Thank you

Thanks for your kind comments on my last post. I'm still sad, but am coping. It still doesn't seem real, and I can't imagine going home at Christmas and not seeing Wilma there. It's been really hard on my parents, too, who are now petless for the first time in their 31-year marriage. I know my mom is taking it especially hard.

This has been a long week, for numerous reasons, and I am so glad it's over. Midterms are done, and I can finally relax for a little while. I've found my stride at school, and my assignments aren't seeming so overwhelming. I've even found some time to knit. Today is chilly, rainy, and damp -- perfect for spending the day in a cozy chair, with knitting and a cat and a cup of tea. Which is how I'm planning on passing the afternoon. I started my Tomato sweater last weekend, and am knitting away. My first adult-sized garment!!! And I've only been knitting for what, 3 or 4 years??

p.s. I started the sweater last weekend because I was too sick to go to Rhinebeck. Boo! All the late nights reading and working on papers caught up with me, and I was in no shape to go. I really enjoyed all the posts I've read about how fabulous it was. I'm trying not to be jealous that so many of my S&B friends stalked the Yarn Harlot. :) Oh well, there's always next year. Or maybe there's a trip to Flying Fingers in my future. Is anybody up for a ride on the yarn bus?

Good dog

Everybody thinks their dog is the world's best dog, and through some bizzare kind of physics, it's true. All dogs are the world's best.
Our dog Wilma was one of the really good ones. It's killing me to use the past tense, but I have to, because she passed away today. She was old, and had been getting slower and more tired all the time. Late last week she stopped barking, and this week she stopped eating. My mom called me this evening to tell me that she had been put to sleep.
Wilma was a goofy dog, looks-wise and personality-wise. She was crooked-backed, and ran with a funny sideways gait. Her tongue almost always stuck out of her mouth. She had big brown eyes and a surprisingly loud bark for such a tiny dog. She was abused and neglected by her first owners, but that didn't turn her into a mean dog. She was kind and loving and always willing to come up and lick your hands and face every chance she got. She loved to steal my dirty laundry, and had a knack for grabbing my clean clothes out of the laundry basket and running off with them. Oddly enough she never stole anyone elses. She hid her treats all over the house, and I'd come home on visits and find little doggie biscuits tucked into all the corners of my room. She was terrified of thunder and rain, and would head straight under my brother's bed at the first sign of a storm. She hated baths, and for most of her life it was an olympic event to catch her on bath day. She seemed to know when we were getting a bath ready, and would hide under a bed where we couldn't reach her. We used to ring the doorbell and she'd charge out barking, forgetting she was supposed to be hiding. She'd give us a reproachful look when we caught her, but forgave us almost immediately.
Wilma was a runt. She came from a line of champion Shih Tzus, but wasn't "show quality". She was a champion in our eyes. She was with us for almost 16 years, which I know is longer than many dogs get, but it wasn't long enough for us.
Wilma, you were a good dog. A very good dog, and I miss you.
I don't have many good pictures of Wilma on my computer, and no way to scan in the others. So here's a picture of Wilma asleep in one of her favorite spots. For scale, it's a regular bed-sized pillow.

I can has free time?

So I love lolcats. I just find them wildly hilarious and I don't know why.


My favorite site is I can has cheezburger?


I also recently discovered lolsecretz, which combines cat macros and post secret, which is one of my other guilty pleasure websites.


So when I saw this on ravelry, I had to take the quiz.

Your Score: Sad Cookie Cat

57% Affectionate, 46% Excitable, 53% Hungry

You are the classic Shakespearian tragedy of the lolcat universe. The sad story of a baking a cookie, succumbing to gluttony, and in turn consuming the very cookie that was to be offered. Bad grammar ensues.

To see all possible results, checka dis.

Link: The Which Lolcat Are You? Test written by GumOtaku on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Ravelery revelry

I'm in!!!!! I haven't had a chance to do more than set up a user name, but I'm on Ravelry and hope to start playing soon. My user name is erinelise. Please friend me! (bats eyes coquettishly)



Also, it's midterm time, and I'm actually on the schedule I've set for myself. I have a presentation on Friday, a paper and a book discussion to lead on Monday, and a bibliography for one of my final papers due next Thursday.



Plus I'm going to Rhinebeck this weekend, so it's not like I don't have anything fun to do. I debated for a long time about going to Rhinebeck. One of the many knitters in my program saw me with my sock, struck up a conversation, and offered to give me a ride (knitters rock!), but I wasn't sure I could spare the time to go. I ultimately decided that the mental health benefits outweighed the lost study time, and I (and my wallet) can't wait! If any of you guys from New Haven will be there on Saturday, drop me a line and maybe we can meet up. I miss you and would love to see you in person again!



Also, hi to Spice who commented on my last post! She's one of my fellow sufferers, I mean graduate students, and is also a knitter. I hope she'll stop by again.



Knitting wise, I'm still plugging away on the second sock. At least I'm on the foot now, and the end is in sight. Pictures soon, I hope.



And since it isn't a knitting blog without an occasional cat photo, here's my official yarn inspector:

Do you think she can smell the chitin?