This may not have a lot of knitting and a bunch of complaining.  Here is last weeks charity knitting. I have been working on the fingerless mitts.  I finished one and and am working on the second.  I realized I really don't like picking up stitches for the thumb. I've never had to do that before.  I've picked up stitches for a heel gusset but that was unpleasant as well.  I think it would have helped if I had DPNs.  The pattern isn't hard but I don't really enjoy it as much as I thought I would.  I think the toddler mitts will be easier because they won't have thumbs.  This is also why I probably won't ever make gloves with fingers.

I didn't blog on Wednesday because I was depressed.  I know it may sound silly but I was really sad that I was probably going to have to cut my hair.  I hadn't seen any critters in a few days but then I found one in my hair.  I was actually crying a bit.  It didn't help that the toilet had over flowed in the middle of the night so I was overtired.  I was explaining/complaining to my friend and we decided to try a suffocation method. I used some of her hair grease that is the consistency of petroleum jelly.  I also did my daughter's hair when she came home from school.  I left mine in for 24 hours and washed (or tried to) hers out before school.  When she left for school her hair was wet so I didn't realize how much hadn't come out. She looked like her hair was wet all day.  I felt so bad sending her to school like that.  It didn't really come out of my hair either and so I looked it up on line.  The suggestions that were most common, and seemed to work, was using dish detergent, since it is made to cut through grease, and specifically Dawn.  That made sense since that is what they use for getting oil off water birds after an oil spill.  I bought some (since what I had at home was generic) but I probably should have used the original and not the pretty smelling one.  I washed my hair and my daughter's multiple times and it's much better today, though it's not all out.  Because of this I haven't checked my hair yet.  Hopefully we are done and yes I have washed the sweaters and blankets again. As weird as it sounds this whole thing is actually very emotionally exhausting for me.

The other little story that was just a tiny bit irritating is also about my daughter.  I went over to my friend's apartment that is across the parking lot.  I knew Amey would be home soon but figured she had her key so she could be home by herself for five minutes.  I basically had my hand on the door nob to go home when I got a phone call.  It was from the office and they said "Amey is here and she is locked out can we give her the key?"  I said, "Oh, I thought she had her key.  I'm just at the neighbor's so I'll be right there."  As I was walking out of my friend's house I met my daughter walking out of the office.  There were two things I noticed right away.  1. The key was around her neck.  2. She was barefoot.  What happened was she could get in the apartment and took her shoes off (she hates wearing shoes).  She noticed the music was still on, my coat etc. was there, and the car was parked out front.  She just wanted to know where I was.  Sigh.  So she got talked to about walking around in October outside with out shoes, not to worry unless I wasn't back before her brother got home, and the first place to check would have been the neighbor not the office.  I guess I'm glad she knew to go there but really does she have to make me look bad?  At least it was before I did her hair so she didn't look greasy on top of it. I know it's a first world problem but it's still a pain.

O.k. I think that's it for my complaining, for today at least.  It's Mooky's birthday today.  He wants to help make the cake so we will do it once he gets home from school.  He is turning 8 but his emotions are a little younger so he's sad he's not getting lots of presents.  He's hard to buy for because he doesn't like much.  Hopefully for Christmas he won't be rude to anyone.  We're working on it.  I'm going to the school to volunteer in about and hour or so so I may have a story when I get back.  I'll see you next time.

This is a terrible picture, I look drunk or something.  It's hard to take a picture of yourself.  I have some comparisons from one "Hitchhiker" to the other.  The first one was made from 400 yards of 80% merino and 20% nylon on a US size 4 (3.5 mm).  The second one was made from 425 yards of 60% Merino, 30% Bamboo, 10% Nylon on a US 3 (3.25).  After blocking they are a similar thickness but the second one is a tiny bit thicker. The fist one is an inch longer and a quarter of an inch smaller at the widest point. The first one has 37 points and I had a little left over but not enough to make another point.  The second has 38 points and the left over yarn was the size of a grape.  I was getting worried about the bind off.  It's interesting how they can be so similar and so different at the same time.  I'll have a picture of them both at the end.

I didn't watch many podcasts yesterday because I drove my friend around (That was a mess in itself).  I couldn't get Homespun House to play so I'll have to check back tomorrow and see if it's working.  I only got a tiny bit done on the sleeves and the hat is now the easy knitting so it got a little work as well.  Today I'm working on the secret project and back to the sleeves if I finish.

My friend tends to pay cash for things and try and use lay-away plans when she can. Unfortunately most systems are not set up that way so she got a bit of the run around yesterday.  We went to a store to make a layaway on a double stroller.  The one style they had in the store was not one she wanted (one kid facing forward the other facing back) so I suggested that she asked if we could go on line and see if there was a better style and still get the lay-away (so maybe this is all my fault).  "Sure you can do that" says the people at the lay-away desk.  I told her my friend we can look it up later an do it at home.  "Oh you can do it in the store at the front desk" they say. Great even easier.  Nope. The computer at the front was having some sort of issue and kept kicking us out.  My friend found some lovely styles and wanted to buy one but the lady at the desk said, "I'm sorry this says it's shipped by the parent company warehouse not ours so we can't do lay-away but if you go to the parent company store maybe they can help you." (She was not rude at all and really trying help) Less great but o.k.  The parent company store is across the river in another state but not terribly far.  We go to the parent company and have more trouble.  There were no double strollers carried in the store at all so we had to look on line. Style 1 is only available at a store hours from us and can't be shipped for some reason (no note of this on the website till you try to buy it).  Style 2 is not shipped from their warehouse but and outside company so it does not qualify for lay-away and needs to payed in full before it will be shipped.  As we were checking out our other items she told the cashier "I'll be back tomorrow and my aunt will get it for me" (then she would pay her aunt back).  The cashier (up till this point we had been dealing with management) says "Oh I'd have to ask management about that since you are having it shipped to your house." At this point I call BS.  I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that if I walked in there and said "I would like to buy this but it's a gift for my sister so ship it to her address" they would do it.  After all this I was a bit frustrated.  Part of my frustration was that this company has been in the news sometimes for having financial issues.  If this is the way they do business it's no wonder.  Until the last cashier the employees were trying to be as helpful as possible so it's not their fault.  Something is wrong with the company if they make a purchase so complicated.  Now I realize my friend is not trying to do things the "normal" way but still this seems unnecessarily complicated.  I guess it's a not that big a deal in the grand scheme of things but it was frustrating.

O.k. now that I'm done fussing I'll tell you something a little more fun.  The third grade class I make copies for read a story called "Suki's Kimono" so I took Amey's yukata in to show the class.  I borrowed Amey form her class because it just doesn't look the same on a hanger and I can't touch any of the other kids (you kind of have to touch the person to put it on).  I showed them which way to wrap it because the other way means your dead.  One little girl said "so if you wrapped it that way you had to kill yourself?"  The teacher said no it was just like how we dress people when they die.  The next question (night have been from the same child) was "why do we put clothes on people when they die?"  I said, "that is an entirely different subject." The rest of the demonstration was uneventful with the teacher just pointing out the sleeves and the obi.  Before she took off the yukata Amey wanted to show her teacher then I moved on to stapling for the kindergaten.  I thought it was kind of funny so I thought you might too.  Here is the picture of the two hitchikers together. See you next time.