Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Overwhelmed

Things with my children get worse every day.  Thankfully, I have therapy tomorrow.  I'm beginning to buckle under the weight of it all.  Emotionally overwhelmed.

On a much, much, much lighter note --- the new KnitPicks catalog has so many things I would like to have.  How about you?  There are several patterns in the Aura collection that are beautiful, maybe enough to justify buying the book.  They have great new "stuff": mugs and totes (some with feathers!) and shawl pins.  I especially like the look of the new yarn, Paragon:
Creatively and financially overwhelmed.

Working on a cowl/snood with yummy yarn:
Continually overwhelmed that such pretty things can be made from string and two sticks.


Sunday, March 27, 2016

A Holiday Color Prompt

As Spring blooms, and Easter brings joyous hues, you may find yourself awash in colors today.  Obviously, then, your Blankapalooza color prompt is


USE ANY COLOR YOU WISH --- MAKE YOUR HEART SING.

Saturday, March 26, 2016

Nuthers

Another finish for Harry's Hundred:

Another reason to love baby giraffes:

Another proof that there was once a real Hollywood:

Another reason to love your puppy:

Another project on the needles:

Another Blankapalooza color prompt tomorrow!


Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Photojournalism

Before you ask, no, this isn't my finished Vikings shawl.  Mine has yet to be blocked.  This is Camille's.  She's the reason I participated in the KAL, so it's only right to give her some publicity.  The short rows give it a great look, don't you think?

I did make these handwarmers;  I like how they're almost opposite images of one another.
The lighting fades out the turquoise, and makes the bright gold look orange.

Some time ago, I was honored to name a service dog: Vandy.  She has completed her training, and is now at work.  This was in the latest ECAD's newsletter, and made me so, so very happy.

Saturday, March 19, 2016

This Time

I would very much like to share with you all that has been going on in my family over the last couple of weeks.  To do so, though, would invade my children's privacy, and I don't want to do that.  All three of us have been, have been dragged, to places none of us had ever seen.  Empathy, self-control, hope, anger, and coping skills have all been pushed to their limits.

It's been hard.

Almost every day, the thought of blogging would tug at me, but there wasn't anything un-unhappy to say.  Blogging is usually a very good tonic, but not this time.

Thursday, March 17, 2016

This Ten on Thursday

Ten of My Comfort Foods
1.  Potatoes, mashed or baked.
2.  Meat loaf.
3.  Sweet potato casserole.  Or pie.  Pie is fine.
4.  Sugar cookies.
5.  Scrambled eggs and toast.
6.  Banana bread.
7.  Green onions.
8.  Dry-rub ribs.
9.  Catfish.
10.  Pecans.

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Oy Gray

Yesterday, I began watching "Lie to Me," because I wanted a new TV show to get involved in, and it streams free on Amazon.  The premise of the show always intrigued me, and Tim Roth (the star) is in one of my All-Time Favorite Movies: "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead."  I would watch "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead," but the DVD drive on this computer has glitched.  It tells me there is no disc in the drive when there most certainly is, thankyouverymuch.

I finished another hat for Harry's Hundred:
It's a slouchy hat, and I am tempted to keep it myself.  But I can make another one;  it's kind of quick, and the crown looks like this:

This week's Ten on Tuesday got away from me, but I'm going to try to participate tomorrow.  Ten on Thursday isn't so bad, is it?

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Shawls and Memories

Vikings KAL finished:
Much blocking to be done.  Quite fun to knit.  Thank you, Camille, for including me in this!  You're a doll.

All Things Oregon KAL Clue 1 finished:
Kelli designs gorgeous things, and this is most assuredly on its way to being just that.  Thankfully, she has written instructions instead of charts only --- otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to participate.  This section is "Crabs."

I did tell you about Kelli's newly published book, didn't I?  

Today is Blankapalooza Color Prompt day.  How's everyone doing?  Please spread the word;  my dream last night was that I had promised an armful of blankets to the homeless shelter here, and didn't have enough squares for even a scarf.

ANYway, today, you should knit a square

THE COLOR OF THE WALLS IN YOUR CHILDHOOD BEDROOM.

(Me, I've gotta search for pastels.  Many, many pastels.)

And I want to show you my Fruit Square:
It's Kiwi Green, right?  RIGHT?

Friday, March 11, 2016

Result

There were only 6 responses to my last post.  I hardly needed a number generator for randomness, but I used one anyway, and it came up with 

"4."

The fourth comment was left by Camille, so she will be getting 8 little treats from me.

Thanks to you all.

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

How Many Posts?


Amazing.

It would seem that in numerology, 800 marks the end of one cosmic/karmic cycle, and the beginning of another one.

Interesting.

Do you know your numerology number?
Mine is 3.

Do you know your Western and Chinese zodiac signs?
I'm an Aquarian Rat.

Do you know what makes other people think of you?
The Bee Gees
Cowboy boots
Lions 
seem to bring me into other people's minds.

Do you know that, if you answer all these questions in the comments section, you will be eligible for a parcel of 8 (couldn't swing 800) goodies?  You will be.  The winner will be chosen at random, and announced Friday.  Share the giveaway with your friends!

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Kathy's Kwestions, Episode 10

*Is sleep your friend or your foe?
Friend, friend, friendfriendfriend.

*Mindless knits or lace charts?
Mindless can sometimes turn to boring, but I can't abide charts.

*Should we hike or should we bike?
Bike.

*Do you knit at a certain time of the day or impromptu?
Whenever the spirit moves me.

*Stephen West or Ann Budd designs?
West.  I prefer geometrics and modes to lace and frills.

*Shawls around your shoulders or backwards snuggling your neck?
Depends on the shawl, and the weather.

*Haircuts planned and frequent or whenever the hair is driving you crazy?
Crazy-driving.

*Faux fur fashion or chalked hair fad?
Chalked hair.  

*Stitches convention or Sheep and Wool festivals?
I've never been to a festival.  I've never NOT had a blast at Stitches.

*Keeping your New Years resolutions or fa ghetta bout it?
If you don't make 'em, you don't have to worry about keeping 'em!

++++++++++++++++++++++++

Something a wee bit different coming tomorrow.  Watch this space.

Monday, March 7, 2016

Alongs

Last year was The Year of Knitting Kits.  This year is both The Year of Charity Knitting and The Year of Knitalongs.

Clue Three of the Vikings KAL is underway:
The sections are made to represent The Heavens, The Earth, and The Sea.  There are enough short rows to make the knitting over 400 or so stitches go quickly, but there will be a boatload to bind off.  (Ha!  "Boatload," "Vikings" --- see what I did there?)

Today is the start of Kelli's "All Things Oregon Shawl."  There are a dozen or so of us along for the ride.  We got a pre-clue last night:
I haven't worked on it today;  I'll post progress as I go along.  My main color is "Charleston" from Three Irish Girls, and the secondary is Alchemy's Juniper.  I bought it (the Juniper) at Stitches South last year, along with 2 other colors I thought would make a nice scarf.  It matches the Charleston so well, though. . .

Briton and I went to see "Zootopia" this afternoon --- great fun.  Then we had a meal at our favorite Mexican restaurant.  It was a nice way to spend part of my day.

You?

Saturday, March 5, 2016

Through With Clue Two! Whew!

I just finished the second clue of the Vikings KAL.  I'm not going to go to the trouble of taking a picture of it to show you, but, trust me, it's done.

I will show you the bounty I received for participating in Kathy's sock yarn swap:
Sock yarn from Candy Skein yarn, in the colorway "Waffle Cone" (fun, clever name!)  Two sock patterns: Hermione's Everyday and Jaywalker.  I've never made a pair of Jaywalkers, like I've never made a Clapotis.  I'm definitely a knitting outlier.

The pink mohair is KnitPicks' "Aloft."  Ideal for a beret for Hannah.  It might not match her current hair color, but, come next beret season, who knows what she'll have?

Friday, March 4, 2016

Chewy Does It Again

My monthly samples from Chewy arrived yesterday.  Allow me to give you a guided tour.

I am determined to find a treat that Rupert will enjoy.  This might fill the bill, although a final and definitive decision has yet to be made.  Sometimes he'll take one, sometimes he won't.  A mood thing, I suppose.

These treats were unanimously approved of and consumed.
In all the years I've had cats, I've never had a treat that someone wouldn't eat.  Everyone went for these, except, of course, Madeleine, who can't go off her diabetes diet.  Seeing everyone else eating perplexes her;  she called a meeting to discuss it with me:
You make a compelling case, Sweets, but doctors' orders and all. . .

This was fun:
It's an "interactive" feeder, dispensing food as your cat plays with it.  You can adjust the amount of food dispensed, if you need to.

Erin and Riley worked on this.  It took them a few seconds to realize what was going on, but they got the hang of it, and swatted the ball back and forth between them.  Like the Snacky Mouse toy they got a while back, they seemed to thoroughly enjoy the "hunt."

Thanks to Chewy for allowing me to test some of their products monthly.  I receive no compensation for my reviews.  The opinions are my own, and I describe only my pets' experiences with the items.

Thursday, March 3, 2016

What Color Is The Sky In Your World?

Because that's what color your next Blankapalooza square should be!

Blue?  Blue with white clouds?  Gray?  Some combination?





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"...