%&$#( Gems April 20, 2009

So, I’m playing Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass. I’m sure I’ve mentioned. For most of the game up to the point where I am now (about half) I didn’t have any kind of guide or walkthrough, except to get through the stupid temple (the timed one with the invincible enemies, remember?). However, Janelle brought over her boyfriend’s copy of the guide… and I found out something truly irritating.

In the game, there are three fairies. One of power, one of courage, and one of wisdom (if you know your Zelda, it’s like the triforce, only… fairies). You collect gems for each one, and when you have 10 of a type you can “upgrade” that fairy, giving you extra powers. For example I just upgraded my fairy of power and now my sword does more damage. At the moment, I have 10 power gems, 6 courage gems, and 7 wisdom gems.

According to the guide, if I’ve collected all possible gems by this point in the game, I should have 11 power gems, 10 courage gems, and 10 wisdom gems… and therefore have upgraded all three fairies.

$&@)@$!!! I have looked through the guide over and over trying to figure out which ones I have missed, and I can’t find them anywhere! All I can think is that they’re mouldering in some temple somewhere, and even though I thought I got that one, I somehow missed it. Grah! I don’t care. I’m gonna keep going anyway. Blar. Eventually, someday when I’m bored, I’ll hunt down the other gems. Today, I just wanna go to the dang Goron temple already.

In non video game news, I’m just about to the gusset on baudelaire #2. I decided that instead of working on these at the retreat, I’m going to finish them before the retreat, and cast on a new cardigan… this one, to be specific, with that denim patons classic wool I bought after Christmas. Sorry that link is ravelry only, but the cardigan pattern is only hosted there. In any case, my current plan goes like this– gusset and start heel turn tomorrow, finish heel and start leg Weds, finish leg and start ribbing Thurs, finish ribbing and bind off in the car Fri on the way up. Totally doable.

ps! Guys! We hit 100 downloads on the podcast! Also I’m putting up a podcast page with links for those not subscribed on itunes. Look to the upper right sometime tonight.

Weekends need to be longer April 19, 2009

That didn’t feel like two days. No way. Even though I stayed up late both Friday and Saturday night, and didn’t sleep in much, I still feel like I was shafted at least 8 hours of weekend.

Short as it was, today was nice. Cory and I made waffles for breakfast, and then I made bread. Around 12:30, Janelle and I went to my mom’s for tea and crafting. We had a nice time, and I worked a bit on 3 different projects– my baudelaires, my shawl (yep, I did 2 whole rows! GASP), and a spinning project. My mom knit a bit on the baby sweater she’s making, and also worked on a needlepoint project, and Janelle worked on some cross-stitch. It certainly geared me up for this coming weekend, when I get to spend 3 whole days crafting with my family! I have high hopes that I’ll get a lot done. By Sunday evening, I would like to:

* finish the baudelaire socks

* get 15 more rows done on the Aeolian shawl (would bring me within 10 rows of done, I believe)

* start and get well into (if not finish) at least 1 wheel spinning project

* get at least half done with the BFL spindle project I have on my Kundert

* start a new pair of socks

* work at least a little on one cross stitch and/or embroidery project (yes, did you even know that I did cross stitch and embroidery? I have, in the past anyway)

Yes, I’m aware this list is a little bit… optimistic. But I have to start somewhere. I won’t feel bad if I don’t get all of this done- heck, I might decide I just want a break and slowly work on some plain socks or something, and that would be just fine. But it’s good to have some ideas.

I made aloo gobi again for dinner tonight. I’ve got the recipe just about perfected now, and it is really, really good. We had it with fresh bread, and then Janelle played the Sims while I got a bit farther in LoZ: the Phantom Hourglass.

Incidentally, the podcast is now up to 87 downloads! Very exciting- can’t believe we’re already almost to 100.

Dichotomous April 18, 2009

Today was rather neatly divided into two parts, with the dividing line falling almost exactly at noon. I woke up feeling driven and motivated, made breakfast, cleaned, and got groceries. I felt great! We got so much done! The apartment is wonderfully clean, the fridge is full, I have all of the meals for the next 2 weeks planned out…

But then we got home from the grocery store, and for reasons unknown, my internal motor broke. I didn’t feel like doing anything. Knitting- boring. Spinning- boring. Video games- eh, still boring, though maybe less so… oh wait I got stuck. Ok, boring. There was nothing on tv, Cory suffered a similar video game situation, even listening to podcasts seemed dull. In short, it was a rather disappointing afternoon.

I want to make the evening less that way, that I may not waste my remaining hours of Saturday, but I’m still not sure anything appeals. Quick, anyone have a brilliant idea? I’m at a loss here. I just don’t want making tacos for dinner to be the highlight of my evening, y’know?

Hindsight and all that April 17, 2009

I finished the first baudelaire sock today.

(The color is totally off. It’s darker than that, and in natural light the other colors show up more.)

It’s definitely the longest (in the leg) sock I’ve made, and has also taken the longest of any one sock to finish (started May ‘08), but it’s up there with the most beautiful and the most comfortable, as well.

(It’s hard to get a photo of your own foot that doesn’t make it look malformed.)

I cast on the toe for baudelaire #2, today, as well. Which brings me to the title of this post.

I really, really wish I’d have discovered the two-at-once technique earlier. Like, say, about a week before casting on baudelaire #1. That would have been a good time. It totally spoiled me for doing a second sock. Luckily, most of this sock was knit long enough ago that I hardly remember knitting it, so it’ll be fresh enough… but the stitch pattern itself? Not really interested in knitting another foot and a half of it, thanks.

Well, at least I know now, for future socks. I’m not sure I’ll ever knit one at a time again.

We recorded episode 2 of the podcast today! It should be up sometime tomorrow, if I have anything to say about it.

…which I do.

Not quite. April 16, 2009

I intended to finish my first Baudelaire sock tonight, to show the blog, and maybe even start the second one.

However, a headache that has haunted me from the moment I woke up (and is still raging as I type) has prevented me from doing much other than listening to podcasts and whining.

I did manage to make dinner, though. I made fried rice for the first time. It was pretty good- I just made rice, let it cool while I stir-fried broccoli, carrots, and mushrooms, scrambled a couple of eggs into it, and threw the rice in. I cooked that for a while with some garlic, soy sauce, and rice seasoning vinegar. I was pleased. I’d heard that if you didn’t use day-old rice, it would be a gloppy mess, but that was not the case at all.

In any case, I’m about 5 rows of ribbing from being done with baudelaire #1. Hopefully I’ll be smart and cast on #2 right away, but who knows. I might get distracted.

For those who’ve been wondering… no, I have not worked on my Aeolian shawl in quite a while. First, I started the swap socks; then, I got very sick and couldn’t knit at all; then after I finished the swap socks, work got hectic, and since then I just haven’t had the head for complex knitting. There were several days this week where I didn’t knit at all, which did not help my mood (already poor from work) very much at all. Luckily, tomorrow should be slow at work and all of my bosses are out of the office. I plan to knit, watch youtube, and watch only my queue. Helping with other peoples’ work is for days that are not Friday.

That wasn’t a week April 15, 2009

On the podcast guidelines on iTunes, it says that when you submit your podcast, it will be reviewed by an actual person before acceptance and listing in the searchable database. It gives a one to two week window for this process. Fully understanding this, I submitted our first episode at 7am today– assuming that by the time it went up, we’d have episode 2 out already.

3:00pm I got the confirmation of acceptance email. I didn’t open it until 9:30, and by that time, it was already searchable.

We are Officially. On. Itunes. That is SO COOL.

Tonight was the first craft gathering at the Tea Garden! Autumn and Tiffany are awesome, and have lent me a camera until I can get a new one. Here is Janelle’s response.

(please don’t slaughter me for emblazoning that on the interwebs.)

I worked on my Baudelaire sock, which is nearing completion. Of course, this is only #1 of 2, but still!

Also, I got the scarf from the sock swap on Monday! It’s gorgeous, though more color than I usually wear- but it’s good to branch out, and I wear too much black anyway.

The Great Unveiling April 14, 2009

My friends, the time has come to unveil the Sooper Seekrit Project.

drumrollllll

BerlinBetty and I have started a PODCAST!!! We are Knitscape, your friendly neighborhood knitting/cooking/music podcast!

Our first episode is up here and shownotes are here- download away, and don’t forget to comment!

I Dreamed a Dream April 13, 2009

Not much to say today- most of the day was taken up by Sooper Seekrit Project (to be revealed in the next few days here– squeee!) I am psyched, but still lots of work ahead.

I also did another two repeats or so on the Baudelaires. No photos yet, as also no camera yet.

Here is a video for you (not gross, mom, promise) that you should all watch. It made me tear up a bit at work- seriously feelgood material.

Now, off to bed.

Hey! Listen! April 12, 2009

I didn’t do a whole lot of knitting today. For some reason, I just wasn’t in the mood. After the brunch with my extended family (which was lovely as usual) we did the laundry and I started playing Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass on my DS. I got this game a long time ago and played a little over half of it, then got heavily distracted by wedding planning and finishing college and never progressed any farther. I started a new game tonight, since I’ve basically forgotten everything at this point.

It’s a great little game. I like the controls better with the stylus than I ever did on other Zelda games on other consoles, it feels more intuitive for me. The plot is good, too, though some of the puzzles are annoying as heck. The main issue is this temple, where the ground saps your life as you walk on it… and the corridors are guarded by unkillable enemies. It’s one big annoying puzzle, basically, and you have to go through it 4 or 5 times, each time going in further. Not looking forward to doing that again. Oh, and did I mention… you only get a little bit of time to do it? The first run you only have 10 minutes to do three large puzzles, one of which is a three-parter with a twist at the end. Geh.

Other than that, I’m slowly working on my Baudelaires (which, let me say, I have cleaned considerably since the photos in the previous post were taken- no more cat hair city!) and still going on the secret project. I’m looking forward to this week- the project will at least move along, if not come out of hiding, and Weds is the first day of the Tea Garden craft group (though a couple of people won’t be coming, so it may end up as just a few of us this time, we’ll see). Should be a good week!

Reanimate your… socks? April 11, 2009

(For those that don’t know what the title references, watch this. Seriously.)

This entry contains the full story of something I mentioned in this post.

Last year, sometime in early May, I cast on a pair of baudelaire socks. I loved the pattern (though at the time I was fairly inexperienced and had some trouble with toe-up construction) and quickly got past the heel on the first sock. Then, with the wedding, honeymoon, moving, and getting a new job, the socks were left by the wayside and ignored for a few months. I had been meaning to work on them some more, and left them out on the dining room table one Friday as we packed for a camping trip.

We came home from the trip to this.

My cats (I’m not naming names, but I know which one did it and she chews yarn regularly) pulled it down, chewed through the yarn in several places, and strung the project all over the apartment. At the time, I couldn’t face it. I put it in a box and decided I’d come back and assess the damage later, when the wound wasn’t so raw. A few weeks ago, I pulled it out and looked. It wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought.

The sock itself is undamaged. There were two pieces of yarn completely chewed off, but they were fairly short. Other than that it was just a matter of rewinding the remaining yarn and doing a russian join. I put needles back in the sock today, got the pattern out, figured out my spot, and started in on it again. I love this yarn (it’s Dream in Color Smooshy in Black Parade) and the pattern is gorgeous, plus the black makes it work appropriate. I want these socks asap!

Today we went to Cory’s aunt and uncle’s place for a “Jesse’s in town” party thinly disguised as an Easter lunch. It was quite nice- everything they served was vegetarian! Jesse and I were both pleased with that. One particular aunt did bring up a few delicate topics, as she always does (kids, for the childfree Cory and I; tattoos, for the heavily tattooed Jesse) but all said and done it was a nice afternoon.

I spent the evening working on a Sooper Seekrit project that isn’t actually all that secret, but I haven’t mentioned it here yet and I probably won’t until the plan reaches fruition. You’ll see it here first, promise!