Yarn!

Hoooooot! Today was hot and humid and waiting for a storm.
The storm started about 4 or so, and quieted just when I went home. However, it didn't rain enough to cool down, just to get steam coming off the pavement (this might be and exaggeration) and make it even more humid. One of the most un-fun journeys I've had in a while.

It is raining quite a lot now, and it's considerably cooler and nicer, so I do feel again like dealing with yarn. Get Knitted was doing a sale on Rowan Classic, as they are not going to have it any more, and I went and took full advantage of that.

I don't normally stash, so all my yarn is going to planned projects. It was expensive to get it all in one go, but at least now I won't have to buy more yarn for a while, and it was much cheaper than it could have been.

Future projects are:
Emerald (rav)
Sizzle (rav)
Afternoon tea fingerless gloves (rav)
Assorted projects are like the knitted flower (rav), to for some accessories for my cousin's wedding (to which I really don't want to go, so at least I'll get some nice knitting out of it).

The blue cotton glace is to make a Tachikoma, as I have just finished watching Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. There is no known pattern for a tachikoma, though, so I'll free-crochet it, and then post a pattern. Tachikomas are sooooo cute, people will want to make them!

I also have 1 FO (the möbius cowl) and three nearly-FOs (the lacy summer tee, the black knitted flower, and the dice bag), hence my stocking up on yarn for new projects. I have also figured on what to use the yarn from my crap attempt (via which I learned that gauge *does* matter) at Isabella: Bottoms Up!

Links of the week, 29/06/08

It's hot outside. Normal people go out and play in the sun, and then go to work like lobsters on Monday. Me? I hide! Sun is hot. I might go out for 5-10 min to the balcony, and then it gets too hot and I have to go in. Sure, I'm a lovely shade of white, but I don't go re!

Anyway, as I am inside, drinking cold coke, here are some links for your perusal!

The Rebel Knitter's Guide (Guardian suplement)

Remember Mazzmatazz, and the Doctor Who patterns problems? (which might be on the way to a peaceful solution, without needing to take out the needles). She is the author of the Guardian's Guide to Knitting, out yesterday. Interviews and several patterns ahead.

NASA images

Space images will make me happy any time of the day!

Kitten Wars

Kittens will also make me happy. One day, I will have one.

Optimism software

Sadly, it's not a handy piece of software that I can upload to my brain and be optimistic. I wish. It is, however, a handy piece of software to track down moods, coping mechanisms, sleep hours, triggers, etc. The best thing is that you don't really have to think about it: most of it comes in handy ticky-boxes, so you get the options and can check them, rather than having to think from scratch about what was going on. I've downloaded the demo, and I'm trying and playing with it. If I find it very good, I will buy the full version at the end of the week, and keep using it! I'll let you know how it works out, but for now, you know it's there/

Recycling sweaters for yarn

Having been in the process of unravelling a store-bought cardigan that I wasn't wearing (for approx fingering weight cream cotton), I found this useful, especially to break the cardigan into pieces. Now, were that unravelling was as fun as knitting, I would have finished this months ago, and not still being about. Buy, my laziness aside, it's a good resource.

I hope there aren't too many lobsters around! If it burns too much, tomato slices, cucumber or even yoghurt will soothe your burning skin.

Spa!

The Spa was good!

I was a bit rather stressed in the morning before going, but at least they got rid of it all.

I arrived without problems to Bath, and made my way to the Spa with about 15 minutes to spare, so I had the tiniest wander-around. I changed into my swim suit, put on my bath robe and slippers, hugged my towel, and made my way in.
The massage and facial were wonderful. First I got the massage, 1/2 of kneading my back, shoulders and neck and leaving them more relaxed than they had been in years. I swear that guy must have had three hands, but he always hid one of them when I was looking.
Then I got the facial, complete with a scalp massage. It was so relaxing, my only worry was that one of my arms was falling asleep. After he finished with my face, rather than saying anything, he clinged a couple of chimes, presumably just in case I had fallen asleep! Not so much during it, but I was tempted to forgo the water and ask if I could just curl up there and sleep for a bit.

Then I had two hours in the pool. I had access to the main pool, the sauna, the balconies and the roof top pool. I started in the main pool, but there were to many people and they were making me nervous, so I moved to the top pool, but it was the same. Mercifully for me, 1 pm hit and most of the people disappeared to lunch. I went to the sauna and was there for a while. There were very few people, so I found a very empty space and managed to practise my tai chi form.
Then I went back to the main pool for an hour, and it was great. It was nice and warm, and there were very few people. It had bubbles in a corner! We also had floating spaghetti foams, so everybody had one and we just floated. The water pumped in formed a current, so you could just float and it would take you all around the pool! (with minor corrections for the calm bits). I circled the pool many times, just enjoying floating in the warm water.

After I was done, I had nice lunch out (I was starving!), and bought some cheese and things for dinner, and head home, to give Alex many hugs for his wonderful present.

It was so peaceful and nice and warm, and so relaxing. I still slept like normal (not very well), but I am still rested and feeling calm, even if I didn't get enough sleep. And there is nothing planned for this weekend, so I can just sit home and knit, read, play games and eat good food. And, if I feel super-energetic, I might buy some yarn.

Completely unrelated, Bath was full of pigs. I am also using this to prove that I was really there, before someone says "pics or it didn't happen".

Bamboo in the fridge

Waking up at 6 on Monday and 6.30 on Tuesday has not been good for me. I was completely wrecked yesterday evening, although I'm glad I managed to go to Tai Chi, I was "better tired" after it. I was talking nonsense, and I nearly put the half-used can of bamboo shoots in the draw, rather than the fridge.
I've also had to tone down the brightness and the colour intensity of my monitor, as reading documents with a white background is very tiring on my eyes. And everything is kind of hazy anyway.

However, I am going to the Spa tomorrow. I am finally going as my birthday present, and I'll get a shoulders and neck massage, a facial treatment, and a couple of hours in the nice water. I have the day off from work, and I think doing that will (hopefully) relax me, catch up on my beauty, and generally make me feel happy and better. Alex is awesome.

Links of the week, 20/07/08

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

Last chance today to see Dr Horrible for free, you won't regret it.

What do NASA engineers do in their free time?

Why, design their own Moon rocket, of course!

Apparently tired of the official space program, a group of scientists and engineers at NASA are designing their own, in their own free time and with their own resources. This is how space progresses!

Scary sounds and stories

Mp3 versions of old scary stories (some read by Boris Karloff himself!) and a collection of spooky sounds, to scare little kids (or players!)

Who's killed Hitler again?

Time travel is possible, and people keep going back to kill Hitler. But that appears to be a fixed point in time, and it cannot be undone (otherwise time-travel would not be invented). In the style of a wikipedia editors page, this is the time-travellers discussions.

Sound on salt

Cymatics is the study of the effects of sound waves in physical objects. In this case, salt, and it's really cool the way the waves are represented. Beware the the noises get very high-pitched in the video, so you might want to mute it half-way!

Happy Moon Landing day, everyone!