Giving myself a pat on the back

I have always been one for celebrating the little things in life - my dog's half birthday, the season premier of Rock of Love, the opening of a new restaurant in town, a friend's purchase of a scooter, a Tuesday. But today we have real reason to celebrate. It is a Thursday, a.k.a. my favorite day of the week and $2.25 margaritas at Mojitos, but besides that I went 3 for 3 on the Tri-Puzzle Tournament which includes the Thursday edition of the New York Times crossword!

The Tri-Puzzle Tournament is a term coined by Corinne for my daily attempt to finish the Jumble, Cryptoquip and the New York Times crossword puzzle (all on the same page in the Democrat-Gazette). It is a feat not for the faint-of-heart, or those who are legitimately busy at work. As the week progresses, as does the difficulty of the crossword. I can't tell a difference in difficulty on the other two puzzles, but they don't really count anyway. For the past two years, my New Year's resolution has been to finish the Friday NYT crossword puzzle, and today I find myself one step closer, and it is only March. I'm impressed. Sure, there were a few clues I didn't quite grasp, and after finishing the puzzle I looked them up to see if I had them right (I didn't), but this is the closest I have ever come to finishing a Thursday puzzle, and closer than I come on some Wednesdays. And that, my friends, is celebration-worthy.

Other latest accomplishments include finishing my Jonas Brothers Eternity Scarf, an infinity scarf so named by my friend Kevin (not of JoBros fame). It was knit length-wise in the round with some free yarn given to me by Eddie's mom, Sarah. She let me raid her yarn stash quite some time ago, and I am still trying to finish knitting through all of it. The yarn is called Pebbles, and that is exactly what it looks like to me - little pieces of technicolor gravel, not Fruity Pebbles like Kevin thinks. It is incredibly soft and cozy, which made it a pleasure to knit with. My only issue with it was that the yarn split very easily so you had to really watch what you were doing.

The scarf is knit in garter stitch, which I am usually not a huge fan of, but you can't really tell with this yarn. The scarf does have one flaw, which I am attributing to Suzie, although my friends will tell you that it is entirely my fault. I still prefer to blame the dog.

In other news, I read about and went to my first Stitch & Bitch gathering this week. I met some amazing and accomplished knitters, which made me feel like a giant dork as I knitted away at my technically devoid dish cloth. Even though I was able to finish it off in the several hours I spent there, I still wish I had a "big girl" project that would show everyone how good I think I am at knitting. I'm thinking socks would really wow them, and since I have some sock yarn courtesy of Sarah, I am going to start on those next. We meet every other Tuesday in a bar off the square in Fayetteville called JR's. They open three hours early just to accommodate the knitters. It is nice to be able to sit in there without the overwhelming cigarette smell.

What an amazing and productive week! It gives me some real reasons to celebrate this weekend. Coincedentally, we are having a party! It is out at Brady's family's cabin on the Mississippi River. My friend Allison and I put a lot of work into the party, and we were very crafty in our planning, so expect to see a post on how we threw Brady and Bryan the best "stock the bar" party this side of the Mississippi.