What Book Are You?

While reading SMarieKnits I ended up following the link to the book quiz she talked about in an entry. My result:




You're To Kill a Mockingbird!

by Harper Lee

Perceived as a revolutionary and groundbreaking person, you have changed the minds of many people. While questioning the authority around you, you've also taken a significant amount of flack. But you've had the admirable guts to persevere. There's a weird guy in the neighborhood using dubious means to protect you, but you're pretty sure it's worth it in the end. In the end, it remains unclear to you whether finches and mockingbirds get along in real life.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

I do not know if I have changed the minds of many people, but there are times I feel like I have taken quite a bit of flack.

However, the picture on the cover shows a ball of yarn, so at least that aspect is right :)

Rock Chalk Jayhawk KU!

WE DID IT!!! Okay, so I am not a dedicated KU fan, but I did get caught up with the momentum. I watched the game against North Carolina and cheered along with the other fans at the pub. Tonight I watched the game at home. It has been 20 years since our last National Championship, so I think we were due. Granted, K-State will be able to say they beat the national champions, but hey, I can live with that.

Seriously though, Memphis played a great game. It was a real nail biter.

Aggravation

I go to Francis O'Dooley's about every Friday and Saturday night to listen to Rich Stevenson play. I drink Diet Coke (I am my own designated driver), knit (yes, I often knit at the pub), and sing/yell along. However, last night has me rethinking things. Once in a while I do order food, but I primarily go to hear Rich play.

Last night was the KU-North Carolina game, and I left my apartment with about 3 and half minutes left in the first half. I got to the pub shortly before halftime started and got a table. I am sitting at the table by myself, and the usual Saturday night waiter is not there. I see a waitress going around getting people drinks, and she went by me a number of times. Eventually one of my pub friends came in, and when he got to the table, I made a comment about now that someone else was there, maybe the waitress would see if I wanted something. The sad thing is, that was pretty much the case. I think she knew I was a regular, because she asked if I wanted a Diet Coke. I told her no ice, and she did bring it in the large glass that the usual Friday and Saturday night wait staff bring me. However, I had been there for almost a half hour before she bothered to see if I wanted anything. At one point in the evening, one of the other guys I was sitting with had to flag her down, because she pretty much ignored me. The soda runs me $2.00, and I gave her a five. I guess I should have told her how much to bring me in change, because she never brought me any. I had not planned to tip her $3.00, because I do not think she earned it. Now the usual people who wait on me earn the $3.00 tips. They know my name, and they tend to bring me my usual (Diet Coke, no ice in the big glass) without me even having to ask for it. They also check on me to see if I need refills. She did not. Now with it being the KU game, the pub was a little more crowded, but I have had better service even when it has been busier (like the Saturday right before St. Patrick's Day).

I have dealt with poor service on Saturday nights before, but fortunately such instances are few and far between. However, it did not stop with the waitress. The bartender called last call around 1:15 a.m. I well realize that Kansas law requires us to be out by 2:00 a.m., but there have been other times I have been there when last call is not until after 1:30 a.m. Then they were trying to kick us out at about 1:35 a.m. When this was mentioned to them, the bartender and the guy who acts as a bouncer (at least I think he does) got really rude and nasty. Since I was there until 2:00 a.m. the night before (I do not always stay this late), this does not seem to be a standard practice. I am seriously considering writing the owners to inform them of their staff members actions and the poor customer service. I know I do not spend much money at their establishment, but if the poor customer service continues, I will spend even less.

Arctic Landscape Bag

I started working on the Arctic Landscape Bag again, and I finally seem to have the hang of it. The coloration does not quite shift the way the pattern says, but it is close enough. One of my friends reminded me that since it is a hand-dyed yarn (Wool of the Andes Bulky Hand-Dyed), it varies from batch to batch.



There are three other people on Ravelry who have this as a project. One frogged it (ripped it out), because they were not happy with it. The other two have theirs done, and they seemed to have turned out pretty well. However, I have run into another problem. I am running out of yarn. The pattern specified one hank of Wool of the Andes Bulky in Navy and two hanks of the hand-dyed colorway Yukon.



Since taking this picture, I have finished the last pattern row of the textured pattern, but I need to do four more rounds of stockinette then work in stockinette until it is the length specified in the pattern. I think the four more rounds of stockinette will get it to the specified length. The shaping for the bottom of the bag adds another couple inches of length, so I am certain I do not have enough of the Yukon colorway to finish the bag. I have sent messages to the others on Ravelry who finished the bag to see if they had the same problem.

Because I will have to order more yarn to finish the project, I am going to work on the handles to see if I have enough of the Navy. I doubt I will be able to get the same dye lot, but oh well.

Overall conclusion: The pattern is doable, and I think it will look very nice once it is finished. If you are going to do this one, buy extra yarn.

Persephone Scarf

Two posts in one night! I finished knitting the Persephone Scarf this evening.



It still needs some blocking, but other than that, it is done.

On another note, I was just poking around on Ravelry, and Julia Roberts has joined. She has requested a private profile, but I cannot say that I blame her for that. She announced when the movie web site for Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs will go live (June 23). It was not as fun a read as Knitting Under the Influence by Claire LaZebnik, but it is still good, and it should make a decent movie (I hope).

Of Cakes and Connections

Of cakes..

Last Thursday evening, I baked a batch of cupcakes for my niece's birthday party. Friday morning I baked the sheet cake before going to work. I took that afternoon off to decorate the cake. I iced it with plain, white icing. After that I stamped it with a letter press. Of course, it turns out I got the T and H in birthday reversed. Oh well :)

Next, I traced a picture of the Cat in the Hat onto tracing paper and placed a piece of parchment paper over it. Then I used piping gel to place the picture on the parchment paper. Once I finished that, I flipped it over on to the cake. Most of the gel did not stick to the cake, but it did imprint in the icing enough that I could see the outlines. I went over that with black frosting and red frosting. I finished up with a red bead border.



Cherokee loved it.

I also did cupcakes in case there were people who did not care for strawberry cake.




and connections..

O'Dooley's is a center for cosmic convergences. I am there most Friday and Saturday nights, and a while back I ran into someone from high school. I thought he looked familiar and after a while when we were talking to some of the same people he recognized me and was really surprised to see me. Well, on March 21 he came in with two other guys I went to high school with: Matt Kreutzer and Cory McIlvain. I was rather surprised. They were too, because as I found out later, John did not tell them I am a regular. Another person I went to high school with was there as well.

Then last Friday we did a send off for Susan, who is shipping out to Iraq. I mention this because when she and Mike showed up on Saturday, I invited them to share the table I was at. After we talked for a while, Mike mentioned his last name was Van Doren. I asked him if he was any relation to Brian Van Doren (another guy I went to high school with), and it turns out he is Brian's younger brother. Susan this asked if I knew Sri Donepudi, and I indicated that she and Brian dated in high school. Turns out they are married now, which I think is pretty cool.

It really is a small world. Makes me wonder who I else I know from high school will show up at the pub.