As Random as …

Lee Ann’s surgery schedule, that’s what this post is going to be. (Her head adventure is back on, by the way. Send good thoughts her way tomorrow morning) Earlier this week when I was having a hard day, and Lee Ann was scheduled for a little casual brain surgery, she joked that she hoped that I didn’t send any of my current luck her way. I explained that I was offering myself as a magnet. I was willing to suck up all of the possible bad things that could happen, thus greasing the wheels for Lee Ann’s straightforward head repair and recovery. Sort of the Karmic equivalent of distracting a bear who’s about to eat your husband at the campsite.

I would jump up and down over here in Toronto yelling “whoo-hoo! Over here! I’m the one ya want you big pansy!” and “Yo! Stupid-head bad luck! See me? Débarre-toi! Come and get me, grosse Corvette, petite quéquette!!” (She is in Quebec, the Karma may only speak french) and then any free floating bad outcomes looking for a person to stick it to would just rush over here and trash me, leaving Lee Ann completely unbeset during the vulnerable time that her head is…well. Open.

It’s been going pretty well. I had that bad day where I got soaked on my bike, then the basement flooded yesterday and I had to go out and literally sandbag the side of the house to try and stop the water coming in. I would have minded, you know? It really sucks to stand in mud up to your ankles while the rain beats down on you and you arrange tarps to defend your already soaking basement. I would have minded, but I know that I’m making the world a safer place for Lee Ann, so I’m fine. I was even fine when I realized that in a moment of panic, when I had thrown towels on the floor to soak up the water, I had thrown ALL of the towels on the floor. I think it really helped Lee Ann that I discovered this *after* I got myself covered in mud and drew a bath. I’m glad to be of service.

Last night when the rain stopped, the planet saw fit to dump a glass of red wine on my sock in progress….

Lucysocks87

(although it did mostly wash out. I’ll have to try harder.), and this morning I dropped a skein of silk into the sink full of soapy dishes, broke a bowl, discovered that over the next several days the temperature will be more than 35 degrees (99 F) and the only fan in the upstairs has developed a squeak. A mouse ate some of the pita bread last night, and there are aphids on my favourite rosebush. Also, I have a headache. (So far, so good. I got yer back Lee Ann)

I’m worried about tomorrow though.

I am finally, finally ready to start the lace bit at the bottom of icarus. This makes me happy, and happy is not what Lee Ann needs from me.

Icaruslascest87

Lee Ann needs for me to discover a mistake way back at the beginning. Something huge. Something that would mean that I had to pull the whole thing out. Yeah. Pulling back laceweight mohair. That would really work. I bet Lee Ann would get better really, really fast. Pulling back laceweight mohair or….like, if the whole thing just spontaneously combusted! Oh yeah. If the shawl caught fire, maybe while we were having dinner, you know? Like the shawl catches fire from the candles on the dinner table, and then the shawl is burning (and it smells bad, because it’s silk and mohair) and I toss it down (because it’s on fire) but not before it scorches my new skirt that I like a lot, gets charred fibre bits in the salad and torches the basket of sock yarn nearby. Perfect.

Barring that, the forecast for tomorrow morning is sunny, so Rachel H. (who obviously loves Lee Ann as much as I do) has offered to come by in the morning and drive behind me while I ride my bike to Meg’s school, pelting me with really big, cold water balloons the whole way. She’s the best.

Good luck Lee Ann. I’m off to walk under a ladder for you.

175 thoughts on “As Random as …

  1. Well, it may not be as big as full-frogging-of-Icarus mistake, but…on my computer, at least, today’s entry comes up as a second entry under July 11 (and I’m more or less convinced that today is July 13). Clearly you’ve managed to distract a few more of the bad-luck goblins away from Quebec! Good luck, Lee Ann.

  2. I will try to have bad days for LeeAnn too. Every little bit helps.
    Seriously, Stephanie, that’s a whole lot of sucky in one little week for one little Knitter – why not let us all share the load?
    (And only Yarn Harlot would do the dishes with a skein of silk tucked under each arm.)

  3. PUT ICARUS DOWN! No Happiness allowed until Lee Ann’s head is sewn up and all is good. I don’t have to work too hard to have bad days at my workplace, so I will open myself up for all the ridicule and sarcasm to be tossed my way, all in the name of helping Lee Ann.
    Can I toss a water balloon too??

  4. I also wonder about your ability to bend time… since I know I haven’t missed this post for two days. I would have questioned my own sanity, but since Kristen has noticed it too, I guess I’m okay (but don’t quote me on it). Kudos to you. Bend time some more, and speed up Lee Ann’s recovery… and make it be Friday! (please,please,please!)
    Lots of well wishes to Lee Ann. I’ll lock my keys in the car tonight, just to do my bit.

  5. I am packing for a Huge Family Vacation, scheduled to depart on Saturday, and the Vacation Elves have so far refused to show up for work as scheduled … so I will claim all the bad luck I have coming my way as deflected Karma, while I think many good thoughts for Lee Ann.
    With some to spare for your basement. That situation seriously sucks.

  6. If I’m ever in a jam, like Lee Ann, I know who I’m calling on. We’re all routing for Lee Ann’s successful procedure but nobody’s doing it quite like you.

  7. I think I am helping in the crappy luck department too, I knit the Peacock shawl in a beautiful hand dyed peacock colour, the colour ran on the first wash, the second dye wasn’t dark enough, the third dye didn’t hold, the fourth dye did, then at blocking a frickin stitch popped!!!!!!!!!! yes, many EEps for that. Since I am relatively close proximity to Stephanie I figure some of the floating crappy bad luck got lost in toronto and headed north to Richmond hill, because ontop of the frickin stitch that popped the wool has felted slightly, I think this will be my first garbaged lace project.
    All is well though as long as the bad luck comes to us in trivial crap like this though.
    Hope all goes well with the brain surgery LeeAnn.
    Kathy

  8. Re: the red wine, try soaking the sock in white wine for a while. White wine works amazingly well right after a red-wine spill; I don’t know if it’ll make that much of a difference now that you’ve washed it but it’s worth a shot. (And if that means you have to open a bottle of white wine, well, so be it.)
    Off to try to have the worst day possible!

  9. You’re dedication is admirable- she’ll get through it all fine.
    In the mean time, you might stock up on the wine though…it might be a long night.

  10. After your need for bad luck has passed you by, there are things you can do about aphids on roses. Use a hose sprayer to spray most of them off. Then, mix up a solution of about 1 tablespoon of dish soap in about a gallon of water. Use a spray bottle to apply to your plants (test it on a small section of one plant to check for adverse reactions and don’t apply it when the plants are in direct sunlight).

  11. I do now know LeeAnn personally, but if the Harlot is calling for reinforcements, count me in!!!!
    At home, I have ripped back one-half of a second sock and nearly destroyed my DH’s brand-new lawnmower this week. At work, I have switched mail into wrong envelopes and seen my boss’s head nearly explode after the parties in question called.
    Best wishes and many prayers for LeeAnn. I will now go and tell my boss that any and all errors are for the sake of the Harlot’s friend. I am certain he will understand.

  12. Thank you for reminding me that no matter how bad my day seems, I don’t need brain surgery. It puts it all in perspective. My “problems” are trivial.

  13. See — the crappy stuff continues — I meant to say that I do NOT know LeAnn personally……

  14. I will see your bad day(s) (I have a husband out of work, foreclosing on the house, electricity being cut off, negative bank balance), and raise you a car with no gas that gets about 12 mpg when it does have gas.
    Can we do a buddy thing whereby sometakes some of my cr*p now and I’ll gladly take some later? Just so’s I don’t have *all* of this at once……..
    On the other hand, being able to escape into the easy world of fine gauge lace knitting has been a bonus–Mystery Stole 2 Rocks!!

  15. Blessings to you both. Okay, more for Lee Ann because she is in some heavy stuff right now while you surely need to have all this nerve fraying crap stop happening in such a closely timed consecutive manner before you start drooling while you are fully awake and standing. So, my good thoughts are headed to you both.

  16. Stephanie, perhaps after soaking the sock in white wine, you can drink the rest of the bottle, thereby incurring a ferocious headache, thereby keeping malevolent forces at play in your own head instead of LeeAnn’s. . . I’d volunteer, but I’m kind of out of useful range for this one.
    Bonne chance a Lee Ann et Stephanie!

  17. My thoughts are with Lee Ann. Maybe there’s one big black hole of bad days we could all send our bad days to. My foot is throbbing, I had to look at myself in a dressing room mirror(yuck!)and the nasty squirrels are eating the hibiscus plants on my deck. This, of course, all pales in comparison to everything going wrong in your life.

  18. Good Luck to LeeAnn and bless the hands of the surgeon!
    I’ll try to spill a few things, especially if that means I get to open a bottle of wine tonight too…already dropped a syringe today that impaled itself needle first into the linoleum (vet not drug addict) right in front of my client.

  19. I guess my bad week was in aid of Lee Ann as well! I had a killer migraine for 4 days that actually drove me to go to the E.R. for a record short 6 hours! (I don’t know what they’re like in other places, but the E.R. wait times in Ottawa average 6-7 hours BEFORE you even get to sit in one of the beds, let alone the hour or two you spend waiting for the doctor ONCE you’re in the bed, and the hour wait to perform the 20 second injection and release!)
    Just as the migraine subsided, a cold that had been creeping up on me attacked me full-force and has left me incapacitated in another way! Lee Ann should be fine in no time the way we’re all going! 😉
    P.S. The blog software demons are out to get you, more luck for Lee Ann 😉

  20. Ouch. I’m sorry now that I said that about the coffee on the knitting, although if it helps Lee Ann tomorrow it’s certainly worth it. In the interest of helping out as well (just in case you’re not quite big enough to absorb ALL of the bad luck, ya know?) I’ve taken up a bit of the slack this afternoon with a discovery of weevils in the raisins just as they were about to get tossed into the chutney pot, and the whole mess is doubtless on its way to scorching onto the bottom of the pot right now. Every little bit counts, eh?

  21. Rip out the needles and let the cat sharpen her claws on it. It would be best if she actually broke the yarn somewhere down near the bottom.
    Sorry about the heat, dude – I just read this morning that we’re supposed to hit 110 (43C) with actual humidity. I feel your pain. You might not care about the towels – take a cold bath and stand in front of the squeaky fan. Only after LeeAnn has come out of the anesthesia and asked for her spindle, though.

  22. You might get yourself a sainthood, what with all the sacrificing. Well done! Best wishes & a speedy full recovery to Lee Ann. You’ll have to knit her something jaunty for her head. But later. When you’re done sandbagging the house and setting random skeins of yarn on fire.

  23. The suckage continues – lest you think it’s only Canadian, it’s happening in NM, too. Good luck – we’ll all survive til you make it to Albuquerque, right?

  24. You know how us Americans have a habit of sticking our noses in places where we’re not wanted? Well, I’ll make sure no Bad American Karma crosses the border.

  25. I think it was in your second book where you describe a great big, 8′ afghan? Is that still a WIP? Cause, from what I know of karma and merit and self-flaggelation (mixed buddhist and catholic influences) working on that afghan may be just the ticket.
    I’ll light some incense for Lee Ann tomorrow morning. (That seems to make all the gods happy – covering all the bases.)

  26. Thoughts and prayers to Lee Ann. I hope it is the 13th and not the 11th or I am in fast forward. That would also mean I have three days left until the weekend.

  27. Got an idea for the other sock, spill some wine on it & wash to match the 1st. I’m off to draw some bad karma away from Lee Ann’s direction.

  28. Oh…so THAT’S why Rachel sent me an e-mail this morning inviting me to throw water ballons at you! I was -SO- confused.
    I’d offer to suck up some of the bad luck too, but the way life has been going recently, I’m kind of frightened by the prospect.
    Of course, I’m not having my head opened up. It really provides a sense of perspective, doesn’t it? Bad luck, come and get some!

  29. Wow… you’re a really good friend. After Lee Ann’s head surgery, someone else is going to have to take the karmic crap for you so you can have a really good day. All this should not fall on one woman’s shoulders.
    Maybe the traffic will be really crappy on my drive home from work and someone will rear end my car so you can have a little break?

  30. To Lee Ann, prayers and all my best wishes from afar, for you and also for your doctors and nurses in the process. To you, Stephanie, thank you for being her friend. The support and the presence of friends are so exquisitely necessary at times like this.

  31. Hmmm…is there a way to melt something associated with Icarus? Maybe the needle cord? That’d seem more appropriate, given the mythology. But it’s lovely, so I hope the bad luck can find other things to attack.

  32. Thank goodness it is the 13th. After I posted my previous message the date mysteriously changed to the 13th. The computer is possessed!

  33. Boy, I really think you should let us all help carry the bad luck Karma for Lee Ann; we don’t want to lose our Yarn Harlot in our wish to help Lee Ann. Since I’ve been having nothing but bad luck mistakes on one baby quilt (which pattern has been created at least a dozen times in the past 20 years) since I first started making it, I’m willing to start the hand quilting on it, which I’m sure will pull 99.9% of the bad luck Karma all the way to California. I’ll even have a mistake on the second baby quilt as well which has been going perfectly if that will help. Good luck to both of you!

  34. Yikes! I’d be afraid to leave the house except I already had to since my computer is broken so I’m at a friends house to check my email. I’m having my own share of mishap right now, but since I now know it’s for a good cause, I feel better about it. My prayers are with Lee Ann

  35. YH, you are being very generous, but I think we’d all like to pitch in and be fellow lightning rods to take the heat off Lee Ann.
    So far, so good here. Raining every two to three hours in sudden downbursts and my dog killed a groundhog in the backyard when I wasn’t looking. (Looks like the groundhog was the real lightning rod for bad luck.)
    No knitting mishaps today, but I’m sure I could make one happen, and probably without trying very hard at all.
    Be well and good luck, Lee Ann! We’re all pulling for you.

  36. I hope your luck picks up again after Lee Ann through this.
    You could try orange peels on your roses to see if that gets rid of the ahpids.

  37. Dear Steph. Stop stealing our rain! We need it more than you do. At least send us your wet towels.
    Yours, etc
    Lynne
    where it is supposed to be winter. And wet.

  38. Not that it helps any of us, but Mercury is in Retrograde currently… For those who believe in that kind of thing (and how can we not, after all the bad luck happening lately?!), this means you should prepare for unexpected delays, frustrations, and surprises… generally poor communications and bad karma.
    Good luck on the Icarus – it’s beautful!

  39. You know you’re a true friend when . . .
    You’re the best, Stephanie! Is it unhelpful of me to find this post totally amusing? (“The karma may only speak french.”) Or that I think Icarus is beautiful? I love those colors . . .
    Hmm. In retrospect, that may be the wrong kind of Karma. So . . .
    Good lord, Stephanie, I thought you were more amusing than this. Funnier. Wittier. And, really, a better knitter. I expect more from you. I’m SOOOO disappointed in everything about this post, I may never come back to read you again. Ever. And that’s what I’ll tell all my friends, too . . .

  40. You are a true friend, Stephanie. I too have been thinking of Lee Ann, but couldn’t think of anything practical to do for her. Clearly I lack your imagination. (Yes, we did know this.) I am off to find our black cat and let him walk across my path five or six dozen times. Here, kitty!

  41. I’m here for you and Lee Ann. Window washers found a HUGE hornets nest in my eves today. Oh and one of them stepped on my sock-in-progress.
    Good Luck Lee Ann.

  42. I will include Lee Ann in my ‘several a day chats’ with the universe, besides world peace, I have a dear friend who has been in hospital 7 months, she received a heart on the 10th of June and her recovery has been very slow, baby steps, which is good in my opinion, (as opposed to steps backward). I will spread the word and be having all kinds of good souls sending her thoughts of healing and protection.
    53 days

  43. I second and third that – let all your dear readers and knitters share the Karmic load with you. You’ve definitely had more than your share. What a tremendous friend you are! Blessings and health to Lee Ann.

  44. Lee Ann is very lucky to have you as a friend! That alone (keeping my fingers crossed) may well be enough good karma to make surgery a brilliant success! In any event, I think you have had your share of bad luck for a bit. Best wishes, good thoughts to Lee Ann (and Icarus as well).

  45. Steph, you are the ultimate good friend for taking on so much bad Karma. Lea Ann should be in good hands this week. I’ve had the a/c in the car go out for the second time this month ($250 so far to fix it!) and walked into work this morning and it was cooler outside at 80 degrees. Forecast for the week is high humidity and 90+ degrees. Only good news here is that I need to sweat off some weight. :)Ain’t Karma grand?

  46. Love and Light to Lee Ann.
    To all red wine spillers… Wineaway – a fabulous product in England that completely removes red wine stains from every fabric (including silk, wool, wood and other ‘tricky’ stuff) with a lovely organic orangey smell. Call me, I post you some!

  47. Love and Light to Lee Ann.
    To all red wine spillers… Wineaway – a fabulous product in England that completely removes red wine stains from every fabric (including silk, wool, wood and other ‘tricky’ stuff) with a lovely organic orangey smell.

  48. Well wishes to LeeAnn. Speedy recovery and much success.
    Steph, with all due respect, there’s a line between dedication and insanity. Mind the Gap!

  49. I’ll post my good wishes to Lee Ann on your blog — I saw what happened to Ms. Kang’s bandwidth after she was Harlotted(tm) and Lee Ann has headaches enough right now (is it okay to make puns about brain surgery or should I watch for random bolts of lightning?).

  50. So what exactly was silk yarn doing near the sink of dishes??? My yarn is only allowed to play in certain rooms of the house and the kitchen isn’t one of them 🙂

  51. Stephanie, you are redefining friendship in a wondrous way.
    A snapshot of Rachel throwing a water balloon at you could be emailed to Lee Ann to lighten her load. She’s going to need an abundance of positive distractions. Wine and chocolate can carry a person only so far.
    My mom borrowed my stain field guide book, but doesn’t salt help with wine stains?

  52. I’m having a bad day for LeeAnn too! Husband just got laid off, that should definitly suck some bad things all the way from Canada to Utah, therefore helping with her speedy recovery.

  53. Oof. Would it still work if the bad luck was evenly distributed over a bunch of people, and not just poor you? I’d be willing to take a wine stain on my knitting or a couple of measly ants!

  54. All my fingers and toes are crossed for a successful surgery for Lee Ann. And a rapid healing as well.
    Considering that the first five months of this year included a car accident, a mother diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and a miscarriage at the age of 46 I just KNOW I can pull all the bad demons away from Lee Ann tomorrow.
    Bad karma, bring it on.

  55. Tell Lee Ann I’ve got her covered. I’ve had a migraine so bad for the last 4 days that I’ve now missed 3 days of work and may miss tomorrow too. So bad that I haven’t been able to knit – and I’ve been doing Leda’s Dream in Yorkshire 4 ply in Oceanic (it’s just sitting on the coffee table, taunting me).
    Anyway, you just know you’re going to run out of yarn for Icarus, so what’s Lee Ann got to worry about?

  56. I’m willing to take some of it if it will help LeeAnn and/or Icarus. Might as well have a reason for the bad stuff.
    Shall continue to think of LeeAnn and wish her well.

  57. I am so with you on bad luck
    My daughter (who is 16 mos) has been getting bit at school. My husband has some horrible summer cold. The cement floor in my basement has a crack and there is mold. And my bedroom window (the one NOT scheduled for replacement) is leaking water all over the window sill and floor.
    So Lee Ann we got your bad luck you go on and have that brain surgery.

  58. I tried to pop-over to Lee Ann to wish her well and got jammed up — apparently a lot of us are trying to do that all at once.
    As for you, dear Harlot, wowzer begowzer, with that sort of force field Lee Ann will be in recovery before you know it.
    PS – My mom was doing the tarp and sandbag trot in Toledo — only hers was vinyl sheeting and bricks. 3rd flash flooding this summer – very bad.

  59. Heres some more bad for you, our remote for the tv went, I buy one, it doesnt work because its the wrong one, go running into town return get money back as they dont have the one I need, go screaming down the other end of town FIND ONE remote left happily walk home only to find out that it doesnt work either! so now we have no remote. I nearly tripped and broke my face on the ground from going to the store earlier as well… So theres a couple more to help Lee Ann out all the way from England! 🙂

  60. When the time comes, dump a glass of red wine on the other sock and call it a custom colorway?
    Go you with offering yourself up to the universe as a crap!magnet. It’s very kind of you, and I’m sure LeeAnn appreciates it. Now if you don’t mind? I’m going to go stand upwind.
    *hands you industrial fans to help cool the house AND dry out the basement…just point them that way*

  61. Wouldn’t it be great if we could save up good luck the way we save up money? For ourselves for a rainy day; for someone else who needs some extra luck…..
    The Bank of Luck….
    Your account would be debited when you ride without a helmet, or hang wash out when the chance of rain is “only” 30%, or say right out loud that you don’t usually clog the kitchen sink because you wipe up grease with a paper towel rather than washing it down the drain….
    You could earn credit by forgoing ever having a parking spot near the door, even when it’s pouring rain. By having huge spurts of traffic come by every time you need to make a left turn. (Bad “car”ma and more bad “car”ma, I think I’m detecting a luck pattern….)
    All in all, I think this would be excellent. As others have noted, we would probably mind our own annoying-but-not-tragic bad luck a lot less if we were sure the luck was going somewhere it was really needed….. Especially if we could designate beneficiaries……
    Another brilliant idea, Stephanie!
    Sending good thoughts to Lee Ann that everything go smoothly!

  62. My very, very best wishes for s speedy recovery to Lee Ann – she’s lucky to have a friend like you, Stephanie, looking out for her. Also, just a thought, I’ve got a voodoo doll, here. Maybe if you sent me a strand of your hair or some nail clippings, I could…never mind. You KNOW I’m just kidding, right? Tell Lee Ann I send her a big get-well Québec “bizou”. Cheers.

  63. Lee Ann sending good thoughts and hugs your way.
    This is my first summer with humidity since I was 12 (now 37). I miss my dry hot days vs the hot humid days. I never thought I would miss 105 (40.5C) with no humidity. It is suppose to be 95 (35C) and the humidity should be around 70%. Oh yeah, they say that heat index makes if over 100. The benefit of this is that I really don’t need a shower because as soon as I walk outside, I’m soaking wet.

  64. How nice of you to offer to attract all the bad luck to you so your friend won’t have any. Seems to be working very well, maybe too well… Keep a glass of water handy, just in case your shawl spontaniously combusts :-p

  65. Oh, thank goodness! Now I know I was just doing my bit last night at 2 am when the skunk went postal outside my window (at least I hope he went spew and not splat, a lack of lingering odour suggests the former.)
    Ottawa is closer to Montreal than Toronto. Bring it on, FSM!

  66. I’m helping. The, uh, *cute* little “pinecones” DH was admiring last fall on the shrubs out front have turned out to be a bagworm infestation. Thousands and thousands and hundreds of thousands of hungry shrub-munching silkbag-cocoon-toting worms.(Not spinnable, too much VM, I checked.) Aaaggh!! Anything for Lee Anne.
    And Steph? You own a skirt???

  67. You are a true friend. With your bad luck magnetism and everyone else’s good wishes for her, there’s no doubt Lee Ann will be just fine.

  68. Not to worry Stephanie and Lee Ann. A very dear friend, dear friends since college 30 years ago, had brain surgery 2 years ago. She’s fine. Came through like a champ. She got through chemo without any trouble, even kept most of her hair. Today, she’s fine, fully recovered and cured. I’ll keep you both in my thoughts and prayers.

  69. By the way, thanks for the lesson in French insults! I’ll make sure to call the next karmic bear I need to distract a “little weenie”.
    Good luck to Lee Ann!

  70. I too will have a bad day. I’ll let my hanging baskets dry out and die. I’ll set my stove on fire (I’m good at this). My beautiful new, personally embroidered just for me potholders? Toast. Just hear that smoke alarm wail…no, wait, the batteries died and we’re in the other room! I’ll even stub my toes just to be sure! Your friend will be fine. The collective WE will suck all the bad juice out of the day and only nice and wonderful things will happen to her. She will set a record for recovery. This Will Happen!

  71. My poor sister did the ‘battle the water in the basement’ thing while seven months pregnant, with the two year old in tow, on Mother’s Day (while DH was driving madly to Home Depot to replace their failed sump pump). Apparently, she has LeeAnn’s back too.
    I’ll send some Reiki tomorrow morning!

  72. I’m offering myself up for some bad luck too — I just hope the surgery is over by 3 EST because I am getting a haircut at a new place then — although that would be fitting I guess – a bad haircut for head surgery ….

  73. speedy health to LeeAnn! And holy cow, I think you’re definitely creating a vortex. I’m not worried about my MRI and spinal injections next week either! All the weird juju is in Canada!

  74. Best of luck Lee Ann!
    Since we share a border with Quebec, we’re doing our share to lure bad luck down to Maine. At the end of an amazingly sucky three days, when things couldn’t possibly get worse, I found out that 2.5 years of research I did is wrong. I was hoping for my luck to turn around this weekend, but I’ll take one for the team to help pull Lee Ann through.

  75. best wishes for leann, prayers and thoughts are with her and her loved ones…

  76. That isn’t a mistake with Icarus. Its a design feature. 😉
    Leeann: breathe. We’ll all help you through it.

  77. I don’t speak French, so Karma won’t listen to me. I did my best, though. A routine oil change and oh, by the way that light behind that gauge is our somehow morphed into $1400 of unexpected car repairs. And the loaner car doesn’t have the owners manual in the glove box and I can’t figure out how to adjust the seat. No matter which buttons I push I seem to get closer and closer to the steering wheel. I am dangerously close to driving a clown car.

  78. DH who lost his right foot in Feb after losing his left foot a while ago was heard the day after he got home thanking God for his life and the people around him. He is sitting in the smallest room in the house sending up prayers. Surely the gremlins can’t stand against that.

  79. OH, NO! Don’t do that! Don’t go giving Karma any ideas, because whatever you come up with that you think is so bad… Karma is going to have to best.
    So, sure… be the magnet, but clear your head of any bad things that you can imagine. Karma can come up with it’s own ideas, and if you start making suggestions, and take Karma’s ideas… it’ll just have to work all the harder, which will make it more mad, and it’ll really ramp up the level of bad luckitude.

  80. I will “storm heaven” on Lee Ann’s behalf, along with a friend going through the same thing. As one of my dear sweet uncles used to say, “nothing is so bad that it couldn’t be worse”…a good thought to remember!

  81. Dude. It’s Icarus *falls* down in flames, not Icarus *shawl* down in flames…Please. Between the mud, the towels, the aphids, and Rachel’s incredibly generous offer, I think Icarus should be spared, don’t you?
    I’m in awe at how many shit magnets you’ve got out there working for me. Believe me, once I’m healed and less tired, gang o’ wicked cool people, I’ve got your back too. The Shit Fairy and I, we know each other reeeeeal well, so I’m sure I can arrange something for you all.
    And Steph? I love you too.

  82. Best of luck to Lee Ann. In an attempt to lure some of the bad karma clear out here to California, I arranged for it to be 108 degrees in my yard at the same time my fridge stopped working. Also, after spending several hundred dollars for a canine wheelchair for my handicapped dog (and waiting 3 weeks for it to be custom built and shipped), he refuses to move forward in it. I’m sure he’ll learn before long but not before Lee Ann’s out of surgery.

  83. What a good friend you are! I quite often find myself wishing I had someone to throw themselves in front of the karma-grenade for me.

  84. Now that’s true friendship!
    I’m sure Lee Ann is going to make a recovery so speedy it’ll be one for the record books!

  85. I’m proud to report that I have been taking pummels from the bad-day fairy for Lee Ann as well. I had to stay at a friend’s house for a while and once I got there I realized I didn’t have one of my sock needles. Once I got home and found said needle, I started to knit outside and it dropped between planks in the wooden deck (I have another, I just don’t want to look). And through it all, I’ve had a killer cold! Lee Ann is going to come through this with flying colors, I tell you.

  86. A noble effort on behalf of Lee Ann. Hopefully she will recover quickly and you can wave the nasty luck on its way.
    As for the wined sock I recommend Oxy-Clean. It comes in tubs and you mix it with water. It works very well on red wine (even if the stain is a few days old)and if your sock is superwash you can use hot water which will make it work even better.

  87. It is 38 with the humidity up here in Thunder Bay. We’re dying – I’m going in the kiddy pool with my little cousins.

  88. I repeat: you are amazing. (BTW, I was in St. Petersburg, Russia over the past couple of days–it was freaking 35 there too! If anyone says anything about global warming being a myth, I’m going to deck them without thinking twice.)

  89. Good luck Lee Ann. With so many knitters around the world sucking up the bad karma you’ll be back knitting before you know it.
    YH, what a true friend!
    allybea in Scotland

  90. I’m sending good thought and prayers LeeAnn’s way…I’ve already had bad stuff happen to me this week (see my blog for todays post!) though very minor to what LeeAnn is facing.
    OOOOHH–frogging mohair!

  91. Noah and I were just in B.C. for a geology dig. We saw lots of adorable deer, and a slightly aggressive one that hoofed at one of the cuter deer. Noah started doing voices, and suddenly developed a French accent for the aggressive, arrogant deer. It must be some sort of racial memory or something.
    Anyway, I’ve just sent your yarn off. Here’s hoping it gets lost!

  92. I can definitely give up a good chunk of the good luck I’ve been having lately–it’s been freaking me out anyway. Today I was riding my bike and ALL of the streets were torn up or under construction. Maybe I’ll find a dropped stitch on the lace sock I finished last night (I already found a mystery knit column in between some purls). I hope I do.
    I also hope my bread is moldy, my bike tires go flat, and the gas bill is unusually high.

  93. Hey Stephanie –
    What we should do is start a lightning-rod-along.
    Everyone can document their bad luck and offer up items for the Karma gremlins to get stuck into.
    Also, having on a separate site might distract the little buggers from your own blog. Just sayin’…
    Thoughts and prayers for Lee Ann,

  94. Love and healing energy for LeAnn!
    I’ll help take some of that bad karma overload. I tripped on a computer cord and fell out of the house and into the garage this morning, knocking the ladder to the attic down with my shoulder (lucky it didn’t fall on me tho)bruised and battered a bit but none the worse for wear. I am sure that tomorrow I will be able to come up with something else. 🙂

  95. I would volunteer to be LeeAnn’s Substitute, Substitue Planitary Shit Magnet, but tomorrow, I am driving four teenaged boys, a nine year old and two labrador retrievers to our beach house so the big boys can participate an a baseball tournament over the weekend……..Since I will be actively trying to feed and ride herd a bunch of teenaged boys, I think I have more than my share of Sh*t going around.
    But good wishes for LeeAnn aplenty. That is, when she finally gets it. Hey Steph, how is next week lookin’ for ya?

  96. Must be something going on in the cosmic universe because I have spilled maple syrup all down my front, dropped a glass full of iced coffee on the floor, broken a vase, all today….and it’s NOT that time of the month….so what is going on between here (Kansas City, Missouri) and Canada???
    But hey, if it helps Le Ann, at least I know there’s some sort of reason for it all!

  97. I’m sorry that I can’t help in the bad luck department. A neighbor of mine in Wisconsin is having radiotherapy and chemotherapy after her brain cancer . I made her a chemo hat, hoping that I could knit her into health.
    Meanwhile, I just returned to Barcelona, Spain from Paris, France where I went to the absolutely best yarn, ribbon, button and bead store in the world. Absolutely the best. Called La Droguerie. It will have a website by the end of the year, they told me. But, it was prohibited to take photos–of anything–in the shop!!! Rats! This didn’t stop me, however, from spending over 200 Euros in yarn. I could have spent the same amount in buttons and ribbon.
    I suggest that you have your publisher send you to Paris for a book tour. They need you there. And, while visiting, stop in at La Droguerie!

  98. Gee, I’ve had a fairly nice day. I just returned to crow that I bought your new book…my first ever and am so looking forward to reading it. I feel guilty…..
    I am sending powerful prayers and karmic good thoughts to Leanne for a full and speedy recovery.
    ((((karmic hugs and best wishes Leanne))))
    And Stephanie too.
    Anyone who needs some for themselves feel free to grab some as they go by this encourages them to grow spread and multiply. Kinda like big Karma and Prayer weeds ya know?

  99. Best Wishes Leeanne! I’ll offer up some American karma just in case any of that bad luck tries to sneak across the border. So far I’m having a mouse invasion problem that’s stemming the tide of any border-jumping bad luck

  100. We’re on track here in Chilly Hollow. When the clock radio woke me yesterday, someone was yodeling on the radio. (Ever wake up to yodeling? I don’t recommend it.) I don’t knit but my puppy ate two skeins of the most expensive threads–silk and overdyed metallic–on my current needlepoint project yesterday. Today I discovered that my local shop is sold out of the metallic. I had to mail order and pay all those shipping charges! And my phone was dead this morning and my new client at work is insane. Things are running according to plan, Lee Ann. Never fear! We are on the job attracting all the bad luck down toward the U.S. of A. Won’t be any at all anywhere in Canada at this rate.

  101. All the BEST to you LeeAnn. I will voluteer to be a bad shit magnet for you too .What with all of us picking up the bad vibes I’m sure you will do fine. Never underestimate the power of a group of knitters all praying for you at the same time .

  102. Hmm. What to say? Dare I wish anyone Good luck at this point? I will send good energy your way.

  103. Aw, so noble! Kind of sad about the Icarus, though. Ah well, it will have given its life to a good cause, right?!

  104. Oh. I guess I don’t mind that psycho motorist threatening to, well, basically kill me on Tuesday so much if it will give some good karma to Lee Ann. Maybe I can sleep tonight.

  105. Dear Stephanie,
    Sensing your anxiety, and not wanting you to bear the brunt of all that bad luck, the following bad things happened to me today:
    1) After completing 3 sections of lace for the Lotus Blossom tank from the Summer issue of Interweave Knits, I noticed that I had made a major error way on each and every repeat of round 11 way back in the first section. I tried really hard to ignore it, telling myself, “It’ll block out.” And then I ripped it all out, and cast back on;
    2) while doing my daily mountain of laundry (I too have three daughters, although none are teenagers yet), I cracked my head on the open dryer door. I suffered a minor abrasion;
    3) and finally, I burnt the cuticle of my middle finger on the hot wok while making fried rice. Since then, I’ve been running cold water on it and flipping myself off at the same time.
    So we’re all out here, pulling for you and LeeAnn.

  106. If trying to sleep through half-a-dozen thunder storms on the first night of holiday time (in a tent) counts, then I’m doing my bit, too.
    Stephanie, you’re the best.
    And I’m praying for Lee Ann’s speedy recovery, as well.
    Blessings to both of you.

  107. I am so there for Lee Ann. I thought I was just being my usual klutzy self, but I must be accumulating the bad karma for someone else, I certainly hope it is Lee Ann. Actually this is a whole new way to look at bad days. Thanks Steph!

  108. Darn! I wish I’d have known about Lee Ann! While I did miss my bus, they let me take the test late, and I passed. Hm, I guess reacting badly to my first ever plasma donaton/sale may cover that though, so at least I’ve been nutral today.

  109. Success! It took me 45 minutes to do my 20 minute commute. Although no one hit my car, I did get the extra bonus of a trucker flipping me off as he cut me off. It wasn’t really my fault I was where he wanted to be, but that’s gotta lend some good mojo to Lee Ann

  110. OK, here’s a karmic update:
    Both kids woke me up at 5:30am with high temperatures and DH is away for another week, so I’m it.
    Thinking it would be a breeze to keep a kinder kid and a school kid amused and kept appropriately warm on a winter’s day … until the power went out.
    Luckily the power is back on and the kids’ paracetamol seems to be doing a good job of controlling temperatures. Bring on the next crisis … I can take it!
    Oh, and Rachel H? Just to keep the variety in the balloon routine, try filling the occasional one with either cold custard or cod liver oil. It’ll really boost Lee Ann’s chances. Just sayin’.

  111. hmmm… the trash guys strewed our garbage from here to kingdom come and the little thing on my toddlers hand that we’ve been nagging the pediatrician about just tripled in size and turned yellow… (dr appointment on Monday) so I think we’re pulling our karmic weight here… lots of love going out to Le Anne though… although the only thing worse than having a doctor cancel on a brain surgery would be having a doctor who SHOULD have canceled keep on trucking…(which is also what I told the guy giving me a tatoo when he had an abcessed tooth… hey, dude, I’ll come back later… your bad day could be that ugly spider looking thing on my arm forever…)

  112. I’m travelling from Pennsylvania to Port Perry tomorrow, and then will be at a conservation area near Bolton on Saturday. If you’re going to be on a bike trip in those areas and want some more water balloons tossed in your direction, let me know.
    Best wishes LeeAnn. I pray for your surgery and speedy recovery.

  113. Stephanie, I don’t even know what to say. Who but you would come up with such a unique way to support a friend. You are the best. LeeAnn is in my prayers (and you too, if you’re going to be asking for all that bad Karma).

  114. Well, if that bad luck streak didn’t drain some major karmic energies, I don’t know what will. I hope everything goes smoothly with Lee Ann.
    On a totally unrelated note, just saw Restaurant Makeover, and just about flipped when I watched you walk in at the end, with your girls. Then I realized just who “Hank” was. Hank! Hank of the pink hat made of blue yarn! I hope your sister’s restaurant is doing well post show. (I also hope mentioning it in this blog comment isn’t too gauche. I know we’ve never met, but seeing a knitting celebrity walk in unrecognized to a decorating/cooking show made me go a little crazy. I was like “I know her! I mean, I don’t know her, but I know her!”)
    Anyway, good luck to your sis, and bad luck to you, in the best possible sense.

  115. You are such a kind friend to take such hits for your dear friend. All my healing thoughts headed her way.

  116. I’m new to the ‘comments’ section but I’ve read every blog post from the beginning. I will send all the positive energy I can.

  117. Haven’t had any really bad luck lately, since a 1-1/2 week migraine finally left a day ago, so will try the following:
    1 – Send virtual water ballons to you, Stephanie, so even when Rachel H isn’t around, and you’re not bailing out the basement, you’ll still have a mysteriously clammy, damp feeling all over.
    2 – Get the Quebec Karma’s attention by insulting it, telling it the only French I remember are the first 2 sentences from my first-year book: “Ou et Sylvie?” “A la piscine”, then using *German* and telling it ‘Du bist eine eingebildete esel.” (a conceited ass, in familiar form, yet.) That should distract it somewhat! (and I *think* I’ve miss-spelled some of the French, too – extra points! small, but compelling, if so. and I ain’t gonna look it up to correct it, neener, neener.)
    3 – Repeat several times something I say whenever my friends in tornado country survive another one: “I’d may live in the PNW and have the chance of earthquakes and volcanoes, but I’ll take that over tornados any day! At least they don’t happen every *year*!” This should guarantee *something* occurring, probably with an epicenter right at my apt. building.
    4 – Oh, hey – it was a last month, but I *did* do some dyeing in my bathtub, and the greenish stains still aren’t coming out, much to my dismay. Which may piss off the apt. owners no end. Just think of the extra cleaning fees, or maybe the price of a new tub. (Darn; I should’ve broken the rules and done it in the apt. washers, that would’ve really gotten ’em pissed.)
    Goddess bless, Lee Ann – incense-burning, good vibes, and prayers to you.

  118. Ok, tell LeeAnn I will keep as much bad luck here in the Springs from riding any ill winds up north.
    I’ve already started by ripping one fingernail 2/3rds of the way off it’s nail bed. I’ll try to remember to hit that finger a couple of times hard on a doorway once or twice tomorrow.
    And my trekking sock removed it’s needle in my bag earlier today, so that should help too.
    Love and prayers to LeeAnn.

  119. That’s so great of Lee Ann to have a friend like you – someone who will take the falls for you is hard to comeby these days.
    She’s lucky indeed.
    In the meantime, wait until Lee Ann is in the clear and then, I’m sure you’re luck with change, Karma will kick in and 100 million good things will happen.

  120. Look how many of us are yuck-magnets for Lee Ann!
    Does it help that I spilled an entire glass of iced coffee on myself today before I drank any of it?
    Fortunately the coffee landed on me and not on the Maggie’s Linen tank top I had JUST handed my friend and the leftover yarn we were going to return and the library book. But I think the yuck still counts.
    My thoughts and prayers are with her too. She has so much going for her with a friend like you.

  121. Unfortunately, the only French I know is the line from “Lady Marmalade”… you know the one. I don’t want karma to take me up on *that*, thankyouverymuch. If you really want to tempt karma, you could “put Icarus away” by the remains of the pita bread and see if the mouse does what mice do and chews a hole in it.
    Or, the squeak in the fan could be a sign of impending motor blow-up, causing smoky badness and leaving you without a fan during the heat wave.

  122. I´ve read Lee Anns blog sometimes and found it wonderful, but it slipped me by that she´s in for brain surgery.
    So, even it´s half around the globe, I´ll be trying to distract some bad luck away from her. The next few days at the office should be somewhat crappy… Now at least I know what it´s for!!
    Lots of Good luck to Lee Ann!!

  123. Maybe we could all send her a little gift or card when she is a little better.That would require her address I know but could that be sent out to lots of us via one E:Mail ?

  124. For further taunts in semi-Scots see The Wee Free Men and Hat Full of Sky by Terri Pratchett, something along the lines of “Ach, ye scunner, if ye dinna loose Lee Anne yer gonna get such a kickin’ as’ll land ye in the cludgie…”

  125. Walking into work today, I saw a neurosurgeon whom I never see in the morning. He has some connection. And I take this to mean the surgery really will happen. I can’t take the blows they way you do. (Professionally bad news, as they say.)
    Rams’ comment is great.

  126. My best wishes to Lee Ann. She is in my prayers.
    Stephanie, after reading through many of the comments of your fans and friends, I am amazed at the variety and cleverness of bad luck. Some of these mishaps sound like something from an unseen episode of ‘I Love Lucy’.
    I love the idea of taking a karmic ‘hit’ for someone else. Now my misadventures take on a whole new light.

  127. Dear Stephanie,
    Long-time lurker, first-time commenter, and great big fan of both Lee Ann’s and yours…
    Please consider this my official request to join the Karma Army (like the KISS Army, only with quieter makeup) on behalf of our adored Lee Ann. I will take any kind of indignity on her behalf. (Considering that I live and work in New York, and commute to work via the New York City subway, the possibilities for mishap are pretty rich.) As hundreds of others have said before me, it’s very kind of you to offer to take all the karmic hits, but really, you shouldn’t have to. I have big shoulders, which are usually a source of embarrassment and consternation, but today I’m glad to have ’em. Here, let me help you with some of that…
    (instantly knocks four live stitches off the needle that holds a never-ending sock)

  128. It is not fair for you to have to take all the bad luck. There are many of us here, so if we all take just a smidgen of the bad luck, it won’t hurt any of us too badly. I will take a bit. I’m sure that the sock I’m knitting (my first one) will have to be fixed at some point so I can handle it.
    I think I actually did get some of it last night when I discovered that the area of the sock, right at the bend, in the front, in the center has a huge, HONKING big error. And I have already ripped back 1 inch of this thing, and since I have already done the heel turn, I’m not turning back.
    Ann in MD

  129. I have recently discovered your blog and am now going back and reading all the back entries. I have to know what I’ve missed. In the meantime, I am glad to be helping out.
    I went over to a friend’s house last night with the my handtowel knitting project in the hopes of finishing it. Not only did I not finish it but as I was leaving I shoved it into a plastic bag with a 4-pack of glass soda bottles. Inevitably I tripped on the drain in the basement and fell on the cement floor. I succeeded in breaking two bottles and yes my knitting is now covered in glass and soda. I slammed my knee into the floor and I’m pretty sure I also banged my elbow since it hurts pretty bad today. As if that was not enough I then went home carrying the knitting, the two unbroken bottles and my now cream soda scented sweatshirt. On the way into the house I dropped another bottle of cream soda and it shattered on the front steps of my house. I am definately doing my part for LeeAnn. All thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery!!
    Sarah in Minnesota

  130. Because I am such a loyal dog, I guess I unconsciously chose to suffer along with you. Let’s hope it makes good for LeeAnn. Well, I’m off to torture myself further!

  131. Since you all have her covered for the next little while, can my shift start in like three weeks? Because for the next two I will be on and off planes and stuff and…well…I’m kind of afraid to draw any extra bad luck right now. Know what I mean? I don’t want to be a headline. Hard hugs and a lot of good wishes for now, ‘kay?

  132. I’ll have a bad day too ~ not too much of a stretch, if this morning is any indication …
    What a great friend you are! Wishing Lee Ann a speedy recovery. *hugs*

  133. I know this will sound sappy, but the underlying sentiment of your post today is so compassionate that it almost made me cry! But at the same time, you are such a talented writer that it is hilarious! Great balance!! *hugs* to Leeann

  134. Please tell your friend, LeeAnn, that I (a “born and bred in Baie Comeau, Quebec” girl) have gone out on my back deck and hurled some good Quebecois expletives at the gods to lure them into my back yard and away from her. It may actually save you too, Missy harlot!

  135. well I’m having a really awful week one way and the other so hopefully that will help LeeAnn as well. Things can only get better ( but not until she has done her open head thing I hope 🙂

  136. These words just came out of my mouth,”I don’t need to walk around looking for bad smells; I’m a veterinarian.”
    Go Harlot! My best to Lee Ann!

  137. I guess none of us can stand to see you carry all that bad gris gris on your own. Completely unaware of why I was doing so (didn’t get to read this post til late), I have managed to:
    drop my phone in a sink full of dirty dish water
    do something to my coffee pot that made it spew hot sludgy coffee everywhere, a la The Exorcist
    leave icarus out where the dog could sleep on it (she tends to shed, drool, and has excessive gas)
    and best of all… I have found (and eradicated) four moths in my hous over the last couple of days.
    So now I have to sleep in front of the stash.
    Hope Lee Ann makes a quick and full recovery…before someone loses an eye.

  138. I can’t help with the karmic distraction much, here in Chicago, but what I can help you with is the aphids on your rosebush.
    Find a smoker. I know, weird huh?
    You can either take that single cigarette, drop it in a spray bottle, let it sit over night then mist your rosebush with it, or…
    more simply have the smoker blow smoke onto the aphids. They will die either way, and tho’ the spray bottle should be cleaned out and never used for anything non-toxic again, this stiff is way less toxic that anything you can buy in the store.
    How do I know?
    Experience.
    Since I do still smoke (I know, it’s bad. I don’t smoke around my yarn, or wool. I don’t smoke when I spin, and I’m trying to stop. I will. Soon.) I have gone out and smoked out the rose bush in my front yard.
    My DH, who is a biologist, and who will not use chemicals in our garden, approves of this method.
    He, also would suggest ladybugs, but we all know that by the time they got to eatin’ at this late stage in the game, your roses would be toast.
    Yeah, my neighbours think I’m crazy, too.

  139. I’m thinking of Lee Ann and wishing good luck for her, but I have to ask how it came to be that you dropped a skein of silk into soapy dishwater. Were you doing the dishes and experiencing yarn separation anxiety? Were you carrying the yarn from one place to the next and holding it over the kitchen counter while you walked, and that’s when your hand decided that the skein was too heavy? Or were you playing skeinball and someone threw a foul?

  140. If it makes you feel any better, I may have absorbed some of that badness down here in the states- I had a world-class breakdown at work leading what is probably the second worst day of my life. And I realized my sock heel isn’t working out, so I’ll have to rip it and redo it. But if it’s for Lee-Ann, then by all means, let it pour! (PS: how are the cherries? They look delicious!)

  141. Lee Ann can use me for a magnat too. I came back from vacation to find out that my step-dad had had emergency surgery for a detached retina. Then I spent the entier day in the ER with my mother. Nearly fell down the Grand Canyon on my vacation. I think that should be good for at least no infection after surgery.

  142. I am truly humiliated by all that’s gone wrong today at my own hands! Now I know why. Lee Ann will be knitting, spinning and playing with Twinkletoes in no time!

  143. I think you’ve had enough bad luck to cover not only Lee Ann’s surgery but my cataract surgery this coming Tuesday.

  144. Please teach me how you knit and do dishes at the same time, or was the silk yarn being stored in the kitchen cabinet. I haven’t been able to figure out how you managed to drop it in the sink yet.

  145. I had a whole week of badness, I like to think that it will not only help Lee Ann, but send happy thoughts with my very good friend as she flies to Germany.

  146. I didn’t realise that there were other people as mad about knitting as me. I drive my husband mas especially when I take the same cardigan back and knit it again (after sewing up and un picking!)three times.

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