A sock or two.

I know I promised some knitting pics. It's not the greatest pic ever, but here's a pair of socks I finished a month or so ago. The pattern is Sockbug's River Rapids. It's pretty intuitive, easy to memorize, and everyone thinks it's a cable pattern. It's not; it's some well placed increases/decreases.

The yarn is Trekking color 100 which is apparently their best selling color. I can understand why; it's pretty awesome. This is the first time I've used Trekking, and I really like it. It's washed up to be pretty soft, and they're really comfy.

I'm just glad I finally finished them! They were on the needles for months. My next sock is waiting for it's mate, but I really am not looking forward to the second sock (though I think I'm close to the heel flap, or getting ready to turn the heel...I can't remember).

It's a Monkey sock, which I've made before. The pattern is easy, and fun. I've got it memorized, but it doesn't make me want to stab my eyes out like straight stockinette stitch (or ribbing). I actually gave away an almost completed Lorna's Laces sock and the yarn for it's mate to a friend simply because I really didn't want to rip it out, but I really, really, really didn't want to finish the 2x2 rib either.

Anyway, this is the infamous Noro sock yarn. I don't really know what to say about it. It's Noro. It rubbed a spot on my finger while I was knitting with it (thus why I'm in no hurry to get back to it's mate). The sock itself is pretty, and sturdy. I'm not thrilled about how the cool spectrum of colors are all at the top, and the all the warm ones are at the bottom, but there's not much to be done about that. I'm sure I'll finish them eventually.

Right now I'm working on an entrelac baby blanket. I'll post some pics as soon as I charge my camera battery.

Fuck You Radiohead

Our first try at seeing Radiohead in concert was in their heyday. I want to say somewhere around '01 cause I think we were married, but I could be wrong, and it could have been before that. We were excited as they were relatively close to our hometown (an outdoor theatre in Manassas; about an hour away from home) and was on a Saturday so no time off of work was necessary. There had been a lot of rain and bad weather, and they had cancelled the show they were doing the day before. We were in the car about 30 mins from Manassas when we heard it on the radio.

The stage had literally sunk into the ground, and there was no way they could play (without, you know, electrocuting themselves).

Strike one.

A few years later (maybe, 'o4?) we heard about a festival in NY where Radiohead was headlining. There were a lot of pretty cool bands playing, and we got tickets (expensive tickets) and were planning on camping out, etc. It was going to be an awesome time. So, what happened there?

The festival people managed to pick a spot in all of NY that just happened to be the mating spot of an endangered bird THE weekend of the festival, so it got moved to the Giants Stadium in the city which we weren't prepared to have to get a hotel, and Radiohead (and a bunch of other bands) dropped it anyway.

Strike two.

I'm going on a cruise with some knitties in May. May 9th - 16th to be exact. So, when is Radiohead finally showing their faces around these parts again (after years of not being around here?) May 9th & 11th.

Strike three Radiohead. I'm done with you. I'm scraping your sticker off my car. You've dissed me for the last time.

ETA: Just to add insult to injury Nathan was going to get 2 tickets to the show in Charlotte for him and whoever he could find to go. The tickets for both venues close enough sold out in 5 mins. They never even made it to TicketMaster.

Today is the greatest day...

Alright, so today is my 28th birthday. A lot has happened since my last birthday. Last February 9th I was in a dead end crappy job, I wasn't really healthy, I was kind of depressed, and my great grandmother passed away (but no one bothered to tell me until the next day). Wasn't exactly the best day ever, you know? Even though I'm referencing one of the most sad & suicidal songs by Smashing Pumpkins in my title this day is starting out much better.

On the job front I'm now working as a designer/project manager (to tell you the truth I don't know what my job title is...) at a sign shop. It's not what I ever thought my design experience would lead to, but I am loving it. My co-workers & bosses are awesome, and I love going to work. It's nice to not hate my job (pretty much a first).

Health wise? I don't know if you could call me healthy now, but I did lose 20lbs last year, and have kept it off. I'm officially vegan now. I successfully made the transition about a month ago, and I'm really happy about it. People ask me what I miss, and I can honestly say convenience more than anything. I have found some really good recipes to make up for the sweets that I miss now, so it's not so bad. The Joy of Vegan Baking has a lot to do with it. This book is amazing, and everyone should buy it and use it. Every single recipe I have made (pancakes, choc chip & peanut butter cookies, cornbread, brownies, and choc & vanilla cupcakes with cream cheese and buttercream frosting respectively) have been delicious and completely unknowingly vegan.

I deal with depression in odd ways. I'm definitely happier than I was then, and have taken some time off of school to keep from being completely burned out by it. I think the overall changes in my life have really helped with this problem. I've met some really sweet and lovely people this last year, and made some good friends (yes I'm talking about all my new knitting & knitty friends). That's been really awesome, and good friends always help.

I can't really help that last one, but here's hoping I don't have any sort of repeat on that front.

I do have some pics to upload with *gasp* actual knitting content! Unfortunately that will have to wait until later as this post is already long enough, and I have a somewhat full day planned.