Weekly update 8/3/08

I’m a week behind and am terribly sorry! One of my good friend’s father died last Friday and I just didn’t have it in me to blog. I was going to get caught up in the week and didn’t. So here I am today.

I finished both of my squares for a blanket the group is making and started knitting the Baby Surprise Jacket (again! BSJ v1 took a trip to the frog pond after too much talking while knitting then the “fix” I tried to implement made it 5x worse!). I’ve still got my clapotis on the needles as well as my Hourglass sweater.

Yesterday I tried spinning and it was rolling right along until my ever faithful assistant came to help me:

Please note the arms under the treadle:

Hopefully I’ll have some actual knitting to show you next time!

PSA

Today, out of concern for you my dear readers and friends, I bring you a Public Service Announcement.

If you should find yourself in a situation where there will be fried Oreos present. Here is what you should do:

1. Gather up some friends. Maybe 3 or 4 (5 if you’re not feeling adventurous).

2. Find $5 (or however much they may cost at your venue) plus however much it costs to buy you and your friends some water.

3. Buy hot fresh Fried Oreos and water.

4. Wait anxiously until Oreos cool down enough so they won’t burn your fingers.

5. Consume.

6. Drink water so your teeth don’t rot out of your head instantly.

7. Talk about how sinfully delicious the Fried Oreos are.

Should you not be aware of these steps and don’t have enough friends nearby, you can take the Fried Oreos home but they won’t last overnight. They will not be good in the morning. No, I did not try them but they were kinda hard this morning so I pitched them.

Also, should you be the first of your friends you should eat a 2nd Fried Oreo after you get home to take a picture for posterity.

As an additional PSA, I would recommend eating leftover Fried Oreos over a sink or trash can, and not your cat so he won’t a) be tempted to help you eat fried Oreos and b) won’t get a powdered sugar shower.

(and if you think you can hold a Fried Oreo in one hand, take pictures (with your non dominant hand) AND fend off a cat and have a picture that’s clearer than mine, I say prove it! )

I can haz nillas

(brought to you by Pepper)

Look! The woman brought home some new stuff the other night. I declared it mine.

She told me no, it wasn’t mine. It was hers. But I didn’t listen.

Mmmmm, nillas… no wonder Mom brought them home. Thems good!!!

You think she’ll let me keep one?

(now I return you to that yarn stuff mom won’t let me play with – P)

Thanks, Pepper!

She really was funny with that Nilla Wafer. She brought it down off the napkin and snuggled with it for a while…

So yarny stuff.

Thursday was our local Stitch N Pitch organized by Robin (thanks, Robin!!) and I DID actually take pictures!

A large portion of our group being silly and knitting. There were more pictures but some of them were a little unflattering so I’m not posting them.

At the SnP Pam taught me a new dishcloth pattern. I had the bottom half done already and she just helped me out with the top part. I like it! I’m going to knit more of these.

Today (and tomorrow, it’s not too late folks!) Becky had a big sale at Knitter’s Knook so I went down and visited with everyone and bought some yarn for me and some for my secret pal!

I also cast on some socks for SOS08 but I’m not enjoying the two at a time by magic loop (I think I’d really like this book) right now so they’re going to sit and I’m casting on more socks. I’m not in it to win most socks knit but I would like to knit 3 or 4 pairs through out. That’s my personal goal. Oh and to have fun!

a week?

It’s been a whole week since I last posted… hmm. Well, it has been a busy week… 

I finally managed to drag Mom to a knit night. She had a lot of fun and admitted she wished she’d come sooner. (and no, I did not say “I told you so!”)

Yesterday, a couple local Ravelers and I rode up to Chateau Morrisette (a local winery) for a Ravelry meet up. I enjoyed meeting everyone, especially Kimberly who came all the way down from Rhode Island just to knit and drink with us. 

Stephanie, Sallee and I “forced” her into coming back to Roanoke via the Blue Ridge Parkway where it was very beautiful despite the vast amounts of fog we drove through. We went out to dinner and then descended onto Barnes and Noble for dessert and coffee (or tea). It was over 12 hrs from the time I left my home in the morning to when I came back in. 

Despite the fact that I had my camera with me, I took not one picture (bad blogger…) but Sallee and Kimberly did so I’ll point you in their directions for pictures. 

I’m still working on my sweater. I’m on sleeve number one. I was afraid it’d be too big (they are apparently bell sleeves) but I’m slogging on. However about half way up the sleeve I think I will remove the needles (having secured the live stitches with scrap yarn of course) and make sure the sleeve doesn’t bell too much. What I’ll do then if it is, I’m not sure. I’ll just cross that bridge when I get to it! 

I’m still waiting on my wee tiny sock to get here but it’s coming from London and really, it’s just been 4 days. I’m not worried about it yet. 

And now, so my post won’t be entirely picture free, I’ll share with you a picture of the littlest heathen when she was very young. 

My baby Pepper

OH, I almost forgot, Rae has offered up as one prize in my Relay for Life fundraiser contest two of her bag patterns. Thanks Rae!

Picture pages

Well, here we are, middle of the week. I bring you a little visual montage of my week so far. (Since the sweater still just looks like a big yellow/green blob)

First: It runs in the family showing off your FO’s (or near FOs) on the cat:

After that, poor little Wickie would only snuggle with his Nikki (and her sweater) :

Someone at home must’ve used his “cat-dar” to find out that I was letting cute little old cats sleep on my sweaters:

All of which leads us up to the little problem I had with being solely monogamous to my sweater:

It seems that a friend of mine at work was having a bit of a rough patch and what cheers people up better than knitting?!? So I made her a little face cloth and gave her some home made soap I had bought from a friend and was hoarding for myself (don’t fear. I have more and can get more!)

Pepper love

Pepper is a Cat. Yes, Bartholamew may look like a cat but he doesn’t act like the stereotypical cat. Pepper does. So I bought my Cat a Cat Scratcher… Thankfully, she loves it!!

I found it from Crazy Aunt Purl’s blog. And thankfully, Pepper uses it for scratching not just lounging too.

I’m still not knitting. I can only manage this because I discovered I could spin easily in my brace.

Maybe too easily:

That’s the jumbo plying head flyer/bobbin thing too that’s cram full. The “joy” now is transferring to the niddy-noddy. Its only like eleventybillion yards… (phrase also somewhat borrowed from Crazy Aunt Purl).

The fiber is some I got at SAFF unknown wool, the colorway is persimmon. It’s been fun to spin. And honestly I am interested in knowing how many yards it is.

Lastly, I’d like to direct you to Dotty’s blog. She got her prize package from me today!

Happy Groundhog Day!

I haven’t heard the news but I feel quite certain that no matter what the poor ol’ ground hog said, that winter isn’t done with us yet…

Now onto the knitting content.I’m almost done with a scarf for my friend. It was for her 40th birthday. I started it a few days before her birthday so yes, it is late but she knows and it’s all good. In fact, I did give it to her last week but even though she asked for a short scarf, turns out she wants a longer scarf than what she asked for. Which is OK. I asked her if she liked it and would rather her be honest – especially since it’s something I can easily fix – and wear it than lie and it go live in a dark lonely closet.

I frogged my marigold socks. It just wasn’t happening. I love the pattern and want to work on it again but not in the yarn I was using. So… I started this:

The Forest Canopy Shawl

Which I plan on working on after I finish this post. But first I have other good things to tell you. We have a new yarn store “in town” – Knitters Knook. It’s actually in Boones Mill but it’s close enough for me. She opened officially yesterday but it was kind of yucky out and I did have to work so I stopped in today.

After buying the addi needles my shawl is on and some nice pretty wool I was sitting and knitting and visiting and who should come through the door?

My good knitting friends Linda and Dianne!

It’s been TOO long since I’ve seen them and it was so nice to catch up with everyone.

Then, Laura with her hubby in tow came though the door looking for sock yarn. Hubby’s getting some nice socks!

Not long after they left we were getting ready to go when Dana and her daughter came in!

I swear it was like old home week!! Sadly, I got no pictures except for Dianne and Linda (and for those who are curious – that is a wall of Mission Falls behind them. Yumm!)

Becky’s grand opening will be March 1 but she’s open now. If you’re local and want directions leave me a comment or email or whatnot and I’ll be happy to get that to you!

Lastly, Bartholamew would like to remind you that sometimes a nap on a soft pillow in the warm sunshine is the best way to spend an afternoon!

FO time!

Woo hoo! I have a Finished Object to share with you and a couple horribly embarrassing pictures of the cats for you. (and honestly, it’s only embarrassing for them, not for me!)

The other night I started and finished a little Petal Baby Bib for my nephew. I know he doesn’t really need it right now but it’s so cute. It does need to be blocked but that didn’t stop me from searching for victims models:

Bartholamew “agreed” to only wear it if he could pretend it was a cape instead of a bib: 

They love me so…  

WOW!

Wow! That’s about all I have to say. OK, it’s not really but it sums it up pretty good! Talk about feelin’ the love! 42 comments! That’s a lot. Thank you all.

I wanted to respond to each of you personally but there was a glitch in the emailing of the comments and other things (that we’ll get into in a minute) and I just couldn’t. I’ll try to answer the main question here: I don’t know what kind of plant it is! When I moved into my newest office at work, I got a very wonderful window that gets strong afternoon sun. I’m not the best at remembering to water my plants so I went to the local neighborhood Wal-mart and bought me a cactus. A non-prickly kind so I wouldn’t hurt myself and so no one else would get hurt either. Thanks to Dad, I now know the little sprout is called a pup (in case you didn’t read the other comments – it’s OK, I don’t always read the comments on blogs I read).  

Now, the other reason I’m just not able to respond to everyone is I’m a little squished for time. My step-Mom (who’s the best step-Mom in the world and I really hate calling her my “step-Mom” just because it has such negative connotations with it)’s father passed away. It’s a little hectic and I promise to pick a winner when things settle down – probably this Saturday.

So please, if you haven’t already, go on back to Jan 19ths post and comment away until midnight Thursday 1/24.

And because so many of you came from Chris’s Chaos and Mayhems I bring you my two heathens:

  

 

2007

I know, everyone’s doing year end recaps so here’s mine:

2007 wasn’t all bad but it certainly wasn’t all good either. Quite truthfully, I’m glad in few hours it’ll be gone.  I learned to spin and how to make lucet cords (which I need to do some more of since it’s so fun). I hope to keep increasing my spinning knowledge too. There’s so much out there to learn, to try… 

I knit a lot. A LOT, I mean look at that list on the sidebar. Wow. I learned how to do new knitting techniques. I’d like to keep learning those too. 

On a personal level, I made some great friends and plan on keeping on meeting new people and spending time with my friends and family. I lost my uncle and have a cousin that’s in pretty bad shape. I have friends who lost loved ones and with my remaining grandparents as old as they are and in the shape that they’re in, I know it won’t be but so much longer before I lose them. I know, it may not be this year but I certainly won’t have them another… (hmm… almost told you how old I am ) so many years… 

But on a lighter note, my nephew was born and he’s so beautiful and I can’t wait to see what kind of person he becomes. 

My goals for 2008 – besides what I’ve already said?. Well, I do have some I’m not really planning on sharing but I’m going to cut back on my consumption of goods. Yes, this means yarn and fiber too. I’m not going all out I’m still in my fiber club and will still buy yarn and all but for at least a few months I’m going to spin what I’ve got and knit what’s in the stash. I bought that yarn for a purpose and it wasn’t to sit all closed up in a box. 

Oh, and since she’s showing an interest, I thought I’d teach Pepper to spin: 

Which is good, I’ll need more yarn because apparently Bartholamew has finally seen the light and is all about enjoying fine hand knits:

You’ll have to look under his head and feet to that is my Noro scarf there keeping his Highness warm and providing a soft place for him to take a nap. 

Be safe, y’all. Have a good 2008 filled with joy, love, and enough fibery goodness to get you through the rough spots!

thanks for reading…