Kiss My Knits!

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.

“I believe I saw a flare…uh!
I didn’t move at all with my best friend SARAH”

“I believe I saw a flare…uh!
going to the art room with my friend Clara”

“I belive I saw a flare…uh!
going to the lunch room with my friend Tara.”

That’s a crutch that Clara has, by the way. Pulitzer, here we come!

I’m in danger of falling behind again, so I’ll do my best to post an update tomorrow. In the meantime, here’s a taste:

[21:31] Torkal: “Easy pickings. We should deal with them.”
[21:32] Vaeldriil: (Note to Heather for the log — Notice what Torkal just said. It’ll probably be really funny later)

Good call, Vaeldriil. Good call.

I’m a pacifist, but I might have had to punch that guy’s lights out. I know a gal in Canada who wore her Jayne hat to a Harry Potter screening and had it stolen – maybe it’s the same serial Jayne hat jackass who is roaming the northern plains. Ugh.

It just goes to show, even is 99.9% of a fandom is awesome, there’s always that .1% you’ve got to watch out for. I do, however, like that is viewing this as the first in a line of adventures that her Jayne hat will bring her. That’s the spirit!

Browncoat fan movie (it looks like it’s going to be bigger and better than “fan movie” implies) is looking for extras. Details here.

Since I’m still a week behind and we’re playing tonight, this seems like a good time to get caught up.

This week was pretty uneventful. We spent much of our time allocating slots for our newly attained 3rd level. We brought the hostages back to town without being waylaid. We bought equipment. I was ensconced in my Snuggie of Sleep +3 and couldn’t stay awake long enough to finish up buying gear, so I said my goodnights and headed out. After all, we were pretty much done for the night, and early, even! We were in town, shopping, appraising loot, pretty harmless, right?

You forget who we’re talking about.

As everybody gathers in town, Aleanghi identifies various magical items while we wind down.

Torkal: “Fine. I also have this thing…”
(He is referring to a small idol in the shape of an owlbear which we found during our search of the footlockers last time)
Torkal: Torkal shakes his idol and listens to it.
Aleanghi: Aleangi ponders.
GM: GM rolled 1 20-sided die: 16
Aleanghi: “I’m not sure if it’d even be something I’d be able to identify, but I could try if you wished.”
GM: As Torkal shakes his idol, an owlbear is summoned….
Torkal: Torkal appears to be shocked.
GM: roll a d20
Torkal: “WHAT THE–?!”
Aleanghi: Aleangi blinks. “I don’t think I need to now…”
Torkal: Torkal rolled 1 20-sided die: 13
GM: The owl bear is not happy.
Aleanghi: Oh lordy. We were SO FREAKING CLOSE TO DONE.
Torkal: Let’s do this NEXT TIME.
Veracity: Way to GO, Torkal!!
Aleanghi: You had to shake a damned IDOL right before we end?

As my husband put it, “What did they think was going to happen? An owlbear genie would appear and grant them all three wishes?”

A battle ensues in town, our intrepid group against the owlbear. It’s pretty singleminded in its attacks on Torkal, but that doesn’t mean that nobody else gets hurt. As usual, there’s some friendly fire, with Veracity shooting Aleanghi and assorted other shenanigans. Finally, mortally wounded, it grapples Torkal.

Veracity: So brave! With its dying breath and its last strength it tries to savage the dwarf who shook it into existence….

Finally, finally, it dies. We all breathe a sigh of relief and call it a night. I, of course, know nothing of this until I see the log, because my Snuggie put me to sleep. When I left I thought we were all having a lovely day of shopping, not summoning monsters in the middle of town.

Aleanghi: Tvini’s gonna die laughing when she gets the log and sees what happened.

Right you are, Aleanghi. Right you are.