Contest

When I was an intern, a friend of mine introduced me to IMDb, and the My Movies feature. A few days were spent entering in movies I've seen, and today I did some catching up. And, well, I'm a little shocked at how many movies I've actually seen....

Inspired by Wendy, who is giving away books when she's finished with them and is actually the reason I have this book, I'm offering up my copy of Friday Night Knitting Club. To enter, leave me a comment with your guess as to how many movies I've seen, along with your email address (alternately, you can send me an email telling me which comment was yours if you're not comfortable with that). I'll leave it open until April 6th, the winner being whoever guesses correctly or closest. Multiple close guesses will bring in a handy random number generator to pick the winner.

A few clues:

• I watch all sorts of movies
• TV shows I've rented on DVD are included
• The list covers whatever movies I can remember seeing as a kid
• The number is in the triple digits
  

Still plugging away on the WIPs I've got going and trying very hard to resist breaking the stash diet. It's going to be a busy week both at work and at home, before a 2 day camping trip at Sequoia! Send warm thoughts, because there might be snow....

New books!

Since I'm on a yarn diet and trying hard to compensate in other ways (all my energy normally spent ogling yarn has shifted to fiber for spinning and books for inspiration), I used my last Amazon gift certificate (I love my Amazon Visa. You earn points on everything and get gift certificates to buy stuff on Amazon. Which somehow inspires more buying) to buy Fitted Knits and Favorite Socks. I haven't had a ton of time to flip through them, but what I've seen I like. My favorite knitting books (and blogs!) tend to be the ones with really nice photography - closeups of yarn for texture, good color balances, etc. (Brooklyn Tweed is a favorite here). More later on the projects.

I've been getting a far amount of knitting in while at work - doing viscosity measurements leaves alot of wait time, which translates into knitting of course. Naturally I've been getting some strange looks in the lab, but my Jaywalkers are progressing nicely. Last night I finally bit the bullet and started another crocheted ripple blanket with my purple novelty yarns. A few years ago the local craft store in Napa had a closing sale and my mom bought me alot of Cystal Palace yarns. I love the colors and textures, but I can't figure out what I would do with them that I would wear. For me, there are some yarns that are better as accesssories than as garments (just as there are some colors that are better as accents than main colors. A sea green Suburban comes to mind) and the feathery yarn my mom sent me falls into this category. So, it's going to become a lap blanket. If I can stop messing up the pattern - it's hard to find stitches in eyelash yarn.

Time to head into lab - happy Friday!

Birth and resurrection of WIPs

KADD has hit me hard - the list of items on the needles or in the basket is ridiculous....

1. Wicker
2. Hourglass Sweater
3. Jaywalker socks (toe up version)
4. Hiking socks
5. Knee socks
6. Flower Hat and Lace Knee Highs. From the Winter 2004 issue. Unfortunately, I lost the pattern - in an effort to clean up my magazines I took out patterns I wanted and put them into page protectors. And have no idea where this pattern went - does anyone out there have a copy they'd be willing to lend me? I think I have to rip back though - I'm not sure where I left off....
   
7. Socks on 2 circs
8. Trekking socks (You're putting me on pattern)
9. Mason-Dixon dish towel
10. Open lace top from Vintage Knits
11. Red Light Special (from Brooklyn Tweed)
12. My So-Called Scarf

I think the plan now should be to clean out the basket before embarking on anything new :)

Because I for one could use a laugh

Here are some actual maintenance complaints submitted by Qantas'pilots (marked with a P) and the solutions recorded (marked with an S) by maintenance engineers. (via A day in the life of Sachi)

P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.
S: Almost replaced left inside main tire.

+++

P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.
S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.

+++

P: Something loose in cockpit.
S: Something tightened in cockpit.

+++

P: Dead bugs on windshield.
S: Live bugs on back-order.

+++

P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute descent.
S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.

+++

P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.
S: Evidence removed.

+++

P: DME volume unbelievably loud.
S: DME volume set to more believable level.

+++

P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.
S: That's what they're for.

+++

P: IFF inoperative.
S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.

+++

P: Suspected crack in windshield.
S: Suspect you're right.

+++

P: Number 3 engine missing.
S: Engine found on right wing after brief search.

+++

P: Aircraft handles funny. (I love this one!)
S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right, and be serious.

+++

P: Target radar hums.
S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics.

+++

P: Mouse in cockpit.
S: Cat installed.

+++

And the best one for last..................

P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a midget pounding on something with a hammer.
S: Took hammer away from midget.