An entire week's worth of fun and excitement!

Let's start with today and work our way back, shall we? I had breakfast with Toni and Alan at Soulard Coffee Garden, better known as my new favorite breakfast spot. Man Oh Man, do they know how to poach an egg. I could eat there every damn day.
I came home and did some work on the garden, not much, I'm saving it all for tomorrow. Here's a quick look at the tomato plants, with the herbs in the background. I do have bad news for the veggie lovers, something buggish has eaten all my carrot sprouts. I may try to sprout some more later in the summer. I am disappointed.



Matt and I went to Opera Theatre's dress rehearsal of Jane Eyre. Kate got us tickets, the seats were great. I'm sorry to say that I really didn't like the music. The set was cool, very minimalistic, just a chair and a small stool, a staircase and a chandelier. I loved the lighting effects, which provided for all of the scenery changes throughout the entire opera. The costumes were beautiful, Jane's brown bonnet in particular, which Kate worked on for a week, even though it was only on stage for about twenty seconds.

Yesterday: Self-Portrait Tuesday, which I have been neglecting for a month, has returned. This installment is complimented by an uncooperative kitty, who refused to smile no matter how nicely I asked. She's such a brat.


Although I must say, my new shoes and purple space socks do look awesome with the bricks and tiger lily leaves.

Monday I worked and went to Roller Derby Practice. There was news on the Bout Space Front (hehehe B.S.F.) but I'm not a jinxer. Nope, not me.

Sunday was my brunch shift at Duff's, where I was teased incessantly by my co-workers about the RFT article (which I have refrained from linking to again, aren't you proud of my restraint?) and my own personal Buffy Season 7 Marathon. Early to bed.

Saturday the tuckpointers came while I was working a double. My garden was covered in a thin layer of red brick dust, making the plants seem slightly cinnamon-y. Also, the holes in my wall from pieces falling off are gone. We have been returned to "full wall enclosure" status from "living like hoosiers" status. I understand that these statuses (statii?) are self-imposed, but I feel better being a member of the former, rather than the later.



I know I put up a short post on Saturday about broken AC and my perceived Tibetan bovine aroma, but I felt I needed to add these few bits of information. Saturday was not a total wash, but I did hit the showers upon returning home. (sorry. I'm a dork.)

Friday was great! I went to Scharf Farm for strawberry pickin' with Toni and Alan. See? Fun.



Alan took both of these pictures.



I like this one because he is so obviously trying to concentrate on being weird, and work the camera at the same time. His tongue is really gross. Notice how he managed to get the rows of strawberries in the background. I do believe he has talent and potential.
Work on Friday night was cool, it went by quick. I got the new Scott Pilgrim after I got off and read it right away. Almost as good as the last one. I cannot wait for number four. I decided to buy up all the Gloomcookie graphic novels while I wait for it. I heart Goth comics.

Last but not least, Thursday's practice was injury and accident central for Derby. Cid busted up her knee, and we won't know until tomorrow just how bad it is. She says if she needs surgery, she's getting it done this week, so she can be healed and back on wheels by July. Don't mess with Cid. Alizarin Rose, Chilly, Gypsi and Boo all took spills. I haven't seen Gypsi since Thursday, but Rose is fine, Chilly's hip didn't even bruise and Boo was more surprised than hurt I think. Boo's new skates did something really weird.



Both Coach Ken (thirty years of skating experience) and Brian (works in a skate shop) had never seen that happen. Let's have another look.



The tread actually came off the wheel while she was skating. I think it is a miracle she didn't break her ankle.

The scariest injury, for me at least, was Jenny Bonebreak's. She caught a skate to the nose!



I was sure it was broken, but there's just a smallish cut across the bridge. When I saw all the blood, I panicked and told Barb to call an ambulance. (Just know this derby girls: I take all of your injuries very seriously. I don't want anyone hurt, and if anyone is hurt, I want to make sure you get the medical attention you need ASAP. We will have a medical staff at practices soon. I am working on it.) Anyway, back to Jenny. We cancled the ambulance and she went home with ice on her nose. Last night at practice she said it barely hurt anymore. Ken and I were betting she'd have two black eyes. Either that girl is a fast healer, or her nose is super tough. Go Jenny!

So there you have it, the week in review. Ta Da. Tomorrow: knitting and staking of the tomato plants.

Saturday Doubles.

I just got home from work and I smell like a yak. The air conditioning went out in half the restaurant tonight, so we were running around in 96 degree heat. I am sweaty and gross. I'm going to take a shower and go to sleep. That's all that happened today.

Again with the time killers...

...I'm waiting for a phone call. Take this quiz. Let's see if you really get me.

Yesterday's sock progress

While basking in my newfound fame and glory I forgot to post the sock progress from yesterday. Here we go, Annie's Ti"grr"sox, first one finished. I have not cast on for the second one, because now that I am a citywide media darling and all around famous person, second sock syndrome will not touch me. Seriously, the RFT article was great, Julie did a great job, we all look amazing and I can't wait for practice tonight.
This is great for our league and I only hope I don't come off as an attention hog. I don't think I do, since she talked to a bunch of different girls, took some things verbatim from Joanie Rollmoan's blog, and there is a picture of most of the girls in the league. Toni is possibly more excited than I am, but she has a fetish for celebrity. Here is Joe, at the Square One Brewery last night, after dinner, playing puppet show with Annie's sock. Boys.

OMG, at long last! Arch Rival Rollergirls! In the print!

It's up! It's out! It's finally arrived! That's right! The RFT article Derby Rolls Again by the lovely and talented Julie Seabaugh is available for you to read on the internet or in actual tangible newspaper form from your favorite local business. Yikes. I'm famous. And so is my Mom!
Knitting progress later, I'm too stoked to take pictures of socks right now.

fun and games

I have too much time on my hands. Here we go... quizilla time!

Your Monster Profile

Basilisk Slayer You Feast On: Corn Dogs You Lurk Around In: Roller Rinks You Especially Like to Torment: Your Evil Twin

What's Your Monster Name?

Didja see the part about the roller rinks? Wow, huh?

Up early

I'm up early today, earlier than usual. I normally crawl out of bed around nine and start drinking coffee by 9:15. I'm out of the house by 9:30, even if I'm just watering the garden. Today I have a doctor's appointment, so rolling out of bed at nine just won't cut it. I have to have another x-ray done on my ankle. Seems I have some tendon damage from the multiple twists and sprains I have had over the years. My doctor is going to do some other tests today, and hopefully will tell me when I can skate again. I know it is best not to push these things, that healing takes time and if I want to skate well that I should be patient and take the stupid "no impact, joint stress free water aerobics class" for seniors at the Y, but I don't want to. I don't want to be the only one in the class under sixty (no offense M&D), the only one with huge tattoos, the only one without a bathing cap. I want to skate with the Roller Derby League that I founded, that I spend all my spare time working on, that I love more than ice cream. I want to hang out with my girls, get my exorcise on wheels, not underwater. It is very frustrating. I'm sorry for going on about this here, I try to keep my complaining about Roller Derby to a minimum on the blog, mostly because I think it is unprofessional, and because this is mostly a knitting blog, but I'm frustrated. I just hope I can skate again soon.
Casey's going to the doctor today too. Hopefully her doctor will tell her that she can get back on wheels this week. She had knee surgery and seems to have healed nicely. I talked to her about all this last night, and she did put me in a bit of a better mood.
So after the doctor, I'm going to The Rep to see a piano dress rehearsal of Hansel and Gretl. Kate said she'd leave me a ticket at the box office. I'm happy about that, I haven't seen a play she's worked on for a long time. I think the last one I saw was at the Black Rep, and was at least two years ago.
So enough plans for today and complaining about injuries preventing me from participating in Roller Derby. On to the knitting, which is what you are all here for. As promised, here is #1 of Annie's Ti"grr"socks, heel all turned and cute looking. I finished the flap at work yesterday (we were kinda slow), turned the heel while watching the door at Derby practice, and finished the gusset while watching Adult Swim with Matt before bed. I hope to finish the foot part of it today while waiting for the doctor, and possibly during the opera. Is it rude to knit at the Opera? I hope not. I think it will be okay, since it's just a dress rehearsal. I gave Rachel her purple opal ankle socks, she loved them and said she'll wear them around the house while she plays with the kittens. (Rachel has the BEST kittens)
Off to the garden now, vegetable watering must commence!
One last thing, keep your eyes peeled for the new RFT (Riverfront Times, St. Louis' #1 alternative weekly paper!) that comes out tomorrow. It seems that Julie Seabaugh's long awaited Arch Rival Rollergirls article will be published! Bring on the fame and fortune, bring on the bout space!

Finally finished, only to begin again...

... with the sock knitting of course! Quick post before I leave for work, here are Rachel's finished purple opal ankle socks. Details later lest I be late, and Annie's Ti"grr"socks, first black heel started, hopefully flapped and turned by tonight. Off to waitress land now.

Deluded

I said I wouldn't start the Broadripple socks until Rachel's ankle socks were finished, and I have stuck to that. I was going to try to keep it at one pair at a time. Ha. Last night I started Annie's Ti"grrr"sox (that's cutesy-schmootsie for tiger socks) while we were watching movies together. She really wanted to see how the yarn looked knit up, and I didn't want to say no to her, since she is my baby sister and I only see her once or twice a year. So as you can see in the picture, Annie's Ti"grr"sox are still on the leg part and Rachel's ankle socks are ready to get their toes decreased. I plan to finish them tonight and give them to her tomorrow at work. I promise pictures. I hope she likes 'em!

No surprise there

Well, duh.

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Early morning yarn sale!

Voila! My haul from the Knitorious stash reduction sidewalk sale! At the top is some handspun that Rachel made, and then below is some tiger striped sock yarn that my sister has claimed already. I've had it home for maybe four hours and already she wants it. I will make her some socks, all tiger-stripey.
The handspun will probably become a hat (big surprise) for me, because I need another hat like I need a hole in my head. Actually, it wouldn't be a big problem if I had a hole in my head, you'd never see it, what with all the hats.
This one is the whole kit and kibboodle, everything I bought. On the upper right is some lovely coredale white handspun. Just below it is some bright soft orange wool that I can't stop touching, and on the bottom left are two skeins of white Merino. Sam, who I forgot to ask for a last name or if he had a website, made this. I bought four skeins of the coredale, and I think I'm going to dye it and make a shrug. I'm going to measure it tonight and see how much I've got. The whole time I was photographing the yarn, Annie was sitting on the couch looking up "pee.com" and "poo.com" and "fart.com" and being very upset when she found out they were all porn sites. Poor kid, she doesn't have internet at home, and she stays with the folks when she's in St. Louis, and they don't have it either, so Annie only gets to use the internet at my place while she's here. In this actual photo she's saying "I can't believe I never looked up "toejam.com" before!"

Real live knitbloggers!

So I went to Shugga's this morning and met Ann and several of her friends. Ann is a fellow St. Louis knitblogger who I met through the St. Louis Knits blog ring. It turns out she lives really close to me, and meets up with fellow knitters down the street at the local coffee house. Whee! I finally met some other knitters. I don't have any knitting obsessed friends, so it was nice to be with someone who not only appreciates the virtues of Koigu and Lorna's Laces, but actually knows what I'm talking about when I wax poetic about such things. I also finished the gusset decreases for Rachel's ankle socks and I am making headway (footway?) on the foot part. I'm 3/4 oft he way done with these, and I promised myself I wouldn't start these until Rachel's socks were finished. I'm going to do them in the trekking xxl I got at Knitorious, but I'm not even swatching til Rachel's socks are done. Really. I must finish Rachel's socks. Can you tell I'm having a hard time with this?

garden photos, at long last

Just some quick shots here, of the tomatoes and some edamame sprouts. As you can see, the tomatoes are going strong. I was worried that they would falter a little bit because of the late start, but they are holding up just fine. My okra, however, is not. Of the eight plants I put in the ground, only four have survived, and they are not looking so hot. The Gypsy peppers are fine, the chard sprouts are growing really fast, and the carrots are coming up too. Now please note the edamame! Hurray for soy, beautiful soy beans!

Annie's fiesta birthday

Here we have my sweet, sweet husband with my totally blonde little birthday sister. Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures of the giant chicken pinata that we chose for my sister. It was both cute and scary. It was also virtually indestructible. It took a twenty-year-old with an aluminum baseball bat (thanks cousin Jason) to crack it open. I think Annie saved the head, but the rest of it was utterly crunched in the candy rush that ensued. Kids can be vicious when a pinata comes into play.
The party was a huge success, many folks showed up and massive quantities of tacos were consumed. Annie is so blonde right now I can barely stand it. I think she had a good time. I wish her visit could be longer, but I know she has to go back soon.

Musings on appropriateness of certain pinata shapes, and a basic outline of a cake recipe.

I am going to Cherokee Street to buy a pinata for my sister's birthday party on Monday. I can't decide if it is going to be a Disney princess pinata (easy to find, pink, cheap) or something more unusual (frog, alpaca, giant squid) I would like to get a very strange pinata for her, but that would be more of a "Sarah Kate Pinata" than an "Annie Pinata" and as she keeps reminding me, it is her birthday and it is all about her. If I was her, I'd be happy that my sister was actually going out of her way to get me a birthday pinata, to make a taco party and construct the ubiquitous tofuti cutie ice cream cake that I simply cannot live without, and I wouldn't be picky about having a giant squid hanging over my head all day long.
Now, how to make a tofuti cutie ice cream cake:

1. Get two or three boxes of tofuti cuties, any flavor. Then get some strawberries, margarine or butter, food coloring and powdered sugar
2. Stack the cuties in a nice shape (I like a pyramid) in a 9x11 pyrex pan
3. Stick the pan in the freezer until they have returned to a frozen state (they tend to melt on the way home from the store.)
4. While those cuties are freezing, whip up some frosting, using powdered sugar, margarine and food coloring. Or you can use the tub-o-frosting stuff. Annie is lactose intolerant, so I make soy margarine frosting, in pink of course.
5. Cover the stacks of cuties with frosting and decorate with slices of strawberries.
6. Stick it back in the freezer until it's party time.
Whee!

Three hats.

Here is that knitting content I promised you all. Three hats! Three! All of these were completed this week.
First up we have the little black stripy number. I started this one shortly after I finished the striped blue monster.The monster is a sort of muppet hat, floppy and colorful. I made it in the winter, when everything was gray and nasty and I wanted to perk up my wardrobe. This hat was intended as the classy sister of the monster. It is a bit big, but still cute and jaunty. It consists of two skeins of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino (black) and the lovely autumn colored Manos, a gift from Dan at work. I didn't have a pattern, I just sort of made it up as I went along. It's knit on size ten dpns.
Next up we have the All-Manos-Ponytail-Peekaboo Hat. This is the same Manos from the last hat. Actually, it is most of the Manos. I loved working with this yarn. It is such a beautiful colorway, and the yarn is soft and smooth. Dan gets major props for choosing great yarn for a secret santa gift. Once again, no pattern for this hat. I just knit in the round on a 16 inch size 7 circular needle, threw in some decreases and then cast off when it seemed done. I made an i-cord and tied it around the top. The best part is that I knit this entire hat in about six hours, while watching season six of Buffy. This hat looks really cute with my hair peeking out of it. See, peeking is the theme here.
Last but not least, we have Matt modeling the official Kittyville hat from "stitch 'n bitch" by Debbie Stoller. I've made this hat two other times. This one is for my sister, and it is her belated Christmas pressent. I know, I suck. She's getting it just in time for summer! I had this finished a long time ago, but ripped back the i-cord and tassels and re-did them in white instead of pink. I think the pink on the ears is all it needs. Matt's head is considerably bigger than Annie's and I hope she likes the way it looks more than he does. I think I have embarassed my husband sufficently now.
So ends this installment of knitting at the petting zoo. Stay tuned for sock news later this week.

final tweaks finished

My regular readers may have noticed that I haven't been very consistent with my posts lately. I'm sorry. I went back and tweaked the last few, adding photos and publishing the saved drafts I had laying around. I promise to return to the higher standard you've come to expect (SNORT) here at the south side petting zoo. I also promise knitting content this week. Here's a tiny tease: one half of Rachel's ankle sox. Sorry about the sucky picture. Rachel's feet are not huge, those scissors are TINY.

gobsmacked

I learned a great lesson today. When you feel like the world is no longer a place you can understand or continue to live in, spend some time with someone who's perspective is completely different than yours. It is humbling.
I came home last night from the roller derby league meeting in pieces. I was emotionally damaged and totally drained. I had no idea of how the meeting went, even though I was there, running the show, the entire time. I felt disjointed and slightly bleary. I slept.
Toni called early this morning with news that Alan had a stomach bug and I offered to take Helen off her hands. Spending the day with a six year old was apparently exactly what I needed. Helen's take on everything, from how many hair clips I need to wear at once, to her understanding of how temperature affects the liquid state of water, to her steadfast belief that no one should ever eat an olive, made me think about everything that I know to be true. I am amazed that a six year old could pull me up when I was about to drown in my own head. I owe her, and I owe her big time. We just ran errands and did some shopping, but it helped. She came to derby practice and got some autographs from the girls. We sang with the windows down all the way home. I feed her noodles, dangled from above and taught her how to slurp like an anteater. We laughed until we fell off our chairs. I feel better. I am still sad, but I am not desperate anymore.
I am glad I know Helen. She is an amazing person, and I love her.

having trouble processing

I got some bad news tonight. My godsons' father was killed in a car accident this morning. I feel terrible for the boys and for their mother, who is one of my closest friends. They were no longer together, but I know this is going to be hard for her. I don't have any details, so it seems a little unreal to me right now. I wish for clarity, and silence. I wish for strength for her and bravery for the boys. I wish there was something I could do to help. I will wait until she asks for help, I will love them all as best I can. I will be careful when driving a car.

sometimes you just gotta go

I felt itchy and freaked on Tuesday night after practice. My stress level was so high I could feel my eyeballs loosening in their sockets.
I went to Chicago for 36 hours. I stayed with my sister in her new condo. I ate noodles and lox, but not at the same time. I watched a movie, I cleaned out an apartment, I bought comic books and shoes. I rode the subway five times. I sang on the platform while the train was coming. I spent an afternoon drinking bubble tea in an internet cafe by myself. I decompressed.
Now I am back and ready to roll.

My mother, the helmet panty model.

The package from Sin City Skates finally arrived, only four days late! Thankfully, Carrie-ocity whipped up some last-minute helmet panties for the demo bout, so it wasn't a huge deal, still, I would have liked to have had them for the demo. Mom helped me model them in the hallway.


As you can see, Mom remembers the golden days of derby, when the fights were staged and very silly. She actually took a swing at me while Matt was taking the helmet modeling photos. Everyone wonders where I get my mean streak from, obviously this answers that question. Seriously, my mom has been a huge supporter of the Arch Rival Rollergirls since the league's inception.

She has put up recruiting flyers, come to our benefit shows, bought merchandise, talked to the press, helped me run derby errands, and listened to me vent my concerns about all kinds of stuff. Now she's modeling helmet panties for me! Mama Manglin' you are the best! Happy Early Mother's Day from your derby daughter.