Come One, Come All!

I've blogged about Caps to the Capital before, so I'm not going to repeat myself.

As truly a community oriented store, Commuknity is hosting a Caps to the Capital Knit A Long on December 8th, from 6-11 PM.

As for my own contribution, I will be knitting baby hats and likely bringing donuts. Please join us all and help a worthy cause.

Thwarting the Tivo

For some shows that get recorded on my Tivo, I miss the last 30- 60 seconds. This is usually next week's preview, which sucks, but I figured that it was just an oversight, not blaming the Tivo OR the network. On the radio this morning it was announced that this "timing issue" is intentional on behalf of the network.

Why? Commercials, of course! I mean, it's not as if we're not hit with a barrage of advertisements while watching the program- product placement as well as those little banner ads that are constantly appearing at the bottom of the screen. Besides Sarah Jessica telling us that we should wear Jimmy Choo's, and House placing his iPod and Bose SoundDock prominently in his office, we must need the regular commercials as well.

Now, I know it is unlikely that network executives lurk on my blog, but here is what Tivo does for me:

I have a job. A full time (plus overtime, more often than not) job that pays my bills- including the cable bill. If it were not for the aforementioned job, I couldn't watch television at all. Sometimes, this pesky job means that I miss my favorite programs either because (a) I am working or (b) I am getting ready for bed and can't watch TV while doing so.

Tivo allows me to still follow shows that I enjoy without having to schedule my life around it. After all, let's face it: I don't really care about TV that much. I like TV, and Tivo makes it so that I can watch what I please, but if it all sucks, there are other options.

In Tivo's defense, Tivo has suggested shows in the "Tivo Suggestions" section that have been real winners. Among them are House and Grey's Anatomy. Two shows that I never would have watched had the Tivo not recognized my programming preferences and recorded it for me to sample. Tivo also makes it possible for the conventionally employed contingent of the Robot Chicken audience to watch the show at a more reasonable hour than 3:00 AM.

I understand the importance of commercials; without them, how would studio executives get painfully wealthy? After all, that summer home in Maui is a real necessity, like food and air. How could we, in good conscience, deprive them of that? [I honestly think it's okay to make money, and I even like the idea of someday having more money myself, but for the sake of the discussion, go with it.]

What I don't understand is why television gets more and more expensive. When the newspapers started placing ads more prominently, the prices dropped because they get most of their revenue from ads. Why isn't this the case with television, where every scene in the show is full of ads? Just a question.

I think the network executives are missing a major point with this Tivo rivalry: Tivo encourages people to watch MORE TV. More programming, more commercials, more everything- which they may not have been inclined to do if they had to schedule their TV time against social and professional obligations.

After all, if I like a show enough, or I want to give it a try, I can always get it from Netflix- without ANY commercials. Tivo appears to be the lesser of two evils in this case, but hey, I wouldn't give up my luxury items without a fight either if I was a network executive.

If I Smell Like Almonds, Please Don’t Lick Me

Once a month, the dogs get Advantage-d and Interceptor-ed. We do this mid-week and before bed so that we (and our guests) don't pet all of the Advantage off of them.

The funny thing about the Advantage is that it has the distinct smell of Almonds. Seriously. Oh, and you're not supposed to ingest it, dog or person, so if you get it on your hands, you're supposed to wash them relatively soon thereafter.

The Advantage usually is absorbed into their fur/skin in about 24 hours, so in those 24 hours, we do a lot of tummy scratching and face/ear/chest petting.

I like to snuggle with the dogs on the floor. I did this during lunch, and Elphie curled up right against me. Very sweet, right?

As I was driving back to work, I noticed that my sweater smelled … like almonds.

Hang on Sloopy- Process Pics

Hang on Sloopy- Roving


Hang on Sloopy- Single


Hang on Sloopy- Plied

American Pie- Process Photos

American Pie- Roving


American Pie- Single


American Pie- 2 Ply



American Pie- Hank

Spinning Like It’s 1899

So, this whole spinning thing I'm doing is very Zen for me. I can just sit quietly, disengage, spin and chill out. I've been having a really good time with it, and mom brought all this fiber-y goodness over for me to spin:

Please excuse the bad lighting, but it's getting dark very early, and I haven't quite gotten the hang of taking all my pictures over the weekend (when I'm home during daylight hours).

Andrew, Mom and I had tickets to see The King & I. Before we left for the show, I was talking about how I was planning to wash the Love Me Tender socks, and at first I thought that I would designate them as HAND-WASH only.

(I do this, in theory, by seaming with red yarn. However, because I work too many hours and too hard in general, I don't make hand-wash only socks. I have a life, after all.) Then, in classic Jasmin form I said, "Ah, forget it. If they felt, they felt. I'll know it then."

Cynthia, aghast that I would even consider it, looks at me shocked. I say, "What? Now you're going to tell me that I need to respect my work more and that I don't deserve to knit with my handspun because I don't respect it?"

Cynthia laughs and says, "That's EXACTLY what I was going to say." I think we may be spending a little too much time together. Not a bad thing, though.

I knit the better part of my first handspun sock (Love Me Tender) during The King and I, which was wonderful. (This is refreshing, because Sweet Charity was good, except for Molly Ringwald who, being the lead, was always on stage. Blarf.)

It was quite seriously a LONG show. I knit all but the 2" of ribbing at the top and the last 2" of toe during the performance- and I could have done the whole thing there, except that I don't like picking up stitches in the dark and there was only 10 minutes until intermission. Needless to say, we got home late.

I leave you, with some Minion-y shoe goodness:

Giving Thanks and Stuff

Thanksgiving was great. I officially am awarding Cynthia the title "Hostess with the Mostess". There was wonderful company and great food- the two essential components in a great holiday.

I worked from home all of last week, which was nice. I sang karaoke with Joey on Monday night. It was moderately fun, especially with the drunk applause.

Due to the "working from home", I didn't get as much spinning as I would have liked to have done, however, I did complete "Crazy Love", which will be up on Le Blog once we have both a sunny day and I get home before dark. I may resort to bringing my yarn to work and photographing it during lunch on the lawn during the cafeteria.

Sandi was kind enough to loan me her Schacht wheel to try out- I have confirmed that I love this wheel and will (hopefully) purchase one in the next 12 months. Working on my own wheel afterwards is just not the same.

We attended "Christmas Dreamland" (review to come), which was quite possibly the most ill conceived show I have ever had the misfortune of witnessing. We made our getaway at intermission, but wanted to leave after the second number. Shows like this are the reason that theater in our area is in danger of going bankrupt and disappearing.

I'm thankful for too many things to list, so there. More later.

Criminal [Red Dragon] Minds

I love Criminal Minds. I do. I love Mandy Patinkin, and Matthew Gray Gubler, and I especially love the bad writing. It's a sick thing, how much I enjoy how poor the writing is.

So, I'm watching the show, and there was some egregious plagiarism as well as some major incongruity with previous episodes.

The first was that they RIPPED OFF Red Dragon. Now, if this hadn't been a major motion picture as WELL as the first book in the "Silence of the Lambs" series, I would have let it go. Mainly because people don't read- but they DO watch movies. The method of the two murderers communicating was pulled right out of the book/movie and they were practically WORD FOR WORD copies. But don't sue, them Thomas Harris, I love this show as much as it hurts me.

Also, since when is Dr. Reid qualified for psycholinguistics? The guy misuses words ALL THE TIME ( One example: "There is no betwixt."). It's cute, 'cause he's all geeky (and I love the geeky), but seriously- put down the thesaurus, writers. Just because Word says that it's a synonym doesn't mean the usage is exactly the same.

Just a sidenote: what is up with the Elle knockoff they've added onto the team?? It's all under the guise of nepotism, but seriously. Elle had some balls, and I don't see that in... whatever her name is. Everything I've read, as well as my personal opinion is to get rid of the blond admin/press secretary/what's-her-job? Hi, JJ, what EXACTLY do you contribute to the team? Coffee?

I would volunteer to write or act on the show (I could be the ass-kicking agent who corrects word misuse, and beats up the bad guys) but you read what I write, and my acting isn't much better. In my defense, I look great in a tie and would never look like a wimp holding a gun. I could also make up the necessary "wisecracking" contingent that seems to be required on these shows. I can pun, too, if you're into the CSI version of "the wisecrack".

No? I won't quit my day job in the meantime.

Brown Eyed Girl / Love Me Tender- Process Pictures

First- I posted the pictures to the Obsession is Normal post.

Second: I finished my Love Me Tender Socks:

Love Me Tender- 2 Ply

Love Me Tender- Socks

Here are a bunch of process pictures of my spinning:

Brown Eyed Girl- Roving

Brown Eyed Girl- Single Ply


Brown Eyed Girl- 2 Plies

Brown Eyed Girl- Hank

Civic Duty

I went to vote on Tuesday, as I hope everyone did. The line at my polling place was relatively long, but since I travel with both a book AND knitting, I was prepared in the event of a long wait.

[Before I start writing what happened, I would like to remind you that all of the people in the polling place are my neighbors. Not my next-door neighbors, but these people live in my neighborhood.]

As I walked up to the line to get signed in, I saw an animal control officer walking a pit-mix out of the school's office. She was very gentle with the dog, and took her time putting him in the kennel. This was a nice thing to see (her being gentle, not the dog getting hauled away).

It was probably about 60 degrees outside [freezing] and close to 80 degrees inside [boiling]. The woman two people ahead of me in line looked like a trashy, over-tanned, drag-queen makeup wearing version of Geena Davis.

GD had- apparently- not only never voted before, but felt that she should argue with the poll workers (who were all 80 + years old, except for one woman, who was about 40) about everything- including why the sign-in book was upside-down. This took at least fifteen minutes, to get her signed in and ready to sit down and wait her turn.

I get signed in, and go sit down. A woman sits down across the table in front of me, and she smells of three- count them, THREE- separate bodily functions. I try to ignore it, and read my book and knit, but it was truly gag-worthy.

Since they were slammed, it was an on-your-honor system as far as determining who went next. Basically, this means remembering who was in line ahead of you- pretty simple stuff.

GD is reading the ballot while we're waiting, making her selections on the cheat sheet- and she's up next. She asks if someone can go ahead of her, since she wasn't ready, which caused CHAOS. Well, old people chaos.

The woman ahead of me goes, which is fine, but Bodily Functions decides that she is TIRED of waiting, and totally takes my turn. At first, I was relieved, because I didn't have to smell her anymore, but then the woman who was supposed to go after Bodily Functions gets up.

I hopped up and made sure that I didn't get bumped out of place even further. My issue is this; what is up with people? Didn't they ever learn the age-old adage?

"No cuts, no butts, no coconuts."

Setting in the Shower

(or Obsession is Normal, Part Deux)

I have a system. I can spin about 2 ounces per night (after working late, of course) and ply about 4 ounces per night. Once the yarn is plied, it goes directly onto my swift so that I can measure the yardage and prep it to be set.

I hang it on a clothes hanger in the shower, get it nice and wet, and weigh in down with a partially filled (with water) milk jug. I admire it while I shower. We share a special moment.

I let it hang in the shower enclosure, dripping dry overnight, and twist it into a hank once it is dry. From there, I leave it somewhere noticeable so that every time I walk by, I can admire it.

It's like yarn narcissism, except for the whole staring at it so long that I starve to death.

Pictures to be posted soon.