Jeans and Sneakers

This week was exhausting. What with the internet being down for two days at work and having to catch up, and it being the worst week for anything stressful to happen. . .I’m pooped.

I’m pretty angry at the moment too, because a stupid minor car accident from last year is messing up my car insurance!! I know I should have assumed that it would show up, but here’s what happened, and I’ll try to make it quick. This woman started turning in front of me and I started turning behind her, but was looking the other way, so when she stopped, I hit the back corner of her car. I cracked her tail light cover, and my car got a huge dent in it. We exchanged info, and I went home. When we were exchanging info she kept yelling at me to make sure I reported the claim. So When I got home I did. She calls me the net day telling me that her husband said that she shouldn’t report the claim because it would make her insurance go up. (duh.) So I called back my insurance company to tell them that no money or whatever was needed because we were going to settle it ourselves. They said fine and good luck.

The rest of the story is irrelevant to my story now. I’m getting a policy with a new insurance company, and I had a really awesome low quote. When they went to put the policy through, they saw the accident I had reported, and it bumped up my policy price by $125. >:[ If the fucking woman had told me that she wasn’t going to report the accident in the first place, I would have had the lower policy price!! Stupid woman!! Now, I don’t have as much money as I would have, and I’m taking my dad out to dinner with my sister on Sunday for his birthday, and I’m going to have to take money out of my savings account (which is a joke anyway) to pay for it. STUPID WOMAN!! I HATE YOU!!

:[

The good news is I won’t have car insurance payments for the next 6 months. That’ll be nice. And I paid rent already for September. That leaves me in a good position to start chipping away at my last debt. I might actually accomplish a goal this time!!

Speaking of goals, I’ve gotten 2 more pattern repeats done in the past two days on Birch, and I plan to get a lot more of it done this weekend. I want this project out of my house. I want to knit SOCKS and SWEATERS again!!!

I started messing with the layout, and now I’m too tired to make it presentable again.  :/

But check this out, if you’ve got a little bit of free time to read a really long story, check out this page:

http://www.evanwashere.com/StolenSidekick/ 

Most of the people I know on the internet know about this already, but I’m all for humiliating retards who don’t have the decency to return something that’s not theirs, especially when a reward was offered.

So yesterday, just like every Sunday, Rob and I went to his parent’s house for dinner.  But this time. . .as we pulled up to their house, this was waiting for me outside:

Ok.  So maybe she wasn’t waiting for *me*.  Maybe Rob’s parent’s neighbors felt like doing a little spring cleaning, and were THROWING OUT THIS BEAUTIFUL BICYCLE.  The picture doesn’t do it justice.  You have no idea what kind of awesome color green this bike is.  That’s ok though.  I have more pictures.

So the entire time we spent at Rob’s parents, I was thinking about this bike, and how I’m going to restore it.  Because, although it’s in really good condition for being almost 35 years old, there’s still some rust, there’s nicks and scrapes in the paint, and some of the decals are mostly rubbed off.

The handlebars, fenders, and wheels are a little rusty.  Rob says he needs to take apart the coaster hub in the back wheel because it’s not working properly.  This is the kind of bike where you backpedal to brake.  It needs new tires and tubes, a new chain, and a whole lot of love.  I believe I can recondition the leather of the seat, because aside from a little flaked paint, it’s in really good condition.  I might end up re-cushioning it, but I haven’t sat on it yet, so I’m not sure if I will.

The handlebar grips have green sparkles in them.  And they’re actually in pretty good condition too.

I found a place where I can get replacements, and might get another pair, just in case these don’t want to come off, or if they get messed up or something.  I joined a Schwinn Bicycle forum, and found all sorts of nifty things, like a place that matched the original paint colors, so if I need to, I can repaint the dope green color.  I looked up how to paint on leather, and what kind of paint to use, and was happy to find that I can actually use the same exact paint I use to paint the StatYous I make.  I can’t wait to make this bike as beautiful as it originally was.  I’ve got to take her apart, but first I want to take good pictures of it, showing where exactly all of the decals are.  What a steal.  I don’t care if I spend as much money on fixing her up as I would buying a new or used one. . .it’s all about the experience you get, and the satisfaction in the end when you see what you’ve accomplished.

And in taking on accomplishments. . .my Rowan book is here.  I’ve started to cast on Birch, but it’s slow going.  My arms are all weak because earlier today I started up our new weed wacker for the first time, and attacked our lawn.  Now my arms are all gimpy.  IT sucks because I need steady hands for this lace cast on in this yarn with plastic needles.  And casting on so many stitches!!  I wonder if I’ll get the cast on done tonight!

My reservations are made for the Bed and Breakfast up in Rhinebeck.  Come October, I’m going to the Sheep and Wool Festival!!  YAY!  And what’s better, even though it’s more expensive, the room we were going to reserve was taken, leaving only the most expensive, and the cheapest rooms left.  We got the one with the jaccuzzi!!  WOO HOOOOO!!  I can’t wait until October!!  The only thing is, the owner is looking to sell her B&B as a turnkey business.  She took our reservations, and is hoping to sell to someone else who will keep the inn going, but she admitted that someone might just buy it as a house, in which case, she’ll let me know and try to help me find other accomodations.  I hope that doesn’t happen.

I’m off to knit!

So I went to the recital yesterday, and had a good time. My brother in law was really good, and so were some of the other people who preformed.

Classical guitars yeild very beautiful music. I didn’t know that the proper way to play was propping your foot up on that little stand!! I was so confused when they brought that out. Oh well. It was a good time, and the teacher was very cool.

Afterwards, we all (everyone who was in the recital, the teacher, another woman named Sue, and my sister and I,) went to this Korean restaurant for dinner. I had no idea what to expect. I found out I don’t like Korean food. Lol, at least what we had. I tried a little kimchee, some weird vermicelli rice noodles my sister had, and I got some dish in a sizzling stone bowl that had mountain vegetables and spinach over sticky rice with tofu. . . I thought it’d have sauce, but it didn’t, and I wasn’t a huge fan. At least I tried it though.

Then we went back to my sister’s apartment, we were going to go out and karaoke, but it was getting late, and I just wanted to go home, so I did.

But I got lots of compliments on my socks!

Yay for making matching socks!! I was so pleased with how the stripes came out. The pattern was good, very simple, although I must be stupid, because I flew through the first sock and had absolutely no problems understanding the pattern. Then I took a break from them and did my friend’s socks, and when I came back to do the second one, I lost intelligence somewhere around the heel. I don’t know what happened, but I wasn’t sure (even though I was kind of copying the first sock at that point too) how many rows the pattern said to make the heel flap, and even now, I think I may have done the first sock wrong, and consequently, the second sock wrong as well. But I think that if I did it the way the pattern called for, (to knit as many rows in the heel as were sitches in the heel flap), the heel would have been ridiculously long.

I think the heel is perfect though. I only made the heel flap as long as half the stitches on the heel flap. But you’ll also notice, that I didn’t come out with the same number of decreases on both socks, which means I picked up a different amount of stitches along the side of the flap, even though the flaps have the same number of rows in them.

?!? I have no idea either. The stripes still ended up matching though. Which was all I was really concerned about. And they look so awesome!! I was worried that I had made the ankle cuff too short to look good, but they are perfect, and look really cute with my sneakers!

See! (Please excuse my dirty kitchen floor. My roomate has not completely moved out yet, and thus, I haven’t cleaned my house yet.)

I’m wearing them today with a skirt, (a denim one though, don’t worry, the jeans and sneakers title is preserved!) and my new sneakers that I bought last year but never wore. They look awesome! *Pats herself on the back for a pair well knit*.

Ok, enough gloating. On to further business.

Tomorrow I’ll get the birch pattern, and I’ll have to immerse myself in it. (And have no excuse to continue to ignore Sonnet, which I haven’t forgotten about, but haven’t picked up either.) So hopefully I won’t lose my marbles. I’m both excited and worried about working that pattern. I guess I’ll just have to wait and see how it goes.

In the mean time, I’ve gotten this much done of my first jaywalker.

Isn’t it beautiful!? The colors remind me of a ripe apple. I have a feeling I might slip and start calling these apple jacks. I guess I’ve fallen for Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn too. And metal dpn’s. It’s so nice to not have to fight your needles to pull the yarn over to the other side. . .and a bit tricky at times to get the yarn to not leap off the tip of your needles! But I’m enjoying it. It’s a shame I’ll have to stop just about here to start really working on the Mother’s Day presents. Oh well, I’ll come back to them and have a ball!

Check out the green of this yarn. I absolutely love this color way. Even if it doesn’t come out in stripes. And it was so much fun to roll up on my ball winder and finally get to use my swift!
Oh. Speaking of stripes. I *MAY* have purchased some superwash self striping sock yarn for my mom and I yesterday before I left the house. :-O My mom was surprised to hear that I can knit socks that are thin enough to fit into shoes and wear in the summer (she’s going to see my Karen’s socks today, I’m going to stop by and say hello), and I thought it would be great if I could make her a pair of simple socks in great purple stripes, since purple is her favorite color. I might make her jaywalkers. It depends on how well I take to the pattern, and also, they will not get started until after Mother’s Day and after I finish MY jaywalkers. The yarn I bought for me was a colorway I was actually thinking of trying to dye myself. So since here it was, superwash and already dyed, I figured I’d buy it, and if I really liked it, I could dye some more of my own. Which led me to add some superwash undyed sock yarn to my order. !!! I know, so bad, but it was at a great price!!

And really quick about the roomate situation. . . here it is, the last day of April, and he’s just started to REALLY start moving stuff. Yesterday he told me that he’d be back and forth all this coming week to move things. I got pretty pissed at that. We told him a month and a half ago that he had until May 1st to be out. Not that he had to start moving out May 1st. >:[ I’ve started to think, just so long as he gets out, ever, I’ll be alright. I dunno though. Whatever.
I have to get ready to go, so I’m gonna end here. More soon though!

I’ve finished Karen’s Basic Socks.  :]  They are comfy!!  I won’t have any pics until tomorrow, since it’s 1:30 am and I want to shower and go to bed, but tomorrow I’ll be showing them off and hauling around my camera, so I’ll take pics!!

I also cast on a few stitches for the jaywalkers.  I was all worried because I knew I’d finish these socks tonight, and since my pattern is on it’s way (but won’t get here until Monday now,) I won’t be able to start birch yet.  I was considering starting the hat but I knew that it might not be as portable as socks.  I totally forgot that I was going to make these.  So they’ll be accompanying me on the train tomorrow to Manhattan.  I’m going to my brother-in-law’s recital, and it should be a good time.  But it’s likely I’ll get there early, and it’ll be good to have something to work on.  :]

On that note, I’m going to shower and go to bed.  More tomorrow, I promise.

Teaser: The roomate started moving today and isn’t home yet.  It’s quite possible he’s not coming home tonight.  We threw out all of his rotting food from the fridge and cabinets.  :]  I feel a lot better already. 

I don’t know why.  Things are bothering me more than they usually do.  I especially feel like no one is listening to me today.  Since that’s the case, I’m ending this post, in the event that I’m right.

Sorry, I usually pass these up, but this one was about BOOKS!!

Book Meme!
1. Copy & paste.
2. Bold the ones you’ve read.
3. Add four recent reads to the end.
4. Tag!

The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy - Douglas Adams
The Great Gatsby - F.Scott Fitzgerald
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter 6) - J.K. Rowling
Life of Pi - Yann Martel
Animal Farm: A Fairy Story - George Orwell
Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
Lord of the Flies - William Golding
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
1984 - George Orwell
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Book 3) - J.K. Rowling
One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Book 4) - J.K. Rowling
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter 5) - J.K. Rowling
Slaughterhouse 5 - Kurt Vonnegut
Angels and Demons - Dan Brown
Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Book 1) - J.K. Rowling
Neuromancer - William Gibson
Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson
The Secret History - Donna Tartt
A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Book 2) - J.K. Rowling
Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
American Gods - Neil Gaiman
Ender’s Game (The Ender Saga) - Orson Scott Card
Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson
A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis
Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
Good Omens - Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman
Atonement - Ian McEwan
The Shadow Of The Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway
The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
Dune - Frank Herbert
The Unberable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera
Hey Nostradamus! - Douglas Coupland
The Nature of Blood - Caryl Phillips
Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules -Ed. David Sedaris

Now I feel as if I’d hardly read anything. . . but among good books not on that list that I have read, is just about everything by Stephen King (but not absolutely everything), The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon, Jurassic Park and Sphere by Michael Chriton, Interview With a Vampire by Anne Rice, The Song of the Lioness quartet and The Circle of Magic quartet by Tamora Pierce, Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl, and probably a bunch of others that I’d gladly reread in an instant. :]

Edit: I didn’t add four recent ones, because they’re already on here.  :[ 

Lol, some disgruntled customer said that to my boss today.  We all cracked up pretty hard.  The week begins again, and I’m already missing sleep.  I tried to finish book two of His Dark Materials last night, but I failed.  Got too sleepy, it got too late, and I got distracted.  :]

Today at work was pretty good though, I was busy until later in the day, and they let me take pictures of products for the site.  When I came home my Denise Interchangable Needles were waiting for me.  :]  I don’t get to play with them yet, because I’ve got my plate full with socks and Rob’s Mom’s sweater.

The weekend was great. . .Sunday we went to Rob’s parents house for Easter dinner.  I got to talk to his relatives about knitting.  :]  I’m such a dork.

So I went to Knitters Nite Out tonight, and it was fun! I got there and everyone who showed up for the night was already there. They were all older women, but very lively! There was a constant bustle from before I went in until I left. And as soon as I went in, I was invited to share in it all! I was immediately swept into a conversation about my project. Very fun time. I fully plan on going from now on.

The new Knitty is out!! Weird, they’ve got a lot of winter-ish patterns. . .but there’s one that I’ve got to make that will actually use up some of the yarn in my stash that I had no idea what to do with. . .Topi. I had totally planned on knitting myself an army style hat once I decided that I like the one that Rob wears, and found that I couldn’t find one in any store that fits my head. The best solution was to knit one. I’d planned on trying to come up with a pattern sometime after the slew of socks gets done. But someone’s made one for me! How wonderful! So add this to the To Knit list.

I’m tired, but I’ve got some time before bed, and my knitting motivation has been renewed by being around other knitters! Hopefully I can make some serious progress on this stupid sock!