Monday, July 30, 2012

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Fine

For the past couple of Knitters' Hunk contests, my son has been saying I should have an equivalent contest for women.  A "Knitters' Babe," if you will.  So, this year, to keep the harumphing to a minimum, I am going to do just that.

Announcing, in conjunction with our Knitters' Hunk contest, our first annual Knitters' Chick competition.  Basically, the rules are the same for KH --- 3 nominations per person, a tournament-style contest decided by a plurality of votes, and a prize package going to the person who nominated the winner.  For the Chick nominations, think a (famous) woman you'd like to be best knitting friends with, someone who would gladly go on a yarn (not "yard," as I typed on facebook) crawl with you, maybe someone you have a secret girl crush on.

This will be nothing if not interesting!

So spread the word about this little venture, too!  And use today and tomorrow wisely for choosing your absolute tip-top, A-Number-One nominees!

Sunday, July 29, 2012

In Case You Haven't Looked At the Calendar

You now have two (2) days to decide on your three (3) nominees for the 5th Annual Knitters' Hunk Award.  The nomination process will be open from 12:01am (Eastern), Wednesday, August 1st until 11:59 pm (Eastern), Monday, August 6th.  I will then take the remainder of that week to set up the tournament brackets, and voting will begin Monday morning, August 13th.

This year, more than any other, I am counting on your good will, enthusiasm and word of mouth to spread the news about the contest.  Participation has been overwhelming in the past, but this year, I've changed blog addresses, and don't know if people can find me.  So, if you please, advertise on your blog, on your Ravelry boards, anywhere you think you can drum up interest in the contest.

First of all, there are great --- great --- looking men to stare at every day.  Second, there are very cool knitting prizes to be won for the person who nominates the ultimate winner.  In the past, if two or more people had nominated the same man, there was a tiebreaker.  The same will hold true this year.  But, since it is our fifth year, there will also be a prize package for the person who nominates the runner-up. And maybe even some little surprise gifts along the way. . .

Nominate whomever you want, as long as they are famous (I have to be able to find a photo of them for people to look at and judge.)  DO NOT NOMINATE THE FOLLOWING (PAST) WINNERS.  THEY GO INTO THE DRAW AUTOMATICALLY.


Sam Neill

Alan Rickman
Johnny Depp


Hugh Jackman


So, off you go.  Do your research.  Spread the good word.  Let's make it a great contest!

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Photo(ish) Day

Current project:
in terrific green tweed Nashua Isabella yarn:
while watching "Rifftrax Life: 'Reefer Madness'."

Ongoing project:
My babies.

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Position Paper

Completely unnerved by the murders in Colorado.  Not really sure why, but my stomach won't stop churning.  Why in the world a politician --- any politician --- won't sac up and tell the NRA and all other gun fetishists (as one writer called them) that we're sick of their nonsense is beyond me.  And that some people are actually saying that if other people in that theater had had guns it would have ended "better"?  Are you kidding me?  My God, what kind of country have we become?  And shut up about movies and video games.  If they were, indeed, inciters of violence, then every person who watched a film or handled a controller would be mowing people down.  That "explanation" holds no water at all.

The psychological explanations of murder are many and complicated.  But being able to sit in your house and order military weapons, battle armor, and thousands of rounds of ammunition off the Internet does no one any good.  A "sane" person has no need for any of that.  None.  An "insane" person can have no good need.  And please don't play the "only a crazy person would do something like that" card.  Check with folks you believe have a full and unwavering grip on reality and find out how many of them have guns in their homes.  And if shooters truly are insane, then they cannot --- legally --- be held responsible for their actions.  If they are crazy, we cannot punish them.  We must treat them.

And then send them back out into a society where anyone can buy any gun at any time.

Where's the crazy now?

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Can Do, Can't Do

One of the members of my knitting group has offered to teach me to crochet.  Specifically, to crochet Granny Squares, as I'd like to make an afghan that is one huge square.  But then, today on facebook, one of my friends posted this photo:
Isn't that pretty?  If I get the hang of the Granny Square thing, I just may have to make one of these, too.

The group met last night, and I passed out donated worsted to everyone, asking them to make 6" squares that we could put together for an afghan or lap blanket.  And it was decided that, at our next meeting, everyone will cast on socks.  I was flabbergasted to find out that hardly any of them have ever made socks before.  My experience with knitters has always been that socks are a regular go-to project.  Everyone but me will be knitting them in the round, unless I brush the rust off my two circulars skills.

The people are at Mama and Daddy's house, preparing for the estate sale.  It still looks like it's going to be the first weekend in August.  I suppose it's very telling that the house has scarcely been on my mind at all since I left last time.  Everything I could do, I had done, I guess.  No need to worry.  Now, once the sale is over, we'll see where my thoughts go. . .

Monday, July 16, 2012

Gearing Up

Here at Chez hand eye, when August begins to draw near, it means it's time to look toward the next Knitters' Hunk contest.

This year, nominations will begin being accepted on August 1st.  This will be discussed again then, but for those of you who might like to start thinking about your nominees now, here are a very few rules:
1)  You can nominate three (3) men.
2)  The men you nominate must be somewhat famous, so that photos of them can be found easily.
3)  As previous KH winners receive byes in each year's competition, you do not need to nominate
Sam Neill
Alan Rickman
Johnny Depp
Hugh Jackman

Are you ready?

I am.


Saturday, July 14, 2012

Shopping

Several weeks ago, I ordered some of Kollage Yarn's square knitting needles.  I've used them a couple of times since getting them, and there truly is a difference in how my hands feel (as advertised.)  Never good with physics, or kinesiology,  the explanation for that eludes me, but it is true nonetheless.  When I can, I plan on getting some Cubics to see how they handle.

Yesterday, and so far today, lots of my time is being spent on Patternfish.  As if I need more patterns.  With all the free ones available, no one should ever have to pay for a pattern.  But there are a couple there that I just might have to give in to.  Like this one:
Now, I am nowhere near as top heavy as our model here;  hope that won't be a problem.

There are tons of gorgeous, intricate lace shawl patterns on the site.  For some reason, I've never been inclined to knit lace.  Don't know why, exactly, unless it's that most lace patterns are charted, and I cannot follow a chart to save my life.  When I see a pattern that has any chartwork involved, I do what I do when I see that double-points are called for --- move right along to the next pattern.

(For the record, entrelac has always given me trouble, I'm uninterested in Fair Isle, and my hats never have pom-poms because I'm bad at making them.)




Thursday, July 12, 2012

No Pain? Not Likely

Hannah and I had our girly spa day yesterday.  A major glitch threatened to spoil it, as we were not given a couples' room as we had asked for, and gone over several times.  I had wanted it to be a true togetherness experience, but. . .

The biggest take-aways are that Hannah loved it.  She was completely blissed out by the whole thing.  And that I have something akin to Frozen Shoulder Syndrome*, except that my trouble is in the meat of the bicep on my right side, and closer to, but not actually in the joint on my left side.  The pain when the masseuse hit that right muscle was almost enough to lift me right off the table.  And today, it is sore, bruised and swollen:
I'm icing and taking naproxen sodium, but the hurt is relentless yet.  There are exercises to do, and another appointment in two weeks.

But the facial was very relaxing!


*My mother had a frozen shoulder at one time --- her doctor had to manually break the joint apart to give her any relief.  Don't think this will require anything that extreme.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Halvsies

Upon completing Until Tuesday this morning, I am now exactly halfway through my Authors' Alphabet. The book was touching and funny, as expected, but also rankling, as the author described the treatment of troops by the Bush White House both during and after their deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.  

My next book may be a sort of cheat, as there are two authors.  But, the lead writer's last name begins with "N," so I'm forging ahead with Abraham Lincoln: The Observations of John Nicolay and John Hay.

Knitting continues apace.  The third Wingspan was much, much shorter than I wanted, and anticipated:
It is also decidedly none of the colors shown in this photo, save the gold.  It is a deep, rich plum and a velvety maroon and an emerald green.  So much for natural light. . . 

Also made this top-down shrug out of some pale pink tweed worsted:
Too small for me, I'm afraid.  Suppose it will go up on etsy.

Still awfully, awfully hot here, though a break is supposed to come perhaps as early as tomorrow.  Our air conditioner has been running non-stop these past couple of weeks, and any days I've had to be outside longer than what it takes to walk the dogs out, I've come down with brutal heat-induced headaches.  Ugly all around.

Hannah and I are going to have Super Girly Time tomorrow, as I have booked facials and massages for us both.  It's something we've talked about doing forever.  With both of us stuck in the house, looking unsuccessfully for employment, now seemed as good a chance as any to give ourselves a treat.

Hope you're treating yourself well.  You deserve it, you know.

Friday, July 6, 2012

All in the Family

I would tell you how long I slept between Wednesday night and this morning, but it's kind of embarrassing.  Surely, my body and mind required that many hours, or they wouldn't have stayed checked out, but it's still. . .  sort of. . . a lot.  So let's move on.

Our air conditioning unit is running full tilt, non-stop, and, yet, there are periods of each day when it feels like it has stopped working.  A quick glance around the house, though, shows an animal parked on each of the floor vents, so we humans aren't always getting the complete impact.  Hannah and I are both spending lots of time sitting very still directly under ceiling fans.

One of the things I found while going through things at my parents' house was
my baby ring.  It was never engraved, which is a bit odd.  And it is teeeeeen-iney.

I also found a photo of Daddy that struck me as almost identical to my high school senior picture:
Boy, am I his daughter, or what?  People must have suspected my dark-haired, brown-eyed mother of kidnapping that blonde, blue-eyed, pug-nosed child she was always with. . .


Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Well, Let's See. . .

Still hot as all get-out here, though it's "cooled" from over 100 to 98, 99.

We spent part of our Fourth with friends --- good food and great humor.

I read Mr. Laurie's book and was, once again, taken by his great wit and endless cleverness.  The fact that I can hear him saying the words as I read them is an added bonus.  For "M," I've chosen a book that I'm sure will have me in tears more than once:
This will be my second book about service dogs in this alphabet reading plan.  I'm a goner when it comes to them.

Had another knitting group meeting last night.  It went very well --- I got really lucky with the women who decided to join:  they're fun, diverse, and funny.

I have decided to sleep as much as possible tomorrow, and have made this intention clear to all whom it might impact.

The third Wingspan is now on the needles.

Did I mention it's been mind-meltingly hot here lately?


Sunday, July 1, 2012

Are You Like Me?

Do you keep checking your air vents to make sure cold air is coming out?  (Because it does not feel like you're living in an air conditioned house.)


48

If you've ever rented a movie on Amazon Prime, you know you have 48 hours in which to watch it.  (By the way, why do we "watch"...