Wednesday, February 28, 2007
My Mom sent me this silly little e-mail survey, so I'm just going to post my answers here. I'm not going to bother "tagging" anybody else to do it; you can have a go if you're bored. :) 1. What time is it? 3:14pm 2. What's your full name? Kristine Michelle Howard 3. What are you most afraid of? In, like, a phobia sense? Probably animals. (Tiny ones like mice are the WORST.) In a keeps-me-awake-at-night sense? Money stuff. 4. What is the most recent movie that you have seen in a theater? The Illusionist [more...]
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Monday, February 26, 2007
More than four hours later: Congratulations to Kent Bailey! Kent got an amazing 11 out of 12 correct, only missing the clean sweep on Best Foreign Film. (What an upset, huh?) He was also only one person off the Dead Person total, so any way you slice it, this was Kent's year. Thanks to everybody else who played along (and who counted obits for me). See you next year! Sunday, February 25, 2007
 Don't forget: You've got less than 24 hours to put in your predictions for my 2007 Oscar Contest (if you haven't already)! As usual, the scores will be updated as near-to-live as possible on this page. (They're not showing it live here, so I'll be hitting refresh on the internet all day.) I'll also need to beg for some assistance once again. If you're going to be watching the show, can you count the number of dead people in the tribute montage for me? Thanks...
I was rather quiet this past week, wasn't I? As some of you have worked out, I was hosting my dear friend Sal Scherer and her boyfriend Tom from Chicago. They got in on Monday night, and on Tuesday I tramped them all over Sydney. It was perfect weather, and the fact that there was a big-ass boat in town added to the festive atmosphere. Sal and I even took a spin on the Harbour Jet Boat. (I'll post a photo of that once Sal scans it.) Wednesday they hit the Aquarium and the Rocks. Thursday they left for New Zealand and I went to the Sound of Music thing. (Nun.) As you can see, it amounted to a pretty tiring week. I had four days in a row of getting less than six hours sleep... which put me in little mood for blogging. I've had a nice quiet weekend of napping and knitting though, so I'm back on track. A couple photos:  
 Cabled Jacket of Doom... FINISHEDIt's done. It's really and truly done. After an aborted attempt at sewing in the zipper last weekend, I hit upon the idea of sewing down some ribbon along the inside of each front to hide the cut edges and provide a more stable foundation for the zipper. So I got four meters of ribbon from the shop (which turned out to be the perfect amount) and got to work. Unfortunately the Cursed Nature of this project meant that first I had to do things completely wrong. I sewed down one ribbon with the sewing machine (without pinning), then sewed down the other (after pinning). I'm sure some of you can see the problem already. I tried it on and groaned. The side I hadn't pinned had stretched at least an inch or so in the process of sewing, so it was all ripply and crap-looking. Why the hell didn't I think to measure and make sure the two pieces of ribbon were the same size? Because of the Curse, obviously. So I ripped out the ripply side and then wet it down for the night, hoping it would spring back into shape. (It did.) The next day I measured out the ribbon, pinned it down, and sewed it into place. It looked good! I then used the rest of the ribbon to face all the seams inside the garment: around the arms, the shoulders, and the hood/neck steeks. Lastly, I sewed in the goddamn zipper. It's done! This sucker took me exactly SEVEN MONTHS to finish. I learned so much along the way! I learned how Debbie Bliss patterns can SUCK; I learned how photos that don't show vital parts of the garment - like the collar - are a big ol' WARNING SIGN; I learned that steeking saves you knitting time but doesn't necessarily cut down on finishing. And you know what? After all that, the bastards will probably reject it for the Show. That'd be just my luck. [more...]
Thursday, February 22, 2007
This morning I helped an Australian customer in the shop who wanted to have a photograph turned into a cross stitch. The photograph was of the World Trade Center. (Not smoking or anything – thank GOD – apparently they'd taken it on vacation the year before.) I was a little stunned at first... but then I remembered that we have and sell tapestries with the Titanic on them. Give it another twenty years and nobody will bat an eye, I guess. Still, who hangs something like that in their living room? I wonder if they call them freedom knots?
You've done a good job changing with the times, but deep down, you're still the same person. Your clothes, job, and friends may have changed some - but it hasn't changed you.Link courtesy of crumpet.)
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
The real reason Britney shaved her head is because K-Fed threatened to have her hair tested for drugs in their custody battle! * Well, not so much "overheard" as "read on Kelly McMahon's Google away message, which functions as her defacto blog." Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Monday, February 19, 2007
The comment spammers are driving me nuts today. I may have to escalate the war. Possible options include forcing you to use a Captcha (which somewhat annoys me when I have to do it on other people's sites) or requiring commenters to formally register (which REALLY annoys me and I never do it on other people's sites). Any other ideas? Would either of those strategies keep you from commenting here? Afterthought: Hmm, what about putting a time limit on how often you can comment? Would, say, an enforced one-minute wait between comments suck too much? Might even cut down on some of the double posts, I guess...
Sunday, February 18, 2007
   Okay, first up is Argosy, which is a scarf I started a couple weeks ago as a way to use up the leftover Noro Silk Garden from the Cabled Jacket of Doom. It's a fun little pattern to knit and it grows pretty quickly. I was nearing the end of it at the TC SnB Thursday night when Kate asked if anyone had any scrap wool to use as a stitch holder. I gave her about a foot-long piece. Would you believe that twenty-four hours later I ran short by EXACTLY THAT AMOUNT? D'oh! Rather than frogging back and making it shorter, I laboriously trimmed down all the tails from my joins and then spit-felted them all together. Yes, I spit in my own hand and rubbed the yarn in it til it joined. This scarf is riddled with my very own DNA. Hence, I'm not giving it as a gift to anyone. It's pretty though, right? Next is my entry in the perpetual Best Sister Ever Sweepstakes. My little brother Joey loves the Indianapolis Colts (who just won the Superbowl). So as a surprise, I made him this hooded vest. The pattern is from this great new book and I drew the intarsia graph for the logo and name myself. (It's here if anyone wants it.) Very cute, huh? I knitted it out of Heirloom Easycare 8ply. Mom predicts he's absolutely going to love it. And lastly... I'm thinking of renaming it the Zombie Cabled Jacket That Just WILL NOT DIE. I had planned to finish the damn thing once and for all, but nothing with this project is easy. I did manage to get it steeked though. What's more, I actually had one whole side of the zipper sewn in and the other one halfway done before ripping it off completely. The little cut ends were poking out, you see. It bothered me. I can't get them to lie down nicely so I can trap them beneath the zipper. I'm thinking now of possibly ironing on some sort of interfacing just to keep them smooth. Any thoughts?
We went to Nick's surprise 30th birthday party last night. He just got back from a trip to Kenya where he was asked to provide live Internet commentary for Cricket Europe for a big cricket tournament over there. He did such a good job, they're considering sending him to the West Indies to cover the Cricket World Cup. Me? I took a funny picture of my cat recently. [more...] Friday, February 16, 2007
I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. Big time. I felt sluggish, tired, annoyed... and then I got to work and discovered that we were down two staff members. (One has been sick all week; the other resigned.) Then Albert had a go at me for my slack marketing efforts. (Slack? HELLO? I've already pre-sold more than half our initial order of Knit Picks and made sure that every knitter in Australia associates them with our store!) Argh. So I said "Stuff it" and decided to work in the shop all day. Pretty masochistic, really. But get this: I had nothing but wonderful customers! There was the older lady who was thrilled to find out that we could match the wool she got in Tasmania last year to allow her to finish her jumper. There was the businesswoman who wanted yarn to sew up a blanket that had been intended for first her friend and then her mother, but both had died of cancer before she'd finished it. ("Eh, it's not the blanket's fault," she said.) There were the three Asian design students who oohed and aahed over everything I showed them. There was the American lady who needed something to knit on vacation and found the perfect Australian wool. I even had someone who wanted to return yarn without a receipt, but she was so nice about it that I happily helped her out. Even the presence of my Knitting Nemesis couldn't deter me. I'm on fire! So my crap Friday turned out to be a good end to the week after all. Sometimes I think I get caught up in the idea that I'm somehow too important to be serving customers... but it's nice to be brought back down to earth every now and then. This is why I got into this business in the first place.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Happy Valentine's Day to my best friend. Not that I need a special day to remember how lucky I am. (Did I mention I got a foot rub after my homemade-from-scratch chocolate mousse?) Snookums is The Best. And lest I sound too much like a Smug Married, much love and commiseration to all the single folks suffering though this Celebration of Coupledom. I've been there. Rock on, drink up, and hopefully hook up (if that's your aim.) Man, I wish Eileen's party had a webcam...
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like? I like anything natural, basically. Wool, cotton, alpaca, etc. I'm not a big fan of novelty wools or things that are excessively fluffy (like angora). I tend to prefer the 8-10 ply thicknesses, mostly (though I do go finer for socks). [more...] Monday, February 12, 2007
And on a related note, can I just say how much I love gleebooks? Not only did they put on the event, but they actually gave us free tickets (for responding to one of the e-mail newsletters). "Minerva" also rang me this morning to confirm details for our upcoming trip on the Gleewarts Express. I love her attention to detail. "Outline of Journey: We cannot put this in print anywhere as followers of Voldemort are, sadly, everywhere." HA! You know, I'd love to work for them someday... Saturday, February 10, 2007
Friday, February 9, 2007
Thursday, February 8, 2007
Oscar Contest 2007I'm happy to announce that - at long last - my Fifth Annual Oscar Contest has begun! I have to tell you, it was hard to top last year's prize. So what do you get if you reign supreme this year? Oh yes, your very own trio of fabulous Dream Monkeys! They shimmy; they sing; they have really long eyelashes. Their hair is as big as I could get it (given the limitations of chenille-covered pipe cleaners). People, these are the hardest working monkeys in show business! [more...]
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
 Sneak PeekThey're dooooooone! Here's a little preview for you. My Fifth Annual Oscar Contest will launch in about 24 hours, so stay tuned! Monday, February 5, 2007
If any of you are using the Nike+ website from outside the States, I highly suggest you switch your country setting (that little flag down at the bottom) to the US version. Their version of the site has TONS more fun stuff than ours does, including "trash talking" on challenges, downloadable widgets to track your goals, and a new mapping feature that allows you to plot out your runs on a map, Gmaps Pedometer-style. (And yes, there are maps for Sydney.) I can't see a single drawback to changing the country setting at all. Which makes me wonder - what gives, Nike? Why can't the rest of the world have cool stuff too?
 Bibimbap!Thanks to Eva's excellent advice, today I finally found my way to the mythical hidden Asian grocery store behind Woolie's Town Hall. (Take the first left past Platform 9 3/4, basically.) I was able to get both Korean ingredients that I've been having trouble finding: gochujang (spicy bean paste) and "kucho karu" (really hot chili flakes). With these, I was finally able to put together some bibimbap! It's basically rice with a bunch of veggies and meat on top. For the veg, I had carrots, zucchini, spinach, and mung bean sprouts. Each one was blanched and then seasoned with garlic, sesame oil, and salt. The beef was thinly sliced sirloin that we wok fried with garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, and black pepper. I also got a fresh daikon and made some fresh daikon salad to go on the side. Then we mixed a bit of gochujang through, and YUMMO! Now I just need to get some stone bowls so we can do dolsot bibimbap and put a fried egg on top.
Me: What's that big monster following you around? Him: It's a, uh, "felhound." Me: What's this quest then? Him: (slightly embarrassed) Well, the felhound ate this key... so I have to kill these big pig things, and then the felhound eats them... and then he craps and I have to sift through the crap to find the key. Me: WHAT?! Him: Yep. And after I look through the poop, my character gets hit with a "stanky" after effect. And indeed, I watched as a funky green mist settled on his character. Me: And this is what you do for FUN?!
Man, I'm going a little Target CRAZY here. They've finally taken down some of the scaffolding at the Broadway and you can see the new third floor where the shops are going to go. My only regret is that it won't be open in time for the launch of the Stella McCartney line! Hmm, March 12 is only three days before my birthday. That trench coat is sounding like a nice way to easy into my thirties... Sunday, February 4, 2007
Saturday, February 3, 2007
Yesterday afternoon Lissa called me from the knitting shop to say that a customer wanted to exchange some knitting needles. Hmm. As you know, we don't exchange on patterns or knitting needles. I've been known to bend the rules though, if the person has made a genuine mistake and doesn't wait ages to let us know about it. "When did she buy them?" November. OY. So I shuffled out there. On my way, I basically decided that if the needles don't look used and she wasn't an obvious scammer, I'd let her do it. It was Friday afternoon, my leg was stiff, and my stomach was starting to hurt in a sadly familiar way. I wasn't looking for a fight. "What seems to be the problem?" I said cheerily. The woman, who seemed friendly - AT FIRST - explained that she bought these 100cm bamboo circulars for a project in November, but then her friend pointed out that they were too long so she borrowed her friend's needles instead. And then her friend told her she should bring them back, because "we're really good about returns." I started to nod. Usually in these cases, I go ahead and reiterate the store policy before telling them I'm making an exception, just so they know that I'm doing them a favour and they shouldn't expect this in the future. "With yarn, we will absolutely do an exchange for you. But the store policy is not to exchange on pattern books or knitting needles, because they may have been used--" She cut me off by flinging the needles down on the counter. Yes, she FLUNG them. "But I haven't used them! They're perfectly saleable!" My hackles were up. She wasn't playing to the script. "The problem is, we have no way of knowing if they were used. If we did needle returns, customers could use them to knit a whole garment and then try to return them." (Translation: "I don't know you from Adam and you want me to accept you at your word, when that's exactly what a scammer would do, so you might try being a little nicer here, LADY.") She was having none of it, and this is when she started to get seriously snotty. "But I didn't use them," she sneered. "And besides, she (meaning the shop assistant) gave them to me." Ahh, blaming my staff. Now there's a surefire way to get me on your side. Trust me, I know that none of my staff FORCED you to buy a meter-long circular needle you didn't need. "It's the store policy," I said with a shrug. At this point, I decided she was a lost cause. Some customers are not worth the hassle of keeping. "I THINK THAT'S WRONG!" she announced. She turned her back. "I DON'T WANT THEM, AND I THINK THAT'S WRONG!" She stormed out of the store. Whatever. I had gone out there with the fullest intentions of doing what she wanted, but because she was such a bitch from the absolute get-go, she got squat. Whiny customers of the world, TAKE NOTE. Friday, February 2, 2007
Thursday, February 1, 2007
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archives
You can search through the archives by post keyword using the form on the left, or you can browse by month using the links at the bottom.
"Moblog" refers to posts and images posted directly from my mobile phone.
"PW Blog" refers to posts recovered from my very first weblog, which dealt with news related to my college dorm. |
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