Lisa: I am a knitting machine

Yesterday I finished the right front piece of my Ribby Cardi! Both of the front pieces are curling up like crazy since they have large sections of stockinette stitch, so I will need to pin them to something flat before I can take pictures. I had problems with the pattern again, mostly because the pattern assumes I am smarter than I actually am. It says stuff like "for the shaping, follow the instructions for the left front but substitute such-and-such stitch," and then when you refer to the left front instructions it says "follow the instructions for the back," and that way leads to confusion. Plus, sometimes it turns out that I should be reversing parts of the instructions as well as replacing certain stitches.

Anyway, the knitting in the Ribby Cardi hasn't been nearly as hard for me (a near-beginner) as deciphering the pattern has been. I am finding that it is much more important to have a good overall understanding of how the pattern works (including how the sweater is actually constructed and what stitches create particular results) than it is to worry about following the pattern step-by-step.

So, I have started a sleeve (and a new yarn color!), and I should probably start thinking about where to get an appropriate matching zipper. It is very gratifying to be working on a piece of clothing with shaping and curves and everything. I think finishing an actual sweater will feel like a much bigger accomplishment than just doing another scarf. Yay for moving up to a more challenging level!

For the next update on the Ribby Cardi, click here.

Sarah: Your Muddy Buddy

Last week, it was raining almost nonstop for a few days. While at work, I was sent to a nearby postal drop box to send out some letters. The dropbox, set to be accessible from the sidewalk, was separated from the parking lot by a small, grassy divider. No, let me rephrase: the sidewalk and parking lot were seperated by the muddy slippery-slide of death, which it was my mission to traverse. I think you can see where this is going. The shortened version of my experience is that I COMPLETELY fell in the mud. My back, butt, and legs were covered in mud. I laid a grocery bag on my car seat, called work to let them know I was on my way home to change, and returned a while later. The experience was a little mortifying and a lot messy. The most amusing part of the story was the face of the man who passed me in his car just as I slipped. His face contorted in sympathetic pain, and his mouth puckered as if the very air he breathed was sour. Other observers offered these helpful comments: "You dropped one" and "Are you ok?!" and "MM-hfgh-mmm." The last comment is an approximation of what I heard, since the man was yelling, through the rain, from across the parking lot. Yesterday, M needed one of the employees to take mail to the same drop box, but automatically called upon another person, reasoning "Well, I need him to come back after he drops it off." Good. I didn't want to go anyway. I never want to go there again. So there.

Sarah: I tried to walk on water, but then I totally sank

We play a Top-40 style radio station at work. While listening to an older Counting Crows, Mike had a valid question:
M: So, this song says "walk on water," so is he singing about Jesus? He's the only person that walks on water.
S: And his apostle.
M: Okay, so it's either about Jesus or his apostle. Whatever.
S: And that girl from The Craft. "These are my gifts!! He is blessing me!!"

Yeah. Probably going to hell.

Lisa: Concert Black, part deux

So, the reason I haven't posted for almost three weeks is that I have been working on programming a new version of our website for Concert Black, the business my mom and I are starting. We have new drawings, another level of navigation, and a few other less-obvious programming changes.

Check it out here, and please let me know what you think (or if there are any problems) in the comments. I would love to know what it looks like on as many different monitors and in as many different browsers as possible.

Lisa: I think we were in desperate need of some D-Bo

1. D-Bo is apparently filming (or has already filmed) a movie with Nick Lachey called The Hard Easy. No, as far as I can tell it is not gay porn. The concept seems to be two groups of people who plan to rob the same jewelry store at the same time. D-Bo plays a stockbroker (!) who agrees to the robbery to recoup some losses, and Nick plays an accountant (!!) with a tough working-class background(?). Whatever. Anything not involving a satanic biker gang representing the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse is a step up as far as I'm concerned. I hope they play up the fact that Nick looks like a cartoon version of D-Bo. Anyway, D-Bo looks pretty hot in the photos. See you at the video store.

2. Speaking of D-Bo...as I think I have mentioned before, I play with the Orchestra at Temple Square, the group that performs with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Every Sunday, the Choir broadcasts a little concert thingy with a feel-good message, called Music and the Spoken Word. Locally, this is a TV broadcast, but I think it's carried on radio stations in other places. Anyway, even if we don't have a special musical celebrity guest like Donny, there is often another famous person in the audience. If their people contact the orchestra's people and we know they're there, the conductor will often call the famous person up on stage after the broadcast, introduce him or her to the audience, let the person say a few words and then present them with a gift. In recent memory we have had Sir Anthony Hopkins and Marni Nixon (the lady who did the singing voices for Natalie Wood in West Side Story, Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady, and the grandmother in Mulan). Anyway, I was thinking that (since he is likely to be in Utah visiting his in-laws sometime soon) D-Bo should totally come! That is the best chance I have of meeting him that I have thought of so far.

3. I had a vague memory of some scandal surrounding the dubbing of Marni Nixon's voice in for Natalie Wood's on West Side Story. A little digging turned up this helpful info. (Scroll down to The Songs.)

4. I heard part of an interview with Bowling for Soup on a local radio station this morning on my way to work. The DJ was talking to them about how a band's money situation works. I guess I didn't really realize that the studio gets paid back for making the videos and the record before the band gets anything, and then they have to pay for all their expenses out of the 75% of the profits that they get after that. BfS said that their bus costs $1000 per day, the drivers cost $200 per day, and staff salaries, etc. are all on top of that. Most of the merchandising revenue goes to making free stickers to pass out, etc. They said that the rule of thumb is that a band doesn't make any money until a record goes platinum. Go buy a CD from your favorite band!

Lisa: Knitting Update

I finally got around to pulling my Ribby Cardi pieces out of the drawer, pinning them to the rug, and taking a picture. Still looking a bit rough, but I haven't blocked them yet.

Here's the first sleeve, which I just started working on again.

Knitting wisdom of the day:
When the heading of a pattern section says "NEXT ROW - DEC ROW (RS)," make sure that when you start knitting that row, you are on a right side row. Do not just assume that you will start on the row following the last row of the last section of the pattern. Ugh.

For the next step in the Ribby Cardi process, click here.

Lisa: Adorkable

I need a new TV boyfriend, since Adam Brody has become a giant, bloated floating head. Who better to fill that position than Topher Grace, who just gets cuter as he gets older?

I think I see a resemblance...

Lisa: segue

From MSN Encarta Dictionary:

SEGUE

"3. smooth transition: the act of making a smooth transition from one state or situation to another"

If you don't click through and listen to the pronunciation guide, at least know this - it's pronounced seg-way, not seg-you. Seriously.