The World's Most Boring Photo of an Armed Robbery

The first time I drove past Texans Credit Union, I thought there was some kind of a "speed trap sting operation" being carried out since this is a notorious speed trap site anyway and there were several police cars in sight. As I turned the corner, however, I saw more police vehicles and other emergency vehicles. See the concrete pillars in the photo? Behind each pillar was a policeman holding a rifle. I don't know about you, but that was something I don't see everyday. As I drove past, I wished that I had my camera in the car and then I realized that I had one on my cell phone. I made a U-turn and came back by to grab a shot but was hampered by a truck that blocked my line of sight. One more try resulted in only a blur and I decided that I was contributing to the traffic problems surrounding the activity and left without my photo. I didn't get "the money shot" but I did get to see the police escorting a group of women (customers? employees? rather frumpy armed robbers?) out of the bank. This picture was taken a few hours later -- no SWAT teams or hostages but at least there is some crime scene tape (yes, there is too some crime scene tape -- look closer).

Back to knitting

Finished my Forest Canopy Shawl and blocked it this weekend.


Rudy guarded the blocking mat box while I pinned out the shawl.


Here's a closeup of the shawl:

Knit-A-Long Shawl Progress

My Swallowtail Shawl for the Knit-A-Long is progressing nicely. Last night was our knitting group night at Borders and I was really looking forward to seeing everyone's shawls. Unfortunately, several KAL participants were not able to come last night and those who did come didn't bring anything to show. I did take mine, though, so maybe I broke the ice and we'll see some more works-in-progress next week.


My circular needle is no longer long enough to really stretch the shawl out for a photo. This may have to be the last "in progress" shot I post for a while unless I move it to some waste yarn just for a photo shoot. I have 10 reps completed. The pattern calls for 14 but that is going to be a really small shawl so I plan to do at least 20.

My own version of "The Office"

This week is a test for me - how productive can I be while my office is being torn out and rebuilt. This is not a rhetorical question because I am sitting about 30 feet from what used to be the front wall of our building and is now simply a hole. To be fair, The-Powers-That-Be did allow me to move to an empty cubicle; hence, the 30 foot buffer instead of what would have been only 6 feet of space. I did sit in my original spot yesterday while workmen pulled the ceiling down all around me. I'm sure I brought home a couple of pounds of ancient dust either on my clothes or in my lungs.

Here is a "before" photo from the perspective of my desk:


and, again, here:


Here is a photo from my current perspective:


I must admit that it has been interesting, albeit a little disconcerting, to have such major modifications taking place in such close proximity. They are removing the entire front (brick) wall of our building and replacing it with floor-to-ceiling windows. They are also removing the suspended ceiling (at least in the area directly over my head) and exposing the original pressed tin ceiling. We are in one of the original buildings from the city's early days and I feel like we are bringing a bit of history back into view. I just hope that no one drops anything on my head.

Enough of that! Back to Knitting!

I have a new project on my needles. Several of us from the Chains and Purls Knitting Group are having a Knit-A-Long and making the Swallowtail Lace Shawl by Evelyn Clark. We are using KnitPicks "Shimmer" yarn, each in a different color. I ordered everyone's yarn so we could get the free shipping and took it to our group meeting Monday night. "Shimmer" is a beautiful, hand-dyed blend of alpaca and silk and, like most nicer yarn, comes in hanks rather than pull-out skeins. That means it needs to be wound into a cake or a ball before it can be used (or else it will end up as one big tangle – ask me how I know).

Remember my swift that I bought last year? You can put the hank on the swift to make winding a LOT easier, so I took the swift and my ball winder to Borders Monday night. We set them up in the café area and everyone took turns winding the balls. That made me a very popular person because we each had about 850 yds of very fine, laceweight, yarn to wind and that would have taken all night to do completely by hand.

I got off to a slow start but picked up speed as the pattern became more familiar and, by Wednesday evening, had 5 pattern reps done. I laid it out on a light colored towel and stretched the lace out so that I could see the design. I was feeling pretty pleased with myself until something odd caught my eye - the bottom half of the lace had the right side facing me but the upper half had the wrong side. Somewhere along the way, I had either skipped or repeated a row. I had to rip the whole thing out and start over. I'm just glad I caught it so quickly. Here is the reborn beginning:

It looks like a blue sting ray, doesn't it? Or, to be more precise, a "Turquoise Splendor" sting ray. If you look closely, you can see that there are 4 pattern reps so I have nearly made up my lost work.

In the photo, I have it pinned out on my cubicle wall. I never thought about using them in this way before, but this was great! I have a gray wall for dark knits and a blue wall for lighter knits (whoever ordered these walls was obviously a Cowboys fan). No one wandering through my workspace has commented on it -- my coworkers just accept I'm a "little different" and move on.

Later that same renovation...

It is really hard trying to work under these conditions. I am trying to concentrate on building a Prediction Management page while saws, drills, hammers, and (I'm not making this up) a JACKHAMMER are all being employed a few feet from my desk. When the jackhammer starts up, I can hardly read my monitor because one of us (I hope it's the monitor) is vibrating so hard.

I've gotten pretty good at tuning out the clamor, but someone suddenly yelling "Catch it! Catch it!" followed by a horrendous, shattering crash could not fail to catch my attention. Fortunately, it was one of the old windows that was dropped (I'm sure shards of glass we scattered all over downtown Allen) but it still causes me to feel very uneasy at my desk (and not at all focused on Prediction Management).

No news (is good news) from Dad

My father is making my blogging life difficult lately. It seems that almost every time I talk to my mother on the phone, she has some good or interesting news for me but my father will call out in the background, "Tell her she can't put that on her blog!" Dad is suspicious of anyone's motives for putting anything remotely personal on a public forum. According to him, Facebook is responsible for the current unemployment rate, rampant drug use among our teenagers, terrorism in general, and probably the creation of original sin. Any kind of blog is just a dim yet still dangerous reflection of Facebook and not to be trusted. I told him that not enough people read my blog to be able to overthrow any countries. [They might create a small insurrection at something on the order of a Starbucks but my typical readers would soon settle for a cafe mocha.] Whatever. I have been forbidden to pass along any of his information.

That's too bad because I would have liked to mention that he shared a hospital wing with some of the people injured in the collapse of the Cowboys' "practice bubble" the week before Mothers' Day. If he kept his door propped open, he could occasionally see someone famous walk by for a visit. But I promised not to mention that.

Also off limits was his recent gift to Mom. Which reminds me, Dad always writes each of us a Valentine's Poem. I would like to return the favor now:

There once was a horseman from Texas
Who felt that a car should protect us;
He was willing to pay for
A car that was safer
So he went out and bought Mom a **cough cough**

Oh well, I promised not to talk about it.

On another note...

Here are some stitch markers I saw advertised online:

The title for the ad?
"Accessories for the Not-so-Discerning Knitter"

I could have used one of these stitch markers this weekend (the "Oops" one -- that's as far as I go in my knitting vocabulary). I was working on my Branching Out scarf (see sidebar) and realized that I was short one stitch. I'm still not sure how that happened because I am careful to count stitches after each row. I'm working with a blend of mohair and silk that looks like sewing thread and it is really hard to pick out stitches. Not only are the stitches tiny, but this yarn (as most mohairs) really clings to itself. I finally found the dropped stitch which had fallen to nine rows below my working row! Nine rows! That is a lot of unknitting to have to do, especially in this yarn.

oops oops oops ...

but at least I didn't mention any of Dad's news

............................................. oops ..............

Happy Mothers' Day!

Here are the beautiful flowers that Greg and Andrea sent me for Mothers' Day:

The roses look pink in the photo but are actually a deep orchid color. I have never seen purple roses before -- these are really unusual.

The End of Fourth Sock Syndrome!

Fourth Sock Syndrome has been defeated! I took the cushions off of my couch to give them a good vacuuming and found my missing sock. The discovery re-energized me and I finished the pair:

Now, I can't decide if I want to wear them or have them framed (maybe I'll frame this photo). I did put the photo on my iPod so I could show people; it beats having me stick my foot in the air to show off my work (safer, too).

New WIP* Sidebar

* WIP = "Works In Progress
I have added a sidebar to show how my current projects are progressing. The Branching Out scarf is about 4 feet long now and nearly complete. I am using the handmade needles that Mom bought for me in Durango. It is so wonderful to knit with beautiful tools. Speaking of beautiful needles, I have joined the Needle of the Month Club from Books, Yarn, and More in Seely Lake, Montana. Every month for six months, I will receive a pair of handmade needles in a different size and a different exotic wood. My first set was a pair of US10.5 in Brazilian Bloodwood -- absolutely gorgeous! Photo coming soon!

The Friday Night Knitting Club - a review

In one word? Disappointing. So many people had told me that, as a knitter, I had to read this book. I really wanted it to be good but it just seemed to fall flat. The sections that were truly devoted to knitting were enjoyable to read but that only comprised about 2% of the book. Two percent of enjoyment is not worth 98% of frustration.

There were two main problems, in my opinion. Problem Number One was the use of profanity. I was truly taken aback when I encountered the first instance -- up to that point it had been a comfortable, pleasant read. The sudden appearance of this word was jarring to the point of taking me out of the story (rarely a good thing for a book to do). Those of you who know me may consider me a prude and wonder if I'm making too big a deal out of a word. Let me just say that, if it can't be said on network TV, it should not be said in a book purporting to extol the joys of knitting. Not only was the profanity unnecessary, but it felt oddly forced as if the author, once finished, went back over the text and randomly inserted colorful (yet incongruous) metaphors. Perhaps she was hoping for a more adult audience.
Note: there are those who may argue that knitting and profanity DO go together. I must admit that I could appreciate that point of view while I was attempting to start my toe-up sock with a provisional cast-on. But I demurred and now I digress...

Problem Number Two involved characterization. A character-driven plot demands a certain level of richness created by fully-formed characterizations and character growth. Neither ingredient was present. Georgia Walker, the main character, shows minimal growth over the course of the novel. Spoiler alert - do not read if you do not wish to see plot revelations): She spends the first half of the book regretting a prior relationship that ended abruptly, yet she needs very little encouragement to repeat the same behavior by leaping back into another commitment-less relationship (with the same partner, no less). It would be one thing if the point was to highlight a lack of growth on her part; instead, the reader is supposed to believe, along with Georgia, that this time everything would be different. At least Georgia had some good/bad qualities for her character. The minor characters seemed pulled out of a copyrighted list of stock characters. We have very little insight into their lives or choices. We are supposed to rejoice with them as they take control of their lives, but we never see the strength necessary to choose the control.

The Friday Night Knitting Club could have been a lot of fun; unfortunately, we are not allowed to get close enough to enjoy the knitting camaraderie.

Fourth Sock Syndrome

Sock #1:
Any knitter who has ever knitted a pair of socks understands the scourge of Second Sock Syndrome -- that dearth of enthusiasm that ensues after the thrill and satisfaction of a completed (single) sock. The first sock is a challenge; the second sock is mere repetition, a "been-there, done-that" feeling of drudgery. Compounding the chore of producing the second sock is the knowledge that the first sock is meaningless without its mate. After all, there is not much of a market for individual socks, no matter how cleverly and lovingly made. With this in mind, I was determined that I would not fall under the SSS shadow (would that be the SSSS?) and cast on for Sock #2 the same day I cast off Sock #1. Here is where my problem started -- Sock #1 did not fit well and I was not happy with the pattern I had used. There were errors in the pattern and my efforts to remedy the errors were less than satisfactory. Thus, Sock #2 would be done in Pattern #2.

Sock #2:
Pattern #2 was successful -- the sock was done and the fit was good. Unfortunately, Sock #2 bore only a fleeting resemblance to its predecessor, Sock #1. The whole idea of a pair of socks is that they create a pair and two such dissimilar socks as these simply did not meet that standard. Thus, Sock #1 was, in knitters' lingo, frogged (completely unraveled) and it was on to:

Sock #3:

Yes, Sock #3. Sock #3 was started a little less enthusiastically than Sock #2. After all, I was geared up to overcome the difficulties of Second Sock Syndrome (SSS), not Third Sock Syndrome (TSS). Still, progress was being made and it was coming along rather quickly. Sock #1 was not completely wasted as I was re-using the yarn and my sock-making technique was definitely improving. I have arrived at a pivotal point in the pattern -- it is time to "turn the heel." Since the pair should match (see Sock #2 above), I turned to Sock #2 to compare the length of the foot and ... no Sock #2. Sock #2 has vanished from the face of the earth. Disappearing socks have been the bane of sock-washers for years but normally, the sock has to go through a load of laundry before it can pull off its stunt and disappear. My sock must be exceptional or, at least, precocious to hide itself so quickly and so completely. It has been gone for over two weeks now and I am having a hard time forcing myself to finish S#3 since and inevitable S#4 is in the offing.

Box Score:
Sock #1 - frogged
Sock #2 - disappeared
Sock #3 - on the needles
Sock #4 - yet to come

I blame the cats.

The Big Read

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts, designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. The NEA presents The Big Read in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in cooperation with Arts Midwest. The Big Read brings together partners across the country to encourage reading for pleasure and enlightenment.

Ok - normally I have little respect for the NEA (memories of Robert Mapplethorpe just don't fade) but this is an interesting exercise. Apparently, studies have shown that the average American has read only 6 books on this list. The idea is to copy this list, put the titles you have read in bold, and pass it along.
Here is my list:
1) Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
2) The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
3) Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
4) Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling
5) To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
6) The Bible
7) Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
8 ) Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell
9) His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
10) Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
11) Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
12) Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
13) Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
14) Complete Works of Shakespeare
15) Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
16) The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
17) Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
18 ) Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
19) The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
20) Middlemarch by George Eliot
21) Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell
22) The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
23) Bleak House by Charles Dickens
24) War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
25) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
26) Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
27) Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 ) Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
29) Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
30) The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
31) Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
32) David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
33) Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis
34) Emma by Jane Austen
35) Persuasion by Jane Austen
36) The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by CS Lewis
37) The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
38) Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis De Bernieres
39) Memories of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
40) Winnie the Pooh by AA Milne
41) Animal Farm by George Orwell
42) The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
43) One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44) A Prayer for Owen Meaney by John Irving
45) The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
46) Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery
47) Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
48) The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
49) Lord of the Flies by William Golding
50) Atonement by Ian McEwan
51) Life of Pi by Yann Martel
52) Dune by Frank Herbert
53) Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
54) Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
55) A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
56) The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57) A Tale Of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
58) Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
59) The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
60) Love In The Time Of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61) Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
62) Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
63) The Secret History by Donna Tartt
64) The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
65) Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
66) On The Road by Jack Kerouac
67) Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
68) Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding
69) Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
70) Moby Dick by Herman Melville
71) Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
72) Dracula by Bram Stoker
73) The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
74) Notes From A Small Island by Bill Bryson
75) Ulysses by James Joyce
76) The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
77) Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
78) Germinal by Emile Zola
79) Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
80) Possession by AS Byatt
81) A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
82) Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
83) The Color Purple by Alice Walker
84) The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
85) Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
86) A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
87) Charlotte's Web by EB White
88) The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom
89) Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90) The Faraway Tree Collection by Enid Blyton
91) Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
92) The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93) The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
94) Watership Down by Richard Adams
95) A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
96) A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute
97) The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98) Hamlet by William Shakespeare
99) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
100) Les Miserables by Victor Hugo