Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Hats Off!

Well, I finished my hat. Yes I know, I only started it a couple of days ago. Well, I was not feeling well yesterday (co-worker had some REALLY powerful perfume on, which gave me one heck of a headache) and the weather was bad here today so I couldn't take the dogs out for their walk (thunder bumpers rolling through). Which all boils down to lots-o-time to knit. Everything was going fine until I got to the decreases and had to switch to the DPNs. I am not exactly sure how those damn things are supposed to operate. I was always poking myself with one end or the other of one of 4 needles! I managed to mangle my way through the last 4 or 5 rows (I lost count at the end) and finish the thing.

I may have to get someone to show me how the DPNs are actually supposed to work. There is some trick there that I wasn't able to deduce.

Monday, August 25, 2008

New Projects and Beer

Well, I've started my next knitting project. It's a hat. I found a relatively simple pattern online and I am giving it a try. It's the first time I've knitted with circular needles and eventually will be the first time with DPNs (Double Pointed Needles for the uninitiated). So far I've only had to start over once. A pretty good start for me. Oh yeah, I also "discovered" stitch markers. Whoever invented those little round thingys should be sainted. I figure more is better, so I have them strewn throughout the project (every ten stitches, actually). It is so nice that I only have to count to 10 at a time!

I've got another project started. I decided to start some more strenuous exercising. I've always done a lot of walking, which has really pleased the dogs to no end, but I figured I needed to do a little more for my own good. One of my roommates has an old Bowflex machine and I decided to try it out and see how I do with it. I set a simple goal, just 3 times a week for 6 weeks. That's all. No goals as far as weight loss, muscle gain, endurance, etc. Just 3 times a week for 6 weeks. We'll see what happens after that.

And finally for this blog, beer. I have a couple bottles of the Irish Stout left. I took a bunch on vacation and no one in my family liked it. No ONE! My family, the Philistines. I just gotta love them. I had a good time with the beer all by myself! It is time, however, for the next batch. Probably another Coopers since everyone seems to like it. I may try a batch from scratch - no kit at all. I gotta find a good (simple) recipe. I may talk to the guys at American Brewmaster and see what they have to say.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Vacation!!!

One week of eating, drinking, reading, swimming, knitting and long walks on the beach (Nags Head NC). How better can life get?


The cottage..... We had to change cottages this year. The one we normally get is no longer available. A victim of beach erosion. The septic system was washed away and the town won't let the owner replace it. We had to scramble for this cottage and were really lucky to get it. It's hard to get cottages on the ocean.



One of the coolest kites ever! The next door neighbors had it. The only flew it one day. After that, it was to windy.

The ocean. We had 3 amazing days were the water was warm and the surf was low. Perfect for spending a couple of hours bobbing around in the water. We decided that bobbing is the correct term to use. We started out with floating, but decided that the connotation was to purposeful, to active. Bobbing was a much better description.


The next 2 pictures are of the yearly sand castle. This year's was not quite as involved as previous years, but it made up for it in shear size. It was probably about 20 feet long and 1o feet deep. Our old cottage is in the bottom picture. It is the one in the far background that looks like it is about 10 feet from the ocean. (which it is)

Friday, August 15, 2008

What The F@#$

OK folks, what gives? I had three responses to my last post. Pretty good for me, except.... There is always an "except" isn't there? The 3 comments consisted of 1 stock pick and 2 gambling sites. Is this some new form of spam? Is it actually called spam or does it have it's own new nifty name? Why does anyone think this will have a positive result? I could see if the sites were somehow related to the post or to the blog as whole. That would at least have a chance of getting a positive result. All this does is piss me off.

Anyone have any ideas how to stop this annoying crap before it starts to get outta hand?

Thursday, August 14, 2008

My First One

I finally finished my first knitted project. No, it is not the scarf that I started a couple of months ago. That is still sitting half finished in its bag. It will probably be ripped apart and reinvented as something else. My first project is a dishcloth. I know, it's not much, but it is something relatively small. I finished it in a couple of days. Most importantly, it is something I can actually use. I need a scarf like I need another hole in my head! I bought a pattern book of 16 or so different dishcloth patterns. I figure doing 5-10 of them would give me a lot of good practice in knitting. I can then move onto something different.

I'll post a picture as soon as I find the connector for the camera. This is what happens when I clean. I lose stuff......



Monday, August 4, 2008

Oh, by the way.....

I tried some of the latest batch of beer. This one is an irish stout. It's about 2 weeks old now and is turning into a really good beer. It's really smooth and has the best chocolate brown color. It keeps that full, foamy head that is so visually appealing. It is, however, just a little on the sweet side. All in all, I'm really impressed with it. It's actually the first batch I really don't want to share with anyone!

Mission Accomplished

Well, I watched all 3 parts of the Lord of the Rings yesterday. I started at about 130p and ended about 1045p. A very enjoyable day. There are a couple of things about the movies I hadn't noticed before. The biggest being how many filler scenes there are in the second movie. There are flash- backs and disembodied "telepathic help" all over the place. The Lady Galadriel is a nosy little witch, always popping into someone's thoughts or mind at exactly the right time. She needs to get a life. She was much better in the books. I think it was a relatively cheap ploy to keep the story going along. There was less reliance on such esoteric help in the books. The main characters were much more on their own. The second is how amazing the dialogues between "Smeagol" and "Gollum" are (the third movie). The whole series of discussions are really masterfully done. Actually they were some of the most disturbing and frightening parts of the story. They give a whole new meaning to split personality. This aspect of Gollum was not really present in the books. The movie really expands on this and actually does a much better job. They also give a really interesting insight into what was happening with Frodo during this time.

The first and third movies were definitely better than the second. I think the first was actually the best of them. Despite everything that happens to Frodo in the third movie, I actually think that most of his really cathartic scenes were in the first movie.

And no, I am not going to mention the Frodo/Sam or Merry/Pippin relationships.