Pure Gasoline and other things

Ok, sometimes I am so focused on other things that it takes me awhile to pay attention to something.   Case in point, my car’s gas mileage.   A year ago I had to have a valve replaced that was part of the emission controls and it also affected my car’s gas consumption.   My car has an 18.5 gallon tank.   Previous to this valve issue the car averaged 400 miles per tank.   That is an average of 21.6 miles per gallon.   After the valve replacement I noticed the car was averaging 300 miles per gallon.   That is an average of 16.2 miles per gallon.   That caught my attention.   For the longest time I chalked it up to something that was tweaked or not tweaked during the valve replacement repair.   Then my son said something that made me wonder.   He warned me about gas with ethanol.   At the time he mostly said it will gunk up parts in your engine.   He may have said something about it affecting the gas mileage but I guess I didn’t hear that then.   I tend to buy my gas in one location.   I noticed that pump had a label on it that said 10% ethanol.   About a month ago Karen mentioned how she got better gas mileage with pure gas vs gas with ethanol.   The light bulb came on.  I decided to search out a station that sold 100% gasoline.   Guess what?   My car now gets 400 miles to the tank.   I have since read that gas with ethanol will shorten the life of your spark plugs and as my son warned, gunk up parts in your engine.   So for me, spending 10-20 cents per gallon is worth it to get 3 more miles to the gallon and to keep the engine cleaner.  

Knitting news:   I have been so focused on the Andrea Reversible Wrap/Scarf.  I have been using two lifelines.   When I successfully reach a full pattern repeat, I pull the first lifeline and it becomes the second lifeline.  I’ve knitted and ripped so much I now have the 9 line repeat memorized.   Yay!!   And I know it is row 5 where I usually make a mistake but I still count the stitches most rows.  And a little secret, I’m so proud of myself because I’ve knitted two repeats without having to rip a single stitch.  I’m whispering that so I don’t jinx myself but yay!   Another point I’m proud of is normally if I had this much trouble with a project I would have given up in disgust.   I kept putting one foot in front of the other and plodding forward.   I have no desire to knit on anything else right now.   Another yay!

Lexi news:  Poor kitty is having some troubles with furballs.   She will not take the furball malty stuff.   So how do you grease up a kitty who refuses the furball kitty malty stuff?   Butter!!!   I take a small dab of softened butter and wait until she is relaxed and/or sleeping and rub it into the top of her paw into her fur.   She does not like it one bit and jumps up to run away but she hates being dirty.   So she starts licking and licking and licking ingesting the butter.   Lets hope it works!   Poor little buttered kitty.  

Early voting started today here in Oklahoma.   From the tv coverage and my personal view of Cleveland County, it will be a very long wait.   The lines are unbelievable.   I don’t recall ever seeing the lines this long in my voting lifetime.   Btw, I turned 18 the first year 18 year olds were allowed to vote.  Take your knitting and/or a book, wear comfy shoes and go get in line!   Unless you are voting for the other candidate….and in that case….stay home!!  🙂

Game Day and other stuff

I forgot.   No, I didn’t forget that it was game day here in Norman.   I forgot that all the women and children would be in WalMart.   Years ago when I lived in OKC I made that mistake on the OU/Texas game day.     I waited to do my grocery shopping while the game was on in hopes of wide open spaces and a quiet shopping experience.   I was slowly getting annoyed with all the kids running around when I over heard one mother telling her child “if you don’t behave  I’m going to leave you at home with your father next time”.   That’s when it sank in.   And today I forgot.   To make matters worse, I had to use the facilities.   I was in the back so I headed to that restroom only to find it closed for cleaning.   Believe me, if I have to pee they will close every restroom before I get there.   It is my lot in life.   So I turned around (at a fast trot I might add) to go to the restrooms along the front wall.   There was a line that came out into the store.   Don’t they know you NEVER close a women’s restroom during a busy Saturday???   Arrrgh…..I found some newly found bladder strength and walked away to shop some more.   I think I lasted about 10 minutes and headed to the front restrooms again and this time I was able to get in.   Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh  relief!!!

There was knitting done this week.   In fact, if you’ll remember the picture of the shawl in my last post, I’ve knitted on it only 4 or 5 times this past week.   I’m sorry to say there will be no picture in this post.   Why?   Because I have knitted the same 5 rows at least 20 times and ripped them out an equal 20 times.   I think my yarn is starting to look frayed.   Ok, so I’m exaggerating a tiny bit.   What I have managed to do is about 5 rows from where you saw it last.   I added a second lifeline.   I knitted beyond that last night only to end up one stitch short.   I ripped back to the 2nd lifeline.   I will keep knitting.   I actually do enjoy this pattern.   I thought I was paying attention.   I’m knitting slowly and methodically trying to see if I don’t get a stitch slipped just right or whatever it is I’m doing.   Practice makes perfect, right?   If that is the case I’ll have this pattern memorized by the time I get 50 pattern rows completed.   Pray for me, I need it.

Lifeline

I remember the first time I heard the term ‘lifeline’ as used in knitting.   I sorta had a clue but asked for an explanation anyway.   I remember the project I was knitting at that time was Branching Out from Knitty.   I was told it was a great beginner’s project for lace.   I think I started that scarf at least 10 times and frogged each attempt.   The most progress I made on that scarf was about 6 inches.  I had to frog that also.   Fast forward two years and here I am with several lace projects.   I’m currently knitting the Schaefer Andrea Scarf with some Helen’s Lace from Lorna’s Laces.  (Btw, I LOVE that yarn.   It is laceweight but still has some substance unlike some wisps of thread that is called laceweight.   lol)   I recently picked this project up after not working on it for several weeks.   I decided I had pushed my luck enough without a lifeline.   So I inserted one and as of last night had about 2 inches of work beyond that lifeline.   Tonight when I picked it up again I felt it was time to move that lifeline and I did.

See it to the left?   I had to use it tonight.   I don’t know how I did it but I found one of those crossed stitches where one leg makes sense but the other is definitely out of place.   I tried to fix it.   I messed up.   I tried to tink back and realized very quickly I was going to have to tink back to one row of the lifeline.   So I pulled the needles out and ripped it out.   I was pretty tickled that I was able to slide those needles back into this project and slide each stitch so nicely in place.   I’m a firm believe in lifelines and will use them no matter what.   But I learned a very important lesson tonight.   When threading a lifeline, it is very important to get EVERY stitch.

I missed two.

Interesting!

Your result for Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz…

You Are a Marilyn!

You are a Marilyn — “I am affectionate and skeptical.”

Marilyns are responsible, trustworthy, and value loyalty to family, friends, groups, and causes. Their personalities range broadly from reserved and timid to outspoken and confrontative.

How to Get Along with Me

• * Be direct and clear
• * Listen to me carefully
• * Don’t judge me for my anxiety
• * Work things through with me
• * Reassure me that everything is OK between us
• * Laugh and make jokes with me
• * Gently push me toward new experiences
• * Try not to overreact to my overreacting.

What I Like About Being a Marilyn

• * being committed and faithful to family and friends
• * being responsible and hardworking
• * being compassionate toward others
• * having intellect and wit
• * being a nonconformist
• * confronting danger bravely
• * being direct and assertive

What’s Hard About Being a Marilyn

• * the constant push and pull involved in trying to make up my mind
• * procrastinating because of fear of failure; having little confidence in myself
• * fearing being abandoned or taken advantage of
• * exhausting myself by worrying and scanning for danger
• * wishing I had a rule book at work so I could do everything right
• * being too critical of myself when I haven’t lived up to my expectations

Marilyns as Children Often

• * are friendly, likable, and dependable, and/or sarcastic, bossy, and stubborn
• * are anxious and hypervigilant; anticipate danger
• * form a team of “us against them” with a best friend or parent
• * look to groups or authorities to protect them and/or question authority and rebel
• * are neglected or abused, come from unpredictable or alcoholic families, and/or take on the fearfulness of an overly anxious parent

Marilyns as Parents

• * are often loving, nurturing, and have a strong sense of duty
• * are sometimes reluctant to give their children independence
• * worry more than most that their children will get hurt
• * sometimes have trouble saying no and setting boundaries

Take Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz at HelloQuizzy