WOW

WOW stands for so many things.

First of all, it just means "Wow!" As in, "Wow, I actually finished another knitting project!" Knitting slowed considerably in September because I fell victim to THE WORST HAY FEVER EVER. Okay, maybe not ever, but it was certainly the worst hay fever I've ever experienced. I kept the airways clear with my good friend, Claritin D, but the eyes... Oh, the eyes! I wish I had a picture to share with you all. They started itching Tuesday evening, September 2 (maybe because that's when the RNC really got going?) and by Friday they were so swollen that I couldn't get through the day without icing them down during my plan period. What a good first impression I made on my students. Thank God they are a really nice bunch of kids, or I'm sure I would be subject to an unflattering nickname by now.

That Friday afternoon I went to see Dr. Wolfe, who laughed hysterically at the sight of me (you gotta love a GP with a good sense of humor) and then proceeded to give me a steroid shot. The shot at least brought down the swelling enough that I no longer looked like a victim of domestic abuse, so I went to the Capital Area Yarn Shop Cooperative's First Annual Back-to-School Shop Hop. I was late to the game, though, and missed the half-price Malabrigo at Threadbear. Damn, damn, damn! Nevertheless, I did a little splurging and also made some necessary purchases, so overall it was a pretty balanced shopping expedition. The purchases:

1. Two balls Filtes King Extra Stampato—Very nice merino. Started knitting a pair of fingerless mitts right away and finished them yesterday. I'm going to make a matching neckwarmer and will post pictures when I am finished.
2. One ball TOFUtsies—Limited edition coloway to make Blackberry Socks.
3. Two balls Ella Rae Classic—For Elli Stubenrauch's Herringbone Mittens.
   
4. One skein Woven Art Montana—Awesome, awesome. I am so glad that I got over to Woven Art. Nancy's shop is cute and the best part is that she sells her own line of hand-dyed yarn. Each skein of Montana is 560 yards of merino. Yummy!
5. Three balls of Cascade Fixation—For Lynn Hershberger's Chippy Socks.
6. One set of ChiaoGoo Size 1 DPNs—To replace the ones destroyed by Scooter.

WOW is an acronym for Women Only Weekend, aka Jeeves's birthday weekend. Jeeves's birthday weekend bash is a longstanding tradition... I think going on 30 years. What happens at WOW stays at WOW, so I can't really tell you anything. Suffice it to say that this year was pretty tame and there was knitting involved.

WOW also stands for world of water. Ike has hit the Midwest.



The Grand and the Red Cedar are supposed to flood. There is a half-inch to an inch of standing water in some parts of my basement. From time to time, my basement gets damp, but standing water is rare. I got out my handy-dandy ShopVac and spent a half-hour sucking up the water until I realized that it was just coming back. It's supposed to stop raining late tonight, so I'll have to work on it tomorrow. Sigh.

When the world is this wet, there's only one sensible thing to do. Get in a cozy chair and knit.



Yes, Jeeves, another glimpse of the first of your birthday socks. I'm sorry they were not done before your birthday. Despite the photo, rest assured that I will not be keeping them for myself. If I can stick my foot into the sock while it's still on the needles, you know your monster socks are way too big for my dainty little feet.

And finally, I don't like to use the blog for political statements, but WOW is a reaction to the announcement of Sarah Palin as McCain's running mate, and everything that has happened since then. Just... wow. Senator McCain, I was never going to vote for you. I don't like your politics. But I have to say, now you just scare me. I am scared of your judgment. I am scared that if you are elected, she will be one heartbeat away from the presidency. As bad as the past eight years have been, I would rather have Bush in the White House for another four years. That's a pretty profound statement coming from a Democrat.

Yikes.

If you are so inclined, go check out these videos. Have a good laugh.
Daily Show—"Sarah Palin Gender Card"
Daily Show—"Sarah Palin-Vet This!"
Saturday Night Live—"Palin-Hillary Open"
Colbert Report—"The Word-That's the Ticket"