Band girlfriend skips shows, bad girlfriend?, and How do I stop being whiny about my boyfriend going on tour?, at Ask Metafilter. Luckily Scott and I have been together long enough that he doesn't feel bad when I don't go to his shows. (Right?)

More I Am Not A Plastic Bag backlash: I am not a sheep, at Chez Pim. Via Chow.

Mario Badescu Drying Lotion at Things I've Bought That I Love.

How do you take a compliment? at Ask Metafilter.

Create a motivation chain just like Jerry Seinfeld, at Life Hacker.

What to do about too-low cleavage? at Sundry Buzz.

Sound proofing materials for creating an at home recording studio, at Ask Metafilter.

Tee Nuts, what they are and how to use them, at the Told Oldham Studio blog.

Driftwood sunburst mirror, I'll have to keep this around. I bought a convex mirror from Target that I'm going to surround with some sort of DIY sunburst. AT Happy Mundane.

How to make your home Shelter Mag picture worthy, at the Chicago Tribune. Also read about the experience that Alicia from Posie Gets Cozy had when a magazine come to photograph her home here.

Transferring a desing from a drinking glass to the walls in a room, I like this a lot. At Oh Joy!

Random thing I learned this week: I like Krylon glass frosting spray paint far better than American Tradition or Rustoleum.

from Apartment Therapy sites:

Bach garment holder, I want a bunch of these for the bedroom and bathroom.

How to make an outdoor awning.

A wee bit too late for my problems: repelling cats from your garden using cinnamon.

SmartNozzle, a brush that attches to the end of your hose, this would be great to help knock the spiderwebs (renewed daily) off my deck.

All about Paperstone recycle countertops, I've been eyeing these for a while now.

Point. Click. Design., easy room layout software online, nice.

aMAIZEing Biobased Sovent, safe for you and the environment. See also: SoyGel Paint Stripper at Mirror Mirror.

Green Clean, the environmentally sound guide to cleaning your home.

the sweater: Ribby Cardi by Bonne Marie Burns
the yarn: Cotton-Ease in charcoal

I had begun the armhole shaping on the back of the sweater while we were watching the last few episodes of the first season of Doctor Who. I was about ten rows in when I noticed that I had different numbers of stitches on either side, and that a few decreases were slanting the wrong way. I blame my mistakes on being distraught over the departure of Christopher Eccleston. I decided to rip out to just before the shaping started and do it over again. I was tempted to rip everything out altogether and start over using larger needles for the cast on, but I'm waffling. Whenever I actually hold it the cast on edge seems plenty stretchy, but when it's not right in front of me I convince myself it could be better. In the name of sanity I decided not to start over. If it turns out too tight, I'll know for sure.

I'm already planning on making a second Ribby Cardi using the instructions for doing all the body pieces together and the sleeves in the round (see those in my previous post). Maybe the next one will be Stone? Or Lime? Too bad there isn't a solid red among the new Cotton-Ease colors, I don't look good in warm colors, so Terracotta is out. Anyhow, I'm really eager to discover the differences between the sweaters with different construction - both in how they knit up and how they look and act when worn.

This week I also cast on for the left front using the smaller size needles. For this I did a 2x2 rib tubular cast on all the way across, ending with one purl and one knit to get the end. After that I started the pattern and the cast on edge fell into place with all the 2x2 and 3x1 ribs. I worked on the rows up until they call for the switch to the larger needles.

For the right front cast on I'll have to double check whether to do to purl one and knit one at the beginning of the cast on or the end to get it to line up correctly. I suspect it'll be at the beginning, but I don't quite trust my suspicious.

I think I'm going to miss Christopher Eccleston's Dr. Who more than I'm going to miss Harry Potter.

Previous sweater entries: first, second, third, fourth, fifth.

Douglas Adams lecture, Is there an artificial god? - read the transcript or listen to the MP3. I miss Douglas Adams. Via Boing Boing.

Finding your camera's manual online, at AT:Home Tech.

Sombrero wire manager, via AT:Home Tech (and check out that MacGyver Multitool!).

Blogging Toolbox, via Sundry Mourning.

Finding the fold on your site, at Swiss Miss.

Wow. Wilton has made a cake mold in the shape of a giant cupcake. This is pulling my Must Have Right Now Don't Care Just Buy It strings. via Chow.

My neighborhood gets a Walk Score of 75, which is great unless you live here and know the area. The grocery story is a scary cigarettes-and-fourties corner shop, some of the restaurants listed are closed (and one is a church), and none of the bars are places you would go unless you had a death wish. I was amused to see that Seattest's neighborhood in Wallingford scored a 71, but it's a Far Less Likely To Get You Shot 71.

One of my current biggest fears is coming: bed bugs in Seattle.

Lee Rosenbaum's take on SAM.

Shopping: Petaline focuses on artists from the Pacific Northwest. I love what they carry, and at the moment the fine art is catching my eye as I decorate my house. I'm not likely to have vases of flowers around, so why not paintings of vases of flowers?

Whaa! RIP Frites.

How to sew bag handles, easy felt box tutorial, glow in the dark cross stitch and zippered and slip pocket tutorial, all at Craft.

How to make a gypsy lantern at One Hour Craft.

Make a camera cozy at Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories.

Amy Butler's new collection Nigella, pretty. At SF Girl By Bay.

I totally love this towel patchwork beach blanket at Simple Sparrow.

Worry #1: The 2x2 rib cast on row isn't stretchy enough. The only way I can think to make it even more stretchy was to do a 1x1 rib cast on, but that looked sorta funny.

Worry #2: It'll be an awfully heavy sweater. 50% cotton/50% acrylic isn't exactly lofty, fluffy wool.

Worry #3: The color will always look like something else. I got Charcoal colored yarn but in some lights it looks dark navy blue and in other lights it looks like a faded black. And it photographs it always looks way off.

I was doing some research and came across these entries on the Ribby Cardi knit along site about combining parts so there are fewer seams: the body and the sleeves. It looks pretty easy and I might knit the sleeves in the round. I wish I had come across this before I cast on for the body. Maybe I'll make some terrible mistake and have to start over? I've only gone through two balls of yarn and it's cheap enough. Nah, I'll make this first sweater according to the pattern to see how it goes. I have never seamed before so I could use the practice anyhow.

During my research I came across a few people who said the sweater turned out a little short on them. Despite most readymade clothing being too long for me, I decided to compare the length of my back piece to a sweater I like the length of. I'm glad I did, I know for sure I have about an inch to go before starting the sleeve shaping.

Previous entries about this here sweater: first, second, third, fourth.

reading:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Of course.

buyinging:
Neutrogena SPF 45 cooling body mist
Love this stuff.

sipping:
Columbia Winery Red Willow Vineyard Syrah
A gift from my Mom, thanks Mom!

eating:
Haagen-Dazs Sticky Toffee Pudding ice cream
Mmm mm.

needing:
new glasses
I'm having a lot of trouble finding new frames.

Last night Scott and I were innocently watching television when one of those local lovelies, the Giant House Spider (warning! picture!) ran across the carpet. You can read an accurately dramatic account of a similar encounter here at Sundry Mourning. I spotted it first and jumped up to stand on the couch and screeched "ohmigodSPIDER" to Scott, who dutifully went into the bathroom to get some toilet paper before he had a look at it. He came back in and when he finally saw it all plans of squishing it using his hands were abandoned. We couldn't bring ourselves to smash it into our carpet so he ran upstairs to get a bowl to trap it under while I watched it carefully because as much as I fear spiders, this is one that you really want to know the location of. We ran around a bit trying to figure out the best thing to slip under the bowl - too flimsy or thick and we risked letting the thing get loose in the house. We found something that would work and Scott let the horrifying thing go outside, well away from our house.

Oh man I hope it doesn't come back.

Also, I cannot enter a room without checking every inch for more giant spiders. As I sit here typing this I inspect under my desk every ten seconds or so.