Random

1. My Amy Butler fabric squares arrived the other day!!! I got 32 different designs/colour combinations and between 2 and 6 of each. I wanted to immediately start making placemats for our dinner table but restrained myself. There's still some more thinking and planning to do before I start the sewing process. Loooove the squares though and have tons of ideas on what to make with them.

2. Using "tons" above I came to think of the difficulties I had when studying in Canada and having to use both tons and tonnes depending on whether the literature was Canadian/British or American. Or whatever it was. It confused the h$ll out of me. And it wasn't just the spelling, it was the numerical value of one ton not being the same as one tonne. I can't remember it exactly...

3. This got me thinking about this one absurd incident in one of the groups I was assigned to in one of the classes. We had different projects during the semester and everyone in the group took turns doing the tasks for the projects. If I made calculations for the first project, I would make blueprints for the second one, arrange the layout for the third one and takle it to the printers and so on. I was assigned to do the proofreading and corrections before sending it over to the layout and printer girl... I made many people laugh in the computer lab when I told them I was doing the proofreading and that my group trusted me with correcting their English. It felt truly absurd.

4. I picked up Muir yesterday. She was supposed to be a Christmas gift for my mother last year but that didn't happen. My hands started to hurt real badly from working too many projects on small needles, so I had to put her on hold. (Yes, Muir is a she and her to me!) I've managed to do 4½ repeats of the chart so far and I really love the way this turns out. I think the colour changes of the yarn work very well with the designed lace pattern and I can't get enough of the airy feel that the knitting has.

I'm not sure I have enough yarn to complete 13 full repeats and doing the two borders. I weighted my project yesterday and my estimation is that I might have to cut one of two repeats out. I'll probably knit the first border in a bit soo see how much yarn it takes. When the sun comes out again and I'm home to use the natural daylight, I'll take some progress pictures.

5. Sewing projects on the list: Emmeline apron from montessoribyhand for myself (washed the fabric yesterday and hope to start it during the weekend), smaller - and manlier - apron for boyfriend in a thicker linen fabric (washed yesterday and is ready to be cut and sewn this weekend), a door stopper of some sort to keep the laundry room door open for the cats, pin cushions, cushions for the cough, beforementioned placemats, coasters, and... Well, I can keep busy with my sewing machine for quite some time.

6. I might not work a full day tomorrow as our computer techies will shut down our computer system tonight for some superduper difficult and time consuming magic. I won't be able to access any networks tomorrow and to be honest, I don't really know what to do with myself all day if I can't access files and programs I normally use. Maybe I'll do some organizing of my binders and then take the afternoon off?

7. I'm going into town today to see if I can find a birthday gift for a friend. We're invited for tea and scones at her home tomorrow night. Don't really have any ideas on what to look for... I'm thinking my reward for finding her something will be a trip to the library. I'd like to see what kind of books and magazines they have on sewing. Not that I need more project ideas, but I'd love to learn more tricks.

8. There's a phone ringing in one of the offices next to mine and it's driving me nuts as it's been ringing forever. Please hang up if nobody answers after the 20th signal...

9. My boyfriend and I visited my parents yesterday. I've been on the look out for a green or purple rug for our living room and when my mother heard that she couldn't help but getting excited. She had just bought a new rug for one of their rooms as she didn't like the colour ocmbination between the newly-bought table and the green rug. So yesterday we picked up the green rug! I really like it!

10. The cats went crazy after the rug was placed on the floor and boyfriend and I settled down in the couch and comfy chair. They sniffed around the rug and suddenly burst out in crazy runs around the house. I don't know how many times they crashed into the walls... Skorpan got his paws under the rug and started running sideways along the rug's edge. And then he stopped to start chasing the moving object underneath the rug (being stupid enough not to realize it was his own paw and leg)... And then they both sniffed around some more before going for more crazy runs...

11. I went to the gym on Tuesday morning. I'm sore.

12. I have a halfhour presentation in a week and a half that I haven't started preparing for and I'm really nervous about it. I know the subject but I don't really know the audience. I don't know how familiar they are with the subject and therefore don't know if I should go into detail or keep things more general. There's no way for me to find out either. I have to prepare a PowerPoint for it and I'm awfully slow at doing them. And I know I have to prepare as I can't improvise for half an hour.

13. Lately I've been thinking a lot about lost friends. You know the friends you had a couple of years ago that you never talk to anymore. The ones you went to school with and now know nothing about. The girl next door when you were ten. I have many lost friends. Some of which I'd love to get back in touch with but for some reason don't make a priority. I plan on emailing them, calling them or sending them a card, and then nothing happens. I read my books. I work. I knit. I sew. I blog. But I don't take the time to actually contact them. Why is that?

14. In less than an hour, I'll draw the winner of my give away bag. If you hurry, you'll be able to enter if you haven't done so already. :)