The library is twisting my perceptions.

So this past week was a busy one at my library. I'll skip the big patron-related news in favor of the small but weird incident that happened on Thursday.

Lady comes in, wants to get a library card and also wants to get on the internet. I hand her an application and tell her that I can get her on a computer immediately, before she gets her card. So I hop out from behind the desk, lead her over to an open computer, and... she's not there. She's still filling out an application at the desk. OK. That's fine, she can get her card first. I'm just so used to people NOT getting a card first. Whatever.

So then she comes back after getting her card, wants help getting on the internet, and then tells me she needs someone to help her cancel an email account. I tell her that I can help her sign on to the computer, help her navigate to a page, but from there she needs to do it herself, she can just follow the instructions on the website. So she sits down at the computer and I'm trying to help her sign on. I tell her to enter her card number in the little box, and she just kind of sits there, gazing up at the ceiling. Um. OK.

Long story short, this woman is just not all there. She called me over for help several times, even though simply reading the instructions on the screen would've gotten her where she needed faster. Whatever. Not everyone understands how to use the internet; the digital divide is a bitch.

So then finally it looks like she's on her way out of the library. Except that instead of walking out the front door she walks back into the staff area, with my boss running after her to stop her. And then she goes into the staff bathroom. How did she even know it was there? So finally when she comes back out my boss tells her that this is the staff area and she isn't allowed to come back there and she's not allowed to use that bathroom. Her response? "Oh, it's so nice to relieve myself." Eeeeuuugghhh!!!!

Now, I will admit that I am an elitist. The reason that I like the staff bathroom is because the patrons are *not allowed to use it!* Damn it. So I used the staff bathroom upstairs for the rest of the day. It was pretty funny, but I felt pretty protective of that staff bathroom.

So that's a new patron. I'm sure we'll be seeing more of her.

And that night Nico and I went out to this little Italian place. It was... actually very nice. The people there weren't yelling or harassing anyone. None of them smelled. The food was excellent. It was almost like being out for dinner on a normal night in Tucson. That's when I realized that my entire perception of this town has shrunk down to the size of the library. My perceptions of this town's people has been twisted by the behaviors of the worst of our library patrons. There are, in fact, nice places here. There are normal people. Most of the people are probably normal, but I work in the library and I don't get out much. I'm feeling pretty stunted right about now. I wonder if I chose the right career.

Brigid in Cyberspace

Today is St. Brigid's Day, and that means you will find poetry posted on blogs all over the place. There's more information here.

So here's this poem I wrote quite a while ago about my mother's cancer:

Forty-nine syllables all for you, mother.
The years of your life run-
ning ragged down this page. Too many
fears creeping into your body
and hardening.
What saints
appeared to you then,
speaking your name?

Our First Cordial

cor-dial -noun
a strong, sweetened, aromatic alcoholic liquor; liqueur.

Last November Nico and I started our first cordial. We went to a cordial-making class that some sca people were having in Olympia and were told that we could use any clear liquor as our base. We used vodka, figuring that it was generic enough and probably wouldn't taste too badly, even though neither of us are really all that into vodka. And to flavor it we decided to use pomegranate and orange.

So the seeds of four pomegranates and the flesh and zest of two oranges went into the jug, followed by one regular and one smaller-sized bottle of Stoli. Cap on tight, shake shake shake, and wait. The vodka began to take on the pomegranates' color almost right away and deepened over time to a beautiful dark red. We let it steep for about 2 months, giving the jug a good hard shake just about every day.

After two months Nico did the hard part of straining out the by now extremely unappetizing pomegranate seeds and orange bits. All in all he strained it 6 times with butter muslin folded over again and again. Then it sat for another two weeks, and during that time quite a bit of sediment settled on the bottom of the jug.

Today I poured the cordial into a pot and threw out the sediment. I put the cordial over low heat and added about a cup of sugar. I kept stirring and as soon as the sugar was dissolved I took it off the heat and poured it into a clean jug.

Here's what it looks like now:



The flavor is pretty good; Nico claims he can taste the pomegranate and the orange separately but to me it just tastes bright and sweet. It's smooth and waaaaay better than plain vodka. I think we did well. I wish it was a little deeper red, though.

Next we might try just a straight-on orange cordial, sweetened with honey. I think that would be good to start now while citrus is still in season. Yum.

The Wages of Knitting Is...

Bowls!



Yes, these are the bowls I received in exchange for the knee-high stripey socks I knit. They came in the mail today and they are very lovely to behold. And my very cool partner sent 5 bowls, when the swap was only supposed to be for 4! I'm getting swap-spoiled all over the place, here.

Check them out. There's this beautiful bluesy-greensy one:



There are these two lighter blue ones, each alike in dignity:





There's this checked one that I absolutely adore:



But my absolute favorite is this one. I think the glazing on this is really sort of stunning:



So there you have it. Who's a lucky knitter? I am.

Minor Whiplash

Aside from being a bad band with a Myspace page, minor whiplash is what I get for daydreaming about Minnesota while driving in the snowy parking lot of the post office yesterday. I backed up into a telephone pole. In my defense, the pole really is in a bad place, and judging from the protective plastic shell wrapped around its base I'm not the only one who's done it. I wasn't going very fast and there was no damage to my car. It just gave me a jolt. And a headache followed by a stomachache, yesterday. And a little more of the same along with a sore neck today. So I'm staying home from the library and making with the heat and ice therapy.

Also, I have updated my blogroll on the right. Fewer knitting blogs, more other blogs, updated names and links and all that good stuff. Enjoy.

Aaaaaaaaand.... today is Delete Your Myspace Day. So I'm gonna do that later.

Here's a snow picture for you, although what we had yesterday was thicker and wetter. Also, it kept hailing.

Best Swap Package Evah!

So I was in this yarn swap where we were supposed to swap some silver or gray yarn. Pretty simple, yes? Well, my swap partner outdid herself. It was her very first swap and she was amazing!!! First off, everything came all wrapped up pretty like a present:



Now, keep in mind that all she really signed up to send was some yarn...

But what she actually did send, aside from the yarn, was this:



Clockwise from top left, European instant cappuccino, some sea-themed stickers, a little notebook, 3 chocolate bars from Belarus (where she currently lives), a sticker she had made for me concerning my love of certain mollusks, 3 Imp's Ears samples from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab (squeal!), one of those German Kinder Eggs, and a set of hand-made glass stitch markers for knitting shaped like octopuses (octopodes?)! How fantastic is that? This lady really did her homework and picked out goodies that she knew I would specifically like. And how much harder was this for her, living as she does in Belarus? Amazing.

And then there's the yarn she sent. Oh yes. The yarn.



This beautiful, luxurious yarn is 50% merino wool, 50% silk. 400 yards of it, which is enough for socks even for my big feet. And the colorway is called "Summer Storm." Fan-freaking-tastic.

How lucky am I? Very lucky.

Making it with needles and string

So this is what I've been knitting.

First off we have the finished socks that I knit for my grandma out of Lorna's Laces yarn and gave her for Christmas. She says they fit great, and that her friends admire my knitting skillz. That's right, farm ladies think I knit well. That's probably the best compliment I've ever had...



And then I finished the beaded lace scarf that I was making for Bev. Finally. This sucker took me a year to knit. The yarn is a blend of baby alpaca and silk; very soft, a little fuzzy, lightweight anchored down a little by the beads. I sent it to her for Christmas. She cried. I hope she wears it.



Let's look at that from another angle, shall we?



And then I knit a pair of black alpaca wristies for Nico. He needed something to keep him warm at work, and this is some of the alpaca yarn I got last year from Estrella. I thought it would take all 4 skeins to complete, but they only took 2.



Next I had agreed to do a 1-on-1 swap with someone on Swap-Bot. She would make me a set of 4 pottery bowls if I would knit her a pair of stripey knee-high socks. So here's what I came up with, no pattern:



And after getting all of that done I decided I could finally concentrate on knitting for myself again, for a while. So the first thing I did was whip up a pair of socks. This yarn is from A Swell Yarn Shop and the colorway is Midnight Romance, although to me it looks more like a berry smoothie. Yum. They are warm and soooo soft. These are my new favorite socks.



I'm working on a second pair of socks which are from a very pretty pattern and which have faux cabling. This is the Azure pattern from the most recent issue of Knitty, and the yarn is Mountain Colors Bearfoot in the Rosehips colorway. This yarn is 25% mohair which makes it extremely soft and fuzzy. At first I worried it would be too fuzzy to show the stitch definition well, but I think it does OK. I'm past the heel on the first sock and it fits perfectly.



And a close-up if you please:



And then I finally got the guts to start my very first sweater. I'm making Wicked out of Artyarns Supermerino in blues and greens. I'm not very far yet, but you know what? This type of sweater is way easier than making socks. It's totally simple, and there's no seaming. It's truly less complicated than a sock! I just can't seem to get over this fact. I'm not very far yet, but the Artyarns Supermerino is much softer than I expected. I can't wait to wear it. Mab approves.



And for anyone who remembers the bright green knee-high socks I was working on last spring... well I did finish them, a while back. I just never took pictures. So, here ya go.

Int'l Delete Your Myspace Day

...is this coming Wednesday, Jan 30th. You can read about it here: http://bloggasm.com/january-30th-is-international-delete-your-myspace-account-day

I'm going to delete my Myspace that day. But of course, my reasons are different from his reasons. I've had my profile set to private for a while now, and so I don't get many new annoying fem-bot messages or anything like that. And I don't have a Facebook account, so this isn't about thinking Facebook is better... although I do have a Ravelry account, so if you knit or crochet you should sign up for that.

So, why would I want to remove myself from the world's largest social networking site? Exactly. It's the world's fucking largest social networking site. Despite the fact that there are many awesome people on Myspace, it still appeals to the lowest common denominator. I see it every day at the library. People are addicted to their Myspace, and I feel a tiny shudder of horror whenever I'm faced with that at work. I throw up in my mouth a little every time someone comes to tell me that "there's something wrong with the computer" because their stupid Myspace won't load. I know that deleting my Myspace won't cause a dent in anyone else's, and it certainly won't give those people a much-needed brain transplant, but it will make me feel just a teensy bit better.

So, no judgement on anyone who doesn't delete their Myspace. I'm doing this primarily because of what I see at work

Shouty Drunk Guy

Tonight there was a shouty drunk guy in the library. I was helping him and I was even doing all my Professional Librarian Reference Effectiveness Behaviors ("Is that your complete question?") when he confessed to me that he was drunk. I mean, I could smell it on him, but when you just up and confess? Come on! Only in Aberdeen would you confess your drunkenness to a public servant with the expectation that this knowledge will make them more patient and lenient and will explain away all your bad behavior. "Oh, you mean you're only shouting and repeating yourself because you're drunk? Well, that's alright then."

So as soon as he said this I turned my head to look at our cop, who was standing maybe 12 feet away. And Shouty Drunk Guy turned his head and noticed the cop too, for the first time. OOPS! I guess he didn't expect that he'd be a Shouty Drunk Guy in front of a COP! He started begging me not to do anything, but I mercilessly got the cop's attention anyway. And then the cop escorted him out. When our cop returned, he remarked, "At first I just thought he was loud and different." Indeed no.

And then about 10 or 15 minutes later Shouty Drunk Guy came back inside. This time V. kept him at bay while the rest of us went looking for the cop, who again escorted him outside and again 'supervised' him for a little while. Then by all reports, Shouty Drunk Guy got on his bicycle and rode away. And for a minute there I thought I was back in Tucson.


So. Some of you may heave heard about OUR BIG FUCKING STORM. Yes. It was a wind-storm. The weird weather started Sat. Dec. 1st, when there was SNOW. And snow by itself isn't all that weird this time of year in WA, and it had been pretty cold recently. Nico even bought us some ice scrapers. I haven't owned an ice scraper since I was 20.

And then on Sunday the wind storm started. At first it wasn't much different from any other windy-type storm that we get here, but then it escalated. We were having sustained winds of up to 70 mph, with gusts over 100 mph. The power went off on Sunday night.

On Monday morning I got a call that the library would be closed because the power was out. There was still hot water for showers, and Nico didn't have to work that day. The wind was still blowing; it was only the middle of the storm. Nico and I went driving around to see if anyone had power, but it didn't look like it. There were trees down (big ones) everywhere. We have a gas fireplace and gas stove top, so we were alright on heat and food. We took naps. In the afternoon I got another call saying that the library would be closed the next day too. And then I lost reception. We were effectively cut off, so we didn't know how bad it was.

The next day Nico went to work, where he heard about the flooding, the road closures, and the governor declaring a state of emergency. But I still didn't know how bad it was. The weather had calmed down and still no one had power, so I thought I'd just drive in to Olympia, buy some supplies, eat at a restaurant. But I couldn't get out of town, because the highway was closed. Would probably be closed, I was informed by a worker, for a couple of days. I was trapped! I couldn't leave. The stress began to get worse.

Well, we finally got our power back on Wednesday evening. The library was open on Wed. as well. We weathered the storm; the worst one this area's seen since the 60's. All in all we were pretty lucky. No trees fell on us. We had heat and food. Our power's back on. Our drinking water wasn't contaminated. Nico didn't have to miss any work, and I'm still paid for the days the library was closed.

Welcome to the Harbor, suckers!

Swap 2

I'm hosting another swap on Swap-Bot. This one is the "Cover Me mix CD" swap, and as you might have guessed it's a swap for mix CDs of covers. You can see it at http://www.swap-bot.com/swap/show/9108

The last day to sign up is Nov. 24, so don't be shy! Go join my swap! Swap-Bot accounts are free, and if you're new to it all I ask is that you fill in your profile. Pretty easy.

If enough people sign up it should be pretty fun. Oh come on. Don't you want to have fun?

I finished it!

I finally finished the lace scarf that I've been working on for nearly a year! It's done! Pictures later.

Not Socks

Today we take a break from sock yarn. This is another yarn from Hand Spun and Dyed Too, and indeed it is handspun and hand-dyed. I bought this off eBay a couple of years ago shortly after my yarn mania truly set in. I fell in love with the colors and when it came I enjoyed the texture as I wound it into its little ball.... and that's as far as it ever went. There's less than 100 yards here, and I have no clue what I could make with it. It would felt beautifully if I wanted to felt it, but it would become even smaller then, and I don't know what I could make.

I've thought about just leaving it as a ball forever. I might do that. Every once in a while I'll just take it out, hold it and look at it for a while, and then pack it away again. Therapy yarn.

Cloudy Yarn and the Toe Butcher

I am full of excuses for why there was no yarn yesterday.

But there is yarn today:



Yes, more sock yarn. This yarn was sent by lovely Jenny as part of a Twin Cities-themed birthday package. The yarn was hand-dyed in St. Paul. Jenny said it reminded her of clouds, and as such it is completely appropriate to my new home. It does have a nice, soft cloudy look to it. This yarn will make sweet feminine socks that will be a pleasure to behold and a relief to wear. This yarn will make socks that will renew my spirit and my faith in humanity. This yarn is like wooly tea and sympathy. The yarn tells me so.

Now.

Yesterday I went to the podiatrist to have a two (or three?) week old infected ingrown toenail removed. Oh man. What you need to understand is that I am one of the most stubborn people I know when it comes to medical care. Who else would allow themselves to languish under the shadow of the lung butter (nasty resperatory infection, for the uninitiated) for a full month before finally seeking medical attention? Who else would allow their infected toe to fester into messy, bright-red hamburger (that's the podiatrist's term, by the way. Hamburger. It's an established clinical term, I'm sure) under the delusion that it "might get better"? Yes, if it weren't for modern medicine I'd be dead from some stupid infection three times over by now.

So after much butting-in and insistence from my very nice and mothering coworkers (and that's the other thing: when I do seek medical attention it's usually the product of outside intervention) I went to the specialist to tell him my sad toe-tale. He injected my full of drugs (and due to a faulty needle I actually got some extra!) and on his way out I heard him tell the nurse that I had "the works." Truly, I am a bad-ass.

He removed the rogue sliver of toenail as well as the scar tissue (hamburger) that had formed. The whole thing took less than ten minutes. I didn't feel a thing. He cut off a chunk of my toe and I didn't feel a thing! He's sending the pus off to the lab and I'm going back next week for a follow-up.

Of course, as soon as the anaesthetic wore off I had to go home from work with a swollen throbbing foot. And this morning I had to soak the bandage off. That was pleasant. You know how sometimes in bad horror movies someone will get cut open and their blood will kind of spray out in regular spurts, as if in time with their heartbeat? Well, that actually happens.

Enough said.

It's Pumpkininny!

Yarn I want to eat:



This is one skein of Pumpkin Pie sock yarn from Hand Spun and Dyed Too, which has a shop on eBay as well as etsy. I bought this yarn on etsy just last month in a fit of pumpkin-lust. I will have pumpkin pie socks! I will. This yarn looks like it should both smell and taste of pumpkin pie. But do not be fooled; it is just wool.

Library Adventurama~
My favorite reference question of the day came from a patron who had joined a Double Day book club and wanted me to tell her when her first batch of books would arrive in the mail. Did she want the email address I found as the only way of contacting this alleged book club? No, she did not. She simply wanted me to tell her when her books would arrive. Ladies and gentlemen, it is a computer, not a crystal ball.

I have begun to notice an unpleasant side effect of doing reference work, and it is that as soon as I leave the library I hate, just hate, being asked questions. While I am in the library I am paid to answer (or at least, try to answer) as many random-ass questions as the public can throw at me. I am paid to find things for them and to fetch books, various media, and sundry information. And because of this I now feel like I'm being taken advantage of whenever a stranger stops me on the sidewalk to ask me for the time, a cigarette, or directions to the post office. I'm sure that I'm not alone in this. In fact I'm willing to bet that this feeling is so widespread that if might qualify as a syndrome. Now. What shall we call our hating-work-like tasks-when-one-is-off-the-clock syndrome? Suggestions welcome.

Something Sunday

I've been a bad yarn blogger. What can I say? I had stuff to do this week.

YARN. OF. THE. DAY.


Another yarn procured from the Yarn Garage in Rosemount, MN. I have no idea, anymore, who made this yarn or how many yards it is. I have no idea what I'm going to make with it, or when. And I don't much care. It's pink and it's handspun and it's a little crazy, and that's enough for me. I'm a sucker when it comes to handspun.

It does remind me, a little, of the Elephant Bugbite yarn that I used last year to make a nice soft scarf for Chiara. Now THAT was a good yarn! It was gray (the elephant), with similar pinks here and there (the bugbites), and it was spun really unevenly so it had a lot of mismatched texture when I knit it up. This yarn isn't quite as soft as that one was, but it has the same kind of chunky bumpy handspun aesthetic.

Today it is raining raining raining, and it has been for hours and hours. It's raining hard too, none of this "light misting" you hear about up here. Nico and I are wrapped in blankets, huddled in front of space heaters to keep warm. There's hot coffee and books to read. There's a chicken brining in the fridge, and tonight I will stuff and roast it. I have to admit that, aside from the current lack of nice furniture and the throbbing infection on my foot, this is pretty much how I imagined domestic life after school would be.

And the lack of nice furniture thing won't be an issue forever. Why, just this week I bought a nice couch from a place here in town. Of course, now they have to order the couch from LaZBoy, and it will take 2 months to get here, but it's on its way. And it's red.

Ew, it's all sticky!

Yes, so I missed a day with the whole yarn-of-the-day idea. Oh well.



Today's yarn is three hanks of Sheep Shop Yarn in the G148 colorway. Pretty exciting, huh? I got this last weekend when Nico and I went and spent a day in Portland. We wandered up and down Alberta St. and of course I discovered Close Knit. I think Nico got a little bored waiting for me to finish drooling over all the yarn. Eventually, though, I did decide on these three skeins plus a fourth skein of the same stuff but in bright orange. The plan is to use this yarn to make myself a nice, big, warm scratchy wool scarf. With an autumn leaves theme. t first I thought the brown would be like branches and the orange I would knit and felt in leaves, which I would then stitch to the scarf. I'm not so sure now.

At the yarn shop I also bought three little plastic buttons that are shaped and painted like gophers in mid-dash. I've never seen dashing-gopher-buttons before. I love them. And I bought a little Lantern Moon sweater keychain as an extra for an upcoming yarn swap.

At this point I'm sure you're asking yourself, what's all sticky?

OK. Yesterday at the library a patron came up holding one of the plastic magazine binders (with a fresh copy of Redbook inside), and complained that it "had something on it." Not only did it have something on it, but it was also kind of wet. Why was it wet? It wasn't raining outside, and even if it was that magazine shouldn't have left the building. So why was it wet? It is a mystery.

Now, a quick note about the difference between being a librarian and working at a used book store, ahem, Bookman's. At Bookman's if a customer had come up to us with a sticky book or magazine, we would have shrugged, grimaced, and thrown it away. At the library, we actually have to clean the damn thing off. So I took it in the back and tried 409'ing it. That didn't work, becase yes, it was sticky. So I rubbed some Goo Gone on it, and then 409'ed it again for goot measure.

They don't tell you about this shit in library school. And why would they? "There's something sticky... @ the library!" doesn't sound too appealing.

Kildare

Today's yarn is a little less that one (large) skein of Fearless Fibers sock yarn in the Kildare colorway, available on etsy.com. I've used this yarn to make a pair of lacy knee-high socks, and it's very good. I still have enough to make another whole pair of socks.

I love this green. It's so bright. And it knits up with little flecks of yellow here and there.

Grandma's Socks

A quick story about my grandma, and knitting. My grandma was a farm wife, and she was a young wife and mother during world war two. She knows how to do... everything. She's a master quilter, an accomplished home cook, she sews, crochets lace, has made dolls... she's one of those people who seems to know how to do everything, even if she doesn't do it regularly.

So when I wanted to learn how to knit, I naturally turned to her first. "Grandma, do you know how to knit?"
"Oh, ya, I know how."
"Will you teach me?"
"No, I don't think so. I know how to knit but I don't like it. You can learn that from a book."
And that is the story of how my grandma DIDN'T teach me how to knit.

So, of course now I'm knitting her this pair of socks. Today's yarn is two skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in the Ravenwood colorway. I'm not sure why reddish-pink and blue together would be named Ravenwood, but it is. It's been about month since I've worked on these socks. This pair of socks will by my third, but they'll be the first I've made for someone else, and the first I've worked toe-up. I will be very proud to give my grandma a pair of hand-knit-for-her socks for christmas this year, even if she didn't teach me how to knit.

Black Alpaca

Today's yarn:



4 skeins of black alpaca, purchased from the owners of the alpaca herself at the last Estrella. They told a sad tale of how this particular lady alpaca was unable to bear baby alpacas, and since alpacas are shorn for their wool only once a year this made her more expensive than she was worth. The couple said they donated her to Washington University and that this was some of the last of her wool. I had, and still have, the intention of making Nico a nice soft pair of fingerless mitts with this yarn. This is some of the yarn that will be lucky enough to be used this year. In fact, it's the next knitting project on my list.

I had the opportunity at the beginning of the summer to explain to one of my nieces what an alpaca is. She knew what a llama was, and so I told her that an alpaca is like a llama, only smaller and with softer fur. She seemed pretty impressed.

Today's Yarn

Two skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in the Icehouse colorway. I got these while visiting MN over Christmas last year, from the Yarn Garage (!) in Rosemount. At the time I had only completed a single sock but I was beginning to appreciate the beauty of sock yarn, and I had big plans. I was also beguiled by the name of the colorway and the general magic of being in a colder climate. Bev offered to buy them for me and I tried to imagine the finished socks on my feet, in a drawer, or posing on top of a pile of huge iceblocks while a pleasantly muscled man, an icehouse worker, labors and sweats nearby.

Today the Icehouse yarn waits patiently in the center of the stash. It's not the oldest sock yarn I have, and certainly not the youngest. Someday I will sit down and make a bunch of socks just for me, and I imagine that this yarn will be first on the list.