Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Tuesday stuff

dafs mar09

These daffodils were already planted outside the fron door when we moved in. They aren't big and showy, but the dirt there isn't the best , and they face west - getting the worst of the winter winds. There is also a purple flower, I never remember seeing before It's still a bud so I don't know yet:

dafs2 mar09


And I know that with the swap and the fact that I am using a modified version of those mitts in the same yarn, I haven't posted any fiber pictures recently. I brought in the squares I work on in my car at lunch for the VJGC afghan. (although I did work on the mitts last week)

blue squares

And one green square:
green square

My friend GrAce on her blog did a tuesday ten to do list today. ( say that 3 times fast) So since everyone is asking what I am doing on vacation next week - I'm not going anywhere, I need to use my last week before May20th and Angie is "off" school next week. I say"off" because she still has practice and 2 meets. Here is my To-do list for next week.

1. Take Angie down to Bridgewater so she can use her credit and get a new fencing lame'.

2. Empty out all the planters and windowboxes and spray them with bleach so they'll be ready to plant in a few more weeks. Also get a few summer bulbs planted and clean up the leaves and debris I didn't do anything with last fall.

3. Really clean my bedroom, and especially my closet and drawers.

4. Get the concession stand at the football/field track ready and running before tuesdays meet - work the stand on tuesday. ( no I aM NOT doing this one alone)

5. Finish my Smoke(as in Tony) cowl.

6. FIgure out if my wicked stepmother yarn is really happy with the pattern being knitted. And either finish the socks or frog the 1/2 sock I have done and use another pattern.

7. Finish the pink socks if it kills me!!

8. Decide what yarn/pattern for a spring tea cozy (let's face it it's a bit too late for Easter - at least at the rate I knit. Maybe my friend Grace or Jenn but not me) that can last until I do a patriotic one for memorial day to July 4th. Will probably need to buy yarn - it seems like a pastel project and other than pinks for Angel I really don't buy pastels normally.

9. Get my oil changed and take the car to the body shop over the ding someone gave it in the parking lot at work- the wheel well tore at the screws so at least that piece needs to be replaced. Not sure if I want to call the insurance company - after all I just added a teenager to the policy.

10. Get my roots dyed.

11. Need to get a few loose button shirts (that I don't button) to wear over tank tops in the summer at work.

12. Try not to get moldy, it's going to rain for the next 3 days, be nice on Sunday and rain again at least Monday to Wednesday.

13. Convince Grace that even though Sandy and Jacqui apparently most likely won't be able to do anything next week, that she should do something with me to get me (and her) out for at least part of a day! ( I know you'll read this Grace!)

And if you'll notice except for 1,3 and 4 I'm still sticking to the 2000mine theme.

Monday, March 30, 2009

ice cream quiz


Ok - Apparently I forgot to copy the part with what flavor I am!!
Ok, went back and retook the quiz - it doesn't tell you what flavor - it tells you about you based on ice cream. LOL
Your Ice Cream Personality:



You like to think of yourself as a fairly modest person. And it's true that you don't talk yourself up... but you're also pretty happy with who you are.



You have a wild reputation, but you're not as wild as you seem. You take risks, but only measured risks.



You are a somewhat open minded person, but deep down you're fairly conservative. You don't like trying new things very much. And if you do find something new you like, you stick with it.



You are a natural multitasker. You feel alive when you're doing more than one thing at a time.



You are fun loving and sweet. You tend to enjoy joking around and teasing people.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

I Have Pictures!

my swap package from gwen

I took part in a fingerless mitts swap. I can't post the pictures of the pair I made because Angel mailed them for me on her way home from practice yesterday. So since I don't know if Gwen reads my blog, I can't post pic's until she gets her package.

Angel saw these and promptly appropriated them for herself:

mitts 2

leaving these for me:

mitts1

The race seemed to take forever this afternoon. And I was fighting to stay awake. I managed to somehow (ok, with a lot of Curt's help) join Google Talk, where some of my Nascar friends from Ravelry have a group chat during the race. It was a lot of fun. Tony did pretty good, he was bouncing from 3rd to 8th place and ended up finishing 3rd. Ryan started pretty far back in the pack and came on strong for the last 100 laps finishing 6th. So for all the naysayers out there Stewart Haas Racing is going to be a force to be reckoned with!! Unfortunately Jimmie Johnson won and Jeff Gordon came in 4th - but he led laps ands Tony didn't so the two of them came away with the same points and Tony didn't gain in him... can you just hear C gloating somewhere?

I did get some knitting done during the race. I had started a fingerless glove last night ( only got 12 rows done) I finished the left one except for the seaming during the race. It is out of leftover yarn from my swap so no pic's yet. I made brownies during the race, super fudgy, super chocolaty super yummy. Right now we are having crazy thunder and lightning and it is raining hard!! Hope everyone has a great week this week!


Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Thursday Thunks a day early

Thursday Thunk - by the Thunkers themselves!
Welcome to the March 25th version of Thursday Thunks!
(which we always seem to post on Wednesday)
Where we make you think a little bit before you blog!

We pick a subject, and your job is to interpret it anyway you want. Write about it on your blog... simple as that. Maybe you can interpret it as a picture - we don't care!
Please only leave a link if you have written a Thursday Thunks post. Please mention us in your post, and link back to the blog here.
Don't forget to go visit the other participants' blogs. Read and comment about all their Thursday Thunks! Thats what all this is about afterall, isn't it? We'll have so much fun and become lifelong friends....

This week we will answer some crazy questions brought to you by THE THURSDAY THUNKERS, the color brown and the number 1.

Remember last weeks last question? Well... every question submitted is this week's Thursday Thunk!!

1. What is your favorite type of soda (if you drink soda)? Don't really drink soda - but when I do it's Cheerwine from NC. cheerwine
2. Do you believe in astrology? If so, what does your sign say about you? I sort of think there is something to the personality thing, but not the daily horoscopes. I was born on the Scorpio/Sagittarius cusp, so I can be your best friend and give you the shirt of my back, but if you piss me off it is over.
3. Who is John Galt? Somebody from a novel??
4. What is the last thing you do before you go to sleep at night? Flip my pillow a few times.
5. Who's your Daddy? Depends
6. Jelly beans or Jelly Bellies?Love Jellie Bellies flavors
7. What do you think about yellow car? Why car manufacturer actually made yellow cars? I'm hoping someone with a yellow car answers this question so I can find out for myself. I often wonder if there is an yellow car discount, but then why do they make them, Someone enlighten me please!! Yellowvette
8. Holding on or Letting go? Unless you piss me off enough to bring out the aforementioned Scorpio in me, I am usually pretty good at letting things go.
9. What kind of underwear, if any, do you wear? Depends on whether we're talking at work or on the weekend.
10. Who is your daddy and what does he do? ????
11. Spring - is it here yet?? Crocuses are up, I have seen the first robin of spring so yes, spring is here.
12. Does Google Streetview scare you? Never looked at/heard of it
13. What is your favorite brand of ice cream? Denville Dairy
14. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? Rum raisin
15. Do you ever get tired of your everyday routine? Everyday
16. What inspires you?My daughter, my friends, creative people, a good song, a gorgeous day
17. It’s springtime-do you spend more time outdoors? Have to, I go back inside for the summer ( too hot, need ac))
18. When do you think Bud will let us see the DVD of him and the french twins? Can we say photoshop anyone?
19. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you, and why? Lake Norman NC lake_norman1
20. Why do you blog? My real life friends get tired of talking about TOny, and I only have 3 real life friends who are into knitting.
21. What are electrolytes and why are they good for us? They are the salts that regulate your blood pressure and other stuff
22. Do you twitter? Why or why not?No, only heard of it recently, sounds like it would appeal to those people who don't think they can have an unexpressed thought , or talk to hear their own voices. In all honesty though, I have never been on twitter.
23. What did you dream last night? I very rarely remember my dreams. The last one was several weeks ago and revolved around a very bizarre version of my work.
24. What is the strangest thing you've eaten? Squirrel ( when I was a kid, my cousins and I shot at too many critters, so a rule was handed down you kill it you eat it - I started target shooting)
25. What was the last picture that you took? Pictures of my latest knitting project which will be kept under wraps until my swap partner gets it.
26. what is your favorite part of spring? Driving with my roof open.
27. what is one thing that you did this past week that no one knows about? Didn't take a shower last thursday.
28. What kind of bandages do you typically have in your household? All kinds - I just loaded up, and bought a new first aid kit on Saturday. No plastic ones, mostly fabric and nexcare waterproof ones.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Vacation anyone?

I'm sort of playing hookie today. I went into work, but was done with what I had to do by 10:15. I have a headache that Excedrin put in the background but it's still there enough to be annoying. So I told the ops mgr that I was going to lunch and not coming back. After I post here, I'll give a quick check to Ravelry and then I plan on taking a nap!! I would like to say that I really do like my job. But some days/weeks the corporate head honcho's in Atlanta seem like they just want to irritate the sh*t out of me. It's been irritating the last 2 days. Not enough to really piss me off or anything, just enough that I really couldn't deal with it on top of the headache.

I saw on Grace's blog (lovincomfort knits - the link is on my sidebar) that she did the top ten things she likes to do on vacation. Being as work was annoying, I think that pondering vacation would be nice. So I am totally stealing her idea here.

RIA'S TOP TEN THINGS TO DO ON VACATION

10. Take a nap/ sleep in until at least 5:30.

9. Have a beer with lunch. hefeweizen

8. Not have to wear shoes!!

7. Play with a snowman bonhomme

6. "play" with Curt in the afternoon! ;p

5. Sit and watch a fire.

4. Stay in a mountain chalet skichalet

3. Knit as much as I want.

2. Go shopping!


And the number one thing I like to do on vacation.... here's a hint:

MtSaintAnneBeaupreat



NUMBER ONE:

Go skiing!!

MtStAnne

Monday, March 23, 2009

quiz- what's your word?



Your Word is "Think"



You see life as an amazing mix of possibilities, ideas, and fascinations.

And sometimes you feel like you don't have enough time to take it all in.



You love learning. Whether you're in school or not, you're probably immersed in several subjects right now.

When you're not learning, you're busy reflecting. You think a lot about the people you know and the things you've experienced.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Even though I rarely make a gauge swatch...

RedGuageCluster


I think all designers, especially published designers should be required to put them in their patterns. Because even though I don't usually swatch, I can still tell as I'm working on my project if it's close to gauge or not. As I have mentioned before, I do tend to be a tight knitter. But my last project, the Irish tea cozy needed to be frogged and reknit. I was working on my mitts for the swap as I mentioned yesterday. First, I have to say the pattern confused me a bit because instead of YO they use Yfwd. But I was able to figure that out relatively easily. There is no gauge in the pattern, maybe because the pattern is featured in 3 very different yarns. But after I did the thumb, I sort of tried it on my hand. Mostly to make sure the thumb was loose enough because my yarn doesn't really stretch much. I then realized that once I seamed up the sides it might fit my teenage daughter's skinny friends but would be tight on Angie and definitely tight on another adult. So, after a hug from Curt, I FROGGED IT!! Went up a needle size. I am more comfortable with the pattern now and it is reknitting faster. But still, I was hoping to be finished today. Of course wandering around the internet isn't helping.

frog


So hoping everyone has a great day! Tony looked yummy in his interview on raceday. Race starts soon - GO SMOKE!!!!!!


Oh! almost forgot - went to Borders this morning at 9am, when they first open, and I checked under the cushions of the chair I was knitting in on Thursday nite ( I had already called and they said there were no keys in the lost and found, but I figured if they came off the clip in the chair, they wouldn't be in the lost and found) And YAY!!! found my keys (and a quarter) but found my keys!!

Saturday, March 21, 2009

I don't know what to blog about

Really I don't know what to say. I lost my keys Thursday night - including the only copy of our mailbox key, so I need to figure that out rather quick. Carmen's back at least at work, so at least for now I no longer have to deal with hardware. Ian - who has been saying he misses me around flooring - is not so sure anymore. See, he forgot that I had been helping out receiving for the 3 months before I took hardware, so he hasn't had my undivided "love" for 6 months. Well, Thursday I brought out 7 skids of tile from receiving and then dropped another 12 out of the racks ( mind you I did half of every one and I'm a girl!) yesterday, he was saying he woke up and was still tired from the day before. I did cut him some slack and we only hit 9 skids and a bunch of area rugs, before I had to go finish my orders and price changes. He told Michele he was glad to be on the closing shift next week, and I was all hers. Hee hee hee!

Last night, Angie was at school - this weekend they are doing Pippin. ( She was able to drive herself to and from - how cool is that - I think) So while she was there, Curt decided to take me out to dinner. We were going to go to an Italian place that makes great Cavatelli, broccoli and shrimp in a garlic/oil sauce. ( being Friday- I don't do meat for lent) But the place was packed and there was a long wait for a table. The Alexis Diner is in the same center, and we had never eaten there despite it having great reviews. The menu looked great, but I wouldn't recommend it to a vegetarian. The hibernia diner in Rockaway has a much better selection, especially of veggie dishes. I had a spinach/mushroom/feta omelet, Curt had the meatloaf special.


crackerbarrel

This morning I had to run into work for 15 minutes (yes I drove a total of 44 minutes to do something that took all of 15 minutes) It had to be done though, and I could have gone home early on Thursday and saved time to work an hour or four, but I wanted to get in and out. Angie came with me, and I bought her breakfast at Panera's before she had to go to track practice. I love breakfast with Angie. She's not quite awake so is more forthcoming on stuff going on in life. ( me I had an extra large coffee) So as she DROVE off to practice, Curt and I went to breakfast at Cracker Barrel. I had fried catfish, grits, biscuits and scrambled eggs. Curt had the sampler. yum, but stuffed. And as always I can't leave without buying some chocolate covered pecans.

shamwow

On the way home, we did some shopping, ( as I was buying some first aid stuff , Angie called me saying she skinned her knee and couldn't find any large bandages - they were in my shopping cart - how weird was that?) Hit Walmart, Target, Costco and Shop Rite. At Costco, I finally caved and bought the Shamwow she wanted. I had a reason though. I figure if I put one of those down instead of a regular towel, while blocking my knitting it should dry faster right? We'll see.

smithwicksneon

I needed to pick up some beer as well. I got some Sam Adams White Ale (they had no heffenweissen - can't spell that word) and my newest addition to my faves Smithwicks - if you go to a pub its pronounced smitticks . It's made by guinness but isn't all heavy and thick and syrupy. yeah, yeah C told me about it, but really I only tried it 'cause we seem to like/dislike the same brews.

Speaking of beer, There is a pub crawl in Wharton tonight. You buy a $25 tee shirt, a bunch of places are participating ( including Hot Rods) the places provide free food you buy your drinks. I was thinking about going, but Curt's bowling team rescheduled for Thursday night, so since that's really not his thing I may stay home and hang out with him. I so need to get some knitting done. I am halfway through a mitt that needs a mate to be mailed out by next Saturday. I didn't realize that Manos silk blend is sold in 270m hanks in the UK, and as my pattern is a British one, I just read one hank. So I had to go back for another, which they had, and I bought a skein of yarn in a similar color to put in with the mitts and some other goodies for a swap. No more information will be forthcoming, especially no pictures since I don't know if the recipient ever reads my blog.

Well, hope everyone has a great weekend!! Miss your posts Grace - hope you're feeling more upbeat!

Friday, March 20, 2009

Fencing Awards Banquet

The fencing awards banquet was held at the Hilton on Monday night. Angie got a varsity pin ( apparently you can only get the actual letter once. makes sense she already has a jacket) She was also announced as sabre squad captain for next year.

DSCF2524

This years sabre captain and Angie

DSCF2525

Angie's best friend (coach's daughter also a sabre fencer) , Alejandra and Angie ( have I ever mentioned saber fencers are all nuts?)

DSCF2528

Angie and her 2 coaches. ( yes, she decided her hair was getting too big- she took a fast shower after track practice and didn't have time to dry or put produce in- so she put it up)

mom/angie

Angie and I

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Random Thunks for Thursday

Welcome to the March 19th version of Thursday Thunks!
(which we always seem to post on Wednesday)
Where we make you think a little bit before you blog!

We pick a subject, and your job is to interpret it anyway you want. Write about it on your blog... simple as that. Maybe you can interpret it as a picture - we don't care!
Please only leave a link if you have written a Thursday Thunks post. Please mention us in your post, and link back to the blog here.
Don't forget to go visit the other participants' blogs. Read and comment about all their Thursday Thunks! Thats what all this is about afterall, isn't it? We'll have so much fun and become lifelong friends....

This week we will answer some crazy questions brought to you by Berleen, the color carnation pink and the number 54321.

1. The last flight of stairs you walked up/down - were the carpeted?
A runner down the center
2. Green or purple grapes? Neither, don't really like grapes.

3. Do you like Peeps? NO.

4. The smell of Vicks - like it? Ick, no

5. Do you put decorative cling-ons on your windows for different holidays? My daughter puts them on hers.

6. Finish the sentence - I spent too much money on__yarn and coffee______ .

7. Which celebrity should be flown into outer space or placed on a desert island? Tom Cruise - outer space, Brittney Spears a desert island.

8. Would you support schools changing the "open" time? Such as 10am - 5pm, for example? I'm torn - on the one hand it is a scientific fact that teenager's body clocks are geared toward later in the day. So the early classes can be rough on them. But on the other hand my daughter gets home from practice at 6:30 now, I wouldn't want to pick her up at 8:30. So Ultimately for the next year I would say no. After she graduates I honestly don't care.

9. Do you go fishing? Hell no!! Actually when I was a teenager I used to go out on the boat with my cousins - but I would just sleep on the front and work on my tan,

10. What question should we ask next week? If I knew I wouldn't need the thunks.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Awesome Game!!


At the Devil's game last night ( which they won 3-2) against the Chicago Blackhawks, Martin Brodeur became the NHL's all time winning goaltender with 552 wins. During the game Patrik ELias broke the teams scoring record with 702. The place was packed and the crowd was really into the game. I think they gave Martin a pair of kindergarten scissors to cut the net with - it took him awhile and 2 other players finished the job while he took a lap around the ice. We had actually bought tickets for this game in February - when we had no idea what the possibilities were for the game.

DSCF2529

They were purchased through one of the groups that send me periodic e-mails. So I only paid 25 a tick! Of course it was around 1130 when I got home and I was really tired today ( I get up for work at 230-300) and when I finally got home from work at 3pm - I took a nap for 3 hours!

Sunday, March 15, 2009

I'm a Granny!!!

Just what every parent looks forward to. Their 11th grade 17 year old honor student and varsity letter athlete announces that they are about to have......... an eggbaby. Yes I now have an egrandchild Isabella Marie. She has put quite the cramp on Angie's life as she needs to be constantly supervised - and I AM NOT A EGGSITTER. To top it off, if an eggbaby is left unattended - and is eggnapped by another student, said student gets extra credit. If an eggbaby is damaged beyond what all the kings horses can repair, the project gets an F. So without further ado - my egrandbaby.

eggrandbaby

Unfortunately, Isabella was born with some eye defects and surgery was performed. Here she is post surgery:

Isabella Marie

Surgery was performed by the kings horses and men medical team

kings horses


I'm not sure but Curt and I think we have located the cad that has stuck our poor baby as a teenage mom:

humptydumpty


Saturday, March 14, 2009

Saturday

yarn shopping

Angie took her SATs this morning in Clifton. We got there seriously early. The doors opened 5 minutes after we got there. While she took her test, I didn't want to go all the way home so Curt and I went to the Tic Toc Diner in Clifton for breakfast.

ticktock

We then went to Barnes and Noble and I bought a copy of Alan Dart's Irresistible Gifts to Knit. I thought about buying it awhile back, but when I returned to the store it was sold out. I read this week that they re-released it, so when I saw it I bought it. I also saw a copy of THE KNITTER a new intermediate/advanced magazine by the editors of Simply Knitting. It's $12.99!! And I saw 2 patterns I would do so I passed on it (for now if I see it again who knows?)


modernyaRN


After putzing around for awhile, we headed to Montclair to go to Modern Yarn (they don't open until 11am) We got there a few minutes before they opened. It is such a cute little section. ( Although I must say people around there must eat out an awful lot) We bought some cookies to bring home from jimmie's cookie bar (they have a cookie lounge too, where you can hang out and eat your cookies) I bought some Sencha green tea from a tea place, some coffee beans and a cup of coffee from "Beans". I went through Modern yarns and although I saw a lot that I wanted, I settled for

manos silk blend

Manos Silk Blend ( I was hoping to find a hank of this in purple YAY)

and I just had to have:

malabrigo superwash sock

Malabrigo Sock superwash merino ( yes Jaqui if you're reading this superwash)

We took Angie to Atlanta bread Company for lunch. I had a wonderful dill and fennel tomato soup with a half a salmon w/ cucumber and dill spread sammie. She had turkey with provolone, lettuce tomatoe and pesto spread and baked potato soup. Curt had french onion soup and some kind of chicken sammie. Yum. When we got home I TOOK A THREE HOUR NAP!!! I was saying i was tired all week, but I didn't realize how tired I was.

I balled a skein of Malabrigo Silky Merino yesterday, but didn't have the right needle size ( I bought addi Natura circs today so I'm casting on later) Curt ( my human swift) is bowling tonite, so I have to wait until tomorrow to ball up the Manos to start working on that.

Yarn Happiness to all!

Friday, March 13, 2009

The Vortex of Robert reaches 58 miles!!

Robert's Vortex of Confusion Strikes Again!!

Did you ever know someone who had a knack for attracting problems. Many not of their own doing, but most issues get in because they leave a window open for problems. Well there is a guy Robert. It sometimes feels like something goes wrong with every one of his orders. Seriously, weirdly wrong in ways that one cannot imagine until they happen. It has gotten to the point that, if I see his initials under salesperson in an order involving my department, I -first panic then - I check the order with a fine tooth comb. Most of the problems I manage to head off before they get bigger - kind of like a thunder storm on a summer day. Sometimes I can't because of all different issues - most of which involve him miscommunicating, either he doesn't listen, or he doesn't tell the customer the whole issue. Mostly in if the carpet is ordered today, and it comes from X vendor it will be here either a week from Monday or the WEdnesday. Now it is true that it may (10%) come Friday, but you can't count on that. And don't tell the customer there is an outside possibility of Friday. If you tell the customer Monday or Wednesday and the carpet gods smile on you and it shows up on Friday - you're like the hero. Also you better call the mill and make sure there is carpet available. But NOOOOOOOO. Robert tells the customer Friday or Monday, So I make him call and track the carpet. D tells him if we have a truck Friday it will be on there. So he goes and tells the guy his carpet will be in at 1pm on Friday!! Ok usually we get carpet at 1 - but I have to unload it and check it in and then it needs to be cut nd what if there is a giant accident on the turnpike in the morning???? Now the guy already took part of his order, and it wasn't chcked out right. By this morning the Vortex of Confusion had spread to include the contractor desk manager, their expeditor, the special service auditor, the store auditor, the receiving auditor and of course RObert. So this flock of confused people descend on me, so I get to figure it out!! Ok, I do that - the fix is going to cost me money - not a happy camper. I now need to destress and vent a little - sending me to the special order age and dan's ear. And I get a sinking feeling deep in my flooring bones causing me to call D at the trucking company. She checks the routing. I am not on the sheets. I tell her she gave an idiot the impression I was getting a bill today. She looks up the bill number. She is then sucked into the Vortex of Confusion! The bill tracking says the bill is out for delivery today. She double checks and each entry is signed off and everything. She's all apologizing and I tell her it's not her fault the Vortex of Confusion has apparently grown outside the confines of my building.
I now figure, if a truck shows up I'll have the carpet , if not I won't (it was the only carpet supposed to ship) After an hour I really can't take it anymore, so at the risk of C changing his # I left what one of the salesmen called the saddest most pathetic voicemail in my saddest little girl voice ( yes, I sent feminism back 20 years) ending with sigh if you don't have my carpet I'll see you when I get out of my incarceration. C does call me back about 30 minutes later. He did his first 2 stops and then was in NY ( as in not NJ) He called the dock mgr who is in charge of loading all the trailers to see if my stop got put on a different run. Nope. The four big stops and handful of mom and pops between stop number 2 and me had nothing. So even though we all know I'd unload C at whatever time he shows up as long as someone else wasn't already in the dock. They won't put my roll on "hoping" I'll take it early, because I can tell him he's got to wait 7 hours, at which point he'd leave and the roll would get destroyed when every other stop had to move it to get to their stuff. So I tell everyone involved. They all think I can fix it. I mean I'm a knitter but I can't come up with 50 feet of carpet. i think they were trying to get some from another store when I left. None of this would have been a crisis if only the guy had been told Monday or Wednesday.


Rant over, thank you for listening

Thursday, March 12, 2009

I am NOT a Happy Hooker!!

Seriously!! Sometime between 9pm last night and 11 am this morning I lost the size J hook I was using on the afghan squares. I have 3 size I's ( why I have no idea) and 2 K's but apparantly only one J!! I was on a roll too! 8 squares done 4 more until I could seam the 'ghan!! Now by the time I get another hook, my momentum will be gone!!! Arrggghhhhh!!

THURSDAY THUNK

Bugs, fruit, eating strange things and some other stuff

Welcome to the March 5th version of Thursday Thunks!
(which we always seem to post on Wednesday)
Where we make you think a little bit before you blog!

We pick a subject, and your job is to interpret it anyway you want. Write about it on your blog... simple as that. Maybe you can interpret it as a picture - we don't care!
Please only leave a link if you have written a Thursday Thunks post. Please mention us in your post, and link back to the blog here.
Don't forget to go visit the other participants' blogs. Read and comment about all their Thursday Thunks! Thats what all this is about afterall, isn't it? We'll have so much fun and become lifelong friends....

This week we will answer some crazy questions brought to you by Berleen, the color puke green and the number 12345.

1. You are walking down the road and you look down. There is a bug. Do you step on it? If I am wearing shoes and it doesn't look like a cockroach yes. ( someone once told me if you step on a female roach it's eggs will stick to your shoe and you'll infest your house. ewwww.)
2. What is one fantasy that you want to come true more than any other? Let's just say it involves a scruffy NASCAR driver/owner and a carpet truck driver with gorgeous eyes and me!
3. Someone knocks on your door. Do you look out the window to see who it is before you open it? Do you open it regardless of who it is? yes I do look. I am somewhat anti-social in that I don't open doors to strangers. Once I was expecting a delivery and I opened the door to Jehovahs Witnesses. I told them I was a wican devil worshiper ( my apologies to any actual wicans out there) so they would go away.
4. Have you ever eaten Play Doh? No, should I?
5. What was your favorite Saturday morning cartoon as a child and why? Close, but has to be Wile E. Coyote. I was so sure his plans would work if only his equipment would stop failing.
6. Are you a "people watcher"? I end up having to kill time while waiting for my daughter. She seems to be to far to go home a lot. ie her dance studio is 12 miles away (half an hour during evening traffic) fencing lessons about 40 minutes away. So my husband and I wind up at Starbucks, or dunkin donuts, or borders having coffee, watching and making fun of people. It's our "together time"
7. I have a bowl of fruit. There are apples, oranges & pears. You help yourself to one - which one do you choose? If the orange is a clementine - otherwise a pear
8. What is your biggest pet peeve in the blogging world? People who leave rude hurtful comments for no provocation.
9. What is one religion that you could just never see yourself joining? Hinduism or any other that requires vegetarianism.
10. What word do you use far too often? fuck!
11. How long do you spend in the shower? 20-25 minutes
12. If you were to write a personal ad about yourself, what would it say? funny, smart, slightly psychotic knitter seeks slightly scruffy, temper prone NASCAR driver or carpet truck driver with gorgeous eyes!
13. Your favorite flavor of soup is....? Italian wedding soup.
14. You are sitting on a bench in the park and a bug walks in front of your feet.... do you squash him? Same answer as #1

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

4 races in - crochet update

So, the end of last week, I suddenly realized that we were already three races into the NASCAR season, and I had no plan for my next VJGC competition afghan. Aaaacck! I had realized, while working on my off-season ghan, that a granny square mixed with black really "pops" the color out. So I had the giant 835 yd skein of RH Super Saver. I picked up Vanna's Baby in duckie, cherry, sweet pea and little boy blue. I am making 3 12x12 squares in each color w/ black. That way a 3 x 4 square ghan will be about 37 x 49. On Sunday I made 1. Sad I know, but when there were only 9 cars on the lead lap I sort of passed out for a bit. On Friday I had met for coffee with a really good friend and made 1. Monday night at an extremely drama filled, highly annoying booster club meeting I made 3 1/2 more. This afternoon I finished the 1/2 and started another. So here's what I have so far:

yellow squares

red squares

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

TEA COZY

I cannot tell you how much I hate it when Curt messes with my lap top. And now, that my laptop broke and he is letting me use his old one it is worse. I have asked him about 3 times, 2 weeks apart to try to get the stuff off my old laptop. Now seriously - if I sent it out I would have the stuff already. But if I do he'll be pissed that I paid for something he can do. If I keep bugging him - then I'm bugging him and I swear if he makes me turn into a nag I'll divorce him first. I seriously am thinking about sending it out though, because as I mentioned before I hadn't backed up the harddrive in over a year. So I have been asking him to put iphoto on the laptop, because my camera is filling up. Angie showed me how to use the whole camera as a drive to get pic's off,but that is a pain in the patootie. He finally puts iphoto on and like an idiot I don't try it out with one or 2 pictures I dump my whole camera in and delete the pics off it. Now, I can't get to the library with the flckr downloader. I had to drag these 3 pictures onto the desktop, rename them, and then upload them to flckr. And of course if I ask him why when he gets home - I'm being a pain. I think I'm going to bite the bullet go to the apple store, get a laptop. have them set it up and send my old drive out to get the stuff saved. grrrrrrrr. Thank God he's not a tailor - I'D BE FREAKIN NAKED!!


So my friend Grace of lovincomfortknits designed an Irish Tea Cozy. I decided to make it. First I discovered I needed to go up 4 needle sizes and still got a much smaller cozy than her sample. Second I like cozies with holes for the spout and handle so you don't have to take it off everytime you pour a cup of tea. Third I don't like making pompoms. They always come out weird. So the smaller size worked well because it had a lot of stretch ( ribbing and cables do that I guess) I looked at her other patterns and figured out how to make the holes ( although that had me knitting back and forth for the handle openning and I almost screwed the pattern up there at first, fortunately as I had to go up sizes several times it had to be frogged anyway) The I decided in my warped brain that it would be easier to create on my own ( I am more of an adapter embellisher than an original creator) stuffed shamrock than make a pompom. Finally I looked in my little bins from crafts I dabbled in the past and found some "bling" for my cozy. What do y'all think??


tea cozy


irish tea cozy2


irish tea cozy