An astute long-distance reader noticed the lack of hair on my neck in the last post. It's true, my hair is the shortest it's ever been. I did it at Matt's request and he loves it. So do I, although I'm still experimenting with different styling. It poofs up into a wild punk-rock look.

SCA = Swords, Costumes, and Action!

Tammy & new friend Cody took us to a Society for Creative Anachronism event. The hat in the foreground of the first pic caught my attention, so when we got home Matt made me one. I sure have the right husband! The felt came from the leftovers of the "Christmas Crafts" with the girls, and the fur is recycled from an old hat.

Anne of Green Cables

Okay, so there's not really an Anne featured in this post. But there are green cables, oh yes! The hoodie scarf started like this, but I made a few modifications, as usual. I eliminated the visor, added a ribbed edge at the nape, and decreased the cables into a point. Thanks to Ginger for suggesting the tassles. I think I did some other stuff differently, too, but I can't remember (I was working on this during the Philly trip). Then I made some matching mittens, trying them on and winging it as I went. When I was done I realized the right one has a stumpy thumb... just like mine, courtesy of a run-in with the door of a '71 Plymouth Fury. That's what you call personalized!

International Internet SCAMBUSTERS!! (Attempted)

We've been advertising Wallace for sale on some antique car sites, as well as Craigslist. I got an email from a Don Mcwen asking the lowest price I'd take. I told him $25K and he was agreeable. "Give me your account number and I'll wire the money too you." Uh, no. But he was welcome to mail me a cashiers check. He could purchase Wallace outright, or $2000 would hold him for 10 days.

A few days later I received a UPS envelope with a check from a hotel in Maryland, for $4500. I called the number on the check and confirmed my suspicions. The owner of the inn said I was the second call that day. She had been on the phone to the bank already. The other recipient had been selling a $3000 car but was sent a faux check for $5K. I assume part two was to ask her to send the difference.

A Mercer Island cop came over to collect the evidence. He connected me with a detective in the fraud division, and we tried to set up a sting. I invited "Don" (English was obviously his second language) to come see the car. If he liked it, great, and if not, I would refund his $4500. I hoped a free car and a handful of cash would be enough inducement for him to show up.

He agreed to send his "shipper and lawyer" with another check for the remainder. Detective Wheeler started putting a team together. I was aquiver with excitement - how fun it would be to catch a rat in a trap of his own making!

He wasn't quite as dumb or greedy as I'd hoped, unfortunately. He asked me to wire the $2000 to the shipper "for travel expenses" so she could come collect the car, and she would deliver a check for the rest.

The police agreed with me that drawing him out wasn't going to happen. One time a scammer had sent a cabbie to get a check, but they'd never been able to grab anyone who was involved.

I got a second email urging me to Western Union the money to the shipper. I wrote back "Nice try. I'm not that stupid."

Keep on your toes, guys, and let's be careful out there.

Secrets Revealed!

Riin has gotten her Spinning Swap package, so I can show you the yarn now. It's Merino, Kool-Aid dyed with Cherry and Grape (the blue came from popping roving into the pot after most of the red had been absorbed by the purple), spun superskinny, then Navajo plyed. I sent it along with some human and bunny treats, and a tube for her DPNs.

As far as the Big News I thought was coming, nope. We won't know where we're going until Feb 12th.

Madrona & Recruiting

Big news coming soon... until then, amuse yourself with this: The ball is the yarn I got from my Not-So-Secret Spin-to-Knit Pal. It's fluffy hand-dyed merino plyed with 2 strands of mohair. Yum! There was a lot more but it's now Maddie's scarf.
I can't post what I spun yet because I haven't heard from my recipient and don't want to spoil the surprise.

Madrona was very small but cute. As usual, towers of temptation everywhere. One surprise: The largest roving tube I've ever seen. Was very hard not to dive in! Afterwards, Emma and I hit Weaving Works, picked up some roving, and came back to my place. I taught her to spin, and just look at how gorgeous her first mini-skein is! Turquoise plyed with eggplant. Scrumptious!

Hee hee! She's so hooked... Already talking about buying a wheel. I should start cutting notches on my flyer for each novice I've corrupted.

Dust Bunny has crossed the Rainbow Bridge

Karen informs me that Dust Bunny has succumbed to cancer. She's been offered an Angora baby from a friend's recent litter (aren't they cute?) and hopes that by the time they are ready for a new home she'll be ready to adopt.

2nd Annual January Electronic Meltdown

Remember last year? It's happening again.

1) Matt's iPod popped off his belt. I guess it wanted to live in Maine really, really badly.

2) The GPS gave up the ghost. The good news is that our new one (very helpful for our string of trips) can speak with a British accent.

2) The vacuum cleaner died.

3) The new vacuum cleaner died after 2 weeks. Now we've got a Dyson. Take THAT, bunny hay!

4 & 5) As mentioned in the last post, my Palm and phone went belly-up.

6) The apartment security passbox has been down for weeks.

7) The fire alarm keeps going off. And off. And off. Especially in the middle of the night. Management assures me they have it fixed. Someone needs to tell the alarm that.

8) Blackberry is a Revenge Pi$$er. When she is angry at us, for whatever crimes she deems we have committed, she teaches us a lesson by urinating on something. She was so irritated at the fire alarm (3:30am, 4:30am, and 5:30am) that she expressed her yellow ire all over my computer. It's dead as can be. Having already purchased the vac, GPS, phone, and iPod, there's simply nothing left to buy me a new laptop. I'm writing this on Matt's. For the forseable future, or at least until we sell Wallace, you're better off calling me.

Blackberry is now restricted to her pen when we aren't home and awake. I hate to box her in, but until she learns to discuss her grievances like a rational bunny, that's just the way it is.

Still... I'll happily take this over last year. Matt's heart is in good shape and we continue to have an outragously good time together. :) Que Sera Sera, eh?

Stash-B-Gone!

I have three methods of getting rid of my stash:

1) I want to hold a Yarn Swap. I envision us sitting around knitting, snacking (of course), and happily trading the unloved portion of our respective stashes for someone else's rejects. Which, naturally, we will treasure more than life itself. FREE YARN!! Woo HOOO!!! Oh, and books and needles and roving and dye and whatever else. Please email or comment and let me know what day(s) are good for you. I have plenty of seating space and the glorious plasma TV (and more movies than are sensible, indeed, sane). For those of you who balk at the Mercer Island trek, feel free to nominate another location or indicate your desire to car pool. UPDATE: Interest has grown beyond my personal capacity. We will be meeting at the Pavilion!

2) I plan to work steadily on my UFO (unfinished objects). I will resist the urge to start new things until the the OTK (on the k'needles) bucket is nearly, if not completely, empty.

3) I will refuse steadfastedly to spend money on yarn or roving until 2008. Please note this does not exclude items traded for, or earned via bodywork / acupuncture. I will work only from my stash (See the wonderful superbulky mittens I made! That little inch-ish piece is how much I had left!).

Number 3 will be sorely tested on Jan 25, when I attend Madrona with Emma and whoever else wants to come. Wendolene has been itching to hit another fiber fest. We are both quite excited. Again, email or comment if you want to earmark a seat. She only holds 6, including me! :) The left front still lacks a seatbelt, so I will reserve that space for our purchases. Um, YOUR purchases. Yeah.

Maine: The Way Life Should Be!

Matt & I went out to New England to check out UNECOM for both his residency and my medical school. We loved it! Plus, Biddeford, ME is close to one of Matt's sisters (the Bestest one, in her words), Nancy, and her amazing family. There's husband Andre, sons Hunter & Ben, and daughter Juliana, plus multiple furry friends: Tardy, HeadCat, a world-class guinea pig, and three dogs. Sadly, two are Schnauzers. We also visited Body Worlds and the Aquarium in Boston, and Strawbery Banke, a historic neighborhood with homes restored to represent the colonial times through the 1950's. My camera failed to make the trip, but I'll provide pics on the next visit. For now you'll have to deal with my gastronomic delight. Nancy can COOK!

PS - Matt washed my pants with my phone in the pocket, and my Palm died from lack of juice. Not having a job, I quit using (and thus charging) it. I've lost everybody's phone numbers, addresses, and birthdays. Again. Please send them - I promise I will write them on slices of dead trees this time.

PPS - Body Worlds (the original) was more artistic, but Bodies, the Exhibition was actually more instructive. They had better demonstrations of the joints, vasculature, and embryoic growth. Both are must-sees!