Monday, March 19, 2012

The Geekend That Was, 3/18 (Madness and Idiocy Edition)

Click now for JiffNotes

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. No wait...it was just the worst of times. That was last week at work. I could write a book on it, but let's just say that, convinced someone else was not doing their job, I made everyone's life miserable when, really, my stuff was creating problems. I also spent almost the whole week on this, while everything else slipped further and further behind. I am now so far behind, and my knowledge gap is so wide, it just looks undoable. Plus, for some reason the pollen is making me crazy this year. Not miserable, CRAZY. Like Sunday morning I wasn't sure if I wanted to sob or kill someone.

Anyway! You came here to see pretty pictures! I love tulips and I was so miserable the hubby brought these home when I made him go get dinner for, like, the eleventy-fifth time.
 

You also want to hear about how the hermitting went, yes? For International Hermit and Stitch Weekend?
Um...stitch? I feel like some of that happened, but not much. Let's talk about how March Madness is going, instead!!

We left off with Wednesday, when I teased a partridge. Sorry...teased about a partridge. I did not actually mock some poor bird.
 
Isn't he GREAT?? I love his crazy colors. This is a JABC design and was a kit that Drema at Needlecraft Corner did.

Thursday I pulled this needlepoint Santa from the Sparkly Compote of Decree.
 
I got his face done, and some more on the hat band. Not too shabby.

We interrupt this weekend report with breaking news...the pollen count today is 8461. EIGHT THOUSAND, four hundred and sixty-one!!!

Well, that's just WRONG. Especially when the scale only goes up to, what...150 or something? I've talked about this before. Yup, this is a record, but this is NOT one of the categories where you want to be a record-setter.

Friday, there was a lot of drama with the hubby's plane flight back from Arkansas (business). The plane's oversold--they're asking for volunteers to get off the plane but he won't get home until tomorrow--if they kick him off, he gets $1300!!! Eventually, he "volunteered". He really got kicked off, but by volunteering, they bumped someone off a later flight and he got home only 2 hours late and $600 in vouchers richer. Not bad for 2 hours work. ;) So I didn't get much stitching done on Peacock Cypher.
 
I got some of those letters done, but I'M NOT TELLING HOW MANY. (Hint: it was not "all".)

Saturday I drew a knitting project, but I wasn't feeling it, so I drew again. AND THERE IT WAS...the Golden Ticket of the SCOD...the WILDCARD SLIP. That meant I could work on whatever I wanted. I could even start something!!! I think I'd said before that I wanted to start the shawl that I got the pattern and yarn for in Asheville when I drew my first wildcard. Well, there was one small problem with that, which I noticed when I wound the yarn (this would be the second part of the "idiocy" I mentioned):
 
I GOT TWO DIFFERENT COLORS. OF YARN. Not two different dye lots, people, TWO DIFFERENT COLORS. But didn't they look like the same color in skein form (scroll to the bottom)? Just, you know, a little different, but we all know how wacky Malabrigo colors/dye lots are, right? I'M NOT ON THE CRAZY KNITTER TRAIN ALONE, AM I?? I seem to recall the shop lady saying something about this (something helpful that a normal, sane person would have heeded, like, "these are two different colors"), but I just thought one dye lot looked a little darker. I can't make this shawl work like this...I thought about knitting the edge in the darker color, but I think I will run out of yarn that way. My hope is I'll be able to find another skein of the right-hand one at Stitches that's not too crazy different of a dye lot. IT CAN'T BE WORSE THAN AN ENTIRE DIFFERENT COLOR! (I hope those aren't famous "last words.")

So instead, I decided to complement my "wearin' o' the green" with some "stitchin' o' the green" and picked up my neglected temari:
 
Sadly, most of the time was spent cutting out those !@#$% little circles. Actually, it wasn't that bad, and they will save 5-6 measurements each. But it did mean I only got 1/2 of one path done...the pink pins are for the second half of the path, but the written instructions aren't doing it for me. So, I'll watch the video that our fabulous teacher provided, and based on other vids, I'm sure that will clear it right up for me.

I'll leave you with a teaser shot of Spring Blooms at the Botanical Gardens, where we went Saturday afternoon:
 
This might explain why I was wacked out on pollen Sunday morning....

This morning I drew ANOTHER WILDCARD!! That's what I get for complaining that none had shown up thus far. =) What should I stitch on tonight?? Suggestions??

JiffNotes
See how I bookended the post with tulips? This is some quality blogging right here, people. Quality.

14 comments:

Jenny said...

I am so sorry about the allergies and that pollen count is out of this world! All those tulips sure are very pretty though... I gotta say that you are a real trooper - I would not be able to concentrate enough to get all that work done if I felt bad. I love that Santa and the partridge is precious. I have to go surf around for a bit to see what the white circles are used for in temari making - I am very curious now!
LOL on the yarn - rest assured that you are not the only one who absentmindedly run on auto-pilot. I have done similar booboos many times and I couldn't even blame allergies! :-)

Joysze said...

OMG! Heather... that pollen count is f***ed up!!!! You poor thing. I well and truly empathize. And to think you got any stitching done while feeling crappy. I know I would've wanted to tear all the floss off to rub my nose into everything to get it to stop itching.

2 wild cards in a row???!! You suuuuuure you didn't peek? LOL!!! I vote for Les Rubans!!!!

ROFLMAO... teased a partridge. I had visions of you standing over a partridge with comb in one hand and hair spray in another....

Love the green addition to your temari and great going on hubby's end for earning that $$ and doubly so for bringing you tulips.

Veronica said...

Beautiful tulips, Heather. Your hubby is so sweet. Sorry to hear about the allergies though. Yet you managed to get some stitches in. Your WiPs are looking good.

Hugs,
Veronica.

Ziggyeor said...

Pretty Tulips. Sorry about work, mines making us do over time. Allergies are a bad thing, that's why they invented 12 hr allergy meds! I could not live without the stuff. I hope you found something enjoyable to stitch on.

I nominated you for a Liebster Blog award. You can check out the details on my blog. ;)

Jean in Georgia said...

Oh, thank goodness... I mean, oh no, someone else's week went down the tubes too...

Anne said...

Hahaha! I love this post Heather!! Oops, not the first bit, but the partridge bit!! Glad to hear your hubby made some cash and brought you some tulips too! I felt a bit blue the other day, and funny thing, bought the SAME colour tulips!!! They make us happy :D

Crazy yarn! I love the colours but if you need two from the same dye lot, those aren't it! They are so different! My hubby likes the yarn by the way.

Whats that yarn ball thingy? I like it! Looks like you are tatting lace!!

pinkundine said...

Ugh for bad pollen and crappy work weeks :(

The comment about the partridge teasing really made me laugh, and you seem to have made some progress on so many things!

Chris said...

I hope that this is an easier week for you.
You got a lot done this week and all the projects are looking great.

Anonymous said...

Hello

Those tulips are so pretty.

The patridge colours are so great!

Hope you have a better week this week.

Happy stitching.

Melanie said...

Oh gurl, I feel ya on the pollen thing. I just spent four days with a swollen eye because of hay fever, which makes me irrationally angry because, like, you're not actually sick. It's just your stupid body doing STUPID STUPID RANDOM THINGS FOR NO REASON. *ahem*

That stinks about the yarn. I've been fooled by Malabrigo as well somehow but I've erased the memory of it and don't remember the details? Their colorways are definitely similar though! I could see how it could happen if you weren't paying attention. (And who among us is paying attention in a yarn store? It's like a dog in a park full of squirrels. Squirrel! Squirrel! Squirrel!)

Daffycat said...

Blah, I hear you on the allergy issue. I keep waking up thinking I have the mother of all colds but then feel better after being able to breathe.

I did not know you were working on Cypher. Mine is finished stitching and just wants beading. I keep finding other things I want to do than bead.

I hope your work goes smoother the rest of the month. And that they don't toss you on your ear for making everyone miserable!

Delusional Knitter said...

LMAO! I had someone at a yarn shop tell me that something was two different colors before and they were two different dye lots ... so you have some semblance of sane by ignoring that comment ... some ...

Topcho said...

Aw, I hope everything gets better in terms of work, and allergies too! They can be terrible :( All of the stitches and crafts look neat and pretty as always :D

Unknown said...

Geez girl! Do you ever sleep? You always have so many projects and stuff going on!

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