So in the midst of last night’s mayhem, I had occasion to think, “hey, the giant celestial fire beetle is back!” Then I realized I’d never mentioned it in the writeups. So, without further ado, here is a word-for-word excerpt from week 2 or 3. We had just discovered a lift leading down to the lower levels of the mine. We’re just tooling along, minding our own business, when all of a sudden…
We pick up in a cavern where we hear something scraping and chittering from behind the south wall.
Veracity: Veracity says, as she backs prudently away from the south wall, “Uh….guys.” Veracity points to the dust and debris falling from the wall. She makes sure the dwarves and the elf are between her and whatever it is.
After the GM asks if we’re all just standing around, Palin decides to swing her hammer at the wall. Out tumble twelve dire rats. Palin is buried under the wall. We’re cookin’ now!
GM: palin roll a 1d3
onlinehost: drtvini rolled 1 3-sided die: 2
Torkal: That is how many rats are in your pants.
GM: Palin will free herself in 2 rounds.
Torkal: My idea was better.
And then we fight! In the course of the fight, I am bitten on the nose and am diseased with what my teammates dub “the dire herp.” We finally kill the rats and I get better. When the rats gone, we’re able to see a hole leading into darkness. It’s too big for the Dwarves to go down, but just right for the Elf. For some reason he is not enthused about crawling face-first into a dark rat-infested hole so we leave it behind and continue on to what I call “The Little Adventure That Got Way Out Of Hand.”
Now, before I get to the adventure, I have to start with the following statement:
I AM SORRY.
Mystery Romney, likely dyed by tangles and mud at one of our dye days last year. Spindle by Preston at JetsyKnits: www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5760766 As I’ve been spinning it, it’s gotten thinner and thinner. It started about sockweight and now it veers toward thread sometimes. We’ll see how that turns out. I’m certainly enjoying spinning it.
The local knitting guild is renting a bus to go to Stitches South, and my good friend Illiane (of emergency knitting kit fame) is going. She doesn’t know it yet, but I’m going to serenade her all the way there with “99 bobbins of wool on the wall.” Wait, Illiane, I kid! Where are you going?
My daughter got back her report card, which has four A’s and one B. It is very gratifying to see that all her hard work, and the metric ton of money that we’ve shoveled into the furnace for tutoring, has paid off.
I finally did our taxes, and we’re getting a nice refund from Uncle Sam. Ice cream’s on me!
My husband and daughter are out of town this weekend. As much as I love them, I will enjoy having the freedom to slide around the house in my socks, Risky Business style.
It’s an absolutely beautiful day outside. The birds are singing, the flowers are blooming, and I’m going to get out in it later and stretch my legs and feel thankful.
I’m still a week behind, so here’s what happened last Tuesday! If you recall, we had defeated a goblin scouting party. Val the Elf lay dead after immolating himself and we were roughly 2/3 the way to the mine. We rolled Val up, burrito style, and proceeded to the mines to resurrect him at the shrine therein.
In the mines, we hear scuffling and get ready for our first butt-kicking of the night. We immediately find an ogre with its back to us chewing on a kobold.
Palin: We’ve got the element of surprise, at least.
Bentein: “Yeah, that’s always stood us in good stead before.”
Em came home from school yesterday with a free kid’s admission ticket to the Cole Brothers Circus which will be in a nearby town early next week. She was excited about it. Then today she got in the car and said, “I had a great day today! Did you see my circus ticket?”
I guess we’re going to the circus! But here’s an example of how strong her worry over new things is. The circus is in town Monday and Tuesday and I asked her if she wanted to go one of those days. She picked Tuesday. So as psyched as she is about going, she’s still nervous enough that she doesn’t want to go NOW, she wants to psych herself up for it. I’m sure once we’re there, she’ll be fine, although there will surely be a great deal of noise and lights and chaos. As always, if she wants to leave partway through that’ll be fine. As long as I get my cotton candy.
I had connection issues until about 45 minutes into the session, so when I arrived, i saw this:
DM: Goblin is ignited for 2 points of fire damage.
Val: look who decided to show up. Ms. Snuggie
Me: Ah, just in time for fire.
A long update below the cut!
Em: Do you have a friend who died? (she knows I do, so this is just a conversation starter for her)
Me: Yes, her name was Pat. I’m very sad that she died, but I’m happy that I got to know her.
Em: Do you miss her?
Me: Yes, I do. I wish she were still alive.
Em: Why do you miss her?
Me: Well, I miss talking with her, and doing things with her. I think about her laugh and I wish I could hear it again. I miss her very much.
Em: Why did she die?
Me: She had a disease called cancer, and it made her very sick and finally killed her. Not everybody who gets cancer dies. Grandma had it, and she got better. But Pat didn’t.
Em: How old was she?
Me: I’m not sure. She was older than I was. 50 maybe?
Em:…
Em:…
Em: How old are you?
Me: I’m 40. That’s still young, I have many years left before I die.
Then Em changes the subject. I have no idea what put this in her mind. I’m going to be misty eyed for the rest of the evening, but I’m happy that Em is able to express thoughts that complex.
FO: Valentine’s Day socks
Yarn: two half-skeins Koigu KPPPM superwash wool, plus reinforcing thread at heel and toe.
Needles: 2.25mm/size 1 US
Pattern: Zhenya’s MUMTU sock pattern (link to tutorial).
(Ravelry page)
Notes: My daughter’s Valentine’s socks are done, and it’s only… what, March 23rd? Fortunately they’re meant to double as Easter socks. Even though these are only 52 stitches around, 6.5 stitches per inch, they’re still a little loose on her ankles. I should have gone to a size 0 needle for the ribbing. The ribbing wants to fold over, completely covering up the hearts on the ankle, so I’m pretty sure that when she’s wearing them with her Converse sneakers it’s just going to look like she’s wearing purple socks. Oh well.
The Fair Isle colorwork isn’t perfect, but it’s good enough for the purpose, and it was good practice. I was more concerned with being sure it wasn’t pulled tight in the back of the stitches so the socks would have proper stretch. That hurt my tension some. And I need to reinforce the gap where the ankle meets the foot. That continues to be a bugaboo for me when I’m picking up heel stitches and rejoining for the leg.
She was very excited to get them, proclaiming them “very comfortable.” It was difficult to get a nice picture with them on, because she couldn’t keep her feet still long enough to pose. I like the reaction, so who needs a pretty “socks on” picture? I’m letting all flaws go, because if she’s happy, I’m happy.
