Okay, so I don't hate it any more.

Here are a couple of shots, lame attempts to recreate the IK winter 2003 pictures with my small staff (makeup: me. hairstyle: me, with poof-o-matic effects created by humidity. room design: me. wardrobe: me. camera operator: me, with the help of the timer function. model: me)



and




Last night, watched a bit of the "Blues Brothers" on AMC. I loved this movie as a teenager (largely because I had the totally illogical idea that it would be fun to be part of a rhythm and blues band) and I don't think I appreciated how freaking brilliant the movie is, in terms of comedic moments. In particular, one of my favorite scenes now is when they're on the high-speed chase through the mall, and Jake and Elwood are having this totally banal conversation while they're swerving and honking to try to avoid hitting people while evading the police:

"New Oldsmobiles are in early this year."
"Baby clothes." "Man, they got everything here."

and then, at the end of the scene, when the two sheriff's deputies are sitting, in their car that has flipped over and is spinning around on its top (this being a comedy, no one actually gets injured): "They broke my watch!"

(I'm appending the rest of today's posts onto here; I decided I want the pictures to stay on top for the weekend at least).

Written mid-morning:
But not for me...

the new issue of Knitty, that is. I know some are raving about it, but you know, I'm a white-cotton-under-there kind of girl. I like things that are comfy and practical (and that can be washed on HOT with bleach should it become necessary).

and the thought of thong undies, even knit out of fingering weight yarn - well, it makes me squirm just a little. But then, I wouldn't wear a thong unless you paid me, and even then, I'd ask "how much?" first.

I guess I'm not the only one: geekpixie also says she's a "use it and wear it" kind of person (even if she likes the sizing instructions on the man's thong).

I will say I could do without the "this ain't your grandma's knitting" 'tude being laid on quite so thick. You're hip, yeah, we knew that already. Poor ol' Grandma.

(I admit some of this is the residual "say it clear, say it loud, I'm a geek, and I'm proud" attitude that I developed in junior high school when I realized I would never, ever be one of the "cool kids", no matter what I tried, so I tend to look a bit askance at anything that explicitly positions itself as new and hip and "not your {insert unhip relative from a prior generation here}'s whatever".)

gee, wonder if I should be using asterisks instead of o's in the thong-word there. Ah well, if someone stumbles across my blog while looking for titillation, they can just deal with it.

Written around 4 pm:

Well, I got quite a bit done today. Analyzed some more data, counted up the surviving plants, found an important and useful article I can cite in the paper (and mirabile dictu, it was in a journal my uni library actually HAS). My student and I held off on the main poster-slog because there are a couple more things I want to check out - specifically, if there was a difference in pod-set between last summer and this summer. Thank goodness I kept records of that last year, even though I didn't know how I was going to use it.

I'm actually writing on the discussion of this paper, all the rest is "done." It's just an Anne-Lamotte-style sh*tty first draft(hence the scare quotes around "done"), but I'm getting words down on the screen, that's what is important. I seem to have unstuck over the past week and can write again. (More likely, it's the looming of deadlines that's done it to me).

Tomorrow, I've decided, unless it's raining when I wake up, I WILL paint the garage. I don't have paint yet. I do have some church-related work this evening. So I've decided two things:

I will go out tomorrow morning to buy paint (and brushes, and primer, and more plastic tarps, and I'll see if they'll give me a painter's cap to protect my hair, and oh damn, I'll need mineral spirits too because it has to be oil paint).

I will go to the Lowe's to do it and also at the same time swing by both the Hobby Lobby and the nice big grocery store (as opposed to the super Hell-Mart here in town, which I've been shopping at for the past several weeks in an attempt to both save gas and to prevent myself from being tempted into shopping for anything more fun than the fast-in, fast-out stuff).

I want to get some fun fur (or another eyelash yarn) that will coordinate with the leftover blue yarn from my sweater.

I want to try a Booga-type bag out of it, but ring the top with something fluffy and silly, to make the bag less boring. I'm going to try to remember to take a snippet of the yarn with me to match, although in my mind's eye, I'm already seeing a fluffy white top on the bag. (white, terribly impractical for a bag, not a good idea, but it may be the best color).

Now I will have to research to see if anyone has pointers on felting when eyelash is involved. I see several ways of doing it:

1. Knit the last couple inches of the bag (above the place where you poke holes for straps) with the eyelash held together with the acutal yarn. Probably I will have to knit in the round BACKWARDS, so the reverse-stockinette side is out, I remember reading somewhere that eyelash goes to the purl side more

2. Change over to purely eyelash yarn for the last couple inches. Wouldn't felt, and might be flimsy-ish. I could do it twice as long as I need and roll it over like a hem...

3. Felt the bag first, knit the eyelash top separately, then sew it on. Sewing through heavy wool felt, ugh.

4. Run a cotton thread through the next-to last round of stitches, so they will stay more "open," so I could cast directly on for the eyelash top after the bag is felted (would that even work or would I have the hell of an ugly piece of cotton twine forever married to the bag?)

5. Try to poke through the felt with a crochet hook to make a foundation row for knitting. Carpel tunnel, here we come!

I don't know. My favorite choice is #1 (what is it with me and lists lately?) but I don't know that that's optimal.

If I wanted to go all HGTV on it, I could just knit the eyelash top separately and hot glue it on, but I'm too much of a tight-ass perfectionist for that.