hand eye crafts

*Who would your ring [a] bell for?   At this moment, our country. *Do  you have a quote that soothes you?   "If it doesn't open, it's not your door."   Who else among you has a Ravelry pattern?   708 and counting in my library there! What is one of your all time favorite patterns!?   This  one  for making socks flat. Have you tweaked a recipe and had it turn out well?   Not that I can remember. Have you seen a drone yet in your area ?  No.  We get blimps a lot because of UGA football, though. *Have you entered a contest lately?   No. *Can you share a meatless dinner idea?   I'm afraid not;  we've always been a rather meat-centric household. *What is the last movie you watched?  Do you watch more in summer or winter?   "AntMan."  My watching habits really don't change with the seasons.

Thank you all for your comments, both public and private, and for voting on whether to continue our contests.  It appears that the polling will go on!* Someone let it be known that my support of women's rights and women's causes was invalidated by having a contest where women were pitted against one another.  A couple of other people said that if in general, I didn't want women judged on their looks, I shouldn't hold a contest in which men were judged on the same.  (I thought dropping the swimsuit competition, and calling the contests "scholarship pageants" had taken care of that, but evidently not.)  Still another voice cried foul, insinuating that I rigged the contests every year.  There were more, but you get the idea. (This is why you got this tattoo, Kim. . .  Find your center and stay there.) Point taken on the first two objections.  Would one contest with all nominees, both male and female, in the same draw be a remedy for t...

In the past few days, I've been showered (to be nice) / bombarded (to be a little harsher) with messages telling me that I should stop the Knitters' Hunk and Knitters' Chick contests.  They are being called "sexist" and "shallow" and "silly." This is not the next KH / KC post I had planned, but, things are what they are.  Please let me know what you think.   Should KH and KC Continue?

*What fear have you conquered?   Growing up, I was horrified by slugs.  They still aren't my favorite, but I no longer shriek when I see them. *What’s your favorite spicy  food?   Hot and Sour Soup. *What’s a color you never wear?   Orange. *When sock knitters want a bigger needle project, what do you knit?   Scarves or slippers with bulky weight yarn. *When did you last read Shakespeare?   It's been forever since I read a complete play.  Oddly enough, though, I had to look up some passages from "Othello" this weekend. *Are you gregarious or solitary? Very solitary. *What’s your favorite cookie recipe and why?  My mother's chocolate chip.  I don't use the chips, and get wonderful sugar cookies. *Do you dip your PB and J in milk?  I've never heard of that!  Of course, I hadn't heard of grilled PBJ either until a little while back, and now I make it rather frequently. *Do you feel you are becoming a better k...

I have shed a lot of tears this week, for a lot of reasons.  This, though, opened the floodgates big and wide.  My son on Facebook: I would like to thank the women of the world for inspiring and moving me, not just today, but every day. The woman who raised me, the woman I was raised alongside, the women I've dated, the women whose art and performances I've witnessed; whatever I was, I'm a better man now, and will be a better man tomorrow because of you. I am just one small example of your influence. I love you all. My heroes.

If you're just sitting around some day, trying to come up with weird illness combinations, it's unlikely that you'd dream anything odder than sinus infection and strep throat.  And yet, here I am.  The sinus thing was easy to recognize, but the strep was a complete surprise.  Thank goodness there are walk-in clinics in Athens.   In the meantime, Erin keeps watch over the Palooza squares:

Since Sunday night, I've been battling what I've now decided is a sinus infection.  My symptoms started at "cold," then moved to "flu," until the infection thing finally popped into my head.  If I were knitting, I'd be working on these, in this yarn which has strands of "gold" throughout. Or, I might be moving along on in this But I'm not knitting.  Everything will still be around when this thing finally lets go of me.

Even though I've had my monthly  Chewy.com  sample for several days, and have tried it on my cats, I'd totally forgotten about posting.  So very sorry. This is the Tiki Cat Variety Pack, King Kamehameha version.  My first two cats didn't care for fish or seafood, so my buying habits over the years have always leaned toward buying poultry or beef.  The first cans I opened from this pack contained "sardine fillets," and they (the fillets, not the cans) were devoured.   Time to learn a new buying habit, I'd say. Only one product was sent this month, as opposed to the two in months before.  It went over like gangbusters, though, so thanks again Chewy! I am part of Chewy.com's blogger product try-out program.  Each month, I select products to try with my dog and/or cats.  In return, I post honest reviews and descriptions of our experiences with the products.  There is no money involved whatsoever.

#1. Do you use a mannequin, prop or person for modeling your knits? I use my daughter's dress form for large pieces, and I have "heads" for showing hats. #2. Do you know anyone who has gone through the ice? I've never lived anywhere where that was a possibility! #3. Do you wear reading glasses, bifocals, contacts? Glasses with transition bifocals, and contacts occasionally. #4 Have you tried a new skill yet in 2017? Nope. #5. Name a favorite President of the USA. Lincoln.  Always Lincoln. #6. When was the last time you were lost? (parking lots count) I don't know.  My sense of direction is usually pretty reliable. #7. What yarn type is most prevalent in your stash? This is probably a tie between baby weight and sock.  I know I'm low on worsted, which has never happened before. #8. Since we are in an ice storm, name something you like over ice. Pepsi, or 7Up.  I drink gallons more Dr Pepper than either of those, but I like it super cold...

If you follow me on Facebook, you know my political leaning.  I usually don't get into too much here, because, I suppose, Facebook allows me to vent.  There are some things I have to say here, though, mostly to explain why my posts have been so irregular lately. If you supported/voted for Donald Trump, I am glad you found someone who gave voice to your concerns.  I hope his administration does things that make your life, and the lives of those you care about, better.  Truly.   Personally, I am scared almost to paralysis about what might be happening in/to this country.  I have spent most of the last week, week and a half, alternately trying not to think about what is coming, and writing to, calling, and engaging with anyone I think might be able to make a difference.  So, I haven't blogged.  I've knit, I've read, I've watched movies, I've worn my activist hat.  You haven't missed anything.  Promise.

The Knitalong shawl that I color-teased you with before is finished and blocked: Unless you enjoy sticking dozens of pins into things, don't ever put a picot edge on anything.  I am loathe to block things, but this just had to be done.  The colors look much better than they did as I was working with them.  The pattern called for beads to be placed along the edging;  that seemed a little too gilding-the-lily to me.  There's enough going on with the colors and the patterns as it is. Darling Hugh won a Golden Globe for "The Night Manager," and his acceptance killed (as almost anything he says is wont to do): The benevolent  kmkat  sent a box chock-full of squares for Blankapalooza. Thank you again and again, Kathryn!  There has been some seaming going on, I promise you, but not enough --- or, at least, not enough that I'm satisfied with --- to show here just yet.  Pictures will come, though.  Rest assured.

I have been awake since 10 AM yesterday.  I have no idea why.  It resulted in lots, lots of knitting getting done overnight.  It has also resulted in my being alternately punchy and goofy.  What a day to have a therapy appointment.  At least I had the good sense to wear pretty boots: There is all kinds of nervous conversation here about some possible snowflakes falling Friday or Saturday.  I have to go to the grocery store tomorrow anyway;  as long as there are a couple of gallons of milk in stock, things will be good here.

The random number generator gave me "9," and the ninth crush comment was left by Vera .  Congratulations!  And hooray for Thanks, everybody!

Let's extend the answer period until tomorrow at 8 PM.   While I appreciate the responses that have come in so far, it's awkward to use a random number generator for four numbers.  Invite blogging friends if you think they'd be interested.  I'm going to post about it on Facebook, so maybe the numbers will go up. By the way, I was 17 in 1977.  Which, for those of you unmotivated to do the arithmetic, was forty.  years.  ago.

I promised to start this today: It's time to begin The Great Seaming.  Again, if you have made any squares at all for Blankapalooza, please send them.  Even if you only have one, it can be used. I also promised to celebrate my 1000th post, the new year and the 10th anniversary year of Knitters' Hunk with a contest.  So, you should all know that this box is waiting to be filled with prizes.  Leave your answers in the Comments section before 8 PM tomorrow.  I'll use a random number generator to choose the winner, numbering the comments in the order they come in.  The question? WHAT CELEBRITY / CELEBRITIES WERE YOU CRUSHING ON WHEN YOU WERE 17? I'll start. Barry Gibb and Robert Redford.