I Didn't Chicken Out

I just don't feel well enough to get my "game face" on. My car is all fixed up and perfect. G not only changed the oil and flushed the transmission fluid but changed ALL of the filters, almost got the driver's airbag in (unexpected part) and replaced the motor mount. I feel really bad but I'm just not well enough and today was a long day working on the cars. :(

Play by play of the night as it unfolds. I'll probably add in pics tomorrow.

Here we are at the track. Lots of Volvos showed up and we're all sitting in tech waiting for the cars to get cleared to race. It's oddly exciting hearing the engines rev, tires screeching near the starting grid and then tearing down the track. You can feel the noise of the cars through the ground. I don't much care to listen to the performance chit chat but I learn some when I can ask questions. And there is a TON of that.

Okaay so I just might race after all... as a passenger. Have to go sign away all liability in tech. Um I'm nervous. I have to pee. Geez! Think if I were actually racing!!

The announcer loves to pick out the Volvos when they come up to the line. There's a red wagon, "Go guy I've met but don't remember your name!" oooh that was slow - a 14 on the quarter mile. G should be faster :)

A pinto wagon with 12! That's another fun thing to watch - the variety of models. Everything you could imagine.

WHOA! An older Mustang just hit the wall at the end of the track! Smoking tires and then flames! FLAMES!!! I think the driver is fine; the crash wasn't loud enough to hear and I'm at the end of the track. It looked like his brakes failed and then with the oil leak caught fire. Half hour intermission. I should have brought my knitting.

Awww G isn't going to race :( the seals on his turbo finally failed; blowing smoke while waiting in line for his first pass. Shoot now I wish I would have brought my car.

Okay. I now have Blackberry Hand. Signing off.

Drag Racing The Yellow

Tomorrow's the big day! Yellow's heading out to the track. We're getting up early tomorrow to change the oil and transmission fluid, maybe rotate the tires, some other little cosmetic fixes and she'll be show ready! I've already scheduled in a nap tomorrow afternoon; it's going to be a long day. A few of my SOs motorcycle racing friends will be camping out down at the track for races on Saturday. The pressure is growing with the audience.

I finally figured out how to add buttons. Ugh. It should NOT have been that hard to find instructions. Round-about series of links lead me to this page. It's over and now I can move on.

FFBE Question of the Week

As of this weekend, the season has officially changed on the calendar - but what makes Autumn feel like Autumn to you, and why?

This year all I looked forward to was relief from the relentless heat. I, under normal circumstances, crave the heat but this year my A/C was out for most of the summer, I got heat exhaustion and we broke a record - most number of days over 110. That's not normal. If you want to experience for yourself in your own home exactly how the desert sun feels bake some cookies and when you open the oven door put your face in it. Seriously. Thankfully, the end of Summer actually marked the end of the heat. YAY!

What makes Autumn feel like Autumn...

Baking bread and goodies

Crisp, cool morning air

Hot tea on the patio

Weekend barbecues with friends

Cooking for Thanksgiving

Anticipation of Christmas

Seed Stitch Smorgasbord

Two weeks ago I went to the LYS for one skein to finish up the FFBE bag. Two hours and 16 skeins later I headed home to cast on a Beach Blanket entirely in seed stitch. I had intended to find a good bikini pattern if not just to figure out what blend of yarn is best (50/50 cotton acrylic?). Paging through the Summer magazines I stumbled across this pattern in KnitSimple and started dreaming of surf trips to Mexico. Intoxicating, swooning day dreams ... only to be jarred back to semi-reality when she totaled my bundle. And yes, I managed to remember the original skein.

Plymouth Yarns Encore
Knitting on size 7, cast on 217 stitches

Years ago I saw a cute afghan pattern in seed stitch. That's the one for me! And I happily started out on my first afghan. Three rows later I yanked it all out. No way. Never. Seed stitch is evil. Looks great but it's a long, slow torture.

Why the sudden change of heart? Continental knitting. I knit my mom's Fairisle sweater two handed, one strand English one strand Continental. Loved it, worked like a charm. For whatever reason I had only dabbled in Continental since then, like a novelty. Then the FFBE pattern called for stockinette in the round. I indulged until I got to the garter rows. Hmm, I'd really like to learn to purl Continental. A link from Kristen sealed it. Towards the end of the bag I got more comfortable with it and, like a light bulb on a dimmer switch, it hit me. Could it be? Seed stitch is possible? Yessiree!

The stripe sequence repeats five times or so. I imagine I'll swap the colors around some. Unfortunately the LYS didn't have any good greens or reds so I see myself looking for some like-weighted, like-blend yarn. Mm hmm a project!

Anyway, I was knitting away yesterday while the guys were parting the car. Listening to their yammer interrupted only by the screech of the impact drill. Knitting is bliss I tell you. I heard SO boasts to the guys, "My girl's a good knitter. She's knitting us a beach blanket." Awww how sweet :)

Goal Accomplished

I did what I set out to do this weekend - I felted the bag. Pics will come later as that is customary. However, on Thursday I was talking to my mom and keeping her in the loop with my bag. "I'm going to take pics of the felting process. You know, before and after pics. But I don't know if I'll post them..." Mom jumps in, "Because it would look stupid!" (hearty laugh) No! I had paused in thought, contemplating when I would actually POST the pics. Mom doesn't quite get this knitting blog thing. She recounted a conversation with her sister, "What's a BLAWG?" Well, Mom, when I come up to visit I'll add "blogging" to your Computer 101/102 syllabus.

Other knitting related news: I'm well into the beach blanket - pics to post later. Baby Lucy's blanket is driving me nuts. The bullion knots keep "un-knotting" because they were never knots in the first place! I think I've come up with a way to secure them without going back over the entire row to knot them again. I'll post when I'm done....someday.

Arizona news: It finally cooled off!!!!! I noticed yesterday when I was wandering around the backyard of my rental house. The sun was NOT beating down on me. I could actually sit in the sun/shade and not sweat. Ahhhh. The rental house has been the site of parting out the third Volvo we purchased. Yesterday was the big finale - pulling the motor. What a brilliant idea it was to buy the car. Not only have we made our money back on parts that have been sold, BUT we've also fixed up both of our cars! Besides the fixes to annoying interior problems (text rubbed off of the window switches), I get airbags and new seat belts! And with that I should be able to restore the title. :)

Ravelry

I think I'm way behind everyone else in the FFBE but ... Yippee! I've made it past 50% of the list! Hehehehe! I actually laughed out loud to myself and with this almost-a-cold, I have a scratchy throat and a deeper voice. *devious laughter coming from the office*

Someone estimated somewhere that they invite about 200 per day. I think that puts me sometime in December. PLENTY of time for me to just wait.

• You signed up on August 7, 2007
• You are #23631 on the list.
• 9096 people are ahead of you in line.
• 10479 people are behind you in line.
• 42% of the list has been invited so far

Done!

... except for felting. Pockets are fully attached and handle is connected. Ready to felt this weekend or maybe Friday.

Speaking of Friday, I was supposed to race at the drag track on Friday. Alas it did not happen. No one cared to check the track's schedule and lo and behold - repaving. The group of us have rescheduled for the 28th. My cheering section (roommate) already has a sign made for me, "Go Yellow!" This will be fun if not interesting.


And lastly while I'm thinking about cars, my SO and I are considering buying a van. Yeahhh. A van. Optimally and maybe some day the van would actually be cute like a Westfalia or an old VW van. But for now we're just looking for something to get us to Mexico to surf. Now THAT sounds worth it. Every head-turning, embarrassing moment in the van would not even matter to me cuz I'm going surfing in Mexico!