The day that finally got better

I really didn't think yesterday was going to pan out for me. It all started at 4am when I was awakened by a thump from DD's room (a rolling-over-violently-and-smacking-head-on-the-side-of-the-crib kind of thump), followed by some whimpers. Fortunately, she pulled it together (I'm so proud!) and went back to sleep. I, on the other hand, was not so fortunate.

I lay awake, unable to sleep, for well over an hour. When there were only 45 minutes remaining until the alarm would go off, I decided to hell with it and got up to surf the Internet (I'm such a geek). Sadly, my inability to walk away from a computer kept me surfing until well past alarm time, which put me behind schedule, despite having woken up two hours early (loser). So I rushed to get ready, and as a consequence of the panic, I forgot to shower (yes, actually forgot, how sad is that). Plus, doing my hair took forever because it refused to cooperate.

I will not bore you with the details of the rest of my morning, but suffice it to say that we were rushed, parts of the routine were cut, and it sucked. And then it was raining and traffic was bad and it felt like I was coming down with a cold, and...

...And then I got on my southbound train. I thought things were looking up, because the car was very empty, so I had my pick of seats. I sat down next to the man who'd entered the train in front of me, great seat, very choice for knitting - on the end of a row, facing forward, with lots of leg room.

I very shortly discovered that the man I'd sat beside was sitting with his elbows out and his legs spread, taking up part of my seat. Being Canadian (and meek as hell) I decided to silently assert my right to my chair by squeezing into it (without shoving, of course) as much as I could. Always before, this has resulted in the person beside me realising they're crowding me and moving back into their own chair.

Not today.

Today, not only did buddy not move over, but it actually felt like he was trying to push me further out of my seat. I probably should have spoken up at this point, but didn't (see reference to meekness, above) in favour of continuing to try and wiggle a bit into the seat space that was rightfully mine.

A few minutes of this and the guy turns to me and impatiently says, "Would you stop nudging me?!?"

Ummm...

I pointed out that he was sitting in part of my seat. His reaction?"

"Yeah, that's nice."

I told him I didn't think it was nice at all, I thought it was rude. I was dismissed. A few more ridiculous (and futile) exchanges followed until finally I accused him of getting a sexual charge out of pushing up against me and he shut up. Sadly, he still did not actually move. I probably could have followed up at that point until he did, but I was already shaking from the confrontation (more meekness) and was still reeling from the ridiculousness of it all.

Now, this was simply a rude little man who didn't know how to sit properly or conduct himself socially. So as a person, he himself doesn't matter to me at all. What made me mad (heck, still makes me mad) is the blatant rudeness of the guy, as well as his complete lack of shame for being rude, and his blaming me for the problem he created. I think this is a small symptom of a large rudeness problem we have in our world, and quite frankly, it pisses me off.

So. The day seemed like pretty much a wash.

And then...I went to the Lettuce Knit SnB.

I had a great time. Very relaxing and fun. Many familiar faces (such as Mel) were there, and my old friend from the Girl Guides days, Kelly, showed up, and Aven was visiting from out East, and Stephanie arrived after a harrowing day of photoshooting, and...well. Lots of people (friendly, polite people - such an anodyne to buddy on the train I tell ya), and good times. Happy like Christmas. I had to leave early but I was so glad I went. I really have to go to these things more often.

Oh, and don't tell my kid...but I bought her a Chibi for Christmas. She is wild about my Chibi. She likes to use it to 'draw' on the carpet, and gets really, really upset if I don't let her have it (which I am reluctant to do because a) that means I have to take the needles out and hide them somewhere safe - meaning I will never find them again - because she knows how to unscrew the cap; and b) I do actually need my needle case). So now she gets her own. Ahhh. Domestic conflict solved for just $6.90. Life is good.

The best, though, was this morning when I went in to get DD ready for school. She woke up and said, "Mummy? Did you knit with your friends?" :)

(When I told her yes, she said, "Are you back?" I told her no, I was still there. She grinned uncertainly and I tickled her, saying, "I can't fool you!" Giggles ensued.)

Then she asked if she could come to the person's house next time I knitted with my friends. I told her it was actually at a store, and that it happened after her bedtime, so she couldn't go. "When I get big?" she asked wistfully. I told her yes. :) Then she informed me that when she got big, she would have a store.

"Oh yes?" I said. "And what will people buy in this store?" I figured she would say 'yarn' or something. But no.

"Money!" she answered. "And boats!"

('Sperling-Baines Boating and Loans'? How catchy.)

Okay, so now that I've gone waaaay off the topic of knitting, let's bring it back.

Cape Cod sweater for MIL

I am on fire, I tell ya. Fire. There are 100 rows in the back yoke of this sweater. I want to have the back yoke finished by Sunday night. At the moment there are 90 rows in the back yoke. I am so ahead of schedule - I'm almost giddy with the excitement of it all. Here is what 90 back yoke rows look like:


Last night at the SnB, Megan (the owner of Lettuce Knit) looked at all the skeins on the table that I was working from, and said, "I can't believe that doesn't tangle!" I assured her emphatically that it does. It so really, really does. It's just that it tends to tangle more while I'm standing up on the train, when it would be horrendously difficult to untangle anything, and far less when I'm seated and still with a nice table in front of me so that untangling would not be so onerous. (Murphy wins again.)

Fafner blanket for baby Muth

This is stalled, although I did get a few rows done the other night. I expect to be able to forge ahead this weekend.

Persian Tiles shawl for Grandma

At last, AT LAST!!! Triumph is mine, for I have won an auction on eBay for 500g of soft grey alpaca. (And yesterday I paid for it. I can't wait for it to arrive.) This is a very big deal because I have been totally unsuccessful at buying this particular yarn for the last three weeks - auctions kept coming and going and I either lost to another bidder or remembered six minutes after the auction finished that I had to bid. It's been very frustrating. But no, this time that baby was all mine, and for the low starting bid of $24US to boot - no one else wanted it. Yay! I'm also getting a combined deal on shipping because I bought some more wool from the same vendor as my SIL's Christmas present. It's all good.

The only question is, will I have enough of the blue alpaca left over from my BIL's Stornaway sweater for the shawl? I think so. For the geeks among you, here is how I arrived at this conclusion.

- Our small-weights scale says that there are 395g left on the cone of blue alpaca.
- The cone probably weighs about 100g (I weighed an empty cone in my possession which is of a similar height and thickness).
- There is therefore about 295g of blue alpaca yarn left.
- The auction for 500g of grey alpaca (which is exactly the same kind of yarn as the blue alpaca, just in a different colour) says the lot contains approximately 1800 yards of yarn.
- The alpaca therefore gets about 180 yards per 50g.
- There are therefore about 1062 yards (295 divided by 50 times 180) of blue alpaca yarn left.
- The pattern calls for Alice Starmore's (now discontinued, of course) Dunedin yarn - 7 skeins of one colour and 6 skeins of another colour.
- According to the Internet (on pages such as this one), Dunedin comes in 50g skeins which contain about 170 yards of yarn.
- I therefore need 1190 yards (7 x 170) of one colour - the grey, which is no problem - and 1020 yards of the other colour - the blue.
- If I need 1020 yards of blue and I have 1062 yards of blue, I probably have enough blue.
- Yes, this is cutting it very finely, but the pattern also calls for a fringe made out of both colours. I can make the fringe out of just the grey to save yardage on the blue.

I think I'm okay. I realise this is the height of arrogance and the knitting gods will probably exact fierce, desperate revenge upon me, but I've got logic and math behind me on this one. Yes.