Salt River Summertime

Today tastes like hot wet flannel.

99 degrees Farenheit. The dew point is 69 degrees Farenheit.

55 percent humidity.

I'm going to run the tub full of lukewarm water (about as cold as it gets in summer) and curl up with lemonade and Harry Potter. All of them. By the time I turn the last page on Deathly Hallows, I should be cool enough to sleep for a few minutes before the heat and light wake me up again.

Still, it's better than shoveling.

The Canonization of St. Ishida

Today tastes like . . . chicken. Chicken chicken chicken, chicken chicken. Chicken? Chicken, chicken chicken, chicken chicken. With black truffle salt. And black truffles. And portobello mushrooms. With Pinot Noir. (All right, a 1996 Domaine de la Romanee Conti La Tache, if you must be specific.)

Li'l Bra, who blogs under his real name at Noir Chicken Studios occasionally anoints saints to his personal canon. Until recently, I didn't have anyone I'd want to spend eternity with . . . until now. (Hence the foregoing tribute. Now commences the real post.)

Tatsuya Ishida is the author, artist, and driving force behind
Sinfest, a webcomic that swings between male/female communication issues, cute animals being cute, and philosphical study. With a side of frat-boy humor. I've read and loved his work for years. The Hand of God, Slick and 'Nique, Squigly, the Devil, Zen Dragon, and Bhudda. And Percy and Pooch. Good times.

But it wasn't until I read this, his essay about the nature of temptation, desire, detachment, and compassion, that I realized I needed him in my personal pantheon.

Namaste.

Stochastic Generator Pr0n

And while we wait for inspiration to drop out of the sky and hit me on the head, we present the latest quiz results:





No use trying to fight it, you're an eight-sided die, a d8. A fine example of simple elegance, the d8 is one of the least appreciated types of dice, and is often neglected. You are known to be quiet and shy, outward traits that conceal viscous sarcasm and mean wit. You are very smart, yet wise enough to hide your intelligence --the quicker they find out how smart you are, the sooner they'll put you to work-- which is something you can do without. People call you dark and pessimistic, or moody and cynical. You find little point in arguing.

Take the quiz at dicepool.com

Who knew??

Filching From the Masters Series: The Next Installment

Today tastes like diet peach-flavored green tea. Flat. Chemical. Harsh.

Although I have been hard at work on the red shawl (my fingers may be permanently tattooed with dye on the index and middle finger of my right hand, like a nineteenth century clerk's mark) completion continues to be elusive. I knit on the thing going to work. I knit on it on the way home from work. I knit on it at lunch. I get about six rows per day, which is half a repeat (more or less) and at this rate it will take . . . twenty days to get to the edging. ( whacks head on the keyboard in hkj.fcdahdhewkhd; DESPAIR.)

And, of course, the Project Fairies have not taken pity on me and worked on some of the objects which have been quasi-abandoned in my quests to complete the projects that fill me with passion right now. Gareth's binkie is a forlorn charcoal heap. The Castle binkie languishes in a clashing swoon. The bowls remain unfelted and un-knit. (I refuse to discuss the books that await covers, pages that need polishing, and the unbound signatures stacked in the garage. Nope. Not gonna talk about the ATC's and decos that just need glue and postage. NOPE. NOT GONNA.)

Thus, everything is pretty much the same as it was when I posted pics last week. I'm not sure why I feel like there ought to be a whole lot more. Perhaps that will change--I have the Fourth off, so plan to be up burning the midnight oil on the red shawl and the Scarf of the Apocalypse. And then burning daylight in front of the DVD player clicking away on both projects. If the internal alarm clock (or the cats) get me up at the usual time, I may just give up and haul my carcass onto the couch to play podcasts and knit and knit and knit until Gareth gets up and we can work on the Netflix backlog.

Meanwhile, I'm going to follow my rule regarding what to do when you have nothing new to show--steal a dead poet's work and filk it into knitting. Y'all know this one:

Choosing the Next Project From the Growing Stash

Whose list is this? It’s mine, I know–
Scribbles and arrows to and fro
Footprints of a rambling mind
Potentialities all aglow.

To knit for charity would be kind,
Each stitch with a prayer entwined.
Or to wrap a friend with loving arms
Of lace. Or socks. But they wouldn’t mind

If I yielded to the charms
Of a shawl for me. Ah, but the harm
Is that it’s very late. I should keep
To the schedule set by the tyrannical alarm.

My bed looks warm, my pillow deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And yards to knit before I sleep,
And yards to knit before I sleep.

Indeed.

Progress At Last!!!

Today tastes like blue rare steak, cut into a shell and filled with blue cheese, roasted garlic, and carmelized onions, topped with mushrooms cooked in butter. Rapini on the side for more garlic. Yum.

When last we saw the red shawl, it looked like this. Three lonely little balls, a totem of abandonment.

Now it looks like this.
Woooohoooolabooola! The center square is lined out nicely with faux faggoting, the wings all fly long, and it's looking good so far. I may make this the Knitting Tour de France project, where I will commit to FINISH this thing by July 29. I'll need to line up my paper projects and get'r done by July 1, but that may be the kick in the pants I need.

Or I may do Kiri, a simple lace shawl, in this yummy yummy yarn from the Knittery. I don't normally do yarn porn, but I'm breaking my rule for this.

The problem with variegated yarns is that often the colors pool. This is a feature, and can be used to enhance the object. However, sometimes the colors are so distinct and separate that they do this. I don't think this will happen with the Knittery's yarn. I mean, look at the wonderful blendiness of the colors they used < wipes drool off the keyboard>. And the yarn's texture is blissful, too. Silk merino . . . ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh. (Did I mention that they will custom dye any of their yarns in any of their colorways? And that the US dollar is still strong against the Australian dollar? Do I need to list MY favorite colorways here??? HINT HINT HINT)

Tyger is done, I just need to finish in the ends. That will probably take almost as long as knitting the thing to begin with. IT'S DONE!!! IT'S DONE!!! OMGBBQ!!1!!

As soon as I get the HTML sussed out, I'll have a link to the graph and the basic working instructions up.

And the Scarf of the Apocalypse has grown from this

to this

to this.


I think it knits itself when I'm not looking. This has been a hoot to play with. I'm really looking forward to the rabbit yarn . . .