if you saw it, unless you found it on our site (it's been pulled see Land of Political Correctness above), you saw an altered version. If you've been teaching for any length of time, and you haven't had a variation of this experience (my personal experience was almost word for word the same)then you must be teaching kindergarten.

**I keep wondering at the stupidity of this administration. OK, so we're not supposed to call people who fly planes into buildings terrorists, that 9/11 was a "man made disaster". But a memo comes out of Homeland Security (Napolitano apparently didn't read the memo, though she signed off on it --she was "briefed", her word), that calls veterans and people in right to life groups possible "terrorists". So the only thing I can infer from this is that it is acceptable to call our own citizens terrorists, but not the people who actually engineer "man made disasters". Even typing this is weird and confusing.

**I am a "twit" because I don't "Tweet". And I really don't care what you're thinking or doing at any particular moment of the day. I am an "ambivalent networker". Go read it, it's good.

I'm coming to the realization that Facebook, Twitter, and the one that simply pushed me over the cliff 12 Seconds TV (it's just what it sounds like--video Twitter), are obliterating the way humans communicate, and not in a good way. I have friends who now communicate ONLY through these mechanisms - one or two sentence "status updates". We used to communicate by actually constructing paragraphs, not to mention speaking to each other, no longer. I want to know about the context of your life, I don't much care that you're "a blue crayon" or "I'm loving this weather" two actual comments from my Facebook friends. Ugh. I guess I'm just not worth the effort anymore to actually initiate a few paragraphs, privately when you can communicate with all your peeps and get lots of inane responses in return.

**Which brings me to...NO FINISHED OBJECTS. I am so totally jealous of all the blogs I see that show items with lots of progress, and some that have finished items every week. I've been working on the Lace Ribbon scarf simply forever. Probably because I only work on it at lunch. It is a long bugger. It is also now a little too big for a purse project, but I'm at about the 70 inch mark and I want to finish it. I'm trying to practice project monogamy to get this outta here. And it will make my "Wrap Me Up" group feel better when I'm not so very far ahead anymore.

I'm on the second Embossed Leaves sock. I love the pattern, but not the yarn I'm using in the pattern. I thought the shorter color runs would make for a more interesting pattern. But nope. And I'm afraid I'm not one of those OCKs (Obsessive Compulsive Knitters) who unravel finished pieces. They're socks people!! I'll wear them on my feet.

There is one blog I read that has several finished objects every week. But I finally realized that the knitter: 1) knits cowls out the wazoo; 2) uses sport weight for socks. So, I'm going to start a cowl with cashmere/silk tomorrow.

Stay tuned...I'm not finished with my "stories" yet.