Mememeemeee

Not much so show you, just one finished sock. Knit using 'knitpicks' Felici, it will be one ball for each sock. Toe-up, using figure 8 cast-on, I just knit until I ran out of yarn - doing some increases as I reached the calf.

There are other WIPs going on, but they must remain secret for just a little bit longer. Since I don't have much to share, here's a meme. I was tagged by Jacqueline. This was tough, so tough it took me nearly 2 weeks to complete - yikes!

Here are the rules:

Link to the person that tagged you

Post the rules on your blog.

Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.

Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs. I don't want to tag, it took me 2 weeks to think of 6 things, can't imagine how long it would take to thing of 6 people - if you want to do this meme - go ahead! Enjoy!

Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website. see above.

1. I tend to get fixated on certain lunches, and will have them at least 2 times a week for weeks on end. During the summer it was organic mixed greens salad, with avocado, mandarin orange, hearts of palm, turkey and walnuts. This week I had the "Italiano" Panini 2 times this week. I get completely thrown when they don't have exactly what I want and will sometimes just skip lunch altogether.

2. I hate going to the hairdresser, I hate having to stare at myself in the mirror for so long, I never really know how to place my hands (even though they are under a cape), I'm crap at small talk and many other things that just make me uncomfortable. I get really worked up when I get there and never fully relax, you'd think I was going to the dentist. I go as rarely as possible. I feel the same way about spa's and nail salons. But at the same time, I want to be someone that can go for a massage once in a while, I guess I need to find a non-spa massage place.

3. I told you about how amused I am when I hear many Americans pronounce "duties" or "Duty". I never mentioned the other one, which is when people have 2 do's run in a sentence, e.g. "It's important when you do do it that way". Dodo's make me giggle like a nine year old in the same way doodies do. And they seem to be much more common in important meetings at work.

4. At times I can appear really efficient and great at getting things done. Honestly though, I have to finish a task, or take care of a message etc, right away, if I don't, I'm going to forget and I'll be the jerk that never calls people back or finishes projects. So what may seem anal retentive to some, is simply self preservation for me.

5. Speaking of forgetting, I'm rely heavily on lists. While this is pretty common for many people, I will always email the lists/reminders to myself, so I will see them on my phone when I need to. I will also do this with hopstop directions and knitting patterns. I think I'd be at a loss without email capacity on my phone.

6. Going to work without watching NY1 would be an incredibly difficult thing for me to do. I like to touch base with the weather outside, and some of the random stuff going on in the city. It's an added bonus when I get to see Pat Kiernan do "In the Papers".

Meme

There is knitting going on in the house of Schrodinger, however, not so much of the finishing kind of knitting. So instead of boring you with WIP shots, I thought I would bore you with 7 random things about myself :) Thanks to Gabriella for the tag.

I'm the product of a RAF family, I spent my childhood not living anywhere for more than 3 years at a time. By the time I was 13 I'd spend 3 tours of 3 years in Germany - yet I've not been back since, although this should change at Christmas :) I miss Germany, I have many happy memories there.

Just before we moved back to England I had a memorable trip to Berlin with my school. We stayed in the Olympic stadium. I learned so much on that trip, it was my first realization of the horrors of what had happened during WWII. I also wrote my name on the Berlin Wall, and listened to the "Dirty Dancing" soundtrack almost endlessly throughout the trip.

When I was a teenager I tried my hand at a few different crafts, lacemaking, screenprinting, dried and live flower-arranging. I was lucky that my school was also a 'community college' for people in the town, so they offered these classes to the pupils in the school for free. As time has gone on I've also tried jewelry making, hemp jewelry, candle-making & sculpting, wood-working, metalwork, and the usual paining and drawing, bead and wire sculpture, pottery, origami.

I have a fork-lift truck license. Mr B found it when unpacking last week, and I looked at it and remembered the days. Since it was many years ago, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't how to work one now.

Origami was my last obsession before knitting took over, I folded 1,000 cranes for my grandmother, who - when she received them, acted as though I was quite mad - why on earth would I give her 1,000 of these paper things? She never really got my explanation. She has since passed on and my cousin inherited them, she loves them. Not satisfied with just 1,000 for my grandmother, I decided to make an additional 1,000 for myself and Mr B. They sit in our living room in a large glass cylinder in a beautiful rainbow of colours.

Since my position at work has changed, and I'm on the phone helping people much more, I have developed new pet peeves. For example, I've recently realized that I can get very frustrated when someone says "I hear you" while you're in the middle of a sentence - what's the point?

Over the last few years I've developed this adolescent/childish thing whereby, when I hear people say "duty" I tend to giggle. I think that this is because it's pronounced so differently here in the US, that it just sounds like "doodie" from the mouths of so many to me.

Bookworm

My corner

I've been tagged.
BOOKWORM – tagged by Katie

Instructions:

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog along with these instructions.
5. Don't you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet! I know you were thinking about it! Just pick up whatever is closest.
6. Tag 5 people

The closest book to me was right behind me on the bookshelf. I'm sure that environmental cues and show that this is my side of the sofa, the yarn, needles, and wheel in close proximity. The book that was closest was Philip Pullman's "The Amber Spyglass" the third book in "His Dark Materials Trilogy", numbers 1 and 2 were contenders for being close too.

Wasting no time, the Court commandeered a flight of zeppelins, and that same day a battalion of the Swiss Guard began to embark aboard the zeppelins waiting in the still air beside the lake of Geneva.

And the next 3 sentences are quite long, damn you Katie! Oh well, here goes:

So each side was aware that the other was also making its way towards the cave in the mountains. Ane they both knew that whoever got there first would have the advantage, but there wasn't much in it: Lord Asriel's gyropters were faster than the zeppelins of the Consistorial Court, but they had further to fly, and they were limited by the speed of their own zeppelin tanker.

And there was another consideration: whoever seized Lyra first would have to fight their way out against the other force.

Exciting stuff huh? Have no idea what my day's motto would, but I guess I'm best off steering clear of those zeppelins.

And I'll tag.... Oh! Whoever has the urge to try it.

Boringly normal

Thanks again to everyone for the advice on the pirate mittens. I ripped out the mitt and started again, and now know that that extra little tug I was giving was making the puckering. I am happy to report that the mitten is coming out really well, pictures will be coming soon, once I get some actual sunlight. I did, however, take some crappy pictures of my Glittens, which you've probably seen a lot of over blogland. They were a pretty quick and relatively easy knit, and I'm pleased that I tackled something that I was always a bit dubious I could make [gloves].




Pattern: Patons Convertible mittens from leaflet # 1159.
Yarn: Knitpicks Swish Superwash in Jade.
Needles: Denises #6 and #7, using magic loop, I also used a crochet hook to pick up the stitches for the mitten, it proved to be a tricky task for me.
Adaptations: I only cast on 40 sts (48 gave me a very baggy glove), so the fingers had 2 less stitches each, leaving me with a k1, p1 in between fingers. I knit less rows for the thumb, and also adapted the decrease pattern at the top of the mitt for a more rounded (rather than pointed) top.

And now for something completely different. This 6 weird things meme has been floating around blogland forever now. And, as usual, I'm a little slow on the uptake. To be honest, I put off doing this one because I was pretty sure that there wasn't anything weird about me, certainly not blogworthy. But, I had a go at it anyway, so here you are:

1. Like some others, I have difficulty differentiating my left and right. I usually have to say "right to write" and look at my hand to remind myself. I have successfully sent people with the completely wrong directions, unintentionally, only realizing way too late.

2. When I was a kid walking home from school I would sometimes imagine that a person walking or driving by was a famous filmmaker and they would see my amazing talent by the way I walked and come dashing over to tell me that I have to star in their latest blockbuster. There are some days now that I occasionally think about being 'spotted' when I see a limo drive. [yup, I'm actually pretty embarrassed by this one].

3. I practice Reiki (just first degree). While my attunement was a very profound experience and I've seen it have amazing effects on myself and others, I'm still a doubting Thomas.

4. My middle toe on my left foot is much longer and larger than the one on my right, it happened when I was hurrying over to the TV to turn up the music for "Neighbours" (oh, I miss Ramsey St) which my baby cousin loved so much - he was so cute singing along to it. I couldn't wear shoes for a week, the toe still hurts in the cold, and turns a funny purpley colour when it's hot.

5. Apart from my first [as an adult] project, I have never used the required yarn for a knitting pattern. I just don't think that it's in me. I clearly have the desire to be different and the need to make things more complicated than need be (I'm pretty sure that I can't be the only one in this one).

6. Since I spent a huge amount of my childhood in Germany, I would grow up watching at lot of stuff in German, I loved Neverending Story, even though I didn't 'get' everything that was going on in it, I watched the German version at least 3 times before ever seeing the US version. I was actually an adult before I realized that Sesame Street was an American show!

PS: I buckled and upgraded to new blogger, once I found out that I can now label my posts I couldn't resist.
 

Books

Okay, it took me a while to actually notice (even though I'd already read the post - sorry Cindy!). But I've been tagged, first time ever, and it's about books - something that my knitting has definitely got in the way of. But here goes...

1. One book that changed your life:
I'm not sure any book has actually changed my life. Although the "Eleven Million Mile High Dancer" was the inspiration for my online name (I loved that cat). I felt that "1984" was pretty eye-opening (I was still young when I read it).
2. One book that you've read more than once:
I'm not usually one for reading books more than once (there are too many out there), although I definitely read "1984" more than once.
3. One book you'd want on a deserted island:
"The Idiots Guide to How to Survive and be Rescued from a Deserted Island"
4. One book that made you laugh:
"A Walk In the Woods" - Bill Bryson.
5. One book that made you cry:
Oooh, many, I'm pretty emotional person when it comes to stories. Most recently "Kite Runner"
6. One book that you wish had been written:
"How I made my first million knitting."
7. One book you wish had never been written:
I have to say "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" - I read 3/4 of it, hated at least half of that, I feel a failure for not finishing it, but at the same time, resentful that I wasted that time on it.
8. One book you're currently reading:
I just started "Middlesex" by Jeffrey Eugenides, in between the "Drivers Manual" - gotta get my NYS license for work
9. One book you've been meaning to read:
I have "Catch 22", been meaning to read it for a while - started once, but was unsuccessful.
10. Tag 6 people:
Annie, Jessica, Michelle (AKA _ MUD), Dipsy D, Mer, Paloma