Politics, cars, and knitting

I have to say, the direction that my country is headed in is absolutely astounding. I feel like it will take decades to undo the damage that has been done by our current administration. Take the Supreme Court's recent ruling on pay discrimination. (Not that this decision was the administration's doing directly, but two of the nine justices were appointed by Bush and therefore in on this decision...) Ignoring how pay inequalities usually occur (slowly over time), the court decided absurdly that one has to figure out that they're being discriminated against in the first place and file suit within six months of being given unequal pay. That is, the day you start getting paid unequally. Until we can openly know what our co-workers doing the same job are making, we have little protection under the law.

Suffice to say, the linked articles discuss the matter much better than I do.

In happier knitting-related news, I made yet another garterlac dishcloth.



Dishcloths never seem to photograph well, but I never bother to block them or anything; I'm going to be getting this guy wet and stretched out in no time, so why bother? I don't think I'll ever get tired of this pattern. It seems to knit up in no time. It's cute. It looks more complicated than it is. It's a good size. It shows off the Sugar 'n' Creme ombres nicely. I could go on.

I've also been trying to work on the UFOs in my stash. The exchecquered is coming along nicely, but as usual, dragging along slowly. I have, however, made remarkable progress on the interminable gray thing:



The miles of mock ribbing will really only equate to two balls of caron simply soft, but still. It's mock 1 x 1 ribbing. What is this gray object, you ask? I will show it off when I'm finished... hopefully soon.

I've also been commissioned by a coworker to make a beanie for him. He is a very large guy (a former football player), and says that many beanies are just too small for his head. This is exciting to me, somehow. It's rare that someone who isn't close to me takes such an interest in my work! I was going to use Lion Brand Wool-ease because it's washable and inexpensive... However, he wanted navy blue, and my local Michael's was out. Go figure. I'm going to check Joann tomorrow. My backup plan is Plymouth Encore from my LYS. Hopefully both backup plans don't fall through!



In other, sadder news, I'm starting to fear that my car's days are numbered. (Obviously the above photo is not my car but a stock photo; however, it looks just like that, down to the color!) A week ago, it started making a hideous noise. Steve's dad is extremely talented with all things mechanical (he builds custom motorcycles on the side!), and his prediction was either the serpentine belt or the air compressor. The diagnosis? Both, really. The belt needed changing and this was done, but did not fix the hideous noise. Therefore, no more AC for me until I get a nice, expensive repair done, if I do.

A new compressor would probably be about $400, which seems like a lot of money to put into a car equipped with a transmission that will likely die in another 13,000 miles or so. When that goes, that's it; that repair would run several thousands, more than the car would be worth.

I'm emotionally attached to it. It is, after all, my first car, which has been mine since I was fifteen.

Seven random things meme

I don't usually get tagged for these things! But, I was tagged by MrsFife, and figured why not?

List 7 random things about yourself on your blog.
Tag 7 others.
Leave a comment on their blog to direct them to your site to get the rules.

1.) One question I always struggle with seems so simple. In small talk, people always ask me "What's going on?" I never have a proper answer. I try to come up with an answer more interesting than "not much" or "same old." I always feel like I sound boring. Maybe I am.

2.) I have reoccurring dreams about smoking Djarum Blacks.



Here's the thing: I don't smoke, I've never tried it, and probably never will. In the dreams, I always end up smoking the wrong end of the cigarette in my dream, and end up with a tongue full of ashes. Disgusting.

3.) I lived in Australia with relatives for a few months about two years ago. Every summer since when it has been nice and warm here, it has reminded me of being there; it makes me miss the place so much!

4.) My computer is a dual-booting Macbook. It's so nerdy. I learned a lot in doing it. I'm not sure how to make this statement any more interesting!

5.) I recently tried to play Dance Dance Revolution again after a longish hiatus. Bad idea. All of my old scores loaded, and the fact that I can't even come near them has shown me how out of practice I am. The fact that I break a sweat fast shows how out of SHAPE I am.

6.) Portraits of Ren and Stimpy hang in the front room. They were painted by Steve's aunt a few moons ago; They're not too bad, to be honest.

7.) I'm scared to learn to drive a stickshift car. I didn't think I was until the other night when I was supposed to get my first lesson on a stick; I chickened out and made Steve drive home. Oops?

I think I'll forgo tagging anyone; a HUGE amount of the blogs I read have done this meme.

Reversible tote bag!

Based on this craftster tutorial, I made a reversible tote bag!



Red with cherry handles...



...or cherry with red handles?

The tutorial was really well-written. Any mistakes made are solely my fault. If I had to do it over, I'd have probably gotten heavier interfacing and more of it. The bag holds its shape and could certainly carry my laptop or something, but I think I'd have liked it heavier.

I decided that I needed to accent it with a cool vintage pin.



A cheap treasure from my last antiquing outing with my mother. I have another outing with her on Thursday, so hopefully we will find some similar treasures. There's not much other news to report on the Amy front...

Again with the non-knitting content...

I suppose I should just admit that I haven't been too productive with the knitting lately. There's been sock progress, sure, as well as exchecquered progress. However, work has been taking its toll on me. I've been tired and burnt-out.

I'll have a sewn FO soon, I promise.

In the meantime, I give you my new vertical industrial piercing.



Eight days old in the photo. The photos that were taken directly into my ear sort of creeped me out and I didn't like how they looked. Go figure. But you get the idea: all the way from the helix down to the conch. Two holes. Yes, it goes through the bottom of my ear. That seems to be the most common question from acquaintances so far...

Oh, and the green star earrings? Resplendent Redhead on Etsy. So wonderful. That makes five pairs of her earrings that I own...

Crafting content soon. PROMISE!

Mentos...

This video just really made me laugh. Now if I could only get the nerve to do this next time some douche bag catcalls me on the street...

Neverending scarf of doom

I'm starting to think that Knitty's exchequered is the neverending scarf of doom. This has been in my stash as a UFO for a long freaking time. I love how it looks, but I can't focus on the double knitting for a very long time. I don't like k1p1 ribbing much either, so I'm assuming that there's a connection there.

To ease the process, I'm having:



Delicious red vodka drinks with happy heart-shaped ice. I went to Ikea for the first time today, and I got a couple of spiffy fun ice cube trays. I also have puzzle piece ice!

Hopefully the Stoli will get me to concentrate on my knitting...

Hedera FO!

I finished Knitty's Hedera! Pretty exciting, as I think this is record time for me and a pair of socks. I cast them on perhaps three weeks ago, and between lunch breaks and such they got finished. The reason they were finished so fast is pretty much because of the nature of the pattern; the lace pattern is only four rows long, and easily memorized. I could take them with me everywhere and not be lost without a copy of the pattern!

The yarn is knitpicks essential. For the record, the color is gulfstream, which is a MUCH deeper turquoise than the website or my photo shows. It's a really delicious color.

Now, knitters, do I finish the Exchequered scarf that has been a UFO for far too long, finish Eiffel, or do I start gift socks instead? Decisions!

Back to our regularly scheduled fiber content...

...and no, I'm not talking about that kind of regularity.

I was supposed to be participating in Knit From your Stash 2007, but that has largely gone by the wayside. My stash is, if anything, larger than it was at the beginning of the year. Oops. Allow me to show off some of my recent acquisitions.



Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride bulky superwash (that's not a mouthful!) in onyx, white frost, and stonewashed denim. I got it from Alpaca Fleece, who seriously are the sweetest people and have the best prices on all things Brown Sheep.



Apologies for the craptastic picture, but you try and photograph a glossy magazine with a crappy camera. It wouldn't cooperate with or without the flash. The brown sheep is for the sweater pictured above, from the holiday 2005 issue of Vogue Knitting. Hopefully I can get gauge and have enough.



In the future, these will be socks. The speckled Koigu was in my LYS's orphan bin when I was shopping for my SP10 spoilee. The Regia Nation was ordered to make awesome socks for a close friend of mine who just got back from studying in Germany. I'll probably start them soon so that they are definitely done by her birthday. We shall see...

Even though this isn't yarn, I still felt the need to show it off. I purchased that shirt last night. I love threadless.

And finally in non-yarn acquisitions...



1.75 liters of Stoli. It was so much cheaper than buying several smaller bottles. I just felt like sharing because it seems like such an enormous amount of liquor and I felt really foolish carrying it through the grocery store. Consider that the other purchases of the evening were brownie mix and toothpaste. I must have been a funny sight. Party on Friday, anyone?